City of Stardust by Georgia Summers (audiobook)

Pages: 352

Publisher: Hodderscape 

Narrator: Kitty Parker 

Released: 25th of January 2024 

A young woman descends into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge to break her family's curse in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy debut.

For centuries, generations of Everlys have seen their brightest and best disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt.

Violet Everly was just a child when her mother Marianne vanished on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. And when Penelope cannot find her, she issues an Violet has ten years to find Marianne, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer from the curse. Unless she can break it first.

To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet whose knowledge of a world beyond her own is too valuable to avoid.

Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.

What I Have to Say 

I just love books like this with multiple worlds and epic quests. The description of the worlds and the society they lived in were just wonderful. I loved how dark it got towards the end as well, the lengths that Penelope was willing to go to just to get Violet. 

This book felt like a modern day fairytale. The way it was written and the writing itself gave it a dreamlike quality that added to this. Even when they were using phones and working in a cafe, it felt like a book from another age, another world and everything tied into this. 

The narration was very good. Again it had a lovely dreamlike quality to it that added to the text and made it all the more delicious to read. I would definitely pick up a book from this narrator again.  

The Astrals were my favourite. They were so dark and all powerful. It gave them a real dangerous quality to them whether they were aiding or hindering Violet's progress. 

This is definitely one for fans of The Night Circus or His Dark Materials. 

4.5 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Hodderscape for providing me with a gifted copy of this audiobook for review. 

Christmas at the Palace by Jeevani Charika

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

Pages: 368 

Publisher: Bonnier Zaffre 

Released: 18th of October 2018 

Campaigner, feminist, doctor, humanitarian - all words that Kumari would use to describe herself. Potential princess? Not even in the vocabulary.

But when Kumari's charity work catapults her into the limelight and brings her to the attention of Prince Benedict - playboy prince and sixth in line to the British throne - all bets are off.

Royal party boy, charming rogue, England's most eligible bachelor - Prince Benedict is all those things. Or at least he was. These days he's taking life more seriously, following in his dear mother's footsteps and focusing on charitable causes.

When he meets Kumari the attraction between them is instant. But, according to the press, Prince Benedict might just have found the most unsuitable bride.

Will love win the day?

What I Have to Say 

This was a lovely book, but another one that just didn't have enough Christmas in for me. From the cover, I expected a book filled to the seems with Christmas, but it was only the last hundred pages that really was about Christmas at the palace. If it hadn't had Christmas in the name, I wouldn't have minded so much, it was just that my expectations were so different. 

I also think the way that they did the flashback for the main content of the story didn't really work for me. It didn't leave much suspense as to whether they'd end up together or what would happen in their relationship. 

I loved Kumari's character though. I loved how focused on charity she was, how brazen she was. How she wouldn't take no for an answer for a lot of the time, despite the fact that it could get her and the whole royal family in trouble. 

The romance may have fallen a little flat for me, but Kumari made up for everything. I loved her so much. 

My thanks go to Bonnier for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 464

Publisher: Orbit 

Released: 25th of September 2018 

A magical tale of secrets, family ties and fairy tales weaving through history.

Raised in a small village surrounded by vast forests, Liba and Laya have lived a peaceful sheltered life - even if they've heard of troubling times for Jews elsewhere. When their parents travel to visit their dying grandfather, the sisters are left behind in their home in the woods.

But before they leave, Liba discovers the secret that their Tati can transform into a bear, and their Mami into a swan. Perhaps, Liba realizes, the old fairy tales are true. She must guard this secret carefully, even from her beloved sister.

Soon a troupe of mysterious men appear in town and Laya falls under their spell-despite their mother's warning to be wary of strangers. And these are not the only dangers lurking in the woods...

The sisters will need each other if they are to become the women they need to be - and save their people from the dark forces that draw closer.

What I Have to Say 

I took a long time to get into this book, which was a shame because it should have been one I really enjoyed. I feel like the story took a long time to really get started and then by the time I was enjoying it, it was over. I liked the fairy tale elements of it and the look at Jewish culture and the way that hatred and prejudice can so easily spread through small towns such as the one that Liba and Laya called their home. 

I adored the ending though. It was powerful, magical and hopeful, despite the awful events that took place throughout the book. It would have been easy to end on a sad note, but I'm glad that Rossner chose to show her characters looking towards a future rather than looking back on a travesty. 

I loved the languages used in the book as well, showing the coming together of the Jewish bear shapeshifter in the form of the dad and the Catholic swan shapeshifter of the mother. The conversion of the mother and her background with the swans is so central to the book, so it was nice to see this reflected in the phrases and words that she brought into the household. 

I think this is a book I'd like to reread at some point. I'd like to see if I get into it more now that I know where it's heading. 

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

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 359 

Publisher: Penguin Random House 

Released: 8th of February 2018 

 Seventeen-year-old Alice and her mother have spent most of Alice's life on the road, always a step ahead of the strange bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice's grandmother, the reclusive author of a book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate - the Hazel Wood - Alice learns how bad her luck can really get. Her mother is stolen away - by a figure who claims to come from the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother's stories are set. Alice's only lead is the message her mother left behind: STAY AWAY FROM THE HAZEL WOOD. 

To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother's tales began . .
.

What I Have to Say 

This book was creepy. So, so creepy. The best way to describe it is that it had the atmosphere of a horror movie when you know something horrific is going to happen but it hasn't happened yet and you're just sitting there waiting for it to happen. Luckily for me, it never got into outright horror, though I don't know how horror fans will like this, it was perfect for me. I like creepy things but I get scared so easily and then can't sleep. 

The whole plot was full of mystery and suspense. It maybe had quite a long set up for how short it was when things actually went down, but there was so much to explore. From the book written by Alice's grandmother, the strangers stalking Alice throughout her childhood, to the story that shares Alice's name and the disappearance of her mother, there are so many different arcs to this story that come together beautifully at the end. 

Just be careful reading this on the train or you might end up missing your stop! 

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

The Improbable Wonders of Moojie Littleman by Robin Gregory

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 294

Publisher: Mad Mystical Journey Press 

Released: 1st of November 2015 

After his mother dies in a freak accident, eight year-old, disabled Moojie is sent by his disapproving father to live at St. Isidore's Fainting Goat Dairy, where he befriends a clan of outcasts from an alternate universe. Six years later, this forbidden friendship and subsequent events reveal an extraordinary boy’s tale of loss and connection, first love, and self-discovery.

What I Have to Say 

It took me a little while to warm up to this book, but I really got into it. Moojie is not the type of character I normally like and neither really was a lot of the humour, as it was quite dark humour, but it was written in a really captivating fairy-tale-like voice that drew me in. 

I'm not keen on stories starting with the birth of the main character or the main character being a baby. I feel like usually there's not much story to tell, though in this case, so much of Moojie's disabilities and development is explained throughout his early life, that this was actually a good place to start. 

I don't think this was ever going to be one of my favourite books, but I liked it well enough. It went through a lot of issues about racism, disability and poverty and is worth reading if you get the chance. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Mad Mystical Journey Press for providing me with this e-Arc.