The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

Series: The Young Elites (bk. 3) final book

Genera(s): High Fantasy/Paranormal Romance/Dystopian Sci-fi

Subjects: magic, supernatural, abilities, superpowers, kingdoms, royalty,

Setting: A fantasy world, the island of Kenettra

POV/Tense: 1st peson POV, present tense: Adelina Amouteru, and 3rd person intermissions of other characters.

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 317 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $18.99

Publisher: Penguin: Putnam

Summary/ product description: “There was once a time when darkness shrouded the world, and the darkness had a queen.

Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained.

When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.”

My Review:  The Midnight Star is the epic finale to the Young Elites trilogy. If you have not read the Young Elites, then I recommend it if you are a fan of any of these books: The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Crewel by Gennifer Albin, The Jewel by Amy Ewing, Defiance by C.J. Redwine, Snow Like Ashes by Sarah Raasch and the Red Queen by Victoria Avyard. This series is an epic fantasy that is very unique. The Young Elites have abilities caused by the blood fever. It’s said that they are connected to the God and their ability comes from the immortal realm. Other people believe they are demons and call them malfettos. Adelina has the power to create illusions, including both visual and sensual. Her hair is silvery white and she has a scar where one of her eyes should be. These are the markings of the blood fever.  

In this final chapter, Adelina, know throughout the lands as the White Wolf, have become a conquering queen. She already took the throne of Kenettra and extended her rule to Dumor. She now has her sites set on Tamoura. She hears word that her sister Violetta is in Tamoura and she’s sick. Violetta, who has never bared a mark before, is not covered in dark veins and seems very weak. Her ability is to take away Elite abilities.

 Raffaele and others from the Daggers are there too and once Adelina, Magiano, and Sergio get there, Raffaele tries to convince Adelina of a plan that involves them going to the immortal realm to fix the damage that it’s causing to the mortal realm. It’s an hard journey and they must find other Elites that can help them. Can Adelina abandon her cruelty and find the compassion to help save their world and forgive her sister?

This very unique fantasy series has some very unique characters that are not clichés or Mary Sues. It’s very diverse and different. It feels like a manga, with the strange colored hair, eyes and markings. This series would be perfect as a manga or graphic novel. The world building is creative. The world is different, with it’s three moon instead of our one. The mythology of their gods is woven with detail and share similarities to Roman and Greek mythology. Marie Lu put a lot of work into this series. I hope that we get to see it in some visual format be it a graphic novel, movie of TV series. I will miss this beautiful and dark fantasy series greatly.

Cover Art Review: Nice cover. Fits with the series.

Frost Like Night by Sara Raasch

Series: Snow Like Ashes (bk. 3) Final Book

Genera(s): High Fantasy

Subjects: magic, seasons, winter, royalty, kingdoms, adventure, war, princes and princesses, king and queens, warriors, rebellions, slavery, orphans

Setting: The Kingdoms of Primoria

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, present tense: Meira, and 3rd person: Mather and Ceridwen

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 483 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen: Balzer & Bray

Summary/ product description: “Angra is alive, his Decay is spreading—and no one is safe.

Meira will do anything to save her world. With Angra trying to break through her mental defenses, she desperately needs to learn to control her own magic—so when the leader of a mysterious Order from Paisly offers to teach her, she jumps at the chance. But the true solution to stopping the Decay lies in a labyrinth deep beneath the Season Kingdoms. To defeat Angra, Meira will have to enter the labyrinth, destroy the very magic she’s learning to control—and make the biggest sacrifice of all.

Mather will do anything to save his queen. He needs to rally the Children of the Thaw, find Meira—and finally tell her how he really feels. But with a plan of attack that leaves no kingdom unscathed and a major betrayal within their ranks, winning the war—and protecting Meira—slips farther and farther out of reach.

Ceridwen will do anything to save her people. Angra had her brother killed, stole her kingdom, and made her a prisoner. But when she’s freed by an unexpected ally who reveals a shocking truth behind Summer’s slave trade, Ceridwen must take action to save her true love and her kingdom, even if it costs her what little she has left.

As Angra unleashes the Decay on the world, Meira, Mather, and Ceridwen must bring the kingdoms of Primoria together…or lose everything.”

My Review:  Frost Like Night is the final book in the Snow Like Ashes trilogy. If you have not read Snow Like Ashes, I recommend it to those who enjoyed Frozen, Game of Thrones and books like: Incarnate and The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows, Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi, Crewel by Gennifer Albin, The Jewel by Amy Ewing, Defiance by C.J. Redwine, The Young Elites by Marie Lu and the Red Queen by Victoria Avyard.

