"The Bones of Ruin" by Sarah Raughley

A tightrope dancer with a mysterious past who can't die.

A tournament of freaks. 

A frightening destiny.

Welcome to "The Bones of Ruin".

Iris Marlow can't die. She also has no idea of who or what she is. Ten years ago, with no memories at all, Iris stumbled into a traveling circus tent and was able to secure herself an act as a tightrope dancer. 

During the last ten years, she has done everything she can to hide her secret. But when one of her show goes wrong and her secret is revealed, Iris finds herself pulled into a world of powerful elites who have their owns plans for her unique ability and they also may be the key to figuring out who she was before the circus.  Iris agrees to participate in a deadly tournament in exchange for information about her life before the circus.

Secrets, adventure. and murder abound as Iris discovers that she is not the only one in the city with unique abilities, and all of these individuals are somehow connected. 

This book had suspense, mystery, adventure, magic, tension and even a love square (like a love triangle, but with four people instead of three). This book is set in Victorian London and contains a variety of diverse characters that should appeal to a wide audience. 

While one big question is answered by the end of this book, there are many more that are left unanswered so I will be starting book two right away. I need answers about Iris and some of the other major players in the "Tournament of Freaks".

Overall, if you are a fan of the fantasy genre I expect you will greatly enjoy "Bones of Ruin". 

"A Door in the Dark" by Scott Reintgen

 Wow, I definitely have mixed feelings about some of the events in this one, but there is no denying that this was a great story. 

If "Harry Potter", "The Unfortunates" by Kim Liggett and the movie, "Knives Out" had a baby, it would be this book. It is a fantasy, psychological thriller.

To sum up: 

Six gifted students from an elite magical school find themselves in a survival situation when a simple travel spell goes wrong. Now, one of them is dead, the other five are stranded in deadly forest far from civilization and tensions are running high as no one knows who they can trust.  While two of the students come from powerful and magically wealthy families, the other four are gifted scholarship students and each one of them has their own secrets and personal vendettas against the wealthy families. But with a dangerous monster stalking their steps, they have no choice but to work together in order to get back home alive.  As the danger stalks closer and the bodies begin to pile up, the surviving students have to make hard choices about what they will do in order to survive, and who they are willing to let die to further their own agenda. 

The main character is has major Hermione vibes. Ren is a brilliant and gifted magical student, but she has very few options for her future since she was born into the lower classes. She is determined to do whatever it takes to rise to the top, and the dark memories from her past won't allow her to accept anything less.

Ren's best friend is also low-born, but her rare magic has secured her a spot in one of the most powerful houses in the city. Their two fellow low born classmates, a gifted medical student and a wrestler with a bright future, are stuck with them in the deadly forest along with the sons of two of the most prominent and powerful families in the city.  So how are these four outcasts going to work together with their spoiled and entitled classmates without wanting to kill each other?

Well, you'll have to read the book to get the answer to that question. 

If you are familiar with Harry Potter at all, then you will slide right into this magical world and hit the ground running. Once the action starts, it doesn't let up. This book will make your heart pound, break, and stop completely before the story is over. 

I highly recommend it if you enjoy fantasy, horror, or thrillers. 

"Bring Me Your Midnight" by Rachel Griffen

 Romeo and Juliet.... but with magic.... and a better ending. 

What if Romeo and Juliet were both witches but from rival covens? 

If that catches your interest, then you will enjoy "Bring Me Your Midnight".

Tana Fairchild has her whole life laid out before her. As the only daughter of the coven leader on their island, it is her job to help bring peace between the witches who live on their island and the humans who live on the mainland. She follows all the rules. She only practices "low magic" during the day at her parent's perfume shop, she never practices magic after dark, and she would never practice the "dark magic" that taught the mainlanders to fear witches in the first place. 

The job Tana's parents have given her is simple. Marry the human governor's son and bring peace and protection to her coven. 

Tana has never questioned the path her parents set her on when she was just a child, but all that changes when she meets a stranger on their beach. A stranger who practices "dark magic" and he will make Tana question everything she has ever known about magic, her coven, and herself.

This book had a bit of a slow start for me as the world building and magic system was established and the characters were introduced. However, I am glad I stuck with it because I flew through the second half of the book. The magic system with it's two different types of magic was very original and well thought out, and the sweet romance in the story set my heart aflutter. I was content with the ending but I do feel like there could be more to the story. Maybe from another character's point of view.

Overall, I gave this one 4 stars.

"If I Have to Be Haunted" by Miranda Sun

 

5 Stars!!!

I stayed up way later than I should have to finish this one. 

I'll admit, the cover really sold me on this book. I was definitely in the mood for a fall book with spooky vibes.  Well, the setting is in the fall and there are ghosts in this book but it was not what I was expecting.

I was expecting a spooky rom-com with a cute enemies to lovers style of romance. I was only partly correct, but I  really enjoyed this book.

Cara Tang knows two things:

1. Zach Coleson, the towns perfect, handsome golden boy, is the most irritating and annoying person alive.

2. She can see and talk to ghosts ( Not that she wants to).

Cara is a ghost speaker, like her mother and grandmother before her.  Her grandmother was renowned for her ability and power, but Cara's mother has spent so many years ignoring her gift that she has lost her ability to see ghosts. Now, she wants Cara to follow in her footsteps and leave the family legacy of ghost speaking far behind. 

Cara has always been the dutiful daughter, following her mother's wishes despite her grandmother's ghost constantly encouraging her to embrace her gift. But she has never come close to breaking the promise she made to her mother until she stumbles across the body of the town's golden boy in the woods near her tree house.

Zach Coleson was dead, but he wasn't gone.

If Cara thought Zach was annoying in life, it is nothing compared to him now that he is a ghost.  As the only person who can see or hear Zach's ghost, he has no one else to turn to and he is determined to convince Cara to help him.  As Cara and Zach investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his unusual demise, they discover a loophole. As a ghost speaker, Cara has the ability to resurrect Zach from the dead, but they will have to embark on a dangerous quest through a parallel world to make that happen. 

As Zach and Cara face constant dangers on their quest, they begin to realize that despite knowing each other for their entire lives, they actually don't know each other at all. Revelations come to light and suddenly they are each seeing another side of the other that they never knew existed. 

And as the danger increases, Cara and Zach will have to answer the question:

Will saving Zach cost Cara her own life? And are they each willing to take that chance?

Overall,  I loved the scenes when Cara and Zach interacted. Even when they were fighting, there was so much tension on the page that I was completely absorbed. Then, during their softer interactions, I loved how they slowly opened up to each other and learned knew aspects of each other's lives. 

Also, this book definitely had more of a fantasy feel than I was expecting. In a weird way it reminded me of the movie "Willow" because of the epic quest, all of the obstacles they had to face, and the new characters that were introduced along the way. 

Finally, the ending of this book is clearly paving the wave for more books in this series, or at least more stories set within this world. I look forward to reading the next one!

"Belladonna" by Adalyn Grace

 Overall, I loved this book! It gave me Wuthering Heights vibes with an Agatha Christie mystery thrown in. 

Five Stars!

All her life, Death has followed Signa Farrow.

He was there when her parents and all the guests and staff members of Foxglove were mysteriously poisoned and died at a party when Signa was just a baby. 

He was there throughout her childhood as a string of guardians, who were more interested in Signa's money than her welfare, perished within a fews years of accepting Signa into their homes. 

Now, he has followed Signa to Hawthorne Manor. 

Despite their own recent tragedies, the Hawthorne's, a distant relation to Signa's parents, have graciously invited Signa to live with them for the next 6 months until she turns 19 and is able to claim the inheritance that her family left to her upon their deaths. 

Signa discovers that her hope that Death will not follow her to her new home is in vain when she arrives at Hawthorne Manor only to discover that her cousin, Blythe, has contracted a mysterious life-threatening illness. It is the same illness that took Blythe's mother, Lilliana,  just months before. 

Signa can feel death's presence in the cold and unsettling Manor.

But that is not the only presence she senses.

Lilliana's spirit is not at rest, and her ghost haunts to grounds, crying and wailing in the night. The Hawthorne family is plagued by her restless spirit and Blythe's impending death. 

Signa is determined to stop Death from taking anyone else from her and Signa feels like, for once, she might be able to help because she has secrets of her own. 

Signa can see ghosts and she is tied to Death in a way that no other mortal have ever been. 

Signa suspects that Lillian's death wasn't due to an illness at all, and someone is targeting the remaining members of the family. Her best chance to save her new family is to ally herself with Death in order to catch the murderer before they strike again. 

As Signa and Death begin to work side by side to catch the murderer, the connection between them grows, and Signa realizes that there is more to Death than she ever could have imagined. 

This amazing gothic murder mystery has just the right amount of intrigue, suspense, plot twists, and romance to make a great book! I was hooked within the first few pages.  Signa was an intriguing character who really found herself as the story progressed. She was so unsure of who she wanted to be when the story began, but through the trials she experienced, she was able to take hold of her destiny and become who she was meant to be. 

Death was swoon worthy! He was so mysterious in the beginning, and as revelations were made throughout the story, you better understood his role in Signa's life and in her future. 

I am looking forward to starting book two!

"The Prison Healer" by Lynette Noni

 Holy plot twist! I did not see that coming!

I'll admit, I read several reviews before starting "The Prison Healer" and I had seen multiple reviews mentioning a plot twist at the end, but man, I did NOT see that coming.



Kiva has been locked away in a high security prison for the past 10 years of her life, ever since she was seven years old. For the past few years, she has held the title of prison healer, caring for sick and injured inmates and processing new arrivals. She is known as many different things to many different people. Most of them are not flattering.

For the past ten years, Kiva's sole purpose has been to stay alive. She keeps her head down, she listens to the guards, she spies on the other prisoners for the warden, she burns the letter "Z" into the flesh of all the new prisoners, and she does it for one reason.

"Stay alive. We are coming."

Her family is coming for her. Over the past ten years, Kiva's family has been able to smuggle in messages telling her to stay alive and they are coming for her soon. It is the only thing that has kept Kiva going.

However, things start to change with the arrival of two new prisoners. Jaren, the new handsome and strong tunneler, seems to have taken an interest in Kiva. One that she fights against knowing that Jaren likely will not survive his first month in the prison. And Tilda, the very ill rebel queen responsible for the uprising against the ruling family, who arrives shortly after and her presence changes everything.

"Don't let her die. We are coming."

When the rebel queen is sentenced to Trial by Ordeal, her death becomes almost certain. However, Kiva must do everything in her power to keep the rebel queen alive until help can arrive, even if it means taking the queen's place in the trials. Kiva must survive the four elemental ordeals: Ordeal by Air, Ordeal by Fire, Ordeal by Water, Ordeal by Earth. However, if Kiva fails, she dies and the rebel queen will be executed with her.



With their fates now entwined, Kiva is going to need the help of her friends, both new and old, if she ever hopes to get out of the prison alive.

***

This amazing immersive story is a page turner filled with intrigue, prison riots, betrayals, secrets, budding romance and magic. I thoroughly enjoyed the budding romance between Jaren and Kiva, and Tipp is definitely one of my favorite characters.

The description of the Ordeal by Fire and the Ordeal by Water literally had my stomach twisting with anxiety. These scenes were packed with tension and I literally flew threw them.

I hated that we didn't see what happened to the warden towards the end.

That plot twist at the end though... I almost feel like I need to reread the book now and see if there were clues that I missed that pointed towards this revelation, or if it hit all readers the way it did me.

I am excited to see the story continue, but I feel like Kiva has a dark road to travel ahead of her. I think I will wait to read "The Gilded Cage" until "The Blood Traitor" comes out this summer.

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

“Welcome, welcome to Caraval! The grandest show on land or by sea. Inside you’ll experience more wonders than most people see in a lifetime. You can sip magic from a cup and buy dreams in a bottle. But before you fully enter into our world, you must remember it’s all a game.”

Two sisters. One magical adventure. The chance of a lifetime.
Scarlett and Tella have always dreamed of seeing Caraval, the once-a-year magical performance put on by the mysterious showman who is only known as Legend. Just weeks before Scarlett's marriage to a complete stranger, Tella and Scarlett receive personal invitations from Legend himself to attend this year's performance on his island home.  Seeing a chance to escape their abusive father and their dismal futures, Tella, with the help of a handsome sailor, whisks Scarlett away to Caraval.

However, Caraval is much different than the sisters expected.  Instead of a fun filled magical adventure, the sisters find that Caraval is much more deadly than they expected. Upon arrival, Tella is kidnapped by Legend and made the prize for this year's Caraval. Whoever finds Tella first is the winner and gets one wish. But if Scarlett can't find Tella before the 5 days of Caraval are up, then she may never see her sister again.
***
Caraval is one of those books that has been in my TBR pile for a while. It was always kind of in the back of my mind, whispering, "You need to read me." I finally pulled Caraval to the top of my TBR pile when one of my students told me, "Mrs. White, you need to read this. Like, right now." So I pushed aside all my other waiting books and started Caraval.
I went in to this book expecting to enjoy the story, but it was more fun than I even anticipated.

First of all, I really enjoyed to closeness between the two sisters, Scarlett and Tella. I mean, there were times when I would have liked to smack each of them upside the head, but I appreciated the positive sibling relationship that was represented in this book. Scarlett and Tella, despite their obvious differences, were both willing to sacrifice everything if it meant saving the other.

Caraval is one of those stories that keeps you guessing, theorizing, and speculating about the characters, the plot, and who can be trusted, and I found myself constantly questioning what was real in the story, what was part of the game, and what the master of Caraval really wanted with the sisters. I found myself thinking about the book whenever I had free time trying to puzzle out how the story was going to turn out. So be sure to have a nice chunk of time set aside when you start this book, and pay close attention as you go.

I found the romance in this book to be sweet, but I feel like it is nowhere near resolved. I am looking forward to reading the next two books and seeing how the relationship that began in this book develops.

So if you are looking for a magical fantasy story with dark elements and twists and turns, this may be the book for you. It is filled with deception, manipulation, betrayal and constant surprises set against the magical backdrop of Caraval. As you read, remember just one thing:

"IT'S ONLY A GAME..." 😏