Tag: romance

3.5 star, YA

ARC Review: The Iron Raven by Julie Kagawa

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: The Iron Fey Evenfall #1

You may have heard of me…

Robin Goodfellow. Puck. Prankster, joker, raven, fool… King Oberon’s right-hand jester from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The legends are many, but the truth will now be known as never before, as Puck finally tells his own story and faces a threat to the lands of Faery and the human world unlike any before.

With the Iron Queen Meghan Chase and her prince consort, Puck’s longtime rival Ash, and allies old and new by his side, Puck begins a fantastical and dangerous adventure not to be missed or forgotten.

***The Iron Raven comes out February 9, 2021***

Thank you Edelweiss and HarperCollins for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

All you old-timer fans out there, are you excited for the next instalment of the Iron Fey series? Because I sure am!

I was such a fan of Julie’s earliest series when it first came out, and while I was always solidly a Team Ash (sorry, not sorry), I loved Puck for the friend and caring guy he was. So here is his story and I’m super glad we get to see the world through his unique eyes.

The Iron Raven picks up some time after the events of the original Iron Fey series AND the Call of the Forgotten series, so you will definitely get spoilers from both. And while there are references to things that occurred in those series (and really big, mighty ones they were!), I don’t believe it’s absolutely necessary to have read all of them to get a good sense of this world from here.

Puck, also known as Robin Goodfellow, is still the trickster you know and heard of – made known by a certain human playwright, hmm? But he may not be exactly the lovable character you remember in the Iron Fey series. Something is going around, and the nastier, crueler side of Robin Goodfellow may be just simmering under the surface as he navigates with old allies and new friends alike in another mission to save the world from ending.

Also, why do the faeries seem to have endless ways to end the world?

Our new love interest Nyx is a girl I can stand behind. While she may not be Meghan Chase, the Iron Queen, she’s strong, capable, fierce and protective of those she cares for. Definitely someone who can go head-to-head with a faerie as old and worldly as Puck, even when he’s not on his absolute best behaviour (though I suppose, when is he really?).

With the same style of storytelling Julie is known for in her previous two trilogies, you can expect action (lots of athletic battling going on here), cute romantic moments (aww!) and an ending that will leave you thirsting for more.

While I enjoyed all of these things, plus the added feels from people and places I remember in her old series (the nostalgia is REAL), I did feel the story could’ve progressed faster at times, particularly the beginning. Once things started really going and I was really invested in the issue at hand, things just seem to get “resolved”, like we’re closing that particular story element and I found myself at the end of the book. With an ending that screamed for another page to exist after it!

But that is the only complaint I have because I thoroughly enjoyed being inside Robin Goodfellow’s head for once. Instead of being the comic relief kinda guy, we get to see what makes him tick, the old things he hadn’t let go of in his many years of existence, and the struggles he hides deep down by putting on a show with his witty tricks and banter.

If you love Puck, this is definitely a book for you. Because his inner monologue was the star of the show for me, and I love him all the more for it.

Overall Recommendation:

The Iron Raven is a great story for those just being introduced to the Nevernever and to those of us who really hit the nostalgia going down these familiar roads. A character not unfamiliar to most of us, this is Robin Goodfellow’s story and the kind of trouble he gets into with old friends (ahh, Meghan and Ash!) and new ones alike. With a budding new romance on the horizon for him and yet another end of the world prophecy he needs to deal with, Puck finds himself facing not only the external issues coming at him but some inner demons of his own he has not really purged in his years of existence. Fun, action-packed scenes and a crew of characters to root for, The Iron Raven feels like slipping on old slippers that we missed and loved.

5 star, YA

ARC Review: Hot British Boyfriend by Kristy Boyce

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

After a horrifying public rejection by her crush, Ellie Nichols does what any girl would do: she flees the country. To be more precise, she joins her high school’s study abroad trip to England. While most of her classmates are there to take honors courses and pad their college applications, Ellie is on a quest to rebuild her reputation and self-confidence. And nothing is more of a confidence booster than getting a hot British boyfriend.

When Ellie meets Will, a gorgeous and charming Brit, she vows to avoid making the same mistakes as she did with the last guy she liked. Which is why she strikes up a bargain with Dev, an overachieving classmate who she’s never clicked with, but who does seem to know a lot about the things Will is interested in—if he helps her win over her crush, then she’ll help him win over his.

But even as Ellie embarks on a whirlwind romance, one that takes her on adventures to some of England’s most beautiful places, she still needs to figure out if this is actually the answer to all her problems…and whether the perfect boyfriend is actually the perfect boy for her.

***Hot British Boyfriend comes out February 9, 2021***

Thank you Edelweiss and HarperCollins for this copy in exchange for an honest review

Hot British Boyfriend is everything you could want in the title. Rom-com with cute boys? Check. Abroad in England? Check. A fun guilty pleasure kind of read perfect for holing at home in the winter under a pandemic? CHECK.

While the writing may read a little immature at first (our protagonist ends up in quite a viral pickle when she wrongly assumes – in a VERY public manner – that a certain guy was asking her to be his girlfriend), it quickly redeems itself as our spunky Ellie runs away to England to get away from giant embarrassment back at home.

Note to self: running away to the other side of the world does not mean you can run away from a viral video. But okay there.

Once in her new study abroad home filled with the top kind of high school scholars who truly earned their place to be there, it gets down to business. Not only does our girl have to prove herself – she’s not the smartest cookie in the jar – but she needs to prove that she is indeed over the Embarrassing Incident We Shall Not Name.

