Garden of the Cursed - Katy Rose Pool

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the covers:

Garden of the Cursed:

"Since fleeing the gilded halls of Evergarden for the muck-filled canals of the Marshes, Marlow Briggs has made a name for herself as the best godsdamn cursebreaker in Caraza City. But no matter how many cases she solves, she is still haunted by the mystery of her mother's disappearance.

When Adrius Falcrest, Marlow's old friend and scion of one of Caraza's most affluent spell-making families, asks her to help break a life-threatening curse, Marlow wants nothing to do with the boy who spurned her a year ago. But a new lead in her mother's case makes Marlow realize that the only way to get the answers she desperately seeks is to help Adrius and return to Evergarden society - even if it means suffering through a fake love affair with him to avoid drawing suspicion from the conniving Five Families.

As the investigation draws Marlow into a web of deadly secrets and powerful enemies, a shocking truth emerges: Adrius's curse and her mother's disappearance may just be clues to an even larger mystery, one that could unravel the very foundations of Caraza and magic itself."

Masquerade of the Heart

"The city of Caraza sits poised on the edge of chaos. And cursebreaker Marlow Briggs is at the center of a deadly struggle for power. In the tragic aftermath of the Vale-Falcrest wedding, Marlow is spurned by Adrius, who refuses to speak to her and publicly vows to find a noble wife before the year is out. 

Despite her heartbreak, Marlow is still intent on breaking his Compulsion curse. To do so, she'll have to play loving daughter to the man who cast it - the man who's hell-bent on reshaping Caraza in his own image, no matter the cost. But the closer she gets to her long-lost father, the more Marlow starts to question if he's really the villain she's made him out to be. As the lines between enemy and ally blur, Marlow must decide if she's willing to sacrifice her heart's desire to save a city that wants her dead."

📚📚📚 

I don't know if I've ever written about multiple books in one review before, but that's what I'm going with for this one because it's a duology that probably could have been one book. I got the first book in a subscription box and it really hooked me, so when it was a duology I was like ok, hell yeah, let's buy the second book! And then second book? Meh. 

The whole storyline is basically unraveling a mystery, so I don't want to give too much away, but basically book one is Marlow taking on rival gang members, corrupt politicians, and the odd person with a grudge as she tries to figure out a. what caused her mom's disappearance a year ago and b. who cursed Adrius and what she needs to do to break his curse. It's full of intrigue and danger, with just enough information revealed to keep you on the edge of your seat. And then, just as things are coming to a head - to be continued.

Then book two just feels so aimless. Honestly, I feel like this is something that happens a lot with duologies and trilogies. The concept is so good, the first part of the series is action packed and full of suspense and then...not enough compelling stuff left for the last book, but you gotta fill the pages somehow, so it drags. In this case, if anything there were too many ideas. It was like okay, I know we need to get from x happening at the end of book one to y happening to wrap everything up, and we could do that via Twist A, Twist B, Twist C, or Twist D...orrrrrrr maybe we do it with ALL OF THEM! There were so many ends that were brought in and then just kind of dropped, it made the whole narrative feel unfocused, and then when things finally did wrap up in the last handful of chapters it was kind of unsatisfying. 

Probably the most unsatisfying thing about being unsatisfied with the ending is that I thought the main plot hook in the second book was GOOD! Truly, if this had been one like...450-500 page book instead of two 350-ish page books, it probably would have been five stars for me. But alas, had to go with a duology, and now here we are, three stars. Not every story needs to be multiple books, y'all. Someone tell that to publishers.

The Dream Runners - Shveta Thakrar

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Seven years ago, Tanvi was spirited away to the subterranean realm of Nagalok, where she joined the ranks of the dream runners: human children freed of all memory and emotion, charged with harvesting mortal dreams for the consumption of the naga court.

Venkat knows a different side of Nagalok. As apprentice to the influential Lord Nayan, he shapes the dream runners' wares into the kingdom's most tantalizing commodity. And Nayan has larger plans for these mortal dreams: with a dreamsmith of Venkat's talent, he believes he can use them to end a war between nagas and their ancient foe, the garudas.

But when one of Tanvi's dream harvests goes awry, she begins to remember her life on Earth. Panicked and confused, she turns to the one mortal in Nagalok who can help: Venkat. And as they search for answers, a terrifying truth begins to take shape -  one that could turn the nagas' realm of dreams into a land of waking nightmare."

📚📚📚 

This book is a study in contrasts and contradictions. For example, beautiful world building and imagery...but lacking character development. Tons of detail and focus on the mythology of the nagas and garudas...but not enough information for readers (or at least this reader) to really have a grasp on what's happening. I'm curious if someone reading who was more familiar with the naga/garuda stories would have enjoyed this book more having all that background understanding of what the story was inspired by, because the best way I can describe reading this book is that it was like being the person going to see a movie version of a book NOT having read the book. It might still be a decent story...but you're never going to distill all the minutia and little details of a several hundred page long book into a couple hours long movie.

