By Super Kitty

​Nannerl Mozart is an exceptional musician. A miracle. Destined for greatness. She can lose herself in music, find freedom in the pages which her father teaches her to play. But one day, her little brother Wolfgang copies her movements when she plays the clavier. And everything changes. 

Nannerl longs to be great. Loved and remembered always. But as she grows into a young woman and the already limited opportunities available for a young child fade away, she truly begins to feel the suffocating restrictions of being a woman in Europe in the 1700s. Desperate not to fade out of memory and lose any hope of a future beyond marriage, she strikes a bargain with a wild, mysterious boy from another world. At first, her dreams seem to indeed be coming true. But his help is not simply a gift, and she begins to wonder: what exactly will he require in return? 

As Nannerl and Wolfgang grow older, they travel Europe with their parents, performing for royalty and earning praise from some of the greatest rulers of the time. And they are pulled ever deeper into the world of the Kingdom of Back, where secrets rule like queens and enchantment goes far below the surface.

Marie Lu's luminous, evocative writing is stunning, and she blends fairy tale elements, historical settings and characters, and original fantasy ideas seamlessly. I was especially struck by the unique, deft transitions and connection between our world and that of the Kingdom of Back, and the contrast between our world and the ethereal Kingdom. I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Kingdom of Back the first time, but it was only after I read the Author's Note that I fully understood the brilliance of it. Apparently, Nannerl was a real person, a musical prodigy who toured Europe with Wolfgang when they were children. And on the lengthy carriage rides between performances, the siblings would make up stories about an enchanted land they named the Kingdom of Back....

By Piranha T.

Noor is a city of trade, where people of all religions and ethnicities live side by side. But not long ago, it was nearly destroyed by a tribe of warlike djinn, against whom the human rulers of Noor and the fiery race of Ifrit djinn allied themselves to defeat them. Eight years have passed since this tragedy, but Noor is still rebuilding itself, with the help of immigrants from all over the world seeking its promises of peace and harmony. And the rulership of Noor is still shared between the human maharajah and the Ifrit djinn, who protect the city and its people.

Eighteen-year-old Fatima is a human girl who lives on the edges of Noor, away from the opulence of its rulers, where she and her adoptive sister work hard to buy food and get by. She has nothing to do with the affairs of the Ifrit or the human rulers. But when a powerful Ifrit dies and their power—impossibly—is passed to Fatima, she becomes entangled in the complicated affairs of the court of Noor, among both humans and djinn. She meets Zulfikar, the commander of Noor’s Ifrit; his advisor Anwar, who takes more interest in Fatima than she would prefer; and the princess Bhavya, who struggles to escape the social confines imposed by her station. As she learns more about the conflicts of the court and the Ifrit fire she carries within her, Fatima must uncover the truth of the growing dissent against the Ifrit and the return of the same djinn who attacked Noor eight years ago before not even her newfound power can stop the growing flame.

The Candle and the Flame is a multilayered fantasy novel full of diverse worldbuilding and intriguing characters. Fatima, and her development, is well-done and interesting; I like her character and the way she handles situations. The rest of the cast, including a handful of other characters who have point of view sections (including Zulfikar and Bhavya), is also excellent, and I particularly loved reading scenes where they interact, as I had a sense of what all of them are thinking; all of them are very real. The plot is well-written and complex; for this reason, I think this book would be enjoyed by fans of books like Seraphina, Nameless Queen, and Shadow and Bone.

Initially when I started The Candle and the Flame, I was a little confused—Nafiza Azad uses a number of words from other languages. However, I discovered there’s a guide to the most major terms in the back of the book, which helped clarify much of this. As I continued reading, they added significantly to the book, making the setting, and the book as a whole, feel vivid and real. Noor is fascinating and well-developed, distinct from other fantasy novel’s I’ve read, and I liked the magic of the different djinn as well.

Overall, I would highly recommend The Candle and the Flame to readers ages thirteen and up who enjoy intricate plots, multilayered worlds, and distinct characters. 

By Piranha T.
 
Sixteen-year-old Seraphina Dombegh is hardly like others in the land of Goredd, and not just because of her extraordinary musical talent. Her mother was a saarantras—a dragon in human form—and although the Goreddi-dragon treaty signed forty years ago frames the two species as allies, intolerance remains rampant between them. Seraphina can only keep this secret by remaining out of the spotlight, but when she is apprenticed to the court musician, Viridius, and begins to be caught up in the multilayered intrigues of Goredd’s royal family, it becomes much more difficult. Yet she might be the only one able to uncover the plot against the dragons, the royal family, and the treaty itself.

Seraphina is a multilayered, engrossing fantasy novel full of well-defined characters and intricate worldbuilding. Seraphina is one of my favorite main characters, equal parts sympathetic and flawed, many-layered and understandable. Her emotional and internal journey is what makes this book so beautiful and strong: it’s about more than dragons and court intrigue, it’s about a girl who is, despite her mixed ancestry, deeply and beautifully human. Her choices and decisions make this story much more than it might have been otherwise.

That said, Seraphina is one of my favorite books for other reasons, too. Goredd and the surrounding lands (though fleshed out more fully in the sequel, Shadow Scale) feel very real; the same can be said for all the supporting characters, who are unique and interesting. The plot, similar to a mystery, is full of twists, court intrigue, and unexpected realizations; it reminds me a little of books such as Shadow and Bone and The Candle and the Flame. Overall, I highly recommend Seraphina to readers ages twelve and up looking for a strong heroine, a complex plot, and an engrossing story which you won’t want to leave.

Note: We selected Seraphina as our favorite For Older Readers book of 2020! For the full summary, see our original review, here. 

By Piranha T.

Zuhra can barely remember the night everything changed, when her sister was born, her father disappeared, and the hedge surrounding her home, the ancient Citadel of the Paladin, grew to imprison herself, her newborn sister, their mother and their close friend Sami within its walls. Her mother never discusses their father—she’s convinced he abandoned them—but Zuhra knows he must have been Paladin. After all, they live in their citadel. And Inara, her sister, has inherited the powerful magic of these mythical warriors—and the glowing blue eyes which show this to the world.

But Inara is lost to what she calls the ‘roar’—an endless noise in her mind which she’s rarely free of, which keeps her eternally distant from Zuhra. Zuhra is certain that it has something to do with her sister’s magic, but she doesn’t know enough about the Paladin to help her. But that changes when a scholar of the Paladin arrives at the citadel—and Zuhra learns that the world is much more dangerous than she ever could have imagined.

Sisters of Shadow of Light is a fantasy novel with an excellently developed world. I loved the many layers of the setting and the Paladin history and culture, as well as the interesting magic in this land. Zuhra and Inara, both of whom narrated chapters, were both different and interesting. There were also a number of plot twists I hadn’t expected! I think this book would appeal to fans of epic fantasy novels with unusual worlds such as Shadow and Bone and Seraphina. There was some romance in Sisters of Shadow and Light, which constitutes it being places on the ‘For Older Readers’ page; therefore, I believe it would be most enjoyed by readers ages thirteen and up. 

By Piranha T.

Seventeen-year-old Echo has lived for years among the Avicen—mysterious creatures with powerful magic and feathers instead of hair. They’ve lived hidden for centuries beneath the streets of New York, and Echo is the only human ever to have learned of their existence. Despite the discord this difference brings, the Avicen are Echo’s home.

But her serenity shatters when she steals a music box and discovers a centuries-old secret hidden within it. And because of it, she’s sent on a mission to retrieve a mythical firebird and bring an ancient war to a close. Echo has only ever been a thief—finding something this complex is beyond her area of expertise. Only with the help of a group of unlikely friends can she begin to draw close to discovering it. And even then, there are difficult secrets to uncover. This mystery has lain hidden for centuries, and as she uncovers more of the secrets which lead her along the firebird’s trail, the truths which have always governed her world begin to fall apart.

The Girl at Midnight is one of the best books I’ve read for a long time. Melissa Grey expertly creates a world born from this one fraught with danger and war, with unusual magic and dark secrets. Simultaneously, this book is completely fantasy, and could be occurring under our very noses. Echo is an incredible main character with complicated thoughts and desires, fierce loyalty, a brilliant sense of humor, and an awesome attitude. All the supporting characters (many of whom I adore!) have complex relationships and unusual, often unconventional, personalities, ranging from a disgraced guard to a flamboyant thief. And there were many points where I was literally blown away by a plot twist which I had never expected. It’s action-packed, fast-paced and unique (and great for fans of Six of Crows). The Girl at Midnight has a number of thematic elements, including mild romance and violence, which categorizes this as YA—in this case, ages 13+. For those readers, however, I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves sophisticated, well-plotted fantasy novels with unforgettable characters.