Ahoy there me mateys!  This is the start to a new series and I think it is lovely even if it has dark themes.  The world building is wonderful.  Abeni is a fantastic main character.  She loses her family when her village is destroyed and all the people kidnapped.  Abeni is determined to find them.  The interesting part for me is that there is no simple magical fix even if magic is real.  Abeni is continually learning and growing and works hard.  She has to rely on the help of her friends.  She finds new family while never forgetting about her old one.  She has prejudices about others that she has to overcome.  She has to learn that adults don't always have the answers.  Abeni is certainly someone to root for.  I also loved Asha and the other secondary characters.  I think this is a great book for younger readers and older ones alike.  Highly recommended and look forward to reading more of Abeni's journey.  Arrr!

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for me honest review.

Ahoy there me mateys!  This first book of a series had pirates, pirate hunters, women that sing to storms, and magic tree dwelling creatures.  Nautical flintlock fantasy should float me boat but this did not.  I abandoned ship at 75% (348 pgs).  I read that much in order to find out the major conflict and answers about the magic but was super disappointed when "answers" start to appear.  The magic system seemed fun but ultimately didn't make much sense.  The world building was also underdeveloped and the politics felt nonsensical.  The pacing was extremely slow with very little action and lots of character angst.  The clothing descriptions seemed never ending and also extremely impractical for life spent in a winter sea.  

The main character, Mary, is the storm singer who doesn't know how to control her talent but seems to have extra special powers.  Everyone is out to have her skills onboard.  She seemed super naïve and in lust with any cute male that came along.  Mary also was a bit flat with no interesting inner dialogue or motivations.  Her eventual love interest, Samuel, was not much better.  He is magically "twisted" and misunderstood.  He doesn't seem to use his skills for any real purpose.  Frankly, they both were hard to cheer for and annoyed me.  The misunderstanding between the two would be resolved by some actual conversation.  Also, in general, the characters all seemed to blend together.

I love a good sea yarn but this wasn't it.  Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! Chih is traveling in the riverlands to record stories for the monastery with Almost Brilliant, her companion neixin bird spirit with a perfect memory.  After an awesome fight at an inn, the duo joins a group of travelers who discuss a local folk hero as they journey.  This novella explores how truth becomes historical lore.  I love the relationship between Chih and Almost Brilliant.  I also really enjoyed the young women Wei Jintai and Mac Sang and the middle-aged couple Lao Bingyi and her husband Khanh.  I really enjoyed how the tale of the Bandit was interspersed throughout the descriptions of the riverlands and what the group was experiencing. Arrr!

Ahoy there mateys! The cleric Chih is traveling with a mammoth-riding scout and they get caught at a way-station by some tigers.  Chih is tasked with telling these tigers the popular known tale of fierce tiger Ho Thi Thao and the human scholar Dieu as a distraction so they don't get eaten.  Only the tigers know a different version!  I loved how the story differs by storyteller and intended audience.  I loved the insight into the mammoth riders culture.  I adore Chih and their overall mission.  The love story between the tiger and scholar was lovely too. Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! I believe this was me fifth YA fantasy by this author.  I love her ideas and writing style even if I don't always enjoy the full plots.  In this one, curses are real and twisted.  How the curses work and the society built around them were the best part.  I have such a fondness for this novel's world building.  The story follows friends, Kellen and Nettle.  Nettle and her siblings were cursed into being birds by an evil step-mother.  Kellen has a unique ability to unravel curses but usually he has unintended consequences.  After Kellen helped Nettle, she follows him around while he attempts to help others.  Kellen is a little hard to like at times.  I loved Nettle.  There is also an awesome and scary Marsh horse with an equally unsettling rider.  I enjoyed many of the side characters.  The biggest problem I had was with some of the side plots and the ending in general.  I just didn't want the cursers to end up the way they did.  Glad I read it though and will be reading more of the author's work in the future. Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! This was the last book of the Red Abbey Chronicles.  This follows Maresi (the main character from the first book) as she returns to her home village to open her school and improve the lives of its residents.  The problem is that life is too hard in Rovas and change harder still.  Maresi becomes extremely discouraged even as she begins to fall in love.  Her education makes her feel like an outsider.  I felt like this village and its belief systems and way of life could have been real.  I also thought how the family handles Maresi's return was also very real and emotionally engrossing.  This book was written in the form of letters sent back to the Abbey.  I loved it and thought it was a great ending to this lesser known series.  Arrr!

Ahoy there mateys! I really enjoyed the novel flowerheart earlier this year so when I saw another book by the author, I gave it a shot.  The main character, twelve-year old Elissa, is a devotee of the Mother Goddess.  She can perform literal miracles with her voice.  Elissa, is naïve though and so she ends up in trouble when her mentor gives her practical advice that seems to contradict her religious teachings.  One of me favorite things about this book was how music worked.  A magical song can only work for a certain amount of times before the spell wears down and a new composition must be made.  I had two basic problems with this novel.  The first is that the Church wouldn't teach practical lessons when they know the singers are going to send out in the real world.  The second was how easily the solution arises at the end of the novel and how rushed the ending felt.  That said, I really enjoyed the musical aspects of the world building and am glad I read it. Arrr!

Ahoy there mateys! I wish I could do this book justice but I cannot.  I read it much earlier this year, have been thinking about it frequently, and have tried to write a good review for it multiple times.  I do not have good words.  The author uses Lipan Apache storytelling structure.  One of the main characters is Oli, a cottonmouth snake.  Another is Nina, a girl on Earth.  I preferred the spirit world to the Earth narrative but I do think the two intertwined together is what makes this so lovely.  I also ADORED the toad.  I will certainly have to read the other book by the author.  Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! Apparently this was a 2017 weekly web serial that was later Kickstarted in 2021.  The series is three books that follow Miyara who leaves her life as a princess only to end up hiding in a tea shop.  The first book was fun and I enjoyed each book even if I liked each subsequent book a bit less.  These are cozy reads and contain witches, dragons, found family, spies, assassins, and tea.  I really enjoyed all of the side characters.  Miyara was a bit silly at times because she spent so much time second-guessing herself even when she is basically always right.  She is privileged but somehow is the best to always know what the poor and discriminated against need.  The bad guys were a bit two dimensional.  Glad I read these but will not be buying them for me personal collection.  Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! Apparently this was a 2017 weekly web serial that was later Kickstarted in 2021.  The series is three books that follow Miyara who leaves her life as a princess only to end up hiding in a tea shop.  The first book was fun and I enjoyed each book even if I liked each subsequent book a bit less.  These are cozy reads and contain witches, dragons, found family, spies, assassins, and tea.  I really enjoyed all of the side characters.  Miyara was a bit silly at times because she spent so much time second-guessing herself even when she is basically always right.  She is privileged but somehow is the best to always know what the poor and discriminated against need.  The bad guys were a bit two dimensional.  Glad I read these but will not be buying them for me personal collection.  Arrrr!