Reviews of Teen Books by Genre: Fantasy

The year is 1892. Abigail Rook has just arrived in New Fiddleham, England, in search of work when she meets the strange young detective R. F. Jackaby. After a series of unusual murders strike the town, Abigail and Jackaby work to crack the case and catch the killer. "Jackaby" is a fun, engrossing read that I couldn't put down. Every twist and turn left me dying to know more. The plot, characters, and setting were very interesting and excellently crafted. That said, I will admit that the end was a little predictable. I figured out who was the killer about half-way in, but the details surrounding the truth were unexpected enough for me to forgive that. If you are a fan of "Sherlock" and/or "Supernatural", this book is for you.

The fifth book in the Deltora Quest series, Dread Mountain, is quite the entertaining read. Like the seven others in the series, it is an adventure novel that lives up to its name. The characters fit perfectly into the story, and are well developed. You really get to know Barda, Lief, and Jasmine as they work together to defeat the evil Shadow Lord. In this case, they struggle together to push through tough news and the environment along their journey to Dread Mountain. Along this part of the quest they meet several side characters, and while the unique 'races' of the characters are extraordinary, most stay lacking in development. The only other main fault in the book is the evil boss monster Gellick, as he doesn’t seem like a real threat to the characters. The book has more of a self vs self conflict, and I wish the big 'baddies' like Gellick were featured more as a sort-of fear than some sort of pushover. Other than that, I would recommend this book to anyone willing to spend a good 45 minutes reading.

Well-crafted masterpiece from beginning to end. The author described this book as a response to the "twee" children who are immediately drawn into a fantastic scenario. The main character here is a self-described skeptic and almost chooses not to follow the plot.

Lots of suspense in the middle section when the almost-Lovecraftian antagonists are sneaking around the orphanage. The author plays with the format; for dark sections, the pages are black with only the sounds visible. Recommended for anyone who is interested in writing, as you can feel all the work that went into making this book, and those who like adventure children's books (Charlie Bone, Harry Potter). Even if you think children's lit is too cute, you should still read this--it's great!

Dreamlike magical realism which combines beautiful prose and thoughtful insight into a young boy's life with a motor speech disorder and the shadows cast by the disappearance of his father. An enchanting read for fans of Alice Hoffman and Sarah Addison Allen.

When Theodosia was just a child, she witnessed the murder of her mother, the Queen of Astrea, at invaders’ hands. Those invaders took her country and killed or enslaved all of her people. For the next ten years, Theo was the Kaiser’s puppet – trotted out at banquets wearing a crown made of ash or enduring cruel beatings to represent the oppression and obliteration of her people. But her time with the Kaiser in her old palace was not totally idle.

The whole time, Theo collected information about her enemies. So when a friend from her Astrean past shows up, Theo finds herself embroiled in the machinations of revolutionaries as she has to decide how much and who she is willing to sacrifice to save her people and recover her kingdom.

While this has a fairly typical YA fantasy premise, the execution was a bit different. Usually this sort of fantasy would go what I’m going to call the Throne of Glass route – lady warrior kicks a bunch of butt and saves the day against all odds. This was not that. Theo was more of a politician or a spy. She’s willing to do what she has to save her people, yes, but this book is all intrigue and plotting. The reader is kept on a knife’s edge as Theo and the people around her are constantly close to what is sure
to be terrible death. The book manages to somehow be compulsively readable
but also hard to read at the same time. I found it to be really intense in
the best way possible – I really cared about and for Theo and wanted the best for her and her people. The book ends on an intriguing note (though I found the epilogue to be weak and unnecessary and I hope it got axed before the book was published) which ensured that I’ll be back for the next installment.

I was expecting an enjoyable but generic YA fantasy, and was pleasantly surprised. It’s being marketed to readers of The Red Queen and/or An Ember in the Ashes, but in this reader’s opinion, this book is far superior to either of those. Ash Princess, if not completely original, is a brutal, intense book that I’ll be recommending to teen and adults who enjoy fantasy novels and spy thrillers. If you like your fantasy to be vicious with a healthy side of political intrigue, check this one out. 4 stars – I really liked it.

Thanks to Delacourte Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for the eARC which
I received for review consideration. Ash Princess will be available for
purchase on 24 April, but you can put your copy on hold today!

In the final book of the steel heart series, David learns who the true enemy and leader of calamity is. A book with love, mystery, and action any teenager would love this book.

In the sequel to steel heart fire fight counties to adventures of young teen David. This book is a great drama, romance, and action book. Will David survive to war against epics or will he love one instead. Firefight is my personal favorite book from the series.

Steelheart is the first book in the series. A group of rebels called Reckoners must fight back against super humans who gained their powers from the mysterious planet calamity. David, the main character, spends his life researching the special beast. He joins the Reckoners and decides to put his special knowledge to use. In this all new series written from Brandon Sanderson you can experience love, mystery, and passion.

I don’t know where to start with this review because there are a lot of different elements of the novel to discuss. The reason why I rate Ready Player One four out of five stars instead of five out of five is the overwhelming amount of 80's references mentioned in literally every line that honestly only further bored the audience. The references to Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Dungeons & Dragons and more were tolerable because they were iconic - something an individual born 20 years later still understands. Then, Cline writes paragraphs on Atari consoles and Black Tiger or Joust games which just isn’t relate-able for the majority of the audience the novel is targeting (which is why I assume the director replaced the Joust scene with a car race in the movie). But the dominant issue with Cline’s writing is not even necessarily the amount of references but the fact that he explains every single one. At some points, I thought about how I might’ve read a Wikipedia article for the same informational effect. There are plenty of plot twists to contribute to a surprising manner regarding both the characters and the video game - I was never bored with the plot. Ready Player One is one of the many futuristic dystopian sci-fi novels everyone in this generation reads - which is why the 80's references bothered me. I don’t think this is the type of novel most adults born in the 60's or 70's are going to read, yet Cline tries to appeal to them anyway.
Reviewer Grade: 11

I read this novel on a whim - I had never read any of Wilde before and did not know too much about him as an author apart from the fact he was put on trial and imprisoned during his life. The Picture of Dorian Gray was thoroughly surprising and unexpected. Dorian Gray, at the beginning of the novel, is perceived by Basil Hallward as an individual worth obsessing over, he is infatuated with him and without knowing Dorian yet, the reader is too.
But then the reader is introduced to him physically and I realized he isn't all that. He's almost pompous but somehow clever and he's beautiful. Both Basil and his friend Lord Henry Wotton are influenced to see him more positively by that but I think the fact that Dorian is not tangible to the reader allows us to see him for who he truely is. According to Lord Henry, beauty is worth more than genius is, depicting which friend he prefers over the other. I wanted to sympathize with Basil because he was more sensitive than the others and I felt pity for him as I realized he was not a character anyone particularly cared immensely for. I preferred Basil over both Henry and Dorian because Henry's beliefs appeared rather traditionalist and were more controversial than common and the fact that Dorian was supposed to be a character without any fault was already a warning for me. Honestly, from the title, I did not know what direction the novel was going in from any point during the reading. To clear a few things up, Basil is an artist who paints a portrait of Dorian because he appreciates him in a more aesthetic manner than others who enjoy his company but the portrait appears to change into something more demonic as time goes on symbolizing how awful Dorian was becoming as a person. I mean, I needed to stop reading for a few minutes because I could not believe how little Dorian cared for others but I will admit that the absurdity of it all was entertaining. There is a lot of murder in this book which definitely makes the novel more interesting but then I guess I should also mention not get too attached to some characters.
Reviewer Grade: 11

