Book Review
Title: Empress of all Seasons
Author: Emiko Jean
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Rating: 
Review: I have read Empress of all Seasons before, but I was excited to re-read it. The opening to Empress of all Seasons introduced us to Mari; a yokai demon who wants to compete in the competition that is held to find the next empress of Honoku with the crown Prince Taro as the prize the victory claims. We learn from the opening chapters that Mari is an executioner that kills people that come into their territory while Taro is a Crown Prince who has no intention of marrying the girl that wins the contest. Taro also has very different opinions on yokai than his father who likes killing them in the seasonal rooms. We see that neither Taro or Mari fit in with their cultures; Mari doesn’t fit in with the Animal Wives because she doesn’t possess their extraordinary beauty and while she is the executioner she never kills anyone her mother sends to her, rather she uses her friend Akira; a half yokai, half-human to sneak them to safety. Akira we learn is also in love with Mari but hasn’t said anything to her about it. Taro doesn’t fit in with the Palace because he doesn’t see the yokai as monsters, they are just like a human trying to survive in this cruel world and while he doesn’t want to marry he does want to change the way things are.
Book Review
Title: Sorcery of Thorns
Author: Margaret Rogerson
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Rating: 
Review: The opening to Sorcery of Thorns introduces us to Elisabeth, an orphan who is now an apprentice to the Great Library of Summershall, kept by the Director herself. Elisabeth wants to become a warden to keep protect and guard the magical test housed in the library and she has less than a year to prove herself. At the start of the novel a new grimoire is being added to the Library: The Book of Eyes which holds the power to read and control the minds of others. While the book tries to sway her she holds put longer than most but as they seal it away Elisabeth has the feeling that she hasn’t seen the last of this book. Many of the other librarians think Elisabeth has an unnatural attachment to the books within the library but she does see it that way. However, when a magister comes to the library Elisabeth seizes her chance to see on in the flesh. It turns out he wasn’t what she was expecting and seems quite nice when he helps her avoid detection and not get caught. When he performs magic she finds it to be beautiful rather than the horrid act the librarians describe it as. I can already smell the romance and can’t wait to see where this goes.
Book Review
Title: A Shiver of Snow and Sky
Author: Lisa Lueddecke
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Rating: 
Review: I didn’t know anything about this book before picking it up. From the synopsis, I know this story takes place in Skane where the sky lights up different colours, these colours correspond to the mood of the Goddess. Green is good, blue means a storm is coming and red is a warning. The last time the sky turned red was 17 years ago when our main character Osa was born, but the sky turns red again and she has to solve what it means before the horrors associated with the red sky are unleashed upon Skane once more.
Book Review
Title: Daughter of the Burning City
Author: Amanda Foody
Genre: YA/Fantasy/Romance
Rating: ****
Review: Daughter of the Burning City is Amanda Foody’s debut novel, I haven’t read anything by her before, but I have heard great things about this book and the Ace of Shades series. For the synopsis alone, it reminds me a little of Stalking Jack the Ripper but in a fantasy carnival setting. We are introduced to Sorina who is an illusion worker in the Gomorrah Festival, she can create illusions that have their own personalities and can physically interact with other people and I gather that these illusions make up either the entirety or most of the freak show acts in the Gomorrah Festival. The opening of the novel was, interesting as we are introduced to Sorina and her illusions who are her family, so far Tree is my favourite as he reminds me of Groot. We witness one of their shows and what makes them unique as well as the rest of the festival, Sorina’s favourite attraction is the menagerie but this night it is canceled as some officials show up causing chaos at the Festival. From the moment things start going wrong I got a really bad feeling and I like all of Sorina’s illusions so knowing one of them is going to die was heartbreaking. As I mentioned Sorina is an illusion worker, but even she is unique among her kind, most it seems are born blind and see the world a different way but Sorina was born completely without eyes only impressions where her eyes should be. She was a slave girl in another life but was soon adopted by the Festival and she does some dodgy things to take care of the women who raised her within the Festival. The atmosphere of this novel is intense from the very beginning which is such a hard thing to capture especially in a debut novel.
Book Review
Title: The Assassin’s Blade
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Rating: 
Review: I am re-reading both the Throne of Glass series and the Court of Thorns and Roses series and of course, I am starting the Assassin’s Blade. As this is a series of short stories that are a prequel to the series I will be reviewing them individually and also in later reviews, showing how this prequel novel impacted my understanding on the whole series.
The Assassin and The Pirate Lord
We are introduced to Celaena and the other assassins she lives with at the Keep. These obviously include Arobynn, Sam Cortland, Ben, and Gregori to name a few. We learn that there is some bad blood between Sam and Celaena as Arobynn named Celaena his heir rather than Sam. However, when Gregori is captured and Ben killed their difference of opinion proves to be dangerous. We then jump forward in time to Sam and Celaena on a mission to meet with the Pirate Lord; Rolfe. When Sam and Celaena learn that Arobynn has made a deal with Rolfe to trade in slaves both are equally sickened by it and despite their history, they decide to work together to free the slaves even though Rolfe will try to kill them and then they will also have to deal with Arobynn when they return. It turns out that Celaena is 100x smarter than I first thought, and she manages to get her and Sam out of the Pirate’s territory alive, but they can never return there.
Book Review
Title: Carrie Can’t Choose a Costume
Author: Joy Hardin
Genre: Children’s/Picture Book
Rating: 
Review: I have reviewed a few children’s books in the past and I have to say this one is my favourite. The artwork is divine, and I love Carrie’s design. The story is also something every child especially young girls can relate to I know I did. I remember being young and not being able to decide what costume I wanted to wear at Halloween (I usually just went as a witch for many years). I can tell Hardin really thought about the direction she wanted to take this book.
