Genre: Young Adult

A story of vengeance, resilience, and a quest to return home, Joe Abercrombie’s Half A King is an intense epic adventure that adapts his signature storytelling for younger readership. Set in wild and dangerous lands that surround the foreboding namesake Shattered Sea, this book contains a straightforward and tense adventure of a young man realizing the twisted figures around him as he journeys to right the wrongs of betrayal. With a solid plot, Abercrombie’s dynamic storytelling, and great writing, this book is a quick and respectable read well-suited for its target readership. Though possessing good crossover appeal for adult readers, its fast pacing, limited worldbuilding, and occasionally muddy contextual scope also prevent the story from fully reaching its potential. (On Goodreads, 3.5-star rating rounded down). The first book in the Shattered Sea trilogy, Half A King follows the young Prince Yarvi who is suddenly thrown off course from his aspirations to join the Ministry following an unexpected death in the family. An intellectual individual who also has a physical disability with a deformed hand, he thinks of himself as only half a prince both physically and in influence. Falling from grace and lost far from his home of Vulgard on…

The following review is based on a complimentary ARC provided by Sourcebooks Fire. The second half of Beth Revis and Sara Raasch’s Scottish-inspired historical romantasy duology, The Blood Queen is an intense assault of a YA fantasy novel. Picking up the story right where The Crimson Throne’s cliffhanger ending leaves off, this book is a fast-paced fantasy read packed with action, lore, and bringing the conflict of the invading red caps to a dramatic conclusion. Featuring likeable characters, snappy pacing, and strong Scottish folklore, The Blood Queen is a solid YA read only mildly hindered by uneven content between POV’s, pacing that can feel rushed, and a notable lack of historical fiction elements compared to its predecessor. After the dramatic cliffhanger ending of The Crimson Throne, this book resumes the story and rounds out the battle between the red cap forces and the Alyth’s fae connections with both the human and fae worlds at stake. The first book featured a wide array of narrative elements that covered fae and human portal-based worldbuilding, Scottish folklore, and historical fiction elements featuring real historical figures. Given that the villain is only just revealed at The Crimson Throne’s conclusion, this book has a lot…

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Entangled: Mayhem Books. Part two of Nisha J. Tuli’s Storm Breaker series, Storm Caller picks up after the first book’s high‑energy and cliffhanger ending. Featuring more overt dystopian elements, this book leans away from the typical academy setting and training arc, instead focusing on heavy world‑building that substantially expands the scope of the story far beyond New Manhattan. While this novel continues the signature storm motif and builds on the first book’s dystopian elements, it can unfortunately feel less balanced and lacking notable progression, giving it a transitional and somewhat underwhelming feel in addition to having a more juvenile tone. Following Poet’s escape through the tunnels with Rook, Storm Caller sees her outside New Manhattan and into The Wastes. While the first book largely consists of a traditional academy training arc common in YA books, this one switches up the formula and focuses on expanding the world outside the protected city. As the second book in a now‑planned trilogy, it carries much of the burden of expanding the lore: life and culture in The Wastes, the history and conflicts with New Manhattan, General Sol’s spark‑channeling ability, and exploration of…

The answer arc and part two of Ibañez’s Secrets of the Nile duology, Where the Library Hides is a sequel that many fans of the first book likely didn’t sign up for. While continuing its 19th‑century Egyptian premise on paper, in many ways this book feels like a product of misguided and unfortunate creative and narrative choices. Focusing heavily on familial conflict, betrayals, and character drama rather than its compelling historical fantasy elements, it may not be every reader’s cup of tea. This book picks up right after Where the River Knows ends, following the dramatic events in the backstreets of Cairo. While the first book posed a lot of interesting and mysterious questions about Cleopatra and Whit’s traumatic history in the armed forces, most of those storylines were left unresolved, compelling material for Where the Library Hides to answer. Where book one covered exploration and discovery on the island of Philae, this book sees Inez and Whit drawn to the ancient and war‑torn city of Alexandria with all of its famed history and lore. Starting with the positive points, Ibañez’s casual yet polished prose continues to be well‑suited for YA readership, as does Inez’s character narration, which is fitting…

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Viking Books for Young Readers. A story of grief and loss mixed with contemporary romance and mythological fantasy flavor, Find My Way Down to You by Julian Winters is a wholesome and sweet YA novel covering somber topics. By exploring the long, individual road to healing while honoring loved ones lost, the book feels like a warm and supportive hug that maintains an uplifting and hopeful outlook even when the pain feels unending. Well‑intentioned and earnest, it sometimes plays things too safe and doesn’t push its strongest narrative elements far enough, but it remains an accessible read with strong YA appeal. Marketed as a YA romance with crossover elements in fiction, social issues, and fantasy, the book blends a wide range of narrative components into a story focused on grief and loss. Its greatest strength is its relatability for YA readers. Purposely flawed and immature to a fault, the main character August and his internal logic match his age, highlighting teenage shortsightedness and tunnel vision. Winters captures teenage angst well, especially in the wake of August’s catastrophic loss of his boyfriend London, around whom he built his entire world.…