A Sorrow Fierce and Falling by Jessica Cluess

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Interesting character development!
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review A Sorrow Fierce and Falling by Jessica Cluess!
Now that Blackwood and Nettie are engaged, they are able to fully work together. They move to Blackwood’s estate, Sorrow Fell, and Nettie discovers the curse that goes along with the stolen Fae dwelling. The Blackwood bride deteriorates for decades. Blackwood becomes Imperator and the power changes him and not in a good way. He craves honor, love and acceptance, which he never received from his parents. He yearns to control everything and this puts a wall between himself and Nettie. As the Ancients get closer, the sorcerers, magicians and witches struggle with leadership and the possibility of working together. This third and last book of the series contains more emotional upheavals and ups and downs, as well as great character development! Jessica Cluess has proven herself as a wonderful fantasy author and I would love to read this series again, 5 stars!

The Night Country by Melissa Albert

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Thanks to NetGalley, Edelweiss and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read and review The Night Country!
The sequel to The Hazel Wood has danger, deception, and characters struggling to find purpose in this world. When murders occur, the Ex-story characters try to stick together for safety and strength. Alice feels that she’s being blamed and, after she’s attacked, she vows to capture whoever or whatever is harming others. Mysterious and twisty, The Night Country weaves worlds, characters, and creators into a fight for life, 4 stars!

Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds by Ian Wright

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Fascinating Facts!
Thanks to Granta Books, The Experiment and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Brilliant Maps for Curious Minds: 100 New Ways to See the World by Ian Wright.
Sections include people and populations, politics, power, and religion, culture and customs, friends and enemies, geography, history, national identity, crime and punishment, and nature. This book is full of maps, of course, but also trivia. The author has created maps for just about everything you can possibly think of, such as what countries drive on the wrong side of the road, generate nuclear power, population comparisons and some I’ve never thought of or known about, like which countries use a comma or point to separate decimals. I had no idea that anyone used commas as a decimal separator. The map of countries showing McDonald’s is jaw-dropping since McDonald’s restaurants are almost everywhere in the world! Longest place names fascinated me as well as the map showing Vikings’ raids and settlements. The weirdest map to me is of the world’s time zones which zig-zags everywhere. Brilliant Maps promises to be an interesting book and it delivers, 5 stars!

 

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

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Mysterious happenings in the past!
Thanks to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the opportunity to read and review The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert!
Alice and her mom have led a transient lifestyle and they’re the only people that they trust and feel close to. That changes when Ella, Alice’s mom goes missing. Alice needs help finding her, so she asks rich boy, Ellery Finch, for help. Little by little, Alice confides in Ellery and he’s there for her one hundred percent. Ellery is a huge fan of Althea Proserpine, Alice’s grandmother and famous, mysterious author. So Ellery helps as a friend but also out of curiosity and awe. Together they discover the danger surrounding Althea’s writings and the truth behind them. The closer Alice and Ellery get to the Hazel Wood, the more the stories come to life. Both of them get sucked in to the Hinterland and its tales, changing their lives and who they are. The Hazel Wood weaves a mysterious, fantastic story, 4 stars!

Ionic Attraction by D.R. Rosensteel

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Fun sci-fi for young adults!
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Ionic Attraction by D. R. Rosensteel.
Zach has just been retrieved from juvenile detention center, noted as prison on his record, for the purpose of becoming part of a scientific endeavor built on the shoulders of young adult geniuses. Jane is the daughter of the man who got Zach out of jail, Mr. Parker. Zach’s triplet brothers, Mike and Nolan, are going to be part of the science program also. They’re working together to stop a devious plan of the HAVOC organization. The mastermind of HAVOC’s plan wants to control civilians. The further they dig into HAVOC, the more disturbing the facts become, and more personal. This science fiction is lighthearted with humor, but at other times, the characters are in danger. Ionic Attraction is a quick read that I enjoyed because of the loyalty of family. 4 stars for this book full of scientific shenanigans!

