YA – The Scarlet Veil

Mahurin, Shelby. The Scarlet Veil. HarperTeen, 2023. 978-0-063-25875-4. $21.99. 640p. Grades 9-12.

Celie Tremblay is making history as the first woman Chasseur. As a huntsman, she reports to her captain and fiance, Jean Luc. Although she assisted her friend Lou, a witch, in the defeat of Morgane, Jean Luc and her friends treat her as a fragile doll that needs to be protected, rather than an equal. When bodies are found in Belterra, drained of blood, Jean Luc tries to keep Celie out of the investigation. However, she is determined to establish herself in the role of a Chasseur and prove that she can help. When she is mistaken for her friend Coco and abducted by vampires, their King, Michal, takes a great interest in Celie. He brings her to his home, the hidden island of Requiem, with the plan to use her as bait to get to her friends. Celie wants to protect them at all costs, so she makes a bargain with Michal. Since he’s investigating the same murders as she is, Celie agrees to help him. As they search for the killer, she becomes inevitably drawn to Michal and the darkness she once feared. 

THOUGHTS: Although Mahurin’s previous trilogy featured  witches, The Scarlet Veil is very much a vampire novel. As the start of a new duology, I do think it’s important for readers to start with the Serpent & Dove trilogy before picking up this one to have a better understanding of Celie and her friends. The events of Gods & Monsters shaped Celie as a character, and I loved watching her grow into her own person throughout the novel. Readers will enjoy the slow burn, enemies to lovers storyline between Celie and Michal, and fans of Sarah J. Maas or any vampire novel will thoroughly enjoy this YA romantasy. 

Fantasy

YA – Warrior Girl Unearthed

Boulley, Angeline. Warrior Girl Unearthed. Henry Holt and Co., 2023. 978-1-250-76658-8. $19.99. 400 p. Grades 9-12.

Perry Firekeeper Birch is looking forward to her summer vacation without any responsibilities. When she damages her auntie’s Jeep, she joins a summer program, along with her twin sister Pauline, in order to pay her back. In addition to her internship placement, she joins team “misfit toys” with some of the other reluctant interns. Together, they compete in team challenges and assist in a police investigation into the disappearance of women from her tribe. When Perry learns about the bones of one of her Anishinaabe ancestors, “Warrior Girl,” being kept at a local university, they come up with a plot to return the sacred remains to where they belong. 

THOUGHTS: Warrior Girl Unearthed is a follow up to Firekeeper’s Daughter. However, enough time has passed between the stories that readers can pick up this novel without having read the other. Readers unfamiliar with Native American ancestral burial rites will gain some insight into NAGPRA and empathy for tribes who are unable to bring their ancestors home. I enjoyed Perry’s journey as she matured and grew and learned more about her tribe’s history. As a protagonist, her actions and emotions will be very relatable to readers as she deals with the injustices of her tribe. The novel’s mystery and powerful messages will keep readers hooked until the very end.

Fantasy

YA – Isles of the Gods

Kaufman, Amie. Isles of the Gods. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2023. 978-0-593-47928-5. $19.99. 464 p. Grades 9-12.

Selly is a sailor and always has been. Although she has instructions from her father to stay where she is, she decides to board a ship to join him on the open seas. When her ship is commandeered by Prince Leander, she discovers he must complete a ritual and sacrifice on the Isles of the Gods to prevent one of two ancient sleeping Gods from awaking and starting a war. While Selly reluctantly agrees to help Leander along with his former schoolmate, Keegan, who was a stowaway aboard, they embark on a dangerous journey across the sea so the Prince can fulfill his task. There are some, however, who want to see Leander fail. Laskia is on a mission to find the Prince to prevent his sacrifice. Some, like her older sister Ruby, want to start a war, and with the help of Jude, a fighter and former acquaintance of the Prince, they set off after him. Prince Leander has one advantage: he’s an extremely powerful magician, and when he teaches Selly to harness her powers as well, they do their best to outrun their enemies in a thrilling and dangerous race against time.

THOUGHTS: Isles of the Gods is the first book I have read by Amie Kaufman, and I found this story to be wonderfully adventurous. I’d recommend this one to readers looking for action and peril with just a touch of romance. Told from multiple points of view, Kaufman creates an original mythology which adds to the mystery and magic on the high seas within this thrilling novel.

Fantasy

YA – A Ruinous Fate

Smith, Kaylie. A Ruinous Fate. HarperCollins, 2023. 978-1-368-08159-7. $18.99. 432 p. Grades 9-12.

Calliope Rosewood is a witch, and although she could be extremely powerful, she chooses instead to hide her gifts. Her powers to siphon magic from others is forbidden and dangerous, even among other witches. In order to stay alive, Calli deserts her coven and stays hidden with two of her best friends. When she meets Ezra, everything changes, and although she still keeps her powers hidden, she is forced one night to roll a witches die, taking her one step closer to fulfilling a prophecy that will turn her into a blood warrior. Desperate to change her fate, Calli accepts help from Ezra’s older brother, Gideon, and along with her friends, they journey into a dark forest on a quest to find the one named “the witch eater”. Calli and Ezra begin to rekindle the relationship they had previously after revealing startling truths about themselves, but she also feels a connection to Gideon who is trying, like her, to remove his rolls of fate. Together, with old friends and new, the group faces many challenges within the enchanted forest, and Calli has to decide who she can really trust while embracing her true identity and power. Will she be able to change her fate and save her friends, or will she inevitably fulfill the prophecy, start a war, and destroy her people and their magic forever?

THOUGHTS: This is a great recommendation for readers who love Sarah J. Maas. It contains many popular fantasy tropes readers will enjoy at a more, age appropriate level than some of Maas’s later novels. The pages are brimming with strong, female characters, friendships, magic, adventure, peril, and romance. The foreshadowing visions in A Ruinous Fate will have readers coming back to check out the sequel as soon as the last chapter has been read. There is so much more to this story yet to come.

Fantasy

YA – Chaos & Flame

Gratton, Tessa, and Justina Ireland. Chaos & Flame. Razorbill, 2023. 978-0-593-35332-5. $19.99. 336 p. Grades 9-12.

Darling Seabreak is a member of House Kraken, but it wasn’t always that way. Once, Darling was a part of House Sphynx until it was destroyed by House Dragon along with her family and the rest of her people. Darling is determined to take her revenge on House Dragon, and when her adoptive father is kidnapped, she vows to do what she must to save him. During her rescue mission, she’s captured by Talon Goldhoard, the War Prince of House Dragon and brother to Caspian, the high Prince Regent. When Caspian reveals Darling’s history to the world, he plans to restore House Sphynx to its former glory. Darling plays along, and in return, Capian has promised not to harm her father. As she is pulled into Caspian’s games and plots while visiting  the other houses, Talon is as well, and although they are enemies, they cannot deny the attraction that exists between them. In the end, Darling must decide where her loyalties truly lie and if allying with Caspian will save their world, or destroy it.

THOUGHTS: I would describe Choas & Flame as a YA Game of Thrones, and it’s a perfect recommendation for readers asking for the aforementioned series that may not be a part of a high school collection. Alternating point of views among diverse characters add to the mysteriousness of the morally gray Prince Caspian, and his unpredictable actions and prophecies will keep readers guessing. This enemies to lovers fantasy will also keep readers hooked and the dramatic ending will leave them wanting more.

Fantasy

YA – Nightbirds

Armstrong, Kate J. Nightbirds. Nancy Paulsen Books, 2023. 978-0-593-46327-7. $19.99. 480 p. Grades 9-12.

In the world of Simta, there are some women who possess magic, but it’s forbidden for them to use it. The exception lies with The Nightbirds, teenage girls who have the power to transfer their magic to another through a kiss. These girls are protected, and the price for a visit is high. In order to keep them safe, their identities are kept secret. Matilde, Aesa, and Sayer are known only by their Nightbird titles: The Goldfinch, The Ptarmigan, and The Nightingale. When Sayer is attacked by a religious zealot and The Nightbirds take a hiatus from seeing visitors, the girls decide to look for answers about the attacker themselves. When they start asking questions, they discover that not everything they have told about themselves and their magic is true. Although they can share their power, they can harness it as well. Their discoveries about themselves as other magical girls give them a new sense of identity and purpose, and each will have to decide whether they want to stay in their cage or fight for their freedom.

THOUGHTS: Nightbirds is a fantasy, but it’s a fantasy based on the fashion, lifestyle, and prohibition era of 1920s America. In this world, it’s not prohibition against alcohol consumption, but magic use. It’s a unique idea and blends aspects of history and fantasy together. Readers will enjoy the themes of friendship and female empowerment as the mysteries and secrets of this magical world unravel for three, protagonists who grew up in very different worlds. Nightbirds is only the beginning of their stories, and readers will be eager to pick up book two to see where their journeys take them.

Fantasy

YA – Bring Me Your Midnight

Griffin, Rachel. Bring Me Your Midnight. Sourcebooks Fire, 2023. 978-1-728-25615-3. $9.49. 416 p. Grades 9-12.

Mortana Fairchild is a witch. She lives with her coven on an island separated from the mainland, and although they practice magic, they only expel small quantities at a time in order to keep the peace between witches and mainlanders, who have been distrustful of witches in the past. As a result, Tana and her coven purge their excess magic once a month into the ocean, and although they have noticed its negative effects on the water, the tradition continues. When Tana misses the midnight ritual due to a run in with a stranger named Wolfe, she must find a way to purge her magic on her own before it kills her. When she discovers that Wolfe and his hidden coven still practice “dark magic” on the other side of the island, she unwillingly accepts his help in order to stay alive. Their relationship becomes complicated when she begins to develop feelings for him because Tana is engaged to Landon, the son of the mainland governor. This arrangement will create an alliance between the witches and mainlanders, and even though Tana knows how important this union is to her coven, she’s torn between her duty and her desire. As she starts to question what she’s been taught about using magic and the powers she has, her world begins to unravel, and her choices will not only determine her future, but the future of her island and her coven.

