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The Oddling Prince Book Review
The Oddling Prince by Nancy Springer From Goodreads: In the ancient moors of Scotland, the king of Calidon lies on his deathbed, cursed by a ring that cannot be removed from his finger. When a mysterious fey stranger appears to save the king, he also carries a secret that could tear the royal family apart. The kingdom’s only hope will lie with two young men raised worlds apart. Aric is the beloved heir to the throne of Calidon; Albaric is clearly of noble origin yet strangely out of place. The Oddling Prince is a tale of brothers whose love and loyalty to each other is such that it defies impending warfare, sundering seas,…
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Valley Girls Book Review
Valley Girls by Sarah Nicole Lemon Seventeen-year-old Rilla is a party queen, driven from her home in West Virginia to her park ranger sister’s place in Yosemite National Park. Determined to forge a new identity she can be proud of, Rilla charms her way into a tight-knit group of climbers. Talking to them, Rilla can’t help but be seduced by the unique opportunities she’s been granted. Not wishing to squander them, she sets her sights on climbing El Capitan, one of the most challenging routes in Yosemite, and her summer becomes one harrowing and ecstatic experience after another: first climb, first fall two thousand feet in the air, first love. Rilla…
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Shatter Me Book Review
Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi Juliette can’t touch people. She’s been locked away in an asylum by the Restablishment government for murder. Every time someone brushes against her, Juliette’s power causes severe pain, and if she doesn’t push them away, it can prove fatal. Left to the cruel isolation of the asylum, Juliette hasn’t spoken a word in 264 days. She’s been all but forgotten about. Meanwhile, disease, poverty and global warming are destroying the population outside of Juliette’s cell. But all that is about to change. Now, the Restablishment have remembered Juliette and her abilities. Now they’re considering using her as a weapon. Now Juliette has to decide if she’s a…
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Invictus Short Book Review
Invictus by Ryan Graudin From Goodreads: Time flies when you’re plundering history. Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 AD, Far’s birth defies the laws of nature. Exploring history himself is all he’s ever wanted, and after failing his final time-traveling exam, Far takes a position commanding a ship with a crew of his friends as part of a black market operation to steal valuables from the past. But during a heist on the sinking Titanic, Far meets a mysterious girl who always seems to be one step ahead of him. Armed with…
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Shadowblack Short Book Review
Shadowblack by Sebastien de Castell From Goodreads: It’s a few months since Kellen left his people behind. Now aged sixteen, Kellen is an outlaw, relying on his wits to keep him alive in the land of the Seven Sands. He misses home, he misses family and more than anything, he misses Nephenia, the girl he left behind. Then he meets Seneira, a blindfolded girl who isn’t blind, and who carries a secret that’s all too familiar to Kellen. Kellen and Ferius resolve to help – but the stakes are far higher than they realise. A Shadowblack plague is taking hold – and Kellen can’t help but suspect his own people may even…
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This Mortal Coil Book Review
This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada From Goodreads: Catarina Agatta is a hacker. She can cripple mainframes and crash through firewalls, but that’s not what makes her special. In Cat’s world, people are implanted with technology to recode their DNA, allowing them to change their bodies in any way they want. And Cat happens to be a gene-hacking genius. That’s no surprise, since Cat’s father is Dr. Lachlan Agatta, a legendary geneticist who may be the last hope for defeating a plague that has brought humanity to the brink of extinction. But during the outbreak, Lachlan was kidnapped by a shadowy organization called Cartaxus, leaving Cat to survive the last two years on…
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The Hazel Wood Book Review
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert From Goodreads: Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice’s life on the road, always a step ahead of the uncanny bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, the Hazel Wood, Alice learns how bad her luck can really get: her mother is stolen away―by a figure who claims to come from the Hinterland, the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother’s stories are set. Alice’s only lead is the message her mother left behind: “Stay away from the Hazel Wood.” Alice has long steered clear…
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Unveiling Venus Book Review
Unveiling Venus by Sophia Bennett P.S. This review contains SPOILERS for book one, so if you haven’t read Following Ophelia but want to, please click away now! Mary Adams, once a servant, has now firmly put aside her old life to become Persephone Lavelle– a muse for great artists and a glamorous socialite. But even someone as admired as Persephone has some skeletons in her closet. Having promised to stay away from Felix (a struggling artists) to keep her cousin and niece off the streets, Persephone has no choice but to flee from her feelings. Rather than admit defeat however, she decides to embrace her new-found socialite status. With her best friend Kitty…
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The Cruel Prince Book Review
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black From Goodreads: Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever. And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe. Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially…
