Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this sampler in exchange for an honest review.
This was filled with amazing stories that I couldn't help but love. If you enjoy YA, these are definitely stories to try.

I have met so many teachers that are just overwhelmed and do not pick up books for themselves unless they are running a book club at school. Now that we have so much absenteeism due to the latest COVID variant, I also know that giving student time to read in school seems very inefficient considering the time we lost in the past two years. Therefore, when you do see a stretch of clear skies ahead in your calendar, how do you dive straight into a great book without taking a chance that you abandon it after the first couple of pages?

Publishers do a good job of offering one hour book talks around themes, but I also like these digital samplers that come out every quarter. This winter one comes from different publishers of YA books and I like that you get a couple of chapters to whet your appetite and then it moves on to the next book. It's just enough to know if you want to put the book on your TBR (to be read list). From this one I am looking forward to the following:

A Magic Steeped in Poison - Judy I. Lin's sweeping debut A Magic Steeped in Poison, first in a duology, is sure to enchant fans of Adrienne Young and Leigh Bardugo.

For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her—the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu.

Cold: a Novel by Mariko Tamaki. A boy, a murder, a girl, a secret. A haunting YA novel about a shocking crime, told by a boy who died - and a girl who wants to know why.

Red Palace June Hur, critically acclaimed author of The Silence of Bones and The Forest of Stolen Girls, returns with The Red Palace—a third evocative, atmospheric historical mystery perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Kerri Maniscalco.

Thanks to NetGalley for the sampler of new books coming out in 2022 in exchange for an honest review. As a YS librarian, I found this sampler to be an efficient way to read some new YA fiction without committing to the full book. This is a great way to get a feel for the books and see what will fit in our collection.

I had already planned to read The Lost Dreamer, one of the winter sampler selections, and I'm already hooked by the fantasy and thriller aspects of this book. Other selections that caught my eye include Cold, a murder mystery/ghost story with what looks like a LGBTQ+ protagonist, Ophelia After All, and Travelers Along the Way, which is a girl Robin Hood tale.

I recommend all of these titles for anyone looking to add to their YA collection!

2022 is going to be a great year or YA books! Every sample in this pack was amazing, and I cannot wait for release date.

I really enjoyed getting a snippet of different books and would very much like to continue a few of them.

Thank you so much to Macmillan and NetGalley for a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions stated are entirely my own. I am so excited about all of these upcoming releases! There are great fantasy, historical fiction, and romance books coming out! I loved the samples of all the books I read and hope to read them all!

Thank you for providing this sampler. This provided me the opportunity to add "A Magic Steeped In Poison" to my 2022 list. It is a must read for me. I can't wait to finish reading the rest of the book!

I always love when I get the chance for these samplers to see what's to come!

A Magic Steeped in Poison - Judy I. Lin
Magic tied to tea? You've got me hooked from there. There was a lot happening in this short sample, but it wasn't overwhelming, just defintiely a lot happening to set the stage for a future story.

Cold by Mariko Tamaki
I am interested in a murder mystery with dual POVs but I'm not convinced that the dual POVs are necessary? From the sample the story feels disconnected and confusing.

Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie
Themed around prom and the search to find your identity. It's interesting, but I am not sure I'm sold.

The Lost Dream by Lizz Huerta
Yeah dream based magic? I am sold.

The Red Palace by June Hurr
This one might be too historical for my liking, but I may still try and pick it up when it's released in January.

The Silent Unseen by Amanda McCrina
Not for me, I don't do historical fantasy well and I'm bored with the WWII setting.

Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae SAfi
A Robin Hood Retelling - I hope I'm not burned on this one, but I didn't like the last Robin Hood retelling I read. Either way I will be preordering this one!

We All Fall Down by Rose Szabo
I WILL pick this one up, I loved What Big Teeth and I'm eager to read more by the author.

2022 is going to be OUR fantasy year 👏 these all look so good!! I’m so very excited for pretty much all of these books to come out!

Thank you so much for these samples! I didn’t read all the samples but requested it because of The We All Fall down. It’s one of my most anticipated reads. Wonderful beginning and can’t wait to read the full story!

