artsy musings of a bibliophile

5 stars

Review: Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

by

SMDATSAB

ABOUT THE BOOK

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
adult urban fantasy published by Tor.com on June 13th, 2017
second book in the Wayward Children series

Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.

This is the story of what happened first…

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.

Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you’ve got.

They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted.

They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.

Read More »

Review: The Diviners by Libba Bray

by

LBTD

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Diviners by Libba Bray
young adult historical paranormal fantasy published by Little, Brown on September 18th, 2012
first book in The Diviners series

Do you believe there are ghosts and demons and Diviners among us?

Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City–and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfield girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her Uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Evie worries he’ll discover her darkest secret: a supernatural power that has only brought her trouble so far. But when the police find a murdered girl branded with a cryptic symbol and Will is called to the scene, Evie realizes her gift could help catch a serial killer.

As Evie jumps headlong into a dance with a murderer, other stories unfold in the city that never sleeps. A young man named Memphis is caught between two worlds. A chorus girl named Theta is running from her past. A student named Jericho hides a shocking secret. And unknown to all, something dark and evil has awakened….

Review: Red Rising by Pierce Brown

by

ABOUT THE BOOK

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
young adult fantasy space science fiction dystopia published by Del Rey on January 28th, 2014
first book in Red Rising trilogy

The Earth is dying. Darrow is a Red, a miner in the interior of Mars. His mission is to extract enough precious elements to one day tame the surface of the planet and allow humans to live on it. The Reds are humanity’s last hope.

Or so it appears, until the day Darrow discovers it’s all a lie. That Mars has been habitable – and inhabited – for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down on Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

Until the day that Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside. But the command school is a battlefield – and Darrow isn’t the only student with an agenda.

Read More »

Review: The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

by

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
young adult post-apocalyptic science fiction published by Walker Books on May 4th, 2009
second book in Chaos Walking trilogy

Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor’s new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode…

Read More »

Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness

by

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
young adult post-apocalyptic science fiction published by Walker Books on May 5th, 2008
first book in Chaos Walking trilogy

Imagine you’re the only boy in a town of men. And you can hear everything they think. And they can hear everything you think. Imagine you don’t fit in with their plans… Todd Hewitt is just one month away from the birthday that will make him a man. But his town has been keeping secrets from him. Secrets that are going to force him to run…

Read More »