Can you believe I’ve written 25 blurbs for this series? I barely can, and I’m the one doing all the work!

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The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea – Axie Oh – 3 Stars

Reviews described this book as being very similar to Spirited Away, an incredibly wonderful movie and big shoes to fill. It features a girl named Mina, who sacrifices herself to be the Sea God’s bride in order to save her friend Shim Cheong. She’s taken to the spirit realm, where she has her soul taken and a month to get it back. But here’s the catch: The Sea God never marries the brides he is sent, and he’s stuck in a magical slumber because of it.

Mina is aided and accosted by spirits and gods and mythical beasts in her quest to figure out how to end the storms that plague her home. Along the way, she uncovers the secret schemes happening under the waves and even becomes close to Shin, a powerful being with a mysterious past.

Like I said, I enjoyed the world. While some places were lacking in magic and whimsy, I could see the vibrant spirit world and its inhabitants. I wish there was a touch more to the absurdity and chaos, like what we see in the bath house in Spirited Away.

The plot was a little confusing. There were a lot of gods and secrets and moving pieces. I hope you like reveals and backstories, because there are a TON here. Everyone loves to share their lives with Mina, which does make sense, since she is a bit of a storyteller. But it did feel like most of the book was stories and lore rather than plot and action.

I think the thing that was the most lacking for me was the romance. When Mina first enters the spirit realm, the red string of fate (which connects soul mates together) binds her to the Sea God. But when it’s severed, and she gets her soul back, the string ties her to Shin. It’s clear he’s actually the romantic interest. But there was like. No romance between them? It just kinda happens. It wasn’t a slow burn, it was just suddenly being in love. They had no chemistry, barely any moments between just the two of them. I was so entirely underwhelmed and uninterested by them.

I think that’s a good summary of my thoughts. Underwhelmed. Had it nailed a few of these aspects, it would be an easy 4 star read. I like the concept, the cover art is gorgeous, but in execution it just fell flat.

Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi – 4 Stars

One thing Adeyemi said was her desire to ‘turn the wheel’ of YA literature. She said that authors like Suzanne Collins and Stephanie Meyer were huge influences when it came to furthering the YA demographic, and she wanted to do the same. And I think this book was a very solid way to turn that wheel, even if it didn’t explode quite like Twilight and The Hunger Games (although maybe it will once the movie is out next year!)

This book is a celebration of African culture and magic. I’ve read a few books that engage with African mythology, one of them being Skin of the Sea by Natasha Bowen, so I was excited to read even more. It was cool to see some similarities between the two, and to get even more of a view into a mythos I previously knew very little about.

The plot is very standard YA. The characters live in a world where magic has been destroyed, and an entire generation of magic users (maji) were killed. The main character, Zélie, watched her mother die in the raids. Marked by their white hair, everyone with the potential for magic is frowned down upon by the monarchy, and are treated poorly for it.

Meanwhile, in the palace, the princess Amari gets her hands on a scroll that seems to restore magic to those with maji potential. When her serving girl and best friend is murdered for being a maji, Amari steals the scroll, understanding that her father is in the wrong. Zélie and Amari have a chance meeting, and agree that they need to use the power of the scroll to restore magic to all the maji.

Zélie, Amari, and Zélie’s brother, Tzain, embark on a quest to find two more artifacts which, when used in a ritual on the summer solstice, will bring magic back for good. All the while, they’re bring hunted down by prince Inan, who is hiding his recently awakened maji powers.

Like I said, pretty standard YA fare. Get the items, do the magic ritual, save their people. But this book has a lot of heart to it, and a lot of themes that Adeyemi does not hold back in sharing. Violence is one of the main themes, with injustices against the maji playing a huge role in the motivation of the main trio. The deaths of their friends and family fuel their desire to return magic to their people and overthrow the king and his evil ways. Zélie understandably has a lot of anger, and I love how the novel doesn’t shy away from this. Instead of hiding it, she is encouraged to use it for good, to change the world. I liked having an angry protagonist, fueled by her desire for justice and change.

As much as I did enjoy the book, and I think it holds up very well, it did fall into the unfortunate pitfall of feeling too similar to many YA books that preceded it. It was very Percy Jackson-esque, which isn’t a bad thing, it just means that it didn’t blow me away with its originality. What it does well, the culture and magic and motivations of the main characters, it does really well. It deserves a solid 4 stars and a read from anyone who is interested by what it has to offer.

The Cruel Prince – Holly Black – 4.5 Stars

I actually really liked this one! I was shocked by a lot of things in this book, most notably being the fact that it takes place both within the modern human world and the fae world. I wasn’t expecting modern Earth stuff, but it didn’t dissapoint me.

The main character, Jude, along with her two sisters, are taken in by a fae noble as children after he kills their parents. You see, Jude’s older sister has a different father, being the fae, and he wants her returned to him. So he does the normal thing of killing the mortals and whisking the three girls away to live as his daughters in the fae world. It makes for an interesting family dynamic, for your adopted father to also be your parents’ murderer.

