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I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you publisher!

5 out of 5 starts to Ten Thousand Doors of January

Honestly if I could - I would give it more stars because this is a book I never knew I needed in my life. It left me on the floor, in the puddle of my own tears, unable to tell my husband exactly why I was crying.

Ten Thousand Doors of January is a story of January Scaller - an in-between girl, a wild child, a mixed race child who has never fit into the world of neat order and rules of the 1900’s. Brought up by an older rich man (while her father is way hunting treasures for him), she has only ever known a life of privilege and comfort. Yet she never ever felt like she belongs, she feels like a bird in a cage and when her father goes missing, January finds a journal explaining where she comes from and her world is turned upside-down.

I wasn’t sure about the book at first - mainly because it’s about a mixed raced girl who seems oblivious to Mr. Locke’s (to me obvious) racism and sexism. It’s always upsetting to read that someone could actually think and believe in superiority of one race over another. Yet I continued with the book, it made sense for the time period. And I am so glad I did. January turns out to be a shining beacon to the in-between girls, strong, smart, loving and kind she takes her own life into her own hands; she does not need a knight to rescue her. Despite the odds being against her, she never gives up, never allows herself to be beaten. It is a book about finding family and love and about loss and most of all about the need of this world to have all of us here to make life richer.

Miss Harrow (or is it Mrs?) has absolutely blown me away. The novel is written in such lyrical and captivating language that I honestly found it very hard to put down. It absolutely blows my mind that this is a debut. I will be on the lookout for her future books.

I would recommend this to anyone who liked The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden, and Circe by Madeline Miller. If you like a STRONG female character - this is a book for you.

~ Iryna

#ten thousand doors of january #my review #book review #book blogging

@vellumreviews

Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:55:41

I received this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. thank you Publisher!

3 out of 5 stars

The moment I saw this cover and read the synopsis all I could think about was reading this book. Definitely one of my more anticipated reads of 2019.

Overall the book was cute and enjoyable but nothing special. I had some issues, particularly the use of the French language and other various cultural aspects taken from France without the book actually taking place in France, or really the real world at all. It was quite obviously a book about a fictional world but using everything non-fictional about our world instead.

One particular line in the book compared an event to “Moses parting the Red Sea”. Again, this comes back to the author taking aspects from our already existing world and including it in a fantasy book where you wouldn’t really expect Moses or his religious backstory to appear or exist at all. I felt like the author chose to use French and Catholicism because she wasn’t creative enough to come up with her own language and religion. I have reads books by authors who were able to do both flawlessly while using our existing world as a starting point and as inspiration.

It’s a shame that the book didn’t quite live up to my expectations but I can definitely see this story appealing to the young adult audience it is geared to. There is a somewhat steamy sex scene which you normally wouldn’t see in a young adult book and truthfully was the only time during the entire book that I felt that I wasn’t meant to be a 13 year old girl reading this book.

The romance was cute but rushed, and the characters weren’t as well fleshed out as I would have liked. I feel like this would have been a spectacular book had it truly been taken into the adult reader category and the dialogue was made to reflect that. Having modern day slang and curse words in a world closely related to 1700’s France just did not fit for me.

~Iryna

#serpent dove #ya fantasy #witches #book review #arc review #my review #book blogging #fantasy books

@vellumreviews

Fri, 03 May 2019 16:24:58

I received this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you publisher!

4 out of 5 stars

The Descendant of the Crane is not your typical YA novel. It is a book which will make you stop and think and reevaluate your ideas about good and evil. It is not wasted on petty tropes of a typical YA novel and it is absolutely wonderfully written.

Our story begins with Hesina visiting a soothsayer in order to uncover who was responsible for her father death. Soothsayers and magic are outlawed and Hesina is risking a lot - while the soothsayer cannot tell her exactly who did it, she does confirm that her father was murdered. Now Hesina just has to find out who did it. And so we enter the world of intrigue, politics, twits and turns - and let me tell you - I did not see a lot of them coming. Not only that, but the author does not divide his world into good and evil, most, if not all, characters are morally grey and relatable and it makes everything feel so real! Furthermore, Hesina is a reluctant queen - she is thrust into the role and she has to learn how to make decisions which serve the greater good but which leave her questioning her own morality. All in all - just WONDERFUL!

My only complaint with the novel is that the themes of the book are NOT YA and I do not understand why it was put into the genre - I think it would have been a more successful adult fantasy novel. I saw some reviewers compare it to The Game of Thrones and while I agree that the political intrigue and the backstabbing is VERY a la Game of Thrones, I think it’s “cleanness” is actually a deterrent. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t want books littered with rape or sexual abuse or torture - but it is really hard to pull off a believable fantasy world and not mention any adult situations or violence. I also think that the characters would have been more believable if they were older, a general who is 16 years old? I don’t know…seems far fetched and I can swallow a lot.

That being said - I will still pick up book two of this series and I honestly cannot wait. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves GREAT fantasy and is looking for a book which will keep you on the edge of your seat.

~Iryna

#descendant of the crane #book review #my review #fantasy #asian fantasy #chinese inspired fantasy #book blogging #book bloggers #arc review #edelweiss

@vellumreviews

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 12:57:58

Book Lovers Blog Tour

One of my most anticipated reads of the year!

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#book blogging

Book Lovers Blog Tour

April Wrap Up

Anticipated Releases: April-June

March Wrap Up

February Wrap Up

Two Book Tuesday + Bonus

Two Book Tuesday

Two Book Tuesday

January Wrap Up

The End of Year Survey

Favorite Titles Read in 2021

Favorite YA Books of 2021

December Wrap Up

Two Book Tuesday

Two Book Tuesday

Two Book Tuesday

You’ll Be the Death of Me - Blog Tour

November Wrap Up

October Wrap Up

September Wrap Up

First Lines Fridays

Never Saw You Coming - Book Review

Lies Like Wildfire Blog Tour

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