Les Petites Revues [#4]

I read a few duds this summer. I guess they all can't be winners. 

Book Review: When I Cast Your Shadow

Title: When I Cast Your Shadow
Author: Sarah Porter
Genre: Young Adult | Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Teen
Publication Date: September 12, 2017
Source: Publisher
Format: e-ARC

Dashiell Bohnacker was hell on his family while he was alive. But it's even worse now that he's dead....
After her troubled older brother, Dashiell, dies of an overdose, sixteen-year-old Ruby is overcome by grief and longing. What she doesn't know is that Dashiell's ghost is using her nightly dreams of him as a way to possess her body and to persuade her twin brother, Everett, to submit to possession as well.
Dashiell tells Everett that he's returned from the Land of the Dead to tie up loose ends, but he's actually on the run from forces crueler and more powerful than anything the Bohnacker twins have ever imagined....(goodreads). 

That was confusing and weird. 

Book Review: Wicked Like a Wildfire

Title: Wicked Like a Wildfire (Hibiscus Daughter #1)
Author: Lana Popovic
Genre: Young Adult | Magical Realism
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books 
Publication Date: August 15, 2017
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC

All the women in Iris and Malina’s family have the unique magical ability or “gleam” to manipulate beauty. Iris sees flowers as fractals and turns her kaleidoscope visions into glasswork, while Malina interprets moods as music. But their mother has strict rules to keep their gifts a secret, even in their secluded sea-side town. Iris and Malina are not allowed to share their magic with anyone, and above all, they are forbidden from falling in love. 
But when their mother is mysteriously attacked, the sisters will have to unearth the truth behind the quiet lives their mother has built for them. They will discover a wicked curse that haunts their family line—but will they find that the very magic that bonds them together is destined to tear them apart forever (goodreads)?

Don't let the pretty cover fool you. 

Book Review: The Edge of Everything

Title: The Edge of Everything (Untitled #1)
Author: Jeff Giles
Genre: Young Adult | Urban Fantasy | Romance
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: January 31, 2017
Source: BEA
Format: ARC

It's been a shattering year for seventeen-year-old Zoe, who's still reeling from her father's shockingly sudden death in a caving accident and her neighbors' mysterious disappearance from their own home. Then on a terrifying sub-zero, blizzardy night in Montana, she and her brother are brutally attacked in a cabin in the woods--only to be rescued by a mysterious bounty hunter they call X.

X is no ordinary bounty hunter. He is from a hell called the Lowlands, sent to claim the soul of Zoe's evil attacker and others like him. Forbidden to reveal himself to anyone other than his victims, X casts aside the Lowlands' rules for Zoe. As X and Zoe learn more about their different worlds, they begin to question the past, their fate, and their future. But escaping the Lowlands and the ties that bind X might mean the ultimate sacrifice for both of them (goodreads).

The Edge of Everything was a unique read, but that's the most praise I can give it. 

Book Review: Stealing Snow

Title: Stealing Snow (Stealing Snow #1)
Author: Danielle Paige
Genre: Young Adult | Retellings | Fantasy | Magic
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Publication Date: September 20, 2016
Format: ARC
Source: BEA

Seventeen-year-old Snow has spent the majority of her life within the walls of the Whittaker Institute, a high security mental hospital in upstate New York. Deep down, she knows she's not crazy and doesn't belong there. When she meets a mysterious, handsome new orderly and dreams about a strange twisted tree she realizes she must escape and figure out who she really is.
Using her trusting friend Bale as a distraction, Snow breaks free and races into the nearby woods. Suddenly, everything isn't what it seems, the line between reality and fantasy begins to blur, and she finds herself in icy Algid--her true home--with witches, thieves, and a strangely alluring boy named Kai, none of whom she's sure she can trust. As secret after secret is revealed, Snow discovers that she is on the run from a royal lineage she's destined to inherit, a father more powerful and ruthless than she could have imagined, and choices of the heart that could change the fate of everything...including Snow's return to the world she once knew.
This breathtaking first volume begins the story of how Snow becomes a villain, a queen, and ultimately a hero (goodreads). 

So much nope. 

Book Review: Harmony House

Title: Harmony House
Author: Nic Shef
Genre: Young Adult | Ghosts | Paranormal 
Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: March 22, 2016
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher

Jen Noonan’s father thinks a move to Harmony House is the key to salvation, but to everyone who has lived there before, it is a portal to pure horror.
After Jen’s alcoholic mother’s death, her father cracked. He dragged Jen to this dilapidated old manor on the shore of New Jersey to “start their new lives”—but Harmony House is more than just a creepy old estate. It’s got a chilling past—and the more Jen discovers its secrets, the more the house awakens. Strange visions follow Jen wherever she goes, and her father’s already-fragile sanity disintegrates before her eyes. As the forces in the house join together to terrorize Jen, she must find a way to escape the past she didn’t know was haunting her—and the mysterious and terrible power she didn’t realize she had.
A classic horror story finds a terrifying home in Harmony House, drawing on favorite tropes and edgy, modern characters to create a chilling tale of blame, guilt, and ghostly revenge (goodreads).

 

No, just no. 

