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Book Review: Guardians of Dawn (Books 1-2)

As I had received a copy of the third book, Guardians of Dawn: Yuli, in this series on NetGalley, I decided before reading it that I would read the first two books in this series. I didn’t want to start this series by reading and reviewing the third book before reading these two, and this series sounded like something I would enjoy anyway. It also felt like a way for me to catch up on what had happened, and a good way to get me excited to read this book. So, below I will start with talking about the first book in this series, Guardians of Dawn: Zhara.

Guardians of Dawn: Zhara (Guardians of Dawn #1)

Rating: 4 stars

Sailor Moon meets Cinder in Guardians of Dawn: Zhara, the start of a new, richly imagined fantasy series from S. Jae-Jones, the New York Times bestselling author of Wintersong.

Magic flickers.

Love flames.

Chaos reigns.

Magic is forbidden throughout the Morning Realms. Magicians are called abomination, and blamed for the plague of monsters that razed the land twenty years before.

Jin Zhara already had enough to worry about—appease her stepmother’s cruel whims, looking after her blind younger sister, and keeping her own magical gifts under control—without having to deal with rumors of monsters re-emerging in the marsh. But when a chance encounter with an easily flustered young man named Han brings her into contact with a secret magical liberation organization called the Guardians of Dawn, Zhara realizes there may be more to these rumors than she thought. A mysterious plague is corrupting the magicians of Zanhei and transforming them into monsters, and the Guardians of Dawn believe a demon is responsible.

In order to restore harmony and bring peace to the world, Zhara must discover the elemental warrior within, lest the balance between order and chaos is lost forever.

When I initially started this first book in this series, I wasn’t sure what to make of it, as the pacing of the story started slow. But as I continued reading and found out more about the world Zhara and those closest to her live in, I found myself more and more interested in reading her story to find out what happened next.

As you find out more about the world Zhara lives in, Guardians of Dawn: Zhara, the more I find myself immersed in the story and want to know what happens next. I especially find the magic in this book interesting because of how magicians use it. There’s a lot more to it than meets the eye, which made me fascinated with the story and wanting to continue to read to see what happened next. I also enjoy the characters in this story because I felt like they were each unique and enjoyed seeing their interactions with each other, especially seeing Han’s friendship with Xu and seeing Xu becoming good friends with Zhara.  

What I also enjoyed about this book was seeing Zhara’s character develop and her relationship with Han. At first, Zhara was very unsure of her abilities as a magician. But I feel like as her story goes on, she becomes more accepting of her abilities and begins to trust in herself to do what’s needed. I also enjoyed seeing her use her magic, too, once she starts getting control of it, because it showed her coming into her powers and accepting the direction her life is going. I also enjoyed reading about her relationship with Han and seeing that relationship develop. At first, I wasn’t sure what to think of them as a potential couple in this book because I felt like they both seemed to like each other as soon as they met. But as the story continues, I found myself enjoying seeing their relationship continue to develop, and was excited to see where it was going.

If there’s anything with Guardians of Dawn: Zhara, I wasn’t fond of it was Han keeping his identity a secret, and the amount of information given to the reader about the world these characters live in. While I understand why Han didn’t tell Zhara who he is because he wanted to seem like a normal guy to her, I feel like he should’ve told her and had that honest conversation with her. I know he ends up revealing it to her unintentionally, but I think he should’ve told her on his own instead of slipping up with his lies to her. I felt like by him lying to her it made me feel like he didn’t fully trust her, even with everything else that was going on, and that didn’t sit right with me because of how they both felt about each other. I also felt like there was a lot of world-building in this story. It felt like too much information was given to you at the beginning, which made me struggle with reading it initially. Granted, I enjoyed the information that was provided since it gave me insight into the world these characters live in, but it felt like way too much to provide a reader when they’re reading the first book in a series.

Nonetheless, when I finished reading Guardians of Dawn: Zhara, I was excited to continue the series with the next book, Guardians of Dawn: Ami, to see how these characters’ story continues to develop.

Guardians of Dawn: Ami (Guardians of Dawn #2)

Rating: 4.5 stars

When the Pillar blooms, the end of the world is not far behind.

Li Ami was always on the outside—outside of family, outside of friendships, outside of ordinary magic. The odd and eccentric daughter of a former imperial magician, she has devoted her life to books because she finds them easier to read than people. Exiled to the outermost west of the Morning Realms, Ami has become the sole caretaker of her mentally ill father, whose rantings and ravings may be more than mere ramblings; they may be part of a dire prophecy. When her father is arrested for trespassing and stealing a branch from the sacred tree of the local monastery, Ami offers herself to the mysterious Beast in the castle, who is in need of someone who can translate a forbidden magical text and find a cure for the mysterious blight that is affecting the harvest of the land.

Meanwhile, as signs of magical corruption arise throughout the Morning Realms, Jin Zhara begins to realize that she might be out of her element. She may have defeated a demon lord and uncovered her identity as the Guardian of Fire, but she’ll be more than outmatched in the coming elemental battle against the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons…unless she can find the other Guardians of Dawn. Her magic is no match for the growing tide of undead, and she needs the Guardian of Wood with power over life and death in order to defeat the revenants razing the countryside.

The threat of the Mother of Ten Thousand Demons looms larger by the day, and the tenuous peace holding the Morning Realms together is beginning to unravel. Ami and Zhara must journey to the Root of the World in order to seal the demon portal that may have opened there and restore balance to an increasingly chaotic world.

Out of these two books, I enjoyed reading Guardians of Dawn: Ami a little better. I feel like it was due to knowing more about the world with these characters, and there wasn’t as much world-building in the beginning for me to make it difficult to read at the start. It also had a little more Beauty and the Beast feel to it with regards to Ami and her relationship with Beast, which probably helped too, since that’s one of my favorite stories.

What I enjoyed with this book, though, is that it does a wonderful job of picking up where its predecessor left off but introducing us to additional characters who play an important role in the story. Also, I appreciate that while this book’s main focus is on Ami and Beast, the characters from Guardians of Dawn: Zhara are also central characters here and there are chapters from their perspective too, so you get to see what they are up to before they meet Ami and Beast along with follow them while Ami goes on her journey.

Like with its predecessor, the magic and storytelling in this book are magnificent. I enjoyed seeing the magic of the characters in this story and finding out about what’s going on with Ami and her father as they try and survive this world. I also enjoyed seeing her relationship with Beast develop, even though I didn’t agree with his actions at a certain point in the story, which I’ll talk about later. I could feel the connection between the two of them better than I had with Zhara and Han. With Zhara and Han in this book, their relationship seems to slow down quite a bit, but when you find out why from Han, I found myself feeling for him because what he says regarding his sexuality is relatable to me. So while I was sad not to see too much of their relationship in this story, I was fine with it since this story was more about Ami and Beast anyway.   

If there’s anything about this book I didn’t like, it would be what I mentioned earlier regarding Beast. You find out about a secret he’s keeping from everyone else in this book, and how he manages to keep this secret is something I don’t like. The way he uses that power to compel those who find out not to say anything about his secret is very messed up and made me not like his character during those moments. While I understood to a certain point why he acted that way, I don’t think it excuses his behavior, so I am glad that the author has him develop in a way where he realizes what he’s doing is wrong, and he does what he can to change it.

However, that is the only thing I had an issue with when reading Guardians of Dawn: Ami, as I enjoyed everything else about the story when I read it. And as a whole, I enjoyed reading both of these books in the Guardians of Dawn series, that I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, Guardians of Dawn: Yuli, which I’ve received a digital copy of on NetGalley. I highly recommend these books to anyone who enjoys fantasy with a light amount of romance and finds themselves immersed in a unique magical world.      

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Book Review: Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games #0.5)

Rating: 4.5 stars

When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight… and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

In comparison to when I read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, I enjoyed reading Sunrise on the Reaping significantly more. I feel like I enjoyed this book more for many reasons, one of which is that I enjoyed reading about these Games from Haymitch’s perspective. As Katniss Everdeen’s mentor, I always wondered how he came to be the man introduced in the trilogy, and this book didn’t disappoint in sharing his story.

Even though I knew the fate of the others who participated in the Games he was in, I still found myself rooting for those he worked closely with while in the Arena. And even though I find these Games barbaric and wish they didn’t exist in this world, I continue to find how their setup by the Gamekeepers fascinating to learn more about. I especially found the Arena Haymitch found himself in to be an extremely interesting one, with how things you would normally rely on for food and drink being the things not safe to consume. The mutts that the Gamekeepers created were also interesting because some of them were animals that wouldn’t normally be threatening to people, and how they were used to target certain Tributes in the Games.

I also enjoyed the connection this book makes to The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes regarding the girl Haymitch falls in love with. She’s very similar to the girl that Snow falls in love with, so seeing that connection here, even though that book isn’t my favorite book in this series, was interesting.     

If there’s anything with Sunrise on the Reaping I didn’t particularly enjoy, it would be the appearances of characters from The Hunger Games trilogy and Haymitch’s actions during the Games. I felt that there were too many characters from the original trilogy in this book, and it didn’t make sense to me for them all to be present. A couple of them I understood making an appearance here, such as the characters that are from the Capitol, but finding a way to tie everyone else into Haymitch’s story didn’t make sense to me. I also wasn’t a fan of a majority of Haymitch’s choices during his Games because I feel like they didn’t make sense for his character. Yes, he does have moments of rebellion before the Games happen. However, a lot of them are due to the situation he finds himself in and due to his dislike of the Capitol. So, Haymitch doing what he does in the Games didn’t make sense to me regarding his character, as it felt more like something the girl he loves would do than him.

As a whole, though, I enjoyed reading Sunrise on the Reaping. I enjoyed getting to read Haymitch’s story and being able to see how he became the man you come to know in The Hunger Games trilogy. Recommend reading this one if you enjoyed Haymitch’s character in the trilogy and want to learn how he won the Games the year he was in them.               

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Book Review: Don’t Let the Forest In

Rating: 3.5 stars

Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him. Kill for him.

High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality―Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won’t say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork―whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew’s wicked stories.

Desperate to figure out what’s wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster―Thomas’s drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator…

From beginning to end, Don’t Let the Forest In is a book that had me hooked, eager to know what would happen next. In particular, what drew me to reading this book was the horror that was unfolding, combined with its setting at an academy for wealthy students. I also enjoyed it due to the monsters coming to life were from fairytales that Andrew came up with that Thomas drew. While I feel like there’s never any real explanation given as to why these events unfold, I enjoyed reading about it all to find out what would happen next. There’s just something about monsters coming to life from stories people have written that always draws me in. And this book was no different.

What Don’t Let the Forest In also did well was incorporate themes into the book that connected to what was going on in the story. These themes can be seen throughout the story through Andrew’s character as he struggles to fit in at school and deal with his mental and physical health issues, along with everything that has changed upon his return to school. Even though Andrew wasn’t my favorite character in this book (I’ll discuss that later), I found myself still hoping for the best for him, as he went through a lot in this book.

I also enjoyed the little snippets of the fairy tales Andrew had written that were incorporated at the beginning of chapters, and the pictures of the monsters Thomas and Andrew encountered. I felt like seeing these in this book allowed me to imagine what Andrew and Thomas were dealing with at Wickwood Academy. But it also helped me relate to these characters, as I found I was able to relate to Andrew through his telling of dark fairytales. If anything from reading those little blurbs, I found myself wanting to read the stories Andrew writes to find out what happened in them.

With Don’t Let the Forest In, what I didn’t particularly like was the lack of character development and details in the story. When reading this book, I felt like there was no character development for Andrew at all. Yes, he eventually gets to a point where he’s able to deal with the monsters on his own. But when it comes to everything else that happens in this book, he acts like he can’t deal with anything. And there’s never any discussion around why his character acts this way or anything in the story that explains it. It makes it hard for me to like his character because there’s no growth for him in this book. What also bothered me was the lack of details regarding why these monsters existed to begin with. I figured that as the story went on, there would be an explanation here for why these monsters exist. But if there is one, I didn’t see it because it felt like they just suddenly were at their school. Both these things bothered me as I felt like I was reading a story with missing information that I would’ve liked to have to get more insight into the story.

What I also didn’t like with this story was the sudden twist added to the story and the ending. I felt like the sudden twist that was added to the story didn’t do much other than add shock for the reader and cause Andrew pain. It was also something I felt like was easy to tell had happened, considering how little the character involved was actually in the story. While it did make me feel sorry for Andrew, I felt like it didn’t add anything to the story here for me, other than explain why this character wasn’t as heavily involved in this book as I was expecting her to be. As for the ending, like several of the books I’ve read this year, it was an open ending. And like I said before with previous reads, I don’t mind open endings, but with the way this story was written, I felt like the way it was left made me feel like this story didn’t have a happy ending for these characters. With this book, all I can truly imagine is a grim ending for these characters, which wasn’t at all what I was hoping for.   

Overall, though, I enjoyed reading Don’t Let the Forest In because of the horror in the story and getting to see these monsters brought to life. Also, incorporating a little of the fairy tales Andrew writes and having pictures of the monsters was a nice touch that I enjoyed and wanted to see more of. I just wish there had been more with regard to character development, the twist in the story, and the end of the book, as those were the things in this book that I didn’t particularly care for when  I was reading this. But I still enjoyed it and recommend Don’t Let the Forest In to anyone who enjoys horror stories that take place at an academy.     

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Book Review: Bring Me Your Midnight

Rating: 4 stars

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches and Wild is the Witch comes a lush romantic fantasy about forbidden love, the choices we make, and the pull between duty and desire.

Tana Fairchild’s fate has never been in question. Her life has been planned out since the moment she was born: she is to marry the governor’s son, Landon, and secure an unprecedented alliance between the witches of her island home and the mainlanders who see her very existence as a threat.

Tana’s coven has appeased those who fear their power for years by releasing most of their magic into the ocean during the full moon. But when Tana misses the midnight ritual—a fatal mistake—there is no one she can turn to for help…until she meets Wolfe.

Wolfe claims he is from a coven that practices dark magic, making him one of the only people who can help her. But he refuses to let Tana’s power rush into the sea, and instead teaches her his forbidden magic. A magic that makes her feel powerful. Alive.

As the sea grows more violent, her coven loses control of the currents, a danger that could destroy the alliance as well as her island. Tana will have to choose between love and duty, between loyalty to her people and loyalty to her heart. Marrying Landon would secure peace for her coven, but losing Wolfe and his wild magic could cost her everything else.

I enjoyed reading Bring Me Your Midnight, especially because of how magic is portrayed in the story. The coven Tana is a part of incorporates their magic through the perfumes they use, the tea they make, and they release the buildup of their magic during the full moon. I found all these aspects of their magic interesting because I had never read a story before where magic was used in this way. I also enjoyed the magic Tana learns about from Wolfe because it’s different from the type of magic Tana is accustomed to, and I enjoyed getting to read Tana’s reactions to his magic. The way magic was woven into the story felt magical in itself, and I was excited to continue reading this story to learn more about it.  

Another aspect of this book I enjoyed was seeing the relationships between the covens and the mainlanders. It was interesting to learn about the dynamics between the two different groups of people and learning the importance of an alliance between the mainlanders and the new coven. I also enjoyed seeing the relationships between Tana and the people closest to her. In particular, her relationship with her best friend Ivy and the man she was set to marry, Landon. Tana’s friendship with Ivy stood out to me because I could see how much they cared about each other even when they disagreed. I enjoyed seeing her relationship with Landon, too. While he was marrying her more out of duty than love, I felt like I saw potential between them as a couple. A potential that I wish the story had explored further.

I also enjoyed Tana’s character in Bring Me Your Midnight. I felt like she was a wonderful main character for this story, as she was someone you could relate to. A character who pursues what she cares about, stays loyal to those she loves, and remains curious about what she discovers. Even though I couldn’t understand everything she was going through, I felt like I could relate to her when I was reading her story and wanted everything to turn out well for her. Especially her love of swimming, as that’s something I also enjoy.    

What I didn’t particularly like about Bring Me Your Midnight was the relationship between Tana and Wolfe. I didn’t feel a connection between them when I was reading this book at all. I also felt like her attraction to him was due to wanting something different from herself than what was expected of her, and because she enjoyed using the type of magic Wolfe showed her how to use. While I found his magic interesting and wanted to learn more about it, Wolfe’s character didn’t feel all that interesting to me.

What I also didn’t enjoy about this book was the lack of details in the story. I feel like Rachel Griffin does a wonderful job of describing the world Tana lives in. But I feel like there were a lot of details in the story that were never fully explained, which frustrated me. For example, with the decision Tana makes, it’s never explained how her choice will impact her coven’s relationship with the mainlanders. I was also frustrated by the many secrets Tana’s mother kept from the rest of the members of the coven (such as the existence of the old coven and the truth surrounding the moonflowers), and felt like an explanation was needed regarding why their coven didn’t know about these things. However, I wonder if this lack of detail frustrated me simply because I was so invested in the story and wanted more.  

Bring Me Your Midnight is a read I highly recommend. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult literature and is looking for a different type of magic than they typically see. After reading this book, I feel confident that I’ll check out more books by this author in the future, as I enjoyed reading this book and don’t think I’d be disappointed reading some of her other works.               

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Book Review: Out of Air

Rating: 4 stars

The deeper you go, the darker you fall.

Phoebe “Phibs” Ray is never more at home than when she’s underwater. On a dive six months ago, she and her four closest friends discovered a handful of ancient gold coins, rocketing them into social media fame. Now, their final summer together after high school, they’re taking one last trip to a distant Australian island to do what they love most – scuba dive.

While diving a local reef, Phibs discovers a spectacular underwater sea cave, rumored to be a lost cave with a buried treasure. But when Phibs and her best friend Gabe surface from the cave, they notice that they’re undergoing strange changes. Oozing gashes that don’t heal. Haunting whispers in their heads… Something has latched onto them, lurking beneath their skin, transforming them from the inside out.

When treasure hunters arrive, desperate to find the location of the cave and hold Phibs’ group for ransom, she’ll do anything to keep her friends safe. In the process she learns that, of all the dreadful creatures of the sea, she might be the most terrifying of them all.

I received a digital copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review.

Out of Air was an enjoyable read for me. It’s the perfect type of book to read for anyone interested in learning about diving and anyone who enjoys the sea without having to leave the comfort of their home. The imagery the author uses throughout the story to describe where Phibs and her friends were when they went diving made me feel like I was right there with them, waiting to see what they would uncover next. And it made me interested in reading her story to see what would happen with her and her friends.  

What I also enjoyed about this book was the switch between the past and the present. I felt like it was a wonderful way to get to know this group of teens and get an understanding of their dynamics together. I also feel like it gave me a better understanding of what had happened to them six months ago, which had resulted in their little group getting the amount of media attention they received. It also felt like a great way to connect to what was presently going on because you can see how the choices they made then impacted their present.

Out of Air is also a book that has an overall great vibe, as I felt many different emotions while reading it. I feel like this is because, as the plot unfolds, you can feel the tension in the air as you know there’s something bad that’s going to happen, but you don’t necessarily know what. But with each turn of the page, you can feel it, which makes you want to continue reading the story to find out what’s going to happen. The pacing of the story in this book was just perfect for what was going on, so I couldn’t wait to continue reading it.

I even enjoyed the open ending. As a reader, I felt like it allowed me to interpret what I felt would happen with these characters after everything they endured. I do, however, feel like this book ended too suddenly for what was going on. This bothered me because I feel like there was more to their story that could’ve been told. I also feel like a lot of the conflicts in this book were too easily resolved, which could also be a part of why I feel like this story needed more story in it than what I read. The best example that comes to mind for me is when Phibs finds out who in her friend group is the one who kept their coin when she had asked her friends to turn them in. The reason we found out is that this character tells Phibs they kept the coin and tells her why as well. And then it ends up becoming a non-issue once it’s revealed, too, even though she’s been upset about it the whole time.      

If there is anything else with this book I didn’t enjoy it would have to be a lack of character development. Granted, I didn’t mind the story being told from Phibs’ perspective. But what bothered me was that I feel like with this book, what happened to these characters could’ve easily happened to anyone, as I feel like these characters didn’t have much of a personality to me. It bothered me, though, because of how much I enjoyed reading this book, that I wanted these characters to have a little more personality than they do.

But overall, I enjoyed reading Out of Air. It was the perfect read for me as someone who’s always loved the ocean and was curious to learn about diving. It also felt like this book provided the perfect amount of tension in the story, which makes you want to continue to read it to find out what happens next for anyone who likes stories that have tension in them. Out of Air was published on May 13, 2025, for those interested in reading this book.            

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Book Review: The Color of Revenge

Rating: 3 stars

Vengeance awaits in the follow-up to the epic, award-winning, New York Times bestselling Inkheart trilogy by internationally acclaimed author Cornelia Funke.

Five years have passed since the events of Inkdeath. At last, peace reigns in Ombra where Meggie, Mo, Dustfinger and all the other residents lead a happy, carefree life. But it has been a different story for Orpheus, who after fleeing to the north, has spent his days living a meager and deprived existence fueled only by his thirst for revenge against Dustfinger and all those who betrayed him.

Now Orpheus is willing to use any means necessary to take revenge. Even the darkest spell the ink world has to offer.

When Dustfinger’s deepest fears come true, he’ll have to figure out whether the words still obey him. Or is he the one who should be afraid of the pictures this time…

Don’t get me wrong, I overall enjoyed reading The Color of Revenge. However, in comparison to the books in the Inkheart trilogy, which are the predecessor to this book, I was severely disappointed in this book that takes place in that same world. But before I go into the reasons why I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the original trilogy let me talk about what I did enjoy here about The Color of Revenge.

