
Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young — Review
A review of Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young — a Viking-inspired YA fantasy about a warrior girl who finds her dead brother alive among the enemy, and …
Read more →Book reviews from The Diary of a Bookworm — YA fiction, fantasy, literary fiction, and crime.
The full review archive. Everything is organized chronologically — newest first, oldest at the bottom. Browse by genre using the tags, or scroll through and see what catches your eye.
The reviews here span more than a decade of reading, starting with the early days of the YA boom when authors like Cassandra Clare and Tamora Pierce were shaping a generation of readers. Newer reviews are added as books warrant them — which is to say, when a book does something worth writing about.

A review of Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young — a Viking-inspired YA fantasy about a warrior girl who finds her dead brother alive among the enemy, and …
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A review of Circe by Madeline Miller — the witch of Aeaea given her full story at last, in prose that burns as bright as her most famous spell.
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A review of Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody — a dazzling, high-stakes YA fantasy set in a city of sin where two reluctant allies hunt for a missing woman in a …
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A review of Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi — a West African–inspired epic fantasy about magic suppressed, a people oppressed, and a young woman who …
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A review of The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton — a gorgeous, unsettling YA fantasy about beauty as power, beauty as currency, and what a world built entirely on …
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A review of Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman — the benevolent AI narrates its own story as the Scythedom fractures, and Shusterman's moral universe gets …
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A review of The Cruel Prince by Holly Black — a mortal girl in the fae world, a cruel prince who is also something more, and a political thriller built on …
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A review of Renegades by Marissa Meyer — a superhero YA that asks what happens when the heroes take over, and whether the people who fought them were really the …
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A review of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green — a novel about OCD, compulsive thought spirals, and how it feels to be trapped inside your own mind while …
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A review of The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan — the Magnus Chase trilogy reaches its thunderous conclusion as Magnus and his friends sail to stop Naglfar and …
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A review of Warcross by Marie Lu — a near-future YA thriller set inside a global virtual reality game, with a hacker protagonist who uncovers something …
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A review of Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas — Chaol Westfall's story, told in full, in a Southern continent that expands the Throne of Glass world in unexpected …
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A review of Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare — the Shadowhunter world expands and darkens, the parabatai bond is tested to its limits, and the stakes become …
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A review of The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee — a hilarious, warm, and surprisingly moving road trip through 18th-century Europe with a …
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A review of Flame in the Mist by Renée Ahdieh — a Mulan-inspired historical fantasy set in feudal Japan, where a noblewoman disguises herself as a boy to hunt …
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A review of A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas — the war comes, alliances break, and Feyre's court faces a threat that will define the fate of every fae …
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A review of Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor — the most beautiful first chapter of any book I have read in years, followed by a story worthy of it.
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A review of The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas — one of the most important YA novels of the decade, and also one of the best-written. Starr Carter deserves every …
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A review of Caraval by Stephanie Garber — a lush, intoxicating fantasy about a magical game where nothing is what it seems and everything is performance, …
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A review of Scythe by Neal Shusterman — a world that has solved death, and what happens when the only people empowered to kill are the ones who least want to.
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A review of The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon — one day, two teenagers, an entire city, and a question about whether love can be both real and random at the …
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A review of The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan — Magnus Chase's second adventure introduces Alex Fierro and continues to be one of the most inclusive, …
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A review of Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas — Aelin plays the longest game, the series goes epic in scope, and the ending will have you immediately ordering …
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A review of Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo — the Six of Crows duology concludes with Bardugo at her absolute best. Kaz Brekker gets his revenge. The reader …
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