Thanks to the two night, three day Youth in Government field trip and my body feeling like crud those days and a few after, I did not read as many books in week 2 of the opening round (which actually lasted just 6 days rather than the full 7.) I discussed all of the adult fantasy books that I got to in the previous post which should have gone up a lot earlier and now includes a few more books. (I explained more in that post.)
Thus, in this post I will review the remainder of the YA fantasy books that I got which will cover the time frame of the opening round week two, the in-between days, and a few days of the final round.
Only after starting to read this book did I realize that I had skipped a previous work from this author, House of Hollow, the year it was long listed. I do not generally read horror, never purposefully seek it out, but now have read two that ended up not being too bad, this one significantly more than the other.
In this book you have three main characters. One is a witch, a curse writer, who is the only
surviving member of her coven which was brutally murdered by witch hunters and raised by a powerful demon who has not yet taken her soul. You also have a girl desperate for any information about witches so that she can resurrect her sister who died the year prior in a way somehow connected to witchcraft. Finally, you have a young, spoiled socialite who wanted to play around with magic but botched it so horribly that her leg and soul are literally rotting away. (That’s where a lot of the gross descriptions come in. If I had thought about them too much, I probably would have been too creeped out to continue so I just did not do that.) I also apologize for not remember the character names; I struggle to do that when reading a more reasonable amount so these names had no chance of being remembered.
I found myself constantly intrigued by the narrative as well as how the relationships developed between the three female leads who, despite being quite connected as the narrative reveals, had never met prior to the start of the story. A horror book will never get 5 stars from me but this one, quite surprisingly, got 4.5 stars.
This is yet another sequel series starter a la The Fragile Threads of Power where even though the author and publisher may say that you do not need to read the first series, I definitely disagree. Granted, it is much more possible with this book than with The Fragile Threads of Power because Heir has new main characters with appearances from previous characters. However, Tahir developed those characters so well in the previous series that skipping the quartet deprives the reader of
the nuances of what those characters experienced and why they act the way that they do in this installment. For that reason, I will not say much about the plot in this review because I consider it a sequel series. With all the disclaimers out of the way, I really enjoyed being back in this world with familiar faces yet a new struggle to deal with. I also appreciated how Tahir expanded the conflict form primarily internal to the Martial Empire to a more global conflict which allows her to have more problems for this world without undoing the solutions of the past.
Vampires just are not my thing. Some people love having them in their fantastical world, I never have ever since a Scooby Doo episode once left me completely spooked. (I have no idea why.) Obviously I have long since conquered my childhood fear but have never really acquired a taste for those types of creatures in the fiction I read.
A quick glance at the synopsis reveals just how central vampires are to this plot so while
I knew that this book would likely not work for me, I still went into it with as open of a mind as I could. Unfortunately, this book just did not work for me. The main character (obviously do not remember her name) at the opening of the book has to deal with an untenable choice for her, move back into her family home along with a vampire so she can continue the search for her missing sister or be forever cut off from that world and presumably her sister as well. The world to which she belongs has a certain number of human families who are the only ones that vampires can drink from. (Do not ask me why because the author never explains.)
When children, the main character and her sister find themselves somehow thrust out of that world with her parents’ death. Now, because of her sister’s disappearance, the main character is the only one of her house left. The complications continue because the vampire who will inherit her family home should she choose not to complete the terms of the will is the vampire she suspects of doing something to her sister. The main character also has to go to some creepy school (which felt eerily similar to An Academy of Liars because I read these two books back to back) and also contend with some secret society, or two, trying to kill people.
Yeah. That’s too much for one book, even a book that opens a trilogy.
Also, I did not particularly care for the “romantic” foreplay that the main character and the vampire (obviously) engage in upon her discovery that bites on certain areas of the body reveal certain types of memory. (It also did not seem very appropriate for high school even though the book is marketed as YA.) I definitely will not continue with the rest of the trilogy.
I thoroughly enjoyed this “light” fantasy novel set in late 1800s Egypt. Only a handful of elements sprinkled throughout make this duology fantastical at all. Since this book concludes a duology, I will not discuss the plot so as to avoid spoilers. This book does not have a ton of depth but that’s fine, especially if you want a feel good popcorn adventure book in the style of “National Treasure.” (I find that a much more apt
comparison than “The Mummy.”) I still cannot reconcile the reveal at the end of book one to the opening of book two but I’ll chalk that up to the year between reading the two books. That being said, I had a good time reading this and that goes a long way.
As soon as I discovered that this is A Count of Monte Cristo retelling, my interest in the novel spiked. A retelling of my favorite classic? Yes please! I am so relieved that it did not let me down. The author kept just enough plot beats from the classic to provide captivating allusions for those who love the original while making the story her own and believably shifting the genre to fantasy. I really enjoyed how the main character learned significant lessons concerning
revenge even though the twist at the end felt a little too convenient and a way for the author to conceivably wrap up the plot. I liked what she did but wish she could have embedded a few more clues earlier in the narrative. I’m really glad that this book finished my reads for the YA fantasy list.