SERPENT & DOVE

Author: Shelby Mahurin

Summary:

Bound as one to love, honor, or burn.

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou's, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou's most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.

And love makes fools of us all.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from Indigo Teen. This in no way impacts my opinion.

As a way of disclaimer for things that happen in here: It's not graphic in the sense of smut or porn, but there is on screen sex. Which, to me, is pretty surprising in a book labelled in the YA age group. But the main characters are ~18 with a few that are 16.

Honestly, this was a really strong start to a series. I can totally understand why people fawn over it and the book. It had fake relationship (that turned real, obviously). A lot of great magical aspects. And some really interesting twists and turns. The world was fleshed out nicely and the characters sorta developed throughout.

But for me, I wasn't a huge fan of it. It fell directly into the "meh" category for me. I thought that too often, everything that was revealed or done was way too convenient. There were barely any consequences or guessing about who or what was going to come next because everything was too contained.

The book has a really interesting magic system and I liked learning more about it as we saw the characters start to use that magic. But it definitely focused way too much on the main romantic relationship rather than building out the world, the magic, or the other relationships present. I wanted way more about Jean Luc and Reid's "frenemy" relationship. Or more about how the Chassuer world trained and what they did.

There was also a lot of "I'm totally a badass" main character vibes going on and we rarely saw that play out. We got a few glimpses but this book needed more show and less tell for some of these aspects. And because of that, everything started to feel a bit underdeveloped.

Like did I cry over Reid and Lou??? Yeah. But that doesn't make up for the rest of the storyline or how it played out. Because everything was too much of a coincidence. In fact, after the Lou "reveal" I thought sarcastically that there would be another reveal that happened. And it was just a bit disappointing.

TLDR: I really enjoyed this one and thought it was a great start to this series. A lot of cool magical aspects, a good mix of French history, and enough twists to keep me interested. But there was a lot of times things felt too convenient or connected just for the sake of having everything connected. I'll definitely continue since I have the other books but we'll see how this goes!

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THE MIRROR SEASON

Author: Anna-Marie McLemore

Summary:

When two teens discover that they were both sexually assaulted at the same party, they develop a cautious friendship through her family's possibly magical pastelería, his secret forest of otherworldly trees, and the swallows returning to their hometown, in Anna-Marie McLemore's The Mirror Season...

Graciela Cristales's whole world changes after she and a boy she barely knows are assaulted at the same party. She loses her gift for making enchanted pan dulce. Neighborhood trees vanish overnight, while mirrored glass appears, bringing reckless magic with it. And Ciela is haunted by what happened to her, and what happened to the boy whose name she never learned.

But when the boy, Lock, shows up at Ciela's school, he has no memory of that night, and no clue that a single piece of mirrored glass is taking his life apart. Ciela decides to help him, which means hiding the truth about that night. Because Ciela knows who assaulted her, and him. And she knows that her survival, and his, depend on no one finding out what really happened.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Content Warnings: Sexual assault

I think a lot of people don't know how to review books that they can relate to on a very personal level or have never experienced for themselves. This is probably one of those books where people know it's important but can't quite explain why except that it deals with a lot of heavy subjects (sexual assault, rape culture, etc.) in a easily digestible way.

But there is so much more to this book than just those aspects, even though it was what is focused on. There's the nuance of the subtle shift between victim and survivor - and how sometimes you can be both in the same instance. And McLemore excels at these subtle aspects in all their work, but especially this one.

Ciela was such an interesting character because she exuberated confidence in some ways because of the "show" she is putting on for her family and friends. But she's also keeping so much of herself hidden by doing so. I really liked the exploration of what it means to be marginalized by others and by yourself when you don't identify with the "norm" in your area or circle.

I also really appreciated Lock and his story line. I think it's so rare for these types of stories around rape culture to feature men. Lock describes it perfectly by saying that people don't generally believe it because of the stigma in society about how men should behave, act, and enjoy sex, so they shouldn't be "able" to be raped. But that's not the case. The two of them balanced the story so well and I loved every minute of it.

I wasn't a huge fan of the way that each of them was assaulted but that (while not really a minor detail) felt like a minor element to me. They both experienced a shared trauma and had to deal with it together.

I am glad that the ending was open to reader interpretation of where it goes next. I think sometimes "justice" is just speaking up and telling people your story.

