The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford Book Review!

 

Title: The Poison Season   
Author: Mara Rutherford
Publish Date: December 6th, 2022
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Source: Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for review! 

Leelo has spent her whole life on Endla, coexisting with the bloodthirsty forest and respecting the poisonous lake that protects her island from outsiders who seek to destroy it. But as much as Leelo cares for her community, she struggles with the knowledge that her brother will be exiled and forced to live with the outsiders unless he gains enchantment powers before his next birthday.

Then comes the day that Leelo sees a young outsider on the verge of drowning in the lake. She knows she is supposed to leave him to his fate, but, instead, she betrays her family, her best friend, and her whole community by helping nurse the young man, Jaren, back to health, understanding that discovery could lead to unthinkable consequences for both of them.

As they grow closer, Leelo and Jaren discover that not all danger comes from beyond the lake—and they can only survive if Leelo is willing to question the very fabric of her society, her people, and herself.

Penelope's Review

This was such a fun, magical fantasy that I think a lot of different age groups will be able to enjoy. It has a unique magic system, an enchanted forest and poisonous lake, and some great characters. There's also the matter of a budding, forbidden romance. Definitely something for everyone. 

Leelo is our main female lead and she lives on a secluded island with her people, surrounded by a poisonous lake to protect them from outsiders. There's also a creepy, enchanted forest that must be fed animals in order to keep protecting the inhabitants. The people use magic in their song to lure animals to the forest for it to devour. 

Jaren is a young man who lives in the small town across the lake with his family. He has heard stories about the island and it's people but is skeptical of how truthful these stories are. Until one night, he finds himself in an impossible situation and Leelo is the one who comes to his aid. Now Jaren is hiding on the island with Leelo his only source for food and companionship, and his only hope of getting home alive. 

I really liked the writing style in this book - it flows really well and the characters are full of layered intricacies that make unravelling them something to look forward to. I really liked all of the different family bonds throughout the story, and the romance was also nice to watch unfold.

I will say that the flow of the storyline is somewhat predictable, but honestly that's not necessarily a bad thing. All depends on your preference - it really is a great book overall. The ending ties things up nicely though I have heard the author might have some bonus content about one of Jaren's sisters which I would be VERY excited to read lol. Overall, I'm glad I picked this one up and think it will appeal to a wide audience!

Rating: 4/5 Devils!

Of Cages and Crowns by Brianna Joy Crump ARC Review!

 

Title: Of Cages and Crowns (The Culled Crown #1)
Author: Brianna Joy Crump
Publish Date: November 22nd, 2022
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for review!

For goddess-touched girls, there is only one destiny: the Culling

From the moment Monroe Benson is born with a mark on her hand and the ability to summon fire from her fingertips, her life will never be her own. She’s goddess-touched, which means she’s destined to participate in the Culling, an age-old competition to determine the next queen of Erydia. For most of her seventeen years, her family has managed to keep Monroe--and her powers--hidden. But now, as Queen Viera calls for the Culling to start, and war looms on the horizon, Monroe can no longer hide. She must face her destiny whether she wants to or not.

For the ten goddess-touched girls, all with different powers, the inevitably of this fight to the death has always ruled their lives. The tradition is both barbaric and cruel, but to make matters worse--Monroe isn’t prepared. She hasn’t trained her whole life for this day. She doesn’t want to be in the spotlight. She doesn’t want the crown.

While Monroe struggles with her fate, a rebellion is brewing in the castle and in the country. A group called the Culled are banding together; their goal--to topple the monarchy. And the more they rise, the more merciless Viera is with her kingdom, recruiting younger and younger people from poorer and poorer places to fight in a war no one wants to be waging.

When Monroe finds herself on the front lines of the rebellion’s inner circle, only one thing stands in her way: Cohen. The queen’s son and the man who will be king. The pair grows close, yet Cohen’s dedication to duty, to family, to tradition stands in stark contrast to the boy Monroe sees at night in the kitchens, secretly making the two of them a snack.

As the fight crescendos around them, and the death of innocents is a force to bear, the choices Monroe makes will reverberate through the kingdom . . . and her heart forever.

Penelope's Review

I absolutely love competition-style books with fights to the death so this was a no-brainer for me! I know it's probably going to be referred to in like every review lol, but if you love The Hunger Games, grab this one! You won't be disappointed!

Our main female lead is Monroe Benson, and unfortunately for her, one of our goddess-touched girls. She wants nothing to do with this competition or being queen, but is thrust into it nonetheless. I liked how Monroe was unassumingly confident. She's quiet until she needs to stand up to someone, and then she's able to do so with ease. Her character development is slow, but I like the qualities she gains by the end of the book.

While I liked Cohen, I found that he was a bit too timid and weak for my tastes. Too much of a pushover... I would have preferred a stronger character BUT I liked his sweet side and felt that it worked with Monroe's character. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next book does with their relationship after that ending. They both have things to sort through and deal with and I'm curious to see if it will push them apart or bring them closer together. 

Thanks to a brutally evil queen, we also have a rebellion on the rise! The people are tired of her tyrannical ways and have banded together to fight back. Monroe is pulled into the Culled's plans and even though she believes in what they're fighting for, she can't help but question what this would mean for Cohen. 

The world-building in this book is excellent. I really like this author's writing style, and I think she handled her characters arcs well. Overall, I found it to be quite an enjoyable read with some great action and I'm looking forward to what comes next after such an explosive ending!

