Tag: fantasy

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, 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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Adult, ARC, books, Review

Book Review: Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Book Review: Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark
Book Review: Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark

I’ve been reading more adult fantasy recently, it seems, and I’m really getting into it more. We’re getting more diverse reads by some amazingly talented authors, and Master of Djinn is one example. I was very lucky to get a finished copy of this book early thanks to the wonderful Nazia from Orbit.

Master of Djinn is technically the third book in a series. But as the first full-length novel, it can be read as a standalone. In this book, we follow Fatma, the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities in 1912. This book is set in Cairo, and after the members of a secret brotherhood are killed by a man claiming to be al-Jahiz, the long-dead man they worshipped. The ministry is pulled on the case to find out what’s going on. They need to stop it from hurting Egypt’s place on the world stage. With a new partner and her girlfriend, Siti, Fatma must unravel the mystery of what is really going on.

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ARC, blog tour, books, middlegrade, Review

Blog Tour: Fireborn by Aisling Fowler

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Blog Tour: Fireborn by Aisling Fowler
Blog Tour: Fireborn by Aisling Fowler

You might not see much middle-grade on the blog, but I certainly read some. Fireborn Twelve and the Frozen Forest by Aisling Fowler is a book that I have been incredibly excited about. I’ve been lucky enough to get on the blog tour for it with Write Reads Tours.

Fireborn follows a young girl called Twelve who has been training within the Hunting Lodge to become a Hunter. She doesn’t get along with her fellow huntlings, but she knows she’s one of the best. So when the lodge’s walls are breached and one of the girls is taken, she knows she has to go track her down herself.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

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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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books, Indie Spotlight, Young Adult

Indie Book Spotlight – Fantasy

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Indie Book Spotlight – Fantasy
Indie Book Spotlight – Fantasy

I don’t know about you guys, but I really need to start picking up more indie books. There are plenty I’m interested in, and I do have a few I need to read. I want to make more of an effort to go out of my way to read some so, I thought I’d start by doing a series of indie book spotlights. To start with, a lot of these books may be books that I was asked to review. But in a few months, I’d like to do the second parts with more books that I’ve actually bought.

We’re starting on with fantasy, as let’s face it, that’s mostly what I read.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books2 Comments on Book Review: This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron
Book Review: This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

I absolutely adored Cinderella is Dead last year, so I’ve been excited about This Poison Heart since I first heard about it. Even though it wasn’t exactly what I expected it to be, this was definitely one of my most anticipated books. I was actually debating buying the Fairyloot special edition, but I didn’t have the money. So I guess I’ll be grabbing a normal paperback edition at some point.

Where I usually try to keep my reviews spoiler-free – this one will have some spoilers. There’s something I want to talk about, so be warned. I was lucky enough to receive this as an e-ARC through Netgalley.

This Poison Heart is being promoted as a sapphic retelling of The Secret Garden. To me, it didn’t really scream The Secret Garden apart from the whole walled garden and family secrets. Briseis has power over plants, a power that she’s tried to keep hidden. One day her family gets a call saying that she has inherited a home from her birth mother’s family. As they move into the house, she discovers; hidden alters, a lineage of witches and a garden filled with poisons. Briseis doesn’t know what to do, but her ancestors won’t leave her alone until she accepts her fate.

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Adult, ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Witchshadow by Susan Dennard

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books2 Comments on Book Review: Witchshadow by Susan Dennard
Book Review: Witchshadow by Susan Dennard

Oh man, you guys do not know how HYPED I was when I received my copy of this in the post. Thanks so much to Jamie-Lee Nardone at Black Crow PR for my copy. I feel so lucky. I’ve been reading the Witchlands books for a few years, and I’d been eagerly awaiting this one. The last book – Bloodwitch – was one I actually managed to get an e-arc of on Netgalley. You can actually find a short review of it here. I read that back at the end of 2018, and after that ending, I’ve been desperately awaiting the next instalment. And it’s coming out this month now?!!! You all cannot wait, trust me.

Witchshadow is the fourth, and I believe penultimate, book in the Witchlands series. This is supposed to be Iseult’s book, and as such, it mostly follows her story. After having been reunited with Safi, they quickly have to part as Iseult tries to find a way to save them and learn about her magic. She plans to return, but the journey is hard, and as figures of legend reawaken across the Witchlands… Safi, Iseult and the world may be in more danger than they realised.

Before I dive properly into this review, I’m just going to warn for spoilers. I’ll try not to give any for this book, but if you haven’t read the previous books in this series, including the novella, this may not be the review for you.

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Adult, ARC, books, Review

Book Review: Threadneedle by Cari Thomas

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books3 Comments on Book Review: Threadneedle by Cari Thomas
Book Review: Threadneedle by Cari Thomas

You ever have those books that you’re determined to wait for the release to read? Yeah, that’s what this one was supposed to be. I’ll probably still wind up buying a physical copy. But I was lucky to have the opportunity to listen to this audiobook before release. Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for that.

This is supposed to be an adult book, but it follows a teenager and feels very YA in places. Anna is in her first year of sixth form. Her first year of being in school with boys. Her Aunt has always warned her of the dangers of love and of magic. And as an old friend of her Mother moves into town. She may have to learn to deal with both.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: In the Ravenous Dark by A.M Strickland

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: In the Ravenous Dark by A.M Strickland
Book Review: In the Ravenous Dark by A.M Strickland

I’ve been hyped for this book ever since I first heard about it. The second I saw that it was up for request on NetGalley? I was over there and requesting it. My request was granted pretty quickly, but it’s taken me until now to finally get to it for various reasons. The moment I started this book, I hoped to be dragged into a fascinating world with characters I would die for.

And I kind of got that.

In the Ravenous Dark is centred around Rovan, a young woman who has grown up trying to hide her magic after seeing her father taken away by guards. Those with magic like theirs, blood magic, are taken to the castle to join their ranks. And then are given a ghost guardian to keep an eye on them. Rovan never wanted that, but after saving a girl in view of everyone, she is taken to the castle to join her father and take on his bloodline.

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