Review: The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

Title: The Beautiful Series: The Beautiful #1 Written by: Renee Ahdieh Published: October 8, 2019 by G.P. Putnam Books for Young Readers (Penguin Group) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she's forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city's glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group's leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien's guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret. When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface. At once a sultry romance and a thrilling murder mystery, master storyteller Renée Ahdieh embarks on her most potent fantasy series yet: The Beautiful.

I really enjoy Renee Ahdieh's writing so when I heard she was coming out with a book about vampires set in New Orleans I was so excited to read it. And then I was even more excited to get a copy at ALA in June. And while the writing was beautiful and the concept is fantastic but it didn’t quite deliver on what I was hoping for.

One thing that I did like about this book is Renee’s writing. I have red all her books and she is an incredibly descriptive writer. Everything really comes to life in her books. In this case she is taking New Orleans in the 1870’s and adding supernatural elements. I remember going to New Orleans and hearing all the stories about ghosts, vampires, and witches so it made for the perfect setting for a book like this. And while I don’t know that there was a real feeling of time and place, I do feel like the setting was lush and engaging.

However, the plot was a little lacking for me. There really could have been a fantastic murder mystery to this book but it just didn’t deliver on that. I felt like the main character wasn’t really trying to figure out who was responsible for what happened. She was just sort of on the periphery of what was going on. I wish she had been much more involved in everything. When it comes down to it, this just felt like a serious case of first book syndrome when it came to the plot.

I think my biggest issue is that I am realizing how hard I am to please when it comes to books about vampires. To be honestX I really cannot handle the dramatic irony involved in most of the stories that involves vampires. I know there are vampires, and the characters do not so they look obtuse and it gets in the way of me liking them and the book.

And as far as the characters go, I think think they other thing that I didn’t love was the romance. This really felt like a throwback to an mid-2000’s YA with the romance. Not only did we have a love triangle but it was with two guys who were former best friends turned rivals who are obsessed with this girl after first meeting her. See what I mean about it all being a throwback? It just felt so trope-y and that really is not my thing. If it played with and attempted to subvert the tropes I would be here for it but it bought into them too much for my taste.

On the whole, I didn't enjoy The Beautiful as much as I was expecting. I know a ton of people loved this book, it just wasn’t for me. I wanted more from the plot and less from the romance. I think I am just the black sheep here.

I give The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh 7.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. If you are a fan of supernatural romances and are looking for something with a throwback YA vibe then check this out. But if you want a dark and gothic adventure and mystery, look elsewhere.

Have you read The Beautiful? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor Blog Tour: Review and Favorite Quotes

**** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review as part of the blog tour. This fact has not changed my opinion. ****

Title: Tarnished Are the Stars Written by: Rosiee Thor Published: October 15, 2019 by Scholastic Press (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: The Lunar Chronicles meets Rook in this queer #OwnVoices science-fantasy novel, perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer and Sharon Cameron.  A secret beats inside Anna Thatcher's chest: an illegal clockwork heart. Anna works cog by cog -- donning the moniker Technician -- to supply black market medical technology to the sick and injured, against the Commissioner's tyrannical laws.  Nathaniel Fremont, the Commissioner's son, has never had to fear the law. Determined to earn his father's respect, Nathaniel sets out to capture the Technician. But the more he learns about the outlaw, the more he questions whether his father's elusive affection is worth chasing at all.  Their game of cat and mouse takes an abrupt turn when Eliza, a skilled assassin and spy, arrives. Her mission is to learn the Commissioner's secrets at any cost -- even if it means betraying her own heart.   When these uneasy allies discover the most dangerous secret of all, they must work together despite their differences and put an end to a deadly epidemic -- before the Commissioner ends them first.

There needs to be more standalone science fiction novels and I was really excited to read this one. It seemed like it was totally up my alley so I was glad to be a part of the blog tour for it. It was an engaging story with great characters and an interesting world.

My favorite thing about this book was the characters and character development. This is one of those books which alternates perspectives. Those can be incredibly tricky because often I like one character more than others, and feel like the multiple narrators make things complex. But that was not the case with Tarnished Are The Stars. Each character added to the story and offered a unique perspective. I never felt like a section was unnecessary or that I wanted to go back to someone else. However, I did have a favorite character. While I liked Anna and Nathaniel, it was Eliza who I loved. She was a kickass female who is trying and often succeeding at being the smartest person in the room. I found myself rooting for her and loved her development throughout the book as she discovered who she wanted to be and then became that person. But that was the case for each of the characters. They were all easy to root for and had great development.

One of the other things I liked about these characters was the LGBTQIA representation. Because seriously, this book is super queer. Not only is there a good f/f relationship that develops throughout the book but we also had asexual and aromantic representation. I firmly believe there needs to be more ark and ace rep in books. I’m constantly feeling like a romance is unnecessary and having a character who states on the page that they are not only not interested in a relationship but not even attracted to anyone was so amazing. Having Nathaniel come to terms with his own identity was part of what I liked about him and the book.

I also liked the world of this book. It is one of those books that reminds you that dystopia is a subgenre of science fiction. It had subtle sci-if vibes with the use of technology to impact the lives of the people, but it also had dystopia feels with a new planet being colonized because of the fact that earth was negatively affected years ago. There was also that ever present shady government adding to the drama and a disease impacting the you people like our main characters. However, as interesting as the world was, I did feel like we weren’t given a lot of information about it. I felt like some of the big reveals were not as impactful as they could have been because there was so much going on and the pacing was so fast. If it had scaled back a little bit and given more information I think I would have liked the world even more.

But my biggest frustration with this book was with the fact that it was so fast paced. I usually like a quick read that moves quickly from element to elements but here it was just jarring. I had no sense of how much time had passed and things just moved on with or without me. Instead of what I assumed was the desired effect of keeping me connected to the story, it actually pulled me out. I kept wondering to myself how much time had passed and whether they had actually spent time making this plan or if they were just winging it. And it even affected the character development at times because I was asking myself how they had gone from enemies to friends so quickly. This is about average length for a YA novel but I honestly wish it had been a little bit longer and was fleshed out a bit more. It was a very engaging story with tons of twists and turns but that was negatively impacted by the breakneck speed.

On the whole, Tarnished Are the Stars was an interesting read and a good debut novel. It had great characters, an interesting world, a fat-paced plot. But I wish the story had been fleshed out a little more.

I give Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor 7 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. If you are looking for a standalone dystopia with queer characters and a fast-paced plot then I would suggest checking this one out.

Have you read Tarnished Are the Stars?  What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stooping by and HAPPY READING!

FAVORITE QUOTES

"A good weapon, she found, needn't draw blood to be effective. A controlled target was better than a dead one."

"Murder comes in many shapes... You don't always have to look someone in the eye and watch them die to be their killer."

"But that was the thing about loss: Death could rip love from life, but those memories stayed behind, burning a hole through the heart."

"I don't give much credence to regret. I can't go back and change what's done. All I can do is take what I learned and do better next time."

"It matters because this is who you are - but it is not all you are. It does not make you weak, nor does it make you strong. You make yourself one or the other through the choices that you make."

"Power is not the same as strength... Some days strength is control, and some days strength is release. Perhaps today strength is understanding that being like your father isn't inherently bad, and two men can be alike and still make different choices."

BOOK LINKS 

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / Google Books

AUTHOR INFORMATION 

Rosiee Thor began her career as a storyteller by demanding that her mother listen as Rosiee told bedtime stories instead of the other way around. She lives in Oregon with a dog, two cats, and four complete sets of Harry Potter, which she loves so much, she once moved her mattress into the closet and slept there until she came out as queer.

Goodreads / Website / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook

TOUR SCHEDULE:

https://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2019/08/tour-schedule-tarnished-are-stars-by.html 

GIVEAWAY Prize: Win a signed hardcopy of TARNISHED ARE THE STARS by Rosiee Thor (US Only) Stars: 15th October 2019 Ends: 29th October 2019

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small Blog Tour and Review

Title: Bright Burning Stars Written by: A.K. Small Published: May 21, 2019 by Algonquin Young Readers (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: Best friends Marine Duval and Kate Sanders have trained at the Paris Opera Ballet School since childhood, where they’ve formed an inseparable bond forged by respective family tragedies and a fierce love for dance. When the body of a student is found in the dorms just before the start of their final year, Marine and Kate begin to ask themselves what they would do to win the ultimate prize: to be the one girl selected to join the Opera’s prestigious corps de ballet. Would they die? Cheat? Seduce the most talented boy in the school, dubbed the Demigod, hoping his magic would make them shine, too? Neither girl is sure.  But then Kate gets closer to the Demigod, even as Marine has begun to capture his heart. And as selection day draws near, the competition—for the prize, for the Demigod—becomes fiercer, and Marine and Kate realize they have everything to lose, including each other.

*** I received an advance copy of this book

I was really excited to read this book. I'm not someone who reads a ton of contemporaries but I love boarding schools, a Parisian setting, and have enjoyed books about dancers in the past so this seemed totally in my wheelhouse. And while this isn't my typical read, I really enjoyed this one.

One the things that surprised me most about this book was the plot development of this book. For someone who reads mostly genre fiction, I honestly didn't think a book about ballet would be all that exciting but this book definitely showed me how wrong I was. Bright Burning Stars takes you into the savage and cutthroat world of competitive dance. It definitely made for an exciting read, although it is probably not for everyone. The characters are competing against each other and themselves to win "The Prize," a coveted spot on stage at the Opera Garnier. It's not an easy story to read sometimes. There is a lot of serious and hard to read moments including characters dealing with eating disorders, abortions, and thoughts of suicide. They put their blood, sweat, and tears on the floor which means a lot of pressure and regret when things don't go well.

This is very much a character-driven narrative. The story alternates between Marine and Kate who are both students at an elite ballet boarding school and best friends. Marine is a Parisian who is inspired by the tragedy of her twin brother who died and was also a ballerina. Throughout the book she struggles with the pressure of being the best and having the perfect ballet body. She makes some really bad decisions in the face of proving that she can be a great dancer. Kate is an American, something that makes her an outsider, who will do whatever it takes to succeed. A lot of Kate's struggle is her need for approval. She wants to be loved and makes some really bad decisions because she thinks that being the best will give her the approval she so desperately deserves. I liked each of the characters on their own, but interestingly this was one of those rare occasions where I wanted the characters to fail. I hated how much pressure it put on them and I honestly just wanted them to give up it all and be happy. But that wasn't what their character development was all about. Well not entirely.

And while I loved the characters alone, the two of them together was what I wanted the most. In the beginning when they were best friends who would do anything for one another it gave the book a lot of heart. Their Moon Sisters backstory and all their Beyonce dancing was amazing. But then as the book development and they let boys and dance come between them, I started liking the characters a lot less. I am a big fan of books about female friendship and with a narrative with so many serious issues, I think this book could have really benefited from some more of those light and fun moments.

I did however like the setting of this book. For one thing, I loved the boarding school setting. It was more on the subtle side but I loved seeing the characters in their classes and interacting around the school. The other really subtle thing about the setting was it's use of Paris. There were few mentions of known landmarks but honestly the school could have been anywhere. I love books set in Paris and I wished that the book did a better job of establishing Paris as the setting. The better setting was of course the world of dance. I am not at all familiar with ballet or dance at all but I felt like it really came to life in this book. Small's descriptions of the dances in particular made it all so beautiful and visual in the best possible way.

This is not my typical read but I really enjoyed it. There were some elements that could have been fleshed out a little bit more but on the whole this was a brutal and engaging read about the brutal world of dance and the toll it takes on the ballerinas. It's not an easy ready but it is very entertaining.

I give Bright Burning Stars by A.K. Small 

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. I think this is going to be one of those books where people either love it or they don’t. It's a good contemporary read especially for those who like more serious books.

AUTHOR BIO: 

A.K. SMALL was born in Paris. At five years old, she began studying classical dance with the legendary Max Bozzoni, then later with Daniel Franck and Monique Arabian at the famous Académie Chaptal. At thirteen, she moved to the United States where she danced with the Pacific Northwest Ballet for one summer in Seattle and with the Richmond Ballet Student Company for several years. She’s a graduate of the College of William and Mary and has an MFA in fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts. When she’s not writing, she spends time with her husband, her puppy, and her three daughters, and practices yoga. Bright Burning Stars is her first novel.

SOCIAL LINKS: 

Website: https://eaduncan.com/ 
Twitter: @aksmallwords
Instagram: @aksmallwords

Have you read Bright Burning Stars? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Book Review: Immoral Code by Lillian Clark

Title: Immoral Code Written by: Lillian Clarke Published: February 19, 2019 by Delacorte (Random House) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: For Nari, aka Narioka Diane, aka hacker digital alter ego “d0l0s," it’s college and then a career at “one of the big ones," like Google or Apple. Keagan, her sweet, sensitive boyfriend, is happy to follow her wherever she may lead. Reese is an ace/aro visual artist with plans to travel the world. Santiago is off to Stanford on a diving scholarship, with very real Olympic hopes. And Bellamy? Physics genius Bellamy is admitted to MIT—but the student loan she’d been counting on is denied when it turns out her estranged father—one Robert Foster—is loaded. Nari isn’t about to let her friend’s dreams be squashed by a deadbeat billionaire, so she hatches a plan to steal just enough from Foster to allow Bellamy to achieve her goals.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. But unfortunately, for me it didn’t quite deliver. It’s not a bad book, it just didn’t impress me in the way I was hoping.

For one thing, I went into this book exciting for a YA heist novel which is something you don’t see very often and I am very interested in reading. And while this book has a heist in it, the actual heist itself was only about 20% of the book and didn’t happen until about 60% of the way into the book. I wanted more from the heist, more about the heist. As the kind of reader who prefers a plot-driven story, I was left kind of disappointed by the fact that this was more of a character-driven story.

I should have realized this was going to be more character-driven when I realized this book have five different perspectives. It’s about a group of five best friends and each of them takes a portion of the story. We get to be in their head, learn about who they are and what makes them tick. They are a diverse group of people who you wouldn’t really expect to be friends but they very obviously care for one another. One of the thing I liked about them is that they felt like teenagers. Their voice felt very young but it realistic. The author succeeded in making them high school students in an effortless way. But I think their “voice” from a narrative standpoint kind of blended together for me. I found myself completely forgetting who the chapter was about and wanted to go back to the start to remind myself of that. It just kind of muddied the narrative for me.

And while this was a short book, I don’t know that I would call it a fast read. I mean, I did read it in just a few days but it also took awhile before I really connected with the story. I read the first half in four days and the second half in a day. The pacing definitely built up to an exciting ending but it had such a slow start. If this was a 400 page novel I think I probably would have DNF’d it because I couldn’t see investing the time. It had a satisfying ending but it took me longer than I would have like to get to what had interested me in the book in the first place.

What I want to convey to potential readers is not that this is not a bad book. It’s just a more quiet and character-driven read. It’s about friendship and family, both found and forced. It’s about making certain decisions and then having to live with the consequences. It’s about morally questionable actions for justice and how maybe getting what you wanted isn’t what you needed. It is not, however, a heist novel.

I give Immoral Code by Lillian Clarke 7 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Bypass. Like I said, this is not a bad book it just isn't the book for me. But that being said I don't know that I would recommend it. I think there are other books that I would suggest more than this one.

Have you read Immoral Code? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Review: Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok

Title: Spectacle Written by: Jodie Lynn Zdrok Published: February 12, 2019 by Tor Teen (Macmillan) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: A YA murder mystery in which a young reporter must use her supernatural visions to help track down a killer targeting the young women of Paris.   Paris, 1887.   Sixteen-year-old Nathalie Baudin writes the daily morgue column for Le Petit Journal. Her job is to summarize each day's new arrivals, a task she finds both fascinating and routine. That is, until the day she has a vision of the newest body, a young woman, being murdered--from the perspective of the murderer himself.  When the body of another woman is retrieved from the Seine days later, Paris begins to buzz with rumors that this victim may not be the last. Nathalie's search for answers sends her down a long, twisty road involving her mentally ill aunt, a brilliant but deluded scientist, and eventually into the Parisian Catacombs. As the killer continues to haunt the streets of Paris, it becomes clear that Nathalie's strange new ability may make her the only one who can discover the killer's identity--and she'll have to do it before she becomes a target herself.

You know when there is a YA historical mystery I'm not going to be far behind wanting to read it. Especially one with fantasy elements and one set in Belle Epoque Paris. This is such a me book. Which is why I was so thankful to Alyssa (aka WiththeBanned) for sharing her ARC with me. And while this book wasn't perfect it was engaging and compulsively readable.

My favorite thing about this book was the setting. I like historical fiction and because of that I read a lot of it. The best ones do a really good job of establishing time and place. This was one of those books. The author clearly did her research into what life was life in Paris during the end of the 1880's. For me, Paris really came to life in this book and it had me wanting to go back to the city. I also feel like she did a great job with establishing the culture of the time for the wealthy class, with their fixation on dressing up to visit the morgue and attending seances. I even found myself wondering if there was actually a serial killer in Paris at the time because it did feel so grounded in the history. I felt like this setting was a great aspect of this book and with someone who has been wanting books set in Belle Epoque Paris, that is a definite plus.

I also really enjoyed the fantasy elements of this book. It added a great layer to not only the setting, but the plot of the book. It reminded me a lot of The Diviners series by Libba Bray. It had that same kind of vibes. It was sometimes gory and grotesque and sometimes mysterious and fantastical.  I really like that the magic had clear rules and consequences and that each person's powers were different and that they were connected to the individual. What I really like is that it was grounded in science and history. The experiments that lead to the magic seemed like the kind of thing that someone would actually have done. It felt possible which made me enjoy it even more.

However, I wasn't totally impressed by the plot development and pacing. I am a plot-driven reader so a strong plot is very important to me, especially when it comes to mysteries. I like my mysteries to be complex and solvable. I want to be able to solve them along with the reader. Here I felt like this was the kind of mystery where they didn't want you to solve anything. They wanted to just surprise and take you for a ride with interesting twists and turns. Which is fine, and definitely what this book did, but that's not the kind of book that I enjoy. I wish it was more of a detective novel. But instead it just felt a little bit disconnected where a big reveal was then followed up with a slower sections where things would drag until the next twist. If there was more of a slow build up to a big reveal I think I would have enjoyed the plot more.

The characters too fell a little flat for me. I did like the main character of Nathalie. I feel like she was probably the most interesting character. She's one of those historical fiction heroines who is a bit ahead of her time and wants to be something that society doesn't really accept her as because she is a woman. A good amount of this book is her figuring out exactly who she wants to be and not caring about what society says about it and that is something I will always get behind. But the rest of the characters didn't make a great impression. This is the kind of book where you very easily could have a had a squad behind you with Simone, Christophe, and Louis but they were just tangentially involved. But this book was much about Nathalie and she really carried it.

All in all, I thought this was a good read. It's fast and engaging with a good historical setting, an interesting magical system, and a plot full of twists and turns. It's not the most complex mystery I have read and the pacing was a bit off but I still really enjoyed it. It was a book I was really looking forward to and it met my expectations.

I give Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok 8 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. If you are a fan of historical mysteries and want a quick and interesting read I would check this one out from your local library. It didn't blow me away but I definitely enjoyed it.

 Have you read Spectacle? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

White Stag by Kara Barbieri Blog Tour and Review

Title: White Stag Series: Permafrost #1 Written by: Kara Barbieri Published: January 8, 2019 by Wednesday Books (Macmillan) (Buy Links / Goodreads) Synopsis: The first book in a brutally stunning series where a young girl finds herself becoming more monster than human and must uncover dangerous truths about who she is and the place that has become her home.  As the last child in a family of daughters, seventeen-year-old Janneke was raised to be the male heir. While her sisters were becoming wives and mothers, she was taught to hunt, track, and fight. On the day her village was burned to the ground, Janneke—as the only survivor—was taken captive by the malicious Lydian and eventually sent to work for his nephew Soren.  Janneke’s survival in the court of merciless monsters has come at the cost of her connection to the human world. And when the Goblin King’s death ignites an ancient hunt for the next king, Soren senses an opportunity for her to finally fully accept the ways of the brutal Permafrost. But every action he takes to bring her deeper into his world only shows him that a little humanity isn’t bad—especially when it comes to those you care about.  Through every battle they survive, Janneke’s loyalty to Soren deepens. After dangerous truths are revealed, Janneke must choose between holding on or letting go of her last connections to a world she no longer belongs to. She must make the right choice to save the only thing keeping both worlds from crumbling.

I love YA fantasy and I read a lot of it. So when I heard about White Stag it sounded like an interesting book and I was excited to read it. And while there were some good things about this book, I didn’t quite enjoy it in the way I was hoping.

One thing that I did really like about this book was the world. I’m not a huge fan about books with goblins, they are often too similar to fae for me, and I don’t always find them very interesting. But here, the author did a great job in creating goblins that were the perfect combination of dark, brutal, and compelling. There is a history and mythology to the world, complete with a frost-filled land of magic and a human world destroyed by the goblins. It pulled me in and captured my interested for what was today.

Unfortunately, what was to come was not very much. My biggest problem however is with the plot and pacing. Honestly, this felt like two different books. The first half of the book is a character-driven fantasy about a person trying to figure out their place and where they belong despite being torn between to two worlds who distrust here. While an interesting concept, that’s not often the kind of plot that I enjoy. Add to that romantic tension that I wanted nothing to do with and you have a book I think a lot of people will like, but I don’t. But then the last third of the book completely changed course and became more of an adventure. This was the part of the plot I enjoyed with a mission, and a goal, and daring escapes. But in terms of a cohesion, there really wasn’t much. It felt like two different stories, just with the same characters. Personally, I wish the plot lines from the second half were more detailed and took up the whole book. But I know this was originally written for Wattpad and so perhaps it is meant to be more serialized, which would explain this. But I just had to struggle through the exposition.

As far as the characters go, they were kind of hit or miss for me. One of the characters I did like was the main character of Janneke. She had some real strong Sansa Stark vibes as she is help captive in a court she doesn’t want to be in only to be abused by the the king. She was an easy character to empathize with and when she snapped and fought back you were completely on her side. But she was the only character whose side I was on. The main villain of the story was ruthless and terrible, the kind of character who you completely detest. But then there was Soren, who I know I was supposed to like but I didn’t. Even her kinder moments I felt myself not being very impressed. He just felt like a cliche fantasy live interest and I wasn’t interested.

Which about sums up my feelings on the romance in general. I am totally romancephobic and one of my biggest frustrations is when romance is shoehorned into the story without giving it enough build up. This book did exactly that. I knew going in that there was going to be this romance so it wasn’t a completely surprise but I still wasn’t shipping it at all. It just felt so sudden and like a complete flip for the character. I like a hate to love romance but it actually has to show me that there is mutual affection between the characters and not just a few moments where they talk casually and then suddenly they are deeply in love. Maybe people who are bigger fans of romance will enjoy this one but for me, it was a miss.

There were some good aspects of this book but it did not blow me away. It’s not the next great YA fantasy for me, just another okay read that wasn’t for me.

I give White Stag by Kara Barbieri 7 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. I would recommend this book to fans of romance heavy fantasy like A Court of Thorns and Roses that is more character-driven. It wasn't my type of read but I feel like in the right hands this is going be a very loved book.

About the Author:

Kara Barbieri is a writer living in the tiny town of Hayward, Wisconsin. An avid fantasy fan, she began writing White Stag at eighteen and posting it to Wattpad soon after under the name of ‘Pandean’. When she’s not writing, you can find her marathoning Buffy the Vampire Slayer, reviving gothic fashion, and jamming to synthpop.


Have you read White Stag? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Review: Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Title: Little White Lies Series: Debutantes #1 Written by: Jennifer Lynn Barnes Published: November 6, 2018 by Freeform (Disney) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: "I'm not saying this is Sawyer's fault," the prim and proper one said delicately. "But."  Eighteen-year-old auto mechanic Sawyer Taft did not expect her estranged grandmother to show up at her apartment door and offer her a six-figure contract to participate in debutante season. And she definitely never imagined she would accept. But when she realizes that immersing herself in her grandmother's "society" might mean discovering the answer to the biggest mystery of her life-her father's identity-she signs on the dotted line and braces herself for a year of makeovers, big dresses, bigger egos, and a whole lot of bless your heart. The one thing she doesn't expect to find is friendship, but as she's drawn into a group of debutantes with scandalous, dangerous secrets of their own, Sawyer quickly discovers that her family isn't the only mainstay of high society with skeletons in their closet. There are people in her grandmother's glittering world who are not what they appear, and no one wants Sawyer poking her nose into the past. As she navigates the twisted relationships between her new friends and their powerful parents, Sawyer's search for the truth about her own origins is just the beginning.  Set in the world of debutante balls, grand estates and rolling green hills, Little White Lies combines a charming setting, a classic fish-out-of-water story, and the sort of layered mystery only author Jennifer Lynn Barnes can pull off.

*** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for and honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

I loved Jennifer Lynn Barnes’ The Fixer series and I want to read more of her books so when I heard that she was coming out with a new book that was about debutantes with secrets I was completely on board. And while it was a pretty good read, it didn’t blow me away like I was expecting.

The characterization has this real Gilmore Girls feel. Our main character is the daughter of a former rich girl who got pregnant at seventeen and left home to raise her child. The difference is that these two didn’t have the charm and connection of Rory and Lorelei. It was like later seasons Gilmore Girls where they’ve had a falling out. The grandmother however had strong Emily vibes. She was like this tough an prickly woman who has a surprising heart of gold when it comes right down to it. I loved seeing her walls break down throughout the book along with Sawyer’s. They weren’t quite unlikable characters but they were pretty dubious ones and I always like that in a mystery.

But that was just the start of the dubious characters. This book was full of characters who walk the line between good and evil. So many of them do terrible things throughout the book, some for good reasons and some for terrible reasons. There were some truly devious characters like Campbell and some characters who just made really terrible decision like Lily. I was pleasantly surprised by the relationship that developed between the girls. It started out feeling like a catty mean girls sort of situation but by the end they really came together and made a great team.

However, I do think that the mystery here was kind of lacking. I come to expect JLB to write a twisty series full of last minute surprises so that’s what I wanted here. But it never delivered on that. I think the problem was there were just too many plot points so it lacked a cohesive story. The book was told with these interludes that were happening in the past (or was it the future) that were supposed to explain why the girls were arrested but honestly I think they just confused me needlessly. And then throughout the main novel there was the idea of who Sawyer’s father was thrown in with at least three more side storylines. They all were interesting they just took away from the overall connectedness of the story. I know JLB can write a good thriller, this just wasn’t her best work. I wish she had scaled back a little bit.

But all and all this was a good read. It was fast and entertaining. I read it on a train ride home from seeing my family for Thanksgiving and it was the perfect vacation read.

I give Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes 8 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. I would recommend this book to someone who is not a huge fan of thrillers but wants a book with some mystery to it. I think contemporary fans will like it more than fans of mysteries.

Have you read Little White Lies? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Review: Pulp by Robin Talley

Title: Pulp Written by: Robin Talley Published: November 13, 2018 by Harlequin Teen (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: In 1955, eighteen-year-old Janet Jones keeps the love she shares with her best friend Marie a secret. It’s not easy being gay in Washington, DC, in the age of McCarthyism, but when she discovers a series of books about women falling in love with other women, it awakens something in Janet. As she juggles a romance she must keep hidden and a newfound ambition to write and publish her own story, she risks exposing herself—and Marie—to a danger all too real. Sixty-two years later, Abby Zimet can’t stop thinking about her senior project and its subject—classic 1950s lesbian pulp fiction. Between the pages of her favorite book, the stresses of Abby’s own life are lost to the fictional hopes, desires and tragedies of the characters she’s reading about. She feels especially connected to one author, a woman who wrote under the pseudonym “Marian Love,” and becomes determined to track her down and discover her true identity. In this novel told in dual narratives, New York Times bestselling author Robin Talley weaves together the lives of two young women connected across generations through the power of words. A stunning story of bravery, love, how far we’ve come and how much farther we have to go.

*** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

I've read a few of Robin Talley's books and I really enjoyed them so when I saw she was coming out a new book that historical fiction elements I was really excited to read it. And it was a really interesting and engaging read with more layers than I was expecting.

One of the most interesting things about this book for me is the fact that it read like a historical mystery. Historical mysteries are one of my favorite subgenres and I have enjoyed both Robin's historical fiction and her mysteries so I knew this book was in good hands. This was one of those stories where a modern character finds something from the historical character who she has to learn more about. Their stories are linked and often mirror each other. That is exactly what happened in Pulp. Despite how different their lives were, in so many ways Abby and Janet's lives mirrored one another as they dealt with their feelings of attraction to their best friends, found a book that spoke deep into their soul, and their desire to write the perfect story.

My favorite part about this book was the subtle themes in the plot. Books about books is not rare by any means but Pulp handled it so well and in a way that was much more subtle. Pulp is very much a book for fans of reading and writing. It perfectly expresses how you feel when you find that perfect book with that character and experiences so much like your own that you relate to it so completely it overtakes you. It also communicates the idea of writing an own voices book. A book that captures your story in that cathartic way that you not only get it out of your head but out in the world. Despite my massive failure of NaNoWriMo this was the perfect book to read for this month because it is so much about writing.

I also really enjoyed the historical aspect of this book. Robin Talley is a master of write not only the LGBT experience in a historical perspective but what it was like in the mid-20th Century. This book took some of the more unspoken and undiscussed aspects of the 1950's and early-60's and brought them into the light, well as light as possible with such dark and difficult topics. She really showed the pressure and anxiety caused by McCarthyism and the witch hunt not only for Communists but anyone who was different including homosexuals. I love exploring not only this time period but some of the aspects that don't often get the attention they deserve so I really enjoyed this book for that reason.

As far as the characters go, I felt like the author did a great job in balancing the two perspectives. The story alternated between Janet and Abby and they both had interesting stories but if I am being completely honest I enjoyed Janet's story a bit more. Abby was super relateable and the way she was dealing with her writing and the anxiety of how she was handling the forthcoming change felt so genuine and real. However, I found myself wanting to learn more about Janet and how her story unfolded. In her chapters there was drama and tension. For a plot-driven reader, Janet's story was the more engaging. I also think I just liked Janet a bit more. She had a lot going against her but she knew who she and stayed fiercely herself despite the adversity. I had a lot of respect for her because of that.

I really enjoyed Pulp a lot. It was a fast and interesting book and I devoured it. I read it so much faster than I expected because I was invested in the stories of both Janet and Abby. It was a subtle historical mystery with great themes and engaging characters.

I give Pulp by Robin Talley 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. If you are a fan of historical fiction, especially historical mysteries, then I would recommend reading this book. It's also a great read for people who like books about books and writing. I thoroughly enjoyed it for that aspect.

Have you read Pulp? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Amber and Dusk by Lyra Selene Blog Tour: Review

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: Amber & Dusk
Author: Lyra Selene
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: November 27, 2018
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Synopsis: Sylvie has always known she deserves more. Out in the permanent twilight of the Dusklands, her guardians called her power to create illusions a curse. But Sylvie knows it gives her a place in Coeur d'Or, the palais of the Amber Empress and her highborn legacies.

So Sylvie sets off toward the Amber City, a glittering jewel under a sun that never sets, to take what is hers.

But her hope for a better life is quickly dimmed. The empress invites her in only as part of a wicked wager among her powerful courtiers. Sylvie must assume a new name, Mirage, and begin to navigate secretive social circles and deadly games of intrigue in order to claim her spot. Soon it becomes apparent that nothing is as it appears and no one, including her cruel yet captivating sponsor, Sunder, will answer her questions. As Mirage strives to assume what should be her rightful place, she'll have to consider whether itis worth the price she must pay.

MY REVIEW

**** I received an advance copy of this book from the published in exchange for an honest review as a part of the blog tour. This fact has not changed my opinion. ****

I am usually looking for a new and different YA fantasy so when I read the synopsis for this book and saw the opportunity to take part in the blog tour for this one I jumped at the chance. And while I do think that this felt like a classic fantasy, and while it had a lot of promise it didn't quite deliver on that.

The thing that I think best expresses this for me is the characters.. This is a book full of odious and interesting characters. I usually prefer my fantasies to have characters who are on the darker side. People who have allegiances that are hidden and plenty of secrets. These were those kinds of characters. It made for interesting characters who I was curious to learn more about, but I feel a little bit like we didn't get that payoff. Some of the characters got good reveals towards the end of the book but for the most part they didn't strike an emotional chord for me. I think honestly because most of them weren't really very big surprises. The main character of Sylvie felt like a classic YA fantasy protagonist. She was tough and brash which I liked but she was also incredibly dense which I found a little frustrating. To be honest, that was one of the things that added to the classic feel of this book for me. It was the find of book where I preferred the secondary characters.

What I enjoyed most about Amber and Dusk was the world. For one thing, the magical system is one of those where each character has their own power and they feel almost like superpowers, which is a magical system I always enjoy. Plus the author was great about how the magic had clear rules and before the main character was able to use her powers in a significant way she had to learn how to control them, which is something I prefer in my magic. But the world also had a ton of political intrigue. I love when fantasies deal with court politics and the secrets surrounding the court and this book definitely handled that well.

I do think however that this book had too much world building and that's at the expense of the plot. New fantasy books always have a lot of exposition. I expect at least 100 pages of set up and world building. But this book kind of took things way too far. The most interesting part of the story for me didn't really kick in until about the last 80 pages and then it was over way too soon even though it sent into motion so much of the book's final act. There was one section that was only 20 pages long that I really wanted more from and I felt like this portion of the plot could have been expanded on. I need a very plot-centered story though so maybe most people won't mind about this too much.

All in all, I think this was an okay read. It had a lot going for it like odious characters and an interesting world full of political intrigue, plus it definitely read like a classic YA fantasy but it didn't quite blow me away.

I give Amber and Dusk by Lyra Selene 7.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. If you are looking for a YA fantastic that is heavy on the world and political intrigue and light on the plot development then check this out. It has classic fantasy vibes that I think fans of the genre will enjoy.

BOOK LINKS

฀Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37825423-amber-dusk
฀Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Amber-Dusk-Lyra-Selene/dp/1338210033
฀Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/amber-dusk-lyra-selene/1127731151
฀Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Amber-Dusk-Lyra-Selene/9781338210033?ref=grid-view&qid=1539641765675&sr=1-1
฀Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/amber-dusk
฀IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781338210033
฀iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/author/lyra-selene/id1332300728?mt=11

TOUR SCHEDULE

http://fantasticflyingbookclub.blogspot.com/2018/10/tour-schedule-amber-dusk-by-lyra-selen.html 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lyra Selene was born under a full moon and has never quite managed to wipe the moonlight out of her eyes. When she isn’t dreaming up fantastical cities and brood-ing landscapes, Lyra enjoys hiking, rainstorms, autumn, and pretending she’s any good at painting.

She lives in New England with her husband, in an antique farmhouse that’s probably not haunted. AMBER & DUSK is her debut novel.

 GIVEAWAY 

 •AMBER & DUSK by Lyra Selene
 •US Only
 •Starts: 11/12
 •Ends: 11/30

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Review: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Title: Girls of Paper and Fire Written by: Natasha Ngan Published: November 6, 2018 by Jimmy Books (Little, Brown Books) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honor they could hope for...and the most cruel.  But this year, there's a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.  In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it's Lei they're after--the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king's interest.  Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king's consort. But Lei isn't content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable--she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge.  TW: violence and sexual abuse.

This book was one of my most anticipated debuts of the year. I read a lot of YA fantasy (because I love it, obviously), and I am always excited to see a standalone, especially one on the darker side with political intrigue. And this was a really good read.

One of the best things about this book is the world. I'm surprised by how rich and engaging the world of this book is even though it's more subtle. It's a book inspired by Asian cultures and the emphasis is interesting and makes for a lush and beautiful setting. I usually like my fantasies to go big when it comes to magic but this one didn't. Instead it just developed the story around the world where people have animal features. These are the people who are the most revered and powerful within this world and there is a firm caste system between the others with people just being human at the lowest level. And like a lot of fantasy there is a brutal and authoritarian ruler. It added more depth to the world and a lot of political intrigue to the plot.

But I will say, that I still have a lot of questions about the world of this book. I know the general rule of them is to show instead of tell when it comes to world building but then you have to actually show these things. Maybe I was just reading more into it then it actually was but I thought there was some opportunities for big reveals in the explanation of the world and magical system. This boiok never went there and I wish that it had.

However, it may be possible that the world building was simple because the plot took more of the focus. This is one of those books where I think the trigger warning is good because this is very much a brutal read. It doesn't shrink away from the abuse of power of the Demon King, not only on the people in general but the young women who are his courtesans. It's often hard to read but it made for a dark and engaging story that had me wanting the protagonists to succeed in their goal to overthrow the king. I'm a plot-driven reader and usually I prefer a book full of action and surprises but this too was on the more subtle side. It was a simple sort of rebellion story but it was an interesting one nonetheless. I was invested in the story and it definitely did build to an exciting conclusion.

As far as the characters, I am not entirely sure how I feel about them. I already mentioned the brutal antagonist and I feel like Ngan did a great job in developing a terrible villain that was easy to dislike. But I would have like some more from the protagonists. Lei was a good enough main character, the kind of person who goes through so much that you can't help but root for her over the oppressors. But as an individual, I don't think she really came to life. It's not that she didn't have individual traits, because she was definitely fierce and determined in a way that usually endears me to a character. I mean she has some serious Sansa Stark vibes and you know how I love me some Sansa. But she just didn't make that strong an impression on me.

What surprised me though it that I did however like the romance. It's a f/f relationship and I actually liked the way that it developed. It is a little bit of a instalove, I mean it develops very quickly, but I think the author does a good job of showing the character's inner thoughts about the relationship. It's a bit of a forbidden fruit sort of thing but it never got to over the top with that. I liked that the character was torn about her feelings which makes it all the more satisfying when it came together. It had a good balance too and didn't overpower the story for me.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book even though it wasn't perfect. It had a rich and engaging world, a plot that pulled me and kept me reading until the exciting conclusion, and a romance that I actually enjoyed.

I give Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan 8.5 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. This is a good debut fantasy and I am interested to see what's next for this author. It may actually be a sequel with the way this book ended.

Have you read Girls of Paper and Fire? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!