book-reviews
-
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (The Legendborn Cycle #1)
After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus. A flying demon feeding on human energies. A Continue reading
-
My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due (African Immortals #1)
When Jessica marries David, he is everything she wants in a family man: brilliant, attentive, ever youthful. Yet she still feels something about him is just out of reach. Soon, as people close to Jessica begin to meet violent, mysterious deaths, David makes an unimaginable confession: More than 400 years ago, he and other members Continue reading
-
A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows
Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he’s ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different plans: for Vel Continue reading
-
Witchmark by C.L. Polk (The Kingston Cycle #1)
In an original world reminiscent of Edwardian England in the shadow of a World War, cabals of noble families use their unique magical gifts to control the fates of nations, while one young man seeks only to live a life of his own. Magic marked Miles Singer for suffering the day he was born, doomed Continue reading
-
Black Spring by Alison Croggon
Inspired by the gothic classic Wuthering Heights, this stunning fantasy from the author of the Books of Pellinor is a fiercely romantic tale of betrayal and vengeance. In a savage land sustained by wizardry and ruled by vendetta, Lina is the enchanting but willful daughter of a village lord. She and her childhood companion, Damek, have Continue reading
-
Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier
A complex, adult epic fantasy from a new Australian author … original, dramatic, unputdownable … Sierra has a despised and forbidden gift — she raises power from the suffering of others. Enslaved by the King’s Torturer, Sierra escapes, barely keeping ahead of Rasten, the man sent to hunt her down. Then she falls in with Continue reading
-
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
Summary Two warriors shepherd an ancient god across a broken land to end the tyrannical reign of a royal family in this new epic fantasy from the author of The Vanished Birds. The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors—hold Continue reading
-
Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold (Vorkosigan Saga #1)
Summary When Cordelia Naismith and her survey crew are attacked by a renegade group from Barrayar, she is taken prisoner by Aral Vorkosigan, commander of the Barrayan ship that has been taken over by an ambitious and ruthless crew member. Aral and Cordelia survive countless mishaps while their mutual admiration and even stronger feelings emerge. Continue reading
-
The Bone Harp by Victoria Goddard
Thrice-cursed bard and warrior-elf Tamsin wakes up in Elfland after what might or might not have been his death, healed and hale for the first time in millennia. Somewhat confused but not entirely unhappy with this turn of events, he sets off in the hopes of finding a way home … A standalone tale of Continue reading
-
Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver
So What’s It About? 1906: A large manor house, Wake’s End, sits on the edge of a bleak Fen, just outside the town of Wakenhyrst. It is the home of Edmund Stearn and his family – a historian, scholar and land-owner, he’s an upstanding member of the local community. But all is not well at Continue reading
Charlotte Kersten 