Tag Archives: YA

Book Review: Blood Heir by Amelie Wen Zhao

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Book: Blood Heir by Amelie Wen Zhao

Published November 2019 by Delacorte Press|455 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: Blood Heir Trilogy #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

This hot debut is the first book in an epic new series about a princess hiding a dark secret and the con man she must trust to clear her name for her father’s murder.

In the Cyrilian Empire, Affinites are reviled. Their varied gifts to control the world around them are unnatural—dangerous. And Anastacya Mikhailov, the crown princess, has a terrifying secret. Her deadly Affinity to blood is her curse and the reason she has lived her life hidden behind palace walls.

When Ana’s father, the emperor, is murdered, her world is shattered. Framed as his killer, Ana must flee the palace to save her life. And to clear her name, she must find her father’s murderer on her own. But the Cyrilia beyond the palace walls is far different from the one she thought she knew. Corruption rules the land, and a greater conspiracy is at work—one that threatens the very balance of her world. And there is only one person corrupt enough to help Ana get to its core: Ramson Quicktongue.

A cunning crime lord of the Cyrilian underworld, Ramson has sinister plans—though he might have met his match in Ana. Because in this story, the princess might be the most dangerous player of all.

I really liked Blood Heir!  I wasn’t sure what to expect, especially with some of the controversy surrounding the book.  I was still interested enough to read the book.

It seemed very Russian-esque to me, and for some reason, I kept thinking about the Anastasia Romanov, and how people thought she was alive.  I think some of the language used is why I kept thinking about Russia.  I could picture a really cold landscape that seemed bleak but also sort of interesting and beautiful.

I can’t wait to see what happens next, because Ana’s work is definitely far from over.  She does have a kingdom to win back, and it certainly won’t be easy for an Affinite, especially one with her ability.  But if anyone can do, it’s her.  I don’t know how she’s going to get the support she needs, but I feel like she can rally the troops in time for the epic battle I’m pretty sure will happen in the last book.

I really liked Ana, and I really felt for her.  Something about how her dad treated her ability reminded me of how Elsa’s parents acted in regards to her abilities.  I’m hoping things aren’t what they seem, but I do wish we saw flashes of what her mom thought.  The way people were told she was sick in order to hide it, how her brother was really supportive…I am also getting some Elsa vibes in addition to the Anastasia vibes.  I don’t know if it will be just this book, or if we’ll see more similarities come out over the rest of the series, but I did really like it.

And how the Affinites were treated were horrible.  I can see why early readers saw slavery but I think human trafficking came through much more strongly, at least for me.  I’m curious to see how it comes up over the rest of the series, and I really felt for all of the characters we saw who were taken, only to be put up for auction.  It made me sad for all of the real-life people who have no way out.

What happened to May was really sad, but I think it’s more because of how Ana reacted to it.  I just felt like we didn’t spend with May, but it definitely felt like it affected Ana, and I hope she finds May’s mom.

4 stars.  I really liked it but I I didn’t love it.  I still can’t wait to see what happens next!

Book Review: Tears Of Frost by Bree Barton

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Book: Tears Of Frost by Bree Barton

Published November 2019 Katherine Tegen Books|480 pages

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

Series: Heart Of Thorns #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

The electric second book in the Heart of Thorns trilogy explores the effects of power in a dark magical kingdom—and the fierce courage it takes to claim your body as your own.

Mia Rose is back from the dead. Her memories are hazy, her body numb—but she won’t stop searching. Her only hope to save the boy she loves and the sister who destroyed her is to find the mother she can never forgive. Pilar is on a hunt of her own. Betrayed by her mother, and plagued by a painful secret, she’s determined to seek out the only person who can exact revenge. All goes according to plan… until she collides with Prince Quin, the boy whose sister she killed.

As Mia, Pilar, and Quin forge dangerous new alliances, they are bewitched by the snow kingdom’s promise of freedom and opportunity. But with the winter solstice drawing near, they must confront the truth beneath the glimmering ice, as lines between friend, foe, and lover vanish like snowflakes on a flame.

I liked Tears Of Frost, but I didn’t like it as much as the first book in the series.  I don’t know if there are more books- I feel like there’s probably one more- but I would keep reading just to see what happens.

I finished this book pretty recently but I’ve already forgotten a lot of what happened.  It was interesting to see Mia come back to life and try to find her mom.  I really felt like her mom was built up to be this amazing person and she turned out to be someone who wasn’t as great as she was made out to be.  It was like she was on a pedestal because she was gone.

