#rati mehrotra

[alkiores]

Book cover for the russian edition of «Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove» by Rati Mehrotra✨

#book covers #book illustration #digital art #illustration #digital arwork #artists on tumblr #Rati Mehrotra #night of the raven dawn of the dove #my art

[bookaddict24-7]

New Young Adult Releases! (October 17th, 2023)

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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

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New Standalones/First in a Series:

Unholy Terrors by Lyndall Clipstone

All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters

If You'll Have Me by Eunnie

At the End of the World by Nadia Mikail

Flower & Thorn by Rati Mehrotra

Our Divine Mischief by Hanna Howard

Thin Air by Kellie M. Parker

A Bright Heart by Kate Chenli

All These Sunken Souls: A Black Horror Anthology by Various

One Hundred Days by Alice Pung

New Sequels:

Wild Wishes & Windswept Kisses (Singh Sisters #2) by Maya Prasad

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Happy reading!

#New Releases #new books #book blog #book blogger #Features #Lyndall Clipstone #Erica Waters #Eunnie #Nadia Mikail #Rati Mehrotra #Hanna Howard #Kellie M. Parker #Kate Chenli #Alice Pung #Maya Prasad #2023 #October books #on books #on reading #book list #tbr #to-read #bookworm #book lovers of tumblr #book addict #books #booklr #books and reading #bookish #young adult

[gennsoup]

Grief does not have a colour. It does not have a name, a language, or a nationality. But it has a texture--the smell of ash, the taste of tears.

Rati Mehrotra, Vetala

#Rati Mehrotra #Vetala #Those Who Make Us #grief #grief quotes #sadness #Canadian literature #short stories #quotes #quotes blog #literary quotes #literature quotes #literature #book quotes #books #words #text

[richincolor]

Title: Flower and Thorn Author: Rati Mehrotra Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Romance Pages: 338 Publisher: Wednesday Books Review Copy: Purchased Availability: Available now

Summary: Irinya has wanted to be a flower hunter ever since her mother disappeared into the mysterious mist of the Rann salt flats one night. Now seventeen, Irinya uses her knowledge of magical flowers to help her caravan survive in the harsh desert. When her handsome hunting partner and childhood friend finds a priceless silver spider lily—said to be able to tear down kingdoms and defeat an entire army—Irinya knows this is their chance for a better life.

Until Irinya is tricked by an attractive imposter.

Irinya's fight to recover the priceless flower and to fix what she's done takes her on a dangerous journey, one she's not sure she'll survive. She has no choice but to endure it if she hopes to return home and mend the broken heart of the boy she's left behind.

Review: [Flower and Thorn contains some fairly graphic descriptions of injuries and death, including a haunting supernatural body horror moment.]

Flower and Thorn is a book with some fascinating world-building elements. While it is undeniably a fantasy (with magical flowers that can utter ominous and cryptic comments to our protagonist), the background driver of the plot is actually the Gujarat Sultanate resisting Portuguese colonialism. The blending of fantastical and historical elements is where Flower and Thorn shines, and author Rati Mehrotra did great work in that arena. I also appreciated how Flower and Thorn tackled inequality and oppression within the sultanate at the same time it highlighted the horrors of colonialism, from sexism affecting the nobles’ preferences for an heir to how the flower hunters and their families are exploited and kept in poverty.

The magical flowers are key plot points throughout the story, both in their comparative rarity and their abilities. I really enjoyed the flower hunting scenes in the Rann. Mehrotra did a fantastic job of selling how difficult and dangerous the work could be—and how dangerous the flowers and their thorns could be in the wrong hands. I still can’t quite picture how using the silver spider lily would actually play out, but the concrete effects of the jasmine, hibiscus, and other flowers helped bolster my belief that it could topple enemies and that it desperately needed to be kept away from the Portuguese.

I had mixed feelings about Irinya as a protagonist. When it came to the adventuring side of the book, her stubbornness and determination to see things through were fantastic. The climax in the Rann and Irinya’s emotional journey there were perfection—I was delighted every step on the salt flats. I also enjoyed the romance despite the love interest being off-screen for the bulk of the book. But Irinya was so wildly out of her depth when it came to the palace intrigue portions of the plot that I found myself increasingly frustrated by her choices. The very first chapters of the book are about her being betrayed (it’s in the summary!), so I was certain she would be more cautious, be more suspicious of others, or try to gather more information before acting as we continued, and that just didn’t play out like I’d hoped.

