Review of The Mysteries of Thorn Manor, by Margaret Rogerson, read by Emily Ellet

Fantasy, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Mysteries of Thorn Manor

by Margaret Rogerson
read by Emily Ellet

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023. 3 hours, 52 minutes.
Review written June 15, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

The Mysteries of Thorn Manor is a light-hearted novella sequel to Sorcery of Thorns. After Elisabeth and Nathaniel battled evil forces to save the world in the first book and discovered they had allies in each other, Elisabeth nursed Nathaniel back to health — and is still spending the nights in his room and now in his bed. (Though they’ve only been kissing so far.)

When the wards on the house set up by Nathaniel’s ancestors set a storm all around the house so they can’t even leave, they need to investigate what’s going on. They discover that the house wants Nathaniel to court Elisabeth properly as a sorcerer should — including three impossible tasks.

This story is sweet romantic fun. You should read the first book before tackling this one so you can properly appreciate it.

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Review of Five Survive, by Holly Jackson

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Mystery, Starred Review, Suspense, Teen Fiction Review 0

Five Survive

by Holly Jackson
read by Emma Galvin

Listening Library, 2022. 10 hours, 33 minutes.
Review written February 28, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Okay, Holly Jackson knows how to write a thriller. When I was in the middle of this book, there was no way I was going to give this book a star, because it was all too terrifying. The situation was too horrific, and the situation was bringing out the worst in many of the characters. And the main character simply had it way too hard. But by the time I finished listening, I’m just convinced the author is brilliant.

Mind you, the situation is terrifying, so please know what you’re getting into. There are six friends traveling in an RV from Philadelphia to Spring Break in Florida. And the title is Five Survive, so you get to thinking if that is supposed to be comforting?

They get lost in an area where there’s no cellphone service and get an unexpected flat tire. They come through and change the tire, but as they turn around, all four tires go flat. It takes them some time to realize that someone shot all four tires with a rifle. The realization is helped along when they also shoot a hole in the gas tank.

We’re seeing all this from the perspective of Red Kenny. She’s got a difficult life, and it was her fault the group chose the cheaper way to travel, by RV instead of jets, because her family doesn’t have much money. Her mother, a police chief, was killed years ago, in an execution-style killing that still hasn’t been solved. Her father drowns his sorrows in alcohol. But her friend Maddy always looks out for Red. Maddy’s 21-year-old brother came along as chaperone, and their mother, an assistant D.A., is about to take down a leader in the mob with a secret star witness.

The attack on their RV has clearly been planned, and they’re told someone among them has a secret. If they reveal the secret, the rest will be released. So maybe the mob is involved? It’s all a set-up for a terrible night.

And we don’t find out which one doesn’t survive until the very end of the book. Pick up this book if you want some incredible tension.

listeninglibrary.com

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Review of Sorcery of Thorns, by Margaret Rogerson

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Romance, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Sorcery of Thorns

by Margaret Rogerson
read by Emily Ellet

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2019. 14 hours, 21 minutes.
Review written February 10, 2023, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

Last year, my Cybils panel chose Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson as our 2021 winner for the Cybils Award in Young Adult Speculative Fiction. And after reading for the 2022 Cybils awards, I finally made time to listen to an earlier book by Margaret Rogerson.

Sorcery of Thorns is fun because it features an apprentice librarian. But she doesn’t work in any ordinary library. Elisabeth Scrivener was a foundling who grew up in one of the Great Libraries of Austermeer — a library packed with grimoires, full of ancient magic.

But one terrible night, Elisabeth is the only one awake and she finds the director of the library dead, killed by a grimoire that got loose and turned into a malefict — a giant sentient monster. But with the director’s sword, Demonslayer, Elisabeth is able to defeat the malefict.

That gets Elisabeth the attention of all the wrong people. A young sorcerer, Magister Nathaniel Thorn, comes to escort Elisabeth to the chancellor for questioning at the magisterium, along with his demonic servant. Elisabeth knows not to trust sorcerers, but he’s surprisingly kind, and helps Elisabeth when they’re attacked by a horde of fiends. He’s compelled to take her into the protection of his own home.

