From Goodreads: "In a realm where toxic mist sweeps the lands and magic is forbidden, all Bleak wants is a cure for her power. Still grieving the death of her guardian and dangerously self-medicating with alcohol, Bleak is snatched from her home by the Commander of the King’s Army, and summoned to the capital. But the king isn’t the only one interested in Bleak’s powers. The leader of an infamous society of warriors, the Valia Kindred, lays claim to her as well, and Bleak finds herself in the middle of a much bigger battle than she anticipated."

Thank you to Helen Scheuerer for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

I had the opportunity to read two short stories that tie into the world of Heart of Mist back in June and absolutely loved them. The world was beautiful, the writing was unlike any I had read, and I fell in love with Bleak. I was blown away by the fact that Helen was able to make me care so much about everything to do with this world and Bleak in such a short amount of time. I was absolutely hooked and reached out about reading the full Heart of Mist book. Helen was so incredibly kind and sent me an e-ARC of the full book and I somehow managed to fall even more in love with what she has created. This was easily one of my favorite fantasy novels I've ever read and I am so excited to see where this series goes!

Plot:
All Bleak wants is to find a cure for her magic. In a world where magic is forbidden to use by anyone other than a royal, being able to hear the thoughts of others is a constant danger to orphan Bleak. Known as the town drunk, Bleak dangerously self-medicates with alcohol in order to try and suppress the voices in her head. One day, she's snatched from her home and summoned to the capital on suspicion of being an Ashai, or magic wielder. But the king isn't the only one interested in Bleak and what she can do. The legendary Valia Kindred lay claim to Bleak and soon, she's drawn into a much bigger battle than she ever anticipated.

Seriously, this book was fantastic. I cannot say enough good things about how much I enjoyed reading Heart of Mist. There was action, magic, strong female fighters, deception, politics, friendships, and no freaking romance. Okay, that came out wrong, because there is romance, but it's not the main plot point and it doesn't happen with the main character! I can't tell you how tired I am of reading books where the main plot point is the romance between two characters and it completely overshadows the overall story. I was absolutely over the moon when I realized that Bleak was not going to get caught up in a romantic plot! Heart of Mist has so much to offer and even if you like your YA fantasy to have romance in it, you won't even miss it here.

There is so much that happens in this story with several characters (yes, it's a multiple POV book, we'll get to that) and it was so much fun following the different characters and watching their stories unfold. Nothing is thrown at you all at once but rather introduced or touched on and then explained more as the story goes on. Info-dumping is not a problem with Heart of Mist and you definitely learn all of the things that you need to know when you need to know them. This book flows like the ocean; unpredictable during a storm but beautiful when the calm finally comes. You never know what's going to happen next and that's what makes this book so exciting. Heart of Mist is full of so many exciting things and it was an absolute treat to have the opportunity to read this incredible start to the series.

Characters:
I mentioned above that this is a multiple POV book. If you've been following my reviews for any amount of time you know that I seriously dislike multiple POV's in books, especially if there are more than two. But Heart of Mist pulled off what I never thought a book could accomplish and it made the changing points of view enjoyable to read. I didn't think it would happen, but it did. I loved Bleak, I truly did, but getting to read about everyone else and what was happening to them outside of what was happening to Bleak was so much fun. I never felt like I was missing out on anything but rather that I was learning more as I read the book and got to see what the other characters were experiencing. Of course, I was hesitant at first simply because I dislike multiple POV books, but I quickly learned to love them. They were so much more than I initially thought they would be and I genuinely enjoyed watching their stories unfold. I can't imagine where they'll go from here on out, but I'm eagerly awaiting the continuation of the series so I can find out.

Bleak was an all-around amazing character. She was broken and flawed but she was also incredibly strong. Because I had read the short prequel stories, I already knew that Bleak had a drinking problem, but I didn't realize just how bad it was. My heart broke for her because she was addicted to drinking in order to try and dull her mind reading abilities that, if revealed, would pretty much lead to her death. It was so sad to watch her struggle with her addiction, but by the end, I think she was able to overcome it. Reading about her journey from start to finish was a journey that I never wanted to end. Bleak is just such an amazing character and after that absolutely explosive ending, I am so excited to see where she goes in the next book!


Writing:
In my review for the two prequel stories, I said that I thought the writing was beautiful and alluring, and the same easily can be said for Heart of Mist. This was undoubtedly my favorite part of the book and I just could not get over the fact that the writing was so fantastic. It really brings you into Bleak's world and you can effortlessly get lost in everything that is going on. It's so descriptive and elegant and draws out feelings of magic, wonder, and mystery. My personal favorite part, and probably the longest part, is when Bleak travels to Valia. It's written so well and I loved picturing the Valian people and their lifestyle. Just like with the prequel stories, Heart of Mist has one of my absolute favorite lines that I've had the pleasure of reading:

"The mist is coming, and with it comes a power so hungry for magic, it threatens the whole realm."

From Goodreads: "My first boyfriend dumped me—happy birthday, Josie!—my dad is who knows where, I have some weird virus that makes me want to hurl, and now my ex is licking another girl’s tonsils. Oh, and I’m officially the same age as my brother was when he died. Yeah, today is about as fun-filled as the swamps of Dagobah. But then weird things start happening. Like I make something materialize just by thinking about it. When hottily-hot badass Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle, everything changes. Like, everything. Who I am. My family. What really happened to my brother. Existence. I am Oculi, and I have the ability to change reality with my thoughts. Now Reid, in all his hotness, is charged with guiding and protecting me as I begin learning how to bend reality. And he’s the only thing standing between me and the secret organization that wants me dead.

