I signed up for three read­ing chal­lenges this year and this one has had the slow­est start. Per­haps because I nor­mally read a lot of kids’ and young adult fan­tasy I haven’t been as inten­tional about seek­ing out titles for this chal­lenge. Bet­ter fix that once my travel read­ing binge is over!

Froi of the Exiles by Melina Mar­che­tta was a dif­fi­cult book for me. The king­dom of Charyn is dis­turb­ing  beyond belief. Cursed with no chil­dren for 18 years, cru­elty, sex­ual abuse and layer upon layer of decep­tion abound in Charyn. All that being said, the book ends with a whole mess of cliffhang­ers that intrigue me and I’m curi­ous to know what hap­pens in the next book in the Lumatere Chron­i­cles. Book source: publisher’s ARC via NetGalley.

Cab­i­net of Earths by Anne Nes­bet is a middle-grade fan­tasy involv­ing the quest for immor­tal­ity. After their fam­ily moves to Paris, Maya and her brother, James, are drawn into the con­flict of those seek­ing immor­tal­ity and keeper of the cab­i­net of earths who wishes to put an end to this ‘addic­tion.’ A men­ac­ing rel­a­tive tar­gets James and dis­tracted par­ents mean it is up to Maya to save him from impend­ing dis­as­ter. Magic and sci­ence blend in an intrigu­ing fashion.

See what other par­tic­i­pants in the YA/MG Fan­tasy Read­ing Chal­lenge have been read­ing over at The Book Cel­lar.