This book was a great book, it was beautiful! It was also a B.O.B book for seventh grade from what I know. I loved the characters because they are so relate-able. It all starts when Sylvie, one of the two main characters, goes missing one morning on her daily run to get in shape for track. There is only one explanation for her disappearance, the Slip, which is a mysterious body of water. Jules the other main character is crushed, Sylvie is her only sister, and after Sylvie drowns all she has left is her father. The family of two is torn apart by the loss of their mother and now, oldest daughter. Life goes on, and when the time comes for Jules to go back to school, she sees a sign of luck, but even that is not enough. While all this takes place, deep in the woods, three fox kits are born, two males and one female, who happens to be a kennen. After many adventures Senna, the kennen fox and Jules meet, drawn together by a force of nature. Then something terrible happens. It leaves Jules is in shock, but she makes a discovery of a lifetime. With all the switching from points of view, the book can be a little bit confusing, but it still is great is the reader can understand. I highly suggest this book to anyone looking for a fairly quick read, I was able to read it in about a week. This book was very enjoyable and the reader could feel like they are a part of the book. Highly suggested!
Reviewer Grade: 7

Camellia is a Belle - a person in the fantastical world of Orleans who has magical powers that allow her to change the appearance of others. These powers, and the way she uses them, puts her in high demand, and rich folks clamor to use the Belles' services. There is one Belle, the favorite, who serves royalty. Camellia's dearest ambition is to be the favorite, like her mother. After a few mishaps, she achieves this goal only to discover that the position is not all it's cracked up to be. Royalty is demanding, and Camellia soon finds herself being asked to do morally reprehensible things - things she can refuse only at her own peril. She must decide what means more: fame and beauty, or doing what is right.

To call the worldbuilding in this book "lush" or "complex" would be a disservice. The author invents a unique new world and mythology that, for me, were the strongest point of the book. If you've seen a Baz Luhrman movie, this world is set in that kind of magnificent, wondrous, almost over-the-top opulence that delight's one's imagination. The luxuriant worldbuilding does lead to something of a slow start, but if you are like me, you'll be so immersed in the marvelous new world that you won't care the the story takes a minute to get going. Once the story does get going, several quandaries and mysteries and introduced, and I found myself racing towards the conclusion. Camellia is a likable character that I think a ton of young women will relate to as she's very much a sixteen year old trying to make her place in a big scary world. She's a bit naive, but has deep seated convictions and is constantly rebelling against rules and regulations to show case her creativity and do her absolute best.

I went into this book with extremely high expectations based on a number of positive reviews from Goodreads, professional journals and the like, and I think those expectations may have hampered my enjoyment of the read, at least somewhat. Not to say this isn't an enjoyable read - it absolutely is. I had to physically stop myself from devouring it all in one go. It just felt more like a guilty pleasure read instead of a read of substance. The book should have been really creepy. When the Belles change a person, they change everything. We're talking like body shape/size, shaving off bones, eyeballs out of sockets, and other sorts really gross stuff that should have been horrific. For whatever reason, the creepiness factor never connected with me, but if it had, I think I would've loved this one. There's a female friendship in here that also didn't really land - we're told more than shown that the girls are close. It never felt believable. There are a few plot points that are introduced that are seemingly abandoned or never fully realized though I imagine they'll factor into future installments. I saw where the romance was going immediately, and also figured out the mystery of the sick princess early on in the story. On the whole, I found the book to be rather predictable.

I did enjoy this one, and I'll definitely be coming back for the sequel. I hope it provides a bit more substance, but either way, I'm sure I'll enjoy it. I'd recommend this to readers who liked The Selection, Caraval or The Red Queen (although let me be clear: this book is better written and conceived than any of those), and I'll be adding it to several reading lists as well as booktalking it. 3 stars - I liked it!

This book is one of my favorite books to read, though you should probably start from the beginning of book one to understand what is going on. This book is full of creativity and is wonderful to read. My favorite part in this book, is when one of the characters FIRESTAR goes to the moonstone to receive his nine lives. Erin Hunter describes this amazing event so well that it will draw you in completely!

