It’s a little difficult to describe this book without spoilers, so this will be a short review for a great sequel to finish this duology! Queen of Night by Katherine Macdonald veers from the sequel, and plunges into new territory with this sequel. I loved the raised stakes and the growth of the Persephone’s character as the strands of her life come together. I also really loved the peeks we got into Hades’ perspective, and the happily ever after was a perfect end to their sweet romance. On the whole, this book was more serious and heavier than book one. It starts off a littler slower than the first, but makes up for it with an intense, action-filled second half. If you enjoyed the first book, I absolutely think you will love this one! Highly recommend this duology and can’t wait to read more by Katherine Macdonald.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Also, as a side note, the copy of Thief of Spring that I put in our local free library only lasted a week before getting snapped up. It makes me smile so big to think someone might be enjoying it right now! 😊
So Thief of Spring by Katherine Macdonald follows a mortal (contemporary) girl who comes across a fae (who are actually interwoven with the legends of the greek gods) Samhain revel, and is spirited down to live in the underworld for 7 months with (fae) Hades.
Where to even begin. WHAT DID I NOT LIKE?! The writing style is clean and fresh and beautiful. The dialogue is snappy and keeps the plot moving. The author wove this huge, dark, tantalizing world seamlessly around the tale of Hades and Persephone, and it just totally blew me away. Then there were the characters! I am seriously attached to both Hades and Persephone.
Seriously, they are so cute it almost physically pains me. They’re both so lovely and hurt in their own way, and the gentle way they put each other back together in a slow-burn that you can just drink in is absolutely fabulous.
And then the ending! Okay, I knew something was up and stuff was about to go down… but it just all happened in this intense climax, that honestly just left my jaw hanging in the best way.
I’m not huge into sequels, and I promised myself that I wouldn’t download anymore until I cleaned out current Kindle TBR. But apparently I lied, because I bought it and it’s on there now. So yeah. Basically, this book was a huge, wonderful surprise, and if you love YA fantasy or YA romance (or even better, both) you will totally fall in love with this book. The romance is standard YA heat (maybe a mild PG-13), the language is mildish, and there are some Harry Potter and other pop culture references in case you’re not into any of that.
But I loved it so five glittering stars to one of my favorite books of the year thus far, and I can’t wait to read the sequel!
🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
These are my excited “I can’t wait to read the sequel” eyes!
What a super cute steampunkish Rapunzel retelling! The Girl in the Clockwork Tower by Lou Wilham follows Persi, a seer forced to work for the evil and anti-magic MOTHER agency, and quirky goofball, Captain Manu, Persi’s assigned Uprising point of contact in a world filled with all manner of familiar magical people (Mermaids, Werewolves, Unicorns etc) and a few subtle pop culture references peppered in.
I absolutely loved the characters. Persi is super sweet, but shows a lot of courage as she tries to subvert MOTHER from the inside, and Manu is just this dramatic, pineapple-loving dandy airship Captain that you really can’t help but love. I absolutely loved the tongue-in-cheek banter between he and his grumpy goblin first mate, Benard. And Manu and Persi were super cute together—just a heroic pair of cinnamon rolls. And I also really liked that even though Manu and Persi are wholesome and have this innocence to them, the story really didn’t shy away from the horridness of MOTHER.
The only thing that was a little off for me was the pacing. I thought the middle dragged a bit, and then the ending felt rushed—without the full closure I was expecting. It sounds like this is going to be the first book in a series, but I still felt there were some threads of the story that seemed to be left hanging. I would totally recommend to fantasy fans looking for a unique retelling with loveable characters, fun banter, and a clean, sweet romance.
Thanks so much to Booksirens and the publisher for the free ARC!
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Fun world and loveable characters in a steampunk retelling. Thumbs up!
Let me start by saying, I’m not a mermaid person. When I originally saw this book described as a gender-swapped Little Mermaid retelling, I thought, “Eh, not for me.”
Then… when I saw it pitched as “Attack on Titan with mermaids,” I thought… Okay… well THAT I’ve got to see. And this book so totally pulled it off! The dual-POV plot follows a girl struggling with her deep-seated anger with the infestation of cannibalistic mermaids around her small island that threatens to cut them off from the rest of the world, and a merman struggling to escape slavery from the twisted, abusive mermaid queens.
Kenney does NOT hold back with the viciousness of the mermaids as she so vividly paints their world. Perfectly paced, I totally loved the brisk, rich writing style and the intricate and barbaric culture of the mermaids. I liked all the characters from the quietly raging Kestra, to intelligent Mai, and the charismatic ship captain, and the dialogue between them was sharp and fun.
The only thing that didn’t quite work for me was the glimpses of the love triangle that I feel would be further explored in future books. Without getting into spoilers, the chemistry between two points of the love triangle didn’t quite gel for me, and I was a little bit anxious about who the MC would end up.
I felt like the ending tied up the strands perfectly though, closing out the story while leaving room for future tales. As for a content warnings: there is definitely some intense, bloody violence, but language is mild, and romance scenes are fade-to-black, so I’d say PG-13. I would recommend this book to any fans of fantasy with an edge… and extra bonus points if you’re into mermaids!
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
Beautiful writing, unique story, and it comps to Attack on Titan. What’s not to like!?!
Okay… so, I started out thinking I wouldn’t finish this book… but it won me over.
I put this book on hold from the library months ago after seeing it recommended on Twitter, and to be honest, I spent the first 40% wondering what on earth all the fuss was about. So, keep in mind, I like snappy, fast-paced books as a rule, but I’m not going to lie, this beginning is S.l.o.w. Although the MC is likeable, we are beset with world-building and an overdose of internal monologue (which stretches throughout the book.)
HOWEVER. I was glad I hung in there, because around 50% this book finally came alive. I really liked both Poppy and Hawke, their chemistry pops of the page, the steam is well done, and honestly, their relationship is one of the few I think I can honestly classify as “complicated.” I loved the idea of the ghastly Craven, although I wished we would’ve spent just a little more time with how horrifying this would be, and I really liked the gritty action scenes. With the ample foreshadowing, none of the plot twists were particularly surprising, but I enjoyed them none the less. The Maiden concept seems a bit contrived and cringey (by design) and Poppy’s emotions gave me a little whiplash at the end, but it didn’t seem terribly out of place considering what she goes through.
So, although I’m not exactly dying to read it, I’m definitely still interested to see how she and Hawke’s doomed romance turns out, and I have put it on hold from the library (#15 on 1 copy 😂) . A few caveats: Hawke definitely has the player badboy with a past thing going on, so if you don’t like that, this isn’t for you. There’s also a few F-bombs sprinkled in, so if you don’t like that—also not for you. That said, I’d totally recommend to anyone else looking for a steamy high fantasy that takes its time.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ½
A thumbs up for that last 50% which almost made me forget about that first 50%.😂
