ARC Book Review: A Pho Love Story by Loan Le

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's UK

Published: April 2021

Pages: 416

Summary

All's fair in love, war and noodles...

If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he'd say he was a rock. Steady and strong, but not particularly interesting. His grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parent's pho restaurant, and even there, he is his parents' fifth favourite employee.

If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she'd say she was a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and spark and fire. She loves are, and she dreams of making a career of it one day. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they're not willing to admit, including expecting her to work practically full-time at their family's pho restaurant.

For decades, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighbouring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh have resolved never to befriend each other, for fear of pushing too far and bringing on undue heartbreak. But when a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao closer, sparks fly...

Can Linh and Bao's love survive in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?

This delicious debut is perfect for fans of When Dimple Met Rishi and To All the Boys I've Loved Before. 

ARC Book Review: The Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

Series: Rook and Rose #1

Publisher: Orbit

Published: January 2021

Pages: 672

Summary

Darkly magical and beautifully imagined, The Mask of Mirrors is the unmissable start to the Rook & Rose trilogy, a rich and dazzling fantasy adventure in which a con artist, a vigilante, and a crime lord must unite to save their city.

Nightmares are creeping through the city of dreams...

Renata Viraudax is a con artist who has come to the sparkling city of Nadežra -- the city of dreams -- with one goal: to trick her way into a noble house and secure her fortune and her sister's future.

But as she's drawn into the aristocratic world of House Traementis, she realises her masquerade is just one of many surrounding her. And as corrupted magic begins to weave its way through Nadežra, the poisonous feuds of its aristocrats and the shadowy dangers of its impoverished underbelly become tangled -- with Ren at their heart.

ARC Book Review: Fable by Adrienne Young

I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

Series: Fable #1

Publisher: Titan Books

Published: January 2021

Pages: 352

Summary

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men.

As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It's been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father, and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so, Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father's rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him, and Fable soon finds that West isn't who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they're going to stay alive.