Category: Young Adult

ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Feather and Flame by Livia Blackburne

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books5 Comments on Book Review: Feather and Flame by Livia Blackburne
Book Review: Feather and Flame by Livia Blackburne

Like many people out there, I am a massive Disney fan. I adore many of the films with my entire being, and Mulan is one of them. The idea of this series is one that really appeals to me. Getting to see some of the Disney ‘princesses’ as Queens? Hell yeah! The first book – Rebel Rose – was a Beauty and the Beast sequel, and it just did not work for me. That did lead to me being a little concerned about how this book would read. Turns out I had no reason to be. I’d read Livia Blackburne before, so I knew this would at least be well-written, but it was perfect.

Set several years after the end of the first film, this book introduces us to a Mulan who has been training and leading a female militia in her home village. One day Shang stops by to ask her to come with him back to the Imperial City as the Emperor wishes to see her. As the series is the Queen’s Council, you can guess what the Emperor wishes from her and some of the struggles that are to come.

Continue reading “Book Review: Feather and Flame by Livia Blackburne” →
ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review – These Deadly Games by Diana Urban

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review – These Deadly Games by Diana Urban
Book Review – These Deadly Games by Diana Urban

Diana Urban is an author that I’ve read and enjoyed before, so I knew I had to check this one out. Her last book contained some twists that I did not expect, and plot-wise this one really intrigued me. I was lucky to get an e-arc of this book last year, and with it finally being out in February, it was time for me to get to it.

This book follows Crystal, a gamer who has hopes of entering a tournament this weekend and winning the money that would help her family. But after dropping her sister off at school, she receives a message on a mysterious app telling her that they have her sister and if she doesn’t play their game, they’re going to kill her. When the kidnapper’s games turn out to be deadly for her friends, Crystal tries to beat them at their own game and track down who it is.

Continue reading “Book Review – These Deadly Games by Diana Urban” →
Adult, anticipated releases, books, Young Adult

Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of Early 2022

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books6 Comments on Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of Early 2022
Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of Early 2022

We’re getting to the end of the year, and finally, I can start talking about the books I want to read next year. This post is a mix of books I have ARCs of and ones I’ve preordered. I’d usually prefer to focus on books that I haven’t yet ordered, but I’ve apparently gone on a bit of a requesting/preordering spree for the beginning of the year. Ooops? I will be doing a second anticipated releases post for contemporary and romance books, and a few of those I haven’t ordered yet. But for this post, at least, I can say for certain that I’ll own all these books before the end of May.

Continue reading “Most Anticipated Fantasy Books of Early 2022” →
ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich
Book Review: If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich

Both Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich are authors who each have a book that I adore and another that didn’t work for me. But this first project they’ve worked on together? I loved it! If you’re looking for a fun contemporary about two boyband members falling in love, then this will be the book for you.

Ruben and Zach are two members of the band Saturday. Ruben is gay but hasn’t been allowed to come out, and when things start to happen between him and Zach, it seems unlikely that things will change. As well as their blossoming romance, they have their bandmates to contend with, and the path to success has never been rougher. This was a super fun book but one that deals with darker elements. So if you’re looking for a new queer contemporary that you won’t be able to put down? This is the book for you.

Continue reading “Book Review: If This Gets Out by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich” →
Adult, book tag, books, Challenge, Young Adult

Spotify Wrapped Book Challenge 2021

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books12 Comments on Spotify Wrapped Book Challenge 2021
Spotify Wrapped Book Challenge 2021

It is Spotify Wrapped time again! We all love seeing our favourite songs, what genres we seem to like the most etc. It’s so much fun, and last year I came up with the Spotify Wrapped book challenge.

The idea of this challenge is to put your 2021 playlist on shuffle, and for the first five songs, you need to pick a book you read in 2021 that fits that song. It doesn’t have to be a perfect fit. You just have to explain why you chose that book for that song. Obviously, you will not have a book match for every song, so you can skip if you need to. But the idea is that you at least need to try, even if it is embarrassing. This was a lot of fun last year, and I’m excited to be doing it again. I hope you all will too!

Continue reading “Spotify Wrapped Book Challenge 2021” →
ARC, blog tour, books, Review, Young Adult

Blog Tour: You’ll Be The Death Of Me by Karen M. McManus

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books2 Comments on Blog Tour: You’ll Be The Death Of Me by Karen M. McManus
Blog Tour: You’ll Be The Death Of Me by Karen M. McManus

I’m here today with another book review as part of a blog tour! This time we have You’ll Be The Death Of Me, the latest YA mystery by bestseller Karen M. McManus. I’ve read and enjoyed the vast majority of her books, so I’m happy to be on The Write Reads Ultimate Blog Tour for this one. Thank you so much to the team at The Write Reads for letting me take part in this tour, fun fact, I had already been granted the e-arc for this one when I signed up, but I couldn’t resist participating.

You’ll Be The Death of Me is inspired by Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and it follows three old friends who randomly decide to skip school together only to stumble across the corpse of a murdered classmate.

I’d usually write a little more of a summary, but I don’t want to give anything away. Though this isn’t the most original mystery, it’s thoroughly enjoyable, and you’ll want to go in as blind as possible.

Continue reading “Blog Tour: You’ll Be The Death Of Me by Karen M. McManus” →
ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker
Book Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

I think you all know how obsessed I am with Japan and Japanese culture by now. Though a lot of that interest is pop-culture focused, I’m both a history geek and a myth & legend fanatic at heart, so there are other areas I’m interested in too. This interest and my love of YA books meant that The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker was a must-read for me, and I was lucky enough to get an ARC through Harper360’s newsletter. I’m super grateful for this one, even if I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I hoped.

This book follows Ren, a half-Shinigami half-Reaper girl who has been living in 1890’s London her whole life. She was bullied for being different, and the only person who really cares for her is her younger half-brother, Neven. One day she injures another Reaper with her shinigami powers and has to go on the run. She heads to Japan with only her brother for company, desperate to become a Shinigami.

Continue reading “Book Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker” →
Adult, books, Reading, tbr, Young Adult

Books I Want To Read Before the End of 2021

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books8 Comments on Books I Want To Read Before the End of 2021
Books I Want To Read Before the End of 2021

We’re in the final month of the year. I can’t believe we’re so close to the end of 2021! I’ve not yet completed my GoodReads challenge, and I’m not sure I’m going to, but that’s okay. I’ll just read what I can and see if I can manage it.

Today I want to list a few of the books that I plan on reading before the end of the year. I have another ARC to read, and I plan on reading a few Christmas books too, but I won’t be listing those today. These are just a few books from my physical TBR that I want to get to.

I’m not going to be listing them in any particular order. All of these books are in series. In fact, two of them are sequels, so I won’t be going into too much detail. But if anyone would be interested in a buddy read, let me know.

Continue reading “Books I Want To Read Before the End of 2021” →
Adult, books, Young Adult

Fae Book Recs Part 2!

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Fae Book Recs Part 2!
Fae Book Recs Part 2!

I posted a post with a few fae book recs a few months ago. I love reading about the fae and folklore. But I’m not interested in the typical Shakespearian inspired fae we often see. Courts are fine, provided there’s some fae variety, but that’s rare. I’ve been wanting to talk more about fae books, yet I’ve not really read any that advertise that they’re fae books.

So instead, I’m recommending a few books that feature the fae. These creatures might not be labelled as fae, but they’re folkloric creatures that can class as types of fae. Isn’t that fascinating? I’ve read and adored all the books on this list, so I recommend you check them out too.

Continue reading “Fae Book Recs Part 2!” →