Children of Anguish & Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi (Legacy of Orïsha book 3)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue & Vengeance, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

Check out Book Series Recaps for a refresher of the first book.

Please visit the Recaptains blog if you need a refresher of the first book.

“New allies rise.

The Blood Moon nears.

Zélie faces her final enemy.

The king who hunts her heart.

When Zelie seized the royal palace that fateful night, she thought her battles had come to an end. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Zélie never expected to find herself locked in a cage and trapped on a foreign ship. Now warriors with iron skulls traffic her and her people across the seas, far from their homeland.

Then everything changes when Zélie meets King Baldyr, her true captor, the ruler of the Skulls, and the man who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her. Baldyr’s quest to harness Zélie’s strength sends Zélie, Amari, and Tzain searching for allies in unknown lands.

But as Baldyr closes in, catastrophe charges Orïsha’s shores. It will take everything Zélie has to face her final enemy and save her people before the Skulls annihilate them for good.” - taken from Goodreads.

The five year wait for this conclusion was not worth it. The story went completely off track from the first two books and the ending was less than desired.

Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen (Fall of the Dragon book 1)

 

“Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father’s engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild—a place that harbors her father’s hidden past—determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune.

Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of an unlikely ally—Aogiya Ye-yang, the taciturn eighth prince of the High Command. With her father’s renown placing a target firmly on her back, Ying must stay one step ahead of her fellow competitors, the jealous guild masters, and the killer still hunting for her father’s journal. Complicating everything is her increasingly tangled relationship with the prince, who may have mysterious plans of his own.

The secrets concealed within the guild can be as deadly as the weapons they build—and with her life and the future of her homeland at stake, Ying doesn’t know who to trust. Can she avenge her father even if it means going against everything he stood for, or will she be next in the mastermind’s line of fire?” - taken from Goodreads.

I thoroughly enjoyed this East Asian steampunk/silkpunk story about a young girl, who after witnessing the death of her father, travels to the capital to avenge his death. Along the way she meets the eighth prince who secures her a spot in the engineering guild trials, a male only competition. Hoping to discover more of her father's past, she disguises herself as her younger brother to take part in the competition. It's not long before secrets are uncovered and our heroine discovers she isn't sure who she can trust. That ending was a heartbreaker. Sorry but there are no actual dragons in this book.

Book two, The Jade Dragon, is due out June 17, 2025.

Visit Amber Chen’s website.

Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber

 

“THE HOUSE IS ALWAYS HUNGRY…

After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor’s guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra.

Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbors a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents’ deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebastián is a hallucination, but he claims he’s been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress.

As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra’s secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she’s chasing has already found her . . . and they’re closer than she ever realized. - taken from Goodreads.

This Gothic mystery/romance book gave me Dark Shadows vibes. Estela is left an orphan after a mysterious accident kills everyone on a subway car but her. Soon a previously unknown aunt sends her a ticket to come and live in Spain with her. Once there, the mystery about her family and the cursed castle they reside in intensifies.. The ending did wrap up a bit too quickly for me in this standalone novel.

Visit Romina Garber’s website.

Past Present Future by Rachel Lynn Solomon (Rowan & Neil book 2)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, Today Tonight Tomorrow, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“They fell for each other in just twenty-four hours. Now Rowan and Neil embark on a long-distance relationship during their first year of college in this romantic, dual points of view sequel to Today Tonight Tomorrow .

When longtime rivals Rowan Roth and Neil McNair confessed their feelings on the last day of senior year, they knew they’d only have a couple months together before they left for college. Now summer is over, and they’re determined to make their relationship work as they begin school in different states.

In Boston, Rowan is eager to be among other aspiring novelists, learning from a creative writing professor she adores. She’s just not sure why she suddenly can’t seem to find her voice.

In New York, Neil embraces the chaos of the city, clicking with a new friend group more easily than he anticipated. But when his past refuses to leave him alone, he doesn’t know how to handle his rapidly changing mental health—or how to talk about it with the girl he loves.

Over a year of late-night phone calls, weekend visits, and East Coast adventures, Rowan and Neil fall for each other again and again as they grapple with the uncertainty of their new lives. They’ve spent so many years at odds with each other—now that they’re finally on the same team, what does the future hold for them?” - taken from Goodreads.

Over the course of a year, Rowan and Neil must learn to navigate a long distance relationship while finding their place in college. Follow along through the ups and downs of Freshmen year as they struggle to find their footing. The epilogue was a fantastic finish.

Visit Rachel Lynn Solomon’s website.