The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

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Female empowerment in this tale of magic.

16yo Deka is worried that her blood is impure in a society that shuns those that are different. The village holds a ritual to know if a person is impure or not and it’s time for Deka’s participation. She lives alone with her weakened father who had an illness a few months ago; the illness that killed her mother at the same time. When her true nature shows itself while she’s protecting her village, everyone turns on her thinking she’s a demon. An emperor’s helper saves her and takes her to the capital to receive training to fight off death shrieks who wreak havoc on villages. Deka will discover more than her fate and the truth of who she is.

Likes/dislikes: I love the cover of this book. Deka’s strength is inspiring. Deka and Keita have a cute romance.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied sexual assault.
Language: PG-13 for 23 swears, no f-words.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Deka has dark skin and her father is pale with blonde hair. The Emperor has bluish black skin. People with dark brown skin, golden skin, pink skin, and every shade from deep brown to eggshell are mentioned.

A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

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Norse mythology based fiction!

Abused by her husband Vragi, 20yo Freya yearns to be free but she stays because her husband provides for her family members. But when Vragi receives an offer for her, Freya’s husband takes it and she becomes the property of Skaland and Snorri, their leader. Little by little, Freya learns about her heritage and her god given powers. When she grows so powerful that she sees fear in others’ eyes when they look at her, she wants to be somewhere where she’s not used as a weapon. Snorri’s son Bjorn vows to help her escape.

Likes/dislikes: I get frustrated with Freya’s stubbornness but understand that it keeps the story moving on. Bjorn is an interesting character with a background that’s a bit of a mystery. I enjoy the mythology entwined with the story.
Mature content: R for sexual content.
Language: R for 78 swears and 39 f-words.
Violence: R for bloody deaths and violence.
Ethnicity: mostly white with a dark skin man mentioned.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan

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Alternating timelines in this engrossing mystery!
15yo Sana moves into a decrepit large house in Africa with her father. The other residents say it’s haunted and this makes Sana curious. She asks the other residents questions about the house and its past and she explores everything and every place in the house. In the attic, Sana discovers a diary and she reads until the ending. What she finds, haunts her and she hopes there’s more of the story to unravel.

Likes/dislikes: The book is slow and builds the setting and characters until the second half when the mystery piqued my interest and grabbed my attention. I found it fascinating that Sana was a conjoined twin but she’s the only one who survived and now Sana sees and hears her dead sister. I loved discovering the background of the haunted home that is the setting for this story.
Mature Content: G for kissing.
Language: PG-13 for 14 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: Indian and African with some white.

Dawn Breaker by Jodi Meadows

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World devastation!
Reeling from the overwhelming destruction caused by the Malice weapon, Salvation’s residents are trying to save themselves and the injured. They’re searching for survivors and want justice served on those who set the weapon off. Rune is stuck in the rancor king’s domain while the Night Render hunts down the three scattered pieces of the weapon that can take the evil king down. Hanne questions everything she’s ever believed about the “helpful” voice she’s heard since she was a child. If the kingdoms can work together, there might still be hope in surviving the destruction of their world.

Likes/dislikes: The love interest is a bit stilted. The character growth is stronger in this sequel than in the first book of the series. My favorite character is Prince Rune because he’s kind and strong.
Mature Content: PG for kissing.
Language: G for no swears or f-words.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: falls to white.

Night Render and Dawn Breaker by Jodi Meadows

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Action and intrigue!

Prince Rune is betrothed to Princess Hanne and as they’re visiting his homeland, she gets trapped in a malsite where no one can see or hear her on the outside of the boundary of this area filled with malice. Rune wakes the Nightrender from her 400-year old slumber to save the princess. The Nightrender is a mythical hero who saves humans from malice and corruption. Rune wants to help the Night Render but his parents fight him about it, so nothing gets accomplished. Meanwhile, Hanne is threatened by an evil creature, a rancor. She must help create a weapon against her kingdom and Rune’s kingdom or she will be destroyed. Hanne wants to save herself and she’ll do anything to stay safe.

Likes/dislikes: The story is of action and intrigue. The Night Render is an awesome mythical character with a single mission. The character development is a little stilted in some parts.
Mature Content: PG for implied sex.
Language: PG for 1 swear and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: The ethnicity is light brown skin dominant in Ivasland and white skin dominant in Embria.

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

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Absolutely compelling!

10yo Kel and Cas are playing outside at the orphanage when the leader of the Arrow soldiers visits on the King’s orders. Kel is taken to the Castellane palace to attend dinner as a deception in place of Prince Conor, who is supposedly ill. Kel meets Conor after dinner and realizes that the prince wasn’t ill at all but dinner was a test to see if Kel could become the Sword Catcher for Prince Conor. After speaking with the prince, Kel chooses the life of being the prince’s closest companion, bodyguard and replacement if needed. Now, 23yo Kel accompanies Conor almost everywhere but he soon discovers they both have secrets they’re keeping from each other, secrets that might become dangerously fatal.

Likes/dislikes: I absolutely love the character development. The complex world building flowed perfectly and the political intrigue created a dangerous and mysterious environment. The four main characters have completely different personalities with each one being interesting and having depth.
Language: R for 31 swears and 9 f-words.
Mature content: PG-13 for implied sex.
Violence: R for bloody deaths.
Ethnicity: Cas and the King are white. Kel and Conor have light brown skin and the Queen has russet-brown skin. Lin is pale skinned.

A Multitude of Dreams by Mara Rutherford

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Retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death!
18yo Seraphina lives trapped in Eldridge Hall with the Royal Family, servants and courtiers since the plague began three years ago. Seraphina masquerades as Princess Imogen after the real princess died four years ago. The Royal sisters were terrified of how the king would react if he discovered Imogen’s death so the sisters found a look alike Jewish girl, Seraphina, and took her away from her family. She’s been Imogen ever since. 19yo Nico goes to Eldridge Hall to see if there are any survivors. He soon discovers that the man who saved him from the mori roja plague years ago, and who claims to be helping plague survivors, is really a monster. Now Nico is compelled to save everyone he can in and around Eldridge Hall.

Likes/dislikes: I love retellings and this is based on Edgar Allan Poe’s Masque of the Red Death with added supernatural and historical elements. The author shares her background and reasoning for creating this story and I’m impressed with her forethought and hindsight. Wonderful characters bring the book to life.
Mature Content: PG for kissing
Language: R for 43 swears and no f-words.
Violence: PG-13 for deaths.
Ethnicity: Royal family falls to white. Jewish descendants Seraphina and Dalia have olive skin. Lord Greymont has bronze skin. Elisabeth has olive skin. A dark skinned man is mentioned. Colin has brown skin.

Chaos & Flame by Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland

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Mad Prince Caspian is a great character!

The prophetic High Prince Regent Caspian has drawn and painted pictures of a girl that he sees needs saving. His mother dies and then his aunt Aurora keeps his abilities hidden so the kingdom won’t thinks he’s unstable. 17yo Darling is the girl in Caspian’s artwork and she’s now a young woman trying to liberate her father so she plays the part Caspian wants her to play. At the ball, Caspian announces a tour of the kingdom that he’ll be taking and he plans on his brother Talon and Darling accompanying him. As they travel, their eyes are opened to the true state of their country and citizens and discover plots to take them down.

Likes/dislikes: I like the alternating viewpoints of Darling, Talon and Caspian. The world building is done well. I enjoyed the friction between Talon and Darling and also Caspian’s personality and humor.
Mature Content: PG for kissing and implied sex with no details.
Language: PG-13 for 11 swears and no f-words.
Ethnicity: Darling has deep brown skin. Alvin has an olive complexion. Talon has tan skin. Finn is pale skinned.

Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto

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Beginning of an intriguing new series!
Wren is competing in the Bonewood Trials where her father instructed her to not just pass, but pass spectacularly to impress her grandmother, the overseer of the trials. When Wren is double crossed, she’s exiled to the Breachfort which is pretty much ignored by everyone because it’s supposedly desolate. She’s doing her guard duty diligently and when the visiting Prince Leo is kidnapped, Wren goes after him to save him. Julian is an ironsmith with the group who kidnapped Prince Leo but when the group tries to assassinate Julian, he and Wren end up falling in a deep crevasse together. The two of them are born enemies but are forced to work together to save themselves, rescue the Prince, and figure out why someone was targeting Julian.
Likes/dislikes: Amazing world building. I enjoyed the character depth, development and growth. I love the characters of Wren, Julian and Prince Leo.
Language: R for 39 swears and 9 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for passionate kissing.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody death.
Ethnicity: Wren is fair skinned. Julian has pale skin. Prince Leo has caramel colored hair and light brown skin. Wren’s father has olive skin. Commander has ruddy brown skin.

The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Violet is forced to attend the Dragon Rider ritual by her mother, the Commander, even though she’s small, has some health issues, and wants to be a scribe instead of a rider. Several other students hate her because of the fact that her mother killed their parents for rebelling. Little do they know that Violet is nothing like her mother.
Violet keeps getting through the different challenges and shows her integrity by standing up for others, even the small featherlight dragon that three bullies try to kill on Threshing Day. Tairn, one of the deadliest dragons in Navarre, steps in to help protect the small golden dragon and chooses Violet as his rider.
Many students die daily through the grueling challenges and several bullies enjoy picking on Violet. She trains hard to strengthen her body and temperament so she can survive and she loves her dragons. A third year wingleader, Xaden, takes notice. He observes Violet and approves of her hunger to do well and her integrity and gives her the nickname, Violent.
An action-packed and exciting fantasy adventure that lives up to the hype!