Review: Scorpica by G. R. MacAllister (#Ad)

I was sent this proof for free by Titan Books for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Links with an asterisk (*) are Ad: Affiliate Links, which means if you make a purchase through them, I'll make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Scorpica by G. R. MacAllister

Published: 22nd February 2022 | Publisher: Titan Books | Source: Publisher
Author’s Website

In an ancient matriarchal world of magic, gods and warriors, the last girl – unbeknownst to the five queendoms – has just been born. As time marches on, the scribes of Bastian find no answers in their history books. The farmers of Sestia sacrifice their crops to the gods. Paxim, the empire of trade and dealings, has nothing to barter but boys and more boys. Arcan magic has no spells to remedy the Drought of Girls. And finally, Scorpica, where every woman is a fighter, their commander, their queen, has no more warriors to train. The lines of these once-great empires soon to die.

After centuries of peace, the ensuing struggle for dominance – and heirs – will bring the five queendoms to the eve of all-out war.

But the mysterious curse is linked to one of the last-born children, an orphaned all-magic girl, who is unaware she has a claim to the Arcan throne... From The StoryGraph.

Purchase from Bookshop.org*
The StoryGraph | Goodreads

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features blood; death and grief; an on-page sex scene (semi-vague); birth; discussion of miscarriage; animal cruelty/death; alcoholism; visceral, gorey descriptions of violence; human sacrifice; infanticide; and execution (magical).

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Review: Extasia by Claire Legrand (#Ad)

I was sent this proof for free by Harper360YA for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Links with an asterisk (*) are Ad: Affiliate Links, which means if you make a purchase through them, I'll make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Extasia by Claire Legrand

Published: 3rd March 2022 | Publisher: Harper360 | Source: Publisher
Claire Legrand’s Website

A must-read for fans of Victoria Schwab and Elana K. Arnold, this terrifying YA standalone from New York Times bestselling author Claire Legrand follows a girl who joins a coven to protect her village from a powerful religious cult.

Her name is unimportant.

All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain—an evil that has already killed nine of her village’s men.

She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove.

Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother’s shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you?

Claire Legrand, author of Sawkill Girls, returns with an emotionally searing and lyrically written novel that beckons readers to follow its fierce heroine into a world filled with secrets and blood—where the truth is buried in lies and a devastating power waits, seething, for someone brave enough to use it. From The StoryGraph.

Purchase from Bookshop.org*
The StoryGraph | Goodreads

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features body horror; visceral, gorey descriptions of violence; violence against women; domestic violence; forced imprisonment; attempted rape; torture; cannibalism; and someone being burnt alive.

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Review: Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan (#Ad)

I was received this eProof for free from Hodder& Stoughton via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Links with an asterisk (*) are Ad: Affiliate Links, which means if you make a purchase through them, I'll make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan

Published: 23rd November 2021 | Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton | Source: NetGalley
Natasha Ngan on Twitter

"Don't struggle, Lei-zhi. It's time to take you back to the Hidden Palace. You're going home." The final pages of Girls of Storm and Shadow brought a jaw-dropping conclusion that had the fates of Lei and Wren hanging in uncertainty. But one thing was certain - the Hidden Palace was the last place that Lei would ever consider home. The trauma and tragedy she suffered behind those opulent walls would plague her forever. She could not be trapped there with the sadistic king again, especially without Wren. The last Lei saw of the girl she loved, Wren was fighting an army of soldiers in a furious battle to the death. With the two girls torn apart and each in terrorizing peril, will they find each other again or have their destinies diverged forever? From The StoryGraph.

Purchase from Bookshop.org*
The StoryGraph | Goodreads


My other reviews of Girls of Paper and Fire Trilogy:
Girls of Paper and Fire | Girls of Storm and Shadow

WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features ableism, starving, drugging, violence against women, discussion of rape and sexual assault, torture, and war.

