THE VIOLET WEST
Fantasy Novels & Graphic Novels

Book Info: Camila Nuñez’s Year of Disasters by Miriam Zoila Pérez Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Publishing Date: March 18, 2025 5 stars I enjoyed this book a lot because the main character is not always doing the right thing. She suffers from anxiety a lot and that ruins part of her relationships but the stress comes from the many changes in her life from social anxiety, racism, bullying, lack of confidence, body shape, parents' relationship instable, coming out to family

By Sydney Dunlap I can't shut up about this one. Great for #Middlegrademarch2025 Thank you #imaginariumauthorsolutions @imaginarium_author_solutions for pointing me to a great project. #racingtheclouds #contemporarymglit #mglit 5 stars It is well-written and emotional. It's a wonderful story that can be read by young readers but also adults. It deals with addiction, reconciliation, and family issues and how young teens can react to these when they start having a voice and a r

#TrueLifeinUncannyValley #TBRBeyondTours #DebCaletti @tbrbeyondtours & @debcaletti  Book Info: True Life in Uncanny Valley by Deb Caletti Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Publishing Date: March 18, 2025 My Review: 5 plus Where to start. Uau. This was such a clever, wonderful read. There are so many layers. Let's go from general to particular: and YA story of a girl who wants to meet her father, who wants to know who this horrible person who made two daughters may be who neve

5 stars There is so much information in this amazing book. The format (illustrations, photos, comic page style among the text) makes it easy to follow and understand, making reading fun and dynamic. Marry Anning is just a few pages (among other amazing information), but I hadn't heard about her, so I was amazed by her story and of her dog. There is even a statue that was inaugurated in 2022. Amazing book to have in any classroom or library. Art of Mary Anning (pioneer, fossil

Are you more 🌙mythology or 🌞? A Chinese Filipino family YA novel with powerful emotion and sad moments but uplifting end. #SunlightPlayingOverAMountain #LiteraryMediaTours #ARCTeam #YAFiction @literarymediatours and author @selina.libi thank you for the copy. My review: 5 stars Very captivating novel with a beautiful prose. I loved how the main character is so fierce and brave and takes care of her mother, although her mother doesn't find her daughter's love and company eno

5 plus Okay. This was super fun to read. I can only see Betty White playing Helen; she would have been perfect for it. The humor and character growth were just perfect bringing together unique and improbable friends who would never have crossed paths hadn't it been for a jury duty summoning. I was having a bad day, and this book was enough to lift any cloud. I laughed out loud, I was sad with them, and I was surprised by the plot twists even in the epilogue. Great ending. Per

@tbrbeyondtours & @lindsayncurrie  #ItsWatching #TBRBeyondTours #LindsayCurrie Review 5 plus. This is my fav Middlegrade for Middlegrade March this year. I am going to focus on what makes this stand out from other ghosts, haunting mystery stories. This book is a great workshop for everyone (all ages) focused on journalism that saves lives not destroys them. Research and facts that care for the truth and history to write stories that will not shock or be trendy but result in p

Learning to draw... (pause the video as you need) Wizard's Hat: The kids meet a wizard in Central Park and he turns the main character into a... Frog! Yes! A frog. Now... there is a fast way to break the curse (with a kiss) or with a spell. One of the ingredients is... You guessed right. A hot dog! Another is... a hair from the tail of a...LION! He wasn't the only one transformed, the fox got turned into a pug! The Frog Daddy will be released on June 10 :D Pre-order here. Wh

My review: 4.5 This made a perfect Saturday read in Valentine's February. My readers know I am not a ROM reader, but they also know that I can't resist a well-written book with a witch in contemporary modern times. The author caught my heart with two elements the characters notice that while spending time together, her broom and his medallion are missing. So this is not a novel where she has to hide her powers from him. On the contrary: her magic is chaotic, and his is organi

Book Info: Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid Genre: YA Fantasy Publishing Date: March 4, 2025 Synopsis: The Last of Us meets The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in this standalone dystopian romance about survival, sacrifice, and love that risks everything. By encouraging massive accumulations of debt from its underclass, a single corporation, Caerus, controls all aspects of society. Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they scrape by running a ta

Review 4.5 Artwork presented in blue monochromatic watercolor tones with great expression and detail. In some pages, the excess of artwork and text plays well in creating claustrophobic tension that goes well with the plot. Teenager issues, breaking up, community acceptance, betrayal, new and old friendships. New love, depression, addiction problems, family issues, senior year ending towards a scary undefined future, rejection, and acceptance. The novel touches on a lot of re

Four women, each with a secret. None will return from the North Country unchanged. North Country takes place in the year 2372, a time when Earth is recovering from floods, fires, pandemics, and war. Amidst this post-apocalyptic world, the pirate nation of Bosch is thriving—but not without its complications. The focus is on four fierce women who must navigate their way through both external dangers and their own personal demons. ● Master Commander Kat Wallace, haunted by a

Book Info: Speak Up, Santiago! by Julio Anta & Gabi Mendez (Graphic Novel) Genre: Middle Grade Publishing Date: March 4, 2025 Review 4.5 stars Short, easy to read, and right to the point. All characters make mistakes, making it more realistic, and all know how to do the right thing and apologize at the right moment. Santiago is visiting his Colombian for the Summer and only Spanish is allowed (so he can improve his skills). It can't be easy to feel frustrated for not being

Book Info: The Scorpion and the Night Blossom (The Three Realms duology #1) by Amélie Wen Zhao Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Publishing Date: March 4, 2025 Synopsis: In a world invaded by demons, one girl will face the ultimate test when she is forced to enter into an ancient, deadly competition for the chance to save her mother’s soul… before she loses her forever. From the New York Times bestselling author of Song of Silver, Flame Like Night comes the beginning of a dark and

While my husband had a long work weekend I had the pleasure to get ahead into some readings that will be published this year. I am loving this new (to me) app, I can see all the recent reads and the stars I've given in a very clean organized design. Easy to use too. So yup, now I review to Amazon, B&N, storygraph, bookbub, goodreads, here, Instagram and Bookmory 🥰 Most recent reads: The House no one Sees: prose and verse, shows the relationship of a teen whose mother addicte

5 stars review: This one was a great surprise. I thought it was going to be a middlegrade dystopian, but it has some complexity and scifi elements with great plot twists. After the 50% mark, I couldn't put it down. The story becomes more and unveils a larger plot that may or not include space elevators, people who quit life to live in their "holodecks," and time traveling to save the planet. The mutation of the trees brings urgency. The use of time marbles shows creativity. I

Some of these I already read, and some are on my endless TBR list.

Book Info: A Tempest of Tea (Paperback) by Hafsah Faizal Genre: YA Fantasy Publishing Date: February 25, 2025 Synopsis: Why save the world when you can have tea? On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring

Book Info: Nightweaver (Nightweaver #1) by RM Gray Genre: YA Fantasy Publishing Date: October 13, 2023 March for the deluxe Edition Synopsis: Violet Oberon had never stepped foot on land. Six hundred years after the Nightweavers claimed human lands for their own, the ocean is a haven for seventeen-year-old Violet and her family. Notorious pirates of the Western Sea, the Oberon clan are undefeated in battle—until an Underling murders Violet’s brother, and she discovers there

My review 4.5 This is a powerful, raw, in-your-face historical fiction, with high details and extra explanations (facts and research added to the footnotes) of an African child among many other human beings. They were caught in Africa and taken to ships, treated below animals to become slaves across the ocean. It spares us with no details and explains well what systematic racism is. Told in the 3rd person but very close to the child's point of view, his coming-of-age experien