What I enjoyed about The Color of Revenge was returning to the Inkworld again. I returned to a world I’ve loved since I was a young adult and was reunited with characters whose stories I thought had already been told. I didn’t even mind seeing Orpheus again even though he was one of my least favorite villains in the original trilogy. It made me miss the world these characters are in and made me want to read the Inkheart trilogy all over again.

Even though the execution of the main plot in this book ended up poorly executed, I loved the premise of the plot in this book. The idea of a villain initially being successful in getting revenge against those who they feel have wronged them in a unique way that’s described as impossible to stop. I loved the overall premise of what this book is supposed to be about and was interested in learning more about the grey book Meggie and several of the other main characters from the Inkworld end up trapped in and what Dustfinger and the Black Prince have to do to save everyone from Orpheus’s plot.

What I also enjoyed when reading The Color of Revenge was some of the new characters that were introduced in this book. In particular, the characters who helped Dustfinger and the Black Prince save the characters that were stuck in the grey book. I thought they were interesting characters and wanted to learn more about them and their powers. I forgot how much I enjoyed the magic of the Inkworld until reading this book brought me right back into their world and all the magic I enjoyed with it in the past.

However, there’s also a lot in this book I didn’t enjoy too. For starters, I was disappointed with how the plot in this story was executed. Don’t get me wrong, it was fascinating to see Orpheus get his revenge against those who wronged him and learn how he was able to do so. But I felt like there should’ve been more with it too. I think part of my issue here is that I expected this book to be just as long as the books in the Inkheart trilogy with a lot of detail regarding the Inkworld and I feel like this book just didn’t capture that for me like the original trilogy did. I was also disappointed because I was hoping we’d find out what all the main characters had been up to since the end of Inkdeath since the story here takes place five years after the events in that book. And we didn’t get that at all here.   

What I also didn’t enjoy about The Color of Revenge was the other names given to some of the characters in the story. Both Dustfinger and the Black Prince have other names that are used in this book that weren’t ever mentioned in the original trilogy. And I felt like Cornelia Funke used those names quite frequently in this book to where I would have to look them up in the back of the book to see which character was which. It was annoying to me because it didn’t make sense to give these characters these names when they didn’t have them in the Inkheart trilogy. I understand that this book is essentially about an adventure Dustfinger and the Black Prince go on while the other characters are stuck inside the grey book so wanted to add something more to the story. But if these were these characters’ names, they should’ve been in the Inkheart trilogy too.

What I also found disappointing when reading this book was how they got rid of Orpheus. There’s so much that happens because of him in the original trilogy along with this book that I was expecting a big showdown between him and all of the other characters, and they were going to do something against him to make it impossible for him to ever get revenge again. But what happens instead while it does in some ways feel right since he didn’t read himself into the Inkworld, to begin with so the chances of him coming back are pretty small, it also makes me feel uneasy too. I can’t help but feel like the story told is unfinished because of how lackluster this ending was to me, and I don’t like it because I never felt that way when I was reading the books in the Inkheart trilogy.

As a whole, while I did overall enjoy reading The Color of Revenge and getting to go back into the Inkworld once again, I felt like I was reading a book from a completely different series but with characters that I already know. I think I probably would’ve enjoyed this book better if I hadn’t read the original Inkheart trilogy before or if this book was labeled as being a part of that world but the start of another series as I feel like with the way this story ended Funke could very easily be thinking of doing another series in this world. I do recommend those who’ve read the original trilogy to give this book a read but to be prepared to have lower expectations if you’re expecting this one to be anything like the Inkheart trilogy as you’ll be disappointed like I was.     

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Book Review: Perfect Girl

Rating: 3 stars

Jessa has been raised to be the “perfect girl.” She is unfailingly polite, never rocks the boat, and always follows the rules―no matter what. Her friends love to give her a hard time for being such a goody two-shoes, but Jessa likes it this way. She knows what’s expected of her, and she’s happy to be the person her parents (and society) want.

When a freak storm takes out the power during a sleepover at Jessa’s creepy, old house, things go south before the pizza gets cold. Her friends are at each other’s throats, unexpected guests keep showing up (some more welcome than others), and it’s not just her brother serving up jump scares. A killer looking for the perfect girl has targeted Jessa, and she’ll have to reject everything she’s been taught if she wants to keep herself―and her friends―alive until sunrise. Who knew perfection could be so dangerous?

I received a digital copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review.

Perfect Girl was a simple read that I enjoyed. It’s a young adult thriller about teenagers spending the night together when the power goes out and chaos reigns. I enjoyed it because it wasn’t too difficult to read.

