Cover Image: Through Smoke and Sand

Through Smoke and Sand

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Member Reviews

I loved this!!! I wish more YA Fantasy was like this! This book had humor and heart and I adored Lexi. Magic, fairy godmothers......what more can a former Cinderella girl need?!

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I enjoyed this YA fiction book. At times the sentences felt a bit long, and I wish there was more sentence variety to break up the text, but the story arc overall was interesting.

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Writing was good. Author did a good job. The story wasn’t what I was wanting to read right now but will try again later. Author did a good job though.

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Really enjoyed this fantasy romantasy book. There were times that it felt slow, but when it picked up it was hard to put it down! Highly recommend! The fantasy world was fun.

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I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

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I was lucky enough to have author, Corrie Hathaway reach out to me via Instagram to provide me with an ARC of this book, which in itself is a lovely gesture so thank you.

Going into this read, I didn't know what to expect but I found myself enjoying it. Our MC, Lexi is quirky and quick-witted which made her relatable. The plot flowed with a relatively decent pace, besides a few slower areas. However, this were needed to further develop Lexi's character and experiences.

Overall, a good read

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Very well written and original premise (at least for me). Would have liked a little more show vs tell in places but cool world and overall fun read.

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This book was a pleasant surprise. I loved all the action and suspense throughout the book! I liked the disability representation, it felt realistic and not forced

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thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

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A YA fantasy book that took me awhile to get to, but as soon as I did I was hooked. The world is easy to immerse into and I didn’t expect the humor. So much fun and I guess color? In this book. Like sparkly parts. I think it’s a book for all ages! New author for me and I’d totally read more.

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Have you ever wanted to be a fairy godmother? Well this story tells us what that might be like. Lexi is turning 19. She has always had a need to help other people, but it’s gotten out of hand. A fairy godmother comes to her and invites her to join them. Lexi does eventually, but things don’t go as perfectly as she plans.

Lexi is impulsive and doesn’t think things through. She struggles to accept authority and makes rash decisions without understanding everything at stake. Lexi has big heart and just really wants to help her fellow godmothers and the people in need of blessings. Throughout Lexi learns and grows, and so do the godmothers.

There’s family, friendship, and a little romance in these pages. Don’t forget the magic and an every-so-often ball. This isn’t all glitter and magic wands. There is an old evil that is wrecking havoc and somethings from your nightmares.

This is a cute read that is perfect for teenagers who still love fairytales.

This book contains scattered mild profanity and an innocent romance.

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I did not finish this one, it was not for me, I couldn't relate to the characters, and just did not care for the story.

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Interesting plot that kept me reading until the end. I thought the take on Fairy Godmothers was unique and something I have not come across yet.

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I enjoyed the premise, which I felt was unique and something I haven’t seen before. It definitely reads as YA, so I wasn’t the intended audience. I feel like this would be a great fit for younger readers who want a darker spin on fairy tales.

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Lexi is an eighteen year old barista who has a compulsion to help people. If someone asks her for advice or help in their personal life she has to help, or she'll suffer physically. Just before her nineteenth birthday, she is overwhelmed at work with a crowd of people who become a dangerous mob, following her through town to her home and trying to break in, unaware of the magic drive to have her fix their problems. Lexi is overwhelmed and begs for help, and to her surprise help comes in the form of Gussy, an elderly Fairy Godmother. She offers to bring Lexi to Spindle Peak, the home of the Godmothers, where she can learn to use her gifts and join their ranks. Lexi, being both impulsive and rebellious, says no thank you. Then changes her mind and has to earn her way into the Godmothers' good graces.

Lexi's lack of forethought and streak of bluntly spoken rebellion when confronted with rules causes loads of problems for the Godmothers, her roommate, her friendship with the mysterious Oliver, and for the people she's supposed to be blessing with Fairy Godmother magic. She is very much an immature young adult who makes massive mistakes threatening the safety of the whole world, struggles with self-confidence and abandonment issues, and has to determine whether the gift she's obligated to fulfill is also her calling.

I enjoyed the hell out of this book. It is a fast read, and Corrie Hathaway has created an excellent backdrop of magic adjacent to the mundane world. Lexi is a wonderfully troubled character, and her main antagonists, Wilhelmina and Sylvia, are perfect foils of order, rules, and maturity against Lexi's utter mess of inexperience and young adult "know it all" attitude. I think I had similar arguments when I was about her age (although maybe not about Godmother strategies), so it was fun to watch her learn through the course of the story.

There were a few moments where Hathaway's writing jarred me out of the story, but those moments were early on in the plot and smoothed out later. I was satisfied with the way things ended and cleverly set the stage for book two, which I hope is coming soon because I need to know what happens next in Lexi's adventures. If you like fairy tales and appreciate the reluctant hero who makes frustratingly short-sighted decisions that complicate her own life, this book is for you.

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Very quick & easy fantasy to get through. It was a nice pallet cleanser.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me an arc in exchange for my honest review.

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Unfortunately I had to DNF this book at 25%. I really struggled to get into the story and found that some of the elements weren't clicking for me. I can see that this will definitely be perfect for some readers but just not for me. Thank you for allowing me to read and review.

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I did enjoy this book, but I sometimes found it to be a little simple. A lot of the "reveals" throughout were easily guessed and weren't much of a surprise. I think the concept it wonderful, but maybe it wasn't 100% for me.

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A secret order of women tasked with maintaining the world's goodness needs new recruits to avoid the resurgence of an ancient threat. Impulsive and fun-loving Lexi McArthur is turning 19 with no purpose in life, aside from a knack for solving other people's problems.
When her own problems manifest in an unexpected, relentless form, she can't decline an offer to join the should-be mythical group of aging fairy godmothers. Between learning what they use their powers for and demonstrating her own lack of skill with that power, she wonders if the fairy godmothers picked the wrong girl, especially when compared to her fellow trainee.
This book was definitely a wildcard for me. I didn’t even read the stenosis going in so I was thrown into a male storm of confusion of what this book was about. But once I got my footing, this book definitely grew on me. The main character Lexi for sure is relatable as hell and reminded me so much of myself that I couldn’t help but I want to see where her story went. A lot of the dialogue for sure Had me cracking up and with stuff that I would’ve said if I was in her position.
But as for the plot for sure dragged a bit to the point where I wanted to skip a couple chapters to get to the meat of the story between good and evil. Which is dangerous cause i want the whole story to be readable and enjoyable and this book falls into boring territory quite a few times.
But for sure got better after a little sluggish middle and you can tell that it set up a sequel to be commissioned. More than likely would read it, but not immediately as it’s released. I would say it’s a solid novel, but falls into the forgettable category
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.

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Thank you, Netgalley, Green Elk Publishing and Tabitha, for reaching out and providing this arc for me.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. I really hate DNF’ing books, but this one just wasn’t for me. The premise was surely something I haven’t read before, but in the first 30% of the book I struggled a lot. I wish there was a little bit more worldbuilding in the first few chapters. I probably would have been more invested if this were the case.

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