#ya fantasy book recs

[nerdynatreads]

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recent reads || I Hated Re-Reading -- Recent Reads 002 || December & January Reads

A new recent reads is up on my channel! Mostly filled with my rereads, all of which I had a blast annotating, and all holding up to my first read through. Apart from these, I’ve got a few new reads that I reviewed as well, including:

Nomen Omen Vol 2 & 3 by Marco Bucci

Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth

What was your most recent read?

[itsbooktimepeople]

Daughter of the Pirate King

★☆☆☆☆

Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller follows the seventeen-year-old pirate princess Alosa as she intentionally gets kidnapped by enemy pirates in order to hunt down a map for her father. However, she runs into complications when finding the map is more difficult than she originally planned.

I would not recommend Daughter of the Pirate King at all. Its premise is spellbinding—Pirates? Sword fights? Secret plans? Sirens?—but it falls completely short of expectations, because this, dear reader, is not a pirate story. It's a badly written romance that takes place on a ship. Even those who enjoy love stories will find nothing of value here, as the characters are generic, without chemistry, and speak only in so-called witty banter that has the magic ability to increase your longing for the sweet release of death as you read it. But, as awful as it was, the suckiness of the romance pales in comparison to the worst aspect of the book: the protagonist.

Alosa is not like other girls, who according to her cannot always handle a life at sea. She can swordfight. She can kill in a single move. She can sing beautifully. And, despite being described as petite and small, she can chuck people across the deck of a ship, because that is totally possible. But the fact that she can do all these things isn't enough—she has to spend the entire book bragging to the reader about how strong and smart and special she is, while exhibiting exactly none of these traits through action. It's like Levenseller heard the phrase "strong female protagonist" and decided to make her character physically strong enough to defy the laws of physics rather than putting a shred of thought into emotional depth or character development. Unfortunately Alosa is also our narrator, so you get to enjoy being stuck in her head for 311 pages, which does not seem like a lot, but it would be less painful to be trapped in an active volcano for the duration of time it takes to read.

There are other things that suck about this book, including poor diversity, an uninspired plot, and flat writing, but I will leave it at this for now. One star. Would not recommend.

[hannaslibrary]

Best reads of 2023 - Legendborn and Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

Rating: ★★★★★ for both

“The air itself is desperate to hold me back, because I can break it, because I am the tip of the spear. The pain-sharpened blade.”

[murasaki-cha]

My honest reaction as I am currently reading Powerless (my friend lent it to me).

This is peak romance if you ask me!

YOU KNOW YOUR GIRL HERE LOVES A GOOD ENEMIES TO LOVERS!!

[belle-keys]

Gothic Fantasy/Folk Horror Books: 10 Recommendations

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Juniper & Thorn by Ava Reid

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

Not Good For Maidens by Tori Bovalino

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

The Gathering Dark: An Anthology of Folk Horror by Tori Bovalino and others

[booktineus]

This book is a masterpiece

[hoodlessmads]

Do you want to read something:

Dark

Gothic

Bi main character

Gay

Anime

Queer

Set in 1821 England/Italy but there’s magic

Evil archaeologist family/organization

Bratty blond twink

Unicorns

Basically undead remnants

Incorporeal shadow monsters

Magical artifacts

Mystery of a whole past epic fantasy storyline slowly unraveling

Morally gray characters

Redeemable villains

Imagery

Fruity

People of color in the main cast well-written

Sweet friendships

Toxic gays

The light is not good and the dark is not bad

Main character is an extremely unreliable narrator and also fascinating

He is both terrifying and your poor little meow meow

Then read Dark Rise and Dark Heir by C.S. Pacat (books 1 and 2 of the Dark Rise trilogy). Quick read it now and collect those trading cards! (No really there are collectible cards! Check out his instagram! Someone make a TCG and I’ll play it!!)

By the author of Captive Prince and Fence, though this series is very different in tone from those but with the same level of quality character writing. Seriously C.S. Pacat is out here serving such delicious food for a starving audience.

[adelfie]

Elisabeth and Nathaniel from Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson ✨️

[ekbelsher]

This is Iris and Pike from WILD IS THE WITCH, Rachel Griffin's 2022 Pacific Northwest YA fantasy! It just came out in paperback :)

[the-narnian-sea]

If you want me obedient, prince, kill me and carry my corpse.

— Zafira bint Iskandar

We Hunt The Flame by Hafsah Faizal {@hafsahfaizal}

[nerdynatreads]

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book review || The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd Jones

Upon re-read, I loved this even more. I think the first time I didn’t appreciate the wholesome familial relationships and particularly Ryn’s grief from losing her father, but both of these really stood out. I thought I would be focused on the gorgeous, whimsically creepy writing and the slow-burn relationship, but I had to start annotating for Ryn’s father as well. Each moment tugged at my heartstrings and I got misty-eyed more than once. You can truly feel the love she had for her father every time she thinks of him.

Slow fantasies are definitely my thing and the atmosphere was so immersive, coming to life as I read. Each time I picked this book up, I was transported to the story and the characters added to that as well. I love the grumpy-sunshine feel of Ryn and Ellis. They work so well as foils to one another and the romance that blooms between them is so sweet and wholesome. Throughout their journey, they become so protective of one another. I loved how Ellis’ chronic pain was talked about, as a part of him, a burden, but he refuses to let it overtake his life.

This held up so well and I definitely need to check out The Drowned Woods now.

5 / 5 stars

[desdasiwrites]

Happy Bi Visibility Day!

(And happy Bisexual Awareness Week! 💗💜💙)

Here's a list of books with bisexual representation, or by bisexual authors.

Books in the pictures are:

Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta

Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld

Revolutions of All Colors by Dewaine Farria

Running With Lions by Julian Winters

Our Own Private Universe by Robin Talley

Heartstopper, by Alice Oseman

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay

I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee

Two Serious Ladies by Jane Bowles

A Darkly Beating Heart by Lindsay Smith

Fresh by Margot Wood

Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda

Subatomic: And Other Stories By and About Bisexuals edited by Mariëlle S. Smith and Sìne Màiri Ní Ailpín

I Hate Everyone But You by Gabe Dunn and Allison Raskin

[hannaslibrary]

Best reads of 2023 - A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

Rating: ★★★★★

“It's always mattered a lot to me to keep a wall up round my dignity, even though dignity matters fuck-all when the monsters under your bed are real.”

[felt-squirrels]

I just finished the book Little Thieves and now I’m reading the sequel but I wanna take the time to talk about Little Thieves

First off, it’s a YA fantasy that has romance but doesn’t center itself around it, instead more closely following the protagonist’s character arc

Now the things that make it amazing

Morally grey female protagonist

Amazing world building, this is a whole universe I tell you

I can’t explain it but the protagonist and her love interest are both bi

You know when a gay ships a hetero relationship it’s good

Lesbian princess

Sapphic creature of the night or whatever Range is

The “oh” moment is gold

It’s split into parts and has really cool artwork for each section

Genderfluid god

Mentions of Transgender princesses

It’s Germanic inspired and that’s reflected in a lot of the names and places

There might be corrupt political figures left and right but hey at least your world isn’t homophobic

[katy-l-wood]

No one goes into the Pits.

No one understands the magic of the Pits.

For those who try, there are consequences.

--

When Clarabella's girlfriend Emilia goes missing Clarabella tracks down the only person who can help: her outlaw older sibling Royal, who she hasn’t seen in three years.

Royal knows more about the strange magic of the world than anyone, more than they should. Magic Clarabella doesn’t believe in. Not until the path to find Emilia leads deep into the mysterious and magical Pits that stretch along the spine of the continent, forcing her to rethink everything she ever believed. But once Clarabella, Royal, and Royal's gang enter they discover Royal can no longer leave. Now Clarabella has to choose who she loves enough to save: Royal, or Emilia?

Back the project here.

If you back a physical tier in the first 48 hours, you'll get an exclusive creature sticker of a little firey frog(ish) friend.

Check out the book trailer too:

Back the project here.

[jessread-s]

✩⚔️🏰Series Review:

⋆ Adventure and suspense ⋆ Political intrigue ⋆ Romance ⋆ Multiple pov

What started out as a twist on Robin Hood turned into an action-packed, high-stakes adventure with brooding pirates, power-hungry consuls, and warring kingdoms that I could not put down. With each book in the series, I grew closer to Kemmerer’s characters and further immersed myself in the world they inhabited. All the tears I shed were worth it in the end and I look forward to reading Kemmerer’s next project. 

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