Tag: paranormal fantasy

Posted in Reviews

THE MORNING FLOWER by Amanda Hocking

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
3/5 Stars

I enjoyed the sequel to the Omte Origins series a bit more than the first book. I feel like it’s because this book had *more oomph* — if that makes sense. The relationship between Ulla and Pan is better developed and actually discussed between them in a very mature, commendably responsible way that I rarely see in fictional relationships. While the characters themselves don’t come across to me as super complex, their fierce loyalty to one another really makes the book for me.

I enjoyed getting to see more insight into this world. The mysterious magical elements felt darker (where I feel like the envelope wasn’t quite pushed enough in the first book). However, I still had some of the same issues of the worldbuilding feeling vague and intangible. The different cultural groups for the trolls were further explained and seem to be like a microcosm of our society. However, I think the lack of interaction between the troll world and human society prevented the narrative from really *going there* with this concept.

Comparable books:
The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu
Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd
Unhooked by Lisa Maxwell

***I received an e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Posted in Blog Tour, Reviews

LOBIZONA by Romina Garber

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
4/5 Stars

I was very excited to be invited to be a part of the blog tour for Lobizona because I have been hearing buzz all over about this book (and also just look at that gorgeous cover!!!). I enjoyed reading this new spin on a paranormal fantasy school. The concept was cool and I found the beginning to be particularly gripping and difficult to put down. The narrative angle of Manu struggling with her identity of being viewed as an outsider (both within the grounded-to-reality immigration storyline and the fantastical structure of the society based around the bruja and lobizón) was a great launching point for the plot.

I did find that the balance between these two threads became much more lopsided in the paranormal school setting toward the latter half of the novel. From the onset of my reading, I wasn’t expecting this setting to be as present and it took away some of the urgency of the beginning of the novel to me. Obviously Manu was in a precarious situation with her hidden identity, but it didn’t have the same urgency as I felt during the exposition since the school was a bit of a safe haven (at least for her magical peers).

Altogether, I have pretty positive takeaways from this one and am interested to read more books from this author!

Comparable titles:
The Dysasters by P.C. Cast
The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh
Tithe by Holly Black

***I received an e-ARC from Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

Posted in Blog Tour, Reviews

THE LOST CITY by Amanda Hocking

Posted on by unapologeticallyabooks
3/5 Stars

The Lost City was a pretty feel-good fantasy in that the stakes didn’t seem super high, but it was still enjoyable to read. The characters are charming and while the plot didn’t totally grip me, I feel like tonally this was a nice pandemic read that let me ponder a while about a fantasy world that is parallel to our own world.

I should say that this is my first Amanda Hocking book and I believe this is the start of a spin-off series to her earlier books. So I didn’t have the background of previous knowledge about this fantasy work. While I don’t think this greatly deterred my enjoyment, I did struggle a bit with understanding the scope of the world-building. It felt like there was lots of info-dumping at times in the narration or even just in the characters’ dialogue that felt kind of unnatural for me to believe that these characters would actually explain to one another verbatim. I do think this world has interesting potential with a lot of background and history for the different groups of trolls and other creatures featured in the story.

My major gripe was that it felt like a middle grade read, even though the main characters were firmly in YA. The language often seemed juvenile and the plot seemed to steer clear of taking risks and getting into the real nitty-gritty of what I think was intended to be a pretty dark fantasy world.

Overall, I was underwhelmed, but still intrigued enough to keep reading Hocking’s other novels!

Comparable books:
Tithe by Holly Black
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
UnEnchanted by Chanda Hahn

***I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review