THOUGHTS: Although Bring Me Your Midnight is a part of the fantasy genre, I would highly recommend this one to readers looking for a love story. It has a bit of everything that kept me reading late into the night: an arranged marriage, a forbidden “enemy to lovers” romance, and an intriguing mystery surrounding the use of magic in Tana’s world. Bring Me Your Midnight is a stand-alone fantasy that exceeded my expectations, and I think this is a must have title for any YA, library collection. 

Fantasy

YA – The Brothers Hawthorne

Barnes, Jennifer Lynn. The Brothers Hawthorne. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2023. 978-0-316-48077-2. $19.99. 480 p. Grades 9-12.

The Hawthorne brothers had a rather unusual upbringing. Their wealthy grandfather pushed them to be the best that could be in any given situation and challenged them each and every day. After he passed away, leaving his vast fortune to a stranger, both Grayson and Jameson Hawthorne are trying to find their new place in the world. When Grayson discovers his half sister has gotten into some trouble, he doesn’t hesitate to help her out. Although he has no intentions of getting to know her or her twin sister and has vowed to have no emotional connections with them whatsoever, he struggles to protect the Hawthorne family secrets as he attempts to keep his new family safe. On the other side of the world, Jameson Hawthorne, along with Avery Grahams, has discovered secrets about his father’s family as well. Jameson’s father finds him in London, and after asking for his help, Jameson and Avery must join and infiltrate an inclusive, mysterious London club in order to win back a family estate Jameson’s father gambled away. They have the chance to win it back for him if they are invited to play in a dangerous game, and luckily, Jameson has been raised to win, no matter the cost. In the end, the brothers must each face some of the most difficult challenges of their lives and decide what and who truly matters the most.

THOUGHTS: As a continuation of The Inheritance Games,  I think readers will enjoy this one only after finishing the original trilogy. I liked the back-and-forth narration between Grayson and Jameson, and readers will find The Brothers Hawthorne full of mystery, intrigue, adventure, puzzles, and dangerous games as they discover even more Hawthorne secrets and family history that has not been previously revealed. This mystery thriller also sets the tone for Barnes’ next edition in The Inheritance Games collection: a set of novellas which will be published at the end of this year, and in addition, a new series, The Grandest Game, will be released in the summer. I’d highly recommend this saga to any reader looking for something to keep their interest and keep them guessing!

Realistic Fiction    

YA – Foul Heart Huntsman

Gong, Chloe. Foul Heart Huntsman. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2023. 978-1-665-90561-9. $21.99. 560 p. Grades 9-12.

It’s 1932 in Shanghai. Rosalind Lang, also known by her code name Lady Fortune, has been exposed. As an immortal assassin, she had a purpose, and she had her missions. Now, she has nothing. Orion, her mission partner who posed as her husband, has been taken by his mother and his mind is now fully under her control. Although their marriage was only a ruse, her feelings for him were not, and she sets off on a new mission to find him and bring him home, even with an impending attack from Japan looming over her every move. With the help of Orion’s sister, Phoebe, who is an agent herself; her ally Alisa Montagova; and her sister, Celia, Rosalind encounters many dangers and ghosts from her past on her journey to save Orion, but she’s determined to find him, no matter the cost.

THOUGHTS: This novel brings the Foul Lady Fortune duology to an end. Based on Shakespeare’s As You Like It, Foul Heart Huntsman is a continuation of Gong’s These Violent Delights, and I would advise readers to start with that series before reading this one. The book is equal parts science fiction, fantasy, action, espionage, and romance in an alternate, historical setting. The series as a whole features diverse and LGBTQ+ characters, and readers will love the reunion scenes between all characters in Gong’s Secret Shanghai world.

Fantasy

YA – A Curse for True Love

Garber, Stephanie. A Curse for True Love. Flatiron Books, 2023. 978-1-250-85120-8. $20.99. 448 p. Grades 9-12.

Evangeline Fox has lost her memories. She knows very few things to be true: she traveled to Magnificent North, she married Prince Apollo, and they live seemingly happily together in the castle. However, she knows that something has happened, something involving a mysterious Lord Jacks. Apollo has told her to stay away from him because he is dangerous and the reason her memories are gone. Little does she know that Apollo is the one who stole her memories and wants to keep Evangeline all to himself. In order to keep the secret, he must kill Jacks once and for all. Through the alternating point of views of Apollo, Jacks, and Evangeline, Apollo’s plan starts to fall apart as Evangeline starts to ask questions and is unequivocally drawn to the mysterious stranger, Archer, that comes to her rescue and encourages her to remember who she is. As the prince slowly becomes the villain and the villain the hero, Evanegline will have no choice but to listen to her heart and trust that true love will guide her along her way to her fairy tale ending. “She was the moth, and Jacks was still the flame.”

THOUGHTS: My expectations for the finale of this series were high. Maybe too high? Although I still loved every moment of this book, I was left feeling as if the story was unfinished as there were still many unanswered questions as I finished the last few pages. However, with the way the book ended, I’m hoping for more stories from the Magnificent North and maybe a bit more of Jacks and Evangeline in future, companion novels. As with the previous two books in the series, its pages are filled with magic spells, deceptions, forgotten stories, danger, curses, and above all, the power of true love. “Other stories were brewing in the Magnificent North.”

Fantasy