Tag Archives: teen fantasy

May 21 2015
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Book Review: Miss Mayhem by Rachel Hawkins

miss mayhemTitle: Miss Mayhem

Author: Rachel Hawkins

Series: Rebel Belle #2

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

The Overview: Life is almost back to normal for Harper Price. The Ephors have been silent after their deadly attack at Cotillion months ago, and her best friend, Bee, has returned after a mysterious disappearance. Now Harper can focus on the important things in life: school, canoodling with David (her nemesis-turned-ward-slash-boyfie), and even competing in the Miss Pine Grove pageant. Unfortunately, supernatural chores are never done. The Ephors have decided they’d rather train David than kill him. The catch: Harper has to come along for the ride, but she can’t stay David’s Paladin unless she undergoes an ancient trial that will either kill her . . . or make her more powerful than ever.

The Review:

I want to start out by saying that I love Rachel Hawkins and think her writing is some of the most charming I’ve ever come across. Everything she writes is a lot of fun, and I can’t help but get a bunch of feel goods every time I read one of her books. That said, Miss Mayhem might be my least favorite thing I’ve read from her so far. I just didn’t think there was enough substance and plot advancement to really grab me. Perhaps if the trilogy were complete and I devoured it from start to finish I wouldn’t feel this way, but after waiting a full year for its release and looking at another full year before the conclusion, I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed.

Thing I love most about the first book was the developing love story, but this one just didn’t seem to have the same sweet, romantic flair. I’ve noticed a prevailing trend in YA that goes a little something like this: Book 1 – romance sparks and the characters fall for each other. Book 2 – they fight or break up because of situation “x” keeping them from being together. Book 3 – they figure out how to make it work anyway and live happily ever after. It’s so formulaic that it sucks all of the romantic tension out of a series. Sometimes it doesn’t bother me, but in this particular case it felt like the entire plot revolved around romantic struggles… I guess what I’m trying to say is, I was hoping for more.

And even the plot elements that were there weren’t developed as well as I thought they could’ve been. For example, at some point Harper had to go through several trials to prove she was a worthy Paladin. The trouble is, the trials did not come across in any sort of official capacity, but were almost incidental. I’m not really sure why she passed/failed because the rules were never established. What a wasted opportunity! I feel like if I had read about an epic, well-conceived testing of Harper’s skills, all of my other objections would have gone by the wayside in a heartbeat. Instead I’m left wondering what could’ve been…

One last thing I didn’t enjoy was the questionable decision-making within this book. Some of Harper’s choices just did not make any sense to me. Her decisions were irrational, erratic, and didn’t follow any sort of logical pattern… Frankly, her actions felt more like they were implemented to advance plot points, rather than because that’s what the character would actually do. I’m not saying the characters always have to make smart decisions, what I’m saying is I’d better be able to at least see the logic of those decisions over other options. Harper is a smart girl, but I don’t feel like her actions were consistent with her character in this book.

Sheesh, I feel like I’m really beating up on this book, which isn’t totally fair because it was not a bad book by any means – Hawkins has just set such a high standard up to this point that I’m really judging it against what I know she’s capable of. If you want to know all the things I really love about the series, check out my review of the first book, Rebel Belle. Overall, I wouldn’t necessarily dissuade anyone from picking up the series – the first one was good enough in my opinion to allow for forgiveness of the second one… I would just recommend waiting a little bit until the release date for the third one gets closer. I will definitely be finishing out the trilogy, so that’s gotta count for something, right?

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

May 13 2015
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Coming Soon: Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas

queen of shadowsTitle: Queen of Shadows

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: Throne of Glass #4

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Release Date: September 1, 2015

The Overview: Everyone Celaena Sardothien loves has been taken from her. But she’s at last returned to the empire—for vengeance, to rescue her once-glorious kingdom, and to confront the shadows of her past . . . She will fight for her cousin, a warrior prepared to die just to see her again. She will fight for her friend, a young man trapped in an unspeakable prison. And she will fight for her people, enslaved to a brutal king and awaiting their lost queen’s triumphant return. Celaena’s epic journey has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions across the globe. This fourth volume will hold readers rapt as Celaena’s story builds to a passionate, agonizing crescendo that might just shatter her world.

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I realize I am probably the last person in the blogosphere to select Queen of Shadows for my WoW feature, but I’m kind of okay with that. Even though I enjoyed every book up to this point (and am intrigued where the story is headed – dragons!), it just has not been at the top of my radar compared to a handful of other titles coming out this fall that I’m DYING to read. Even so, I’ll probably pick this one up before the year is out, and look forward to listening to everyone around me geek out about it. If you haven’t read this series yet you are seriously behind the YA Fantasy times. ;)

If you can’t stand the wait until September 1st and need something to help hold you over, check out my Top Ten Books You Might Like If You Enjoyed Throne of Glass! list.

What book are you waiting on?

by Niki Hawkes

Apr 6 2015
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Book Review: The Novice by Taran Matharu

noviceTitle: The Novice

Author: Taran Matharu

Series: The Summoner #1

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Rating: 2/5 stars

The Overview: When blacksmith apprentice Fletcher discovers that he has the ability to summon demons from another world, he travels to Adept Military Academy. There the gifted are trained in the art of summoning. Fletcher is put through grueling training as a battlemage to fight in the Hominum Empire’s war against orcs. He must tread carefully while training alongside children of powerful nobles. The power hungry, those seeking alliances, and the fear of betrayal surround him. Fletcher finds himself caught in the middle of powerful forces, with only his demon Ignatius for help. As the pieces on the board maneuver for supremacy, Fletcher must decide where his loyalties lie. The fate of an empire is in his hands. The Novice is the first in a trilogy about Fletcher, his demon Ignatius, and the war against the Orcs.

The Review:

Two things got me through this book: 1. The sense of obligation I felt towards the publisher and NetGalley for being kind enough to approve me for this title and 2. All of the “keep reading” reviews on Goodreads who claimed the first part of the book is worth trudging through because of the school for demon summoners!! Those were frankly about the only two things that would have kept me reading under any other circumstances. I did not enjoy The Novice nearly as much as I thought I was going to and honestly wish I hadn’t spent so much time on it.

It had all of the elements that, on paper (no pun intended), should add up to a killer novel, but I think it was published before it was developed to a high level. I know firsthand the frustration of working on a story for years, trying to get it perfect, but at some point you really do need to just throw in the towel and work on something else until your writing ability matches your taste level (Ira Glass – On Being Creative, YouTube). The Novice read very much like a first book (my apologies to the author if it wasn’t), so I can’t help but wonder how much better it could have been with more experience. Maybe I’m just projecting my own writing experience onto this product, but I thought it needed a lot more work before it was ready to be published.

I hinted at above that I was interested in the school, and would like to add that I thought the concept for the demons was the coolest idea out of the whole thing. Each kid gets a demon to call their own and proceeds to learn how to channel magic through it at the school. The demons themselves came in all shapes and sizes and I found particular pleasure in finding out what kind each of the students ended up with. For me, these were all the selling points of the novel, the problem is, we don’t see a glimpse of these great ideas until almost a third of the way through the book (that’s about 100 pages, folks). If I were in this author’s critique group, I would have strongly suggested reworking the story to get to the school a LOT sooner. The interesting thing is, the basics of the story are quite similar to those of what I’ve been working on for my own novel (just replace demons with dragons), so I’ve spent a lot of brainpower on exactly the issue of getting the character to the school quickly. I’m not saying my way is better, because obviously I don’t have a book published yet, but it was interesting for me to see “what could’ve been” had I not decided to restructure (tossing out about 90 pages) to get my character to the school immediately. Food for thought…

Anyway, while I appreciated the concept behind the story and a few ideas within it, I will not be recommending this one anytime soon. It felt like it needed a pacing makeover, more depth of character, and more focus on the elements that make it special (e.g. the school and the demons). I feel like I had to work to get to the “exciting” parts and when I finally did the payoff wasn’t enough to justify the effort.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 27 2015
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DNF Q&A: The Winner’s Crime by Marie Rutkowski

the winners crimeTitle: The Winner’s Crime 

Author: Marie Rutkowski

Series: The Winner’s Trilogy #2

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Rating: 0 stars

The Overview: The engagement of Lady Kestrel to Valoria’s crown prince means one celebration after another. But to Kestrel it means living in a cage of her own making. As the wedding approaches, she aches to tell Arin the truth about her engagement… if she could only trust him. Yet can she even trust herself? For—unknown to Arin—Kestrel is becoming a skilled practitioner of deceit: an anonymous spy passing information to Herran, and close to uncovering a shocking secret. As Arin enlists dangerous allies in the struggle to keep his country’s freedom, he can’t fight the suspicion that Kestrel knows more than she shows. In the end, it might not be a dagger in the dark that cuts him open, but the truth. And when that happens, Kestrel and Arin learn just how much their crimes will cost them.

The DNF Q&A:

This is a reviewing feature I’ve been eyeballing on one of my favorite book blogs There Were Books Involved for a couple years now because I think it’s an excellent way to talk about an unfinished book fairly. I’m incredibly grateful because Nikki (the brains behind the blog, who has a most excellent name)  kindly allowed me to steal the idea and questions for my own blog. As my list of “amazing books to read” continues to grow, I find I have less and less time and patience to devote to the books I’m just not enjoying. I never would have considered DNFing a book ten years ago, but then I came across a quote, “Read the best books first, for you might not have the chance to read them all,” and have since made it my personal mantra. Life’s too short to read books you’re just not enjoying. So let the Q&A begin!

Did you really give The Winner’s Crime chance?

Absolutely! That is, if reading more than half the book before deciding to put it down is “giving it a chance.”

Have you enjoyed other books in the same genre before?

Yes – in fact some of my all time favorite books in this genre share a lot of similarities to the Winner’s novels, most notably:

I just didn’t think this book stacked up.

Did you have certain expectations before starting it?

Well, all of the five stars “Oh my God, the FEELS!!!” reviews flooding the blogosphere certainly didn’t help me dive into this book with no expectations. I will say that I also had issues with the first book that placed me in the minority, so I was already skeptical that I would like this one as much as everybody else.

What ultimately made you stop reading?

Ultimately it was the inconsistency of character that made me put this book down. I started out liking Kestrel, and still think she is a great character, but I’ve never been able to perceive Arin as a complete person – mostly because his passages seldom focused on developing his own character, but rather on how his world centers around Kestrel. I think his entire persona in this book can be summed up by a quote on page 212, “Arin’s unruly mind didn’t care for that logical explanation.” And it was this complete lack of logic and individual thought that made him feel like a subpar character and ultimately frustrated me enough to stop reading. He just didn’t ever feel real, and as the entire plot structure hangs on the reader giving a shit about the relationship between him and Kestrel, I found it wanting.

If it was just Arin though, I think it would’ve been okay. But when Kestrel – one of the coolest female strategists I’ve come across in the genre – failed to attack her problems regarding Arin with any sort of strategy, that was when I found my deal breaker. I feel like if she’s going to be that amazing at strategizing, it should apply EVERYWHERE in the book, not just when the author needs to advance a plot line. As it was, the conflict between the two main characters felt just as unnecessarily forced and drawn out as it did in the first book. I would have found it so much more satisfying had they worked together to solve their problems instead of needlessly perpetuating them. 

Was there anything you liked about The Winner’s Crime? 

Yes – I liked the secondary characters and really enjoyed the story before the protagonists fell out of character. I am genuinely interested to see what happens in this world and how the dynamics play out… I just don’t think I have the patience to actually see it through. I also still really like Kestrel and was fascinated every time she put strategy into play.  

Would you read anything else by this author? 

That’s a good question – it depends a lot on what type of story she writes next and if I’m in the mood to risk it at the time… I feel a little burned at the moment.

So you DNF’d the book – would you still recommend it?

Absolutely! I realized going into this sequel that I am BY FAR in the minority on how I feel about it. Chances are, if you liked Throne of Glass, you will also really enjoy this one. I’m actually more disappointed that I didn’t like it as much as everyone else than I am about the book itself.

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 24 2015
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Coming Soon: The Rose Society by Marie Lu

rose societyTitle: The Rose Society

Author: Marie Lu

Series: The Young Elites #2

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Release Date: October 6, 2015

The Overview: Adelina Amouteru’s heart has suffered at the hands of both family and friends, turning her down the bitter path of revenge. Now known and feared as the White Wolf, she and her sister flee Kenettra to find other Young Elites in the hopes of building her own army of allies. Her goal: to strike down the Inquisition Axis, the white-cloaked soldiers that murdered her love, the Crown Prince Enzo Valenciano. But Adelina is no heroine. Her powers, fed only by fear and hate, have started to grow beyond her control. She does not trust her newfound Elite friends. Teren Santoro, leader of the Inquisition, wants her dead. And her former friends, Raffaele and the Dagger Society, want to stop her thirst for vengeance. Adelina struggles to cling to the good within her. But how can someone be good, when her very existence depends on darkness?

Waiting on Wednesday
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As much as I loved the Legend trilogy, I was apprehensive about this series at first, but ended up really enjoying it (so far). Adelina is such an atypical female lead that I couldn’t help but like her. I also really like the setting, and have the feeling it’s only going to get richer going forward. The Young Elites took an interesting plot turned near the end, which is solely responsible for why I’m clamoring for this novel sooner than I would’ve otherwise. I’m really looking forward to this one.

What book are you waiting on?

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 18 2015
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Coming Soon: Soundless by Richelle Mead

SoundlessTitle: Soundless

Author: Richelle Mead

Series: N/A

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Release Date: November 17, 2015

The Overview: From Richelle Mead, the #1 internationally bestselling author of Vampire Academy and Bloodlines, comes a breathtaking new fantasy steeped in Chinese folklore. For as long as Fei can remember, there has been no sound in her village, where rocky terrain and frequent avalanches prevent residents from self-sustaining. Fei and her people are at the mercy of a zipline that carries food up the treacherous cliffs from Beiguo, a mysterious faraway kingdom. When villagers begin to lose their sight, deliveries from the zipline shrink and many go hungry. Fei’s home, the people she loves, and her entire existence is plunged into crisis, under threat of darkness and starvation. But soon Fei is awoken in the night by a searing noise, and sound becomes her weapon. Richelle Mead takes readers on a triumphant journey from the peak of Fei’s jagged mountain village to the valley of Beiugo, where a startling truth and an unlikely romance will change her life forever…

Waiting on Wednesday
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When you’re all-time favorite author has a new book coming out, you feel like shouting from the rooftops:

RICHELLE MEAD HAS A NEW BOOK – WOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

And not just any new book, but one with an incredibly original sounding concept… not to mention the promise of an exotic setting… where the heck can I get a copy??! I already love everything I know about Soundless and seriously cannot wait to read it. And it’s by Richelle Mead, so you KNOW it’s going to be amazing! If you need me, I will be over here fangirling and crying until I finally get to read it…

What are you waiting on? Anyone want to fangirl with me over Soundless?

by Niki Hawkes