[Review] Tithe (Modern Faerie Tales #1) by Holly Black

Tithe by Holly Black

Series: Modern Faerie Tales #1

Rating: 4 stars

Published: 2002

Goodreads Synopsis:

Sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she travels from city to city with her mother's rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the industrial, blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye soon finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms - a struggle that could very well mean her death.

I love how Holly Black writes fae - it's just so immersive and beautiful. Plus there's a ton of complexities to uncover about the courts and their inner workings so each plot twist was carefully hidden and well done.

It also takes place in NJ/NY so I totally love the urban vibes. The Cruel Prince started me on this fae-train so now I can't stop reading about faeries.

Bookstores of Edinburgh

Hello everyone! I'm back from hiatus and should be posting on a Mon-Wed-Fri schedule for reviews again.

For about a month, I've studied abroad in the beautiful city of Edinburgh and absolutely fell in love. I cannot rain platitudes about my experience being abroad enough - but this is a book blog, not my travel blog (which I should update at some point), so I'll be focusing on the literary scene of Edinburgh! Unfortunately my course ended before Edinburgh's book festival (Aug 11 - 17), but I was able to bask in the many bookstores this glorious city offered, from indie to secondhand. What a better way to revive the blog than to bring up bookstores?

[Review] Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Format: HC

Rating: 4 stars

Published: May 19th 2015

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.
Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.
The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.
But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

A lovely, enthralling Rapunzel-esque tale. I've heard so many good things about Uprooted, and I'm really happy that it lived up to my expectations!

Uprooted begins in the village of Dvernik, one of the many villages in the valley. At the edge of the valley is the Wood, which is deadly for anyone who dares enter. However, the Dragon, a powerful wizard, guards the valley from the Wood in his Tower. All that he asks is for a young woman to serve him for ten years. Once the ten years are up, the women are no longer interested in returning to the valley, and leave. Agnieszka believes that her best friend Kasia will be chosen, for she has been groomed to be the perfect choice. Instead, Agnieszka is chosen, and embarks on a journey of self-discovery and a journey into the Wood, in order to save the valley and everyone she loves.

[Review] Furyborn by Claire Legrand

Furyborn by Clare Legrand

Series: The Empirium #1

Format: ARC

Rating: 2.5 stars

Release Date: May 22, 2018

Goodreads Synopsis:

When assassins ambush her best friend, the crown prince, Rielle Dardenne risks everything to save him, exposing her ability to perform all seven kinds of elemental magic. The only people who should possess this extraordinary power are a pair of prophesied queens: a queen of light and salvation and a queen of blood and destruction. To prove she is the Sun Queen, Rielle must endure seven trials to test her magic. If she fails, she will be executed...unless the trials kill her first.
A thousand years later, the legend of Queen Rielle is a mere fairy tale to bounty hunter Eliana Ferracora. When the Undying Empire conquered her kingdom, she embraced violence to keep her family alive. Now, she believes herself untouchable--until her mother vanishes without a trace, along with countless other women in their city. To find her, Eliana joins a rebel captain on a dangerous mission and discovers that the evil at the heart of the empire is more terrible than she ever imagined.

I received Furyborn from a Goodreads giveaway - this does not impact my review in any way.

[Review] The Summer of Us by Cecilia Vinesse

The Summer of Us by Cecilia Vinesse

Rating: 4 stars

Published: June 14, 2018 

Format: ARC

Goodreads Synopsis:

Aubrey and Rae have been planning their trip around Europe practically from the moment they became BFFs in primary school. And, now, it ought to be the perfect way to spend their last summer together before university.
But things are more complicated at eighteen than they were at ten. There's Jonah, Aubrey's seemingly perfect boyfriend, and his best friend Gabe, the boy Aubrey may have accidentally kissed. And there's Clara, the friend Rae is crushing on, hard, even though there's no hope because Clara is definitely into guys, not girls.
Five friends. Ten days. Paris, Amsterdam, Prague, Florence, Barcelona. And a messy, complicated, can-this-really-be happening love story, or two ... because how could there not be?