Young Adult

Review: Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

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Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Title: Magic Study (Study #2)
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Mira (29th February 2012)
Blurb:

CONFRONTING THE PASTCONTROLLING THE FUTURE

With an execution order on her head, Yelena has no choice but to escape to Sitia, the land of her birth. With only a year to master her magic – or face death – Yelena must begin her apprenticeship and travels to the Four Towers of the Magician’s Keep.

But nothing in Sitia is familiar. Not the family to whom she is a stranger. Not the unsettling new facets of her magic. Not the brother who resents her return. As she struggles to understand where she belongs and how to control her rare powers, a rogue magician emerges – and Yelena catches his eye.

Suddenly she is embroiled in battle against good and evil. And once again it will be her magical abilities that will either save her life . . . or be her downfall.

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

Having read and enjoyed Poison Study (you can find my review here), I decided to pick up the second book in the series and see if it lived up to my expectations. I tore through Magic Study, and thoroughly enjoyed the read.

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Review: Young Warriors: Stories of Strength edited by Tamora Pierce and Josepha Sherman

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Young Warriors edited by Tamora Pierce and Josepha Sherman

Title: Young Warriors: Stories of Strength
Editors: Tamora Pierce and Josepha Sherman
Genre: Short stories, Young Adult
Publisher: Bluefire (24th October 2006)
Blurb:

WHAT MAKES A WARRIOR?

This collection of fifteen original short stories offers a variety of answers to this question with thoughtfulness, heart, and the occasional wink. Compiled by New York Times bestselling author Tamora Pierce and folklorist/author Josepha Sherman, Young Warriors includes stories by some of today’s most acclaimed and beloved fantasy and science-fiction authors for both adults and young adults.

Holly Black * Doranna Durgun *
India Edghill * Rosemary Edghil *
Esther Friesnser * Laura Anne Gilman *
Brent Hartinger * Janis Ian * Margaret Mahy *
Lesley McBain * Tamora Pierce *
Mike Resnick * Bruce Holland Rogers *
Pamela F. Service * S. M. & Jan Stirling

Rating: ** (2 stars)
Review:

I enjoy reading short story collections every now and then, so when I came across this collection I thought I would give it a go. I thought the question of what makes a warrior was an interesting one and I couldn’t wait to dive in.

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Review: Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

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Thirteenth Child by Patricia C. Wrede

Title: Thirteenth Child (Frontier Magic: Book One)
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Genre: Alternate History, Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Scholastic (May 2010)
Blurb:

UNLUCKY THIRTEEN . . .

Eff was born a thirteenth child. Her twin brother, Lan, is the seventh son of a seventh son. This means he’s supposed to possess amazing talent – and she’s supposed to bring doom to everyone around her. Undeterred, her family moves to the frontier, where her father will be a professor of magic at a school perilously close to the magical divide that protects settlers from the beast of the wilderness.

Eff and Lan do not know what awaits them in such a place – there are steam dragons that hover in the sky and strange creatures that undermine the settlers’ existence. Eff learns magic with the other students, but there’s always the threat of something going terribly wrong. As Eff and Lan grow older, they face challenges they never could have dreamed of. And their magic is put to the test in a standoff that will change their lives forever.

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

I am a fan of Patricia C. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles – though I have only ever read the first two. So when I heard of Thirteenth Child on Goodreads, I thought it sounded interesting enough to keep an eye out for. I saw a copy of it in a bookstore just after Christmas and picked it up; I was not disappointed.

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Review: Skylark by Meagan Spooner

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Skylark by Meagan Spooner

Title: Skylark (Skylark #1)
Author:Meagan Spooner
Genre:Dystopian, Young Adult
Publisher: Corgi Books (31st January 2013)
Source: Secret Santa
Format: ARC
Blurb:

Vis in magia, in vita vi. In magic there is power, and in power, life.

For fifteen years, Lark Ainsley waited for the day when her Resource would be harvested and she would finally be an adult. After the harvest she expected a small role in the regular, orderly operation of the City within the Wall. She expected to do her part to maintain the refuge for the last survivors of the Wars. She expected to be a tiny cog in the larger clockwork of the city.

Lark did not expect to become the City’s power supply.

Her only choice is to escape; follow the birds into the wilderness beyond.

Into the Iron Wood.

(from Amazon.co.uk)

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

This book was one of my gifts from my Secret Santa. I hadn’t heard of it before, but after reading the blurb I was intrigued. Skylark sounded like it could be a really interesting read. Thank you Secret Santa for introducing me to this book – and series – I really enjoyed it.

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Review: A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton

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A Witch in Love by Ruth Warburton

Title: A Witch in Love (Winter Trilogy #2)
Author: Ruth Warburton
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books (5th July 2012)
Blurb:

When love it tangled up in magic, how do you know what’s real?

Anna still finds it hard to believe that Seth loves her. She has vowed to suppress her powers, but magic – like love – is uncontrollable.

Rating: *** (3 stars)
Review:

I bought this book on a whim. I’ve read A Witch in Winter (review) and whilst I wasn’t blown away, I really enjoyed reading it. So when I saw this book in a bookstore I had to pick it up. The cover looks gorgeous, and I was curious about what would happen to Anna next

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Review: Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

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Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Title: Vessel
Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Genre: Sword and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: McElderry Books (11th September 2012)
Source: Secret Santa
Format: Finished Hardback
Blurb:

Liyana has trained her entire life to be the vessel of a goddess. She will dance and summon her tribe’s deity, who will inhabit Liyana’s body and use magic to bring rain to the dessert. But when the dance ends, Liyana is still there. Her goddess has not come. Her tribe is furious – and sure that it is Liyana’s fault. Abandoned by her tribe, Liyana expects to die in the dessert. Until a boy walks out of the dust in search of her.

