Young Adult

Review: Tiger’s Quest

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Tiger’s Quest by Colleen Houck

Title: Tiger’s Quest (The Tiger Saga #2)
Author: Colleen Houck
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Hodder (9th June 2011)
Blurb:

Back in Oregon, Kelsey tries to pick up the pieces of her life and push aside her feelings for Ren. But danger lurks around the corner, forcing her to return to India where she embarks on a second quest. This time with Ren’s dark, bad-boy brother Kishan, who has also fallen prey to the Tiger’s Curse.

Fraught with danger, spellbinding dreams, and choices of the heart, Tiger’s Quest brings the trio one step closer to breaking the spell that binds them.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

TIGER’S QUEST is the second book in Colleen Houck’s superb series THE TIGER SAGA. It tells the story of Kelsey an average teen who comes across two Indian princes who have been cursed to spend their lives as tigers. In TIGER’S CURSE (review) Kelsey and Ren embark on a quest to break the curse, and along the way come across Ren’s brother Kishan. In TIGER‘S QUEST, which continues not long after the end of the first book, Kelsey undertakes the second quest with Kishan.

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Review: Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie

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Falling Fast by Sophie McKenzie

Title: Falling Fast (Flynn #1)
Author: Sophie McKenzie
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
Publisher: Simon and Schuster (1st March 2012)
Source: Orli
Blurb:

When River auditions for a part in an inter-school performance of Romeo and Juliet, she finds herself falling for Flynn, the boy playing Romeo.

River believes in romantic love, and she can’t wait to experience it. But does Flynn see things the same way?

The path of true love never did run smooth . . .

Rating: * (1 star)
Review:

FALLING FAST by Sophie McKenzie is the first book in a four book series focusing on the potential romance between River and Flynn. Shakespeare’s play ROMEO AND JULIET seems to play a large part in the first book – and potentially in the rest of the series. I got my copy of this book from Orli as part of my Valentine’s Day Ninja Book Swap gift.

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Review: Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen

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Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen

Title: Stolen Songbird (Malediction Trilogy #1)
Author: Danielle L. Jensen
Genre: Swords and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Strange Chemistry
Source: Strange Chemistry via NetGalley
Format: e-ARC
Blurb:

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the ruins of Forsaken Mountain. Time enough for their dark and nefarious magic to fade from human memory and into myth. But a prophesy has been spoken of a union with the power to set the trolls free, and when Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she learns there is far more to the myth of the trolls than she could have imagined.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind after she is brought to Trollus: escape. Only the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time, wait for the perfect opportunity.

But something unexpected happens while she’s waiting – she begins to fall for the enigmatic troll prince to whom she has been bonded and married. She begins to make friends. And she begins to see that she may be the only hope for the half-bloods – part troll, part human creatures who are slaves to the full-blooded trolls. There is a rebellion brewing. And her prince, Tristan, the future king, is its secret leader.

As Cécile becomes involved in the intricate political games of Trollus, she becomes more than a farmer’s daughter. She becomes a princess, the hope of a people, and a witch with magic powerful enough to change Trollus forever.

– Blurb taken from Strange Chemistry website.

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

STOLEN SONGBIRD is the first book in Danielle L. Jensen’s MALEDICTION TRILOGY. It tells the story of Cécile, the daughter of a farmer, who dreams of following in her mother’s footsteps and being an opera singer. On the eve of her achieving her dream she is kidnapped and brought to Trollus, where her whole world changes.

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Review: This Is What HAPPY Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

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This Is What HAPPY Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

Title: This Is What HAPPY Looks Like
Author: Jennifer E. Smith
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Headline (4th April 2013)
Blurb:

If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

It’s June – seventeen-year-old Ellie O’Neill’s least favourite time of year. Her tiny hometown is annually invaded by tourists, and this year there’s the added inconvenience of a film crew. Even the arrival of Hollywood heart-throb Graham Larkin can’t lift her mood.

But there is something making Ellie very happy. Ever since an email was accidentally sent to her a few months ago, she’s been corresponding with a mysterious stranger, the two of them sharing their hopes and fears. Their developing relationship is not without its secrets though – there’s the truth about Ellie’s past…and her pen pal’s real identity. When they finally meet in person, things are destined to get much more complicated. Can two people, worlds apart but brought together by chance, make it against all the odds?

Spanning one fateful summer, Jennifer E. Smith’s new novel proves that life – and love – are full of unexpected connections and happy mistakes.

Rating: ** (2 stars)
Review:

THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE is the second stand-alone novel from author Jennifer E. Smith. It tells the story of Ellie O’Neill – a seventeen-year-old who lives in a coastal town in Maine. The story takes place between June and July, whilst a film crew (and the typical holiday makers) invade the town. The narrative is split between emails between Ellie and her mysterious pen pal, and chapters following the story of Ellie and her pen pal.

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Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

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The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Title: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown
Author: Holly Black
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Indigo (3rd September 2013)
Blurb:

TANA LIVES IN A WORLD WHERE WALLED CITIES CALLED COLDTOWNS EXIST.

In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. It’s an eternal party, shown on TV twenty-four hours a day – gorgeous, glamorous, deadly.

The problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave . . .

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN is a stand-alone novel written by the fabulous Holly Black. It tells the story of Tana a seventeen-year-old girl who wakes up the night after a party to a silent house. As she stumbles through the house, she discovers that vampires attacked whilst she slept. In THE COLDEST GIRL IN COLDTOWN Holly Black takes on the vampire myth, and adds her own twist in this compelling tale.

