Sel is a classics major. Make of this information what you will.

Bloodmarked is Legendborn's sequel, and I think it reminds me more and more of a mix of Cinda Williams Chima's The Warrior Heir series and J.M. Miro's Ordinary Monsters series. I regret not continuing the series sooner, although I'm kind of glad I didn't have to wait for the release of book three because this cliffhanger would have had me going insane. This addition to the series expands the depth of the world by allowing Bree to leave campus, which also allows for expansion of the cast of characters and leads to some intriguing interactions.

Bree has been declared the Scion of Arthur and discovered her legacy as a Bloodcrafter, Nick's dad has practically kidnapped him and fled, and the Legendborn Order is falling apart. It's hard to describe the direction this book takes because it feels like so many plot points occurred, but I can say I think I enjoyed the first half a bit more. This is one of those sequels where the tensions from the end of book one carry the pacing for the beginning of book two, but once that tension dissolves, the middle sections drag. Surprisingly, I think the ending of the book dragged the most for me (there are two sections I can think of that felt kind of slow). But I also basically had withdrawal from this book because every time I wasn't reading, I found myself thinking about it and longing to go back to it. I think some other reviews nailed the feeling it gives well: the book takes on a bit too much. So much happens that it feels a bit hard to keep track of at times, but also it changes direction enough that it's hard to get one's footing. Did I enjoy this book? Yes, I was on the edge of my seat for half of it. But some of that suspense came from me wanting to get past the slow parts so I could see the tension resolved. The ending was definitely interesting, though I'm kind of hesitant about the direction book three is going (I think it's going to be a bit filler-y, and I have some questions about character dynamics), but I'm still super excited for it.

This book both introduced new character dynamics and sidelined old ones. For one, I was glad to see more of Alice, and I appreciated her perspective on a lot of Legendborn issues from the standpoint of an outsider. She was super supportive of Bree, which was great, and I'm kind of hoping she gets some time to shine alone in book three. Valec reminded me a bit of Magnus from Shadowhunters, but more interesting. He and Mariah still feel a bit flat to me, but hopefully, book three can change that. William is probably my favorite character as of now (if he dies, I will not mentally recover) because I love the healer/warrior warring natures, and also, he's just so sweet and deserves the best. I was a bit disappointed by the complete sidelining of Nick. I understand that it was important to give Sel and Bree time to bond, but Nick was still an important character, and we didn't get to see his reactions to almost anything. I like Sel. A lot. As in, a lot more than he should. He did get on my nerves a few times, and I'm not sure how I feel about the romance dynamics between him and Bree (especially considering Nick still exists), but he's still super fun. I really liked Bree in the last book, and I still think she's one of the better characters, but her growth feels a bit stifled in this book. She still acts petulant at times, and her stubbornness is quickly becoming a problem. Additionally, she's yet to grow into her power, meaning she's constantly being rescued, and it gets a bit draining at times. I'm interested in her arc in book three, but if she doesn't start growing soon, I might get frustrated.

Bloodmarked is the expansive and tense sequel to Legendborn, and it sets up for a complex and emotional rollercoaster-y third book.

4.25/5 

I've decided that, second to found family, trios are my favorite type of character grouping.

I read Legendborn a few years ago and never got around to finishing the series, but the theme of the year seems to be Abby rereading books and discovering that she was crazy for not scrambling to finish the series immediately. It's been three years since I read Legendborn, and I remembered very little of it, so rereading it felt like reading it for the first time again. I think I enjoyed it more this time, having a bit more of a background on Arthurian legend (I say that referencing BBC's Merlin and Gawain and the Green Knight, neither of which are super helpful but it's fine). This book reminds me a bit of the Shadowhunters series, but I found it way more enjoyable and thought the worldbuilding had much more depth and nuance.

On Bree's first night on campus for the local Early College program, she witnesses something supernatural: demons attacking humans. When one of the students - a Merlin - tries to erase her memories of the incident and it fails, Bree realizes that this secret society of "Legendborns" might be related to the accident that took her mother's life. The plot mixes mystery, academia, and fantasy-esque trials in a very well-balanced manner. The pacing is fairly quick and does well at maintaining a good proportion of page-time spent on each segment of the plot. The stakes are pretty high from the beginning, although most of the characters have a decent amount of plot armor. The mystery has enough elements that I don't think every detail is predictable, but I called two of the main plot twists (one of them without literally any reason other than vibes). Overall, I was engrossed in the story from the very beginning, and I think the balance of mystery and action was done masterfully.

