Tag: young adult

Book Review – LEGEND (spoilers!)

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Title : LEGEND

Author : Nicole Conway

Publisher : Month9Books

355 pages

Rating : 4/5

Goodreads Synopsis

In a war of gods and tyrants, the will of the dragonrider must never falter.

Captured and tortured by the brutal tyrant, Argonox, Reigh’s worst fears have now been realized. Argonox has successfully twisted his mysterious dark power for a truly evil purpose—reanimating the long-deceased legendary dragonrider, Beckah Derrick, and her monstrous king drake. But Argonox’s cruelty won’t end there, and Reigh fears the worst is yet to come. Rescue is unlikely as the Tibrans prepare to make their final strike, poised to break Maldobar’s ranks of proud dragonriders once and for all.

With many of its cities already captured by the Tibran Empire, all hope now rests with Jaevid, Princess Jenna, Phillip, and their mismatched band of dragonrider allies to lead the last stand and save their kingdom. Even in such frightful times, Jaevid may find he still has a few old friends ready to take up their weapons and stand at his side again. But facing down Beckah is perhaps the one thing that might break Jaevid’s resolve. Can he really strike down the woman he used to love in order to save the kingdom?

One final battle will decide the fate of our heroes. Can the strength dragonrider prevail once again? Or will the Tibran Empire become Maldobar’s new legacy?

Review

*ebooks received in exchange for an honest review*

Friends! I’m here today to talk about the third book in the Dragonrider Legacy trilogy! I received all 3 ebooks from Month9Books for free in exchange for an honest review of the the third book, LEGEND, along with my participation in a Bookstagram tour. Many thanks to Month9Books for this opportunity 🙂

I’m going to focus on the third book for this review, so if you haven’t read the first two – look away and go get the first 2 books if you don’t want spoilers! Overall, if you like dragons, dark magic, and overthrowing tyrannical, invading overlords in bloody battles – this book series may be for you! I enjoyed the series and gave all 3 books 4 stars.

LEGEND is the epic conclusion to Reigh’s journey. Sadly, most of the book is not told from his perspective – which I found mildly strange. However, as he was a captive of the aforementioned tyrannical, invading overlord I guess it makes sense – I just wanted more Reigh in my life, along with his adorably naive cockiness! Overall, the book provided a nice ending for all characters. Reigh is acknowledged as a Prince by his father, the King, and he continues to get to know his other siblings. There’s a few good battle scenes, Jaevid does pretty awesome, demigod-like tricks and of course, they defeat the bad guy.

It killed my heart that Jaevid’s long lost love was brought back to a semblance of life to haunt him in the middle, but my heart swelled when his deal with Clysiros brought her back for good! And that ENDING. WITH KIRAN??? UGH my heart. Reigh so deserved it. I loved that he didn’t ask for any conditions in the deal, and that Jaevid thought of it for him – so considerate, and showed that Reigh really just wanted the bad guys to be gone for the good of Maldobar and Luntharda.

One critique, I wanted more closure for Reigh and Enyo. Will they stay together? Does she visit him in Maldobar? Do they ever get married?? What happened to Jenna and Phillip? Basically, I need answers. I feel like there was a lot of good closure in this series but I ALWAYS WANT MORE! Especially when love stories are involved – I want to know everything about their hopefully now mundane lives!!

I knocked this down one star because a decent bit of it was a confusing. The writing seemed a bit disjointed at times, and I felt that some transitions were lacking. Some major events occurred without enough buildup or explanation, in my opinion. HOWEVER, I would continue to read in this realm and I’ve heard (from Goodreads) that there’s a prequel series where I can read about my boy Jaevid’s first war and discovering he is the lapiloque – definitely intrigued!

OVERALL. We have dragons, war, dark magic, unconditional love – AND some pretty decent characters. Nicole Conway weaves a good mixture of those highly desirable fantasy traits that will keep you reading. I recently won a copy of Scales by Nicole Conway in a Storygram Tours giveaway, so I’m glad I have the opportunity to continue reading her work.

Happy reading friends!

May Haul

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So… I got a lot of books this month! I did such a good job last month of not really buying books, that of course I had to make up for it?? I swear my boyfriend is going to leave me one of these days if I keep coming home with Barnes and Noble’s bags full of books! Honestly, I have no space for extra books but do you see that stopping me? No ma’am! My next plan is to buy a TBR cart like those I’ve seen on Bookstagram – only when I went to buy one at Target they were out. Womp Womp.

So here’s my breakdown of my book acquisitions for this month:

BOOK BOXES:

My April and May ShelfLove Crates, May OwlCrate, Finale Special Edition OwlCrate, and Fox and Wit Kingsbane box came this month.

  1. Wicked Saints – Emily A. Duncan (artwork on reverse of dust jacket)
  2. We Hunt The Flame – Hafsah Faizal (exclusive cover)
  3. Romanov – Nadine Brandes (exclusive cover)
  4. We Hunt The Flame – (exclusive ARC cover on the reverse of dust jacket)
  5. Finale – Stephanie Garber (exclusive cover)
  6. Kingsbane – Claire Legrand (sprayed edges)

BARNES & NOBLE:

I went to B&N the Friday before Memorial Day Weekend to splurge… so here’s what I got!

  1. Gemina – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
  2. Obsidio – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
  3. Aurora Rising – Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (see a trend???)
  4. A Curse So Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer
  5. Enchantee – Gita Trelease

GIVEAWAY:

Not pictured, but I won a giveaway on Bookstagram and received one book!

  1. A Good Enough Mother – Bev Thomas

FROM LE BOYF:

The boyf picked up a book for me (totally without being asked…right…) this month and he chose…

  1. Scythe – Neal Shusterman

Let me know in the comments if you picked up any of these this month, or if you’ve read any of these! I’ve already read a few, which I’ll talk more about in my May Wrap Up post coming tomorrow!

Definitely going on a book buying ban in June……… you’re welcome boyfriend!

Book Review – The Devouring Gray

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Title : The Devouring Gray

Author : Christine Lynn Herman

Publisher : Titan Books

368 pages

Rating : 4/5

Goodreads Synopsis

On the edge of town a beast haunts the woods, trapped in the Gray, its bonds loosening…

Uprooted from the city, Violet Saunders doesn’t have much hope of fitting in at her new school in Four Paths, a town almost buried in the woodlands of rural New York. The fact that she’s descended from one of the town’s founders doesn’t help much, either—her new neighbours treat her with distant respect, and something very like fear. When she meets Justin, May, Isaac, and Harper, all children of founder families, and sees the otherworldly destruction they can wreak, she starts to wonder if the townsfolk are right to be afraid.

When bodies start to appear in the woods, the locals become downright hostile. Can the teenagers solve the mystery of Four Paths, and their own part in it, before another calamity strikes?

Review

So, my apologies for not having a picture of this book that I took myself. I was so excited to get my library books back on time today that I forgot to take a photo first! Total fail, I’ll do better next time y’all. Anyhow, I wasn’t going to let that setback keep me from reviewing this beautiful book!

The Devouring Gray is a solid book that has all the things I am drawn to in YA Fantasy books. You’ve got this group of young characters with the weight of the world on their shoulders… all while still being in high school. They all have troubled pasts or troubled presents and have a connection to each other – they must work together to save their town from the monster in the Gray. Next, you’ve got a corrupt town and a group of adults who are frankly terrible and need to go somewhere quickly. Of COURSE the kids are the only sane one’s in the whole town of Four Paths. Lastly, it’s got a town with rich history, customs, and most importantly – MAGIC!

FOUR PATHS. Basically, a long while ago four people came across a town with a monster terrorizing it. They fought the monster and took some of it’s powers, banishing it to the “Gray”. The four youngsters are all descendants of the original four who saved the town – called “founders”. The town “worships” (doesn’t apply to everyone – in comes RISING ACTION!) them, as the descendants continue to patrol the town and fend off the Gray. The one catch is not every descendant gets powers. They just complete a ritual – each family has a different one. Those who fail – generally die. In the book, the Gray is becoming stronger and the founders are becoming weaker – the four main characters must work together to weaken it once and for all.

CHARACTERS. Justin, Harper, Isaac, and Violet. All founders, different families. Harper hates Justin for a past issue, Justin holds firmly onto the guilt of what he did to Harper. Both Justin & Harper failed their rituals*. Isaac has more power than he can control, and this gets him into trouble. Violet moved to Four Paths with her mother completely unaware of her heritage – but she quickly learns, and is less than impressed. They all have a good character arc, decent back stories, and will pull at the heartstrings.

THE ADULTS. OK. Look. I get it that we adults think we’re all that and a bag of chips, but honestly these kids are smarter than the adults. Justin’s mom Augusta is the Sheriff of Four Paths, but has a power that no one knows about because it would lead to SEVERE distrust if people knew. She would NOT have any power in the town if they had any clue what she’s been doing to them. She runs the place as if she is judge, jury, AND executioner and it is ANNOYING. She can seriously leave and wouldn’t be missed. Then Harper’s dad is part of a group that is trying to overthrow Augusta – but also has a much darker mission. Again, cue STUPIDITY. They almost got their damn selves killed. SMH. But I digress.