But when the chancellor takes Elisabeth into custody, she begins to realize something is wrong. Little by little, Elisabeth — and eventually Nathaniel as well — start to unravel clues about a monstrous plot that could destroy the world.

I thoroughly enjoy Margaret Rogerson’s writing, and the romance in this book was delightful. Elisabeth is a wonderfully resourceful heroine who’s more likely to rescue the guy than be rescued, though some of both happens.

I do have a lot of quibbles with the magic. I never have patience for sentient objects feeling emotion. In this case, it was books, but if you look at those details too hard, it just doesn’t work. And the relationship between sorcerers and their demons has some problems as well, if you look too closely. But I enjoy Margaret Rogerson’s writing so much, I was able to set aside all those quibbles and thoroughly enjoy the story.

In fact, I finally got this audiobook listened to because I heard about a new volume coming out, Mysteries of Thorn Manor. I’m now disappointed that it’s only a novella, but happy to get to read a little more about Elisabeth and Nathaniel.

MargaretRogerson.com
simonandschuster.com/teen

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Review of The Do-Over, by Lynn Painter

Contemporary, Romance, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Do-Over

by Lynn Painter
read by Jesse Vilinsky

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2022. 8 hours, 46 minutes.
Review written from a library eaudiobook.

The Do-Over is a time loop story, and a fun teenage romance.

Emilie is someone who plans and organizes her life. And today is Valentine’s Day, and she’s got a plan for the perfect Valentine’s Day, with a cute outfit maybe a little chilly for the winter weather, a gift wrapped for her boyfriend Josh, and plans to tell him those fateful words, “I love you.”

Instead, on the way to school, she crashes into the truck of Nick, her lab partner in Chemistry, who doesn’t even recognize her. Her own car bursts into flames and she has to get a ride with him to school, and she doesn’t even get to see Josh. Then she learns that there was a mistake and she didn’t win a slot in the summer program that would go perfectly on her college applications. And then when she goes to Josh’s car to surprise him with his gift — she sees him kiss his ex-girlfriend. On top of everything, when she gets home her father tells her that he and her stepfamily are moving far away. Not the day she had planned.

But when she wakes up the next morning, everything repeats. Her phone says it’s still Valentine’s Day.

Naturally, she tries to fix the day. But she still gets in an accident. And Josh still kisses his ex.

But she gets lots more tries! And gradually, she gets to know Nick better, little by little.

One problem though — when Emilie thinks she’s achieved the perfect Valentine’s Day — when she wakes up, everything resets and no one else remembers it. So she thinks, why worry about what anyone else thinks? They won’t remember anyway! And she sets out on a Day of No Consequences. But one way or another, Nick ends up coming with her.

Overall, the book is good frothy fun. I like the way someone who’s spent her life pleasing others, following the rules, and not making waves learns about herself when she starts thinking about what she wants. Also, the romance is sweet. I was worried that he would forget too much of their time together, but the author worked that part out pretty well. A sweet book that left me smiling.

lynnpainter.com

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Review of Bloodmarked, by Tracy Deonn

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 2

Bloodmarked

Book Two of the Legendborn Cycle

by Tracy Deonn
read by Joniece Abbott-Pratt

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2022. 22 hours, 20 minutes.
Review written March 10, 2023, from a library book

First, let me say that I love the premise of this fantasy series: A bunch of white guys have passed down ancestral magic from Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. But that magic has been completely disrupted because generations ago one of those white guys raped a woman he’d enslaved. And now the Scion of Arthur is a Black girl.

At the start of the book, I thought she was going to go through the rite, completely as expected, to officially become the ruling King. But I should have known that the regents currently in power would not let a Black girl reign over them. So things take a distinct turn from that point.

