Book Reviews by Genre: Fantasy

This was a great book that I loved. This book is about the children, the orphans and and the abandoned children of Venice, Italy. As Bo and Prosper find their way into the city and into the arms of the generous Thief Lord they find that all is not as it seems. Secrets, plots, and magic rule this labyrinth of of canals and allies. What will happen to these children as this plot of deception unravels its self? And what lengths will they go too, to survive?

Trying to write a review on any of Laini Taylor’s works, but especially this lovely beautiful book, that does the book justice, is like trying to fit a round nail into a square peg. It simply cannot be done. But I will try to do the best I can. I first came upon this work through goodreads first, as several of the people I followed recommended it, and also through a friend. When I saw what it was about, and that it combined all of my favorite elements of a fantasy, including librarians, books, magic, god’s, ghosts, monsters, angels, and a fantastical journey to an atmospheric and magical place, I jumped at it, and it did not disappoint.

Lazlo Strange is an orphaned junior librarian who resides in the city of Zosma. Like any librarian he spends his days among the stacks of dusty volumes in the library of Zosma, and like every librarian he also has dreams that he wants to follow. Since he was small, he has dreamed about a mythic lost city called Weep, whose real name has been erased from history, and whose stories are only told and remembered in the dusty old volumes of fairy tales and histories that have all been but forgotten. Reading and writing and dreaming about Weep, Lazlo naturally wishes one day to visit this mythic lost city. But honestly never expected his dreams to amount to much. Until one day, by chance, a group of warriors led by someone called the Godslayer, from none other than the mythic lost city, visits Zosma, seeking a delegation of people to go back with them to the city of Weep to help solve a problem. And suddenly Lazlo gets the chance to pursue his dreams in a way he never thought possible. On this journey he meets many people, including a half human goddess named Sarai, the Godslayer’s long suffering wife Azareen, and the prince Thyon Nero, among others, has many fantastical experiences, and many mysteries await him. Including: What is this mysterious problem in Weep that none of its delegates seem to want to reveal? What happened to Weep to hide it from the rest of the world? What creatures call themselves gods? And how could have Lazlo dreamt of a blue skinned goddess before he even knew she existed?

The themes running through this beautiful piece of fiction are vast and dense, and intense. This story is about many things including chasing your dreams and the importance of never giving up on those dreams. It’s about relationships and the difficult and painful things we can do to those we love and don’t love. It’s about war, and the tolls, both emotional and physical, it takes on everyone involved. It’s about hate, and the damage revenge can do on both those that give it and the ones receiving it. It’s about love, the different kinds of love we all
experience, and what we will do to protect those we love. But most importantly, at it’s heart this story is about identity, both individual, and the crazy journey, our hero Lazlo, takes to find it, and group identity in how we see those different from us and how we react to those differences. These themes are inter-mingled to form a compelling intense and beautiful narrative.

Where Taylor really shines through here is her prose. She really uses prose brilliantly to make each character take an emotional journey of their own, which serves to display and inter weave those narratives beautifully. And the words were so brilliantly chosen, that whenever a character spoke about a difficult subject, it was like I was there with them and felt what they did. When you have that strong of an emotional connection, that to me, says the author was doing their job. The atmospheric, dreamy, quality of the prose, also made the world’s, both dream and fictional, come alive in a way that I have seen few authors really achieve.

This brilliant beautiful adventure story about a junior librarian, should be on everyone’s to read lists. The emotional intensity of it… I felt like it ripped my heart out of my chest and then put it back again. If you haven’t yet, run, don’t walk, to put it on hold or check it out. This story has something in it for everyone, and you won’t be disappointed!

***THIS BOOK WAS RECEIVED FROM A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY***

In S.A. Chakraborty’s debut novel, The City of Brass, we find some of the standard tropes that seem to be the foundation of the Young Adult genre. There are snippets of works like Harry Potter and Twilight that seem to leak through, their influences helping to shape the world that the author has created. However, while some of these tropes might be tired in any other setting, they are used to great effect here, as the author has created something grounded in culture and traditions that helps to enhance the fantasy world that lies just beyond our own.

