Review--These Twisted Bonds by Lexi Ryan

 

Brie finds herself caught between two princes and two destinies while the future of the fae realm hangs in the balance.

After Abriella's sister was sold to the fae, she thought life couldn't get any worse. But when she suddenly finds herself caught in a web of lies of her own making ­- loving two princes and trusting neither - things are not quite as clear as she once thought.

As civil war wages in the Court of Darkness, Brie finds herself unable to choose a side. How can she know where she stands when she doesn't even know herself anymore? In this darkly romantic thrill ride, the more Faerie is torn apart from the inside, the clearer it becomes that prophecies don't lie and Brie has a role to play in the fate of this magical realm - whether she likes it or not.

 

 

 

Diving straight into Lexi Ryan's These Twisted Bonds after These Hollow Vows was a wise decision indeed! After the explosive ending of the first book I was desperate to see what would happen next and Ryan does not disappoint in picking up right where we left off! These Twisted Bonds starts with a bang and ends on a high note!

Brie has woken up to find herself a member of the fae and bonded to Sebastien and she is not happy, if the shadows crawling around her are anything to go by. She storms out of the castle and runs as far from Sebastien as she can. I was particularly happy with this, because one thing I am not a fan of in fiction and in life are liars and Sebastien has told one too many lies for my liking and any fondness I had for this guy was gone.

Brie ends up in the kingdom of the Wild Fae where she befriends Misha, its king and Pretha's brother. He helps her learn to deal with the bond she has with Sebastien. It's one that connects them irrevocably. They can feel one another, speak with their minds and all that jazz and in Brie's grief and anger she wants to be rid of it, but since that can't be done, blocking him out is the next best thing.

Things are not well in the land of faerie. By enacting the bond and having Brie turn into a fae, Sebastien knew he would in turn take the Unseelie crown from her and become its rightful king, as he too is a son of Oberon and is Finn's half-brother. Family ties and all that! But things didn't go as planned, while Sebastien has the theoretical crown, Brie maintained the power of the crown. The two are meant to rule together, but Brie is not wanting to be connected to Sebastien, let alone rule with him.

But that is only the beginning of the problems! Bad things are happening in the Unseelie lands since there's technically no ruler on the throne just yet. Sebastien can't claim the throne without the power and Brie can't claim it without the crown. The two go hand in hand. And without a ruler, the Unseelie children are falling into a cursed sleep. This is not a sleep to be woken with love's true kiss either. The land needs a ruler. And it looks like if Sebastien won't step up to the throne, his mother the Seelie queen will just take both kingdoms for herself.

I feel like the Seelie queen being the big bad enemy was meant to be the course of things all along. She was the ailing queen in the beginning but when the power shift happen, she healed and it was not happy times for all, that's for sure. Brie and her friends will have to find a way to put a stop to the queen once and for all.

This book was an exciting thrill ride from the get-go! I loved seeing this fierce side to Brie! She was a woman scorned and hell hath no fury! Brie was such an amazing heroine. All she ever wanted was for her and her sister to be free of their servitude contract and be happy. But then everything changed and she had to become a different person in order to save her sister and become the hero faerie needed.

If the first book had us crushing on Sebastien with maybe back and forth on Finn, this book is all about Finn! I'll admit, I did lean more towards Sebastien in the first book. I've always loved the friends to lovers trope. But pretty much when the lies started coming and kept coming and piling up, I was a total Finn girl! Really by the start of this book I was a Finn girl and Brie herself hadn't really become a Finn girl yet! Lol. The romance that develops between them was first based off the smoldering connections they had when he was trying to help train her in the first book and that evolved into something much deeper this time around and it was intense! We do get a more inside look at the details of fae bonds and what it all means and the connections that form from them. I liked that Ryan doesn't overwhelm the reader with all this info and kind of parses the info out a little bit at a time. We get some knowledge and then later we get a more in-depth knowledge about it. 

I do feel like the ending came off a bit rushed. Things were moderately paced for most of the book, and then when I was expecting a pretty explosive battle to end all battles, we got a very shortened and condensed battle and then it was over. I half expected there to be a catch where it was a fake out, but it really was over that quickly after pages and pages of buildup. It was a little disappointing in that respect but I still appreciated the ending we got.

The one that came after that more than made up for it as it ties up all the little loose ends that we had going and wrapped everything into a neat little bow. Will everyone be happy by this ending? Well, possibly. I guess it depends on where you stand with the love triangle at large. I won't say anything more than that! 

Ryan did not disappoint though and hit all the right marks with this one! These Twisted Bonds was a smashing hit and a great follow up to These Hollow Vows! This was such a fun series and I cannot wait to read the spinoff! I specifically withheld from reading the description of that one until I finished this series just in case of minor spoilers so I am eager to see what it will all be about! If you're looking for a new fae duology with a kick-butt heroine who's filled with both darkness and light and has an impossible journey ahead of her, then look no further! This duology is filled with the right amount of action, tension, suspense, mystery and romance it's sure to delight every reader!

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars

Book Blogger Hop #316

 

 

This meme is hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict!

 

 

 

This week's question is: Do you have a favorite novel that captures the enchantment of summer nights or has unforgettable moments set under the stars? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer) 

MY ANSWER: Well...the first book that came to mind was a book that was set in summer...and things that happen at night. Whether the stars were out or not wasn't really mentioned!

In Nightfall by Suzanne Young is about a brother and sister who are spending their summer in the small town of Nightfall where "things" happen at night when the teens run wild! It was a spooky read and I LOVED IT! I believe Suzanne mentioned it was optioned for film...whether it was a movie or TV show I can't remember but I am hopeful since I remember Suzanne's tragic story behind her release night signing. I hate living in a state that's far from all the authors I adore because I would've been at the signing even though this was pretty much my first book I've read by her! It had an intriguing story that grabbed my attention so I of course immediately ordered a signed copy from her store since I was literally planning to go to B&N that weekend! Lol.

But yes. Summer story. Summer nights. Scary a$$ small town with its secrets!

Review--These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan

 

From New York Times best-selling author Lexi Ryan, Cruel Prince meets A Court of Thorns and Roses in this sexy, action-packed fantasy about a girl who is caught between two treacherous faerie courts and their dangerously seductive princes.

Brie hates the Fae and refuses to have anything to do with them, even if that means starving on the street. But when her sister is sold to the sadistic king of the Unseelie court to pay a debt, she'll do whatever it takes to get her back—including making a deal with the king himself to steal three magical relics from the Seelie court.

Gaining unfettered access to the Seelie court is easier said than done. Brie's only choice is to pose as a potential bride for Prince Ronan, and she soon finds herself falling for him. Unwilling to let her heart distract her, she accepts help from a band of Unseelie misfits with their own secret agenda. As Brie spends time with their mysterious leader, Finn, she struggles to resist his seductive charm.

Caught between two dangerous courts, Brie must decide who to trust with her loyalty. And with her heart.

 

I finally picked up Lexi Ryan's These Hollowed Vows, the first book in a tantalizing YA fantasy duology and this was such a fun read! After doing a binge on mystery reads, I was ready for a dose of fantasy after all that! And this book was indeed, a breath of fresh air! I always enjoy a good book involving the fae, as you just never know what you're going to get...

Sisters, Brie and Jas have been living with their aunt and uncle ever since their mother left them nine years ago. Then when their uncle died, the aunt pulled a Cinderella on them and forced them to be the servants of the house and charging them rent. If they don't make the rent, then they get themselves further and further into her debt. It's why Brie, on occasion, steals from the rich. She only ever steals what she needs, so nothing appears to be missing, but as you might guess, it's never enough to fulfill her and her sister's debts.

Then the unthinkable happens, her aunt decides to sell Jas to the faeries in order to payoff the rest of their debt, leaving Brie free and clear to do whatever she wants. But naturally, Brie is determined to rescue her sister from the fae.

Brie has never liked the fae. She sees them all as evil beings, for she knew her mother ran off to be with her faerie lover rather than stay and raise her children. So there's no love loss between them. But Brie will have to hide her disgust if she stands any chance of finding her sister. In order to do that, she must make a deal with a sinister Unseelie Faery. She is to woo the Seelie Prince Ronan who is looking for a bride and locate three missing Unseelie items that are hidden somewhere in the castle.

If that wasn't enough, a bad of rogue faeries wants Brie's help to do the exact same thing, except they want the items for themselves. The leader of the group? None other than the true heir to the Unseelie crown Prince Finnian. 

