Review of A Thousand Steps Into Night, by Traci Chee

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

A Thousand Steps Into Night

by Traci Chee

Clarion Books, 2022. 373 pages.
Review written October 7, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

From the very beginning, I felt pulled into a fairy tale. Here are the wonderful first few paragraphs:

Long ago, in the noble realm of Awara, where all creation, from the tallest peaks to the lowliest beetles, had forms both humble and divine, there lived an unremarkable girl named Otori Miuko. The daughter of the innkeeper at the only remaining guesthouse in the village of Nihaoi, Miuko was average by every conceivable standard — beauty, intelligence, the circumference of her hips — except one.

She was uncommonly loud.

Once, when she was two years old, her mother was wrestling her into one of the inn’s cedar tubs when Miuko, who had no plans for a bath that day, screamed so violently that the foundations shook, the bells rang in the nearby temple, and a respectable chunk of the dilapidated bridge spanning the river a full quarter-mile away let out a horrified groan and slid, fainting, into the water.

That was mere coincidence. Miuko had not, in fact, been the cause of an earthquake (at least not in this instance), but several of the priests, upon hearing of her peculiar vocal faculties, rushed to exorcise her all the same. No matter what spells tthey chanted or incense they burned, however, they were ultimately disappointed to discover that she was not, in fact, possessed. Instead of a demon, what her parents had on their hands was merely a loud child. Worse, a loud girl.

As you may guess, through the book, Miuko continues to be distinguished by qualities that don’t fit the expectations of the culture around her for a girl of the serving class. And it’s lovely to watch Miuko becoming more comfortable with who she is.

As the story begins, Miuko is met on the road by a death demon, who curses her with a kiss. The soles of Miuko’s feet turn bright blue, and wherever she steps, plants die. Worse, the blue color starts traveling up her legs. If it continues, she’ll become a death demon herself.

So in order to try to free herself from the curse and keep her humanity, Miuko must travel a thousand steps to the temple of the December God. Fortunately, she finds companions along her way, beginning with a magpie spirit who can take the form of a boy. Unfortunately, she also gets the attention of a demon inhabiting the body of a prince, and he wants to stop her.

It makes for a wonderful quest to heal Miuko’s curse, and ultimately to save the nation. The Japanese-inspired background of this fairy tale-type story gives it beautiful atmosphere.

The one thing I wasn’t crazy about is that there’s a time travel paradox in the middle of the book, and none of the characters comment on it at all, but just accept it as magic. Honestly, by glossing over it and not trying to explain it, the author pretty much pulls it off. But I’m persnickety about things like that, and it detracted just a tiny bit for me. But I still highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy.

tracichee.com
epicreads.com

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Review of Powerless, by Lauren Roberts

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 0

Powerless

by Lauren Roberts
read by Chase Brown and Cecily Bednar Schmidt

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023. 17 hours, 28 minutes.
Review written February 20, 2025, from a library eaudiobook.

I only review books I like. That has always been true. I don’t ever want to imply that my judgment is better than people who like the book – there are always some people. And I don’t really want authors to find a bad review of their book on my site. Lately, if I have too many reservations, I’ve decided just to pass on reviewing the book. The trouble with that is that later on I forget what my reservations were, and just remember a general negative. So – with Powerless, I decided to review it on my blog only. I won’t even link to the review on social media, so think of this as bonus content for those who subscribe to my blog.

All that said – I did enjoy the book, and I did listen to all 17.5 hours of it. Well, the second time I tried. This book is wildly popular with our library customers, and since I love YA Fantasy novels, I decided to find out what all the fuss was about. But when I started listening to it this time, it was just familiar enough for me to remember that I’d tried listening to it earlier and had given up after several chapters. This time I was feeling more tolerant of tropes and listened to the whole thing. And enjoyed it.

But let me talk about tropes. This one has All the Tropes. We start out with the noble thief, living on the streets, expert at thieving and fighting – but good at heart, forced into it because her father was murdered when she was thirteen.

Then there’s the trope of everyone has a magic power. In this case, the explanation is that there was a plague that killed off most of the population, and those that survived have magic powers. But those who do not have magic powers – Ordinaries – are considered diseased and a blight on the kingdom and must be executed.

