Me on The Cold Is in Her Bones

Title: The Cold Is in Her Bones
Author: Peternelle van Arsdale
Release Date: January 22, 2019
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster imprint)

Milla knows two things to be true: Demons are real, and fear will keep her safe. Milla's whole world is her family's farm. She is never allowed to travel to the village and her only friend is her beloved older brother, Niklas. When a bright-eyed girl named Iris comes to stay, Milla hopes her loneliness might finally be coming to an end. But Iris has a secret she's forbidden to share: the village is cursed by a demon who possesses girls at random, and the townspeople live in terror of who it will come for next. Now, it seems, the demon has come for Iris. When Iris is captured and imprisoned with other possessed girls, Milla leaves home to rescue her and break the curse forever. Her only company on the journey is a terrible new secret of her own: Milla is changing, too, and may soon be a demon herself.

The Cold Is in Her Bones is a tale about girls who never feel like enough, who never feel smart enough or pretty enough or resourceful enough, and what happens when they take the chance to be themselves.

Milla is a girl who just is. There's nothing overly special about her. She lives with her parents and brother on their farm, she does her chores and does what she's told. But it's never enough for her mother, who always seems to scold Milla for not being more than who she is. Her older brother Niklas is seen as perfect, but Milla loves him so her anger towards him never lasts. When a new girl, Iris, comes to the farm, Milla is ecstatic. Finally, a girl her age she can be friends with. But Iris comes with secrets, secrets that have Milla reconsidering the life she's lived, the things her mother pushes on her. Secrets that start a change in Milla.

This book is all about Milla becoming a fully realized young woman. When she leaves to find Iris, to free her, to discover the truth behind the demon and the voices, she's finally given the chance to just be herself. Away from her mother, away from her picking and her scolding and her expectations. This is for those girls who don't feel like enough, because they are enough the way they already are. Sometimes you don't get the words from your parents that you were always hoping you'd here. Sometimes you have to leave the place you once called home in order to find the place you were meant to be. Sometimes family is made up of people you followed and saved along the way, or people who took you in and supported you for a time. It's a curious fairy tale-esque of a story, a tale of regret and hope and finding yourself.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Simon & Schuster Canada through NetGalley.)

Me on Firestarter

Title: Firestarter
Author: Tara Sim
Release Date: January 15, 2019
Publisher: Sky Pony Press (Skyhorse Publishing imprint)

The crew of the Prometheus is intent on taking down the world's clock towers so that time can run freely. Now captives, Colton, Daphne, and the others have a stark choice: join the Prometheus's cause or fight back in any small way they can and face the consequences. But Zavier, leader of the terrorists, has a bigger plan--to bring back the lost god of time. As new threats emerge, loyalties must shift. No matter where the Prometheus goes--Prague, Austria, India--nowhere is safe, and every second ticks closer toward the eleventh hour. Walking the line between villainy and heroism, each will have to choose what's most important: saving those you love at the expense of the many, or making impossible sacrifices for the sake of a better world.

Firestarter is the conclusion to a series steeped in adventure, mystery, sorrow, and love. It's all revelation and heartache, running and racing and hurrying against time. Or with time. Or on the path to save time.

As I read this I thought back to when I first read Timekeeper, when it all started so unassumingly with a young man walking into a clock tower and finding someone watching him, and never would I have expected the trilogy to unfold as it did. It expanded the world so much, took Danny and Colton out of England and across the continents to India. And it brought them closer and  closer to trouble, to danger. To what could be the end of everything. There's a lot that conspires against Danny and Colton, both intentionally or not. Everyone has plans of their own, dangerous ones, hopeful ones. Murderous ones.

This book is definitely all about endings, about making that final decision that could end captivity, end a way of life, end lives themselves, and the reason for making that decision. Is it one you make purely for yourself, keeping someone you care about alive while so many others die, or is it one you make to keep the world moving as it should while you lose someone you care about? It's one of the hardest decisions to make, and here, it must be made.

It felt like there was so much happening in this book. Timekeeper was the introduction, Chainbreaker was the uncovering of a dangerous plot, and this was the struggle to keep as many people alive as possible as they moved towards the end. They go so many places, hide and uncover so many secrets, confront so many people, it almost felt too long. But there was so much to wrap up. If you're a fan of the first two books and you were gutted by how Chainbreaker ended, you're really going to want to read this. A great end to a sorrowful, mysterious, emotional series.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Sky Pony Press through Edelweiss.)

Me on The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy

Title: The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy
Author: Mackenzi Lee
Release Date: October 2, 2018
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books (HarperCollins imprint)

A year after an accidentally whirlwind grand tour with her brother Monty, Felicity Montague has returned to England with two goals in mind—avoid the marriage proposal of a lovestruck suitor from Edinburgh and enroll in medical school. However, her intellect and passion will never be enough in the eyes of the administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science. But then a window of opportunity opens—a doctor she idolizes is marrying an old friend of hers in Germany. Felicity believes if she could meet this man he could change her future, but she has no money of her own to make the trip. Luckily, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay Felicity's way, so long as she's allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as her maid. In spite of her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girl's true motives are revealed, Felicity becomes part of a perilous quest that leads them from the German countryside to the promenades of Zurich to secrets lurking beneath the Atlantic.