Meira is the queen and conduit of the Winter kingdom. She’s trying to find away to stop Angra, the evil ruler of Spring who use the magic of the Decay. Meira is brought to Paisley, the kingdom hidden in the mountains of the north. Rares and his wife offer to train Meira in using her magic. Meira soon discovers that the only way to defeat Angra might not end in a happy ending for. She might have to sacrifice everything to save her kingdom and the rest of Primoria from Angra and this war. With Mather by her side, she feels she can do anything.

Mather would do anything to save Meira from the fate she plans to accept. He really does want to spend his life with her and can’t imagine living without her. Ceridwen is now the monarch of Summer, but cannot use her kingdom conduit because it is male-blooded. She’s trying to save her own people and create new allies. She also wants a relationship with Jesse, but he must first break his relationship with Raelyn, his current wife who’s now under Angra’s influence.

This epic finale is filled with magic and adventure and even all the romance we were hoping for. I will say that I did not enjoy this book as much as the previous book. I’m not a fan of 3^rd person POV and I would have preferred only to have Meira 1^st person POV or have 1^st person perspective of Mather and Ceridwen. Also I was so busy with school, that it takes a long time to finish a book. I did enjoy this series overall and hope to find more unique fantasy series like this one. I’m very happen to see how this series has come so far and to a satisfying ending. I can’t wait to see what other stories Sara Raasch cooks up.

Cover Art Review: I love these cover so much! They are consistent and beautiful. The chakram with the seasons in it is so cool.

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Series: The Grisha Trilogy (bk. 3)

Genera(s): High Fantasy

Subjects: abilities, magic, kingdoms, good vs. evil, war

Setting: A high fantasy world, the kingdom of Ravka and surrounding countries

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Alina Starkov

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 417 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover, now in Paperback

List Price: $18.99/$9.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Henry Holt

Summary/ product description: “The capital has fallen.

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation's fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova's amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling's secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.”

My Review:  Ruin and Rising is the final book in the Grisha Trilogy. I read the 1^st Grisha book, Shadow and Bone months before it’s release, met the author and a pre-pub event in Naperville and gave her her first piece of fan art ever. (I feel like a bad fan!)

Only now did I read the second and third books. Siege and Storm was a pretty good sequel, and Ruin and Rising was a great finale.

Alina’s hair turned white at the end of Seige and Storm. Why are there so many fantasy books with white-haired girls? Anyways, her abilities don’t seem to be working and now she’s stuck in a cave with a bunch of people who think she’s a living saint. The Apparat doesn’t seem to like her friends and claims they are plotting against her when actually they were all just trying to break out and her Alina get some sunlight in hopes of her being able to summon again. Once they get out, they have to find Nikolai, find the firebird aka the third amplifier, defeat the Darkling and destroy the Shadowfold. They got a lot on their shoulders.

I really like this fantasy series because it’s so unique. Ravka is supposed to be like imperial Russia. The palace looks Russian with onion domes. The language appears to be Russian. Rather than just swords, there are pistols. It’s more like the 1800s than the middle ages.

The characters are pretty great. Alina is kind of stubborn like many YA female heroines. Her powers are cool. She can control light (summon sunlight). Mal is a tracker. He’s not grisha, but her loves Alina. He’s pretty funny and I love the romance and banter between them. Nikolai, who pretended to be a privateer named Strumhond in the second book, in a prince and very funny and clever. He likes to build things, and comes up with crazy ideas and plans. He made ships that can fly with the help of Squaller grisha. The Darkling, who is the villain, is complicated. I liked him in the first book, but I’m not a fan of him. He can control shadows and darkness. Genya is a tailor is can change people’s appearance. David is a Durast and Genya’s boyfriend. He’s very smart and jokes go over his head. There are lots of other characters, like Zoya, Tamar, Toyla, Nadia, and more.

The ending was both surprising and not. I kind of saw some connects, especially Mal’s. There’s a lot of action and scary heart-pounding moments.

I’m sure every body’s read this series by now if they read YA, but if you haven’t, I recommend it to fans of Red Queen, The Young Elites, The Orphan Queen and Throne of Glass.

Cover Art Review: Very nice vector illustration with textures. The title type is nicely rendered and very unique.