Recommendation: Borrow it someday if you’re a fan of fantasy. The blending of fantasy and history made Flower and Thorn a highly interesting read, and I appreciated the unique magic system. The climax and conclusion of the book were very well done, and I appreciated the emotional journey even if some of the plot points frustrated me. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for Rati Mehrotra’s future books.

Extras: Read the first chapter of Flower and Thorn for free here and see a map for the setting.

Flower and Thorn: A brief history of early 16th century India

#flower and thorn #rati mehrotra #book reviews #young adult books #fantasy #historical #romance #weneeddiversebooks #recommendation: borrow it someday

[book-blogandquotes]

"One of the problems with human men is how little they last, like dry leaves going up in flames. A woman is like a candle; she can burn all night long."

Rati Mehrotra, Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove

#Quote #Night of the Raven Dawn of the Dove #Rati Mehrotra #WOMEN

[just-a-bookish-reader]

November 20, 2022 - Book Haul

I'm trying to post daily! So here's an update on yesterday's bookish things. I met up with a friend at a local bookstore which god I love them so much more than Barnes and Noble. (Both the friend and the local bookstore) Anyway, who's ready for a haul?!

"A stunning new work of historical fantasy, J. M. Miro's Ordinary Monsters introduces readers to the dark, labyrinthe world of The Talents England, 1882. In Victorian London, two children with mysterious powers are hunted by a figure of darkness —a man made of smoke.

Sixteen-year-old Charlie Ovid, despite a lifetime of brutality, doesn't have a scar on him. His body heals itself, whether he wants it to or not. Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight car, shines with a strange bluish light. He can melt or mend flesh. When two grizzled detectives are recruited to escort them north to safety, they are forced to confront the nature of difference, and belonging, and the shadowy edges of the monstrous.

What follows is a journey from the gaslit streets of London, to an eerie estate outside Edinburgh, where other children with gifts—the Talents—have been gathered. Here, the world of the dead and the world of the living threaten to collide. And as secrets within the Institute unfurl, Marlowe, Charlie and the rest of the Talents will discover the truth about their abilities, and the nature of the force that is stalking them: that the worst monsters sometimes come bearing the sweetest gifts.

With lush prose, mesmerizing world-building, and a gripping plot, Ordinary Monsters presents a catastophic vision of the Victorian world—and of the gifted, broken children who must save it."

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(sorry for the horrible quality I'm trying to use the actual covers I have)

"The award-winning author of The Miseducation of Cameron Post makes her adult debut with this highly imaginative and original horror-comedy centered around a cursed New England boarding school for girls—a wickedly whimsical celebration of the art of storytelling, sapphic love, and the rebellious female spirit

Our story begins in 1902, at the Brookhants School for Girls. Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous bestselling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it the Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, the setting of their wildest happiness and, ultimately, of their macabre deaths. This is where their bodies are later discovered with a copy of Mary’s book splayed beside them, the victims of a swarm of stinging, angry yellow jackets. Less than five years later, the Brookhants School for Girls closes its doors forever—but not before three more people mysteriously die on the property, each in a most troubling way.

Over a century later, the now abandoned and crumbling Brookhants is back in the news when wunderkind writer Merritt Emmons publishes a breakout book celebrating the queer, feminist history surrounding the “haunted and cursed” Gilded Age institution. Her bestselling book inspires a controversial horror film adaptation starring celebrity actor and lesbian it girl Harper Harper playing the ill-fated heroine Flo, oppo­site B-list actress and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. But as Brookhants opens its gates once again, and our three modern her­oines arrive on set to begin filming, past and present become grimly entangled—or perhaps just grimly exploited—and soon it’s impossible to tell where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins.

 A story within a story within a story and featuring black-and-white period-inspired illustrations, Plain Bad Heroines is a devilishly haunting, modern masterwork of metafiction that manages to combine the ghostly sensibility of Sarah Waters with the dark imagination of Marisha Pessl and the sharp humor and incisive social commentary of Curtis Sittenfeld into one laugh-out-loud funny, spellbinding, and wonderfully luxuriant read."

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"To learn what she can become, she must first discover who she is.

