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.

Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou

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Magic born abilities!
18yo Io lives with her sister Ava in the half-sunken city of Alante. The eldest sister, Thais, raised them after their parents died but left abruptly two years ago to be on her own. The three sisters are descendants of the Fates who decide the lives of others. Io is an investigator trying to solve murders and Ava is a performer at the Mob Queen’s casino. Thais is the fiancé of Io’s number one suspect and high ranking politician. When Io finally discovers the truth behind the murders, it’s going to alter her life and all that she believes in.
Likes/dislikes: So many descriptions of magic born abilities that it became confusing. Slow building story, so it took a while to draw me in. I enjoyed the characters Io and Edei and the prophecy that ties them together.
Language: R for 107 swears, no f-words.
Mature content: PG-13 for detailed kissing.
Violence: R for bleeding, dead security guards, bloody injury, bloody death with details, bloody shootings, torn out throats.
Ethnicity: Edei had brown skin but ethnicity predominantly falls to white.

Lying in the Deep by Diana Urban

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A mystery that is fun to untangle!

20yo Jade is taking a cruise across eleven countries in four months with the Campus on Board college program. Her ex-best friend Lainey and ex-boyfriend Silas are joining the cruise too and they’re treating Jade like she’s a toxic, horrible person. Jade can’t figure out why or what they think she’s done to be treated that way. When a blood trail is found leading from Lainey’s room to overboard the railing of the ship, many passengers believe Jade is guilty. Jade jumps into action to find evidence that will find the killer and prove her innocence.

Likes/dislikes: The mystery was fun to untangle. Jade is kind and has true, sincere compassion for others. I enjoyed the college on board a cruise setting.
Language: R for 134 swears and no f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for implied sex (no details), passionate kissing, underage drinking, and drug use
Violence: PG-13 for bloody mess in room and bloody trail to ship railing, possible suicide by hanging.
Ethnicity: predominantly white, Divya and Navya, who are twins and Jade’s cabin mates, have golden brown skin.

Always Isn’t Forever by J.C. Cervantes

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Heartbreaking!

Hart and Ruby, both 17 and Latinx, are a couple of teens living in El Celio, California who are deeply and truly in love and they see a wonderful future ahead of them. Ruby wants to travel the world and Hart is a natural musician. Ruby has this ominous feeling that something terrible is going to happen. When tragedy strikes, everything changes and unusual complications arise. An Angel allows Hart’s spirit to occupy another teenager’s body but with the conditions that he can’t tell people who he is and that his memories of his past will fade a bit each day until they’re completely gone. This is pure torture to Hart, especially when he sees how sad Ruby is. Will Ruby be able to move on?

Likes/dislikes: The intensity of suspense about what’s going to happen to the characters kept me riveted. I love the cute relationship between Hart and Ruby. I like how the author keeps the reader hoping throughout the story.
Language: R for 152 swears and 6 f-words.
Mature Content: PG-13 for passionate kissing.
Violence: PG for drowning and non-bloody fighting.
Ethnicity: Ruby and Hart are Latinx, and Jameson is white.

Legends and Liars by Morgan Rhodes

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A fun read!

17yo Joss, Prince Elian, Viktor, and Jericho are hiding from the Queen after escaping the palace. Prince Elian wants to be cured of his beastly curse, Viktor wants to help his brother Jericho, and Joss wants to learn more about magic in the kingdom, and all of them want to be free. The more Joss learns about magic, the more she wants to know. She’s learned that everyone is born with magic but they’ve been deceived by the royal family for centuries to believe magic is dangerous and anyone found with magic will be sentenced to death. The queen has been using magical people secretly for her own benefit all along and Joss wants the world to know, even though she’s risking her life and those she cares about to expose the deception.

Likes/dislikes: This book is a fun read. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the kidnapping of Celina. The character growth blossomed in this book.
Language: R for 78 swears, no f-words.
Mature content: PG for brief kiss with no details.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody fighting to the death.
Ethnicity: Joss, Jericho, Viktor, Prince Elian, and Celina are white. Other characters are described as having light brown skin.

Echoes and Empires by Morgan Rhodes

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Twist after twist!

17yo Josslyn lost her father, the Prime Minister, to an assassin a year ago during the Queen’s Gala. She’s attending the current Gala to support Celina, her best friend and the first daughter of the present Prime Minister, and to help Celina gain confidence. While at the Gala, Josslyn wanders to the art treasures display and accidentally absorbs magic when an artifact opens during the robbery she walked into. The robber, Jericho, knows the magic will cause swift action and punishment for Josslyn if the Queen finds out because she has completely banned all magic, so the two of them run and end up in the Queens prison after they search for help in removing the unwanted magic and discover they have something in common: the same assassin that killed Josslyn’s father, Lord Banyon, also killed Jericho’s parents. The magic Josslyn absorbed shows her Lord Banyon’s memories from sixteen years ago when he was being tortured and she continues to have these memories in full force, showing her a side of Lord Banyon that isn’t cruel at all. Lazos is the prison overlord and also a warlock who used to be the queen’s magic advisor, so Josslyn and Jericho ask him to get rid of the unwanted magic, but he strikes a deal first; Jericho must kill the beast in the prison before Lazos will help them. When the beast is discovered, many more secrets are revealed and the danger has just begun.