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy is another race across Europe in search of adventure, intrigue, and some unexpected personal growth along with some thievery and piracy. Because what else do you do on a trip across Europe with a Montague sibling?

Felicity is back, practical and head-strong as ever, still waiting for the men who control every teaching hospital and medical school she applies to to actually listen to her when she says she wants to be a doctor. She's intelligent, she's calm, and she's widely read on the subject. But reading books only gets her so far. She has no practical experience, which is what she would get learning medicine from other doctors. But all other doctors are male and are too stupid to realize, according to Felicity, that admitting her would actually teach them something about women's health and women in general. That they don't all faint at the sight of blood or a man's private parts. When Felicity hears of a chance to possibly meet a doctor who don't flinch at the thought of working with a woman, when she starts hoping of a chance to one day be taken seriously as a doctor, she's off.

I knew what to expect this time around, having read the first, but I didn't expect how it would all unfold. Considering Felicity is the calm and the practical to Monty's hedonism and hilarity, I knew there would be a lot of sense and reason. And there is. But there's also a lot of Felicity learning how to be herself without being sharp and dismissive. She knows that she's not one of those girls interested in frippery and frivolity, in dresses and jewels and weddings, but that doesn't mean that the girls that are are clueless and foolish. It's okay for Felicity to want to be a doctor, just as it's okay for other girls to want to get married and throw parties. This book speaks to the determination and the strength of girls and women, how they continue to push back against gender stereotypes, how they carve out places for themselves to learn and teach and exist in a world that would have them stand back in the shadows. I enjoyed this book more than the first, which I imagine says something about me and how often I agreed with Felicity over the course of reading this book, but if you enjoyed the first you're sure to love this return to the Montagues and their inability to live quiet, boring lives.

(I downloaded an e-galley of this title from HarperCollins through Edelweiss.)

Me on Strange Grace

Title: Strange Grace
Author: Tessa Gratton
Release Date: September 18, 2018
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books (Simon & Schuster imprint)

Long ago, a village made a bargain with the devil: to ensure their prosperity, when the Slaughter Moon rises, the village must sacrifice a young man into the depths of the Devil's Forest. Only this year, the Slaughter Moon has risen early. Bound by duty, secrets, and the love they share for one another, Mairwen, a spirited witch; Rhun, the expected saint; and Arthur, a restless outcast, will each have a role to play as the devil demands a body to fill the bargain. But the devil these friends find is not the one they expect, and the lies they uncover will turn their town—and their hearts—inside out.

Strange Grace is haunting, moving and magical. It's a story of bargains and sacrifice, of love and fate, of a tree and a forest and the heart that lives there. It's a story of place and self and destiny and an overwhelming, earthly magic.

Mairwen is a witch, a Grace witch like her mother and the women in their family before them, descended from the Grace sisters the town was named after. As a Grace witch, she can never go into the forest, but she can hear it calling her name. Waiting for her. But she has a part to play as a Grace witch when the Slaughter Moon comes every seven years. But now, when it comes early, she's worried because of who will most likely be the next saint. Rhun is the apparent best of all the young boys and men looking to do their part to keep the town protected for another seven years. He has the strength and the skill to, hopefully, survive a night in the Devil's Forest. But he is afraid of dying like so many before him and leaving behind those he cares about. Like Mairwen. Like Arthur. Arthur is sharp and brash, fueled by anger and disgust and a hatred for the early days of his childhood. He's an outcast in a town he's lived in his entire life because he doesn't understand who he is. When the Slaughter Moon comes early, all three of them know what will happen, and all three of their hearts race toward something they never expected they'd uncover.

This completely satisfied me when I knew I'd be reading another Tessa Gratton book. There were moments that took me back to some of her previous books, ones like Blood Magic and The Blood Keeper. Magic all around people, in the earth and trees and everything else. Secrets that stretch back through time. Love leading characters through danger and despair, through near-death experiences. Characters joined together in more ways than one, in love and blood and the beating of their hearts. It's atmospheric and haunting. This is a dark and twisted tale of magic and love that I'm sure to read again before the year is out. I'd definitely recommend this to those looking for dark tales of destiny and witches, something similar to Peternelle van Arsdale's The Beast Is an Animal.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Simon & Schuster Canada through NetGalley.)

Me on Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft

Title: Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft
Authors: Tess Sharpe, Jessica Spotswood, Brandy Colbert, Zoraida C­órdova, Andrea Cremer, Kate Hart, Emery Lord, Elizabeth May, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Lindsay Smith, Nova Ren Suma, Robin Talley, Shveta Thakrar, & Brenna Yovanoff
Edited by: Jessica Spotswood & Tess Sharpe
Release Date: August 28, 2018
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Are you a good witch or a bad witch? Glinda the Good Witch. Elphaba the Wicked Witch. Willow. Sabrina. Gemma Doyle. The Mayfair Witches. Ursula the Sea Witch. Morgan le Fey. The three weird sisters from Macbeth. History tells us women accused of witchcraft were often outsiders: educated, independent, unmarried, unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations. Bold. Powerful. Rebellious. A bruja's traditional love spell has unexpected results. A witch's healing hands begin to take life instead of giving it when she ignores her attraction to a fellow witch. In a terrifying future, women are captured by a cabal of men crying witchcraft and the one true witch among them must fight to free them all. In a desolate past, three orphaned sisters prophesize for a murderous king. Somewhere in the present, a teen girl just wants to kiss a boy without causing a hurricane. From good witches to bad witches, to witches who are a bit of both, this is an anthology of diverse witchy tales from a collection of diverse, feminist authors. The collective strength of women working together—magically or mundanely--has long frightened society, to the point that women's rights are challenged, legislated against, and denied all over the world. Toil & Trouble delves deep into the truly diverse mythology of witchcraft from many cultures and feminist points of view, to create modern and unique tales of witchery that have yet to be explored.

Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women & Witchcraft is full of magic and wonder, of strengths and weaknesses, of love and fear and despair and power. It's a collection of stories highlighting young women and their abilities, be they accepted or hidden, honoured or feared, as they live their lives freely or in secret.

Sometimes it's a little hard to review anthologies because in an anthology there are usually two or three stories I really like, two or three that I don't, and the rest are okay. In this anthology I, at the very least, liked all of them. It's so much fun, reading all the different stories about everyone's different versions or adaptations of young women being witches or practicing some kind of witchcraft. Whether it was an inate power or something from a Goddess or passed down through families. Whether it was set in the past or in the present. Stories full of complicated politics, star-crossed lovers, moments between sisters, and young women rising up against the men that fear them. Stories about star signs, fear, faith, and fate. There are a few I love more than the others, the ones by Tess Sharpe, Zoraida Córdova, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Emery Lord, but all the stories are magical and powerful. They all speak to the power of young women, whether it be magic or determination or an indestructible combination of the two. It was such a joy to read this anthology and I hope there will be more like it in the future.

(I received an e-galley of this title from Harlequin Teen through NetGalley.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (388)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: Sherwood
Author: Meagan Spooner
Release Date: March 19, 2019
Publisher: HarperTeen

From Goodreads:

Robin of Locksley is dead. 

When news comes that he's fallen in battle at the King's side in the Holy Land, Maid Marian doesn’t know how she’ll go on. Betrothed to Robin, she was free to be herself, to flout the stifling rules of traditional society and share an equal voice with her beloved when it came to caring for the people of her land.

Now Marian is alone, with no voice of her own. The people of Locksley, persecuted by the Sheriff of Nottingham, are doomed to live in poverty or else face death by hanging. The dreadful Guy of Gisborne, the Sherriff’s right hand, wishes to step into Robin’s shoes as Lord of Locksley, and Marian’s fiancé. Society demands that she accept her fate, and watch helplessly as her people starve.

When Marian dons Robin's green cloak, and takes up his sword and bow, she never intended that anyone should mistake her for Robin, returned from the Holy Land as a vigilante. She never intended that the masked, cloaked figure she created should stand as a beacon of hope and justice to peasant and noble alike. She never intended to become a legend.

But all of Nottingham is crying out for a savior. So Marian must choose to make her own fate and become her own hero...

Robin Hood.

I'm curious to see how this will go. In all the retellings I've read, so few of them have been Robin Hood retellings, and with this one also involving Marian disguising herself and people thinking she's actually Robin, I do wonder how everything will play out. How it will end.

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (387)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: A Sorrow Fierce and Falling
Author: Jessica Cluess
Release Date: October 16, 2018
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers

From Goodreads:

It’s time for war.

After suffering terrible losses, Henrietta and Lord Blackwood have led their warriors to Sorrow-Fell, a vast estate where only those invited by a Blackwood may enter–and the ideal place to plan a final assault against the Ancients.

It’s time for a wedding.

Henrietta nervously awaits her marriage to Blackwood, but when the ritual to become his bride reveals a dark secret, she realizes that Sorrow-Fell is not a safe haven; it’s a trap. Convincing the sorcerers of this, however, is not easy. So with Maria, the true chosen one, and Magnus, the young man who once stole her heart, at her side, Henrietta plots a dangerous journey straight into the enemy’s lair. Some will live. Some will die. All will be tested.

In this stunning conclusion to the Kingdom on Fire series, Henrietta must choose between the love from her past, the love from her present, and a love that could define her future. While battles rage, the fate of the kingdom rests on her decision: Will she fall or rise up to become the woman who saves the realm?

It’s time for Henrietta to make her stand.

How in the world is this series going to end?!?

Me on My Plain Jane

Title: My Plain Jane
Authors: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
Release Date: June 26, 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins imprint)

You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!) Or does she? Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.

My Plain Jane is a rather creative and silly retelling of Charlotte Brontë and Jane Eyre, a re-imagining of the author and one of her most famous heroines made flesh and a fellow resident of Charlotte's boarding school. But, as this is Victorian England, gothic adventures and mysteries are afoot, and it isn't long until both girls are wrapped up in an epic ghost hunt.

Charlotte is watchful and observant, looking for bits and pieces she can put into her stories. Sure, the school she lives and studies at isn't the kindest or the warmest, but the man who was in charge of the school was recently murdered so things are looking up. Because he was the absolute worst. But who murdered him? Was it Jane Eyre, former student and current teacher at the school, someone Charlotte considers a good friend? Someone who wants more out of life, someone who wants to leave the school and be someone special and important? Whoever it was, with the appearance of the Society for the Relocation of Wayward Spirits in town, what follows is a curious ghost hunt and a rather bizarre series of events and circumstances.