TLDR: Everything Anna-Marie McLemore writes sinks deep into your soul and doesn't let go. This is no exception and honestly is probably their best work. I have never felt so seen and heard in a book the way I have with this. I highly recommend reading this if you have the head and heart space to do so.

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FIRESTARTER

Author: Tara Sim

Summary:

The crew of the Prometheus is intent on taking down the world’s clock towers so that time can run freely. Now captives, Colton, Daphne, and the others have a stark choice: join the Prometheus’s cause, or fight back in any small way they can and face the consequences. But Zavier, leader of the terrorists, has a bigger plan—to bring back the lost god of time.

As new threats emerge, loyalties must shift. No matter where the Prometheus goes—Prague, Austria, India—nowhere is safe, and every second ticks closer toward the eleventh hour. Walking the line between villainy and heroism, each will have to choose what's most important: saving those you love at the expense of the many, or making impossible sacrifices for the sake of a better world.

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Read my review of TIMEKEEPER, the first book in this series!

And my review of CHAINBREAKER, the second book in this series!

Disclaimer: There are probably spoilers below since this is the end of the series! Sorry!

Honestly, this was better than the second book, but still didn't live up to the greatness that was TIMEKEEPER. I thought that this series started off with a really unique twist on alternative history and steampunk. But then CHAINBREAKER and FIRESTARTER took that away from the story and made it into something you've read before.

That's not necessarily a bad thing - there was a few differences being a gay main character, a lot of dimensions of diversity represented, and it being in the YA age group. But overall it just stopped feeling unique and fun about a quarter into CHAINBREAKER and that never came back through FIRESTARTER.

One of the biggest drawbacks is the huge cast that gets introduced pretty much all at once. I don’t know nor care about Zavier’s crew though the book tries to force empathy for them several times, and I don’t remember what any of them look like. I didn’t care when certain members died. And honestly, that might be part of the issue with the audiobook because when it switches POV, it doesn't always change genders. That made it pretty difficult for me to care or know who we were following around.

Spending so much time with them seemed like such a waste when all I wanted to do was go back to Danny and friends. Except even worse is that Colton felt like an entirely different character, so much so that I struggled to relate to his perils anymore. Granted, everything that’s happened would change a man, but to become almost an entirely different character meant I could no longer connect with him.

The ending really dragged on, to the point where the drama from the climax wore off and it seemed only like it was being unnecessary stretched to fill the void. Danny suddenly contracting fever and then losing his arm did not have the same impact because it was rushed, forced, and came right after the high point. It doesn’t even feel like a spoiler because it wasn't treated as important!

TLDR: Better than the second book, but still not nearly as strong as the first. I feel like this was a standalone story that got extended into a series. But there wasn't a real reason to do that and the way it was done wasn't super well executed. I would recommend reading the first book and pretending that is all there is to it.

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TRISTAN STRONG KEEPS PUNCHING

Author: Kwame Mbalia

Pub. Date: October 5, 2021

Publisher:  Rick Riordan Presents

Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook

Pages: 320

Summary:

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents the finale of Kwame Mbalia's trilogy, in which Tristan Strong faces off with his archenemy King Cotton once and for all.

"Imagine if you combined Anansi the Spider, John Henry, and Marvel into, like, one book."--New York Times best-selling author and Newbery Medalist Kwame Alexander

After reuniting with Ayanna, who is now in his world, Tristan travels up the Mississippi in pursuit of his archenemy, King Cotton. Along the way they encounter new haints who are dead set on preventing their progress north to Tristan's hometown of Chicago. It's going to take many Alkean friends, including the gods themselves, the black flames of the afokena gloves, and all of Tristan's inner strength to deliver justice once and for all. 

Shocking twists, glorious triumphs, and a cast of unforgettable characters make this series conclusion as satisfying as it is entertaining.

Grab the first 2 books in the series now!

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Kwame Mbalia is the New York Times  best-selling author of  Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky,  for which he received a Coretta Scott King Author Honor award.   The book was also named to best-of-the-year lists  compiled by  Publishers Weekly , the Chicago Public Library, and the  New York Times .   The second book in the trilogy is  Tristan Strong Destroys the World , and Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is the third . Kwame lives with his wife and children in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he is currently working several projects, including a new middle grade series. Follow him on Twitter @KSekouM.

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3 winners will receive a finished copy of TRISTAN STRONG KEEPS PUNCHING, US Only.