3.5 out of 5 stars Spunky and charming old-fashioned witchcraft (en francais!) in need of better pacing. Goodreads.com: Serpent & Dove (4/5 stars); Blood & Honey (3.5/5 stars); Gods & Monsters (3/5 stars), by Shelby Mahurin Serpent and Dove is a solid supernatural tale. Louise Le Blanc is the heiress to the greatest magical power … Continue reading Review: Serpent and Dove Trilogy
3.5 out of 5 stars Stubbornness and carnage. Goodreads.com: Children of Virtue and Vengeance, by Tomi Adeyemi (Legacy of Orisha #2) In Children of Virtue and Vengeance, the war for Orisha rages. The abused, disenfranchised maji have had their magic restored, and they plan to use it to avenge their year of hardship at the … Continue reading Review: Children of Virtue and Vengeance
4 out of 5 stars Goodreads.com: Call Down the Hawk, by Maggie Stiefvater (Dreamer Trilogy #1) I adore Maggie Steifvater's writing. In her gorgeous prose, the language is art, flowing in surprising surges like over a waterfall. Call Down the Hawk is no different. In fact, there are times where she's over-describing, where another analogy … Continue reading Review: Call Down the Hawk
3.5 out of 5 stars Libba Bray's historical settings are deliciously atmospheric, and the magic in her stories sparkles with dark possibility. Goodreads.com: A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray (Gemma Doyle #1) Apparently I read this back in 2008, and gave it the same rating. I have zero recollection of that. Gemma Doyle … Continue reading Review: A Great and Terrible Beauty
3.5 out of 5 stars Goodreads.com: Dune, by Frank Herbert (Dune Chronicles #1) Look, there's no question why Dune is a legendary pillar of science fiction: it's an epic, acerbic, socio-political-religious examination of everything from corrupt government to environmental stewardship. The nearly uninhabitable, highly contested desert planet of Arakkis has a single natural resource: spice melange. … Continue reading Review: Dune
4.5 out of 5 stars Wacky, wry, and wonderful, All the Crooked Saints is more Tom Robbins-lite than young adult, and satisfies on every level. Goodreads.com: All the Crooked Saints, by Maggie Stiefvater I say this with love: Maggie Stievater's books are weird. They're supernatural and secular, personal and deep, with sharp edges and bubbling … Continue reading Review: All the Crooked Saints
2.5 out of 5 stars A sort of Franken-book, Furyborn is a watered-down, blended-up amalgamation of ideas that were much better in other YA fantasy stories. Goodreads.com: Furyborn, by Claire Legrand (Empirium #1) I'm having trouble recapping Furyborn, because my mind keeps wandering to the original source material. So allow me to pull the description … Continue reading Review: Furyborn
3.5 out of 5 stars A Book 2 with more grit and less googly-eyed staring = +.25 stars. Goodreads.com: This Shattered World, by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (Starbound #2) I love series that spin-off internally, then allow the characters from multiple books to encounter each other. I don't mean dusting off Jace & Clary … Continue reading Review: This Shattered World
3.5 out of 5 stars Like the whole Dark Artifices series, this final installment isn't perfect, but it's well worth it. Goodreads.com: Queen of Air and Darkness, by Cassandra Clare (The Dark Artifices #3) I'm always nervous when authors re-visit their previously created worlds. When the wonder of first discovery is gone, and the characters … Continue reading Review: Queen of Air and Darkness
3 out of 5 stars After a fantastically strong start in An Ember in the Ashes and an equally sequel, A Torch Against the Night, my hopes for A Reaper at the Gates were sky high. We didn't quite get there. Goodreads.com: A Reaper at the Gates, by Sabaa Tahir (An Ember in the Ashes #3) … Continue reading Review: A Reaper at the Gates
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