I think it’s absolutely INSANE how incredible all of the graphic novels coming out recently are.  I mean are we living in the golden era of mainstream graphic novels? I think so.  It seems every time I turn around I see a new one that I’m dying to read, and this coming from a self-proclaimed BOOKS-ONLY kind of reader.  I mean, I barely listen to audio books, and I’ve never really had time for graphic novels, because you don’t get enough bang for your buck word-wise, and I’m a story girl more than an illustration gal.

But DAMN can I just say how much I have been eating my words lately about graphic novels?!?!

Soooooooooooooo many favorite authors of mine have started releasing graphic novels, and I just cannot ignore them anymore.  I’ve even got a graphic novel shelf started in my massive home library.

And the graphic novel series to rule them all has to be THE QUEEN OF STORIES herself VE Schwab’s The Steel Prince series.  You guys probably remember that Volume One blew me away with the detailed art and mind-blowing prequel story that I didn’t even know I needed in my life.  I was so obssessed with it that I was literally counting down the days until I could finally get Volume II in my hands, and I have to tell you… It did NOT disappoint.

Night of Knives centers around Prince Maxim’s quest to earn the respect of an important port town, Verose.  To do so he’ll have to survive a series of challenges known as the Night of Knives, something no one else has ever walked away from.  And of course, we know he lives because well, this is prequel.  And see, something I love about a good prequel is that even knowing how it ends… You know Maxim isn’t going to die… The stakes remain high.  It’s pretty difficult to make the stakes feel real when you’re writing a prequel, since stakes are naturally going to be lower when you’re dealing with a known character from a later work.

But Schwab handles it masterfully, and the story complete caught me up within seconds and gripped me until the very end.  The artwork is every bit as lush and virbrant as the first graphic novel, and if anything it just got better.

If you haven’t already picked up these graphic novels, you should run to your nearest bookseller immediately.  They are every bit as gritty and fantastical as the Darker Shades of Magic series, only with the additional glory of breath-taking illustrations.  It’s no woner The Steel Prince Volume I made this year’s Goodreads Choice Awards.  I challenge you to find a better fantasy graphic novel series.

Let me know what you thought in the comments!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Steel Prince Volume 2 BLOG TOUR I think it's absolutely INSANE how incredible all of the graphic novels coming out recently are.  I mean are we living in the golden era of mainstream graphic novels?

Make Your Own Beauty Masks

Make Your Own Beauty Masks

Guys! If you are a currently looking for the perfect christmas present for the Beauty Babe in your life, I have the PERFECT gift for you! Make Your Own Beauty Masks is such an incredible gift for anyone who enjoys the finer things in life (like I do) and today I’m teaming up with Odd Dot to give you an inside look on this trendy, giftable, all-natural beauty mask bible!

What I love about this…

View On WordPress

Punjab Grill Restaurant Review

Punjab Grill Restaurant Review

I know this isn’t a book review, but I had to have a place to fully express my love of this restaurant and so I’ve turned to my own website so that I can give it the praise it deserves. 

I’ve been a food-lover all of my life.  My earliest memories include food: gathering with my family around the dinner table, and helping my father cook when I was too young to even be of any real help. That…

View On WordPress

Vow of Thieves Blog Tour!

Vow of Thieves Blog Tour!

Okay.  I’m not sure there’s a YA reader alive who hasn’t read The Remnant Chronicles at this point (and if you haven’t, you need to rectify that immediately). So obviously, as a huge fan of the original series, I HAD to get my hands on Dance of Thieves when it came out and then I was DYING for more pretty much the next day after I devoured it.

So when I was asked to participate in the Vow of…

View On WordPress

Summer Lovin' Blog Tour Q&A with Hot Dog Girl Author Jennifer Dugan

Summer Lovin’ Blog Tour Q&A with Hot Dog Girl Author Jennifer Dugan

It’s summer and you know what that means, don’t you? All the very best of romantic contemporary YA is on the verge of being released all summer long.  And today I’ve teamed up with Penguin Young Readers to get you guys excited about one of my most-anticipated Contemporary releases of 2019, Hot Dog Girl by Jennifer Dugan.

This book is so adorkably perfect for a summer afternoon spent reading in a…

View On WordPress

The Steel Prince Blog Tour

The Steel Prince Blog Tour

So you guys know already that I am the most OBSESSED with VE Schwab of anyone ever.  Her ADSOM series is one of my top ten fantasy series of all time, and really everything she writes is perfect and dark and magical and just makes me want to live in her books.

