“A swashbuckling adventure.” –Booklist “A rollicking Indiana Jones flick with a female lead.” –BCCB The Last Magician meets A Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue in this thrilling, “breathless” (Kirkus Reviews) tale filled with magic and set in the mysterious Carpathian Mountains where a girl must hunt down Vlad the Impaler’s cursed ring in order to save her father. Some legends never die… cursed ring in order to save her father.
Some legends never die…
Traveling with her treasure-hunting father has always been a dream for Theodora. She’s read every book in his library, has an impressive knowledge of the world’s most sought-after relics, and has all the ambition in the world. What she doesn’t have is her father’s permission. That honor goes to her father’s nineteen-year-old protégé–and once-upon-a-time love of Theodora’s life–Huck Gallagher, while Theodora is left to sit alone in her hotel in Istanbul.
Until Huck returns from an expedition without her father and enlists Theodora’s help in rescuing him. Armed with her father’s travel journal, the reluctant duo learns that her father had been digging up information on a legendary and magical ring that once belonged to Vlad the Impaler–more widely known as Dracula–and that it just might be the key to finding him.
Journeying into Romania, Theodora and Huck embark on a captivating adventure through Gothic villages and dark castles in the misty Carpathian Mountains to recover the notorious ring. But they aren’t the only ones who are searching for it. A secretive and dangerous occult society with a powerful link to Vlad the Impaler himself is hunting for it, too. And they will go to any lengths–including murder–to possess it.
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Sometimes I do this weird thing where I’m super excited about a book, I buy it…and then let it sit on my shelf to marinate for months, sometimes YEARS. I don’t know why. But that’s what I did with this book…and then read it in a day, because of course I did. I’ve always enjoyed Jenn Bennett’s books (I’ve read a lot of her titles aimed at adults). They always have a lot of fun world building, good romance, and adventure. This book didn’t let me down. So much fun. Theodora is tired of being abandoned and left behind in hotel rooms while her treasure hunting father gads about on adventures. So she’s already on her last straw when he tutor quits, leaving her alone in a foreign city…and her father doesn’t come back. Set in 1930’s Romania, there is a ton of adventure, creepy going’s on, and a best friend/handsome Irish boy who broke her heart as a sidekick. I really hope there’s a sequel at some point. (I have no idea if the book is historically accurate and honestly I’m not sure I care. It was fun. Plus there was a funicular. Funiculars are the best.)
Whoa! This was awesome! Even if i felt like i had sand in every nook and cranny when i finished. Lol!
Tommy, Alif and her 5 friends are all swept away in a sandstorm, and they end up out in the middle of the desert. They walk and walk, afraid they’re going to die of thirst, when they come upon the Oasis. But after enjoying the fresh water and fruit, things begin to happen, friends turn on friends, and they begin to split apart. Nobody comes to look for them and they start to wonder how they will get back to camp.
The story is creepy and weird, but in a good way, where you can’t put the book down. It has that Twilight Zone feel to it. It had me turning the pages so fast to see what was going to happen to them, and to find out the mystery of the Oasis!
Tommy was completely yummy, and he and Alif were trying their hardest to figure out what was going on and how to get home. I didn’t feel as invested in the others, but the things that would happen between everybody was interesting. But i felt mostly invested in Tommy and Alif, and what was happening between them and also to them.
This is a great book! It’s definitely a genre-bender, with aspects of sci-fi, horror, adventure and romance.
Jenn Bennett is one of my favorite authors ever, so when I saw she was doing a YA fantasy I was so excited! I love seeing authors write different genres even though her YA contemporaries are a-amazing!
Theo was awesome! She was strong, emotional, challenging, and admitted when she was right or wrong. Huck was the perfect sidekick—swoony, sweet, protective, funny. Their bickering was the best!
The world building was great and we get to explore such places as Turkey and Romania. And there is quite the chase that Theo and Huck have to take part in to escape people after them. I will say that one of my favorite action scenes was the airplane one!
And the magic! There was just so much awesomeness tangled up in this book, whether you are looking for contemporary, adventure, fantasy, romance—it’s all there! I really loved this one and can’t wait to see what happens next with Theo in book 2!
A fun young adult read… coming of age… and discovery ancestory and heritage… while discovering the wide world!
I really liked this fast-paced YA adventure. There’s also hints of the paranormal/occult, but I wouldn’t quite categorize this as fantasy. I think fans of the 1999 Mummy movie would enjoy this novel.
I absolutely loved this book by Jenn Bennett. She did not disappoint. I enjoyed following Theo and Huck’s adventure through Transylvania and the many things that went wrong. I am just glad that it all worked out well. I sure do hope that this book becomes a series, because I did not want the book to end!
This book hit all the right spots for me! It was so much fun and I just adored the characters so much. It has a real addictive quality to it and was just so easy for me to devour.
I loved Theo so much! She was so fierce and so smart and had such an inquisitive mind. She has a knack for puzzles and all things paranormal… which is why she is rightly annoyed when her father leavers her behind on his treasure hunting adventures. I loved Theo because she knew her worth and she did not give up. She took action and was stubborn and kept doing what she believed was right and needed to be done. And then we had Huck who I just adored. Poor Huck, he is not a big fan of the paranormal and when you are with Theo there is no avoiding it. I loved the dynamic here and that Huck readily admitted when he was afraid. He was funny and sweet and charming and I LOVED his constant use of incorrect clichés. And then the banter when Theo corrected him was amazing. Honestly their banter as a whole was amazing. These two have so much to work through but I loved them so much. One of my favorite things about this book was that it really heavily focused on Theo and Huck and didn’t have too expansive of a cast. Don’t get me wrong, I love big casts but there is something to be said for really getting to know two characters very well and following them along in their adventure.
This book had such an addictive plot and I loved following Theo and Huck and they traveled in search of her father and uncovered secrets of Dracula’s ring along the way. These two get into so much trouble and it is so much fun. This book gets going really quickly and it does not let up from beginning to end. I loved the pacing and I loved keeping up with these two. And I really loved the balance of the mystery and the action and the romance.
All in all, The Lady Rogue was a really enjoyable read. I loved the characters and I loved the mystery of it all. Great read for readers who enjoy historical novels with a splash of fantasy.
Was a fun original storyline. Just didn’t have characters that I fell in love with.
This is the YA action/adventure book of my dreams.
The world of YA books is seriously lacking in big dumb fun adventure novels. Most often, when there is an adventure, it’s a giant overly serious quest. Don’t get me wrong. I love a big and serious quest. But sometimes I just want fun. And that’s what The Lady Rogue is.
This may be an action adventure story with mild fantasy aspects set in the late 1930s in Eastern Europe, but it’s still a classic Jenn Bennett YA novel. Fantastic dialogue, teen angst galore and an inner monologue that leaves you giggling.
I absolutely loved The Lady Rogue. It’s been way too long since I read a fun adventure book, and add in the mild fantasy aspects and a Vlad the Impaler-related theme, and The Lady Rogue was a total winner for me. I loved Theodora and Huck; their banter was highly entertaining, and I enjoyed learning about their history and watching them grow closer as they overcame obstacles and dangerous situations together. I felt like I was right there with them on their adventure across Eastern Europe, and I loved reading about the scrapes they got themselves into and the people they met. This book made me laugh, kept me guessing, and had some lovely emotional parts too. I was completely captivated through the whole story, and would love to see this made into a movie or mini-series.
What a delight of a caper! This was described to me as The Last Magician meets A Gentleman’s Guide To Vice And Virtue. I agree with the latter comparison but as I have not read the former, it reminded me more of a snappier version of Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian. I’m a sucker for a good origin story and gory as it may be, the case of Vlad the Impaler and his missing bone ring had me enthralled.
Theodora is falsely accused of theft when we first meet her. The action only amps up from there, especially once she discovers her former best friend and love interest in her hotel room. Very soon, they’re running for their lives across Europe and trying to figure out where Theo’s missing father might be. It’s one calamity after another and I was positively delighted by it all. Hiding in a hotel? Lost in a forest? Crashing a plane? No matter what happened to them, I was leaning in with popcorn and a giant smile on my face. That may sound callous on the surface but this book was such a glorious romp.
Theo is such a wonderfully spunky heroine. She was born ahead of her time and limited by societal expectations of 1937 as a result but she doesn’t let that hold her back. She’s brilliant, especially when it comes to research and crossword puzzles. She’s experienced loss but she’s resilient no matter what calamity comes her way. She was an utter marvel to read about and I really liked seeing how she connected to her mother’s Romanian roots as they traveled the country.
Huck is Irish and therefore I immediately loved him. He’s leery of the supernatural and more cautious, a good counterpart to Theo’s tendency to act before thinking, especially where magic is involved. But this is not to say he doesn’t have his own sense of daring. He can, after all, pick locks and fly planes. He’s a charmer with a penchant for getting a rise out of Theo and I was smitten.
As the mystery deepens, Theo and Huck have to confront what tore them apart a year prior. Their banter is on point and this carries us pretty far into the book. There was so much angst and tension and longing between them. The story did a great job of balancing their need to talk through what happened and where they stand now with the search for Fox. There’s a delicate dance between them, as neither knows where the other stands, even though the reader is begging them to kiss and make up. When they finally do, it was wonderful and I just want more of their story.
Some big things happen at the end that could have been expanded upon. Theo wrestles with an ancient power and I wanted so much more exploration of those themes. The ending felt really rushed overall. With about 15 pages left, I started to wonder if this was actually book 1 of a series and I was going to have to wait to find out what happened. But no, all was resolved and wrapped up far too quickly for my taste. However, I did thoroughly enjoy the last couple of pages as it seems to leave an opening for more adventures from Theo, Huck, and Fox. Here’s hoping.
CW: violence, murder, past death of parents, grief, missing parent
Disclosure: I received an advanced copy from Simon Pulse in exchange for an honest review.
The Lady Rogue that has me making all the heart eyes right now. This book is essentially Lara Croft with occult magic, a hunt for Dracula’s ring, exploring castles, and some of those moments where you’ll be SO glad you’re sitting down.