Ace of Shades (The Shadow Game #1) by Amanda Foody — Review
A review of Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody — a dazzling, high-stakes YA fantasy set in a city of sin where two reluctant allies hunt for a missing woman in a …
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Book reviews from The Diary of a Bookworm — YA fiction, fantasy, literary fiction, and crime.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi — Review
A review of Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi — a West African–inspired epic fantasy about magic suppressed, a people oppressed, and a young woman who …
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The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton — Review
A review of The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton — a gorgeous, unsettling YA fantasy about beauty as power, beauty as currency, and what a world built entirely on …
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Thunderhead (Arc of a Scythe #2) by Neal Shusterman — Review
A review of Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman — the benevolent AI narrates its own story as the Scythedom fractures, and Shusterman's moral universe gets …
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The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black — Review
A review of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black — a mortal girl in the fae world, a cruel prince who is also something more, and a political thriller built on …
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Renegades (Renegades #1) by Marissa Meyer — Review
A review of Renegades by Marissa Meyer — a superhero YA that asks what happens when the heroes take over, and whether the people who fought them were really the …
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Turtles All the Way Down by John Green — Review
A review of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green — a novel about OCD, compulsive thought spirals, and how it feels to be trapped inside your own mind while …
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The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase #3) by Rick Riordan — Review
A review of The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan — the Magnus Chase trilogy reaches its thunderous conclusion as Magnus and his friends sail to stop Naglfar and …
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Warcross by Marie Lu — Review
A review of Warcross by Marie Lu — a near-future YA thriller set inside a global virtual reality game, with a hacker protagonist who uncovers something …
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Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6) by Sarah J. Maas — Review
A review of Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas — Chaol Westfall's story, told in full, in a Southern continent that expands the Throne of Glass world in unexpected …
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Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2) by Cassandra Clare — Review
A review of Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare — the Shadowhunter world expands and darkens, the parabatai bond is tested to its limits, and the stakes become …
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The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee — Review
A review of The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee — a hilarious, warm, and surprisingly moving road trip through 18th-century Europe with a …
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Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh — Review
A review of Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh — a Mulan-inspired historical fantasy set in feudal Japan, where a noblewoman disguises herself as a boy to hunt …
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A Court of Wings and Ruin (ACOTAR #3) by Sarah J. Maas — Review
A review of A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas — the war comes, alliances break, and Feyre's court faces a threat that will define the fate of every fae …
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Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor — Review
A review of Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor — the most beautiful first chapter of any book I have read in years, followed by a story worthy of it.
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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas — Review
A review of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas — one of the most important YA novels of the decade, and also one of the best-written. Starr Carter deserves every …
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Caraval (Caraval #1) by Stephanie Garber — Review
A review of Caraval by Stephanie Garber — a lush, intoxicating fantasy about a magical game where nothing is what it seems and everything is performance, …
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Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman — Review
A review of Scythe by Neal Shusterman — a world that has solved death, and what happens when the only people empowered to kill are the ones who least want to.
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The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon — Review
A review of The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon — one day, two teenagers, an entire city, and a question about whether love can be both real and random at the …
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The Hammer of Thor (Magnus Chase #2) by Rick Riordan — Review
A review of The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan — Magnus Chase's second adventure introduces Alex Fierro and continues to be one of the most inclusive, …
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Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas — Review
A review of Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas — Aelin plays the longest game, the series goes epic in scope, and the ending will have you immediately ordering …
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Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo — Review
A review of Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo — the Six of Crows duology concludes with Bardugo at her absolute best. Kaz Brekker gets his revenge. The reader …
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A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir — Review
A review of A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir — the Ember series expands, Laia and Elias run, and the world gets darker in ways that feel entirely …
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This Savage Song (Monsters of Verity #1) by Victoria Schwab — Review
A review of This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab — a world where violence breeds monsters, and two teenagers on opposite sides of that system have to figure out …
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