The Grateful Boys by: Francoise DuMaurier Blog Tour

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Published: October 1, 2019 by: Clink Street Publishing
Pages: 328
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

*thank you to Clink Street Publishing for providing this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hailey is a bi-racial teen, who has just recently moved to the small country town of Corpus, Georgia. What she doesn't know, is that Corpus has been the site of some strange, mystical happenings, including some gruesome murders. When residents start seeing strange, winged creatures, the town's first African-American sheriff must start laying down the law. But Hailey is growing increasingly close to a mysterious boy named Percy who just happens to be a vampire, and she grapples with this new found love, and her own identity during a time of racial unrest.

I didn't really know what to expect when going in to this book. I thought it would be really high fantasy, with little realistic elements. However, I was very impressed with the author's ability to weave real life issues into a fantasy-like setting.

I labelled this novel as urban fantasy because the supernatural elements take place inside the real world. I actually really do love urban fantasy because I find that supernatural figures often serve as metaphors for reality. I loved DuMaurier's intertwining of racial issues in the deep South, along with the issue of the threat on the town. It was a great balance between fantasy vs. reality.

The characters were also quite lovable. I loved Hailey, her little brother Mason, and her love interest Percy. I thought that Hailey was a very relatable character. She seemed like a normal teenager to me, and wasn't overly mature or "done up."

I found the novel to have a lot of Stranger Things elements to it, which was very much appreciated. The whole small town setting, with a frustrated sheriff and some really creepy happenings, really worked. I thought that this novel was perfect for the current spooky season we are going in to right now, and I am always down for a novel that takes place in small town. I think the smaller the setting,  the more interesting things get!

The only thing I think could be improved for this book, is that I just wanted more romance between Hailey and Percy! I am a sucker for a good romance in stories like this, and while I found the two to have great chemistry, I would have liked even more from their relationship. That being said, it was a great addition to the story that didn't feel like insta-love.

Overall, this novel is perfect for Halloween, as it is perfectly spooky, but also semi-relatable at the same time. I will also add that it is #ownvoices, which is a huge positive element for me. Even if you don't like vampire stories, there are enough real-life issues in this book to grapple with.

Thanks to Clink Street Publishing for the copy, and be sure to check out the other posts in this blog tour!

Emily @ Paperback Princess

The Dream Thieves (The Raven Cycle #2) by: Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Published: September 17, 2013 by: Scholastic Press
Pages: 439
Rating: 5/5 stars

In the thrilling sequel to The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves follows the life of Ronan Lynch, as he keeps secrets from the ones he loves and battles with his gift to pull things out of his dreams. As The Raven Boys continue to search for the Welsh king Glendower, Ronan must learn to control his gift and use it to the best of his abilities, in order to help find the king, and save his friend from his overlooking death.

First I'd like to apologize in advance for the reviews that will be coming out in the coming weeks, as most of them will be Raven Cycle related. I'll try to be sporadic with the reviews, it's just that I read all the books one after another and I usually review my books in the order that I read them. So if you have no interest in this series, SORRY! But anyways, on to the review. The Dream Thieves was a satisfying sequel and provided a great foundation for the climax of the series. We begin to discover more answers to the looming topics, and I loved this book even more than the original.

I loved how this book had a strong focus on Ronan. Ronan is one of those characters who you can't really judge until you've seen his true colours, and I loved how this book centred mostly around his point of view. It shows that even though he may seem like a minor character, he plays a big role in the larger idea and has his own problems as well.

I think that this book has the best quotes out of all four books. I don't know what it was, but this book provided such amazing insight into the character's friendships and feelings, and when Blue was talking about "Her Raven Boys", I wanted to cry a little. Stiefvater did it again with making the book seem so magical.

Once again, each character came back stronger and even more developed, as we get more insight into what each person's obstacles are. My little gem Adam was even more wonderful than before, and I loved him even more with each turning page. I even found a new found love for Ronan, and realised that I really don't even know anymore who my favourite Raven Boy is.

Yeah so in summary, a great sequel, even better characters, and it will begin to unfold the great mystery that is Glendower, and how it will effect the group of friends.

Have you read The Dream Thieves? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #1) by: Maggie Stiefvater

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Published: September 18, 2012 by: Scholastic Press
Pages: 409
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

All her life, Blue Sargent has been told by every psychic she's ever met that if she kissed her true love, he would die. This prophecy carries her through every year, and through every St. Mark's Eve, where she stands on the footsteps of a church with her clairvoyant mother and watches all the people who will die in the upcoming year. Blue has never seen the dead people, as she possesses no psychic gift like her entire family, until one year, when she witnesses a boy in a tattered school uniform who will soon die. The boy is Richard Gansey, a student of Aglionby Academy, a Raven Boy. Blue befriends Gansey and his gang, wondering if she should reveal his fate to him, and make sure that she doesn't fall for anyone in the group as well. For they could end up dead too.

After absolutely everyone and their cousins in the bookish world raved about this book, this series, and for the dramatic finale, I decided to swing by my local library and give it a go. I was immediately swept into this series and without exaggeration, finished all 4 books in less than 5 days. I literally read a book a day. This series is unique, magical, and something so brilliantly crafted that it will pull you in and never let go.

Let's start with why the characters in this book are the best characters ever. First we have Blue, who is an outgoing feminist who comes from an amazing band of psychic women who stand by each other. Blue was one of the best female protagonists I've read, because she was fiery, tough, but at the same time relatable in a sense.

The Raven Boys are a group of 4 boys from the prestigious Aglionby Academy, whom Blue befriends. First we have the absolute gem of a guy that is Richard Campbell Gansey the Third. He's hilarious, preppy and wears boat shoes which are my favourite shoes of all time, so there's that. Then we have Adam Parrish, who is the absolute cutest boy ever and who has my heart. Ronan Lynch is a bit tougher, he is very protective but he does have a soft side. Lastly, there's Noah Czerny, who's mysterious and friendly and so awesome. These boys were supportive of each other and so well written.

I found it kind of hard to explain the synopsis of this book, because there's so many amazing elements to it that you kind of have to read it yourself to fully understand and appreciate it. I will say, that the plot of this book is so amazingly beautiful, the diction will keep you hooked and even the imagery seems so aesthetically pleasing. It's pretty amazing.

The only, and only thing that prevented me from giving this book a perfect 5 stars is that it takes a while to understand. Like in any first book of a series, it's there to act like an introduction and provide the build up into the other books, so I just thought that this book was a bit slower than the others, because there was a lot of background information to explain. However after this, it's a breeze.

I don't think this was a very coherent review because there is just SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT with this series, that you kind of need to just experience it yourself. I promise you, you will be amazed.

Have you read The Raven Boys? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Rebel Belle (Rebel Belle #1) by: Rachel Hawkins

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Published: April 8, 2014 by: Putnam Juvenile
Pages: 345
Rating: 3/5 stars

Harper is a Southern-belle through and through. Destined to win Homecoming queen, Harper suddenly faces unexpected new challenges when she discovers that she is a Paladin, an ancient warrior sent to protect someone. The person Harper is meant to protect, is her mortal enemy David Stark. As Harper comes to terms with her prophecy, she must learn to create a friendship with David, all while testing out her new powers against anything that could come to harm the people she loves.

This book contained some loveable characters and hilarious southern-charm which made this one of the most light-hearted fantasies ever! It was utterly adorable and a very fun read. I did have some issues with the themes and plot, but this book didn't feel overbearing.

Harper was utterly hilarious in this book! She had a bit of a sass to her that helped her in anything she encountered, and she was incredibly smart. David was also so incredibly adorable and he really cared for the people around him. I found that these two had amazing chemistry.

Hawkins did a great job and keeping this book light-hearted and charming, despite essentially being a fantasy. The comic relief made this not seem like an overly heavy fantasy, and it made it also a bit more relatable.

I didn't really understand this book. not because it was heavy, but because of the chosen fantasy element: Paladins. I didn't think that there was enough background information on these creatures, which left me completely confused throughout the entire thing. This also made me quite uninterested in this topic of fantasy. While it is something never really written about before, it was just quite odd and confusing.