CRITIQUE. I generally LOVED this book. I was on the edge of my seat in the beginning because this type of book really is my YA bread and butter. BUT, there were parts that were hard to understand and weren’t explained super well – basically the whole climax scene. Also, the cliffhanger was good, but not GREAT. Give me a cliffhanger that makes me NEED the next book pronto mucho. The Devouring Gray leaves you with unanswered questions and a definite opening for the sequel, but I’m not feverishly refreshing the author’s Instagram page for release updates. For these reasons, I docked it one star – 4/5.

Book Review – Autoboyography

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Title : Autoboyography

Author : Christina Lauren

Publisher : Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

407 pages

Rating : 5/5

Goodreads Synopsis

Three years ago, Tanner Scott’s family relocated from California to Utah, a move that nudged the bisexual teen temporarily back into the closet. Now, with one semester of high school to go, and no obstacles between him and out-of-state college freedom, Tanner plans to coast through his remaining classes and clear out of Utah.

But when his best friend Autumn dares him to take Provo High’s prestigious Seminar—where honor roll students diligently toil to draft a book in a semester—Tanner can’t resist going against his better judgment and having a go, if only to prove to Autumn how silly the whole thing is. Writing a book in four months sounds simple. Four months is an eternity.

It turns out, Tanner is only partly right: four months is a long time. After all, it takes only one second for him to notice Sebastian Brother, the Mormon prodigy who sold his own Seminar novel the year before and who now mentors the class. And it takes less than a month for Tanner to fall completely in love with him.

Review

“His smile ruins me.”

-Christina Lauren, Autoboyography

So last weekend I went to the Baltimore County Public Library to FINALLY get a library card. My boyfriend was very much on board with that decision as it means I will buy fewer books (at least, I let him believe that). I picked up five titles that I recognized from bookstagram but wasn’t necessarily interested in enough to buy. Autoboyography was one of them, as I tend to go on YA Fantasy kicks and forget that I also really like YA Contemporary. So, this was my change up book and holy smokes I read it all in one sitting. My favorite books are the ones that can make me invested in the character’s and their happiness.

Tanner Scott is an awkward high school senior who falls immediately in love with an unavailable college boy. His awkwardness in social situations with Sebastian had me cringing in embarrassment for him, which is the mark of a well-written novel in my eyes. Why is Sebastian unavailable you ask? He is a Mormon, and well, expected to be straight. Bit of a dilemma for a bisexual boy from the West Coast, where he is used to being accepted for his sexuality. In Utah, he has to hide the truth from everyone, as the religion is pervasive in the community. Even his mother is originally Mormon, until she was excommunicated.

Let’s get back on track. This novel had all the pieces I look for in Contemporary. When I pick up a Contemporary novel, it should be a fun and easy read. I was able to quickly dive into this world and immediately root for these characters. So let’s start there. Tanner and Autumn have a boy/girl friendship that will stand the test of time. There is the unfortunate reality that Autumn has some more than friends feels for Tanner, but it just adds to the drama of their dating life. These two are going through life just trying to survive until they can move out of Utah, as neither of them are Mormon. In walks Sebastian, the sexy TA for their Novel Writing class. He is sent immediately to help Tanner (who like any boy is behind on school work) and it was love at first sight, except for the reality that it won’t be able to work. Sebastian is deeply invested in his religion; his father is the bishop and he is only putting off his mission as he is publishing a novel and has to go on his book tour first. He fully believes in his religion and the rules set by the church, which is admirable. I love all these characters, and want to treasure them forever.

The problem, now, is that Sebastian also loves Tanner, but can’t accept that sexuality. It is expected that he marry soon, and marry a woman. He and Tanner have this deeply contentious and illicit tryst as the book continues. The hidden romance tickles that deep part of me that loves secrecy and sneaking around. NO ONE can know about them, which obviously won’t work forever. I won’t post any serious spoilers, but the middle-end is amazing and a beautiful sentiment to true love and self-acceptance.

Christina Lauren’s writing style flows easily and allows you to get sucked into this world where religion is everything and outsiders are to be kept at a distance. It is a coming of age story and the LGBTQIAP rep is so needed at this point in time. It gives me heart when characters casually have same sex relationships and the rep honestly needs to continue to grow. Add in the complexities of sexuality and religion? And you have my attention.

Go pick this one up if you’re looking for a heartwarming, easy, beach read that will make you internally cheer for the character’s triumphs and cringe for their awkwardness.