“Jade Fire Gold” ©2021 by June CL Tan

This book is set in China’s distant past.  Ahn is a poor girl from the desert who meets, Altan, a prince in disguise. Altan wants revenge and his rightful throne back. He and Ahn need to work together to overthrow the imposters.  However, there is an even more pressing quest, and that is to find the sword to help them overcome the evil magic that is ruining the earth, causing plants to die and the land to turn to desert. Both Ahn and Altan have magical powers, but Ahn’s is critical for confronting the evil magic.

I found this to be a good story, plenty of adventure, a very slight bit of romance, good back stories for the characters. There was a tad too much whining. The story moves back and forth from Ahn’s to Altan’s point of view, and for me that gets tedious.

“Ballad and Dagger: An Outlaw Saints Novel” ©2022 by Daniel José Older

A very interesting group of people (Freed Black Slaves, Jews, Pirates and Spanish) are refugees in New York from the sunken island of San Madrigal. Their ancestors all found refuge on the mythical and magical island from very different cultures and (mostly successfully) merged to create a unique culture of their own. The refugee islanders are in a power struggle to elect a new leader and raise the island from the ocean.

Mateo and Chela are teens who have magical abilities like many people from San Madrigal. Mateo’s is to heal and Chela’s is to kill, which is actually good because she kills a monster. They both use their powers to help their people fight the evil that sunk San Madrigal.

Told from Mateo’s point of view, I loved his stream of consciousness narrative and that he connects to his healing ability through his musical talents. The island and its people are an interesting and fun concept. I enjoyed the use of different languages in every day speech.

I did find parts of the story frustrating. It seems to me there were some time inconsistencies.  I wonder if I missed a magical something or if the characters always just walked out of school to attend a concert in the park still wearing their gym clothes in the middle of the day?

“Skin of the Sea” (book one of a duology) ©2021 by Natasha Bowen

Simi is a Mami Wata (mermaid) tasked with helping souls lost at sea to find their way home.  The story is set in the 1600’s during the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

One day as Simi is following a slave ship, a young man (Kona) is thrown overboard who is still alive. In a moment of compassion, Simi saves his life and brings him to an island. Mami Wata can look and act as a human on dry land. By saving a life and letting him see her true self, Simi gets in trouble with the gods and must make amends.

The quest begins; first to bring Kona back home, then to make amends to the gods.  More adventures are on the way though and Simi is beginning to have mixed feelings.  She was once human and when she is in human shape, she starts to remember her previous life.

Quite a good story!  I loved learning a bit about African mythology!  The names and terms are so fascinating.  I’d like to read the second book (“Soul of the Deep”).

“Dreams Lie Beneath” ©2021 by Rebecca Ross

There is a curse on the kingdom and at every new moon nightmares literally come to life and are present in each town. To combat this curse, there are wardens who record people’s nightmares and then patrol on the new moon night to defuse the dreams before they get too dangerous.

Clem is a warden-in-training with her father.  When he is bested by two brothers who want to be wardens in his territory, Clem vows to make it right.

Using magic, Clem changes her appearance to work for Phelan, one of the brothers.  She plans on revenge, but the plot thickens when more details and discoveries occur about who and what caused the nightmare curse.

I enjoyed this very interesting story.

“Only a Monster” ©2022 by Vanessa Len

It is summer and Joan is at her grandmother’s house for her annual visit.  She is volunteering at a local mansion turned museum and meets Nick, a fellow volunteer.  When they plan a date, somehow Joan loses a day (and misses the date); she has accidentally “travelled”. Her grandmother confirms that she is a monster and monsters can touch humans, steal life from them and travel to different times.

When Joan and Nick see each other at the museum again (and Joan apologizes for missing the date), people start showing up out of thin air. Then Nick starts killing them! He is a monster hunter and he kills all of Joan’s family.

Joan and Aaron, the son of a powerful monster, escape the massacre. They use humans to travel to the 1990’s to hide.  Joan wants to fix the timeline to save her family and make sure the massacre does not happen.

This was surprisingly enjoyable.  There are lots of twists and turns, new revelations, interesting magic and back stories.  The next book in this series will be published in 2023.  I look forward to reading it.

“Strangeworlds Travel Agency” (book 1 of 4) ©2020 by L.D. Lapinski

Flick is 12 when her family moves to a small village from a city.  As she explores her new town, she enters the “Strangeworld’s Travel Agency” and meets 18-year-old Jonathon. When Jonathon hands her an old magnifying glass to look through, Flick discovers that she can see magic. Strangeworlds Travel Agency is more than it seems.  Using suitcases people travel to different worlds in the multiverse.

As Flick and Jonathon get to know each other over the next few weeks, it is revealed that Jonathon’s mother died on another world and that his father is missing in the multiverse.

Following clues, they try to find Jonathon’s father.  The clues lead them to the center of the multiverse, the city of Five Lights, where a group of thieves are stealing and hoarding magic causing a ripple effect all through the multiverse.

This was a really ingenious and fun story.  I enjoyed how Flick thought things through and stood up for herself.  I liked how Jonathon didn’t treat her like a baby even though she is younger. I hope to read the rest of the series.

“Look Both Ways” ©2019 by Jason Reynolds

This book is not a fantasy, it is however, totally delightful.  It is a Coretta Scott King Honor book as well as a National Book Award Finalist.

Told in ten different stories of middle-school kids walking home from school alone or with their friends.  Each story tells of their adventures, misadventures and a little bit of their motivations for some of the seemingly odd or random things they do.

Such as the four kids who ‘collect’ loose change.  Each has a parent who is going through cancer treatments. On this particular day they use their findings to buy ice cream for one of the group member’s mother who has relapsed and is going through chemo treatments.

All the stories interconnect in large or small ways as the kids for the most part know each other and go to the same school. Each story has the phrase “a school bus falling from the sky”. Interesting how it sneaks in!