Keystone by Katie Delahanty

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Thanks to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Keystone by Katie Delahanty!
The story opens with action as the main character becomes the only survivor of a yacht accident. Her identity is changed and she becomes Elisha Dewitt. She’s becoming a Disconnect, part of a group that chooses to disconnect themselves from the internet and go off the grid, as much as they can for their own safety. The Disconnected live at Keystone, the safest place in the world. The story is told through the alternating past and present of the main character, Elisha. We learn how her parents and friends mistreated her, used her and took her for granted. We also discover that people weren’t who they seemed. As a Disconnect, she trains and practices skills, techniques and thievery because, as a Disconnect, stealing artifacts and preserving them in Keystone is expected and required. I enjoyed the different characters and their unique personalities along with the different groups’ dynamics. Action and unknown factors kept the story unpredictable, 5 stars!

Deadly Little Scandals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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Twisty mystery!
Thanks to NetGalley and Disney Book Groups for the opportunity to read and review Deadly Little Scandals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes!
The ending of Little White Lies isn’t the full story of who Sawyer’s father is. The story continues and causes more stress. In the meantime, the group of friends and their families have traveled to Regal Lake for the summer and Sawyer, Campbell, Lily and Sadie Grace have been secretly invited to the White Glove Society. The book alternates between Sawyer’s experiences and to the past, twenty-five years earlier to what Lily’s mom and Campbell’s mom we’re up to at that time. During the White Glove party at the lake, Sawyer and her friends see a skull that’s been washed ashore and an investigation ensues. I could have used a family tree, a timeline and even a pregnancy pact history to help with all the twists and turns in this story! The danger amps up in this sequel to Little White Lies with the mysteries of who’s related to who and the skull discovered at the lake. The character development includes maturity and clarifying priorities. A mystery that was hard to put down, 5 stars!

Black Canary Ignite by Meg Cabot and Illustrated by Cara McGee

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Action, adventure and awesome illustrations!
Thanks to DC Comics and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Black Canary Ignite by Meg Cabot, illustrated by Cara McGee. This seven chapter graphic novel tells the story of Detective Lance’s daughter, Dinah. Dinah’s mother is the Black Canary and she helped fight crime before Dinah was born. Dinah has inherited her mother’s Canary Cry, a supersonic voice. Dinah tries to control her power but it’s not easy. Fun origin story full of action, adventure and colorful illustrations, 5 stars!

Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd

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Fairytale Twist!
Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the opportunity to read and review Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd!
Bringing a twist to the regular fairy tales, Grim Lovelies tells the story of the often forgotten side characters. Anouk is a servant of Mada Vittora’s household. Anouk is also an animal transformed into a human by the witch she serves. Mada Vittora keeps the pelts of all the animals she’s turned into humans, all to serve her. Anouk, Luc, Beau and Cricket are all trapped this way. Beau discovers the Mada’s body after she’s been killed, so he and Anouk flee to Cricket’s apartment and then the three of them are on the run. The three of them haven’t heard from Luc for quite some time. They run to another witch that’s the enemy of their Mada, hoping for help in staying human. Mada Zola helps them plot to steal a spell from the Royals and things just get more complicated from there. Loyalties are tested and stretched and a new beginning ends the book, 4 stars!

Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz

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Friendship, love and perseverance!
Thanks to NetGalley and Entangled Teen for the opportunity to read and review Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz!
Two teen main characters meet at the hospital while they’re getting treatments and they become immediate friends. Isabel has rheumatoid arthritis and Sasha has Gaucher Disease. Both illnesses have horrible consequences and daily struggles. Isabel and Sasha have such different personalities that they sometimes they struggle to get along, but mostly they are perfect for each other. I giggled many times while reading this book because of the humor, which is balanced out well with the tough reality of what Sasha and Isabel have to deal with on a daily basis because of their “invisible” sicknesses, their school lives and family dynamics. I’m impressed with this book, its maturity and realistic portrayal of what life deals out, 5 stars!