Reviews written by Jan Farnworth, Staff Reviewer

240 results - showing 61 - 75
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Ordering
August 30, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.3
Plot
 
4.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Young Adult Fiction
Like an unexpected dessert.

What I liked: Something Close to Magic is Emma Mill's debut fantasy novel. She has written previous young adult novels in the contemporary vein of a plot line. Emma Mills is dabbling in fantasy with a baker who has a talent for seeking, a bounty hunter,...

August 24, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.7
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Young Adult Fiction
Fate or Death?

What I liked: Foxglove picks up right where Belladonna left off, and yet again, we are left with a mysterious murder on our hands. We also have to meet Fate, Death's brother, who seems to think he should be the one with Signa. The beautiful descriptions...

August 17, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.7
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Sci-Fi Western for teens

What I liked: Scarlett and Browne are outlaws, so famous they have a scandal sheet portraying their escapades. In this second book, both must face demons from their past that they kept to themselves and did not own up to. They are outlaws on the run, so they...

August 09, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.3
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
3.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Trust in those you call friends

What I liked: The Golden Frog Games is the second book in the Witchlings series by Claribel. A. Ortega. As in the first book, the story is more plot-driven than character driven. As more tension builds around our spare coven and spares rights in generals...

August 05, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.3
Plot
 
4.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
A Great Adventure

What I liked: I like stories about twins as you get a special bond, sometimes special powers, and usually a rousing adventure. Kinjal and Kiya are easy to connect with as they are written like real life siblings that squabble all the time but have a solid connection...

August 03, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.7
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Middle Grade Fiction
Fresh Merlin Retelling

What I liked: Our characters all want to be something beyond what fate or destiny sees them as being. Merlynda is the heir to Melyn's legacy but can't use her magic without destroying something or someone. Neci's family are root vegetable farmers, and she is determined to be...

August 03, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.7
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Middle Grade Fiction
Being a spare is not always a bad thing

What I liked: An intense Middle-Grade Fantasy that has •Misfits •Magic and potions •Sorting houses •Toads Racing •Adventures in the forest Seven, Thorne, and Valley are sorted into the 'Spare" coven, considered the weakest link in...

July 29, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.3
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Young Adult Fiction
18 students, 18 suspects for murder!

What I liked: The Grimoire of Grave Fates is written by 18 fabulous YA authors, which makes for a unique way to write a murder mystery. I can say that I could tell we had different authors writing, but it flowed so well as a murder mystery. The...

July 26, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.7
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Young Adult Fiction
Travel to Egypt with me

What I liked: What the River Knows is a historical young adult fantasy novel set in Cairo and the hunt for Cleopatra's tomb. The magical realism elements are what hooked me and kept me reading. Inzez is a strong character, who detests being left behind, is...

July 25, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.7
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Young Adult Fiction
Listen to the spirits

What I liked: Roses & Violets is a murder mystery within a magical school; the characters are four girls from different backgrounds. Some know the school from their parents, while others know absolutely nothing. All have been invited to the school and go through tests to...

July 23, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.7
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
5.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Young Adult Fiction
Fighting to Belong

What I liked: City of Vicious Nights is a fast-paced, neon-drenched cyberpunk romp filled with imaginative tech, gritty settings, and fierce female-fueled romance. I liked this sequel's added cyber-punk hunger game feel as they join a trial race to become the matricah of the Rio Oscuro syndicate....

July 20, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.5
Plot
 
4.0
Characters
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
5.0
Magical Secret

Bea Black has just moved to a tiny two with two schools Modern Academy and another school, which is for magic and is secret. Her dad bumbles her enrollment, and now she is an Accidental Witch, and these chapters you read are her diary entries of how she fakes being...

July 20, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.8
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
5.0
Master the Wand

6th grader Bea is having a hard time. I love that she is in a school of witches by accident, and now it's time for Halloween. There are decorations and tasks to be completed. The book is set up in short chapters with diary entries written in...

July 19, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.5
Plot
 
5.0
Characters
 
4.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
5.0
Friends Come to Visit

Crimson Twill Witch in the Country is an adorable continuation of this series, where this time around, Crimson Twill gets to show her city friends around her country life. Crimson Twill is a witch you want to know; she is kind, thoughtful, and curious. When her friends from...

July 15, 2023
Overall rating
 
4.3
Plot
 
4.0
Characters
 
5.0
Writing Style
 
4.0
Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)
 
N/A
Young Adult Fiction
Fairytales are not always just fairytales

What I liked: Never a Hero is the second book in the Only a Monster Trilogy; I was wary of starting it as it is a second book, and we all know second books, while they add to the overall story, they seem to be a bit on...

240 results - showing 61 - 75
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