Rating: 4

Welcome to the whimsically wonderful world of The Parasol Protectorate! In its YA incarnation, it’s just as steampunky, supernatural, and sublime – albeit demure. And yet, it shines with quirky characters, witty dialogue, adventurous episodes and an all-encompassing feel-good atmosphere …

The novel begins with a trope and a lovely spin on it: There are new horses arriving at the stable, but not just any horses! Oh no, these two are stunt horses! Protagonist Zoe is not impressed though and that’s what I love about her. She’s worried about their well-being and eyes the training very suspiciously …

I really enjoyed Mistborn: The Final Empire. It made me smile, laugh out loud, scream, tear out my hair, and cry rivers of tears – and yes, these are all good attributes in a novel. And yet, I’m not as crazy about it as everyone else I know. Maybe my expectations were a little too high with all the buzz around me. Maybe I was too wary about becoming yet again the odd one out. And as much as I tried to love it, somehow I felt distant. I wasn’t able to completely immerse myself in this fantastic world and really connect with the characters. I see the beauty of the novel, I see why everyone else loves it. I can write a raving review – as an onlooker. Unfortunately, for me personally, it just didn’t click (which isn’t as bad as it sounds. It just means that it didn’t have that certain something for me).

Have you ever heard of the Norwegian folk tale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon”? No? Well, me neither – until I read this wonderful retelling which is truly a fairytale in itself. But how could something based on a story with one of the most beautiful titles I ever heard be anything else but magical? To describe East in as little words as possible, I’d say it’s Beauty and the Beast plus trolls – and wind roses and mapmakers, superstition and prophecy, weaving, sewing and magical dresses, a castle inside a mountain, a light that should not have been lit, and a long and rocky journey to a palace in an icy barren land east of the sun and west of the moon . . .

Nerd alert! If you are a fan of The Lord of the Rings, this might interest you. I compiled a list of 9 fun facts about the characters, the storylines, and the writing process I learned in The Treason of Isengard…

Wow, just wow. If I had to summarise this novel in one sentence, I’d say it’s X-men meets the Nazis – very dark, very disturbing, and even worse very realistic. It’s a story of survival and friendship against all odds, a story of coming to terms with oneself and accepting who and what one has become. It’s also a road trip through a bleak and dangerous US in search of the only hope there is: a safe haven and finding one’s family . . .

If you like interesting magical concepts, ominous Southern American settings, American Civil War re-enactments, male point of views, and awesome secondary characters, than this is just the right book for you – as long as you don’t mind instalove and more or less annoying main characters . . .