Book Review :: FABLE

  

Book: FABLE by Adrienne Young

Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Wednesday Books / Macmillan
Source: ARC via NetGalley! / Audiobook via Libby

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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Filled with all of the action, emotion, and lyrical writing that brought readers to Sky in the Deep, New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young returns with Fable, the first book in this new captivating duology.

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Goodreads Summary:

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men.

For seventeen-year-old Fable, the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home she has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one, and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father, and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him, and Fable soon finds that West isn't who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they're going to stay alive.

Fable takes you on a spectacular journey filled with romance, intrigue, and adventure.

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
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Book Review :: THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE

 

Book: THE INVISIBLE LIFE OF ADDIE LARUE by V.E. Schwab

Genre: Fiction (Historical?)
Series: N/A
Publisher: Tor Books / Macmillan
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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“For someone damned to be forgettable, Addie LaRue is a most delightfully unforgettable character, and her story is the most joyous evocation of unlikely immortality.”
— Neil Gaiman, author of American Gods and winner of multiple Nebula, Hugo, and Locus Awards

“Addie Larue is a book perfectly suspended between darkness and light, myth and reality. [This novel] is—ironically—unforgettable.”  

—Hugo Award winner Alix E. Harrow, author of The Ten Thousand Doors of January

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Goodreads Summary:

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Book Review :: SURRENDER YOUR SONS

Book: SURRENDER YOUR SONS by Adam Sass

Genre: Thriller
Series: N/A
Publisher: Flux // North Star Editions
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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[ TK ] 

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Goodreads Summary:

Connor Major’s summer break is turning into a nightmare. His SAT scores bombed, the old man he delivers meals to died, and when he came out to his religious zealot mother, she had him kidnapped and shipped off to a secluded island. His final destination: Nightlight Ministries, a conversion therapy camp that will be his new home until he “changes.” But Connor’s troubles are only beginning. At Nightlight, everyone has something to hide from the campers to the “converted” staff and cagey camp director, and it quickly becomes clear that no one is safe. Connor plans to escape and bring the other kidnapped teens with him. But first, he’s exposing the camp’s horrible truths for what they are— and taking this place down.

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Book Review :: A CURSE SO DARK LONELY

Book: A CURSE SO DARK AND LONELY by Brigid Kemmerer

Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Cursebreaker series #1
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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"Has everything you'd want in a retelling of a classic fairy tale." - Jodi Picoult, New York Times bestselling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great Things

In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer.

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Goodreads Summary:

Fall in love, break the curse.

It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.

Nothing has ever been easy for Harper. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world.

Break the curse, save the kingdom.

A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Book Review :: DATE ME, BRYSON KELLER

Book: DATE ME, BRYSON KELLER by Kevin van Whye

Genre: Contemporary
Series: N/A
Publisher: Random House for Young Readers / Penguin
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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What If It's Us meets To All the Boys I've Loved Before in this upbeat and heartfelt boy-meets-boy romance that feels like a modern twist on a '90s rom-com!

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Goodreads Summary:

Everyone knows about the dare: Each week, Bryson Keller must date someone new--the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. He may be the king of Fairvale Academy, but he's never really dated before.

Until a boy asks him out, and everything changes.

Kai Sheridan didn't expect Bryson to say yes. So when Bryson agrees to secretly go out with him, Kai is thrown for a loop. But as the days go by, he discovers there's more to Bryson beneath the surface, and dating him begins to feel less like an act and more like the real thing. Kai knows how the story of a gay boy liking someone straight ends. With his heart on the line, he's awkwardly trying to navigate senior year at school, at home, and in the closet, all while grappling with the fact that this "relationship" will last only five days. After all, Bryson Keller is popular, good-looking, and straight . . . right?

Kevin van Whye delivers an uplifting and poignant coming-out love story that will have readers rooting for these two teens to share their hearts with the world--and with each other.

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Book Review :: THE SHADOWS BETWEEN US

Book: THE SHADOWS BETWEEN US by Tricia Levenseller
Genre: Fantasy
Series: N/A
Publisher: Feiwell and Friends / Macmillan
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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Tricia Levenseller, author of Daughter of the Pirate King, is back with an epic YA tale of ambition and love in The Shadows Between Us…

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Goodreads Summary:

“They’ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart. And they never will.”

Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:
1) Woo the Shadow King.
2) Marry him.
3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.

But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?

“Tricia Levenseller’s latest, The Shadows Between Us, is a decadent and wickedly addictive fantasy, full of schemes and court intrigue, and delightful descriptions of food, which I am always a fan of.” —Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Three Dark Crowns series

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Book Review :: DARK SHORES

Book: Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Dark Shores #1
Publisher: Tor Teen / Macmillan
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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High seas adventure, blackmail, and meddling gods meet in Dark Shores, a thrilling first novel in a fast-paced new YA fantasy series by USA Today bestselling author Danielle L. Jensen.