Likes/dislikes: This book is such a fun read! I enjoyed the humor and sarcasm. There’s plenty of action. The story is entertaining almost immediately and I loved the twists.
Mature Content: PG-13 for brief, passionate kissing and underage drinking.
Language: R for 115 swears and no f-bombs.
Violence: PG-13 for bloody kicking, bloody shooting and bloody death.
Ethnicity: Josslyn is white, the queen is white, Overlord is olive skinned, and all shapes, sizes and skintones are at the Fight Club.

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

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An absolute must-read!

An absolute must-read!

Sal 17, lives in Juniper, California with his sick mother and alcoholic father. Sal attends school while trying to help keep the family hotel afloat. Sal and Noor, 18, were best friends until they had a fight months ago and haven’t spoken since. Sal’s mom collapses and needs to be taken to the hospital while Noor happens to be visiting her. Sal’s mother passes away and her last words to Noor were to forgive. Sal and Noor try to mend their friendship but they’re both keeping secrets and trying to persevere through their own harsh situations. When life implodes, they both have to make some tough choices.

Likes/dislikes: I enjoyed learning about Pakistani culture and its languages. The author gives a comprehensive, concise content warning at the beginning of the book and lists resources at the end for help with domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault, immigration and refugee rights, children’s defense fund, and women of color. I appreciate how the author portrayed harsh realities to readers in a way that is educational and with empathy but not graphic. This book is a must read.
Language: R for 147 swears and 3 f-bombs.
Mature Content: PG for brief undescribed kiss, drug dealer selling pills, mention of marijuana (weed), deeper kiss.
Violence: PG-13 for child abuse (a push against the wall), bloody face from abuse, kicking ribs, mentions of repressed sexual assault, continued abuse.
Ethnicity: Sal and Noor and their family members are Pakistani living in a predominantly white community. There is a Pakistani religious leader and his wife is Black. The Judge is Mexican American and the story contains mixed ethnicity police officers.

How To Survive Your Murder by Danielle Valentine

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A slam-in-your-face ending!


Alice loses her sister in a murder spree cut short one Halloween night. She saw Claire get stabbed by Owen and a year later is planning to testify that Owen killed Claire. Any more info in my review will be a spoiler. This unique mystery thriller jumps around and then slams you in the face with the ending. A suspenseful read that I could not put down! 5 stars!

Danielle Valentine is Danielle Vega’s pseudonym and this is her debut thriller!

Go Hunt Me by Kelly deVos

Posted on by lynndellwatson
The ending is jaw-dropping!

Alex is in the hospital recovering from injuries. A police inspector wants to know what happened from the beginning of Alex’s trip to Romania until the present time and her reason for traveling there. Alex tells the story starting 153 days prior. She’s making a movie with her friends; a movie she wrote based on Dracula. The story then jumps to 46 days ago. Alex and her sister are helping with the family business while waiting for their Dad to get back to normal after cancer. She and her boyfriend Jax go to dinner and check their film school letters together. Jax has been accepted. Alex has been placed on the waitlist. From there, Alex and her six friends travel to Romania planning on creating a film that will get Alex into her dream school and help her become a movie director. What starts as an exciting adventurous idea quickly turns into a deadly few days as someone hunts them down. The ending is jaw-dropping! 4 stars!

Nonlinear timeline
Ethnicity: doesn’t specify white or otherwise only that the teens are American, European
Mature content: PG, abstinence
Violence: decapitation, bloody stabbing, bloody bashing in of head
Language: R, 24 f-bombs

Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

Posted on by lynndellwatson
Family and friends above all!

The prologue pulled me right in! Two sisters are trying to get an interview for jobs at the Hotel Magnifique. Jani watches over her younger sister Zosa, since she’s the only family she has left. Their mother died several years ago. Jani wants to go back to their homeland and they need money to travel there. Hotel Magnifique is stopping close by and Jani talks Zosa into interviewing for a job. Secrets surround the hotel and once they’re part of the workforce, they’re separated. Jani is desperate to find her sister and when she does, she’s horrified at how Zosa is being treated. Jani also digs for the truth about how the hotel is run and who’s in charge. Alistair is the lead magician but he’s hiding much and will do anything to protect what he’s gained. Danger builds and mysteries are cracked wide open as Jani tries to save her sister and eventually everyone that’s been used by Alistair for his greedy goals. Family and friends above all, 4 stars!