Thank you to MaryAnn from Chapter by Chapter and Entangled Teen for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for review! All opinions are my own.

Anomaly was a book I did a reveal for when it first came out in 2014 but I never got around to reading it. I couldn't help but feel like it was one I would enjoy but always just kind of slipped through the TBR crack, so to speak. But I've finally gotten a chance to read it and while it wasn't the A+ most perfect book I've ever read, I definitely enjoyed it and am already reading the sequel, Enigma!

Plot:
Josie Harper just got dumped on her birthday. To make things even better, her dad is missing, she's sick, and she watched her now-ex making out with some other girl. Oh, and she's also the same age as her brother when he died. Best. Birthday. Ever. But now, she's experiencing...weird things. Like being able to make something materialize just by thinking about it. When Reid Wentworth shows up on a motorcycle, Josie's life completely changes. Everything she thought she knew is turned upside down. She discovers she's an Oculi, with the ability to change reality with her thoughts and Reid is there to guide and protect her as she learns to control her new powers. He's also the only thing standing between Josie and the secret organization that wants her dead.

This was certainly a unique premise for a book. I was all about a female main character that was both into science and a huge nerd, just like me! Plus, the ability to basically create things out of thin air sounded really cool. Anomaly felt like a very...typical YA science fiction book to me. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it just meant that I knew what to expect while reading. "Ordinary" girl meets new dark, mysterious boy in school, boy turns out to be not human (or has some form of powers but still appears human), girl finds out that she, too, has powers (or is not human), bad guys come after girl, boy protects girl, the two fall for each other and team up to fight the bad guys.

I did enjoy the Oculi powers and thought it was really funny that super nerdy Josie who loves the idea of superheroes and the like found it hard to believe that she, herself, was essentially a superhero. Her internal banter was funny, as was the constant back and forth between her and Reid. I did feel that many (if not all) of the nerdy/pop culture references were made just to be made. They were definitely not lacking in the reference department, with at very least one on every page, and while it was clever at first, I ended up getting tired of it by the end. It just felt too forced after a while and I feel that maybe one every so often would have served the same purpose. That being said, it didn't ruin the book for me entirely. The plot kept me fairly engaged for the first half, and I found myself kind of reading kind of skimming the second half, but still enjoying the overall story. Everything unfolded at a relatively decent pace and it never really felt like things were dragging on or moving too slowly.

The relationship between Josie and Reid was kind of hard to get into, probably due to the fact that Reid constantly made comments about how he knew Josie from a very long time ago but he couldn't let her know who he really was but he definitely had feelings for her and definitely couldn't let her know. It was just...not something I enjoyed. I get that the "thing" is for the bad boy to like the girl but it's "too dangerous" to be with her, but I guess I've just grown out of that whole trope. I'm hoping in the sequel that there's more to their relationship than just them constantly thinking about how hot the other one is but never actually doing anything except make snarky comments towards each other.

Characters:
I briefly mentioned this above but I liked Josie and the fact that she was into science and a huge nerd. It was really cool to read about a character that had the same interests as I did! Her nerdy/pop culture references were funny at first, but again, they eventually felt like they were just being made to kind of hammer in the fact that Josie was a nerd. She was fun and sassy, and watching her come into her powers at such an accelerated rate (I mean, of course she's basically mastered her powers after a week!) was kind of cool. Who wouldn't want to have the ability to just poof things into existence?! All in all, Josie was a good main character who I'm definitely looking forward to reading more about in the next book.

Reid was your typical dark and mysterious YA male character but with superpowers. He drove me absolutely insane with his constant internal battle regarding Josie and whether or not he should tell her who he really was because he liked her but couldn't tell her because it would put her in danger. Again, I'm just tired of that trope. The Oculi powers were cool, as they were with Josie, and the twist with his past and Josie's brother made for an interesting ending, but Reid just wasn't anything fantastic for me. I was bothered by something that was addressed towards the end that seemed to just get kind of grazed over involving Josie and Reid, and hopefully that gets brought up in the sequel because I felt like it was a bigger deal than Josie acted like. I don't care how hot you think this boy is, something like that just does not get glossed over because you can't stop thinking about running your hands through his hair!

I would definitely like to read more about Josie's mother and father. Without giving away anything about them both, there's definitely more to them than you initially think, and I'd be interested in learning more about them! The rest of the characters were well-written, but none of them were really ones that I'd be excited to see in the next book. They're not bad, but just not as memorable as Josie and Reid were.

Writing:
Anomaly was definitely an easy book to read. It never felt complicated or too overly descriptive, just very easy to sit down and read and get through the story at a relatively quick pace. I enjoyed the way that the Oculi powers were described and also the way that Josie reacted to having those powers. Seriously, it cracked me up that super nerdy Josie was having trouble grasping the fact that she basically had superpowers. Also, I thought it was hilarious that one of the first things she asked Reid to Push was ice cream. If I had those powers, I'd Push all of the food, no shame. But I really enjoyed Tonya Kuper's writing and I was definitely immediately picking up Enigma right after I finished Anomaly!

If you're looking for an easy to read, funny, science-y YA book to get into, then Anomaly is the book for you. It has a nerdy main character that readers are sure to be able to relate to (at least a little bit), easy writing that's fun to get lost in, and a unique plot that you'll definitely enjoy.