Across the Library

Title: Shadow Weaver Author: MarcyKate Connolly Rating: 4 stars This dark tale of friendship, magic, and secrets was enchanting. The main focus is a young girl who can control and speak to shadows. Her parents do not approve of her magic, and soon, she is on the run from those who want to take her magic. She meets new people who her shadow warns her against telling about her secrets, but she finds they have some magic of their own. The story of magic weaves into one of true friendship.  This is the first book in a duology.

Title: Daughters of the Storm Author: Kim Wilkins My Rating: 4.5 stars Five very different sisters work to save their father, the king, while trying to keep their own secrets. Bluebell, the oldest and most loyal to her father, is a warrior, a fierce fighter that brings fear to her enemies. Rose is a queen, married off to a neighboring king to bring about peace, but if her king knew her secrets....  Ash is studying magic, but is more powerful than she should be at her age.  Ivy and Willow, the twins -- Ivy is lustful and vain, while Willow has turned to the trimartyr faith, believing her family to be heathens.  Will they be able to save their father and stop their treacherous step brother from taking the throne? I really enjoyed this book, both the flow and the story.  I know some reviewers felt there were too many characters, but I think that each character had just enough individuality and personality to stand apart enough for me to keep track.  Some of the characters are mor

Title: Sky in the Deep Author: Adrienne Young My Rating: 4.5 stars Eelyn is a warrior, taught to fight and survive.  She is fighting alongside her clansmen when she sees her brother fighting on the side of the enemy -- the same brother that died five years before.  Feeling betrayed she goes after her brother, only to be taken alive by the enemy, and forced to live with them for a while.  In time, she finds herself developing feelings for one of the enemy clan.  And after an attack by another clan that nearly decimates the enemy clan and her own, she has to work to bring the two clans together. I really enjoyed this well-written warrior tale.  Unlike a lot of typical YA books, the romance was not immediate, it took some time before Eelyn began to trust Fiske and developed feelings for him.  The summary on the book would have you think it happens faster than it actually does.  Eelyn is a strong female character with loyal ties to her family. The book starts out action packed,

Title: Then She Was Gone Author: Lisa Jewell My Rating: 4 stars Ten years ago, Laurel's 15 year old daughter Ellie went missing. Soon after, Laurel and her husband divorced.  Now, years later, she has let a new man enter her life, but she is shocked when she meets his daughter and she looks just like her Ellie. We learn this much from the summary.  I went in thinking that the man's daughter might be Ellie, but in the first few chapters, you learn that the man's daughter is young, and so it seems predictable that it will be Ellie's daughter.  It is also quite predictable who took Ellie.  At first I was disappointed by these things, but then I realized that these things were meant to be known and not surprises.  Once I accepted that, and that this wasn't a true thriller, I liked the book much more. Initially, I didn't like the author's writing style and wasn't sure I would finish the book, but I kept going and got into the story and style.  I di

Title: The Tangled Lands Author: Paolo Bacigalupi and Tobias S. Buckell My Rating: 4 stars Magic has been banned in Khaim because it causes the bramble to grow, choking out the cities and life.  If the bramble touches you, you fall into a deep sleep, never to wake. Only the Majister Scacz is allowed to use magic and yet, so many others do, causing the bramble to continue to grow.  Stories of magic, yes, but these are really tales of the lesser people fighting back, while losing people along the way. At first I was disappointed to find out this was a book of four stories set in one world, instead of a novel, but I actually found it to be well written and the stories were moving.  Each author writes two of the stories.  I think my favorite was the Executioness. In the first story, an inventor is trying to protect his young daughter who is sick.  He creates a device that can fight the bramble, but Scacz and the duke discover it can be used to find those that are using magic...