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The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
Thank you so much to Wunderkind PR for sending me THE LAST NAMSARA to read and review in preparation for THE SKY WEAVER! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I am still a bundle full of emotions from this book. The story. The characters. The World. Kristen is a masterful story teller and did not disappoint in her debut novel. I don't know why I waited so long to start the series because it had everything I love in a fantasy novel: forbidden romance, tons of action, amazing characters and intricate but expertly explained world building and lets not forget DRAGONS! Thank you Wunderkind PR for reaching out about reviewing this series (the review for The Caged Queen and The Sky Weaver are coming in the next week!) and moving it up on my TBR.
When Asha was a child she told the forbidden ancient stories to the First Dragon, Kozu, and when she refused to he burned her. Eight years later Asha is the King's Iskari, a title she has earned by becoming the fiercest and most deadliest dragon slayer there is. No matter how many dragons Asha kills she will never have her freedom. After Kozu burned parts of the kingdom of Firgaard to the ground in his anger of denial of the stories, the kingdom looks upon Asha with disgust and contempt. But one person knows the secret of that night: the cruel commandant Jarek, who the King has promised Asha's hand to. But as the day come closer the King offers Asha a deal: Bring Kozu's head to him and she won't have to marry Jarek. But as Asha starts to unravel the secrets of Firgaard and the secrets of herself with the help of Torwin, one of Jarek's slave everything she has grown to know is questioned.
Kristen's world building was amazing. It was easy to understand the world she created and I loved the ways she did it. There was no info dump and she added more detail to her world as was needed. I enjoyed how the chapters alternated with the forbidden stories, I found that it added to the world and gave me more of an understand of the culture and why Asha continues to question why they are forbidden and if they truly are dangerous after all.
I loved Asha's character and her growth through out the novel. I will admit, at first I did not like Asha at all. I found her harsh, mean and in her interactions with Torwin that she believed she was above him. More then half of the book she had referred to him as "slave" even though she did know his name. BUT by the end of the story I loved her character and her growth. Asha opens herself up to love and the possibility that everything she knew has been a lie. I found Asha from the first half of the book and Asha at the books ending to be two different characters and I loved that. I am super excited to see Asha's growth through out the next two books. (Even though she isn't the main character in those, they do take place after this book so I am excited to see.)
I am a sucker for forbidden romances, so the fact that Asha falls for Jarek's slave sucked me right into the story even more. I ship it and by the end of the book I was crying for both characters. (Happy or sad tears? You have to read to find out!)
Conclusion: Dragons are air puppies. That is all I have to say.
Overall I really enjoyed The Last Namsara and I can't wait to read The Caged Queen and to witness Dax and Roa's story. Thank you again Wunderkind PR for the opportunity to read this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own!
Thank you so much to Wunderkind PR for sending me THE LAST NAMSARA to read and review in preparation for THE SKY WEAVER! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I am still a bundle full of emotions from this book. The story. The characters. The World. Kristen is a masterful story teller and did not disappoint in her debut novel. I don't know why I waited so long to start the series because it had everything I love in a fantasy novel: forbidden romance, tons of action, amazing characters and intricate but expertly explained world building and lets not forget DRAGONS! Thank you Wunderkind PR for reaching out about reviewing this series (the review for The Caged Queen and The Sky Weaver are coming in the next week!) and moving it up on my TBR.
When Asha was a child she told the forbidden ancient stories to the First Dragon, Kozu, and when she refused to he burned her. Eight years later Asha is the King's Iskari, a title she has earned by becoming the fiercest and most deadliest dragon slayer there is. No matter how many dragons Asha kills she will never have her freedom. After Kozu burned parts of the kingdom of Firgaard to the ground in his anger of denial of the stories, the kingdom looks upon Asha with disgust and contempt. But one person knows the secret of that night: the cruel commandant Jarek, who the King has promised Asha's hand to. But as the day come closer the King offers Asha a deal: Bring Kozu's head to him and she won't have to marry Jarek. But as Asha starts to unravel the secrets of Firgaard and the secrets of herself with the help of Torwin, one of Jarek's slave everything she has grown to know is questioned.
