Book Review | The Storm Keeper’s Island

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Storm Keeper’s Island

Author: Catherine Doyle

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 320

Categories: Middle Grade, Adventure, Fantasy, Magic

When Fionn Boyle sets foot on Arranmore Island, it begins to stir beneath his feet …

Once in a generation, Arranmore Island chooses a new Storm Keeper to wield its power and keep its magic safe from enemies. The time has come for Fionn’s grandfather, a secretive and eccentric old man, to step down. Soon, a new Keeper will rise.

But, deep underground, someone has been waiting for Fionn. As the battle to become the island’s next champion rages, a more sinister magic is waking up, intent on rekindling an ancient war.

There is magic in memory.”
The Storm keeper’s island by. catherine doyle

I don’t read any or many middle grade books only because they never interested me much once I was out of middle grade, and that’s been…years. 😂

But I love Catherine Doyle’s Blood for Blood series so much, and I miss reading something from her so after seeing awesome reviews of her middle grade series I finally borrowed it at the library. I was not disappointed!

Fionn Boyle is staying at his grandfather’s house on Arranmore Island and he finds out all is not what it seems with the island or his grandfather. Fionn learns about the island, about magic and being a Storm Keeper, and the legend of Dagda a sorcerer and Morrigan a villain who remade people into Soulstalkers! The world building is creative and so fascinating! Candles that hold memories? 😱

But Fionn is dealing with other things like not having a father and since he was sent to his grandfather, not having a mother for the moment as well. It hurts watching Fionn question his worth and not having anyone he can turn to. I love, love, love watching his relationship with his grandfather grow.

“Bravery is just a matter of forgetting to be afraid, Fionn. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
the storm keeper’s island by. catherine doyle

And yes it’s one of those stories where I kept writing down quotes because they are inspirational not only for Fionn but for me too and anyone else who is reading the series. The journey of finding ourselves at Fionn’s age does take bravery. There are some heart-wrenching parts in this story especially when it comes to Fionn and memories in the candles that he experiences. I won’t lie, it made me a bit emotional.

“Often the journeys we take inside ourselves are more difficult than the stormiest seas.”
the storm keeper’s island by. catherine doyle

Did I say I love Catherine Doyle’s writing? Because I really do and I look forward to reading the sequel and anything else she writes! The Storm Keeper’s Island is an inspirational story about magic, family, and a boy’s journey to overcome his fears.

ARC Review: The Lady Rogue

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: The Lady Rogue

Author: Jenn Bennett

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: September 3, 2019

Categories: Historical Fantasy, Young Adult, Adventure, Romance

Disclaimer: *I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Some legends never die…

Traveling with her treasure-hunting father has always been a dream for Theodora. She’s read every book in his library, has an impressive knowledge of the world’s most sought-after relics, and has all the ambition in the world. What she doesn’t have is her father’s permission. That honor goes to her father’s nineteen-year-old protégé—and once-upon-a-time love of Theodora’s life—Huck Gallagher, while Theodora is left to sit alone in her hotel in Istanbul.

Until Huck arrives from an expedition without her father and enlists Theodora’s help in rescuing him. Armed with her father’s travel journal, the reluctant duo learns that her father had been digging up information on a legendary and magical ring that once belonged to Vlad the Impaler—more widely known as Dracula—and that it just might be the key to finding him.

Journeying into Romania, Theodora and Huck embark on a captivating adventure through Gothic villages and dark castles in the misty Carpathian Mountains to recover the notorious ring. But they aren’t the only ones who are searching for it. A secretive and dangerous occult society with a powerful link to Vlad the Impaler himself is hunting for it, too. And they will go to any lengths—including murder—to possess it.

Thank you to Simon Pulse and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eArc.

What an adventure!

Jenn Bennett is one of my new favorite authors because of her young adult contemporary romance novels. But a historical fantasy adventure with two teens romping through Turkey and Romania by train, legs, plane and raft in the 1930’s on the search for Vlad the Impaler’s magical ring? She did good, so good!

Seriously, what a life for Theodora Fox, growing up abroad because of her treasure hunter dad. I envied her freedom to explore. Alas, there are issues that come a long with it like a dad that goes missing and leaves her behind. But Theo is a headstrong and smart girl, who is obsessed with crossword puzzles and putting together clues. She pretty much seemed to be able to take care of herself. Did she resent her dad? Sure, and after her mom’s passing, she really did need her only other parent to be with her.

