YA Fantasy
SIX CRIMSON CRANES by Elizabeth Lim
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from the publisher in order to write this review.
Princess Shiori does not want to get married. Even if her betrothed turns out to be as kind and wonderful as her father claims, she will still resent him for taking her away from her home–from her beloved father and stepmother and her six fun, loving, infuriating brothers. And what if her future husband discovered her secret–the magic she tries to keep hidden?
When a near-drowning experience brings her in contact with a dragon, Shiori finally begins to experiment with using her magic with the dragon as her guide. But when she discovers that her stepmother has been hiding magic of her own, Shiori panics. She tries to warn her brothers, but her stepmother catches her, placing all seven siblings under a dreadful curse. The brothers turn to cranes, and Shiori must tame her voice because for each sound she utters, one of her brothers will die. As Shiori travels the countryside in search of a way to break the curse, she realizes she will need help–from her brothers, from her dragon friend, and from the one person she had sworn to hate: her betrothed.
A brief summary cannot do justice to the complexity and beauty of this novel. The number of folktales Lim twists into this story could have been overwhelming, but every one serves the character development and relationship growth which drive the narrative. In addition to uniquely Asian folklore (such as the dragons), Lim incorporates the Asian variants of stories that are also common in the Western canon (e.g., the Chinese fish-girl “Cinderella” Ye Xian and the use of cranes in her reinterpretation of Andersen’s Wild Swans). The world she builds through this interwoven folklore is exquisite. For any reader who enjoys reimagined fairytales, this is a must-read!
THESE FEATHERED FLAMES by Alexandra Overy
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Izaveta and Asya have always known their destiny. As twin princesses, Izaveta will succeed their mother as queen and Asya will become the Firebird, keeper of the magic of the firestone, tasked with exacting a blood-price from anyone who misuses magic. But when their mother is murdered, Asya and Izaveta are swept into their new roles much sooner than they expected, and if they have any hope of achieving justice, they will have to put aside their long-instilled mistrust of one another and uncover the darkest secrets of their imperiled queendom
A lot to love in this lush high fantasy, including an F/F enemies-to-lovers romance! Slavic folklore runs deep in the world-building and the consequences of magic are both weighty and believable. Recommend to high fantasy fans who don’t mind some bloodshed in their books!
HOUSE OF HOLLOW by Krystal Sutherland
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
After they disappeared ten years ago, Iris Hollow and her sisters were never the same. It wasn’t just their eyes (now black) or their hair (now white). There were things they couldn’t remember, and things they wanted to forget–strange nightmares that sometimes came when they were awake. Her eldest sister, Grey, seemed especially different, now possessing strange abilities to influence other people. The change was enough to drive their father mad, to drive away their friends, and to cause strangers to stalk them.
But as much as Iris has tried to distance herself from her hazy past, when Grey disappears, she knows she can run from the truth no longer. With rotting flesh and carrion flowers to lead her forward, Iris searches for Grey–and the terrifying reality of what happened to all three Hollow sisters a decade ago.
Part fantasy, part horror, HOUSE OF HOLLOW will lead readers into a grounded nightmare in the space between life and death. The shining thread through the whole narrative is the theme of family–of love, loyalty, and belonging–that exists on two sides of a coin: life-giving and deadly, good and evil. Great pick for a YA book club and any older teen who loves dark fantasy. Highly recommend!
GIRL, SERPENT, THORN by Melissa Bashardoust
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Soraya has spent most of her life in hiding in the palace. While her twin brother prepared for his future as shah, Soraya tended her secret rooftop garden, watching the poison in her veins flow beneath her skin, wishing she had never been cursed. But when a captured div, or demon, reveals that her mother lied about the nature of the curse–that it wasn’t a punishment for her mother’s carelessness, but rather a poison the shabanu requested the div bestow upon her daughter, Soraya leaves her isolated garden and accepts the help of a new guardsman to find a cure. Unfortunately, her plan backfires. With her brother deposed and her own power drained, Soraya hopes there is enough monster left inside of her to defeat the div that now holds the key to her freedom.
An exciting fantasy in a masterfully-built world, GIRL, SERPENT, THORN plays with the tropes of the princess and the monster by combining them into one, intertwining poison and strength and exploring the gray area between good and evil. Highly recommended to YA fantasy fans who like fast-paced yet character driven adventures.
THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA by TJ Klune
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Linus takes his job as a case worker investigating orphanages for magical youth very seriously. He does his work thoroughly, accurately, and impersonally. And it’s precisely his thorough, accurate, and impersonal track record that prompts Extremely Upper Management to offer him a temporary, top secret assignment: to spend a month evaluating an exclusive seaside orphanage for extraordinary magical youth (including, among others, the Antichrist). Although initially overwhelmed by the unusual assignment, Linus finds that the magical youth–and their exceptional caretaker, Arthur–are working their way into his heart and threatening his objectivity as a caseworker. And as his impersonal lens cracks, he must question the truths he’s been taught, the morality of his own work, and how far he is personally willing to go for love.
A well-deserved award-winner, THE HOUSE IN THE CERULEAN SEA is a quirky, funny, sweet, thought-provoking social-commentary with equal parts humor and heart. Highly recommend for adults and older teens–anyone who likes stories that are a little weird and a little magical with a healthy dose of undermined social norms and queer romance.
THE BEAST PLAYER by Nahoko Uehashi
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Elin’s mother has always cared for the water serpents, the Toda. She is the best Toda doctor in all of Aluhan. But when the most powerful Toda mysteriously die, Elin’s mother is blamed and sentenced to death. After failing to rescue her mother, Elin flees and takes refuge with a beekeeper in a neighboring territory. There she learns of her own gift of communication with the Toda, of her mother’s connection with the mystical Ahlyo people, and of her own place in the civil war between the country of her birth and the country where she found refuge.
An award-winning novel with masterful world-building, THE BEAST PLAYER will appeal to YA fantasy fans despite the protagonist’s youth (age 10 at the novel’s start). For graphic novel fans, there are manga and an anime TV series!
THE GIRL KING by Mimi Yu
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Princess Lu has known for years that her father plans to name her as his heir. She has spent those years training, enthusiastically learning swordplay, riding, hunting–all the skills she will need as emperor. But when her father instead names her cousin Set as his heir, betrothing Lu to him in the process, Lu knows it is her mother’s doing. Her mother has always hated her and favored her younger sister Min, the princess who desperately tries to do whatever is expected of her, no matter how much anger boils inside of her. Lu devises a plan to take back the throne, but when it goes wrong, she finds herself on the run with a boy from her past, one of few survivors of a genocide perpetrated by Lu’s father. And Min finds herself married to Set, an unlikely empress, with her mother, Set, and an unnerving monk all trying to influence and claim her surprising power as her own.
There is a lot going on in this series starter, set in an Asian-inspired fantasy world. The world building is rich, with themes of ethnic conflict, identity, morality in politics, and the use and abuse of power–to name a few–adding depth to a whirlwind plot. A fun read for fantasy fans!
COME FIND ME by Megan Miranda
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Ever since the chilling tragedy that shattered her world, Kennedy has been trying to keep her brother, Elliot’s, work alive. She sneaks back to her old house (the one her uncle and now guardian Joe is intent on selling) and takes the readings from Elliot’s radio telescope, continuing his search for messages from extraterrestrial beings. But she isn’t the expert that Elliot was, and when she gets a strange reading–a negative frequency that shouldn’t exist–she has to turn to the Internet message boards to ask for advice on how to interpret the results. The consensus is that there must be something wrong with the telescope or the computer program. The frequency cannot exist. But one other user has somehow detected the same pattern of negative frequencies. Nolan has been searching for his older brother ever since he mysteriously disappeared. Although his parents have turned their house into a call center to search for missing children, Nolan is convinced that the explanation for Liam’s disappearance is not so simple. After all, Nolan had a strange premonition the night before that Liam would disappear. And there was that night when Nolan had the high fever that he was so sure he saw Liam in the living room–like he was trying to communicate with Nolan from another dimension. That was when Nolan got the EMF meter and started taking readings in the woods where Liam disappeared. When his path crosses with Kennedy, they realize that the two tragedies that took their brothers might be connected, and that the frequency they’ve discovered might hold the key to solving both of the mysteries.
I would classify this book as a truly character-driven thriller. While the tantalizing mysteries thread through the story, it is the emotional plot of these two teens finding one another and helping each other process the tragedies that truly drives the book forward and makes it impossible to put down. It is a masterful piece of writing that will appeal to fans of thrillers, mysteries, and even realistic fiction. (The sci-fi elements actually turn out to be very light.) Highly recommend it! The audiobook is very good, as well.
MONSTROUS BEAUTY by Elizabeth Fama
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Hester has resigned herself to a life without love. Her mother died days after giving birth to Hester, as her grandmother died days after giving birth to her mother, and her great-grandmother. . . . All Hester knows is that for the women in her family, love kills. But when Hester meets a mysterious young man at the beach, she begins to uncover a dark tale from the past–a story of love and loss, of humans and sea-folk, the living and the lingering dead. And something in this past may have an important connection to Hester’s future. In her desperation to learn more about the past and free herself from her curse, Hester overlooks the very real danger lurking in the present.
Based on the jacket summary, I had expected this novel to be a paranormal romance. It is definitely not! Although there are some romantic moments in the book, the focus of the novel is on the journey of a young woman to uncover her ancestral past, break a curse, and find the strength to free herself from the weight of past tragedies and forge her own destiny. It is suspenseful and powerfully written with a rich, history-inspired fantasy woven into a quaint, contemporary, small town. Fama’s extensive research shows in the realism of her past and present settings and the authenticity of her characters without ever leading to copious explication. I highly recommend this novel to historical fiction readers and fantasy readers who enjoy gripping, character-driven stories. I had trouble putting it down!
The audiobook is phenomenal. I highly recommend it.
THE WIZARDS OF ONCE by Cressida Cowell
I am an affiliate of Bookshop.org and Libro.fm, online retailers that support independent booksellers. If you make a purchase by clicking through the links in this post, I will receive a commission. For more information, see my “About” page.
Xar, the son of the wizard king, is known for being a troublemaker–disobedient, destructive, leading his ragtag entourage of sprites and snow cats into all kinds of danger. And the fact that at thirteen his magic still hasn’t come in makes him even more unruly. Wish, the warrior princess, is downright weird. Her limp, her eyepatch, and her odd interests make her hardly fit to call herself a warrior. But the mischief of these two sworn enemies reaches new heights when two forbidden errands collide in the Badwoods. Xar has come to set a trap for a witch, the darkest, most evil magic creature ever to exist, which everyone believes are extinct, but whose magic Xar hopes to steal. Wish enters the Badwoods chasing her pet, an iron spoon that must be magic and is therefore thoroughly forbidden (much to her young Assistant Bodyguard’s anxiety). She also has a magic sword she found near her mother’s dungeon that has an inscription claiming that it kills witches. And unfortunately for both Wish and Xar, that sword may be blood-curdlingly necessary.
As much as this novel is the thrilling start to a creative and engaging new fantasy series, it is a coming of age tale for two very different protagonists, each struggling to find a place in their respective society and to work through a complicated relationship with their respective intimidating parent. I suspect that the cheeky omniscient narrator would have annoyed me had I not been listening to the brilliantly performed audiobook. But otherwise, I loved everything about it. Can’t wait for the next installment!
I highly recommend the audiobook (performed by David Tennant), a well-deserved Odyssey Award Honor recording.
Susan the Librarian 