While I did enjoy reading this book overall, there were a few weaknesses. The start of the story was action- packed and hooked me right from the get-go, but then the section leading up to the second half of the plot seemed to be bogged down with lots of exposition and world-building. It also wasn’t necessarily clear to me why the main character needed to go to the titular “City of Brass,” other than her brief hope that she’d be trained there. I also didn’t get the sense that the journey took months, as the traveling companions didn’t seem to be as exhausted from the trek as I thought they should be.

Despite this semi-minor weakness, the characters and the world were well developed and well thought out. I had to roll my eyes at the “love triangle,” mostly because it’s a cliché of the genre, but the three main characters involved in such romantic entanglements were unique and interesting individuals that made me want to keep reading. This book uses a lot of specific terminologies that took a little bit to pick up, especially from the perspective of a reader who isn’t as familiar with Middle Eastern languages. I was still able to pick it up via
context, only needing the glossary at the end to confirm my suspicions.

An excellent debut that pulls from a rich and unique culture to create its fantasy, I give The City of Brass 4.0 stars out of 5.

I LOVED this book! It incorporated a love and talent for storytelling perfectly, and infused it with a colorful and entertaining story. As an aspiring writer, I cherished reading about another storyteller, and how it changed her life.
Marjan is a young, crippled girl around the age of 13 in medieval Persia, where the there is a strict class contrast between prosperous sultans and poor beggars. She's loved telling stories, and admires Shahrazad. Her husband, the sultan, forcibly married a young girl every night and murdered the following morning, because he was convinced all women were despicable after his wife betrayed him. But Shahrazad stays alive by telling a story every night, keeping him intrigued and saving her life by morning, living another day. But after a thousand and one nights, she begins to run out of stories to tell, and so she enlists Marjan to find stories. Marjan seeks out a begging storyteller she saw in the market, and suddenly is thrust into a world where she has to become sneaky and smart in order to stay alive.
All in all, Shadow Spinner was really intriguing and I loved reading it.
Reviewer Grade: 7

The Axis Tour may be over, however Yael's journey is far from over. Blood for Blood starts right after Yael shot Hitler only to realize it was a skin shifter portraying Hitler. As Yael escapes SS men she can’t help but wonder how many skin shifters exist. Unsure who is real and who is a skin shifter she doesn’t know who to trust. Yael doesn’t even know if operation Valkyrie worked.
Luka witnessed Adele Wolfe shoot Hitler, or so he thought. The girl he thought was Adele Wolfe over the course of the Axis Tour was someone entirely different. In search of the true identity of inmate 121358ΔX Luka chases after her, whoever she may be.
Who is inmate 121358ΔX? How many other skin shifters exist? After a daring race around the world, and Hitler appearing dead, will the world fall apart?
Blood for Blood focuses so much on the relationships and development of the characters. Blood for Blood made me feel the characters emotions. The development of Yael over the series is incredible. At the beginning of this book Yael couldn’t face her history, but in the end of the book she conquers her fear and the past. I really enjoyed seeing different side of Luka and Felix. For example the feelings of Felix as he underwent interrogation. The ending was unexpected but fitting to the series. I highly recommend this book and series. I already want to read it again. If you have read Wolf by Wolf then you need to read Blood for Blood, it is totally worth reading.
Reviewer Grade: 9th

Serina has aimed to be a Grace her whole life. In a world where women aren’t allowed to learn to read, becoming one of the heir’s paramours is pretty much as good as it gets – otherwise she’ll be relegated to a life of work in a factory. When she’s selected to go to the palace to be considered for a position as a Grace, she’s beyond thrilled and takes her younger sister Nomi along as a handmaiden. But neither Serina nor Nomi are prepared for the backstabbing political machinations at large in the palace, and soon both girls will find their world turned upside down.

This was sold to me as The Selection meets The Handmaid’s Tale, which sounded super intriguing as I enjoyed those books for very different reasons - guilty pleasure and biting social commentary respectively. And one of the girls does have an arc that very much meets that description. Interestingly, I didn’t really like her story. Most of that has to do with the fact that we’re told that the character is smart and rebellious, but we’re mostly just shown her swanning around the palace making stupid decisions. The other sister has an arc that’s more Beauty Queens meets The Hunger Games, and I really enjoyed that one. It was a much more unique story, and the character experienced a lot of growth.

Because the sisters’ paths diverge, I feel that it’s fairly safe to say that at least one of the two stories will appeal to most YA dystopia and fantasy readers. If you like your dystopia with a dose of feminism, you’ll enjoy this slightly derivative series opener. I liked it. 3 stars.

Thanks to Little, Brown and Netgalley for the eARC, which I received in exchange for an honest review. Grace and Fury will become available for purchase on 31 July, but you can put your copy on hold today!

It took me a while to review this book because I couldn’t figure out exactly how to rate it. This novel is a pun filled fantasy adventure that pokes fun at the traditional fantasy quest. It involves magic, elves, a dark lord name Toby, sleeping maidens, a sand witch named Grinda, a talking goat named Gustave, fairies, a bunny bard named Argabella, a female warrior named Fia, a rogue name Poltro, and a harrowing danger filled quest to cure the dead-ness of a farm boy name Worstley, killed at the beginning of this book, that was destined to fulfill a great destiny …. or so we thought.

While at times this book was funny, I particularly enjoyed the details of how the world was described, for example when the enchanted castle and the maids were being described at the beginning of the book, particularly the last line. “There was also an abundance of portent swaddled about the place. Oodles of it. A surfeit, even. Something would go down there soon. But for now, the lady slept. And drooled a little, probably.” Or the dark lord’s constant obsession with cheese and crackers throughout the book.
Other times, I think the humor went over the top, which was not a particularly big selling point for me and leaves a somewhat sour taste in my mouth. For example, when our heroes arrive at the hut of the healer and Agrabella first wakes up after being healed. “In this case with her eyes shut, Argabella had to assume she was being licked across the face by a troll with gingivitis who’d recently partaken of fresh garlic and sardines and possibly eaten another, even sicker troll for breakfast. Her eyes burst open… She soon realized that this was because she was staring into someone’s extremely furry armpit” Or maybe it was the fact that books with tropes and puns are just not the type of books I am particularly drawn too or like. However, I do appreciate and like each of the character’s own inner dialogue as they wrestle with their feelings and other issues throughout their journey together. For example, when the warrior realizes she love’s the bunny bard, “She realized that even more than roses, even more than a proper set of armor, she wanted to be kind and generous and the whole range of happy adjectives to this truly unique woman for a long, long time.”

Overall I think this books was well written, and at times funny, it takes a traditional subject, fantasy quests, and turns it into something new entirely. While this book wasn’t for me particularly, I would recommend it for anyone who loves, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Princess Bride.
the movie Space Balls, or anything with wacky humor. This book comes out today so put a copy on your holds list! Thank you to Negalley and the publisher Del Rey for a free e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Every day, by David Levithan, is about a boy who wakes up every morning in a different body, he knows he is himself, but he is also somebody else. Because of this lifestyle, the boy, who named himself A, has never had a relationship with anyone for more than a day. He knows that he must not get too involved in the life of the body he's inhabiting because he knows no relationship will last for him. One day, A wakes up in the body of someone named Justin. It would be easy for him to come up with an excuse to tell Justin's parents so that he won't have to go to school, but A feels up for a challenge. Once at school A meets Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon, and immediately realizes that this girl is not treated the way she deserves to be by Justin. Justin likes the idea of Rhiannon more than he actually likes her. Justin uses her as a way to feel accepted. A becomes instantly intrigued by Rhiannon and wants to give her one day. One day that she deserves with Justin. One day where Justin sees her true beauty. After the perfect day that "A as Justin" and Rhiannon share, A realizes that he's falling for Rhiannon. He knows the risk of telling her the truth but he feels that she deserves to know. Will Rhiannon believe him? Do they have a chance of being together? This book, Every day is very well-written and meaningful. It's a book that is like no other in so many ways. I would like to recommend this book to fans of romance novels, and dystopian-like books as well.

