This one had a strong start with creepy gothic vibe and lots of mystery to untangle. But then in the second half of the book, it felt like we delved more into high school boyfriend / girlfriend / popularity drama, and started hitting some artificial road blocks on information sharing. The audiobook is great, but I probably should’ve DNF’d around the 75% mark when it started to lose me. But though I wasn’t a fan of the high school drama part, a younger teen might be, and I definitely wouldn’t be surprised if my 12-year-old niece got into this.
This was such a sweet, cozy portal fantasy! Written in a more classical fantasy style, and filled with magic, fun characters, and animal companions, this is the type of whimsical adventure perfect for both kids and adults looking for an escape with a new world to explore. With a budding romance, this is a book one that promises more, and that’d I recommend to anyone looking for a light, quick read with a cute, fantastical band of heroes. Personally, I’d say this book would be great for 9+, and the audiobook narration was fantastic! Thanks to the publisher for the ARC!
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
If you’re looking for a super sweet lower YA fantasy, this one is for you!
Great narration, the pirate adventure vibes were definitely here in force, and I enjoyed the idea of sibling captains, but the characters didn’t quite grab me. Recommended for those looking for a plot-driven pirate adventure.
⭐⭐⭐½
It’s been a long time since I’ve fallen in love with a pirate adventure. I think those might be a tough sell for me.
Aww this was such a strong YA romance. The YA voice feels authentic here, and I was totally able to connect with Sadie’s struggle with image, perfectionism, & people-pleasing. She was easy to like, and I enjoyed her development throughout the book. The story does a wonderful job of balancing sincerity & humor, and I thought the relationship between the leads seemed to grow naturally over time. Though I had mixed feelings about Julius at the beginning, he won me over with the little ways that his feelings for Sadie would pop through, and his genuine-feeling exchanges with her.
Definitely recommend for anyone looking for a sweet academic rivals to lovers that reads authentically YA.
I really enjoyed book one, but book 2 wasn’t for me. I felt it was extremely plot driven, and I would’ve enjoyed more character and relationship development. I also felt like the post-apocalyptic virus/zombie vibes weren’t as strong here, and in general, I didn’t feel as invested in the story. Of course that’s just my subjective 2 cents, so if you loved the first one, I’d still give this a try. Though be warned, while I felt like the romance subplot was significant in book one, it is barely there in this one. (no rating.)
The number one question I get is about my books is: “Are you books ‘clean’?” That is a super hard question to answer, because everyone’s definition of ‘clean’ is different. So I’ve made these *very* specific content guides to help readers and parents determine if my books are right for them. Of course, if you have more specific questions, please be sure to reach out!
This post is specifically about my Odriel’s Heirs series, but you can find the content guide for my Into the Churn series here and my upper-middle-grade stand-alone, The Gatekeeper of Pericael is coming next week. Thanks for reading!
The number one question I get is about my books is: “Are you books ‘clean’?” That is a super hard question to answer, because everyone’s definition of ‘clean’ is different. So I’ve made these *very* specific content guides to help readers and parents determine if my books are right for them. Of course, if you have more specific questions, please be sure to reach out!
This post is specifically about my Into the Churn series, but I will also make posts for my Odriel’s Heirs series and my upper-middle-grade stand-alone, The Gatekeeper of Pericael. Thanks for reading!
Loved getting Haymitch’s point of view, but just as a rule, I’m not a huge fan of prequels since we pretty much know how it all turns out, and this one’s definitely not a feel-good sort of story. For that reason too, I don’t think I’d go see the movie. In general though, I’d recommend this for Hunger Games fans who are a still looking for more!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Prequels and Villain origin stories just aren’t for me I guess. But they might be for you!
So I usually try to include my writing updates in my bi-annual author newsletter (which you can sign up for here), but it’s been a while since I dropped one in the blog, and I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire, I figured I’d post a little recap.
As of this writing, I currently have ten books published.
The 5-book Odriel’s Heirs series is complete. Reading order: Odriel’s Heirs, Burning Shadows, Idriel’s Children, Night of Ash, Time’s Orphan. And honestly, I’m actively trying to step away from further investment in this series in the way of time or promotion. (It’s hard because I do love them so much, but I’m trying to look forward.) They’re all free to read somewhere, and Odriel’s Heirs pretty consistently lives in the top twenty of Amazon’s Free Teen & Young Adult Dark Fantasy ebooks and Teen & Young Adult Epic Fantasy ebooks. It’s downloaded regularly and has over Amazon 200 ratings with a 4.5 star average, so I’m pretty happy with that.
