Tag: Genre: YA Fantasy

Review: The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

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25740412._SY475_Title: The Black Witch

Author: Laurie Forest

Genre: Fantasy, YA

Summary: 

Elloren Gardner is the granddaughter of the last prophesied Black Witch, Carnissa Gardner, who drove back the enemy forces and saved the Gardnerian people during the Realm War. But while she is the absolute spitting image of her famous grandmother, Elloren is utterly devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else.

When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at the prestigious Verpax University to embrace a destiny of her own, free from the shadow of her grandmother’s legacy. But she soon realizes that the university, which admits all manner of people—including the fire-wielding, winged Icarals, the sworn enemies of all Gardnerians—is a treacherous place for the granddaughter of the Black Witch.

As evil looms on the horizon and the pressure to live up to her heritage builds, everything Elloren thought she knew will be challenged and torn away. Her best hope of survival may be among the most unlikely band of misfits…if only she can find the courage to trust those she’s been taught to hate and fear.

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Review: As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti

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as you wish.jpg

Title: As You Wish

Author: Chelsea Sedoti

Genre: YA Fantasy

Summary:

What if you could ask for anything- and get it? 

In the sandy Mojave Desert, Madison is a small town on the road between nothing and nowhere. But Eldon wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, because in Madison, everyone gets one wish—and that wish always comes true.

Some people wish for money, some people wish for love, but Eldon has seen how wishes have broken the people around him. And with the lives of his family and friends in chaos, he’s left with more questions than answers. Can he make their lives better? How can he be happy if the people around him aren’t? And what hope is there for any of them if happiness isn’t an achievable dream? Doubts build, leading Eldon to a more outlandish and scary thought: maybe you can’t wish for happiness…maybe, just maybe, you have to make it for yourself.

<b>Received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review</b>

This book is an intriguing premise. What would you wish for if you could wish for anything and get it? (As long as it doesn’t impact the outside world).

It seems like an easy answer, but unfortunately the language you use matters, and it shows in this novel as Eldon, one of the main characters tries to figure out what his birthday wish will be.

You can wish for a business, but it might not be successful. You can wish for unlimited donuts, but it won’t stop you from gaining weight if you don’t specify (no this is not an example of a wish in the book).

The struggle in this novel is extremely well written, even as Eldon is almost irredeemably arrogant and immature. But then, some teenagers are. However he is not without growth, even as he naivete takes him to some interesting places emotionally.

The characters I liked most were Eldon’s father, who is a warm, put sad character, stuck in Madison like most of them, and Merrill, Eldon’s best friend who is loyal even when he should probably walk away.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes their YA sprinkled with existential crisis’ as I definitely enjoyed this.

2 for the Price of 1: The Golden Compass and Reality Boy

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the golden compass

This is a book I’d wanted to read for quite some time, since having seen the movie and learning about the controversy. I picked it up quite some time ago at a library sale, and regret not having read it before this.

Lyra is a very precocious, often selfish little girl, but the character progression throughout the novel is brilliant. From someone who thinks only to themselves, to someone who cares deeply about others Lyra is definitely a good example of a how to, how to make your character grow that is.

This books is filled with the sort of fantasy I can find myself falling into quite easily, with daemons and Dust. It is brilliantly written and I enjoyed it quite a bit. I can’t wait to pick up the next book and give it a read.

reality boy

All I have to say is that YA fiction has changed quite a bit since I was one, and I’m hardly complaining.

A.S King pulls no punches with the way in which she writes her characters, or the language she uses in doing so. She also doesn’t seem too fearful of giving her characters very real problems.

There is true tragedy found in the pages of this book and it has nothing to do with the quality of the writing, which is really good. The two main characters lead very tragic, very real lives, and it’s easy to see why A.S King is a favourite among teens and adults alike.

This book is harsh, but never too melodramatic, and I developed a real fear for the characters as they battled their personal demons.

Book Challenge Day 4

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4. Your favourite book in your favourite series

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K Rowling

This is one of my favourite books. Period. That’s all there is to it. I can’t even speak to what it is about it. Perhaps it’s because it introduces two of the characters I had the most hope for in the entire series.

Sirius Black, enigmatic, and slightly mysterious, whose had a hard life. And Remus Lupin, loyal (perhaps to a fault), and one of those creatures that goes bump in the night.

It’s the hope in this novel that gets me, Harry’s hope for a family, Sirius’ hope for a future, Remus’ hope for a new life.

Everyone who knows me knows that because I love this book so much, that the movie was a huge disappointment to me.

 

Book Challenge Day 3

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3. Your Favourite Series

Harry Potter by J.K Rowling

The series I didn’t really want to read. It was soo popular, everyone loved it. I was 1o or 11 and even then didn’t want to read something that everyone else was reading. I was more mature than that, I was reading Jane Eyre (and not understanding the nuances of it).

But then, in eighth grade, when I was old enough to realize that I could read what I want and damn the consequences what anyone else thought of them I picked up the first book.

It sucked me in. It sucked me in so much that even into my high school years my sister (nine years older than me) and myself, sometimes with my mum would end up at Chapters at midnight to pick up the latest book, despite our pre-order of it (I even met a future ex-bf at one).

I loved the characters, I loved the fandom, I loved the feeling of talking about theories, of imagining what would happen next. The anticipation of it all, the new friends I gained because of these books.

This was the first series I really fell for that stuck with me.

Honorable Mentions:

Women of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong

The Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde

Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon