Waiting on Wednesday (85)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

The Serpent's Secret by Sayantani DasGupta
Series: Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond #1
Genre: Middle Grade/Fantasy
Page Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Scholastic
Publication Date: February 27, 2018

About The Serpent's Secret (via Goodreads):

MEET KIRANMALA: INTERDIMENSIONAL DEMONSLAYER

(But she doesn’t know it yet.)

On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala is just a regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey… until her parents mysteriously vanish later that day and a rakkhosh demon slams through her kitchen, determined to eat her alive. Turns out there might be some truth to her parents’ fantastical stories—like how Kiranmala is a real Indian princess—and a wealth of secrets about her origin they've kept hidden.

To complicate matters, two crushworthy Indian princes ring her doorbell, insisting they’re here to rescue her. Suddenly, Kiran is swept into another dimension full of magic, winged horses, moving maps, and annoying, talking birds. There she must solve riddles and slay demons all while avoiding the Serpent King of the underworld (who may or may not want to kill her) and the rakkhosh queen (who definitely does) in order to find her parents and basically save New Jersey, her entire world, and everything beyond it…

To be honest, I don't typically read middle grade, but this one just sounds SO GOOD. I mean, let's be real, who doesn't want to read about interdimensional demonslayers who are secretly Indian princesses??? I definitely don't want to miss out!

Waiting on Wednesday (84)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

The Glass Spare by Lauren DeStefano
Series: The Glass Spare #1
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Page Length: 416 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: October 24, 2017

About The Glass Spare (via Goodreads):

A banished princess. A deadly curse. A kingdom at war. Wil Heidle, the only daughter of the king of the world’s wealthiest nation, has grown up in the shadows. Kept hidden from the world in order to serve as a spy for her father—whose obsession with building his empire is causing a war—Wil wants nothing more than to explore the world beyond her kingdom, if only her father would give her the chance. Until one night Wil is attacked, and she discovers a dangerous secret. Her touch turns people into gemstone. At first Wil is horrified—but as she tests its limits, she’s drawn more and more to the strange and volatile ability. When it leads to tragedy, Wil is forced to face the destructive power within her and finally leave her home to seek the truth and a cure. But finding the key to her redemption puts her in the path of a cursed prince who has his own ideas for what to do with her power. With a world on the brink of war and a power of ultimate destruction, can Wil find a way to help the kingdom that’s turned its back on her, or will she betray her past and her family forever?

Genuine Fraud (Mini ARC Review)

Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart
Genre: Young Adult/Suspense
Page Length: 272 pages
Format: ARC (received from Penguin/First In Line, from my B-Fest trivia win last summer)
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Publication Date: September 5, 2017

About Genuine Fraud (via Goodreads):

The story of a young woman whose diabolical smarts are her ticket into a charmed life. But how many times can someone reinvent themselves? You be the judge.

Imogen is a runaway heiress, an orphan, a cook, and a cheat.

Jule is a fighter, a social chameleon, and an athlete.

An intense friendship. A disappearance. A murder, or maybe two.

A bad romance, or maybe three.

Blunt objects, disguises, blood, and chocolate. The American dream, superheroes, spies, and villains.

A girl who refuses to give people what they want from her.

A girl who refuses to be the person she once was.

To get straight to the point, I was not a big fan of this book. The overall concept of the novel was definitely intriguing and entertaining (and had great potential), but it fell short for me. While the reverse chronological storytelling was an interesting addition to the novel, the plot and characters did not meet my expectations.

The plot was very character-driven, yet I could not connect to any of the characters at all. While I understand the need for mystery regarding the characters, the lack of details made them seem flat instead of appearing intriguing or mysterious.

While it was fascinating to see how the hero origin story concept was incorporated and completely twisted by the main character, it wasn't enough. It was merely scattered throughout the novel and never fully acknowledged or fleshed out. The characters lacked personality, and the main character's motivation was never clear. Good heroes and antiheroes need strong origin stories, yet this one lacked substance and a solid foundation.

I don't want to go into the details of the plot (although I thought the synopsis made the chain of events a bit too obvious), but it was definitely an interesting story. I will say that it felt like it would have worked better for the screen than a novel though. I wouldn't discourage people from reading it since it was still a decent read, but it didn't completely work for me.

My rating: 2.5 stars

Waiting on Wednesday (83)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Inkmistress by Audrey Coulthurst
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy/LGBTQIA+
Page Length: 400 pages
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: March 6, 2018

About Inkmistress (via Goodreads):

Asra is a demigod with a dangerous gift: the ability to dictate the future by writing with her blood. To keep her power secret, she leads a quiet life as a healer on a remote mountain, content to help the people in her care and spend time with Ina, the mortal girl she loves.

But Asra’s peaceful life is upended when bandits threaten Ina’s village and the king does nothing to help. Desperate to protect her people, Ina begs Asra for assistance in finding her manifest—the animal she’ll be able to change into as her rite of passage to adulthood. Asra uses her blood magic to help Ina, but her spell goes horribly wrong and the bandits destroy the village, killing Ina’s family.

Unaware that Asra is at fault, Ina swears revenge on the king and takes a savage dragon as her manifest. To stop her, Asra must embark on a journey across the kingdom, becoming a player in lethal games of power among assassins, gods, and even the king himself. Most frightening of all, she discovers the dark secrets of her own mysterious history—and the terrible, powerful legacy she carries in her blood.

I really enjoyed Of Fire and Stars, which was Coulthurst's debut, and this one sounds even better than her first book! Girls who seek revenge and can turn into dragons??? THIS JUST SOUNDS TOO PHENOMENAL. YES PLEASE GIVE IT TO ME.

Waiting on Wednesday (82)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston
Genre: Young Adult/Sci-Fi
Page Length: 320 pages
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 3, 2017

About That Inevitable Victorian Thing (via Goodreads):

Set in a near-future world where the British Empire never fell and the United States never rose, That Inevitable Victorian Thing is a novel of love, duty, and the small moments that can change people and the world.

Victoria-Margaret is the crown princess of the empire, a direct descendent of Victoria I, the queen who changed the course of history two centuries earlier. The imperial practice of genetically arranged matchmaking will soon guide Margaret into a politically advantageous marriage like her mother before her, but before she does her duty, she'll have one summer incognito in a far corner of empire. In Toronto, she meets Helena Marcus, daughter of one of the empire's greatest placement geneticists, and August Callaghan, the heir apparent to a powerful shipping firm currently besieged by American pirates. In a summer of high-society debutante balls, politically charged tea parties, and romantic country dances, Margaret, Helena, and August discover they share an unusual bond and maybe a one in a million chance to have what they want and to change the world in the process —just like the first Queen Victoria.

Waiting on Wednesday (81)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
Series: The City of Brass Trilogy #1
Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy
Page Length: 528 pages
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: November 14, 2017

About City of Brass (via Goodreads):

Step into The City of Brass, the spellbinding debut from S. A. Chakraborty—an imaginative alchemy of The Golem and the Jinni, The Grace of Kings, and One Thousand and One Nights, in which the future of a magical Middle Eastern kingdom rests in the hands of a clever and defiant young con artist with miraculous healing gifts.

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles.

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass—a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for . . .

THIS SOUNDS ABSOLUTELY EPIC AND UNLIKE ANYTHING I HAVE EVER READ AND I NEED IT IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW PLEASE AND THANK YOU.

Waiting on Wednesday (80)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that you are eagerly anticipating.

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi

Genre: Young Adult/Fantasy

Page Length: 304 pages

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: October 31, 2017

About Beasts Made of Night (via Goodreads):

In the walled city of Kos, corrupt mages can magically call forth sin from a sinner in the form of sin-beasts – lethal creatures spawned from feelings of guilt.

Taj is the most talented of the aki, young sin-eaters indentured by the mages to slay the sin-beasts. But Taj’s livelihood comes at a terrible cost. When he kills a sin-beast, a tattoo of the beast appears on his skin while the guilt of committing the sin appears on his mind. Most aki are driven mad by the process, but 17-year-old Taj is cocky and desperate to provide for his family.

When Taj is called to eat a sin of a royal, he’s suddenly thrust into the center of a dark conspiracy to destroy Kos. Now Taj must fight to save the princess that he loves – and his own life.

A gritty Nigerian-influenced fantasy.