Fantasy

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

This is a very cute contemporary paranormal romance book that was a fun, quick, and easy read. Mika Moon is one of just a few witches in Britain and she knows the rules: keep her head down, hide her magic and don’t mingle with other witches so their power doesn’t draw attention. Raised as an orphan, Mika has never felt a part of anything. She had no family, was raised by strangers, and never stayed in one place long enough to make friends or plant roots. Her only bit of rebellion; an online account where she posts videos of herself “pretending” to do magic. She thinks no one actually believes she’s a real witch – until a letter arrives.

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August 25, 2022 0

A Kingdom of Flame and Fury (The Four Kingdoms #1) by Whitney Dean

This was a pretty good dark fantasy romance book, but I’m a bit conflicted about it. There are things that I really liked about it, and other things that I really did not. At 10 years old, orphan Raven was deemed the heir of Seolia, a kingdom within the Four Kingdoms. At the beginning of the book, Raven has been ruling for fifteen years. Despite doing a good job, she still feels that she didn’t earn the right to rule, and is hiding the fact that she possesses dark magic -something everyone in the kingdom believes no longer exists.

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August 20, 2022 0

Master of Furies (The Firemane Saga #3) by Raymond Feist

This is a great conclusion to this series, and sets the scene nicely for what I hope will be a new series with some of these characters. This book picks up right after the events of the second book.

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July 27, 2022 0

The Final Strife (The Final Strike Trilogy #1) by Saara El-Arifi

This is a good first book in a new YA Fantasy African and Arabian-inspired trilogy. The Empire is ruled by four rulers. Every ten years a trial of combat and skill is held to determine the Empire’s new rulers, who will intern with the current rulers until it’s time for them to take over.

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June 30, 2022 1

The Atlas Six (The Atlas Six #1) by Olivie Blake

The Alexandrian Society is a secret society of magicians. Every ten years they pick six of the brightest magicians for initiation, but only five will be selected. The ones that are initiated with gain wealth, power and prestige. The first year is spent together where they are permitted to access the Society’s archives. At the end of the year, they will be judged on their contributions to arcane areas of knowledge and five initiates will be selected for admission.

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June 19, 2022 0

Luna Wolf (The Moon Alpha #1) by G. Bailey

This is a decent first book in a new fantasy paranormal series about shapeshifters at war. Nyx is a wolf shapeshifter that can’t shift. When she turns 18 she’s banished from her pack and is recruited to attend Luna Alpha Academy, a school that accepts rejects from packs and trains them to be magical fighters. Nyx is less than thrilled with the prospect, but having nowhere else to go and desperate to become useful so she can return to her pack, she reluctantly agrees.

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June 16, 2022 0

Hide by Kiersten White

This is a fun and creepy story with mixes of horror, mystery, thriller, suspense, fantasy and paranormal elements in it. The tension in the book builds deliciously slow until you get to the point where you want to make sure the lights are on in the house while you read it.

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May 26, 2022 0

Vengewar (Wake the Dragon #2) by Kevin J. Anderson

This is a fantastic second book in the Wake the Dragon series. (You can read my review of book one here: https://nerdgirllovesbooks.com/2022/04/01/spine-of-the-dragon-wake-the-dragon-1-by-kevin-j-anderson/ ) All hell has broken loose, and the Three Kingdoms and Ishara are in chaos. Meanwhile, more and more wreths awaken and they continue plotting to wake the dragon Ossus and re-make the world.

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May 18, 2022 0

Bravely by Maggie Stiefvater

This is a good YA Fantasy continuing the story of the Disney movie Brave. The book is set several years after the movie and we find Merida traveling the countryside learning new skills and the triplets languishing at home, unchanged and unmotivated. In fact, most of her family seems to be stuck, with little purpose or motivation to change things. Which is the problem.

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May 12, 2022 1