Morrighan's Book Reviews: August 2018

Friday, August 24, 2018

Book Review: The Bone Witch

My Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩ |4/5|

Let me be clear: I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there's anything I've learned from him in the years since, it's that the dead hide truths as well as the living.
When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she's a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training.
In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha-one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles...and make a powerful choice.

I really enjoyed this story, but I understand why it is not for everyone. There is a huge divide when reading reviews for The Bone Witch; people either love it or hate it. I am of the former category, but I am also a huge fan of world-building. My inner history nerd was all aquiver with the cultural knowledge bomb that is life as an asha. Asha are the magical equivalent of Geisha girls, and this world is rife with Japanese culture. The Asha are adopted into a house at a young age, taken care of and trained, and when they are old enough to make their 'debut', their debts to their house are paid back through performance fees. It is a strange concept, and one that I am not overly familiar with. I enjoyed learning more about the culture and their way of life.

Tea is our main character, and she is the youngest dark Asha in the kingdom. Dark Asha is the proper term for a bone witch, one dealing in death and darkness. A huge majority of the population is afraid of her abilities, but the other Asha revel in them. Her ability to call the Dark is the only way to defeat the daeva, a dragon-like creature that plagues the continent. There was once a great curse placed upon the land. Every ten years, seven daeva rise from the dead and wreak havoc across all eight kingdoms. They are powerful, destructive creatures and their rise can result in the ruination of the world. Tea is a flawed character; vulnerable to the darkness and the feeling of calling it into herself. The Asha have no choice but to begin her training; the only other bone witch in the land is dying.

"There is no greater strength than the ability to understand and accept your flaws."

I fell in love with the characters in this story; their flaws and weaknesses only making them more complex and developed. The twists and turns, especially that one at the end, had me questioning my own sanity! I enjoyed Tea's drive to want to change the world however she can. Her petition to allow male Asha, as well as her want to find a way for bone witches to call the Dark without destroying themselves in the process. The fact that she doesn't accept things that she thinks are wrong is one of my favorite traits of hers. She wants to find a way through problems, not just around them.

"Then perhaps we should carve a world one day where the strength lies in who you are rather than in what they expect you to be."

My greatest issue with this book was the way that women were treated as trained puppets. It made me nauseous at times, reading about the way women were treated by men. The Asha exist to entertain rich men; they are taught from a young age to sing and dance for them, and while they are paid well and taken care of to do so, ugh. It just frustrated me. I understand that was the author's point, but there were certain situations throughout the book that made me cringe.

"Our opinions do not matter, and if you have to swallow your pride to keep them happy, then so be it."

Whuuuut?! I feel like I absolutely would not have survived in this world! My filter-free mouth would have gotten myself into heaps of trouble, dealing with people that subscribed to these views. All in all, I really enjoyed this story. The world was fantastically written and described, the characters were beautiful and flawed, and the story line flowed smoothly. I'm happy I own the second book, The Heart Forger because that ending was INSANE though, Miss Chupeco! I wasn't ready!

<3 Morrighan

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

ARC Review: Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller

How do you kill a god?
As her father's chosen heir, eighteen-year-old Rasmira has trained her whole life to become a warrior and lead her village. But when her coming-of-age trial is sabotaged and she fails the test, her father banishes her to the monster-filled wilderness with an impossible quest: to win back her honour, she must kill the oppressive god who claims tribute from the villages each year or die trying.

**This is a Spoiler Free Review**

Tricia Levenseller's Warrior of the Wild is a highly unputdownable adventure full of badass Vikings and mythological monsters! I fell so deeply into this world that the author creates, I finished the book in less than 24 hours.

Rasmira is our main character, born and raised in a small Viking village. From the moment she declared herself a warrior at the age of 10, she faced nothing but ridicule and bullying from her peers. Her mentors provided her with conflicting behavior, giving her praise while ignoring others. Rasmira will be the ruler of her village, inheriting her father's legacy as leader. She just has to pass the warrior test. Every 18 year old in the village declares their profession and performs a test in front of everyone. She knows she is ready. She has trained for this moment for 8 years, and she couldn't be more prepared. Until the day for the trial comes and she is sabotaged.