I also enjoyed the before-and-after chapters. These chapters were interesting because they gave me, as a reader, insight into aspects of the story that I didn’t expect to read. I also enjoyed the setting of the story in Perfect Girl because it felt like just the right atmosphere for the story to take place in. This story’s thriller and spooky aspects were great, too, because I felt like I was reading the perfect book for a night in.

However, there are several things about this book I didn’t quite enjoy too. For one, I felt like the main character in Perfect Girl Jessa was too boring. When I first started reading this book, I wanted to get to know her and her friends but as the story went on, I found myself more interested in learning more about her friends than I did her. It was like she was too much of a goody-two-shoes to the point where her choices in the story were a detriment to her and her friends. A lot of the story, I found myself more frustrated with her character than anything because of how stressed she was about the simplest of things.

Speaking of characters, I felt like the characters in this book were one-dimensional. There was also very little character development in Perfect Girl because the only time Jessa does something outside of her normal behavior is close to the end of the book when she and her friends are in immediate danger. For most of the book though, I felt like I knew what was going on before Jessa even though I wasn’t the one anything was happening to. I don’t know if it was because there were moments in the story where events started becoming too predictable that I already knew what was going to happen. Either way though, finding out who was behind everything Jessa and her friends experienced in this book wasn’t too much of a surprise to me because I had a feeling pretty early on. Luckily, it didn’t take away from me enjoying this book as it allowed me to see how the characters responsible caused the events that happened in this book.

As a whole, Perfect Girl is an enjoyable read. I recommend this book to anyone looking to read a young adult thriller story that you can get through really quickly as this book was very easy to finish reading. Perfect Girl was published on November 19, 2024 for those interested in checking out this book.   

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Book Review: Tangleroot

Rating: 3.5 stars

Noni Reid has grown up in the shadow of her mother, Dr. Radiance Castine, renowned scholar of Black literature, who is alarmingly perfect at just about everything.

When Dr. Castine takes a job as the president of the prestigious Stonepost College in rural Virginia, Noni is forced to leave her New England home and, most importantly, a prime internship and her friends. She and her mother move into the “big house” on Tangleroot Plantation.

Tangleroot was built by one of Noni’s ancestors, an enslaved man named Cuffee Fortune―who Dr. Castine believes was also the original founder of Stonepost College, and that the school was originally formed for Black students. Dr. Castine spends much of her time trying to piece together enough undeniable truth in order to change the name of the school in Cuffee’s honor―and to force the university to reckon with its own racist past.

Meanwhile, Noni hates everything about her new home, but finds herself morbidly fascinated by the white, slaveholding family who once lived in it. Slowly, she begins to unpeel the layers of sinister history that envelop her Virginia town, her mother’s workplace, her ancestry―and her life story as she knew it. Through it all, she must navigate the ancient prejudices of the citizens in her small town, and ultimately, she finds herself both affirming her mother’s position and her own―but also discovering a secret that changes everything.

I received a digital copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review.

Tangleroot is a coming-of-age young adult literature story centered around a young black woman who is trying to do things on her own while feeling pressure from her mother to follow in her footsteps. When Noni first moves into this town in Virginia to live on the Tangleroot plantation with her mother, she’s not at all happy to be there and it’s very plain to see. As the story goes on and she begins uncovering more information about her family’s history, Noni realizes she’s exactly where she needs to be and uncovers the truth regarding her family’s relatives that will change everything she and her mother believed they knew.

What Tangleroot does well is provide you with an intriguing story that takes place in a town that you want to learn more about. While this book initially started slow for me, as the story went on, I found myself becoming more interested in hearing Noni’s story. I especially enjoyed Noni learning more about her family history and being able to uncover facets of her family’s ancestry that not even her mother was able to uncover. This aspect of the book was interesting to read about because I felt that while her character is fictional, I felt like the process she undergoes to find out more about her relatives is realistic.

I also found the setting of this small town to be very interesting and wanted to learn more about the town and the people in it. And I feel like this book delivers by providing the reader with a wide cast of characters each with their own stories. With how descriptive this book was, I felt like I was with Noni as she navigates this new unfamiliar place being surrounded by people who don’t know her but have opinions of her because of her mother.

