Cherryh (from The Time Traveller’s Almanac). Cleo I got attached to a little earlier in the story, but at times I also found her frustratingly naive… I was, however, completely hooked by the time I reached the end of the book, and I’m looking forward to reading more. I didn’t really like any of them (except Theon) much at the beginning, but as the story went on, I found myself feeling more and more for Magnus, and even Jonas seemed to show some promise towards the end of the book. The characters are rather hit-or-miss, but I feel like they’re the kind to grow on you as you read more. This one was a fun read, though I found it a little difficult to get into at first – it takes a while for anything to really happen plot-wise, and Morgan Rhodes’ writing style is not bad, but her phrasing is somewhat unconventional in places, which I found slightly jarring. A high fantasy series that follows several different protagonists: Cleo, the second princess of Auranos, a spoilt but well-meaning teenager who’s hoping to escape from an arranged marriage to a boy she hates Janos, the son of a poor Paelsian wine merchant, who is filled with rage at the injustices his people have suffered and Magnus, the prince of Limeros, who mainly just wants to keep his sister safe. The story is very touching, and when I first opened this book, the art literally took my breath away.įalling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes. This may be essentially a picture book, but I’d recommend it for anyone, regardless of age. An incredibly beautiful book about a lonely fox whose only friend is a distant star – which one day disappears, setting the fox off on a journey to find it again.

The Fox and the Star by Coralie Bickford-Smith. I got off to a pretty good start this year: 6 novels, 3 short stories, and 1 picture book. And my average rating was pretty high, too – most of the books I read this month I gave 4 stars only the short stories fell a little short… Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up this momentum over the next few months! 😀

The fox and the star book