Category: Book Review

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The Runestone Saga: Children of Ragnarok by Cinda Williams Chima

The midlands is home to humans, stuck between the worlds of gods and demons. Odin gave much to learn the future and spent his life trying to avoid it. But the end of his world came anyway. Now the midlands is a barbaric place with very little magic and even less hope for the future.

Reggin Eiklund is a thrall, or slave, to Asger Elder, a demon stranded from the fiery world of Muspelheim. She works as a singer, healer, and seer while Asger travels nearby, always watching. He abuses her and draws out her magic to strengthen his own. She is offered a chance to escape to the mysterious Temple at the Grove, promised safety and a chance to learn about the magic she didn’t realize she had.

Eiric Halvosen is an angry young viking, falsely convicted of murdering his mother and step-father. A rich jarl offers to pay the blood fee if Eiric takes on the job of locating the Temple. As he prepares to leave, his half-sister demands to go with him across the sea, along with an untested stranger willing to learn to sail in return for adventure. And it appears that only with her help will Eiric be able to locate the hidden island where the Temple is located.

This is the first in a series, so much of the book is spent worldbuilding. It is a complicated world, especially for those less familiar with Norse Mythology. (Even the movies about Thor barely touch on the information crammed into this book.) It is slow going. Very slow. As a fan of Chima, I pushed on but I don’t know if my high school students will do the same. The story could be tighter and would appeal to many more readers. It is a slog, even for fans of Norse mythology – and Cinda Williams Chima.

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Punching the Air

by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam

Cover of Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi

Dead to the world 
but somewhere in our souls 
we are both scratching at the walls 
yelling to the sky 
punching the air 
to let everyone and everything know 
that we are in here 
still alive

Amal is sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. Not that anyone is listening to him. He’s black and the victim is white. And in a coma. No one else can clear his name. Now he is in prison and angry. 

On a scale of one to ten
how angry are you?

Eleven, I say

Amal is a reader, an artist, and a poet. He wants to join a poetry class but is too broken to care. The white prisoners are making his life a hell. He doesn’t want to join a black gang. It is only when his crush sends him a letter out of the blue that he grabs onto a tiny bit of hope and of life.

Zoboi make us feel Amal, inside and out. Past, present, and future. Her writing is phenomenal. Give this book to everyone.

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Long Way Down Graphic Novel

By Jason Reynolds, art by Danica Novgorodoff

Danica Novgorodoff has adapted Jason Reynolds’ masterpiece, Long Way Down, as a graphic novel. It is a beautiful piece of art. Watercolors create a stormy background for the somber tone of the story. Flashbacks are done in shades of moody blue and white. The emotions and the details and the personalities of each character are tangible. The illustrations bring the story to life.

On the down side, the beauty of Jason’s words are not the focus of the book. His words are exquisite and impactful in the original. Words you want to remember. In the graphic novel, the words just don’t stand out as much. The graphic novel is again, beautiful and powerful, but does not take the place of the original.

Any fan of Jason Reynolds will adore this book as will graphic novel lovers.

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10 Blind Dates

by Ashley Elston

Sophie is spending her winter vacation with her grandparents. She had been hoping to spend it with her boyfriend – but he broke up with her. Now her extended family is determined to show off their matchmaking skills
by running a dating tournament. Ten relatives get to set her up on blind dates and, just like an office pool, they bet on how long the date is, whether or not she had fun, and more. Sophie reluctantly agrees to the deal and has a holiday unlike any before.

A great beach-read with likeable characters, relatable incidents, and cringe-worthy relatives. Sophie comes to realize how special her family is and at the same time, finds herself. Highly recommended purchase. Will appeal to readers of Han, Fitzgerald, and Menon.

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Kind of a Big Deal

by Shannon Hale

Josie was a big deal in high school. A beautiful singer, she always had the lead role and the adoration of the teacher-director in the school plays. He adored her acting so much, he convinced her to head to Broadway to test her luck. So she quit school, packed her bags, and found out that making it on Broadway is much more difficult than she imagined. Now she is in Montana as a nanny for a little girl and spending her time with her nose in a book.

Literally. Because when she opens a book, she actually becomes one of the characters in the book and gets swept up in the action. She starts to look forward to these out-of-reality moments and living her dreams. She meets two people in the books and they become more friends than the ones she is ignoring in real life. And it is getting harder to return to the real world.

While I’m a fan of Shannon Hale, I am not a fan of this book. It felt chaotic and disorganized. This is particularly true of the relationship with her boyfriend. Are they together? Is he losing interest? Does she really care? What about the people in her life now? Pretty much a shrug to me.

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Skyhunter

by Marie Lu

The NetGalley download for this book was just a few chapters. Thank goodness I started it a few days before publication because I didn’t want to put it down.

Talin is a refugee who has been given the chance to fight as a Striker, the elite warriors of her adopted country. When her partner dies in an ambush, she is given a new one. This partner is an escaped soldier from Karensa, the encroaching kingdom her country is fighting. She is determining whether or not to trust him when they are thrust into a fight and he reveals that he is more than meets the eye. And then they inexplicably bond telepathically.

The characters and their friendships is the strongest attraction of the book. It is easy to see that they care enough for each other that they will take on unwinnable odds against them. The world building is great but the distances and areas seem much smaller until they are actually in them. Once she is running towards something she sees and then is on a horse and it still takes her awhile to get there.

Kids will love this action-packed fantasy, especially fans of Marie Lu’s earlier books.

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Tears of Frost

By Bree Barton

Spoiler Alert for book one!

At the end of the first book, Heart of Thorns, Mia kills herself in order to spare her sister. In this book, she rises from the dead. Only she is not herself. She has some memories but no emotions including the love she once felt for Quin. Quin has discovered that he has been manipulated by Angelyne and can no longer trust his own feelings, even about Mia. Pilar feels everything, but primarily feels gutted by her mother’s betrayal. The three characters are headed separately to the Snow Queendom of Luumia for answers and assistance. They cannot count on each other but they can trust that no one is telling the whole truth.

The author provides a note at the beginning of the book to warn readers of a potential trigger as one of the characters is carrying the weight of a rape that she thinks is her own fault. This burden threatens to destroy her with guilt and shame.

Published copy provided to WASHYARG for review.

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Into the Crooked Place

by Alexandra Christo

Since the end of the war, Magic Crafters in Creije have gone into hiding. With no crafters, all of the city’s magic has to be recycled. When a new, dangerous magic appears, it is newly crafted; Somewhere there are crafters who still exist. And they are under the control of the Kingpin, the drug lord who plans to rewrite the world’s hierarchy no matter who gets hurt. Wesley is one of the Kingpin’s underlords and Tavia is one of his buskers/sellers. Saxony is an illegal immigrant and former lover of Karam, Wesley’s warrior bodyguard. These four flawed heroes reluctantly join together to defeat the Kingpin and make the realm safe for all. But they each harbor secrets and regrets that may put everything at risk.

Published copy provided to WASHYARG for review

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Angel Mage by Garth Nix

Using icons and magic, Angel Mages can call angels to perform various tasks. Each realm is devoted to and guarded over by an archangel. The kingdom of Ystara was forsaken by its angel, Pallenial, and the inhabitants were forced to run or turn into beastlings with no memory of themselves as they were. Generations later, in the neighboring land of Lutace, the powerful Liliath awakens from a self-imposed sleep as though it were only a day later. She is a skilled magic user as well as an icon-maker with one goal: to return to Ystara and bring back the broken angel Pallenial. In order for her plan to succeed, she needs four descendants from Ystara and the magical connection between them. Henri, Simeon, Agnez, and Dorotea are strangers to each other yet each felt a pull to one another. They became fast friends and companions on the trek to Ystara. Unfortunately, the same element that brought them together may succeed in separating them forever.

Characters are diverse and females are in less “traditional” roles. The story was complete but hopefully Garth Nix will set more stories in the angel mage world.

Published copy provided to WASHYARG for review.

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Incendiary by Zoraida Cordova

King Ferdinand of Puerto Leones has consolidated power over all neighboring countries until almost all are bowing to his might. Except the rebels from the abolished kingdom of Memoria; those who wield forbidden magic. Ren is part of the rebels in the Lynx Unit under the command of Dez, her lover and defender. Her magic is the kind that allows her to take away memories; she spent her early days as a pawn for King Ferdinand turning rebels into husks of themselves with no memory or will of their own. Though she escaped she cannot shake her past.

When Dez is captured by the cruel Bloodied Prince Castian, heir to the crown, Ren infiltrates the castle to finish his task of locating the powerful mind-altering weapon about to be unleashed on them all. She falls back into her former life feigning illness to avoid the inevitable task of clearing the minds of innocent victims while she desperately tries to find the weapon. While searching for clues, she finds support in the most unexpected places and preconceived judgements shattered.

Plenty of twists make this book hard to put down. The characters are multi-dimensional with various motivations and personalities. This epic political fantasy will appeal to fans of Sarah Maas, Marie Rutkoski, and Renee Ahdieh. Looking forward to the sequel.