Tag Archives: New Adult Fantasy

March 2025 Reading Round-Up

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I can’t believe how fast the year is going, and that we’re in April already!  This took a little longer to write than I expected, but I got there eventually.  So let’s get started!

  • Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros.  I really liked Onyx Storm, and I totally should have read Fourth Wing and Iron Flame first because I was super fuzzy on what happened.  But that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this book, and it’s going to be a long wait for the next book, especially with how this book ended!  It’s a pretty solid addition to the series.
  • Guilt And Ginataan by Mia Manansala.  I really liked this adult cozy mystery, and this series is one of my favorites, as far as mysteries go.  I loved the food and drinks, and while I’d love to visit this town, I’d also be really cautious about the town, knowing how many terrible things happen there.  But that’s the whole point of mysteries, right?  I love the small town vibe, but the murders could be a deal breaker.
  • Lore Of The Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana.  I loved this adult romance/fantasy!  It’s a slightly different take on faeries, but something about it made me think of a fairy tale.  I got Beauty and the Beast vibes, but I think it’s because of the magical library.  It’s definitely one of my favorites from March, because I can’t stop thinking about that library.  And I just want to know what happens next.  At any rate, if you love fairies and magic, this is worth checking out!
  • Fit For The Throne: The Trial Of Ten by S. McPherson.  I really liked this adult fantasy.  It’s another interesting take on magic, faeries and shifters.  It’s a very interesting take on reality tv, and I actually agree that it’s the Selection meets the Hunger Games.  I really felt for Variella, who has no idea of her own history, especially since she kind of has to figure it out herself.  She has no idea who to trust, and she’s hearing a lot of things, from a lot of people.  I don’t blame her for making the choices she does, and she really is doing the best she can with the knowledge she has.
  • Gilded by Marissa Meyer, narrated by Rebecca Soler.  It took me months to finally finish this book!  Mostly because I’d listen for 20-30 minutes at a time when I didn’t know what else to listen to.  If you loved Cinder (also by Meyer), and you haven’t read this one, I highly recommend this one.  It’s also great if you love fairy tales, because it’s a cool take on Rumplestiltskin.  That’s a story you don’t see retold very often, and it’s a nice change from the usual fairy tale re-tellings out there.
  • Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor.  This adult African-futurism was a great read!  I mean, you can’t wrong with any of her books, but this is one of my favorites from her.  You have two different stories with this book: you have Zelu, who wrote this massive bestselling novel, and you get excerpts of that novel.  I love the idea of a novel within in a novel, and you see what the success of that novel does to Zelu.

  • Catch And Keep by Erin Hahn.  This adult contemporary romance was one of my favorites from March!  It’s so cute, and sweet and it’s friends-to-lovers, which, in my opinion, made this book even better.  I love Maren and Joe together, and Maren fits in with his family so well.  I love her books, and I’ve been a fan since I read her first book.  I definitely recommend Erin Hahn, and she has a lot of really good couples.
  • This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki, with Jillian Tamaki as the illustrator.  This YA contemporary graphic novel was a fast read.  It wasn’t my favorite book I read last month, but Tamaki did a great job with complicated family relationships and complicated friendships.  There’s a lot of secrets and there’s a lot of growing up in this one, and while I didn’t love it, I still think it’s worth checking out.
  • There’s No Way I’d Die First by Lisa Springer.  I loved this YA horror!  It’s another one of my favorites from last month, and I loved seeing the mystery unravel.  I loved the quotes from different horror movies at the beginning of each chapter, and the list of Top 10 Essential Black Horror Movies at the end of the book was awesome.  I haven’t seen any of the movies on the list, and I’m going to have to check them out.  I’ve never read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, but I know the basics of the story, and there’s something about Springer’s book that made me think of an Agatha Christie book I’ve never read.  I don’t know if Springer took any inspiration from Christie, because it could have been a coincidence, but either way, I wanted to know what was going to happen.

That’s all for this month, and I’ll be back in a month or so with my April reads!

See you next time!

Book Review: A Court Of Frost And Starlight by Sarah J Maas

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Book: A Court Of Frost And Starlight by Sarah J Maas

Published May 2018 by Bloomsbury YA|272 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: A Court Of Thorns & Roses #3.1

Genre: YA Fantasy

Feyre, Rhys, and their close-knit circle of friends are still busy rebuilding the Night Court and the vastly-changed world beyond. But Winter Solstice is finally near, and with it, a hard-earned reprieve. Yet even the festive atmosphere can’t keep the shadows of the past from looming. As Feyre navigates her first Winter Solstice as High Lady, she finds that those dearest to her have more wounds than she anticipated–scars that will have far-reaching impact on the future of their Court. 

As much as I love this series, I didn’t really love this one as much as I thought I would.  I was so excited for a new book in this series, but this one didn’t work for me.

I think part of it is that I didn’t re-read the series before reading this one, and I had a hard time getting back into this world.  It’s been almost a year since I read the last book in the series and even longer for the first and second books, so of course I don’t remember much of what happened.  It is funny, though, because her novellas are an average length book for most everyone else.

I was confused, too, because I was expecting more of a plot, and I felt like it actually took a while for it to show up. For most of the book, I felt like I was reading random scenes that didn’t really connect to each other.  Especially at first.  Also, while we see a lot between Feyre and Rhys, we also see some of the other characters.

In a way, it felt like it was setting things up for the rest of the series.  ACOMAF felt pretty resolved, and I wondered where the series was headed.  I have the feeling the rest of the books will focus on some of the other characters (Nesta and Cassian, anyone?) and it seems like something else is going to come up.  Hopefully our merry band of awesome people are going to deal with it together.

I did like that Feyre was out and about, and that she was getting back in her art.  I also have two words: drunk decorating.  That was fun to read.  I love her and Rhysand together, and as far as some of the other pairings go…let’s just say that some of them need to get it together.

Tamlin is still Tamlin, and while what he did wasn’t okay, he did seem to lose everything, and that part…it was a little hard to see.  I almost felt bad for him.  Almost.

Oh, and Elain!  Everyone seems to be pushing her towards a relationship.  It was clear to me that she didn’t want a relationship and/or wasn’t ready, and I just wanted her to be left alone about it.

Even though this is bridging books 1-3 and 4-6…I kind of feel like she could have added parts of this book to either ACOMAF or book 4.  I did like seeing the aftermath of the war, and I am curious to see what’s going to happen next.

3 stars.  I liked it, but I didn’t love it.  I wanted to, but I think I would have been just as fine not reading it.

Book Review: A Court Of Wings And Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

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Book: A Court Of Wings And Ruin by Sarah J Maas

Published May 2017 by Bloomsbury USA Children’s|597 pages

Where I Got It: I own the e-book

Series: A Court Of Thorns And Roses #3

Genre: NA Fantasy

Looming war threatens all Feyre holds dear in the third volume of the #1 New York Times bestselling A Court of Thorns and Roses series.

Feyre has returned to the Spring Court, determined to gather information on Tamlin’s maneuverings and the invading king threatening to bring Prythian to its knees. But to do so she must play a deadly game of deceit-and one slip may spell doom not only for Feyre, but for her world as well.

As war bears down upon them all, Feyre must decide who to trust amongst the dazzling and lethal High Lords-and hunt for allies in unexpected places.

In this thrilling third book in the #1 New York Times bestselling series from Sarah J. Maas, the earth will be painted red as mighty armies grapple for power over the one thing that could destroy them all.

I really liked ACOMAF!  I was really looking forward to reading this one, and it was one of my most anticipated books for this year.  I really enjoyed the first two, and after the way ACOMAF ended, I knew it was going to be a long wait until I got to read this one.

I really wanted more with Tamlin- I found that part of the book to be disappointing.  I thought it would be a bigger deal than it turned out to be.  I’m not sure how I thought that would go, but it wasn’t what actually happened in the book.  We do, eventually, see Tamlin’s reaction, and as much as I don’t like him, I wanted more from his point of view, especially with Feyre and Rhys.  Maybe I expected her to have to be more…romantically involved with Tamlin? Or that things would somehow go back to the way it was before she went to the Night Court.  I remember feeling like, what on earth is Feyre getting herself into?  There was such a sense of disbelief at the end of the previous book, and…I don’t know where I’m going with this, but I was let down by what happened.  Let’s just go with that.

I am also curious about the rest of the series.  Things are pretty resolved in this book, and I’m wondering if new problems are going to pop up, or if things aren’t as resolved as they seem.  Another thing I’m wondering about is if this series is set in the same world as her Throne Of Glass series.  Because there’s a similar feel to both series, and for some reason, it feels like it’s set in the same world.  If they’re not, that’s cool, but I am curious, so if anyone knows for sure, I’d really like to know.

I feel like I don’t have a lot to say about this installment in the series.  And I’m not as obsessed with this book as I am with the previous two.  I did re-read her Throne Of Glass series right before picking up this book, so maybe I was feeling a little burned out.  There was enough of a gap, that I shouldn’t have felt that way, but maybe there wasn’t enough time after all.  For whatever reason, I don’t feel the same way about this one that I did with the previous two books.

4 stars.  I’m hesitant to give it 4 stars, because I feel like I struggled a little bit to get through this more than I did the rest of the series.  But it did pick up, and even though it’s more 3.5, I figured I’d round up.

Book Review: A Court Of Mist And Fury by Sarah J. Maas

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A Court Of Mist And Fury CoverBook: A Court Of Mist And Fury by Sarah J. Maas

Published May 2016 by Bloomsbury USA|640 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the hardcover from the library

Series: A Court Of Thorns And Roses #2

Genre: NA Fantasy

Blog Graphic-What It's About

The #1 New York Times bestselling sequel to Sarah J. Maas’ spellbinding A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.

With more than a million copies sold of her beloved Throne of Glass series, Sarah J. Maas’s masterful storytelling brings this second book in her seductive and action-packed series to new heights.

Blog Graphic- What I Thought

I really liked A Court Of Mist And Fury!  I like it so much more than A Court Of Thorns And Roses, and it’s going to be a long wait for the next one.

So, Feyre’s deal with Rhysand…I had no idea what to expect with it, but I really liked where it went.  I loved Rhysand in this book (and he was definitely my favorite in ACOTAR), and after reading this book, I am completely sold on him and Feyre.  Rhys and Feyre are equals, and they are on equal ground, much more than Tamlin and Feyre ever were.  Rhysand is supportive and encouraging and better for Feyre than Tamlin ever will be.

Because honestly?  Tamlin is horrible!  Completely horrible…and he seemed like such a different Tamlin in this book, that I couldn’t believe I liked him at first.  I definitely want to go back to read the first one, because I can’t help but wonder if I missed something.  What happened in between ACOTAR and ACOFAM that Tamlin switched personalities?  Was it there, but I didn’t notice, or did he really change that much?  Because how he treated Feyre wasn’t okay, and I don’t care what his reasons were, it wasn’t okay.  And when he came in, all apologetic, because she gone for ages, and he wanted her back?  He doesn’t deserve her, and she can a lot better than a guy who didn’t realize he had a good person.

As much as I like Rhysand and Feyre together- and as much as I think that Rhysand is a better fit for Feyre after everything she’s gone through- I dislike that Tamlin had to change so much just to make Rhys look like the better option.  I think he is in a lot of ways, and I wish that Feyre had gone to Rhys in a different way, because I’m not a fan of how that was done, even though I like the end result.  I guess I have some hesitations about Rhys and Feyre, more than I originally thought.  But overall, I stick with what I said in the above paragraph.

I loved seeing the Night Court, and different it is from the Spring Court.  I hope we get to see more of the different Courts as the series progresses.

Another thing I wanted to talk about is the series, but this book in particular, as a YA book.  For me, it’s more New Adult than YA, and that’s because of the sex scenes.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with sex in YA, but in ACOFAM, they’re more detailed than what you typically see in YA, and I’m hesitant to classify it as such.  But it’s not like there’s a New Adult section at the library or the bookstore, and since it’s fantasy (not contemporary romance), that’s probably why shelved in the YA section.  I’d say that it’s probably appropriate for 15 and up.

Now that I have that out of the way, let’s talk about how we see the consequences of everything that happened that happened in the first book.  Things started to make a lot more sense, and that’s because we learned a lot more about what’s going on.

I also loved most of the new characters we see in the book, and they’re all so memorable and distinct and wonderful, and they are just amazing!  They really stand out and I can’t wait to see more of them in the rest of the series.

Blog Graphic- My Rating

4 stars.  I dislike how much Tamlin changed just to make Rhys and Feyre work, even though I love them together.  And even though I like it a lot more than ACOTAR, it wasn’t quite a 5 star read for me.