I remember reading the first book by the three co-authors, finding the story about Lady Jane Grey and a royal family full of shapeshifters to be rather amusing and ridiculous in the way that over-the-top retellings can be. But I didn't enjoy this one as much, which is too bad. I just couldn't get past the idea of Jane Eyre being a real person, that Charlotte Brontë knew her and used her as inspiration for what would become one of her famous novels. Plus the secret society of ghost hunters. It was too much of a complete reworking of history that I couldn't get behind. That being said, I did like reading about Charlotte, how she was always writing stories, always thinking. Ready and willing to help, to get to the bottom of the mystery. Not willing to be left behind. I think this will appeal to bigger fans than I of the first book as well as fans of rather outrageous and unbelievable retellings.

(I received an advance copy of this title from HarperCollins Canada.)

Me on The Unbinding of Mary Reade

Title: The Unbinding of Mary Reade
Author: Miriam McNamara
Release Date: June 19, 2018
Publisher: Sky Pony Press

There's no place for a girl in Mary's world. Not in the home of her mum, desperately drunk and poor. Not in the household of her wealthy granny, where no girl can be named an heir. And certainly not in the arms of Nat, her childhood love who never knew her for who she was. As a sailor aboard a Caribbean merchant ship, Mary's livelihood—and her safety—depends on her ability to disguise her gender. At least, that's what she thinks is true. But then pirates attack the ship, and in the midst of the gang of cutthroats, Mary spots something she never could have imagined: a girl pirate. The sight of a girl standing unafraid upon the deck, gun and sword in hand, changes everything. In a split-second decision, Mary turns her gun on her own captain, earning herself the chance to join the account and become a pirate alongside Calico Jack and Anne Bonny. For the first time, Mary has a shot at freedom. But imagining living as her true self is easier, it seems, than actually doing it. And when Mary finds herself falling for the captain's mistress, she risks everything—her childhood love, her place among the crew, and even her life.

The Unbinding of Mary Reade is a story of pirates and longing, of adventure and fear, of discovering who you are and being true to that self, even if it puts you in harm's way.

Mary is kind and smart, but lost and lonely. Made to live as a boy for most of her life, she's torn as to what her place in the world will be when she gets older. How is she supposed to continue the charade of being a young man as time goes on? Things are expected of young men once they reach a certain age. And so she runs off with her friend Nat, who only ever knew her as Mark, and they turn to a life on the high seas. But when things go wrong and they end up separated, she wonders what will happen next. Until she sees pirates attack their ship. Until she sees a girl with the pirates, skirts and all with a pistol raised, and Mary knows what to do next. What follows is Mary's hard realization that it isn't so easy, being a woman pirate, and the chance to risk everything for what Mary truly wants in life: to be herself with someone she loves.

It's a rather unconventional sort of story, but then both Mary Reade and Anne Bonny are unconventional young women for the time period. Posing and dressing as a young man, fighting alongside men as pirates and thieves. This is not what proper God-fearing young women did. But what choice did they have? Forced into marriage or worse, unable to be in control of their lives or their futures. After living years as a boy, Mary can't see herself living as a young woman should. Quiet and demure, her opinion given little to no weight. Property of her husband. She's lived a mostly free life as a young man, seen what happens to young women when they're beaten and abused. What's she supposed to do? Keep her head down? Or fight to live the life she wants? This is a work of fiction, but Mary Reade and Anny Bonny were real pirates, real women fighting in a male-dominated space. I'd certainly recommend this to those looking for stories about Mary and Anne that lean more towards the romantic side of their relationship and not so much the piracy.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Thomas Allen & Co.)

Me on The Bird and the Blade

Title: The Bird and the Blade
Author: Megan Bannen
Release Date: June 5, 2018
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins imprint)

As a slave in the Kipchak Khanate, Jinghua has lost everything: her home, her family, her freedom... until she finds herself an unlikely conspirator in the escape of Prince Khalaf and his irascible father as they flee from their enemies across the vast Mongol Empire. On the run, with adversaries on all sides and an endless journey ahead, Jinghua hatches a scheme to use the Kipchaks' exile to return home, a plan that becomes increasingly fraught as her feelings for Khalaf evolve into a hopeless love. Jinghua's already dicey prospects take a downward turn when Khalaf seeks to restore his kingdom by forging a marriage alliance with Turandokht, the daughter of the Great Khan. As beautiful as she is cunning, Turandokht requires all potential suitors to solve three impossible riddles to win her hand—and if they fail, they die. Jinghua has kept her own counsel well, but with Khalaf's kingdom—and his very life—on the line, she must reconcile the hard truth of her past with her love for a boy who has no idea what she's capable of... even if it means losing him to the girl who'd sooner take his life than his heart.

The Bird and the Blade is the tale of a young woman desperate to survive and desperate to keep those around her alive.

