Review: Call Down the Hawk

Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not the biggest fan of The Raven Cycle - especially 'cause Stiefvater totally sank all my ships - but you know what? I went ahead to read this, if only to see where she takes Ronan next.

(Just no more problematic lines for the guy, mmkay, Maggie?)

In a lot of ways, it feels like The Raven Cycle never ended, and it's about the most perfectly mixed bag you could get. On the one hand, Ronan is our main protagonist by far for sure, while the original series so often made Blue, the ostensible protag, take such a backseat to the Raven Boys - especially Gansey, and often Ronan too, with the latter being far more justifiable in his occupancy of the spotlight. But in addition to Ronan, we have several other POV characters following their own parallel story, a story of promise in its exploration of how the world affects dreamers and dreamers affect the world. Unfortunately, as is all too often the case with The Raven Cycle, the additional storylines and POVs in this book prove very difficult to connect with or comprehend, to the point where I kept finding my eyes glazing over and losing interest in any part of the book that wasn't Ronan's story. Even when a significant part of that story is a ship that I still feel was manufactured purely to pander to the sort of fans who fetishize m/m pairings, but hey, at least the chemistry is far more present here than it was in The Raven King. So this is the first of a trilogy? I really do hope Stiefvater improves the following books...but I'm not gonna lie, my faith in her is slipping all over again.

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Review: Exile from Eden: Or, After the Hole

Exile from Eden: Or, After the Hole by Andrew Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"That's why all boys go away: to chase endlessness."

Ahhh, the long-awaited sequel to Grasshopper Jungle, aka my favorite Andrew Smith novel - even if it's overly reliant on the Cheating Bisexual trope and is a go-to example of how much Smith is, by his own admission, not good at writing women. Then again, Shaun David Hutchinson loves the shit out of it, which I'm sure most of YA Twitter would tear him apart for. Lol.

Review: Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Goodreads lists this latest installment in the Rick Riordan Presents lineup as the first of a series, but it could also work pretty well as a standalone piece. Which might explain why there's no "coming soon" at the end of the book listing the title of the next installment. But Kwame Mbalia gives us an excellent debut in Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, a sprawling and mind-bending tour through a world of West African gods and black folk heroes. And as far as Rick Riordan and Rick Riordan Presents protags go, Tristan brings a lot new to the table - not just with the stories he grew up with, but also his uniquely flawed backstory, in which both his strength and his weaknesses come out at the worst possible times. Not for nothing did Riordan tell us in his footnote that this manuscript made him cry a few times. But as Goodreads says, Kwame Mbalia ain't done with Tristan's stories yet - and I'm here for all the tears and laughs and ass-kicking action he'll offer.

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Review: Supernova

Supernova by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The final novel of Marissa Meyer's second series is as long as Renegades was, roughly. But it builds amazingly on the cliffhanger ending of Archenemies, ramping up all the dramatic irony of Nova and Adrian's secret-laden relationship for all it's worth. Ultimately those secrets come out, but then more secrets totally subvert those secrets, a true pileup of reveals that makes this the most unpredictable book Marissa Meyer has ever written to date. Or will ever write. Honestly, I never saw half that stuff coming, even if the seeds were planted even all the way back to the very beginning of Renegades. And trust me on this, you won't see it either. To the Renegades Trilogy, I may now bid a much-deserved ave atque vale.

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Review: The Toll

The Toll by Neal Shusterman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shusterman took almost two years to bring us the follow-up to Thunderhead and conclusion to Arc of a Scythe, and seeing this 600-page brick grace the shelves at my work and my library, that's no surprise. Bringing one of his finest stories full circle, Shusterman begins nearly around the time of the Great Resonance that signaled the disappearance of the Thunderhead from the world after Scythe Goddard lost the election, then threw his little snit fit and wiped out the vast majority of the upper echelons of the Scythedom and sank the fortress island of Endura under the Atlantic...

Review: A Kingdom for a Stage

A Kingdom for a Stage by Heidi Heilig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In the middle of Heidi Heilig's second series, the sophomore entry in her first trilogy, it took me a few moments to remember a lot of details from For a Muse of Fire - details that were plenty, even if that ARC I read in summer 2018 was a little short of finished artwork, maps, sheet music, etc. Reading A Kingdom for a Stage in finished form was a real improvement over that "maps TK" ARC for sure, though the story, this time, has a tendency to drag. That may owe a little bit to the fact that we're much more in the thick of things as far as the Chakran revolution goes. Jetta's necromantic powers make her quite an asset, but the Aquitans aren't going to let their colony go easily. Or quietly. An alternate 19th century this may be, but Heilig gives us some real steampunk twists to the action, giving the Aquitans some fearsome working avions that can easily carpet-bomb an entire village into oblivion - are we sure this is supposed to be the 19th century, or the Vietnam War? Either way, it fits Heilig's ongoing anti-colonialist theme to a T. Though Goodreads still doesn't list the third novel yet, I think we can rest assured it'll happen. Especially with that weapons-grade little cliffhanger...

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Review: Rebel

Rebel by Marie Lu
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

One more Legend novel? Not the start of a new trilogy, but a single coda?

It's Marie Lu. Of course I'm in.

When last we left off with Lu's first and star-making series in the YA sphere, Champion infamously ended on a bittersweet but still pretty saddening note, at which point the story picked up with a ten-years-distant epilogue showcasing the spark of hope that perhaps the future would be a little brighter for June and Day.

Now we get the challenges they still have to face going into that bright future - as does Daniel's little brother Eden, now in his late teens and going to university in Antarctica, while late-twenties Daniel works for the AIS and still pines for June - who may just come back into the picture in an official capacity, escorting the Elector of the Republic on a state visit.

Review: Loki: Where Mischief Lies

Loki: Where Mischief Lies by Mackenzi Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

More of a 3.5 for me, but I'll round it up to a four - which is pretty par for the course when it comes to Mackenzi Lee, I guess, even when she isn't writing an official Marvel novel. And while there are no planned sequels to this one, it's at least supposed to be the first in a three-book lineup centered on some lesser-known stories of certain Marvel characters who break the usual rules of heroes and villains. And who better to start with than Loki? Being that this is a Loki book, and that it's set during the 19th century on Midgard, it feels like a logical follow-up to Lee's Gentleman's Guide series, with a rather uncouth protagonist trying to prove himself to a dad who simply doesn't have time for him, and who has a tendency to express pretty strong bi energy - though in this case, Loki's sexuality isn't a major root of his daddy issues the way it is for Monty and his extra-forbidding father. But hey, Lee does a pretty good job of focusing on how much Loki wants to break away from the fate set forth for him, even if we know that he doesn't based on the Marvel movies. I do hope to see some even more unexpected stories in this Marvel lineup from Lee going forward!

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Review: Capturing the Devil

Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fourth and final novel of Kerri Maniscalco's debut series throws a few unexpected twists into the mix, while giving all us fans some much-needed and much-beloved closure. While the "Devil" is promised to be the same one who's been the subject of at least one popular nonfiction book set in a certain White City, there are other candidates for that Devil's identity brought up - candidates that actually make a surprising amount of sense. And while you'd expect the book to take place in Chicago, there's still a good chunk of story taking place in New York first - including some developments that threaten to undo Thomas and Daciana's relationships and inheritances. But they and their lady loves, Audrey Rose and Ileana, won't break up so easily. Certainly not Audrey and Thomas, whose romance catches fire in this book like never before. I will spoil nothing of this book - which I'm very sad that I didn't get as an ARC like I did for the previous two - but I will very happily give the series its well-deserved ave atque vale.

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Review: A Dream So Dark

A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Well, of course this sequel's happening. Tell us something we don't know. *insert Sherlock Holmes responding how a pig's orgasm lasts up to thirty minutes*



But seriously. I'm super overjoyed that this book has finally graced our shelves.



And with a cover so bloody beautiful, seeing it in person was amazing! Though I didn't get it as an ARC like I did for ABSB, all good things come to those who wait, eh?



And yes, I couldn't help but notice the heart on this one. Just like the first book had a spade...does that mean McKinney's got plans for four books, one for each suit? Apparently so, given that she's already announced A Crown So Cursed, plus a prequel novel. So it looks like the four suits will happen, thank God!

Review: Gideon the Ninth

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one might take me a reread or two to properly appreciate all the extensive world-building that Tamsyn Muir puts into this debut novel, and it's such an amazing one that I'm going to love digging deeper into this strange necromantic space mythos. Though deadly dark and full of terrors, the space-opera world of Gideon the Ninth is also a rollicking and adventurous one. After all, Gideon has tried to escape the skeletal order of the Ninth House (try not to confuse this with Leigh Bardugo's latest novel) almost a hundred times in her not-too-many years, and as the book begins, she's going again - this time, even willing to barter away a dirty magazine or two to get the job done. Reading like a collaboration between Laura Lam and Jasper Fforde, this first book of a highly original new trilogy is gleefully screwball and unpredictable, though one thing that's not so gleeful? The ending, in which Muir sets up a devastating cliffhanger leading up into next year's Harrow the Ninth.

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Review: Darkdawn

Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Almost exactly three years to the day when I reviewed Nevernight.

Almost exactly two years to the day when I reviewed Godsgrave.

And now, in November 2019, I finally reach the end of Jay Kristoff's best series of all, his wild and terrifying Venetian-Renaissance-inspired dark fantasy of increasingly demonic terrors, the old gods of Itreya fighting again through their newest champions, and of course Mia Corvere. Mia, that devilish little murdery one we all know and love because she's not only #stabstabstab Stabby Stabby Kill Girl like no other slayer since Buffy, but also a bicon like no other iconic bi since Clarke Griffin.