Tag Archives: young adult

Review of City of York (Kingdom in Darkness, #1), by A. Person

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I received a paperback copy of City of York from the author, A. Person.

Description from Goodreads:

The Kingdom has been around for as long as mud has been on the planet. Magic abounds—and dragons are its physical manifestation. Once vibrant and proud, they now live in varying states of depression after having their wings clipped. New dragons have not been created since that fateful day, and the magical force has only dwindled with the passing of each dragon.

The Community, the residents of the Kingdom, are no longer the dominant beings in the world. They have ceded that title to humans, or as they inconsiderately call them, Cromies. To ensure the Kingdom’s survival, the Council of Elders made the monumental decision to concentrate all the magic in one place: New York City. From the far corners of the world, the Exodus occurred. Dubbed the City of York by this mythical Community, here they all follow the Order to stay concealed and not bring harm to the general population. Unbeknownst to the inhabitants at large, the Community lives among them.

In the present day, Emily and her friends Cat and James run a start-up news organization. Their quest to inform the public has them unexpectedly crossing paths with members of the Community. When it is discovered that they have an affinity to magic, they are all provided guides, and they immerse themselves in this hidden world.

A motley cast of additional characters is encountered along the way. Prominent among them is Hollister McAvoy, who is a magically made billionaire. He has harnessed the power emanated by dragons and brought cheap, renewable energy to the city. While the Cromies rejoice, he continues to work toward his ultimate objective. There is an age-old prophecy that foretells the dawn of a magical revival. With access to money and technology, he aims to fulfill it by creating prosthetic wings and returning dragons to their former prestige. Can the Kingdom remain in darkness when dragons once again fly?

Review:

Reviewing this book is difficult for me. So, I’m going to start with a note. I accepted a copy of this book from the author for review. Unfortunately, there was some time between when I got the initial email and when I investigated the book on Goodreads to see if I wanted to read it. The result was that I missed the fact that though “Emily and her friends Cat and James run a start-up news organization” they are in fact teenaged journalist. (In all fairness, Person’s email did say this, but I depended on the book blurb in the moment.)

This means that I expected an adult fantasy book, but found myself reading a lower young adult (almost middle grade) book. One with a tendency to purposefully mix metaphors and spells with names like bye-bye boo-boo. I was not pleased with this discovery. Of course, that’s not the book’s fault. But I mention it because it 100% affected my enjoyment in reading it and I think it would be unfair to not mention it.

Outside of the disappointment around genre, I found the book to have too many characters, depend too heavily on its quirkiness, and lack a satisfying conclusion. That’s not to say it was without positives. If you do enjoy silly witticisms, this will be right up your alley. The world the book builds is interesting, the writing is clean and it’s well-edited.

I think, sadly, this is just a case of the wrong book for the wrong reader. A tween-slash-lower teen would probably really enjoy it. With that in mind, I intend to see if my 13yo would like to read it (maybe even review it) and then I’ll put it in the Little Free Library.

shifted fate

Review of Shifted Fate (The Wolves of Forest Grove #1), by Elena Lawson

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I’m still working on the giant task of thinning my digital bookshelves. I’ve made it almost to the end of the Ms now. But, as I had chores to do today, I did manage to listen to an audiobook. I received an Audible code for a copy of Elena Lawson‘s Shifted Fate. It’s narrated by Heather Costa.

Description from Goodreads:

Jared Stone is a freaking wolf. And I don’t mean that metaphorically, either…

I thought I had it bad—living in my dead Dad’s old hunting blind in the woods, barely staying alive on apples and ramen…that was before the storm hit and destroyed the only form of shelter I had left.

Enter, Jared. The hottest—and most unavailable—guy at school. Except he wasn’t Jared when he pulled me out of the mud. He wasn’t even human.

As if that wasn’t unsettling enough, when he brought me back to his cabin, I found he wasn’t alone. Another guy, one I’d only ever heard about in whispers beneath the bleachers, was there too. Clayton Armstrong: bad boy extraordinaire. And it turned out, he wasn’t human either.

Mindf*ck, right?

At first, all I want to do is run away. But I have nowhere to go, and for whatever messed up reason, Jared is insistent that I stay. Despite Clay’s loud protests.

So, now I’m stuck in a cabin in the woods with two hot as hell wolf shifters. One who wants to protect me. And another who wants to eat me for lunch…

What could go wrong?

Review:

I’d say this was OK. I’m pretty burned out on YA, but I still liked this enough to tentatively be interested in a sequel. The main character is self-sufficient and makes good decisions. The heroes are adorable and patient in their own ways.

But I do have complaints. One, the main character has a serious case of ‘not like other girls.’ I have to ask, what’s wrong with being like a girl? What does it say about internalized misogyny that young heroines always have to be “unlike other girls.” Second, (going along with the not-like-other-girlness) large parts of her personality aren’t explained. She’s willing to live in a hunting blind in the forest because she doesn’t want to be a burden on anyone. That’s a pretty drastic choice. Her father taught her to hunt and fix motors, etc. This all felt very extreme, like they were Preppers or something. But none of this behavior is ever even addressed.

Third, this is labeled a reverse harem. However, throughout the book, there is only the one guy she is interested in and showing interest in her. Nothing else comes into play until literally the last page. I suspect it will become a reverse harem, but it sure wasn’t here.

Fourth, I thought the whole kidnapping scene broke the pace of the plot and felt out of place. Similarly, the fact that she didn’t guess the twist is pretty unbelievable. It was fairly obvious.

Lastly, the book literally ends when the most interesting thing happens. What felt like it should be midway into a longer, more complete story. As such, I suspect this is more of a serial than a series. I prefer to be warned of this going into a book.

All in all, I didn’t hate it. As I said, I’d read more. But it’s not flawless.

shadow hunter

Book Review of Shadow Hunter (Rosie O’Grady’s Paranormal Bar and Grill #1), by B.R. Kingsolver

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I borrowed an audio copy of B.R. Kingsolver‘s Shadow Hunter through Hoopla. It was narrated by Madeleine Dauer.

Description from Goodreads:

Meh, I suppose this wasn’t bad. But I didn’t find anything about it that stood out and I REALLY don’t think Erin lived up to her own hype. We’re told she’d been intensely training (20hrs a day) since she was 14. But the gaps in her magical knowledge (mostly so the author had an excuse to explain things to the reader) were too wide and frequent to be believed. Plus, her whole “I’ve never lived in the world” schtick contradicted the fact that she’d been sent on missions, sometimes as staff and sometimes with high society, bout out in the world. Am I really supposed to believe things like she’d never had pizza?

I did like most of the side characters (that I was meant to like) and the mechanical writing and narration appear to be fine. It all just felt far too mediocre YA novel for my tastes. But I have no doubt it will find it’s audience.

Review:

Meh, I suppose this wasn’t bad. But I didn’t find anything about it that stood out and I REALLY don’t think Erin lived up to her own hype. We’re told she’d been intensely training (20hrs a day) since she was 14. But the gaps in her magical knowledge (mostly so the author had an excuse to explain things to the reader) were too wide and frequent to be believed. Plus, her whole “I’ve never lived in the world” schtick contradicted the fact that she’d been sent on missions, sometimes as staff and sometimes with high society, but out in the world. Am I really supposed to believe things like she’d never had pizza? 

I did like most of the side characters (that I was meant to like) and the mechanical writing and narration by Madeleine Dauer appear to be fine. It all just felt far too mediocre YA novel for my tastes. But I have no doubt it will find it’s audience.