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Review: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Orbit via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow

Published: 13th Octover 2020 | Publisher: Orbit | Cover Designer: Lisa Marie Pompilio | Source: Publisher
Alix E. Harrow's Website

In 1893, there's no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.

But when the Eastwood sisters--James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna--join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women's movement into the witch's movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.

There's no such thing as witches. But there will be. From Goodreads.

Rep: Disabled protagonist; lesbian protagonist; Black, lesbian main character, trans woman secondary character, Native American secondary characters.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features a (vague) sex scene; a description of an open wound; birth; abortion; mention of stillbirth; ableism; racism; homophobia; transphobia; an abusive, homophobic conversion school/prison; child abuse - physical violence; sexual assault; an angry, violent crowd; violence against women; torture; use of scold's/witch's bridles; a witch trial; discussion of burning witches, with descriptive detail.

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Review: Savage Her Reply by Deirdre Sullivan (#Ad)

I was sent this review copy for free by Little Island Books / Nina Douglas PR for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Savage Her Reply by Deirdre Sullivan

Published: 1st October 2020 | Publisher: Little Island Books | Cover Designer and Illustrator: Karen Vaughan | Source: Review Copy
Deirdre Sullivan on Twitter

A dark, feminist retelling of the favourite Irish fairytale The Children of Lir told in Sullivan's hypnotic prose. Aife marries Lir, a king with four children by his previous wife. Jealous of his affection for his children, the witch Aife turns them into swans for 900 years. Retold through the voice of Aife, Savage Her Reply is unsettling and dark, feminist and fierce, yet nuanced in its exploration of the guilt of a complex character. Voiced in Sullivan's trademark rich, lyrical prose as developed in Tangleweed and Brine - the multiple award-winner which established Sullivan as the queen of witchy YA. Another dark & witchy feminist fairytale from the author of Tangleweed and Brine. From Goodreads.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features children being taken from parents, death in childbirth, animal cruelty, animal death, forced marriage, rape, and what I believe to be depression.

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Review: The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

Published: Del Rey | Publisher: 3rd October 2019 | Cover Design: Head Design | Cover Illustrations: Aitch | Source: Bought
Katherine Arden's Website

Following their adventures in The Bear and the Nightingale and The Girl in the Tower, Vasya and Morozko return in this stunning conclusion to the bestselling Winternight Trilogy, battling enemies mortal and magical to save both Russias, the seen and the unseen.

The Winternight Trilogy introduced an unforgettable heroine, Vasilisa Petrovna, a girl determined to forge her own path in a world that would rather lock her away. Her gifts and her courage have drawn the attention of Morozko, the winter-king, but it is too soon to know if this connection will prove a blessing or a curse.

Now Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, Morozko, and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all. From Goodreads

My other reviews of The Winternight Trilogy:
The Bear and the Nightingale (#Ad) | The Girl in the Tower (#Ad)

WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features sex scenes - one scene fades to black and another is one sentence, animal cruelty and death, mob mentality, violence against women, descriptions of bloody violence, threat of rape, sexual assault, attempted murder by burning, torture, suicide, and murder of a pregnant woman and child destruction.

Continue reading Review: The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

Review: The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Ebury Publishing via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden

Published: 25th January 2018 | Publisher: Ebury Publishing | Cover Design: Head Design | Cover Illustrations: Aitch | Source: NetGalley
Katherine Arden's Website

For a young woman in medieval Russia, the choices are stark: marriage or a life in a convent. Vasya will choose a third way: magic...

The court of the Grand Prince of Moscow is plagued by power struggles and rumours of unrest. Meanwhile bandits roam the countryside, burning the villages and kidnapping its daughters. Setting out to defeat the raiders, the Prince and his trusted companion come across a young man riding a magnificent horse.

Only Sasha, a priest with a warrior's training, recognises this 'boy' as his younger sister, thought to be dead or a witch by her village. But when Vasya proves herself in battle, riding with remarkable skill and inexplicable power, Sasha realises he must keep her secret as she may be the only way to save the city from threats both human and fantastical... From Goodreads

My other reviews of the Winternight Trilogy:
The Bear and the Nightingale (#Ad)

WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features fire and arson, crossdressing/woman pretending to be a boy, transphobic undercurrents, slavery, burned bodies, abduction, threat of rape, forcibly removing a woman's clothing in public, sexual assault, stillbirth, and violence against women.

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Review: The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Del Rey via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Published: 5th October 2017 | Publisher: Del Rey | Cover Design: Head Design | Cover Illustrations: Aitch | Source: NetGalley
Katherine Arden's Website

At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses. But Vasilisa doesn't mind—she spends the winter nights huddled around the embers of a fire with her beloved siblings, listening to her nurse's fairy tales. Above all, she loves the chilling story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon, who appears in the frigid night to claim unwary souls. Wise Russians fear him, her nurse says, and honor the spirits of house and yard and forest that protect their homes from evil.

After Vasilisa's mother dies, her father goes to Moscow and brings home a new wife. Fiercely devout, city-bred, Vasilisa's new stepmother forbids her family from honoring the household spirits. The family acquiesces, but Vasilisa is frightened, sensing that more hinges upon their rituals than anyone knows.

And indeed, crops begin to fail, evil creatures of the forest creep nearer, and misfortune stalks the village. All the while, Vasilisa's stepmother grows ever harsher in her determination to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for either marriage or confinement in a convent.

As danger circles, Vasilisa must defy even the people she loves and call on dangerous gifts she has long concealed—this, in order to protect her family from a threat that seems to have stepped from her nurse's most frightening tales. From Goodreads

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features discussion of abortion, death in childbirth, people freezing to death, the dead crawling out of their graves, death by vampire, and sexual assault.

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Review: Maresi Red Mantle by Maria Turtschaninoff (#Ad)

I was sent this review copy for free by Pushkin Children's Books for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Maresi Red Mantle by Maria Turtschaninoff

Published: 6th June 2019 | Publisher: Pushkin Children's Books | Cover Designer: Helen Crawford-White | Source: Publisher
Maria Turtschaninoff's Website

Maresi returns in the thrilling conclusion to the feminist fantasy epic The Red Abbey Chronicles.

For Maresi, like so many other girls, the Red Abbey was a haven of safety in a world ruled by brutal men. But now she is a young woman and it is time for her to leave. She must take all that she has learned from her sisters and return to her childhood home to share the knowledge she has gained.

But when Maresi returns to her village, she realises all is not well - the people are struggling under the rule of the oppressive Earl, and people are too busy trying to survive to see the value of her teachings. Maresi finds she must use all the terrible force of the Crone's magic to protect her people, but can she find the strength to do so when her heart is weakening with love for the first time? From Goodreads.

My other reviews of The Red Abbey Chronicles:
Maresi (Book 1) | Naondel (Book 2/Prequel) (#Ad)

WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features discussion of sex, a stillbirth, a fatal illness, death, a funeral, broken bones, extreme poverty, homeless people (including children), child prostitutes, sexual assault, off the page rape, discussion of rape, discussion of domestic violence, and murder.

Continue reading Review: Maresi Red Mantle by Maria Turtschaninoff (#Ad)

Review: Impossible Causes by Julie Mayhew (#Ad)

I was sent this proof for free as a giveaway prize by the Bloomsbury Raven for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Impossible Causes by Julie Mayhew

Published: 17th October 2019 | Publisher: Raven Books | Source: Won in a giveaway.
Julie Mayhew's Website

For readers of All the Missing Girls and You Will Know Me, Impossible Causes is a gripping thriller about isolation, power, and the lies that fester when witnesses stay silent.

For six months every year, Lark Island is fogged in, its occupants cut off completely from the mainland. The community is small, tight-knit, and deeply religious. Lark seems like a good place for 16-year-old Viola Kendrick and her mother to be alone as they mourn Viola’s father and brother, both killed in a tragic accident.