Speculative fiction at its most fun and haunting in the Victorian period, with that little hint of Steampunk! Seventeen year old Evangeline is off to stay with her Aunt Henoria in the old house of Dragonspire, located in the northern wood and filled with things that like Evangeline herself...are not quite what they seem. Her life teeming with questions about these new mysteries, and her newfound powers, she tries to pry the questions out of her estranged aunt. And who are the Musgroves, why is the house so strange, and what is going on with the northern wood? This quick read is unique and comes from a local author, has the flair of Gothic Horror with a speculative fiction/steampunk twist in a Christian genre. Say that fast ten times. Basically, this is something fresh and new and I appreciate Ms. Bishop's humor and understanding of the Victorian era and what it takes to write good speculative fiction.

Where the story was left off in volume 1, Max and the flock finally escape the lab. Angel informs them of their parents, and another lab in New York where they can find more information. They work their way there, constantly running into erasers, and struggles along the way. Even when they make it there, they must survive the busy streets as it becomes a scavenger hunt, for the mysteries along the way.

While Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit have had their moments as fantasy epics, I believe that The Gunslinger, and indeed, the whole series, deserves to be placed right next to Tolkien's masterpieces as one of the greatest fantasy books/series of all time. Taking place in a medieval world that is somewhat similar to the Old West, but exists in a parallel time frame to our own, we follow the journey of Roland of Gilead as he travels across this universe in search of the nexus of the universe--The Dark Tower. The novel is filled with adventure, intrigue, suspense, humor, and action that keeps you reading, no matter what. While not a traditional horror novel like King is known for, it is still a worthy addition to the King collection. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a great fantasy book series to read, or any Stephen King fan.

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" is an adventurous book about a young boy named Jacob who wants more. He had grown up in a normal town with a normal family, feeling different. His grandfather felt the same when he was a kid, and when he dies, Jacob uncovers a huge power that he has. That power helps him find Miss Peregrine and her peculiar children, and they all need to work together to fight evil. This book is part of a trilogy, and gets better with every page. At first it can be hard to get into, but once you start to read, you can not go back. This story is filled with plot twists, cliffhangers, and exciting events to keep the reader engaged. This book is fictitious and takes place in both modern and past times. If you love interesting tales, a little bit of creepiness, and an amazingly well written novel, this book is for you!

The book Wolves And Roses by Christina Bauer is placed in a similar world to ours, but in this world there is a race known as the Magicorum. The Magicorum are the descendants of shifters, fairies, and witches from fairy tale stories. This book tells the story of Bryar Rose, who has the life template of Sleeping Beauty. Or, in other words, she's destined to live a life similar to Sleeping Beauty. The problem is that Bryar has no interest in living a fairy tale life, all she wants to do is go to a normal school with normal people. Her dream can happen, but she has to convince her guidance counselor, who wants her live the perfect Sleeping Beauty template, to let her go to her dream school. Bryar's plan is to get her counselor to sign the necessary papers for her dream school and live a normal life. But, all her plans are turned upside down when she meets a mysterious boy, who shows her that things aren't what they seem to be and the people she thought she knew are really strangers to her. I would rate this book an five out of five because it was an amazing romance and a great twist on a classic fairy tale.
Reviewer Grade: 9

Max has been caring for everyone, the flock, since the person who was like a father to them disappeared. Each one of them contains a special ability, including wings. They don't know what had happened, only that they had been in the lab for too long until their father figure helped them escape. But when creatures called erasers take their youngest, Angel, back to where they were created, they have to rescue her, along with trial and error.

Review: In a world full of music, Chester travels from town to town to find his father who was one of the people who had gone missing. He makes money from the music he plays on his fiddle, but there is one song that you must not tamper with, or it is an automatic death sentence. Unfortunately, he cannot control it and accidentally plays it while preforming. But right before the ax comes down, he is saved by someone who recruits him in the Nightfall Gang, a thieving group. With this, he is brought along for an adventure full of mysteries and music.