magic

A Fragile Enchantment

By Allison Saft

Coming soon on January 2, 2024!

(4.5 / 5)

A Fragile Enchantment is a young adult fantasy romance with a historical feel to it. We follow Niamh, a common girl from Machland who has the ability to stitch emotions into fabric. A talented dressmaker, her creations have received enough attention that she is asked to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in Avaland. The groom is Prince Christopher, more commonly known as Kit, who has a questionable past, abrasive personality, and is obviously not marrying by choice. As Niamh and Kit begin to bond, it creates a complicated situation while political unrest builds in Avaland.

I really enjoyed reading this book… it was so immersive and hard to put down, that I found myself reading well into the night. Niamh was a likeable character who cared deeply about the well-being of her family and those around her. Though life at the palace was a very foreign world for her, she was dedicated to her work and made friends along the way. Her relationship with Kit was quite complicated, but I liked how much they challenged each other and brought out the best qualities in each other. Both of these characters showed a lot of growth over the course of the story. The political undertones made the story even more complex, and it had me guessing as to what secrets lurked beneath the surface. It was one of those books where I was sad when it came to an end because I had enjoyed it so much.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the free review copy of A Fragile Enchantment! Opinions expressed in my review are completely my own.

Draw Down the Moon

By P.C. Cast; Kristin Cast

Available April 2, 2024

(3 / 5)

It’s a modern-day world where magick exists, but only for a small portion of the population who are Moonstruck. Mundanes (non-magickal people) do not even know it exists. In our story we meet Wren, who is Mundane but knows of the magickal world because her late parents were part of it, and Lee, Wren’s best friend who is magickal. Recently graduated, Wren is fine with being Mundane. But the moment she turns 18, everything changes for Wren, and now she’s attending a magickal school with her friends, Lee and Sam. On the surface it seems like an amazing place, but the more she learns, the more Wren realizes that something is very wrong here. Meanwhile Lee is under a lot of pressure from his family to excel.

I really wanted to love this book, but for some reason it just didn’t grab my attention like I hoped it would. It felt like something was missing for me, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. In the end, I think it might just be written for a younger audience than other books I usually read. I will say that it gets more interesting as the story goes on. It’s the first book in a duology, so it’s pretty obvious there’s still more left to this story when the book ends. I’m curious about where things will go next.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the free advance review copy of Draw Down the Moon. All opinions expressed in my review are solely my own.

December 10, 2023 by danimae1981 Fantasy Fiction Kindle Young Adult 0

These Deadly Prophecies

By Andrea Tang

Coming soon on January 30, 2024!

(5 / 5)

These Deadly Prophecies brings us to a modern world where sorcery is a viable career option. Our narrator, Tabatha, loves the occult, and is the apprentice of Sorcerer Solomon, one of the most well-known sorcerers in eastern America who specializes in prophecies. Unfortunately, Sorcerer Solomon prophesized his own death, and the book begins where his life ends. But who murdered Sorcerer Solomon?

I was absolutely enthralled with this book. I loved Tabatha as the narrator of this story, giving her account of what happened. Her narrative is engaging and full of excitement. At times she addresses the reader directly, which makes the story feel even more real. I think the fact that Tabatha is not originally from the sorcery world makes her very relatable to readers, explaining the intricacies of sigils, spells and traditions.

This book really takes on the feel of a murder mystery, as Tabatha teams up with Solomon’s youngest son, Callum, to try to find out who committed the murder. This book had me making my own theories then changing my mind as I learned more, just like the characters did in the book. The book really kept me guessing until the very end when everything was revealed. I enjoyed the interactions between Tabatha and Callum and enjoyed both characters a lot. There’s also a cast of side characters who are diverse and add to the charm of the story.

I felt like this book was very well written. It was nearly impossible to put down, and I ended up staying up until 2am to finish the story – once I got so far into the book, I just couldn’t wait until the morning to find out the solution to the mystery and how things would end. I’ll be seeking out more books by Andrea Tang for sure!

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group, G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for the free advance copy of These Deadly Prophecies. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and all opinions expressed in my review are completely my own.

November 11, 2023 by danimae1981 Fiction Kindle Mystery Young Adult 0

The Invocations

By Krystal Sutherland

Coming soon on January 30, 2024

(3.5 / 5)

The Invocations is a young adult fantasy story that dives into the occult, witchcraft and demons in the modern world while also trying to solve a murder mystery. It follows three 17-year-old girls, Zara (who is looking for a witch to help her resurrect her sister), Jude (who is suffering from a bad invocation) and Emer (an invocation writer). I was a bit unsure if I would like these characters in the beginning, but I liked them more as I learned more about them and their situations. I found Zara to be the hardest to relate to since I didn’t understand her obsession with raising the raising the dead. Jude turned out to be my favorite character.

I enjoyed the writing style of this author, with great descriptions and a lot of complexity to the characters and occult practices. I don’t typically read horror books, so this one was a bit more gruesome than I’m used it, but I wouldn’t call it scary. At times the story felt a bit slow and drawn out, but I felt like the second half of the book had a better pace and definitely had a lot more action. About halfway through the book, I started to have a hunch about who was behind the murders, and I mostly turned out to be right. I was a little disappointed that I was able to figure it out so early on, though there were still some surprises along the way.

I think that my biggest dislike about the book is that it has a very anti-male feel to it. Men are considered aggressive, abusive, etc, which is why women need the invocations to protect themselves. Given, many of the women in the story faced abusive or terrible situations, but I think the story was a bit too extreme in portraying men as evil and something women had to fear. I’m all for strong female characters, but this book took it farther than I would have preferred.

Thank you to BookishFirst and Penguin Teen for the free copy of The Invocations in return for my honest review.

October 30, 2023 by danimae1981 Fantasy Fiction Horror Mystery Paperback Young Adult 0

Sneak Peek: These Deadly Prophecies

By Andrea Tang

First Impression: (5 / 5)

I had the opportunity to read the first few chapters of These Deadly Prophecies, which will be releasing in February 2024. A modern-day sorcerer has been murdered, and now his apprentice, Tabatha and youngest son, Callum are going to try to figure out who is responsible.

The premise of this book sounded interesting, and from what I’ve read so far, I think it’s a book I’d really enjoy reading. Written from Tabatha’s point of view, it almost feels like you’re a friend that she’s telling her story to. The sorcery and murder mystery aspects are interesting and make me want to keep reading. I want to find out who the murderer is!

October 11, 2023 by danimae1981 eBook Fiction First Impression Young Adult 0

Sneak Peek: The Invocations

By Krystal Sutherland

Coming soon on January 30, 2024

First impression: (5 / 5)

I had the opportunity to read the first few chapters of The Invocations by Krystal Sutherland. From the first page of the Prologue I could tell I was going to really like this author’s style of writing, with beautifully detailed descriptions and an air of mystery. The book follows 3 young women, each who has a connection or interest in magic for their own reasons. Each of these characters seems to be in some sort of trouble, so I feel like it’s too soon to tell how much I’ll like these characters. Either way, it seems like some big things will be happening, and I’m interested to see where this story is heading.

September 14, 2023 by danimae1981 eBook Fantasy Fiction First Impression Young Adult 0

Bittersweet in the Hollow

By Kate Pearsall

Coming soon on October 10, 2023

(4 / 5)

It’s hard to summarize a book like Bittersweet in the Hollow. This young adult novel was so much more than just that genre… add in paranormal abilities, murder, mystery, legends of a Moth-Winged Man, a dash of romance, and the powerful bonds of family. This story takes place in present time, following 17 year old Linden, whose family has passed down paranormal abilities through generations of women. Linden’s ability is that she can taste the emotions of other people, so there’s an ongoing theme of flavors and food throughout the book, especially since Linden’s family also owns a restaurant.

The book takes place in the small town of Caball Hollow where everyone seems to know each other. There’s an isolated feeling since the town is surrounded by a national forest, and families have lived there for generations.

There’s a lot of mystery woven into this story. Linden disappeared for a night a year ago, but is unable to remember what happened during that time. Now a friend has gone missing exactly a year later. Could these disappearances be related to the little boy that vanished 18 years ago? What about the Moth-Winged Man that Caball Hollow is known for? All this put together definitely makes for a complex story that keeps you wondering how it will all come together. There’s some interesting twists along the way, and though some of them I suspected, there were definitely some surprises along the way too.

Overall this was an interesting story with a unique feel to it. While at times it felt a little slow-paced, it really picks up in the last third of the book, to the point that I just couldn’t put it down until I finished it at 2am. It was definitely worth reading!

A special thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for the free advance copy of Bittersweet in the Hollow. All opinions expressed in my review are completely my own.

September 5, 2023 by danimae1981 Fiction Kindle Young Adult 0

All the Dead Shall Weep

By Charlaine Harris

Coming soon on September 5, 2023

(3.5 / 5)

All the Dead Shall Weep is the 5th book in the Gunnie Rose series, and since it continues the stories of Lizbeth and Felicia, the previous books should be read first. That said, it’s been several months since I read the previous books, and I didn’t have much trouble following what was going on since the author gave little hints and reminders of things that had happened previously.

In general, I’ve really enjoyed reading this series, but this book was probably my least favorite. It doesn’t mean it was a bad book, it just didn’t seem to have the adventure and excitement that the previous books had. There was very much an “air of sadness” throughout the book- right from the start we learn that Lizbeth recently miscarried a baby and Eli has been distant, then Eli (and his brother Peter) are gone for most of the book. With the love interests gone, there isn’t much of any romance in this book. There was a little bit of adventure, but most of the story took place in Lizbeth’s hometown of Segundo Mexia. Honestly, a lot of the book felt like we were waiting around to see if Eli would come back and wondering what was going on with a mysterious militia. There’s more excitement in the end, but honestly this whole book feels like it’s leading up to bigger things that haven’t happened yet. And I just don’t feel like there was a lot of character development over the course of the story, though there is growth in the relationship between the sisters. I enjoyed the book well enough since I like the characters and world that was built from the previous books. But I’m hoping there will be a book #6 that feels more like the previous books and dives into some of the things that weren’t wrapped up in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the free advance copy of this book. All opinions expressed in my review are completely my own.

August 15, 2023 by danimae1981 eBook Fantasy Fiction 0

The Serpent in Heaven

By Charlaine Harris

(5 / 5)

The Serpent in Heaven is the 4th book in the Gunnie Rose series, which takes place in an alternate history where the United States has fallen and been replaced by multiple smaller countries. While it probably can be read without reading the previous books, I highly recommend reading them first. I really love the mixing of genres in this series: fantasy/magic, western, alternate history, action, mystery, and romance.

Unlike the first 3 books that are from Lizbeth’s perspective, this book follows Felicia, Lizbeth’s younger half-sister. While I initially missed following Lizbeth and Eli, I enjoyed this new perspective, which gave us a lot more insight into Felicia and her background. Since Felicia is around 15 years old, this book has a “younger” feel to it than the previous books, but I don’t think it took away from the story at all. The book is engaging with plenty of action and good flow that kept it hard to put down. I’m hoping this series will continue since I have really enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the free review copy of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

November 29, 2022 by danimae1981 Fantasy Fiction Kindle 0