The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

Leave a comment

The Foxhole Court

Author: Nora Sakavic
Series: All for the Game #1
Reviewer: Marlou

Content Warnings

Drug use, violence, lots of alcohol use, abuse

Summary

Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He’s short, he’s fast, he’s got a ton of potential—and he’s the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher.

Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn’t need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed.

But Neil’s not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil’s new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can’t walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he’s finally found someone and something worth fighting for.

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Boy oh boy, this book was so interesting. I don’t usually read contemporary and I never thought I’d pick up a book about sports but hey, here I am. I have finished all three books in this trilogy and I loved it. I asked for recommendations on my bookstagram account and promised myself that the first person that replied with a decent book, I would read that. I’m so glad I did something spontaneous like that because I got to read this book.

This book follows a group of people that have some issues. They’re on an Exy team (Exy is a combination of Ice Hockey and Lacrosse) and they’ve all been given a second chance by playing for the Foxes. I love books about second chances!

The Foxhole Court is a very easy read. I went through the book fairly quickly, which is nice since it was only meant as a book to pass the time. Once I got to the end though, it left me wanting more and then I ended up reading all three books. The same thing happened when I read To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, I guess I like contemporary now, huh? You never know until you try.

This book isn’t cute in the way some novels might be and yet I would still describe Neil (the main character) as cute, and not because of his looks because he looks quite plain. I don’t know what it is with this book, I can’t quite formulate a sane sounding opinion (what even are words?). I’ll just stop writing now before I start repeating myself 🙂 This book gets three stars because it isn’t my usual genre, it was a bit slow at times, but it’s still a lovely book.

Books in this series

The Ice Princess by Thea Stilton

Leave a comment

The Ice Princess

Dutch title: De IJs Prinses

Author: Thea Stilton
Series: Princesses of Fantasia #1
Reviewer: Marlou

Summary

There is an Empire …

… a cold, inhospitable area, where a young princess watches over a great secret. But there is someone who wants to revive the time of the old sorcery, and only Gunnar, the big white wolf, can defend the princess.

And so he shows her his true nature.

Find this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Thea Stilton is a childhood favorite author of mine and I had never read this series of hers. I saw the first five at the library and decided to take them with me, they’d be great summer reads.

Ice Princess was totally adorable and had a pretty decent plot line. Usually, I can guess what will happen with Middle Grade books, but this one was not as predictable as I thought it would be.

This cute Middle Grade book gets three stars from me and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to read a fun Middle Grade fantasy.

I’ve read this book in my native tongue (Dutch) which was a little weird at first, because I usually only read in English. Everything just sounds way better in English. I wasn’t as annoyed with the language as I expected to be and I’m quite relieved about that.

I’m most certainly going to finish at least these five, but maybe just the entire series. I’m pretty sure the library has all of them. They’re just so terribly cute and the story is interesting enough that it makes me want to keep reading, which is a very good sign. The second book was my sister’s favorite one so I’ll see if I like that one best too.

Books in this series

The Revolution of Jack Frost

Leave a comment

The Revolution of Jack Frost

Author: K.M. Robinson
Reviewer: Marlou

Summary

No one inside the snow globe knows that Morozoko Industries is controlling their weather, testing them to form a stronger race that can survive the fall out from the bombs being dropped in the outside world—all they know is that they must survive the harsh Winter that lasts a month and use the few days of Spring, Summer, and Fall to gather enough supplies to survive.

When the seasons start shifting, Genesis and her boyfriend, Jack, know something is going on. As their team begins to find technology that they don’t have access to inside their snow globe of a world, it begins to look more and more like one of their own is working against them.

Genesis soon discovers Morozoko Industries is to blame, but when a foreign enemy tries to destroy their weather program to make sure their destructive life-altering bombs succeed in destroying the outside world, their only chance is to shut down the machine that is spinning out of control and save the lives of everyone inside the bunker–at any cost.

Find this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

This book was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I requested this book on Netgalley because it had Jack Frost in the title and the synopsis sounded like an interesting sort of scifi read. Well, guess what, it wasn’t interesting at all. I promised an honest review, I’m going to have to be brutally honest with this one. It sucked.

I was very annoyed with the writing, it felt like the author knew exactly what she wanted to write but once she sat down to actually write the story, she forgot what proper world-building is… 

The characters were all very bland or confusing or just plain weird or all of the above.

Genesis: Her obsession with Jack is so freaking weird, what even is this mess.

Jack: That dude has some serious issues that he needs to solve STAT.

Nathaniel: I was pretty sure he was going to murder Jack and he is supposed to be his best friend *insert my very confused face right here*

Azra: She was cool. She should have been the MC, maybe I wouldn’t have skipped half the book.

Eustace: Okay, what’s up with him? Should I know him already even though he’s never properly introduced? I don’t have a sixth sense so that’s not gonna work…

Okay, so, this book was a little too weird for me. I skipped most of it and had to DNF it a little over halfway through. I don’t like DNFing books but I also don’t like to waste my time. I really wanted to like this book but it’s a definite no from me.

Villains Never Die by Nick DeWolf

Leave a comment

Villains Never Die

Author: Nick DeWolf
Reviewer: Marlou

Summary

It started when the warehouse exploded. But not really. The moment when Japan was nearly destroyed. But not quite. When the world’s greatest heroes came together to fight the Triad of Evil, it began. But still, no. The moment Doctor Dendrite became the world’s most feared man.

Almost there.

History is coming to a head. The military is moving in the shadows. Evil, thought to be long gone, reemerges, while plans made decades ago are set in motion. The world is crumbling, and at the center of a hurricane of chaos are three people who will change everything.

An old villain.
A new hero.
And a wayward girl.
One’s been planning. The other’s been training. And the third?
She’s in way, way over her head.

Find this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Big thanks to the author for giving me a free ebook in exchange for a review.

Was this a horrible book? No. Was this a good book? Also, no. 

It’s the kind of book you can’t quite give your opinion on. But I’ll try because I do want to properly review this book.

The three different POV were useful for the story but it was often confusing who’s part you were reading because everyone sounded the same to me. There wasn’t a difference between the supervillain, the ‘normal’ girl, and the Latina agent/soldier.

Agent Garcia spoke a lot of Spanish and the translation was never given. This confused the hell out of me, because I don’t speak Spanish. Her bilingual nature also felt forced which was too bad.

Every character was quite bland. The story had potential but it just didn’t work for me. Maybe superhero stories aren’t my thing, I wouldn’t know, this is the first superhero book I’ve read. I do love superhero movies though…

Thanks again to Nick DeWolf for giving me a free copy of his book. I always feel so bad when I read a book given for free to me by the author and then end up not liking it, but I am always honest so there you have it. Villains never die gets 2.5 stars from me.

Dreamer Babble | Adult Books for YA Readers

Leave a comment

Adult books with YA appeal!

There’s nothing that drives me batty quite like artificial boundaries! Whenever I hear, “I only read YA,” or equally, “I would never read YA,” I stare in complete disbelief. There are so many stories that bring excitement, introspection, or perspective across all the target age brackets. If you yourself find that you never read Adult fiction, maybe you want to give some of these fantastic stories a try.

Here are the Dream Read Repeat picks for Adult fiction with appeal to a YA reader.

The Nightrunner Series

By Lynn Flewelling
Picked by: Fox

The first book in the series is Luck in the Shadows.

Why would a YA reader like this book?

Epic adventures, thievery, spies, magic, chosen families + LGBT+ rep (the first few books were written in the 90s).

What YA books or authors are similar?

Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, perhaps The Six of Crows (but I have not read it so I can’t confirm for sure), Isle of Blood Stone, Rook by Shannon Cameron

Find it on Goodreads!

Swordspoint

By Ellen Kushner
Picked by: Fox

Why would a YA reader like this book?

High fantasy, a fantasy novel of manners that reminds me at times a lot of The Three Musketeers (for some reason), LGBT+ rep (also written in the 80s).

What YA books or authors are similar?

The Three Musketeers (Although it’s not YA), Isle of Blood Stone. It is fantasy of manners but few YA fantasy books fit the bill.

Find it on Goodreads!

Shades of Magic trilogy

By V.E. Schwab
Picked by: Marlou

Why would a YA reader like this book?

It’s filled with magic and has a sassy and grumpy character working together, which is basically the perfect combination.

What YA books or authors are similar?

Leigh Bardugo and Jay Kirstoff

Find it on Goodreads!

Nevernight

By Jay Kristoff
Picked by: Marlou

Why would a YA reader like this Book?

It has a badass female with a seriously troubled past who shows you’re still awesome despite it.

What YA books or authors are similar?

There’s nothing quite like Nevernight tbh….

Find it on Goodreads!

Dragon Teeth

By Michael Crichton
Picked by: Inopinion

Why would a YA reader like this book?

An 18 yo, entitled college boy has to grow up in perilous circumstances. Set in 1870’s just as Custer is defeated by the Sioux and when Deadwood was at it’s most violent, this story touches on the violence without diving deep into it. Brings the west alive through the perspective of the young protagonist.

And yes, this is the same author that brought us Jurassic Park, but it’s definitely not Science Fiction.

What YA books or authors are similar?

Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman, Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

Find it on Goodreads!

The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archives)

By Brandon Sanderson
Picked by: Inopinion

Why would a YA reader like this book?

Several characters that are younger – 17-22 who are coming into their own during a protracted war. Accessible fantasy with strong female characters, characters with disability, and good moral messages.

What YA books or authors are similar?

Fantasy writers like Susan Dennard, Victoria Schwab, and Sanderson, himself, who wrote the Mistborn series and The Rithmatist.

Fans of Laini Taylor and her books Strange the Dreamer and Muse of Nightmares will also likely enjoy this slightly more mature character set.

Find it on Goodreads!

The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston

Leave a comment

The Princess and The Fangirl

Author: Ashely Poston
Series: Once Upon a Con #2
Reviewer: Renee

Summary

The Prince and the Pauper gets a modern makeover in this adorable, witty, and heartwarming young adult novel set in the Geekerella universe by national bestselling author Ashley Poston.

Imogen Lovelace is an ordinary fangirl on an impossible mission: save her favorite character, Princess Amara, from being killed off from her favorite franchise, Starfield. The problem is, Jessica Stone—the actress who plays Princess Amara—wants nothing more than to leave the intense scrutiny of the fandom behind. If this year’s ExcelsiCon isn’t her last, she’ll consider her career derailed.

When a case of mistaken identity throws look-a-likes Imogen and Jess together, they quickly become enemies. But when the script for the Starfield sequel leaks, and all signs point to Jess, she and Imogen must trade places to find the person responsible. That’s easier said than done when the girls step into each other’s shoes and discover new romantic possibilities, as well as the other side of intense fandom. As these “princesses” race to find the script-leaker, they must rescue themselves from their own expectations, and redefine what it means to live happily ever after.

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I’m kind of new to contemporaries but I couldn’t miss out on a book titled Princess and the Fangirl that takes place at a fantasy convention! I have not read the first book in the series, Geekerella. I love Imogen’s and Jessica’s arcs. They start out enemies with different views of the character Jessica plays, Amara. They start seeing things differently when they are forced to work together.

Imogen is trying to save the character Jessica plays in the sequel being planned. She believes Amara was fridged and should come back. She can’t understand why Jessica is so willing to let them keep Amara dead. Soon Imogen is mistaken for Jessica and rushed to a panel in her place. In the panel, Imogen states her support for saving Amara, which angers Jessica and surprises many since Jessica has been outspoken about letting Amara stay dead so she can move on.

Jessica didn’t expect the movie and her character to become such a big success, but she wants out of the franchise so she can move on and get “real” roles. She doesn’t understand why people are trying so hard to bring her character back. Soon the script for the next movie starts leaking online and Jessica is worried about being blamed for leaks to the sequel. She needs to investigate but can’t miss her scheduled events at the convention. Reluctantly, she strikes a deal with Imogen to let her pose as Jessica as long as she stops trying to save Amara. Imogen agrees, but still has plans to save her favorite character.

The two have to dodge fans and Imogen’s family (who have a booth at the convention) all while trying to track down who’s leaking the script. Jessica’s assistant is tasked with keeping an eye on Imogen and making sure she keeps up appearances. The two can’t stand each other but find out they don’t like being separated. While Imogen is masquerading as Jessica, Jessica has to pretend to be Imogen while looking for clues to who’s releasing the script. She meets Imogen’s online friend, Harper. Harper convinces Jessica to go out and have fun, something she hasn’t done in a long time. She stops worrying about her image and what everybody is going to think for a little while, until the next part of the script is released.

I loved reading about Imogen and Jessica’s point of views and how they finally come to listen to each other. In the beginning, they both keep pushing for what they want without listening to why the other is against it. As they continue spending time literally in each other’s position, they start allowing themselves to see the other’s perspective. I really enjoyed this book and hope there are additional books with these characters.

Books in this series

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Leave a comment

Girls of Paper and Fire

Author: Natasha Ngan
Series: Girls of Paper and Fire, # 1
Reviewer: Marlou

Content Warnings

Sexual abuse, violence, rape

Summary

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.

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Girls of Paper and Fire was such an intense, and oftentimes brutal, read. This isn’t a book that you can say you loved, this is a book that has opened your eyes. This story isn’t meant to be easy or pretty. It shows truths about our world, even in a total fantasy world. This book is an #ownvoices title.  Ngan has suffered and now shares her story, and that of many others, in this compelling and dark read. 

This book has a female/female romance and boy did Ngan write it beautifully. It didn’t feel forced like some same sex romances have felt to me. No, Wren and Lei are two amazing woman who find comfort in each others arms like any other couple in any other book does. Wren can be turned male and still none of the conversations they had would be different. Now, that is amazing storytelling.

Some parts of this book were very slow, others very fast. The ending felt a little rushed, but maybe Ngan did that so she has an opening for flashbacks in her second book. I wish she had fleshed it out though. I feel like I’m missing a very important piece. I remember checking the page numbers to make sure that my copy didn’t just miss a couple pages.  It didn’t. 

All in all, a very interesting read and I will definitely read the second book when it comes out.

Thank you Fairyloot for including this book in your box, I don’t think I would have read it otherwise.

Books in this series

Starworld by Audrey Coulthurst, Paula Garner

Leave a comment

Starworld

Author: Audrey Coulthurst, Paula Garner
Reviewer: Renee

Summary

Sam Jones and Zoe Miller have one thing in common: they both want an escape from reality. Loner Sam flies under the radar at school and walks on eggshells at home to manage her mom’s obsessive-compulsive disorder, wondering how she can ever leave to pursue her dream of studying aerospace engineering. Popular, people-pleasing Zoe puts up walls so no one can see her true self: the girl who was abandoned as an infant, whose adoptive mother has cancer, and whose disabled brother is being sent away to live in a facility. When an unexpected encounter results in the girls’ exchanging phone numbers, they forge a connection through text messages that expands into a private universe they call Starworld. In Starworld, they find hilarious adventures, kindness and understanding, and the magic of being seen for who they really are. But when Sam’s feelings for Zoe turn into something more, will the universe they’ve built survive the inevitable explosion?

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

So. Many. Emotions. I laughed and got teary eyed (which is a big deal for me; this book may have leveled up my Emotions). This book is about friendship, finding out who you are, seeing yourself as others see you, realizing others don’t have the perfect lives we think they do, looking deeper than the surface, and so much more.

I love Zoe and Sam’s self image journeys. They both feel something is wrong with them and they have different techniques for coping and navigating their lives. When they meet, they learn about each other and build each other up. They have some bumps along the way and have to find their way back and figure out what works for each of them and their situation.

I read Starworld in 2 days, which is rare for me. I just couldn’t stay away. Every time I put the book down, I couldn’t stop thinking of their next adventure in Starworld so I just stopped putting the book down. I may need to read it again to help sort out these emotion things. 🙂

I thought I’d relate more to Zoe since she puts up “walls” (which my mom is always telling me I do), but part of Sam’s story hit really close to home. A lot of this book was relatable to me and I wasn’t expecting that. I also wasn’t expecting a lot of the heavy topics, but it’s clear the authors did their research and they represent these topics well. They even include resources after the story (for OCD, pregnancy loss, disabilities and ableism, adoption and adoptees).

Nemesis by Brendan Reichs

Leave a comment

Nemesis

Author: Brendan Reichs
Series: Project Nemesis #1
Reviewer: Inopinion

Content Warnings

Violence

Summary

In a small, secluded town, sixteen-year-old Min has been living a nightmare. Every two years since she turned eight, she is murdered on her birthday by a man in a  black suit and wakes up in the same clearing in the forest outside of town. And since she was eight, she’s been under psychological evaluation and medicated, though it doesn’t stop the delusions. Ostracized by the popular kids – mostly children of the town’s rich and powerful – she spends most her time trying to keep her loud-mouth best friend, Tack, from provoking yet another beat down.

Life is thrown into chaos as a planet-threatening asteroid heads towards Earth. Everyone waits for the calculations, will this be the end or a very, very near miss. And then, the earthquakes start.

View this book on Goodreads

Review

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Equal parts high school drama, Lord of the Flies, and government conspiracy, this nifty little novel pairs it all with dynamic characters into a quick-reading ride. There’s a lot to appreciate about this book starting with its ability to soundly target the middle of the YA range. This book is 100% written for the 14-18 crowd with a focus on the relationships and dynamics and not on the ultra heavy options that come with a planet-killing asteroid. There’s a definite ask for the reader to suspend belief as everything comes out, which harkens to a simpler time in YA when we didn’t require our books to spoon-feed us every possible detail.

As a fan of Brendan’s first series, The Virals, I see many parallels between these books. The primary protagonist is a young girl who doesn’t really have anyone she can talk to. She has a moody best friend who likely has a crush on her. And she steps over the boundaries of her peer groups to connect with Noah, a popular kid, to solve problems. There’s a maniacal nemesis in Ethan and his clique, and, of course, the government conspiracy is totally in line with his earlier series. But for all these similarities there is a freshness that I appreciated and the twists in the plot set up the second book nicely.

Which brings me to the last sign of a great series starter… I’m buying that second book!

Appeal: Great choice for readers that like their books squarely in the definition of YA, and who like a touch of sci-fi with their modern setting. Also a great choice for anyone that likes a subtle love triangle, though there isn’t much love going on in this first book there is potential in the next. And remember reading Lord of the Flies? It definitely has that element of kids on their own making their own societal rules and asking questions around leadership, structure, and how to govern for the common good.

The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh

Leave a comment

The Beautiful

Author: Renée Ahdieh
Series: The Beautiful #1
Reviewer: Marlou

Content Warnings

Violence

Summary

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.

View this book on Goodreads.

Review

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This book was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I so badly wanted to like this book, but alas, I did not. Three stars is me being generous. This book really was not for me. Look, I love vampires, so when this book was said to include them and the location was New Orleans, I squealed in delight. But it was not meant to be.

Supernaturals: the supernatural world is not explained. At all. The creatures that live in this other-world are not mentioned clearly. There is just no world-building at all. I do not know anything and I have truly read every word of this book.

Writing style: I could not get used to the way this book was written. The author used too many details, too many descriptions and way too few actual plot points. The entire story doesn’t feel done, it feels as though parts of this story were not included in the novel.

Characters: although the characters were all vastly different, I still found them boring, flat and uninteresting. Even the beautiful devil himself, Bastien. I did not feel close to anyone, did not mourn any deaths nor was outraged at people getting hurt. I just did not have a connection with anyone.

Language: this book has a lot of French in it. If you don’t know any French then that is seriously taking some nuances of the book away. I speak a little French so I could understand enough of it to make sense of the sentences. The important lines are translated, but the subtle little things are not which, if you don’t speak French, can be of great annoyance because you won’t quite get what they’re saying.

Murder mystery: this book is supposed to be about some kind of murder mystery. It did not feel that mysterious to me as the reader can read into the thoughts of the killer. The bodies are all mauled by some rabid animal which is clearly a vampire attack and the immortals in the story know that. They probably also knew exactly who the murderer was this whole time or at least its motive. Nothing felt mysterious to me, it was just several murders…

I’m just very disappointed by this book. I can see the potential. I can see why some will like it. I just didn’t. It’s not the book for me. Three stars is all it is getting and I’m truly feeling generous giving it that rating.