Then there is Huck who has charisma and is easy on the eyes. They have a past, of course. Jenn Bennett’s characters always fly off the page. They seem solid and real. I felt like I was watching a movie while reading this. I love the banter between Theo and Huck, there is a lot of passion between them and bickering. They like to argue and yell at each other but they make a great team. Huck charms the anger out of her and she keeps him on his toes. All the secondary characters are fun too and add more to the Vlad theories as Theo and Huck search for her dad.

Now the romance part is evenly thrown in there, it doesn’t take over the story, but it is present throughout. But the rest of the story? Good thing I read the author’s note where she explained how the magical ring is fiction, because I was about to google Vlad the Impaler’s (Dracula) magical ring. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Because it’s believable like that, at least the lore could be believable, right? Or, at least I want to believe it because it’s fun!

A secret society, a journal with clues, treasure hunting, magical rings, scary Romanian woods with wolf dogs and the the occult! This story had about everything. There was love, travel, action, history, fantasy and danger. And even with all the dangerous situations thrown at Theo and Huck, the story stayed light and funny because of their interaction with each other. I enjoyed that very much.

This book took me on a fun, amazing adventure with Theo and Huck. I hope there will be more of their adventures in the future. 😉

Get it here: Amazon

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Book Review: The Priory of the Orange Tree

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Samantha Shannon

Format: Hard cover

Pages: 830

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Dragons, Court Politics

Book Blurb:

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction–but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

MY REVIEW

This 800+ pages standalone saga is epic in scale. The world building is complex with a lot of information to absorb: names, titles, positions, and places. The beginning is all about world building so this story didn’t click for me until almost halfway into the book! And when I say click, I mean that’s when everything started flowing better – that’s about almost 300 pages into the story. The build up of the story took time because there are four different perspectives being told by: Ead in the West at Inys, Niclays Roos and Tané in the East, and Lord Artheloth on a ship headed South to Yscali.

Queen Sabran is the ruler of the Queendom of Inys which lies in the West. There is a woman named Ead Duryan who seems to be the eyes and ears at her court. We find out she is much more than that. The Queen needs an heir because continuing the House of Berethnet would protect their lands from their enemy, the Nameless One. He is a huge evil wrym (dragon) who was bound a thousand years ago but is about to awaken soon. The wyrms in the West are fire-breathers and feared by all.

Many of the kingdoms in this book seem to be based off on the histories of various countries in our own real world. Inys reminds me of England, Queen Sabran reminded me of Queen Elizabeth I. The East basically pulls from China and Japan. The South seems similar to the middle east and Africa.

Tané’s story anchored me to this tale because it starts with her and also because the East reveres their dragons and I wanted to read about dragons. Tané is a Sekiinese young woman who is training to be a dragonrider and she achieves that goal. Her dragon is wonderful and so wise, I loved their bond. But Tané’s past comes back to haunt her. On the other side, Ead’s story flourishes as we learn about her amazing skills. Out of all the characters, I think Ead’s story is the most fleshed out and what a story it is. Both of these women are fearless and fierce but with quite different journeys.

There is a lot going on in this story. There is court politics, mages, religion, alchemy, myth, lore, magical beasts, pirates, quests, magical artifacts, adventures across oceans, and treks across desserts. There are battles, there is loss, love and hope. This story is female driven, from the villains to the heroines and there is diversity represented in the characters and romance, which I appreciated. It touched on issues we deal with as women: love, marriage, child birth, our fears, our ambitions, our responsibilities, and our power.

This story is not perfect. I’d rather have had more of Tané’s story and less of Niclays Roos. I felt at times I wanted to read more of one perspective than another, so I would think…okay, hurry up, just get on with it. Like the quest for immortality, was that really needed? I just wanted to read more about how they were going to defeat the Nameless One.

Also, though I didn’t think I related to any one character deeply, that was okay. Each character had something I could relate to and admire: Queen Sabran with her strength and vulnerabilities, Ead with her protectiveness and knowledge, Tané with her insecurities, love for her dragon and courage, and Loth – who wants to hold onto all his beliefs but braves the open waters to try and help the people he loves. Even Niclays Roos – who I disliked the most, his resentment and bitterness from heartbreak – I could relate to that as well.

