PASSIONATE ABOUT SCHOOL LIBRARIES
Divine Rivals
– Rebecca Ross –
Wednesday Books
Published 4 April 2023
♥♥♥♥
Divine Rivals is as powerful and evocative as it is unique.
I’ve been a fan of Rebecca Ross since reading The Queen’s Rising. Divine Rivals is a very different sort of fantasy novel but Ross’s powerful writing is consistent.
Defend the Dawn
– Brigid Kemmerer –
Defy the Night #2
Bloomsbury YA
Published 20 September 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Defend the Dawn is the second book in the Defy the Night series and all I can say is I definitely need book 3, right now. Talk about a cliffhanger of an ending.
Wildbound
– Elayne Audrey Becker –
Forestborn #2
Tor Teen
Published 30 August 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Wildbound is the sequel to Forstborn and it is the perfect follow up to this YA fantasy. Romance, war and a fight for justice and freedom. I adore fantasy duologues and Wildbound has all the elements of an epic fantasy.
Master of Iron
– Tricia Levenseller –
Bladesmith #2
Feiwel & Friends
Published 26 July 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Master of Iron is the second book in the Bladesmith duology. I adore fantasy duologies. No plodding, place-holding middle book in a trilogy, no drawn out, massive series. I love a duology and I am here for the romance, adventure and authenticity of the Bladesmith series.
Crumbs
– Danie Stirling –
Etch/Clarion Books
Published 19 July 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Another beautiful graphic novel that will delight and entrance readers. Crumbs is the story of a young seer, not sure what she should do with her unique powers, and a barista who dreams of the stage and music. They meet each day in a bakery where each delicious baked good can cast magic. But falling in love and choosing a future might be hard when their dreams each lead them in different directions.
Twin Crowns
– Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber –
Balzer + Bray
Published 17 May 2022
♥♥♥/♥
Twin Crowns is a romantic fantasy novel, heavy on the romance and light on fantasy. This is no epic tale but instead a light, funny, tropey novel.
Forging Silver Into Stars
– Brigid Kemmerer –
Forging Silver Into Stars #1
Bloomsbury YA
Published 7 June 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Forging Silver Into Stars is just the most beautiful fantasy novel, with romance, betrayal, intrigue and wildly swinging emotions. I don’t know how she does it but Brigid Kemmerer’s writing just gets better and better. I don’t know how to put my love for this novel into words, so instead I’ll just go about shoving this book into the hands of readers and demanding they read it.
Forging Silver Into Stars returns readers to the world we first fell in love with in A Curse So Dark and Lonely. While Forging Silver Into Stars introduces us to new characters, never far from the action are Grey, Lia Mara, Rhen and Harper.
Sorceline
– Sylvia Douye, Paola Antista (illustrations) –
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Published 3 May 2022
♥♥♥♥♥
Sorceline is a beautiful graphic novel translated into English from its original French. I’ve heard booksellers wax poetic about French graphic novels and I can see why. Sorceline is divine. Perfect for middle grade readers, and older teens will also enjoy this story.
Enter a magical school that will delight fans of Harry Potter and meet magical creatures that are at once familiar and also delightfully fresh and new and also slightly scary.
Continue reading
Blood Scion
– Deborah Falaye –
Harper Teen
Published 8 March 2022
♥♥♥♥
Blood Scion is a hard-hitting, epic fantasy novel that doesn’t pull its punches. At all. Parts of this book left me feeling sick, and there is no shying away from the cruelty these characters must face. It also leaves the reader with no question as to why our protagonist must make the choices she does and how hard she has to fight for justice and even just a glimmer of hope for a better future.
A Magic Steeped In Poison
– Judy I. Lin –
The Book of Tea #1
Feiwel and Friends
Published 22 March 2022
♥♥♥♥
Like Mulan but more focus on the tea ceremonies. That’s how i think of this book. And don’t get me wrong, that makes it an awesome book. Imagine all of Mulan’s fight and guts and “I have what it takes” and take that energy and put it into making tea that can bewitch and enchant. It is super cool and unique and just the start of an exciting series.
Ning’s sister is dying. Poisoned by the same poison that killed their mother. Ning knows the only way to save her sister’s life is to lie to everyone she cares about and risk everything. Ning enters the competition to find the next shénnóng-shi, master of the ancient and magical art of tea making. The winner will be bestowed a favour from the princess and Ning plans to win and get the best healers available to tend to her sister. Ning was once trained by her mother, who was a master shénnóng-shi once, but she knows if anyone in the imperial city discovers her true identify, her life will be forfeit. But she has only just arrived in the city when she is drawn into the mystery of The Shadow, court politics and a corrupt competition. Winning and escaping with her life seem more and more unlikely, but Ning is determined to not give up.
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