Mallory Books

  Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Publishing Date: March 9, 2021 Synopsis:  In this charming debut fantasy perfect for fans of  Sorcery of Thorns  and  Girls of Paper and Fire , a  witch cursed to never love meets a  girl hiding her own dangerous magic, and the two strike a  dangerous bargain to save their queendom.  Tamsin is the most powerful witch of her generation. But after committing the worst magical sin,  she’s exiled by the ruling Coven and cursed with the inabil ity to love. The only way she can get those  feelings back — even for just a little while — is to steal love from others.  Wren is a source — a rare kind of person who is made of magic, despite being unable to use it herself.  Sources are required to train with the  Coven as soon as they discover their abilities, but Wren — the  only caretaker to her ailing father — has spent her life hiding her secret. When a magical plague ravages the queendom, Wren’s father falls victim. To sa

    Follow Your  Arrow  by  Jessica Verdi Genre: Young Adult Contemporary P ublishing Date: March 2, 2021 For fans of Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera, this is a riveting and irresistible take on love, life,  and identity  — both online and  off. CeCe Ross is kind of a big deal. She and her girlfriend, Silvie, are social media influencers with zillions  of fans and followers, known for their cute outfits and being #relationshipgoals. So when Silvie breaks up with her, CeCe is devastated. She’ s lost her first love, and now she can’t  help but wonder if she’ll lose her followers as well. Things get even messier when CeCe meets Josh, a new boy in town who is very much Not Online.  CeCe isn’t surprised to be falling for a guy; she’s always known sh e’s bi. And Josh is sweet and smart  and has excellent taste in donuts... but he has no idea that CeCe is internet - famous. And CeCe sort of  wants to keep it that way. But when CeCe’s secrets catch up to her, she finds herself in the middle

            Grace Porter is celebrating completing her PhD in astronomy with her best friends in Las Vegas. Grace has been a non-stop, hardworking, overachiever for over 11 years now, never one to deviate from her military father’s plan for her, especially not to drunkenly marry a strange girl whose name she can’t remember on the final night of her trip. Oh wait… that wasn’t all a dream? Now her plan is falling apart, with the weight of her fathers expectations on her shoulders and the barriers for a queer Black woman in her field, everything becomes too much. Grace flees to New York to stay with the wife she hardly even knows and begins to question what it really means to be the Best Grace Porter.      This novel deserves all the love. All of it! We follow Grace who drunkenly marries a beautiful girl she just met in Las Vegas, and the aftermath is definitely complicated. This story holds the most gorgeous diverse cast of characters with so much representation from race, gender identit

Of Silver and Shadow   by Jennifer Gruenke Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Publishing Date: February 16, 2021 Synopsis:  Ren Kolins is a silver wielder — a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has  been outlawed for a century. Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card  games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy reb el leader discovers her secret, he offers her  a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won’t see a single coin until they overthrow the King. Behind the castle walls, a brutal group of warriors known as the King’s Children is engaged in a  competit ion: the first to find the rebel leader will be made King’s Fang, the right hand of the King of  Erdis. And Adley Farre is hunting down the rebels one by one, torturing her way to Ren and the rebel  leader, and the coveted King’s Fang title. But time is runn ing out for all of them, including the youngest Prince of Erdis, who finds himself  pulled into the rebel

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole  What it’s abou t:  Naledi Smith is a busy grad student working multiple jobs who has no time for happily ever afters. She’s fed up with the spam emails filling her inbox claiming she is be trothed to an African prince, yeah, sure! Ledi knows she is the only one she can depend on after being a foster kid as long as she can remember.... Prince Thabiso, sole heir to the kingdom of Thesolo, is under constant scrutiny to get married. He manages to track down his missing betrothed only for Ledi to mistake him for a new coworker she has to train. Thabiso can’t resist the opportunity to feel normal for once and really get to know her without his title in the way. The lab isn’t the only place Ledi is finding chemistry anymore but the truth always comes out... My thoughts:  I ADORED THIS! This was my Valentine’s Day read for the year and I have zero regrets. I listened on audio and it made it all the better! The narrator truly immersed me in the authors world

  🇬🇧REVIEW: Hot British Boyfriend by Kristy Boyce ☕️ What it’s about:       Ellie is publicly rejected by her crush in the most mortifying way, complete with a viral internet video and everything. She jumps at the chance to study abroad in England and far away from her humiliation. The program is dominated by honors students, which Ellie is not, however she is willing to take on the extra work for the chance to explore the places of her dreams and hopefully meet a new British boy to put her old crush to shame. Ellie meets Will, perfect and posh, and she vows to keep him interested in her. She makes a deal with her classmate Dev, who knows a lot about Will’s interests, to tutor her in exchange for helping him gain her own roommates attention. Ellie is whisked into an abroad romance of her dreams, surrounded by beautiful cities and history, but is that really solving her problems? And is the perfect British boyfriend really perfect for her?  —— My review:  This one had a slow start for

These Violent Delights  Chloe Gong  Pages- 449 Genre: Historical Fantasy  Synopsis from Goodreads :  The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery. A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal. But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city le

This story follows the devastating consequences of climate change through a fictional but chillingly realistic severe drought in Southern California that turns neighbors against one another and our always growing cast of characters are forced to do whatever it takes to survive when the taps run dry.  I enjoyed this story especially as a low commitment stand alone with a gripping plot. I enjoyed how the various characters were built into the story, but never became too hard to keep track. I didn’t particularly adore any of the main characters and I’m sorry but I just kept picturing Kelton as an older version of the annoying kid from Polar Express but luckily I really liked his (much needed) character growth. I still found myself crying a little at the end scenes so clearly they got me invested in the end. It felt pretty realistic (sadly) and a true representation of the darkness inside humanity that we’ve seen glimpses of lately. I actually had to go get myself some water while reading

  PLOT:  Charlotte thought her childhood crush, Dean, falling in love with her older sister was the end of her world, until the real end came with the Crimson, a curse that is spread though eye contact, transforming humans into monsters. Her older sister in now the Commander of their settlement, while her younger sister, Vanessa, is the Chosen One— the one destined to end the curse, meaning Charlotte is still stuck in their shadows. When they are raided, Charlotte declares herself the Chosen One in order to save her sisters, and she must keep up her lie if she wants to keep them and Dean safe, and better yet, stay alive herslef. This Is her chance to define her own destiny and try to save thee world.   MY THOUGHTS: If I had to describe this book in one word it would be captivating. I have never read anything quite like it. The concept, the most unique twist on a zombie-like-apocalypse (emphasis on like) I’ve ever encountered, was amazing! Sea captains, curses, action, romance, morally