Naturally, we have a bit of a complicated love triangle going on. Brie finds herself falling for the Seelie prince, but there's also something about Finn as well that draws her to him. I kept wanting to scream at her to just stay away from all of them! If there's one thing I've learned from all the reading of faeries is that you should never trust a faery! Brie, you in danger girl! Lol.

In the respect that I was always hovering on the edge, waiting for that other shoe to drop, I felt like there was a great deal of tension in the story. It wasn't just being a Negative Nancy, it was knowing that nothing is ever simple with the fae. Also, I kept wondering in Brie would ever get caught since she's trying to seduce Ronan and also look for these magical items to steal...all while trying to save her sister.

The romantic tension in this book was intense! Since Brie finds her heart fluttering between two fae men, it's hard to say who she will wind up with. A choice is made by the end of course, but since there's another book, I was expecting chaos and chaos did ensure by the end! I did find myself leaning more towards Finn. Guess it's the rebel, bad boy vibe he had going! Lol. But the story is far from over and what happens next will be anyone's guess but it's going to be epic that's for sure!

The ending leads you into quite the epic proportions! While we think we're getting to a nice conclusion, we're actually on the cusp of that chaos I mentioned. Things are intense and explosive and I am dying to dive into the next book to see how it will all end! If you're looking for an action packed YA fantasy read filled with devious and scheming fae with a headstrong heroine, then this is the duology for you!

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars

Books from the Backlog #93

 

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.  If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks. This is a fun meme hosted by Carole @ Carole's Random Life in Books.

 

 

Meridian Six remembers the days before the Troika enslaved humans. She also remembers her mother, a freedom fighter murdered in the final battle between humans and vampires. But it is her mother's final words that have haunted her:

Red means life.

In the years since her mother's death, she has been used as both a propaganda tool and a blood slave by the Troika. She's withstood their indignities because the alternative meant bleeding out in a blood camp. But their abuses finally go too far, and she decides to run towards freedom and her mother's red light.

On the other side, she finds the Sisters of Crimson. They help her just as her mother promised, but they also hand her to the human rebels. The vampires used her famous name to keep human slaves biddable, but now the humans want to use it inspire a revolution.

When the world is at war, freedom is a luxury paid for with blood.

 

Meridian Six was a novella by Jaye Wells that I added to my TBR pile in December of 2015 and I now know it's at least 2 books long! Hopefully it concluded well! lol. I loved Jaye's previous series so it was easy to add this one to my tbr. As to why I haven't read it yet...well that answer doesn't seem to change! Lol. Time. Other books. You know the drill! 

 

 

 
 

Can't Wait Wednesday

 

Can't-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we're excited about that we have yet to read. It's based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the fabulous Jill at Breaking the Spine.

 

 

New York Times bestselling author A.G. Howard concludes her dark, compelling YA fantasy series about twins separated by a family curse.

Nix Loring stepped into Mystiquel to face the Goblin King and break her family’s curse. When she found her twin, Lark, held captive for three years and forced to power the magical realm with her imagination, Nix offered herself up in her sister’s place.

Now, Nix wants nothing more than to be home with the people she loves. Instead, she's tasked to create beauty from a world fallen to desolation. She finds herself drawn to the faerie creatures under her care—and even reluctantly drawn to the Goblin King himself. But how can she rebuild the very realm that tore her family apart?

Back home, her uncle and boyfriend desperately plan a rescue. But Lark, having learned Nix was meant to be the Goblin King’s captive in the first place, resents how her twin stole everything belonging to her during her absence. Worse yet, Lark harbors an unspeakable secret that could destroy what little she has left.

As time draws closer to the rescue, Lark grapples with the darkness growing inside: should she help save her sister, or finally get her revenge?

Set in a gritty, atmospheric world filled with magical creatures, New York Times bestselling author A.G. Howard concludes her thrilling fantasy duology full of romance, twists, and betrayals.

 

I STILL need to read the first book but now that I see it's a duology, I'm glad I waited! But I am sooo behind on Howard's books it's insane! 

 

TITLE: Seasons of Flesh and Flame
AUTHOR: A.G. Howard
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury YA
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: September 17, 2024  

 

 

 

Magic and sacrifice will collide as lovers and gods, enemies and allies vie for the fate of the world in this heart-pounding sequel to THE ISLES OF THE GODS, which Stephanie Garber called "deliciously diabolical and full of heart."

