Books. Cats. Nonsense.
I’ve been hearing buzz about The Deep for a few months now and the amazing concept captured my interest. I’ve never read a book by Rivers Solomon before and admit I am unfamiliar with the song and artists that inspired and helped work on this book, so I didn’t know what to expect. This novella is an absolutely powerful story of memory, pain, history, and surviving in the face of adversity.
I’m very vocal about the fact that The Poppy War was my favourite book of 2018, so I was naturally extremely excited to dive into The Dragon Republic as soon as I could, but I was a little nervous. The second book in a trilogy is a difficult one to pull off, as it deals with the exciting aftermath of the first book and must set up the conclusion of the series. In addition, an author's second book, especially following a splashy debut like The Poppy War, is a notoriously difficult one to write. Despite all of this, I am so pleased to say that The Dragon Republic is a fantastic sequel to an amazing debut novel.
I had been hearing a lot about Gumiho, titled Wicked Fox in the US, and was curious to see what all the hype was about. While I expected to like this book, I ended up absolutely loving it! To me, it is the perfect example of how YA romance should be written.
Welcome to my stop on the Kick the Moon blog tour! I was so excited to hear about this book, as I absolutely adore Muhammad Khan's spectacular debut I Am Thunder. Today, I'm sharing an extract from his new contemporary YA novel. He gives such an incredible voice to modern teens, and I couldn't recommend his books more highly.
Welcome to my stop on the Girl King blog tour! This highly anticipated YA fantasy novel hits shelves on 10 January of this year. I was lucky enough to get my paws on an early copy of this book, and while it wasn’t necessarily my cup of tea I think a lot of readers are going to love this debut.
Empire of Sand was one of my most highly anticipated books of 2018. It sounded like it would be the perfect book for me -- it ticks so many of my reader boxes. When I finally got my hands on a copy, however, I found that the reading experience wasn't quite what I had expected.
The Library of Fates is a book I hadn't heard much about, but the lovely cover stuck firmly in my mind. When I had the chance to borrow the book from a friend, I snapped up the opportunity. While I enjoyed The Library of Fates, I felt like it didn't quite live up to its potential.
I rarely read contemporary YA -- in fact, I have only read five contemporary YA books this year -- but somtimes one really catches my eye. This was the case with A Very Large Expanse of Sea, Tahereh Mafi’s semi-autobiographical novel of life as an American Muslim teen one year after 9/11. Having read and loved books like The Hate U Give and I Am Thunder, I know that my interest in contemporary YA tends to lean toward books that deal with social issues and let you walk in another person’s shoes.
I was so excited to hear that Empress of All Seasons was being published in the UK -- an all-girl contest to win the hand of the emperor’s son set in a Japanese-inspired world? Sign me up. I tumbled into the story right away and really enjoyed it -- it features strong feminist themes, trope inversion, and some incredibly badass women.
I absolutely love those rare books that combine science fiction and fantasy elements. Naturally I was naturally thrilled when I heard about Mirage, a Moroccan-inspired YA book that does just that. If you’re looking for a gorgeous tale with lush worldbuilding, I couldn’t recommend Mirage more highly.
