Tag Archives: YA Historical Fiction

May 2025 Reading Round-Up

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I can’t believe May is over!  It went by so fast, and it was full of bookish fun!  I made it to YALLWEST, which I talked about here, and I have a few ARC’s that I’m excited about.  I already talked about And They Were Roommates by Page Powars here, so I won’t be including it in this round-up, but it was cute.  Speaking of books, let’s get to the other books I read last month.

  • If We Were A Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal.  I loved this YA contemporary!  I loved everything about this book: the romance, the movie theater and the characters.  I hope the Horizon is around for a long time, and that they were able to figure out who was behind all of the pranks.  It’s the perfect book for summer!
  • Daughters Of A Dead Empire by Carolyn Tara O’Neil.  This YA historical fiction is a re-telling of Anastasia.  This book focuses on her survival after the murder of her entire family, and it was interesting to see her travel across Russia to reunite with her remaining family.  I loved her friendship with Evgenia, and how meeting each other really changed things for both girls.  We don’t know what happens to her later on, but I would definitely be interested in a sequel to see what was in store for her.
  • Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice by Anna Lapera.  This middle grade contemporary is a must-read!  I loved seeing how Mani questioned the misogynist policies at her school, and seeing her find her voice to stand up for all of the girls in her school.  I also loved how that connected to her family, and all the secrets and heartache they had to deal with.  I could relate to Mani in a lot of ways, and I loved seeing her find her voice.
  • Better Left Buried By Mary E Roach, narrated by Casey Holloway.  I liked this YA mystery!  It worked really well on audio, and I’m glad I listened to it, because I’m not sure if I would have finished it otherwise.  This Mary Roach is not the Mary Roach that has written books like Stiff, Gulp, and Spook, which is what I initially thought when I got this book.  Anyway, there’s a creepy small town that’s full of secrets, and ruled by an extremely wealthy family who will cover up their wrong-doings at any cost.  I was frustrated by Katie, Lucy’s mom, and how she refused to tell her daughter anything about her past.  I understand her hesitance but also, don’t bring your daughter to your hometown if you’re not willing to answer her inevitable questions.  She didn’t want Lucy to do any investigating but also left her alone pretty much the whole time, so what else was Lucy going to do?  It was pretty slow-paced and then everything happens at once, which wasn’t surprising.  If you like small-town mysteries, this is a good one to check out.
  • Loteria Cards And Fortune Poems: A Book Of Lives, Poems by Juan Felipe Herrera, Linocuts by Artemio Rodriguez.  I was intrigued by this poetry collection because I love Loteria.  If you’ve never played, I highly recommend it.  I especially recommend reading the introduction to this book, since it goes into a lot of detail about Loteria itself.  I loved El Jorobado, La Muerte, El Murcielago, La Mano and El Angel De La Guarda.  While I wish these illustrations were as colorful as the the actual loteria cards, they are pretty detailed and they go well with the poetry.
  • Fit For The Throne 2: The Royal Games by S McPherson.  I liked this adult romantasy, though I didn’t like it as much as the first book in this series.  I am curious to see how things go in the next book, especially with how the book ended.  I liked seeing the relationship that Varialla has with both Exequiel and Loch.  Loch is absolutely terrible, and I find myself wanting to skim the scenes with him and Varialla because of how manipulative and controlling he is.  And I understand why Exequiel doesn’t trust Varialla, though they manage to work together to get through the games.  If you like romantasy that’s more romance than fantasy, this is a good series to check out.

  • Notes On The Assemblage by Juan Felipe Herrera.  This is another great poetry collected from Herrera.  This one is significantly shorter than his Loteria poetry collection, and some of the poems are in both English and Spanish.  We Are Remarkably Loud Not Masked and Poem by Poem are the two that you absolutely need to read from this collection.  I love the way he touches on current events in those poems.  I also recommend I Am Kenji Goto, Song Out Here, Borderbus, The Soap Factory, and Notes On The Assemblage.  I liked this one slightly more than Loteria, because the images are a little more vivid, but they’re both good.  It just depends on what you’re looking for.
  • I’m Not Supposed To Be In The Dark by Riss Neilson.  I liked this YA Romance!  It has magic, ghosts and family secrets that get uncovered.  It has an absolutely beautiful cover too, and I can’t stop looking at it!  I wasn’t interested in the romance, and I found the magic and ghosts to be much more interesting.  I’m intrigued by what Aria can do, and it seems like there are quite a few people who have their own abilities as well.  I get why her grandpa and her mom had her drink a special tea twice a day, and why they didn’t tell her anything about her abilities, but it was something I disagreed with because she got into some unfortunate situations because of it.  I’m glad I read it, and I’m looking forward to reading Neilson’s other books!
  • The Jump by Brittney Morris.  I liked this YA Contemporary!  I haven’t read anything like it before, and I love the idea of groups doing really cool scavenger hunts.  There is a pretty interesting mystery in this book, and I liked seeing this group of teens figure out the puzzles we see throughout the book.  I can definitely understand why they’d want in on the scavenger hunt we see in the book, and it seems like everything works out okay for them.  It is pretty short, so there’s a lot that happens in a short amount of time.  I kind of wish that it had been a little bit longer, just so we had some time to breath, and to explore some of the issues a little more as well.  It was a fun, action-packed book, though, and a pretty fun read.
  • How To Survive A Slasher by Justine Pucella Winans.  I thought this YA horror was okay, but it was interesting to hear what my book club thought about it.  I’ve read similar books (You’re Not Supposed To Die Tonight by Kalynn Bayron and There’s No Way I’d Die First, which are both great), so this story wasn’t anything new to me.  It actually felt more true crime adjacent than horror because of the story itself.  I liked that CJ talked about how it wasn’t just something that happened in her town, because she had a direct connection to everything that happened, and it’s a good reminder that that are real people behind the true crime stories that are so popular.  While not for me, I think it’s a great introduction to slashers and YA horror in general.
  • Sweet Obsession by Katee Robert.  This adult contemporary romance was okay.  I’m curious to see how things turn out for Olympus, and I’m looking forward to getting Hera’s story, as well as Hermes.  I was interested because of how the last book ended, and because Poseidon isn’t a character that we’ve seen a lot of in the previous books.  I found that I didn’t particularly care about Poseidon and Icarus, and their relationship was definitely built more on physical attraction than anything else.  This one, along with Dark Restraint, are the ones where I cared more about the plot and what was going on with Olympus than the romance…which is weird considering the genre.  But since this series is going to be 10 books (11, if you count the prequel novella), it makes sense that I wouldn’t care for all of the couples.  That was definitely the case with this book, but at least I have Hera and Hermes to look forward to.
  • We Are The Beasts by Gigi Griffis.  I thought this YA historical fiction was okay.  I wasn’t sure about it for most of the book, but I did end up liking it by the end.  It’s an interesting take on the Beast Of Gevaudan, and this book does a great job at showing how men are the real monsters.  I really felt for the girls we met, and how they had no options to leave.  Using the beast was a pretty good idea, in my opinion, and I’m glad that this group of girls got out.  I hope things go well for them, wherever they end up.

That’s all for this month, and I’ll be back soon!  See you around!

April 2025 Reading Round-Up

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Hello!  We’re back with my April Reading Round-Up.  I’ve read some great books this month, and read several on audio, so let’s get started!

  • Ebony Gate by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle.  I have mixed feelings about this adult urban fantasy.  I haven’t seen John Wick, so I don’t know how this book compares to that movie, but a female retired assassin getting pulled into the world she left behind is absolutely something I’m going to read. I thought the magic system was really cool, especially because it involves dragons.  It was explained pretty well, in my opinion.  I thought that Emiko’s backstory could have been a lot less vague, because her story and how she ended up in San Francisco could have been a lot more direct.  That made this book seem more like the second book in a series, not the first, and I did have to double check to make sure I wasn’t reading the sequel.  It’s also really slow-paced, which is weird, because the book takes place over a couple of days, so it should have moved at a much faster pace.  There was a lot of information at the beginning, and it felt like everything was going to be important, only to not be as important as I thought.  The ending was pretty drawn out as well.  I’m definitely interested in seeing what happens next, but I’m also not rushing out to pick up the sequel.
  • Mall Goth by Kate Keth, Diana Sousa (colorist) and Robin Crank (letterist).  I loved this YA contemporary graphic novel!  It’s set in the early 2000’s, and it brought back a lot of memories for this millenial!  It reminded me of the times I’d wander around the mall in high school, which wasn’t a lot, but something I still did.  The mall was such a big thing, and 20 years after graduating high school, the mall is a place I rarely frequent.  There’s family drama, friend drama, and being the new kid.  Plus, creepy English teachers, and I kind of wish we got some resolution on that, but at the very least, Liv did tell her mom, who was going to go to the principal, so at there is that.  If you’re nostalgic for the early 2000’s and mall culture, this is a good one to read!
  • The Davenports: More Than This by Krystal Marquis, narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt.  I liked this YA historical fiction, but not as much as the first one.  It looks like this is a duology, but I think there is room for more stories set in this world if Marquis ever wanted to revisit it.  I loved seeing what was going on with Helen, Olivia, Ruby and Amy-Rose, and I was definitely rooting for Helen and Ruby.  I was glad everything worked out for all of them, especially Helen and Amy-Rose.  I think the wait between finishing the first book and starting the second didn’t really help with my ambivalence towards the sequel.  As much as I loved seeing them get their happy endings, especially with how the first book ended, I also thought the first book worked pretty well as a stand-alone.  I mean, I’m glad I got another book set in this world, I just didn’t have the same excitement for the sequel.  I think it’s still worth checking out, because I did like it.  It’s a solid sequel.
  • A Queen’s Game by Katherine McGee.  This one is a YA historical fiction, and while I wasn’t sure about it at first, I ended up really liking it.  I loved her American Royals series, and I think McGee is great at writing about powerful young women.  Alix Of Hesse was the only one I had heard of before this book, but Helen and May were interesting to read about, and I definitely want to know more about them.  The story is pretty resolved, and it works well as a standalone, but I think there is a lot of potential as far as sequels go.  None are currently listed, so it’s a standalone for now, but I’d be curious to see where the story goes, should McGee return to this world.  I loved that McGee talked about the secrets these young women have, and how much they stood to lose because of it, especially in comparison to the young men they fall in love with.  There are some things mentioned by all three women that I’m still thinking about.
  • Most Likely by Sarah Watson, narrated by Christie Moreau.  I loved this YA contemporary!  I loved seeing who ended up as president, and it really could have been any of the four girls we see in the book.  I wasn’t surprised by who it was, but it was still great seeing who it was.  I really want to read it again, because I think it would be cool to re-read it knowing the big reveal.  I wasn’t trying to figure it out, because I was just along for the ride.  I was sad that they had to take their husbands last name just to get votes, but considering we haven’t elected extremely capable, qualified and competent women in real life, it’s not that surprising.  It was an interesting, fun read.
  • Momo Arashima Steals The Sword Of The Wind by Misa Sugiura.  This middle grade fantasy was fun!  There was a lot going on, and I didn’t help that I was reading as fast I could before I had to return the e-book to the library.  I’ll have to check it out again and actually read it way before the due date.  Momo has a lot going on at home, and fitting in seems to be really hard for her.  I think that’s something we can all relate to, and she grew a lot over the course of the book.  It is the first book in a series, so it’ll be fun to see what adventures she has in the rest of the series.