That part – executing the outcast group – is a trope, too. But it strikes way too close to home as blaming a group of outcasts for all society’s ills is a hallmark of fascism and is way, way too relevant today.

Another trope is the evil, horrible, repressive king (the one whose idea it is to execute all the Ordinaries) – but with a son who is good despite his evil father. Well, in this case, they’re also half-heartedly going for a love triangle trope – so the king has two sons, both who end up interested in our heroine. But I say it’s half-hearted, because only the younger son is also a viewpoint character, and it’s with him that we get lots of talk about “wanting” each other.

Let me add in here that there’s no sex in this book, but oh my goodness there’s enormous sexual tension – even some sleeping together in vulnerable situations where sex doesn’t happen. Lots of touching in provocative ways. Going out on a limb, I’m pretty sure there’s eventually going to be sex between those characters or the readers will be up at arms.

But the trope I didn’t like at all was the competition where lots of the competitors kill each other. Because again, it was half-hearted. Called the “purging trials,” it was never remotely clear what the point was. We didn’t even find out who won at the end – because votes from spectators are part of the score, and they never told us how that went, even though we found out who finished the last trial first. We also didn’t get the scoring details of the earlier trials. We were told that the “future enforcer” needed to win to impress the people of the kingdom – but not clear why or what would happen if he didn’t. Or what the winner even wins. And it’s clear from the start that many die in the Purging Trials – but many don’t die. I never understood why killing other competitors was necessary or expected. With the kingdom watching, did it ever occur to anyone to demand that those who murder other contestants be held accountable? And even if there’s immunity from killing someone in the trials, why wouldn’t many of the competitors simply refuse to do that? Our protagonists make alliances with some of the other competitors, but others seem to be fair game – and part of the way they’re shown as evil is because they attack friends of our protagonists. Because that’s worse than the killing our main characters do? It just all feels like an excuse to have some killing and show how evil the king is who encourages that – but also the evil characters who attack the people we like.

And oh yes, the thing about the Future Enforcer. He’s the second son of the king. His older brother will be the next king – and he will be his brother’s Enforcer. What I never understood is why was he not already considered the Enforcer? There’s never any mention of a current Enforcer, but he’s already going around finding Ordinaries to execute and torturing people in the dungeon. Even thinks about torturing as a way to blow off steam after the trials. I don’t understand why he’s going to hold this title – only after his father dies.

And speaking of torturing and killing – Okay, his horrible father is the one who forced him to learn to be a torturer and an executioner. Yes, that’s all very awful. But it’s kind of a great big romantic red flag? It seems like no matter what your body’s telling you and no matter how attractive you find him or how sorry for him you feel – it’s going to be fairly easy not to fall in love with him. (Never mind the big thing she only remembered at the end. Really?) So forgive me if I’m not all that excited about that relationship. And that’s disregarding the fact that I despise men who call women they are barely acquainted with “Darling.”

Another trope is dearly loved people being killed or nearly killed. More than one. And the one toward the end of the book, I never understood any justification for calling the person a “criminal.” Just to show what an awful person the king is?

Yes, the book is incredibly violent. The future Enforcer isn’t the only one who kills people. But they’re Bad People because they killed people our protagonists cared about.

So, yes, I had a bunch of issues with this book. But I finished it, and I enjoyed listening. I might even listen to more books in the series – there’s a novella, a sequel, and the third book of the trilogy coming out soon. Can I set aside all my reservations to find out what happens next? I’m not sure, but now at least I can look up this review and remember what happened in the first book.

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Review of Violet Made of Thorns, by Gina Chen

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Violet Made of Thorns

by Gina Chen
read by Emily Woo Zeller

Listening Library, 2022. 11 hours, 5 minutes.
Review written December 11, 2022, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

Violet has been a seer for the kingdom of Aveny since the day six years ago when she was ten and she used what she learned in a vision to save the young prince’s life.

Since then, she’s learned to please the king by lying about her visions and telling people what they want to hear and what the king wants them to hear. This pleases the king, but doesn’t please Prince Cyrus, and they’ve got a prickly relationship.

When the previous seer died, she prophesied a curse on Cyrus that can only be lifted with the help of his bride, but Cyrus has been slow about choosing a bride. The king wants him to hurry up about it.

And then Violet dreams that if Cyrus doesn’t die before the end of the summer, she will burn. And a way is given for her to kill him. But meanwhile, there’s a masked ball and a noble lady from the neighboring kingdom. The king wants Violet to convince Cyrus this lady is his true love.

But that lady is not what she seems. And on the night of the ball, beasts appear, and they go after Cyrus and Violet. Why does Cyrus protect Violet, endangering himself?

This book is full of plots and counterplots. Violet’s dreams are full of visions, but what do they mean and what should she do? There’s also sizzling sexual tension — in a relationship that doesn’t seem like a good choice for anybody, but seems impossible to stop.

It all barrels along with twists and turns to a bloody and surprising conclusion. We’ve got court intrigue, romantic tension, uncontrolled magic, confusing visions, fairy glamours, and the fate of nations in a novel that you won’t want to stop listening to.

actualgina.com

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Review of Celestial Monsters, by Aiden Thomas,

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Teen Fiction Review 0

Celestial Monsters

by Aiden Thomas
read by André Santana

Macmillan Young Listeners, 2024. 12 hours, 36 minutes.
Review written January 25, 2025, from a library eaudiobook

I finally got the sequel to The Sunbearer Trials read. It’s been a while, but it didn’t take too long to remember what happened at the end of the other book before those dread words “To Be Continued.” Let’s just say that their world is on the brink of the apocalypse, and Teo needs to save it, with the help of his best friend and the semidios boy he’s in love with.

I still enjoy the world of this story – a modern world, but it’s ruled by gods, which I think are mostly from Mayan mythology. There are quite a few transgender characters, one who switches to gender neutral pronouns in this book, which everyone is agreeable to – and it’s awfully refreshing.

The story itself is a bit too much like an older Rick Riordan book (older because more swearing) for me to get hugely invested. I have trouble with the mythology that requires human sacrifice – or any sacrifice – and I can’t quite understand how any world could get by a couple weeks without the sun. Ummm, how does that work, even if the sun is really the sun god? It’s best not to ask and try to immerse yourself in the story.

Other than that, there were lots of fights with the powerful “Celestials” released by the failure at the end of the last book. And an overarching plan to make things right that left a lot to chance. There were relationship things going on, and one of the viewpoint characters was the person who caused all the trouble, and they were beginning to get an inkling that was probably a bad idea. Our main character figuring out that sacrificing a child of the gods every ten years was a bad idea didn’t hit me too hard, I’m afraid, because, Duh? (I know, it’s what they grew up with. But I wasn’t super satisfied with what the alternative was, either.)

All that said, it’s a fantasy story with a main character who has wings and can talk to birds – which may not be as good in a fight as the powers the other demigods have, but it seems like it’s a lot more fun.

aiden-thomas.com

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Review of Buried Deep, by Naomi Novik

Fantasy, Fiction Review, Starred Review 0

Buried Deep

And Other Stories

by Naomi Novik

Del Rey, 2024. 428 pages.
Review written February 3, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review

I don’t read a lot of short story collections, because I have a hard time getting through them. It’s so easy to stop after finishing a story. But once I started this one, I knew I wanted to read every single story.

There are thirteen stories, of various lengths, with at least one from the worlds of Temeraire, the Scholomance, and Spinning Silver – that story was actually the original version of the book – but a different negotiation on the part of the miller’s daughter keeps it to story length.

My favorite was definitely the one in the world of Temeraire that retells Pride and Prejudice with Elizabeth Bennet the captain of a Longwing dragon. But this is not a proper occupation for a gentleman’s daughter. I love the way Naomi Novik works key scenes from Pride and Prejudice into that situation. And I love how Captain Bennet has learned to wield authority!

The title story is about the Minotaur and his sister Ariadne. The final story is in the world of an upcoming novel, currently titled Folly. I can’t wait!

Another favorite took place in the Scholomance after the events of the trilogy, so supposedly students are safer there – as long as their roommate doesn’t try to kill them.

Many of the stories are simply from some other fantasy world out of the mind of Naomi Novik – and she’s good at intriguing world-building. I loved the one about the woman who was a talented sculptor and who gets the commission to work with the magical clay – that tends to kill the sculptors who are permitted to work with it. (And there’s way more to it than that, which she skillfully communicates while telling you a fascinating story.)

This might be a good introduction to Naomi Novik’s magical writing, but it’s also a great way to keep her devoted fans patient while waiting for the next novel. Whichever you fall under, if you like fantasy at all, read this book!

naominovik.com

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Review of The Sunbearer Trials, by Aiden Thomas

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Sunbearer Trials

by Aiden Thomas

Feiwel and Friends, 2022. 405 pages.
Review written October 28, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review

Here’s another wonderful fantasy with a transgender character front and center. As with the outstanding book Cemetery Boys, there is again a gendered element to the magic. In Teo’s case, he’s the son of Quetzal, the goddess of birds, and has wings. Those wings are brown and dull-colored like a female bird, even though he’s been taking testosterone for about a year. So instead of binding his breasts, which he no longer needs to do after top surgery, he binds his wings to hide them.

But that isn’t central to the plot (and we know from the beautiful cover picture that’s going to work out). What the book is mainly about are the Sunbearer Trials.

As a prologue, we get the story of how the gods made humans and the land of Reina del Sol. There’s also a hierarchy of gods, which is explained, with the Gold gods next after Sol and the Jade gods after that. Then there are the Obsidian gods who are selfish and destructive and whom Sol bound in the heavens by sacrificing their life.

Every ten years, there must be a new sacrifice to renew that protection. And to choose the sacrifice, ten children of gods compete in the Sunbearer Trials. The winner becomes the Sunbearer, who goes to the cities of Reina del Sol with the renewed Sol Stone. The loser becomes the new sacrifice.

So it’s a little like the Hunger Games, except only one competitor dies.

With that mythical background, I was surprised to find the story is about a modern civilization with television and internet and posts going viral. But gods, dioses, live among humans. Teo is a semidios, one of the children of a god.

The Gold semidioses go to a special Academy to train to be heroes. With the abilities they inherit from their parents, it’s expected that they will spend their lives protecting humans, and they train for the Sunbearer Trials along the way. Teo’s mother Quetzal is a Jade goddess, so Jade has to go to public school with mortals. The only ability he inherited, besides his wings, is the ability to talk with birds.

Normally, all the competitors in the Sunbearer Trials are Gold semidioses. But this year, Teo is chosen, and so is thirteen-year-old Xio, the son of the god of Bad Luck. It doesn’t seem at all fair, since neither Teo nor Xio has been trained for the trials, so Teo is determined to help Xio not be the sacrifice, as well as trying to avoid it himself.

Warning: This book ends with the words To Be Continued. But the book itself tells about the Sunbearer Trials, which take place in five different cities of Reino Del Sol. So you learn much about that world along the way.

Teo isn’t the only queer character in the book, and nonbinary characters and people with two dads (for example) are considered completely normal, which is all lovely and refreshing. And one of the semidioses competing was Teo’s best friend when they were much younger, but ever since he started at the Academy, he treats Teo as if all that meant nothing.

This book reminded me very much of Rick Riordan books, since, after all, it involves half-gods. There’s also witty banter and smart aleck remarks between the characters. Which all is not necessarily my favorite kind of fantasy, but kids do like it, and I did love the inclusion of multiple genders as a matter of course. There were some details about the world that made me wonder, but it was so much fun hearing about the different gods’ cities, I didn’t let that bother me as much as I might have if I weren’t as invested in the story.

And yes, I will want to find out what happens next.

aiden-thomas.com
fiercereads.com

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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of The Last of the High Kings, by Kate Thompson

Audiobooks, Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

The Last of the High Kings

by Kate Thompson
read by Marcella Riordan

Clipper Audiobooks, 2009. 5 hours, 52 minutes.
Review written December 7, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I’ve been meaning to listen to this book ever since I listened to The New Policeman back in 2011. But in those days, I listened to audiobooks on CD and never as eaudiobooks, but that was the only version the library had of this sequel. I’d been so taken with the Irish music mixed into The New Policeman audiobook that I wasn’t going to settle for reading it in print.

