Ever Cursed

“It is a story that was never meant to be told.”

Názov: Ever Cursed
Autor: Corey Ann Haydu
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: Simon Pulse, 2020
Počet strán: 304 
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 3,58

Anotácia:

Damsel meets A Heart in a Body in the World in this incisive and lyrical feminist fairy tale about a princess determined to save her sisters from a curse, even if it means allying herself with the very witch who cast it.

The Princesses of Ever are beloved by the kingdom and their father, the King. They are cherished, admired.

Cursed.

Jane, Alice, Nora, Grace, and Eden carry the burden of being punished for a crime they did not commit, or even know about. They are each cursed to be Without one essential thing—the ability to eat, sleep, love, remember, or hope. And their mother, the Queen, is imprisoned, frozen in time in an unbreakable glass box. But when Eden’s curse sets in on her thirteenth birthday, the princesses are given the opportunity to break the curse, preventing it from becoming a True Spell and dooming the princesses for life. To do this, they must confront the one who cast the spell—Reagan, a young witch who might not be the villain they thought—as well as the wickedness plaguing their own kingdom…and family. 

Told through the eyes of Reagan and Jane—the witch and the bewitched—this insightful twist of a fairy tale explores power in a patriarchal kingdom not unlike our own.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn

“She had read enough stories to know that the princess and the monster were never the same. She had been alone long enough to know which one she was.”

Názov: Girl, Serpent, Thorn
Autor: Melissa Bashardoust
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: Flatiron Books, 2020
Počet strán: 336
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 3,81

Anotácia:

A captivating and utterly original fairy tale about a girl cursed to be poisonous to the touch, and who discovers what power might lie in such a curse... 

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.

As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.

Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming...human or demon. Princess or monster.

Pád Ohnivého princa

„Aj maličké veci dokážu vrhať veľký tieň, keď sú blízko pri slnku.“

Názov: Pád ohnivého princa
Séria: Mágia živlov #2
Autor: Elise Kova
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: CooBoo, 2020
Počet strán: 392
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 4,19

Anotácia:

Z nenápadnej knihomoľky Vhally sa zrodila mýtmi opradená Veterná čarodejka. Svojou neskrotenou mágiou spôsobila mnoho bolesti, no zachránila korunného princa z pazúrov smrti. Ocitla sa v nebezpečnom víre plnom intríg a moci, Vhallino srdce sa však obáva len jediného – aby sa nestala princovou záhubou.

Vojská Ríše Solaris vyrážajú do rozhodujúceho stretu s nepriateľom a Veterná čarodejka Vhalla dokáže nakloniť misky váh. Korunný princ Aldrik, najmocnejší Ohnivý mág v krajine, je odhodlaný byť Vhalliným učiteľom a venovať jej každú voľnú chvíľu. Okrem magického puta medzi sebou objavujú aj iné, romantickejšie, ktorému sa čarodejka urputne bráni, pretože si uvedomuje, že zamilovať sa do Aldrika by ich mohlo oboch zničiť.

The Storyteller's Daughter

“If the story lives in our hearts, then that makes it true.” 

Názov: The Storyteller's Daughter
Séria: Storyteller's Series #1
Autor: Victoria McCombs
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: Parliament House Press, 2020
Počet strán: 360
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 3,99

Anotácia:

His shadowed face lit by flames,

Rumpelstiltskin is my name...

For as long as anyone can remember, every child in Westfallen has been born with a Gift, and these Gifts defined them. 

Then Cosette is born, Giftless.

An attempt to hide her misfortune brings her before the King, who entraps her to use her Gift as a pawn in his war.

Caught in a lie, Cosette desperately searches for a power strong enough to free her. Intrigued by whispers of an old king and a dark curse, she calls upon Rumpelstiltskin and finds him trapped in a magic deeper than she bargained for. Now, Cosette must fight to reclaim her freedom from the King and break Rumpel’s curse. When time runs out, she’ll lose more than her heart. She’ll lose her life.