Rating: 4/5 Devils!

The Crimson Fathers by J. Todd Kingrea ARC Review!

 

Title: The Crimson Fathers (The Deiparian Saga #2)
Author: J. Todd Kingrea
Publish Date: November 1st, 2022
Publisher: BHC Press
Source: Huge thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC for review!

In a post-apocalyptic world where tyranny and medieval torture reign supreme and witch burnings are an everyday occurrence, a top Witchfinder must confront the very Church he serves when he learns of its dark past and twisted plans for the future.

With the Fifth Order in complete control of the Church of the Deiparous, Malachi Thorne and his friends must find "The Flame," a powerful weapon which may be the only chance they have of halting the evil of the Crimson Fathers.

Penelope's Review

I was so excited to see where this book would take us after the ending of The Witchfinder. The book starts a little while after the ending of the first book, and we've got different groups in different locations. 

Malachi Thorne is now the leader of the resistance and Teska Vaun is coming to terms with her place in the Communion as a Nahoru'brexia. Together, the two of them have a very rocky road ahead filled with danger and adventure. We also have the return of some of my favorite supporting characters - Dario, Cabbott, Hawkes, and Warner to name a few! The Fifth Order has taken control of the Church, and there's a price on Malachi's head... things are heating up to say the least!

This book gives everything you would expect from a well-written fantasy novel. It has great characters with some excellent development and fantastic world-building as we go along. Since this is a post-apocalyptic Earth, there's a bunch of clever location references thrown in that I absolutely loved!

I also really enjoyed the parallels - while this book is fantasy, we see a lot of power and corruption that can easily be seen in today's world. The fight for freedom is one that we have seen so many times throughout history and you can't help but root for Thorne and his friends to come out of all of this victorious. 

I really like when an author is able to tell more than one story and bring them together seamlessly and that's exactly what happens in The Crimson Fathers. We have Malachi, Teska, Amelia and Tua'Ahtaki on one path, and Hawkes, Warner, and Dario on another path. And then we have some brief looks into the goings on of The Crimson Fathers. We get to see how each of these paths converge and it made for a really enjoyable experience putting it all together!

The only thing that sort of threw me out of the reading experience was that we would switch from one point of view to another with no warning. Now I'm not sure if this is just an ARC issue, and that the final copy will have some indication when we're switching POV's but for me, it made some chapters a bit difficult. There were times when it would change even from one paragraph to the next so something to keep in mind!

Overall though, this was a great addition to the series and it looks like we have much to look forward to in the next installment. I'm excited to see where Malachi Thorne and his friends end up in their fight for freedom! 

Rating: 4/5 Devils!

2021 Book Challenge Wrap Up + 2022 Book Challenges!

 Hi everyone! I was hoping to get this post up on the 1st, but as usual, I'm late lol! So in 2021, I got back into blogging and I think it went really well! Overall, I posted 205 blog posts! I also participated in 2 book challenges, the 2021 New Release Challenge, and the 2021 Beat the Backlist Challenge. Let's see how I did!

So, this challenge was hosted by Unconventional Bookworms and they are hosting again this year so be sure to go sign up! My goal for this challenge was 25 books, and I ended up completing 64!! Woohoo! Officially a 2021 New Release Veteran lol! 

The second challenge I participated in was hosted by Austine Decker! She is also hosting again this year so be sure to sign up! My goal for this challenge was also 25 books but unfortunately I really slacked with this one and only read 11 books :( I'm hoping to really step it up this year because I have a whole stack of TBR books lol! 

If you'd like to see a list of all the books I read for these challenges, check it out here: 2021 Book Challenges

Ok now let's talk 2022 challenges!!

So I've decided to add a couple more this year, since I did fairly well on last year's. 

1. 2022 New Release Challenge hosted by Unconventional Bookworms. My goal for this challenge is 65 books, New Release Veteran!

2. 2022 Beat the Backlist Challenge hosted by Austine Decker. My goal for this challenge is 25 books again! Let's see if I can do it this time!

3. Finish the Series Challenge hosted by Celebrity Readers. This is my first time participating in this challenge so I'm setting my goal at a C-list series finisher which means I'm commiting to finishing 1-4 series. A couple I have in mind is the Shatter Me series (started in high school, never finished), Red Queen series (can't remember when I started it but many years ago), and more recently, the Throne of Glass series which I started last year and then put down. 

4. 2022 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by The Intrepid Reader. This is also the first time I'm joining this challenge but I absolutely LOVE historical romance so I'm going to set my goal at Ancient History - 25 books. I'm hoping to do more, but we'll see how it goes!

5. 2022 NetGalley and Edelweiss Reading Challenge hosted by Socrates Book Reviews. This is my first time participating, but I'm setting my goal at Gold - 50 books. 

6. 2022 Book Blogger Support Challenge hosted by Pages Unbound. This challenge has a new prompt each month geared towards supporting book bloggers! I can't wait to start this challenge and support those in this wonderful community!

And that's it! Those are the challenges I have chosen for 2022! Here is a link to the page where I will be updating my progress for each of these challenges as the year goes on: 2022 Book Challenges 

I also just want to give a quick shout out to GirlXOXO for posting a master list of 2022 book challenges!

Have a great 2022 everyone!