{Bookish Review} The Iron King (Iron Fey #1) by Julie Kagawa

The Iron King by Julie Kagawa

(The Iron Fey #1)

Genre: YA Fantasy/Romance

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny; one she could never have imagined.

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan's life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she's known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth - that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she'll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil, no faery creature dare face; and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

Help! I'm hooked onto this series again.

I first read this book in 2012. This is a book on how a mortal girl, Meghan Chase, travelled into the Faery realm against all odds to save her little half-brother Ethan from the clutches of the Fae. Of course she had help of 2 boys from opposing Courts in Faery, Puck from the Summer Court and Prince Ash from the Winter Court and a witty cat, Grimalkin. 

Through this treacherous journey, Meghan  learnt the truth about her own heritage, the secret behind her closest friend in the mortal world and the impending danger that was approaching them all in the land of Fae. What is she going to do to save her little brother? What are the sacrifices to be made?

I simply enjoyed the characters' interaction, which can be really funny at times with a prankster around an icy prince. The author is really good at pulling me into the story, making me feel what Meghan was feeling and how anxious I was to see her succeed in the trials. I'm really glad I picked up the series again. Off to the next book!

My rating: 5🌟

Source: NLB Singapore

{Bookish Review} Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1)
By: Neal Shusterman
Published on: November 22nd 2016 by Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Genres: Dystopia (YA)
Source: Library
Rating: 

Thou shalt kill.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery. Humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own.

I'm not a very big fan of dystopian reads but somehow the summary of scythe convinced me to give it a try. A world where there is no hunger, no disease, no war and no misery. Plus the fact that there is no death except for death by scythes' hands to keep the population under control. These are what got me thinking about how the story will turn out.

We first learnt about Citra and Rowan (what unique names they have) and their families and how they first came into contact with the scythe who will eventually take them as apprentices. The world building is realistic and kept me engaged throughout the story and I'm impressed by how the story unfolds--the unexpected twists and turns that had me hanging by the edge of my seat.

I really enjoyed reading Scythe, especially about the character growth of Citra. Once I have finished reading Scythe, I went to hunt for the second book immediately. That's how much I really want to continue reading the story.  I'll recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading this genre.

{Bookish Review} The Book Jumper by Mechthild Gläser

The Book Jumper
By: Mechthild Gläser
Published on: January 3rd 2017 by Feiwel & Friends
Genres: Fantasy (YA)
Source: Library
Rating: 

Amy Lennox doesn't know quite what to expect when she and her mother pick up and leave Germany for Scotland, heading to her mother's childhood home of Lennox House on the island of Stormsay.

Amy's grandmother, Lady Mairead, insists that Amy must read while she resides at Lennox House—but not in the usual way. It turns out that Amy is a book jumper, able to leap into a story and interact with the world inside. As thrilling as Amy's new power is, it also brings danger: someone is stealing from the books she visits, and that person may be after her life. Teaming up with fellow book jumper Will, Amy vows to get to the bottom of the thefts—at whatever cost.

It's the plot that captured my attention and that cover. To be able to interact with the world inside a story is like a dream come true for readers like me. Just imagine all the possibilities and the adventures! How exciting!

Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me. It took me a long while to get into the book. I had to renew my book once because I was stubborn and wanted to read till the end despite how the story dragged on.

The main character of this story is Amy, a book jumper who didn't know she had this ability until she went to her mother's childhood home and her grandmother insisted that she read books there. There were two other book jumpers as well, Betsy and Will, from another clan. Long story short, these two families have been protecting literature since long long time ago and they were enemies of some sort in the past and now, there's someone lurking out there and stealing ideas from stories. The book jumpers have to catch the culprit before it's too late.

The book jumping and what happened in the stories was interesting to read but in terms of finding out the culprit, somehow it fell flat for me. I didn't really feel any connection with any of the characters. Although there was a surprising piece of information in the story, I'm disappointed that the story did not elaborate further on it or made use of it for something special. The final blow for me was how the book ended. I wished it didn't end it that way.

Having mentioned all the points above, the book does have its good points. I like how each chapter ended with some sort of super short paragraph that all links together to form another missing story. It's a refreshing element for me.

If you are interested in reading this book, just remember not to expect too much from the story and you'll be fine. Perhaps it was because it was a book about stories, I have quite a high expectation of it. I'm glad I finished the book!

{Bookish Review} The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Cruel Prince
By: Holly Black
Published on: January 2nd 2018 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Genres: Fantasy (YA)
Source: Bought
Rating: 


Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.

Jude was seven years old when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

In doing so, she becomes embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, discovering her own capacity for bloodshed. But as civil war threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

Faerie! That was my first excited thought when I read the summary. It promises mystery and excitement as well. Why would the sisters be stolen away to live in the High Court of Faerie? I just had to get this book to find out and so I did!

The prologue was about the murder of their parents which had me cringing. For the girls to have witnessed it... Imagine their horror. Then the story continued into the first chapter. My first thought of it was, "Wow! What a very short first chapter!" Indeed, it is only made up of one line. 11 words to be precise.

The thing I like about this book is the few surprises that it threw at me. Things did not turn up as what I've expected and I like that. I feel that the world building is well done as well as the politics within the High Court about the succession of the throne. The thing that didn't sit well with me was the fact that the human twins managed to live with the man who murdered their parents right in front of their eyes. That's brutal!

Overall, The Cruel Prince is a well-written book which I really enjoyed a lot. A quick check on Goodreads told me book 2 will only be out in 2019 and book 3 in 2020. I don't think I can't wait that long to find out more about the story. That's the down side of reading a book when the series has yet to be completed. I'll try to be patient. 

{Bookish Review} Jet Black and the Ninja Wind by Leza Lowitz, Shogo Oketani

Jet Black and the Ninja Wind
By: Leza Lowitz, Shogo Oketani
Published by: Tuttle Publishing on October 29th 2013
Genres: Action/Fantasy (YA)
Source: Bought
Rating: 

Seventeen-year-old Jet Black is a ninja. There's only one problem--she doesn't know it. Others do, however, and they're scheming to capture her and uncover her secrets. When her mother dies, Jet knows only that she must go to Japan to protect a family treasure hidden in her ancestral land. She's terrified, but if Jet won't fight to protect her world, who will? Stalked by bounty hunters and desperately in love with the man who's been sent to kill her, Jet must be strong enough to protect the treasure, preserve an ancient culture, and save a sacred mountain from destruction. In Jet Black and the Ninja Wind, multiple award-winning author, poet, and translator team Leza Lowitz and Shogo Oketani make their first foray into young adult fiction with a compulsively readable tale whose teenage heroine must discover if she can put the blade above the heart--or die trying. 

I picked this book because of my interest in Japanese culture. Ninja story? Bring it on! Jet Black and the Ninja Wind is a story about a Jet's survival story as she travelled to her mother's birth country to protect a family treasure. This is also about her story to discover about herself, more specifically, trusting in her ability.

The book is filled with danger as Jet and her cousin travelled from one place to another and I was really engrossed in them. There is definitely character growth for Jet but somehow I didn't feel close to her as I thought I would. Don't get me wrong--I like reading about Jet's and her struggles through dangerous situation to protect what she need to protect. She did get on my nerves in the beginning but she slowly grew on me and I get to understand more from her point of view. Love interest? Not much. Not enough. I need more!

There is a valuable lesson to learn from the book alongside Jet which is why you need to read the book if you are interested. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about Ninja and Japanese culture but I'd hesitate if you are looking for some romance story. It's still a good read.

{Bookish Review} The Mussorgsky Riddle by Darin Kennedy

The Mussorgsky Riddle
By: Darin Kennedy
Published by: Curiosity Quills Press on 12 January 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery (YA)
Source: ecopy from publisher
Rating: 

Psychic Mira Tejedor possesses unique talents that enable her to find anything and anyone, but now she must find a comatose boy wandering lost inside the labyrinth of his own mind. Thirteen-year-old Anthony Faircloth hasn’t spoken a word in almost a month and with each passing day, his near catatonic state worsens. No doctor, test, or scan can tell Anthony’s distraught mother what has happened to her already troubled son. In desperation, she turns to Mira for answers, hoping her unique abilities might succeed where science has failed.

At their first encounter, Mira is pulled into Anthony’s mind and finds the child’s psyche shattered into the various movements of Modest Mussorgsky’s classical music suite, Pictures at an Exhibition. As she navigates this magical dreamscape drawn from Anthony’s twin loves of Russian composers and classical mythology, Mira must contend with gnomes, troubadours, and witches in her search for the truth behind Anthony’s mysterious malady.

The real world, however, holds its own dangers. The onset of Anthony’s condition coincides with the disappearance of his older brother’s girlfriend, a missing persons case that threatens to tear the city apart. Mira discovers that in order to save Anthony, she will have to catch a murderer who will stop at nothing to keep the secrets contained in Anthony’s unique mind from ever seeing the light.

The Mussorgsky Riddle is a really interesting book about how Psychic Mira Tejedo was able to make a breakthrough with regards to the case of a withdrawn autistic boy called Anthony, who was trapped in his own mind. I was as skeptical as the boy's therapist initially about her abilities but she slowly grew on me and I found myself craving to know what happened next.

I like that the main character is not perfect--she has her own problems besides the cases going on. I also liked how the author used the Exhibition to represent Anthony's mind with interesting characters in there whom Mira has to interact with in order to solve the mystery behind Anthony's withdrawal. The twists that happened in the story do that me by surprise and that made the story even more interesting.

The whole story is easy to read and follow, with a full cast of well-developed characters to liven up the story. I must confess that it took me quite a while to get past the front part of the book but I'm totally hooked beyond that.

If you enjoy reading mystery with a hint of paranormal, The Mussorgsky Riddle is the book for you. In addition, this book is also suitable for young adults.

About Darin Kennedy

Darin Kennedy, born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is a graduate of Wake Forest University and Bowman Gray School of Medicine. After completing family medicine residency in the mountains of Virginia, he served eight years as a United States Army physician and wrote his first novel in 2003 in the sands of northern Iraq. His debut novel, The Mussorgsky Riddle, was born from a fusion of two of his lifelong loves—classical music and world mythology— and is slated for publication by Curiosity Quills Press in Fall/Winter 2014. His short stories can be found in various publications, as well as two short story compilations available on Amazon, and he is currently hard at work on his next novel. Doctor by day and novelist by night, he writes and practices medicine in Charlotte, North Carolina. When not engaged in either of the above activities, he has been known strum the guitar, enjoy a bite of sushi, and rumor has it he even sleeps on occasion. He is represented by Stacey Donaghy at Donaghy Literary Group. Find him online at darinkennedy.com.

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