I don’t know that I particularly cared for Pilar and Quin.  Pilar had a lot to deal with and there was a part when they’re in the snow kingdom that reminded me of the scene in the first Fantastic Beasts when Newt and Tina go to MACUSA and are about to have their memories removed.  That scene really stood out to me, and I’d love to see that particular scene on screen.

I am glad we got to see more of this world.  There’s a lot more that we see and it was nice to travel a little bit.  Having a world get bigger in a series is always cool, but I know there’s a chance we’ll be staying in places we’ve already seen.  I’m fine with that, because there’s a lot that needs to happen before these characters can move on with their lives.  I just hope that Angelyne is no longer queen because there’s been a lot of destruction because of her.  Actually, I can’t remember if she’s still queen at the end of this book, but if she is, I hope she’s not queen by the end of the next book.  So many details are not sticking with me, and I can’t remember what’s what.  I think that means I should wrap this up.

3 stars.  I liked it, but it’s a hard book to remember, even writing this a couple of days after finishing it.

Book Review: Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell, Illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks

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Book: Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell, Illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks

Published August 2019 by First Second|211 pages

Where I Got It: I own the paperback

Series: None

Genre: YA Graphic Novel- Contemporary

Deja and Josiah are seasonal best friends.

Every autumn, all through high school, they’ve worked together at the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world. (Not many people know that the best pumpkin patch in the whole wide world is in Omaha, Nebraska, but it definitely is.) They say good-bye every Halloween, and they’re reunited every September 1.

But this Halloween is different—Josiah and Deja are finally seniors, and this is their last season at the pumpkin patch. Their last shift together. Their last good-bye.

Josiah’s ready to spend the whole night feeling melancholy about it. Deja isn’t ready to let him. She’s got a plan: What if—instead of moping and the usual slinging lima beans down at the Succotash Hut—they went out with a bang? They could see all the sights! Taste all the snacks! And Josiah could finally talk to that cute girl he’s been mooning over for three years . . .

What if their last shift was an adventure?

Beloved writer Rainbow Rowell and Eisner Award–winning artist Faith Erin Hicks have teamed up to create this tender and hilarious story about two irresistible teens discovering what it means to leave behind a place—and a person—with no regrets.

I LOVED Pumpkinheads!  I wasn’t sure what to expect, because overall, Fangirl is the only book of Rowell’s that I’ve liked.  At least from the ones I’ve read, so even though I was intrigued, I wasn’t sure if I’d like it.

But I loved it just as much as I loved Fangirl, which really surprised me.  This graphic novel is hilarious and nostalgic, and I had so much fun following Josiah and Deja as they had adventures all over the pumpkin patch.  Everything that could go wrong did, and the names for the fudge girl were really funny…I mean, Fudge Judy, Vanessa Fudgens, Cornelius Fudge…I wouldn’t expect anything else from Rowell, because she is good at incorporating pop culture in her books.

I loved the nostalgia factor of one last night before everything changes.  I wasn’t expecting to cry at the end but I did.  I loved the moment Josiah realized something important, and I’m glad he had one last adventure at the pumpkin patch.  It’s March, and Halloween is months away, but I really, really want to go to a pumpkin patch.

Especially this pumpkin patch.  I would love to go to this one, and I loved that we were able to see so much of it.  It really came to life in this book, and Hicks did a great job with the illustrations.  I really could see everything that was happening, and being able to see what was going on was great.  The story really is suited to a graphic novel format, and I really hope they work together on another project one day, because I’d love to see what they come up with.

5 stars.  I loved Pumpkinheads and it’s a great story with great visuals!

Book Review: Song Of The Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao

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Book: Song Of The Crimson Flower by Julie C Dao

Published November 2019 by Philomel Books|288 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: Rise Of The Empress #2.5

Genre: YA Fantasy

From the acclaimed author of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns comes a fantastical new tale of darkness and love, in which magical bonds are stronger than blood.

Will love break the spell? After cruelly rejecting Bao, the poor physician’s apprentice who loves her, Lan, a wealthy nobleman’s daughter, regrets her actions. So when she finds Bao’s prized flute floating in his boat near her house, she takes it into her care, not knowing that his soul has been trapped inside it by an evil witch, who cursed Bao, telling him that only love will set him free. Though Bao now despises her, Lan vows to make amends and help break the spell.

Together, the two travel across the continent, finding themselves in the presence of greatness in the forms of the Great Forest’s Empress Jade and Commander Wei. They journey with Wei, getting tangled in the webs of war, blood magic, and romance along the way. Will Lan and Bao begin to break the spell that’s been placed upon them? Or will they be doomed to live out their lives with black magic running through their veins?

In this fantastical tale of darkness and love, some magical bonds are stronger than blood.

Song Of The Crimson Flower was just okay for me.  I really wanted to like it more but I just wasn’t really into it.

That makes me sad, because I loved Forest Of A Thousand Lanterns so much, and the more books I read in this series, the less I like it.  The world is amazing, and the writing is really pretty but it wasn’t enough for me to like the book.

I didn’t like Lan, and even though she realizes she cares for Bao, she was pretty horrible to him.  She does regret how she treats him, but she does come across as selfish, spoiled and unable to see what’s in front of her.  She does change but even with those changes, I just didn’t care what happened to her.

I did really like Bao, though.  He seemed like a good guy, and I really felt for him.  I thought (some) of his family history was obvious, and so I wasn’t surprised when it was actually revealed.  I was glad things worked out for him in the end.

I was glad to see what happened with both Wei and Jade.  They seem to be doing really well, and it was nice to catch up with them and see how things were working out for them.

2 stars.  Song Of The Crimson Flower was okay for me, and I really wish I liked it more because this series started off so strong for me.

Book Review: Verify by Joelle Charbonneau

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Book: Verify by Joelle Charbonneau

Published September 2019 by HarperTeen|320 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: Verify #1

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Meri Beckley lives in a world without lies. When she turns on the news, she hears only the facts. When she swipes the pages of her online textbooks, she reads only the truth. When she looks at the peaceful Chicago streets, she feels the pride everyone in the country feels about the era of unprecedented hope and prosperity over which the government presides.

But when Meri’s mother is killed, Meri suddenly has questions that no one else seems to be asking. And when she tries to uncover her mother’s state of mind in her last weeks, she finds herself drawn into a secret world full of facts she’s never heard and a history she didn’t know existed.

Suddenly, Meri is faced with a choice between accepting the “truth” she has been taught or embracing a world the government doesn’t want anyone to see—a world where words have the power to change the course of a country, and the wrong word can get Meri killed.

I didn’t like Verify at all!  Don’t get me wrong, the idea is cool, and as a reader, I loved the message that words are powerful, but the story didn’t work for me.

I wasn’t particularly interested in Meri, or what happened to her.  She seemed to come around to rebellion pretty fast, even though she really struggled with it.  I wish she had struggled with a little bit more, because it felt really rushed and fast.

It also felt like it happened over the period of a few days, and if that’s the case, she went from knowing absolutely nothing about this group to being the leader of a revolution in a matter of days.  I really wish it were more clear the period of time in which this book is taking place.

I had no sense of the timeline, and when this book was supposed to be taking place.  It seems to be taking place decades later, but it was not clear how far in the future we were.  It also wasn’t clear how we got to the point that they were able to erase words to the point that no one knows how they’re pronounced, and all in the span of a few decades?  How were they able to change history that quickly, especially because there are going to be people who remember words like verify?  Something about that didn’t sit quite right with me.

Clearly, anything having to do with time didn’t make sense to me.  I feel like I didn’t miss anything as far as that goes, but I feel like a lot more could have been explained in this book.

Also…how is there no bookish black market in this world?  Like, I love the Great Library series by Rachel Caine, where the Library Of Alexandria is around and in control of all books and knowledge.  There’s a black market and burners, and it’s just so weird to me that people were so willing to give up prized editions of books instead of said books circulating some sort of black market.

I know there’s this group hiding things like The Federalist papers, and it’s possible there are other groups doing the same thing, to varying degrees of success.  But no black market for books?  Really?  I find that a little disappointing.

And the revolution Meri finds herself in charge of?  It was really thrown together, and it’s no wonder it didn’t seem to work.  It felt like they wanted to do something but didn’t want to put a lot of effort or thought into it, and just went with the first thing that came to mind.

I really feel like I can’t make sense of this world.  I am having a hard time getting over that, because it didn’t feel like it was put together very well.  Or at least, in a way that got me interested.  I feel like my review is all over the place…much like this book, so I think I’ll wrap it up with my rating.

1 star.  This definitely wasn’t the book for me, though I liked some of the ideas in it.

Book Review: Kingdom Of The Blazing Phoenix by Julie C Dao

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Book: Kingdom Of The Blazing Phoenix by Julie C Dao

Published November 2018 by Philomel Books|356 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: Rise Of The Empress #2

Genre: YA Fantasy/Fairy Tale Re-telling

This fairy tale retelling lives in a mystical world inspired by the Far East, where the Dragon Lord and the Serpent God battle for control of the earthly realm; it is here that the flawed heroine of Forest of a Thousand Lanterns finally meets her match. An epic fantasy finale to the Rise of the Empress novels.

Princess Jade has grown up in exile, hidden away in a monastery while her stepmother, the ruthless Xifeng, rules as Empress of Feng Lu. But the empire is in distress and its people are sinking into poverty and despair. Even though Jade doesn’t want the crown, she knows she is the only one who can dethrone the Empress and set the world right. Ready to reclaim her place as rightful heir, Jade embarks on a quest to raise the Dragon Lords and defeat Xifeng and the Serpent God once and for all. But will the same darkness that took Xifeng take Jade, too? Or will she find the strength within to save herself, her friends, and her empire?

Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world filled with breathtaking pain and beauty, Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix is filled with dazzling magic, powerful prose, and characters readers won’t soon forget.

Fans of Stealing Snow, Red Queen, and The Wrath and the Dawn will hungrily devour this page-turning read.

I liked Kingdom Of The Blazing Phoenix but not as much as I thought I would!

I really wanted to like this one more than I did.  I LOVED Forest Of A Thousand Lanterns, which was a great Evil Queen origin story, but this follow up didn’t interest me as much.

I mean, I liked Jade.  She definitely had to get her kingdom back from Xifeng, and she went on quite the quest to do it.  This book is set over a decade after Forest, and it was interesting to see how much Xifeng changed.  Especially when we came across people who knew her as she made her way to being Empress of Feng Lu.  I know it put it out of the realm of YA, but I really want to know what happened in Xifeng’s life between the end of the first book and the start of this one.  You get little bits and pieces, of course, but I wanted more.  I really did like Xifeng’s story.

I felt for Jade, and she had a lot going on.  It seems like things will change in Feng Lu, and for the better.  It seems like it will take a while but I feel like they’ll get there eventually.  She wasn’t my favorite character, but she definitely came into her own by the end of the book.  She had a lot of support, even if she came across people who didn’t want to give her support.  Some seemed hesitant, especially at first, but I also felt like they eventually knew it was the right choice for the kingdom.

It’s just…Jade didn’t interest me as much as Xifeng.  She was so good that it was sometimes annoying and mostly boring, and she didn’t seem as complex as Xifeng.  Gone are the court politics and people doing these crazy things to get what they want.

Actually, I kind of take that last part back.  Jade is a somewhat unwilling Empress but she does do what she needs to for the sake of Feng Lu.  It’s just a very different story of than what Xifeng does to get what she wants.

This is more of a Snow White re-telling, and I think it stands on its own pretty well.  While you don’t need to read the first book to know what’s going on in this book, it is also a wonderful book, and it definitely gives you more backstory on Xifeng, and why she does what she does.  It’s not that hard to figure out, especially if you’re at all familiar with the Snow White story, but it really is a good starting point to this story.

It was slow at times, though there are little pockets of action and excitement.  This is a journey novel after all.  I just wasn’t super-excited about the journey, though I did like some of the characters we come across.

3 stars.  Overall, I liked this book, but Jade, for me, wasn’t as interesting as Xifeng.

Book Review: The Queen Of Nothing by Holly Black

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Book: The Queen Of Nothing by Holly Black

Published November 2019 by Little, Brown|300 pages

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

Series: The Folk Of The Air #3

Genre: YA Fantasy

He will be destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne.

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan’s betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal life is in peril.

Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict’s bloody politics.

And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity…

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, comes the highly anticipated and jaw-dropping finale to The Folk of the Air trilogy.

I liked The Queen Of Nothing!  This has been a fun series to read, and I am glad we got to see how everything turned out for the characters.

So, I felt like the prophecy/curse came out of nowhere.  It’s been awhile since I’ve read the first two books in the series, so there’s a good chance it came up before and I don’t remember it.  I had every intention of re-reading the series but I didn’t have the energy for it.  Unlike a lot of series, I did have a vague idea of what happened before, so that was a plus.  Still, I’m probably fuzzy on a lot of the smaller details because of not re-reading.

Back to the curse for a second.  I already mentioned I felt like it came out of nowhere and I’m not at all surprised by what broke the curse.  There was some eye-rolling when that happened, because I feel like I’ve seen it before.  Would it have been nice if it had been something different?  Of course, but it had to be done somehow.

I actually really liked Jude in this book.  She didn’t have an easy decision to make, and she very easily could have made a different choice.  I’m glad she made the decision she did, and part of me actually does want to go back and re-read the series just to see how much she changed, and how she got to this point.  There was a time when she probably would have made a completely different decision, and I think Elfhame will be a better place because she and Cardan are ruling together.

I’m glad things worked out for Vivi!  I always liked her, and even though she’d pop up every once in a while, I’m still glad she had a happy ending.  Taryn…I don’t know about her.  Her story felt the most unresolved, and even though she is how Jude is able to get back into Faerie, I felt like she didn’t get a lot of attention or resolution in this book.  I can’t remember if it was the same in the other books, but I’ll find out if I end up doing a re-read.

This has always been Jude’s story, though, and I’m glad things worked out for her.  She seems to be in a much better place now than when we first met her.

3 stars.  I liked The Queen Of Nothing, and it really is a good ending to the series, but I couldn’t love it.

Book Review: Day Zero by Kelly deVos

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Book: Day Zero by Kelly deVos

Published November 2019 by Inkyard Press|432 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: Day Zero Duology #1

Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Thriller

If you’re going through hell…keep going.

Seventeen-year-old coder Jinx Marshall grew up spending weekends drilling with her paranoid dad for a doomsday she’s sure will never come. She’s an expert on self-heating meal rations, Krav Maga and extracting water from a barrel cactus. Now that her parents are divorced, she’s ready to relax. Her big plans include making it to level 99 in her favorite MMORPG and spending the weekend with her new hunky stepbrother, Toby.

But all that disaster training comes in handy when an explosion traps her in a burning building. Stuck leading her headstrong stepsister, MacKenna, and her precocious little brother, Charles, to safety, Jinx gets them out alive only to discover the explosion is part of a pattern of violence erupting all over the country. Even worse, Jinx’s dad stands accused of triggering the chaos.

In a desperate attempt to evade paramilitary forces and vigilantes, Jinx and her siblings find Toby and make a break for Mexico. With seemingly the whole world working against them, they’ve got to get along and search for the truth about the attacks—and about each other. But if they can survive, will there be anything left worth surviving for?

I really struggled with Day Zero.  I had a hard time getting through it, and I was pretty close to actually not finishing the book.  I liked the ending, but getting there was challenging.

My main issue with Day Zero was the beginning.  Things were slow and confusing, and the world didn’t make sense to me.

Jinx lives in a world where there are two political parties- the Spark and the Opposition.  It seemed like the Democrat/Republican parties were around before giving way to the Spark/Opposition parties.  I feel like we can’t say that definitively, because I also felt like we had no world-building or background on the world that Jinx and her family lives in.  I couldn’t begin to tell you how things go to a point where the Spark and Opposition were duelling it out in an election.

Even at the end of the book, I had a hard time telling you who was responsible for what, and what they did and why they did.  It was a little more clear towards the end, but I was massively confused at the beginning of the book because it wasn’t clearly explained what was going on.

And, as much as I hate saying this, I wasn’t a fan of the names of either group.  It felt too simple- almost like they were placeholders in a draft that was never changed.  Of course, the two parties can be called whatever the author wants to call them, but I think I just wanted something cooler.

I also had a hard time keeping the characters straight, and how they were all connected.  I figured it out in the end, but it took a while to get there.

Actually, I think that describes this book pretty well.  It took a long time for anything to interest me, and even though I did like the book in the end, it was too late at that point, because I didn’t care about what happened to the characters.

Except for Charles, because I really liked him, and I want him to be okay.  I really want him to be okay in the next book.

As for the rest of the characters?  I didn’t particularly care about them or what happened to them.  I felt like I only knew them on a surface level, and even though you could probably say the same about Charles, I really connected to him more than I did the other characters, and I’m not sure why.

2 stars.  I liked the ending but it wasn’t enough to give Day Zero a higher rating.  I was too confused at the beginning, and I didn’t really care about what happened to most of the characters.

Book Review: The Girl The Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

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Book: The Girl The Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

Published September 2019 by Wednesday Books|327 pages

Where I Got It: I own the hardcover

Series: Sky In The Deep #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

The new gut-wrenching epic from the New York Times bestselling author of Sky in the Deep.

For as long as she can remember, Tova has lived among the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue. Her own home and clan are long-faded memories, but the sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch of her skin mark her as one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future. She has found a fragile place among those who fear her, but when two clans to the east bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse.

For the first time in generations, the leaders of the Svell are divided. Should they maintain peace or go to war with the allied clans to protect their newfound power? And when their chieftain looks to Tova to cast the stones, she sets into motion a series of events that will not only change the landscape of the mainland forever but will give her something she believed she could never have again—a home.

The Girl The Sea Gave Back was just okay for me.  It was something I struggled to get through, and I had a harder time with this book than I did with Sky In The Deep.

I felt so confused when I was reading it!  It felt like there were a lot of names and places I couldn’t keep track of, and I could not picture anything to save my life.

It didn’t help that I didn’t realize it was a companion to Sky In The Deep.  It focuses on different characters, and it’s set way later than Sky In The Deep.  You don’t need to read that one in order to read this one, because they are both stand-alones, but I do find myself wishing that I had.  And it’s pretty much so I could get back into this world, because I felt like it was very minimal.  That or I missed it because I couldn’t focus on the book.

This is a review I’m really struggling with.  As pretty as the cover is (and I tend to get lured in by pretty covers), this story was a struggle to get through.  I liked the idea of it, though, and there were some lines that really took me away.  I’m not someone who writes down quotes or anything like that, but there were a few I wanted to have written down in my notebook.

2 stars.  I struggled to get through this one, and I could only read a few chapters at a time.  It’s definitely not the story for me, but I’d still pick up the next book that Young comes out with.

Audio Book Review: Evermore by Sara Holland, Narrated by Eileen Stevens

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Book: Evermore by Sara Holland, narrated by Eileen Stevens

Published December 2018 by HarperAudio|Length: 9 hours, 1 minute

Where I Got It: I own the audio book

Series: Everless #2

Genre: YA Fantasy

The highly anticipated sequel to New York Times bestseller, Everless!

Jules Ember was raised hearing legends of the ancient magic of the wicked Alchemist and the good Sorceress. But she has just learned the truth: not only are the stories true, but she herself is the Alchemist, and Caro—a woman who single-handedly murdered the Queen and Jules’s first love, Roan, in cold blood—is the Sorceress.

The whole kingdom believes that Jules is responsible for the murders, and a hefty bounty has been placed on her head. And Caro is intent on destroying Jules, who stole her heart twelve lifetimes ago. Jules must delve into the stories that she now recognizes are accounts of her own past. For it is only by piecing together the mysteries of her lives that Jules will be able to save the person who has captured her own heart in this one.

I really liked Evermore!  I really liked the first one, and I knew I had to read this one to see how everything went.

We learned a lot more about the world, and how the Alchemist and Sorceress came to be.  I’m glad we got some answers, and that back-story was pretty interesting.  Getting that world-building made sense in this book, and it definitely would have been out of place in the first book.

Like the first book, we learn things as Jules learns them, and I’m glad it didn’t seem as muddled as the first book.  Maybe I’m more used to her writing style, or it just made more sense in this book.  I’m not too sure but it was nice to learn more about what happened between Jules and Caro centuries earlier.  The person who would break Jules heart wasn’t who I was expecting at first, but with everything that Jules discovers, it makes sense.  I knew it would be someone unexpected, but I still didn’t see it coming.

Jules ends up on the run, because of what happened in the last book, and she goes to quite a few places to recover her memories.  I kind of like that she found herself back at Everless, and fought for herself so Caro wouldn’t take over.  I wasn’t sure if this book would be a duology or a trilogy, but things were wrapped up really well.  It felt like things were over when I finished the book, though I’m curious to see what happens to Sempera years later, and if time is still currency, or if that has faded away.

I also liked Eileen Stevens as the narrator.  She did a great job with the first book, so I knew she would do a great job with this one.  She really is good at bringing Jules to life, and there were a few points where I was right there with Jules as she was dealing with all kinds of stuff.

This is slightly random, but I would love to read a book of short stories about the Sorceress and the Alchemist.  These legends are pretty important to Semperans, and actually reading the legends would be pretty cool.

4 stars.  While I didn’t love Evermore, I still really liked the story and the world.