Grace and Fury is a book about female empowerment and family. Two sisters live in a world where women are not allowed to make any choices. They can have no power. They do not get to make choicses about their lives, and they are denied the ability to read.

One sister is a rebal balking at the confines of society, and one sister fully embraces it. Her life is full of lessons focused on helping her get selected as a grace, part of the heir’s herrom. Except nothing goes as planned and the rebal becomes the grace, and the grace is sentenced for a crime her sister committed - learning to read.

The biggest strength of this novel is the world building. Banghart has created a world where women are oppressed to the point where they are objects. It is a model of our own past society, and in some ways our present society, with just enough distance to not hit too close to home.

Yet the characters lack dynamics. They are only allowed one part to play, and if their part changes then they completely change. They are not made up of complexities that allow a reader to truly connect to the characters. Even the twist was apparent from almost the beginning of the story. Although, I did not know if Banghart would actually pull it off. I did not have much faith.

Despite the lack of complexity I was still drawn in. There needs to be more books with a strong feminist statement, that Grace and Fury defiantly has. The writing was well executed, and the story was more engaging by the end of the novel. It was a brilliant ending, with enough closed up to make the reader not disappointed, and yet nothing closed up so that you instinctively reach for the next book.

I was not sure what to expect with Mirage. I received it in my Owlcrate book box, and knew nothing about it prior. The description led me to think it was a prince and pauper book with a twist. In some ways that is exactly what it is. A girl is kidnapped out of her community to be a body double for a much hatted princess.

The story was enjoyable, and I could see myself reading the next in the series. Although, like many YA books, it lacks the real depth that could have been achieved. The girls go from enemies to sisters too fast. It was not believable to me. I do not even want to get started on the romance.

The world building was interesting. Although I wish that system was described a bit more in depth, I did get sucked into the different struggles of each of the moons. I really enjoyed the rich culture that was built into the story. It was the book's strength.

While I wish there was more depth and flushed out characters, Mirage was an enjoyable YA read.

Tainted Rose is the second book in the Starlight Gods Series. It features Mako a princess who was kidnapped at a young age to be rescued by her five knights when she is in her early twenties. In this book you walk into the middle of a plot line. However, Wilson writes enough backstory for you to easily follow what is going on.

The concept behind the Starlight Gods Series is interesting. Every human has a spirit living inside of them. They could be a variety of spirits including; dragon, demon, angel, fairy, or maybe even unicorn. Most individuals only have one spirit. Mako was destined to be born with four, but destiny can be changed in this world.

Unfortunately, the world building is not as developed as I would wish. There is a lot of questions about what each realm really means. I wonder how they are truly connected, and why it takes so long to get from one world to the next.

There are a lot of characters in this book. Beyond the main character you have her multiple spirits. Then you have her five nights and their spirits. Those are just the main characters. In addition, there are a multitude of side characters. It can be hard to keep track of who is doing what, and there is not enough difference in writing style between characters to really feel like each one is distinct.

I am not a huge fan of erotica, and I would not say that this book is erotica. There is only two sex scenes and they are fairly mild. However, I am a bit disturbed by Mako falling in love and lust with five guys and five spirits. I feel like the plot could have been better served if she focused on one knight as a main love interest. It also would have been nice if the book hadn't ended just like it began. It left me feeling like no progress was actually made. Overall, it is an interesting concept, with a lot of potential.

When I think of Richelle Mead I think of vampires and other paranormal. Yet, The Glittering Court is as far away from that as possible while still being considered fantasy. If you can consider it fantasy. It may just be an alternate reality historical fiction.

Adelaide is a girl of wealth, except the family fortune is running out and all she has left is her name. She has to make a good marriage to bring back wealth to her name. Except Adelaide is a strong independent women and an arranged marriage to the eligible bachelors is not on her to do list. Instead, she decides to join the glittering court and become wife to some man in the new world. Beyond the adventure, I am not sure how she thought it was a much better prospect. I suppose it is just putting it off for later. Except the plot is not that simple, and Adelaide is left with more choices or maybe none at all.

While not what I was expecting, it was an interesting book. It was memorable, but did not leave me rushing to want to finish the series. I feel like most of the popularity of the book comes from die hard Richelle Mead fans. I also think that most of the poor reviews are from disappointed die hard Richelle Mead fans. It is not like her other work. I wish it was. Although, I have a lot of her books to catch up on, so I feel I can rate this book without comparing it to her other work. It was ok for an alternate reality historical fiction book. The characters were fine, the writing was good, and the plot was boring. But then I am not much of a historical fiction fan.