The Lost Legends by Cait Marie

Disclaimer: I received this e-book from the author. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: The Lost Legends

Author: Cait Marie

Book Series: The Nihryst Book 1

Rating: 4.5/5

Recommended For…: Young adult readers, new adult readers, fantasy, sea-faring, pirates

Genre: NA Fantasy

Publication Date: March 18, 2020

Publisher: Indie Published

Pages: 358

Recommended Age: 14+ (Parent death, Grief, Violence, Sexual innuendo, Attempted sexual assualt, Romance, Sexual content, Abuse, Plague)

Explanation of CWs: There is parental death which is a key point in the book and sometimes the grief that the main characters hold for that is mentioned. There is some violence and a couple of instances of attempted sexual assault shown on page. There are only a couple of sexual innuendos and the romance level of this book is very mild. There is some sexual content, but for the most part it is fade to black. There is also one shown event of abuse between a father and daughter and a plague is central to the storyline.

Synopsis: A plague. A prophecy. A centuries-long curse.

All her life, Princess Adalina heard tales of the legendary, immortal warriors known as the Nihryst. Cursed and bound to a deck of tarot cards by her ancestors, the Nihryst were stranded on a remote island nearly a century and a half earlier.

Her brother, Prince Shane, is destined to rule the kingdom of Detmarya. Though preparing for this role has encompassed his entire life, control of the kingdom may come sooner than expected due to their father’s sporadic behavior.

Discovering the king’s plan to set a war in motion with a mass assassination, Ada unwittingly joins a crew of pirates in search of the only beings powerful enough to stop him: the Nihryst. Meanwhile, Shane and a group of underground rebels make a haunting discovery of a plague infecting the streets of Detmarya.

With a looming deadline to save multiple kingdoms and thousands of innocent lives, both royal siblings join quests worthy of Ada’s beloved fairy tales.

Review: For the most part I really liked this book. I am always up for a good pirate seafaring book mixed with princesses and stuff like that so this book was totally up my alley. I like the story behind it a lot and the prophecy and I thought the use of the prophecy trope was really well done. I also really like the character development and the world building.

However, I really felt like the book was really fast-paced. That worked well for me for the most part but it really quickens the plot and I can see where it will not work well for a lot of people. I think that the writing should have been slowed down a little bit and more time taken to look at the surroundings and I think more dialogue between the characters could have helped as well. There’s also a large amount of characters in this book and at a certain point they all kind of blend together a little bit, which made it a little bit confusing for me to put it down and then come back to it.

Verdict: I loved it!

No Humans Allowed by Madeline Roux and Timothy Probert (Illustrations)

Disclaimer: I received this finished copy from HarperCollins. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: No Humans Allowed!

Author: Madeline Roux and Timothy Probert (Illustrator)

Book Series: Dungeons and Dragons: Dungeon Academy Book 1

Rating: 4/5

Diversity: Black MC with 2 moms and is adopted

Recommended For…: middle grade readers, fantasy, d&d

Publication Date: November 2, 2021

Genre: MG Fantasy

Recommended Age: 12+ (Violence, Bullying, Destroyed town, Gore, War, Parental death, Adoption trauma)

Explanation of CWs: Violence and gore are apart of this book. There is a lot of sword fighting and other fighting in this book. There is also a destroyed town that might be a little scary for some kids. There is a huge fight scene that is setting the series up for a war-like plot. Parental death is briefly mentioned. Adoption trauma is shown and discussed. There is also some serious bullying in the book.

Publisher: HarperCollins

Pages: 204

Synopsis: Welcome to Dungeon Academy, where monsters and creatures train for the dark world that awaits just beyond the dungeon walls! But Zellidora “Zelli” Stormclash is a bit—different. She’s the one thing monsters and creatures of the Forgotten Realms fear the most: Zelli is a human!

Knowing she’ll never be accepted, Zelli’s parents disguise her as a minotaur in hopes she’ll blend with the academy’s monstrous surroundings. Zelli does her work, keeps to herself, and becomes “invisible” to everyone.

While in History of Horrible Humans class, Zelli learns of the great human adventurer, Allidora Steelstrike, who oddly resembles her. Could Zelli also be a Steelstrike? Seeking answers to her true lineage, Zelli embarks on a dangerous adventure.

But she won’t be alone. A vegan owlbear, a cowardly kobold, and a shapeshifting mimic will join Zelli on her quest for truth in a world that holds no place for them. And who knows? Perhaps these monstrous misfits may discover some truths of their own

Review: For the most part I really enjoyed this book. It had so many fun D&D elements in it and it really brings out the adventurous spirit in me as a reader. I loved the character development and the plot. The book also did well to incorporate the illustrations into the book.

However, the book was a little confusing for me. The world building was a little non-existent in the book and while some things got explained later on, I was thrown into the read without any explanation and it was super confusing. The book was also incredibly fast paced and it didn’t really stop to take time to explain what was going on.

Verdict: It was good, just not enough detail for me.

Beyond the Mist Spotlight Tour

Tour Schedule:

November 29 – Paige @popthebutterfly
November 30 – JP @mr.pink.ink
December 1 – CE @chelscey
December 2 – Nicole @thereadingrebel
December 3 – MB @therealmbcastle
December 4 – Jackie @dauntlessbooky

Beyond the Mist blurb (cover attached):

Cara is magic-bound bound by a promise, keeping her stuck in the fae realm.

On the run from the power hungry King, Cara and her friends search for a way to bring balance to Gon’an’rit. With betrayal fresh and her heritage still a mystery, she struggles to find her new place within her everchanging life.

Perfect for fans of fated mates, enemies to lovers, complicated & diverse characters, slow burn romance, and celtic folklore.

10% of author profits will be donated to Foundations of Divergent Minds Org.

Author Bio (picture attached):

Characters and their worlds have inundated Kristen’s mind since she was a kid. Traveling to far off places and having words on a piece of paper transform into entire scenes pulling at her emotions is an obsession.

Her goal as a fantasy author isn’t solely to relish in her imagination, but to bring representation to this genre. She wants stories with characters who are diverse inside and out. Their differences are not the focal point of the narrative, but rather a natural part of their being. Due to this, you will often not only find characters of varying ethnicities, but also of the LGBTQ+ community, who battle diseases, are neurodiverse, and plenty of other areas that make us all so different from each other. These are not their defining qualities. It’s simply a part of who they are.

When Kristen isn’t cooped up on her computer or curled up with a book, she is often outdoors– traveling, hiking, snorkeling, diving, camping, etc.

Currently, she resides in California with her husband and fur babies (two dogs and a cat).

Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Nanny Dearest

Author: Flora Collins

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 3/5

Recommended For…: thriller, mystery

Publication Date: November 30, 2021

Genre: Thriller

Recommended Age: 17+ (sexual assault possibly, animal violence, animal death, violence, mental health, alcohol consumption, parental death, grief)

Explanation of CWs: There is one possibly sexual assault scene, but it was really vague and non-descriptive so it’s hard to tell what really happened. Animal violence and animal killing/death described in detail. Mental health used in an unfavorable manner. Alcohol consumption and drunkenness are shown in the book. There is also a parental death scene in the book and a lot of the book focuses on the main character’s grief.

Publisher: MIRA

Pages: 336

Synopsis: Sue Keller is lost. When her father dies suddenly, she’s orphaned in her mid-twenties, her mother already long gone. Then Sue meets Annie. It’s been twenty years, but Annie could never forget that face. She was Sue’s live-in nanny at their big house upstate, and she loved Sue like she was her own.

Craving connection and mothering, Sue is only too eager to welcome Annie back into her life; but as they become inseparable once again, Sue starts to uncover the truth about Annie’s unsettling time in the Keller house all those years ago, particularly the manner of her departure—or dismissal. At the same time, she begins to grow increasingly alarmed for the safety of the two new charges currently in Annie’s care.

Told in alternating points of views—Annie in the mid-’90s and Sue in the present day—this taut novel of suspense will keep readers turning the pages right up to the shocking end.

Review: For the most part this was an ok book. The story was interesting and it kept me intrigued. I also felt like the character development was well done and the world building was solid.

However, I had a lot of issues reading this book. It was hard to read and it was very draining to keep reading. The book was incredibly slow and nothing really happened until about 75% of the way through. The book is also told in a weird way and I just couldn’t connect with it at all. I was also really off-put by what I felt was the use of mental illness in this book and I especially had issue with the use of animal abuse and violence being used to make someone the villain of the story. That’s really off-putting to me as a reader.

Verdict: It wasn’t for me.