[Review] Will Save the Galaxy For Food by Yahtzee Croshaw

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Series or Stand Alone: Jacques McKeown #1

Release Date: 14 February, 2017

Publisher: Dark Horse Books

Genre: Space Opera/Science Fiction/Parody

ISBN: 9781506701653

Edition: Paperback (available in eBook, and audiobook)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 6 August, 2020
Warnings: Death, Violence, Sexual Tension

Summary:  

A not-quite epic science fiction adventure about a down-on-his luck galactic pilot caught in a cross-galaxy struggle for survival! Space travel just isn't what it used to be. With the invention of Quantum Teleportation, space heroes aren't needed anymore. When one particularly unlucky ex-adventurer masquerades as famous pilot and hate figure Jacques McKeown, he's sucked into an ever-deepening corporate and political intrigue. Between space pirates, adorable deadly creatures, and a missing fortune in royalties, saving the universe was never this difficult!

See more by Yahtzee Croshaw at his website.

[Review] A Song of Wrath and Ruins by Roseanne A. Brown

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Series or Stand Alone: A Song of Wrath and Ruins #1

Release Date: 2 June, 2020

Publisher: HarperAudio (an imprint of HarperCollins)

Genre: African Fantasy/Fantasy/Young Adult/Young Adult Romance

ASIN: B07XM8PJ9B

Edition: Audiobook (available in eBook, and hardback)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 6 August, 2020
Warnings: Death, Violence, Sexual Exploits, Magic

Summary:  

For Malik, the Solstasia festival is a chance to escape his war-stricken home and start a new life with his sisters in the prosperous desert city of Ziran. But when a vengeful spirit abducts his younger sister, Nadia, as payment to enter the city, Malik strikes a fatal deal - kill Karina, Crown Princess of Ziran, for Nadia’s freedom.

But Karina has deadly aspirations of her own. Her mother, the Sultana, has been assassinated; her court threatens mutiny; and Solstasia looms like a knife over her neck. Grief-stricken, Karina decides to resurrect her mother through ancient magic...requiring the beating heart of a king. And she knows just how to obtain one: by offering her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition.

When Malik rigs his way into the contest, they are set on a heart-pounding course to destroy each other. But as attraction flares between them and ancient evils stir, will they be able to see their tasks to the death?

See more by Roseanne A Brown at her website.

[Review] Kingdom of the Blazing Phoenix by Julie C. Dao

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Series or Stand Alone: Rise of the Empress Duology #2

Release Date: 6 November, 2018

Publisher: Philomel Books (an imprint of Penguin Random House)

Genre: Folklore/Fantasy/Asian Fantasy/Legends/Fairy Tale Retellings

ISBN: 9781524738310

Edition: Hardback (available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 6 August, 2020
Warnings: Death, Mild Sexual Scenes, Violence

Summary:  

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.

See more by Julie C. Dao at her website.

[Review] Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao

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Series or Stand Alone: Rise of the Empress Duology #1

Release Date: 11 September, 2018

Publisher: Speak (An imprint of Penguin Random House)

Genre: Folklore/Fantasy/Asian Fantasy/Legends/Fairy Tale Retellings

ISBN: 9781524738310

Edition: Paperback (available in hardback, eBook, and audiobook)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 6 August, 2020
Warnings: Death, Mild Sexual Scenes, Violence

Summary:  

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her.

Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high? Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins--sorcery fueled by eating the hearts of the recently killed. For the god who has sent her on this journey will not be satisfied until his power is absolute.

Set in an East Asian-inspired fantasy world filled with both breathtaking pain and beauty, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns possesses all the hallmarks of masterful fantasy: dazzling magic, heartbreaking romance, and a world that hangs in the balance. Fans of Heartless, Stealing Snow, and Red Queen will devour this stunning debut.

See more by Julie C. Dao at her website.

[Review] Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

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Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 10 March, 2020

Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers

Genre: History/Antiracism/Racism

ISBN: 9781549184253

Edition: audiobook (available in eBook and hardcover)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 9 July, 2020
Warnings: Deals with topics of racism

Summary:  

A timely, crucial, and empowering exploration of racism--and antiracism--in America

This is NOT a history book.
This is a book about the here and now.
A book to help us better understand why we are where we are.
A book about race.

The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.

Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas--and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives.

See more by Jason Reynolds and Imbram X Kendi at their websites.

[Review] Sherwood by Meagan Spooner

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Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 19 March, 2019

Publisher: HarperTeen

Genre: Folklore/Fantasy/Historical Fiction/Legends/Fairy Tale Retellings

ISBN: 9780062933553

Edition: Paperback (available in hardback, eBook, and audiobook)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 9 July, 2020
Warnings: Death, Mild Sexual Scenes, Violence

Summary:  

Robin of Locksley is dead.

Maid Marian doesn’t know how she’ll go on, but the people of Locksley town, persecuted by the Sheriff of Nottingham, need a protector. And the dreadful Guy of Gisborne, the Sheriff’s right hand, wishes to step into Robin’s shoes as Lord of Locksley and Marian’s fiancé.

Who is there to stop them?

Marian never meant to tread in Robin’s footsteps—never intended to stand as a beacon of hope to those awaiting his triumphant return. But with a sweep of his green cloak and the flash of her sword, Marian makes the choice to become her own hero: Robin Hood.

See more by Meagan Spooner at her website.

[Review] The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

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Series or Stand Alone: Hunger Games

Release Date: 19 May, 2020

Publisher: Scholastic Audio

Genre: Action & Adventure/Post-Apocalyptic/Romance

ISBN: 9780374307097

Edition: Audiobook (available in eBook and hardcover)

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Review Written: 9 July, 2020
Warnings: Death, Torture, Inhumane Conditions, Experimental Science

Summary:  

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the 10th annual Hunger Games. In the Capitol, 18-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to out charm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He's been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined - every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute... and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

See more by Suzanne Collins at her website.

[Review] The Night Country (Hazel Wood #2) and The Boy Who Didn't come Home (Hazel Wood #1.5) by Melissa Albert

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Series or Stand Alone: The Hazel Wood

Release Date: 7 January, 2020

Publisher: MacMillan Audio

Genre: Fantasy/Folklore/Fairy Tale retellings/action/adventure/romance

ISBN: 9781250246240

Edition: Audiobook (available in eBook and hardback)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 9 July, 2020
Warnings: Death

Summary:  

Can you ever truly escape the Hazel Wood?

In the sequel to her New York Times bestselling, literary/commercial breakout, The Hazel Wood, Melissa Albert dives back into the menacing, mesmerizing world that captivated readers of the first book. Follow Alice Proserpine and Ellery Finch as they come to learn that The Hazel Wood was just the beginning of worlds beyond, “a place where stories and real life convene, where magic contains truth, and the world as it appears false, and where just about anything can happen, particularly in the pages of a good book” (The New York Times).

See more by Melissa Albert at her website.

[Review] Sea Witch (Sea Witch #1) by Sarah Henning

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Series or Stand Alone: Sea Witch series

Release Date: 31 July, 2018

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Retellings/Fairy Tales/Romance

ISBN: 9780062438805

Edition: Paperback (available in Hardback, eBook, and audiobook)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 9 July, 2020
Warnings: Death

Summary:  

Wicked meets "The Little Mermaid" in the captivating origin story of the sea's most iconic villainess, perfect for fans of Heartless and Dorothy Must Die.

Ever since her best friend Anna died, Evie has been an outcast in her small fishing town. Hiding her talents, mourning her loss, drowning in her guilt.

Then a girl with an uncanny resemblance to Anna appears on the shore, and the two girls catch the eyes of two charming princes. Suddenly Evie feels like she might finally have a chance at her own happily ever after.

But magic isn’t kind, and her new friend harbors secrets of her own. She can’t stay in Havnestad—or on two legs—without Evie’s help. And when Evie reaches deep into the power of her magic to save her friend’s humanity—and her prince’s heart—she discovers, too late, what she’s bargained away.

See more by Sarah Henning at her website.

[Review] Seven Endless Forests by April Genevieve Tucholke

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Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 28 April, 2020

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Genre: Fantasy/Norse Mythology/Arthurian Legend/Action & Adventure/Folk Lore

ISBN: 9780374307097

Edition: Hardcover (available in eBook and audiobook)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 9 July, 2020
Warnings: Death

Summary:  

In this gorgeous standalone companion to the critically acclaimed fantasy, The Boneless Mercies, April Tucholke spins a bold and blood-hungry retelling of the King Arthur legend that is perfect for fans of Naomi Novik, Garth Nix, and Laini Taylor.

On the heels of a devastating plague, Torvi’s sister, Morgunn, is stolen from the family farm by Uther, a flame-loving Fremish wolf-priest who leads a pack of ragged, starving girls. Torvi leaves the only home she’s ever known, and joins a shaven-skulled druid and a band of roaming Elsh artists known as the Butcher Bards. They set out on a quest to rescue Torvi’s sister, and find a mythical sword.

On their travels, Torvi and her companions will encounter magical night wilds and mystical Drakes who trade in young men. They will sing rowdy Elshland ballads in a tree-town tavern, and find a mysterious black tower in an Endless Forest. They will fight alongside famous Vorseland archers and barter with Fremish wizards. They will feast with rogue Jade Fell children in a Skal Mountain cave, and seek the help of a Pig Witch. They will face wild, dangerous magic that leads to love, joy, tragedy, and death.

Torvi set out to rescue a sister, but she may find it’s merely the first step toward a life that is grander and more glorious than anything she could have imagined.

See more by April Genevieve Tucholke at her website.

[Review] Old Man's War (Old Man's War #1) by John Scalzi

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Series: Old Man's War

Release Date: 15 January, 2007

Publisher: Listening Library/Tor Publishing

Genre: Adult Fiction/Science Fiction

ISBN: 9781524767105

Edition: Audiobook (also available in Kindle, Hardback, and Paperback)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 9 July, 2019
Warnings: War, medical science fiction, a lot of pointless killing

Summary: John Perry did two things on his 75th birthday. First he visited his wife's grave. Then he joined the army. The good news is that humanity finally made it into interstellar space. The bad news is that planets fit to live on are scarce-- and alien races willing to fight us for them are common. So: we fight. To defend Earth, and to stake our own claim to planetary real estate. Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding. Earth itself is a backwater. The bulk of humanity's resources are in the hands of the Colonial Defense Force. Everybody knows that when you reach retirement age, you can join the CDF. They don't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living. You'll be taken off Earth and never allowed to return. You'll serve two years at the front. And if you survive, you'll be given a generous homestead stake of your own, on one of our hard-won colony planets. John Perry is taking that deal. He has only the vaguest idea what to expect. Because the actual fight, light-years from home, is far, far harder than he can imagine--and what he will become is far stranger.

See more by John Scalzi at his Website.

[Review] House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas

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Series: Crescent City Trilogy

Release Date: 3 March, 2020

Publisher: Audible Studios/ Bloomsbury Publishing

Genre: New Adult/Science Fiction/Post-Apocalyptic/Action and Adventure

ASIN: B082YHJS14

Edition: Audiobook (also available in Kindle and Hardback)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 19 June, 2020

Summary: Half-Fae, half-human Bryce Quinlan loves her life. By day, she works for an antiquities dealer, selling barely legal magical artifacts, and by night, she parties with her friends, savouring every pleasure Lunathion—otherwise known as Crescent City— has to offer. But it all comes crumbling down when a ruthless murder shakes the very foundations of the city—and Bryce’s world. Two years later, her job has become a dead end, and she now seeks only blissful oblivion in the city’s most notorious nightclubs. But when the murderer attacks again, Bryce finds herself dragged into the investigation and paired with an infamous Fallen angel whose own brutal past haunts his every step. Hunt Athalar, personal assassin for the Archangels, wants nothing to do with Bryce Quinlan, despite being ordered to protect her. She stands for everything he once rebelled against and seems more interested in partying than solving the murder, no matter how close to home it might hit. But Hunt soon realizes there’s far more to Bryce than meets the eye—and that he’s going to have to find a way to work with her if they want to solve this case. As Bryce and Hunt race to untangle the mystery, they have no way of knowing the threads they tug ripple through the underbelly of the city, across warring continents, and down to the darkest levels of Hel, where things that have been sleeping for millennia are beginning to stir... 

See more by Sarah J. Maas at her Website.

[Review] Don't Call the Wolf by Aleksandra Ross

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Series or Stand Alone: Stand Alone

Release Date: 28 April, 2020

Publisher: Harper Teen

Genre: Fantasy/Eastern European Fairy Tales/Romance/Action & Adventure/Folk Lore

ISBN: 9780062877970

Edition: Hardcover (available in eBook and audiobook)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 22 June, 2020
Warnings: Death

Summary:  

A fierce young queen, neither human nor lynx, who fights to protect a forest humans have long abandoned.

An exhausted young soldier, last of his name, who searches for the brother who disappeared beneath those trees without a trace.

A Golden Dragon, fearsome and vengeful, whose wingbeats haunt their nightmares and their steps.

When these three paths cross at the fringes of a war between monsters and men, shapeshifter queen and reluctant hero strike a deal that may finally turn the tide against the rising hordes of darkness. Ren will help Lukasz find his brother…if Lukasz promises to slay the Dragon.

But promises are all too easily broken.

See more by Aleksandra Ross at her website.

[Review] The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

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Series: Stand Alone

Release Date: 9 October, 2019

Publisher: Macmillan Audio/Wednesday Publishing

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Dystopian Fiction/Girls & Women Fiction/Fantasy Romance/Thiller

ISBN: 9781250623225

Edition: Audiobook/Hardback (also available on Kindle)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Review Written: 12 June, 2020

Summary: A speculative thriller in the vein of The Handmaid’s Tale and The Power. Optioned by Universal and Elizabeth Banks to be a major motion picture! Survive the year. No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden. In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their 16th year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive. Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life - a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make their fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other. With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

See more by Kim Liggett at her Website.

[Review] Ember Queen by Laura Sebastian

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Series: Ash Princess Trilogy

Release Date: 4 February, 2020

Publisher: Listening Library/Delacourte Press

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Epic Fantasy/Girls & Women Fiction/Fantasy Romance

ISBN: 9781524767143

Edition: Audiobook (also available in Kindle and Hardback)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 29 April, 2020

Summary: Princess Theodosia was a prisoner in her own country for a decade. Renamed the Ash Princess, she endured relentless abuse and ridicule from the Kaiser and his court. But though she wore a crown of ashes, there is fire in Theo's blood. As the rightful heir to the Astrean crown, it runs in her veins. And if she learned nothing else from her mother, she learned that a Queen never cowers. Now free, with a misfit army of rebels to back her, Theo must liberate her enslaved people and face a terrifying new enemy: the new Kaiserin, imbued with a magic no one understands, the Kaiserin is determined to burn down anyone and everything in her way. The Kaiserin's strange power is growing stronger, and with Prinz Søren as her hostage, there is more at stake than ever. Theo must learn to embrace her own power if she has any hope of standing against the girl she once called her heart's sister.

See more by Laura Sebastian at her Website.

[Review] Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor

  
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Series: Strange the Dreamer Duology (#2)

Release Date: 2 October, 2018

Publisher: Little, Brown Young Readers (Hatchette Audio)

Genre: Young Adult Fiction/Epic Fantasy/Friendship/Romance/Mystery

ISBN: 9781549122774

Edition: Audiobook (also available in Kindle, Hardback, and Paperback)

Rating: ★★★★☆

Review Written: 2 March, 2020

Summary: The highly anticipated, thrilling sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer, from National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the bestselling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy.

Sarai has lived and breathed nightmares since she was six years old.She believed she knew every horror, and was beyond surprise. She was wrong. In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep. Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice--save the woman he loves, or everyone else?--while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she's capable of.

As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel's near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead? Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this gorgeous sequel to the New York Times bestseller, Strange the Dreamer.

See more by Laini Taylor at her Website.