Shadow Empress by C.N. Crawford was an improvement over her last book in the Night Elves trilogy; however, this book does feel like a repeat of Cursed Prince. Shadow Empress plot mainly consists of Ali and Galin repeating their journey through the worlds, meeting old characters, and growing their relationship at a snail's pace. While I did enjoy this book, it was not better than the first book in the series because it does not feel like an original story. I give this book 3 stars, enjoyable, but nothing to write home about.

The Candle and the Flame was only an okay book. I find the book hard to describe, but for me, it feels as if the book was a period drama. Overall, The Candle and the Flame is about different Middle Eastern cultures and Djinn. The book moves through multiple character's perspectives, and because of this, there were chapters that I was not invested in reading. I did like the main character. Fatima Ghazala was a strong protagonist attempting to find herself rather than be who others told her she was.

Nothing exciting was happening for most of the plot. The author just wrote about different character's lives with the more exciting storyline happening in the background. This is what caused the book to feel like a period piece. The book was okay but not very compelling, and for that, I give the story 3.5 stars.

Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar had potential. The author said she took inspiration from the movie Star Dust and Hinduism. The book had good representation and different cultural influences. The book is about 17 years old Sheetal, whose mother is a star who unexplainably left Earth when Sheetal was a child. Throughout the book, Sheetal learns about what being a star means for her, her father, and life on Earth. Great premise. Unfortunately, the book was boring, and it took about 150 pages to get a little interesting.

The beginning felt as if the reader started in the middle of another story. The reader should connect with Sheetal and her family and friends, but we are never introduced to any of these characters. Instead, the reader was thrown into a story where the character's relationships are fully developed but never explained to the reader and were supposed to figure it out as the story continued. Minal, Sheetal's best friend, knows all of Sheetal's secrets, but we never learn when she got any information. Towards the middle of the book, the reader learns Minal knows Sheetal's mom who left Earth when Sheetal was seven, and up until this point in the story, I wasn't aware that Minal and Sheetal had been friends for that long.

In the first 150 pages, only several parts of the book interesting, mainly Sheetal's journal entries when she is reminiscing about stories her mother told her about being a star when she was young. Throughout the book, Sheetal's family is not very likable, Dev is annoying, and her best friend is both around and absent. Overall I would give this book 3 stars, mainly for the creativity and representation. The plot just wasn't interesting enough for me to feel engaged with the story.

Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali was a cute young adult contemporary romance about a relationship between two Muslim teenagers, Zayneb and Adam. The book takes place in Qatar over Spring Break and covers topics including Islamophobia, religious conversion, and long-term debilitating illness. The relationship between Adam and Zayneb is a realistic one that starts after they develop a crush on each other after meeting on the plane. Throughout the story, they meet each other's family, go on dates, and like many teenagers, have miscommunication problems. The author does a good job writing about complex issues and handles them in realistic ways, allowing the reader to relate the characters and the issues discussed. Ali does not try to sugarcoat real-life problems occurring today. My biggest criticism of the book is the author formats the book as a journal entry; however, the writing style does not reflect the formatting. Overall, I give the book 4 stars and recommend this book to readers who like Young Adult contemporary romance.

Cursed Prince by C.N. Crawford is a nice change of pace in the fantasy mythology genre. While many authors take inspiration from Greek mythology, Crawford's Cursed Prince is based on Norse mythology. The Cursed Prince takes place 1,000 years after Ragnorock, in the former city of Boston. The main character, Ali, is a night elf whose people have spent the last millennia forced to live unground in caverns. Ali is an assassin whose mission is the help the night elves escape their death sentence. Ali is a likable character who goes on a mission with Marroc, a soulless wizard. Ali and Marroc's adventure and camaraderie are both interesting and heartfelt, with the relationship between Marroc and Ali being my favorite part of the story. The book is an easy read and worth checking out to anyone with KU. I'm excited to read the rest of the series and give the book 3.5 stars.