Category: Fantasy

The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black – #BookReview

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Goodreads: The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1)
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Panda Rating:

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 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 Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences. As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

I read this book for the first time last year and I remember reaching the end and thinking HOLY HELL WTF JUST HAPPENED. Then I realized I had to wait a year to get The Wicked King. Fast forward to now, over a year later, I’ve got TWK in my hands but I haven’t read it yet because I wanted to do a re-read of The Cruel Prince first. In all honesty, I didn’t remember much about the characters or what happened in the story since a year passed. Having finished my second read, my rating is around 3.5-4 stars.

TCP was a fast, engaging read and I found myself flipping through the chapters in record time. I loved the faerie world depicted by Black. It’s full of dark, twisted and evil creatures and it’s almost completely unforgiving, especially if you’re a human. There are so many magical and astonishing creatures that my mind was scrambling to imagine, and THE FOOD! The way that Black describes the food in faerie was mouth-watering. I don’t know how any human could resist it because I would’ve been all over that faster than you can say stop! I really enjoyed the world building, and the thought of a magical world of faerie existing just beyond our sky’s edge and just out of our reach, is always an exciting thought for the kid and fantasy lover in me.

The story was told through Jude’s perspective and I can’t quite make up my mind on how I feel about her. I don’t like her much but I also don’t hate her? She’s selfish and destructive, often makes really questionable decisions, but at the same time… I can’t fault her for being the way she is for having grown up in a world like faerie. She’s consumed by fear 100% of the time, but she turns that fear into something more and it’s really admirable because she’s doing what she needs to survive. She’s gone through some hella traumatic shit, including having to live with her parent’s murderer, and she grows to love him despite what he’s done and despite his violent and calculating nature. If all of that doesn’t mess a person up, I don’t know what will. I grew to like her more in the second-half of the book though. Her ruthlessness and her very twisted relationship with Cardan was a delight to watch play out. Cardan started out as the typical bully and asshole of a prince, who was especially cruel (hence, Cruel Prince) to everyone who displeased him. But as we learn more about his character, we see there’s a lot more than meets the eye, and I did feel for his character (although that doesn’t justify his cruel bullying actions).

The majority of the characters in TCP were (very) morally grey and I think that’s what made the book all the more exciting. Faerie land is nothing like a fairy tale. Everyone is cunning, looking out for themselves, weaving magic with words to avoid telling the truth without outright lying. I was surprised by how political the story was. There’s a lot of royal faerie family drama, including a slew of deaths that reminds me very much of the infamous Red Wedding scene from GoT. It kept me on my toes though! The moral greyness of the characters only proved itself as the second-half of the book progressed and that sneaky ending was just perfection! Oh, I remember how shook I was when reading it the first time. SO SNEAKY!

I enjoyed TCP but it wasn’t my favorite fantasy or the best I’ve ever read. I’m glad that I read it the first time without the hype because if this was my first read of it, I would’ve been pretty disappointed considering how big of a deal it is. That said, I’m really looking forward to finally starting The Wicked King and to see what happens next in this cutthroat fairy world.

Have you read The Cruel Prince? What’d you think of it? Live up to the hype or nah? Leave me a comment below and let’s chat!

Sparrowhawk #1 by Delilah S. Dawson – #ARC #GraphicNovel #Review

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Goodreads: Sparrowhawk #1
Publish date: 20 August 2019
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Genre: Fantasy, Graphic Novel, Comic
Rating:

Teen Victorian fairy fight club! As the illegitimate daughter of a Naval Captain, Artemesia has never fit in with her father’s family, nor the high class world to which they belong. However, when she is targeted by the Faerie Queen and pulled into another realm, she has no choice but to try and save the world that has always hated her. Writer Delilah S. Dawson (Hellboy: An Assortment of Horror, Star Wars: Forces of Destiny) and artist Matias Basla (The Claw and Fang) present a beautiful, gripping tale perfect for fans of Labyrinth and Princeless. 

Sparrowhawk is a fast paced, well drawn comic. The artwork is full of bold colors although the style itself is not one that I’m usually drawn to or prefer. That said, I thought it suited the strangeness of this story. I liked the artwork on the chapter/title pages more than I did the artwork throughout the comic, but I loved the contrast of the colorful against the brutal, gruesome and dark faerie world story. The plot itself reminded me of elements of Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland, which the author also mentioned as her inspiration in the afterword.

