Fantasy » Badass Book Reviews

Early Review: The Pirate’s Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke

May 162013

Early Review: The Pirate’s Wish by Cassandra Rose Clarke Book 2 in The Assassin’s Curse series Release Date: June 4, 2013 Book provided by NetGalley and Angry Robot Synopsis from Goodreads: After setting out to break the curse that binds them together, the pirate Ananna and the assassin Naji find themselves stranded on an enchanted island in the north with nothing but a sword, their wits, and the secret to breaking the curse: complete three impossible tasks. With the help of their friend Marjani and a rather unusual ally, Ananna and Naji make their way south again, seeking what seems [ Read More of this Review ]

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Review: Crystal Cove by Lisa Kleypas

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May 072013

Crystal Cove by Lisa Kleypas Series: Friday Harbor #4 Genre: Romance, Fantasy (Magic/Witches) Release Date: Feb 5, 2013 One woman who has been cursed never to find love… One man without a soul who wants her more than life itself… They meet in a small island town in the Pacific Northwest, where magic is in the air and fate is a force too powerful to defy… When Justine Hoffman was born, her mother cast a spell to protect her from heartbreak, and as a result, she is incapable of falling in love. Eventually Justine’s irrepressible curiosity —and her wish to [ Read More of this Review ]

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Early Review: Thief of Souls by Neal Shusterman

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Apr 302013

Early Review: Thief of Souls by Neal Shusterman

Thief of Souls by Neal Shusterman Series: The Star Shards Chronicles #2 Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy Re-Release Date: May 7, 2013 ARC Provided by Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers A group of monumentally powerful teens must face an ancient, soul-eating foe in this second book of The Star Shards Chronicles. A cataclysmic explosion has given earthly teens astronomical powers—when the star Mentarsus-H went supernova at their conceptions, the teens absorbed the shattered soul of the star and inherited unimaginable abilities. Now the Star Shards have become like gods, drunk on their own power—and ripe for manipulation [ Read More of this Review ]

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Early Review: Scorpion Shards by Neal Shusterman

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Apr 302013

Early Review: Scorpion Shards by Neal Shusterman

Scorpion Shards by Neal Shusterman Series: The Star Shards Chronicles #1 Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy Re-Release Date: May 7, 2013 ARC Provided by Edelweiss and Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers Six teens struggle to discover the source of their strange and horrific abilities in this first book of The Star Shards Chronicles. Dillon has the terrifying power to create massive amounts of destruction with the slightest tweak of his will. Deanna is so consumed by fear, it has become like a black hole, drawing to her the very things that terrify her. Then, when the glare of a [ Read More of this Review ]

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Reviews: Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz and Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

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Apr 292013

Reviews: Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz and Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

I recently read two well-written YA novels whose storylines were a bit off the beaten path. If you are looking for a unique read, Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz or Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff might satisfy your reading itch. Teeth by Hannah Moskowitz Genre: YA Fantasy/Magical Realism Publication Date: 1 January 2013 Book Borrowed from Local Library Synopsis from Goodreads: A gritty, romantic modern fairy tale from the author of Break and Gone, Gone, Gone. Be careful what you believe in. Rudy’s life is flipped upside-down when his family moves to a remote island in a last attempt to save his sick younger brother. [ Read More of this Review ]

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Series Review: Raine Benares by Lisa Shearin

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Apr 272013

Series Review: Raine Benares by Lisa Shearin

The Raines Benares series by Lisa Shearin is a fun and sexy light fantasy. It follows an elf named Raine as she learns to deal with magical powers she never expected to have and the consequences that come with being so powerful. She has a hilarious cast of supporting characters around her and not one, but two smoking hot men! Definitely check this series out if you are looking for a read that will make you smile… and swoon just a little. Raines is the perfect heroine and these books make a wonderful bridge between urban and traditional fantasies. Another plus [ Read More of this Review ]

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Early Review: Towering by Alex Flinn

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Apr 172013

Towering by Alex Flinn Book #3 in the Kendra Chronicles Genre: YA Fairy Tale Retelling Publication Date: 14 May 2013 ARC Provided by Edelweiss and HarperTeen Synopsis from Goodreads: At first, I merely saw his face, his hands on the window ledge. Then, his whole body as he swung himself through the window. Only I could not see what he swung on. Until, one day, I told my dream self to look down. And it was then that I saw. He had climbed on a rope. I knew without asking that the rope had been one of my own tying. [ Read More of this Review ]

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New Release: Quintana of Charyn (Lumatere Chronicles #3) by Melina Marchetta

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Apr 042013

New Release: Quintana of Charyn (Lumatere Chronicles #3) by Melina Marchetta

Quintana of Charyn (Lumatere Chronicles #3) by Melina Marchetta Australian Release Date: September 26, 2012 U.S. Release Date: April 23, 2013 *purchased Australian version* Regina’s Rating: 5+ stars/Grade A+ Book Summary: There’s a babe in my belly that whispers the valley, Froi. I follow the whispers and come to the road . . . Separated from the girl he loves and has sworn to protect, Froi must travel through Charyn to search for Quintana, the mother of Charyn’s unborn king, and protect her against those who will do anything to gain power. But what happens when loyalty to family and [ Read More of this Review ]

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New Release Review: Fade to Black by Francis Knight

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Mar 192013

New Release Review: Fade to Black by Francis Knight

Fade to Black by Francis Knight Book #1 in the Rojan Dizon series Genre: Dystopian Fantasy Publication Date: 26 February 2013 ARC Provided by Netgalley and Orbit Synopsis from Goodreads: From the depths of a valley rises the city of Mahala. It’s a city built upwards, not across—where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings. A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under. Rojan Dizon doesn’t mind staying in the shadows, because he’s got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic [ Read More of this Review ]

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Early Review: Black Feathers by Joseph D’Lacey

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Mar 192013

Early Review: Black Feathers by Joseph D'Lacey

Welcome to another Badass joint review! Today, Regina and I take a look at Joseph D’Lacey’s beautifully twisted apocalyptic fantasy, Black Feathers. Black Feathers by Joseph D’Lacey Book #1 in the Black Dawn duology Genre: Apocalyptic Fantasy Publication Date: 26 March 2013 ARC Provided by Netgalley and Angry Robot Synopsis from Goodreads: Black Feathers is a modern fantasy set in two epochs: the Black Dawn, a time of environmental apocalypse, and generations into the future in its aftermath, the Bright Day. In each era, a child undertakes a perilous journey to find a dark messiah known as The Crowman. In their [ Read More of this Review ]

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Early Review: Moonset by Scott Tracey

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Mar 152013

Moonset by Scott Tracey Book #1 in The Legacy of Moonset Genre: YA Urban Fantasy Publication Date: 8 April 2013 ARC Provided by Netgalley and Flux Synopsis from Goodreads: Justin Daggett, his trouble-making sister, and their three orphan-witch friends have gotten themselves kicked out of high school. Again. Now they’ve ended up in Carrow Mills, New York, the town where their parents—members of the terrorist witch organization known as Moonset—began their evil experiments with the dark arts one generation ago. When the siblings are accused of unleashing black magic on the town, Justin fights to prove their innocence. But tracking [ Read More of this Review ]

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Genre Book Showdown: Emilie and the Hollow World vs Spellbinding

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Mar 132013

Genre Book Showdown: Emilie and the Hollow World vs Spellbinding

This month I read two standalone, YA fantasies that skew toward a younger audience and today they meet in the Genre Book Showdown. Who will take home the win? Will it be Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells, a steampunk-infused fantasy set in a land at the center of the Earth? Or will it be Spellbinding by Maya Gold which threads the people and stories of Salem into an all-new world of witches? Read on to see who is declared the victor! Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells Genre: YA Fantasy Publication Date: 2 April 2013 ARC [ Read More of this Review ]

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Early Review: The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe

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Feb 272013

Early Review: The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe Release date: April 2, 2013 Book provided by Edelweiss and Random House Synopsis from Goodreads: “With every fiber of my being, I yearned to be normal. To glide through my days at Iverson without incident. But I’d have to face the fact that my life was about to unfold in a very, very different way than I’d ever envisioned. Normal would become forever out of reach.”Lora Jones has always known that she’s different. On the outside, she appears to be an ordinary sixteen-year-old girl. Yet Lora’s been keeping a heartful of secrets: [ Read More of this Review ]

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Early YA Mini Reviews: The Holders, Wasteland, Pretty Girl-13, & The Nightmare Affair

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Feb 262013

Early YA Mini Reviews: The Holders, Wasteland, Pretty Girl-13, & The Nightmare Affair

YA releases abound in March and this month I am featuring four debut novels. The Holders by Julianna Scott is a YA urban fantasy about children with special powers. Wasteland is a YA dystopia from the writing team of Susan Kim and Lawrence Klavan. Pretty Girl-13 is a YA contemporary with mystery/thriller/crime aspects by Liz Coley. Finally, The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett is a YA fantasy set at the creepy Arkwell Academy. The Holders by Julianna Scott Book #1 in the Holders series Genre: YA Urban Fantasy Publication Date: 5 March 2013 ARC Provided by Netgalley and Strange Chemistry Synopsis [ Read More of this Review ]

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Early Review: Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill

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Feb 212013

Early Review: Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill

Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill Publication Date: 26 February 2013 ARC Provided by Edelweiss and Harper Voyager Synopsis from Goodreads: There is another world than our own, as close and intimate as a kiss, as terrifying and haunting as nightmares, a realm where fairies and djinns, changelings and angels, all the stuff of which dreams are made is real…and where magic awaits in the shadows, just a hidden step away. Between this realm and that other lies a veil, a gossamer web that muddles the vision of mortal man and keeps him from seeing what is all around [ Read More of this Review ]

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Early Review: Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman

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Feb 072013

Early Review: Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman

Between Two Thorns by Emma Newman Book #1 in The Split Worlds Publication Date: 26 February 2013 ARC Provided by Netgalley and Angry Robot Synopsis from Goodreads: Something is wrong in Aquae Sulis, Bath’s secret mirror city. The new season is starting and the Master of Ceremonies is missing. Max, an Arbiter of the Split Worlds Treaty, is assigned with the task of finding him with no one to help but a dislocated soul and a mad sorcerer. There is a witness but his memories have been bound by magical chains only the enemy can break. A rebellious woman trying to escape her [ Read More of this Review ]

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Review: Tin Swift by Devon Monk

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Jan 272013

Review: Tin Swift by Devon Monk Book 2 in The Age of Steam series Book purchased from Book Depository Genre: Steampunk Synopsis from Goodreads: In steam age America, men, monsters, machines and magic battle to claim the same scrap of earth and sky. In this chaos, one man fights to hold on to his humanity–and his honor. . . Life on the frontier is full of deceit and danger, but bounty hunter Cedar Hunt is a man whose word is his bond. Cursed with becoming a beast every full moon, Cedar once believed his destiny was to be alone. But [ Read More of this Review ]

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Best of 2012: Fantasy and Romance (Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical)

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Dec 292012

Best of 2012: Fantasy and Romance (Paranormal, Contemporary, Historical)

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson –Regina: I have never read a book like Alif the Unseen before. The fantasy and the cultural elements were so new to me and really done. If you haven’t read it, you should give it a try. All Spell Breaks Loose by Lisa Shearin –Christal: All Spell Breaks Loose ends the Raine Benares series and Lisa Shearin took her characters out on a spectacular note. Raine, Mychael, and Tam were wonderful as always and the story moved with Ms. Shearin’s trademark wit and verve. Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor –D.G.: [ Read More of this Review ]

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New Release Review: Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs

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Dec 202012

New Release Review: Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs

Greta and the Goblin King by Chloe Jacobs Book #1 in the Mylena Chronicles Publication Date: 12 Dec 2012 ARC Provided by the publisher Entangled Teen Synopsis from Goodreads: While trying to save her brother from a witch’s fire four years ago, Greta was thrown in herself, falling through a portal to Mylena, a dangerous world where humans are the enemy and every ogre, ghoul, and goblin has a dark side that comes out with the eclipse. To survive, Greta has hidden her humanity and taken the job of bounty hunter—and she’s good at what she does. So good, she’s [ Read More of this Review ]

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New Release Review: Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

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Dec 182012

New Release Review: Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder

Scent of Magic by Maria V. Snyder Book #2 – Healer Genre: Fantasy Book provided by NetGalley and Harlequin As the last Healer in the Fifteen Realms, Avry of Kazan is in a unique position: in the minds of her friends and foes alike, she no longer exists. Despite her need to prevent the megalomanical King Tohon from winning control of the Realms, Avry is also determined to find her sister and repair their estrangement. And she must do it alone, as Kerrick, her partner and sole confidant, returns to Alga to summon his country into battle. Though she [ Read More of this Review ]

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