A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire

“Because now, there was a good chance we were out of time before we even had it. ” 

Názov: A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
Séria: Blood and Ash #2
Autor: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: Blue Box Press, 2020
Počet strán: 496
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 4,71 

Anotácia:

A Betrayal…

Everything Poppy has ever believed in is a lie, including the man she was falling in love with. Thrust among those who see her as a symbol of a monstrous kingdom, she barely knows who she is without the veil of the Maiden. But what she does know is that nothing is as dangerous to her as him. The Dark One. The Prince of Atlantia. He wants her to fight him, and that’s one order she’s more than happy to obey. He may have taken her, but he will never have her.

A Choice…

Casteel Da’Neer is known by many names and many faces. His lies are as seductive as his touch. His truths as sensual as his bite. Poppy knows better than to trust him. He needs her alive, healthy, and whole to achieve his goals. But he’s the only way for her to get what she wants—to find her brother Ian and see for herself if he has become a soulless Ascended. Working with Casteel instead of against him presents its own risks. He still tempts her with every breath, offering up all she’s ever wanted. Casteel has plans for her. Ones that could expose her to unimaginable pleasure and unfathomable pain. Plans that will force her to look beyond everything she thought she knew about herself—about him. Plans that could bind their lives together in unexpected ways that neither kingdom is prepared for. And she’s far too reckless, too hungry, to resist the temptation.

A Secret…

But unrest has grown in Atlantia as they await the return of their Prince. Whispers of war have become stronger, and Poppy is at the very heart of it all. The King wants to use her to send a message. The Descenters want her dead. The wolven are growing more unpredictable. And as her abilities to feel pain and emotion begin to grow and strengthen, the Atlantians start to fear her. Dark secrets are at play, ones steeped in the blood-drenched sins of two kingdoms that would do anything to keep the truth hidden. But when the earth begins to shake, and the skies start to bleed, it may already be too late.

Zjazvený kráľ

„Vybudujú spolu nový svet.

Ale najprv budú musieť spáliť ten starý.“

Názov: Zjazvený kráľ
Séria: Zjazvený kráľ #1
Autor: Leigh Bardugo
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: Slovart, 2020
Počet strán: 488
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 4,20

Anotácia:

Nikolai Lantsov mal odjakživa dar dokázať nemožné. Nikto nevie, čo si počas krvavej občianskej vojny vytrpel - a chce, aby to tak aj ostalo. Teraz sa však na oslabených hraniciach zbiehajú nepriatelia a mladý kráľ musí nájsť spôsob, ako znova naplniť ravkanské pokladnice, nadviazať nové spojenectvá a zastaviť hrozbu, ktorej čelí kedysi veľkolepá grišská armáda. 

Temná mágia v jeho vnútri však každý deň mocnie a hrozí, že zničí všetko jeho úsilie. Nikolai sa v sprievode mladého mnícha a legendárnej grišskej búrničky vydá s cieľom poraziť svoje prekliatie na tie miesta v Ravke, kde prežíva staroveká mágia. Dá do stávky všetko, aby zachránil seba a svoju krajinu. Niektoré tajomstvá však nemajú ostať tajomstvami – a niektoré rany sa nemajú zahojiť.

The Empire of Gold

“It hurt worse to see your dreams destroyed than to never have them at all.”

Názov: The Empire of Gold
Séria: The Daevabad Trilogy
Autor: S.A. Chakraborty
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: Harper Voyager, 2020
Počet strán: 766
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 4,60

Anotácia:

The final chapter in the bestselling, critically acclaimed Daevabad Trilogy, in which a con-woman and an idealistic djinn prince join forces to save a magical kingdom from a devastating civil war. 

Daevabad has fallen. 

After a brutal conquest stripped the city of its magic, Nahid leader Banu Manizheh and her resurrected commander, Dara, must try to repair their fraying alliance and stabilize a fractious, warring people. 

But the bloodletting and loss of his beloved Nahri have unleashed the worst demons of Dara’s dark past. To vanquish them, he must face some ugly truths about his history and put himself at the mercy of those he once considered enemies. 