I found the story interesting. Artemesia is the daughter of a colonizer and a slave woman who grew up in a family that was cruel and didn’t want her. After being forced into a situation she doesn’t want to be in, Art finds herself being pulled into the faerie realm, having been replaced by the Faerie Queen in her world. In faerie, Art meets a demonic bunny (reminiscent of the cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland) who makes a pact to help her get back home, in exchange for one of Art’s memories. Art must go through faerie slaying monstrosities in order to get back home, and along the way she encounters both the good and evil creatures of faerie, including the gentle faerie prince, whom she falls in love with. How far will she go to get back home?

Art was a strong willed character who was fiercely determined to go home. Her transformation from a thoughtful human, to a monster who enjoys killing as much as any unseelie, was disturbing. It begs the question: how far would you go to do what you think is right, even if it turns you into someone who you don’t like. The side characters were all very interesting as well and although he was an evil, twisted thing I really enjoyed the demonic bunny’s character.

I liked the sinister vibes of the ending and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next and how Art will deal with the repercussions of her actions.

Thanks to NetGalley and BOOM! Studios for providing the e-ARC for an honest review.
Have you read Sparrowhawk? Loved it? Hated it? Meh about it? Come let me know in the comments and let’s chat!

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo – #BookReview

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Goodreads: The Poet X
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary, Poetry
Rating:

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself.

So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems.

Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent. 

An honest and beautiful book written in a unique format about a young woman finding herself and her place a world that tells her she’s too much or not enough through the art of spoken word poetry. Would 100% recommend listening to the audiobook while following along with the book!

This was my first time reading a novel in this format, poetry, and while it made it a really unique, enjoyable and fast read, I also felt a little disconnected to many of the characters, except Xiomara. Of course, this was her story. Her thoughts and emotions come through very strongly through Acevedo’s writing and what made me appreciate the style more was listening to it being read by the author on audiobook (which I followed along to with the physical book). The author herself is a spoken word poet and I loved that this was the something that Xiomara was so passionate about. Following Xio’s journey of finding herself through poetry, navigating first love with Aman, maintaining the close bond with her twin Xavier and her best friend Caridad, and dealing with the tumultuous relationship with her extremely pious mother was a very intimate experience.

“And I think about all the things we could be if we were never told our bodies were not built for them.” 

There are a lot of issues tackled within this story and considering it’s told in verse, I thought that they were explored well. Xiomara is a very empowering, driven and smart character who was trying so hard to find her place and where she fit in a society where she has been over sexualized and objectified, and made to feel not good enough. She has for so long let her fists do her talking for her until the day she discovers slam poetry. The way she slowly comes to understand how she sees the world, where she fits in the world, and grows to find beauty in her skin through the power of spoken word poetry is so very beautiful.

“When has anyone ever told me
I had the right to stop it all
without my knuckles, or my anger,
with just some simple words.”

That said, I found the ending quite rushed. After the big incident at her house where the story reached a very heartbreaking and infuriating climax, I thought the issues between Xio and her mother were resolved very quickly and not in a very satisfying way. I was hoping for it to be hashed out a bit more, and although we experience some of the process, it felt like a “too clean” resolution; especially when the tension and misunderstanding was so high, only for everything to be good again in a short time. Especially when this conflict between the two women was such a big part of the story. I wished we’d gotten to really see how Xiomara and her mother came to terms with their vast differences because what happened between them was big and slightly frightening. While I love a happy ending (and maybe I’m just too jaded for saying this lol) this was such a picture perfect one that it felt a little unrealistic.

“I only know that learning to believe in the power of my own words has been the most freeing experience of my life. It has brought me the most light. And isn’t that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark.” 

Another thing that disappointed me just a little was that we never got to see the poem that she recited at the final show. This is just my gripe but I was so excited to read what she spoke about and I was honestly really sad that we didn’t get to experience it.

“Late into the night I write and the pages of my notebook swell from all the words I’ve pressed onto them. 
It almost feels like the more I bruise the page the quicker something inside me heals.” 

Overall though, this was a beautifully told story and I think it’s one that many young women who don’t feel comfortable in their skin, or who are still looking for a way to fit in as they are, will be able to relate to and feel empowered by. Did I mention that this was extremely quotable? I’m very keen to read more from Acevedo!

