Mortal Heart by Robin Lafevers

I love this series and if you have not already run out to purchase the first installment in this fabulous trilogy (Grave Mercy)...what are you waiting for?!  It has all this things that I love best about high fantasy: mystery, history, & fantastic world building.  It's the kind of book that makes you want to immediately jump on the internet to figure out if any of the details are actually true (they are).  Then, you unintentionally get lost down the rabbit hole that is Wikipedia and resurface some time tomorrow!

Mortal Heart is a wonderful story, but perhaps, not my favorite of the trilogy.  I loved the different vignettes and situations that Annith found herself in.  I could have spent forever with the Hellequin or Saint Arduinna's followers.  I just maybe felt it was a bit rushed in places it need not be.  But oh that ending was miraculous.  And I cannot go without tears when you tie in the love of a mother for her child, no matter how ill-placed it may be.

Final Recommendations: READ THIS SERIES...immediately, if you like mysterious mythology, history, royalty, kick-ass girls, hot gods

The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas

If you have not yet read this series which starts with The Burning Sky...WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?!!!  I seriously am in love with everything about this story, the world, the magic, did I mention EVERYTHING.  I was literally reading this second installment during SSR (silent sustained reading) in class and gasped aloud, much to the amusement of my students and my own personal embarrassment.  What I really wanted to do was jump on top of my desk and yell, "I LOVE THIS BOOK!"  But I feel as though that may be frowned upon withing the confines of school..whatevs, let me tell you why I love this series:

1. There are end notes!  End notes people!  Little numbers that lead you to a glossary of information in the back of the book to explain all sorts of magical terms to us lay people.  It is fabulous.

2.  She does not shy away from using big words.  Wonderful words.  Words that even I, as a teacher, had to look up and add to my vocabulary.

3.  The world is amazing.  This time around I would love to mention the unique point of view that she chooses.  Half of the chapters are told from the end.  The other half are told in flashback, which I don't always love but this time around, it was so different, it was amazing.  Also, let me take a moment to talk about how great the magic is.  It is great.  Comforting in its normalcy (for magic, I realize that's kind of a contradiction, but you get what I'm saying, right?) but also singular in some of it's creations and creatures.

4.  The characters are simply perfect.  How can entire novel center around two main characters without getting monotonous or boring, when the characters are these two, the answer is: sheer awesomeness.

The Perilous Sea was equally as fantastic as its predecessor The Burning Sky.

Final Recommendations:  if you like epic magic, great characters, a little bit of romance, and a simply wonderful story, everyone, just. go. buy. it....like NOW!

Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch

I was really pumped going into this book (like I might have actually squealed with joy when it came into the library). I had heard fabulous things about it. Likening it to several series that I LOVED (Girl of Fire and Thorns, looking at you here). Needless to say, I was underwhelmed. It's my ow fault partially, I mean I had hyped it up in my head too much, right? There was that and the fact that it was all too big: the landscape, the story arch. And too forced/predictable. I don't know, for some reason, I just couldn't find myself caring about the characters. I like a string female heroin, however the quantity of times Meira had to reassure herself that she was strong enough, grated on me after a while. It may have also been the constant movement, they were refugees after-all. That whole not staying in one place coupled with having to familiarize myself with a brand new (and terribly expansive) landscape often left me confused and frankly, disinterested. I plotted through, however. 

Final Recommendations: if you like vaguely confusing magic, a sprinkling of romance (warning love triangle), a HUGE landscape.