Fables&Wren

Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy, #01: Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy

/ 04 STARS, 2018 JANUARY, CC YA TALES FROM THE SHADOWHUNTER ACADEMY

Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy Book Cover Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy
Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan,
Juvenile Fiction
Simon and Schuster
February 17, 2015
Audiobook
40

Simon Lewis never thought he’d become a Shadowhunter…and now he has the chance. One of ten adventures in Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy. After living as a Mundane and a Vampire, Simon never thought he would become a Shadowhunter, but today he begins his training at Shadowhunter Academy. This standalone e-only short story follows the adventures of Simon Lewis, star of the #1 New York Times bestselling series The Mortal Instruments, as he trains to become a Shadowhunter. Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy features characters from Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments, Infernal Devices, and the upcoming Dark Artifices and Last Hours series. Welcome to Shadowhunter Academy is written by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan.

WrensReads Review:

“Feeling this way was a particular kind of horror, having the emotions without the memories.”

So we start where Simon is packing his back to go to Wizarding School Shadowhunter Academy, where he is going to learn to fight, learn the history, and then possibly not transcend into the army of the angels.

It was very interesting to get back to the roots of the Shadow World Clare dreamed up for us. Simon is dealing with a lot. He doesn’t know everything that happened to him and doesn’t really remember his past-but-other-parallel-line self. He doesn’t remember who he loved, but he still feels all the feelings he had.

He still knows that he has a deep connection with Clary and that it was a tangled mess. He still knows that he might have had stronger relations with Izzy. He knows that he was once a hero, but he doesn’t know if he is still that person that can be a hero.

But… he also thinks him and Jace were really close. So there is some confusion with how he feels.
AA
The writing in this was really refreshing. I didn’t ever enjoy the writing style of The Mortal Instruments, as you would know if you read my review, but the story was always a strong one. The writing here is a lot better (even though it is a novella) and the characters are still loved.

I think it is important to read these before The Dark Artifices. I didn’t, and I already know how some things end. So if you don’t want spoilers, I would read this after you finish The Mortal Instruments, The Infernal Devices and The Bane Chronicles, but before you read The Dark Artifices.

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Three Dark Crowns #.2: The Young Queens

/ 05 STARS, 2018 JANUARY, KB YA THREE DARK CROWNS

The Young Queens Book Cover The Young Queens
Three Dark Crowns
Kendare Blake
Young Adult Fiction
HarperCollins
December 26, 2017
EBook
112

In this must-read prequel to Kendare Blake’s New York Times bestselling Three Dark Crowns, the queens’ origin story is revealed. It’s a pre-crown lowdown of Fennbirn’s ruling class. Mirabella, Arsinoe, and Katharine weren't always scheming to murder each other. They weren't always surrounded by rival foster families, each swearing to have their best interests at heart. And they weren't always afraid of being unexpectedly attacked—by one of their own sisters, no less—in a way that could cost them their last breath. They used to be together. Just three sisters. Alone in a glen. This is the story of the three queens—after they were born, before they were separated, during the time when they all lived together, loved each other, and protected each other. It’s also the story of the day they were torn apart, and the several years that follow. From birth to eleven years old, this is a rare glimpse of the queens' lives…before they were at stake.

WrensReads Review:

“Three black witches, the mainland would say. Born to a descending queen. One would rise to become queen in her place. Perhaps the strongest of the three. Perhaps the cleverest. Or perhaps it would be the girl born under the best shield of luck.”

Okay… *deep breath*

Public Service Announcement: There were a lot of confirmations in this novella. This is something you need to read before you read book three and after you read book two. Novellas these days are actually starting to be necessary to a series. They aren’t just fillers or side stories you don’t need to worry about; they are actually short stories that are dire to the story as a whole. This is one of those instances. Do not read this book before you read book one or after you read book three.

The first story in this, you meet the Triplet Queen’s mother Camille and their father Philippe. It was so heartbreaking to see how these parents weren’t even allowed to hold their own children. And the fact that the triplets were torn away from them and taken to another room before the parents leave to go to the main land.

“Philippe was a strong consort, but he was too softhearted for this. If he saw the triplet queens, he might want to hold them. And if he held them, he might start to feel that they were his instead of Fennbirn’s.”

I just don’t understand why the parents can’t raise their own children. And the Queen reigns for like five years basically until she gives birth to the kids and then leaves and then there is no one ruling for a long time besides the counsels… It’s all kind of heartbreaking and confusing, but mostly heartbreaking. One of the last thoughts we get is the mother wishing that she could save her daughters from the pain and the hurt she went through with her own sisters.

“But when Camille looked at the babies, for just a moment she wished she had jaws like her beloved snakes, so she could unhinge them and swallow the girls back down under her heart forever.”

We see the girls grow up with one another until they are taken to the separate corners of the island. The girls did not want to leave one another, and they didn’t go quietly.

The whole concept of this book is really heartbreaking, and reading about it happening instead of being told it happened is completely different. You see what is expected of the girls, you see why they are at the places they are in the beginning of the book, and you also learn more about Jules and Joseph’s back story with Arsinoe as well. Honestly, Arsinoe got the best deal out of all three of the girls.

The one who got the worse is Katharine. I mean, can you imagine your poisoner gift not appearing and the people in charge of you forcing you to continually put poison in your body that you aren’t ready for? The things that can do to your skin, hair, your insides, your internal clock, your brain…. I just feel for Katharine the most and where she left off at the end of book two makes me so worried for her…

I can’t wait for the next novella, but I really can’t wait until the third book. Can I get at least a title reveal please?!

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Everless #01: Everless

/ 03 STARS, 2018 JANUARY, SHOLLAND YA EVERLESS

Everless Book Cover Everless
Everless
Sara Holland
Young Adult Fiction
HarperCollins
January 2, 2018
Hardcover
368

"Sara Holland is a fierce storyteller. Everless gives new and terrifying meaning to the phrase running out of time." —Stephanie Garber, New York Times bestselling author of Caraval In the kingdom of Sempera, time is currency—extracted from blood, bound to iron, and consumed to add time to one’s own lifespan. The rich aristocracy, like the Gerlings, tax the poor to the hilt, extending their own lives by centuries. No one resents the Gerlings more than Jules Ember. A decade ago, she and her father were servants at Everless, the Gerlings’ palatial estate, until a fateful accident forced them to flee in the dead of night. When Jules discovers that her father is dying, she knows that she must return to Everless to earn more time for him before she loses him forever. But going back to Everless brings more danger—and temptation—than Jules could have ever imagined. Soon she’s caught in a tangle of violent secrets and finds her heart torn between two people she thought she’d never see again. Her decisions have the power to change her fate—and the fate of time itself. Fans of Victoria Aveyard, Kendare Blake, and Stephanie Garber will devour this lush novel's breathtaking action, incredible romance, and dangerous secrets.

WrensReads Review:

This was pretty predictable for me. I’m not sure if its because I’ve been reading YA books since I was [05] years old or if it is just kind of predictable. I found myself kind of zoning out in parts and coming back and realizing I didn’t really miss a lot of what was happening.

Let me start again,

So I love the aspect of this. I am obsessed with the move TIME with Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried. The currency is time. They have a ticking bomb, so to say, on the inside of their arm and you have to grab each others arms to make a withdraw or deposit. So there were like games of chances on who could withdraw from who before the other gives up. It looked a lot like arm wrestling.

Back to the point, this is what I was expecting when I went into this book. Instead, people withdraw by dripping blood into iron coins or they eat/drink things with dissolved coins. It’s all really interesting. When they come close to their end, they start going mad. I like the more, ehh, gory way to withdraw your time for a lack of better term. Blood and Time are more valuable than a piece of paper that you hand to the drive-thru clerk, so it makes sense that this would be a currency.

Our main squeeze Jules is (wait for it) POOR. So she has to (wait for it) sign up to work in the castle to support her father (shocking). And she has some run-ins with (hold your breath) princes (MORE THAN ONE I KNOW) but (oh my gosh, TWIST) she can’t let them know who she is because (gasp) she has a big secret that would be life changing for them. I know that was dramatic, but it’s 2018 and I feel like this plot has been played out a little bit. There are some bigger twist at the end that make it a little more original, but I don’t see the hype surrounding this one. I do want to go on with the series, because there is a romance I am interested in seeing roll out, but the characters need a little more rounding and the story needs to take a different turn for me to bawl my eyes out and scream in happiness for this series.

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