Korbyn is a god inside his vessel, and a trickster god at that. He tells Liyana that five other gods are missing, and they set off across the desert in search of the other vessels. The desert tribes cannot survive without the magic of their gods. But the journey is dangerous, even with a god’s help. And not everyone is stilling to believe the trickster god’s tale.

The closer she grows to Korbyn, the less Liyana wants to disappear to make way for her goddess. But she has no choice – she must die so her tribe can live. Unless a trickster god can help her to trick fate – or a human girl can muster up some magic of her own.

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

This book was one of the ones I got from my Secret Santa this year. It was one of two books I named on my wish list, so I am very pleased to have got it. I heard of this book several months before its publication and loved the cover, then I read the blurb and I knew I had to get my hands on it. It sounded so different to the usual sword and sorcery fantasy.

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Review: Saving June by Hannah Harrington

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Saving June by Hannah Harrington

Title: Saving June
Author: Hannah Harrington
Genre: Contemporary, Young Adult
Publisher: Harlequin Teen (1st December 2011)
Source: Secret Santa
Format: ARC
Blurb:

If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.

Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going, California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.

Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down again.

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

This was one of the books I got from my Secret Santa this Christmas. My Secret Santa got this book spot on, because I have been wanting to read this book for a while though for some reason I never did. I thought the premise of this book sounded like it could be an interesting read. I wasn’t disappointed.

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Review: The Iron Legends by Julie Kagawa

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The Iron Legends by Julie Kagawa

Title: The Iron Legends (The Iron Fey 1.5, 3.5, and 4.5)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Harlequin Teen (28th August 2012)
Blurb:

Enter the world of the internationally bestselling Iron Fey series.

Dangerous faeries. Heartbreaking romance. Thrilling action and limitless adventure. The world of the fey has never been so powerful. This collection includes three novellas set in the world of the Iron Fey plus the Guide to the Iron Fey with exclusive information about Julie Kagawa’s unforgettable world of Faery.

WINTER’S PASSAGE

Never make a promise to a faery. They always come to collect. Now Meghan Chase must fulfill her promise to Prince Ash of the Winter Court and embark upon a dangerous journey into the heart of enemy territory – while being pursued by a relentless new foe and guarding her own foolish heart.

SUMMER’S CROSSING

What can turn enemies into reluctant allies? A call from the Exile Queen, Leanansidhe, ties legendary prankster Puck to his archenemy, Prince Ash, on a journey that may end in betrayal and will set them both on an irreversible path.

IRON’S PROPHECY

Before she ever knew what she might become, Iron Queen Meghan Chase was warned by the oracle that her firstborn child would bring nothing but grief. And even as Meghan and Ash celebrate their long-awaited union, the prophecy stirs . . .

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

The Iron Legends contains three novellas that have been separate e-books for a while. By the time I came to the world of The Iron Fey there were rumours about the three novellas being printed as one book, so I decided to wait. I haven’t heard a lot about any of the novellas, so I was kind of curious about them – what would Kagawa talk about that wasn’t already in the books? I found three very interesting stories.

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Review: Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

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Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

Title: Something Like Normal
Author:Trish Doller
Genre: Contemporary, War, Young Adult
Publisher: Bloomsbury Teens (26th October 2012)
Blurb:

I just came home from Afghanistan.

My parents are splitting up.

My brother has stolen my girlfriend.

(He also stole my car).

And I’m haunted by the ghost of my best friend.

Then I run into Harper.

(Technically, her fist runs into my face).

She’s beautiful, smart, funny . . .

. . . and wants nothing to with the messed-up Marine who ruined her life.

Sometimes the best thing you can hope for is something like normal.

Sometimes what you get might be even better.

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

I’ve wanted to read this book for a while, ever since I saw the blurb in a Waiting on Wednesday post. There were a couple of reasons I wanted to get my hands on Something Like Normal. The first was that I thought that the blurb sounded interesting, and the second one was because of the topic. War isn’t an easy or a nice subject, but it’s something I wish was covered more in literature – both Adult and Young Adult.

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Review: Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

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A Yelena Zaltana Novel Cover

Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder

Title: Poison Study (The Study Trilogy – Book 1)
Author: Maria V. Snyder
Genre: Swords and Sorcery, Young Adult
Publisher: Mira (22nd December 2011)
Blurb:

CHOOSE:

A QUICK DEATH
OR SLOW POISON . . .

Yelena has a choice – be executed for murder, or become food taster to the Commander of Ixia. She leaps at the chance for survival, but her relief may be short-lived.

Life in the palace is full of hazards and secrets. Wily and smart, Yelena must learn to identify poisons before they kill her, recognise whom she can trust and how to spy on those she can’t. And who is the mysterious Southern sorceress who can reach into her head?

When Yelena realises she has extraordinary magical powers of her own, she faces a whole new problem, for using magic in Ixia is punishable by death . . .

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

I picked up Poison Study on a whim. I’d seen it around the blogsphere, but not really paid a lot of attention to it.  To be honest, I wasn’t totally sure it would be my kind of book. But, I thought I’d give it a go, especially as it seems to straddle the Adult/ Young Adult market.

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