A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz

This book is bananas, and I mean that in the best way. It’s about a war between fairies, gnomes, and creatures called tight-ropers in which humans are completely absent, and it’s told by an unreliable narrator in such a way that you’re never quite sure what really happened – until it all begins to come together. Moskowitz took a ton of risks with this story, both in the way she chose to tell it and in its content, which is violent and at times macabre (for example, the fairies are immortal, which means that when they’re eaten by their natural predators the gnomes, they continue to feel the bits of themselves being digested). Her risks paid off. This book is utterly entrancing from beginning to end. It’s rare to see a fantasy written with this level of creativity, especially one that is so successfully executed, and I’ll be recommending it for years to come.

Lois Lane: Fallout by Gwenda Bond

Bond’s book is just plain fun. It’s about a teenage Lois Lane, who tends to get into scrapes wherever she goes, and she goes a lot of places thanks to her general father. At her new school, she’s promised to keep a low profile and stay out of trouble – but we all know that’s not going to happen. On her first day there, she witnesses a brilliant girl being bullied by a strange group of students whose behavior is eerily in sync. When the principal refuses to do anything about it, Lois decides to leverage her new job as a reporter for the Daily Scoop – the junior version of the Daily Planet – to figure out what’s really going on. The mystery is interesting and lightly flavored with science fiction. Superman makes brief cameos as Lois’ online friend SmallvilleGuy, and knowing that he’s Superman when Lois doesn’t adds to the fun. Fallout is full of action and personality, just like its main character; the comparison to Veronica Mars is apt.

Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge

I love Hodge’s writing and her unique way of manipulating the fairy tales we all know in interesting, and frequently dark, ways. This story, which uses elements of Little Red Riding Hood, is a bit grimmer than Cruel Beauty and lighter on romance. I wrote more about it here.

Burning Nation by Trent Reedy

Considering the recent events in Oregon, it’s accurate to say there’s no YA writer more prescient than Trent Reedy. This is the sequel to Burning Nation, which I also really liked. The audiobook makes this a standout. I wrote more about it here.

Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers

I picked this up a long, long time ago and finally had the impetus to read it thanks to its status as a Cybils nominee. Why I waited so long, I don’t know. It’s a fantastic ending to the trilogy and an absorbing read throughout. This third and final volume focuses on Annith, who has been told by the abbess that she is to be the next seeress, a position that requires her to remain in the convent always. What she really wants to do is go out on missions like Ismae and Sybella have before her. She knows she has no latent talent for seeing, and when the abbess sends a younger and under-trained girl out before her, she knows something is up. So she leaves to figure it out. On her adventures, the secrets the abbess has been hiding come to light, and Annith discovers something surprising about herself in the process. Mortal Heart ties up all loose ends, but in a way that feels satisfying rather than pat. We learn more about Mortain and the other gods of the Nine, a fascinating mythology sprung from LaFevers’ brain but based in history. The political problems between France and Brittany also come to a head.

These books are so well-written, long but not dense, with some of the best world-building and long-term plotting I’ve encountered. I’m also impressed by characterization. Ismae, Sybella, and Annith are each wholly distinct, their own people, with their own voices in each book. Readers looking for a swoony romance like they found in the first two won’t be disappointed; in fact, the romance was one of the aspects I found most compelling, in part because it’s a bit more unique than Ismae’s and Sybella’s. This whole series is a winner, and Mortal Heart is a worthy conclusion.

Stone in the Sky by Cecil Castellucci

Unlike Mortal Heart, this was a sequel I found a bit disappointing. It picks up a few months after Tin Star, when Tula has established herself on the Yertina Feray with a sweets, salts, and water shop, selling the three things all aliens want and need. But then Brother Blue returns, and so does Reza, and circumstances that arise as a result of their arrivals cause Tula to abandon the space station for the wider universe beyond. The world-building is interesting and the presence of the Imperium ratchets the stakes up several notches, but the writing felt a bit sloppy and disconnected. As a result, I didn’t get sucked into the story and I found myself not much caring about any of Tula’s Human friends, though I still did care about Tula. At one point Tula reunites with a character she assumed was long dead, and it was so awkward and anticlimactic that I felt nothing. The friendship between Tula and Tournour developed mostly off-page between the two books, which is a shame since it was one of the most interesting aspects of the first book. Stone in the Sky is a worthwhile read for fans of Tin Star, but I think many readers will ultimately be let down.