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Review: Sadie by Courtney Summers

March 15, 2021March 12, 2021 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she’s left behind. And an ending you won’t be able to stop talking about.

Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.

When West McCray―a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America―overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late.

Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.

TW: sexual abuse

Dark and heartwrenching at times, Sadie by now is a fairly common household name among YA readers and even beyond. But as a thriller? I’m not so sure it held that level of suspense, but there was definitely a mysterious allure to understand what happened to the titular character, Sadie.

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1.5 star, YA

Review: A Vow So Bold and Deadly

March 10, 2021March 10, 2021 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Cursebreakers #3

Face your fears, fight the battle.

Emberfall is crumbling fast, torn between those who believe Rhen is the rightful prince and those who are eager to begin a new era under Grey, the true heir. Grey has agreed to wait two months before attacking Emberfall, and in that time, Rhen has turned away from everyone—even Harper, as she desperately tries to help him find a path to peace.

Fight the battle, save the kingdom.

Meanwhile, Lia Mara struggles to rule Syhl Shallow with a gentler hand than her mother. But after enjoying decades of peace once magic was driven out of their lands, some of her subjects are angry Lia Mara has an enchanted prince and a magical scraver by her side. As Grey’s deadline draws nearer, Lia Mara questions if she can be the queen her country needs.

As the two kingdoms come closer to conflict, loyalties are tested, love is threatened, and a dangerous enemy returns, in this stunning conclusion to bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer’s Cursebreaker series.

I’m supremely conflicted about this one. A Vow So Bold and Deadly concludes the trilogy that has shot Brigid Kemmerer to amazing heights. Don’t get me wrong, I loved her prior works (particularly the contemporaries) but I’m not sure her fantasies have done it for me.

Here is why it just left me with a feeling of dissatisfaction and confusion.

Rhen (as a whole)

Prince Rhen, the OG character from book 1 and fan favourite prince. Unpopular opinion, but I never loved him. Not even from book 1. He’s just meh to be honest. Just another spoiled prince who had to learn that he isn’t the centre of the universe and a girl helped save him from his demise. Great. But his personality needs some working on, especially as we went into book 2 where everything goes to hell with him. Like literally. I have no words for how angry I was at the choices he made, even in the name for his country and people. He chose wrong, gave into fear instead of mercy, the latter which I consider a strength. He was a spoiled prince who had no understanding of what he grew up with, the luxury at the expense of others, and while I do not fault him for being sheltered, I do fault him for the choices he continues to make from a standpoint like he is owed something from the world after all the suffering he endured with the evil enchantress who cursed him. That people must listen and love him, it’s practically expected because he is PRINCE.

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5 star, YA

Review: Lore by Alexandra Bracken

March 4, 2021April 1, 2021 Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

From the #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Darkest Minds comes a sweepingly ambitious, high-octane tale of power, destiny, love and redemption.

Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality.
Long ago, Lore Perseous fled that brutal world in the wake of her family’s sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt’s promises of eternal glory. For years she’s pushed away any thought of revenge against the man–now a god–responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead, and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and, at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore’s decision to bind her fate to Athena’s and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost–and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees.

“You may be done with the Agon, but I don’t think it’s done with you.”

Lore is one of my favourite reads so far this year, a beautifully written story mixing the best parts of The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson.

Nine Greek gods fight to survive every seven years on earth, an event known as the Agon, losing their immortality so that new victors can be crowned with that god’s powers if they succeed in killing them. This was such an interesting premise, but by far the best part came from how Bracken integrated all the pieces together.

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