Katyani’s role in the kingdom of Chandela has always been clear: becoming an advisor and protector of the crown prince, Ayan, when he ascends to the throne. Bound to the Queen of Chandela through a forbidden soul bond that saved her when she was a child, Katyani has grown up in the royal family and become the best guardswoman the Garuda has ever seen. But when a series of assassination attempts threatens the royals, Katyani is shipped off to the gurukul of the famous Acharya Mahavir as an escort to Ayan and his cousin, Bhairav, to protect them as they hone the skills needed to be the next leaders of the kingdom. Nothing could annoy Katyani more than being stuck in a monastic school in the middle of a forest, except her run-ins with Daksh, the Acharya’s son, who can’t stop going on about the rules and whose gaze makes her feel like he can see into her soul.

But when Katyani and the princes are hurriedly summoned back to Chandela before their training is complete, tragedy strikes and Katyani is torn from the only life she has ever known. Alone and betrayed in a land infested by monsters, Katyani must find answers from her past to save all she loves and forge her own destiny. Bonds can be broken, but debts must be repaid."

#ordinary monsters #j.m.miro #night of the raven dawn of the dove #rati mehrotra #plain bad heroines #emily m danforth #book haul #new mexico #santa fe #local bookstore

[roseunspindle]

March 2023 TBR

#Chain of Gold #Cassandra Clare #Cathedral of the Sea #Ildefonso Falcones #Queen of Air and Darkness #Magonia #maria dahvana headley #Switched #amanda hocking #genuine fraud #e. lockhart #markswoman #rati mehrotra #dragon prince #melanie rawn #the gutter prayer #gareth hanrahan #tbr #march 2023

[jolieeason]

Flower and Thorn by Rati Mehrotra

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books Date of publication: October 17th, 2023 Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Young Adult Fantasy, Romance, Fiction, Historical Fantasy, Magic, Historical Fiction, Historical Purchase Links: Kindle | B&N | Kobo Goodreads Synopsis: One girl. One boy.A promise broken.A magic stolen. Irinya has wanted to be a flower hunter ever since her mother disappeared…

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#fantasy #fiction #Flower and Thorn #Historical #historical fantasy #historical fiction #Magic #Rati Mehrotra #romance #young adult #young adult fantasy

[lilibetbombshell]

#arc review #arc reader #arc reviewer #book review #book reviewer #book blog #book blogger #book influencer #new release #new release book #new book release #new book #netgalley #wednesday books #flower and thorn #rati mehrotra #5 star review #five star review #epic fantasy #fantasy #romantasy #historical fantasy #standalone novel #ya fantasy #ya romantasy #ya fiction

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Markswoman | Author: Rati Mehrotra | Publisher: Harper Voyager (2018)

#books #Markswoman #Rati Mehrotra

[siriuslygrimm]

Perennial Prospects

#BOOKREVIEW - Perennial Prospects - #FlowerAndThorn #blog

Flowers are rare and possess magic that makes them highly sought after; a broken promise between flower hunters regarding a practically mythic flower leads to a great many changes in their lives in Rati Mehrotra’s Flower and Thorn. Like her mother before her who disappeared in the dangerous mists of the salt flats when she was a child Iriyna wants to be a flower hunter, and she spends her days…

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#book #book review #flower and thorn #netgalley #rati mehrotra #reading #review

[whatsheread]

Novel Nuggets - October Releases

Novel Nuggets – October Releases

Yes, I’m still here and have been reading up a storm. This means I am even further behind in writing reviews than last month. My goal is to catch up on outstanding reviews by the end of the year. Let’s start with those new releases from October. The Sacrifice by Rin Chupeco was a perfect read for October. With its tropical paradise setting, ominous curse, and mysterious narrator, Mx. Chupeco…

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#Adam Silvera #Alexandra Christo #Edelweiss #Fantasy #Feiwel and Friends #Horror #Hyperion Avenue #Megan Shepherd #NetGalley #October 2022 Releases #Page Street Kids #Quill Tree Books #Rati Mehrotra #Rin Chupeco #Rose Egal #Science Fiction #Sourcebooks Fire #Wednesday Books #Young Adult

[whimsicaldragonette]

Audio ARC Review: Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra

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Add to Goodreads

Publication Date: October 18, 2022

Synopsis:

To learn what she can become, she must first discover who she is. Katyani’s role in the kingdom of Chandela has always been clear: becoming an advisor and protector of the crown prince, Ayan, when he ascends to the throne. Bound to the Queen of Chandela through a forbidden soul bond that saved her when she was a child, Katyani has grown up in the royal family and become the best guardswoman the Garuda has ever seen. But when a series of assassination attempts threatens the royals, Katyani is shipped off to the gurukul of the famous Acharya Mahavir as an escort to Ayan and his cousin, Bhairav, to protect them as they hone the skills needed to be the next leaders of the kingdom. Nothing could annoy Katyani more than being stuck in a monastic school in the middle of a forest, except her run-ins with Daksh, the Acharya’s son, who can’t stop going on about the rules and whose gaze makes her feel like he can see into her soul. But when Katyani and the princes are hurriedly summoned back to Chandela before their training is complete, tragedy strikes and Katyani is torn from the only life she has ever known. Alone and betrayed in a land infested by monsters, Katyani must find answers from her past to save all she loves and forge her own destiny. Bonds can be broken, but debts must be repaid.

My Rating: ★★★★★

*My Review after the cut

My Review

I loved this book so much! It's so nice to get a good standalone adventure that wraps up in a satisfactory way but doesn't suffer from feeling too abrupt. I thought it was the perfect length and the pacing was excellent throughout. I connected very quickly with the characters and was consistently surprised by the plot twists.

One of my favorite things is reading fantasy books set in places other than "Medieval Europe" and learning about the customs, mythical creatures, food, clothing, etc and there is plenty of all of that in this book where the setting is an alternate medieval India.

The writing was beautiful and kept me fully engaged while I read and listened. There were many passages I took note of for their beauty.

I loved learning about all of the different monsters. I had limited knowledge of most of them and so I appreciated the descriptions of their physical forms and actions. It never felt info-dump-y though and was always relevant to the plot.

I especially loved how there were many descriptions of monsters and their monstrous ways and it managed to be bloody and occasionally horrific without being horror. I was never really scared by the monsters - only intrigued. Especially since there is an emphasis on the monsters' humanity even though they are not human. They're very different, but in many ways they aren't. In fact I would say that the most monstrous characters were humans.

I loved the slow-burn romance - there was just enough of it to make me root for them while not overpowering the rest of the story - the magic, the monsters, the politics, and Katyani's journey to knowing and finding herself were the main focus.

Katyani goes through many trials throughout the story as she learns who she is, who she was, and who she can become. Her journey of self-discovery is compelling and pulls the reader breathlessly along for the ride.

The audiobook narrator did an excellent job bringing the story and characters to life. She obviously knew how to pronounce all of the unfamiliar terms that I would have stumbled over, and that made it a richer experience.

Even though this is a standalone and does wrap up satisfactorily, it leaves room for future books exploring Katyani and Daksh's adventures. I hope the author does write such sequels, and will read them as soon as I can get my hands on them.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing an e-arc and audio arc for review.

#wednesday books #rati mehrotra #night of the raven dawn of the dove #YA fantasy #alternate medieval India #arc review #netgalley #shilo reads #audiobook review

[theobviousparadox]

Review: Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra

Review: Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra

Night of the Raven, Dawn of the DoveRati MehrotraWednesday BooksPublished October 18, 2022 Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads About Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove To learn what she can become, she must first discover who she is. Katyani’s role in the kingdom of Chandela has always been clear: becoming an advisor and protector of the crown prince, Ayan, when he ascends to the throne. Bound to…

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#assassination #friendship #grief #Magic #monsters #netgalley #politics #Rati Mehrotra #Romance #warrior #Wednesday Books

[richincolor]

There are four books coming out tomorrow, plus one we missed earlier this month. Which of these have caught your eye?

Flower and Thorn by Rati Mehrotra Wednesday Books

One girl. One boy. A promise broken. A magic stolen. Irinya has wanted to be a flower hunter ever since her mother disappeared into the mysterious mist of the Rann salt flats one night. Now seventeen, Irinya uses her knowledge of magical flowers to help her caravan survive in the harsh desert. When her handsome hunting partner and childhood friend finds a priceless silver spider lily--said to be able to tear down kingdoms and defeat an entire army--Irinya knows this is their chance for a better life. Until Irinya is tricked by an attractive imposter. Irinya's fight to recover the priceless flower and to fix what she's done takes her on a dangerous journey, one she's not sure she'll survive. She has no choice but to endure it if she hopes to return home and mend the broken heart of the boy she's left behind.

If You'll Have Me by Eunnie Viking

Momo Gardner is the kind of friend who’s always ready to lend a helping hand. She’s introverted, sensitive, and maybe a little too trusting, but she likes to believe the best in people. PG, on the other hand, is a bit of a lone wolf, despite her reputation for being a flirt and a player. Underneath all that cool mystery, she’s actually quick to smile, and when she falls for someone, she falls hard. An unexpected meet-cute brings the two together, kicking off the beginning of an awkward yet endearing courtship—but with their drastically different personalities, Momo’s overprotective friend, and PG’s past coming back to haunt her, Momo and PG’s romance is put to the test.

