The Pen and Inkpot

 “We Were Restless Things” by Cole Nagamatsu is a Young Adult fantasy novel. It follows several teenagers on a journey to solve the mysterious death of Lincoln Miller. Link drowned on dry land in the woods. The police never found a water source, but Noemi has. When Jonas comes to live with his dad in Shivery, he is drawn into the search for answers. Together with their friends, they face the dangers of the impossible lake.    "We Were Restless Things" embeds a paranormal, fantasy element seamlessly into a normal world, adding intrigue and believability to the plot. There are five core characters, which I felt I came to know very well. Their relationships with each other shift and change slowly but drastically throughout the novel. The story is told from a captivating range of perspectives, including the main characters, an “Unknown” character and some of Noemi’s dreams. I liked the supernatural and mystery elements of the novel so much that I felt the characters’ family i...

Written in Starlight by Isabel Ibañez is the second novel following the story of Catalina, who is a condesa and believes she is the rightful ruler of Inkasisa. Banished to the jungle, she must learn to survive and with the help of an old friend, Manuel, they search for the lost city of Paititi in the hope for a chance to reclaim the throne. Written in Starlight makes for an enjoyable read set in a rich, vibrant jungle in a world of stolen thrones and moon goddesses. The main character, Catalina is a strong female hero. She might not be physically strong or good at survival, but she is bold and courageous. She develops substantially throughout the novel as she processes her responsibility as a condesa and potential to take the throne. Her story is one of finding your true calling and I think that this has created a really wonderful underlying moral. It’s not YA unless there is a love story and although I’m glad it happened, I feel like Manuel and Catalina’s relationship could have been ...

The creation of a fantasy world is no easy task, but the creation of an elaborate setting like the Grishaverse blows my mind. Leigh Bardugo has creativity and a talent which I really admire, I have been sucked into the world of her books and I can’t get enough. The first of her novels that I read was Six of Crows and it is still one of my favourites, so I had high hopes for this trilogy. It didn’t blow me away like I had hoped it would, however I still found it to be an amazing to read.  The nation of Ravka has long been split in two by the Shadow Fold, a strip of intense darkness inhabited by dangerous beasts. Alina Starkov might be the only person capable of penetrating that darkness and saving her country. But she is merely an orphan, a refugee, another soldier in her regiment. It isn’t until her best friend is injured in an attack in the Shadow Fold that she reveals a dormant power within, a power which leads her to the royal court and the magical world of the Grisha. The fate ...