Novel Myths

In the aftermath of Firebug, Ava is trying to find her place in the Coterie after it is switched to new management. Thrown into solving a problem involving dangerous kelpies, attack-snails, and a mysterious illness, Ava is forced to rediscover who she is in relation to her job, her friends, and her future. In typical McBride fashion, Pyromantic is filled with action, humor, and complex relationships. I appreciate how Ava is actively engaging her problems - in her personal life, and in the Coterie - and, instead of staying stagnant, grows as a character. I also appreciated cameos by characters from Hold Me Closer, Necromancer . I would recommend starting with Firebug as Pyromantic builds off of the events in that story. Goodreads: Pyromantic by Lish McBride

For all of Agnieszka's life, fear of the woods has ruled how one lives. It is not an ordinary woods. Inside the woods dwells the feared heart trees, tended to by monsters who snatch up villagers to feed the trees and plant new ones. Once a heart tree is planted in a village the woods creep further out, and nothing can retake the land. The year she turns seventeen, Agnieszka is pulled in to the struggle between the woods and her countrymen to prevent the woods from conquering the world, one village at a time. Novak creates a world where fear governs but overwhelming courage and tenacity triumph in the end. Despite the unrelenting hunger of the forest, Agnieszka grows in her knowledge of who she is, how she is different, and that those differences are what allows her to do what no one else can. Goodreads: Uprooted by Naomi Novak

Jarra is one of the one-in-a-thousand who cannot live outside of Earth due to her immune system. Because of this, she grows up bitter and jealous of the ‘exos’ who can live on other planets. As a way to process through her anger, she joins a first year university group from another planet who come to Earth to study prehistory through archeology. However, she doesn’t let them know she is handicapped. The world created by Edwards is very thorough. She weaves an entire world system around the idea of portals capable of taking humanity to other worlds, as well as an excavation system through which we learn that, despite her handicap, Jarra is independent and competent. Going through all the emotional highs and lows with Jarra as she deals with new relationships and seeing how her views change feels real and tangible. (Book one of three, so far) Goodreads:  Earth Girl by Janet Edwards