Mirrored Heavens

March 21, 2024March 19, 2024 / Brienna / Leave a comment

Mirrored Heavens is the fabulous conclusion to the Between Earth and Sky trilogy by Rebecca Roanhorse.

With fantastic world building, magic, and intrigue, the Between Earth and Sky trilogy is on par with some of my other favorite fantasy series, such as the Broken Earth, and Inheritance trilogies by N.K. Jemisin.

Naranpa, avatar of the Sun God, and Serapio, the Crow God Reborn, both seek to save their people. They each face their own enemies, as we traverse the lands of Meridian, from the depths of the wastelangs, to Tova where the sun no longer shines, and the island of Teek, where the all-female islanders’ magic is fading.

At over 600 pages, it’s another long one, as are the first two books in the trilogy. However, I can’t recommend this enough! I loved the whole series, with its unique take on mythology, legends, magic, and the place of gods among us.

Thanks to NetGalley and S&S/Saga Press for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own. Amazon links in this review are affiliate links, and I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Empire of the Damned

March 17, 2024March 17, 2024 / Brienna / Leave a comment

Empire of the Damned, by Jay Kristoff is the second novel in the Empire of the Vampire series.

I have always loved vampire novels, ever since reading Interview with the Vampire. Empire has all the qualities that I loved from that series: a tortured main character with a sordid past, interesting other characters, epic world-building, lore, magic, and history.

Since this is the second in the series, I won’t say too much about the plot. Like the first in the series, it’s a pretty lengthy book at 709 pages. If you don’t mind epic tales, love vampires, and a good story, I highly recommend this, but you’ll need to start with the first book. You can find what I wrote about the first book in a mini review in this post.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own. Some links in this review are affiliate links, and I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The City of Stardust

January 23, 2024February 8, 2024 / Brienna / Leave a comment

“Once upon a time, in a magical city on a distant shore, lived Ever Everly.”
The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

Book Cover: The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers.

The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers is a fast-paced fantasy novel that centers around a family curse, magic, fairytales, and monsters.

On the surface, The City of Stardust has everything I want in a fantasy novel–a strong female protagonist, magic, monsters, and a decent villain. However, in the end, I felt the novel was a letdown.

Violet Everly grew up in seclusion, kept secret from the world, with no explanation. At the age of 10, her mother leaves, and her uncles Ambrose and Gabriel take over her care. Slowly, Violet becomes aware of the family curse, and the reasons for her mother’s departure.

While the family curse is ultimately explained, in my opinion, it still left a lot of gaping plot holes. Throughout the story, we find Violet following the trail left by her mother Marianne, and this is also a huge letdown. Although I suppose the door is open for a follow-up novel that tells Marianne’s story.

For a novel with magic at its center, we see very little of the magic. The story focuses on the Everly curse and the search for the City of Stardust. The magic is almost an afterthought, which is too bad.

Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own. Links in this review are affiliate links, and I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

The Morningside

January 19, 2024January 16, 2024 / Brienna / Leave a comment

The Morningside¹ by Téa Obreht is set in the not-so-distant future, where due to the destructive forces of human nature, the world has been ravaged by rising tides, food shortages, and unpredictable weather patterns.

Book cover image featuring a city skyline.

Silvia and her mother have come to reside at The Morningside, what was once a luxury tower. As part of the Repopulation Program, they have been allowed to immigrate to this community. As part of the Posterity Initiative, everyone has limited access to rations, and eating meat is forbidden.

This is a novel about secrets, mourning what was, and how the world and humanity can recover what it lost. However, I felt it was trying to do and be too many things all at once. First, there’s the post-apocalyptic aspect, and then on top of that, we have folklore, magical realism, and classism.

Overall, I just didn’t get into the story or the characters. I would have enjoyed it more without the magical realism aspect, which I felt detracted from the other parts of the plot.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own.

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