Kristen's world building was amazing. It was easy to understand the world she created and I loved the ways she did it. There was no info dump and she added more detail to her world as was needed. I enjoyed how the chapters alternated with the forbidden stories, I found that it added to the world and gave me more of an understand of the culture and why Asha continues to question why they are forbidden and if they truly are dangerous after all.
I loved Asha's character and her growth through out the novel. I will admit, at first I did not like Asha at all. I found her harsh, mean and in her interactions with Torwin that she believed she was above him. More then half of the book she had referred to him as "slave" even though she did know his name. BUT by the end of the story I loved her character and her growth. Asha opens herself up to love and the possibility that everything she knew has been a lie. I found Asha from the first half of the book and Asha at the books ending to be two different characters and I loved that. I am super excited to see Asha's growth through out the next two books. (Even though she isn't the main character in those, they do take place after this book so I am excited to see.)
I am a sucker for forbidden romances, so the fact that Asha falls for Jarek's slave sucked me right into the story even more. I ship it and by the end of the book I was crying for both characters. (Happy or sad tears? You have to read to find out!)
Conclusion: Dragons are air puppies. That is all I have to say.
Overall I really enjoyed The Last Namsara and I can't wait to read The Caged Queen and to witness Dax and Roa's story. Thank you again Wunderkind PR for the opportunity to read this book, all thoughts and opinions are my own!
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
Thank you so much to Wunderkind PR for sending me THE CAGED QUEEN to read and review in preparation for THE SKY WEAVER! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
As I said in my review of The Last Namsara, why did I wait so long to read these books?! The Caged Queen was full of twists and turns that left me on the edge of my seat for the entire book, gave another view of the rebellion that Dax, Roa and Safire successfully pulled off and continued to build onto the magnificent world that had Kristen created.
Instead of The Caged Queen following Asha, this book focuses on Roa, the Scrublander and heir to the House of Song turned Queen after marrying Dax in The Last Namsara. Tensions between the Scrublanders and the Draksors are at an all time high, and many are looking upon their new queen with disgust and contempt. Never mind the fact that every believes that the King has been sharing everyone's bed but his wife's. Roa only agreed to the marriage to help save her people by creating a stronger alliance, but it isn't going as planned. Before Dax showed up in the Scrublands several weeks prior, Roa hadn't seen him in eight years. Not since the night that her sister, Essie died. Dax isn't the King she imagined him to be and soon in desperation to save her people Roa is plotting against him. But soon she begins to fall for the King she swore to hate.
The tension between Roa and Dax through out this book is thick enough to cut with a knife. I found them both to be very prideful characters and at certain times that got in the way of them actually seeing each other. Roa spends a huge chunk of the novel believing that Dax is sleeping with someone close to her and Dax assumes that Roa is still in love with the boy she betrayed back home. I think what I loved most about Dax and Roa relationship was that their story wasn't neat and linear. It was messy and scattered. They had their highs and they had their lows but at the end they found where they belonged. The romance in The Caged Queen pulled at my heart strings, something that a novel hasn't done in a long long time.
For all the mystery that surrounded Ellie's death and why Dax was at fault, I was dissapointed. I expected something a lot bigger and dramatic then when actually happened. Especially for the amount of hatred and contempt that Roa had held for Dax.
Overall I really loved The Cage Queen and loved being able to see the brief return of Asha and Torwin at the end. I am super excited to read The Sky Weaver and finally have my hands on Safire's story and her adventure. She has become one of my favorite characters through the series so far and I can't wait for more of her. Thank you so much Wunderkind PR for the opportunity to read and review this series!
Thank you so much to Wunderkind PR for sending me THE CAGED QUEEN to read and review in preparation for THE SKY WEAVER! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
As I said in my review of The Last Namsara, why did I wait so long to read these books?! The Caged Queen was full of twists and turns that left me on the edge of my seat for the entire book, gave another view of the rebellion that Dax, Roa and Safire successfully pulled off and continued to build onto the magnificent world that had Kristen created.
