Rise of the Shadow Stealers
7.3
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Fletcher and Scoop are Apprentice Adventurers from the ancient establishment of Blotting's Academy...
childrens young adult ya magic fantasy
A Sundered Moon (Legends of Elessia - Shadows Over Garm #3)
8.0
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When the Blood God rises, two sworn enemies hold the fate of the world in their hands. Lucius has...
Action and Adventure Sword and Sorcery Epic Fantasy
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Dividing Eden in Books
Apr 15, 2018
The fact that they were protecting each other's secret while competing against each other for the throne was rather unique, and while I don't like Andreus much, I did enjoy Carys and her friends enough that I'll probably pick up the sequel when it comes out this June.
Everything happened very quickly, but that tends to be the case in YA. Adult fantasy seems to take its time and develop its characters more fully, which I enjoy.
The windmills and electricity was surprising, and I'd really like to know more about their religion of Virtues, and the Wind and Seeing Magic. I wish she had described her forest monsters a little earlier; they were only referred to by name for most of the book and I was left wondering if they were monsters or human raiders of some sort!
Verdict is - it's typical YA fantasy. If you're looking for a quick read, you might enjoy it.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Favian's Law (The Truth Teller Series #3) in Books
Nov 13, 2019
But Charlotte is not the only one who travels to the other world; Favian, a theatre performer, also makes the trip and Charlotte soon discovers that things are very different as a result. With big changes both in the fantasy world and when she returns to ours Charlotte must face her fears to put everything right.
The first two books were fairly straighforward fantasy; this takes on a darker tone as Favian's meddling has caused a lot of changes none of which are for the better. Here we see a very different world from the first two books. Despite being reunited with Elderfield there seems to be nothing they can do to avoid a terrible fate.
This change in tone works well with our heroes in real peril. But where the book really shines is when Charlotte returns to our world. Things have changed here too and everything really does seem hopeless.
Chambers handles the narrative with verve, putting Charlotte through the wringer but always with an eye on the sympathies of the reader. As before the reader is encouraged to care about all of the characters. Unusually there is no ultimate villain here and that makes for a interesting read as the various plot threads work their way to their conclusion.
The Last Stand (Empire of the Dragon Gods: Prequel)
Book
A priestess, a dragon god - and a lie that threatens to destroy them all. Celia is about to break...
Young Adult Fantasy
The Last Son of Venus by Dion Marc
8.0
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Alone and in London for the first time, Alex Anderson is being hunted by the darkness as the fates...
MM Dark Urban Fantasy
Ghost Town: Mystery Match Game
Games and Stickers
App
Epic journey leads you in abandoned township to help the cute local characters. Exciting plot about...
Amy Norman (1042 KP) rated The Cruel Prince in Books
Apr 1, 2020
I have been lucky enough to pick up the follow up books one after the other, I think having to wait for the next parts would have been far too frustrating.
Holly weaves a fantastical world with perfectly imperfect characters, that you can't help but gravitate towards.
This was a great starter book but the next two in the series were even better.
If you enjoy fantasy lands that intersect with our own, combined with weird and wonderful creatures. Assassin's in training, and the beginnings of many schemes to go awry then this will be perfect for you.
There is also magic in this land but it is not showy, and doesn't become the be all and end all focus, as so many books with magic potential do, and often fall flat because of it.
There is great character development, and you will be torn over whether you should be rooting for 'heroes' or 'villains', and there is a lot of grey area around that.
Please do go and read this series, Holly is a fantastic writer and you can really feel the care and love she has put into building this world, you won't regret picking it up.
Cori June (3033 KP) rated A Spell for Chameleon in Books
Jul 21, 2021
And I know the main character is 25 but at times he seems younger than that so although he complains a lot about being coddled and treated like a child, I sometimes think dude you're such a child. And how he thinks about women sometimes dismissing them is blah but he not irredeemably idiotic about it just annoying at times.
Anthony likes his "!" for emphasis which maybe the book showing its age! But it was a fun story and has a wonderful magic system so it sorta evens itself out.
It was a fun book and kept you guessing and didn't end exactly the way I thought it would which as good but didn't completely catch me by surprise.