Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster

Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier

This book is a little younger that what I usually read (the main character is 12), but it definitely falls into that rare and very special category. The writing is such that it feels all ages can read it, and it also seems to carry a hint of magic through it's lilting tones. While it covers serious subject matter, it also softens the blow with different characters. It's heart wrenching and warming, and kind of reminds me of a proper story. A story that fills you with a wide variety of emotions for all the right reasons, and also has some unexplained elements that are fitting to the narrative. ....Is this too much hype, or not enough? Dun dun dunnnn

An amazon summary, "It's been five years since the Sweep disappeared. Orphaned and alone, Nan Sparrow had no other choice but to work for a ruthless chimney sweep named Wilkie Crudd. She spends her days sweeping out chimneys. The job is dangerous and thankless, but with her wits and will, Nan has managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again.
 When Nan gets stuck in a chimney fire, she fears the end has come. Instead, she wakes to find herself unharmed in an abandoned attic. And she is not alone. Huddled in the corner is a mysterious creature—a golem—made from soot and ash. Sweep is the story of a girl and her monster. Together, these two outcasts carve out a new life—saving each other in the process. Lyrically told by one of today's most powerful storytellers, Sweep is a heartrending adventure about the everlasting gifts of friendship and wonder." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE


The story begins with the Sweep and Nan; a flashback to what Nan's life used to be like with the Sweep in it. They were struggling to survive, but the Sweep spun everything into something more fanciful for Nan. However, five years ago the Sweep disappeared and Nan went to work for "The Clean Sweep" aka Wilkie Crudd. Nan sweeps out chimneys, which is a dangerous job, but as she says, she has soot in her veins. The sweep left behind two things for Nan; his hat, and a piece of char. A Sweep's hat is their most important position, but the piece of char is always warm. Nan keeps the char with her wherever she goes.

There are other children working for Wilkie Crudd and they all sleep in a coal bin. The other children have dreams about the Sweep when they sleep near Nan, but Nan tries to keep her distance from everyone. Newt is a new sweep and asks to go up his first chimney with Nan, but Nan refuses, she sweeps alone. Nan is hired to sweep out the chimneys of a school where they are very small (and someone such as Newt would be very useful as he's rather small) and Nan gets stuck. When a sweep gets stuck, their master is supposed to get them out... but instead, Roger comes (who is also a sweep, but kind of evil) and decides to get Nan out with the devil's nudge.... which means he lights the fireplace on fire.

Nan screams and starts to burn up...but then wakes up in the attic of the school next to her char. She listens to hear that they think she is dead, but cannot find her body. Unexpectedly, Nan's char has come to life, and has begun to kind of talk. Nan escapes to save her own life, but to also try to discover what the char really is and why the sweep left the char for Nan.

That's enough summary.

Okay, so first of all, the amazon summary reveals the char is a golem. This book is 344 pages long, and they figure out the char is a golem on page 112. That's roughly 33% of the way into the book. SPOILERS MUCH, AMAZON?! Which really means, I'm yelling at the publisher because really the publisher is writing those summaries as it's also printed on the inside flap, but whatever, yelling needs to be had!

...anyways.

I really loved the characters within the book, the parallels between what the reader was shown and also what the characters were discovering, and the world building was fantastic. I also really liked that the book showed us the terrible working conditions of the sweep, but also presented it as their day to day life. Then, when things happen later in the book, that really comes full circle and makes a lot more sense.

I also adored Toby and how his whole story played out within Nan's story. It was a nice note of connecting different lives together in the smallest, but also most significant ways.

Then there's the char; the char was very interesting as far as "monsters" and abilities go, but also the demeanor and attitude. I would definitely say the char humbled the book and was really the reassurance and support that Nan needed to comprehend where the Sweep went.

I don't want to say anything else, because no spoilers. I just really loved this book!

Happy reading!

The Reader

The Reader by Traci Chee

I think this cover art is kind of, odd. I was hoping it would make a little more sense once I finished reading the book, but no such luck. The gold lines are an open books with pages springing upwards, but I don't understand the blues and greens. I'm going to assume the woman depicted is supposed to be the main character, Sefia. Perhaps the blues and greens with the vague plant patterns and land patterns are supposed to be from different scenes of the book? I don't know. The star pattern on the bottom is interesting too, but again, I'm not sure what they're related to.

Cover art aside, an amazon summary, "A stunning debut set in a world where reading is unheard-of, perfect for fans of Inkheart and Shadow and Bone

Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped, leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin’s been taken, or if she’s even alive. The only clue to both her aunt’s disappearance and her father’s murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book—a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society. With the help of this book, and the aid of a mysterious stranger with dark secrets of his own, Sefia sets out to rescue her aunt and find out what really happened the day her father was killed—and punish the people responsible.
With overlapping stories of swashbuckling pirates and merciless assassins, The Reader is a brilliantly told adventure from an extraordinary new talent." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

The story begins when Sefia is older and on the run with her Aunt Nin. Sefia went into the marketplace for supplies, but when she tries to return to her Aunt Nin, she witnesses the kidnapping of her Aunt Nin instead. The books leaps into a flashback of Sefia's childhood. Sefia grew up in a small village with three people in her life; her mother, her father, and Aunt Nin. Her mother died from an illness when she was younger. Sefia never saw anyone outside of these three people, and her existence was kept hidden from the world. She actually lived in a secret room under the house that could only be accessed by a hidden door near the fireplace. When finds her father murdered in the house, she goes into her hidden room, and escapes through the other hidden doors to get outside. When she opens one of the doors, an object falls out. Sefia scoops it up and manages to get outside. She finds her Aunt Nin who immediately takes them on the run, making sure the object is safely hidden in their packs.

Then, we get a different narrator; Lon. Lon is someone who is an apprentice to the Librarian. He was picked up by the librarian from the streets where he had been using a second vision to read people for coins. The librarian makes him his apprentice to help uphold the values of the library, and to eventually someday read The Book for himself.

Back to Sefia. Sefia is trying to track down her Aunt Nin, but along the way she discovers a camp of people who have the same mysterious mark on a crate as she does on the object (which is a book, we know this earlier, but I didn't want to say anything until now) she has kept hidden since her escape from home. Desperate for answers, she pries open the crate to find a young man inside. He doesn't speak, and she realizes he is probably one of the boys captured and forced to fight. She frees him from the camp and tries to free him to the world, but he chooses to stay with her.

That's enough summary.

I found this book to be a very bizarre reading experience. I found it hard to follow along and to fit the clues together that were periodically presented. I think the book is working itself towards a giant metaphor of dissecting the human experience by having each character and situation be a representation of an aspect of humanity.

...but I don't want to read the sequels. I believe this is book one in a trilogy, and based on what I read, there are only certain aspects of the story I'm actually curious to know how they resolve. Frankly, I don't care about Sefia and the young man (Archer). I didn't find them to be very relateable characters, and I found a lot of their knowledge about their world to be very frustratingly lacking. I assume this is because the readers are learning about the world as the narrators do, so it gives more of a depth of understanding about not only the characters and what conclusions they draw about the world as they learn it, but also to slowly reveal the tapestry of the world as the guard molded it.

Speaking of the Guard, I'm going to go into spoiler land. So if you don't want any aspect of this book ruined, I would consider to stop reading this review right now. Cool? Cool.

So the Guard. It's revealed towards the end of the book that the librarian and assassin we've been periodically reading about are part of the Guard. The Guard wants the book back so they can see the past, present, and future, and help guide the kingdoms to peace. ...can you see why I asserted this book is probably a giant metaphor for dissecting the human experience? Hmm? Anyways. The Guard does a lot of harm in the name of good, trying to work towards this peace. This is a plot device that deeply upsets me. I strongly dislike these kind of plot devices that people with higher levels of experience, knowledge, and skills are working in the shadows to control the world and everything they do may seem evil, but it's for the greater good. Trust them. In this book, that takes the form of targeted murder of groups of people, young boys being stolen to fight in the cage fights, and also that the world exists as a result of the Guard's guidance. So really, if this group of people is supposed to be powerful enough to shape the world, why did they let it go to crap in the first place?  If they are all knowing, why didn't they stop everything to begin with? I suppose if I read books 2 & 3 I would learn about the history of the Guard, why they came to be, what their deeper motivations are, but I don't think I would be satisfied with any answer. Which brings me back to the metaphor. I presume this book is using the Guard as the metaphor for people trying to play 'God' and screwing it up. Without reading the sequels, I have no way to confirm or deny this theory I'm asserting....but I also don't care enough to find out. I feel like this book is trying to be a thinking, contemplative book about the existence of people and how we all impact each other. If that is the case, I would expect more philosophy, less magic, and less survival elements throughout the story. I don't know, I'm just grumpy about this book. I just don't think it did anything particularly well, including explaining the mysterious symbol that Sefia was using to track down her Aunt Nin. Which again, I assume I would discover these answers in the future books, but what this book failed to truly do is make me care enough to read the sequels. ...grumpy, I know.

Happy reading!

The Girl King

The Girl King by Mimi Yu

This book will be published on January 8, 2019. The version I read is advance uncorrected proof. There will undoubtedly be differences between the version I read, and the published version.

This is definitely a book I picked up with the thought process of, "The Girl King? Is that a nickname? Is there some young woman going to be king? IS THIS GOING TO BE A FEMALE EMPOWERMENT STORY???" and now here we are.

An amazon summary, "Two sisters become unwitting rivals in a war to claim the title of Emperor in this richly imagined, Asian-inspired fantasy for fans of Renée Ahdieh and Sabaa Tahir.

Sisters Lu and Min have always known their places as the princesses of the Empire of the First Flame: assertive Lu will be named her father's heir and become the dynasty's first female ruler, while timid Min will lead a quiet life in Lu's shadow. Until their father names their male cousin Set his heir instead, sending ripples through the realm and throwing both girls' lives into utter chaos.

Determined to reclaim her birthright, Lu has no choice but to go on the run, leaving Min to face the volatile court alone. Lu soon crosses paths with Nokhai, the lone, unlikely survivor of the Ashina, a clan of nomadic wolf shapeshifters. Nok never learned to shift--or to trust the empire that killed his family--but working with the princess might be the only way to unlock his true power.

As Lu and Nok form a shaky alliance, Min's own hidden power awakens, a forbidden, deadly magic that could secure Set's reign . . . or allow her to claim the throne herself. But there can only be one emperor, and the sisters' greatest enemy could very well turn out to be each other.

This sweeping fantasy set against a world of buried ancient magic and political intrigue weaves an unforgettable story of ambition, betrayal, and sacrifice." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

This story is told in alternating narrators between the two princesses; Lu (Girl King) and Min, but also Nok, who belonged to the Ashina clan. 

Lu (the Girl King) is the first daughter to the emperor. She's kind of insisted she be raised as if she were a male heir for most of her life, and constantly seems to have the ire of her mother. She wants to be the next emperor very deeply, and will do whatever she can to be on the throne.

Min (younger sister to Lu) is the second daughter to the emperor. She's grown up under the very watchful eye of her mother who has strictly molded her into the expectations of a traditional woman of court. She will marry, she will manage the household, and she will be beautiful for her future husband. Min is kind of resentful towards Lu sometimes since Lu is very headstrong.

Nok |(from the Ashina clan) lives in a small village with an apothecary. The apothecary took care of him when he was very nearly dead. Now he works with the apothecary and tries to keep a low profile. The Ashina are often captured and forced to work in labor camps for the empire.

Anyways.

The emperor makes a declaration of who will be his next heir. Unfortunately, he declares Lu's cousin Set as his heir. Lu is furious and comes up with a plan to win the title of heir to the throne. She challenges Set to compete the way emperor's of old traditionally competed, by having trials. The first trial is a hunt in the woods. Min is very angry with Lu for defying tradition. Min is also kind of a fan of Set, but Set is kind of off. He has an adviser known as Brother, who allegedly helped him defeat his addiction to poppy tears. Brother also seems to have some sort of mystical powers or perception on the world. Min has a dream where she kind of has an out of body experience, and well it kind of snowballs from there.

Back to the trials. Lu and Set go out to perform the hunting trial, and Lu is betrayed by the emperor's guards sent out with them. Set is the favored person to be heir to the throne, so he's started to convince the court (and the guard) to go against Lu. Lu, flees from the trial, and runs into Nok.

That's enough summary. I feel like I'm going to accidentally reveal some plot points that should only be uncovered by reading the book (especially since this is an advanced reader's copy I read).

There's going to be a sequel to this book with how it ended. there has to be. That being said, I'm very discontent with where the book left off. I wish a little more of the story had been revealed so it felt like a more complete ending.

Overall, I liked most of the characters, except for the narrators. I found a lot of Min's passages to be really obnoxious because not only was she innocent/ignorant, she seemed a little too invested with wanting to know more about the world, but ALSO remaining ignorant. I thought Lu lacked a purpose besides becoming emperor. There was some vague allusions to things she might like to do when she was emperor, but it seemed that she wanted to become an emperor because well what else what she want. Not because she wanted to maintain her lifestyle, do things with the kingdom, or anything like that. It seemed to just be BECOME EMPEROR. Throughout the story, I think she started to kind of figure out what she wanted to do? I just find it vexing that she had been working towards becoming emperor her whole life and only when she had a chance of becoming emperor did she start to wonder what she would actually DO as emperor.

