Gabbie's bookish thoughts

Rating:  ✮✮✮✮✮ Synopsis: I am Renata Convida. I have lived a hundred stolen lives. Now I live my own. Renata Convida was only a child when she was kidnapped by the King's Justice and brought to the luxurious palace of Andalucia. As a Robari, the rarest and most feared of the magical Moria, Renata's ability to steal memories from royal enemies enabled the King's Wrath, a siege that resulted in the deaths of thousands of her own people.  Now Renata is one of the Whispers, rebel spies working against the crown and helping the remaining Moria escape the kingdom bent on their destruction. The Whispers may have rescued Renata from the palace years ago, but she cannot escape their mistrust and hatred--or the overpowering memories of the hundreds of souls she turned "hollow" during her time in the palace.  When Dez, the commander of her unit, is taken captive by the notorious Sangrado Prince, Renata will do anything to save the boy whose love ma...

(artwork "la gente es colorida" by Allie Rafferty, designed by Fiachra Johnston)) I have been excitedly watching from the sidelines as the wonderful team of Paper Lanterns  turned this very exciting idea into a reality and put together a literary journal dedicated to teen & YA lit and the people celebrating it. From original creative writing pieces to interviews and reviews, Paper Lanterns  promised many things.  I'm delighted to tell you that I was lucky enough to get an early look at their first issue and it achieved all the things it aimed to; reading through it, I couldn't help but be reminded why I love the community built around this type of literature so much, the kind of talent and passion of those part of it. It also reminded me just how smart, talented and interesting the teens that these stories are for are themselves and the kind of fantastic work they can put into the world when given the chance (with the addition of equally fantastic words comi...

Rating:   ★★★★ ★ Plot: A princess with two futures. A destiny all her own. Between her cruel family and the contempt she faces at court, Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life. But when she’s betrothed to the powerful prince Kestrin, Alyrra embarks on a journey to his land with little hope for a better future.  When a mysterious and terrifying sorceress robs Alyrra of both her identity and her role as princess, Alyrra seizes the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl.  But Alyrra soon finds that Kestrin is not what she expected. The more Alyrra learns of this new kingdom, the pain and suffering its people endure, as well as the danger facing Kestrin from the sorceress herself, the more she knows she can’t remain the goose girl forever.  With the fate of the kingdom at stake, Alyrra is caught between two worlds and ultimately must decide who she is, and what she stands for. ...

Plot: From The House of Night series comes a new trilogy following the kick-ass heroine that is Zoey Redbird.The world won't stay safe for long...  It's Zoey's eighteenth birthmas and the Nerd Herd has been scattered across the country busily adulting for almost a year when Stark calls them back to Tulsa to surprise Z. But all is not well in T-Town. Strange, dark signs are appearing--could it be possible Neferet is stirring? Not willing to chance disaster striking again, Zoey calls on her newly reunited friends to circle with her and add a layer of protection over Neferet's grotto jail. Easy-peasy, right? Wrong. Nothing at the House of Night is ever as it seems.  With rabid red vampyres closing in, Zoey and the Nerd Herd must come together again and battle evil. But a year is a long time. Have these old friends grown too far apart?  When the world fractures and allies become enemies, will darkness devour friendships or will light save those she's lo...

Plot: From the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi comes the first novel in a brand-new series set at an elite international boarding school, that’s a contemporary spin on Beauty and the Beast .  Will the princess save the beast?  For Princess Jaya Rao, nothing is more important than family. When the loathsome Emerson clan steps up their centuries-old feud to target Jaya’s little sister, nothing will keep Jaya from exacting her revenge. Then Jaya finds out she’ll be attending the same elite boarding school as Grey Emerson, and it feels like the opportunity of a lifetime. She knows what she must do: Make Grey fall in love with her and break his heart. But much to Jaya’s annoyance, Grey’s brooding demeanor and lupine blue eyes have drawn her in. There’s simply no way she and her sworn enemy could find their fairy-tale ending…right?  His Lordship Grey Emerson is a misanthrope. Thanks to an ancient curse by a Rao matriarch, Grey knows he’...

Rating: ★★★★★ / 5 Plot:  The teenagers of Four Paths must save their home, in the sequel to hit fantasy The Devouring Gray. For fans of Stranger Things, Riverdale and The Raven Cycle.  Though the Beast is seemingly subdued for now, a new threat looms in Four Paths: a corruption seeping from the Gray into the forest. And with the other Founders preoccupied by their tangled alliances and fraying relationships, only May Hawthorne seems to realize the danger. But saving the town she loves means seeking aid from the person her family despises most--her and Justin's father.  May's father isn't the only newcomer in town--Isaac Sullivan's older brother has also returned, seeking forgiveness for the role he played in Isaac's troubled past. But Isaac isn't ready to let go of his family's history, especially when that history might hold the key that he and Violet Saunders need to destroy the Gray and the monster within it.  Harper Carlisle isn't ready ...

Rating:  ★★★.75 / 5 Plot: For centuries the gods of the Undersea ruled the islands of the Myriad through awe and terror: they were very real, and very dangerous. Sacrifices were hurled into the waters to appease them, and every boat was painted with pleading eyes to entreat their mercy. They were served, feared and adored. Then, thirty years ago, the gods rose up in madness and tore each other apart. Now, none remain. The islands have recovered and the people have patched their battered ships and moved on. On one of these islands live Hark and his best friend Jelt. To them, the gods are nothing but a collection of valuable scraps to be scavenged from the ocean and sold. But now something is pulsing beneath the waves, calling to someone brave enough to retrieve it. Review: The more I think about this book, the more in awe I am even though it's been a while since I've finished it. I had heard people singing Hardinge's praise for age...