Instead of The Caged Queen following Asha, this book focuses on Roa, the Scrublander and heir to the House of Song turned Queen after marrying Dax in The Last Namsara. Tensions between the Scrublanders and the Draksors are at an all time high, and many are looking upon their new queen with disgust and contempt. Never mind the fact that every believes that the King has been sharing everyone's bed but his wife's. Roa only agreed to the marriage to help save her people by creating a stronger alliance, but it isn't going as planned. Before Dax showed up in the Scrublands several weeks prior, Roa hadn't seen him in eight years. Not since the night that her sister, Essie died. Dax isn't the King she imagined him to be and soon in desperation to save her people Roa is plotting against him. But soon she begins to fall for the King she swore to hate.
The tension between Roa and Dax through out this book is thick enough to cut with a knife. I found them both to be very prideful characters and at certain times that got in the way of them actually seeing each other. Roa spends a huge chunk of the novel believing that Dax is sleeping with someone close to her and Dax assumes that Roa is still in love with the boy she betrayed back home. I think what I loved most about Dax and Roa relationship was that their story wasn't neat and linear. It was messy and scattered. They had their highs and they had their lows but at the end they found where they belonged. The romance in The Caged Queen pulled at my heart strings, something that a novel hasn't done in a long long time.
For all the mystery that surrounded Ellie's death and why Dax was at fault, I was dissapointed. I expected something a lot bigger and dramatic then when actually happened. Especially for the amount of hatred and contempt that Roa had held for Dax.
Overall I really loved The Cage Queen and loved being able to see the brief return of Asha and Torwin at the end. I am super excited to read The Sky Weaver and finally have my hands on Safire's story and her adventure. She has become one of my favorite characters through the series so far and I can't wait for more of her. Thank you so much Wunderkind PR for the opportunity to read and review this series!
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
Thank you so much to Wunderkind PR for sending me THE SKY WEAVER to read and review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If I thought my emotions were all over the place after The Last Namsara and The Caged Queen then that was nothing compared to all the feels that The Sky Weaver has given me. The Sky Weaver had been hooked from page one and I stayed up way past my bed time to finish it. It is very rare that I can read a book in one sitting anymore and The Sky Weaver was an exception to that! Since I was introduced to Safire in The Last Namsara I couldn't wait to read a book with her as the main character and The Sky Weaver has been the remedy to that.
The Sky Weaver had a different feel to it then the previous two novels in the series had, but it is a good different. I think it has to do with the fact that the previous novels focused on the fall of Firgaard and rebuilding it and in this novel the nation is in a good place or is on a path to being in a good place (for the most part.) I also think the fact that the old stories also play a very intricate part in Eris' story only added to this. But with all this being said I can confidently say that The Sky Weaver is my favorite book in this series!
Another thing that made The Sky Weaver a little different is that we get both Safire and Eris' POV. We get to see the struggles that both of these girls have faced in life and the struggles they are still facing. I loved getting to be in Safire's head and her thought process. Being a half blood Safire grew up being looked down upon, she wasn't even allowed to touch her cousin's or meet their eyes in conversation. Since the rebellion she has now taken on the position of Commandant, the position that Jarek had held before the rebellion. We see a few flashbacks of Safire's treatment at Jarek's hands and all I can say is my heart broke for her. I was cheering for her as she drove that knife through his heart in the The Last Namsara and I continue to cheer for her as she continues to make decisions to better herself.
I'm not going to talk about Eris for the fear of spoiling anything, but I will say this: I love her character and love her introduction into this world.
THE ROMANCE. I thought Dax and Roa was a rough romance. I had no idea which way the romance in this book was going. Was it going to happen? Was I looking to far into it? When were they going to kiss? All I know is that from the moment Safire and Eris were on the same page I was shipping them. The romance aspect in The Sky Weaver has been by far my favorite romance I have read in a long time.
The Sky Weaver wrapped up the Iskari series together rather well. Where The Last Namsara and The Caged Queen wrapped up the individual conflicts in their stories, The Sky Weaver wrapped up the story, world and characters as a whole. I am sad to be leaving this world and these characters and I do hope that Kristen revisits them one day. The Iskari will be a series that stays with me for a long time and one I plan on revisiting.
Thank you so much to Wunderkind PR for sending me THE SKY WEAVER to read and review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If I thought my emotions were all over the place after The Last Namsara and The Caged Queen then that was nothing compared to all the feels that The Sky Weaver has given me. The Sky Weaver had been hooked from page one and I stayed up way past my bed time to finish it. It is very rare that I can read a book in one sitting anymore and The Sky Weaver was an exception to that! Since I was introduced to Safire in The Last Namsara I couldn't wait to read a book with her as the main character and The Sky Weaver has been the remedy to that.
The Sky Weaver had a different feel to it then the previous two novels in the series had, but it is a good different. I think it has to do with the fact that the previous novels focused on the fall of Firgaard and rebuilding it and in this novel the nation is in a good place or is on a path to being in a good place (for the most part.) I also think the fact that the old stories also play a very intricate part in Eris' story only added to this. But with all this being said I can confidently say that The Sky Weaver is my favorite book in this series!
Another thing that made The Sky Weaver a little different is that we get both Safire and Eris' POV. We get to see the struggles that both of these girls have faced in life and the struggles they are still facing. I loved getting to be in Safire's head and her thought process. Being a half blood Safire grew up being looked down upon, she wasn't even allowed to touch her cousin's or meet their eyes in conversation. Since the rebellion she has now taken on the position of Commandant, the position that Jarek had held before the rebellion. We see a few flashbacks of Safire's treatment at Jarek's hands and all I can say is my heart broke for her. I was cheering for her as she drove that knife through his heart in the The Last Namsara and I continue to cheer for her as she continues to make decisions to better herself.
I'm not going to talk about Eris for the fear of spoiling anything, but I will say this: I love her character and love her introduction into this world.
THE ROMANCE. I thought Dax and Roa was a rough romance. I had no idea which way the romance in this book was going. Was it going to happen? Was I looking to far into it? When were they going to kiss? All I know is that from the moment Safire and Eris were on the same page I was shipping them. The romance aspect in The Sky Weaver has been by far my favorite romance I have read in a long time.
The Sky Weaver wrapped up the Iskari series together rather well. Where The Last Namsara and The Caged Queen wrapped up the individual conflicts in their stories, The Sky Weaver wrapped up the story, world and characters as a whole. I am sad to be leaving this world and these characters and I do hope that Kristen revisits them one day. The Iskari will be a series that stays with me for a long time and one I plan on revisiting.
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
I actually read Tweet Cute back in July when my wish was granted on NetGalley. I am not the biggest contemporary fan, but from the synopsis of the book I was hooked and knew I needed it in my life. But I was so excited that I pushed my TBR pile aside and dived into it. I loved Tweet Cute so much that finished it in one sitting. It's cute, cheesy, (ha, get the pun?) funny and a fresh take on romance that is going to have readers everywhere swooning.
Side note: I actually work at Wendy's and our social media has a habit of roasting their twitter followers, @ing their competition and basically causing a lot of fun havoc. (Did you know they also made a mix tape that you can find on Apple Music?) So reading a book about two restaurants going at each other on twitter? I was really excited for it.
Back to my review!
Pepper's family owns a steadily growing popular fast food chain called Big League Burger, where Jack's family owned deli, Girl Cheese, is failing. BLB is launching their new grilled cheeses, but something is fishy about one of them. It is a rip off of the famous sandwich from Girl Cheese that Jack's grandmother created years prior. Taking to twitter to tweet at them, Jack doesn't expect the tweet to blow up. But it does and now its BLB vs. Girl Cheese in the twitter war of the year. Pepper secretly runs the BLB twitter that has millions of followers, which she isn't inclined to but with the pressure from her mom and the failing PR girl, she reluctantly does. But what happens when two competitors begin to fall for each other? Well let's say it isn't as simple at melting cheese on bread. (Another pun!)
Tweet Cute is told in alternating views of Jack and Pepper. I loved getting to see into both of their heads and the plans for the shenanigans the had planned for twitter next. This isn't just a story of two teens in a twitter war, it is also a story of following your dreams, finding your passions and learning that love can bloom in the most unlikeliness of places and even forgiveness.