I’m still thinking about this story after finishing it two days ago. I think I may even pick it up again later when I have nothing else to read (when is that? haha) just to see if I missed anything. It’s one of those tales I won’t be forgetting anytime soon so I think overall, this book has done it’s job. It is unforgettable.

**On a side note – if you don’t want to lug around a 3 lbs hard cover book (yes I weighed it 😂) – get the ebook version! **

Book Review: Dark Shores

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Danielle L. Jensen

Format: E-book

Pages: 368

Categories: Adventure Politics, Gods, Magic, Young Adult, Fantasy

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Book Blurb:

In a world divided by meddlesome gods and treacherous oceans, only the Maarin possess the knowledge to cross the Endless Seas. But they have one mandate: East must never meet West.

A PIRATE WITH A WILL OF IRON
Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets, but when her closest friend is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Teriana breaks her people’s mandate so her friend might escape―a choice with devastating consequences.

A SOLDIER WITH A SECRET
Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. The legion is his family, but even they don’t know the truth he’s been hiding since childhood. It’s a secret he’ll do anything to protect, no matter how much it costs him – and the world.

A DANGEROUS QUEST
When an Empire senator discovers the existence of the Dark Shores, he captures Teriana’s crew and threatens to reveal Marcus’s secret unless they sail in pursuit of conquest, forcing the two into an unlikely―and unwilling―alliance. They unite for the sake of their families, but both must decide how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to sacrifice.

MY REVIEW

This morning I’m trying to function due to lack of sleep because I was reading Dark Shores last night. And when a book leaves my heart racing, my nerves shaking and I whisper/cry out “No! I need more!” (because everyone is asleep in the house) then to me, it’s a really ah-mazing book. So far, it’s one of my top three favorite reads of 2019.

I was excited to learn this was written by the same author who wrote The Malediction Series, which I loved. The blurb for Dark Shores sounded intriguing: pirates? A soldier ? A quest? I wasn’t sure what to expect.

Don’t go into this book thinking it’s a typical “pirate” book, with adventures on the high-seas. This is not like the Pirate of the Caribbeans movie. It’s not swashbuckling and pirating, there is time spent journeying on a ship (there wasn’t much pirating going on) but this book takes place a lot on land. It has political intrigue, epic action, a sea monster, battle scenes between Gods, battle scenes among men and it’s quite a ride. And when I finished this story I still felt there was so much more to find out about the world of Dark Shores, hence my frustration because it means now I have to wait for the sequel.

Each chapter of this book had me hooked to find out more, I could not stop. Teriana is a sixteen year old girl and part of the crew on her mother’s ship, Quincense. She’s a Maarin, a seafaring people who survives on trade and the only ones in the East who aren’t conquered by the Celendorians. The Celendor Empire is similar to the Roman Empire with a Senate governing body and a large army at their disposal. They are an empire that does not believe in Gods and persecutes those that do.

Teriana and her people hold to a mantra, East must not meet West. Both sides of the world don’t know the other exists, though there are rumors in the East about the Dark Shores. The only way to get to the West is a magical waterway or current that acts as a hidden path between the two sides. But Teriana and her crew know the way between East and West because they have traveled the route countless times. It is a secret her people take to their graves to keep in favor with their Gods. But Teriana tells this secret in a moment of weakness. Teriana’s mistake binds her into a conflict between East and West. Marcus, a commander of the deadly Thirty-Seventh legion is tasked to lead a quest to find this new world, and Teriana has no choice to help him or else the lives of her people are forfeit.

The world building is so well done, and the writing flows beautifully, which is why I was already a fan of this author. There is use of profanity in this story, which I don’t mind at all, but for those who don’t like it, just know it’s there. The scene in the Sea of the Dead gave me goosebumps, I loved how we went from politics and the cerebral world of the empire to Teriana unveiling this new mystical world that is ruled by Gods and the belief in them.

The characters in this story are fantastic. We have Gods, heroes, villains, and side characters that add humor. I cared for Teriana, Marcus and the soldiers. Teriana is a carefree, feisty, worldly but sometimes impulsive girl, somewhat expected from a girl who lived her life in the open seas. Marcus is true to his commander personality: rigid, controlled and loyal to his legion but that doesn’t mean he has no weaknesses. The tension between them is there but the romance doesn’t overtake the book. When Teriana and Marcus finally acknowledge what is happening between them, I was more than ready for it.

The story was like a ship with one destination: forward. Or should I say like a legion of soldiers headed to battle: forward march. The Thirty-Seventh never falls back! 😉 Meaning, this story was relentless and I love it. It made me think about the conquerors and the conquered. Who was more evil, the empire or the corrupted? Who is more to blame? And how can they fix what is happening? This is a book I’m going to be thinking about for awhile and probably rereading a lot before the sequel comes out. This is an outstanding first book in a series and I’m going to be marking my calendar for the release date of the next book.

Book Review: Even The Darkest Stars

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Heather Fawcett

Format: Hard Cover

Pages: 427

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Magic, Dragons, Witches, Adventure

Book Blurb:

Kamzin has always dreamed of becoming one of the Emperor’s royal explorers, the elite climbers tasked with mapping the wintry, mountainous Empire and spying on its enemies. She knows she could be the best in the world, if only someone would give her a chance.

But everything changes when the mysterious and eccentric River Shara, the greatest explorer ever known, arrives in her village and demands to hire Kamzin—not her older sister Lusha, as everyone had expected—for his next expedition. This is Kamzin’s chance to prove herself—even though River’s mission to retrieve a rare talisman for the emperor means climbing Raksha, the tallest and deadliest mountain in the Aryas. Then Lusha sets off on her own mission to Raksha with a rival explorer who is determined to best River, and Kamzin must decide what’s most important to her: protecting her sister from the countless perils of the climb or beating her to the summit.

The challenges of climbing Raksha are unlike anything Kamzin expected—or prepared for—with avalanches, ice chasms, ghosts, and even worse at every turn. And as dark secrets are revealed, Kamzin must unravel the truth of their mission and of her companions—while surviving the deadliest climb she has ever faced.

MY REVIEW

Even the Darkest Stars took me on quite an adventure and it was so refreshing. I was transported to the mountain village of Azmiri, where we meet Kamzin, who is a girl dreaming to become a royal explorer for the Emperor. She gets her chance when the greatest and most current Royal Explorer, River Shara, comes to her village needing a guide to climb the tallest and deadliest mountain, Raksha.

This story isn’t only about a climbing expedition, there is a reason River needs to get to the top of that mountain, but it’s not what everyone thinks, though some do suspect what he’s after. There is magic, witches and even dragons in this story, though the dragons seem more like domesticated pets than the deadly fire-breathing soaring creatures we’ve come to know in other stories.

The world building kept me in this story because it was so different and I’ll admit, I’m a sucker for those movies about climbing Mount Everest. There is always danger in those movies and the study of human nature: the will to go on, the need to reach the summit and can they even reach the summit?

I loved the mysticism and traditions of the mountain villages we journey to in Even the Darkest Stars, and learning about the witches that once roamed the land – but of course the emperor put an end to that by binding their power. Then there are ghosts, winged beasts and even a fire demon! I loved it all.

But there was one point in the book, around 75% into it – that I had to skim through some of the climbing scenes because I just was so eager to know what was coming.

As for the characters, I liked Kamzin. She’s brave, intuitive and one of the best climbers River has ever been with. Her sense of adventure comes through and it’s infectious. Kamzin is a second daughter though and feels she has something to prove to her village. So sometimes that desire to be more than what she is, causes her to make some questionable decisions.

Kamzin and River connect right away through their love of adventure. But Kamzin also has her level headed, best-friend, ex-boyfriend, Tem, who journeys with her and the team to Raksha. The love triangle was present in the book but it didn’t distract me or overtake the story at all. When reading a love triangle, I usually feel a strong pull towards one side, #Teamwhoever, 🤣 but in this one, I didn’t quite know who I wanted her to end up with. I like that Tem knows her so well and looks out for her but River is exciting and she could share her love of adventure with him. I guess we shall see how it plays out in book two.

I’m excited that I had borrowed the second book along with the first one because of that ending – oh you fire demon, you! Okay, I’ll be right back, going to immerse myself in book two, All The Wandering Light. 😉