When Selly and Leander began their treacherous voyage to the Isles of the Gods, the captain’s daughter and the playboy prince were strangers. But amid talk of war and a deadly attack on their ship, the unthinkable happened.

They fell in love.

Leander’s ritual at the island temple was meant to prevent a war between the gods. Instead, it nearly cost him his life, and drew the goddess Barrica back from exile. Now, as her Messenger, Leander is imbued with her deadly magic, and only Selly’s presence can stop it from consuming him.

But Barrica wasn’t the only immortal roused from sleep. The God of Risk, Macean, was awakened by an enemy all thought dead, and across the sea he’s calling for war.

The fight to save their world will take Selly and Leander from the gilded ballroom of the royal palace to the hallowed halls of an ancient library. Battle lines will be drawn, and bonds will break.

With the wrath of gods and the machinations of power-hungry rulers straining their loyalties, can their love withstand the trials that await them?

 
Another series I still need to start! But I can't help but add it to my list anyway! Although I may end up waiting til after I've read the first book to buy this one...unless other things happen! Lol.

 

TITLE: The Heart of the World
AUTHOR: Amie Kaufman
PUBLISHER: Random House Children's Books
GENRE: YA Fantasy
RELEASE DATE: September 17, 2024

Review--Nine Liars by Maureen Johnson

 

Senior year at Ellingham Academy for Stevie Bell isn’t going well. Her boyfriend, David, is studying in London. Her friends are obsessed with college applications. With the cold case of the century solved, Stevie is adrift. There is nothing to distract her from the questions pinging around her brain—questions about college, love, and life in general.

Relief comes when David invites Stevie and her friends to join him for study abroad, and his new friend Izzy introduces her to a double-murder cold case. In 1995, nine friends from Cambridge University went to a country house and played a drunken game of hide-and-seek. Two were found in the woodshed the next day, murdered with an ax.

The case was assumed to be a burglary gone wrong, but one of the remaining seven saw something she can’t explain. This was no break-in. Someone’s lying about what happened in the woodshed.

Seven suspects. Two murders. One killer still playing a deadly game.

 

I went into Maureen Johnson's Nine Liars with excitement and mild trepidation due to its sheer size. It's long than the first book, which was the longest book of the series until this one. The mystery itself was good, but unfortunately, the "everyday lifestyles" came into play again and they were very long indeed that it almost overpowered the mystery. It felt like the mystery was almost coming off as a side element...to a mystery book.

Stevie has started her final year at Ellingham Academy. It's her senior year and while her friends are busying themselves with college applications, Stevie isn't sure what she's going to do. Money is still something of an issue, not as much as it was since her mystery solving gig did pay her pretty well, but college is still expensive. Then David has the bright idea that Stevie, Janelle, Vi, and Nate should all come to London for a week in a study abroad program and after 100 pages or so of convincing their school that this is a legit, good idea, they go.

Meanwhile we are once again treated to flashbacks from the past, the mystery that has yet to be solved or landed on Stevie's plate just yet. In it, we see nine friends who just graduated from college and are spending the night at one of their family's manors and playing a game of hide-and-go-seek tag, in the dark, in the rain. Before the night it over, two are murdered and are not discovered until morning in what appears to be an interrupted burglary gone wrong. But is that what really happened?

Again, I must remind you all, I am not a contemporary reader. When there are scenes and scenes and pages and pages of just "normalness" going on in a story, I start to get very bored. Again, this is just a me thing. I came to expect this style from Johnson in the first three books of the series as that was the "Ellingham" case. The case that took three books to resolve. But after reading the fourth book and being highly entertained, I had high hopes that this one would follow in its pattern. Yes, this is a one-and-done mystery. Stevie solves the case and all is well, for the most part. But my goodness, there was just so. Much. Ordinary to sit through before she got to mystery solving. Even when she was trying to work out the case, "ordinary" moments still got in the way and derailed the mystery for awhile.

The actual mystery part of the story was really good though! It was quite the twisted one as it happened almost thirty years ago. No suspects were ever found. It was a cold case for sure. But even despite the intrigue, I still felt like Stevie had very little to go on and was wondering when things would pick up and they do eventually, when a new friend's aunt goes missing. Then things really intensify!