Have you read The Poet X? Loved it? Hated it? Felt ‘meh’ about it?
Leave me a comment below and let’s chat!

The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill – #BookReview

Dini @ dinipandareads12 Comments

Goodreads: The Surface Breaks
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Retelling
Rating:

Deep beneath the sea, off the cold Irish coast, Gaia is a young mermaid who dreams of freedom from her controlling father. On her first swim to the surface, she is drawn towards a human boy. She longs to join his carefree world, but how much will she have to sacrifice? What will it take for the little mermaid to find her voice? Hans Christian Andersen’s original fairy tale is reimagined through a searing feminist lens, with the stunning, scalpel-sharp writing and world building that has won Louise her legions of devoted fans. A book with the darkest of undercurrents, full of rage and rallying cries: storytelling at its most spellbinding.

A dark feminist fairytale retelling of the beloved Little Mermaid. If you’re expecting something like the Disney movie, you’ve definitely picked up the wrong book! O’Neill’s writing hooked me (hah) from the start and had me rooting for the character I least expected!

Here is another Rusalka made. Another human woman set on fire by an insatiable man, needing to swallow the sea so she can douse the flames in her heart. She will lament her fate for the next three hundred years. She will sing sailors to their graves for her vengeance. And despite everything that I have been told about the Salkas, despite the fact that they killed my Uncle Manannán and drove my mother into the arms of the Sea King, I would not blame her.

Well, this book was certainly not what I expected. Growing up, I had always loved the Little Mermaid best out of all the Disney movies. The music was fun, Ariel was beautiful, her voice was magical and of course, Prince Eric was handsome (dat smile tho)! Even as an adult I still enjoy the movie – mostly for the music, but also for the nostalgia of those childhood days. I had never read the original Hans Christian Anderson story though, but thanks to a circulating Buzzfeed article on the original stories behind Disney classics, I knew it was dark. So when I started this book, I had that half in mind, but also the Disney version I love so much. Still, I don’t think I was ready for how dark this retelling would be!

Louise O’Neill paints a bleak story of a radically patriarchal kingdom of merfolk, where mermaids are meant as mere things that obey the every word of mermen and that whatever the merman says, goes. As Gaia escapes this oppressive world she has grown up in, she comes to find that in the human world, women are also ignored and thought of as weak creatures who are only appreciated by men for their looks and “open legs”. It was instilled by her father, the Sea King, that women are only good for their beauty and their ability to obey and be quiet, so it is no surprise that she believes the same of men on the surface. Sadly, it is this that gets the boulder rolling downhill, leading to the dire situation she finds herself in as the book progresses. It is a stark allegory of our society and I think extremely relevant, especially considering the rising discourse today. How far we have to go on that front…

She’s crazy, we used to say about maids in the kingdom who pursued mer-men relentlessly… I’m beginning to wonder that if, when we call a woman crazy, we should take a look at the man by her side, and guess at what he has done to drive her to insanity.

When I read that this was a feminist retelling of the classic I was wondering what that’d look like and the further I read, the more I appreciated how O’Neill weaved the feminist conversation into the story. The oft-repeated female trope of pitting women against each other is also present in the story, perpetrated by Gaia and other female characters against her; no surprise, considering how much men/masculinity is revered in ‘their’ world. Gaia wasn’t a very convincing feminist main character for a good portion of the book and only grew into it at the very end. She spent the majority of the story blinded to the reality that she seemed to recognize was wrong, only to push it aside because of her desperation to make a man-boy love her. It was a little frustrating but there’s no denying that O’Neill did a great job of capturing the restlessness and naïveté of a young girl on the cusp of womanhood. That said, I do wish that there was more of an ending. I felt like the climax and the conclusion were one and the same, so just as I thought we’d see more fight and fierce-woman action from Gaia, the story ended. It was rushed and a little unsatisfying. So much of the story was filled with pining for a boy, a failed love story in a sense, and the story only began to strengthen when the Sea Witch, Ceto, reappeared at the end. Who, by the way, ended up being my favorite character in this book!

“Your religion should help you make the decision if you find yourself in that situation, but the policy should exist for you to have the right to make it in the first place. 
When you say you can’t do something because your religion forbids it, that’s a good thing. When you say I can’t do something because YOUR religion forbids it, that’s a problem.”