The book "Fairest" by Marissa Meyer is actually a prequel to "The Lunar Chronicles," but (to me) is meant to be read AFTER reading the main four books. This book is all about Queen Levana, the main antagonist of "The Lunar Chronicles." The story shows the reader all the reasons why she is the way she is, and shows us the events that happened to start the series. "Fairest" is about The Evil Queen, who brought the most grief to the "princesses" of the first four books.

Overall, the book is a very good read after reading the main four books. Reading the book before may be confusing. The characterization of Queen Levana is truly amazing, as more often than not, antagonists are not given enough character, and are not explained well. Some aspects of the story are predictable if you have already read the series, but not all scenes are. This book answers many questions about Queen Levana, and is definitely worth the read.

*Do note that "Fairest" was published before "Winter" and that you can read all of the side books in whatever order you like.

Reviewer Grade: 11

As a continuation and last book from "The Lunar Chronicles," "Winter" by Marissa Meyer is truly just as good as the past three books in the series.
This book is another re-imagining of the old fairy tale Snow White, but is written in such a way that it is barely recognize that aspect unless you knew before. Winter, the protagonist of this story, is a lunar who refuses to use her naturally gifted powers, and it is slowly driving her crazy. Many consider her to be the most beautiful lunar there is. As the crazy daughter of the queen, she allowed to live. Well, that's as long as nobody likes her more than the queen.

Overall, the story is very well written, and a great last book. The books answers many unsolved mysteries, and ties up everything nicely. The characters are once again very well characterized, and the ending is as enjoyable as an ending to get. All chapters continue to move the plot, and there aren't too many extra ideas. Truly a great end to "The Lunar Chronicles," which is worth the read.

Reviewer Grade: 11

The book "Scarlet" by Marissa Meyer is a twist of "Little Red Riding Hood," where the main character, Scarlet Benoit, lived with her grandmother until her grandmother disappears. While the police force have given up the search for Scarlet's grandmother, Scarlet is determined to find her, believing that her grandmother was kidnapped rather than ran away. She meets a man named Wolf at work, where her living situation is turned upside down after she pronounces her belief that Linh Cinder was innocent. The road is long and hard, but Scarlet WILL find her grandmother by any means possible.

This book is an amazing read for those who interest in fantasy, a mix of science fiction, action, and romance. Just like the first book "Cinder," "Scarlet" is just as amazingly written as its predecessor. As part of "The Lunar Chronicles," this book continues to show the readers more about the world, and begins showing the secrets of the main characters and antagonist.

The books is exceptional with its characters, chapters, and conflicts. It makes sure that all action is balanced and realistic. Some parts of the story were predictable, such as the romance, but the obstacles the couple faces, along with the conflicts with everyone else are unpredictable enough to make the story interesting. The main characters are relatable, yet so unique. This story, along with the rest of the series, is one of the best books for excellent fantasy and storytelling.

Reviewer Grade: 11

"Cinder" is a twist of the old fairy tale "Cinderella," where the main character, Cinder, has a step-mother, two sisters, and cyborg parts attached to her body (much to the citizens of New Bejing's disgust). Cinder is a mechanic who does work for her step-mother along with her companion Iko, and she has dreams of leaving her step-mother's home, though she stays for her sister Peony.

Cinder meets the prince of New Beijing, Prince Kaito. She finds that Kai is a very attractive person, just as everyone in the city says, but also finds her attention turned toward unfortunate event after unfortunate event. Her world changes when her sister contracts the deadly disease, letumosis.

Overall, this book is truly a wonderful book for both romance and action. While the plot is a twist of the story "Cinderella," Marissa Meyer does an excellent job of making the idea extremely unique to the point that the book hardly seems like a twist of Cinderella. The amount of action; internal and external conflicts; and in-depth relationships are written in an exciting way that makes every chapter worth reading. Since this is the first book in "The Lunar Chronicles," "Cinder" sets up the main conflicts and first main characters for the rest of the series exceptionally well. While the main protagonists are very likable and relatable, the main antagonist is truly twisted and very well written with the knowledge that is given in the first book. The book was rarely predictable, and is an amazing piece of fiction.