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Goodreads Summary:

In a world divided by meddlesome gods and treacherous oceans, only the Maarin possess the knowledge to cross the Endless Seas. But they have one mandate: East must never meet West.

A SAILOR WITH A WILL OF IRON

Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets, but when her closest friend is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Teriana breaks her people’s mandate so her friend might escape—a choice with devastating consequences.

A SOLDIER WITH A SECRET

Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. The legion is his family, but even they don’t know the truth he’s been hiding since childhood. It’s a secret he’ll do anything to protect, no matter how much it costs him – and the world.

A DANGEROUS QUEST

When an Empire senator discovers the existence of the Dark Shores, he captures Teriana’s crew and threatens to reveal Marcus’s secret unless they sail in pursuit of conquest, forcing the two into an unlikely—and unwilling—alliance. They unite for the sake of their families, but both must decide how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to sacrifice.

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Book Review :: FIREBORNE

Book: FIREBORNE by Rosaria Munda
Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Aurelian Cycle #1
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers / Penguin
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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"Fireborne is everything I want in fantasy."--Rachel Hartman, New York Times bestselling author of Seraphina

Game of Thrones meets Red Rising in a debut young adult fantasy that's full of rivalry, romance . . . and dragons.

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Goodreads Summary:


Annie and Lee were just children when a brutal revolution changed their world, giving everyone—even the lowborn—a chance to test into the governing class of dragonriders.

Now they are both rising stars in the new regime, despite backgrounds that couldn’t be more different. Annie’s lowborn family was executed by dragonfire, while Lee’s aristocratic family was murdered by revolutionaries. Growing up in the same orphanage forged their friendship, and seven years of training have made them rivals for the top position in the dragonriding fleet.

But everything changes when survivors from the old regime surface, bent on reclaiming the city.

With war on the horizon and his relationship with Annie changing fast, Lee must choose to kill the only family he has left or to betray everything he’s come to believe in. And Annie must decide whether to protect the boy she loves . . . or step up to be the champion her city needs.

From debut author Rosaria Munda comes a gripping adventure that calls into question which matters most: the family you were born into, or the one you’ve chosen.

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ .5!
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Book Review :: CROWN OF CORAL AND PEARL

Book: CROWN OF CORAL AND PEARL by Mara Rutherford
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Crown of Coral and Pearl #1
Publisher: Inkyard Press / Harlequin
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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For generations, the princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. But though every girl longs to be chosen as the next princess, the cost of becoming royalty is higher than any of them could ever imagine...

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Goodreads Summary:


Nor once dreamed of seeing the wondrous wealth and beauty of Ilara, the kingdom that’s ruled her village for as long as anyone can remember. But when a childhood accident left her with a permanent scar, it became clear that her identical twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the Crown Prince—while Nor remained behind, unable to ever set foot on land.

Then Zadie is gravely injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. To Nor’s dismay, her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home—a castle carved into a mountain and devoid of sunlight. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, the charming Prince Talin, Nor uncovers startling truths about a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen… and a plot to destroy the home she was once so eager to leave.

In order to save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules. But discovering her own formidable strength may be the one move that costs her everything: the crown, Varenia and Zadie.

My Review: ⭐⭐
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Book Review :: SORCERY OF THORNS

Book: SORCERY OF THORNS by Margaret Rogerson
Genre: Fantasy
Series: N/A
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books / Simon and Schuster
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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From the New York Times bestselling author of An Enchantment of Ravens comes an imaginative fantasy about an apprentice at a magical library who must battle a powerful sorcerer to save her kingdom.

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Goodreads Summary:


All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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Book Review :: THE STORM CROW

Book: THE STORM CROW by Kalyn Josephson
Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Storm Crow #1
Publisher: Sourcebooks / Sourcebooks Fire
Source: ARC via NetGalley!

Where to Buy: Shop local! Find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound!

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Eragon meets And I Darken in this thrilling new fantasy debut that follows a fallen princess as she ignites a rebellion to bring back the magical elemental crows that were taken from her people.

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Goodreads Summary:

In the tropical kingdom of Rhodaire, magical, elemental Crows are part of every aspect of life...until the Illucian empire invades, destroying everything.

That terrible night has thrown Princess Anthia into a deep depression. Her sister Caliza is busy running the kingdom after their mother's death, but all Thia can do is think of all she has lost.

But when Caliza is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and the crown prince of Illucia, Thia is finally spurred into action. And after stumbling upon a hidden Crow egg in the rubble of a rookery, she and her sister devise a dangerous plan to hatch the egg in secret and get back what was taken from them.

My Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ .5!
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