The Grace Year - Kim Liggett

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Have been interested in reading this since I started seeing mention of it on Twitter, in the writer-verse. As soon as I found out NetGalley had it up for grabs, I was so there. And I don't regret being hyper about it at all.

**NO SPOILERS**

The story follows Tierney, a tomboy in a world of girls who are basically expected to be primed to be walking incubators, more or less. Very much heeds back to Handmaid's Tale, eh?

All girls in her world need to be sent away for a year, to rid themselves of a magic that brings men to their knees, can make them control the men. Which is where our story begins, essentially.

The book follows the girls in her year who are sent away, and the things they discover about themselves, each other, and the world around them. Horrifying though it may be.

There's loads of surprises, twists and turns, all of which I loved, and all of which actually worked well for the story. The ending wasn't what I was expecting either, but I really enjoyed it, instead of being disappointed for not getting what I wanted!

Definitely something to look forward to!

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(Coming out in October, 2019!)

Review: Furyborn

Furyborn by Claire Legrand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'd recommend Furyborn to anyone who likes a good adventure, or more specifically, fans of Avatar (the animes), the Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard, or even Sailor Moon!

This book is actually likely one of my top books ever. And I've read a LOT of books!!

It follows two women, a thousand years apart, both with amazing powers and plenty of (what we called in the 90s) GIRL POWER, with a connection that might be obvious from the start, but nevermind all that.

The world is a strange one, where some people have powers that align with one of seven elements, and angels once walked with humans, though now they are trapped away.

Queen Rielle is supposed to be saviour to her people, but the book opens with her seeming to be a total and utter disaster. As in, she's on fire and about to die, so it seems.

The next view we get of her, is two years before the above incident, and you really start to adore her, and feel sorry for what she has to endure, just to make everyone around here believe in her. She's an amazing character, that I feel needed more hugs in her life, maybe things wouldn't have turned out like they did.

And then, 1000 years in the future from when Rielle lived, we have Eliana, the bounty hunter who can heal from any injury, and isn't sure what makes her so special. She has an amazing cast around her, who raise her up and make sure that her secrets stay safe. Though of course, it'd be no fun if those shields of wonderful people remained intact.

All in all, it was a beautiful story, with a very diverse cast, both in heritage and orientation. The main characters are fully fleshed out, and every chapter end made you wish you could see more of what they were dealing with, but then you'd fall into what the other was doing, and just enjoy the ride.

I really can not wait for the next book to come out, nevermind that this was an ARC copy (thank you to Edelweiss for the ebook!) because there's some amazing twists that had me gasping, wanting to know more!!

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Review: Caraval

Caraval by Stephanie Garber
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Even though this was my first time reading the book, it is easily one of my favourite books ever, no joke.

Scarlett has a brutal life, a father who abuses her and her sister, Tella, and she just wants to save them both and get away to Caraval, where magic is real, and wishes can come true.

Of course, nothing amazing can ever be as simple as we'd like it to be.

Tella gets kidnapped, everyone seems to be lying and tricking each other, and Scarlett isn't sure who to trust, or if anything is real anymore.

Then of course, everything comes crashing down, and everything is awful and amazing and magical and crazy.

The language to describe things in the novel are amazing in themselves. Scarlett sees colours in everything, tastes flavours in situations, it's so beautiful and beyond anything I have ever seen in my life. The author has a real gift, and I wish I knew how she could channel such imagery in a few words.

Definitely recommend Caraval to anyone!

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Review: Geekerella

Geekerella by Ashley Poston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'll be honest, this isn't a book I would have picked up on my own. I do judge books by their covers, and I thought this was going to be a childish novel, based on looks alone.

Thankfully, I was wrong.

This is, as you can imagine, a retelling of Cinderella. Elle is the orphan girl, who suffers her stepmother and twin stepsisters. Her father died, and left her in their care. She not only upkeeps the house, but works a job in a food truck as well.

She is an utter and total geek, and you have to love her for her awkwardness, very true to life. I'd know, I've lived the geek life, and have been going to cons for ... a long time, let's just say that, ha! She is part of a fandom of a sci-fi show, reminiscent of Star Trek. She has a lot to say about the lead cast for a role that she feels strongly about, due to the fact that the show was something her and her father shared. She definitely does not think he can handle the role.

By luck or accident or cosmic joke, the two end up communicating with each other, anonymously. Ah, the modern age.

The characters are all very likable (aside from the step family) and fun. And believable, which is so refreshing! No one is perfect, and everyone has flaws! And they admit to them! They stumble, they fall, they say the wrong things. It's perfect.

If you're into fairy tale retellings (I SO am) then give it a shot. Or give it a shot even if you're not, maybe you'll find a genre you enjoy.

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Review: Deadly Sweet

Deadly Sweet by Lola Dodge
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Warning, reading this book will make you crave baked goods. Every baked good. Pies, cakes, cinnamon rolls, nothing is safe!! Your diet will hate you!

You will probably like this book though!

Anise is a young witch, in a world where magic openly exists, but isn't always accepted. Her mom, also a witch--though she doesn't practice--tries to let her have a life, moving her from place to place as they get cast out again for accidental magic use. While out with friends one night, she uses her magic all wrong, and she's afraid she's going to have to move again, or worse, go to jail.

Luckily, her famous aunt saves the day, and brings her to the town of Taos, to work for her in a learning bakery, while sending her to baking school! Her dreams all come true!!

Life would be so easy if that was all of it though. Anise has to deal with the bitterness left behind between her mother and the locals, a weird so-called bodyguard who is more of a creep than a help, and also the girl that she replaced as assistant, well, she went missing so...

All in all, Deadly Sweet is a fun magical mystery, and you'll never guess who is doing what for what reason. So many twists and turns, I kept thinking I knew what was going on, and then another twist! Loved it.

Will be looking forward to the next book in the series, due out in November of this year!

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