I am thankful that I was able to read a sampler of some of the new books coming out, from NetGalley.
In this sampler there were the first couple of chapters from books that will be published soon. Out of the 8 samples there are 3 I will be buying (Magic Steeped in Poison;The Lost Dreamer and The Red Palace),3 I am not interested in (Cold; The Silent Unseen and We All Fall Down) and 2 I may borrow from the library but don’t plan on buying ( Ophelia After All and Travelers Along the Way).
I look forward to the books being released.

Thank you to Fierce Reads & NetGalley for these samples. All thoughts are my own.

This was good. I liked the snippets of some of my anticipated books for next year & I liked what I was able to read. And it was nice to see some stories that I hadn't been aware of before that I am now excited for

Thank you for this sampler!! This exposed me to a lot of books I will now be interested in:

A MAGIC STEEPED IN POISON I had previously known about and the sampler makes me anticipate it even more.

I had never heard of COLD but it was my favorite in the sampler!

Again had never heard of WE ALL FALL DOWN but now I am very interested in it!

So 3/8 I will likely be picking up. :)

**Thank you to NetGalley and Fierce Reads for this sampler in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changed my thoughts and ratings**

I honestly was in this for A Magic Steeped in Poison because I was interested in that title and got declined on NetGalley for it. So even getting to read a little bit was a good trade-off for me. I took notes for each title as I read, including whether or not I was likely to read it upon publication. The split is pretty 50/50.

A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
-I felt like the magic system being tied to tea was very compelling and that the writing was beautiful. In just the three chapters I read, I highlighted two quotes, so I can't wait to experience more of Lin's writing. I did feel like a lot was going on for three chapters in, however. By my count, we have: a mother who's died, a sister who's ill, depression (?), sacrificing your dreams for the dreams your parents have for you, a vigilante who is poisoning tea bricks, and a corrupt governor who isn't doing what he needs to to protect his people. It probably could have been condensed to get rid of at least one of those problems or at least not introduce ALL of them in the first three chapters. Overall, I will still be looking forward to reading this upon publication in March.

Cold by Mariko Tamaki
-I will be very upfront and admit that I was predisposed to not like this title. I really, really disliked This One Summer and Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me because I feel like Tamaki writes irredeemable and unlikable characters who often exhibit problematic behaviors, such as slut shaming or a general lack of empathy. This didn't change my mind, unfortunately. I was surprised it wasn't a graphic novel and that she was tackling a murder mystery instead of a contemporary story. There are dual POVs. I didn't see the clear connection between the two voices as they aren't related, they don't know each other, and they don't go to the same school from the sections available to me. The third chapter ended abruptly on, surprise surprise, more of the same "I'm not like other girls" mess. "It is impossible to say if any of these girls actually knew Todd or are just being dramatic because the girls at this school are kind of prone to dramatics." For these reasons, I will not be picking up this title when it is published in February.

Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie
-This was a contemporary novel with a BIPOC lead and a very diverse friend group. The book is LGBTQIA+ and themed around prom and finding your identity. The writing was decent but I had one nitpick and that it was the "out" for the girls not being in a club was that it ran on Sunday Mornings...a time when the school would have to open the building and pay a teacher to be there on a non-school day. This just wouldn't happen, as a teacher. So that small detail bothered me and could've easily been fixed. Additionally, because I didn't go to my prom, had no interest then and have no interest now, books surrounding prom don't really work for me personally. I think they're very overdone and put a lot of pressure on teens to have this "perfect" night that most likely won't live up to expectations from the media. So for that reason and that reason alone, I will probably not pick this title up when it's published in February.

The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta
-This was described as a YA Fantasy set in Ancient Mesoamerica and as being about resisting the patriarchy. Where do I sign up? Also, that COVER!! 😍😍 I really liked the writing style and the dream-based magic system for our main character, Saya, who is a seer. My ONLY issue is that for some reason, the sampler started on Chapter two and I want Chapter one. It did feel a little like I was dumped in the middle of the book. That aside, I will probably be picking this up when it's published in March.

