talislibrary's Reviews (339)

A woman with thoughts and hair (*shock*) struggles to fit into the Puritan town she now lives in. In between her story, we step into the POV of the titular Slewfoot. Each character we follow has such a strong personality, you truly cared for them.

The book itself is so beautiful, with some character illustrations by Brom, and cute chapter graphics.  Brom manages to capture Feminine Rage believably throughout Slewfoot. Abitha is such a well rounded character who commands your attention. In my opinion she makes great choices during the whole book, or at least the decisions I wanted her too, so there was something really cathartic with the third act. 

For a debut, I was really impressed with how well this thriller was crafted. I am not a big thriller reader, finding alot of them to be predictable (not in an enjoyable way) but I loved this journey.

Alex was a great character to follow, even with some dips in writing. 
This had me actually gasping OUTLOUD. I was fully gagged at so many points. There could even be an argument that this reads as two different books put together, but I don’t care, I loved the ride and would 100% pick up anything by Julia Bartz in the future. 

Number 15 in the series, and there were so many points when I genuinely couldn’t see a way out for our cast of ‘heroes’. After so many books following Skulduggery and Valkyrie, Until the End is ready to rip your heart out and stamp on it whilst laughing. 

Derek Landy is such an impressive weaver of storylines. Seeing the cumulation of plots that have been teased or sprinkled throughout this series was amazing, along with some heartbreakingly realistic outcomes.

Overall I loved how many tears this book caused. 

 This ticks so many boxes for me as a novel, such as small towns, mystery families, town gossiping. Add a gothic atmosphere with a touch of fantasy, and you are basically writing a book for me (Thank you Alix E. Harrow). 

The atmosphere in Starling House is wonderfully eerie and haunting, this is one of those books where the setting is a character in its own right. 

There wasn’t as much character development as I would have liked, but I enjoyed the amount we did have. 

I am always a fan of a sentient house. 

What an absolute ride from start to finish, and a wonderful ending to The Younglings story.

As always, Helena captures the essence of being a young adult and coming to terms with who they are, what they want from life, and the ever-devastating emotions related to a first love... with a supernatural twist!

If you haven't read The Younglings, take this as your sign to pick up the series. The Younglings follows a group of teenagers as they discover so much more to our world than they could have imagined, from angels to demons, to vampires, werewolves, and more! The Younglings soon find themselves on quests, helping ghosts, and fighting vampires, all while trying to balance finishing school and getting into university. This series truly captures the fun of media such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with the drama and melancholy of Twilight, and damn does it work so incredibly well.

The characters are so loveable, flaws and all, and it has been an absolute pleasure to join them on their journey. Storms, Starlight & Magic is such a wonderful ending to their story, managing to fit a plethora of storylines into one book without making it feel too complicated. Helena has a great command of pacing, and this final book in the series is the perfect example of it.

I am sad to leave The Younglings behind but know this series will be added to my reread rotation without question. In conclusion, The Younglings is a coming-of-age story, featuring first love, paranormal beings, and the importance of found family, so pick this up if any of them are your buzzwords.