In comes our lovely, drool-worthy, prince of a love interest! Will is everything you would be dying for in a British guy. Rich but not obnoxiously so. Adventurous and romantic. But most of all, he seems completely crazy for Elle (because Ellie was soooo last month).

What a fun romp this story was! I loved the pacing and the atmospheric environment the book takes us through as we explore iconic UK landmarks. And surprise, there may even be some sightseeing beyond Great Britain! This traveling aspect was perfect for taking me away to exotic places I can only go in my dreams at the moment.

Yet at the very heart of the story, under all the layers of cute stuff and city exploration, is Ellie’s journey to finding herself. Can she be everything that she is, all whimsically quirky and inelegant, and still be seen and loved by someone special?

I won’t give that answer away but I will squeal that the romance was such a slow burn and hit the perfect climax. It’s also predictable as ever (if you have ever read a story of the perfect guy versus maybe-the-not-so-perfect-guy-who-really-IS-perfect for you), but this book doesn’t pretend that it’s anything super original. What it does get right is how it executed this tale as old as time.

Hot British Boyfriend is the romantic comedy we need at such a time to remind us of who we are if we have lost our way. And maybe along the way, it doesn’t hurt that we can live vicariously through Ellie in her adventures through Europe.

Overall Recommendation:

Hot British Boyfriend is a load of romantic fun across the big pond in the UK. Packed with plenty of heart, we follow Ellie, a girl out of her league among brainiacs at a competitive boarding school, as she tries to get over a heartache by throwing herself at a cute British boy she meets. Along the way, she learns what it means to be resilient and what she’s really made of that is worthy of love, especially self-love. And the right guy would be able to see that in her too.

3 star, YA

Review: Fable by Adrienne Young

Andge @ Down the Rabbit Hole

Series: Fable #1

For seventeen-year-old Fable, the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home she has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one, and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father, and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him, and Fable soon finds that West isn’t who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they’re going to stay alive.

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men. Fable takes you on a spectacular journey filled with romance, intrigue, and adventure.

Rating: 3/5 Drink Me Potions

There were five rules. Only five.

1. Keep your knife where you can reach it.

2. Never, ever owe anyone anything.

3. Nothing is free.

4. Always construct a lie from a truth.

5. Never, under any circumstances, reveal what or who matters to you.

Fable was a decent story on the complications of love, family and survival. This is definitely a title that joins other recent YA tales on the high seas full of rambunctious seafaring crews. As a Reese Witherspoon YA book club pick, I came in with obviously rather high expectations. Unfortunately, that became a part of its downfall.

Our titular protagonist, Fable, did a lot to survive on her own for four years on the island her father left her on. At first it was kind of hard to understand who was bad (apparently everyone, don’t trust them!) or what exactly she was doing to get herself off to this hunk of rock. The answer is looking for treasure (duh!). And a good thing she was such an expert on foraging for quality minerals. This point was a little confusing at first but eventually Young explains some of that down the road.

Thankfully most of the story does not take place on this lawless island, and the crew she escapes with is quickly introduced. I’m all for a good on-the-high-seas kind of story, but I have noticed that the makings of a really good one is not so much in its plot alone, but in the made-family the protagonist finds in the crew she finds herself in. A great example is Seafire by Natalie C. Parker or even Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller.

Young makes it easier on herself by aptly following this route and giving us a few secondary characters to know. West as the captain/helmsman of the crew needs no introduction as you just know from the synopsis that he’s a character we will get to know and maybe even salivate for. But the rest of the crew? Willa, Hamish, Auster and Paj all have a few words I can use to describe each but otherwise, I don’t really know them. And I think that’s a bit of a shame because it would’ve definitely elevated this book for me.

Much of this book also lies on Fable’s relationship with her father whom she is trying to reach after escaping the island. Instead of harbouring only resentment for his actions, she yearns to prove herself as fit for this world he is so hugely a part of. I liked how it never went down the road of simply hating him or only trying to gain approval. It was a mix of both which felt real for someone in Fable’s shoes. I hope this is something that can be further explored in the future.

This book kept it relatively short. It was a decent introduction to the Narrows where they live and how crews operate on the day-to-day. There is a little mystery behind Fable’s mother’s death that was laid here but will keep us speculating until next time. I will definitely check the rest of the series out, but I wished the story flourished a little beyond these things.

The romance was altogether sudden in my mind. I’m always a sucker for a good romance within a larger, action-heavy plot, but this really came out of left field. Don’t get me wrong, I like West and I’m glad there’s something going on between them. But when he declares that he’s wanted to be with her since he first laid eyes on her since she was stuck on the lawless island, I mean, he barely interacted with her at all during those years. I just want to feel how they came to care for each other so much instead of be TOLD that they do, you know?

But hey, overall I can’t complain. Strong female lead, daddy issues and adventure on the high seas, this was still a fun read to take me away to a wonderful far off land.

Overall Recommendations:

Fable follows its titular protagonist as she navigates a way to escape the lawless island her father abandoned her on. She encounters a small crew of people with their own secrets, meanwhile holding hers close to her chest. As Fable pushes to earn her right to step into this world alongside her father, mysteries surrounding her mother’s death arises as well as complications in relationships with this new crew family she’s starting to fall for. While a little light in plot elements, it sets a decent foundation for the world of the Narrows and the relationships of this family tied by more than blood. Book 2 should hopefully take us to even greater heights!