Book Review: Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Heartless
By Marissa Meyer
Series: Standalone
Hardcover: 453 pages
Publication Date: November 8, 2016
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
My Rating: ★ ★ ✰ ✰ ✰ (2 out of 5 Stars )

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Related Reviews: | Splintered | Cinder |
Categories: Fairy Tale Retelling, Fantasy, New Release

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

Book Review: The Shadow Queen by C.J. Redwine

The Shadow Queen
By C.J. Redwine
Series: Ravenspire #1
Hardcover: 387 pages
Publication Date: February 16, 2016
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ( 3 out of 5 Stars )

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Related Reviews: | Cinder | Heartless |
Categories: Fairy Tale Retelling, Fantasy, Dragons

Lorelai Diederich, crown princess and fugitive at large, has one mission: kill the wicked queen who took both the Ravenspire throne and the life of her father. To do that, Lorelai needs to use the one weapon she and Queen Irina have in common—magic. She’ll have to be stronger, faster, and more powerful than Irina, the most dangerous sorceress Ravenspire has ever seen.

In the neighboring kingdom of Eldr, when Prince Kol’s father and older brother are killed by an invading army of magic-wielding ogres, the second-born prince is suddenly given the responsibility of saving his kingdom. To do that, Kol needs magic—and the only way to get it is to make a deal with the queen of Ravenspire, promise to become her personal huntsman…and bring her Lorelai’s heart.

But Lorelai is nothing like Kol expected—beautiful, fierce, and unstoppable—and despite dark magic, Lorelai is drawn in by the passionate and troubled king. Fighting to stay one step ahead of the dragon huntsman—who she likes far more than she should—Lorelai does everything in her power to ruin the wicked queen. But Irina isn’t going down without a fight, and her final move may cost the princess the one thing she still has left to lose.

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder
By Marissa Meyer
Series:The Lunar Chronicles #1
Hardcover: 390
Publication Date: January 3, 2012
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ✯ ( 4.5 out of 5 Stars )

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Related Reviews: | Heartless | Splintered Series |
Categories: Fairy Tale Retelling, Fantasy, Favorites

Sixteen-year-old Cinder is considered a technological mistake by most of society and a burden by her stepmother. Being cyborg does have its benefits, though: Cinder's brain interference has given her an uncanny ability to fix things (robots, hovers, her own malfunctioning parts), making her the best mechanic in New Beijing. This reputation brings Prince Kai himself to her weekly market booth, needing her to repair a broken android before the annual ball. He jokingly calls it "a matter of national security," but Cinder suspects it's more serious than he's letting on. Although eager to impress the prince, Cinder's intentions are derailed when her younger stepsister, and only human friend, is infected with the fatal plague that's been devastating Earth for a decade. Blaming Cinder for her daughter's illness, Cinder's stepmother volunteers her body for plague research, an "honor" that no one has survived. But it doesn't take long for the scientists to discover something unusual about their new guinea pig. Something others would kill for.

Book Review: Crystal Storm by Morgan Rhodes

Crystal Storm
By Morgan Rhodes
Series: Falling Kingdoms #5
Hardcover: 379 pages
Publication Date: December 13, 2016
Publisher: Razorbill
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ( 5 out of 5 Stars )

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Related Reviews: | Falling Kingdoms | Beauty of Darkness |
Categories: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Magick

The ruthless Empress Amara of Kraeshia has taken the Mytican throne, and now uncertainty looms over the three kingdoms. Since Lucia unleashed the fire Kindred, wreaking havoc throughout the land, Myticans have been looking for someone—anyone—they can trust. They believe in Amara, not knowing her grand promises are built on lies.

In Paelsia, Magnus and Cleo reluctantly follow King Gaius to the home of his exiled mother, Selia. Selia is a powerful witch and claims she can help unlock the magic of the Kindred—if the visitors agree to her terms. When Jonas arrives from Kraeshia, he is shocked to find that his rebel army now includes his sworn enemies. Along with Nic, Felix, and the mysteriously resurrected Ashur, the contentious group agrees to cast aside old grudges—for now—and united against their common enemy: Amara.

Meanwhile, bearing the child of a Watcher and feared by all, Princess Lucia travels across Mytica to find her family. But time is running out. The impending storm signals the dark prophecy Timotheus warned her about. Her fate is written, and it includes none other than the rebel Jonas. When their paths collied, Jonas and Lucia must decide between blindly following their destiny or fighting for their own free will.

The battle for power culminates at the Paelsian palace, where Amara resides. Rain pours. Blood spills. And soon all will discover that the darkest magic comes at an even darker price.

Book Review: The Beauty of Darkness by Mary E. Pearson

The Beauty of Darkness
By Mary E. Pearson
Series: The Remnant Chronicles #3
Hardcover: 679 pages
Publication Date: August 2, 2016
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ( 5 out of 5 Stars )

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Related Reviews: | Kiss of Deception | Heart of Betrayal |
Categories: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Magick

Lia has survived Venda—but so has a great evil bent on the destruction of Morrighan. And only Lia can stop it.

With war on the horizon, Lia has no choice but to assume her role as First Daughter, as soldier—as leader. While she struggles to reach Morrighan and warn them, she finds herself at cross-purposes with Rafe and suspicious of Kaden, who has hunted her down.

In this conclusion to the Remnant Chronicles trilogy, traitors must be rooted out, sacrifices must be made, and impossible odds must be overcome as the future of every kingdom hangs in the balance.

Book Review: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

The Darkest Part of the Forest
By Holly Black

Series: Standalone
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publication Date: January 13, 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ( 4 out of 5 Stars )

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Related Reviews: | Wicked | The Lost Prince |
Categories: Faerie, Fae, Magic

Children can have a cruel, absolute sense of justice. Children can kill a monster and feel quite proud of themselves. A girl can look at her brother and believe they’re destined to be a knight and a bard who battle evil. She can believe she’s found the thing she’s been made for.

Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once.

At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking.

Until one day, he does…

As the world turns upside down, Hazel tries to remember her years pretending to be a knight. But swept up in new love, shifting loyalties, and the fresh sting of betrayal, will it be enough?