Although she went about it in her characteristically evil way, and yes, it was wrong… Ceto was actually empowering and I feel she was the only “true feminist” of the whole book. If O’Neill made a book about Ceto, I’d definitely read it!

Overall, this book really took me by surprise. It was a fairly quick but enjoyable read (even though it had big text which I’m not a fan of, yes I’m one of those people that like small text!). The story certainly didn’t shy away from the brutality and anger, but also the passion, strength and love that make this society. Alas, the cute Disney love story was eclipsed by one of the desperate longing of a confused girl filled with wanderlust, who has spent her lifetime searching for answers and fighting all she has known to find her true self. The Little Mermaid will certainly never be the same again.

Also, MAJOR COVER APPRECIATION! Not only are the colors and the details in the artwork of the sleeve beautifully done but the naked cover of the hardback is just as beautiful too with a scale design. Every time my eye passes over where it sits on my bookshelf I just want to pick it up and stare at it because it’s so gorgeous!

Have you read The Surface Breaks? Loved it? Hated it? Felt ‘meh’ about it? Leave me a comment below and let’s chat!

ARC Review: The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O’Neill

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Goodreads: The Tea Dragon Festival (Tea Dragon #2)
Publish date: 17 September 2019
Publisher: Oni Press
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy, Graphic Novel

Panda Rating:

(5 pandas)

Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep, but Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.

The Tea Dragon Festival is another beautiful graphic novel by Katie O’Neill. The style and use of color in the artwork is gorgeous and really brings to life this wonderful world of dragons, tea dragons, magical forest creatures and village life. The story takes places before The Tea Dragon Society, and I really enjoyed meeting the younger versions of Hesekiel and Erik, two loveable characters from that book.

In this comic, we follow the story of Rinn, a young village girl who’s an aspiring cook and talented forager, who stumbles upon Aedhan, a young dragon who has been asleep for 80-years. Aedhan is plagued by guilt for having not done his duty of taking care of the village residents, but he was put under a sleeping spell by a magical forest creature. Rinn brings Aedhan to the village and the two quickly form a strong, sweet bond as Aedhan picks up his dragon duties and reintegrates to village life. I loved how this story was even more diverse and inclusive than the first book. We have characters who use sign language, different ethnicities, and diverse sexualities, and none of these elements in the story feels contrived.

The tea dragons were just as freaking adorable as in the first book. I want to live in this world and I want to take care of those tea dragons, no matter how pesky they’re claimed to be! At the end, O’Neill also included additional information about the tea dragon varieties, and more wonderful history about dragons like Aedhan.

This was a very quick read full of sweet and fluffy things! And I mean, super cute good looking dragons. Come on, isn’t that all you really need to know? Recommended to everyone who wants to experience all the good and happy feels!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing the e-ARC for an honest review.
Have you read the Tea Dragon graphic novels or are they on your TBR?

Blackbird, Vol 1. by Sam Humphries & Jen Bartel – Graphic Novel Review

Dini @ dinipandareads5 Comments

Goodreads: Blackbird (Issues #1-6)
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy
Rating:

Nina Rodriguez knows a hidden magical world run by ruthless cabals is hiding in Los Angeles. When a giant magic beast kidnaps her sister, Nina must confront her past (and her demons) to get her sister back and reclaim her life. Don’t miss the first collection of the smash-hit neo-noir fantasy series!

I’m very on the fence about this one! If I could rate this graphic novel based on the color palette and artwork alone it would’ve been a solid 5 stars. This is the type of artwork that I’m an absolute sucker for. Everyone and everything is simply gorgeous–the setting, the character expressions and personalities physically expressed. Jen Bartel’s work is seriously impressive.

That said, the storyline and characters didn’t work for me. I didn’t enjoy a single one of the characters and I was especially frustrated with Nina. I understand she went through a terrible thing in her childhood from the night of the earthquake to losing her mum at such a young age, and that those events basically spiralled until young adulthood to where she is now. But her character was incredibly annoying and weak. Trying to follow her thoughts and mood was like trying to catch a swing that’s going in the opposite direction as me all the time. The flow felt a little stilted and didn’t really connect. And her moods! Oh my goodness. For example, MINOR spoiler: one minute she’s hating on Clint hardcore and then the next minute, they’re holding hands and almost kissing? I’m sorry but what and why? I think Clint’s character might have been the only one who was half-decent, but we also don’t really know that much about him yet. Other than that he has great fashion sense lol

The story was also very reminiscent of The Wicked + The Divine. While I thought the powers of the paragons and the use of gems was a unique aspect of the story, I continued to feel confused throughout this whole volume. We didn’t really get any answers about anything, and I know that this is only the first six issues, so hopefully in the coming issues things will become more clear. 

That said, as much as I enjoyed the artwork, I don’t think I’ll be continuing on with this graphic novel. I’ll just continue to enjoy the artwork 🙂

Have you read Blackbird? Love it? Hate it? Meh about it?
Let me know in the comments and let’s have a little chat!

Mini-Reviews: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Field Notes on Love, and I Hate Fairyland – #BookReview

Dini @ dinipandareads9 Comments

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood #1) by Becky Albertalli
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Romance

Simon was a heartwarming, LGBT romance and I feel like the whole book was the epitome of the high school experience. This story was full of great friendships, hilarious and very quirky family relationships, as well as awkward and sometimes cruel high school experiences. I think Albertalli did a really great job of capturing the mind of a closeted gay teen and his struggles with coming out. Simon’s character was so endearing. He was sweet, caring, a bit of an oddball and actually pretty wholesome. I loved that everyone was so supportive of him! His exchanges with Blue were adorable and I really enjoyed how their relationship transformed from flirty friends to love as they opened up to each other. They were so pure and I wanted to give them all the hugs! That said, parts of this story really bothered me, and it specifically related to the friendship between Simon and Leah, who was his supposed ‘best friend’, but was almost wholly absent in his story. Having already read Leah’s book, I have my issues with her character as well, but for claiming that they’re so close, they’re not really? For some reason this really bothered me a lot 🙂 In the end, everything (obviously) sorted itself out and it was an uplifting story that left me feeling happy and content.

“I try not to change, but I keep changing, in all these tiny ways… And every freaking time, I have to reintroduce myself to the universe all over again.”

Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary, Romance

Field Notes on Love is everything I thought it would be and then some. I loved the idea of a book being set on a train, two strangers coming together, and with ‘love’ in the title of the book, you know romance plays a big part of this story. Surprisingly, this was more than just a fluffy love story; it was about family, friendship, vulnerability and ultimately finding out who you are, what you want and what you’re willing to do to get it. The story was told in alternating perspectives. I liked that both Hugo and Mae were such down-to-earth characters, who were enjoyable as individuals as much as together. The almost instant connection between Hugo and Mae, which I would normally find cheesy and annoying, didn’t feel at all contrived. The family relationships were proper #familygoals. All their interactions were full of kindness, understanding, support and encouragement, plus I found Hugo being one of sextuplets very interesting. The siblings only make minor appearances throughout, but you can feel the love and connection between them, and their individual personalities shone. The banter within both families made me laugh out loud multiple times! Although the plot was fairly predictable, sometimes you just need a happy and fluffy read that leaves you feeling good after you finish the last page. The characters really won this book for me. If you’re looking for a good quick summer read, I’d highly recommend it!

“They could be anywhere and nowhere, but they’ve somehow found themselves here, and she’s suddenly grateful for it, all of it, for the extra ticket and the way it brought them together despite everything, the bigness of the world and the unlikeliness of a moment like this.”

I Hate Fairyland, Vol. 1: Madly Ever After (I Hate Fairyland #1) by Skottie Young
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Humor

The thing that drew me to this graphic novel was the artwork. The level of detail, the vibrant rainbow colors, and the cute characters that inhabit fairyland all made me want to pick up this comic! I loved how the bright colorful artwork juxtaposed with the very gore-filled story as we followed Gertrude’s bitter journey through fairyland to find the key to take her home. I guess I’d be bitter too after so long. Her tirades and deft “dispatching” of basically every character she crosses in fairyland, while admirable if you like that sort of thing, does get old after a while though. The storyline didn’t reveal anything new about why she’s still there after all these years, and I kind of wish we got to see more of the start to her journey, before she completely lost her mind, and became a bitter young woman trapped in a child’s body. I also wished we learned more about how and why children get abducted to fairyland in the first place! But maybe that’s too logical and serious for a graphic novel such as this? While I did enjoy it, Gertrude’s trajectory was basically the same through all scenes, so I’m not sure if I’d continue on with the series. I will say I’m curious to see what happens next, although considering it’s Gertrude fairyland may end up looking like a killing field sooner rather than later!, I just don’t know if I’m curious enough. The art work is definitely amazing though—I’m always attracted to bright splashy colors and the various inhabitants of fairyland!