Book Review: Seven Black Diamonds

Title: Seven Black Diamonds (Untitled #1)

Author: Melissa Marr

Genre: Young Adult | Fae

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publication Date: March 1, 2016

Format: eARC

Source: Publisher

Lilywhite Abernathy is a criminal—she’s half human, half fae, and since the time before she was born, a war has been raging between humans and faeries. The Queen of Blood and Rage, ruler of the fae courts, wants to avenge the tragic death of her heir due to the actions of reckless humans.
Lily’s father has always shielded her, but when she’s sent to the prestigious St. Columba’s school, she’s delivered straight into the arms of a fae sleeper cell—the Black Diamonds. The Diamonds are planted in the human world as the sons and daughters of the most influential families and tasked with destroying it from within. Against her will, Lilywhite’s been chosen to join them...and even the romantic attention of the fae rock singer Creed Morrison isn’t enough to keep Lily from wanting to run back to the familiar world she knows.
Melissa Marr returns to faery in a dramatic story of the precarious space between two worlds and the people who must thrive there. The combination of ethereal fae powers, tumultuous romance, and a bloodthirsty faery queen will have longtime fans and new readers at the edge of their seats (goodreads). 

Seven Black Diamonds excels in cliches and poor pacing. 

Book Review: Sanctuary Bay

Title: Sanctuary Bay
Author: Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz
Genre: Young Adult // Mystery // Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: January 19, 2016
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher

In this genre-bending YA thriller, will Sarah Merson's shiny new prep school change her life forever or bring it to a dark and sinister end?
When Sarah Merson receives the opportunity of a lifetime to attend the most elite prep school in the country-Sanctuary Bay Academy-it seems almost too good to be true. But, after years of bouncing from foster home to foster home, escaping to its tranquil setting, nestled deep in Swans Island, couldn't sound more appealing. Swiftly thrown into a world of privilege and secrets, Sarah quickly realizes finding herself noticed by class charmer, Nate, as well as her roommate's dangerously attentive boyfriend, Ethan, are the least of her worries. When her roommate suddenly goes missing, she finds herself in a race against time, not only to find her, but to save herself and discover the dark truth behind Sanctuary Bay's glossy reputation. 
In this genre-bending YA thriller, Sanctuary Bay by Laura J. Burns and Melinda Metz, Sarah's new school may seem like an idyllic temple of learning, but as she unearths years of terrifying history and manipulation, she discovers this "school" is something much more sinister (goodreads).

If I had to sum Sanctuary Bay up in one word, it would be "silly." 

Book Review: Air Awakens

Title: Air Awakens (Air Awakens #1)
Author: Elise Kova
Genre: Young Adult | Magic | Fantasy | Romance
Publisher: Silver Wing Press
Publication Date: August 27, 2015
Format: Physical
Source: Library

A library apprentice, a sorcerer prince, and an unbreakable magic bond...
The Solaris Empire is one conquest away from uniting the continent, and the rare elemental magic sleeping in seventeen-year-old library apprentice Vhalla Yarl could shift the tides of war.
Vhalla has always been taught to fear the Tower of Sorcerers, a mysterious magic society, and has been happy in her quiet world of books. But after she unknowingly saves the life of one of the most powerful sorcerers of them all—the Crown Prince Aldrik—she finds herself enticed into his world. Now she must decide her future: Embrace her sorcery and leave the life she’s known, or eradicate her magic and remain as she’s always been. And with powerful forces lurking in the shadows, Vhalla’s indecision could cost her more than she ever imagined (goodreads). 

[Book Review]Exquisite Captive

 Title: Exquisite Captive (The Dark Caravan Cycle #1)
Author: Heather Demetrios
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: October 7, 2014
Genre: Young Adult // Mythology // Social Issues // Romance
Format: eBook
Source: Library

Forced to obey her master.Compelled to help her enemy.Determined to free herself. 
Nalia is a jinni of tremendous ancient power, the only survivor of a coup that killed nearly everyone she loved. Stuffed into a bottle and sold by a slave trader, she’s now in hiding on the dark caravan, the lucrative jinni slave trade between Arjinna and Earth, where jinn are forced to grant wishes and obey their human masters’ every command. She’d give almost anything to be free of the golden shackles that bind her to Malek, her handsome, cruel master, and his lavish Hollywood lifestyle.
Enter Raif, the enigmatic leader of Arjinna’s revolution and Nalia’s sworn enemy. He promises to free Nalia from her master so that she can return to her ravaged homeland and free her imprisoned brother—all for an unbearably high price. Nalia’s not sure she can trust him, but Raif’s her only hope of escape. With her enemies on the hunt, Earth has become more perilous than ever for Nalia. There’s just one catch: for Raif’s unbinding magic to work, Nalia must gain possession of her bottle…and convince the dangerously persuasive Malek that she truly loves him. Battling a dark past and harboring a terrible secret, Nalia soon realizes her freedom may come at a price too terrible to pay: but how far is she willing to go for it?
Inspired by Arabian Nights, EXQUISITE CAPTIVE brings to life a deliciously seductive world where a wish can be a curse and shadows are sometimes safer than the light (goodreads).

What promised to be an engaging and rich  mythology turned out to be an info dump of a book with a very questionable love interest. 

Plot: I knew that this book was going to be a struggle the moment I cracked the open. I did not feel a connection to Nalia, and I was basically bored the entire novel. We were given glimpses of Nalia's war-torn homeland but it just all seemed out of place and distracted me from the overall storyline. 

Characters: I don't think there was a single character I liked or felt like I actually knew. Nalia basically pardons her master, (and potential love interest? Who knows) Malek's controlling nature because "well, at least he doesn't rape me like other masters." Their relationship bothered me the most, because Malek is clearly a jackass, but Nalia can't seem to see past how sexy and how tortured he was. There is another leg to this love triangle that seems less toxic, but by that point, I didn't even care. 

World Building: Meh, like I said earlier, Nalia has these random memories of her land and her family but it feels so disconnected from Earth that I couldn't properly envision it. 

Short N Sweet: Exquisite Captive made reading feel like a chore and I never once connected with the plot or the characters. It's safe to say that this book was not for me.