I read two fantasies with young female protagonists that made me want to keep turning the pages. A third urban fantasy didn’t quite do enough in the pages I gave it to pull me in. (Books from Covers with Cassidy)
110) Karyne Norton, Blood of The Stars
A girl with magic in her blood searches for a way to her free from her wicked, inhuman guardians who use her as a source of power as they search for a magic artifact.
This novel has a wonderfully paced start with competent prose, great focus, and vivid characters. The world is steadily introduced alongside the action. We learn exactly what we need to know to keep turning the pages.
The dialogue has been a highlight for me here. Every person who speaks feels like a real person. The dialogue is motivated and realistic. It has tone. Each character has their own unique voice.
It feels like there is the right amount of everything in this opening – measured exposition, vibrant characters, action, intrigue, a conflicted and willful MC, this has it all. Furthermore, I find the conceit especially well devised to capture the rapt interest of young readers.
Our young MC is deeply conflicted about her power. It grows within her like steam under pressure and the only way for her to let it out is to bleed. This release feels euphoric. But it is through that same release that her guardians perform their wickedness.
No one else who she knows can harness the power of her blood like they can. Without release, her magic comes out in uncontrollable ways. She is trapped in more ways than one, and the result is riveting and metaphorically potent.
The action of this opening quickly escalates, and I can little guess where it will go next. The drama is high. The setting feels unique. It’s terrific. I’m in!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/200779702-blood-of-the-stars
111) BL Brown, Ritual Income
This is a urban fantasy with competent prose and a bit of a snide spirit (which comes through in the 3rd person close voice of our frustrated MC), but it starts slow and with no appreciable action as if yet.
The prologue, I think, was intended to arrest our attention, but it’s a trick that doesn’t quite come off because the prologue is not very clear. Something magical happens. Someone dies. It’s a flashback actually. On to chapter 1.
The opening of ch. 1 is totally mundane with a sprinkling of magical worldbuilding that is overshadowed, I feel, by the two overtly unlikable characters who feature in the scene.
It is great to have antagonists and villains and characters that readers love to hate. Characters who are annoying, and not even in a particularly interesting way, are less enjoyable to read about.
As a result, nothing important happens in the opening section of this novel other than some character voice & worldbuilding window dressing. There isn’t enough to grab the reader.
Were I especially interested in the blurb of this novel, I might read on because the righting is fun enough and the characters do come across as distinct, but I’m reading openings blind, and I have 300 to do. As I find it, this is a pass.
112) Nikola Stefan, Tale of Tales
The fates curse a newborn girl with a (at the very least) turbulent life in this 1st book on a folkloric, witchy, coming of age epic fantasy.
The 3rd person close point of view shifts across the opening sections of this novel. It is descriptive and moves well through this establishing material, but the highlight for me has been the folkloric details sprinkled throughout.
This takes superstition and gives it power. Red wool may keep a mother from dying after childbirth. An old woman collects stones to put in the washbasin. A father must not take the fire from the houses hearth for fear the demons will get in.
We see no demons as of yet, but we do see 3 old crowns appear to read the newborns fate … or do we? Her feverish mother, not long for this world, sees them, but no one at her bedside does. Maybe they were just a dream. Hardly!
Life goes on, our 12 yr old protagonist in ch1 has a new mother, a new half sister, but most importantly of all, her best friend in the world is a dog she saved as a waterlogged pup! Nothing better happen to that dog, Stefan!
This is a unique read. I’m interested to see more of the setting and to discover how the story will develop. I’d be happy to keep reading based on all the wonderfully original feeling details.
Although “a protagonist is born” is a fantasy opening I have read time and time again, this managed to do enough to capture my interest. I want to know what comes next, and that makes for a successful opening. I’m in!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184368932-tale-of-tales-part-i
Tom Mock 
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