Category: Young Adult

ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Fall of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell

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Book Review: Fall of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell

I said I was reviewing the first in the duology in preparation for reviewing this one, and I’ve finally gotten around to it! I adored this book so much, and I’m so honoured that I was able to participate in the bookstagram tour for this one. You can find my post and mini-review here.

Set months after the first book, Ferius has been living with Durrall and Enna. She was learning the way of the Argosi, but after making a mistake, she ran away. Now she’s stumbled upon a mysterious curse known as the Red Scream. With the help of an Argosi her own age called Rosie, she tries to hunt down the person spreading it.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

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Book Review: Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen

This is honestly one of the most beautiful books out this year. The cover is stunning and is the main reason that I was interested in this book. The plot did interest me too, but this was total cover love.

Skin of the Sea follows Simidele, who is one of the Mami Wata. She’s a mermaid who harvests the souls of black people who die in the ocean thanks to slavers. One day she comes upon a boy who is still alive, so she rescues him. She didn’t know it was against the rules and had to go on a journey with him to make amends for her mistake.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood

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Book Review: Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood

I’ve never read Jane Eyre before, but the moment I stumbled across Within These Wicked Walls, I knew I had to read it. This is a YA historical fantasy retelling of the famous novel set in Ethiopia. It’s fascinating, atmospheric and everything that I could hope for. But even I noticed that aside from a name and a fire, there wasn’t very much of Jane Eyre in it.

Within These Wicked Walls follows Andromeda, a debtera – or exorcist – who creates amulets to rid people of the Evil Eye. Her mentor had kicked her out so now she’s on the look for a patron, and Magnus Rochester is the only one who’s offering. His house is cursed and more dangerous than she expected, but as they slowly fall in love, she knows she would do anything to free him.

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books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Way of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: Way of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell
Book Review: Way of the Argosi by Sebastien De Castell

It’s rare for me to review a book on here that I bought for myself. But I have a reason for posting a review for this one…that being that I’m on an Instagram tour for the second book! I’m very excited to get my copy and give it a read, and so I finally got my ass into gear and read this one! It had been in a few TBR piles, but when I had to cut the pile down for various reasons…it kept being the book I removed.

So this is the first book in a prequel duology to De Castell’s Spellslinger series. It follows Ferius, the Argosi mentor from the original books as a child, as she finds her way. Her goal is to hunt down and kill the mages who killed her family, but on her journey, she meets an Argosi wanderer called Durrall, who tries to teach her their ways.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: As If On Cue by Marisa Kanter

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Book Review: As If On Cue by Marisa Kanter

Contemporary and romance are what I’m in the mood for right now. I’ve had this on my NetGalley shelf for a while. And I loved the first book I read by Marisa Kanter, so I’ve been looking forward to this one.

As If on Cue follows Natalie, who wrote a play with her best friend, Henry. With the arts budget depleted, they hoped that by putting on their own play, they would be allowed. But when the school says no at first, Natalie and her friends decide to do something about it. They want the money that has been given to the band, and her childhood rival Reid is part of that group. They’re forced to work together and turn her play into a musical, and that’s when things get chaotic.

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ARC, books, middlegrade, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: A Hunter’s Moon by Danny Weston

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Book Review: A Hunter’s Moon by Danny Weston

Every now and then, I get offered a book that I just can’t say no to. When I was contacted about a dark and creepy book where the main character is hunting a fae creature? Yeah, I had to have it. Thanks very much to Graeme for getting in contact and getting a copy in my hands.

Callum is Apprentice to Fraser McCloud, a man who likes to boast about his shooting skills. When the pair are hired to hunt a wolf that the locals claim is a Cù Sith, he doesn’t know if it’s safe. He can’t leave, and things will get worse before they get better.

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ARC, blog tour, books, Review, Young Adult

Blog Tour: Wicked Little Deeds by Kat Ellis

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Blog Tour: Wicked Little Deeds by Kat Ellis
Blog Tour: Wicked Little Deeds by Kat Ellis

I read Harrow Lake last year after hearing so many good things about it. I’d hoped for something creepy and intriguing, and I got that. I knew I’d be reading Kat Ellis again after that. And I’m glad to have gotten the opportunity to read her latest, Wicked Little Deeds (or Burden Falls in the US), for a Write Reads Tour.

Ava Thorn lost her parents a year ago and has been plagued with nightmares since. Her family is supposedly cursed by Dead-Eyed Sadie, and when someone she knows from school is murdered, Ava is the prime suspect. She can’t help but wonder if Sadie is the killer or if there’s a human murderer on the loose, but she knows that she has to find out who it was.

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Adult, ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Have You Seen Me? by Alexandrea Weis

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Book Review: Have You Seen Me? by Alexandrea Weis

You don’t see me blogging about thrillers or mysteries very often. I do enjoy them, they’re a genre I’ve gotten more into over the last few years. But I find that I’m very picky with what thrillers I want to read. Especially when it comes to adult thrillers. But Have You Seen Me grabbed my attention from the off. I love thrillers and mysteries where the main character isn’t a detective or a police officer. So a teacher and her students looking into some missing girls? I was intrigued. I was able to read an early copy of this book thanks to Black Crow PR, so thanks again Jamie.

Lindsey Gillett is missing. And she’s not the first girl to vanish without a trace. That’s the first thing the blurb tells you. Aubrey is a new teacher at Waverly Prep after having graduated from there years before after one of her classmates was murdered. Now with a new girl missing, she agrees to help her students look into the case in the hope that it would give them some closure.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Jade Fire Gold by June CL Tan

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Book Review: Jade Fire Gold by June CL Tan

This was just one of those books that sounded so good. That I knew I wanted to read it from the moment that I heard about it. Jade Fire Gold is a Chinese inspired fantasy novel by a Singaporean author who grew up on Wuxia films and classic lit. It’s no surprise that she wound up gifting us with an English Xianxia novel.

Ahn has no family but magic that she doesn’t trust. Altan is the lost heir, determined for revenge. When the two of them meet, their lives are intertwined, and they realise that they may have to pay a deadly price for what they want. Even if what they want winds up being the same thing.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Book Review: Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
Book Review: Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

You guys don’t know the noise I made when I received the email saying that I was lucky enough to get a physical ARC of this book. When my copy arrived, I couldn’t stop jumping around. I loved Margaret Owen’s The Merciful Crow duology; I adore retellings, and The Goose Girl was a fairytale I read a lot as a kid. I think I still have my little copy somewhere. So a very big thank you to Kate Keehan at Hodder and Stoughton for this book. I’m still so very, very happy.

Little Thieves is a retelling of The Goose Girl with a difference. Rather than following the princess, we follow her maid after she’s taken the princess’s place. A lady by day and a thief by night. Vanja has been trying to get her revenge on the rich and get away from there. But when she accidentally steals from a god, she is cursed, and she has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse.

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