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Review: Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder

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Sea Glass by Maria V. Snyder

Title: Sea Glass (Chronicles of Ixia #5/ Glass #2)
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Mira Ink (2nd August 2013)
Blurb:

A Game of Magic

Student magician Opal Cowan’s newfound ability to steal other people’s powers makes her too powerful.

Trapped under house arrest, Opal dares to defy her imprisonment, searching for Ulrick, the man she thinks she loves. Thinks because she is sure another man – now her prisoner – has switched souls with Ulrick.

In hostile territory, without proof or allies, Opal isn’t sure whom to trust. She doesn’t know the real Ulrick’s whereabouts and can’t forget Kale, the handsome Stormdancer who doesn’t want to let her get too close.

And now everyone is after Opal’s special powers for their own deadly gain . . .

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

SEA GLASS is the second book in Maria V. Snyder’s GLASS series and the fifth book in her CHRONICLES OF IXIA series. SEA GLASS continues the story of Opal Cowan as she deals with the consequences of events in STORM GLASS (review), like the revelation that she can use her glass magic skills to take another magician’s magic, and struggles with who to trust – even herself.

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Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

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The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2)
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic Books (18th September 2013)
Blurb:

Blue didn’t mean to fall for the Raven Boys, but she has – and the more her life entwines with theirs, the more dangerous it becomes.

Ronan is the most dangerous of all.

He’s the haunted one, the darkest, the most raven.

His dreams invade reality and confuse what is true.

With magic growing stronger around them, now is the time to be wary. Before everything unravels . . .

Friendships will be tested.

Someone will get hurt.

And a kiss will be shared.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

THE DREAM THIEVES is the second book in Maggie Stiefvater’s THE RAVEN CYCLE. This book focuses on the enigmatic Ronan Lynch and on the consequences of the events of THE RAVEN BOYS (review). Blue, Adam and  Gansey all play a prominent role in the book as things start to come to a head, and the hunt for Glendower takes a back burner as secrets are revealed.

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Review: Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville

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Gretel and the Dark by Eliza Granville

Title: Gretel and the Dark
Author: Eliza Granville
Genre: Historical Novel, Horror, Fairy Tale, Young Adult
Publisher: Penguin (6th February 2014)
Source: Penguin Ireland
Format: Finished copy
Blurb:

VIENNA, 1899.

Josef Breuer – celebrated psychoanalyst – is about to encounter his strangest case yet. Found by the lunatic asylum, thin, head shaved, she claims to have no name, no feelings – to be, in fact, not even human. Intrigued, Breuer determines to fathom the roots of her disturbance.

YEARS LATER,

in Germany, we meet Krysta. Krysta’s Papa is busy working in the infirmary with the ‘animal people’, so little Krysta plays alone, lost in the stories of Hansel and Gretel, the Pied Piper and more. And when everything changes and the real world around her becomes as frightening as any fairy tale, Krysta finds that her imagination holds powers beyond what she could ever have guessed . . .

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

GRETEL AND THE DARK is a stand-alone novel by Eliza Granville. It tells the stories of two different girls, in two different counties, in two different times. Their stories unfold in interchanging chapters.

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Review: Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder

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Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder

Title: Storm Glass (Chronicles of Ixia #4/ Glass #1)
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Genre: Sword & Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Mira Ink (2nd August 2013)
Blurb:

Untrained. Untested. Unleashed.

With her unique magical abilities, Opal Cowan has always felt unsure of her place at Sitia’s magic academy – but now it’s time to test her powers in the real world.

Under the threat from a deadly massacre, the powerful Stormdancer clan need Opal’s unusual skills to protect their people. And their plea is impossible to resist, especially when it comes from mysterious, mercurial Kade.

Yet pulling her powers in unfamiliar directions pushes Opal to uncover a new kind of magic as stunningly potent as it is frightening, with danger and deception rising around her, will Opal’s untested abilities destroy her – or save them all?

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Review:

STORM GLASS is the first book in the GLASS trilogy, and the fourth book in the CHRONICLES OF IXIA. It tells the story of Opal Cowan, who first makes an appearance in FIRE STUDY (review). STORM GLASS takes place five years after the events of FIRE STUDY and sees Opal at Sitia’s magic academy, where she is unsure of her place and powers. Opal has a special ability with glass, and events see her travel with a Master magician to discover what is causing the Stormdancer clan’s deaths.

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Review: Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

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Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Title: Antigoddess (The Goddess War: Book One)
Author: Kendare Blake
Genre: Mythology, Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Orchard (10th September 2013)
Blurb:

He was Apollo, the sun, and he’d burn down anything that tried to hurt her . . .

Cassandra and Aidan are just your average high-school couple. Blissfully unaware of her own power, Cassandra doesn’t even know that gods exist.

Until now.

Because the gods are dying – and Cassandra could hold the answer to their survival. But Aidan has a secret, and he will do anything to protect the girl that he loves from the danger that’s coming to her. Even if it means war against his immortal family . . .

Stunning romance and relentless suspense – discover the first incredible book in THE GODDESS WAR trilogy.

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Review:

ANTIGODDESS is the first book in Kendare Blake’s new young adult trilogy THE GODDESS WAR. Blake draws characters – both mortals and gods – from Greek mythology and sets the story in a small town in the state of New York. The gods are slowly dying, and not all are disappearing with a whimper. They seek a way to save themselves.

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