The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

 

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab 448 pages

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

This was a long book for me, but it worked because the reader needed to get to know Addie and EVERYTHING she went through so they could appreciate her sacrifice at the end making it all the more bittersweet. 

The God Engines by John Scalzi

The God Engines by John Scalzi, 136 pages

This novella is short, brutal, and I didn't see the end coming. 

In this story, gods not only exist; they are powerful and war with rival gods. The defeated gods are enslaved and forced to be living engines for the starships of the faithful--humans who worship the conquering god. The captured gods begin to rebel, Captain Ean Tephe realizes the problem is bigger than he ever imagined. 

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen, 512 p.

"Vanja Schmidt knows that no gift is freely given, not even a mother's love--and she's on the hook for one hell of a debt. Vanja, the adopted goddaughter of Death and Fortune, was Princess Gisele's dutiful servant up until a year ago. That was when Vanja's otherworldly mothers demanded a terrible price for their care, and Vanja decided to steal her future back... by stealing Gisele's life for herself.

The real Gisele is left a penniless nobody while Vanja uses an enchanted string of pearls to take her place. Now, Vanja leads a lonely but lucrative double life as princess and jewel thief, charming nobility while emptying their coffers to fund her great escape. Then, one heist away from freedom, Vanja crosses the wrong god and is cursed to an untimely end: turning into jewels, stone by stone, for her greed.

Vanja has just two weeks to figure out how to break her curse and make her getaway. And with a feral guardian half-god, Gisele's sinister fiancé, and an overeager junior detective on Vanja's tail, she'll have to pull the biggest grift yet to save her own life."--Goodreads blurb

I'd heard about this book on social media, and the storyline sounded intriguing. Vanja leads quite a life, well, two lives really. I thought this story was original and the world-building, while solid, could have been a bit more expansive. Owen was a new-to-me author and I will try more of her books.

 

The Sea Queen by Jovee Winters

The Sea Queen by Jovee Winters - 182 pages

Dark Queens #1

Calypso, Queen of the Seas, is mad. Spitting mad. Ghosts of the dead are fouling her waters. She wants this problem fixed, and she wants it fixed now. Rushing off in search of Hades, Lord of the Underworld, to demand answers, she’s soon shocked to discover him bound and standing trial before a jury of his peers—for nothing less than murder.

Calypso normally despises the beastly gods, all of them, but there’s something about seeing Hades bound as he is that gives her an evilly clever idea. Tired of being a virgin queen, she wishes to shed that boring image once and for all, and no one seems quite as fit for the task as the gorgeous and brooding Hades. Of course, there is the minor problem of murder to deal with, but Calypso is bound and determined to have her way.

And when a dark queen gets an idea, nothing and no one can stand in her way…

Her Wolves by G. Bailey

 Her Wolves by G. Bailey - 352 pages

Fall Mountain Shifters #1

I knew nothing about mates until the alpha rejected me...

Growing up in one of the biggest packs in the world, my life is planned out from the second I turn eighteen and find my true mate in the moon ceremony.

Finding your true mate gives you the power to share the shifter energy they have, given to the males of the pack by the moon goddess herself. The power to shift into a wolf.

But for the first time in the history of our pack, the new alpha is mated with a nobody. A foster kid living in the packs orphanage with no ancestors or power to claim.

Me.

After being brutally rejected by my alpha mate, publicly humiliated and thrown away into the sea, the dark wolves of the Fall Mountain Pack find me.

They save me. The four alphas. The ones the world fears because of the darkness they live in.

In their world? Being rejected is the only way to join their pack. The only way their lost and forbidden god gives them the power to shift without a mate.

I spent my life worshipping the moon goddess when it turns out my life always belonged to another...

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller, 352 p. 
 

"Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. By all rights their paths should never cross, but Achilles takes the shamed prince as his friend, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But then word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus journeys with Achilles to Troy, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.

Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart."--Amazon blurb

This was such a well-written and engaging book. So many know the story of Achilles and how the war with the Trojan horse played out, but such a different perspective on the story made this a great read. 

Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

Stranger the Dreamer
by  Laini Taylor
536 pages










The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around - and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old, he's been obsessed with the mythic lost city of Weep, but it would take someone bolder than he to cross half the world in search of it. Then a stunning opportunity presents itself in the person of a hero called the Godslayer and a band of legendary warriors, and he has to seize his chance or lose his dream forever.

In this sweeping and breathtaking new novel by National Book Award finalist Laini Taylor, author of the New York Times best-selling Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, the shadow of the past is as real as the ghosts who haunt the citadel of murdered gods. Fall into a mythical world of dread and wonder, moths and nightmares, love and carnage.

I listened to the audio version of this book and the performer; Steve West did an awesome job!

One Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin

One Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin, 427 pgs.

"Yeine Darr is an outcast from the barbarian north. But when her mother dies under mysterious circumstances, she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress to the king. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle."

I've had this book on my TBR list for years. I tried to listen to it on audiobook a few years ago, but about an hour in I decided it was a book better suited (for me, personally) to reading in print. It's on so many fantasy must-read lists, so I was really looking forward to getting into it. I wanted to love it. I went in with high expectations, and maybe that's ultimately why I find myself disappointed with it. The story is interesting, and the main characters keep your interest. But there are storylines that made me...uncomfortable. I liked this book fine, and don't regret reading it, but I'm not clamoring to pick up the next book in the series.

Kamisama Kiss

Kamisama Kiss
Julietta Suzuki
Volumes 1-25
4.535 total pages

When Nanami Momozono's father runs away from his gambling debts leaving her to shoulder the burden alone she has no choice but to accept the offer of a strange man she met in the park. He offers his home to her since he will be out of town. The only problem is that his home is a shrine and he is a god. Now Nanami is saddled with a surly fox familiar who insults her at every turn. What is a girl supposed to do?

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers-549 pages

Why be the sheep, when you can be the wolf?

Seventeen-year-old Ismae escapes from the brutality of an arranged marriage into the sanctuary of the convent of St. Mortain, where the sisters still serve the gods of old. Here she learns that the god of Death Himself has blessed her with dangerous gifts—and a violent destiny. If she chooses to stay at the convent, she will be trained as an assassin and serve as a handmaiden to Death. To claim her new life, she must destroy the lives of others.

Ismae’s most important assignment takes her straight into the high court of Brittany—where she finds herself woefully under prepared—not only for the deadly games of intrigue and treason, but for the impossible choices she must make. For how can she deliver Death’s vengeance upon a target who, against her will, has stolen her heart? 

The Wicked and The Divine by Gillen McKelvie & Wilson Cowles

The Wicked + the Divine, v. 1: the Faust Act by Gillen  McKelvie & Wilson Cowles - 144 pages

Every 90 years, twelve gods are reborn as teenagers.  They attract huge fandoms until they all die within two years.

I thought this premise sounded really intriguing.  It also was listed as one of the Best Graphic Novels for Teens.  I do not agree.  I didn't find the story engrossing.  I also thought the language was very vulgar and explicit for teens.

Planetfall - Emma Newman

Planetfall - Emma Newman - 336 pages

This book has everything: a messiah complex, a murder mystery, space hoarding, a womb city, and so many 3D printers it will blow your mind.  What really inspired me to plow through this one was the humility and realism of the main character's visceral struggle with mental illness superimposed over the origin story of a colonial society born of what could be termed a different species of the same animal.  Renata, our touchstone and narrator through the book, is buried twenty-two years into life on a colony built on the foundation of the holy vision of her best friend, now believed by the colonists to be communing with God in an alien city.  There are so many secrets swirling inside Ren about how they arrived and survived that it's slowly tearing her apart.

Something about this book feels genuine and naked and sharp when it comes to how Ren lives with the weight of her history at the foot of the God city.  She's brilliant, driven, empathetic, but broken, and her humanity hangs out everywhere as she and the mystery of the colony and a new visitor, the grandson of Ren's prophetic BFF, unravel.  I can't say the end of this book came a total surprise; maybe it was the path of least creative resistance to wind up where it wound up, but by the time I got there I didn't care.  The rest of the ride was such a glorious gut punch that the journey more than made up for it.

Wildefire by Karsten Knight

Wildefire by Karsten Knight  393 pages

Ashline Wilde is having a rough sophomore year. She's struggling to find her place as the only Polynesian girl in school, her boyfriend just cheated on her, and now her runaway sister, Eve, has decided to barge back into her life. When Eve's violent behavior escalates and she does the unthinkable, Ash transfers to a remote private school nestled in California's redwoods, hoping to put the tragedy behind her. But her fresh start at Blackwood Academy doesn't go as planned. Just as Ash is beginning to enjoy the perks of her new school - being captain of the tennis team, a steamy romance with a hot, local park ranger - Ash discovers that a group of gods and goddesses have mysteriously enrolled at Blackwood.and she's one of them. To make matters worse, Eve has resurfaced to haunt Ash, and she's got some strange abilities of her own. With a war between the gods looming over campus, Ash must master the new fire smoldering within before she clashes with her sister one more time. And when warm and cold fronts collide, there's guaranteed to be a storm.

Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland

Promise of Shadows by Justina Ireland  371 pages

Zephyr Mourning has never been very good at being a Harpy. She'd rather watch reality TV than learn forty-seven ways to kill a man, and she pretty much sucks at wielding magic. Zephyr was ready for a future pretending to be a normal human instead of a half-god assassin. But all that changed when her sister was murdered - and Zephyr used a forbidden dark power to save herself from the same fate.
On the run from a punishment worse than death, an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend upends Zephyr's world - and not only because her old friend has grown surprisingly, extremely hot. It seems that Zephyr might just be the Nyx, a dark goddess that is prophesied to shift the power balance: for hundreds of years the half-gods have lived in fear, and Zephyr is supposed to change that.
But how is she supposed to save everyone else when she can barely take care of herself?

Grave Mercy by Robin Lafevers

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, 549 pages
(Book 1 of His Fair Assassin series)

Ismae is born with the mark of Mortain and becomes the bane of her "father's" existence. Thinking to rid himself of her in the most painful way possible, he marries her to a pig farmer he knows will abuse and mistreat her. But the god Mortain has other plans for his daughter. He arranges for an herb witch and priest to rescue her and take her to a nunnery in service to him. There she learns all the ways to become an assassin - Death's handmaiden. She is sent with Gavriel (the bastard son of a Duke) to discover who is trying to betray the young Dutchess. Ismae must swallow her revulsion of men and become all that she despises to weed out the traitor in the midst. As much as she hates Gavriel, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to him. When Mortain's mark is aimed at Gavriel, will she follow her heart or her oath to serve Mortain alone?
 The second time around is even better than the first read. There was so much I had missed. The subtleties throughout the book will be missed the first read through. I found myself liking Ismae, the trained assassin of St. Mortain, even more than I did the first time. The romance between her and Gavriel was much sweeter this time. The treachery, mystery, and tidbits scattered through out the pages were more easily discovered than when my mind was first engaged in guessing where the author was taking this historical fantasy fiction story.

The House of Hades, Rick Riordan, 597 pages

The House of Hades, Rick Riordan, 597 pages

This is the fourth book in the Heroes of Olympus series- or the series after the Percy Jackson books.  Percy and Annabeth are trying to survive a trip through Tartarus, while the rest of the Greek and Roman demigods battle monsters as they try to reach the House of Hades in Greece.  The characters are finally developed enough that this book is more plot-driven.  I'm looking forward to the end of the series, though.

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst

Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst, 424 pages

Liyana is the vessel for her goddess Bayla. As a vessel, the day the goddess enters her body, she will die but her desert tribe will live as the goddess will provide for all their needs. The ceremony day arrives and Liyana says goodbye to her family and friends. She dances her heart out, but nothing happens. Thinking she somehow made herself unworthy, her desert tribe abandons her to the desert. When the trickster god, Korbyn, arrives and tells her the gods and goddesses have been kidnapped and cannot enter their vessels, she leaves with him to find the other tribes' vessels before they, too, are left for dead. As the time draws closer for Liyana to surrender her body to her goddess and evil threatens the lives of all those she loves and hold dear, she begins to realize she wishes to live. Dare she defy her god to save her people?

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner - 219 pages

This is one of my favorite books (and series) and I was thrilled to find it on audio.  I like to listen to books that I have already read as the narrator always interprets parts of the story differently than I do while reading it.  This was a great audio and I look forward to listening to the other books in the series.
Gen is recruited from jail as a thief who can steal anything.  He is shocked to discover what the Magus wants him to steal is Hiamethes' gift - the stone that given to the next ruler of the neighboring kingdom of Eddis. 

The Goddess Hunt by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Hunt by Aimee Carter, 71 pages
(1.5 in the Goddess Test Series)

I loved that the author wrote this novella to help her fans wait for the second book in the series. The Goddess Hunt stars the Gemini twins Pollux and Castor. Kate Winters is now the wife of Hades and must spend 6 months away from him (much as Persephone did). Encouraged by her mom to enjoy her life, Kate decides to head to Greece with a friend where she comes across the twins who are running from the gods. Will she get involved in their plot to stay free? Or will she turn them over to justice. You have to read to find out.