Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim (audiobook)

Pages: 411

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton 

Released: 24th of January 2023 

The first book in an epic fantasy series for fans of Sabaa Tahir, Hafsah Faizal and Elizabeth Lim, set in an Arabian-inspired land. Raised to protect her nation from the monsters lurking in the sands, seventeen-year-old Imani must fight to find her brother whose betrayal is now their greatest threat.

In the hidden desert city of Qalia, secret spice magic awakens affinities in those who drink the misra tea. With an affinity for iron, seventeen-year-old Imani wields a dagger like no other warrior, garnering her the reputation as the next greatest Shield for battling the dangerous djinn, ghouls, and other monsters that lurk in the sands beyond city limits.

Her reputation has been overshadowed, however, by her brother who tarnished the family name after he was discovered stealing their nation's coveted spice - a tell-tale sign of magical obsession. He disappeared soon after, believed to have died beyond the Forbidden Wastes, and leaving Imani reeling with both betrayal and grief.

But when Imani uncovers evidence her brother may be alive and spreading their nation's magic beyond the desert, she strikes a deal with the Council to find him and bring him back to Qalia before he can reveal the city's location. Accompanied by Qayn, a roguish but handsome djinni, and Taha, a powerful beastseer whose magical talents are matched only by his arrogance, they set out on their mission.

Imani will soon discover there are many secrets that lie beyond the Forbidden Wastes - and in her own heart - but will she find her brother before his betrayals endanger the fate of all of Qalia?

In this epic and action-packed fantasy, one young heroine navigates the treacherous road between protecting the ones you love and staying loyal to the place you call home. 

What I Have to Say 

This is how to do an epic adventure in the right way. I was worried with so much travelling, it would drag a bit, but it was filled with action on every page. It really led to highlight the distance between the two nations and the scope of the sands between them. 

Imani's journey was interesting. I've books before where the character discovers that they're living in a place of privilege and that maybe not everything they've been told is true, but I've never felt every revelation and ever moment of questioning so deeply. I could see every step of the journey that Imani was going on. 

The narrator was a good reader,  but I was left wanting a little. She didn't really do many voices and it was hard to tell which character was which especially between the female characters. I was disappointed because other than that she was good at reading and putting expression into the text. 

There are so many things I want to know more about and so many things I'm excited to see in the next book. This was a fantastic start to a new series. 

 My thanks go to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with this copy for review. 

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Pages: 336 

Publisher: Orbit 

Released: 19th of January 2023 

A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love in the start of a heartwarming and enchanting new fantasy series.

Cambridge professor Emily Wilde is good at many things: She is the foremost expert on the study of faeries. She is a genius scholar and a meticulous researcher who is writing the world's first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. But Emily Wilde is not good at people. She could never make small talk at a party--or even get invited to one. And she prefers the company of her books, her dog, Shadow, and the Fair Folk to other people.

So when she arrives in the hardscrabble village of Hrafnsvik, Emily has no intention of befriending the gruff townsfolk. Nor does she care to spend time with another new arrival: her dashing and insufferably handsome academic rival Wendell Bambleby, who manages to charm the townsfolk, get in the middle of Emily's research, and utterly confound and frustrate her.

But as Emily gets closer and closer to uncovering the secrets of the Hidden Ones--the most elusive of all faeries--lurking in the shadowy forest outside the town, she also finds herself on the trail of another mystery: Who is Wendell Bambleby, and what does he really want? To find the answer, she'll have to unlock the greatest mystery of all--her own heart. 

What I Have to Say 

This is the faerie book I've always wanted. Forget the smutty soap opera's that fill the shelves these days, this takes faeries back to their roots and shows you the charm of a good faerie story. It also was fantastic that they made a alternate historical setting where women were respected scientists and LGBTQ+ side characters were accepted without question. It's refreshing to have a world where such prejudices aren't around. 

Emily Wilde is capable, scientific and the perfect protagonist for this book. She isn't a simpering idiot caught up in over her head who still somehow manages to overcome all the odds, she knows what she's doing and is able to befriend, trick or charm the faeries on her journey to research them. But the character I loved most was Bambleby. Bambleby is wonderful. He infuriates Emily to no end and they snipe at each other constantly and his name is Bambleby! What better name is there than Bambleby? 

I also loved the dog, Shadow. My only criticism of this book is a small one and that is sometimes it seems the author has forgotten Shadow exists. There were a couple of scenes where I was distracted from what was happening because I didn't know where the dog was and why he wasn't intervening. There was one crucial scene where I think he should have done something at least. 

But that didn't take away my enjoyment of the book too much. It was still one of the best faerie books I have ever read. 

5 stars

My thanks go to Orbit and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard

Pages: 336 

Publisher: Daphne Press 

Released: 26th of January 2023 

Hemlock Falls isn’t like other towns. You won’t find it on a map, your phone won’t work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you…

Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie's town―and the rest of humanity―from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night. Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal―and restore her family's good name. Or die trying.

But in order to survive, Winnie must enlist the help of the one person who can help her train: Jay Friday, resident bad boy and Winnie’s ex-best friend. While Jay might be the most promising new hunter in Hemlock Falls, he also seems to know more about the nightmares of the forest than he should. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.

Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark.

What I Have to Say 

I'm not sure I can even put in to words how much I loved this book. It was everything. It was just different enough from other books in the genre to make it new and interesting, while also hitting that itch for a good monster hunter book. 

I didn't interact much with the twitter story that inspired this book, but I knew enough about it to get some of the references while still being surprised by the story. It's really nice to see it being made into a proper book like this as I found the twitter thread a bit difficult to keep up to date with. I love the idea that Dennard's readers inspired her and that this book is what came out of it. 

I think what really makes this book is the characters. Winnie just hits the spot for a YA protagonist, a brave underdog who's going to do her damn hardest to become a hunter. She is relatable, she is something to be idolised and she just feels special. With Jay there to be a bit of a love interest and a whole cast of background characters to make the society feel vibrant and interesting, we really have a great group of characters to follow. 

I can't wait to see what else comes out of this world next! 

(5 stars) 

My thanks got to Daphne Press and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Cloisters by Katy Hays

Pages: 320

Publisher: Transworld

Released: 19th of January 2023 

Ann Stilwell arrives in New York City, hoping to spend her summer working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Instead, she is assigned to The Cloisters, a gothic museum and garden renowned for its medieval and Renaissance collections.

There she is drawn into a small circle of charismatic but enigmatic researchers, each with their own secrets and desires, including the museum's curator, Patrick Roland, who is convinced that the history of Tarot holds the key to unlocking contemporary fortune telling.

Relieved to have left her troubled past behind and eager for the approval of her new colleagues, Ann is only too happy to indulge some of Patrick's more outlandish theories. But when Ann discovers a mysterious, once-thought lost deck of 15th-century Italian tarot cards she suddenly finds herself at the centre of a dangerous game of power, toxic friendship and ambition.

And as the game being played within the Cloisters spirals out of control, Ann must decide whether she is truly able to defy the cards and shape her own future . . .

Bringing together the modern and the arcane, The Cloisters is a rich, thrillingly-told tale of obsession and the ruthless pursuit of power.

What I Have to Say 

I loved the history in this. It put the academia in dark academia. It just created the perfect blend of dark twisted happenings and the study of tarot. I don't know how much of the tarot history was legit, but it sounded good and was really interesting to read about. 

I wasn't quickly endeared to the character, but I wanted her to succeed, especially because her descriptions of Rachel were really gay for a book with a hetero sexual relationship. I was interested in their relationship as well as the relationship with Leo. There's something about toxic friendships that really pulls you in a gets you reading. 

All in all, it was the atmosphere that really sold this for me. I could really feel how it would be to work at the cloisters and the energy of the tarot. 

(4 stars) 

My thanks go to Transworld and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny

Pages: 384 

Publisher: Mills and Boon 

Released: 19th of January 2023 

A love story worth fighting for…

Oxfordshire 1360

When Penn and Raff meet in Hartswood Forest the only truth they know of each other is a brief moonlit kiss they had shared previously. But Penn is escaping a life of cruelty, and an arranged marriage to a woman he has never seen. Raff is tracking the elusive missing groom of his sister to restore his family’s honour. Neither are looking for a travelling companion. Yet both men find themselves drawn to each other in ways neither imagined.

Unaware of their true identities they venture north together through Hartswood Forest. And, as their bond deepens, their fates become irrevocably entwined. But, with one escaping a life of duty and one tracking a fugitive, continued concealment threatens everything they know and trust in each other. So when secrets are finally revealed, and the consequences of their relationship become clear, both must decide what they will risk for the man they love.

(Contains: Huddling for warmth, Identity porn, Training montages, “Run away with me” (and actually doing it), Violence against partridges and other wildfowl) 

What I Have to Say 

This book was in a word boring. It was slow, there was a lot of travel and apart from a couple of sex scenes towards the middle, there was not much to break the tedium until the last hundred pages. Maybe if I'd been more invested in the relationship, it would have been better, but I just wasn't interested in the occasional lingering touch or longing stare. I wanted them to get on with it and get together already. 

Half of the plot was the characters worrying about their false identities being found out and the other half was them worrying that the other didn't feel the same way. It was frustrating because both of them were thinking exactly the same thing and if they'd just talked to one another then they would have managed to get together a lot sooner. 

It wasn't until the last hundred pages or so that the plot picked up and they finally had some real conflict to deal with. And I will admit that from that point it was a lot more interesting! It really highlighted Penn's cleverness and skill with words and showed off the character a lot better than the rest of the book. 

Honestly, I think this would have been better if I'd read the first couple of chapters and then skipped a couple of pages until the end, 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Mills and Boon for providing me with this copy for review. 

Savage Her Reply by Deidre Sullivan

Pages: 256 

Publisher: Little Island 

Released: 1st of October 2020 

A dark, feminist retelling of The Children of Lir told in Sullivan's hypnotic prose. A retelling of the favourite Irish fairytale The Children of Lir. Aife marries Lir, a king with four children by his previous wife. Jealous of his affection for his children, the witch Aife turns them into swans for 900 years.

 Retold through the voice of Aife, Savage Her Reply is unsettling and dark, feminist and fierce, yet nuanced in its exploration of the guilt of a complex character. Voiced in Sullivan's trademark rich, lyrical prose as developed in Tangleweed and Brine - the multiple award-winner which established Sullivan as the queen of witchy YA. Another dark & witchy feminist fairytale from the author of Tangleweed and Brine

What I Have To Say 

I couldn't connect to this story at all. It just felt unemotional and I didn't have any sympathy for the character. I wanted to hear her side of the story but it was told so matter-of-factly that I just couldn't really feel for her. 

The book was set out in a really interesting way and I really liked all the poems between the chapters, but the paragraphs detail what happened in the original story felt unnecessary. It was good to see when Aife's version diverged from the original, but a lot of the time it was just telling us what would happen in the next chapter. 

I wish I could have enjoyed it more. I wanted to like it but it just fell completely flat. 

2 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Little Island for providing me with this copy for review. 

A Million to One by

Pages: 304 

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books 

Released: 5th of January 2023 

Adiba Jaigirdar, author of one of Time's Best YA books of all time, gives Titanic an Ocean’s 8 makeover in a heist for a treasure aboard the infamous ship that sank in the Atlantic many years ago.

A thief. An artist. A acrobat. An actress. While Josefa, Emilie, Hinnah, and Violet seemingly don’t have anything in common, they’re united in one goal: stealing the Rubaiyat, a jewel-encrusted book aboard the RMS Titanic that just might be the golden ticket to solving their problems.

But careless mistakes, old grudges, and new romance threaten to jeopardize everything they’ve worked for and put them in incredible danger when tragedy strikes. While the odds of pulling off the heist are slim, the odds of survival are even slimmer . . .

Perfect for fans of Stalking Jack the Ripper and Girl in the Blue Coat, this high-seas heist from the author of The Henna Wars is an immersive story that makes readers forget one important detail— the ship sinks.

What I Have to Say 

This book was almost there for me. It had a great premise, lovable, diverse characters and a thrilling storyline. The only problem I had with it was that it was just too predictable. Obviously you can't get away from the fact that all the readers know the titanic is going to sink. But there's so much that could have been done with the story despite that. I felt really disappointed when I got to the end and found it had gone down almost exactly as I thought it would. 

The build of tension was really good though. Every chapter has the countdown to the titanic sinking at the start, so you're constantly aware of what the characters are going to have to deal with and questioning whether they'll survive or who will die. I really enjoyed the build up a lot more than the execution. 

The characters were great too. Four different characters from four different walks of life. My favourite was Hinnah, an acrobat who was kicked out from her family, but I also had a fondness for the others too. 

I just wish I hadn't been able to guess the ending so easily. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hodder for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

Saving Neverland by Abi Elphinstone

Pages: 320 

Publisher:  Penguin Random House 

Released: 5th of January 2023 

Number 14 Darlington Road, looks like a perfectly ordinary townhouse - at first glance, anyway, but magic is good at hiding . . . when it's waiting for the right person to discover it . . .

Martha Pennydrop is ten, and desperate to grow up. But growing up is a tricky business. It means turning your back on imagination, fun and magic, because those were the things that led to the Terrible Day when something awful nearly happened to Martha's younger brother, Scruff, which would have been All Her Fault.

But when Martha and Scruff discover mysterious gold dust in their bedroom in their new house - along with a window that's seemingly impossible to close - it's the start of an incredible adventure to a magical world: Neverland! The Pennydrop's new house used to belong to another family - the Darlings - who once visited this world themselves. Now Peter Pan is back, and in need of their help. Neverland is in the icy grip of a terrible curse - cast long ago by Captain Hook. And only Martha and Scruff can save it . . .

A reluctant Martha and excited Scruff are swept to Neverland and into the company of the Lost Kids. But when Scruff is kidnapped, Martha must rediscover all the imagination, magic and belief she has buried deep inside herself for so long, to save him - and Neverland itself. 

What I Have to Say 

Magic, adventure and a lovely sprinkle of danger, this series is perfect for all sorts of younger readers. Whether they already have a love of Peter Pan or if this is their first foray into Neverland, they will fall in love with it and it's many exciting features. 

I haven't read the original book, but I have seen the Disney movie, so I wasn't completely unaware of the world. There's mentions of the original characters to spark excitement in anyone who is already familiar with the story, but there's also plenty of new stuff to enjoy as well.  

One of the things I really loved was the riddles and rhymes in the book. It took me back to a childhood reading Redwall books. Though a very different story than Redwall, the riddles and little poems in the book are definitely reminiscent of that series and honestly should  be included in all books because they just plain fun.  

I liked the themes of family, what lengths Martha would go to in order to get her brother home safely, but my favourite bits were her struggle between wanting to grow up in order to keep him safe and her childlike wonder and excitement. I really liked the book's message about how growing up isn't always about not playing and having fun. 

All in all, I really enjoyed this and think it would be great for any reader young or old. 

 

My thanks go to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton

Pages: 416 

Publisher: Piccadilly Press 

Released: 5th of January 2023 

Author Dhonielle Clayton makes her middle-grade debut with a fantasy adventure set in a global magic school in the sky.

Eleven-year-old Ella Durand is the first Conjuror to attend the Arcanum Training Institute, where Marvellers from all around the world come together to practice their cultural arts like brewing Indian spice elixirs, practicing Caribbean steel drum hypnosis, and bartering with fussy Irish faeries. Ella knows some people mistrust her Conjuror magic, often deemed "bad and unnatural," but she's eager to make a good impression—and, hopefully, some friends.

But Ella discovers that being the first isn't easy, and not all of the Marvellers are welcoming. Still, she connects with fellow misfits Brigit, a girl who hates magic, and Jason, who is never found without a magical creature or two. Just as Ella begins to find her way at the A.T.I., a notorious criminal escapes from prison, supposedly with Conjurors’ help. Worse, her favorite teacher Masterji Thakur never returns from a research trip, and only Ella seems concerned about his disappearance.

As tensions grow in the Marvellian world, Ella finds herself the target of vicious rumors and growing suspicions. With the help of her new friends, Ella must find a way to clear her family's name and track down her beloved mentor Masterji Thakur . . . before she loses her place at the A.T.I. forever. 

What I Have to Say 

This book was imaginative, fun filled and beautifully diverse, but it was all let down by a simple predictable story. I don't know if Dhonielle Clayton thought that things needed to be simplified for children (which is simply not true, just ask them to explain the latest Doctor Who episode!) or if she just spent all her time focused on the setting and neglected the storyline but something fell down here and I'm very disappointed. 

I'm extra disappointed because the world was so wonderful. It was filled with so much imagination and creativity. It would be perfect for fans of Nevermoor because it's filled with the same kind of zany, imaginative setting and wonderous creatures. 

It was also a very good look at what a global school would be like and how all the cultures would blend together and co-exist. It's a beautiful look at a diverse and vibrant school whilst still leaving rooms for themes of prejudice with the different forms of magic system that exist in this world. 

All in all, I really enjoyed most of this book. It could really have been a fantastic book if the plot hadn't let it down. I really hope the next book in the series is better. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Piccadilly Press for providing me with this copy for review.