Mini Book Reviews | Netgalley Books of the Week

My so called request ban is already out the window and I might have gotten myself swamped with so many ARCs to read that I can't keep up. Haha. But I love to read and I've been getting approved a lot in Netgalley. Can you blame me?

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The Oddling Prince
by Nancy Springer

Expected publication: May 15th 2018 by Tachyon Publications

Rating: ⭐⭐

In the ancient moors of Scotland, the king of Calidon lies on his deathbed, cursed by a ring that cannot be removed from his finger. When a mysterious fey stranger appears to save the king, he also carries a secret that could tear the royal family apart.

The kingdom’s only hope will lie with two young men raised worlds apart. Aric is the beloved heir to the throne of Calidon; Albaric is clearly of noble origin yet strangely out of place.

The Oddling Prince is a tale of brothers whose love and loyalty to each other is such that it defies impending warfare, sundering seas, fated hatred, and the very course of time itself. In her long-awaited new fantasy novel, Nancy Springer (the Books of Isle series) explores the darkness of the human heart as well as its unceasing capacity for love. [1]

Review: Reading this book was a struggle and I almost chucked this book out. The language and word building was very Shakesperean - old and confusing, and the pace of the story was so slow that I actually only enjoyed the last part when the AHA! Moment was finally revealed. I like the plot but it just wasn't engaging enough to keep my attention from wandering. It was like I was just making the motions of reading and having to check how many chapters left. I'm surprised I did not DNF this book right away and actually finished it. This just wasn't for me.

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The Carver (Order of the Bell #1)
by Jacob Devlin

Published July 19th 2016 by Blaze Publishing, LLC

Rating: ⭐⭐

THE GIRL IN THE RED HOOD has been looking for her mother for six months, searching from the depths of New York’s subways to the heights of its skyscrapers . . .

THE PRINCE looks like he’s from another time entirely, or maybe he’s just too good at his job at Ye Old Renaissance Faire . . . 

THE ACTRESS is lighting up Hollywood Boulevard with her spellbinding and strikingly convincing portrayal of a famous fairy. Her name may be big, but her secrets barely fit in one world . . . 

Fifteen-year-old Crescenzo never would have believed his father’s carvings were anything more than “stupid toys.” All he knows is a boring life in an ordinary Virginia suburb, from which his mother and his best friend have been missing for years. When his father disappears next, all Crescenzo has left is his goofy neighbor, Pietro, who believes he’s really Peter Pan and that Crescenzo is the son of Pinocchio. What’s more: Pietro insists that they can find their loved ones by looking to the strange collection of wooden figurines Crescenzo’s father left behind. 

With Pietro’s help, Crescenzo sets off on an adventure to unite the real life counterparts to his figurines. It’s enough of a shock that they’re actually real, but the night he meets the Girl in the Red Hood, dark truths burst from the past. Suddenly, Crescenzo is tangled in a nightmare where magic mirrors and evil queens rule, and where everyone he loves is running out of time. [2]

Review: I have always been a fan or retellings, especially when I get to read a different version of my favorite fairytale characters. This book wasn't what I was hoping it would be. The main protagonist is the son of Pino, who we know better as Pinocchio. He grew up in the mortal world because when his father and his father's friends were children they made a wish to the "blue" fairy to become adults. This started a complicated turn of events that involved magic mirrors, kidnapping done by the 7 dwarves, and of course, an evil queen. Maybe because it was written for middle grade readers but the TV show Once Upon a Time was way better that this.

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The Raging Ones (The Raging Ones #1)
by Krista Ritchie

Expected publication: August 14th 2018 by Wednesday Books

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

​In a freezing world, where everyone knows the day they will die, three teens break all odds.

Franny Bluecastle, a tough city teen, dreams of dying in opulence, to see wealth she’s never known. Like the entire world, she believes it’s impossible to dodge a deathday.

Until the day she does.

Court Icecastle knows wealth. He also knows pain. Spending five years in Vorkter Prison, a fortress of ice and suffering, he dreams of life beyond the people that haunt him and the world that imprisoned him.

Mykal Kickfall fights for those he loves. The rugged Hinterlander shares a frustrating yet unbreakable connection with Court—which only grows more lawless and chaotic as their senses and emotions connect with Franny.

With the threat of people learning they’ve dodged their deathdays, they must flee their planet to survive. But to do so, all three will have to hide their shared bond as they vie for a highly sought after spot in the newest mission to space. Against thousands of people far smarter, who’ll live longer, and never fear death the way that they do. [3]

Review: This book I liked. It's Sci-Fi Fantasy, what can I say? In the world the characters lived in, they knew their limitations and lived their life according to the time they had left in the world. The uncertainty of not know what will happen is such a human thing that it strikes a cord in everyone who will read his book. The word building was good although maybe a little confusing because it is written in 3 perspectives. Definitely a must read.

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Phoenix Fire (Phoenix Cycle #1)
by S.D. Grimm

Published March 5th 2018 by Entangled: Teen

Rating: ⭐⭐

After spending her life in foster care, Ava has finally found home. But all it takes is a chance encounter with hot nerd Wyatt Wilcox for it to unravel.

Now, things are starting to change. First, the flashes of memories slowly creeping in. Memories of other lives, lives that Wyatt is somehow in. Then, the healing. Any cut? Gone.

But when Cade and Nick show up, claiming to be her brothers, things get even weirder. They tell her she’s a Phoenix, sent to protect the world from monsters—monsters she never knew existed. It’s a little hard to accept. Especially when they tell her she has to end the life of a Phoenix turned rogue, or Cade will die.

With Wyatt’s increasingly suspicious behavior, Ava’s determined to figure out what he’s hiding. Unless she can discover Wyatt’s secret in time and complete her Phoenix training, she’ll lose the life, love, and family she never thought she could have. [4]

Review: The cover is amazing and the premise of the book promising. But as a whole, the book fell short of expectation. This book feels rushed and dragging in both the plot and character development. I would have loved having to enjoy the past lives of the characters but it wasn't developed properly. The characters were too immature to think that they kept getting reborn and eventually remember their past lives it's ridiculous. Insta-love has gotten so old it as become something I dread in YA books.

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