A decade later, Jude just wants to fit in. To be accepted and valued for her skills. To be treated as an equal. But she needs to work twice as hard, since she’s human, and because she doesn’t want to simply marry a fae to gain power. Unfortunately, her peers refuse to accept her, and she suffers at the hands of a few noble fae, most notably Prince Cardon, who loves to mock and shame her.

Jude refuses to back down, letting her anger fuel her drive for power. See, that’s one of my favorite things in this book. Jude wants power. She wants people to fear her. She wants to be in control of herself, and to ensure no one else can have power over her. So when Cardon’s older brother promises her power if she agrees to be his spy, she agrees.

Another one of my favorite parts of this book is how delightfully dark and twisted and tricky the fae are. They are hungry for power, but also bound by their oaths. They desire control and to toy with their prey, but need to follow their nature as fae. Most importantly, this book gives us knowledge about fae and doesn’t take it away from us! Readers of the blog know that’s one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to books featuring fae. It’s one of my only complaints for The Rose Bargain, and one of the myriad of reasons I don’t like ACOTAR.

So Jude wants power. She dislikes those who treat her as less just because she is human. And she’s willing to make deals and trade secrets to get what she wants. She gets deeper and deeper into schemes and plots until the explosive moment of the climax, which I won’t spoil, where she really determines to take control.

Her unwilling ally is noneother than prince Cardon, who finds himself in a position of power. But in Jude’s hands, he agrees to follow her lead and swears to do as she says in order to ensure the kingdom is delivered into the hands of one who deserves it.

That brings us to another part of this book that I like. The tumultuous relationship between Jude and Cardon. I think I could consider this to be an enemies to lovers that I actually enjoy. Usually, I’m not a fan (as evidenced by my review of Alchemised). But what i think works here is that the power dynamic is not that of a weak female MC pitted against her captor, a strong and brooding control freak. Instead, Jude is the one who holds much of the power here, and their relationship is built on their mutual need to survive in this new shaky world they find themselves in. Neither of them are particularly nice to the other, and I think that’s what makes it work. The mutual loathing and grudges leads to an actually good slow burn (in fact, I think barely anything actually romantic happens between them, but I’m sure it will progress in the sequel). And don’t even get me started on what Jude does to Cardon at the end of the book. I was gagged.

So yeah! I like Jude, even if she is a little repetitive in her desires and complex emotions. I think the enemies to lovers dynamic is one I can actually like, and the fae are really well done here. I’m excited to continue the series and recommend this to any dark fantasy enjoyers.

Slewfoot – Brom – 5 Stars

This book touches on all of these points, while also tying in Native American folklore, the magic of an uncolonized America, and the strength of a woman to take care of herself.

Abitha is a young women whose father sends her to an American Puritan colony to pay off some of his drinking debts. Abitha arrives betrothed to a stranger, is forced to conform to Puritan standards, and must survive in a world that seems fully against her. Things start off decently well for her. She and her husband get along well enough, they are making good progress on their farm, and Abitha is able to largely be her own person.

When disaster strikes and she loses her goat, husband, and farm one after the other, Abitha is forced to work largely on her own. Under the threat of having her land taken from her, Abitha is determined to have one good harvest so she can pay off the debt to her brother-in-law, who wants her to be his indentured servant.

During the long hours toiling, Abitha befriends a spirit living in the woods outside her home. She calls him Samson, doe to his uncanny resemblance to her lost goat, and the two forge a bond that will be her undoing and her salvation. Samson teaches Abitha how to cultivate the land with her own power, and Abitha helps Samson learn who (and what) he is.

I won’t spoil the climax and ending for you all, but it was both soul-crushing and empowering all at once. The townspeople called her a witch, and that’s what she became. Female rage and power, the strength of blood and the land, and the determination of one woman to remain true to herself all mix together in this dark and delightful novel. I highly recommend it.

The Knight and the Moth – Rachel Gillig – 4.75 Stars

Six is one of the Diviners for the Omens. Her job is to serve as a vessel for prophecy, drowning in the sacred pool in order to gain visions of the future. But when the other five Diviners begin to disappear, Six is forced to run away from the abbey in order to find them. And to do that, she must team up with the king, who is on a heretical quest to defeat the Omens themselves. And if that wasn’t enough already, Six is tormented by one of the knights, a man named Rodrick who is stubborn, brooding, and perhaps exactly what she needs.

I really rooted for Six as the book went on. She had a tough journey ahead of her, facing a foreign world, deconstructing her religious upbringing, and determining what she wanted, not what others wanted for her. I liked her character a ton, and each moment of growth she had was exciting.

The romance here was really great, one of the best I’ve read in a while. Like I said earlier, my thoughts on rivals/enemies to lovers is complicated. Often times, it feels forced, or made extra dramatic for the sake of tension. But Rory and Six had real chemistry from the get-go, and I liked how there was never a huge divide in their standings. It didn’t seem toxic or manipulative or like Stockholm syndrome, like many dark/gothic romantasy stories do. The pace was also enjoyable. I love me a good consistent slow burn romance.

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So many bangers this time around! This may be the highest average for any of the entries in this series. As always, thanks for sticking around and checking these books out! Remember you can follow me on Goodreads and The Storygraph if you want to see some of my reviews a little early.

Keep reading, friends!

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