Magic carpets? Check.
Time loops? Double Check.
This week we have – according to the reviewers – two un-put-downable books. Sounds like the perfect way to spend a Saturday!
Book summaries come from Goodreads. Click the book cover image to add it to your own TBR.
ELEMENTARY/MIDDLE-GRADE SPECULATIVE FICTION
After the death of her mother, Yara (12) finds a letter and a strange set of instructions. Yara must travel from the home she has always known to a place that is not on any map—Zehaira, a world of sorcerers, alchemists, and simmering magic. But Zehaira is not the land it used to be. With the Sultan’s alchemists plotting a sinister scheme, the answers Yara is searching for seem to be out of reach. Yara must summon all her courage to discover the truth about her mother’s past and her own identity…and to find her place in this magical new world.
Gina @ Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers – I’m telling you, I was turning pages as quickly as my hands would allow because I simply HAD to know what happened! If my reading time allowed, I dove into the print edition (LOVE MY PRINT BOOKS!), and when it didn’t, but I managed to scupper a few idle minutes with my phone in hand, the e-pages flying by equally as fast. The point is, this story was captivating, for both the emotions explored and the adventures to be had. A great read for Middle Grade Fantasy fans, and an author to keep your eye on for wherever her pen leads next!
Katy @ A Library Mama – The bare plot description sounds familiar, yet all the elements and characters blended together so perfectly for me that I was drawn in almost immediately and didn’t want to put the book down. It was simultaneously epic, funny, and a heartfelt exploration of self-discovery.
YA SPECULATIVE FICTION
Spence and Anthony have been friends for years, but it’s only when he witnesses a classmate die in what looks like a tragic accident at a house party that a flicker in the fabric of time helps Spence ‘see’ Anthony for the first time.
When Spence wakes up to the same day again and sees Clara, the girl who died, alive and well, it’s clear he’s been granted a second chance. And a third. And a fourth…
To break the spell he has to re-evaluate everything he previously took for granted and find the courage to call out his own and others complicity in events that marked the life and death of Clara Hart.
TheNextGenLibrarian @ Goodreads – I truly love a time loop story so this novel was right up my alley. I like the idea of getting to fix our mistakes or having second, third, sometimes ten or more chances to make things right. This wasn’t your usual time loop because there were many changes between Spence’s days to try and figure out why he was repeating the this particular day, but this really stuck with me and the messages were very important. The characters read real and the themes discussed are happening with teens everywhere. CW: grief, death of a parent (recounted), sexual assault, alcohol, misogyny, toxic masculinity, death, vomit, blood, alcoholism