The Gatekeeper of Pericael remains as my only upper-middle-grade adventure, and again, I’m trying to actively step away from further investment. Also permafree, it still gets downloads on a weekly basis, and some reviews trickle in. An agent once told me, “You’ve written a beautiful book, but I have no idea how to market it,” and I completely agree with her. I love the creepy little monsterific book, but its target audience is strong middle grade readers who are looking for a good scare in their fantasy… which is a hard group to reach. As someone who was a horror-loving middle-schooler myself, I do absolutely love it though when it finds its way into the hands of the right reader. *So satisfying.* Strangely this “middle-school boy fantasy” is the only one I’ve sold out of at book signings, so that’s pretty cool too.
The 5-book Into the Churn series is also on the verge of completion. Reading order: Into the Churn, Into the Fire, A Churn in the Dark, Into the Abyss, A Churn in the (Virtual) Society. That last one now available for preorder and will release on September 16th. Since this is still a very new completed series, it’s currently the one I’m marketing most, and with Amazon ratings creeping up (184 now) I finally feel like it’s finding its audience. Overall, I’m super proud of this series, I can’t wait to hold that 5th book in my hands, and see what readers think of our last adventure in the Casolla system.
So where are we going here? Well, this year, my coauthor (E.P. Stavs) and signed a 2-book deal with Charlesbridge Publishing for Midnight Falls, our YA Paranormal Mystery (think of it as Gilmore Gils + Spirited Away + Addams Family.) But that won’t be coming out until Fall of 2027. Erin and I have two more Paranormal Adventures in that same universe—Borrowed Magic & Other Catastrophes (complete and with our agent) and A Witch’s Guide to Mischief and Moonlight (hoping to complete the first draft in June)—that we’re hoping to package together into a magical tourism series, but we’ll see how it goes.
But what about a 2026 release?! Well… I may have a little secret up my sleeve. It’s a little too early to say for sure, but I’m thinking my other Paranormal Mystery (think Veronica Mars + Bride + The Office) maybe be launching into the world in September 2026. The first draft is complete, but I’m still working on the first revision before I send it off to the powers that be. If all goes well, the official announcement will go out in October, and that will be part of a trilogy slated for 2026, 2027, & 2028 release. Fingers crossed!
But what about all of these other books you talk about? Indeed, dear reader, indeed. The traditional publishing pipeline is a long one with many ups and downs. My contemporary YA romcom, Inky & Heater IRL (think You Got Mail + Falling Into Your Smile), is technically on sub, along with my creepy YA Paranormal, The Ninth Circle (Stranger Things + Supernatural + Buffy), but we’ll be pivoting our energies to focus on my other WIPs ready to launch into the sub trenches.
Most notably, Codename: CNDRLA (Ever After + Mission Impossible) is the newest penguin to jump off the iceberg into the unpredictable waters of submission, and my agent (Kristen Terrette) and I are super excited for it!
Exit Seats (When Harry Met Sally + Fangirl) is next in line. And then I also have a *dark* NA Fantasy, House of the Chosen, (Gideon the Ninth + Phantasma) that I’m hoping to send my agent at the end of the summer.
And that’s basically the long and short of it. To sum up: 10 books published 1 book scheduled for September 2025 release 1 book planned for a September 2026 release 2 books planned for 2027 release 2 books planned for a 2028 release 3 books on sub 1 book with agent 2 books on route to my agent this summer
So where is my energy concentrated right now? – Promoting the Into the Churn series – Bagging that September 2026 contract – Crossing my fingers SUPER hard for Codename: CNDRLA (like SUPER hard. It’s seriously one of my favorite book children)
Anyways, thanks for coming on the journey with me! And if you want to make sure you hear about my releases, remember to sign up for my newsletter or follow me on Amazon for notifications when I have another book published!
If you’re looking for ways to support me and enjoyed my books, ratings & reviews help a ton.
Okay, so this is the post I needed in my life as a budding author in 2019. I have always loved art since I was a kid, and now, as an author, I adore seeing books brought to life through character art, and use character art heavily when promoting my books. But when I first started out, I had no idea who to message about character art.
Over the years, as I admired other authors’ commissioned pieces, got recommendations from authors, and commissioned different artists myself, I began to gather quite a few art pieces of my books that I adored as well as a list of artists I enjoyed working with. I’m always on the look out for new artists and fresh styles, because I love to see how different people with different perspectives can bring to life characters in different ways.
And yes, I only work with human artists and likewise, human authors. In case you haven’t seen my thoughts on generative AI, you can find them in the graphic below.
So in part, this is an artist appreciation post for the artists who I’ve worked with over the years, and it’s also a resource for those other authors out there looking for (human) artists to commission. Without further ado, the guide is below! All handles are from Instagram unless otherwise noted.
Hayley Reese Chow 