So I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was when she announced that she would be expanding her ADSOM universe with a trilogy of…

View On WordPress

Song of the Dead "Deadly" Gift List

Song of the Dead “Deadly” Gift List

Hey guys! Long time no blog, amiright?? 2018 was a rough year for me, but I am so excited to be back with you all and what better way to start the year than with an awesome gift list for some amazing characters.

That’s right.  I’m so happy to be on the Song of the Dead blog tour. Sarah Glenn Marsh totally outdid herself with this conclusion to her Reign of the Fallen duology. If you liked the…

View On WordPress

City of Bastards by Andrew Shvarts

City of Bastards by Andrew Shvarts

Andrew Shvarts has done it again – City of Bastards is every bit as much fast-paced, action-packed fun as last year’s Royal Bastards. I wasn’t sure that this sequel would be able to live up to my high expectations (because I LOVED Royal Bastards so much for its originality), but I was glad to be proven wrong here.

City takes place in the capital of Lightspire, where Tilla is now attending…

View On WordPress

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi

Roshani has out done herself yet again! Have you ever thought to yourself, “Why aren’t there more eastern mythologies being written?” Well, I have. Thank goodness Roshani clearly had the same thought at least once, only hers was much better because she took it a step further and thought, what if I did for Hindu mythology what Rick Riordan did for Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology?

What results is…

View On WordPress

The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton

The Price Guide to the Occult by Leslye Walton

I was so freaking excited about The Price Guide to the Occult. After all, I am literally a LESLYE WALTON MEGAFAN. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is probably my favorite book written in the past century. I adore her unique writing style, and no book uses magical realism as beautifully and strangely (get it?) as Ava Lavender does.

But The Price Guide to the Occult is similar to…

View On WordPress

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

WOW. This book destroyed me. Joining Leigh on her journey has been emotionally exhilirating and exhausting at times. It wore me down (in a GOOD way, mind you) because it felt so real.

After her mother’s unexpected suicide, Leigh struggles with the reality of her grief – she sees her mother as a bird, and travels to Taiwan to meet her mother’s parents – her Taiwanese grandparents – for the first…

View On WordPress

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena

A Girl Like That is a hard-hitting diverse story about two teenagers who end up dead from a car accident in Saudi Arabia. You start right in the heart of the aftermath of their deaths – watching, from their point of view, as their guardians grieve by their bodies and the police angrily accuse them of letting two adolescents of the opposite sex spend time together alone (which is against the law…

View On WordPress

*Blog Tour* Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope

*Blog Tour* Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope

Song of Blood & Stone by L. Penelope is a vibrant new epic fantasy that will have you begging for more! There is so much to love about this book – racial diversity, political themes that reflect our modern era perfectly, star-crossed lovers, tons of magic, and a new fantastical world to get lost in. Jasminda and Jack are the bomb.com together, and Jasminda is one of my new favorite fantasy…

View On WordPress

The Night Diary Book Club Menu *Blog Tour*

The Night Diary Book Club Menu *Blog Tour*

Who knew that reading a book about Partition could leave one so darn hungry?

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani is full of such lush descriptions of Indo-Pakistani cuisine that it is sure to get your mouth watering in no time, making it the PERFECT book to read for your next book club. And I’m here to give you the perfect book club menu to help you really savor every single chapter of this…

View On WordPress

Tempests and Slaughter Book Tour

Tempests and Slaughter Book Tour

AHHHH!!! I am so excited that the day has finally come when I get to share my intense love of all things Tamora Pierce with all of you. The Queen of Modern Fantasy is back with an inside look at Numair’s history in Tempests and Slaughter. Set in Ozorne, and featuring Numair when he was still Arram Draper, studying magic in Carthak, this book is a delight from start to finish and is sure to have…

View On WordPress

The Darkling Bride by Laura Anderson

The Darkling Bride by Laura Anderson

“And then… disaster. In the shape – as so often in men’s recounting of history – a woman.”

The Darkling Bride is a glorious romp through Irish myth and legend, and I really couldn’t put it down. It’s not my usual cup o’ tea, so to speak, but I am so glad that I requested a review copy and had that request granted! I have no doubt it will be the best Adult fiction title I read this year. Who…

View On WordPress

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

“The truth of what I am has become a nightmare.”

Oh my gosh I am about to start gushing because this book SLAYED me. If you are even a little into retellings you have got to pick up To Kill a Kingdom immediately. Do not delay. Do not pause. Go to Amazon and pre-order this gem NOW. This is The Little Mermaid like you’ve never heard it before. It is absolutely terrifying and fierce and did I…

View On WordPress