The Red Palace by June Hur
-This was another one that I've requested on NetGalley and I hope I'm approved for this title. This is a story set in 1758 Korea and is a murder mystery with a protagonist who is a nurse for the royal family. I quite enjoyed the protagonist and it felt like we're being set up for an enemies to lovers story, which is my favorite trope. I will be picking this title up when it's published in January.

The Silent Unseen by Amanda McCrina
-This is the only sample I flat out skipped and it's because it's yet again, ANOTHER YA story set in WWII. Those have been overdone to death and I find that I'm very critical of them because the topic is so important. They usually don't come across as seriously as I would like them to. Some of the books in this genre are downright harmful. Also, the synopsis hints at a romance, which I am not at all interested in from this type of book. For those reasons, I skipped the sample and will not be picking this up when it's published in April.

Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi
-This is part of the Classics Remix series and is a retelling of Robin Hood. I cannot express how much I want to read this title. Robin Hood and Little John are female sisters named Rahma and Zeena. The book is set in 1192 Jerusalem against the backdrop of the third crusade. The setting alone is so interesting and underrepresented that I would have checked it out, but the writing was very engaging, as well. This is another one where I highlighted some quotes. I will absolutely be checking this one out when it's published in March.

We All Fall Down by Rose Szabo
-This was described as a "dark YA Fantasy" book, which is usually up my alley. It's LGBTQIA+ and is about a dethroned king, a queen who dies in childbirth, and a cycle of the same story that depends on their twins: David, born to be "the Hero", and an unnamed boy who was born with octopus tentacles on his back, causing him to be abandoned at birth as a "monster". There is also a character named Jesse who is hinted to be trans, but the story says this is because they are the new "Maiden" and will help David to become the Hero and restore magic to a secret island where desperate people go to become "normal". The sampler plot was very difficult for me to follow because there were a lot of characters and not all of them are important. A lot of time was dedicated to characters who didn't seem important. Due to this plot difficulty, I probably won't read this one.

After finishing 8 samples, the results are that I'm likely to pick up 4. So here's hoping those 4 are really outstanding in 2022.

i requested this book only for two titles which i was interested for and that were -
magic stepped in gold and Ophelia after all !

here are my opinions on them
NOTE- these reviews are completely honest and not biased

Magic Stepped in Gold- i do want to read more of it as its a high fantasy and i want to know more !!!

Ophelia after all - this was might be one of the most summer vibes book ever, i am in love with Ophelia's character already, this one is lgbtq+ and coming of age

thank u so much fierce reads for the arc !!

Thank you so much for this sampler! I enjoyed reading and learning more about each of these books and I will be sure to check them out when they're released.

Thank you so much for this sampler. My most anticipated read was We All Fall Down and I loved the first chapters! Can’t wait to read the full story. Loved the Red Palace as well and found The silent Unseen intriguing. Definitely going to put some of these books on my TBR!

The Fierce Reads winter sampler promises to add several compelling reads to your TBR! Personally, I’m very excited to read A Magic Steeped in Poison, because I love high-stakes competitions and sibling stories. The writing was very lyrical and vivid. I am also a huge Adrienne Young fan and have heard this compared to her work. I had not previously heard about Cold, but I’m intrigued by the haunting premise. I’ll also be on the lookout for The Red Palace and We All Fall Down- I can’t wait to see what happens next in them both! I have really enjoyed both June Hur and Rose Szabo’s work before and am excited to read more from them. Thank you so much to Fierce Reads/Macmillan’s Children Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to read the sampler in exchange for honest feedback.

A great bunch of samples I couldn’t wait to get my hands on. My favorites are Cold, The Lost Dreamer, A Magic Steeped in Poison and We All Fall Down. I hadn’t come across We All Fall Down and really found myself hooked. I will be requesting these titles and purchasing them in the future. Thanks for the early preview!

I was already excited for each and every one of these, but now I'm craving them! I already read Ophelia after all and it has my heart, and Cold is one of my most anticipated releases! The red palace, We all fall down and A magic steeped in poison also really stood out to me!

Conclusion: can't wait for what 2022 has to bring!