REVIEW: Bound by Firelight by Dana Swift

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary


Adraa and Jatin are facing more trouble than they ever have.

Adraa’s kingdom has turned against her, believing the worst. She’s cast into prison at the Dome. She will have to fight for her life as well as for a chance to escape and make things right.

Jatin is supposed to be leading his own country, but he can only think of Adraa and freeing her. He’s pulled together a very small team of allies, but they have no idea what they are truly up against.

Review


Wow! This was a roller coaster! And I really enjoyed the ride.

Adraa and Jatin tell their own stories once again. I feel like Adraa was really the star of this book. All of her chapters were riveting. I truly loved her journey – maybe even more than I loved Cast in Firelight.

While Jatin is fighting his way back to Adraa, I had mixed feelings about the old friend who joined his team. While I appreciated the twists and reveals she brought with her, I didn’t love the attempted love triangle. She was a distraction and left me wanting to skip ahead to an Adraa chapter.

I had thought this Wickery series was going to be a duology. And the main action truly is wrapped up here without any cliffhangers. But there are some unresolved issues that make me wonder if there is a plan for more. If so, I am here for them.

If Jatin had had more of a story here, this would have been a five star book for me. In fact, when I look at the two books together, I truly loved Adraa’s story here more than book one. Don’t come into this book expecting more of the same from book one, though. This is less about secrets and lies, and more about peril and identity and real questions about whether or not the heroes will triumph. Book 1 fans should not miss this one!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½*

*♥♥♥♥½ = I loved it! Would re-read.

REVIEW: Cast in Firelight by Dana Swift

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary


When she was 8 and he was 9, Adraa met Jatin for the first time. Their parents talked about the betrothal while Adraa and Jatin were talking about magic and getting to know one another. To say that first meeting didn’t go well would be an understatement.

Now, nine years later, Jatin has finished his magical schooling. He has mastered all 9 types of magic. And he loves rubbing it into Adraa’s face when he sends her periodic “love notes” with secret, sarcastic messages in them. Adraa, as a future ruler/maharani of Wickery, can’t rule unless she can master all 9 as well. She has 45 days to get a handle on the last piece of magic.

But Adraa has other priorities than magic practice. She’s been undercover on a mission sanctioned by Jatin’s father, going by the name Jaya Smoke. She can pull it off now because no one really knows she’s the next Maharani. But once she’s 18 that all changes, so she has to work fast if she is going to uncover the seedy things going on in her country.

Jatin has met “Jaya,” but he has no idea she is his betrothed, Adraa. And that’s okay because she thinks Jatin is his own friend and guard Kalyan. And while neither knows who the other is, they team up on Jaya’s undercover mission, one far more dangerous than future royalty should be tackling on their own.

Review


This was fantastic! I loved the secret identity story line even though it was obviously going to cause trouble eventually. I also loved the magic system and the world-building for this. I was completely engrossed, right from the beginning. This is exactly the sort of YA fantasy I love.

I loved Jatin and Adraa, both as individuals and as a potential couple. They are so good with and for each other!

The larger mystery that Jatin and Adraa are investigating takes awhile to develop. And in an instant it becomes  far more than it seems to be early on. I was waiting for some big shift, and got more than I bargained for. There isn’t a cliffhanger per se in this; you get to some level of resolution. But it’s really more of a breathing spot before launching into whatever book 2 will have in store. I can’t wait to read it and see what happens next for these characters. Book 2, Bound by Firelight, is currently scheduled to release in 2022.

I highly recommend this one for fans of YA fantasy!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥♥ = Outstanding!

SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My 2020 Favorites

There were moments in 2020 when I despaired of ever finding my reading groove. There were others where reading was the perfect escape. What a unique year in so many ways! Here are some of my reading statistics for 2020. (If you’d like to see my past Year in Review/favorites posts, you can go here.)

2020 Stats


Through the course of 2020 I read 342 books.  There were 35 more that I started but did not finish. I started the year intending to take my time, maybe read FEWER books but really savor them – and maybe even remember them once the year was done. In reality, though, that  didn’t happen. I committed to reading a large number of books for publishers which kept me turning pages all year long.

Of those 342, the break down for target audience is

  • 47% adult
  • 19% teen/young adult (including both prose books and graphic novels)
  •   5% older middle grade for readers 10-14
  • 18% middle grade (standard middle grade prose books as well as kids graphic novels)
  •   8% picture books
  •   2% transitional chapter books and early readers

The main genre breakdown is

  • 24% Fantasy
  • 18% Realistic/Contemporary
  • 18% Romance
  • 21% Mystery
  •   6% Science Fiction
  • 11% Nonfiction in various categories (36 books – My goal was at least one per month, so I exceeded that.)

This year most of the books I read were review copies from publishers – 216 books. (63% of the total – more than double what I read from publishers each of the last two years, and 4x 2017.) I also read 44 books from my To Be Read shelves, including 15 brand new books (read within 2 weeks of acquiring them), as well as  60 books from the library. I also re-read 16 favorites this year – not nearly as many as I wanted to re-read.

