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All tagged Fantasy
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor is a fun and engaging read, perfect for fans of the movie Hocus Pocus. The chapters read quickly, the stakes are high, and the characters are supremely lovable. Best of all, Bianca Marais crafts the plot to explore important and topical themes that kick this novel up several notches.
Tristran’s crossing from Wall to Faerie is reminiscent of Alice crossing into Wonderland, Harry Potter into Diagon Alley, Lucy Pevensie into Narnia. At least, I assume so, having read only one of those three. You get what I mean, though—there’s that magical feeling of crossing a threshold into a new world where anything is possible. And as such, we’re greeted by talking animal guardians and a dangerous forest.
Welcome to Eerensed, where English is not quite English because it’s High Goddess in the year 3102. From the start, I feel like I am actually in Eerensed. The language contributes to a surround-sound atmosphere and world; it fully immerses the reader in the world and allows us to empathize with our protagonist Andra as she wakes up in this confusing time and place. As Andra ventures out into the world, I want to know more more more about the technology that Eerensedians consider magic, what daily life is like with advanced bots and AIs and sims. I’m fascinated by Andra’s life on Earth and how it impacts her life in Eerensed.
I’ve seen this book everywhere across lists and photos and posts. It sounded like the perfect October read so I hopped on the train and devoured it in a single weekend. It reminds me a lot of a cross between The Vampire Diaries TV series and Disney’s Halloweentown, with its witch-populated town and Founder’s Day event. Overall, this is a cute, quick, witchy read.
I wanted to like this book so much! It has all the elements I typically want: enemies to lovers, a secret magical island, a feisty protagonist with a quick wit, even a training montage (albeit a mediocre one). But the way these elements are thrown together feels contrived. The characters’ motivations are largely black and white, especially when it comes to the villains. And many of characters and their actions are used as obvious plot devices. That said, the second half of the novel really picks up and I’m tempted to read the next in the series to see if we venture out of ACOTAR fan-fiction territory and into a story and characters that can stand on their own.
Meanwhile, Ailesse is also trying to murder Sebastian because that’s how being a Bone Crier works and this book is all murder, all the time. The fact that Ailesse doesn’t get why Sebastian doesn’t want to be murdered defies belief. Girl, would you be down if the roles were reversed? It’s like she expects him to just stand still real quick while she stabs him. She’s just trying to gain her mom’s approval, after all.
While I adore The Wicked King and once again devoured it in two days, I slightly preferred The Cruel Prince. This is partially due to boredom and frustration with the scenes involving Taryn and Locke. This may be a symptom of my personal feelings for these characters; I hate them. Especially Locke—he’s the actual worst, though Taryn is certainly not far behind him. Of course, my visceral feelings speak to Black’s masterful characterization, so this isn’t a glaring issue. But because several chapters are devoted to Taryn and Locke’s wedding (gag), I found myself pushing through just so those scenes would end.
What a start! Black establishes her faeries and the world of Faerie as brutal and vicious. Magic is used for manipulation and deceit, pain and selfishness. Faerieland is a beautiful trap requiring constant vigilance. Jude and Taryn suffer the wrath of the Faerie gentry, who resent that the mortal twins are raised and educated alongside royal Faerie peers. And none hate Jude more than her schoolmate Prince Cardan and his merry band of bullies.
Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but in fact, she's one of Quadara's most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara's most enlightened region, Eonia. Varin runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara's queens dead.
The first three Sweep books bound into one gorgeous edition at a fabulous price! Morgan Rowlands never thought she was anything other than a typical sixteen-year-old girl. But when she meets Cal, a captivatingly handsome coven leader, she makes a discover that turns her whole world upside down: she is a witch, descended from an ancient and powerful line. And so is Cal. Their connection is immediate and unbreakable; Cal teases out Morgan's power, her love, her magick. But Morgan discovers too soon that her powers are strong-- almost too powerful to control. And she begins to suspect that Cal may be keeping secrets from her…secrets that could destroy them both.
All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.
Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the king. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya—but neither wants to be.
