#58 The Veil by Chloe Neill

Post war New Orleans is not the place everyone goes to since the Veil between our world and the Fae broke.   Claire is running anantiques and everyday sundry shop after the death of her father during the war.  With the Veil closed for now every human that shows paranormal powers is sent to the District to live with the rest of the invading troops. Humans that can use magic are called Sensitives and if they go into a magical overload they become wraiths [that attack humans].  Claire has recently developed telekinetic power and has been hiding it but gets caught using it to save herself during a wraith attack.  She is seen by Liam, a bounty hunter who collects wraiths and takes them to the District. Liam helps Claire hide her powers and also finds her a magical tutor.  Of course this is just the set up of the book and the world building in this setting is great. New Orleans comes across as a much smaller tight knit community taking care of each other and trying to make things better even if they are still living in an area classified as a war zone even if the war is over.

I’ll be reading the next one when it comes out and I may have to pick up some more books by her as well.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

#59 Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

This alternate history book works with the premise that the Library of Alexandria never burned but thrived and slowly became the shadow power that runs the world.  Countries still rule themselves but the Library controls all knowledge. No one owns personal books without paying a large fee. Everyone has a “blank” that can access any book in the Library archives. People strive to be able to work for the library.  Jess on the other hand has been sent there by his father to “help” with the family business of running black market books.  Jess finds himself competing for a precious spot when so many other capable other hopefuls from around the world are in his group.

The world building is very complete in this setting and you also see what happens with the Library when there is a regional war and the Library also fights the Burners, a rebel group that fights against the ways of the Library. This is a young adult novel so some of the story is Jess learning things about the world and that allows for the reader to learn more about the setting. A great first novel in a new series and I know I’ll be recommending this one to lots of people.

Review copy given to me by the publisher.