Welcome to the November round-up of YA speculative fiction, brought to you by Tsana, filling in for Shaheen. There have been six reviews again this past month.

stray-hostLeonie Rogers read and reviewed the first two Touchstone books by Andrea K Höst, Stray and Lab Rat One. She enjoyed the books, saying of Stray:

Cass is a great heroine. She’s quirky, clever and very honest, and full of surprising fortitude as she matures throughout this book. I’d not hesitate to recommend this book for lovers of Sci-fi, as an engaging, but poignant story, suitable for pretty well all ages. I’ve now read several books by this author, and the more I read her, the more I like her stories.

She added that Lab Rat One “was even better than the first one. I finished it and immediately purchased the third in the series.”

banish-marshTeddyree read and reviewed Banish by Nicola Marsh, which she describes

Banish is really a ‘finding oneself’ themed story, nicely enhanced by the Wiccan world and slightly sinister undercurrent. The magick and mystery kept me turning the pages and there were enough well written twists to keep this suspense/thriller girl intrigued.

frontier-incursionBrenda read and reviewed Frontier Incursion by Leonie Rogers, a book about scouts, also featuring invading aliens and starcats. Brenda writes

I absolutely loved this book! I loved the starcats, particularly Storm and Twister; the detail woven through the story by the author made it so that I could visualise them, their traits and abilities.

haze-paula-westonErin Golding read and reviewed Haze by Paula Weston, the second book in the Rephaim Series, featuring a girl who is half-angel. She writes

Weston is a pro when it comes to creating tension on the page. I couldn’t get enough of Gaby and Rafa’s blossoming romance alongside the rapid action of demon-slaying and Fallen Angel intrigue. I believe this is the secret to Weston’s successful novels – they are the right amount of love and action.

sky-so-heavy-zornFinally, Shannon from Giraffe Days read and reviewed The Sky So Heavy by Claire Zorn, an apocalyptic novel. She enjoyed it and writes

The Sky So Heavy has such a strong sense of realism and tension and Zorn’s writing brings Fin’s story so vividly to life, that while reading it I had to look out the window from time to time to remind – and reassure – myself that it hadn’t actually happened. It was confronting, even nail-bitingly tense at times, and while you know Fin survives, you don’t know what he’ll lose in the process – or whether he’ll survive in the long run.

Hopefully there’s some inspiration here for those of you looking for something to read or looking for Christmas present ideas.

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About Me

I’m Tsana Dolichva and I’ve been reading and enjoying Australian speculative fiction since I first started reading “grown up” books (back before YA was its own genre). More recently, I’ve been blogging my reviews over at the creatively titled Tsana’s Reads. I irregularly blog about science in science fiction over at the Science Fiction Writers’ Guide to Space. When not reading or writing, I’m probably working towards my PhD in astrophysics.