5 Stars for Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley glitters with gold. This novel is a journey through the Native American Ojibwe community and its culture but it is a universal human experience loaded with betrayal, death, love, and self-discovery. 18 year old Daunis Fontaine, the protagonist, struggles with who she is with biracial prejudices all around her, plus she's a brilliant scientist nerd struggling with her femininity against the backdrop of her desires for a guy she cannot truly trust and another who already betrayed her and then there is her brother, Levi, the son of the mother who cheated with Daunis's father. Then, let's tie in federal agents and a big meth drug ring to spice up the danger in this book. Yes, this book does not feel like a debut from Boulley, but a literary gift to readers willing to explore culture, understand betrayal, love and forgiveness. Beautiful. 

5 Stars for The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black

The line Cardan whispers to Jude, "By you, I am forever undone," reminds me of the line Gatsby (The Great Gatsby) speaks about his true love, Daisy, "When I kissed this girl, I knew my mind would never romp again like the mind of God." The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black is the third book in the series, The Folk of the Air. All three books are deserving of the full star rating. 1. You have a dynamic female protagonist, Jude with no magic in a world of fairy magic. All she possesses is a passion for power and a very clever mind. I love her! I rooted for her from page one of The Cruel Prince, the first book in the series. 2. Cardan, a complex cruel prince, who battles against a closet full of his own demons, and loves Jude despite his nature to destroy. 3. Plot twists that surprised me. For example, the ending of the second book, The Wicked King, thundered with electric promise. If you read the first two books, you have to read the third. 4. Ms. Black's need to put Jude in every possible danger leaving her only - well this makes me think of that old show MacGyver in the 1980s where getting out of danger involves real complexity - and that Jude is abundance of. Jude is amazing but she is also real, well as real as a mortal can get in a land full of magic. Jude is vulnerable (especially when it comes to Cardan) but also because of her mortality. Excellent characterization. Jude could easily be a cross between Lara Croft and Lady Macbeth, now isn't that a combination. Cardan is the better version of Dorian Gray.