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Today's post is all about books I always recommend to people if they are looking for that something special but aren't quite sure what to reach for! I hope some of these end up on your TBR!
Author: Elise Kova
Author: Anna-Marie McLemore
Author: Emma Mills
AIR AWAKENS
Author: Elise Kova
Series: Air Awakens #1
Source: eARC via Publisher
Publisher: Silver Wing Press
Publication Date: August 27, 2015
Rating: 5/5 stars
Summary:
A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond...
The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.
Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all—the Crown Prince Aldrik—she finds herself enticed into his world. Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she’s known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she’s always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla’s indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined.
Purchase:
Mini Review
See the full review on Books and Ladders!
I loved that this mixed so many aspects of fantasy together to create the world. The premise felt a little like Avatar: The Last Air Bender to me but I loved that show so I obviously had no difficulty with that. I thought the pacing of the book was really good, it started off very quickly and while Vhalla tried to slow down the inevitable of being a sorcerer, her magic kept blossoming and growing. I liked the idea that magic was seen as something to fear rather than something that everyone celebrated.
RED SISTER
Author: Mark Lawrence
Series: Book of the Ancestor #1
Source: Finished Copy via Publisher
Publisher: Ace
Publication Date: April 4, 2017
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Summary:
I was born for killing – the gods made me to ruin.
At the Convent of Sweet Mercy young girls are raised to be killers. In a few the old bloods show, gifting talents rarely seen since the tribes beached their ships on Abeth. Sweet Mercy hones its novices’ skills to deadly effect: it takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist.
But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls as a bloodstained child of eight, falsely accused of murder: guilty of worse.
Stolen from the shadow of the noose, Nona is sought by powerful enemies, and for good reason. Despite the security and isolation of the convent her secret and violent past will find her out. Beneath a dying sun that shines upon a crumbling empire, Nona Grey must come to terms with her demons and learn to become a deadly assassin if she is to survive…
Purchase:
Mini Review
See the full review on Books and Ladders!
This is probably one of the best adult fantasies I’ve read in a very long time. I have so many positive things and thoughts about this one. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a good magic system, badass nuns, and women who know being vulnerable can be strong as well.
WHEN THE MOON WAS OURS
Author: Anna-Marie McLemore
Series: N/A
Source: ARC via Publisher
Publisher: Thomas Dunne
Publication Date: October 4, 2016
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Summary:
To everyone who knows them, best friends Miel and Sam are as strange as they are inseparable. Roses grow out of Miel’s wrist, and rumors say that she spilled out of a water tower when she was five. Sam is known for the moons he paints and hangs in the trees, and for how little anyone knows about his life before he and his mother moved to town. But as odd as everyone considers Miel and Sam, even they stay away from the Bonner girls, four beautiful sisters rumored to be witches. Now they want the roses that grow from Miel’s skin, convinced that their scent can make anyone fall in love. And they’re willing to use every secret Miel has fought to protect to make sure she gives them up.
Purchase:
Mini Review
See the full review on Books and Ladders!
GOSH THIS ONE IS SO WONDERFUL. It's as lyrical and beautiful as The Weight of Feathers with so much more magic and suffering. And my heart literally broke into a million pieces only for it to be put back together bit by bit by Samir and Miel. These two though, these two.
I can't say enough good things about Anna-Marie McLemore and her writing because I will literally read her forever. *twirls around*
THIS ADVENTURE ENDS
Author: Emma Mills
Series: N/A
Source: ARC via Publisher
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 4, 2016
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Summary:
Sloane isn't expecting to fall in with a group of friends when she moves from New York to Florida—especially not a group of friends so intense, so in love, so all-consuming. Yet that's exactly what happens.
Sloane becomes closest to Vera, a social-media star who lights up any room, and Gabe, Vera's twin brother and the most serious person Sloane's ever met. When a beloved painting by the twins' late mother goes missing, Sloane takes on the responsibility of tracking it down, a journey that takes her across state lines—and ever deeper into the twins' lives.
Filled with intense and important friendships, a wonderful warts-and-all family, shiveringly good romantic developments, and sharp, witty dialogue, this story is about finding the people you never knew you needed.
Purchase:
Mini Review
See the full review on Books Are My Fandom!
I loved Sloane and her voice. I thought that this was a really good representation of being 17 and wanting everything and not wanting to choose something that would impact you forever. It was the perfect novel tbh. But I found myself a little bored at times, especially in the middle, and I thought that at some points the Were School fanfiction subplot was more interesting than the actual main pot. I liked how the two overlapped (and I just generally enjoyed that plot) but I thought more of the emphasis should have been on the main plot and it just wasn't there between 45%-65% of the novel. Otherwise I really enjoyed it. I think if you are friends with me and enjoy the way I speak, you will enjoy Sloane and her story.
THIS RAGING LIGHT
Author: Estelle Laure
Series: This Raging Light #1
Source: ARC via Publisher
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: December 22, 2015
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Summary:
Can the best thing happen at the worst time?
Her dad went crazy. Her mom left town. She has bills to pay and a little sister to look after. Now is not the time for level-headed seventeen-year-old Lucille to fall in love. But love—messy, inconvenient love—is what she's about to experience when she falls for Digby Jones, her best friend's brother.
Purchase:
Mini Review
See the full review on Books and Ladders!
THIS RAGING LIGHT was one of my most highly anticipated December 2015 releases. I was so intrigued by the premise, even though it seemed like it would be romance heavy when there was obviously a lot of other stuff going on. However, I was pleasantly surprised that this one focused more on Lucille learning how to cope with raising her sister and being on her own than her relationship with Digby. And while the romance was there, it was nice that it wasn't the complete focus of the novel.
Oh wow, hi new books to add to my TBR they all sound FANTASTIC. Thanks for the list! My surefire recommendations are The Starbound Trilogy, Claudia Gray's writing (I love her stuff), The Star Touched Queen, Forest Of A Thousand Lanterns and also pretty much anything by Sandhya Menon for a cute contemporary read.
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