A Bright Heart by Kate Chenli Union Square & Co.

What if you could avenge your own murder? A brilliant young woman gets a second chance at life in this debut YA tale of vengeance, court intrigue, and romance, inspired by classic Chinese tropes. Mingshin outsmarted three princes to help the man she loved become king. But she doesn’t see Ren’s betrayal coming, not until she’s lying in a pool of her own blood on the palace steps. As she’s dying, Mingshin makes a desperate plea to the gods to turn back time and give her a chance to make things right. Mingshin wakes up two years earlier, her prayer granted, and swears two things: Ren will never become king, and she will never fall in love again. But the timeline in this life has changed: a dignitary gifted with dark magic is threatening her kingdom’s peace, and Ren’s thirst for power runs deeper than Mingshin could have imagined. She finds herself allying with Jieh, another contender for the throne. Mingshin knows better than anyone not to give her heart to a prince. But in the viper’s nest of the royal court, she and Jieh prove a phenomenal team. Can Mingshin avert the catastrophe of her past by once again learning to trust…and maybe even love?

All These Sunken Souls: A Black Horror Anthology edited by Circe Moskowitz Amberjack Publishing

Welcome to the Dark. We are all familiar with tropes of the horror genre: slasher and victims, demon and the possessed. Bloody screams, haunted visions, and the peddler of wares we aren’t sure we can trust. In this young adult horror anthology, fans of Jordan Peele, Lovecraft Country, and Horror Noire will get a little bit of everything they love—and a lot of what they fear—through a twisted blend of horror lenses, from the thoughtful to the terrifying. From haunted, hungry Victorian mansions, temporal monster–infested asylums, and ravaging zombie apocalypses, to southern gothic hoodoo practitioners and cursed patriarchs in search of Black Excellence, All These Sunken Souls features the chilling creations of acclaimed bestsellers and hot new talents, with stories from Kalynn Bayron, Donyae Coles, Ryan Douglass, Sami Ellis, Brent Lambert, Ashia Monet, Circe Moskowitz, Joel Rochester, Liselle Sambury, and Joelle Wellington.

The Blackwoods by Brandy Colbert Balzer + Bray

The Blackwoods. Everyone knows their name. Blossom Blackwood burst onto the silver screen in 1962, and in the decades that followed, she would become one of the most celebrated actors of our time—and the matriarch of the most famous Black family in Hollywood. To her great-granddaughters, Hollis and Ardith, she has always just been Bebe. And when she passes away, it changes everything. Hollis Blackwood was never interested in fame. Still, she’s surrounded by it, whether at home with her family or at the prestigious Dupree Academy among Los Angeles’ elite. When private photos of Hollis are leaked in the wake of Blossom’s death, she is thrust into the spotlight she’s long avoided—and finds that trust may be a luxury even she can’t afford. Ardith Blackwood has always lived in the public eye. A television star since childhood, she was perhaps closer with Blossom than anyone—especially after Ardith’s mother died in a drug overdose. Ever since, she has worked to be everything her family, her church, and the public want her to be. But as a family secret comes to light and the pressures from all sides begin to mount, she wonders what is left beneath the face she shows the world. Weaving together the narratives of Hollis, Ardith, and Blossom, award-winning author Brandy Colbert tells an unforgettable story set in an America where everything is personal, and nothing is private.

#flower and thorn #if you'll have me #a bright heart #all these sunken souls #the blackwoods #new releases

[petalpetal]

whether they are YA depends who you ask and what decade it is but have you read the thief by megan whalen turner

oh I don't care about year I just want to have an arsenal of YA books that I have read so I can recommend them to patrons who looking for something specific or simular to another book they read.

For example if you want a good YA fantasy that has a only POC cast and features mainly characters from Central and South Asia I suggest Markswomen by Rati Mehrotra (this is for teens because its borderline YA/Adult by which i mean goodreads has it labeled as teens but I found it in the adult section at my old job so and mainly because the main characters are in the late teens and early 20s ) the books is a sci-fi/fantasy by which its a lot of fantasy elements but it hints on the fact that it takes place on this earth in the distant future and maybe aliens?????

#anyway I added the thief to my list