This book, along with the rest of the series, is one of the best books for both great characters and a unique story idea.
Reviewer Grade: 11

Animal Farm is a dystopian novel about a farm overrun by the farm animals. The animals revolt and create their own hierarchy, which poses an overarching metaphor for humanity. Like many of Orwell’s books, this book exposes the flaws of mankind in an allegorical manner. I chose this book for its dystopian nature, and it did not disappoint. It is artful in its satire, and Orwell takes a clear stance on tyranny. This is among the best dystopian books I have read.
Reviewer Grade: 12

Back in high school, I had to read this book as part of my Religions class and thought it was pretty good. As I have been preparing for writing The Slumberealm Gambit, I decided to give This Present Darkness another read so I could recall how Frank E. Peretti combined the fantastical spirit world with the real world. For a book written in 1986, it’s aged surprisingly well, even if the demise of the newspaper and the rise of constant contact via cell phones would make this kind of book set in modern times a hard sell. Even so, I honestly wouldn’t mind if someone adapted this book into a movie, as the plot is thrilling and the action is top-notch.

Strangely enough, one of my qualms with this book is with its formatting and proofreading. There were a few missed typos, and the right-align text didn’t seem as professional as I would have hoped a widely-printed book would be. Regarding content, though, I wonder if the preacher side plot could have either been cut or enhanced so that it would have had the same intensity/focus as the newspaper main plot. Still, by the end of the book, the exciting conclusion is a result of all the pieces being put in place during the somewhat long buildup.

Some people may debate whether angels and demons are real, but this book certainly gives a fantastical look behind the curtain and imagines these beings in elaborate detail. The angels are all quietly patient, while the demons are gruesome and horrifying. The mixture of fantasy imagery and real-world situations is something I hope to soon accomplish in my own writing style, and this book merely reinforced how awesome it was when I read it for the first time more than a decade ago.

An action-filled and thrilling look behind the spiritual curtain, I give This Present Darkness 4.5 stars out of 5.

Normally, I’d start off my review with a synopsis, but plot wasn’t exactly the point of this book, so I’m going to skip it. What you need to know is this: Kill the Farm boy is a satirical fantasy novel that skewers the “chosen one” white male narrative. Tonally, it’s as if Deadpool were your dungeon master and he had recently swallowed a thesaurus. If that appeals to you, you will love this book. If not, pass on it.

I had fairly mixed feelings – humor is subjective, and while I sometimes found it funny, I also found it grating at times. For example, there was a chapter about trolls that had me in stitches. But there was also an entire chapter about the group entering the Morningwood that had me rolling my eyes. A certain type of audience will absolutely love this one. I was not that audience, but I still, for the most part, appreciated it for what it was as I generally found the writing quality to be very high. There’s little character development, and the plot is just a vehicle for jokes, but again, those things aren’t the point.

This is definitely one of those books that will be very hit-or-miss for people, and while it was mostly a miss for me, it’s one that I think I’ll be recommending to a lot of patrons, particularly teens. If you like Mel Brooks or Monty Python, you’ll probably like this too (it would make a pretty funny movie).

Thanks to Del Rey and Netgalley for the eARC, which I received in exchange for an unbiased review. Kill the Farm Boy will be released on 24 July, but you can put your copy on hold today!

If you aren’t familiar with Guy Fawkes Day, every year in England on 05 November, citizens burn Fawkes’ effigy to celebrate his failed attempt to blow up Parliament in 1605. Fawkes tells the story of Thomas Fawkes, Guy’s son, with a fantasy twist. In this world, folks have powers based on colors. Some folks can manipulate some colors, others all colors, which leads to different magical schools of thought and serves as a stand in for the Catholic-Protestant tensions of the time.

If you know anything about my reading preferences (I read mostly fantasy), this next thought is a bit shocking: the fantasy elements really ruin this book. Unfortunately, the worldbuilding is really shallow. You’ll be left with loads of questions about color power like: What if something is more than one color? Paint? How does that work? Why can’t someone who can control Green also control Blue and Yellow? Or vice versa? And so on.

I really wish the book had been written as straight historical fiction. A point about religious persecution could have been made (that was perhaps attempted, but for me it didn’t land). The story might not have dragged for the first three quarters of the book. Add to the weird pacing and lackluster worldbuilding the fact the main character manages both to be extremely judgmental and lack any convictions for most of the book, and you’ve got a book that really isn’t fun to read. I found myself skimming just to get through it.

With that being said, I did enjoy the last quarter of the book. The pacing picks up, Thomas develops a backbone, we get to spend some time with my favorite character (Emma!), and Guy Fawkes gets a tiny bit of development.

This wasn’t for me, but perhaps some folks will be swept away by the romance and intrigue. For fans of historical fiction that can look past the weak fantasy elements. 2 stars. Meh.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson, HarperCollins Christian Publishing and Netgalley for the free eARC, which I received for review consideration. Fawkes will be available for purchase on 10 July, but you can put your copy on hold today!

Gender Game was about two seperate realms, Patrus and Matrus, where one is ruled by males and the other ruled by females. It was interesting to compare the polar opposites and the different extremes of these places. In Patrus, males are dominant and females live in fear, while it's vice versa in Matrus. One character, Violet, a repeat offender in a juvenile delinquent system, is offered a chance to save herself and her stolen brother by acquiring a stolen object for Matrus. See, Patrus stole an egg like object of some importance (what it's purpose is isn't known). Violet agrees, and is forced to assume a false identity and marry a Patrus man to blend in. They develop an ornate plan to steal back the 'egg', and plan to falsely frame Viggo, a coworker of Violet's new husband. But what happens when Violet falls in love with Viggo? The plan goes to pieces and she is left regretting what she did. It ends in a cliffhanger (which I despise). The story line was pretty good, but not incredible. It's a good read for a trip, you can finish it easily and you can read it without thinking/wondering about what you're reading. It's light and fluffy, in other words.

To be honest, I only really bought this book because it came heavily recommended from the manager of the bookstore I was at. He claimed it was a book you could read over and over again, and get a new message from every time. But about a quarter of the way through, I admitted to myself it was an average book. It didn't have spectacular or eye-opening writing, and the plot was okay I guess. Essentially, it's about a young shepherd who meets a 'king' in a marketplace in Spain. The king convinces him that there is a Personal Legend everyone has in this world, and the universe conspires to help you achieve it. All throughout this book, Santiago (the shepherd) follows omens, prophecies, and recurring dreams in the hopes of finding a treasure by the Egyptian pyramids. On the way, he helps a crystal merchant, meets an English man who aspires to be an alchemist, the love of his life, and eventually the alchemist himself. In the end, he finds himself, the woman he loves, the treasure of a forgotten pirate (cliche! Boo!), and he accomplishes his Personal Legend. It was okay, but really generic writing and not a very interesting plot. Who knows? Maybe the message will change when I read it again. But I rather doubt it.

Ghost Hawk is about a native American boy named Little hawk returning to his village after a 3 month ceremony were boys survive in the woods alone and come back a man after three months, when he returns to his village he finds that most of every one is dead, except his grandmother named Suncatcher. Suncatcher tells Little Hawk that the white mans plague came in and killed most of the village. Then leaping Turtle returns, a friend of Little Hawk. So Little hawk, Suncatcher, and Leaping Turtle go out to find the other survivors. After the reunion Little Hawk meets John, a white 10 year settler from England, these two become friends but when John's father gets stuck under a fallen tree, Little Hawk tries to help but the English soldiers mistake it for an attack. Read the book to find out was happens next.

The Hunger Games has a futuristic setting were there are 12 districts in Panem, the only civilization left in the world. The Hunger Games was a punishment for the districts who rebelled against the Capital, in the Hunger Games people 12-18 are chosen to fight to the death is a arena literally big enough for a whole natural habitat. Our main character Katniss Everdeen is a 16 year old girl who lives in district 12. Her sister was chosen to participate in the Hunger Games, but Katniss took her place as a tribute. How will she survive against other people chosen to partake in the Hunger Games, an a few mutants every hear and there.