Category: Fantasy
The Winter People by Rebekah Purdy
(Cover picture courtesy of Bibliophilia, Please.)
Salome Montgomery fears winter—the cold, the snow, the ice, but most of all, the frozen pond she fell through as a child. Haunted by the voices and images of the strange beings that pulled her to safety, she hasn’t forgotten their warning to “stay away.” For eleven years, she has avoided the winter woods, the pond, and the darkness that lurks nearby. But when failing health takes her grandparents to Arizona, she is left in charge of maintaining their estate. This includes the “special gifts” that must be left at the back of the property.
Salome discovers she’s a key player in a world she’s tried for years to avoid. At the center of this world is the strange and beautiful Nevin, who she finds trespassing on her family’s property. Cursed with dark secrets and knowledge of the creatures in the woods, he takes Salome’s life in a new direction. A direction where she’ll have to decide between her longtime crush, Colton, who could cure her fear of winter. Or Nevin, who, along with an appointed bodyguard, Gareth, protects her from the darkness that swirls in the snowy backdrop.
An evil that, given the chance, will kill her.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
Through the first few chapters of The Winter People, I kept thinking “Oh no, there’s going to be a love triangle just like every other YA book out there.” Still, the premise of this book was interesting enough that even a love triangle couldn’t dissuade me. I was resolved to give it a fair try and I’m so glad I did.
Yes, The Winter People seems like it has your absolutely typical love triangle in the beginning. But I promise you that doesn’t last as Salome realizes not everything is as it seems and not everyone is deserving of her affection. She really matures as a character and desperately tries to get over her justified fear of winter from a previously traumatic incident only to realize that she should still be afraid of it. Very, very afraid.
The thing that really sets The Winter People apart from most YA books I’ve read lately is the quality of writing. Rebekah Purdy really does have a beautiful, descriptive writing style that sucks you into the story. She doesn’t describe things in mind-numbing detail but the way she describes them really does make you feel like you’re in all of these scenes, both magical and ordinary. It takes a talented writer to do that and I really believe that if nothing else, the writing alone would be enough reason to read this book.
However, the main character is pretty awesome as well. Salome is terrified of winter because she fell through the ice in her family pond at a very young age. She was rescued by our mysterious Nevin at the time but she still retained a somewhat justifiable fear of all things wintery. Now in high school she’s having to cope with taking care of her grandparents’ house when they go south for the winter because her dad is usually gone (as a trucker) and her mother has a broken leg. Seeing how she deals with that really gives me a lot of respect for her because despite her fear, she’s determined to help out her grandparents.
In the beginning Salome is a bit naive but never falls into the ‘too stupid to live’ category. She really grows and matures not only as she falls in love (then realizes what love really is thanks to a little help from a special someone) but as she fights for her life. There’s a mysterious curse hanging over her head and no one will tell her anything about it so she’s absolutely determined to find out on her own in order to save herself and her family. You really can’t help but love Salome as a character.
The plot isn’t insanely fast-paced because this is a character-driven novel but it is pretty exciting. Just when you think you know how things are going to end, Rebekah Purdy throws a twist in and you’re left scrambling. There were one or two twists I predicted but in general I was pleasantly surprised by most of the turns the story took. They stayed true to the essence of the story while still throwing the reader for a loop and that takes talent on the part of the author.
Even if you’re not big into fairies, I can’t recommend The Winter People enough. These fairies really aren’t all that they seem and they’re more like the fairies of old, not the sweet, innocent and ridiculously hot fairies of most books these days. They’re more capricious and dangerous than your average YA fairy and it certainly makes the story more interesting in that things aren’t only in shades of black and white. After reading this book, I honestly can’t wait to read more of Rebekah Purdy’s work.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Fairy by Shane McKenzie
(Cover picture courtesy of NetGalley.)
Cecilia will do anything to have a baby. Anything.
Cecilia has tried everything to have the one thing she wants most—a baby. She’s been through every procedure, taken every medication. Nothing seems to work. Her body simply refuses to grow the life she so desperately yearns for. Her jealousy is making her lash out at the pregnant women around her. She’s starting to worry about her sanity.
But all is not lost. There is still one way. And Cecilia will do whatever it takes.
Even if it means inviting an ancient creature into her bedroom.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I know the blurb sounds like it belongs to a crappy erotic novel, but I swear to you that this is straight up horror. It’s actually quite terrifying.
I don’t find Cecilia incredibly sympathetic but she is interesting and held my attention. She’s so desperate for a baby that she’s willing to try anything and she’s especially tortured by seeing new life come into the world as a midwife. It’s hard for her, especially when she runs into her ex-husband with his new pregnant wife. You can kind of see where Cecilia would try something so ridiculous and so horrifying that it’s hard to even read about. I don’t want to spoil too much, but let’s say the ending was very much in character for her.
This is a novella which is good because I don’t think it would be possible to sustain this level of suspense over an entire novel. In the beginning things are only kind of sad, but then the mood gets darker and darker as Shane McKenzie takes the novella to its terrifying (but believable conclusion). The pace is quite fast but not at the expense of readers getting to know Cecilia and feel at least a little bit for her plight.
I like that Shane McKenzie stuck with the darker fairy mythology rather than making this into a shameless erotic novel that has a wonderfully happy ending where everyone goes about their merry way. No, this really is horror and although the ending was rather predictable to my mind, I think it will be a shock for some people who pick this up. If you’re big on horror I wouldn’t recommend it because you’ve probably read a novel just like this already but if you’re a newbie like I am this is a good sample of what the genre has to offer.
Basically, Fairy was everything a horror novella should be: short, dark and terrifying. What more can you ask for?
I give this novella 4.5/5 stars.
Feyguard: Royal by Anthea Sharp
(Cover picture courtesy of Barnes & Noble.)
The adventures begun in the Feyland trilogy continue, where a high-tech computer game becomes a gateway to the treacherous Realm of Faerie.Rich-boy gamer Royal Lassiter lives on easy mode—until everything falls apart. Dark faeries are plotting to invade the mortal world, his controlling mom has turned home into enemy territory, and he can’t deny his irresistible attraction to newcomer Brea, despite the danger lurking in her mysterious eyes.
Forced to undertake a perilous mission for the Dark Queen of Faerie, Brea Cairgead finds living among humans and hiding her true nature as one of the fey folk a fearsome challenge—especially when her emotions prove all too vulnerable to a certain human boy. Torn between impossible loyalties, she must serve her queen… though it may cost her heart.
Can love between mortal and fey ever have a happy ending?
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from Anthea Sharp in exchange for an honest review.]
I’ve never really liked Roy as a character in Anthea Sharp’s novels, both Feyland (the original series) and Feyguard (this new spinoff series) so I’ll admit I was a little reluctant to read things from his point of view for a whole book. It’s a testament to Anthea Sharp’s writing talent that once I actually got going, I really didn’t mind him so much.
Roy is the kind of person that hides his true self behind a facade, both at school and at home because people would disapprove. In the case of school there’s the usual peer pressure to stay cool but at home his mum really is more of a ruthless CEO type rather than the type of mum who would approve of Roy’s forays into art. In a situation like that, it’s easy for him to fall back on the rich playboy facade rather than expose his innermost self. Into all this, enter Brea Cairgead, a fey girl sent by the Dark Queen to make more humans susceptible to falling into Feyland so that they may live. She can see beyond his facade even while she creates her own, so when they start falling in love it makes for an interesting relationship dynamic.
At the same time this book isn’t just about Roy as a character. We see Jennet and Tamlin and some of the other Feyguard as well, but it sort of continues the story of how the fey are desperate to bring unsuspecting humans into their world. In a way I feel sorry for them since most of the mortal realm doesn’t believe in them and their very survival is in peril because of that. However, their methods don’t lend much sympathy and in the end the fey are capricious and often quite vicious so I can’t feel too sorry for them.
This is in many ways a character driven novel, but as you can probably guess there’s also a pretty interesting plot as well. There was nothing all that unexpected in the plot until the end, where there’s a huge twist. I don’t want to give too much away, but it solves the problem of Roy and Brea’s fey-human attraction in a brilliant if semi-tragic way. I’m a sucker for some portrayals of star-crossed love and this is definitely one of them.
All in all, Anthea Sharp’s second book in the Feyguard series was even better than I expected. Roy still gave off rich playboy vibes in the beginning of the novel but by the end he’s actually a pretty nice guy. So there you have it: magic, character development and a pretty fast-paced plot. I certainly can’t ask for more than that.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Serenade by Emily Kiebel
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Suddenly the voice she prized is now dangerously seductive…
Lorelei Clark’s only concern was her future as a classically trained soprano, that is, until the day her father was tragically killed. Shattered by his death, she hesitantly accepts an invitation from a mysterious aunt to visit her lavish oceanside home in Cape Cod. She quickly discovers that her aunt and the two women who live with her are harboring a frightening secret they are sirens, terrifying mythical creatures responsible for singing doomed sailors to their deaths. Even more astounding, Lorelei is one of them. In this new world where water comes alive at her touch and an ancient power pulses beneath the tide, the most important rule Lorelei must learn is that a siren never interferes with fate. When she breaks this rule by rescuing a handsome sailor who should have died at sea, the sirens vow she must finish the job or face grave consequences. Finding herself inexplicably attracted to him, she must fight to keep him safe from the others, even if it means risking her own life, and her heart, in the process.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I’ve actually read quite a few books about sirens now since they seemed to be trending in YA for a while, but the thing that attracted me to Serenade especially was that the main character was a classically trained soprano. I love opera and I decided to see if Emily Kiebel’s take on sirens was different from that of the other books in her niche. Thankfully, it was.
The world-building in Serenade is actually much better than in most siren books. In this version, sirens don’t lure people to their deaths, they just soothe them as they die because it’s the will of Fate. They don’t really control their power but at the same time they can’t escape it because the sea will always call to them. Of course this makes for some interesting moral dilemmas like “What if I don’t want to help people die for the rest of my life?” or “What if someone isn’t ready to die?”. It’s that last question that gets Lorelei in some serious trouble, but it presents an interesting answer to the question of whether or not sirens really have free will.
Not only was the world-building pretty good, I liked Lorelei as a main character. She absolutely loves singing and is willing to defy her own mother to pursue a career in opera. When her father dies in an accident right before her eyes, you really do feel for Lorelei even though you’ve pretty much just met her. It’s a rare author that can make you truly connect with a character so quickly, but Emily Kiebel managed to do it. My only problem character-wise was the secondary characters. None of them really stood out for me; they were more average in terms of being fleshed out and I didn’t really connect with any of them, even our handsome sailor that Lorelei rescues and falls in love with.
As for the plot, it takes a while for Lorelei to get her bearings as a siren so it’s not exactly fast-paced in the beginning and middle of the book. There is a lot of tension, though, as she wrestles with many moral dilemmas surrounding her siren calling. But the action really doesn’t get going until she saves someone who is supposed to die. Then pretty much everything goes to the dogs in her family and Lorelei is faced with killing a man who isn’t ready to die or risking exile and knowing he’ll be killed anyway. It’s really not a good situation and I like the little turn of events at the end. Still, I think Serenade could have been a little faster paced without sacrificing the character development.
This book doesn’t release until July 15th, but I definitely urge you to pre-order it. It’s one of the best books in the siren sub-genre of YA that I’ve read lately and I have to say that Emily Kiebel really knows her opera (although that’s just a bonus when paired with the world-building and main character).
I give this book 4/5 stars.
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*Not yet available for pre-order.
Threats of Sky and Sea by Jennifer Ellision
(Cover picture courtesy of Two Ends of the Pen.)
Sixteen year-old Breena Perdit has spent her life as a barmaid, innocent to her father’s past and happily free from the Elemental gifts that would condemn her to a life in the Egrian King’s army. Until the day that three Elemental soldiers recognize her father as a traitor to the throne and Bree’s father is thrown in jail—along with the secrets from his last mission as the King’s assassin. Secrets that could help the King win a war. Secrets he refuses to share.
Desperate to escape before the King’s capricious whims prove her and her father’s downfall, Bree bargains with him: information for their lives. It’s a good trade. And she has faith she’ll get them both out of the King’s grasp with time.
But that was before the discovery that she’s the weapon the King’s been waiting for in his war.
Now, time is running out. To save her father’s life and understand her own, Bree must unravel the knot of her father’s past before the King takes his life– and uses her to bring a nation to its knees.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
You know, at first glance it would seem like Threats of Sky and Sea has it all: an interesting plot, some fantastic world-building with new takes on old tropes, a tough main character and plenty of intrigue. Except when I finished reading Jennifer Ellision’s debut novel I was left feeling kind of hollow.
Unlike with many books, I know exactly why I was feeling hollow by the end: there really wasn’t that much action in the whole novel. Yes, there’s action when Bree is plucked from her home and there’s quite a bit of action near the end of the novel but there’s really not all that much in the middle. Despite the minor plot surrounding the king and the king’s generally evil intentions, I was left feeling that the plot lacked something. I mean, Bree’s in a court where pretty much everyone hates her because of her father’s betrayal of the king. Surely some people would try to remind her of her place, of her rough upbringing? Surely there would be some other intrigues! When it comes to novels I’m not that demanding in terms of plot pacing but I do like for there to be a little more substance to the plot.
Still, despite that I really loved the characters in this novel. Bree is strong and brave but she at least learns when to keep her mouth shut, unlike a lot of YA heroines. She’s definitely not your traditional heroine in the looks department either because she has short brown hair (gasp!) whereas the current trend usually has heroines with red hair. Not only that, Bree really does love her father but that doesn’t mean she isn’t annoyed and hurt by his betrayal. He told her nothing of her birth, of her abilities for sixteen years and you can’t expect someone to forgive another person (even their own parent) for a betrayal like that. She grows to forgive her father, yes, but it’s a long path in that regard.
For a first novel, the world-building in here is fantastic. Even for a second, third or tenth novel as a matter of fact. I like how people born with elemental powers are both feared and respected as the king takes them in to fight for his army. Not only that, I like how there is still quite a bit not known about where the powers come from, how and when they manifest, etc. It makes it a little more realistic than Bree’s crazy teacher having all of the answers about everything. Not only that, Jennifer Ellision has given quite a great deal of thought to the rest of her fantasy world and you can tell that we’re going to see a lot more of the other kingdoms mentioned in the next few books.
So aside from the lack of substance in the middle of the novel I was very impressed with Threats of Sky and Sea and I can’t wait to see what Jennifer Ellision dreams up next.
I give this novel 4/5 stars.