We see that Pepper's mom is hugely involved in BLB. It is her entire life. Back in Nashville they were tiny little restaurant that blossomed into something massive and to keep the business in the family (and after divorcing Pepper's father) they move to New York to open the corporate office. Pepper and her mom's relationship is on slightly rocky ground because of the whole social media thing. You can tell that her mother loves Pepper, but she also loves her company and because of that sacrifices time with her daughter. Their are a few instances in this book were Pepper's mom is gone for extended periods of time, leaving her teenage daughter alone.
Jack lives in the shadow of his twin brother Ethan. Where Ethan is the head of student council and involved in clubs he is popular where Jack is not. But that doesn't stop people from confusing them on a continuous basis. Jack has a knack for app development and actually created an app that is an online chat room for his school. Everyone goes by animal alias and it is all completely one hundred percent anonymous until the app decided it is time to out them (which is all part of the fun.) Jack goes by Wolf and for the past few months has been talking to someone by the name of Blue Bird, I think we can all take a wild guess at who Blue Bird is. While being friends in real life, Jack and Pepper also don't know that the have been anonymously talking to each other for months with no idea.
I loved the bantering and the arguing that Pepper and Jack continuously have. Their relationship as friends and how it develops into something more was a slow progression and it made them feel even more real to me. The best part is that they actually act like their age, sometimes high school students are written to be extremely immature or too mature and both Pepper and Jack make mistakes and learn from them and are exploring life. It was refreshing and I loved seeing it.
I basically spent most of this book wanting to reach into my kindle and smash both of their faces together. I was basically like: "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO KISS!?" But needless to saw I found the romance aspect of this book to be flawless and adorable.
Overall I really enjoyed Tweet Cute and I know many others are going to love Emma's debut novel. There is so much of this story to love and so many laugh at loud moments that you are not going to be able to help but smile. Tweet Cute also sparked me wanting to read some more contemporary so yay for that!
I actually read Tweet Cute back in July when my wish was granted on NetGalley. I am not the biggest contemporary fan, but from the synopsis of the book I was hooked and knew I needed it in my life. But I was so excited that I pushed my TBR pile aside and dived into it. I loved Tweet Cute so much that finished it in one sitting. It's cute, cheesy, (ha, get the pun?) funny and a fresh take on romance that is going to have readers everywhere swooning.
Side note: I actually work at Wendy's and our social media has a habit of roasting their twitter followers, @ing their competition and basically causing a lot of fun havoc. (Did you know they also made a mix tape that you can find on Apple Music?) So reading a book about two restaurants going at each other on twitter? I was really excited for it.
Back to my review!
Pepper's family owns a steadily growing popular fast food chain called Big League Burger, where Jack's family owned deli, Girl Cheese, is failing. BLB is launching their new grilled cheeses, but something is fishy about one of them. It is a rip off of the famous sandwich from Girl Cheese that Jack's grandmother created years prior. Taking to twitter to tweet at them, Jack doesn't expect the tweet to blow up. But it does and now its BLB vs. Girl Cheese in the twitter war of the year. Pepper secretly runs the BLB twitter that has millions of followers, which she isn't inclined to but with the pressure from her mom and the failing PR girl, she reluctantly does. But what happens when two competitors begin to fall for each other? Well let's say it isn't as simple at melting cheese on bread. (Another pun!)
Tweet Cute is told in alternating views of Jack and Pepper. I loved getting to see into both of their heads and the plans for the shenanigans the had planned for twitter next. This isn't just a story of two teens in a twitter war, it is also a story of following your dreams, finding your passions and learning that love can bloom in the most unlikeliness of places and even forgiveness.
We see that Pepper's mom is hugely involved in BLB. It is her entire life. Back in Nashville they were tiny little restaurant that blossomed into something massive and to keep the business in the family (and after divorcing Pepper's father) they move to New York to open the corporate office. Pepper and her mom's relationship is on slightly rocky ground because of the whole social media thing. You can tell that her mother loves Pepper, but she also loves her company and because of that sacrifices time with her daughter. Their are a few instances in this book were Pepper's mom is gone for extended periods of time, leaving her teenage daughter alone.