Suddenly, everything and everyone she has ever known and loved turn on her. In the blink of an eye, Rasmira is no longer a warrior. She is exiled from her home, her family, and the boy she thought she loved. Sent into the dangerous wild surrounding her village, she is given one task to complete before she is allowed to return. One single task. Kill the God that plagues the villages. Peruxolo is a powerful immortal, and each of the seven villages pay him tribute once a year. The God claims their meat, their gems, and their women; he possesses the power to strike down a man without touching him. How can she kill an immortal God?

I fell completely in love with our main character. Rasmira is a strong-willed, powerful woman. Warrior of the Wild is the story of a lost girl trying to find herself in a world she no longer understands. I loved being able to witness her growth; the years of constant ridicule because she is different both hurting her and helping her to become the warrior she is meant to be. Destined to rule, her ability to change herself because she wants to, not because people tell her she should is admirable.

I was pleasantly surprised that bullying was a huge theme in this story. The way that the author addresses it was wonderful. She is able to show the character grow from a damaged girl into a woman that believes in herself. I cannot say enough about the importance of this theme in YA. It is rarely acknowledged, yet is a huge issue in a lot of young lives. Thank you Miss Levenseller for creating a beautiful, strong female character that is flawed and damaged. She is the hero of this story in more ways than one.

fantasy book review All in all-- I LOVED this adventure! It was a heart-touching, epic ride into the wilds of Viking territory, rife with horrifying mythological monsters, as well as monsters that end up being human. I highly recommend preordering this one-- you will not want to miss it!

*Thank you to the author, Tricia Levenseller and the publisher, MacMillan for sending me an ARC to review!

Monday, August 20, 2018

Book Review: The Wicked Deep

Welcome to the cursed town of Sparrow… Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town. Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under. Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into. Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain-soaked streets. The townspeople turn against one another. Penny and Bo suspect each other of hiding secrets. And death comes swiftly to those who cannot resist the call of the sisters. But only Penny sees what others cannot. And she will be forced to choose: save Bo, or save herself.

This story begins the telling of a legend of three sisters, accused of witchcraft and being drowned by an entire town in the 19th century. The urban legend feel to the tale drags the reader right into the town of Sparrow from page one and refuses to release its hold.

"The townspeople of Sparrow found the sisters to be much more; they believed them to be witches, casting spells on the men to make them unfaithful. And so at the end of June, when the moon was nothing but a thin shard in the overcast sky, stones were tied to the sisters' ankles, and they were dropped into the ocean just beyond the cape, where they sank to the bottom and drowned. Just like the ship they arrived on."

The town of Sparrow reminds me of these backwards towns that still exist throughout America-- small minded folk that think that anything different is dangerous. Every year, the three Swan sisters return from the depths of the ocean to exact their revenge. Their vengeance comes in the form of drowning young, teenage boys. It almost feels like the town of Sparrow celebrates them-- maybe that is their way of accepting the crimes of their ancestors? The 'Swan Season' seemed peculiar-- throwing parties and hosting parades during this three week long time of death.

"The knowing of what's coming, the death that creeps up over the town like fate clawing at the door of every shop and home. I can feel it in the air, in the spray of the sea, in the hollow spaces between raindrops. The sisters are coming.

Each sister takes over the body of a young girl, and no one but our main character seems to know who is possessed. Tourists pour into the town and watch morbidly as boys' bodies are pulled from the water, lifeless and bloated, yet with smiles on their faces. Thus begins yet another witch hunt for the possessed girls, because the first one obviously worked so well.

This book was so strange, yet I found myself sucked into the world. The darkness rippling from the pages held my attention to the point that I finished it in one sitting. Penny is our main character-- she lives on an isolated island right off the coast of Sparrow, Oregon. Her family life is falling apart; her father disappeared during a Swan season three years prior, and her mother has gone mad in his absence. Penny knows that she will never have a future; how could she leave her mother alone on the island to seek out her own dreams of college?

At the annual Swan party to kick off the season, Penny meets Bo. She is drawn to him and trusts him instantly. Bo is looking for work and Penny needs help on the island. She offers him somewhere to stay and food in exchange for his help manning the lighthouse. What she doesn't know is why this outsider is here in Sparrow at the time of the Swan season. It seems an odd coincidence. The story follows Penny and Bo, their strange relationship, and the insane killings that occur during the Swan season. I loved it. Every twist and turn, every morbid detail that surrounds this insane town and its even more insane reactions to this yearly season of murder.

Magic is a tricky thing. Not easily measured or metered or weighed.

The only reason I cannot bring myself to give this book the full five stars it may deserve is the massive amount of prejudice throughout the story. It made me grind my teeth more times that I can count. I understand that was the point of the author but it got to be a bit much at times. Other than that, I HIGHLY recommend giving this book a read! It is a highly atmospheric tale of vengeance, love, and loss that will leave the reader questioning their sanity.

<3Morrighan

Friday, August 17, 2018

ARC Review: Through the White Wood by Jessica Leake

Katya’s power to freeze anything she touches has made her an outcast in her isolated village. And when she loses control of her ability, accidentally killing several villagers, she is banished to the palace of the terrifying Prince Sasha in Kiev.
At the castle, though, she is surprised to find that Sasha is just like her—with his own strange talent, the ability to summon fire. Instead of punishment, Sasha offers Katya friendship, and the chance to embrace her power rather than fear it.
But outside the walls of Kiev, Sasha’s enemies have organized their own army of people who can control the very earth. Bent on taking over the entire world, they won’t stop until they’ve destroyed everything.
Katya and Sasha are desperate to stop the encroaching army, and together their powers are a fearsome weapon. But as their enemies draw nearer, leaving destruction in their wake, will fire and frost be enough to save the world? Or will they lose everything they hold dear?

**I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Our story opens with our main character, Katya, being ripped away from the only home and family she has ever known. It is a heartbreaking first scene and pulled at my heartstrings immediately. I knew nothing about this girl, only that she was losing everything in the blink of an eye and there was not a soul there to defend her. The members of her small frozen village, a village she had grown up in, looked on with hatred in their eyes. They were terrified of her and only wanted to be rid of the girl with powers they could never understand.

Katya is a damaged 17 year old girl from a small village on the outskirts of Kiev. Orphaned as a baby in the frozen forest, she is discovered by an older couple who take her in. She calls them Babushka and Dedushka, the Russian word for grandmother and grandfather, but they are no relation to her. She is a lost girl whose family gave her up and left her to die in the cold. Katya could never succumb to the cold though, for she has powers that would keep her alive in the harshest wintery terrains. She has the power of cold. Ice. The ability to freeze water in any temperature. There is also a power she possesses that is a bit more destructive-- something she has labeled 'cold fire'. A power that has gotten her exiled from her village and sent to the rumored 'evil prince' of Kievan Rus'.

"As long as I can see the stars, I told myself, I won't feel so far from home."

I was able to connect with Katya, and I fell in love with her. She is a lost girl, searching for a way to be strong in a world she doesn't understand. Her ability to trust is non-existent from years of ridicule, but her want to overcome that is one of my favorite aspects of this story. She wants to be better, and that drive in her is stronger than her past. I admired her ability to change when faced with new situations. She is an open-minded, multi-dimensional character, well-written and fierce! SO very fierce and protective of the ones that she cares about.

Sasha is the young prince of a city on the brink of war. He has long since given up on using his own power to control fire, and is in search of other powerful element wielders to help defend his city. I fell in love with this young prince. His determination to protect his people, and his drive to do that at all costs is admirable. When faced with adversity, he doesn't get angry. He finds a way around or through it.

I enjoyed the world building in this story. While this is not a sequel to Beyond a Darkened Shore, it is still set in the same world, close to the same time period. The Russian and Slavik folklore is very present, including tales of Baba Yaga and the Firebird! The mythology is woven so well throughout the adventure; I absolutely enjoyed learning more about this culture that is rarely found in YA literature.

fantasy book review Jessica Leake has quickly become one of my favorite story-tellers. I find myself falling in love with her characters and worlds, to the point that I dream about them. As a constant reader, that is my ultimate differential of a good book and an excellent book. Throughout the day, drifting off to a frozen world where princes are passionate about the people that they rule. Where young, damaged girls find the power within themselves to change their future. And ultimately, where a group of young people can band together to try to defeat an enemy that threatens their world. I LOVED every second of this book!

Thank you so much to Jessica Leake and the publisher, Harper Collins for sending me an early copy!

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Book Review: Nevernight by Jay Kristoff

In a land where three suns almost never set, a fledgling killer joins a school of assassins, seeking vengeance against the powers who destroyed her family.
Daughter of an executed traitor, Mia Corvere is barely able to escape her father’s failed rebellion with her life. Alone and friendless, she hides in a city built from the bones of a dead god, hunted by the Senate and her father’s former comrades. But her gift for speaking with the shadows leads her to the door of a retired killer, and a future she never imagined.
Now, Mia is apprenticed to the deadliest flock of assassins in the entire Republic—the Red Church. If she bests her fellow students in contests of steel, poison and the subtle arts, she’ll be inducted among the Blades of the Lady of Blessed Murder, and one step closer to the vengeance she desires. But a killer is loose within the Church’s halls, the bloody secrets of Mia’s past return to haunt her, and a plot to bring down the entire congregation is unfolding in the shadows she so loves.
Will she even survive to initiation, let alone have her revenge?

The book begins in a strange way-- our main character, Mia is both losing her virginity and murdering a man. Now wait a moment here, it's not what you think! The scene is flashing back and forth between the two, making comparisons of both acts. It's brutal, gory, and beautiful all wrapped into one beginning chapter. I was hooked from the first paragraph. Mister Kristoff gives zero fucks about giving his reader the shock factor from the get. He lays out a damaged and possibly insane main character and asks you to accept her. The reader understands what they are getting from the beginning, and he absolutely gives you the opportunity to pass if you're not up for the challenge.

I was up for the challenge. I fell in love with Mia-- her coldness and vulnerabilities and possible mental instability made me love her all the more. She is made to watch her father hang for treason and then ripped away from the cushy, upscale life of Godsgrave's elite. Her mother and baby brother are sent to prison, but Mia is able to escape the clutches of one of the most corrupt governments I've had the pleasure of reading about. In her escape, she discovers a power within her that she doesn't understand. A power that will both be a benefit as well as a curse in the adventures to follow.

"...the brighter the light, the deeper the shadows..."

Mr. Kindly is Mia's shadow cat, and one of the best pet sidekicks EVER. His sarcasm makes my little black heart happy. This is one of the powers that Mia discovers while fighting for her life as a 10 year old exile. She thankfully stumbles upon a man who is willing to take her in. A man who begins training her to be an assassin for the Red Church, an elite assassin training program. Along her journey, she meets a young man named Tric who will play an integral role in the story. Tric is just as insane and damaged as Mia, and I love him for it. He is a fun, sarcastic character that, regardless of his damage, makes Mia more human.

Our main character is the most badass, give no fucks female lead that I have had the pleasure of reading this year. I fell in love with her, coldness and vulnerability and damage aside. She knows what she wants and she is willing to fight, tooth and nail to get it. Her willpower is inspiring, and her need for vengeance is astounding. She is cold, calculating, and ruthless-- but the reader does get to see small parts of her that are human. Her love of reading and her attachment to Mr. Kindly create a human side of her that the reader can't help but be drawn to.

"You've got the look of a girl who's no stranger to the page. I can tell. You've got words in your soul.... The books we love, they love us back. And just as we mark our places in the pages, those pages leave their marks onus. I can see it in you, sure as I see it in me. You're a daughter of words. A girl with a story to tell."

The absolute BEST book quote ever. I will leave you gentlefriends now. Do yourselves a favor and read this book! It is amazing, beautiful, adventurous, and full of delicious dark vengeance!

<3 Morrighan

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Emma Hamm

A note from Emma!
Heyooo!

Every author's dream is to hit USAToday on their own. It's not easy, let me tell you that. Essentially the goal is to sell in a single week, 5,000 units on Amazon and 500 units on Nook/B&N. Sounds like something that's doable, but considering the numbers... Yikes haha.

SO! If you want to help an author reach her goal, then you are reading the right email! Heart of the Fae is on sale for $0.99 for one week only! The dates that matter are the 9th-12th, and if you've been eyeing this sucker then now's your time to get it.

GET YOUR COPY!

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First and foremost, I am nothing if not honest. I cannot promise my review will be positive, but I will be professional about a negative review. I accept all genres, save for non-fiction and poetry, although I do prefer fantasy and science fiction. I more often than not will only read physical copies because I do not own an EReader, but will occasionally accept EPUBs.

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