Fantasy

Blood at the Root / LaDarrion Williams

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Blood at the Root
By: LaDarrion Williams, Jalyn Hall (Narrator)
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 432
Published: May 7, 2024
Publisher: Labyrinth Road
Dates Read: November 14, 2024 - November 17, 2024
Format: Library Book / Audiobook / Hardcover

Trigger Warnings: Family death, foster care system, mentions of assault

Ten years ago, Malik’s life changed forever when his mother mysteriously vanished into green smoke and he discovered he had uncontrollable powers. Now at seventeen, Malik’s kept his powers hidden, focusing on looking out for himself and his younger foster brother, Taye. However, after a daring act to rescue Taye, Malik’s found an unexpected connection to his magical ties and to a hidden magical university his mother attended.

At Caiman University, a door opens for a future Malik never could have envisioned for himself – one with magic, and one that includes Alexis, his first love. His search for answers about his heritage, his powers, and what really happened to his mother exposes cracks in the magical community – feuding covens, magical politics, forbidden knowledge, and buried mysteries. While digging, Malik also discovers the reawakened evil dating back to the Haitian Revolution. 

I actually found this book through LaDarrion Willam’s TikTok, right as he was getting ready to publish it – I’ve only just now been able to read and review it. I knew I was going to like this novel, but I didn’t think I would love it as much as I did. This book is action packed and will keep readers turning page after page with anticipation as to what’s to come.

Overall, a wonderful POC magical YA novel written in a world that Malik is still learning about (so readers can too). I’m definitely keeping my eyes out for the second book in the series.

*Thank you Labyrinth Road and NetGalley for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Haru: Book 1: Spring / Joe Latham

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Haru: Book 1: Spring
By: Joe Latham
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 272
Published: March 12, 2024
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Dates Read: November 2, 2024
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Haru, a small bird who dreams of flying away out of the valley, and his best friend, Yama, a talking boar, are used to shadows. One day, Yama finds a strange artifact that causes sinister effects. The duo must go on an epic adventure to destroy the artifact and save the world. 

I really enjoyed the beautiful illustrations within this book – it was bright, but also dark and creepy at some times too. The world was perfectly shown, with the small hint of humans having been there in the past, which intrigues me to find out if we know what happened in this world. 

I am curious to know how this will continue on – this novel is called “Spring”, with book two being called “Summer”, I didn’t feel like an entire season passed, but maybe it’ll just be the color scheme of the panels or something… either way, I’m excited to continue reading.

The Hedge Witch / Colleen Delaney

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The Hedge Witch
By: Colleen Delaney
Genre: Fantasy / Romance
Number of Pages: 270
Published: May 14, 2024
Publisher: City Owl Press
Dates Read: October 27, 2024 - November 1, 2024
Format: Library Book / Paperback

Trigger Warnings: Death, death of loved ones, torture, blood, violence

Laurel Bay is the middle of five witchy sisters living on Star Island. She runs a tarot reading business to help contribute to bills, and spends her free time jumping into the Hedge World when she’s strong enough. But when Laurel has a vision from her past about her soulmate, she throws caution to the wind to find him.

Owen Davies is a sonofawitch – a descendant of morally gray water witches, his powers are very minimal. He’s aching to find his soulmate, so much so that he has a storage unit filled with furniture he’s made and blueprints for their house he’ll build. Then, a fateful vacation lands him in Laurel’s garden and their paths are finally intertwined.

But witches are after Laurel’s powers and buried secrets become unearthed, revealing Laurel and Owen’s heartbreaking past. But this time around, the soulmates refuse to be separated.

I’m starting off by saying that I’m not a romance reader, yet alone a paranormal romance reader, but I do love witches and the premise of this book sounded fun so I wanted to read it.

Some of the writing was well thought out and flushed out, while a few other parts could have been edited down some I thought.

The romance of soulmates felt real and wasn’t cheesy like I thought it may have been – it was actually heartbreaking when you find out about their past lives.

Overall, this book is going to appeal to anyone who enjoys books with witches, soulmates, and a little bit of spice (and even though who don’t care too much for spice, those parts are easily skimable and won’t ruin the plot)

*Thank you City Owl Press and LibraryThing for a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins / P. Djélí Clark

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The Dead Cat Tail Assassins
By: P. Djélí Clark, Lynnette R. Freeman (Narrator)
Genre: Novella, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 213
Published: August 6, 2024
Publisher: Tordotcom
Dates Read: October 11, 2024 - October 13, 2024
Format: Library Book / Hardcover / Audiobook

Eveen is a part of a guild of hired necromancer killers called the dead cat tail assassins; she was resurrected after death and is beholden to the goddess Aeril with no memories of her past.