But the islanders are hiding dark secrets. As the winter fog sets in, Viola gets to know the Eldest Girls—the only three teenagers on Lark—and begins to learn about the island’s twisted history, including an old story of a young girl, whose death the islanders insist was accidental. When a man’s body is found at the end of Viola’s first winter on Lark, Viola finds herself at the center of a murder mystery: one that asks whether the man’s death was a righteous act of revenge, or a cold-blooded killing.

Eerie and menacing, timely and moving, Impossible Causes is an unputdownable thriller that examines the consequences of secrets kept at young women’s expense. From Goodreads.

Rep: Two lesbian side characters.

Trigger Warnings: This book features sex, death, a funeral, animal sacrifice, photos of naked people being taken without their consent, murder, and rape.

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Review: Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan (#Ad)

I was sent this proof for free from Hodder & Stoughton for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan

Published: 5th November 2019 | Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton | Source: Publisher
Natasha Ngan's Website

In this mesmerizing sequel to the New York Times bestselling Girls of Paper and Fire, Lei and Wren have escaped their oppressive lives in the Hidden Palace, but soon learn that freedom comes with a terrible cost.

Lei, the naive country girl who became a royal courtesan, is now known as the Moonchosen, the commoner who managed to do what no one else could. But slaying the cruel Demon King wasn't the end of the plan---it's just the beginning. Now Lei and her warrior love Wren must travel the kingdom to gain support from the far-flung rebel clans. The journey is made even more treacherous thanks to a heavy bounty on Lei's head, as well as insidious doubts that threaten to tear Lei and Wren apart from within.

Meanwhile, an evil plot to eliminate the rebel uprising is taking shape, fueled by dark magic and vengeance. Will Lei succeed in her quest to overthrow the monarchy and protect her love for Wren, or will she fall victim to the sinister magic that seeks to destroy her? From Goodreads.

Goodreads

My other reviews of the Girls of Paper and Fire Trilogy:
Girls of Paper and Fire

WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the previous book in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Rep: Malaysian characters (A high fantasy world inspired by Malaysia). No labels, but there is an f/f relationship involving the protagonist and a secondary character, and an m/m relationship involving secondary characters.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features vague sex scenes, inuendo, blood, vomit, discussion of rape and sexual assault, kidnap, death, murder, dead bodies - including burnt dead bodies, aftermath of a village burned to the ground, funerals, war and battles.

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Review: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Del Rey via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

Published: 10th October 2019 | Publisher: Del Rey | Cover Designer: | Source: NetGalley
Kim Liggett's Website

No one speaks of the grace year.
It's forbidden.
We're told we have the power to lure grown men from their beds, make boys lose their minds, and drive the wives mad with jealousy. That's why we're banished for our sixteenth year, to release our magic into the wild before we're allowed to return to civilization.
But I don't feel powerful.
I don't feel magical.

Tierney James lives in an isolated village where girls are banished at sixteen to the northern forest to brave the wilderness - and each other - for a year. They must rid themselves of their dangerous magic before returning purified and ready to marry - if they're lucky.

It is forbidden to speak of the grace year, but even so every girl knows that the coming year will change them - if they survive it...

The Grace Year is The Handmaid's Tale meets Lord of the Flies - a page-turning feminist dystopia about a young woman trapped in an oppressive society, fighting to take control of her own life. From Goodreads.

Rep: Side lesbian character.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features pregnancy, birth, bullying, death, ogling, discussion of sex, fade-to-black sex scene, sex shaming language, predators, sexual assault, forced prostitution, rape culture, violence against women, execution by hanging, forced watching of execution, discussion of skinning girls alive, an axe wound, suicide, cannibalism, transphobia: girl grabbed by the crotch to "check" she's not "really" a boy, homophobia: same sex attraction leads to violent punishment, acting on same sex attraction is punishable by death, and purposeful public outing of lesbian character.

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Review: Queen of Fury by Tracy Banghart (#Ad)

I received this eProof for by/free from Hachette Children's Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Queen of Fury by Tracy Banghart

Published: 11th July 2019 | Publisher: Hachette Children's Books | Cover Designer: | Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Tracy Banghart's Website

Nomi and Malachi find themselves powerless and headed towards their all-but-certain deaths. Now that Asa sits on the throne, he will stop at nothing to make sure Malachi never sets foot in the palace again.

Nomi's sister, Serina, is far away on the prison island of Mount Ruin - but it is in the grip of revolution and Serina leads. The women there have their sights set on revenge beyond the confines of their island prison. They will stop at nothing to gain freedom for the entire kingdom. But first they'll have to get rid of Asa, and only Nomi knows how.

Separated once again, this time by choice, Nomi and Serina must forge their own paths as they aim to tear down the world they know, to build something better in its place. From Goodreads

My other reviews of the Grace & Fury Duology:
Grace & Fury

WARNING! I cannot review this book without spoiling the others in the series. Read no further if you're planning on reading this series and don't want it spoilt for you.

Rep: Secondary dark skinned character, secondary lesbian characters in f/f relationship.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features authorised abduction, violence: fighting, guns/shooting, knives/stabbing, death, murder, mentions of paedophilia and rape.

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Review: The Cold is in Her Bones by Peternelle van Arsdale (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Simon & Schuster Children's Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

The Cold is in Her Bones by Peternelle van Arsdale

Published: 7th March 2019 | Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books | Cover Designer: Sonia Chaghatzbanian | Cover Illustrator: | Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Peternelle van Arsdale's Website

One girl must uncover secrets of the past to save her friend from a terrible curse in this dark and mesmerizing story of love, revenge, and redemption inspired by the myth of Medusa.

Milla knows two things to be true: Demons are real, and fear will keep her safe.

Milla's whole world is her family's farm. She is never allowed to travel to the village and her only friend is her beloved older brother, Niklas. When a bright-eyed girl named Iris comes to stay, Milla hopes her loneliness might finally be coming to an end. But Iris has a secret she's forbidden to share: The village is cursed by a demon who possesses girls at random, and the townspeople live in terror of who it will come for next.

Now, it seems, the demon has come for Iris. When Iris is captured and imprisoned with other possessed girls, Milla leaves home to rescue her and break the curse forever. Her only company on the journey is a terrible new secret of her own: Milla is changing, too, and may soon be a demon herself.

The Cold Is in Her Bones is a novel about the dark, reverberating power of pain, the yearning to be seen and understood, and the fragile optimism of love. From Goodreads

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features abuse and neglect of children, possession, an exocism of a sort, and torture.

Continue reading Review: The Cold is in Her Bones by Peternelle van Arsdale (#Ad)

Review: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Published: 31st December 2018 | Publisher: Flatiron Books | Source: Bought
Melissa Bashardoust's Website

Sixteen-year-old Mina is motherless, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone--has never beat at all, in fact, but she'd always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king's heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she'll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen's image, at her father's order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do--and who to be--to win back the only mother she's ever known...or else defeat her once and for all.

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, Girls Made of Snow and Glass traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything--unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story. From Goodreads
Trigger Warning: This book features child abuse; neglect, lack of love, manipulation, verbal abuse.

Continue reading Review: Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Review: The Burning by Laura Bates (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Simon & Schuster Children's Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

The Burning by Laura Bates

Published: 21st February 2019 | Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Books  | Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Everyday Sexism | Everyday Sexism on Twitter

Fire is like a rumour. You might think you’ve extinguished it but one creeping, red tendril, one single wisp of smoke is enough to let it leap back into life again. Especially if someone is watching, waiting to fan the flames ...

New school.
Tick.
New town.
Tick.
New surname.
Tick.
Social media profiles?
Erased.

There’s nothing to trace Anna back to her old life. Nothing to link her to the ‘incident’.