But while Bree is trying to figure out the power she inherited from Arthur, she’s also trying to learn to use her Root Magic, which she inherited from her mother and her mother’s mothers. And she learns about others who work with ether magic and demons who make bargains. All while staying away from those who want to capture her and negate her power.

Meanwhile, Nick, the Scion of Lancelot, is still kidnapped. But Bree learns she can visit him when she’s in Arthur’s memories. Also meanwhile, what’s going on between her and the King’s mage? I almost rolled my eyes when another powerful person they encounter seems to be attracted to Bree, too. But I did figure out that Bree cares deeply for her friends, and her friends will do much to save her.

I do have a complaint about how long the book is, but I’ve gotten spoiled by reading lots of children’s books. I’m not even sure I could summarize what happened. (And I wouldn’t anyway, because I don’t want to give anything away.) But it’s not like the action ever lagged. Some of it was hard to understand, especially what took place in dreamscapes or figuring out how bargains actually worked.

Another peeve was that the narrator consistently pronounced “Arthur” as “Author,” and it made me a little crazy. I could chalk it up to the accent, but every single character pronounced it that way regardless of their background. I suppose it’s possible that pronunciation is closer to the original old Welsh, but every time I heard it, I’d say “Arthur!” out loud, just to get it out of my system. (It didn’t help that the audiobook I’d listened to before this one had a British character named Arthur, pronounced with the ‘r’ as I think it should be pronounced.) But I was too engaged in the story to stop listening.

I’m honestly not quite sure where things stand at the end of the book. But I’m quite sure that Bree will learn more about using her power, and that Tracy Deonn will take the reader along for the ride. And that I will want to be in on the action.

tracydeonn.com

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Review of An Enchantment of Ravens, by Margaret Rogerson

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

An Enchantment of Ravens

by Margaret Rogerson
read by Julia Whelan

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2017. 8 hours, 45 minutes.
Review written April 20, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I listened to this book because I have so enjoyed Margaret Rogerson’s other books. We chose Vespertine as our Cybils YA Speculative Fiction winner in 2022. This one had me riveted. It was one of those audiobooks where I had to remind myself they wouldn’t have published the book if everyone you care about dies — or would they have? Yet I couldn’t quite see how they’d get out of the situation.

Isobel is 17 years old and already a talented portrait painter. She paints portraits for the fair folk. They pay with enchantments, and she is very careful in wording her requests, because she knows the fairies will twist her words if she lets them.

The Fae are fascinated with the crafts that mortals make, including painting, because they are incapable of crafting anything and will crumble to dust if they try. The Fae also do not know human emotion. So when Isobel is painting the Autumn Prince and notices something off about him — she then realizes there’s human sorrow showing on his face.

But when he discovers that she’s painted this for all to see, he is furious and convinced she’s sabotaged him. He drags her off to the autumnlands to stand trial — and her adventures begin. No mortal has ever returned from the realm of the fair folk — at least not as a mortal. And the Wild Hunt comes after her, and she clears up some misunderstandings with the prince — and they find themselves in danger of breaking the Good Law, which decrees that mortals and fair folk may not fall in love with one another, or they must die.

This tale is beautifully told. I always like slow-burn romances. By the time they learn to trust each other and are in danger of falling in love, the reader can understand how it happened, despite the dreadful consequences.

margaretrogerson.com

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Review of The Minus-One Club, by Kekla Magoon

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Minus-One Club

by Kekla Magoon
read by Dion Graham

Recorded Books, 2023. 7 hours, 7 minutes.
Review written July 11, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

The Minus-One Club is a book about grief, about bullying, and about coming out.

It begins with grief. Fifteen-year-old Kermit’s older sister Sheila, who had gone off to her first year of college, recently died in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. When Kermit finally manages to make it back to school, he gets invited to the “Minus-One Club,” a secret group of fellow students who all lost someone close to them. The club members are all there for one another, but they don’t talk about those deaths.

Also in the club is the guy Kermit’s long had a crush on. Matt is the only gay person in their high school who’s out. Kermit is very much not out, but as he starts doing things with Matt, they very clearly fall in love with each other. And since Kermit’s parents are happy he’s doing things with friends again, he can spend the night at Matt’s — as long as he doesn’t miss church in the morning.

Kermit used to be as involved in church youth group as you can get. But since Sheila’s death, he’s full of questions — and it’s all magnified by the way his parents and youth group leaders talk about how gay people are sinning. He knows it’s not safe to come out to them.

And as time goes on, Kermit starts to think Matt isn’t perhaps as happy and well-adjusted as he has always appeared. Navigating all of this makes a compelling story, which does end on a hopeful note.

I do appreciate that being Black was not one of the difficult issues Kermit was navigating. I’m sad that coming out to Christian parents was a big issue. And I have to admit that it’s still going to be an issue for many LGBTQ teens. I like that Matt told Kermit about the church he used to attend (before his mother died) that was fully accepting of LGBTQ folks — so it was correctly not presented as something every Christian church will be against.

This audiobook was compelling, and I found reasons to be able to keep listening. I may have spent a little more time on a jigsaw puzzle in order to finish the book.

keklamagoon.com

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Review of Seasparrow, by Kristin Cashore

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Seasparrow

by Kristin Cashore

Dutton Books, 2022. 602 pages.
Review written February 6, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review

Seasparrow is the fifth book in the fantasy series that began with Graceling. And yes, you’ll want to read the other books in the series before you tackle this one, because many themes and plot points and characters from the previous books show up in this one. There’s even a cast of characters at the back of the book to keep them straight.

The name Seasparrow itself refers to the main character of the book, Hava, who acquires the nickname Hapbva, which means “Seasparrow” in the native language of the captain of the Monsea. The book starts out on the ship. The Monsean delegation is heading home from Winterkeep after their adventures in the book Winterkeep. Hava has healed, and now she is secretly translating formulas for a bomb that she smuggled out of Winterkeep.

The book includes the voyage, shipwreck, difficult survival, and homecoming, all from Hava’s perspective. Hava is Queen Bitterblue’s spy, and she has a grace where she can change what people see when they look at her. On the ship her main task is to translate the journals with the formulas. Or so she thinks until she discovers someone hiding something on the ship.

The plot of this book is very slow-moving, but I still found myself compelled to read on. Kristin Cashore’s writing is immersive and pulls me into her worlds.

Yes, there’s romance in this book, but in this case, it’s refreshingly slow-moving. I won’t say slow burn, because there’s not even a lot of spark. But there is slow-growing love, and it fits Hava’s personality and what she’s been through.

Fans of Kristin Cashore’s books will be delighted to have another chance to plunge into her intricately crafted world. There are more mind-reading blue foxes in this book, more gracelings, more monsters, more political intrigue, and more realistic depictions of people coping and healing after trauma. Oh, and there’s a nice plot twist toward the end that I didn’t see coming at all, but that fit perfectly.

kristincashore.com
penguinteen.com

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Review of Reader, I Murdered Him, by Betsy Cornwell, read by Elisabeth Lagelee

Historical, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Reader, I Murdered Him

by Betsy Cornwell
read by Elisabeth Lagelee

Blackstone Publishing, 2022. 8 hours, 20 minutes.
Review written May 29, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Oh, I love this book so much!

Mind you, as a teen, I listed Jane Eyre as one of my favorite books. So romantic! But rereading it years later as an adult, I noticed some things that disturbed me about the romance. Retellings, such as the science fiction Brightly Burning or the fantasy My Plain Jane more clearly pointed out some of the problematic details.

But this one! Oh, how it turns the story on its head, but feels so right in doing so.

The viewpoint character of this book is Adele, Mr. Rochester’s ward, the daughter of a dancer and prostitute in Paris. We start with Adele’s happy life in Paris, but then her mother, who is dying of consumption, gives her over to Mr. Rochester to make her English and one day be well cared for.

