YA – Page 37 – Down the Rabbit Hole

Review: Legendary by Stephanie Garber

June 2, 2021June 29, 2021 Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Caraval #2

A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.

After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister, Scarlett, from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.

The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister’s. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice, but now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever…

Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . the games have only just begun.

I just absolutely love this series. Andge is completely with me here on the 5 Drink Me Potions rating, and there is just no denying it. Something about the magic of Caraval just sucks you right back in for round two, this time with Scarlett’s sister, Donatella.

Mysterious, dark, intriguing and beguiling are all terms I would use to describe the magic of Caraval and just being in this world that Garber has created. Even though this second adventure follows more of the story behind Legend and his magic, we still get to experience all the magic and mystique of the Caraval game itself.

Legendary, as its name might suggest, delves further into the backstory of Legend, through the eyes of Donatella, Scarlett’s sister. Having been the prize in the previous game, she had not participated in the game itself last time. This time, another Caraval is put on for Elantine the Empress’s 75th birthday, and yet another grand prize is awaiting the winner. Donatella, of course, has all her own motives as well for wanting to participate this year, and in this journey, the stakes get higher and higher as she uncovers more and more of the truth.

Continue reading →

2.5 star, YA

Review: What’s Not To Love by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

May 29, 2021September 13, 2021 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

An academic enemies-to-lovers YA with all the nerdy drama, high school antics, and heartpounding romance of the Netflix original series Never Have I Ever

Since high school began, Alison Sanger and Ethan Molloy have competed on almost everything. AP classes, the school paper, community service, it never ends. If Alison could avoid Ethan until graduation, she would. Except, naturally, for two over-achieving seniors with their sights on valedictorian and Harvard, they share all the same classes and extracurriculars. So when their school’s principal assigns them the task of co-planning a previous class’s ten-year reunion, with the promise of a recommendation for Harvard if they do, Ethan and Alison are willing to endure one more activity together if it means beating the other out of the lead.

But with all this extra time spent in each other’s company, their rivalry begins to feel closer to friendship. And as tension between them builds, Alison fights the growing realization that the only thing she wants more than winning…is Ethan.

While enemies to lovers trope is one that many people thoroughly enjoy, I found What’s Not to Love just a tad bit over the line in the enemies territory for comfort. Ethan and Alison have spent their high school years with a rivalry that’s borderline toxic for not just themselves but those around them. If one can handle their constant arguments and one-upping one another, then by all means this is a novel for you.

Continue reading →

3.5 star, YA

Review: Flamefall by Rosaria Munda

May 26, 2021May 26, 2021 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Aurelian Cycle #3

Revolutionary flames ignite around Annie, Lee, and a brand new POV character in the second book of the Fireborne trilogy.

After fleeing the revolution and settling into the craggy cliffs of New Pythos, the Dragonlords are eager to punish their usurpers–and reclaim their city. Their first order of business was destroying the Callipolan food supply. Now they’re coming for the Dragonriders.

Annie is Callipolis’s new Firstrider, and while her goal has always been to protect the people, being the government’s enforcer has turned her into public enemy number one.

Lee struggles to find his place after killing kin to prove himself to a leader who betrayed him. He can support Annie and the other Guardians . . . or join the radicals who look to topple the new regime.

Griff, a lowborn dragonrider who serves New Pythos, knows he has no future. And now that Julia, the Firstrider who had protected him, is dead, he is called on to sacrifice everything for the lords that oppress his people–or to forge a new path with the Callipolan Firstrider seeking his help.

With famine tearing Callipolis apart and the Pythians determined to take back what they lost, it will be up to Annie, Lee, and Griff to decide what to fight for–and who to love.

With war on the horizon from an enemy previously thought vanquished, this society Annie and Lee live in continue to make us question what is the right decision to make in hard circumstances in Flamefall. For a story about dragons, this series and book stands out for its exploration of government and politics with the added bonus of dragons thrown into the mix.

Annie is now head of the fleet of dragons, a feat that once would not have been possible as she was born into a serf family. With such great responsibilities, she is already put to the test with the looming threat from escaped dragonlords who were now refocusing their attention on the kingdom that once was theirs.

Continue reading →