[Review] Light Years by Kass Morgan

Light Years by Kass Morgan

Series: Light Years #1

Rating: 4 stars

Published: October 9th 2018

Goodreads Synopsis:

Reeling from the latest attack by a mysterious enemy, the Quatra Fleet Academy is finally admitting students from every planet in the solar system after centuries of exclusivity.
Hotshot pilot Vesper, an ambitious Tridian citizen, dreams of becoming a captain - but when she loses her spot to a brilliant, wisecracking boy from the wrong side of the asteroid belt, it makes her question everything she thought she knew. Growing up on the toxic planet Deva, Cormak will take any chance he can get to escape his dead-end life and join the Academy - even if he has to steal someone's identity to do it. Arran was always considered an outsider on icy Chetire, always dreaming of something more than a life working in the mines. Now an incoming cadet, Arran is looking for a place to belong - he just never thought that place would be in the arms of a Tridian boy. And Orelia is hiding a dark secret - she's infiltrated the Academy to complete a mission, one that threatens the security of everyone there. But if anyone finds out who she really is, it'll be her life on the line.
These cadets will have to put their differences aside and become a team to defend their world from a cunning enemy - but the danger might be lurking closer to home than they think... 

This was actually super cute and light and fluffy to read. It's the much lighter Ender's Game and Red Rising. The premise is very similar to these two - scifi set in a space school that has underlying political undertones. It's told from four POVs. Cormak takes the spot of his recently deceased brother Rex and becomes the Captain of Squadron 20. Vesper, the daughter of Admiral Haze, is the pilot, and must do everything she can to stay in the Academy, or face her mother's wrath. Arran, a super genius who has never been noticed by anyone until now - he's gotten the attention of the son of a politician who doesn't agree with the Academy's new 'open doors to all' policy. Orelia, who disguises herself to be an average Academy student, is actually the Academy's worse enemy - a Specter.

[Review] Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith

Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith

Series: Bloodleaf #1

Rating: 3 stars

Format: ARC

Goodreads Synopsis:

Aurelia is the first princess born to the Renalten crown in two hundred years, destined to fulfill a treaty by journeying to marry Valentin, the prince of Achelva – Renalt’s greatest enemy. Rumors of an unwell, cruel prince abound, and the only thing that eclipses Aurelia’s apprehension of her impending marriage is her fear of those who’d kill her to prevent it.
When an assassination attempt forces Aurelia to use forbidden magic to save a stranger, she is driven from Renalt by the witch-hunting Tribunal and a mob out for blood. But before she can claim asylum in the court of her betrothed, her travel party turns on her, forcing her to trade places with her treacherous lady-in-waiting, Lisette.
Now penniless in Achleva and bereft of her identity, Aurelia must decide if she wants to surrender to her new life or fight for her old one, all while navigating the complicated ties binding her to the enigmatic prince, the unquiet ghost of an ancient queen, and a poisonous plant called bloodleaf.
Aurelia is a pawn in a centuries-long game of love, power, and war— and if she can’t extricate herself from it before Lisette marries Valentin in her stead, she may face losses far more devastating than her crown.

I decided to do a group read with my friends for this book. This was... an interesting read, to say the least.

Princess Aurelia is from Renalta, a land that hates blood magic. So to keep her safe, she's whisked away to a neighboring country, Achleva, to marry Prince Valentin. However, trouble and danger is at every corner, and she must disguise herself as a commoner in order to be safe. But once in Achleva, she uncovers a traitorous plot that would bring destruction on both countries. Aurelia and her newfound allies must work together to stop such a catastrophe from occurring.

[Review] A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

Series: A Curse So Dark and Lonely #1

Rating: 3.5 stars

Published: January 29th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

Fall in love, break the curse.
It once seemed so easy to Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall. Cursed by a powerful enchantress to repeat the autumn of his eighteenth year over and over, he knew he could be saved if a girl fell for him. But that was before he learned that at the end of each autumn, he would turn into a vicious beast hell-bent on destruction. That was before he destroyed his castle, his family, and every last shred of hope.
Nothing has ever been easy for Harper Lacy. With her father long gone, her mother dying, and her brother barely holding their family together while constantly underestimating her because of her cerebral palsy, she learned to be tough enough to survive. But when she tries to save someone else on the streets of Washington, DC, she's instead somehow sucked into Rhen's cursed world.
Break the curse, save the kingdom.
A prince? A monster? A curse? Harper doesn't know where she is or what to believe. But as she spends time with Rhen in this enchanted land, she begins to understand what's at stake. And as Rhen realizes Harper is not just another girl to charm, his hope comes flooding back. But powerful forces are standing against Emberfall . . . and it will take more than a broken curse to save Harper, Rhen, and his people from utter ruin.

This was an interesting retelling of Beauty and the Beast - I haven't really read much of those. The juxtaposition of the real world (specifically, Washington DC, the little bit of it we saw) and the fantastical world was a twist that threw me for a loop. But not in a bad way necessarily, more like an "I never saw this before" sort of thing. The story is told in alternating POV between Harper, our female protagonist, who was kidnapped from DC by Commander Grey, and Prince Rhen, the heir to Emberfall who is cursed to never age by the witch Lilith. Each summer Commander Grey kidnaps a girl in hopes that she may fall in love with Rhen and break the curse. However, this hasn't happened for ages, and with the end of the season, the summer resets, and Rhen and Grey start their quest again. There's also a monster, a beast, prowling the country, attacking and killing innocents. Lilith tells Rhen that this will be the last summer of his curse, so he needs to fall in love soon. That's where Harper falls in.

[Review] The Wicked King by Holly Black

The Wicked King by Holly Black 

Series: The Folk of the Air #2

Rating: 5 stars

Format: ARC

Goodreads Synopsis:

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.
The first lesson is to make yourself strong.
After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.
When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

What even was this book? Unputdownable is what it was. Holly Black continues to enchant with her sequel to The Cruel Prince - The Wicked King.

I didn't have a chance to review The Cruel Prince in all its glory, but the sequel follows up with so much more. Lies, deceit, treason, and conniving plots are all the more reason to be bewitched. The story takes place five months after The Cruel Prince - Jude has Cardan under her thumb, controlling him from behind the throne. But she must battle enemies on all sides - The Living Council, Balekin, imprisoned in the Tower of Woe, her former classmates, one whose mother might even be planning to take the throne, and even those she considers friends. Who is there to trust in the land of fae?

[Review] The Binding by Bridget Collins

The Binding by Bridget Collins

Rating: 3.5 stars

Format: ARC

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Imagine you could erase grief.Imagine you could remove pain.Imagine you could hide the darkest, most horrifying secret.Forever.
Young Emmett Farmer is working in the fields when a strange letter arrives summoning him away from his family. He is to begin an apprenticeship as a Bookbinder—a vocation that arouses fear, superstition, and prejudice among their small community but one neither he nor his parents can afford to refuse.
For as long as he can recall, Emmett has been drawn to books, even though they are strictly forbidden. Bookbinding is a sacred calling, Seredith informs her new apprentice, and he is a binder born. Under the old woman’s watchful eye, Emmett learns to hand-craft the elegant leather-bound volumes. Within each one they will capture something unique and extraordinary: a memory. If there’s something you want to forget, a binder can help. If there’s something you need to erase, they can assist. Within the pages of the books they create, secrets are concealed and the past is locked away. In a vault under his mentor’s workshop, rows upon rows of books are meticulously stored.
But while Seredith is an artisan, there are others of their kind, avaricious and amoral tradesman who use their talents for dark ends—and just as Emmett begins to settle into his new circumstances, he makes an astonishing discovery: one of the books has his name on it. Soon, everything he thought he understood about his life will be dramatically rewritten.

To have something wrenched out of the deepest part of you - how did that feel? And afterwards, when you had a hole inside you... I saw again the blankness in Milly's eyes as she left, and clenched my jaw. What was worse? To feel nothing, or to grieve for something you no longer remembered? Surely when you forgot, you'd forget to be sad, or what was the point? And yet that numbness would take part of your self away, it would be like having pins and needles in your soul...
Emmett Farmer lives in a world where books are considered taboo, because within them is the ability to hide one's worse memory. That's where book binders come in, binding memories for people into novels. He's thrust into this path without notice, sent to apprentice with an elderly book binder by the name of Seredith. But there are some secrets book binding can't hide...

This is going to be a pretty short review.

This was an eloquently written read, addressing serious issues and dark secrets with tact. I especially enjoyed the growth and development from Lucian and Emmett, watching it unfold over the pages. Their backstory coupled with their relationship was just so tender and sweet.

Plus, the world building was pretty great, flowing from one plot point to another with ease.