To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Publisher: Feiwel and Friends

Publication Date: March 6th, 2018

Pages: 384

Add it on Goodreads!

Summary (from Goodreads):

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

What books are you looking forward to this week?

Review // Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Reign of the Fallen #1

Publisher: Razorbill

Publication Date: January 23rd, 2018

Rating: 4 Stars

Source: ARC Tour (Thanks Bayy!)

Format: ARC

Pages: 384

Add it on Goodreads!

Summary (from Goodreads):

Odessa is one of Karthia's master necromancers, catering to the kingdom's ruling Dead. Whenever a noble dies, it's Odessa's job to raise them by retrieving their souls from a dreamy and dangerous shadow world called the Deadlands. But there is a cost to being raised--the Dead must remain shrouded, or risk transforming into zombie-like monsters known as Shades. If even a hint of flesh is exposed, the grotesque transformation will begin.

A dramatic uptick in Shade attacks raises suspicions and fears among Odessa's necromancer community. Soon a crushing loss of one of their own reveals a disturbing conspiracy: someone is intentionally creating Shades by tearing shrouds from the Dead--and training them to attack. Odessa is faced with a terrifying question: What if her necromancer's magic is the weapon that brings Karthia to its knees?

I was super excited to be a part of an ARC tour for REIGN OF THE FALLEN after absolutely loving FEAR THE DROWNING DEEP last year! Fortunately, this book didn't disappoint like a lot of them have been doing lately.

Reign of the Fallen follows Odessa as she navigates the Deadlands and battles terrifying Shades. She is one of the most talented necromancers in Karthia. She has a sixth sense to navigate her way through the ever-changing Deadlands and is the chosen necromancer to repeatedly bring back the King of Karthia.

Something interesting about this book is the fact that it deals a lot with grief and addiction. Odessa is dealing with the loss of someone dear to her and overusing a numbing potion to deal with the grief. I feel like a good chunk of this book deals with this and I've never read anything like it that I can remember and I thought it was interesting.

I loved all the characters in this book. I even liked the "villain" in this book. I could see why they did what they did and felt how they did. I don't necessarily think they were bad and kind of wish they could have gotten what they wanted in a less awful fashion.

Also, I feel like in most kings in books are either evil or just not present and I thought it was interesting that the king of Karthia was present and decent. He was definitely set in his ways (and had been for like 200 years) and the conflict in this book could have been avoided if he would have yielded a bit, but he was an otherwise decent guy!

I liked the romance in this book as well! There's hate to love in this book. Odessa is bisexual and I liked both of the love interests she has in this book! There is also an m/m couple in this book and I really liked them!

I thought the magic system was interesting in this book. The type of magic you can practice is determined by the color of your eyes. Odessa and her fellow necromancers have blue eyes. I don't remember if there was an explanation for why this is or if I missed it because I was just blazing through this book due to a combination of 1) IT'S SO GOOD and 2) I got the book for an ARC Tour and was the lucky one to get it RIGHT during the holidays, but I think it would be interesting to know why type of magic affinity is based on eye color.

If I were going to say I didn't like something about this book, I think I would say the ending. Like, not the ending in general, but how Odessa leaves things at the end?? I don't really want to say much about it because it's the ending and that could be considered spoilery.

Oh! I also wonder why a person seeing even a tiny sliver of the flesh of the Dead turns the Dead person into a Shade? I feel like that's kind of a silly reason for them to turn into Shades.

Overall, I would DEFINITELY recommend this book if you are looking for a darker fantasy or want some awesome necromancers in your life. This book is beautiful inside and out and I think you should pick this one up if you get the chance!

Have you read Reign of the Fallen yet? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments!

Eighteen Anticipated Books of 2018

          

1. To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

2. The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

3. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

          

4. Pacifica by Kristen Simmons

5. Sea Witch by Sarah Henning

6. The Queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton

          

7. These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch

8. Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young

9. Rage by Cora Carmack

          

10. The Defiant by Lesley Livingston

11. Furyborn by Claire Legrand

12. Beneath the Haunting Sea by Joanna Ruth Meyer

          

13. Dark of the West by Joanna Hathaway

14. The Unbinding of Mary Reade by Miriam McNamara

15. Whisper of the Tide by Sarah Tolcser

          

16. The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

17. The Forest Queen by Betsy Cornwell

18. Daughters of the Storm by Kim Wilkins

These are just a few of the books that I am looking forward to this year! There are so many more that sound absolutely amazing. At the moment, I especially can't wait for Whisper of the Tide to come out! I loved Song of the Current!

What books are you most excited for in 2018? Are any of them listed here?

Waiting on Wednesday // The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

The Queen's Rising by Rebecca Ross

Untitled Trilogy #1

Publisher: HarperTeen

Publication Date: February 6th, 2018

Pages: 464

Add it on Goodreads!

Summary (from Goodreads):

When her seventeenth summer solstice arrives, Brienna desires only two things: to master her passion and to be chosen by a patron.

Growing up in the southern Kingdom of Valenia at the renowned Magnalia House should have prepared her for such a life. While some are born with an innate talent for one of the five passions—art, music, dramatics, wit, and knowledge—Brienna struggled to find hers until she belatedly chose to study knowledge. However, despite all her preparations, Brienna’s greatest fear comes true—the solstice does not go according to plan and she is left without a patron.

Months later, her life takes an unexpected turn when a disgraced lord offers her patronage. Suspicious of his intent, and with no other choices, she accepts. But there is much more to his story, and Brienna soon discovers that he has sought her out for his own vengeful gain. For there is a dangerous plot being planned to overthrow the king of Maevana—the archrival kingdom of Valenia—and restore the rightful queen, and her magic, to the northern throne. And others are involved—some closer to Brienna than she realizes.

With war brewing between the two lands, Brienna must choose whose side she will remain loyal to—passion or blood. Because a queen is destined to rise and lead the battle to reclaim the crown. The ultimate decision Brienna must determine is: Who will be that queen?

What books are you looking forward to this week?

Review // Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: January 2nd, 2018

Rating: 3 Stars

Source: Netgalley

Format: eARC

Pages: 358

Add it on Goodreads!

Summary (from Goodreads):

Best friends Corey and Kyra were inseparable in their snow-covered town of Lost Creek, Alaska. When Corey moves away, she makes Kyra promise to stay strong during the long, dark winter, and wait for her return.

Just days before Corey is to return home to visit, Kyra dies. Corey is devastated―and confused. The entire Lost community speaks in hushed tones about the town's lost daughter, saying her death was meant to be. And they push Corey away like she's a stranger.

Corey knows something is wrong. With every hour, her suspicion grows. Lost is keeping secrets―chilling secrets. But piecing together the truth about what happened to her best friend may prove as difficult as lighting the sky in an Alaskan winter...

**I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

I was excited to read BEFORE I LET GO because I really enjoyed Marieke's debut novel, THIS IS WHERE IT ENDS. Unfortunately, I didn't like this book as much as I liked her first one. It was okay, but I felt like it got repetitive and weird.

Corey and Kyra have been best friends forever. They grew up together in Lost Creek, Alaska and they always had each other. When Corey's mom accepts a job in Winnipeg, she has to move away. Corey promises to come back and Kyra promises to wait. But Kyra dies by apparent suicide just before Corey is to come back. Corey spends her trip trying to figure out why no one did anything to help Kyra when the signs were clearly there.

I liked the main characters. Corey very clearly cared deeply about Kyra. They seemed like they were super tight. I liked Kyra as well. I felt so bad for her. That town was so toxic for her. And for no one to help you when you're clearly calling out for help? I hate that town. I feel like I can't really say that much about them because I feel like you don't get to know them beyond their relationship with each other.

I feel like I was kind of invested in the mystery of what REALLY happened to Kyra for about half of the book. I get that this book is basically about Corey figuring out what happened to her best friend, but this book doesn't have A N Y T H I N G else going on in it. If it were shorter or there was something else happening in this book, maybe I would have liked it better. I mean, I wanted to know what the heck really happened to Kyra too, but having the same thought processes and types of conversations going on over and over throughout the whole book got old.

There isn't any romance in this book, but Corey is described as asexual in the book and Kyra as pansexual. There is also an m/m couple in the book.

I think the thing that I disliked the most about this book was the way the town was portrayed. In general, I hate the way small towns are portrayed in books. They're always either super creepy or literally everyone in the town needs to get a hobby.

This town was super creepy. Lost is a town far away from any other sort of civilization in Alaska. They are tight knit and don't take kindly to outsiders. They treated Kyra like an outsider because of her bipolar disorder. They treated her really crappily. When Corey comes back from being gone for seven months, she is treated like an outsider as well. She spent her WHOLE life there before she moved, which wasn't even something in her control, but apparently that was unforgivable.

But probably the weirdest thing about this town was they way they collectively reacted to Kyra after Corey left. They finally accepted her, but treated her like some kind of prophet. She painted to burn off energy during her manic episodes and started painting scenes that actually came to be. So when she ended up painting a picture that depicted her own death, the town didn't do anything about it. They said that it was meant to be, it was her time. They just LET it happen.

I don't understand why this book needed the whole magical paintings thing? Like I don't understand, there was no explanation for this or mentions of magical happenings in other parts of the world. I feel like there was enough going on with this town and what led up to Kyra's death without adding in this magical realism element.

This book is told mostly during present day from Corey's point of view. There are also flashbacks to before Kyra died and before Corey moved to bits and pieces of their friendship. There are also phone calls and then a few scenes in the book are written in almost like a play format. I didn't understand the point of this, I personally didn't think they added anything to the book. It felt like they were just ways to unnecessarily drag out scenes that could have been over much more quickly.

Overall, I feel kind of meh about this book. I liked the main characters and was curious to know what happened to Kyra. But it was just a little bit too weird for me. I didn't understand the magical realism elements and I felt like it was unnecessary. If you like thrillers or magical realism, you might like this. If you enjoyed Marieke's debut, this could be worth a read. It just wasn't for me.

Have you read BEFORE I LET GO yet? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments!