The Gilded Ones

By Namina Forna

Hardback

Fantasy

Owlcrate 

Yay, it's a stand alone novel! 

Beautiful, right?

synopsis

signed edition

letter from the author

author 

The first page of the story

So, this book is full of surprises. Like ad early as chapter 2. I really enjoyed reading it! Great characters, satisfying ending, interesting world. 

Legendborn

By Tracy Deonn

490 pages

Hardback

YA Fantasy 

LGBTQIA+

Owlcrate 

Books by Black Authors 

This was just a fantastic book. 

There is a secret society, magic, demons, oaths - set against the backdrop of college, early college for the protagonist. 

It deals a lot in grief. 

It's not all hack/slash kill the demons. 

The summary on this page amuses me - 

I also love that Bree is not amazing at everything. She doesn't pick up the weapons in the training arena and beat everyone who has been training their whole life. 

It's obviously going to have a sequel, not sure if it's ramping up to be a duology or a trilogy. 

The characters are great and diverse- not just becuase of race & confronting racial issues, but also it's perhaps the first mainstream YA books I've read with a non-binary character in an important role; they are not the protagonist. There are also several gay relationships. I feel that all of these are treated with respect by the author. 

author info

And another special bonus for us Owlcrate subscribers: 

design in the inside of the dust jacket

I loved this book and I'm really looking forward to the next one!

Book of Life

All Souls Trilogy
By Deborah Harkness

You know, vampires & witches & demons. But the vampires don't sparkle and the characters are all interesting. 

Book 1 was the best, book 2 was weaker, and the conclusion of the trilogy was fine.

It's the favorite series of a student, and I'm glad to have read it, but I don't I'll read it again.

Image from Amazon: