Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
Fantasy Literature for Young Adults (over the age of 12).
In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
I didn’t have a great experience with the first WAYWARD CHILDREN book I read by Seanan McGuire — Every Heart a Doorway — which put me off the next few books in the series. But I decided to give the well-reviewed series another shot with In an Absent Dream (2019), and I’m glad I did as it certainly struck a far more responsive chord and has encouraged me to take a look at the others I’ve missed.
January 22nd, 2019. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Seanan McGuire | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Sarah Tarkoff follows up her debut YA novel Sinless with Fearless (2019), the second installment in the EYE OF THE BEHOLDER trilogy. I didn’t enjoy Sinless and this trilogy’s middle book didn’t get its hooks in me either, carrying over a lot of the issues I had with book one and creating some entirely new ones that don’t bode well for the trilogy as a whole.
Grace Luther remains preternaturally lucky,
January 21st, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 2 | Sarah Tarkoff | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton
Arwen Elys Dayton’s latest novel, Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful (2018) is a novel comprised of six linked stories, each taking part in a different point in humanity’s future, beginning “A few years from now,” leapfrogging to various points beyond, and ending when “They have left us far behind.” Dayton doesn’t specify the precise year or time period, letting the pace and scale of scientific advancements inform the reader’s imagination. Her teenaged protagonists each experience some kind of alteration (or lack thereof) and must cope with backlash,
January 18th, 2019. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Arwen Elys Dayton | Short Fiction, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Kingdom of Exiles by S.B. Nova
Here we have the tale of Serena Smith, blacksmith’s daughter exiled from her puritan-like settlement and then kidnapped by fairies and sold in the Kingdom of Aldar, which has much worse political problems than the oppressive community from which she’s taken. The difference is, she finds a way of making a difference — a thing she could not do in her human home.
I feel like this kind of fairy story is a bit at war with itself. Kingdom of Exiles (2017) bills as a feminist tale and means to make Serena fierce and self-actualizing,
January 14th, 2019. Taya Okerlund´s rating: 2 | S.B. Nova | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Echo Room by Parker Peevyhouse
In The Echo Room (2018), which is sort of a Groundhog Day meets The Maze Runner, Parker Peevyhouse takes on one of the most difficult narratives for an author — the time loop story. Unfortunately, while Peevyhouse has her moments, the time loop comes out victorious.
The story opens up intriguingly enough, when Rett Ward wakes up in a strange and seemingly abandoned building with no memory of how he got there,
December 19th, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 2 | Parker Peevyhouse | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Vampire Diaries: The Fury & The Reunion by L.J. Smith
This is the second bind-up for THE VAMPIRE DIARIES. The Fury and The Reunion were originally published as two separate books; in fact, The Reunion was published some time after The Fury, which effectively closes the trilogy begun with The Awakening and The Struggle). In The Fury Elena,
December 12th, 2018. Amanda Rutter (guest) and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 3 | L.J. Smith | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Fire & Heist by Sarah Beth Durst
I’d only previously read Sarah Beth Durst’s QUEENS OF RENTHIA series, so I was excited to have the chance to read Fire & Heist (2018), her latest YA novel. I never know whether an author whose adult work is enjoyable will write well for a young adult audience — or vice versa — but I’m pleased to be able to report that Durst is clearly adept at writing for any age group, and particularly so for nerdy readers.
December 11th, 2018. Jana Nyman´s rating: 4.5 | Sarah Beth Durst | Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Girl with the Dragon Heart by Stephanie Burgis
Stephanie Burgis follows up last year’s award-nominated middle grade fantasy The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart with The Girl with the Dragon Heart (2018), the second book in her TALES FROM THE CHOCOLATE HEART series. The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart followed the escapades of Aventurine, a chocolate-loving young dragon enchanted into the shape of a young girl. The focus now shifts to Aventurine’s friend Silke,
December 10th, 2018. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Stephanie Burgis | Children, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 6 comments |
“Fear was the superpower they all possessed. And unlike Midsummer’s monsters, there was no limit to the number of people they could control with it.”
Vic James wraps up her hard-hitting DARK GIFTS fantasy trilogy with Bright Ruin (2018), which picks up right where the second book, Tarnished City, left off. This series is set an alternative version of our world where a minority, called the “Equals,” has powerful magical gifts.
December 6th, 2018. Tadiana Jones and Jana Nyman´s rating: 4 | Vic James | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Legendary (2018) is the second novel in the CARAVAL trilogy. The third novel, Finale, is due out in May of 2019. I entered this series midstream, after sisters Donatella (Tella) and Scarlet have escaped their father’s controlling grip and freed themselves from the hold of their first Caraval competition. Now Tella is about to dive back into the stream for the sake of a debt she incurred in Caraval.
December 4th, 2018. Taya Okerlund´s rating: 0.1 | Stephanie Garber | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Previous SFF Author: John Wyndham
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.