Katherine Harbour's Blog - Posts Tagged "ya-fantasy"

Since I'm only reviewing older or little known books (mostly fantasy), I'll be using this blog to review YA or newer books. :)

Daughter of Smoke & Bone
DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor
The lives of tough, blue-haired Karou and her likeable, demonic family change when Karou encounters Akiva, a young man with wings. The original twist to this demon and angel story is that the demons and angels are actually two different races. The villain Thiago is a hot-tempered warlord. The details of the Prague setting and the intricate creation of the chimaera (demons)are lovely. But it's Karou and her mysterious past that kept me turning pages.

Six of Crows
In a sprawling city reminiscent of a cross between Amsterdam and Dickensian London, Kaz Brekker runs his gang ruthlessly, if only to keep them alive.
Then he's offered a large sum of money to retrieve a man who might have created a dangerous drug. Accepting the mission, he takes with him a group of teens with singular talents. Inez is a former acrobat who can move as silently as a cat. Jesper is a brash gunslinger. Wyland is an explosives expert. Nina is a seductive young woman with the power to kill. Matthias is a young man with interior knowledge of their destination, but needs to broken out of a hellish prison.
Each character has their own baggage. It's a quest and a heist all in one. Kaz and Inez are meant for one another, but there's a lot standing between them. The others are given their moments and budding relationships and each one is intriguing. This story never gets dull. One of the best character-driven fantasies I've ever read.

This trilogy is one of my favorites. Its highlight is the friendship between the three girls inspired by Snow White, Red Riding Hood, and Cinderella. Set in an alternative future America, long after a magical apocalypse, the world is portrayed in intriguing sketches and lyrical language.
Ruby is the wild daughter of the de Varre clan and lives with her grandmother, the clan's matriarch. It's hinted that they are more than human. When Ruby is told she must marry someone of the clan's choosing, she rebels. Then she meets her intended, who is brooding and dangerous.
When savage murders begin taking place, Ruby has to clear the name of a boy who has been her best friend since childhood.
I hope there'll be more books set in this wonderfully inventive world with its modern fairy tale characters.

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue
Monty is a lord in the 1800s and is about to embark on a grand tour of Europe with his brainy sister Felicity and his best friend and fellow aristocrat, Percy.
The tour falls apart and becomes an adventure and a desperate attempt to retrieve an alchemical device that might save one of the three from a devastating condition and fate in a sanatorium. The French court, racial injustice, pirates, Venice, parental abuse, and unrequited love make for a fabulous narrative.
The three young protagonists learn to become heroes. Every character has a story. The romance is epic. A perfect read for anyone who likes a dash of history and romance with their adventure and Jane Austen.

The Beast Is an Animal
Set in a world similar to Colonial America and its puritans, this dark fantasy has truly creepy touches.
Teenage Alys losses, not only her parents, but her entire village, to two monsters who look like twin girls. They're called the soul eaters. When she and other child survivors are taken in by a neighboring village of ultra-religious people, they are practically shunned and used as slaves. Then the soul eaters begin circling. And Alys realizes they spared her for a reason.
Then she meets the Beast in the forest (a fabulous twist).
Alys is soon forced to flee and is taken in by the Travelers, gypsies and free-thinkers. She meets a charming boy who's also been adopted.
A twisty dark fairy tale with echoes of The Ring and The Witch and Sheri S. Tepper's older fantasies.

All the Crooked Saints
Set in Colorado in the early sixties, this is the story of the Soria family. Its younger members--sixteen-year-old Joaquin, eighteen-year-old Beatrice, and nineteen-year-old Daniel--aspire to different things. But Daniel is a saint who can perform miracles.
The miracles manifest in strange ways and the pilgrims who come for them often suffer an odd transformation that won't vanish until they reach some sort of catharsis. Joaquin and Beatrice run a pirate radio station. Beatrice believes she's cold-hearted even after meeting a sweet boy named Pete, who comes to work at the Soria ranch. There are striking characters, such as a girl in a constant veil of rain and a bridal gown covered with live butterflies, and I found the magic realism haunting. As the Soria family's fantastical history unfolds, one of them is placed in peril and must be saved by a miracle. More of a fable than a plot-driven narrative, this story is for fans of Isabel Allende, Francesca Lia Block, and Alice Hoffman.

Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
There are fourteen YA stories in this volume, set in the future, the past, and contemporary times. There is a time-traveling romance, and strange weaponry wielded by an outlaw girl gang in the the Old West. There's a Dickensian tale of orphans and their gruesome marionette Fagin. A ghost mechanical story and mini graphic novels.

My three favorites:
Gethesmane by Elizabeth Knox is set in an alternate reality, in the South Pacific, where dirigibles roam the skies, a girl is believed to be a witch. Five characters are involved in a catastrophic tragedy that lingers.

The Summer People by Kelly Link is a contemporary story about a girl in the south who longs to leave her tiny town,but is obligated to remain due to an agreement with the 'summer people', who are never seen and live in a strange house down the road. With exquisite details like a miniature war room and hints of Faerie, it's a charming and bittersweet tale of being careful what you wish for.

Steam Girl by Dylan Horroocks is also a contemporary story, set in high school. A boy who considers himself a loser becomes fascinated by a geeky girl who dresses like a steampunk heroine and tells fantastical stories. It's a poignant tale of outcasts who find strength in the imagination.

This is definitely one I'm keeping on my shelves!

Jane, Unlimited
This is a book about possibilities. Jane is invited to her friend's mansion Tu Reviens. Jane has just lost her aunt, who was raising her. Jane's hobby is making umbrellas that reflect her moods.
Tu Reviens is inhabited by a group of eccentric people preparing for a gala.There are the knowledgeable servants, the mysterious brother and sister, Patrick and Ivy, and the best friend's brother, Ravi. There's the reclusive millionaire father and others who have secrets. Although the story seems contemporary, there are hints, in paintings and frog rains, that things are not quite as they seem.
Jane is presented with five choices throughout the story.With each path she chooses, there's a different outcome and a different genre. It's an amazing feat of writing, weird and wonderful, with a protagonist who has the best qualities of the pluckiest Austen heroines.

Strange Grace
Loved this book! Set in the village of Three Graces, the story is about young Mairwen, a witch and daughter of a witch. Her town sacrifices one boy very 7 years, to the devil of the forest, and two of Mairwen's best friends--the noble, affable Rhun and the brooding, temperamental Arthur--are set for the honor.
The forest is a character itself, a place of bone boys and mad bird women. Mairwen feels familiar with the forest, since her father was one of the sacrifices.
The relationship between Mairwen, Rhun, and Arthur is wrought with complications and there's a mystery at the core of the sacrifice. A book for anyone who loves dark fairy tales, haunted forests, and the movie The Witch.

The Bone Witch
As Tea learns to become a dark ahsha, a bone witch, in her kingdom, her future plays out between chapters seen by the eyes of an unknown narrator.
The ahsha world is detailed and interesting. Tea is apprenticed to lady Mykaela, who has a tragic past of her own. Tea, who has a habit of raising the dead--including her brother Fox-- is supported by a kind prince and his brooding lieutenant, a Deathseeker. The other characters in this world add to its vividness and unique detail.
But future glimpses show a harder, scarier Tea, because this story is only the beginning of her journey.