[REVIEW] Worlds of Ink and Shadow

title: Worlds of Ink and Shadow
author: Lena Coakley
genre: young adult, fantasy
published: March 6th 2018 by Harry N. Abrams (first published January 5th 2016)
my copy: paperback, 352 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

Charlotte, Branwell, Emily, and Anne. The Brontë siblings have always been inseparable. After all, nothing can bond four siblings quite like life in an isolated parsonage out on the moors. Their vivid imaginations lend them escape from their strict upbringing, transporting them into the glittering, high society world of Verdopolis, literally. The children realize that crossing over comes at a steep price, but when they try to stop, their creations haunt them. They vow to travel to Verdopolis one more time to destroy it—and risk being trapped there forever. Gorgeously written and meticulously researched, Worlds of Ink and Shadow brings to life the upbringing of one of history’s most celebrated literary families.

recommended if you like the Brontës.

I cannot believe I was scared to read this because I blindly love the Brontë siblings (this also convinced me to really read their books soon!! Because I've only ever read Emily's works).

[MINI REVIEWS] the Neal Shusterman Edition

title: Everlost (Skinjacker #1)
author: Neal Shusterman
genre: young adult, paranormal
published: November 6, 2007 by Simon Pulse (first published October 1, 2006)
my copy: massmarket paperback, 384 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

Nick and Allie don't survive the car accident...but their souls don't exactly get where they're supposed to get either. Instead, they're caught halfway between life and death, in a sort of limbo known as Everlost: a shadow of the living world, filled with all the things and places that no longer exist. It's a magical yet dangerous place where bands of lost children run wild and anyone who stands in the same place too long sinks to the center of the Earth. 

When they find Mary, the self-proclaimed queen of lost kids, Nick feels like he's found a home. But Allie isn't satisfied spending eternity between worlds. Against all warnings, Allie begins learning the "Criminal Art" of haunting and ventures into dangerous territory, where a monster called the McGill threatens all the souls of Everlost. 

In this imaginative novel, Neal Shusterman explores questions of life, death, and what just might lie in between.

[TOUR] Rowan Wood Legends

full tour schedule can be found at: YA Bound Book Tours

title: Rowan Wood Legends (the Lost Clan #2)
author: Olivia Wildenstein
genre: young adult, fantasy
publish: August 14, 2017
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

SOME LEGENDS ARE BETTER LEFT UNTOLD. 

I wasn’t the sort of girl who believed in fairytales, let alone tales about faeries. But that changed the day Faeries came to my small town and Hunters rose from their graves.  

On that fateful day, I received a book, a peculiar collection of myths and legends. Turns out it was so much more than stories. And just as I was on the verge of unlocking its secrets, it was stolen from me by someone I called a friend.

Now, I don’t know whom I can turn to, whom I can trust. All I know is that there are two sides, and I am straddling the great divide because I am both Faerie and Hunter. And although I swore I would never choose, I am slowly falling for one of those sides… 

Fans of Karen Marie Moning's Fever series will adore Wildenstein's Lost Clan series.  

i'm ready for the next book!

I hope you still remember my fangirling review of Rose Petal Graves. You don't? You didn't read it? Let me give you a brief rundown: (1) fictional Native tribe + faeries, (2) OMG that straightforward heroine that I sympathize to, (3) that romance (OMG that romance! not my usual thing but i still fangirl!), (4) the bantering between Catori and Ace is priceless also makes me love Olivia Wildenstein even more!, (5) also, did I mention Kajika?

[TOUR] Rose Petal Graves

Rose Petal Graves Tour + Giveaway
tour schedule can be found at: YA Bound Book Tours

title: Rose Petal Graves (the Lost Clan #1)
author: Olivia Wildenstein
genre: young adult, fantasy
publish: March 29, 2017
purchase: Amazon | B&N
rating: 3.5 / 5 stars
goodreads

ANCIENT SECRETS CANNOT REMAIN BURIED FOREVER.  

Founded two centuries ago by a powerful tribe of Gottwa Indians, Rowan was a quiet town, so quiet that I fled after graduation. Staying away was the plan, but Mom died suddenly.  

Dad said she suffered a stroke after she dug up one of the ancient graves in our backyard, which happens to be the town cemetery. Creepy, I know. Creepier still, there was no corpse inside the old coffin, only fresh rose petals.  

As we made preparations for Mom’s burial, new people began arriving in Rowan, unnervingly handsome and odd people. I begged them to leave, but they stayed, because their enemies—my ancestors—were beginning to awaken. 

fictional Native tribe + faeries.

I requested for this book because I read the author's Masterful duology and loved it! However, Rose Petal Graves is completely different. Rose Petal Graves: (1) involves the tribe of Gottwa, Indians -- Natives, something completely new to me (important note: the Gottwas are fictional, as the author noted, and are 'loosely inspired by the Ojibwe people.'); (2) has faeries and faehunters (okay?); (3) has a medical student heroine and wants to be a doctor but her ancestors are #gasp faehunters; (4) is an amusing yet not a very thrilling read.

[REVIEW] The Dark Hour

title: The Dark Hour (the Keepers Saga #1)
author: J.F. Jenkins (Cloud S. Riser)
genre: young adult, fantasy
publish: November 10, 2014 by Blue Tulip Publishing
purchase: Amazon
rating: 2 / 5 stars
goodreads

Becca Simpson is a not so average teenager, and she knows it. In fact, she embraces it. She was chosen to be a Keeper, one who keeps the gates sealed between the magic world and the "normal" world. The only time she isn't safe from the dark creatures of the Other Side is the Dark Hour. Every night, at the same time, the gates between the two worlds open and Becca is left vulnerable until the gate closes and the minions disappear. But that's why she has Erik Manchester. As her Guardian, Erik is in charge of making sure no one, or no thing, comes after her to take her away. Because waiting for her on the Other Side is a tyrannical emperor, looking to use her status to meld the two worlds into one. 

With Erik, Becca feels safe, but suffocated. There are rules she has to follow in order to keep out of the hands of the emperor. Then Kyne walks into her life and challenges everything she knows. Not only does he know things about the Other Side, but he's from there. And found a way to stay in the normal world without frying.

glad that was done.

Admittedly, I don't know what came over me that made me request for this book (aside, of course, from that nice looking cover). I'm betting it's how the world was mentioned in the blurb. I was intrigued by the dark hour and the tyrannical emperor (which we should all admit is such a cliche! ohgosh).

[REVIEW] the Star Touched Queen

title: the Star Touched Queen (the Star-Touched Queen #1)
author: Roshani Chokshi
genre: young adult, fantasy
publish: April 26, 2016 by St. Martin's Griffin
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you’re only seventeen? 

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar’s wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire… 

But Akaran has its own secrets—thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most…including herself. 

A lush and vivid story that is steeped in Indian folklore and mythology, The Star-Touched Queen is a novel that no reader will soon forget.

Roshani Chokshi's writing is spellbinding!

Ever since I first saw the Star-Touched Queen I made it a mental note to have a copy of it because: (1) OMG LOOK AT THE BEAUTIFUL COVER!!, (2) Indian Folklore! I remember dealing with the Ramayana and Mahabharata in school but other than that, nada! but still, whenever I find a new-to-me kind of thing, I had to have it!, and (3) early reviews be like: OMG THIS IS SO AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL!, MUST READ, blahblahblah. you know how easy I am.