Maggie Stiefvater returns with her matchless style in a standalone novel set in the Colorado Desert in 1962. Bicho Raro is a mystical ranch where the Soria family has resided for generations, performing miracles for pilgrims who seek help in banishing their darkness. At the center are three cousins—Beatriz, Joaquin and Daniel. When Daniel, the eldest cousin and saint, breaks the cardinal rule (you can help the pilgrims once, but not twice), he runs off into the desert to await his dismal fate. But generations of curses and darkness will not keep the Soria cousins from saving one of their own.

While reminiscent of Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits, a classic of magical realism, there are elements of storytelling here that feel unique to Stiefvater: unusual metaphors, sharp prose, unexpected humor and a deft ability to mesh the eerie and fanciful into one seamless description. Thoughtfully paced with intriguing characters, ill-fated romance and complicated family relationships, All the Crooked Saints will satiate fans who are always eager for new Stiefvater work, while bringing new ones into the fold.

Kimberly Giarratano is the author of Grunge Gods and Graveyards, a young adult paranormal mystery.

This article was originally published in the October 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Ever since Lynet’s mother, the last queen, hanged herself, the kingdom of Whitespring has been covered year-round in snow. Teenage Lynet, next in line for the throne, has never been cold; her Southern stepmother, Mina, has never felt warm. Lynet and Mina have always cared for each other, but when Lynet befriends Whitespring’s new surgeon, Nadia, secrets are revealed and relationships begin to unravel. Why does Lynet look exactly like her dead mother? Why does Mina believe no one can truly love her? What is this connection that Lynet and Nadia seem to share? At first, King Nicholas and Mina’s magician father make all the decisions. But the female characters triumph, not by playing by the male characters’ rules but by rewriting them.

This is “Snow White” as it’s never been told before. Fans of “Game of Thrones” will relish the loyalties and betrayals, but author Melissa Bashardoust sidesteps most of the violence that characterizes George R.R. Martin’s work. With elements of the medieval legend of the golem, echoes of the movie Frozen and plenty of magic, Girls Made of Snow and Glass is a feminist fantasy not to be missed.

This article was originally published in the September 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Dee Moreno’s way out from the confines of her miserable home life is a full academic scholarship to a prestigious Portland boarding school. When the scholarship funds are cut, Dee gets desperate enough to cut a deal with a demon. Or, daemon, as he prefers to be called. The general terms are one wish fulfilled in exchange for one body part, which, in Dee’s case, turns out to be her heart.

Actually, the agreement is a lease on her heart, to be returned after two years of service to the daemon. Thus Dee becomes the fourth member of the Deamon’s Portland Troop of Heartless, already comprised of no-nonsense Cora, physics genius Cal and James, a scruffily cute artist. Dee is quickly introduced to the drill: The deamon summons the heartless to enter “voids,” where their mission is to set off explosives and then race for the exit before the void implodes. Ironically, now that Dee is officially heartless, she begins having romantic feelings for James, who is patient and sweet with her reticence.

Emily Lloyd-Jones conjures a just-right balance of creepiness and pathos in her imaginative construct of demons and their interactions with human beings. The depiction of Dee’s family life could use more substance so that readers are able to empathize with her drastic decision. The characters, while diverse in terms of ethnicity and sexual orientation, are functional rather than fully developed. But readers looking for an interesting paranormal twist will enjoy this inventive story.

Diane Colson is the Library Director at City College in Gainesville, Florida.

Twins Iris and Malina have a special gift, or “gleam,” but it must be hidden from the world. In their small town on the coast of Montenegro, this means the sisters had to stop using their witchy gifts when they became too strong. Iris is naturally aware of people’s scents and shapes—gleaning important information from her observations. Malina’s gift for hearing emotions as music allows the sisters to evaluate who is to be trusted, and who to fear. Over the years, Iris’ skills have deteriorated with lack of practice, and unfortunately, so has her relationship with the twins’ secretive mother, Jasmina. But when a vicious attack leaves their mother technically dead—yet mysteriously alive—the sisters must unearth the wild truth of their heritage.

Though the revelations about the twins’ background are somewhat murky, the power of their love—for themselves, their mother and their respective love interests—is movingly portrayed. A cliffhanger ending and layered, likable characters will leave readers eager for what’s next in this unique new series from debut author Lana Popović.

This article was originally published in the August 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

When ruthless Emperor Sikander announces his impending visit to Shalingar, Princess Amrita knows she’ll be required to marry him. Though her heart breaks to give up her family, her home and her first love, she knows it is a worthy sacrifice to protect her people. However, when the visit takes a tragic turn and Amrita finds herself losing much more than she’d bargained for, she sets out on a desperate journey to save what is left—and maybe undo the past.

Aditi Khorana’s second novel, The Library of Fates, is a lovely coming-of-age story rooted in Indian folklore and infused with romance. The primary strength of the novel is the deep, lush world Khorana has built, vividly painting the beauty of Shalingar and juxtaposing it against the political turmoil of the empire.

Princess Amrita is admirable in her utter selflessness, yet still relatable in her teenage ideologies and naiveté, as she seeks out her destiny and shoulders the safety of her entire empire in the face of devastating loss. Though not quite fully developed, the mystical characters who guide Amrita—an oracle, a vetala and members of the cave-dwelling Sybillines—are colorful additions to the rich tapestry of the novel.

The Library of Fates is a perfect read for the lazy days of late summer. Khorana will take readers on a page-turning journey with a surprising yet wholly satisfying resolution.

This article was originally published in the August 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Readers who devoured Ink and Bone and Paper and Fire, the first two titles in bestselling author Rachel Caine’s Great Library series, have a summer reading treat in store. Ash and Quill continues this ingenious saga of an alternate world in which the Great Library of Alexandria has not only survived but also become immensely powerful, controlling all knowledge and even the ownership of books.

Jess Brightwell is a likable, compelling hero. He has been raised to love books, despite the fact that his family has “smuggled them, sold them, and profited from them.” As the story opens, Jess and his friends have been transported from London by the Translation Chamber, which can destroy a person and then recreate him or her far away. Jess has landed in the rebellious colonies of America (Philadelphia, to be exact) where “Burners” refuse to submit to the Library’s rule.

There, in a half-ruined sports stadium, Jess is forced to witness books being burned before he is jailed. But, as he reflects, “Prisons—like locks—were made to be broken.”

Ash and Quill is a page-turning adventure, full of danger and intrigue. There’s romance, too, as Jess and the courageous Morgan take on the challenge of trying to save the true core of the Library from evil plotters within.

While Ash and Quill is perfect for teen readers, parents intrigued by the alternate future depicted in Philip K. Dick’s The Man in the High Castle might want to borrow this one to stick in a beach bag.

Deborah Hopkinson lives near Portland, Oregon. Her most recent book for young readers is Independence Cake.

This article was originally published in the July 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

An unexpected turn of events places an unlikely pair—a slave and an enemy soldier—on a treacherous journey in Megan Whalen Turner’s newest adventure-filled novel, Thick as Thieves, part of her acclaimed Queen’s Thief series.

Highly esteemed among the palace household, Kamet oversees local and outlying estate finances for his Mede master, Nahuseresh. Although he is happy to hold such authority, the intelligent, brown-skinned slave also has to endure his temperamental master’s unexpected beatings. To Kamet, this suffering is worth the chance to become “one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in all the empire” as the next emperor’s personal slave. But Kamet’s hopes for a somewhat brighter future fizzle when he hears news of his master’s demise. The last thing Kamet expects is to run off with an Attolian soldier who promises his freedom. What follows is an unforgettable motley-duo adventure.

Aficionados of this creative series will be thrilled to follow Kamet’s character development as Turner places him front and center in her epic tale. Brimming with a host of pertinent foils, as well as a clever thief named Eugenides, Turner’s plot takes mature teen readers along on Kamet’s death-defying journey. With a well-defined cast and a captivating writing style, Thick as Thieves is a brilliant combination of artful storytelling, imaginative history (with maps) and a flurry of twists and turns—up to the very end.

Preacher’s daughter (dresses modestly, doesn’t date, never goes to parties) is the only identity Leah Roberts has—in public, anyway. But when she sneaks out to the woods behind her house, she can be her true self: a girl who’s grieving over a tragedy that splintered her family 10 years ago. And in these woods, she watches a family of fantastic creatures who officially don’t exist. They’re large, vaguely humanoid, covered in hair and known in legend as Bigfoot or Sasquatch.

One night a newcomer arrives with the Bigfoot family—a young man who’s surprisingly close to being human. As Leah finds herself drawn to this mysterious stranger, the outside world shifts, too: Her brother’s best friend starts making romantic overtures toward her, and her mother’s perpetually odd behavior becomes stranger than usual. As details of her family’s dark history are slowly revealed, Leah finds herself in a place where the past and the present, humans and non-humans, love and loss coexist . . . and sometimes violently clash.