There are only three unbreakable vows.

  1. The contract must be just.
  2. You may only kill the contracted.
  3. Once a job is accepted, it must be carried out. If you don’t – a final death would be a mercy.

When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city of Tal Abisi upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face to face with a past she’s not supposed to remember.

So this took me a moment to get into it while reading – and it really has nothing to do with the writing, because P. Djèlí Clark is amazing and I always love everything he writes. My problem was my eyeballs were not cooperating with the creation of the world. My solution? Listen to the audiobook! And boy, was that the best solution because I got immersed in this world so fast listening to Lynnette R. Freeman read it (especially with the Cajun accents!). It also helped me when, later that night, I tried to read the last two chapters myself but then the Goddess came with a very thick Cajun accent and the words on the page had to be said aloud in order for me to understand the words with the accent. So, this is my long ended version of saying I loved the audiobook version of this book!

The book itself?

Worldbuilding – amazing, steampunkish.

Characters – stunning, especially the women who were unapologetically themselves and held power to the highest degree. 

*Thank you Tordotcom and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Somewhere Beyond the Sea / TJ Klune

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Somewhere Beyond the Sea
By: TJ Klune
Genre: Fantasy
Number of Pages: 416
Published: September 10, 2024
Publisher: Tor Books
Dates Read: August 14, 2024 - August 23, 2024
Format: ARC / Paperback

In the sequel to The House in the Cerulean Sea, readers are taken back to the magical house filled with very special children.

Arthur works and loves hard so none of the children under his care feel the neglect and pain he experienced at the same house years ago. He’s not alone though. The love of his life, Linus Baker, a former caseworker in the Department In Charge of Magical Youth, is by his side. And the island sprite, Zoe Chapelwhite, and her girlfriend, Mayor Helen Webb. Together, they will do anything to protect the children.

But when Arthur is summoned to make a public statement about his past, he finds himself in a fight to save his family, and for the future all magical people deserve.

Then they meet David, a magical child who hopes to join them on their island. David finds power in calling himself a monster, a name that Arthur has worked so hard to protect his children from. Will their family grow stronger or will they fall apart?

Right, so I love TJ Klune and as a Book Group Coordinator at my library, I’m always putting The House in the Cerulean Sea into groups’ hands – even my groups that only tend to only want historical fiction. They all come back and love it (obviously). That being said – I have been talking nonstop about the sequel and how excited I am to read it.

It didn’t disappoint! I laughed out loud at the children’s antics so many times. And of course, it wouldn’t be a TJ Klune book without me shedding a tear at least once (or twice). It’s the love of a found family that always gets me and how much each of these characters love, protect, and grow with each other that pull at my heartstrings.

This is a cozy, delightful, and heartfelt fantasy novel with a found family. These characters will make you feel every emotion they’re feeling and more. You’ll love them. You’ll hate them. You’ll want to visit the house in the cerulean sea again and again.

The Forest Demands Its Due / Kosoko Jackson

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The Forest Demands Its Due
By: Kosoko Jackson
Genre: YA, Horror
Number of Pages: 432
Published: October 3, 2023
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Dates Read: August 8, 2024 - August 13, 2024
Format: Hardcover

Douglas Jones wants nothing to do with Regent Academy’s influence on its ability to mold teens into leaders; he just wants to survive and graduate. But then a student is murdered and the next day, no one even remembers him existing – except Douglas and the groundskeeper’s family, The Everley’s. In his process to uncover the truth, Douglas pokes at the horror hidden in the woods on the edge of the school’s grounds and begins to unearth secrets hidden for centuries.  

I was invested in this book – until the last quarter of it to be honest. There was so much going on and the explanation of stuff didn’t make sense – which, I know the forest is supposed to be super confusing and cause all that, but the explanations that are given weren’t I guess satisfying enough for me <spoiler> like, why were the creatures still around after </spoiler>.

I also didn’t quite understand the romance aspect of it. Everett went from not talking to Douglas to willing to die to protect him. I just – meh…

Overall, I don’t know if this would be horror? Definitely dark academia with fantasy aspects. I also don’t read enough horror to be the best opinion on it truth be told.

