Fantasy
The Spellshop
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
This was a beautiful whimsy story. If you love cozy fantasy books, this is for you!
Kiela loves books way more than people. She spent the last decade sequestered in the stacks of the Great Library of Alyssum with a magical spider plant named Caz.
A revolution, a fire, and a great desire to save the books sends Kiela and Caz on a grand adventure.
She ends up on the little remote island where she was born. With a handsome neighbor, forbidden magic, and the love of the town, this cozy fantasy will take you away.
Beautiful magical characters and places with a sweet hint of adventure and love will make this a favorite. 4/5⭐s
The Change
The Change by Kirsten Miller
Three women, all with different "gifts", find a body. When the women push for more answers, they find more bodies and have more questions. They bond in friendship and menopause to find a family among themselves. In a modern world, the rules don't always apply to the rich and famous, and sometimes the villains are protected. Enjoy this paranormal tale, where the living and the dead want justice. 4/5⭐s.
Fourth Wing
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
What can I say? I absolutely loved this one! I don’t often read fantasy and I purposely avoided this one for a while because of that personal preference. This one sets a new standard! This was my second book by Rebecca Yarros and although the two are completely different genres, they both captured me, heart and soul. Amazing storytelling skills, Rebecca Yarros has gained a true hard core fan!
Dragons, fairy tales that may be true, love and heartache – AMAZONG elements in this phenomenal book! I consumed the book and I also listed to the graphic audio productions, volume 1 and 2, which elevated listening to a book to a whole new level! It’s like watching a movie in your mind with all the sound effects and a full cast of readers!
Underneath, this is a coming of age journey, finding your place and your family- those you can trust with your life and your heart. Violet Sorrengail is an outstanding character!
Violet has lived her life hidden in the glorious pages of books, completely content with the history and stories she reads. One day her mother, the commanding general sends Violet into the throngs of peril among the hundreds vying for an elite position in the Navarrre, dragon riders.
The dragons incinerate the weak and being the smallest, Violet’s frail existence seems doomed. Fewer dragons are willing to bond and even the candidates are willing to kill to level the playing field. Xaden Riorson, the most fierce wingleader has a grudge and Violet has to proceed with caution. She needs every advantage she can use. With war waging, everyday promises death, Violet suspects terrible secrets that jeopardize everything.
Everyone at the Basgiath War College has two options once they enter, they graduate or die.
I would give this more than 5 stars! I was captivated!
The characters are built and interconnected to let the reader connect and chase the story from one volume to the next! I can’t wait to read the next one!
- There are two significant sex scenes in Part 2, and some language thrown in throughout as explicatives but not too offensive, it’s well within the context of the story. I mention the scenes for those listening to the graphic audio volumes because the sounds were a little over the top if you know what I mean, just fast forward.
- There is violence of course they are riding dragons in a war.
5+/5
The Ministry of Time
The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley
This one was a hot mess for me. I just couldn't get into it. I read it for a book club. It just fell flat for me, purely on the connectivity to the reader.
I think I finally found some connection around chapter five but in chapter nine I was still struggling to find purpose. The concept of this book is beautiful but the execution does not meet expectation. I couldn't follow any central plot.
I liked Graham, he was interesting. There were some cool quotes I found interesting.
"Careful," he said. "Your germs are showing."(pg. 18) I thought it was funny.
There were redeemable parts but when finished, I felt like "What the heck did I read?"
The best quote (pg. 332): " Forgiveness, which takes you back to the person you were and lets you reset them. Hope, which exists in a future in which you are new. Forgiveness and hope are miracles. They let you change your life. They are time-travel."
The quote that kind of sums up everything (pg. 307): "Think of this as a mission of discovery."
I didn't hate the book but I definitely didn't love it either. I am sure many will love it, fantasy isn't my favorite genre. 2.5/5⭐
The Seven Year Slip
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
He calls her “Lemon” and I love it! What a great book!
Clementine West, a book publicist learned to imagine life with a bit of wonder, thanks to her Aunt Analea. When her aunt dies, Clementine burrows into her job and keeps her head and heart guarded against romance and love. Her aunt left Clementine her apartment, a gem and a wrinkle in time.
Clementine moves in and finds a handsome stranger standing in the kitchen. He was a vision, with those eyes and a sleek southern drawl, she was reeled in. The problem, she exists seven years in his future.
Her aunt told her, “In love, timing is everything.” Clementine isn’t sure if she is seven years too late to find true love.
You have to experience her career turmoil and her friends to enjoy this journey with Clementine. I loved it! I just walked right into the story on the first page and I was hooked!
A love story where books are the background is just awesome! This was a cute Rom-com fantasy – time travel, romance, and books, who could ask for more? 5/5
A Court of Thorns and Roses
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
What a phenomenal romantasy! I wasn’t sure that I would like it, but I loved it!
Feyre, a bold, brave nineteen-year-old provide for and protects her family. When she kills a wolf and sells the pelt, she gets dragged to a magical land that she had only imagined from legends she had heard as a child. She is captured by an immortal faerie and she is relieved when she finds he isn’t a beast all of the time. Her feelings change as she acclimates to her new surroundings. In the mysterious lad of the fae, Feyre finds danger lurking with an ancient shadow. She must find a way to stop it and save both worlds.
This book was awesome! It’s an enchanting read with faerie lore, romance and adventure! You won’t put it down! 5/5 ⭐
*I also listened to the dramatized adaptation of the book with a full cast. It is unforgettable and outstanding! The full cast will completely immerse you into the story!
Starling House
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
A creepy house sits at a crossroads in the small town of Eden, Kentucky. The town is known only for the legend of E. Starling, a reclusive 19th century author/illustrator who wrote “Underland” and then disappeared.
Before she vanished, Starling House appeared. The town thinks it best to let the property and its last heir Arthur Starling, just waste away.
Opal, needs a job and wants to find a way for here brother to leave the shackles of the town of Eden.
Starling House becomes a daunting hazard to Opal as it starts to feel like home, something she has never had.
Together Opal and Arhtur have to dig up the past and face long buried secrets, while confronting their own nightmares to save the fate of the town. Opal wants a home and she has to fight to keep it.
This was a bizarre story, a little long winded. All of the individual elements are great. Nothing seemed as developed as it should or could have been. The prose was moody and not cohesive. The description and character given to the house was the best developed part. The back history was not cohesive or engaging to me as a reader. I wanted it to connect more to the town but I just didn’t get that.
I did enjoy it but I didn’t love it. It was interesting but not outstanding. 3/5⭐
