Reine Reviews
Young adult (or maybe more accurately an oversized child) who enjoys young adult novels, particularly science fiction and fantasy. I'm a fan of all types of adventures, particularly adventures that involve roller coasters, food, exploration, nature, or music. And I always put on sunscreen before engaging in these adventures (skin protection is important).
08 March 2021
I Wanna Be Where You Are / Kristina Forest
26 February 2021
Kingdom of the Wicked / Kerri Maniscalco
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue / V.E. Schwab
Cemetary Boys / Aiden Thomas
17 February 2021
Radiance / Grace Draven
4/5
This is the relationship I want to see more of in YA novels. Though our two protagonists may have hit it off a little quickly, I enjoyed their banter and ease. This is a relationship-driven novel, and I enjoyed watching each overcome cultural barriers and old prejudices to understand the person in front of them. I was also surprised by the explicit content-- I'd say this is more new adult than young adult. Either way, Radiance is a very short and very sweet read starring a romance that contains none of the abuse or toxicity that is often found in other YA novels.
Radiance is a delicious bite of a novel you can finish in a day or two between more intense reads, and I'd recommend it those looking for a growth-focused relationship with a minor political background.
From Blood and Ash / Jennifer L. Armentrout
2/5
I had heard so many good things about this novel and was sorely disappointed.
What I didn't realize was that this is a vampire novel. Which isn't a bad thing at all, but usually vampire novels these days try to do something different in terms of how vampires (or in this case vamprys) are created, and despite multiple pages of straight info dump, the world was never clearly explained. I thought I'd gotten through most of the info dump when I was 30% of the way into the novel but at 90%, "twists" are revealed and instead we are overloaded with the existence of vamprys which I could not for the life of me distinguish from the Craven (monsters?), the Atlantians (strong beings that are or are not the same as vamprys? arguably also monsters?), the Ascended (are they vampyrs? are they all vampyrs? also arguably monsters), and the Descenters (they support the Atlantians and they do monstrous things?). So basically everybody is a vampry? Literally, all I needed was three sentences of direct statements to clarify what all of the pronouns meant and that was never provided.
Also, I predicted the true alliances of key characters in the first scene.
The bright light of this novel is Poppy. She is badass. I love her. The hype did not fail me there. The black hole dragging this novel down is Hawke. He is the YA trope of an alpha-hole. I couldn't even enjoy the sex scenes because of that. Poppy, you deserve better. I don't want to continue reading unless our love interest changes lol.
Pick up Throne of Glass instead if you want a badass heroine (or you can read this just for Poppy, I'd support that), or if you're looking for steamy scenes I'd recommend a quality adult romance like Meet Cute.
The Bird and The Blade / Megan Bannen
4.5/5
This novel is a retelling of the opera Turandot and I highly recommend not knowing anything about the opera before reading The Bird and The Blade.
One particular trait that makes The Bird and The Blade unique is the way the story is structured. Like the acts of an opera, the novel is divided into three sections, each section covering a different timeline in Jinghua's journey and slowly revealing how everyone ended up in the current situation. It's also a slow unveiling of how Jinghua's relationships and self-perception change.
I can see how the pacing may feel drawn out to one expecting something action-packed, but I never found the novel boring and would rather describe the pace as soothing. There were moments when I didn't understand why we needed to discuss so much poetry and history, and even if at times I craved more action, I got more than I bargained for in the last third of the book. This is when plot twists are revealed and no punches are pulled. I especially love when a certain reveal changes my perspective on the whole novel, forcing me to go back and reread everything in a new light, and that's exactly what happens in The Bird and The Blade.
What truly made The Bird and The Blade stand out for me is that its ending is something one rarely ever sees in a YA novel. It is bittersweet and touching, and it leaves no room for a sequel to taint the greatness of the first. I would recommend The Bird and The Blade to readers looking for no-nonsense narration, Asian representation, an unobtrusive romance, and a devastating ending.