The Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is a fantasy novel, the first in the Six of Crows Duology and part of the greater Grishaverse series. It is about a group of teenagers who set out on a mission to free a Grisha chemist who has made a drug that can greatly enhance Grisha's Powers. Grisha are people born with magical powers, highly valued in most countries. However, the country of Fjerda considers them witches and wizards and wants to do away with them.
The Crimson Fortress by Akshaya Raman is a young adult fantasy novel, the sequel to The Ivory Key, mildly inspired by Indian culture and mythology. It features the main character — Vira, Queen of Ashoka, and her journey to recover the Ivory Key and solve its riddle to unlock the hidden quarries. However, the Ivory Key is not what they thought it was. It is bound to unlock more horrors than magic, at least at first.
The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman is a young adult fantasy novel, mildly inspired by Indian culture and mythology. It features the main character — Vira, Queen of Ashoka. Having grown up in the palace with her three siblings, destined to be the next queen, she idolized her mother’s extroverted personality and grace. She was awed at how her mother was able to gain respect and love from her citizens. Vira, however, is not as perfect and struggles to prove her capabilities to be the perfect queen.
Wanting answers about her past, Bree infiltrated the Lengendborn society, magical descendants of King Arthur’s knights, only to discover she had powers of her own. Bree has a power that is completely unique and makes her important to the Order. The Regents will do anything to hide her from the war, but all Bree wants is to rescue Nick; a task that comes with many dangers and forces her to work with Selwyn, Nick’s Kingsmage. Bree is set on Nick but if she wants any chance of saving him and the people she loves, she must learn to control her powers, and herself.
In a mix between historical fiction and fantasy, R.F Kuang’s Babel illustrates the idea of colonialism and the strong hold over government that language and communication have. Robin Swift, a young boy from Canton, loses his family and is brought to London by Professor Lovell, a teacher at Oxford. He is swept into the world of English propriety and the education of languages in preparation to attend Oxford’s Royal Institute of Translation.
After her mother’s death, 16-year-old Bree Matthews attempts to escape her guilt and pain by attending a program at UNC-Chapel Hill, where she discovers a secret society of “Legendborn” students that hunt down demon energies feeding on the school. Caught by a mysterious mage, an effort to wipe Bree’s memory fails, and instead reveals a hidden memory about the night her mother died. She recruits Nick, a Lengendborn, who reluctantly joins Bree in a partnership.
In Defy Me, the third installment of the Shatter Me series, Juliette struggles with her identity and powers as she faces new threats. Juliette must confront her enemies and face her trauma. Meanwhile, she must navigate her relationship with Warner, learning how to build loyalty and trust with one another. As tensions rise, Juliette must work to accept herself and fight for her loved ones.
Rick Riordan’s fantasy book, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is the first book in the Percy Jackson series. In the book, Percy realizes he is a demigod, son of a god and mortal parent, which puts him at risk. On his way to a safe haven camp called Camp Half-Blood, his mom is taken. After befriending a few people, Percy embarks on a journey to the underworld to get his mom back. On the way he faces monsters and many other enemies, as he learns to use his powers.
Ravenfallis a book written by Kalyn Josephsonthat is about magic. It is about a 13-year-old girl named Anna who is in a town where everyone has magical powers, but she finds her powers as boring as her power is to see people’s deaths. Then, a guy named Colin came to town, and Anna sees his mysterious past with deaths. She decides to help him find out what happened, but then she finds out about something else completely that could end the world. This was a fairly good book.
Heartless is, quite literally, the backstory of the Queen of Hearts, the hated antagonist from the classic tale of the Adventures of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol. It reveals the Queen's mysterious and surprisingly tragic past--as well as how she came to be the villain, we all know of.