It's not often that I find a book where I love all of the main characters. I liked most of the side characters, although admittedly, I did struggle to remember which characters belonged to which bloodlines and which Squires belonged to which Scions. Of the side characters, William was definitely my favorite (which I'm assuming is a popular consensus) because we love chill, healer types. I also really appreciated Alice. I think her arc was both relatable and realistic, and I just love her and Bree constantly quoting things at each other. Bree, Sel, and Nick's complicated dynamics were one of the highlights of the book for me. I love Bree as a protagonist. She doesn't shy away from speaking her mind, and she's one of those strong female protagonists who doesn't need to be an assassin to prove her worth. Her identity plays a central role in the story, and I think her narration was good at enlightening readers to the struggles faced by Black girls in America. Nick is your typical golden retriever with a stoic side type character. He reminded me a bit of Jason Grace, and I really liked his character. He did feel a bit basic at times, but I'm hoping future books will remedy that. On the other hand, Sel is your typical brooding bad boy with a mysterious past, and while I usually don't love that trope, I didn't mind it too much with Sel. I don't know why, exactly, but I think it might be that he's the black cat to complement Nick, and I just like his dynamics in the trio.

Legendborn is one of the best YA fantasies I've read that takes place in the "real world," and I'm super excited to continue the series that I should've kept reading years ago.

4.5/5 

Maybe this is a niche reference, but this book was very reminiscent of Starkid's Cinderella's Castle and that's pretty much all I could picture the entire time.

Nettle is a short YA fantasy novel that pays homage to faerytales both in content and in form. With less than 300 pages and quick pacing, it's a fast and easy read. I'm not super familiar with faefolk lore outside the variations I've seen in other fantasy novels, so I don't know how much this adheres to traditional folklore. However, I'd say the faeries in the story align more with those in The Cruel Prince or Cassandra Clare's Dark Artifices series. It also just gives "twisted fairytale" vibes as a whole, which is why it reminded me of Cinderella's Castle, and I've also seen it compared to Rumpelstiltskin, and I think that comparison is fitting as well.

After falling through a portal to the faery realm, Nettle makes a deal: if she completes three tasks for the faery king, she will be allowed to return home, and her sick grandmother will be healed. The catch? These tasks are impossible. The plot is fairly straightforward and follows Nettle trying to outsmart the tasks she's been given. She befriends Conor, another human trapped by fae deals, and some other residents of the faery world. The pacing is very quick (there's not much time to dwell on subplots), which lends itself to an easy read, but it can make the story feel a bit shallow at times. In general, I do think the story can lack depth at times, but because it feels like an homage to fairytales, I'm willing to excuse some of the shallowness. I think the ending plot twist was fairly predictable, but I wasn't a huge fan of the ending itself. It makes sense (sort of), but it feels a) a bit rushed and b) like it lacks closure. The plot itself is interesting, but it lacks a bit of depth that allows for proper connections with characters, and it makes the ending feel wrong tonally.

I thought the cast of characters was intriguing on the surface, but I wish there was more exploration of them. Nettle is your typical YA fantasy protagonist; she's not like other girls (she likes walking barefoot), she's clever, and she's brave enough to face off against beings far more powerful than her. That being said, she felt a bit like what I call an "invisible narrator" in that, although the novel was written in first person, I didn't feel like I was actually getting any personal information from her. She existed, but I feel like outside a few character traits, I didn't know much about her. Conor was the most interesting premise-wise, in my opinion. His actual character reminded me of Braeden from Serafina and the Black Cloak, and I really would've liked more page-time from him. His dynamics with Nettle felt a bit rushed at first, but I enjoyed their friendship. There seemed to be implied connections with Ellion that were never explored, which was fine because I didn't really care for him. I've had enough broody, shadow fae men, I don't need more. The rest of the cast served to flesh out the world well; I really liked the twisted fairytale aesthetic they created, and I think all of the characters were relatively enticing. The only other complaint that I have with the characters is that the king felt a bit pathetic toward the end of the book, despite being a cunning protagonist up until that point.

Nettle is a short but sweet YA fantasy perfect for fans of faerytales where the faeries are more cunning than kind.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

3.25/5

 

It seems like Jacks' default volume is loud because every dialogue tag in his POV chapters is some variation of "screamed" or "shouted."


I could've read A Curse for True Love in less than 8 hours, but I felt really guilty for reading it that quickly and decided to go to bed instead. After the jaw-dropping ending of The Ballad of Never After, I had very high expectations for this book, but I also had heard that it was a bit disappointing, so I was prepared for the possibility of disliking it, too. I think my reaction kind of falls in the middle: I enjoyed the book, but I definitely wanted more from it, especially in terms of side character subplots and just more tension in general.

Evangeline remembers nothing about her time in the Magnificent North, but supposedly she has a princely husband and he's devoted to chasing down the man who cursed her memory: Jacks, the Prince of Hearts. This book is one that I feel like I can't describe correctly in terms of pacing because on one hand, I read this in basically two sittings, but also the beginning was slow, and the only reason I read so quickly was so I could get to the "good parts." The initial conflict that occupies over 50% of the book is just Evangeline's missing memories, meaning the rest of the plot can't really move forward from Evangeline's POVs. We get a few POV chapters from Apollo and Jacks to lighten the pacing a bit, but (as many other reviews have stated) Apollo's POVs are rather boring, and I felt that Jacks' didn't represent his character very well (which I'll get to later). The first half of the story is also dominated by Evangeline reverting back to her initial, overly naive personality, which means we have to redo her character arc, which works against the pacing as well. As much as I enjoyed the storyline, I also thought the ending was a bit underwhelming. Three books of build-up and all the major conflicts are resolved relatively easily? The ending felt rushed and a bit undeserved, and even though the stakes were technically high, they didn't feel that way. The epilogue leaves open the potential for future extensions of this series, which is the only reason I'm accepting the lack of closure on the majority of the side characters and their subplots. Lala's arc is unfulfilled, we don't hear much about what happens to Chaos, the Valors are just roaming free, and there are no consequences for freeing them from the Valory, etc. I think this book could've easily used an extra 100 pages or so just for some added tension in the second half and closure on subplots.

What I really loved about the first two books was the dynamics between Jacks and Evangeline, so when that dynamic was disrupted by Evangeline's loss of memories and their separation, it kind of lessened my enjoyment of the book. I'm all for angst, but this wasn't even that; it was just kind of annoying. I liked seeing Apollo become more manipulative, but he wasn't that powerful of an antagonist, and his motivations felt a bit underdeveloped and generic. The Valors could've been super interesting characters (I wanted to see their interactions with Castor and their reactions to the changes made in the centuries they spent in the Arch), so I'm hoping they get more page time in possible future installations since they didn't get any in this book. Lala, too, felt forgotten until the end, and even then, she acted more as a plot device than the actual character we know and love. The same goes for Chaos, who was basically sidelined except for one or two scenes. If these two were to get their own books, I would love it. As for Jacks, I did not enjoy his POVs as much as I expected. I know that the Jacks we see through Evangeline's chapters aren't necessarily a reflection of the real Jacks, but it almost felt like two different people between his POVs and hers. It's hard to describe, but to me, he almost felt more simp-y than anything, and his internal monologues felt way more emotional than anything we see from the outside. It's not a bad thing, I just struggled to reconcile the way Evangeline (and the reader, until this point) sees Jacks vs how Jacks actually is. As always, I liked Evangeline, but the erasure of her previous character arc and the fact that she had to relearn everything was a bit annoying. I like how much of an idealist she is, but I also wish she could stop trusting people she shouldn't.

Is A Curse for True Love worth reading? Absolutely, if only for closure for the series. Some readers may be disappointed, but it's either this or living with the ending of book two forever, so...

3.75/5 

Unfortunately, this book has broken my streak of correctly guessing plot twists, and I'm trying not to be mad about it because it was definitely guessable in hindsight.


Mistress of Bones has an extremely interesting concept: the gods gave up their bodies to become land for the mortals, but now that the mortals are stealing the remains of those bodies, the gods want to intervene. The worldbuilding was definitely what drew me to this book; one of my favorite microtropes is gods walking among mortals or being directly involved in their lives. And I did like the worldbuilding in this novel, but sometimes it wasn't executed well (it's never clear exactly what the "Anchors" are in terms of visual imagery), and I think the story would've benefited from a map and/or a dramatis personae. I really needed a dramatis personae given how many characters are involved and how many of them disappear for chapters and are easily forgotten.

Azul's sister is a walking corpse, and Azul is the only thing keeping her alive. When Azul's sister suddenly dies again, Azul is prevented from bringing her back by the Emissary of Death. He proposes a deal: she will help him find the other necromancer causing issues around the world, and in exchange, she will be allowed to raise her sister from the dead once more. As much as I liked the idea for this story, I think there were some issues in the execution. Almost every chapter has a past and a present section, which can make it difficult to keep track of the timelines, especially because the past sections don't occur in chronological order either. I think these sections might've worked better as simple flashbacks, but as it stands, they break up the flow of the plot. The second half of the story was definitely more interesting than the first. It takes about 40% or so to establish the stakes, goals, and direction of the plot. I liked the twists toward the end, and I think this book introduces some interesting premises for a sequel, but the pacing was a bit inconsistent, and I think it took too long to get into the main action of the storyline.

I also struggled to connect to the characters, and looking at other reviews, this seems to be a common issue. Azul is fine as a protagonist - I've read about the necromancer sister trope a handful of times, and it's one of my favorites - but she's very impulsive, and it took almost 80% of the book before I was truly rooting for her. Enjul was very intriguing, but he wasn't in half the chapters, and we only spent a handful of pages in his POV, so his internal motivations are a bit vague at times, and I think he just needed more page time. Nereida was interesting too, but suffered the same issue as Enjul, whereas Count de Anvi was similar to Azul in that he had a lot of page time, but I found him pretty boring and didn't completely understand his relevance to the main plot. There were a lot of other random characters, none of which I paid too much attention to because half of them disappeared after a few chapters, but that proved to be my downfall when I missed the main plot twist.

Mistress of Bones is a YA fantasy featuring minimal romance, an interesting cast of characters, complex and unique worldbuilding, and a mystery plot with hints of court intrigue. I would recommend it to fans of Tara Sim's City of Dusk.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

3.25/5 

If I could have the full Caraval series illustrated in this style, I would never shut up about it.


Spectacular is the illustrated holiday novella that follows the Caraval series, but I'm hoping there's more to come. The art style is stunning, and I think it works very well for this magical world. Also, we've had so much Tella content, and I just want more Scarlett and Julian...

Tella knows that Legend hates the holiday spirit, so she goes on a mission to find the perfect gift for him that will bring back some holiday joy. The beginning of the novella is pretty much as advertised: we get some backstory on the holiday (it resembles Christmas in many ways), Tella laments Legend's grumpiness, and Scarlett and Julian offer to help. The second half of the novella is a bit sketchier; I won't go into it too much for spoiler sake - plus a lot of other people have already explained it in other reviews - but it turns into a rather elaborate scheme with some questionable actions. I liked the vibes, and I enjoyed the read (even if the "twist" was pretty predictable). I just wish we got more Scarlett and Julian content. I know novellas are short and can't encompass enough, but I don't care. I'd love more special novellas - especially if illustrated - if it means more Scarlett and Julian content.

Fans of Caraval - especially lovers of Tella - will not want to miss out on Spectacular, the beautifully illustrated holiday special that emulates the full whimsy of the Caraval world.

4/5 

I don't want to say this book is the consequence of our actions, but it feels like the overwhelming number of the same recycled plots and tropes migrating between genres has finally amalgamated into this mess of a story.

Silver Elite has become incredibly popular in the two weeks since its publication, mostly due to the controversy surrounding its promotion and the identity of the author. Before I officially move on to my "review," I want to quickly address some of those most debated points I've seen in the book community.

Is Silver Elite truly a dystopian novel?
No. It has a dystopian setting, but it lacks the social commentary of a proper dystopian novel, and the dystopian worldbuilding is weak in general. I'd be more inclined to label it as a plain romantasy or romanti-sci-fi (or whatever that genre would be considered). The dystopian aspect exists solely as an aesthetic setting for the story, and even then, I would consider it more of a futuristic military setting than a dystopian one.

Is Silver Elite really a Hunger Games for adults?
Also no. It shares more similarities with Divergent than The Hunger Games by a long shot (the only comparison I can make between Silver Elite and THG is the division of the country into more than 10 sectors). However, I feel that it's even closer to Fourth Wing than it is to Divergent. Probably over half the scenes and characters feel like they were directly copied and pasted from FW, which is definitely why it got so popular so quickly. But the relation to FW over Divergent is another reason why I would rather refer to it as a romantasy than a dystopian.

Was Silver Elite written by AI or a problematic author?
I do not believe that Silver Elite was entirely written by AI, mostly because I have seen editors and other people involved in the publishing industry confirm that Dani Francis is a real person. I've also heard that copyright laws would not allow this to happen. I won't accuse the author of using AI to assist the process of writing this novel - I think it is entirely possible, especially due to the heavy FW and Divergent influences - that the idea was created by a real person.
As for the identity of the author, I respect their wishes to remain anonymous, but I also understand readers' fears that they might be problematic. I don't pay enough attention to authors' writing styles to be able to accurately say I have any guesses on the author anyway, especially because the writing was extremely simple and could probably belong to a wide variety of authors. There are some points that the book makes that do feel a bit uncomfortable (which I'll get into in the next question), but in my reading of this, the author tried very hard to avoid discussing anything truly controversial - another reason why it's not really dystopian.

