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The Liar’s Crown
By Abigail Owen. Entangled Teen. Twin princesses run in the family. The older twin eventually becomes queen while the younger one is the spare, the one who keeps the older one safe. Meren is a younger twin and lives away from the palace while her sister trains to be queen. When their grandmother, the queen dies, older sister Tabra is to be crowned. Meren will continue to be the backup to her sister. That’s the plan until fate intervenes and she is kidnapped by the Shadowraith. He has his reasons, believing her to be Tabra for much of the book. Meanwhile back at home, the evil Eidolon is “courting” Tabra…
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Gallant
Olivia Prior has lived almost all her life at the Merlance School for Girls. She apparently was left there by her mother when she was quite young and all she has from her mother is an old journal. Olivia’s life has been a lonely one, much of it due to the fact she has no voice. One day a letter arrives from her uncle, inviting her to live with him at Gallant and soon Olivia is taking a long car ride to what is actually an estate. Once there it’s clear something is amiss. Her uncle died a year or more ago and it’s only a cousin and two servants…
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Servant Mage
Servant Mage by Kate Elliott. MacMillan-Tor/Forge Due to the takeover by the Liberationists, Fellion has become an indentured servant mage with little prospect of another life until she is freed by a group of Monarchists. They need her fire skills and there's a possibility of a real future. Along the way, their priority shifts so they are saving a very special baby from being killed before moving on to the original mission. I must point out this is a novella rather than a full-length novel. I found this to be a super-easy and engaging read, finishing it in under three hours. The world-building is quite good and there are some…
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The Time Traveler’s Wife
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niefenegger. I’ve been hearing about this book for years and saw the audiobook and decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, this one just doesn’t work for me and I stopped pretty early on in the story. I found it didn’t make a lot of sense a lot of the time and I didn’t warm to the characters at all. There is also an incidence of cheating that comes up quite early that turned me against Henry’s character. The narrators were okay, I think. I wasn’t that keen on the female voice but I imagine I might have become accustomed to it further along.…
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Under the Whispering Door
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune. Tor Books. Wallace Price is a lawyer, and like many of his kind, he’s cold, analytic, and mean. One day he wakes up at his own funeral and is soon escorted away by the newly minted reaper, Mei. At first, Wallace doesn’t quite get what’s happening and he’s pretty calm. But he soon catches on and he suddenly wants to get back home and runs away. By this time he’s arrived at Charon’s Crossing at the teahouse run by Hugo, who just happens also to be the ferryman. It’s while at this way-house that Wallace learns how to live. This was a delightful…
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Mordew
Mordew by Alex Pheby. MacMillan/Tor. Nathan Treeves lives in the slums of Mordew with his parents. His father is quite ill and his mother has a succession of male visitors that helps pay the bills. Nathan is only thirteen years old but he does have a potential weapon even though he doesn’t know how to use it. He has a spark that creates an itch and it really is much like it’s called. He wants to use it but his father has warned him against using the spark or any magic. Things become desperate and Nathan is sent by his mother to be sold to the Master. In the course…
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Once Upon a Broken Heart
Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber. Hodder and Stoughton. Evangeline Fox has long believed in the notion of a happy ever after in life. She’s been meeting Luc in secret and she thinks he’s the one for her. But then he proposes to her stepsister, Marisol, out of the blue instead. She’s heartbroken and seeks out assistance from the Prince of Hearts to stop the wedding. In exchange, she must kiss someone three times, at the prince’s choosing. The way the wedding is stopped isn’t what she expects and she’s soon on a path that she’d never have dreamed of and is travelling to the North, where her…
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The Bookbinder’s Daughter
The Bookbinder’s Daughter by Jessica Thorne. Bookouture Audio Sophie is an accomplished bookbinder, taught by her father, also a bookbinder. It happens that her mother was also one too. Once upon a time, they lived at Ayredale and life was good. But then, some trauma occurred where Sophie’s mother disappears and Sophie forgets most of the details of her life before the trauma. Since then, Sophie has never been back to Ayredale, mostly due to her father’s wishes. But after her father dies, Sophie is contacted by her uncle Edward, brother to her mother, and offered a job at what is called the Special Collection. There are a few aspects…
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Farewell to the Liar
Farewell to the Liar by D.K. Fields. Head of Zeus Cora Gorderheim, recently stripped of her job as a detective, is currently on a single mission: to protect her sister Ruth, the Wayward storyteller, until the story is told for the election. As a former detective in Fenest, she is quite skilled at getting places. But she runs against a number of challenges in the run-up to the story, and there are those who don’t want the Wayward story told and are willing to kill to prevent it. I will start by advising I was unaware of this book being the third in a trilogy when I requested it and…
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Vespertine
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson. Simon and Schuster Australia Artemisia is a novice at the convent where she has lived for many years. She is content to do the work there and has no ambitions to go elsewhere. Even though she is often pointed at by others for having been possessed by a spirit for much of her life. The convent is attacked by possessed soldiers and Artemisia is forced to awaken a reverent that has long been locked away in an ancient relic to save it. This sets off events that take her away from the convent, into more danger, and leaves her with a reputation as a saint. I’ve…