the wicked king by holly black; a non-spoiler review

title: The Wicked King
author: Holly Black
genres: Young Adult, Fantasy
publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
release date: Jan 8th, 2018
source: Edelweiss
Goodreads Summary:

❝You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.

The first lesson is to make yourself strong.

After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.

When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.❞

i received this advanced reader’s copy from the publisher via edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

the wicked king is the second installment of holly black’s trilogy ‘the folk of the air’, which follows the story of a mortal girl, jude, trying to navigate her way through the politics of elfhame – the faerie island she lives on. i feel so lucky to have gotten a hold on this so early, but at the same time i regret it because the wait has gone from a few months to almost two years until queen of nothing is released. regardless, the wicked king is everything i had hoped for, and more!

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F. C. Yee [Review]

Title: The Epic Crush of Genie Lo
Author: F. C. Yee
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy, Mythology
Format: eBook
Publisher: Amulet Books
Release Date: Aug 8th, 2017
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads Summary:

The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes sixteen-year-old Genie Lo’s every waking thought. But when her sleepy Bay Area town comes under siege from hell-spawn straight out of Chinese folklore, her priorities are suddenly and forcefully rearranged.

Her only guide to the demonic chaos breaking out around her is Quentin Sun, a beguiling, maddening new transfer student from overseas. Quentin assures Genie she is strong enough to fight these monsters, for she unknowingly harbors an inner power that can level the very gates of Heaven.

Genie will have to dig deep within herself to summon the otherworldly strength that Quentin keeps talking about. But as she does, she finds the secret of her true nature is entwined with his, in a way she could never have imagined…

 

Y’all. This book. Y’all. It’s been a few days and I’m still shaken. Listen, if you thought this looked cool – you’re wrong. It’s cooler. The coolest. It gives Antarctica a run for its money (aside from the, you know, global warming crisis… Moving on.) I’m giving you a fair warning that this review will be nothing but yelling with a lot of repetitive amazing’s and holy sh*t’s.

Genie Lo’s priorities are to get good grades, excel at everything, and get into the best college that’s the farthest from home. But she soon finds them shifting with the arrival of one transfer student, Quentin Sun. Demons begin attacking her home town and Quentin assures her she’s the only one powerful enough to stop them. Relying on his guidance, Genie will have to struggle with more than just school work.

Quite a lot of people on my timeline began talking and reading this book recently that it piqued my interest. I do love mythology, but don’t know a lot about Chinese mythology in particular, so this book seemed perfect for easing into that. I was really hoping to like it, since it’s such a new concept for me and also because everyone who’s been reading it has sung nothing but praises, yet I didn’t expect this. I utterly LOVED Genie Lo so much I ended up reading it in one sitting. It completely blew me away.