Does Silver Elite contain right-wing rhetoric?
This is a difficult question to answer because I found the messages in the book extremely inconsistent and contradictory. This section is going to be a bit essay-like, so I apologize in advance, but I gathered evidence while reading. I also don't have page numbers, but I do have percentages, and all of these quotes are in my Kindle highlights.
I've seen a lot of discourse regarding the discussion of labor camps in the novel, and I think it's a valid concern to raise. Wren initially hates labor camps, explicitly stating, "it always boils my blood how many of us are still held prisoner in the labor camps scattered throughout the wards" (4%). Later on, we see Cross (the love interest) being chastised by the Big Bad Government for being "too merciful" for sending people to labor camps instead of killing them, with his father telling him, "'You enjoy overcrowding our camps by sending the Aberrant there, recommending labor sentences over death to the Tribunal. But sometimes, son, death is the answer. Unlike you, Roe understands that'"(45%). So Wren sees labor camps as bad, but Cross sees them as merciful, and then by the end of the book, Wren agrees with him, using the excuse of "at least she’ll have a life" (72%) in reference to another character being sentenced to laboring away in a mine as a prison sentence. Usually, the things that dystopian books mean to criticize - in this case, potentially, labor camps - end up as a point of disagreement for the protagonist; Wren's decision to eventually "support" labor camps, even as an alternative to the death penalty, is questionable.

There are also a few other points of conversation where the book's leanings are overly vague. I'll share some of them below:
"The General claims that prior to the Last War, overpopulation was a serious problem" (5%) - reads in a way that suggests that overpopulation was not actually a problem (the word claims implies, to me, a level of duplicity in a statement)

"Maybe the Faithful have the right idea after all with those Old Era beliefs. At least back then there’d been some semblance of privacy, of freedom. You could live a life far from civilization if you chose. A harder life, certainly, but that’s the thing about freedom, isn’t it? There’s always a price to pay for it. The Faithful are free…to live in the shadows. To decamp at a moment’s notice and find another home on the fringes. To fend off starvation and be hunted by the Command" (17%) - there are repeated references to the "Faithful," who appear to be some outskirts group of minor rebels that only want to live their lives without government interference. This in itself isn't weird, but the idea of traditionalists and the name "Faithful" (which implies religion, something outlawed by the Big Bad Government) seems to be aligned a bit with conservative victimhood, in my reading, at least.
But also: "'Do you ever feel bad for them?' I can’t stop the question from slipping out. 'The Faithful?' 'What do you mean?' I tap the screen to project the photograph. 'These people…They just want to be left alone. Sometimes I wonder if it’s fair for us to impose the General’s idea of society on them.' Kaine frowns, considering my words. 'That’s not for us to decide. Our duty is to follow orders.' 'They’re just trying to live free.' 'They’re stealing from the Company'” (70%) - which suggests that the Faithful are freeloaders, something that conservative ideology is highly against.

"I can’t count the number of messages Uncle Jim received on his comm from my teachers, reporting me for not paying attention in class or disappearing from the schoolhouse altogether. I don’t do well chained to a desk" (18%) - there are several instances of Wren explaining that she is intelligent but doesn't perform well in school. This is, again, not inherently right-wing rhetoric nor anti-intellectual in nature. However, Wren always assumes that a) she is the only person in the world to exist like this, and b) that the fault is in education as a whole and not specifically the educational system. She also says that she doesn't really try to learn (“'I already told you, I’m not good at the classroom stuff. It’s too hard.' It’s actually very easy when you’re not trying" [31%].) This is a theme that is reiterated many, many times throughout the story, and it never actually addresses the root of the problem (lack of academic accommodations) and always just looks down at intellectualism. Additionally, this is kind of reinforced through the actions of the only academic character at the end of the book (for sake of spoilers, I will not share it here). More quotes about education include: "'That’s all my brothers and I ever heard growing up, how humanity destroyed itself. Letting chaos reign. Encouraging learned helplessness. Kids were in school until their twenties. Adults, too. All these pathetic assholes wasting time, wasting resources. If you’re not productive, you’re destructive'” (34%) & "I’m an intelligent person. Observant. Strategic. I’ve got an excellent memory—I can take one look at the north pasture on my ranch and tell you if one blade of grass is out of place. But force me to memorize codes and coordinates and military jargon, and it all bleeds together into one boring jumble. I’ve never been good at staring at screens" (36%).

"As a society, we housed millions of criminals. Clothed them, fed them. Cold-blooded killers and child rapists living better lives than most free people. Even the ones who were sentenced to death were allowed to live for decades past their sentences. They ate three square meals a day while those who hadn’t killed or raped anyone could barely afford to eat. Evil pilfering rare resources from innocent citizens'" (33%) - this reads like it supports the death penalty

"For someone who outlaws God, his God complex sure is big enough. He thinks he’s the only one who can lead the people" (86%) - the Big Bad Government is against religion, which sounds a bit like a projection of white Christian nationalist victimhood fears

Also, just the actions/dialogue of Cross is extremely icky at times, like him suggesting that he would've had sex with Wren the moment he saw her (“'Perfect,' he rasps. 'I wanted this from the second you were underneath me at the inn.' He grinds himself against me. I can feel every inch of him. 'Should’ve taken you then'”[60%]), which feels a bit rape-y. I'll go into more detail in my official review, but he gives me a very icky feeling.

What did the marketing of Silver Elite get wrong?
It's not dystopian; it's romantasy. It's not "The Hunger Games for adults"; it's just a spicy plot in a vaguely futuristic setting. The author may be a best-seller, but the book is very copy/paste, and the style is quite simple. Also - this might be something that bothered me alone - but the screenshots of the Edelweiss advertisements claimed that this had a love triangle, and it definitely does not. Just another way the marketing is full of lies.
So, whether or not you want to read it is up to you (fans of FW and Divergent might enjoy it), but I recommend reading it for the vibes and not for any criticisms of society.

OFFICIAL REVIEW (TL;DR)
This is now my most annotated (on Kindle) book of all time, and I don't think any of those annotations had anything nice to say.


Silver Elite is the newest BookTok phenomenon, and it's very clear why: it's a blatant rip-off of Fourth Wing and Divergent. It's popular for a reason, namely the recycling of popular tropes like enemies-to-lovers, commander's son, secret identities, forbidden romance, etc. I would consider it more of a romantasy than a dystopian, given its lack of proper societal criticism and commentary, and the "dystopian" aesthetic is more just plainly futuristic than anything specific. I think it is fully possible for a "spicy dystopian" to be a well-executed story, but I think it still needs to address social commentary (preferably, if it must be spicy, something regarding purity culture or sexuality), and this book failed to do so.

Wren is a Mod: she can read minds, transmit her thoughts, and manipulate the actions of others, among other powers. After her uncle is executed for past allegiance to a rebellion, she is given the choice of joining the Silver Block - an elite military block - or spending the rest of her life in prison, and reluctantly agrees to put up with the brooding commander if it means earning her freedom. Because the plot is so trope-y, it's extremely predictable, in my opinion. One of the plot twists I called within the first few chapters, although I was a bit hesitant in believing it due to one tiny detail. Another plot twist I didn't guess completely, but was mostly correct, and the third I also guessed very early on. This could be because I read a lot of stories in this genre, but I've seen them so many times that I'd like to see some more nuance. Additionally, I found the plot to be a bit slow at times. Wren spends the first half of the story trying to flunk out of the program, and is only kept there because Cross finds her attractive (I'm assuming, because otherwise why put up with her for that long and not put a bullet in her head). There's a relatively low sense of danger because Wren never leaves the compound, and given her plot armor in the form of Cross's horniness, the question of whether she'll pass the Silver Block is answered relatively early on. Do I think there's potential for a more interesting sequel? Maybe? It seems like a pretty generic rebellion story: magic people are too strong, so the normal people kill them off, but some of them still live in secret and are constantly being hunted down. If the next book clarifies the vague themes of this one, it would be a vast improvement, but I doubt that's likely to happen.

I also couldn't connect to any of the characters. Wren is supposed to be empowering and super cool, but she's extremely cocky, overestimates her value (despite her failure to follow orders at any given time), and also achieves most of her accomplishments by sleeping with Cross. She's also a cowgirl...and I couldn't take that or her chosen expletive ("hellf*ck") seriously. Cross creeps me out. Sorry, not sorry; any guy who says "oh, I should've slept with you when I first saw you" is kind of weird. His only personality is being horny but mysterious, and there was literally no backstory or arc to his character. He existed solely as a thing for Wren to have sex with and to advance her plot. Kaine is a copy of Ridoc (which is why he was the only character I could stand, and just barely), and Lyddie and Tana are your token female best friends who get tossed aside the moment a man comes along. Ivy and Xavier are the only characters who I think have the potential to be interesting; Ivy reminds me of Evangeline from Red Queen, and Xavier is just Bodhi from FW with more tragedy. If I continue the series, they'll be the only characters I'm invested in. The rest of the side characters are almost explicit copies of the FW cast.

Silver Elite is the newest addition to the ever-growing collection of "dystopian" literature that appeals to readers because of its familiarity with tropes from the genre, but provides very little actual substance in terms of critique.

1.5/5

Abby Spice Guide:
pg 345 - pg 350
pg 422
pg 446 

I know this series is supposed to be based on Final Fantasy, but I'm definitely still getting major Skyward Sword vibes from this one.


The Demon and the Light is the sequel to The Floating World, and I was lucky enough to receive ARCs for both of them...and in the same year, too. Publishing two books in the span of a year is quite a feat, but unfortunately, I think it detracts from my enjoyment of the story. This book felt very rushed, both in pacing and in storyline. I appreciate fast-paced plots, but I feel like so much happened in this book, and yet so little actually mattered.

We begin right where book one left off, with Sunho having been transformed into a demon and Ren finally accepting her true role as leader of the Floating World. The synopsis of the sequel hints at an inner battle between Sunho and his inner demon, but I felt like that plotline was resolved way too quickly, and the "war between empires" also mentioned in the synopsis feels a bit misleading. The first half of the book kind of meandered, in my opinion, as Ren was trying to balance a rescue of Sunho, the reestablishment of order in the government, investigations of the mithril labs, and the discovery of her mother's past. Around the halfway point, certain plot developments allowed for a clearer goal for the main characters, but this section, too, seemed like we were dancing around the problems. Did I enjoy reading the book? Yes, and the fast pace was immensely helpful in keeping my interest. However, I felt like this was much more heavily plot-focused than book one, and so the characters felt like they lacked a bit of depth to me. The ending also felt a bit too easy, and overall, I never really felt like any of the characters were in major danger because they're all fairly overpowered. I still enjoyed it, but I preferred book one.

I did appreciate the added focus on certain side characters in this book. Yurhee and Tag are still around, albeit in much more minor roles, but the few scenes they were in were still fun. Jaeil has a few POV chapters again, but his character felt pretty flat to me. His unwavering loyalty to Ren felt a bit convenient, and as much as I enjoyed his interactions with Wook, their relationship didn't feel very developed to me. Sunho and Ren were still good protagonists, and I enjoyed following their story. I liked watching Ren investigate her past while also discovering what it means to be a leader, and Sunho's arc was interesting and enticing. They just felt a bit bland compared to the last book, and I don't know if it was because there wasn't really much tension between them or if the book was so focused on plot that we didn't get to see their relationship play out in any super complex way. Either way, I still really liked their characters and arcs, I just wish they got a bit more fleshed out.

Even though I think The Demon and the Light was fairly rushed, it still acts as a great conclusion to an action-packed duology, and it's a worthwhile read for fans of sky islands, dark vs light magic, and adventures with exciting characters.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

3.5/5

 

Every once in a while, a book comes along and reminds me that I'm naive and then hurts me in ways I forgot were possible.

The Wild Huntress has been at the top of my TBR for a while because I really enjoyed The Drowned Woods (I haven't got around to reading The Bone Houses yet, but now I feel obligated to) and also I've been in my unhinged forest era. I read this in two sittings and less than 24 hours, and I already want to reread it.

Drawing from the mythology of the Wild Hunt, the story follows three characters as they band together to try to win the hunt. Branwen is a human huntress who can see magic and wishes to save her mother; Gwydion is a young man with power over plants and a mission to save his kingdom; and Pryderi is a prince raised by a monster who aims to discover his true nature. Found family, magic tournaments, sketchy forests - this book had so many of my favorite tropes and concepts, which is probably why I enjoyed it so much. I absolutely adored the vibes, and while I've seen a few other reviews say that the beginning was slow, I didn't really feel that because I was so engrossed in the world and attached to the characters. The Hunt itself was a bit less action-packed than I was expecting, but I didn't mind because I enjoyed the character development and the slowly building sense of dread. I kind of predicted the ending plot twist, but only right before it occurred, and because I read The Drowned Woods (and I was therefore already acquainted with the author's plotting style in some sense). I have mixed feelings about the ending because, on one hand, I think it makes sense given the world of the story and the mythology it is based on. However, I also think it would have benefited from a bit more foreshadowing and a bit more detail in the resolution. I know this is a standalone, but because the author tends to write in the same world, I'm hoping that we get a bit more closure (even if only mentioned briefly) in future books.

What really drew me into the story were the characters. Admittedly, I struggled to love Branwen initially because she felt a bit generic (how many young huntresses that get embroiled in fantasy matters can we have in books?), but she quickly distinguished herself with her love for her cat and her cunning mind. I also just love her character design. Pryderi reminded me a bit of Isaak from King of Scars for some reason, and at first, I was also hesitant toward liking him, but I quickly grew to love him and his moral conflict. I think we spend the least amount of time in his POV, but I cherished those moments because he's so intriguing, and he's also just super sweet. Gwydion was initially my favorite, although I think he balanced out with the other characters later on. Plant magic is something I've been really into lately, so I thought he was cool from the get-go, and when you throw in that trickster/prince but not heir personality, it just made me love him more. The dynamics between these three are impeccable, though again, I have some thoughts on the ending. I (for some reason) wasn't expecting the level of found family that I got, and I already miss these characters.

The Wild Huntress is a YA fantasy novel featuring Welsh mythology regarding the Wild Hunt, a found family of cat-lovers and maybe-monsters, and immaculate magical forest vibes.

4.75/5 

What if I said the character dynamics are like if Nova from Renegades met a less sarcastic version of Dorian from Throne of Glass if he was raised by Silco from Arcane? What then?


Silvercloak has been on my Netgalley TBR for a while, and I've been meaning to get around to it sooner but kept getting new ARCs with closer due dates. It's an adult fantasy that often gets compared to Harry Potter because the characters carry wands, but honestly, the world reminded me more of Ketterdam from Six of Crows and the magic system was vaguely reminiscent of by Katy Rose Pool. And, because I can't help but include one more reference, the plot reminded me a lot of Heartless Hunter. While reading, I kept making fun of the two main characters because they continuously referenced their favorite childhood book series (which one character wrote his thesis on?), but here I am, name-dropping a dozen other books.

I want to talk briefly about the worldbuilding, which I don't always discuss in-depth in my reviews. Magic in this world is born out of either pain, pleasure, or a mix of both. I found this concept to be super interesting, but some of its execution was a bit disappointing. For example, it is mentioned that pleasure can come from simple things, like delicious food, beautiful music, or pretty artwork, but most of the time it comes from sex. Saff offers that, "almost everyone in Ascenfall was attracted to all genders, and almost everyone was kinky as all hells," basically using the excuse that everyone is horny all the time so everyone gets magic from sex. I really would've liked to see more exploration on other ways to generate pleasure, rather than a flimsy excuse that completely disregards asexuality and other people who simply might not enjoy sex. If you're going to do a magic system like this, there are so many interesting things you could do with it beyond smutty scenes.

Back to the plot: Saff's parents were murdered by the Bloodmoons when she was a child, so when she gets the chance to go undercover and bring them down, she accepts it immediately. I thought it would have a bit more action and tension, given Saff was supposed to be undercover the whole time, but I agree with another review that mentions that she and Levan are pretty overpowered (although sometimes Saff seems not to have much depth to her magical "well" and other times she can perform dozens of crazy feats in a row). This eliminates some of the tension and slows the pace at times, but I still enjoyed the story. I almost wish there had been more of a mystery subplot or something, as Saff spent a lot of time with the Bloodmoons just sitting around, which also could drag at times. I called two of the major plot twists (one of them is extremely obvious), and the one that I missed feels like there will be more developments in the future. Similarly, I saw some complaints about the ending, and while yes, I did find it a bit convenient, I'm hoping the story will play more with the consequences of those decisions in the future. Overall, it's a promising start to a new fantasy series, and I'm excited to see where it goes in the future.

As I said before, these characters resembled a lot of other characters from other books and TV shows. I kind of expected not to like Saff, and while she did get on my nerves at times, I didn't mind her too much. Her snarky quips combined with her relatively inquisitive (aka nosy) nature made her intriguing to follow, even if I didn't always agree with her. I have mixed feelings about Levan because sometimes I thought he was boring, and other times I liked his character. He's kind of your typical "book boyfriend" love interest in that he's "morally gray," has some obscure but calm/artistic hobby (reading), and grew up in tragic conditions that led to an even more tragic backstory. I'm interested to see the continuation of his arc, but he does feel like he's trying a bit too hard in this book, and I hope we get more flaws. I compared Lyrian to Silco because my reactions to them were basically the same; I hated them at first, I hated them slightly less upon finishing their series, and now I still hate them a little bit but feel kind of guilty about it. Saff starts the story with a handful of friends that I found interesting (I love Tiernan and Auria), but they quickly became irrelevant, and I'm hoping they come back in the next book.

Silvercloak is the first book in an upcoming adult fantasy series reminiscent of many other fantasy novels but putting its own unique spin on magic systems and promising more excitement to come.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!

4.25/5