WHAT ARE ENCHANTÉE AND SPLINTERS OF SCARLET? Enchnatée by Gita Trelease and Splinters of Scarlet by Emily Bain Murphy are two YA historical fantasy novels that share several similarities. Enchantée follows Camille who uses magic to disguise herself as a baroness and gambles in Versailles. Splinters of Scarlet follows Marit who becomes a seamstress for a wealthy family she believes may be responsible for her father's death. Both novels feature orphaned girls who are elder sist

WHAT IS MIDNIGHT SUN?/A SHORT HISTORY If you weren't a teenage girl (or her mom) during the height of Twilight's fame then you may be unaware. Twilight is a YA paranormal/fantasy romance novel written by Stephenie Meyer. It depicts the love story between a mortal girl (Bella Swan) and an immortal vampire (Edward Cullen). Twilight is the first in a series of four books known collectively as the Twilight Saga. Twilight is told from Bella's perspective. Midnight Sun is the same

Introduction: James Howe's book Bunnicula is a children's paranormal mystery about a vampire rabbit told from the perspective of the family dog. It's the novel that first sparked my creative writing itch when I was very young. Due to this, I often refer to James Howe as my favorite author. He is, without a doubt, the person outside of people I know personally who has had the greatest influence on my life. I thought it would be a fun experiment to read my favorite author's fav

+There will be no blog next weekend (May 30/June 1). The next blog will be June 6th. #literaryagent #writing #bookblogger #vlog #bookreviews

I placed book characters into Hogwarts houses! For each of the four houses I chose two characters/books that, based on your house and personality traits, I believe you're likely to enjoy. I hope you enjoy my suggestions. This blog took me over a month and a half to curate, but was so much fun to do. I definitely intend to do another one of these at some point in the future! Slytherin Traits: Slytherins are known to be resourceful, cunning, determined and ambitious. Characte

1. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan This YA magical realism novel follows 15 year old Leigh who is convinced that her late mother has turned into a bird. Following what she believes to be her mother's instructions for her to connect with her estranged grandparents, she travels to Taiwan to meet them. This novel is full of Taiwanese culture and is beautifully written. It is one of my all time favorite books. There is a trigger warning for mental health/suicide

The Bunnicula books are favorites from my childhood. Bunnicula is actually the book that inspired me to be a writer. I have more nostalgia from some books in the series than others, but for my 50th blog here on Haley's Book Haven, I decided to reread all 7 books in the series (spin-off books not included) and review them. Genre: Children's Paranormal Mysteries Series Length: 895 pages Series Rating: 4.07 stars 1. Bunnicula (co-authored by Deborah Howe) Length: 98 pages Rating

Genre: YA Historical Fiction Length: 442 pages Rating: 5 stars Plot: This novel is a sequel to The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and follows one of the main trio from the first novel, Felicity Montague. The novel is about Felicity’s attempts to find work as a female in the medical field, reuniting with an estranged friend from childhood, and discovering an unknown species of sea dragon. Characters: The novel has a huge focus on sisterhood/female friendships. The three

Genre: YA fantasy Length: 351 pages Plot: In the queendom of Myre there live two sister princesses. Eva and Isa must, upon their seventeenth nameday, fight to the death. Whichever princess remains will be the next queen. In order to survive, Eva must learn to use her rare magick of blood and marrow. Characters: I loved the main protagonist, Eva, who was very compassionate and committed to social justice. She wanted the throne not for her own vanity but for the good she could

Genre: YA fantasy Length: 369 pages Plot: The novel follows the story of a continent that once was rich in magic but has since lost it and now is in danger of being devoured by a dark, encroaching forest. Two people, Zafira the huntress and Nasir the crown prince/assassin, set out on an adventure to the cursed island of Sharr to restore magic to the land. Characters: There are quite a few characters and for the most parts my thoughts on them ranged from indifferent to liking

This month was a pretty good reading month for me in terms of number of books/pages read. I'm pleased to have gotten off to a good start in the new decade! Below I've listed the books I read in order of my level of enjoyment. For any I already have thoughts/reviews on either here on the blog or goodreads will have a link you can copy and paste to find my full thoughts. Monthly Stats: Books Read: 7 (6 new, 1 reread) Total Pages Read: 2,675 Average Rating: 3.96/5 stars (approx

Genre: YA Fantasy Length: 397 pages Plot: Set immediately following the events of Girls of Paper and Fire, Lei, Wren and companions travel across Ikhara in search of allies in the coming war against the Demon King. Characters: New characters are introduced in this novel to join Lei and Wren on their journey. They include her father’s companion Shifu Caen, the shaman Hiro, leopard demon siblings Bo and Nitta, and owl demon Merril. Lei and Wren remain strong, empathic character

It’s the last day of February, which means it’s time for brief overviews of the books I read this month and to let you know if I’d recommend them to you! 1. The Similars by Rebecca Hanover (January 31st-February 1st): A young adult science fiction novel about six clones attending an elite boarding school, this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2019. Unfortunately, I found the characters difficult to connect with and the plot extremely predictable. I rated it 7/10 and wo