[Review] Reign the Earth (The Elementae #1) by A.C. Gaughen

Reign the Earth by A. C. Gaughen

Series: The Elementae #1

Rating: 4 stars

Published: January 30th 2018

Goodreads Synopsis:

Shalia is a proud daughter of the desert, but after years of devastating war with the adjoining kingdom, her people are desperate for peace. Willing to trade her freedom to ensure the safety of her family, Shalia becomes Queen of the Bonelands.
But she soon learns that her husband, Calix, is motivated only by his desire to exterminate the Elementae—mystical people who can control earth, wind, air, and fire. Even more unsettling are Shalia’s feelings for her husband’s brother, which unleash a power over the earth she never knew she possessed—a power that could get her killed. As rumors of a rebellion against Calix spread, Shalia must choose between the last chance for peace and her own future as an Elementae.

TW: Domestic and verbal abuse

To protect her family and the people of the desert, Shalia marries Calix, who is said to be the head of their religion of the Three-Faced God. Calix will stop at nothing to rid his world of the Elementae, a people who have power over the elements (earth, wind, fire, water). But once she uncovers her powers over the earth, Shalia must find her inner strength in order to stop Calix from continuing his genocide, and to save herself.

[Review] King of Fools (The Shadow Game #2) by Amanda Foody

King of Fools by Amanda Foody

Series: The Shadow Game #2 

Rating: 3 stars 

Published: April 30th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

Indulge your vices in the City of Sin, where a sinister street war is brewing and fame is the deadliest killer of them all...
On the quest to find her missing mother, prim and proper Enne Salta became reluctant allies with Levi Glaisyer, the city’s most famous con man. Saving his life in the Shadow Game forced Enne to assume the identity of Seance, a mysterious underworld figure. Now, with the Chancellor of the Republic dead and bounties on both their heads, she and Levi must play a dangerous game of crime and politics…with the very fate of New Reynes at stake.
Thirsting for his freedom and the chance to build an empire, Levi enters an unlikely partnership with Vianca Augustine’s estranged son. Meanwhile, Enne remains trapped by the mafia donna’s binding oath, playing the roles of both darling lady and cunning street lord, unsure which side of herself reflects the truth.
As Enne and Levi walk a path of unimaginable wealth and opportunity, new relationships and deadly secrets could quickly lead them into ruin. And when unforeseen players enter the game, they must each make an impossible choice: To sacrifice everything they’ve earned in order to survive...
Or die as legends.

I said in my review of Ace of Shades that I would read the sequel for the sake of finding out what happens next. I still really have no idea what is happening, but it's become a semi-entertaining ride of trying to figure out.

[Review] Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto

Crown of Feathers by Nicki Pau Preto

Series: Crown of Feathers #1

Rating: 3 stars

Published: February 12th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

I had a sister, once…
In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.
I promised her the throne would not come between us.
Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.
But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.
Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.
Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.
Crown of Feathers is an epic fantasy about love’s incredible power to save—or to destroy. Interspersed throughout is the story of Avalkyra Ashfire, the last Rider queen, who would rather see her empire burn than fall into her sister’s hands. 

Crown of Feathers is one massive undertaking of a fantasy. Veronyka and Val are two sisters who live in a world where the Phoenix Riders - animages who bonded with phoenixes, once ruled. Now, they are exiled and cast from society, with the remaining animages living in hiding. Veronyka and Val hope to find phoenix eggs in order to join the Phoenix Riders. This story is interspersed with the events of sixteen years prior, when the Feather-Crowned Queen and the Council's Queen - two sisters, fought on opposing sides of a war that drove their country apart.

