Thursday, May 5, 2016

Young Adult Novels To Look For Book List

Want something new and exciting? Looking for the next book in a series? Check out this book list...





1) The Forbidden Wish" by Jessica Khoury

A Middle East–inspired fantasy version of “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp.”

Jinni Zahra, long imprisoned in her lamp, has languished for hundreds of years in a dead city as punishment for a mysterious transgression against her kind, one that also resulted in the betrayal of the warrior queen who last held the lamp, whom Zahra still mourns with the term of endearment “Habiba.” A young thief guided by a magic ring finds the city and lamp, freeing her. Other jinn quickly offer her a bargain from their ruler: he will free her from the lamp if she rescues his son, imprisoned in Aladdin’s home city—a deal with a strict time limit. Zahra uses Aladdin’s desire for vengeance against the drug-addled king’s brother—the sadistic power behind the throne—for his revolutionary parents’ deaths and the ill treatment of the peasantry. Aladdin’s audacious and bold but unable to kill, so Zahra offers an alternative revenge: he will seduce and marry the crown princess, become king, and expel his enemies—bringing them to the palace and supporting her mission. But iron-willed Caspida is no typical princess, and Zahra’s feelings for Aladdin steadily grow—despite the taboo against jinni-human love that destroyed her Habiba. Khoury allows Zahra to narrate in the first person, placing her in a distinct fantasy world that draws on Middle Eastern tropes but is no cognate of real-world geography. Though the dynamic ending fully concludes their story, readers will likely long for more stories—say, 1,000 of them.

Dripping in magic, strong women, and forbidden love. (Fantasy. 12 & up)



2) "Sword and Verse" by Kathy MacMillan

Literacy becomes the key to liberation in a thoughtful debut fantasy.

Tutor-in-training Raisa may be one of the most privileged Arnathim in Quilara, but she is still a slave, like all her people. Unlike them, she has learned to read and write the sacred symbols in order to teach future kings. Her relative freedom would make her an ideal recruit for the Resistance, but she fears being executed like her predecessor; besides, she’s interested only in writing and in pursuing her torrid, forbidden romance with Prince Mati. But when Mati’s throne, their lives, and all Quilara come under threat, she may lose any choice. Raisa’s narration is cleverly interwoven with the myths of the divine origins of writing and the oppressive system it sustains, providing a fascinating spin on a common fantasy plot. Unfortunately, Raisa herself—vacillating, selfish, and shallow—is an unimpressive protagonist, and an attempt to reinscribe racial power dynamics (the Arnathim are white and curly-haired, while their oppressors are olive-skinned with straight, black hair) falls flat. While she condemns the Resistance for their distrust in Mati’s (impotent) promises of reform, the Arnathim suffer mostly offstage, allowing Raisa to wallow over her ill-judged (and inherently abusive) affair. Once the nation collapses into treason, revolt, and armed invasion, the literal deus ex machina (or ex tabula) resolution seems awfully pat for a society scarred by generations of bigotry and exploitation.

Kudos for a fresh take on a fraught topic but not for derailing slavery into a vehicle for romantic angst. (Fantasy. 12-18)



3) "Reign of Shadows" by Sophie Jordan

Star-crossed romance smolders in a sunless fairy-tale kingdom of ugliness, horror, and grisly violence.

Born on the eve of a now seemingly perpetual eclipse, Luna has spent her 17 years in darkness; alone with two loyal retainers in a remote tower, she hides from both the monstrous “dark dwellers” and the power-mad chancellor who murdered her royal parents. Everything changes after she rescues a few wanderers from Outside, including Fowler, a bitter youth particularly adept at survival. Once her sanctuary is discovered, Luna flees with Fowler, who longs to be rid of her while harboring sinister secrets of his own. Luna and Fowler alternate painfully florid narration of their journey through a far-fetched world where “everything is bleakness and death.” Fowler is an archetypical brooding hero; his cynical, callous exterior merely shields a heart bruised by his traumatic past. Luna, while laudably confident and competent (despite the disability she’s unaware of till he tells her about it), is also superspecial, flawlessly compassionate, and noble, with senses so implausibly acute that she almost totally compensates for it. Their inevitable romance is swoony, angst-y, and (discreetly) consummated, leading all too predictably to tedious misunderstandings, feckless self-sacrifices, and an abrupt, over-the-top cliffhanger that may inspire eye-rolls from even the most fervent devotees of the genre.

All the standard tropes and clichés, only ever-so-much more so. (Dystopian fantasy. 14-18)



4) "Ruined" by Amy Tintera

An undercover operation goes awry in this series-opening political fantasy.

Despite a rising death toll, royal families of four kingdoms continue to plot one another’s demise through martial, marital, and sometimes magical means. Eager to stop the extermination of the magic-wielding Ruined of Ruina and find her kidnapped younger sister, Olivia, the chosen Ruined heir, Emelina Flores kills Princess Mary Anselo of Vallos, assumes her identity, and weds Prince Casimir Gallegos of Lera. “Useless” Em lacks bone-crunching, viscera-splattering Ruined powers but continually plans how to kill people, using household decorations if necessary. She is aiming to extract information on Olivia’s location before killing Casimir and his family and letting the warriors of Olso attack, but budding romance stays her hand…and provides most of the plot. Em and Cas share the narrative as well as a history of overbearing, bloodthirsty parents—Em’s mother’s method for keeping the peace was “to kill everyone who threatened it”—and their gradual courtship is marked by endless misunderstandings and opportunistic slaughter. Tintera’s mix of violence and vengeance with a star-crossed-lovers story offers an olive-skinned heroine and only slightly lighter-skinned hero, abundant angst, and plentiful cinematic action sequences, if few sympathetic or developed secondary characters. Readers expecting resolution must wait for the sequels.

Standard fantasy and warfare featuring a lethal leading lady. (Fantasy. 14-18)



5) "Map of Fates" by Maggie Hall

She's the destined savior of the secret oligarchy ruling the world, but she just wants her mom.

Avery used to think she was just your average violet-eyed American teenager with a mysterious past. She's since learned that she's the prophesied daughter of the Circle of Twelve, destined to marry the One to protect the Circle against their ancient enemies, the Order. Worse, she knows who the One really is, and it's not the scion of any of the 12 inbred families that include most of the world's politicians, businessmen, actors, and beautiful people. Instead it's Stellan, the gorgeous childhood best frenemy of Avery's forbidden love, Jack. Of course, none of this will matter if they don't rescue Avery's mother, a hostage of the Order, by solving the ancient puzzle of Napoleon on an old bracelet. Meanwhile Avery's powerful blood family—the Saxons, the British members of the Circle of Twelve—are determined to marry her off to another Circle house in an attempt to consolidate power. If only the Order weren't bumping off the few bearable candidates for Avery's hand as fast as she can meet them. And of course, there'll soon be the sudden yet inevitable betrayals. The novel reads like a heap of “chosen one” tropes thrown in a blender, and it centers on an epic battle between two forces composed mostly of jerks. Despite its retrograde premise, this love-triangle thriller features a pleasing moment of responsible sexual choice.

Surprisingly readable, given its unlikely setup. (Thriller. 12-16)

Book Two of Two



6) "Assassin's Heart" by Sarah Ahiers

A betrayed teenage assassin seeks revenge against her family’s murderers.

In a lavishly constructed fantasy world with an intricate society of religious assassins, murder’s legal—provided it’s committed by a clipper, a member of an elite assassin Family, as worship of the goddess of death and resurrection. Oleander “Lea” Saldana, of the Saldana Family, is secretly seeing Val, a member of the Saldanas’ nemesis Family, the Da Vias. When a surprise attack on her home leaves Lea the last member of her Family standing, she knows whom to blame: the Da Vias, Val, and herself. On the run from the Da Vias—who know a Saldana escaped—Lea must brave rival clippers and the equally deadly angry ghosts outside the city wall in order to find the other remaining Saldana: her uncle Marcello. He’s been long exiled for some mysterious incident that involved the murder of his uncle (the Family head), and that is also the source of the Da Vias’ rage. The worldbuilding—especially the story’s internal rules governing ghosts and the way the worship of different gods shapes each country—is smarter than the story’s protagonist, whose baffling decisions are plot-driven. Too, the exposition seems not to trust readers’ memories. The pace limps along through repetitive prose and frequent reminders as Lea slowly makes progress, especially romantically (predictable but sweet). The final act’s twists show more life than the rest of the book.

It’s a nifty premise, but the execution doesn’t live up to it. (Fantasy. 12-16)



7) "Tell the Wind and Fire" by Sarah Rees Brennan

“It was the best of times until it was the worst of times” in a fantastical Tale of Two Cities.

In Light New York, Light magic provides luxurious ease for its practitioners, but the symbiotic Dark magic provokes ostracism and confinement. Lucie Manette escaped Dark New York as a heroine after rescuing her father from imprisonment, but she remains guilt-ridden over those she left behind. When Carwyn, a doppelgänger created with illegal Dark magic, unexpectedly saves his double, Ethan (Lucie’s beloved and nephew of the Light Council’s leader), Lucie is sickened by the exposed corruption among the ruling caste. But as the downtrodden Dark populace rises in bloody revolution, Lucie has to make a terrible choice. Retellings of beloved classics are tricky, but here, Dickens’ overall plot and major characters translate effortlessly into this intriguingly imagined setting. Lucie and Ethan are more complex than their rather insipid Victorian prototypes, and Carwyn retains all the bad-boy fascination of his charismatic counterpart. Less successful are the direct quotes from the original, which feel strained and artificial. Brennan is best where she is most original: her metaphorically rich magical system, her timely (and timeless) championing of society’s outcasts. Her trademark witty dialogue—although restrained by the somber narrative—still sparkles, making the inevitable tragic conclusion all the more poignant.

This respectful and occasionally clever homage may be most appreciated by those least familiar with the original. (Fantasy. 12 & up)



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