Having narrowly escaped their murderous families and Daevabad’s deadly politics, Nahri and Ali, now safe in Cairo, face difficult choices of their own. While Nahri finds peace in the old rhythms and familiar comforts of her human home, she is haunted by the knowledge that the loved ones she left behind and the people who considered her a savior are at the mercy of a new tyrant. Ali, too, cannot help but look back, and is determined to return to rescue his city and the family that remains. Seeking support in his mother’s homeland, he discovers that his connection to the marid goes far deeper than expected and threatens not only his relationship with Nahri, but his very faith.  

As peace grows more elusive and old players return, Nahri, Ali, and Dara come to understand that in order to remake the world, they may need to fight those they once loved... and take a stand for those they once hurt.

The Kingdom of Copper

“It is time we get some vengeance for what they have done.”

Názov: The Kingdom of Copper
Séria: The Daevabad Trilogy
Autor: S.A. Chakraborty
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: HarperVoyager, 2019
Počet strán: 625
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 4,41

Anotácia:

 

Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabad and quickly discovered she would need all her grifter instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of the battle that saw Dara slain at Prince Ali’s hand, Nahri must forge a new path for herself, without the protection of the guardian who stole her heart or the counsel of the prince she considered a friend. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her familyand one misstep will doom her tribe.

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid, the unpredictable water spirits, have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad's towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve.

The City of Brass

“Often the mightiest things have the humblest beginnings.”

Názov: The City of Brass
Séria: The Daevabad Trilogy
Autor: S.A. Chakraborty
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: HarperVoyager, 2017
Počet strán: 521
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 4,14

Anotácia:

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles.

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for...

Ve stínu Hvozdu

„Lesem se nesla i píseň, ale byla to píseň divoká, šeptajíci o šílenství, trhání a zuřivosti.“

Názov: Ve stínu Hvozdu
Autor: Naomi Novik
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: Host, 2019
Počet strán: 488
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 4,08

Anotácia:

Dwernik je poklidná vesnice, kterou obestírá hluboký a zlověstný Hvozd. Temné síly v jeho nitru dokáže udržet jen chladný a odtažitý čaroděj jménem Drak. Ten za svou pomoc požaduje hrozivou cenu: každých deset let mu musí jít sloužit jedna dívka, která se do vesnice nazpět nikdy nevrátí.

Den čarodějovy volby se rychle blíží a vesničané tuší, že tentokrát si Drak do služby vybere krásnou a statečnou dívku Kasiu. Ten se k překvapení všech však rozhodne pro obyčejnou a nemotornou Agnieszku.

Agnieszka své údolí miluje a nikdy by ho dobrovolně neopustila. Jenže teď je zavřená v čarodějově věži a kromě služby nemůže dělat vůbec nic. Nebo snad ano? Díky Drakovi objeví své nadání pro jemnou magii, takovou, jaká tu byla před staletími. A spolu s Agnieszčiným uměním se probouzí i věkovité zlo Hvozdu. Nejenom údolí, ale i celé království je v nebezpečí a je jen na Agnieszce a Drakovi, aby ho zachránili.

Unravel the Dusk

“I know that for every dawn, dusk must unravel its darkness.”

Názov: Unravel the Dusk
Séria: The Blood of Stars
Autor: Elizabeth Lim
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2020
Počet strán: 368
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 4,03

Anotácia:

Maia Tamarin’s journey to sew the dresses of the sun, the moon and the stars has taken a grievous toll. She returns to a kingdom on the brink of war. The boy she loves is gone, and she is forced to don the dress of the sun and assume the place of the emperor’s bride-to-be to keep the peace.

But the war raging around Maia is nothing compared to the battle within. Ever since she was touched by the demon Bandur, she has been changing... glancing in the mirror to see her own eyes glowing red, losing control of her magic, her body, her mind. It’s only a matter of time before Maia loses herself completely, but she will stop at nothing to find Edan, protect her family, and bring lasting peace to her country.

Spin the Dawn

“Don’t become the kite that never flies.”

Názov: Spin the Dawn
Séria: The Blood of Stars 
Autor: Elizabeth Lim
Vydavateľstvo, rok vydania: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2019
Počet strán: 392
Hodnotenie GR (v čase písania recenzie): 4,05

Anotácia:

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she'll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There's just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia's task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor's reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.