The Exiled Queen – Cinda Williams Chima

The Exiled Queen – Cinda Williams Chima

Haunted by the loss of his mother and sister, Han Alister journeys south to begin his schooling at Mystwerk House in Oden’s Ford. But leaving the Fells doesn’t mean that danger isn’t far behind. Han is hunted every step of the way by the Bayars, a powerful wizarding family set on reclaiming the amulet Han stole from them. And Mystwerk House has dangers of its own. There, Han meets Crow, a mysterious wizard who agrees to tutor Han in the darker parts of sorcery—but the bargain they make is one Han may regret. 

Meanwhile, Princess Raisa ana’Marianna runs from a forced marriage in the Fells, accompanied by her friend Amon and his triple of cadets. Now, the safest place for Raisa is Wein House, the military academy at Oden’s Ford. If Raisa can pass as a regular student, Wein House will offer both sanctuary and the education Raisa needs to succeed as the next Gray Wolf queen. 

Everything changes when Han and Raisa’s paths cross, in this epic tale of uncertain friendships, cut-throat politics, and the irresistible power of attraction.

Deep Blue – Jennifer Donnelly

Deep Blue – Jennifer Donnelly

Serefina, daughter of Isabella, Queen of Miromara, has been raised with the expectation – and burden – that she will someday become ruler of the oldest civilization of the merfolk. On the eve of the Dokimí ceremony, which will determine if she is worthy of the crown, Sera is haunted by a strange dream that foretells the return of an ancient evil. But her nightmare is forgotten the next day as she diligently practices her songspell; eagerly anticipates a reunion with her best friend, Neela; and anxiously worries about Mahdi, the crown prince of Matali, and whether his feelings toward her and their future betrothal have changed. Most of all, she worries about not living up to her mother’s hopes.

The Dokimí proceeds, a dazzling display of majesty and might, until a shocking turn of events interrupts it: an assassin’s arrow wounds Isabella. The realm falls into chaos, and Serafina’s darkest premonitions are confirmed. Now she and Neela must embark on a quest to find the assassin’s master and prevent a war between the mer nations. Their search will lead them to other mermaid heriones scattered across the six seas. Together they will form an unbreakable bond of sisterhood as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens their world’s very existence.

Becoming Alpha – Book Review

Becoming Alpha – Book Review

It’s one thing to be considered a bruja, a powerful witch that can feel the memories of people based on items that were touched by them. It makes it so difficult to be around anybody, or any public place for that matter. One of the very few perks of being a bruja would be getting brand new items just for yourself, whether it’s clothes or books or furniture. It’s almost too much for Tessa to handle. So when her family gets relocated from busy California to rural Texas, she takes it a chance to start over, a chance to not be “Freaky Tessa”.

It seems to be going well for her, with her getting invited to a party early on in her arrival, but something happened. Something that should have been a good thing for her, but ended up being so very wrong. See, Tessa ends up getting kissed by a boy that she met when first arrived, but that’s not all she got. And when her so-called friends find out what happened, they basically abandon her and want nothing to do with her. How bad could that kiss be that this group of Tessa’s friends would completely leave her? It all makes sense when Tessa has to attend the boarding school that her father recently got a job at the whole reason why Tessa and her family relocated in the first place.

It’s one thing to be a bruja, but now Tessa has to deal with being a werewolf too. And if that’s something surprising, it’s also worth noting that this boarding school, St. Alibe’s, is a boarding school completely made up of werewolves. Not only are there werewolves involved, even the mean girl werewolves that make high school such a wonderful place, but they have to go up against their mortal enemies – the vampires, and they are anything but nice.

This book honestly had such a fresh feel on the werewolf mythology. There are so many books about vampires and while this book still does pit them against werewolves, it’s nice to read about the werewolves as the main species to root for rather than the vampires. This was the first book specifically about werewolves that I’ve read and I honestly really loved it. It also had witch mythology involved and having Tessa become an enigma to her kind, both a witch and a werewolf, making her one of the most powerful supernatural creatures in this world was a stroke of genius. I also really appreciated Tessa’s attitude, and how no-nonsense she was. There were times when she would feel like all was lost, or at least felt like giving up, but she would always get back on the horse and figure it out. I honestly love when the main character is one with attitude, one that doesn’t have everyone in the world loving her and her behaving like a dainty princess. I love the girls that can fight and hold their own, and Tessa is exactly that.

This is the first book in the Alpha Girls series, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series. Tessa is honestly one of the main characters that I can actually get behind without completely losing all faith in her. I highly recommend this one for anyone who is into supernatural books, or wants to try out a new werewolf series.

Rated: 5/5 Stars