Jinghua is caught up in a life of slavery, taken from her home and forced to serve a khan in the Mongol Empire. Her life is now hard, desolate, and possibly haunted. But when everything is flipped around and she has to run, she find an unlikely saviour in Prince Khalaf, the son of the man she's enslaved to. Now the two of them, along with his now deposed and stubborn father, are on the run, racing towards safety and hope for the future. All Jinghua wants is to leave the empire, to find a place back home, but how will she do that as a slave? As a young woman with nothing? And so comes her journey across deserts and through cities as she struggles to keep the three of them travelling together while keeping her feelings for Khalaf, the one person to treat her like a human being since her enslavement, hidden.

I don't know the story of the original Italian opera that the author took inspiration from, nor do I know much about this time period when it comes to the Mongol Empire, so I can't say anything in terms of accuracy. Overall, it's an interesting story of a young woman caught by circumstance and plotting wanting to escape but deciding to stay because of certain reasons. I can see where it tugs at the reader's emotions. Jinghua's memories of life before she was taken, her days in the Song Empire with her parents and brother. The ripples and anger that pas between Khalaf and his father. The ending. I thought this was okay, I liked it well enough but found it slow, but I can see fans of historical fantasy YA and sweeping heartbreaking stories enjoying this.

(I received an advance copy of this title from HarperCollins Canada.)

Me on Spectacle Volume 1

Title: Spectacle Volume 1
Author/artist: Megan Rose Gedris
Release Date: May 22, 2018
Publisher: Oni Press

Pragmatic engineer Anna works as a psychic in the Samson Brothers Circus, but she doesn't believe in anything supernatural—until her twin sister Kat is murdered and comes back as a very demanding ghost. Sharing a room with her sister was hard, but now they're sharing a body while trying to identify the killer. With few leads, a troupe full of secretive folk, and strange paranormal occurrences popping up around the circus, solving the case seems near impossible. But the murderer in their midst may be the least of their problems...

Spectacle Volume 1 is mysterious. It's full of secrets, full of characters with their own different personalities and motives, and full of questions when it comes to those characters and their motives.

Anna is practical, she leans more towards the scientific things in life. Like her conjecture engine. Like sense and reason. Not the tarot cards and fortune telling she does as her role in a travelling circus. She's not like her twin sister Kat, a knife-throwing night owl who sometimes leaves a mess in her wake. But they're family. They're all each other has, and so they tolerate each other. Until one night when Kat is murdered, leaving behind a rather demanding ghost for Anna to see. With this sudden death, Anna is on the hunt for the murderer, but Kat's still keeping secrets from her sister. Everyone in the circus keeps secrets, and it's up to Anna to sort through them in order to find Kat's murderer. But something else is going on around the circus.

The art style is rough and charming, it didn't take long to grow on me. The different shapes of the circus cars and tents. The wild mass of Anna's hair, her and Kat's outrageous expressions when the find out Kat's dead and sticking around as a ghost. The different people who work in the circus, like owner Jebediah Tetanus, squeaky-voiced Flora, and Kat's show partner Carl. They all have their own look, all have a way of standing out.

To be honest, when I started reading this I wasn't sure where it was going to go, what I was going to find. What I found was a story full of secrets, of people running and hiding and finding a place where they can feel safe. But safety only lasts for so long, those hidden skeletons stay hidden as long as someone doesn't let them out. Considering how this volume ends, I'm rather interested as to where the story will go. What secrets Anna will uncover, what secrets Kat is still keeping to herself. What's chasing after them.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from Oni Press through NetGalley.)

Me on Blood Water Paint

Title: Blood Water Paint
Author: Joy McCullough
Release Date: March 6, 2018
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers (Penguin imprint)

Her mother died when she was twelve, and suddenly Artemisia Gentileschi had a stark choice: a life as a nun in a convent or a life grinding pigment for her father's paint. She chose paint. By the time she was seventeen, Artemisia did more than grind pigment. She was one of Rome's most talented painters, even if no one knew her name. But Rome in 1610 was a city where men took what they wanted from women, and in the aftermath of rape Artemisia faced another terrible choice: a life of silence or a life of truth, no matter the cost.

Blood Water Paint is harsh and honest, lyrical and poignant. It's the true tale of a young woman's strength and fury, her determination, her sorrow and disgust at her treatment by the men around her.

Artemisia is thoughtful, a painter looking to improve at her craft. But how can she when her father keeps her art hidden, lies about painting them himself. How can she when she's a young woman in Renaissance Italy, someone with no status or power of her own. What can she do, a young unmarried girl at times quick and opinionated? All she wishes to do is paint, and paint she does, hating almost everything but painting. Until someone enters her life, her studio, with talk of teaching her. Until someone takes without her consent.

It's impossible to run from emotions in a verse novel, because there it is. Clear as daylight on the page. There for the reader to see, to breathe in, to feel themselves, over and over again. And what does the reader feel here? Artemisia's desire for freedom, for recognition as a painter. Her desire to be heard at the trial against her rapist, to be believed over him. Her rage at men, at their lies and desires and cruelty. Her disappointment. Her resilience. Her strength. This is a powerful story that needs to be read.

(I borrowed an e-book copy of this title from the library.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (376)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: The Boneless Mercies
Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Release Date: October 2, 2018
Publisher: Farrar, Straus & Giroux (Macmillan imprint)

From Goodreads:

A dark and gorgeously drawn standalone YA fantasy about a band of mercenary girls in search of female glory.