What I also enjoyed about reading this book is how well Tangleroot does in discussing important subject matters such as racism and the role it plays both in the past and in the present day. You see this through Dr. Castine’s experiences with dealing with the school board at Stonepost College, through Noni’s interactions with some of her coworkers at Charm, and even when Noni finds out more about her relative Lacey Castine. As someone aware of her privilege, whenever I read stories like Tangleroot, I’m reminded how fortunate I am to be white. Books like this one also help me gain more knowledge and understanding regarding the struggles minorities go through regularly just because of the color of their skin. And help me sympathize with what’s going on since I know I’ll never be able to understand since it’ll never be my experience.

If there’s anything about Tangleroot I didn’t particularly enjoy it would have to be Noni’s relationship with her mother. It felt like no matter what Noni does here, it’s never enough for her mother. It feels like she’s never happy with any of the decisions Noni makes when they move into the Tangleroot plantation. And I feel like the tough relationship they have with each other is never really discussed either because Noni just ends up doing whatever her mother wants her to do even if it ends up not being what she actually wants. I understand she’s trying to live up to her mother’s expectations, but she never stands up to her mother in this book whenever they are in conflict with each other. I struggled with reading about their relationship because I felt like it shouldn’t have been this way, especially since Noni is old enough in this book to make decisions for herself. And Noni just deals with it, never says to her mother how she feels about things, which wasn’t okay for me.

Overall though, Tangleroot was a wonderful read that I highly recommend. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading coming-of-age stories, young adult literature, and historical fiction. Tangleroot was published on October 15, 2024, for anyone interested in reading this book. 

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Manga Review: Is Love the Answer?

Rating: 4 stars

A poignant coming-of-age story about a young woman coming into her own as she discovers her identity as aromantic asexual. A complete story in a single volume, from the creator of “Mine-kun is Asexual.”

When it comes to love, high schooler Chika wonders if she might be an alien. She’s never fallen for or even had a crush on anyone, and she has no desire for physical intimacy. Her friends tell her that she just “hasn’t met the one yet,” but Chika has doubts… It’s only when Chika enters college and meets peers like herself that she realizes there’s a word for what she feels inside–asexual–and she’s not the only one. After years of wondering if love was the answer, Chika realizes that the answer she long sought may not exist at all–and that that’s perfectly normal.

I first heard about this manga from a fellow book blogger on WordPress that I follow called The Book Raven. She had written such a wonderful review of this manga about a subject that I feel like I still need to learn more about that made me decide to check it out for myself to see if I’d enjoy it just as much as she did.

And let me tell you, Is Love the Answer? didn’t disappoint. It was a simple short manga telling the story of young Chika who’s always felt different from her peers because of never having fallen in love with another person. She had a lot of doubts, wondering if there was something wrong with her and wanting to know why she didn’t feel the way about romance her high school peers did. It’s only when she goes to college and meets people who’ve had somewhat similar experiences that she discovers the word for her experience and begins to question what love looks like for her and what that means.

I enjoyed reading this manga because of how relatable the character Chika is to me. While I don’t completely have the same experiences when it comes to love that Chika does, I felt like I could relate to her character because, for the longest time, it took me a while to pinpoint for myself how I develop feelings for people when it came to any of my relationships in my life. Like Chika, I struggled to identify how I feel when it comes to romantic relationships. And also like Chika, when I learned what that was for me, I also found myself curious and wanting to look more into it to see if it’s something I truly identified with or not. So for me, this book was a good read because it helped me feel validated about my experiences and also learn more about asexuality and what that means and looks like for those who identify as asexual.

What I also enjoyed when it came to reading Is Love the Answer? was learning more about different sexual identities that fell under asexual. I felt like I read about a lot of terms I hadn’t heard of before which has made me want to look further into them just so I can know even more about them. I also enjoyed this aspect of this manga because along with seeing those terms, there were characters in this story that identified as them too so that allowed me as a reader to see how those sexualities can potentially look.

If I had to choose anything from this manga that I didn’t particularly like, it would have to be how short of a read it was for me. I finished this manga in one sitting and was sad about it because of how much I was enjoying what I was reading. I wish it was a little longer because I wanted to continue seeing Chika learn more about herself and see her relationships with the friends she made along the way develop more.

But as a whole, Is Love the Answer? was an enjoyable manga to read. I haven’t read too many mangas in my life, nonetheless any recently that I’ve decided to review here on my blog. But I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend it, especially for anyone part of the LGBTQ community and anyone who wants to read young coming-of-age story about a young woman coming into her own identity.  

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading my review of Is Love the Answer?! If you enjoyed my review of this manga, don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments below or check out another one of my blog posts.            

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