From the first page, To Best the Boys is explosive. Literally. A dead man spontaneously combusts which is how every book should start. To Best the Boys by Mary Weber is a forward-thinking fantasy novel that is an easy page turner that can be read in one sitting. The book addresses issues such as discrimination by gender and class in a compelling way. The test is pretty much if the tri-wizard tournament went for one day where people had to rely on their smarts all the while they are trapped in a mysterious labyrinth of puzzles. What you win is glory and chance at an education, but then again, it depends on who you ask.

Living in a world run by a government of old men from the upper class is never going to end well. Neither is being a woman wanting to pursue a career in science in a society where female opinions are less than valued and they are only to become simple wives. Rhen Teller, our protagonist, wants more though.

As her mother’s health starts to deteriorate from a mysterious plague that is infecting the lower class, her hope for finding a cure starts to deteriorate as well. When the annual letter inviting gentlepeople to attend a deadly competition to win a college scholarship, Rhen jumps at the life changing opportunity. The only problem is that she will be the only female that will be surrounded by overconfident, blood thirsty men that are there mostly for the wrong reasons.

Being the only time of the year where your wealth and political power cannot buy you leverage means you have to rely on smarts, thinking outside the box, and endurance, something Rhen has been accustomed to her entire life in the lower class. She doesn’t go for the glory, the opportunity to go to college, or to get a better job that will get her out of the slums. No, she goes so maybe she’ll be given the chance to use equipment that could help her cure a plague that is killing people.

With her cousin Seleni by her side, dressed in a dead man’s clothing, they enter the maze for love, a chance at a better future, and an opportunity to prove that women are just as capable as men.

This book shines a light on women having more of a role in subjects like mechanics, science, and math. Throughout the book Rhen completes task alongside friends proving to her society that they are chaining down the incredible potential for all woman, that they are more than wives.

What do you want? I want my mum to live. I want the right to earn an education. I want to be the first female scientist. I want to create my own happiness.

It shows that it is important to prove not only to others but yourself that you are worthy of more and smart enough to do anything you put your mind to. That you have a voice that is valued, unlimited potential, and don’t always need a guy to be happy. Although some of the guys in this book are sweet, lovable, and actually encourage women to be their best.

What if I don’t fully belong anywhere because I belong to myself.

The story was well written, but it could have easily been longer with the contest going for more than 24 hours (which is in no way long enough.) Every character was created so well that you could clearly see each individual personality and how they became the person they now are, plus seeing their motives gave more connection to the characters. They all grow on you which makes this such a charming book. To Best the Boys is a representation of how far we have come as humans and a society, which makes me hopeful for a better future.

All: Mr Holm and Holm Manor bear only slight responsibility, liberty, and legal obligation for the future societal changes that may result from your female children believing it is within their power and right to become whomever and whatever they desire- and in doing so, to change the course of history.

To Best The Boys is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.

Will you be reading To Best The Boys? Have you already? Tell us in the comments below!

Synopsis | Goodreads

Every year for the past fifty-four years, the residents of Pinsbury Port receive a mysterious letter inviting all eligible-aged boys to compete for an esteemed scholarship to the all-male Stemwick University. Every year, the poorer residents look to see that their names are on the list. The wealthier look to see how likely their sons are to survive. And Rhen Tellur opens it to see if she can derive which substances the ink and parchment are created from, using her father’s microscope.

In the province of Caldon, where women are trained in wifely duties and men are encouraged into collegiate education, sixteen-year-old Rhen Tellur wants nothing more than to become a scientist. As the poor of her seaside town fall prey to a deadly disease, she and her father work desperately to find a cure. But when her Mum succumbs to it as well? Rhen decides to take the future into her own hands—through the annual all-male scholarship competition.

With her cousin, Seleni, by her side, the girls don disguises and enter Mr. Holm’s labyrinth, to best the boys and claim the scholarship prize. Except not everyone’s ready for a girl who doesn’t know her place. And not everyone survives the maze.

The post Review: To Best The Boys by Mary Weber appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Read on to discover our picks and tell us in the comments below what you are excited to read!

Famous Men Who Never Lived by K. Chess
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For readers of Station Eleven and Exit West, Famous Men Who Never Lived explores the effects of displacement on our identities, the communities that come together through circumstance, and the power of art to save us.

New Suns by Nisi Shawl
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New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color showcases emerging and seasoned writers of many races telling stories filled with shocking delights, powerful visions of the familiar made strange. Between this book’s covers burn tales of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their indefinable overlappings. These are authors aware of our many possible pasts and futures, authors freed of stereotypes and clichés, ready to dazzle you with their daring genius.

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
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From the Hugo Award­­-winning author of The Stars Are Legion comes a brand-new science fiction thriller about a futuristic war. A worthy successor to classic stories like Downbelow Station, Starship Troopers, and The Forever War, The Light Brigade is award-winning author Kameron Hurley’s gritty time-bending take on the future of war.

Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith
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Perfect for fans of RED QUEEN and UPROOTED, Crystal Smith’s debut novel, BLOODLEAF, is an imaginative retelling of the Grimm Fairy tale “The Goose Girl” that takes a ghostly mystery and sets it inside an epic fantasy world.

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson
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From award-winning author G. Willow Wilson, The Bird King is an epic journey set during the reign of the last sultan in the Iberian peninsula at the height of the Spanish Inquisition.

The Women’s War by Jenna Glass
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In a high fantasy feminist epic, a revolutionary spell gives women the ability to control their own fertility—with consequences that rock their patriarchal society to its core.

To Best The Boys by Mary Weber
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Perfect for fans of The Scorpio Races and Caraval, To Best the Boys is a new fantasy novel from the beloved and bestselling author of the Storm Siren trilogy, Mary Weber.

The Perfect Assassin by K.A. Doore
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

A novice assassin is on the hunt for someone killing their own in K. A. Doore’s The Perfect Assassin, a breakout high fantasy beginning the Chronicles of Ghadid series.

Beware The Night by Jessika Fleck
Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository

Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear
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A space salvager and her partner make the discovery of a lifetime that just might change the universe in this wild, big-ideas space opera from multi award-winning author Elizabeth Bear.

The Fever King by Victoria Lee
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In the former United States, sixteen-year-old Noam Álvaro wakes up in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of the viral magic that killed his family and made him a technopath. His ability to control technology attracts the attention of the minister of defense and thrusts him into the magical elite of the nation of Carolinia.

The Witch’s Kind by Louisa Morgan
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From the author of A Secret History of Witches comes an absorbing tale of love, sacrifice, family ties, and magic, set in the Pacific Northwest in the aftermath of World War II — perfect for fans of Practical Magic, The Witch’s Daughter, and A Discovery of Witches. 

What book are you excited to read this month? Tell us in the comments below!

The post March Book Releases: Fantasy + Sci-Fi appeared first on The Nerd Daily.

Check out our June YA picks and tell us in the comments below if you will be reading one of them!

The Evaporation of Sofi Snow by Mary Weber | Goodreads
When the Delonese ice-planet arrived eleven years ago, Sofi’s dreams have been vivid. As an online gamer, Sofi helps with Earth’s Fantasy Fighting arena where her brother Shilo is forced to compete in a mix of real and virtual blood sport. When a bomb goes off, Sofi believes Shilo survived because she dreams of him and she’s convinced he’s been taken to Delonese. For Miguel, a charming young playboy and Ambassador to the Delonese, the tables have turned. Help the blackmailers, or lose more than anyone can fathom, or Earth can afford.

Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab | Goodreads
Nearly six months after Kate and August were first thrown together, the war between the monsters and the humans is a terrifying reality. In Verity, August has become the leader he never wished to be, and in Prosperity, Kate has become the ruthless hunter she knew she could be. When a new monster emerges from the shadows and lures Kate home, she finds more than she bargained for. She’ll face a monster she thought she killed, a boy she thought she knew, and a demon all her own.

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali | Goodreads
Janna Yusuf knows a lot of people can’t figure out what to make of her…an Arab Indian-American hijabi teenager who is a Flannery O’Connor obsessed book nerd, aspiring photographer, and sometime graphic novelist is not exactly easy to put into a box. She suddenly finds herself caring what people think, or at least what a certain boy named Jeremy thinks. Janna is trying to decide what kind of person she wants to be, and what it means to be a saint, a misfit, or a monster.

Welcome To The Slipstream by Natalka Burian | Goodreads
With her mother, a brilliant businesswoman with fragile mental health, Van arrives in Las Vegas, where Alex, a college student, is assigned to “babysit” her. Van is used to having to land on her feet, because her mother and her surrogate grandmother move from city to city like corporate gypsies, but Alex introduces Van, a talented musician, to a group where her guitar skills may shine. Just as she’s about to play her first gig, her mother is lured in by a con man promising a “vision quest” in Arizona, and Van must go on the road to find and save her mom.

Obsidian and Stars by Julie Eshbaugh | Goodreads
After surviving the chaotic battle, Mya looks ahead to her future with Kol. Announcing their betrothal, Mya’s brother reveals his plan to marry his youngest sister to his friend Morsk but to avoid this terrible turn of events, Morsk informs Mya she should marry him in place of her sister. Refusing to marry anyone other than her beloved, Mya runs away with her sister and soon realizes she’s been followed. Rivals from Mya’s past thirst for revenge so Mya must make a move before the enemies of her past become the undoing of her future.

The Hundredth Queen by Emily R. King | Goodreads
Eighteen-year-old Kalinda is destined for nothing more than a life of seclusion and prayer. When the tyrant Rajah Tarek disrupts Kalinda’s life, within hours she is ripped from the comfort of her home, set on a desert trek, and ordered to fight for her place among the rajah’s ninety-nine wives and numerous courtesans. Her only solace comes in the company of her guard, the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik. Faced with the danger of a tournament to the death, