These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy: ARC Book Review

If I had to review These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy in one sentence, it would be simple: I LOVED IT. ❤️

This novel was probably one of my all-time favorite YA fantasy books! I actually read it almost an entire year ago, and I can still remember it with such clarity because it was just so good. I simply cannot wait to read its sequel, This Cursed Crown. And with This Cursed Crown having been just published, I thought it would be the perfect time to revisit my thoughts about this fantastical novel!

In These Feathered Flames, the Russian folktale The Firebird is reimagined for a modern YA audience. In the world of Tourin, there are twin heirs. One, Izaveta, was designed to rule as the future queen, and her sister, Asya, was fated to become the next Firebird, a magical being who ensures that magical costs are always repaid. When their mother, the reigning queen, dies unexpectedly, both sisters are thrust into their new positions much sooner than anticipated and have to deal with the consequences these responsibilities entail.

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Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood: ARC Book Review

Within These Wicked Walls tells the story of Andromeda, a young woman who goes by Andi. When the story begins, she is hoping that exorcising the Evil Eye for her wealthy and eccentric client, Magnus Rochester, will get her the recognition she requires to continue her work as a proper debtera; since her mentor threw her out before she could earn her license.

But cleansing the Evil Eye is a much bigger undertaking than Andi first anticipated. (So much so that many debtera have tried – and failed – before her.) And her growing feelings for the young heir complicate matters further. It will take all of Andi’s training – and maybe a little help from others – to accomplish this life-threatening task.

Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino: Blog Tour & Book Review

Not Good for Maidens was a new release I was excited for, but also a little hesitant of. The premise sounded intense, and I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect going into this one. But I actually think that was the best way to experience it! Not Good for Maidens has a lot of adventure, intrigue, and horror within its pages, and much like Lou herself, it’s impossible to fully know what you’re getting into until you dive in head first.

Not Good for Maidens takes place across two timelines. One set present-day, following Louisa Wickett-Stevens whose world turns upside down when she finds out her teenage aunt Neela has been trapped in the nefarious goblin market her mother had intentionally kept secret from Lou her entire life. The second takes place 18 years earlier and follows Lou’s aunt May, a witch in training, as she begins a dangerous but exhilarating romance with Eitra, a goblin from the market.

Both find themselves venturing into the depths of the goblin market, with all its danger and gore, to save the ones they love. But venturing into the goblin market means there’s a very real risk they might never return…

The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna: Blog Tour & Book Review

Deka returns once again, her friends in tow (a found family of deathshrieks, alaki, and ex-jatu alike), and the recently awakened goddesses behind her – a true force to be reckoned with. But things in Otera are never how they may first appear. And more is brewing under the surface than even Deka the Nuru, the daughter of the goddesses, realizes. Revelations that will once again shake Deka to her core, and send everything she thought was true crumbling to pieces…

In The Merciless Ones, Forna takes Otera, a world already filled to the brim with a vast, rich, and diverse culture, and expands it even further! Through the sequel to The Gilded Ones, Deka’s world is further explored, more locations visited, more residents introduced, and even more of its history brought to light.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner: ARC Book Review

The Lost Apothecary takes place across two different timelines: 1791 and modern-day, and volleys between three protagonists: Caroline, Eliza and Nella. After finding out that her husband was cheating on her, Caroline decides to take what would have been their anniversary trip to London on her own. She joins up with a mudlarking group searching for treasure by the river Thames and comes across an odd object: an old vial with a mysterious marking of a bear on it.

Her curiosity piqued, Caroline begins to research the origin of the vial, and soon finds herself immersed in the history of London circa 1791 – where an unnamed apothecary helped women get revenge on the men who scorned them was whispered about.