[Review] Only Human (Themis Files #3) by Sylvain Nuevel

Only Human by Sylvain Neuvel

Series: The Themis Files #3

Rating: 4 stars

Published: May 1st 2018

Goodreads Synopsis:

In her childhood, Rose Franklin accidentally discovered a giant metal hand buried beneath the ground outside Deadwood, South Dakota. As an adult, Dr. Rose Franklin led the team that uncovered the rest of the body parts which together form Themis: a powerful robot of mysterious alien origin. She, along with linguist Vincent, pilot Kara, and the unnamed Interviewer, protected the Earth from geopolitical conflict and alien invasion alike. Now, after nearly ten years on another world, Rose returns to find her old alliances forfeit and the planet in shambles. And she must pick up the pieces of the Earth Defense Corps as her own friends turn against each other.

A thrilling conclusion to the end of one of my favorite science fiction series.

Rose Franklin, Vincent Couture and his daughter Eva have returned from space almost ten years later. Instead of a war between aliens and humans, they are now in the middle of a war between world powers, as countries fight for control of the giant robots, and have strictly regulated who exactly is considered human.

[Review] The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

Rating: 3.5 stars

Published: March 10th 2010

Goodreads Synopsis:

Adrift after her sister Bailey's sudden death, Lennie finds herself torn between quiet, seductive Toby—Bailey's boyfriend who shares her grief—and Joe, the new boy in town who bursts with life and musical genius. Each offers Lennie something she desperately needs... though she knows if the two of them collide her whole world will explode.
Join Lennie on this heartbreaking and hilarious journey of profound sorrow and mad love, as she makes colossal mistakes and colossal discoveries, as she traipses through band rooms and forest bedrooms and ultimately right into your heart.
As much a celebration of love as a poignant portrait of loss, Lennie's struggle to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often uproarious, and absolutely unforgettable.

I read The Sky is Everywhere directly after All the Bright Places, and the subject matter is so similar (protagonist coping with loss of sister), that it's really going to be hard to separate myself from the two and not compare them.

Even though the two are super similar in premise, Lennie is coping with her sister's death in an entirely different way. Even though life was supposed to move on, Lennie isn't, or not in the most expected way. There's no one else who could understand her grief besides Toby, Bailey's boyfriend. And there's now a new kid at school - Joe, who complicates Lennie's feelings further. Lennie was supposed to share the woes of being a teenager with Bailey. But now that Bailey is gone, she's stuck in some kind of limbo, expressing her feelings through poetry, introduced at the beginning of every chapter.

[Review] Amber & Dusk by Lyra Selene

Amber & Dusk by Lyra Selene

Series: Amber & Dusk #1

Rating: 3.5 stars

Published: November 27th 2018

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sylvie has always known she deserves more. Out in the permanent twilight of the Dusklands, her guardians called her power to create illusions a curse. But Sylvie knows it gives her a place in Coeur d'Or, the palais of the Amber Empress and her highborn legacies.
So Sylvie sets off toward the Amber City, a glittering jewel under a sun that never sets, to take what is hers.
But her hope for a better life is quickly dimmed. The empress invites her in only as part of a wicked wager among her powerful courtiers. Sylvie must assume a new name, Mirage, and begin to navigate secretive social circles and deadly games of intrigue in order to claim her spot. Soon it becomes apparent that nothing is as it appears and no one, including her cruel yet captivating sponsor, Sunder, will answer her questions. As Mirage strives to assume what should be her rightful place, she'll have to consider whether it is worth the price she must pay.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The moment I found out it had an enemies to lovers trope in it, I was all for what followed. Plus, I thought that the journey of a heroine to reclaim her inner strength is a tried and true quest of both physical and emotional growth.

[Review] The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Rating: 4.5 stars

Published: November 5th 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues--a bee, a key, and a sword--that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library, hidden far below the surface of the earth.
What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians--it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also those who are intent on its destruction.
Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly-soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose--in both the mysterious book and in his own life.

This was an intense, super abstract ride. I essentially equated The Starless Sea to "Alice in Wonderland on crack" because you're thrown into a mystical world amped up by a thousand. It's a story within a story within a story. Zachary Ezra Rowlins discovers a book called Sweet Sorrows, and finds that he is featured within its pages. He had a chance as a child to open the door to the Starless Sea, but chose not to. Now, as an adult, he has that chance to enter through that door, and start his adventure.