Have you read any of these? Would love to know your thoughts on them if you have! Leave a comment below and let’s chat books 🙂

The #UltimateBlogTour: The Written by Ben Galley – #BookReview

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Goodreads: The Written (Emaneska #1)
Genre: Fantasy (Epic Fantasy)

4.5 Pandas!

His name is Farden. 
They whisper that he’s dangerous. 
Dangerous is only the half of it. 
A spellbook has gone missing from the libraries of Arfell – a very old and extremely powerful spellbook from the time of dark elves and demons. Five scholars are dead, the magick council is running out of time and options, and the Arka is once again on the brink of war with the Siren dragon-riders. It falls to Farden the Written mage to keep the world from falling into chaos. Entangled in a web of lies and politics, Farden must recover the spellbook before an ancient enemy rises, even if it takes journeying halfway across icy Emaneska and back. In his fight for answers, Farden will unearth a secret that not only shakes the foundations of his world, but threaten the entire future of Emaneska. Sorcery, death, drugs and the deepest of betrayals await. Welcome to Emaneska.

Earlier this year, Noly @The Artsy Reader asked me if I wanted to join the biggest ever blog tour organized by Dave @TheWriteReads for the author Ben Galley, and I got so excited because I’ve never participated in one before so of course, I said YES and I’m so glad I did! There were four books to choose from and they all sounded great, but I decided to go with Galley’s debut: The Written. I haven’t read a fantasy yet in 2019, so I wasn’t really sure if I was in the right mood to read this or if I’d enjoy it, but holy wow, I loved this book! This book has everything that makes fantasy fun: adventure, raging asshole bad guys, magic, vampires, werewolves, elves, gods and daemons, mythical creatures, and best of all: DRAGONS. It reminded me of all the reasons why I love fantasy so much and diving back into the fantasy world felt a bit like coming home.

As this is the first book of the Emaneska series, there’s obviously plenty of worldbuilding. I thought Galley did a great job at describing the different regions of Emaneska, the cities/villages, the magick, and the creatures, and I felt myself becoming fully immersed in all the scenes. We also get to learn a bit more of Emaneska’s history through epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter, which I really enjoyed. I did find though that the pace tended to dip a little at times because it could get very descriptive. The story itself was pretty fast paced, especially the last 50% of the book, and a lot happens in a very short amount of time.

You know that moment you think you know who the bad guy is, but then you think that’s too obvious, so then you become suspicious of someone else, and then everything starts playing out how you think it will, but in an even more epic way? That’s what happened with this book. The twists were so good and still shocking, and the fact that my suspicions were proven right didn’t make it less of an enjoyable reveal. There’s also some good humor thrown in the text that had me laughing out loud a few times, so that as a nice surprise I wasn’t expecting!

I was honestly a little ‘meh’ about Farden’s character when he first appears, but the more I read, the more I loved him. He’s kinda the typical fantasy novel hero–big, strong, gruff on the surface but caring deep down, but he’s also got a short fuse, is often reckless, and has a seriously bad and dangerous habit that I was worried would plague his character throughout the book. He’s also a bit of a loner and mostly doesn’t prefer the company of people, which I can relate to, but he has a few close friends who he greatly appreciates and respects. He’s really just a good guy battling his own demons, and the latter half of this book had me really emotional for him. I loved many of the others we’re introduced to in the story–Durnus, Eyrum, Lazy–but I have to say that my favorite were THE DRAGONS (Farfallen and Brightshow especially). The dragons could talk. They were magical, wise, and kind. Overall, they were just very awesome and I wanted to be their friend.

The only thing I can think of that really bothered me when I encountered it while reading were the various typos (once there was a chunk of text that didn’t belong in the middle of a paragraph). Confusing at times, but for the most part okay, I’m just a bit of a stickler for these things!

The Written was a great fast-paced adventure and it excites me that this is just the beginning. I think I’ll continue on with this series right now, as I don’t feel like I’m ready to leave Farden and Emaneska just yet. At least, not before finding out more about what happens next!

About the Author

Ben Galley is an author of dark and epic fantasy books who currently hails from Victoria, Canada. Since publishing his debut The Written in 2010, Ben has released a range of award-winning fantasy novels, including the weird western Bloodrush and the epic standalone The Heart of Stone. He is also the author of the brand new Chasing Graves Trilogy.

Thanks to Ben Galley for giving me a digital copy of the book as part of this Ultimate Blog Tour!

Special thanks to Dave for the tremendous effort of organizing this tour of 100+ bloggers?! Amazing! 🙌🏽 Be sure to check out the other bloggers who’ve participated in the #UltimateBlogTour coz there are loads of great posts out there! You can find their posts on Twitter @TheWriteReads OnTour. Happy reading, friends!

Book Review: A Curse So Dark And Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

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Goodreads: A Curse So Dark And Lonely
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, Retelling
Rating: ★★★★☆

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 Lacy. 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.

First of all, if I had realized this was the first book in a series and we wouldn’t be getting the second book until 2020, I would not have jumped into it as quickly as I did. But once I started, I honestly could not stop. Despite being scared half-to-death of the Beast and his roar when I watched this movie as a kid, Beauty and the Beast quickly became one of my all time favorite fairy tales. That library scene was one of the most magical things I’ve ever seen and seriously, goals much? I don’t know how I even thought this would be a standalone because as much as I wish that we had the full story now, I also think that I want this series to last. Forever.

“I am always surprised to discover that when the world seems darkest, there exists the greatest opportunity for light.” 

This was a dark and magical retelling. I was hooked from the first few pages and I couldn’t wait to get back to it when I was basically forced to put it down so I could fulfill my social obligations. I’ve never read anything by Brigid Kemmerer before so I don’t know if all her books are like this, but I thought the writing flowed nicely and successfully gave the story an eerie fairytale feel. I thought the world building was done well. There was a thick eerie-ness to the setting. This was especially for the castle scenes where everything regenerates day after day. It was hauntingly creepy but beautiful and so easy to picture!

I loved all the characters, and thought they had intriguing backstories that gave them more depth. Harper was fantastic; she’s independent, sassy/sarcastic, fierce, and doesn’t let the fact that she has Cerebral Palsy stop her from fighting for herself and the kingdom. She isn’t defined by her limitations, rather she’s empowered because of them. When we’re first introduced to her she’s described as ‘scrappy and walking with a limp’, far from the beautiful, shy Belle that we know, but I think that’s what made it more refreshing. Basically, Harper is relatable and I really liked that! I liked Rhen and Grey as well, but I didn’t find their arcs especially interesting or special. Rhen’s storyline was fairly typical of a remorseful prince and Grey was the stoic and handsome guardsman with a heart of gold. Honestly though, I was more taken with Grey’s character, and even though we learn a bit about him, I kept wanting more of his backstory. When it came to the romance, I wasn’t very convinced with the chemistry between Harper and Rhen, and I know I’m in the minority with that opinion. They had a connection but I thought it was lacking and felt a little forced. I thought Harper was developing a stronger and more genuine bond with Grey, and if there were teams, I’d definitely be Team Grey (don’t hate).

**SMOL SPOILER**

I’m feeling an impending love triangle and if there’s one trope I really dislike, it’s the love triangle. Like, why? I mean, I get that there was some kind of “love triangle” thing going on in the original Beauty & the Beast, but let’s be real, none of us thought Gaston really had any shot with Belle. I know I’m just assuming there’ll be one in the next book, I could be very wrong and I kinda hope I am.

**END SPOILER**

At the end, I still have a lot of questions that went unanswered though, mostly relating to the curse. Lillith was an intriguing villain, and I wish we got more of her backstory and learned more about her motives because it was still a little vague to me. Was it truly just an act of a spurned lover? We learn about the long history of magic in the kingdom, how Rhen was an awfully cruel and entitled prince, and we get glimpses into how the curse affected him and the kingdom, but I couldn’t help feeling that there was more to it than what we were shown, especially with how the book ended.

Speaking of the ending… I was gutted by it! THAT TWIST is everything that we love and hate in a book, especially when we have to live a year with this cliffhanger! So cruel. I’m dying to know what happens next–I think there’s going to be more political intrigue, deceptions, romance and action in general–and I hope that we get some answers to the questions that were raised in this book.

Have you read A Curse So Dark And Lonely? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments below and let’s talk books!