A Witch’s Guide to Burning / Aminder Dhaliwal

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A Witch’s Guide to Burning
By: Aminder Dhaliwal
Genre: Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 400
Published: May 28, 2024
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
Dates Read: August 1, 2024 - August 4, 2024
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

A witch’s magic is relied on by her town; the more powerful and stronger, the better the town prospers. But what happens when a witch can’t keep up? She’s burnt – her magic and memories erased. When a witch’s burn ceremony is interrupted by rain in Chamomile Valley, a witch is left crumbled at the bottom of the stake. It’s up to a witch doctor and her toad friend to save the signed witch and nurse her back to health.

I don’t remember how I found out about this title. I think from one of the many publisher previews I go to, but I’m always down for witchy stuff, so I was all about it to start. I’m so glad I asked for it, because I absolutely fell in love with it from the first page. 

I know this is categorized as being a graphic novel, but I almost want to say it’s like a mixed media type of book – loads more text than just dialog like your usual graphic novels! The art was beautiful, even in the grayscale that it was in. And, I say grayscale, because I would usually describe manga as being black and white, but there is just way more to this than you see in manga panels.

Lovely book about grief, self-love, healing, friendship, and sacrifice. You can bet I will be putting this on many suggestion and recommendation lists to come. This is also one I will be purchasing my own copy of when I have the chance!

The Encyclopedia of Early Earth / Isabel Greenberg

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The Encyclopedia of Early Earth
By: Isabel Greenberg
Genre: Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 176
Published: October 3, 2013
Publisher: Bond Street Books
Dates Read: May 19, 2024
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

In a series of illustrated tales, a young man paddles from his home in the North Pole to the South Pole in search of his missing soul. Along the way, he uses his skills as his village’s storyteller to share others’ stories.

I really loved the storytelling of this novel. Of course, this is all fictional, but Isabel Greenberg used a lot of stories based on our own cultures and twisted them around. The book didn’t take itself too seriously and it was fun to see what Greenberg kept and what she changed to tell the story of early Earth.

I particularly enjoyed Kiddo and her storyline with Noah as she tried to save him from her father, Bird God.

Overall, a fun graphic novel filled with detailed art and stories that will capture your attention and hold it through every page.

The Groundworld Heroes / Adrian So

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The Groundworld Heroes
By: Adrian So
Genre: Middle Grade
Number of Pages: 122
Published: August 6, 2024
Publisher: Monarch Educational Services
Dates Read: May 12, 2024 - May 13, 2024
Format: ARC / eBook

When Benjamin, a junior mole digger, witnesses a human invasion of his homeland of Soiland, he must gather his courage and unite two different realms to fight the intruders and save the citizens.

This book is definitely aimed at the younger crowd (upper elementary to lower middle school), but I can also see this as a chapter book for Hi-Lo readers as well. So does have fun with language in this book. Using words like: mole-ments, Whizzy Fizzy Speed Machine, bunny-hops (used to measuring distance), for rabbit’s sake! – and so much more.

Overall, this is a book about a little mole standing up for what he believes in and helping his home, and his people with his bravery. Readers will enjoy the adventure filled story with funny, witty characters and punny writing. I can see a lot of future fantasy readers getting their start in that genre with this book.

The author of this book is a teenager and this is his debut novel. I’m excited to see their continued writing journey and to see them grow as an author.

*Thank you Adrian for reaching out to me to read your debut novel in exchange for an honest review

The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale / Jon Klassen

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The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale
By: Jon Klassen
Genre: Children’s, Fantasy
Number of Pages: 106
Published: July 11, 2023
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Dates Read: May 5, 2024
Format: Library Book / Hardcover

Otilla has run away from terrible danger and has now found a big abandoned house in the middle of the dark forest. Her host, the skull, is afraid of something that comes every night. Can brave Otilla save them both? Filled with rich, monochromatic artwork, The Skull is a retelling of a traditional Tyrolean folktale.

I wish that I had these types of books as a kid – a bit spooky and dark, but still with a good story to it.

I absolutely loved the artwork of this story. The words were sparse but the art was amazing.

The author’s note at the end was also amazing – as a librarian myself, I love when others speak of our superpowers 🙂

Overall, this isn’t just a children’s book by any means. I think those of all ages will enjoy it. It’s a quick, quirky read that doesn’t really sit on horror, but definitely gives off spooky vibes.