Frey, Ovie, Juniper, and Runa are the Boneless Mercies—girls hired to kill quickly, quietly, and mercifully. But Frey is weary of the death trade and, having been raised on the heroic sagas of her people, dreams of a bigger life. 

When she hears of an unstoppable monster ravaging a nearby town, Frey decides this is the Mercies' one chance out. The fame and fortune of bringing down such a beast would ensure a new future for all the Mercies. In fact, her actions may change the story arc of women everywhere.

Full of fierce girls, bloodlust, tenuous alliances, and unapologetic quests for glory, this elegantly spun tale challenges the power of storytelling—and who gets to be the storyteller. Perfect for fans of Maggie Stiefvater, V.E. Schwab, and Heidi Heilig.

I'm rather intrigued by this. A genderbent Beowulf retelling with mercenary girls who hunt down monsters. Sold. All the way sold.

Me on Girl Power Graphic Novels

Hi there! Welcome to one of today's stops in First Second's blog tour all about girl power graphic novels. These are all books that feature different kinds of girls, strong girls and scared girls and powerful girls and intelligent girls and clueless girls, as the main character. Seeing different kinds of heroes, heroines, and other main characters is so important for readers of kids books, no matter their gender. There's no one way to be, everyone is different, and everyone is amazing.

And so, here's a look at some very different young girls that can be found leading the way and falling into trouble in some recent graphic novels. :)

First is Claudette in Giants Beware!, Dragons Beware!, and Monsters Beware! by Jorge Aguirre & Rafael Rosado. Claudette is brash, rough and tumble. She's uncouth, head-strong, and bold. All she thinks about, dreams about, is fighting giants and monsters. All she thinks about is defeating evil and being a hero. Saving those in peril. And, as everyone around her constantly points out, she has no sense of propriety or delicacy. She speaks her mind and rushes too far and too fast into situations. She doesn't listen to sense. She's reckless. Claudette's more of an act first and ask questions later kind of girl, which can be very dangerous. But Claudette is staunchly loyal, to her blacksmith father and her aspiring chef brother Gaston, to her princess in training friend Marie, and to her dog Valiant. When the chips are down, Claudette will rush in with her sword, ready to bash any and all monsters. The entire series is a wonderful mixture of silliness, curious magic, complicated characters, and hard decisions.

Next is Isabel in The City on the Other Side by Mairghred Scott & Robin Robinson. Isabel is a quiet, lonely girl looking for a place of her own. Her life is far from exciting or even interesting, kept safe from dirt smudges and any hint of fun from her posh society mother and her distant artist father. She wonders if they truly love her, care about her, because they seem far more interested in their own lives than spend time with their daughter. But then, on a trip to Carmel to visit her father, Isabel ends up falling through to the fairy world and right into the middle of a war. A war that could impact her world as well. Drawn to a magical necklace, sure that no one back home will miss her, Isabel sets out on an epic quest. She comes into her own on this journey. She takes risks, falls into danger multiple times, and refuses to stop until everyone is saved. This is a girl who's finally found something she can do, finally found something that could be hers, if only for a little while. A girl who's, hopefully, found somewhere to be.

Then there's Avani in Star Scouts and The League of Lasers by Mike Lawrence. Avani is new to town, lonely because she doesn't have any friends and annoyed because her father signed her up for Flower Scouts where all the other girls do is talk about boys and makeup. She's bored, waiting for something she's interested in. And then she's mistakenly abducted by an alien. And so Avani joins Mabel and her Star Scout troop, made up of other aliens, and begins to lead a secret life of robotics and teleportation and weird space camp. Avani's like any kid who moves to a new town, she's looking for something familiar in a new place, and she sort of finds it with Mabel. She's met other kids who like doing interesting (to her) activities. But there's something that comes across in the first book, and that's that Avani can be rather bossy. After she finds the Star Scouts, when they compete against other groups at camp, she needs help from the others. But she's pushy in that she only wants the help that will make sure she wins. Both books are good looks at how friendship isn't easy, how everyone is different and that's okay, how strong personalities will butt heads over and over again. How it's okay to be wrong, about something or someone. How it's a lot more fun when you try to get along instead of argue all the time. Avani isn't perfect, but she's learning how to be a good friend.

If you're a middle grade reader, if you're a kid looking for new comics to read, maybe check out these, as well as Gigi D.G.'s Cucumber Quest and Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter by Marcus Sedgwick & Thomas Taylor. There's no one way for a young girl to be a young girl. You can want to fight monsters, you can want to be a princess, you can be quiet and studious, you can be loud and active. You can be smart, athletic, quiet, lonely, short, tall, thin, fat. You can have caring parents, you can be an orphan, you can have a single parent trying their best. You can be anything you want. Just be you.

Thanks so much to Gina at First Second Books for sending me physical copies and e-galleys of all of the above mentioned books (especially when we thought they were lost in the mail, they weren't!). You can definitely check out First Second on Twitter or Tumblr, or at your local library or bookstore. Happy reading!