Jack lives in the shadow of his twin brother Ethan. Where Ethan is the head of student council and involved in clubs he is popular where Jack is not. But that doesn't stop people from confusing them on a continuous basis. Jack has a knack for app development and actually created an app that is an online chat room for his school. Everyone goes by animal alias and it is all completely one hundred percent anonymous until the app decided it is time to out them (which is all part of the fun.) Jack goes by Wolf and for the past few months has been talking to someone by the name of Blue Bird, I think we can all take a wild guess at who Blue Bird is. While being friends in real life, Jack and Pepper also don't know that the have been anonymously talking to each other for months with no idea.
I loved the bantering and the arguing that Pepper and Jack continuously have. Their relationship as friends and how it develops into something more was a slow progression and it made them feel even more real to me. The best part is that they actually act like their age, sometimes high school students are written to be extremely immature or too mature and both Pepper and Jack make mistakes and learn from them and are exploring life. It was refreshing and I loved seeing it.
I basically spent most of this book wanting to reach into my kindle and smash both of their faces together. I was basically like: "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO KISS!?" But needless to saw I found the romance aspect of this book to be flawless and adorable.
Overall I really enjoyed Tweet Cute and I know many others are going to love Emma's debut novel. There is so much of this story to love and so many laugh at loud moments that you are not going to be able to help but smile. Tweet Cute also sparked me wanting to read some more contemporary so yay for that!
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
Aliens. Books. Dystopian NYC. This book screams my name, so it is no shock this this is one of my most anticipated reads and debuts of 2020 (Though I got to read it last week!) The Sound of Stars did not disappoint for one second and kept me wanting and needing to know what was going to happen next.
Can we take a moment to admire how beautiful the cover for this novel is?! The art and the colors blend beautifully and I absolutely adore it, the ARC is stunning but I can't wait to see finished copies of this beauty.
Alechia is a debut author and for her first novel, The Sound of Stars is magnificent. The world building, characters and plot bring this story a live in front of the reader. I can't wait for every one else to meet Ellie and M0Rr1S!
I loved every moment of this post apocalyptic road trip to save humanity and literature and music and I can't wait to see what the sequel will hold. (There will be a sequel, right? *insert puppy dog eyes here*)
Aliens. Books. Dystopian NYC. This book screams my name, so it is no shock this this is one of my most anticipated reads and debuts of 2020 (Though I got to read it last week!) The Sound of Stars did not disappoint for one second and kept me wanting and needing to know what was going to happen next.
Can we take a moment to admire how beautiful the cover for this novel is?! The art and the colors blend beautifully and I absolutely adore it, the ARC is stunning but I can't wait to see finished copies of this beauty.
Alechia is a debut author and for her first novel, The Sound of Stars is magnificent. The world building, characters and plot bring this story a live in front of the reader. I can't wait for every one else to meet Ellie and M0Rr1S!
I loved every moment of this post apocalyptic road trip to save humanity and literature and music and I can't wait to see what the sequel will hold. (There will be a sequel, right? *insert puppy dog eyes here*)
The full review + more can be found at The Book Bratz
*Thank you so much to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review HAVENFALL. All thoughts and opinions are my own!*
I really enjoyed Sara's debut duology, Everless. So when I learned that she was going to be publishing another YA fantasy duology, I was super excited. Havenfall captivated me from page one and has me flipping the pages as fast as I could to see what was going to happen next.
All Maddie wants is to become the innkeeper of the Inn at Havenfall, the neutral space between three different realms. Summer after summer the Inn at Havenfall has been Maddie's escape from the reality of her mother facing death row, her brother's death but it's also been the only place she gets to spend the summer with Brekken, a Fiorden solider that Maddie is falling for. But Maddie's summer begins to fall apart the moment she arrives at Havenfall, the door to Solaria, a world that was closed off generations ago has opened, someone is dead, her uncle is gravely ill and unable to run the inn and Brekken is missing. With the help of Taya, one of the mortal helping hands at Havenfall, Maddie must become the innkeeper in her uncle's absence and make sure that this years summit doesn't fall apart. But, what happens when darker forces are at work?
I really enjoyed the world building in Havenfall. Sara used a contemporary backdrop to create a captivating and lush fantasy world, that comes alive in front of your eyes. Though I have many questions about the different worlds mentioned in Havenfall, Sara gave us enough world building to get and overall idea of the world and its culture and it's importance to the story line. But I am excited to learn more about Fiordenkill, Byrn and Solaria in the next book (and possibly even get to visit one of these worlds!) In her debut series, the world building was one of the aspects that I did have issues with and I am glad to see that in this series it isn't an issue.
I really enjoyed Maddie's character. A lot of the time in fantasy characters act older then there actual age. In Havenfall, Maddie actually felt like a seventeen year old to me. She made mistakes, she was overwhelmed and she looked to others for help. When she was a child, a Solarian broke into her house and killer her brother and her mother, trying to protect Havenfall took the blame. Through out the novel we see Maddie struggle with survivors guilt and how if she had called for help and didn't climb into the cabinet, how things might be different.
We learn pretty early on in the story that Maddie is Bi, so when Taya was introduced I suspected that there would be a love triangle. I want to say that there is a slight love triangle, it is nothing crazy and it isn't overwhelming in the slightest. I can see Maddie ended up with both Taya and Brekken. But, with how Havenfall ended I am intrigued to see how the romance aspect is going to play out.
Overall I really enjoyed Havenfall and I can't wait to see what book two is going to have in store for Maddie, Brekken, Taya and the rest of this cast. Sara's sophomore series is one that shouldn't be missed and has the potential to appeal to both fantasy and contemporary readers alike.
*Thank you so much to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review HAVENFALL. All thoughts and opinions are my own!*
I really enjoyed Sara's debut duology, Everless. So when I learned that she was going to be publishing another YA fantasy duology, I was super excited. Havenfall captivated me from page one and has me flipping the pages as fast as I could to see what was going to happen next.
All Maddie wants is to become the innkeeper of the Inn at Havenfall, the neutral space between three different realms. Summer after summer the Inn at Havenfall has been Maddie's escape from the reality of her mother facing death row, her brother's death but it's also been the only place she gets to spend the summer with Brekken, a Fiorden solider that Maddie is falling for. But Maddie's summer begins to fall apart the moment she arrives at Havenfall, the door to Solaria, a world that was closed off generations ago has opened, someone is dead, her uncle is gravely ill and unable to run the inn and Brekken is missing. With the help of Taya, one of the mortal helping hands at Havenfall, Maddie must become the innkeeper in her uncle's absence and make sure that this years summit doesn't fall apart. But, what happens when darker forces are at work?
I really enjoyed the world building in Havenfall. Sara used a contemporary backdrop to create a captivating and lush fantasy world, that comes alive in front of your eyes. Though I have many questions about the different worlds mentioned in Havenfall, Sara gave us enough world building to get and overall idea of the world and its culture and it's importance to the story line. But I am excited to learn more about Fiordenkill, Byrn and Solaria in the next book (and possibly even get to visit one of these worlds!) In her debut series, the world building was one of the aspects that I did have issues with and I am glad to see that in this series it isn't an issue.
I really enjoyed Maddie's character. A lot of the time in fantasy characters act older then there actual age. In Havenfall, Maddie actually felt like a seventeen year old to me. She made mistakes, she was overwhelmed and she looked to others for help. When she was a child, a Solarian broke into her house and killer her brother and her mother, trying to protect Havenfall took the blame. Through out the novel we see Maddie struggle with survivors guilt and how if she had called for help and didn't climb into the cabinet, how things might be different.
We learn pretty early on in the story that Maddie is Bi, so when Taya was introduced I suspected that there would be a love triangle. I want to say that there is a slight love triangle, it is nothing crazy and it isn't overwhelming in the slightest. I can see Maddie ended up with both Taya and Brekken. But, with how Havenfall ended I am intrigued to see how the romance aspect is going to play out.
Overall I really enjoyed Havenfall and I can't wait to see what book two is going to have in store for Maddie, Brekken, Taya and the rest of this cast. Sara's sophomore series is one that shouldn't be missed and has the potential to appeal to both fantasy and contemporary readers alike.
Not as exciting as I hoped but I was not expecting that ending. RTC!