Well, sadly The Last of the High Kings doesn’t have any Irish music in the audiobook, though it does include the delightful Irish accent of the narrator. We’ve got the same main character, J. J. Liddy, but fifteen years have passed since he first visited Tir na nOg, and now he’s a father with a family.

And his eleven-year-old daughter Jenny never wants to stay indoors and can’t seem to follow directions. She can see and talk with the ghost who guards the ancient beacon at the top of the hill. She laughs when he thwarts archaeologists from digging into it. But she can also talk with the pooka who masquerades as a goat, who also seems to have designs on the old beacon.

Meanwhile, their old neighbor Mikey says he’s the last of the High Kings of Ireland. He wants to visit the top of the mountain one last time – maybe by helicopter? J. J.’s too distracted to make it happen, but his son Donal tries to see what he can do.

And those are the bare bones of what’s going on, but we’ve got more Irish magic and ultimately the fate of the world depending on some cleverness. But I especially like that the entire Liddy family gets involved in the magic that happens in this book. And there’s plenty of music and dancing.

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Review of The Thirteenth Child, by Erin A. Craig

Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

The Thirteenth Child

by Erin A. Craig

Delacorte Press, 2024. 497 pages.
Review written December 24, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review

The Thirteenth Child is wildly popular at my library – so many holds on the audiobook, I decided to read the print book – and the hype is completely deserved.

The set-up is that Hazel, the thirteenth child in her family, was given away by her desperate parents to the god of Death. However, he didn’t care for her right away, but came and took her on her twelfth birthday. And from there, he’s got a long life set out for her. She’s going to be an amazing healer. In fact, she has a gift that when she touches a sick person, she gets a vision of how to heal them. But sometimes, instead she sees a Deathshead – and then she’s supposed to kill the person to avert catastrophe – for example, a person with the plague who will spread it to thousands of others if she doesn’t act.

This reminded me of two of my favorite young adult novels: Little Thieves, where the protagonist is also a thirteenth child and is given away by her parents to gods; and Grave Mercy where a whole convent of nuns serve the god of Death as assassins and see a mark on the people they are supposed to kill.

As in Grave Mercy, the protagonist can’t help but wonder what will happen if she doesn’t kill the person with marked for death. In both books, there are consequences if she doesn’t.

Eventually, Hazel becomes a healer at court with the ear of the king, but that means that her actions are all the more weighty.

This book pulled me in as much as those other two favorites did, though by the time I finished, it hadn’t won my heart quite as completely. (Still really good, though!) There’s an odd chapter in the middle that’s a very sexy dream, right after she’s met the prince. At first, I thought maybe the author was trying to tip her hand that this is a romantasy, since there hadn’t been much sex yet, so this was to get us warmed up for what’s to come – but no, this was the sexiest chapter in the book, and didn’t feel at all warranted by the encounter with the prince so far. If it was to show she was attracted to him, it felt out of place at that point. (And I’m sorry, but I rolled my eyes so hard when his hands found “parts of me I never even knew existed.” It’s a dream. It’s all coming from your subconscious. You knew those parts existed.)

One other nitpicky detail is that there’s no way, chemically speaking, that an ill human body can produce a glittering golden discharge. If it’s a magical illness, it’s not going to be solved by some special herb. However, I did love the way Hazel, despite her gift, has to study healing and is able to use logic and knowledge to determine a cure when her gift fails her.

Despite those two small quibbles, I loved this book. It’s long, but I read it quickly because it was so immersive. I didn’t really notice the quibbles until I was done and thinking over the book, because I loved the character so much. The plot gets a tiny bit convoluted toward the end of the book, but nothing it can’t sustain. And I absolutely loved the tender and beautiful Epilogue that shows us what happens for most of our beloved characters many years down the road. It answered the question as to whether the author is going for a sequel – no, this is definitely a stand-alone, and a good one.

erinacraig.com

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Review of Spellbound, by F. T. Lukens

Audiobooks, Fantasy, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

Spellbound

by F. T. Lukens
read by Kevin R. Free and Neo Cihi

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2023. 10 hours, 25 minutes.
Review written December 10, 2024, from a library eaudiobook.
Starred Review

I recently read my second F. T. Lukens book, Otherworldly. It was super fun, and reminded me of how much I enjoyed So This Is Ever After – so I realized I needed to listen to the book I’d missed (while on the Morris committee in 2023), Spellbound.

I was very glad I made up the oversight. And a hot tip is that these ones are all worth listening to. Kevin R. Free voices the main male lead in all three books, and he comes across beautifully as an adorkable, slightly goofy and outgoing character you want to hug and have as a best friend.

In this book, he reads Edison, a teen who’s been cut off from the world of magic since the death of his grandmother a year ago. So he goes to the office of Hexagon, where Antonia Hex works as a Cursebreaker, and begs for a job. Never mind that he doesn’t have any magic of his own. He misses his grandma and wants to be back in the magical community. Besides, he’s good at fixing electronic gadgets that always break around Antonia.

Edison has also been working on an app that will show him where the ley lines are – the lines that magic workers can naturally see and access. Since he can’t see them, maybe the app can make up the difference. What Edison doesn’t know is that according to the Consortium, that app is highly illegal. Also, after what happened with her last apprentice, Antonia is not allowed to take on a new apprentice. And it’s even more illegal to train someone who can’t see magic on their own.

But one thing leads to another. Antonia gives him a new name, Rook, and working in the office he meets another cursebreaker and his cute apprentice, Sun. Then later, when they’re supposed to be sorting cursed objects in a haunted house, Sun saves Rook from a Cursed Curtain that tries to kill him. Sun is prickly, but Rook thinks they’re awfully cute. Later, it turns out he can help Sun with their math homework – which brings the two of them even closer together.

But the more Rook learns about magic, the more illegal his existence becomes, and the greater the danger the Consortium will find out about his app. When he does get into trouble, both Cursebreakers and Sun are in trouble, too. Will Rook be able to do anything to save them all from the powerful magic wielders who are in charge?

This book ends up being a madcap adventure with a sweet romance thrown in. As with all of the F. T. Lukens characters I’ve heard read by Kevin Free, I found Rook lovable right from the start. Not that this is the same character! Both Rook and Sun are fleshed out with their own quirks and foibles, and here’s wishing them a long and happy career in the world of magic.

ft-lukens.com

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Review of The Spirit Glass, by Roshani Chokshi

Children's Fiction Review, Fantasy 0

The Spirit Glass

by Roshani Chokshi

Rick Riordan Presents (Disney Hyperion), 2023. 302 pages.
Review written January 3, 2024, from a library book.

Like the other books from the Rick Riordan Presents imprint, The Spirit Glass tells about a kid who discovers that the mythology of her culture is real. In this case, Corazon Lopez has magic powers from her Filipino heritage.

Here’s how the author introduces Corazon’s gift:

Corazon had the blood of a babylan, a rare mortal who guarded the boundaries between the human world and the realm of spirits. Some babaylans whispered to the weather. Others brewed potions that could lure a soul back into a dying body. Some could even sift through dreams to find glimmers of the future. It all depended on each babaylan’s particular gift.

Trouble is, Corazon doesn’t yet know what her particular gift is. She does have her own anito, a gecko companion who thinks he’s a crocodile.

Corazon’s parents have been dead for three years, but their ghosts come visit Corazon at her aunt Tina’s house on every Saturday night. Corazon hopes to get her powers and bring her parents back from the dead.

But when a spirit steals her soul key, she ends up on a quest in the realm of the dead, visiting different mythological spirits. Her guide is a ghost kid named Leo, and they get into one adventure after another.

This book was one of those fantasy adventures where one thing leads to another and the characters follow along — a little less of a driving plot than in my favorites. But by the time it all wrapped up, my heart was warmed, and I had nothing but good thoughts for Corazon and her family and companions.

This is a gentle fantasy with a sweet spirit that will get many kids started on a love of fantasy adventures.

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