I can't decide if it's better to talk about the things I liked or the things that I didn't first...compromise, alternate?

Thing I loved: All the rich descriptions of Nagalok. The dreamstones dream runners use to collect dreams, all the decor and nature of the realm, the luxurious food, the colorful, beautifully-made clothing...painted a gorgeous picture.

Thing I didn't love: For such a long book, very little actually happened. Like...the synopsis is basically the entire book. Tanvi freaking out because she's starting to remember things and Venkat vacillating between how he can best take care of the dream runners and wanting to be completely loyal to Nayan takes up probably eighty percent of the book, with very little progress actually being made, and there's really no clear "this is the lurking danger" or "here is what you should be concerned about as a reader. It's all very muddy.

Thing I liked: Asha. Very assertive and adventurous. She was super bold and by far the character whose actions and motivations made the most sense. I would be friends with Asha.

Things I didn't like: The other characters, even Tanvi and Venkat, felt so underdeveloped, and it made a lot of what was happening fall flat. I think part of the issue was too many characters, or maybe spending too much time on the same plot points, which meant less time for developing characters. We were introduced to several characters who seemed to be intended as an important part of the story but only showed up a couple times, and even with Tanvi and Venkat, they spent so little time together and their preexisting relationship was never established, so then all of a sudden it was like "oh, they're super into each other, and Venkat has always been enamored with Tanvi and how fiery she was before she went through Dream Runner initiation!" And I was like ....I have seen no evidence to support any of this. What?

So. Anyway. I don't know. Do I think this was a BAD book? No. But to be honest, both this and Shveta Thakrar's last book, Star Daughter, feel like they started with an incredible idea but no clear direction for how to execute that idea. Read it if you want to, but if you don't...you don't.

A Fragile Enchantment - Allison Saft

Initial Draw: ☆☆☆☆
Character Development: ☆☆☆
Plot/Writing Style: ☆☆☆
Overall: ⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous gossip columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible."

 

I should start a series where I review books that are not YA but get classified that way because they're fantasy novels written by women with female main characters. Owlcrate, take note! Do your due diligence and put actual YA books in your YA subscription boxes instead of adult fantasy masquerading as YA.

Anyway, having gotten that off my chest...this book was fine. Strong "inspired by Bridgerton" vibes, but maybe having a mysterious, anonymous gossip who publishes scandalous things and seems to know everything that happens is a common conceit in regency era novels and I just haven't read enough to know that. That being said, the anonymous gossip columnist in this book honestly features more heavily in the synopsis than in the actual book. "Buzzing about their chemistry," no. "Publishes one vague rumor that was basically a non-issue and in no way connected Niamh to Kit," yes. 

This was a common theme in the book and probably the main reason I rated it as low as I did - there were a lot of threads (ha, because she's a seamstress) that were picked up and dropped in a very random way, almost like there were too many moving pieces and Allison Saft kept forgetting about things and then realizing fifty pages later that they hadn't come up in a while and shoving them in again. Which is weird, because frankly...there weren't a lot of moving pieces. And at the end of the day, the central drama to the story didn't really feel all that dramatic. It was very manufactured.

Manufactured drama aside, the book was fine. I didn't love Niamh, and Kit was eh. But some of the side characters were very intriguing (Kit's best friend, the princess and her...advisor? Lady's maid? And Kit's sister-in-law, loved them). If they had featured more heavily, I might have bumped this up a star. It was just too much of Niamh in her own head and very mercurial interactions between her and Kit, that was fine at first, but a whole book of it, yeesh, give me some variety.

Well...it's late, and I've been sick all weekend. So that's about all I've got to say about this book. As mentioned, I got this in an Owlcrate box, and it has a very gorgeous cover and sprayed edges. If you go into it not expecting a masterpiece, it's an enjoyable dessert read.

Yes No Maybe So - Aisha Saeed and Becky Albertalli

 My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"YES.

Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate - as long as he's behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let's face it, speaking at all to almost anyone), Jamie's a choke artist. There's no way he'd ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes...until he meets Maya.

NO.

Maya Rehman's having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is canceled, and now her parents are separating. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing - with some awkward dude she hardly knows - is beyond her.

MAYBE SO.

Going door to door isn't exactly glamorous, but maybe it's not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer - and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural romance of the century is another thing entirely."

I've been reading this out loud with my husband, and we are both in love. I am a well-documented fan of Becky Albertalli, and her strength remains developing characters that pull you in and immediately have you falling in love. I really thought I had read Aisha Saeed before, but after double checking it turns out I haven't - better believe I'll be reading more of her stuff after this. Yes No Maybe So pulled me in right off the bat, and part of me wishes I wasn't reading this with someone else, because it's hard to put down. The husband really needs to get on my level when it comes to staying up late reading.

Things I loved: 

1. The characters. Basically everything about Maya, how up-front she was, that she calls it like she sees it with zero self-consciousness. I aspire to be more like her. Jamie pushing himself out of his comfort zone. As a fellow painfully awkward person, I saw a lot of myself in Jamie, and I wish I had his courage when I was in high school. Jamie's little sister. It thrills me that there are so many books coming out with confident, empowered young characters to serve as role models. 

2. The empowering message. Maya and Jamie are both too young to vote, but they're canvassing for the election, engaging with their representatives, and standing up for what they believe in. Sophie and her friends are even younger, but Sophie is researching the policies being introduced in her district, talking to her friends about what they think of those policies, and making her voice heard. It's easy to tell ourselves what we think doesn't matter and give up on trying to make a difference, and this book was a powerful reminder that this is a marathon, not a sprint, and that our efforts to make a difference are the difference. 

3. Jamie's grandma. I know I already said the characters, but InstaGramm gets her own shout-out.

The one gripe I have is that I wish we dug a little deeper into Jamie and Maya's lives. We spend a lot of time with them both and get to know them and their banter pretty well, but despite a portion of the book being set during Ramadan and the majority of the book taking place leading up to Sophie's bat mitzvah, we really didn't get far beneath the surface of either teen's religious beliefs and upbringing. That's a huge part of their lives that basically just gets left out, and it would have added even more depth to the characters.

Red, White & Royal Blue - Final thoughts

 My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"When his mother became President of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius - his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with an actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex/Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family and state and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: Stage a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the presidential campaign and upend two nations. It raises the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through?"

Before we get started, I've got to qualify my rating a bit. I would rate about the first 150 pages of this at three, but the last half is a solid five, and so...here we are at four. My biggest wish for the start of the book is that the rivalry between Alex and Henry was better. Obviously it couldn't be anything gigantic, otherwise it would have been pretty unbelievable that the pair would develop feelings for each other, but it swung way too far the other direction and was less a "beef" between rivals and more a secret one-sided dislike because as teenagers Henry was a little rude to Alex once. Not the most compelling start to a story. It didn't hook me.

That said, if you can move past that weak rivalry tea and press on, I ended up shipping Alex and Henry hard (also June and Nora, but that's a blog post for another day, I suppose). Honestly, I would read 400+ pages JUST of Alex and Henry's emails. Most of my biggest laughs came either from those exchanges or their texts earlier on, and their email postscripts never failed to leave me teary-eyed. I also bawled for like the last 75 pages of the book, which...granted, I am known to cry at a book, but not usually that excessively. 

I don't even know what to say about why this story got me so far into my feels, beyond that the relationships Casey McQuiston developed were beautiful. Whether its Henry and Alex fighting for each other or their loved ones positioned fiercely at their backs no matter what, I am here for all of it. It was also strangely uplifting to spend some time in this alternate reality in which the US didn't elect a fascist garbage human as President and instead went with the candidate who had the best interests not only of the country but also of her family at heart. In her acknowledgements, McQuiston admits that after the 2016 election she gave up on writing the book for months, and I'm so glad she ultimately decided to keep going. This book was a much-needed reminder for me that even when things feel hopeless, there are people who genuinely care and want what's best for their country and the people around them. 

Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston

From the cover:

"When his mother became President of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius - his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There's only one problem: Alex has a beef with an actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex/Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family and state and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: Stage a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the presidential campaign and upend two nations. It raises the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through?"

This is a bit of an unusual blog post because today I'm not reviewing a book I've already read, I'm sharing a book I WANT to read! Why? Uh...because! This is a book that I have been waiting to read for quite some time, and I badly wanted to have a review ready to go for today. That wasn't in the cards, but I decided hey, there are no rules! I can still talk about it! So, here we go.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. What is it that drew me to this book? First and foremost, a lovely friend and former colleague of mine with whom I love to talk books recommended it to me. Both of us enjoy Young Adult fiction, and we are particular fans of LGBTQIA stories, so when he shared this book with me, I was pretty much already like alright, I don't even need to know anything else about it. Basically an LGBTQIA version of First Daughter or Chasing Liberty? Hello, nostalgia - I'm in. I added my name to the wait list at my library and settled in to wait.

While I waited, Red, White & Royal Blue kept popping up on book lists, so I read a little more about it here and there, I started following the author on social media, and I discovered that there is a bot account on Twitter that tweets random lines from the book! I may very well have spoiled myself without realizing it at some point, but reading some of those one-liners really whet my appetite for the book. 

Finally, there's the cover. I don't know what it is, but sometimes I see a book cover and am like I. Need. That. Often it happens without knowing anything about a book at all - I just see the cover and something irresistible inside me says "read that book." It happened with Emergency Contact, for instance. Literally knew nothing about the book, had never heard of it or of Mary H.K. Choi, but I saw the book when I was working in our teen section one day and could not get it out of my head. Granted, with this book I knew a little bit about it, but still. I saw the cover, and something about it made my brain or my heart, whichever makes my book-reading decisions (both?) latch onto it. It isn't even a choice at this point, really, I'll never be able to rest if I don't read it! 😉

So...there you have it. I'll be starting Red, White & Royal Blue today, and I cannot wait! (Side note: If you are friends with me on Goodreads, please don't look at my "currently reading" list after seeing that. I may or may not be concurrently reading too many books right now, but I can't help it.) Maybe I'll update when I finish to let you know if it lived up to my internal hype. In the meantime, what are you looking forward to reading?

Crown of Feathers - Nicki Pau Preto

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"I had a sister, once…

In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.

I promised her the throne would not come between us.

Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.

But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.

Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.

Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.

Crown of Feathers is an epic fantasy about love’s incredible power to save—or to destroy. Interspersed throughout is the story of Avalkyra Ashfire, the last Rider queen, who would rather see her empire burn than fall into her sister’s hands."

Y'ALL. So full disclosure, this book is long, and I am not finished. I'm about two-thirds of the way through, and while I got impatient at first for the story to really get going, I think it is fabulous. I was hooked from the beginning, both by the premise (badass warriors who fight on the backs of Phoenixes, primarily female warriors? What's not to love!) and by the relationship between Veronyka and Val. Is Val really as unfeeling as she seems? Or does she actually love and care for Veronyka? Are the moments of vulnerability she shows, like when she cries during the phoenix hatching at the start of the book, sincere? Or for show? I MUST KNOW! Another thing I love about it is the snippets at the beginning of every chapter and the pages included at the end of some chapters revealing the story of  Avalkyra Ashfire and Pheronia bit by bit. Fantastic.

Nicki Pau Preto writes so beautifully and evocatively, you can't read it without seeing and feeling everything that the characters do. Take this gorgeous description of Veronyka's bond with her Phoenix, for instance:

"It wasn't love--such a small word couldn't begin to encompass the feelings of respect and devotion, of trust and codependence that existed between human and beast. The bond was a unity that was written in the stars, older than the empire and the valley and the mountains, older than the gods, a connection that not even death could shake. Endless, limitless, and somehow timeless, Veronyka's fate was tied to this creature, and they would always be together."

Chills. Just beautiful.

Do you need more? Let's talk about the rich world-building and character development. So many amazing details, like the custom among Veronyka's people of keeping their hair in braids and weaving into them tokens of like experiences, like a shell from the beach Veronyka swam to after she first learned how.  And the strong personalities of each character (Kade is my dude, from the first time he talks to Sev he had my heart). Even characters who (at this point, at least) are side characters have a fully formed, developed history. That so much detail is worked in about characters you only catch glimpses of blows my mind.

I would love to continue raving about this empowering, thrilling story, but I presented for the first time ever at a professional conference today, then drove several hours home, and it is now almost an hour past my bedtime, so if I want to sneak in a few chapters before I pass out, I need to sign off and head upstairs. Read this book, though, friends! Especially if you're a fan of strong female characters, because Veronyka will inspire you. Read it! And then comment and tell me what you think.

Orleans - Sherri L. Smith

My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

From the cover:

"After a string of devastating hurricanes and a severe outbreak of Delta Fever, the Gulf Coast has been quarantined. Years later, residents of the Outer States are under the assumption that life in the Delta is all but extinct… but in reality, a new primitive society has been born.

Fen de la Guerre is living with the O-Positive blood tribe in the Delta when they are ambushed. Left with her tribe leader’s newborn, Fen is determined to get the baby to a better life over the wall before her blood becomes tainted. Fen meets Daniel, a scientist from the Outer States who has snuck into the Delta illegally. Brought together by chance, kept together by danger, Fen and Daniel navigate the wasteland of Orleans. In the end, they are each other’s last hope for survival.

Sherri L. Smith delivers an expertly crafted story about a fierce heroine whose powerful voice and firm determination will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page."

What happens when you replace racial differences with differences in blood? Blood type becomes just another thing that drives people apart. This book is something else. From the first page, it's intense and heart-wrenching. A lot of dystopia is set in places I'm familiar with, but most of the time those places have become unrecognizable. In this case, there was something about the ways Orleans had stayed the same that made the post-fever world feel like it was really happening. Reading descriptions of places like the Superdome especially got me. It made everything seem so chillingly realistic. What's more, in the current political climate, it really hit hard that the tribes were basically waging war with each other because of something as trivial and out of people's control as blood type. I wish that idea felt more farfetched than it does, but it truly drives home that any difference can be used as a wedge to separate people and spur them to hatred.