At Thornfield, Adele meets Bertha, the woman locked in the attic, who sometimes roams the house at night, but learns never to speak of her. And then Jane Eyre comes to Thornfield and into both Mr. Rochester’s and Adele’s lives. She is the closest thing to a mother Adele has had in years, and takes her into her heart. And she begins writing to Mr. Rochester’s 13-year-old cousin in Jamaica to improve her English, and gains a confidant.

After Jane leaves, Adele has a bad experience at a boarding school, but after her return, Jane does the work to find an excellent one for her. There at Webster school most of this book takes place. But at a party, when Adele comes across a man molesting one of her classmates on a balcony, she becomes a murderess. But because a young man speaks up for her, the story that this is an accident takes hold.

And then, through an interesting set of circumstances, when Adele is unsettled by what she’s done and upset by the power of ruthless young men, she makes a connection with a girl of the streets, a pickpocket and thief named Nan. She asks Nan to teach her some skills, and they work together in the style of Robin Hood, giving some of the worst young men their comeuppance, fashioning herself as a protector of her friends at school. And as they are doing that, she falls in love with Nan.

And that takes you quite far into the book, so I’m going to have to stop. But let me say that I completely loved things that happened past that point in the book, how Adele’s story played out, and the further insights we got into the characters we’d met in Jane Eyre.

Yes, there are some sex scenes, and the title itself warns you about the violence. Perhaps I shouldn’t like this book as much as I do?

Here is a happily ever after indeed.

betsycornwell.com

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Review of Painted Devils, by Margaret Owen

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Painted Devils

by Margaret Owen
read by Saskia Maarleveld

Macmillan Young Listeners, 2023. 14 hours, 42 minutes.
Review written June 6, 2023, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

Wow, these books by Margaret Owen are so incredibly good. And fair warning: There’s going to be a third book. Though this trilogy is done the way I like a series to be, with each book telling a satisfying story.

As the book begins, Vanya has chickened out on her plans with Emeric, and she didn’t go to meet him. She wants to make something of herself first. And she wants to find her family. But then, she accidentally starts a cult.

In this empire where low gods get power from the faith of people, Vanya borrows a character from a ballad to trick the townspeople into helping her pick the rubies she dropped out of the river. No one’s more surprised than she is when that character manifests as a low god. But when the Scarlet Maiden claims Emeric as her servant, and they learn the servant is going to be a human sacrifice, that’s a problem.

There seems to be a way around the problem – if Vanya can collect a drop of blood from seven brothers. But at the same time, Emeric is the Prefect Aspirant assigned to investigate the emergence of a new god. Was Vanya guilty of Profane Fraud? Emeric’s proctor seems convinced that it’s all Vanya’s doing. Though first they need to figure out how to save Emeric’s life. And go on that quest to find the seven brothers. And it just so happens that Vanya figures out how to right some wrongs and take down someone powerful along the way.

There are many plot threads in this book, expertly interwoven. (And I just have to say that because like Vanya I’m from a family of 13 children, I spotted something about her family before she did.) The relationship between Vanya and Emeric is beautifully drawn. She’s someone with every reason to be distrustful and to think herself worthless. Watching Emeric begin to change that is beautiful.

Fair warning: She’s also someone who never had someone to teach her about sex, so she gets some teaching along the way. And the two of them don’t rush directly into intimacy. This seems far more realistic than many books, but my warning is that teens who read this book will probably learn a thing or two about sex in a respectful and loving relationship as well. And as Vanya and Emeric waited until they were ready, some teens may want to wait until they’re ready.

But oh my goodness what a magnificent book this is! The romance is one part of that, but also finding her wonderful family, running a heist to help the powerless, even riding with the Wild Hunt – there’s so much to delight in here. And Saskia Maarleveld again does a perfect job with Vanya’s somewhat snarky voice and Emeric’s patient steadiness. I plan to reread both books in print form after I finish with the Morris committee — wish I could do that right away, but it’s something to look forward to for now. And to help tide me over before Book Three comes out!

margaret-owen.com

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