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Book Review: “The Antidote” by Shelley Sackier




The Antidote

Author: Shelley Sackier

Published by: HarperTEEN on February 5th, 2019

Rating: ★★★★

Genre: Young Adult // Fantasy

Similar Books I’ve Read: These Rebel Waves

Disclosure: I received this book from the Publisher/Author in exchange for an impartial review. This is an unpaid/unsponsored post.

Magic is not allowed, under any circumstances — even if it could save someone’s life. Instead, there are herbal remedies and traditional techniques that have been painstakingly recorded in lieu of using the mystical arts. Fee knows this, so she keeps her magic a secret.
Except her best friend, Xavi, is deathly ill. He’s also the crown prince. Saving him is important, not only for her, but for the entire kingdom.
Fee’s desperation to save her friend means she can barely contain the magic inside her. And after the tiniest of slips, Fee is thrust into a dark and secretive world that is as alluring as it is dangerous.
If she gives in, it could mean she can save Xavi. But it also means that those who wish to snuff out magic might just snuff her out in the process.

First Thoughts  

I’ve only read a few books this year, but I already know that I’m currently obsessed with YA Romances. I don’t even know why I am, or what book did it, but I just haven’t wanted to stray towards Fantasy reads at all lately. But when I got The Antidote, it just kept coming back up in my TBR and after the lovely Publishers sent me the gorgeous ARC, I just couldn’t resist seeing if this would win over my heart’s genre dilemma (didn’t mean for that to rhyme).

My Review 

You know you’re in for one heck of a story when there’s magic, and that magic can’t be used. So, in this case, it’s totally forbidden in The Antidote. Instead of magic and all it entails, they use herbal remedies (I guess our version of behind the counter remedies and prescription things) and special ways they incorporate into their lives instead of using magic. Fee (or Ophelia, as she was born), our main character, is loyal to the system and keeps her own magic buried within since a contagion forced half the kingdom away and separated her from her betrothed love and left her, and the future king, Prince Xavi, who were infected, behind. 

Fee’s best friend Xavi is on his death bed, struggling for life because of the way they were infected,  and knowing this, Fee’s own magic is playing games within her. Xavi is the prince and due to be the future king, so the stakes are a thousand times greater that he lives. Keeping him alive is all that Fee wants, and because of this, her magic ventures out during a momentary slip. Everything she knew about magic – and the secret world it has masked – is thunderous, throwing her life into a dangerous darkness. But to fully give in to everything magic holds would be worse than anything she could think of. She could save Xavi, but at the risk of her own life by those who forbid magic, deciding whether it’s truly worth the sacrifice, Fee stands on uneven ground that’s quaking under her footsteps.

Overall, watching Fee – and this entire world, characters and plot – grow over the course of the chapters, I was enthralled by this twisted fairytale of bonds, true love, magic, a dash of sassiness and high stakes. It did take me a while to get used to Fee’s character, because she is so determined in her ways and stubborn, but in the end, it kind of just made me love her even more. Whilst there were some slow moments, it was still a super amazing read. I still have my soft spot for YA Romances, but The Antidote is definitely up there with incredible YA 2019. Four stars!


Have you read The Antidote?


You can buy it:

Amazon | Book Depository


I definitely recommend you add to your Goodreads and browse it at your local Library!


happy reading!

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Book Review: These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch

Title: These Rebel Waves (Stream Raiders #1)
Author: Sara Raasch
Published: August 8th, 2018
Publisher: Balzer + Bray (Harper Collins)
Rating: ★★★★★
Find the Author: Goodreads 

Disclosure: I was sent this ARC by the publisher, reviewing it as an impartial review. This does not sway my opinion of the book. As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.


Adeluna is a soldier. Five years ago, she helped the magic-rich island of Grace Loray overthrow its oppressor, Argrid, a country ruled by religion. But adjusting to postwar life has not been easy. When an Argridian delegate vanishes during peace talks with Grace Loray’s new Council, Argrid demands brutal justice—but Lu suspects something more dangerous is at work.
Devereux is a pirate. As one of the outlaws called stream raiders who run rampant on Grace Loray, he pirates the island’s magic plants and sells them on the black market. But after Argrid accuses raiders of the diplomat’s abduction, Vex becomes a target. An expert navigator, he agrees to help Lu find the Argridian—but the truth they uncover could be deadlier than any war.
Benat is a heretic. The crown prince of Argrid, he harbors a secret obsession with Grace Loray’s forbidden magic. When Ben’s father, the king, gives him the shocking task of reversing Argrid’s fear of magic, Ben has to decide if one prince can change a devout country—or if he’s building his own pyre.
As conspiracies arise, Lu, Vex, and Ben will have to decide who they really are . . . and what they are willing to become for peace.

First Thoughts…

Thank the book Gods that I got an ARC of These Rebel Waves! I was counting the days until it was out, until the lovely (and always amazing) team over at Harper360 sent me a copy! It went straight into my TBR and everything from there was book-bliss! 

My Review…

I don’t read nearly as many YA Fantasy books as I should (and I have shelves of them!) because I’m naturally drawn to Contemporary, but for These Rebel Waves, I got myself all fantasy-ready. I got one of my Fairyloot bookmarks, lit some candles and delved in! We’re introduced to so much so quickly, so it’s really prominent that you’ve got to pay attention. Adeluna, also known mostly as “Lu” thought that war was over and done with, having been a soilder. But she soon learns she can’t hang up her old self yet, because she’s thrown right back into new dangers. After the capture of Vex, Devereux Bell formally, who is one of the island’s biggest and most notable raiders, a new treaty between enemies falls apart. 
There’s a lot of action – and a lot going on that bounces from topic, to magic, to politics – flowing easily from page to page. For me, the magic element was hugely what kept me reading faster and faster. There’s magical plants of sorts, that can heal or hinder, depending on how they’re used. Some are hesitant about these things and others thrive on them, but one that is opposed is prince Benat “Ben”. I found myself drawn to Lu the most, whilst still finding Vex and Ben’s perspectives and journey’s thrilling and their characters developing steadily against the plot. Whilst at times there can be a lot going on pacing wise, once you really get into the book, knowing all the ins and outs, it’s like you’re transported to beside the characters, cheering them on and getting truly invested in their tales.
I was really surprised at how much I utterly fell head over heels for These Rebel Waves. Not only is there LGBT representation in the novel, but the characters skin isn’t your typical “every shade of ivory and pale”, skin tones ranging from very pale to dark (and I can’t say just how much this matters!).
Overall, I just have no words. I can’t think of anything other than phenomenal to describe just how much I became addicted to These Rebel Waves. If you’re looking for a new fantasy read with strong, whip-smart female characters, action, romance and political magic, you’ve found your new soulmate. Huge five stars!! (And I can’t wait for the next in this duology)
You can buy THESE REBEL WAVES:

Amazon | Waterstones | Book Depository 

Have you read These Rebel Waves? Are you looking forward to it?


Let me know in the comments or on twitter @LittleMemoirs!


happy reading!

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Book Review: Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson

Title: Allegedly 

Author: Tiffany D. Jackson

Published: January 24th, 2017

Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

Find the Author: Goodreads 


I received this book for review on my blog! As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.

Mary B. Addison killed a baby.


Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: A white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? She wouldn’t say.


Mary survived six years in baby jail before being dumped in a group home. The house isn’t really “home”—no place where you fear for your life can be considered a home. Home is Ted, who she meets on assignment at a nursing home.


There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary must find the voice to fight her past. And her fate lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But who really knows the real Mary?

First Thoughts

Nothing had looked more inviting to me at midnight than Allegedly on my TBR shelf and since I was so, so behind on reading and reviewing because I’ve been hectically busy (sorry, world!) I thought it would be a perfect read to get back into the reading habit. The premise of Allegedly looked edgy and mysterious.


Review

As I began delving into Allegedly, I realised why I love reading books and started this blog in the first place. Mary is this flawed, striking character with a complicated past that begs the question of what kind of society we live in. As a child, Mary was accused and locked away for supposedly killing a baby when she was caring for it with her ill Mother. Over the years, Mary has developed a thick skin for the way her life has been unlike normal girls. She’s been kept in a sort of seclusion that she calls baby jail until she’s moved into a group home. Whenever she questions why she’s there in the first place, no one will answer her pleas. She constantly lives in the dark, waiting for someone to shed a little light on her and pull her out of the box she has been put into, because: Mary and her mother are Black, and were looking after a White baby. The media had portrayed them wrongly, and because of her hushed interview with detectives those years ago, they had filled in the missing information with what they assumed.

Now, Mary knows more than ever that she doesn’t want to live like this anymore. After meeting Ted on an assignment, she knows he’s the one that she wants, now more so that she’s expecting a baby. But when they tell Mary that her baby will be adopted and taken from her, she knows she’s got a fight on her hands if she wants to be happy and keep her child. Still, fighting their decision means facing the person she can’t stand, her Mother, and she’s going to have to delve into the past and the real her to reveal what really happened.

Allegedly is one gem of a read. It’s gritty, thought provoking and honest. It’s not shy of telling it how realistically life really is and how vicious the media can be without knowing the details. In this dark, raw read there existed Mary, this intriguing and powerful YA voice that begged to be heard. Her experience made me sad and mad, and sad again. There was more than just one twist (and one nearer the end that was totally unexpected) and the pace was steady enough to keep my attention throughout. I finished this mid-early morning, thanks to my insomnia, but that night I knew that Allegedly had just made those hours I couldn’t sleep tolerable. 

Overall, Allegedly is a five star firecracker that’s the definition of real. The characters, friendships, and sheer power of the premise was mind-blowing and it’s a book to make you really think about what you just read. Truly amazing. 



Perfect For:

Everyone who enjoys YA books. 


Rating:


Have you read Allegedly?


What did you think?


Let me know in the comments or on twitter @LittleMemoirs!


happy reading!

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