  • The Scorpion And The Night Blossom by Amelie Wen Zhao, narrated by Annie Q.  This YA fantasy was my book club’s pick for April, and the group was pretty split in how we saw the book.  I liked it, but I wasn’t surprised by any of the plot twists.  The concept is cool, but I wish we had more of the trials.  The audio book was pretty good, but I was listening to it at work, so there were chunks of time where I wasn’t paying attention.  I definitely missed out on some things because of it, and I’ve forgotten most of it already.  But if you like YA fantasy with elements of Chinese mythology, this is going to be up your alley.
  • Break The Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli, narrated by Emily Zoo Weller.  I loved this YA contemporary!  It’s definitely for the gymnastics fans out there, and I loved the detail in Audrey’s routines.  I’ve never done gymnastics, but I’ve watched it enough over the years that I could picture all of her routines.  If gymnastics isn’t really your thing, it might be a little too detailed.  While I didn’t mind the detailed routines, I did find that the scenes where we had the updates to the rankings to be really tedious and repetitive.  It definitely captured the ups and downs of the Olympics, and Iacopelli definitely drew from the Larry Nassar case, so that is something to keep in mind with this book.  I also want to note that the book was published in February 2020, so the fictional 2002 Tokyo Olympics were not affected by COVID.  It is pretty predictable, and while I wasn’t surprised by how some of the events went, or by certain secrets some of the characters had, I still enjoyed the book.
  • Accidental Demons by Clare Edge.  This Middle Grade fantasy was great!  It’s about Ber, a pre-teen, Type 1 diabetic blood witch, who summons a demon virtually every time she checks her blood sugar.  She, along with her family, stumbles into a mystery with a nearby coven, and it’s a race against time trying to solve it.  Ber learns a lot about magic, other witches and magical creatures, as well as learning to manage her diabetes.  I was also sad that a continuous blood glucose monitor wasn’t covered by her insurance (because America has an absolutely ridiculous healthcare system), and she had to deal with identifying and banishing demons multiple times a day.  It’s easily one of my favorites from April.
  • Wild Tongues Can’t By Tamed, edited by Saraciea J. Fennell.  I really liked this YA essay collection, and there were some really good essays!  I loved Haitian Sensation by Ibi Zoboi, Cuban Imposter Syndrome by Zakiya N. Jamal, and Invisible by Ingrid Rojas Contreras.  It’s hard to pick the stand-outs, because there are some great essays, but those three are the ones that have stuck with me.  I loved reading their experiences, and while they all had very different experiences, we also saw how they struggled with their identity and fitting in.
  • Legendborn and Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn.  These two books are actually re-reads for me, but I wanted to read them before starting Oathbound.  This series is so good, and if you haven’t read it, please run to your nearest library or bookstore and get them!  I love Bree so much, and I just want her to be okay, and make it through everything okay.  I’m only a few chapters into Oathbound, but I can’t wait to see where her story goes in Oathbound.  Am I being really vague?  Absolutely, but I don’t want to give anything away.

That’s all for today!  I’m headed up to YALLWEST on Saturday, and I’m super excited since the only time I’ve been in-person was back in 2019.  I did a few of the virtual ones they did during COVID, and it’ll be fun to wander around!  I’ll probably post a recap sometime next week, but until then, happy reading!

February 2025 Reading Roundup

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Hello again!  I’m back with another book review round-up.  I actually took some notes on the books I read, and what I thought, which made writing this a lot easier!

I also focused on reading black authors since February was Black History Month.  Reading books from marginalized communities should absolutely be year-round, not just for a month, because they deserve our support every month!  There were only a two exceptions to this (The Fervor and Sky Island), but I found so many books I wanted to read that I’ll be reading them over the coming months.

  • The Fervor by Alma Katsu.  I really enjoyed The Deep and The Hunger, and this adult historical horror is no exception!  It’s very different from her other books, and while I initially struggled with it, once it got going, it was hard to put down.  It’s set in during World War, after Pearl Harbor, and Japanese internment camps are a prominent part of the book.  As far as the horror goes, it is psychological.  And I can see the parallels between what happened in this book, set over 80 years ago, and what’s happening today with the Trump administration.  That made it hard to read, but it was absolutely worth it, in my opinion.
  • Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis.  This YA horror was just okay for me.  I would describe it as a horror movie in book form.  Picture the Friday the 13th movies, but at a camp for horror obsessed queer girls.  I liked the premise, and Temple was interesting.  I would describe Temple as morally grey, which is refreshing for a female character, and particularly one in YA, because that’s not something I’ve seen before.  The story was a little confusing at times, and it was hard for me to keep track of what was in the past and what was in the present.  Also, the campers blended together, and I had some trouble telling them apart.  It wasn’t for me, but it has a great setting and an interesting premise.
  • Sky Island by Amy Chu, illustrated by Janet K. Lee.  I really liked this Middle Grade contemporary graphic novel.  It’s a great sequel to Sea Sirens, and we have more adventures with Trot, Cap’n Bill, and Trot’s grandpa.  I loved seeing Sky Island, and it looks like a pretty cool place.  It looks like there’s only two books in this series but I think there are a lot of stories Chu and Lee could tell.  Like the first book, I loved the relationship between Trot and her grandpa.  I didn’t mention it when I reviewed Sea Sirens last month, but I loved the art in both books, and the colors are beautiful.
  • The Return by Nenny Mae.  This YA mystery was okay for me.  I liked the idea of a group of high school teens solving a Prom Night mystery from a few years earlier.  I also liked that there is a lot in terms of second chances, forgiveness, and moving on.  The dual timeline was interesting: we see Holly in the present and Scarlett in the past.  It was hard to tell the two timelines apart, as it wasn’t always immediately clear which timeline we were in.  There were a lot of people to keep track of as well, which didn’t help, and even by the end of the book, I couldn’t tell some of the characters apart.  Also, I was not thrilled with what happened between Scarlett and her English teacher.  High school me would not have minded it, but as an adult, I have no patience for when things between teacher and student move beyond that relationship.  It wasn’t for me, but I see why people like it!
  • Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor.  I saw someone talking about this middle grade historical fiction on Threads, and decided I needed to re-read it.  The last time I read it, I was a kid, and that is the only thing I remember about it.  I loved it, and if, like me, you haven’t read it in decades, I recommend picking it up, because there were so many things that still ring true today.  The ending broke my heart, though I wasn’t surprised by the violence the characters witnessed and experienced.  There were two moments that really stood out to me.  One was when Cassie and her mom were talking about how some people have to think white people are better to make them feel big, which makes me think of, well, the last 8 years or so.  The other moment that really stood out to me was when Cassie’s mom was talking about how Cassie and her classmates don’t have to accept books in poor condition, which was in response to Cassie’s teacher basically saying they should be grateful for whatever they get.  I was glad that her mom said that they shouldn’t have to receive throwaways.  All students deserve to have a great education, with supplies and equipment in good condition.
  • The Romantic Agenda by Claire Kann.  I loved this adult contemporary romance!  This book came up at my book club last year, when we read Dear Wendy, and I finally got around to reading it.  I loved that we have a main character who’s ace, because it’s not something I’ve seen in a lot of books (Dear Wendy by Ann Zhao, Rick by Alex Gino, and Let’s Talk About Love, also by Kann) are the only ones I know of.  I wasn’t a fan of Malcolm, her best friend, mostly because Joy and Malcolm seem like polar opposites.  I don’t know how I feel about Summer, though I appreciate she actually talks to Joy, and understands she and Malcolm are a package deal.  Fox was interesting, and I think he and Joy really balance each other out.  I liked seeing their relationship develop, and I hope things work out for Joy in everything she does.

  • The Davenports by Kayla Marquis, narrated by Joniece Abbott-Pratt.  I loved this YA Historical Fiction, based on C.R. Patterson and his family.  We have Olivia, her sister Helen, Olivia’s best friend Ruby, and Amy-Rose, the childhood friend turned maid for Olivia’s family.  I loved Helen and Amy-Rose the most, because they both had dreams they were working so hard for, and things might have been different for them, had they been born several decades later.  I have the sequel on hold at the library, and I can’t wait to see what happens next for these 4 young women.
  • The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin.  This nonfiction memoir was an interesting read.  I’ve never read Baldwin before, but decided to pick this one up after seeing it at the library.  I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I think it’s worth reading.  I loved seeing his thoughts on race, religion, and racial injustice, and I agree with his thoughts on Christianity and hypocrisy.  There’s a lot to think about, especially as a white woman, and this book is one I want to revisit.  There was one quote that really stood out, which I’m going to leave here for you: “Color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality.”
  • Blood At The Root by LaDarrion Williams.  I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about this YA fantasy.  I love the idea of a magical HBCU, and I think there’s a lot of potential with the magic.  Malik had a lot to deal with, and one thing that was particularly frustrating was how we were told his neighbors blamed him for his mother’s death, which happened when he was 7.  I was also frustrated by his relationship with Alexis, mostly because it came across as him thinking she was the one, even though he only knew her for 6 months when they were 7.  I was looking at some of the reviews, and I get why people have their issues with it but I can also see why people love it.
  • MapMaker by Lisa Moore Ramee.  I really liked this middle grade fantasy, and I think it’s the perfect book for anyone who loves maps, particularly the maps in fantasy books.  I loved that Walt could bring a whole world to life, but also have the power to destroy it.  I really wanted to know more about his ability, and I don’t know if there will be more books set in this world, but I really hope there are.  It definitely hinted at that there are more abilities than to bring worlds to life, and that his twin sister has her own abilities, but we didn’t really get much more than that.  I know I’d read more books set in this world.
  • Twice As Perfect by Louisa Onome.  I really liked this YA contemporary.  I really felt for Adanna, especially because she had a lot to deal with.  There is a lot in terms of family expectations, family estrangement, and family secrets.  There’s a lot in terms deciding what you want, instead of doing what others expect you to do, and I found that very easy to relate to.  I’m really glad I read this one.
  • Josephine Against The Sea by Shakirah Bourne.  This middle grade contemporary is such a good book.  I loved Josephine, and I knew the second that we met Mariss, she was u  p to no good!  I ended up liking her backstory, and I understood her more, but I also understood why Josephine didn’t like her.  I probably would have felt the same way Josephine did, and I’m glad everything worked out for Josephine and her dad.  I liked the magic, and how Josephine and her dad dealt with their grief over losing Josephine’s mom.  This is another one I’m glad I read.

All in all, it was a good month for reading, though reading was a struggle towards the end of the month.  I have some books I’m looking forward to reading for this month, so I’m hoping that will help me get past this little slump I’m in.

I’ll see everyone next month!

Book Review: A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe

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Book: A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe

Published October 2020 by Wednesday Books|352 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: None

Genre: YA Historical Fiction/Fantasy

Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone—whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold—but just when the promise of the Stone’s riches is in their grasp, Thea’s mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness.

While combing through her mother’s notes, Thea learns that there’s a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose their sanity. With the threat of the French Revolution looming, Thea is sent to Oxford for her safety, to live with the father who doesn’t know she exists.

But in Oxford, there are alchemists after the Stone who don’t believe Thea’s warning about the curse—instead, they’ll stop at nothing to steal Thea’s knowledge of how to create the Stone. But Thea can only run for so long, and soon she will have to choose: create the Stone and sacrifice her sanity, or let the people she loves die.

I feel like it’s been forever since I’ve written any reviews…or even picked up a book!  I’m feeling a little rusty after so long, but A Golden Fury was a good book to get back into reading and reviewing.  I liked it, and I thought the concept was really cool!

The whole idea of the Philosopher’s Stone cursing people is really cool, and that was, hands down, my favorite thing about the book.  People lose their sanity if they get far enough along, and it was both frustrating and not at all surprising that no one believed Thea when she told everyone who wanted the Stone what would happen.  I don’t blame her for not wanting her loved ones die, and sacrificing your sanity is a terrible way to get them back.  If no one knew that her mom made it, had notes, and that Thea could make it, she’d be fine.  But we also wouldn’t have a book, so there is that.  Or, at least, it would be a very different book.

It’s scary to think that the Stone takes what it wants from you once you get to a certain step in the process of making it, but I also really liked that.  Yes, there’s immortality and turning metals into gold and silver but trying to get that comes at a price.  Cohoe does a great job at showing what that price is, and how some people are willing to sacrifice everything for their chance to have something so powerful.

I’d rather keep my sanity, thank you very much.

But for some reason, the Stone really likes Thea, and she ends up being fine.  She starts to have a relationship with the father she never knew, and her relationship with her mother changes drastically by the end of the book.  To live in her mother’s shadow must have been horrible, and not a great person to have as a mother.  Now that the Stone is not in the picture, maybe things will be better.  Maybe Thea just needs to be away from her mother, and they can write letters with the occasional visit.  They have a lot of things they need to work through, and it seems like doing that away from each other is a good move.

We don’t see much of Thea’s relationship with her father, and her going to Oxford was quite the surprise for him.  I do get his concern, at least initially, that saying she was his daughter could change things for him career-wise.  Though I understand why he’d say she was his niece, it was also frustrating that he wouldn’t acknowledge her.  He does change his mind about that, in the end, and I hope they end up having a good relationship.

I didn’t care for Will at all.  He ended up being pretty terrible, though, and in the end, I just didn’t get why she went to such lengths to protect him.  Granted, there was a lot about him that she didn’t know, but considering he told people she could make the Stone…that was the first of many things that he did that was absolutely terrible.

I haven’t really talked about Thea much.  I liked her, and she really was determined to do what she had to for the people she cared about- whether it was her mother, Will, or Dominic, she wanted to make sure they were okay.  She was willing to sacrifice so much for them, even when it wasn’t deserved.  In my opinion, anyway.  Still, I want things to be okay for her, and hopefully, they will be.

3 stars.  I liked A Golden Fury, and it was entertaining and interesting.  It was a good book to start of the year and get back into reviewing!