Part supernatural romance, part mystery and part contemporary realism, The Shadows We Know by Heart blends the psychological suspense of Stephanie Kuehn’s Charm & Strange with traditional legends of Bigfoot, adding a flavor of “Beauty and the Beast” along the way.

This article was originally published in the March 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

Princess Anya has problems: Her sister, Morven, is devastated by the transformation of handsome Prince Denholm into a frog; her evil stepstepfather (yes, you read that right), Duke Rikard, is becoming a more evil and powerful sorcerer by the day; and it’s recently become quite clear that Rikard wants Anya dead. All Anya wants is to stay in her library and read about magic, but her unbreakable sister-promise to restore Prince Denholm to human form leads to an increasingly complicated Quest. 

Through the woods surrounding Trallonia, farther than she has ever traveled, Anya journeys with Ardent, a faithful royal dog; Shrub, a would-be thief transformed into a newt; and Smoothie, a river otter transformed into a girl. Anya’s list of tasks—and people to un-transform—grows, and Rikard is hot on their trail. Anya started out wanting to return to her solitary library as soon as possible, but the Quest opens her eyes to the deeper responsibilities of being a princess and, more importantly, a leader.

A master of creating beloved fantasy worlds, Garth Nix turns to the funny, whimsical and self-aware style less common in recent children’s fantasy. Shot through with the tone of adventurous fairy-tale riffs such as The Princess Bride, this novel is a rollicking breath of fresh air and a return to fantasy with room for fun and mischief.

This article was originally published in the March 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.

For seven years, Scarlett writes letters to Legend, the head of the mysterious traveling half-carnival, half-game Caraval. And for seven years, she gets no reply. Then, just before Scarlett is supposed to wed a count she’s never met—an arranged marriage that will rescue herself and her sister from their abusive father—three Caraval tickets appear. Soon Scarlett, her sister, Tella, and a new acquaintance find themselves swept into the magical world of Caraval, where they have five nights to win the game and its tempting prize: the granting of a single wish.

Caraval is full of sensory delights, from glittering castles to carousels made of rose petals to edible silver bells. But darkness lurks below the surface-level gaiety: Caraval’s magic traps its players inside their lodgings from sunrise to sunset; nightmares and lies serve as currency; and a labyrinth of underground tunnels intensifies players’ fears.

Debut author Stephanie Garber weaves a suspenseful mystery as Scarlett interprets (and misinterprets) clues, navigates hidden identities and attempts to solve the puzzles of Caraval. But Garber’s true strength is her use of multisensory imagery. When Scarlett first enters Caraval, for example, “soft golden lights licked her arms,” heat envelopes her that “tasted like light, bubbly on her tongue,” and she finds herself surrounded by “a canopy of crystal chandeliers,” “plush cranberry rugs” and “golden . . . spindles that arched around heavy red velvet drapes.” A teaser at the book’s end promises a follow-up novel that readers will fervently anticipate.

Jill Ratzan matches readers with books in a small library in southeastern Pennsylvania.

In 2011, 23-year-old Veronica Roth’s debut, Divergent, set the stage for a series that would become a worldwide phenomenon. And while the series is ripe for obsessing, Roth took the story of Tris Prior to a shocking place—a place not every fan wanted to go. This unflinching pursuit of weighted questions carries over to her new duology as Roth considers faith and loyalty within a sci-fi setting. Carve the Mark is set in a solar system where a supreme force called the current flows through all beings, imbuing people with gifts similar to X-Men abilities.

The story opens when Akos and his older brother are kidnapped from their peaceful home in Thuvhe, in the northern part of their icy planet, by Shotet soldiers. The Shotet are an unrecognized nation of scavengers and warriors, and as their prisoner, gentle Akos (a win for Hufflepuff heroes) is trained as a soldier and charged with attending to hard-edged Cyra, the sister of the tyrannical Shotet ruler. Their friendship will change them both, but this is a world bound by fate, where kills are marked on the arms of killers. Loyalty to one’s family is everything, and it seems violence may be the only way to change that.

Roth’s cultural worldbuilding is meticulous and intricate, although explanatory passages slow the novel’s pace. But Roth’s conjuring of religions, belief systems and language differences is well done, and her prose has strengthened with this new series. Diehard Roth fans will be rewarded.

This article was originally published in the February 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.