There were still nice Stevie and David moments as well. David has been in London for a few months now, so Stevie was eager to visit him. Time away does make the heart fonder, they say. So Stevie was wanting to spend as much time as possible with him. But then he introduces her to his new friend, Izzy, and that's when things get a bit more complicated for Stevie. David says she's just a friend, and ends up being the friend who needs Stevie's help as he told Izzy all about Stevie's mystery solving and this is how Stevie is introduced to the case that involved Izzy's aunt who was one of the nine friends.

I know Johnson wrote contemporary books awhile ago, and I feel like that shows. These Truly Devious books have a lot of contemporary feels to them and not as much mystery vibes. The mystery is still there, but sometimes I feel like it takes a backseat to the ordinary moments. But as you can see, I still read it. The last book really hooked me into the mystery and I was hoping that this installment would do more of the same, but sadly it kind of fell into the same pattern the first three did. It was still interesting, it just felt like the mystery was a side element again.

Of course since there are currently no other Truly Devious books slated, yet there's still the promise of more, this one ended with a whopper of a cliffhanger for Stevie's personal life. The mystery was resolved in the way that they usually are, but Stevie's personal life was in chaos and it continued right up until the very last page and we were left in dire straits. So now the wait begins...or it began two years ago and I am just that late to the game. I commend those who have been sitting with these last two years. Now I am left wondering what will happen next. Goodreads promises seven books, but when those last two will come about is anyone's guess since Johnson has a new standalone coming out next month.

If you enjoy contemporary reads and like a little mystery then you will positively love this one! If you enjoy mysteries and aren't fond of contemporary reads, well, you might struggle a bit like I did. It really all depends on your enjoyment of contemporary reads. Not being a fan of them, I struggled a bit with this one but I did enjoy the mystery aspects of the story. The pacing bogged me down a bit since it was more fitting to a contemporary story rather than a mystery but it was still a pretty fun read.

Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars

Top Ten Tuesday

I decided to skip the teaser this week as by the time I sat down to write my Tuesday post, I hadn't started my current book yet and to avoid seeing spoilers myself, I decided it best to skip this for the week.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and The Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. 

This week's topic is: Top Ten Debut Novels I Enjoyed

*in no particular order

10. TEMPEST RISING by Nicole Peeler--this was another fun classic Urban Fantasy series that took on selkies in a different way! There were other supernatural creatures around too! It was a fun little mystery series that I greatly enjoyed! Sadly, it was really the only one Peeler wrote. She did have another book I still need to read, Goodreads showed it as a series but sadly it was only ever 1 book.
9. SERPENT & DOVE by Shelby Mahurin--this was one I received via Fairy Loot and it sounded intriguing enough that I kept it and loooooved it!
8. SOME GIRLS BITE by Chloe Neill--another classic Urban Fantasy series I picked up when I was looking for something a little more edgy and less lovey dovey. This series was spectacular! I could not get enough of it! Loved its spinoff too!

7. STRAY by Rachel Vincent--I can still remember finding this one on the shelf at Borders. It was because of some of my favorite Urban Fantasy author's praise on the cover that led me to give it a try. It was shelved in romance so I worried it would be more romance than action, but this is another classic Urban Fantasy one!
6. THE IRON KING by Julie Kagawa--I'm a little sad that Julie hasn't written anything since wrapping up Puck's part of the story with this series. I remember wayyy long ago, I won this one in a contest from the then Harlequin Teen! And it was amazing!! It pretty much made me a lifelong fan of Julie's!
5. BITTEN by Kelley Armstrong--another one I was hesitant to try because the cover gave me romance vibes but it's one of those times I love being wrong as this was another amazing Urban Fantasy series from one of the founding authors! Kelley has written sooo many books since then and I will be forever behind!

4. OLD MAGIC by Marianne Curley--one of my favorite books ever! This was time travel and magic and a dash of romance! It was perfect!
3. HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE by Jeaniene Frost--I honestly can't remember if this cover had any praise from my favorite authors when I stumbled upon this one. The cover was soooo amazing that I just had to give it a try! I knew it was in the romance section and that it was Avon, so I took a big risk in thinking it might be something I'd enjoy, but I was right! I LOVED IT!
2. POISON STUDY by Maria V. Snyder--before we had Romantasy we had Fantasy with a dash of Romance! Lol. Yes, Maria is one of the original Romantasy authors before whoever it was decided to coin this "new" genre! I can still remember silly Amazon recommending me Maria's second book a few months before it came out and I was like ooh, that sounds good...but then a quick search showed me she had one out NOW (at that time)! So I immediately bought a copy (at Borders) and pretty much loved it right away!