Audio Book Review: Within These Lines by Stephanie Morrill, Narrated by Andrew Kanies And Morgan Fairbanks

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Book: Within These Lines by Stephanie Morrill, Narrated by Andrew Kanies & Morgan Fairbanks

Published March 2019 by Blink|Run Time: 9 hours, 37 minutes

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: None

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Evalina Cassano’s life in an Italian-American family in 1941 is everything it “should be” until she falls in love with Taichi Hamasaki, the son of Japanese immigrants. Despite the scandal it would cause and that inter-racial marriage is illegal in California, Evalina and Taichi vow they will find a way to be together. But anti-Japanese feelings erupt across the country after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Taichi and his family are forced to give up their farm and move to an internment camp.

Degrading treatment make life at Manzanar Relocation Center difficult. Taichi’s only connection to the outside world are treasured letters from Evalina. Feeling that the only action she can take to help Taichi is to speak out on behalf of all Japanese Americans, Evalina becomes increasingly vocal at school and at home. Meanwhile, inside Manzanar, fighting between different Japanese-American factions arises. Taichi begins to doubt he will ever leave the camp alive.

With tensions running high and their freedom on the line, Evalina and Taichi must hold true to their values and believe in their love to make a way back to each other against unbelievable odds.

I liked Within These Lines!  I didn’t love it but I did like it.

For me, Taichi’s story was so much more interesting than Evalina’s.  I really felt for Taichi, and everyone else who had to go to the internment camps.  It wasn’t until listening to this book that I realized how little I know about the internment camps.  I’ve heard of them, but all I knew was that they came about after Pearl Harbor.  I didn’t know anything else, and I was horrified by what Taichi went through at Manazanar.

No one should have to go through that, and the way people talked about Japanese-Americans was horrible.  But I was reminded of today, and how people are still treated because of where they come from.  It’s just hard to believe that it happened only 70 or so years ago.  It feels like it was a long time ago, and yet, it also feels so recent.

I was glad Evalina was so outspoken about what was going on.  I don’t think she realized or knew how bad it really was, but I was glad she spoke up about it.  It would have been really easy for her to not say anything, and just let it be.  She definitely did not let it be, and I thought it was really cool that she wanted to be a lawyer.  In the epilogue, we see she’s a civil rights lawyer, and that seems to fit her very well.  I wasn’t as interested in her story as Taichi’s, but I thought their stories together were important.  As a whole, the story was great because you see how it affected people, but on an individual level, Taichi’s story got my attention a lot more than Evalina’s.

The epilogue really got to me, and I was definitely crying because of how it still affected Taichi.  Even though the epilogue was years later, I was heartbroken for Taichi.  I don’t think it will ever be over for him, but I did think his story was really well done.  I hope he’s able to find peace after everything that happened.

I did like the narrators, Andrew Kanies and Morgan Fairbanks, though I did like Kanies a little bit more.  They both brought the characters to life, but Kanies really stood out, and really made Taichi someone worth caring about.  It’s not that I didn’t care about Evalina, because I did.  Just not as much as I cared about Taichi.  Still, Fairbanks did a great job at narrating Evalina’s part of the story.

3 stars.  I liked Within These Lines, and thought Taichi’s story was one worth reading.  His story really made this book worth reading.

Book Review: The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad Of Mulan by Sherry Thomas

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Book: The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad Of Mulan by Sherry Thomas

Published September 2019 by Tu Books|352 pages

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

Series: None

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

CHINA, 484 A.D.

A Warrior in Disguise

All her life, Mulan has trained for one purpose: to win the duel that every generation in her family must fight. If she prevails, she can reunite a pair of priceless heirloom swords separated decades earlier, and avenge her father, who was paralyzed in his own duel.

Then a messenger from the Emperor arrives, demanding that all families send one soldier to fight the Rouran invaders in the north. Mulan’s father cannot go. Her brother is just a child. So she ties up her hair, takes up her sword, and joins the army as a man.

A War for a Dynasty

Thanks to her martial arts skills, Mulan is chosen for an elite team under the command of the princeling–the royal duke’s son, who is also the handsomest man she’s ever seen. But the princeling has secrets of his own, which explode into Mulan’s life and shake up everything she knows. As they cross the Great Wall to face the enemy beyond, Mulan and the princeling must find a way to unwind their past, unmask a traitor, and uncover the plans for the Rouran invasion . . . before it’s too late.

Inspired by wuxia martial-arts dramas as well as the centuries-old ballad of Mulan, The Magnolia Sword is perfect for fans of Renee Ahdieh, Marie Lu, or Kristin Cashore–a thrilling, romantic, and sharp-edged novel that lives up to its beloved heroine. 

I was really excited about this one because it’s a re-telling of Mulan, but unfortunately, I didn’t like this one as much as I wanted to.  It ended up being an okay read for me.

There were some things I really liked about The Magnolia Sword.  I really liked that she was a twin, and that her family was at odds with the prince’s family.  I liked that each generation had to duel- it wasn’t what I expected, but I thought it worked really well.  Especially with how they came together during the book.

I also liked how detailed this book was.  You could tell that Thomas did her research while reading this book.  It really shone throughout the book, and while I know nothing about this time period or the original telling of Mulan, it felt like it was pretty true to the time period.  Please take that with a grain of salt, though, because I’m only familiar with the Disney movie.  And even then, it’s been ages and ages since I’ve watched it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find the book thrilling or romantic, the way it was described.  I was bored, which made me sad, because I didn’t want to be bored.  The Magnolia Sword is more about the characters, which is fine, but I don’t think it was what I wanted.  I wanted more action and battles, and considering the fact that there seemed to be a lot going on at the time, I wanted to be more interested in the book.  Instead, I was really close to not finishing it, and I’m not sure how I did.

Mulan…was not memorable.  I wish I could tell you more about her, but she didn’t stand out to me.  Considering the book was more character driven, and she’s the main character, that was a little disappointing.  And the prince is even less memorable, considering I can’t even remember his name.  And the fact that he and Mulan end up dueling, and they spend a good amount of time together…it’s definitely not a good sign.  You’d think I’d be able to remember but the name didn’t stick.

2 stars.  The Magnolia Sword was just okay, and while there were some things I liked, overall, I was pretty bored.

Book Review: Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez

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Book: Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Perez

Published June 2018 by Imprint|384 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: Sweet Black Waves #1

Genre: YA Historical Fiction/Re-Telling

Not you without me, not me without you.

Two proud kingdoms stand on opposite shores, with only a bloody history between them.

As best friend and lady-in-waiting to the princess, Branwen is guided by two principles: devotion to her homeland and hatred for the raiders who killed her parents. When she unknowingly saves the life of her enemy, he awakens her ancient healing magic and opens her heart. Branwen begins to dream of peace, but the princess she serves is not so easily convinced. Fighting for what’s right, even as her powers grow, will set Branwen against her best friend and the only man she’s ever loved.

Inspired by the legend of Tristan and Eseult, this is the story of the legend’s true heroine. For fans of Graceling and The Mists of Avalon, this is the first book of a lush fantasy trilogy about warring countries, family secrets, and forbidden romance.

I ended up really liking Sweet Black Waves.  I wasn’t sure about it at first, but the more I read, the more I liked it.

I’m only vaguely familiar with the story of Tristan and Eseult, and that’s only because of the movie that came ages ago.  I think I was expecting to see things from Eseult’s perspective, and not Branwen’s.  I still liked seeing things from Branwen’s POV, and it did make for a really interesting re-telling.

Knowing how the movie ended- which I know isn’t a great comparison, but the only one I have- I wasn’t sure how things were going to go.  I was surprised by the ending and the fact that there are going to more books.  We haven’t gotten the full Tristan and Eseult story, of course, and I don’t know how much Perez can drag this story out.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m planning on continuing the series, and I really want to know how it all ends.  I’m just a little hesitant, that’s all.

It didn’t go as in-depth as I would have wanted, and it does have quite a bit of drama in it.  Which is fine, but it didn’t really go too much into the Tristan and Eseult story.  I suppose we’ll see that in the other books.  I hope so anyway.  The book does set things up, and it did a pretty good job of that.  With how the book ended, it really made me wish the next book were out to see what happens next.  Branwen is definitely out for blood.

It’s also really well-researched, and I liked the author’s note at the end of the book.  She talks a lot about the choices she made regarding language and the source material.  You don’t need to be familiar with the story to like the book, but I did like that a lot of research went into the book.  It really showed, and I felt like I was really immersed in Branwen’s world.

I loved the magic in the book, and it felt very real.  It blended into Branwen’s life and world so well, and it made so much sense.  It was easy to understand, and it added something to the book.

4 stars.  Even though I didn’t love Sweet Black Waves, I still really liked it!

ARC Book Review: Romanov by Nadine Brandes

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Book: Romanov by Nadine Brandes

Expected Publication Is May 7, 2019 by Thomas Nelson|Expected Number Of Pages: 352

Where I Got It: I received Romanov as an e-ARC from netgalley.com in exchange for a fair and honest review

Series: None

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

From the author of Fawkes comes a magical take on the story of Anastasia Romanov.

The history books say I died.

They don’t know the half of it.

Anastasia “Nastya” Romanov was given a single mission: to smuggle an ancient spell into her suitcase on her way to exile in Siberia. It might be her family’s only salvation. But the leader of the Bolshevik army is after them . . . and he’s hunted Romanov before.

Nastya’s only chances of saving herself and her family are either to release the spell and deal with the consequences, or to enlist help from Zash, the handsome soldier who doesn’t act like the average Bolshevik. Nastya’s only dabbled in magic, but it doesn’t frighten her half as much as her growing attraction for Zash. She likes him. She thinks he might even like her…

That is, until she’s on one side of a firing squad…and he’s on the other.

I liked Romanov, but not as much as I wanted to.  After reading Fawkes, I was pretty excited about this one, but I struggled to get through this book.

It’s a little sad, because the idea is really cool.  It’s a different take on the Anastasia story, but the book started off really slow.  It didn’t pick up the her family is executed, and that’s when Romanov got interesting.  That’s where I’m torn, because on the one hand, it took too long, with too many details before things started moving along.

At the same time, having that background did give some insight into what was going at the time.  So while starting right before the execution would have started things off with a bang, I think we also might have missed out on a lot.  Unless Brandes found a way to include in the book, through flashbacks or something.

I really liked how she included magic with history.  I wish we had more about the history of magic in Russia and how it was used.  I had the same issue with her other book, and it’s the execution of the Romanov family plus Anastasia surviving plus magic, sort of like how Fawkes was the Gunpowder plot but with magic.

We all know how people have claimed to be Anastasia over the years, and how two bodies were quite a bit away from the rest of the family, and this book has a really interesting and magical explanation for that.  It’s certainly an interesting way to have Anastasia survive, and I liked how that was included in the story.

Brandes is really good at re-telling history with magic.  While I wanted more details about the magical aspects, and how it exists in this world, I liked that it was just a normal part of Nastya’s world.  I can’t wait to see what else she comes up, and what part of history she’ll re-tell next.

My Rating: 3 stars.  It took a long time for this book to get going, but I did like it, and how she re-told this story.

Audio Book Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray, Narrated by January LaVoy

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Book: The Diviners by Libba Bray, Narrated by January LaVoy

Published September 2012 by Listening Library|Length: 18 hours, 14 minutes

Where I Got It: I borrowed the audio book from the library

Series: The Diviners #1

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

SOMETHING DARK AND EVIL HAS AWAKENED…

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries her uncle will discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho is hiding a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened…

I’ve meaning to read this book for a while, and I finally got around to it!  I liked it, and it was great on audio but I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would.

I thought the setting was a great backdrop for the paranormal.  It worked really well, especially with the time period and with the book being set in New York.  While it would have worked in another time period/place, I can’t imagine it being somewhere else.  I don’t know that it would have worked otherwise.

There were times where I ended up getting confused.  We’d be with Evie, and then the book would suddenly switch to someone else.  It took a while to figure out how those other stories were connected to what was going on with Evie.  I think it just didn’t translate well to audio, at least for me.

It was really long, and it took me a while to get through it, so by the time I got to the end, I was fuzzy on what had happened at the beginning.  I was never clear on what Evie could do and what led her to New York, and I’m not sure if it’s because I just didn’t remember what happened or if it was never mentioned.

I’m not sure how I feel about Evie.  I didn’t mind the slang at first, but I did get tired of it by the end.  I feel like if Evie were a real person living right now, she’d have her own reality tv show.  She has this ditzy socialite vibe to her, and she seems pretty self-absorbed, even at the end of the book.  Obviously, some don’t change, which is fine, but maybe there’s hope for Evie.

I did like the narrator, though!  January LaVoy did a great job narrating, and she really brought Evie to life.

3 stars.  I liked The Diviners but I didn’t love it.  I might pick up the next book, but I’m still undecided.

Book Review: Flygirl by Sherri L Smith

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Book: Flygirl by Sherri L Smith

Published January 2009 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books For Young Readers|288 pages

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

Series: None

Genre: YA Historical Fiction

Ida Mae Jones dreams of flight. Her daddy was a pilot and being black didn’t stop him from fulfilling his dreams. But her daddy’s gone now, and being a woman, and being black, are two strikes against her.

When America enters the war with Germany and Japan, the Army creates the WASP, the Women Airforce Service Pilots – and Ida suddenly sees a way to fly as well as do something significant to help her brother stationed in the Pacific. But even the WASP won’t accept her as a black woman, forcing Ida Mae to make a difficult choice of “passing,” of pretending to be white to be accepted into the program. Hiding one’s racial heritage, denying one’s family, denying one’s self is a heavy burden. And while Ida Mae chases her dream, she must also decide who it is she really wants to be.

I liked Flygirl!  It’s definitely worth checking out, and I really liked reading Ida Mae’s story.

So one thing I didn’t particularly like was how old Ida Mae was.  It’s mentioned in the book that she’s 20, which I thought was really strange.  I mean, it reads as YA, and I thought Ida Mae was a lot younger than she really was.  That didn’t particularly work for me, but it is what it is.

I did like the friendships she formed with some of her fellow WASP’s, and being a WASP really brought them together.  You really saw how Ida just wanted to be a pilot, like her dad was.  You see her struggle with her fellow WASP’s finding out she’s black, and you see what it’s like for her to be a pilot in a man’s world.  One scene that was really heartbreaking was when her mom came to Ida’s flight school, pretending to be the family maid so people wouldn’t know that Ida was passing as white.

There is some conflict with her family and friends back home about passing for white, but it’s not something that really comes up in her time as WASP.  I think I thought (based on the summary) that it would play more of a part than it really did.  I’m white, though, so I could be completely wrong about that.

The book ended with a lot of things being pretty open-ended.  You’re not sure if Ida Mae goes back home to her family, or if she tries to make it as a pilot once the WASP program ended.  I don’t mind it when books have an open ending, but in this case, I wanted to know more about Ida Mae’s future.

3 stars.  I liked Flygirl, and how Ida Mae was caught between two different worlds.  It’s a great book if you want World War II historical fiction about a part of history that doesn’t come up in your average history class.  I didn’t love it, but it was an interesting read.