At least that’s what she thinks … until the whispers start up again. As time begins to run out on her secrets, Anna finds herself irresistibly drawn to the tale of Maggie, a local girl accused of witchcraft centuries earlier. A girl whose story has terrifying parallels to Anna’s own…

The compelling YA debut from Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project and bestselling author of Girl Up. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warnings: This book features rape, non-consensual  pornography, sex shaming, victim blaming, bullying, discussion of abuse due to abortion, and discussion of death from cancer.

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Review: Monsters by Sharon Dogar (#Ad)

I received this eProof for free from Andersen Press via NetGalley for the puposes of providing an honest review.

Monsters by Sharon Dogar

Published: 7th February 2019 | Publisher: Andersen Press  | Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Sharon Dogar on Twitter

1814: Mary Godwin, the sixteen-year-old daughter of radical socialist and feminist writers, runs away with a dangerously charming young poet - Percy Bysshe Shelley. From there, the two young lovers travel a Europe in the throes of revolutionary change, through high and low society, tragedy and passion, where they will be drawn into the orbit of the mad and bad Lord Byron.
But Mary and Percy are not alone: they bring Jane, Mary's young step-sister. And she knows the biggest secrets of them all . . .

Told from Mary and Jane's perspectives, Monsters is a novel about radical ideas, rule-breaking love, dangerous Romantics, and the creation of the greatest Gothic novel of them all: Frankenstein From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features infant death and suicide.

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Review: Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

Published: 2nd October 2018 | Publisher: Balzer + Bray | Source: Bought
Elana K. Arnold's Website

The rite has existed for as long as anyone can remember: when the prince-who-will-be-king comes of age, he must venture out into the gray lands, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been.

When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, however, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon, or what horrors she has faced in its lair. She knows only this handsome prince, the story he tells of her rescue, and her destiny to sit on the throne beside him. Ama comes with Emory back to the kingdom of Harding, hailed as the new princess, welcomed to the court.

However, as soon as her first night falls, she begins to realize that not all is as it seems, that there is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows–and that the greatest threats to her life may not be behind her, but here, in front of her. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features rape, sexual assault, abuse, and degradation, and discussion of suicide.

Continue reading Review: Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

Review: Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri (eProof)

Published: 19th November 2018 | Publisher: Orbit | Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Tasha Suri's Website

A nobleman’s daughter with magic in her blood. An empire built on the dreams of enslaved gods. Empire of Sand is Tasha Suri’s captivating, Mughal India-inspired debut fantasy.

The Amrithi are outcasts; nomads descended of desert spirits, they are coveted and persecuted throughout the Empire for the power in their blood. Mehr is the illegitimate daughter of an imperial governor and an exiled Amrithi mother she can barely remember, but whose face and magic she has inherited.

When Mehr’s power comes to the attention of the Emperor’s most feared mystics, she must use every ounce of will, subtlety, and power she possesses to resist their cruel agenda.

Should she fail, the gods themselves may awaken seeking vengeance... From Goodreads.

I received this eProof for free from Orbit via NetGalley for the puposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features violence against women, extreme pain, and an attempt to force someone to rape another.

Continue reading Review: Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri

Review: Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean

Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean (eProof)

Published: 8th November 2018 | Publisher: Gollancz | Source: Publisher via NetGalley Emiko Jean's Website

In a palace of illusions, nothing is what it seems.

Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace’s enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Marry the prince. All are eligible to compete—all except yōkai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy.

Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren't hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yōkai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life will be forfeit. As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari’s fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-yōkai outcast.

Torn between duty and love, loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, the choices of Mari, Taro, and Akira will decide the fate of Honoku in this beautifully written, edge-of-your-seat YA fantasy. From Goodreads.

I received this eProof for free from Gollancz via NetGalley for the puposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger warning: This book features child abuse/neglect, body shaming, and slavery.

Continue reading Review: Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean