Category Archives: Fantasy

Diamond City by Francesca Flores

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Diamond City by Francesca Flores is a book about a girl named Aina Solis who was orphaned as a child and was trained into a skilled assassin. Flores does an amazing job describing the characters and their personalities; one could instantly tell what the characters’ relation to Aina was and how Aina felt about them. There was the perfect amount of detail, not too much not too little, which was a very big highlight as every detail was needed and it made the book much more fascinating.

I love how the plot had an interesting climax which many readers may not have expected and it is at the forefront of the story. I adore how this book made Aina’s motives and traits match up with her actions, it enhanced the story and made sense for her character to make certain decisions in contrast to certain events. While I do enjoy love interests and a romantic story-line, I feel that the theme of romance not being at the forefront of the story made the story not only more interesting but also very fascinating for this storyline and I’m glad that the book focused more on the main climax rather then hopping around to different subjects or thoughts which could have been done easily and could have made the book less enjoyable. 

While the theme of romance wasn’t prominent, the book still has great LGBTQ+ representation with the main character Aina being bisexual. It was done incredibly and the reader was aware of this due to spectacular moments in the book which were done very subtly but left a very big impact on the reader.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it’s very promising. I would definitely recommend this book as it is written extraordinarily and is so intriguing.

Wings of Ebony by J. Elle

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Wings of Ebony by J. Elle is a relatively short fantasy novel that centers on the protagonist Rue. After the death of her mother, Rue discovers her godly ancestry and is taken to a place called Ghizon where her powers are unlocked. She meets her father in the process who impacts Rue’s development throughout the story. When her sister back in the real world is endangered, Rue does everything she can to save her, except there’s one problem—Rue can’t touch humans anymore because it is not allowed due to its consequences.

One thing I adored about the book was the POC representation. J. Elle did a good job of making themes in this book align to present day problems, like cultural appropriation and racism. Additionally, the fact that the protagonist was a strong female was empowering. 

I am typically a person who likes to read fast-paced novels, which made Wings of Ebony hard to get into in the beginning. J. Elle went thoroughly in depth with details, which results in good world building. However, in some parts of the novel, the overindulgence of details took away from the plot. 

While details were not always my favorite part of this book, the details about Rue’s connection with her sister were my favorite parts of the novel. As a person with a sister, I could relate to a lot of Rue’s motivations when it came to protecting her sister. Also, I am not a person who tends to gravitate towards romance in novels, so seeing the connection between sisters rather than a love-interest was refreshing. With this being said, there was still romance in the novel, but it was never overbearing and instead complemented the plot nicely. 

Overall, I enjoyed Wings of Ebony and it was a nice book, but it may not have been for me. Nonetheless, it is still a book I would recommend to others to pick up because of its POC representation, applicable themes, and the heartwarming sisterhood. 

Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson

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The book “Sing Me Forgotten” by Jessica S. Olson is a heart wrenching, gender swapped story based on “The Phantom of the Opera”. I am not familiar with “The Phantom of the Opera” myself so I don’t know how they compare, but I really enjoyed this book. It is about a girl, Isda, who is a gravior who lives in the dungeons of an opera house. Her mother tried to kill Idsa when she was born because graviors are believed to be dangerous due to their powers. When a person sings, Idsa can look into their memories and manipulate their emotions. The only reason Isda is still alive is because of Cyril who saved her from the well when her mother tried to kill her. Cyril is the owner of the opera house and lets Idsa live there since she can change how people feel about the performance which assures that the opera house stays in business. Isda is okay living in the opera house and experiencing the outside world through the memories of other people until she meets Emeric, who dreams of becoming a singer. When Emeric and Isda accidentally meet one night, Idsa offers to give him vocal lessons secretly. Isda sees this as a chance to look into Emeric’s past and learn new ways to use her powers, and to ensure that he stays at the opera house forever. The forbidden friendship between them quickly becomes more as together they discover the pure hatred society shoves toward things they fear. 
I really liked Isda’s character development throughout the story. She starts out as an outcast who’s too afraid to stand up for herself because she’s afraid she will become a monster. After she meets Emeric and starts giving him lessons, she starts to grow out of that fear and is more bold when talking to Cyril. When she finds out about Emeric’s sister she is brave enough to sneak into Cyril’s office and steal his book about graviors, which allows her to learn more about her powers. During the masquerade ball when her mask is taken off and her true identity is revealed she fights for her life and starts to care less about becoming a monster. At the end of the book when she saves Emeric from Cyril, she stops caring about trying to prove that graviors aren’t monsters and becomes one herself. I just like how she goes from actively making a point to not become what society thinks she is, to then realising that her only option is to do just that. For that reason, my favorite character is probably Isda, however I also really liked Emeric. He’s really sweet and cares a lot about Isda and his sister and just is an all-around nice person. I would recommend this book to any fan of “The Phantom of the Opera” since this book is based on that. I would also recommend this book to anyone who likes romance or slow-burn stories. 

Faith Taking Flight by Julie Murphy

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A lot of people have told me over this quarantine that they’ve gotten into things that they previously weren’t as interested in. Whether said interest was a new Netflix show, virtual yoga, or becoming a less-than-expert chef, the common theme seems to be that people are trying something new. And as I am no exception, my “new thing” during this pandemic has been superheroes. I was always more of a fantasy person, but recently I’ve become obsessed with these heroic stories. However, as I watched every Marvel movie available and read every comic strip in the house, I noticed something common about every hero pictured in these stories. Almost every single one of them seemed to be straight, white, and thin. And that’s where Faith Taking Flight comes in. 

“Faith Taking Flight” by Julie Murphy is the first in a duology that tells the origin story of superhero Zephyr from the Valient Comics universe. Faith is a pretty average 16 year old, who spends her time volunteering at the local animal shelter, writing for her school’s journalism club, and hanging out with her two best friends, Ches and Matt. However, she has a secret, and it’s a pretty big one- she recently discovered she is able to fly. Throughout the story, Faith must learn to control her newfound powers in order to save everyone she loves from a mysterious group wreaking havoc on her town. 

Faith is a hilarious and witty protagonist, and in addition to her charming personality, she’s also plus-size and queer, two things that are scarce in the superhero realm. And the best part is that these two traits aren’t the main focus of the book. It was really refreshing to see a story about an LGBTQ person where their sexuality isn’t the main focus. Murphy did a great job of making sure readers would see representation, while also making it clear that Faith’s weight and sexuality doesn’t define her. And it makes for some pretty cute LGBTQ romance, too!

Although the beginning of the book was a bit confusing, I really enjoyed Faith’s story. It is rich with suspense, mystery, and action, and although the plot twists were slightly predictable, I appreciated them all the same. I personally can’t see myself rereading this book, but I really liked the diversity and charm it brings to the superhero world. And I really hope to see most superheroes like Faith in the future!

 

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

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 Namina Forna has created an intriguing and captivating world in her novel The Gilded Ones. A world in which women are subjugated to men, and monstrous deathshrieks roam the land. When Deka is revealed to have the cursed gold blood, marking her as a demon, her only choice is to join the emperor’s army and be trained as a soldier to fight the deathshrieks. However, what she learns there changes her world forever. Maybe the deathshrieks aren’t the monsters she was taught to believe?

I give props to Namina Forna for creating an original, and exciting storyline. While areas of the story and characters may have been underdeveloped, it’s impressive the amount of action and plot she managed to get through in 400 pages. I also enjoyed the strong female heroines, and sense of sisterhood Forna added to this novel. In a world dominated by men, she shows the strength, perseverance, and intelligence that only comes from bringing women together.

Throughout the book Namina held my attention, and while I don’t see myself rereading it, I enjoyed it. The Gilded Ones is a fun, light read for those obsessed with fantasy, adventure, and discovering new worlds.

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

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When I first heard about Wayward Son, I was dubious. After all, the first book (Carry On) was essentially a Harry Potter fanfic from a book about fanfiction, and it seemed as if it had been pretty thoroughly wrapped up. The premise of the second book is a time honored favorite among fanfiction authors as well— a road trip. Hearing this, I naturally assumed that it would be a fluffy, feel-good story about the main characters post-adventure shenanigans. Perfect, I thought, for a quick, cute read as I waited for the final book in my favorite trilogy to be released. I would already know the characters and the world, Rowell is always fun, it will be a fast, fairly easy read. I mean, it’s a road trip fic. 

    Going in with these expectations I was somewhat surprised when right from the start the book did its best to defy conventions. The initial chapters address the fallout from the events of book one. Simon is suffering from depression as he struggles with a bevy of repressed issues, ranging from the loss of his powers to figuring out that has been in love with Baz this entire time. Stuck between the worlds of Mages and Mundanes by his lost magic and newly gained wings and tail, Simon has been living with Penny and Baz as they all try and figure out their lives after the events of Carry On. As the story progresses, we see development in the characters, but this angst persists in a way that is unusual in books of its kind.

It is here that the series’ quick POV switches and short chapters truly shine, as we alternate between Baz, Simon, Penny and occasionally Agatha away in California. Because of the short chapters and informal format, Rowell is able to switch points of view without disrupting the narrative, a feat few multiperspective books manage to achieve. It is this seamless transition that allows the reader to see different parts of the story, without being taken out of the storytelling. This is incredibly important as a reader, since all of the main charactes are extremely unreliable, and only when we are allowed to compare and contrast their perspectives on a situation does that situation become clear.

Still, the tone doesn’t quite work. It is a subversion of the usual road trip tropes, yes, but the pacing is a little off, and the end result is a book that feels like the author tried to put multiple plots into one novel. It is readable, and it is entertaining, but the plot was weaker than that of the first book. The villains in particular felt like fillers, a big baddie that could be easily defeated in one book and a blaze of glory. Which would have been fine, except that a recurring conflict througout the book was dealing with the four main character’s mental health and their struggle with various traumas. This ended up as a ridiculously underutilized plot point considering that it had so much more potential and was far more interesting to me as a reader than the bad guys ever were. 

So it is that the worldbuilding ends up being the strongest part of the book, which came as a surprise. The first book established a Harry Potter style world, you knew the general rules but that was about it and in the end that was all you really needed to know. But in book two our main characters are in a foreign country (America, which added a running gag of culture shock) and have to learn new rules and come to terms with some of the realities of the magical world. This is aided greatly by the introduction of some new characters of differing backgrounds who pop up in later chapters and give some much needed context. And while a lot of the ideas presented are as yet undeveloped, or at least underdeveloped, I have hope that further exploration will happen in book three. Overall, Wayward Son is a solid YA. You don’t want to think too hard or else it unravels, but it is engaging and fast paced enough to be forgiven.

   

Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

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The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi is an extremely compelling novel about an alternate history of 1800s Paris. Upon opening the book you are immediately thrown into a world with a type of magical technology and a crew, made up of long time friends with different specialties, who find themselves on a heist. This world is so lush and detailed and complex, but my only criticism is that there were times when I got a bit lost in all of the information while reading it. However, this is made up for with the beautiful and vivid imagery, as well as the misfit gang of enjoyable characters it follows. The book is written in such a way that you can get a glimpse into the minds of each member of the diverse cast, while also getting an understanding of their makeshift family. The story takes you on a ride of twists and turns, constantly leaving you on the edge of your seat. I don’t want to say too much so as not to spoil it, but I would highly recommend this book, and I sincerely look forward to the rest of the series.

A previous review of this book by a different reviewer can be found here.

A Treason of Thorns by Laura E. Weymouth

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A Treason of Thorns surprised me. I had seen references to it in the past, the premise sounded good, and the cover was pretty— although I am still unsure where the title comes from, but it got my attention, so I suppose it did what it was supposed to. But the point is, it wasn’t high on my TBR. Coming out of a reading slump and bored during quarantine, I picked it up on a whim. I had read the author’s debut novel (The Light Between Worlds), and while I liked it, I wouldn’t have gone out of my way to recommend it to book club, per say. But while The Light Between Worlds was a slow, reflective read, A Treason of Thorns picked up the pace quite nicely. It has a simple but compelling plot, interesting characters and an overarching question about the importance of the roles we choose and the ones that are chosen for us.
A Treason of Thorns is set in what seems to be early post Elizabethan era Britain, although to my remembrance, there were no specified dates. However, in this version of the past, there exists a magical phenomenon known as the Great Houses, magical, sentient estates scattered across the world. In Britain, these houses are bound by magic to the Crown, and their power can only be safely channeled by the caretakers, men and women who live in and love the Great Houses. These caretakers use magical keys in order to use their House’s magic to help the surrounding countryside flourish. This is not a wholly unique premise, but it is unusual enough to still be a novelty, which is an unfortunate rarity in YA fantasy.
Our protagonist and narrator, Violet Sterling (Vi for short), grew up in Burly House, one of the six Great Houses of Britain. Her father, George Sterling, is the caretaker, and is grooming Vi to be his successor. Her mother left when Vi was a child, unable and unwilling to be a part of a family in which Burly House came first, above anything and anyone, and unable to take an unwilling Vi with her. So Vi grows up isolated, with her father often away on caretaker’s business, and her mother starting a second family. Left with Burly House and her father’s ward (and Vi’s best friend), Win, Vi roams the grounds with her house and her playmate, dreaming of the day when she will become caretaker.
But when her father is convicted of treason, and sentenced to house arrest (a cruel punishment that eventually forces the House to kill its caretaker), she loses everything. Her father will not be alive the next time she sees him, Burly House is closed to her until he is dead, and for unknown reasons, her father forced Win to stay behind. Now, seven years later, Vi has been living in the Fens with an old couple who used to work as house and groundskeepers. When she gets the news that her father is dead and Burly has once again opened its gates, Violet makes a deal with the king and races home. But what she finds is nothing like what she remembers. Burly is in pain and disrepair, and Win is distant and in as much of a hurry to leave as she is to return.
This was a fun ride. I probably won’t reread it, but it made for excellent escapism. Weymouth isn’t one for a lot of action, but she is excellent at creating meaningful relationships of various sorts between characters and these relationships and how they are used generate much of the drama and intrigue that keeps you turning pages. All in all, I really enjoyed A Treason of Thorns— it was entertaining and engaging and as I said, it made for great escapism.

Don’t Call the Wolf by Aleksandra Ross

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Don’t Call the Wolf, by Aleksandra Ross tells the breathtaking story of Lukasz, a famous Wolf-Lord who kills monsters and dragons for a living, and Ren, the young queen of the forest who’s half-lynx, half-human. Lukasz was once one of ten Wolf-Lords. The brothers were an unstoppable team. But one by one, they all got called back to their home in the Mountains by a familiar tug for the same reason: to kill the Golden Dragon. After Lukasz’s last remaining brother, Franciszek, leaves for the Mountains, he realizes he must kill the dragon to continue his brothers’ legacy and hopefully find Franciszek. He meets Ren in her magnificent fury, and a spark erupts. She tells him that the dragon is destroying her forest and the animals she rules over. The two of them form a promise: she will help him find his brother, and he will slay the dragon. They embark on a long journey filled with colorful characters, littered with monsters, and brimming with magic.
Ross writes this incredibly complex tale with plot twists and dangerous fight scenes jumping off the pages, while devotion and romance fill the chapters. The vocabulary is composed of Polish and European pronunciations and spellings for added character. Don’t Call the Wolf is a perfect story for any classic YA lovers; it’s packed with adventure, magic, imagination, and fantasy, with a smattering of romance.

The Queen’s Assassin by Melissa De La Cruz

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Shadow is a young girl, living with her two aunts in a small cottage (definitely gives off Sleeping Beauty vibes) training to be a noblewoman meant to go live in the castle with her mother – although it is never mentioned who her mother is or why she’s training, although, the “who” and “why” is pretty clear from the start of the story, if paid close attention to.
However, Shadow is not in the mood to be all noble and dainty. She’d rather join and become a member of the Guild – a network of spies/assassins working for the Queen of Renovia – and fight for her country.
Caledon Holt/Cal is the Queen’s deadliest, most feared assassin who does his job with utmost perfection, no wonder he’s the queen’s favorite. However, Cal didn’t want to be a servant of the kingdom but was forced to take up the job, because of a blood promise made by his father. Now all Cal wants, is to find the scrolls that Queen wants and free himself from his duty and promise.
When Cal kills the King’s brother, Grand Prince Alast, whilst saving Shadow (whom he doesn’t know at the time), he is deemed a traitor and is sent to prison by the Queen. Shadow sees this as a way out of her imperial duties and hatches a plan to save Cal, by freeing him from prison and posing as his apprentice to help him in his mission. What she doesn’t know is that Cal is just feigning the whole arrest, so as to complete the plan laid out by the Queen herself.
Unbeknown to each other’s secrets and purposes, they both set out together to find the scrolls that hold all information regarding the magic in the country, and what could either be the uprise or the downfall of their kingdom, depending on who gets it. Along the way they’re going to have to battle evil monks, suspicious hosts, each other, especially when it comes to their own feelings for one another that just seems to be growing…
Albeit a confusing start, the book manages to grasp the reader’s attention within a few chapters. What I appreciated most about the book was its fast-paced plotline, diving straight into who the characters are, what they want, and how they are going to get it – the adventure starts off almost instantly, keeping your attention entirely fixed on every word. If you are a fan of fast-paced, fantasy books, this one is definitely an add-on to your TBR list.