And you all know what's coming, right?

Right??

1. CARAVAL by Stephanie Garber--and you all pretty much know I was sold on this one from the moment I read it! It was everything!

The Olympic Book Tag

 

I saw this fun tag over at It Starts at Midnight and thought it looked like fun! And since we're nearing the Olympic Games I thought it even more perfect to give it a try now! Lol. I borrowed the all the graphics from Shannon since she had them ready and gorgeous and I have no tech savvy!

 

 

I'd give you the first line if I had it on hand but it basically talked about how hard it was to bury a dead body! Lol.

After seeing that prompt I knew right away which book to choose! In this one Rachel goes on a cross country roadtrip! I loved that when Kim went on Tour, she visited all these cities! So she came to St. Louis and apologized for what she did to our Arch! Lol.

I can't remember a love triangle ever having me more conflicted, though I did feel like I had my "choice" solidified before this one ended. Loooved that fans were actually able to vote to choose who Layla should end up with! That was epic! And yes, I was happy about who "won!"

I still need to finish this series but I remember thinking that this was pretty rich in culture! Dealing with the ancient druids, it explored some pretty good mythology too (I want to say Norse, but again it's been almost 10 years since I read from it).

I really can't remember why, but I do remember struggling with this series for some reason. I still read it all through, but it was just tough for some reason.

Another Angelini title! This was a really good mystery and I remember it took place during the summer!

This series had a lot of sword fighting and some backstabbing too! It was insanely good and I can't believe the publisher didn't want a third set! :(

One of my all time favorite reeds because of the insane twists and turns this book took on! Omg, it was sooo good and twisty!

OMG, this book terrified me! Because this SO could happen in real life today any day and it's terrifying! We just had a whole technological glitch last week that sent everything spiraling and I feel like we are getting closer and closer to this book being a reality. Now I need to reread it to figure out how to survive...and find a super tech smart person who can do the actual world-saving!

I don't read too many books that get "deep." But I read this one last year as it was by one of my favorite authors who writes under a lot of names and I still have quite a few of her books read because of that! Anyway, this one dealt with a teenage girl who was hearing voices in her head and having lapses in memory. It became clear she had DID and having did a paper on this once before I found the book to be very deep and profound. It was heavy stuff.

This one came in at 279 pages and was a very entertaining and chilling and twisty mystery!

Houck's books are always epically long and rather rich in culture too! According to Goodreads this one was 826 pages, but I have found their numbers to be off, but since my copy is in storage that number will have to do!

I don't think I will ever get over that ending!

Since this series is still at the top of my mind, I will say that these first three books did tend to have a slower pace. It still picked up every now and then but then it trickled back down to slow.

I guess we'll define childhood loosely. A favorite as a young teen was definitely this gem! Being one of the few vampire books I owned, I reread it endlessly!

Borrowing this one from Shannon! Lol. I still need to read the sequel but I do remember all the adorable animals in this one!

Old school choice here! I remember for some reason, I just struggled with this one. I wanted to love it because I loved all Richelle's previous books but this one was just hard for me to get into and I honestly can't even remember what it was about.

I just loved M.J. and Gilley! They were a perfect pair of besties in this series and I can't wait for their "reunion" book that Victoria just wrote this year! And I still need to read Gilley's series with Abby's sister too! 

Well sadly, I don't get to travel all that much and when I do, it's 99% somewhere driveable! But with this book I have bought it in many, many languages from all over the world. So this title came from all over the world to get to me. It's kind of close, right? Lol.

 

 

I mean obviously! I loved Caraval, but Tella really won me over! Her part of the story as a whole was my favorite in this world!

 

 

 

 

I feel like this one ended pretty perfectly! Yes, at the time we still had questions, but we got some pretty good answers with the latest trilogy! But I was pretty happy with how things ended here!

This took some thinking as most of the fight scenes from books I read are more gladiator style so they wouldn't be "Olympic" game variety! Lol. But I do believe Tempest does some swimming in this one when she's not surfing!