Me on Suitors and Sabotage

Title: Suitors and Sabotage
Author: Cindy Anstey
Release Date: April 17, 2018
Publisher: Swoon Reads (Macmillan imprint)

Shy aspiring artist Imogene Chively has just had a successful Season in London, complete with a suitor of her father's approval. Imogene is ambivalent about the young gentleman until he comes to visit her at the Chively estate with his younger brother in tow. When her interest is piqued, however, it is for the wrong brother. Charming Ben Steeple has a secret: despite being an architectural apprentice, he has no drawing aptitude. When Imogene offers to teach him, Ben is soon smitten by the young lady he considers his brother's intended. But hiding their true feelings becomes the least of their problems when, after a series of "accidents," it becomes apparent that someone means Ben harm. And as their affection for each other grows—despite their efforts to remain just friends—so does the danger...

Suitors and Sabotage is a gentle tale of mystery and intrigue, of friendship and romance, of side-long glances and pondered-over thoughts and wondering and wondering without asking important questions in order to keep feelings from being hurt.

Imogene is bright and creative, well-skilled and well-versed in art. So much so, she's hoping to one day start an art school. But unfortunately for Imogene, her father has other plans for her. Like a possible engagement to a rather suitable young man. A young man Imogene isn't necessarily interested in. Ben is quick and charming, knowledgeable and interested enough in architecture to be an apprentice to a good architect. But skilled at the art of drawing? Not so much. Luckily enough, he's accompanied his older brother Ernest on a visit to a particular young woman's house, a young woman that Ernest is rather interested in on a personal level. Ben as well, after getting to know her, after discovering she can teach him to draw. But is that all there is between them? Interesting conversation and drawing lessons?

It's a rather sweet, easy-going book, much like the author's previous books. The charm of the English countryside and Regency-era manners and manor houses. The mistakes and misunderstandings that occur when thoughts are thought over and over again but rarely spoken aloud. Random mishaps that bring people together. Definitely a must-read for fans of the author and those looking for more sweet historical romance YA.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on Waiting on Wednesday (371)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bunch of weekly fun hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. :)

Title: My Plain Jane
Authors: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, & Jodi Meadows
Release Date: June 26, 2018
Publisher: HarperTeen

From Goodreads:

You may think you know the story. After a miserable childhood, penniless orphan Jane Eyre embarks on a new life as a governess at Thornfield Hall. There, she meets one dark, brooding Mr. Rochester. Despite their significant age gap (!) and his uneven temper (!!), they fall in love—and, Reader, she marries him. (!!!)

Or does she?

Prepare for an adventure of Gothic proportions, in which all is not as it seems, a certain gentleman is hiding more than skeletons in his closets, and one orphan Jane Eyre, aspiring author Charlotte Brontë, and supernatural investigator Alexander Blackwood are about to be drawn together on the most epic ghost hunt this side of Wuthering Heights.

After reading the first, after finding the first outrageous and entertaining in its retelling of history, I'm curious about this. Retellings and reimaginings are often interesting, seeing where the authors go, what they take and where they divert, but including both Jane and her author Charlotte Brontë? How curious.

Blog tour: Chainbreaker

Hi there! Welcome to a very special Monday post. Today is the start of the blog tour for Tara Sim's Chainbreaker, the continuing story of a clock mechanic and the clock spirit he's fallen for.

The first book, Timekeeper, is all parts mystery and fantasy and mythology and romance, and Chainbreaker continues along those same lines, only this time the mystery and the danger reach far beyond the small town of Enfield.

Me on The Prince and the Dressmaker

Title: The Prince and the Dressmaker
Author/artist: Jen Wang
Release Date: February 13, 2018
Publisher: First Second Books (Macmillan imprint)

Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion! Sebastian's secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances―one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone's secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend?

The Prince and the Dressmaker is bright and wonderful. It's a story about dreams and dresses and secrets, of courage and fear. Of finding the strength to be yourself out in public when you're afraid that the world won't accept the real you.

Frances is a dressmaker. She's incredibly talented and incredibly underappreciated, working in the back of a dressmaker's shop with so many other seamstresses. She dreams of being a well-known and wanted designing, of her designs being worn by so many at so many different events. When given the chance, Frances designs something bold and unexpected, drawing the interest of a rather secretive client. Sebastian is a prince who's happy enough being a prince. Except for the times when he hides himself away, more comfortable in an elegant ballgown than his princely uniform. Finding Frances, seeing her designs, gives him the chance to finally go out looking how he wants to in a dress. He's the happiest he's been in some time, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Frances is happy being his secret dressmaker. She wants to be known for her work, wants acknowledgement, and Sebastian's secrets keep her hidden away. And so they come to a crossroads.

I love Jen Wang's artwork, the style and shape of the characters and the lavish designs of all the dresses. The soft, curious, determined face of Francis paired with Sebastian's bright smile. And that big triangle of a nose that he has. The slim lines of Sebastian in contrast with the large barrel chest of his father's. The classic European architecture and clothing styles, the ballgowns with full skirts and bare necks and collarbones. The uniforms and the carriages, the buildings and the bathing costumes. All of it is just gorgeous. It all works so well with the story of Frances and Sebastian.

I love what this story is, what it's trying to show in the story of Sebastian and Frances. Here we have a young man who's looking for a way to fulfill his parents' dreams while hiding that sometimes he likes wearing dresses and a young woman who's looking to live her dream of being a famous designer and dressmaker instead of being forced into the backroom to slave away on something that someone else will get credit for. A young man who wants to hide and a young woman who wants to be seen. I love how this story says that there is no shame in being who you are at the very core of your soul, no shame in wearing what you want to wear or being who you want to be. That the world can be that kind and accepting, that it can value your decisions. That there is nothing wrong with a teenage boy who wants to wear dresses. This is a wondrously kind and gorgeous book that tells closeted or secreted away teens that they are not alone, than they can smash their way through outdated gender norms in order to finally be themselves and that there will be people ready and willing to support them and love them. A must-read for those looking for kind, honest stories about real people, for those who've always looked for a story about a prince and the dresses he wears.

(I received an e-galley of this title to review from First Second Books through NetGalley.)

Me on Shadowsong

Title: Shadowsong
Author: S. Jae-Jones
Release Date: February 6, 2018
Publisher: Wednesday Books (Macmillan imprint)

Six months after the end of Wintersong, Liesl is working toward furthering both her brother's and her own musical careers. Although she is determined to look forward and not behind, life in the world above is not as easy as Liesl had hoped. Her younger brother Josef is cold, distant, and withdrawn, while Liesl can't forget the austere young man she left beneath the earth, and the music he inspired in her. When troubling signs arise that the barrier between worlds is crumbling, Liesl must return to the Underground to unravel the mystery of life, death, and the Goblin King—who he was, who he is, and who he will be. What will it take to break the old laws once and for all? What is the true meaning of sacrifice when the fate of the world—or the ones Liesl loves—is in her hands?

Shadowsong is haunting, a slow-moving journey brought on by consequence and fate. It's an exploration of reality and madness, of desire and practicality. Of what will come from Liesl's return to the mortal world and what had been unleashed.

Liesl has returned to her family's home and inn after leaving the Underground, released from its bizarre hold of her. Released from the Goblin King. Now she has her chance to live her life again, to compose and create music with her brother Josef. But Josef is away performing and Liesl cannot let go of her time in the Underground. Cannot let go of the young man she found in the Goblin King, of their time together and the music he awoke in her. But her leaving has brought consequences. The barrier between the worlds is thinning, the hunt is on, and everything is at risk of coming to an end.

Reading this book, remembering the previous one, makes me wonder about the world itself. About impossibility in reality. About madness and identity, about who we are and who we hide. About the reflection in the mirror, who it is and who we are. About connections brought by blood and music and love. This book moves slowly, weighed down by Liesl's own warring inside her heart, but I don't think it could move any faster. Here is Liesl coming to terms with her relationship with her brother, with the darkness that's come between them. The secrets and the truths left unspoken. For those who enjoyed Wintersong, know that the story does continue here, still lyrical and fantastical, but as more of a slow and haunting search.

(I received an advance copy of this title to review from Raincoast Books.)

Me on A Poison Dark and Drowning

Title: A Poison Dark and Drowning
Author: Jessica Cluess
Release Date: September 19, 2017
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (Random House imprint)

Henrietta doesn't need a prophecy to know that she's in danger. She came to London to be named the chosen one, the first female sorcerer in centuries, the one who would defeat the bloodthirsty Ancients. Instead, she discovered a city ruled by secrets. And the biggest secret of all: Henrietta is not the chosen one. Still, she must play the role in order to keep herself and Rook, her best friend and childhood love, safe. But can she truly save him? The poison in Rook's system is transforming him into something monstrous as he begins to master dark powers of his own. So when Henrietta finds a clue to the Ancients' past that could turn the tide of the war, she persuades Blackwood, the mysterious Earl of Sorrow-Fell, to travel up the coast to seek out strange new weapons. And Magnus, the brave, reckless flirt who wants to win back her favor, is assigned to their mission. Together, they will face monsters, meet powerful new allies, and uncover the most devastating weapon of all: the truth.

A Poison Dark and Drowning is like a dark ruin, full of shadows and secrets and death. So many secrets, so much time spent searching and hiding. But the truth will always be revealed, and in situations like the ones Henrietta finds herself in, the truth often leads to destruction.

Henrietta isn't the chosen one destined to save England from the Ancients, terrible monsters pulled from another plane of existence, but that don't mean she isn't still a sorcerer. The first female sorcerer in ages. That doesn't mean she still doesn't have a job: to protect England and to fight back. She will do whatever it takes to defeat the Ancients, whatever it takes to save Rook. Her search leads her deeper into magician-magic, into someone who first explored its powers, and towards what she hopes will be a new tool of the sorcerers. But in a world like this, there are still hidden truths out there. Secret motives, plots, and plans. And the truth becomes something Henrietta doesn't want to face. But she has to, because she's one of those people who hates feeling useless.

This second book of the trilogy was one thing going wrong after another after another. So much is thrown at Henrietta, be it Rook's sickness or the Ancients coming or the men around her trying to curtail her. Even though she had their powers, they still saw her as less than them. Considering how this book ended and where certain characters ended up, the last book's plot is sure to be interesting.

(I borrowed a copy of this title from the library.)