Then there's Nok. I find it difficult to talk about Nok, because they're not the normal male character I'm used to reading about. He seemed very thoughtful, very aware of the consequences of his actions, cared deeply about his clan, the apothecary, and the family he has lost. He also seems much more caring about those around him, rather than about himself at all. I understand we were presented with the circumstances of his life so that it would make more sense how he turned out like this, but there was something about him that just felt fragile. I kind of liked it, but at the same time, I didn't really know when to cheer for him, or be sympathetic. He seemed to be the character that was mostly finding himself, and trying to understand his place in the world in regards to the history of his clan, but also his present day situation. It was kind of, well, a perplexing but fascinating reading experience.

At this point, I don't know if I'd pick up the sequel, and that's got a lot to do with the mechanics of the world. I felt like there were a ton of magical aspects that all the narrators were baffled by, or didn't understand, and I find that difficult to navigate this very well built world when the narrators are kind of clueless. The world building was SO on point though. There were a lot of passages where it almost felt like I was really there, and I had a great sense of everything going on and how it related to everything else.

It's kind of one of those that I read where I'm like, "I really liked all of THESE aspects, but I could have really done without THOSE aspects." So, that weird middle ground of like a constant, "Hmmmm".

Happy reading!

Children of Blood and Bone

Children of Blood and Bone

I thought this was a sequel for the longest time, then my good friend told me it was NOT the sequel... and here we are.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.

An amazon summary in which I skipped over the praise at the end, if you want to see all the reviews and praise, click the amazon link of JUSTICE, "With five starred reviews, Tomi Adeyemi’s West African-inspired fantasy debut, and instant #1 New York Times Bestseller, conjures a world of magic and danger, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir.

They killed my mother.

Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

The world USED to be full of magic. 10 different kinds of magic, that the diviners (maji) were able to use...until the magic disappeared. The diviners who were old enough to wield magic were murdered in the raid, and those who were too young to tap into their magic were left with broken homes, broken families, and broken hearts.

Zelie is a diviner who grew up alongside her brother, Tzain, and they keep careful watch over their brokenhearted father. Their mother was murdered in the raid. They both do things they help them feel somewhat in control of their lives as they suffer under the cruelty of the monarchy.

Meanwhile, the princess, Amari, grew up in the castle where she also suffers from the monarchy. The king is merciless and expects everything from his children. One day in the palace, Amari overhears the king speaking with one of his subordinates, and they present her servant, Binta who is a diviner,  to the king. Binta is Amari's best friend, so she's in awe when Binta is forced to touch a scroll, and a beautiful light emits from her hands. ...then Binta is immediately killed. In shock, Amari hides, but watches where the scroll goes, and steals it.

As Amari flees with the scroll, she runs into Zelie in the marketplace. A crazy escape scene happens.

Then there's Inan, Amari's brother. He's the successor to the throne and has been tasked to retrieve the scroll... only the King and Inan know Amari is the thief.

DUN DUN DUNNNN

That's kind of enough summary, but basically an adventure is about to happen where magic is involved. Okay now I'm done.

The world is very, very rich with details, history, and culture. There's so much content presented in this alternate world that there is a lot to unpack from each chapter. Which, of course makes it very hard to talk about without accidentally revealing spoilers from later aspects of the book. So let's talk about some characters.

The story switches narrators between Zelie, Amari, and Inan, just for reference.

I liked Zelie overall; she was fierce, strong, but also flawed. I thought her character flaws made her a more sincere character that felt more realistic based on the events she's presented with. How she carries herself, and how she also experiences her kind of coming of age moments just feels more authentic even though she's in the midst of magic, and well magic. Did I mention magic?

Tzain was an interesting character that I really wish had been a narrator. I kind of wish Tzain had been a narrator instead of Zelie, because his perspective on the story probably would have been the most fascinating since he essentially, followed his sister into chaos. But, what we did get to see of him was great.

I understand the value of Amari's voice and perspective, but I wasn't entirely thrilled with the depth of her character.

I liked the story overall, but it did start to feel a bit drawn out towards the end.

...I also didn't really care for Inan. I know how they were most likely supposed to come across? But I found them very aggravating to read. Probably because the monarchy was BAD. BAD. 

I'm also not really fond of how the book ended, I know it's leading into a sequel. However, it had one of those weird kind of surfacing sensations of an ending. Like the calm in the eye of a storm of plot, and suddenly the storm is just over, presumably to resume in the sequel. I've only seen a handful sequels that have actually successfully picked up where a book one like that has left off. I'm willing to be tentatively hopeful. Hmm....

Happy reading!

Two Dark Reigns

Two Dark Reigns by Kendare Blake

This is the third book in the series. I previously reviewed book one, THREE DARK CROWNS, the second book, ONE DARK THRONE, and the bonus side stories, QUEENS OF FENNBIRN.

So if you haven't read the first two books, the bonus side stories are pretty optional (interesting, but optional), I would recommend skipping this review.

...then if you have read these books, I foolishly got excited that this was the final book in the series, but it's not. So there will be another book. I'm just excited for the conclusion. I know, in my last review of One Dark Throne, I mentioned there was going to probably be two more books in the series...but sometimes I just get excited.

Anyways, an amazon summary, "Queen Katharine has waited her entire life to wear the crown. But now that she finally has it, the murmurs of dissent grow louder by the day. There’s also the alarming issue of whether or not her sisters are actually dead—or if they’re waiting in the wings to usurp the throne.

Mirabella and Arsinoe are alive, but in hiding on the minland and dealing with a nightmare of their own: being visited repeatedly by a specter they think might be the fabled Blue Queen. Though she says nothing, her rotting, bony finger pointing out to sea is clear enough: return to Fennbirn.  

Jules, too, is in a strange place—in disguise. And her only confidants, a war-gifted girl named Emilia and her oracle friend Mathilde, are urging her to take on a role she can’t imagine filling: a legion-cursed queen who will lead a rebel army to Katharine’s doorstep.

This is an uprising that the mysterious Blue Queen may have more to do with than anyone could have guessed—or expected." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE

So, a super quick recap of the end of One Dark Throne, Katherine has been crowned queen (by permanently having a black crown tattooed into her forehead), Mirabella and Arsinoe have fled to the main land with Billy, Joseph is dead, and Jules is hiding out on the island after it's discovered she is legion-cursed.

Sidenote: I still have personal suspicions that since Mirabella and Arsinoe are still alive after all the times they should have been dead, it seems like the island has more planned for them... or all three are going to rule. Maybeeee this is why I want the books concluded so bad, JUST CONFIRM OR DENY MY SUSPICIONS. Also, this is a sign of good story telling.

Anyways.

So book 3 begins with a scene from the past when four queens were born to a war-gifted queen. The first three triplets were disposed of in correspondence to their gift, but the fourth queen is the blue queen, the chosen one to rule. For the record, the first three queen borns were Leonine (naturalist), Isadora (oracle), and Roxane (elemental). The fourth queen is Illiann (elemental). I want to spell this out now, because I feel like this will be one of those weird things that will come back into play later on in the series in very specific ways because they're giving us these very specific facts about an old event. (Reader senses.)

...anyways.

Mirabella and Arsinoe are on the mainland, and they're trying to adapt with being off the island, without their gift, with no longer really being queens. Billy is there to help, but Arsinoe sees the shadow of the Blue Queen while she's visiting Joseph's grave. Soon, she starts having dreams about the Blue Queen. dun dun dunnnnn

Meanwhile, Queen Katherine has changed out three of her council members, and is starting her rule on the island. She sends out people to search for the bodies of Mirabella and Arsinoe (as the queens are not allowed to the leave the island because magic), but the people sent out to search...show up in the mist and they're all dead. Some of the bodies are torn apart, others look like they've been dead for weeks rather than a day or so. The mystery of the mist begins, just as Jules is learning more about her war gift.

Jules has been taken in by Emilia, who is hiding her but also training her in her war gift. Emilia believes Jules is the true Queen of the island as her naturalist gift and war gift are on the same levels of the queens. Jules is reluctant at first, but once Emilia exposes her to a group of people in a bar and they start to show hope that Jules can stop the poisoner's rule. They also are hopeful she can get the Undead queen off the throne (Undead queen is Katherine's nickname).

That's enough summary.

I liked this book the best out of all the books so far. It gave me everything I had been looking for in the past books, and I also felt it was much more grounded into the era it's supposed to take place in. I thought a lot of the character development was on point, the islanders were better represented, and the story seemed to shift focus into more about how the island was affected or evolving by the queens antics/power struggles.

...I'm on board for another book, I just hope there's a sense of a complete revolution as all of these different story threads conclude.

Happy reading!