In 2020, I had a goal of reading 1 nonfiction book each month, specifically from a stack of spiritual growth resources I set aside for the year. As I mentioned,  I met the numerical goal, but I didn’t get to every book in the stack. (And I added several books, too!) I used the Book Riot spreadsheet (which is customizable!) again, which was super helpful in tracking my books for the year as well as helping me with monthly stats. You can check out the 2021 version here. I already have mine customized and ready to go for my first read of the new year.

In 2021, I need to scale back my ARC reading. While I love discovering new books, new authors, and new series – as well as continuations of my favorite series – I found myself wrestling with what I needed to read vs. what I wanted to read all throughout 2020. I have committed to 80 ARCs already for 2021. That means weeks where I have two or three reviews to post per day in order to stay on track with release dates as much as I can. That becomes a reading obligation, which does not leave room to read whatever I feel like – or to take any time off for a break.

Speaking of breaks, I took 21 days off from reading in 2020. That’s more than double what I did in 2019 when I started keeping track. 2020 was intense at times, and it was hard to get lost in a book some weeks. I liked the freedom to do other things – and discovered I need some new hobbies since reading has become a job in a lot of ways – but it added to the pressure and feelings of obligation when I had fewer days to read the next week’s ARCs. So, in 2021 I am seeking better balance.

2020 Favorites!!


At the end of the year, I go back through my reading log and pull out the titles of the best of the best from the year.  (Not every 5 star review makes it onto the blog, depending on my publishing schedule, but you can find many of the reviews here.) Then I compare them to one another until a list of 10 or so rise to the top. This year there were 53 that made it onto the list. And the results are fascinating. There are two re-reads on the list – my top two books from 2019. And there are two books on the list that haven’t even released yet. So, here are my most favorite favorites from 2020:

12. What’s Your Enneatype? – This is my favorite Enneagram resource from this year. The book is small, and packed with great information and color-coded graphics. I am looking forward to digging into this one again in 2021. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

11. Microphones and Murder – I loved this first-in-a-new-series mystery. Book 2 in the Podcasting Sisters series, Up Next, Murder, is out now. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

10. Undercover Bromance – Book 2 in the Bromance Bookclub series was even better than the fantastic series starter. There are three books in the series so far, and book 4, Isn’t It Bromantic?, will release this summer. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

9. Talk Nerdy to Me – Book 4 in the fantastic Bookish Boyfriends series I have adored since the beginning. Book 4, Get a Clue, releases later this month. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

8. Cast in Firelight – This amazing YA fantasy story will release later this month. It was originally supposed to release in November, so I read it and prepared my review only to discover the release date had been pushed back. This is well worth the wait. Do NOT miss this one! My full review will post in a couple weeks.

 

 

7. Chasing Vines – The second nonfiction book of this year’s list is a fascinating exploration of vines and vineyards and vine growers, both from scripture and from the author’s experience in Italy. Don’t miss this one! You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

6. Gina, the Girl Who Broke the World – This is the second 2021 release on my 2020 favorites list. This one doesn’t release until February. But I adored the first six-book story arc so much, I read this one the second I was approved for the review copy. All of my favorite characters are back, adjusting to the fallout from the earlier books. But this launches everyone right into a new, harrowing adventure with a MAJOR cliffhanger. The only downside to reading this so soon is that I have to wait that much longer for the next book. Put this one on your February list and watch for my review.

 

5. Polaris Rising – It’s probably unfair to include old favorites in the list, but I re-read this one, and the sequel, Aurora Blazing, to get ready to read book three, Chaos Reigning. And it really stands up well to re-reading. I just love it. The perfect mix of science fiction and romance with tons of sass. When I have time, I want to re-read the whole series. This was my most favorite book of 2019. You can read my full review here.

 

 

4. Crush the King – This is the final book in the outstanding Crown of Shards series after Kill the Queen (my most favorite book of 2018) and Protect the Prince. This series was excellent. The spin off series, Gargoyle Queen, launches with Capture the Crown this summer. You can read my full review here.

 

 

3. The Princess Knight – This is book 2 in the Scarred Earth Saga after The Blacksmith Queen, the book that tied with Polaris Rising for my most favorite of 2019.  Both are fantastic (but violent). You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

2. The Blacksmith Queen – My second most-favorite book of 2019 (after a tie with Polaris Rising), and my most favorite re-read on the list. This series is often shelved with romance, but for me it is a straight-up fantasy series, far more violent than what I usually read, but truly fantastic in humor and in storytelling. I have never posted a full review of this one to the blog, but you can see my Goodreads review here.

 

 

1. Crownchasers – Even while I was in the process of reading this book, I knew it had the potential to be my most favorite book of 2020. This was the perfect fit for me as a reader, and I am eager to re-read it as I wait for the sequel. Out of the 340+ books I read this year, this one has consistently stuck in my memory, and in my heart, as exceptional. You can read my full review here.

 

 

 

Honorable Mention


For honorable mention here are some other favorites by category:

Most Favorite Picture Books

Burt the Beetle Doesn’t Bite – This delight will not release until June 1, but you will want to put it on your list.
Madeline Finn and the Therapy Dog

 

Most Favorite Middle Grade (that have been released so you can enjoy them now!)

Winterborne Home for Vengeance and Valor
Hilo: All the Pieces Fit – The final book in the original story arc.
Tune It Out – This is targeted to older middle grade readers between 10 and 14.
Primer