I couldn't really connect with the characters. While they were very cutesy and lovable, Harper didn't really strike out at me as being a kick ass heroine and David was that utterly amazing male side kick. They were just Harper and David, very cute and sassy but nothing else to them. They weren't the strongest.

Overall, this book was quite cute and light, but lacked in power and information. That's why I couldn't really learn to love it.

Have you read Rebel Belle? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess

ARC Review: Devil and the Bluebird by: Jennifer Mason-Black

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Expected Publication: May 17, 2016 by: Amulet Books
Pages: 336
Rating: 3/5 stars

*thank you to Netgalley and Amulet books for allowing me to receive this book in exchange for an honest review*

Blue Riley is on a mission: a mission that requires travelling across the country to find her long-lost sister who disappeared mysteriously following her mother's death. With her guitar and angelic singing voice by her side, Blue must stay in stranger's houses and tunnels as she attempts to fight the devil that tries to overcome her, and to find her sister, and her voice.

This book was a mystical urban fantasy that reminded me a lot of The Love that Split the World in the sense of magic realism. I've been seeing a lot of books lately take on the sort of magic elements weaved into a semi-modern world, and they are always quite interesting to take on. Devil and the Bluebird introduces folklore and family issues into quite a different read. While I did have a lot of issues with the plot, I am happy that this book was out of the box unique!

I first went into this book expecting a lot more contemporary elements, but I think this book handled fantasy and magic in a way that didn't seem like fantasy and magic! It was quite interesting how the author made it seem like a perfectly normal world, but in reality, there were many twists of folklore and magic. This book had the fantasy without seeming like a fantasy, which in my book, is a good thing.

One thing that I liked about the protagonist was her influence of music. I love any book that has musical elements, and this book had nothing short of it. It seemed lyrical in some ways.

Unfortunately, I found this book very hard to get through. Perhaps it was maybe the folklore, but I did find some elements to be kind of boring and unnecessary. I couldn't connect with some parts and I found it hard to pay attention to.

I couldn't completely connect with the main character of Blue. Besides her music, I didn't find that there was much else to her and I would have liked to have seen more of a dive deeper into her mental state with all that she had gone through. Maybe that's where the contemporary elements could come into play.

So overall, I appreciated this book's uniqueness, however it didn't quite effect me. If you like magic realism, I would totally check this out, and I'm looking forward to exploring more of the genre in the future.

Emily @ Paperback Princess

Vampire Academy ( Vampire Academy #1) by: Richelle Mead

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Urban Fantasy
Published: November 13, 2007 by: Razorbill
Pages: 332
Rating: 4/5 stars

Rose Hathaway has spent 2 years protecting her best friend Lissa from the Strigoi, a fierce group of vampires after Lissa to make her one of them. When the girls are brought to St. Vladimir's; an academy for vampire royalty and their protectors, the girls must face a new challenge: high school. But along with new relationships and romance, comes danger, as the Strigoi is always close by, and the girls must be careful as to who they trust.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I have always had problems with vampire books, but I found this one to be pleasing, funny and all around, a great read! It restored my faith in vampire books.

I loved the characters in this book. Lissa and Rose were both strong, sarcastic and badass characters who kept me interested. I didn't find them to be cheesy or cliche at all, and none of the characters in this book really annoyed me. They were a big plus.

I liked how this book wasn't so dark and heavy. It had sort of a contemporary aspect to it, with the girls adapting to new school and new people. You get to see more of a relatable teenager side to them, as opposed to just strictly fantasy. I loved the comic relief in this novel, and it was quite a funny book. I like it when fantasies aren't so serious all the time, as I like to feel comfortable reading a book.

The problem I had with this book, is just that it was nothing extraordinary to me. I enjoyed myself while reading it, but I didn't think that I had anything mind blowing or captivating about it. I didn't think that the relationships in this book were all that strong, besides Lissa and Rose's friendship, and nobody really stood out to me to be over the top amazing.

Overall, this was a nice, easy read. I think it would be a good read to get out of a reading slump, because there's definitely some lighter aspects to it. Although, it was just average for me. It did feel good to get out of my fear of vampire novels though.

Have you read Vampire Academy? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess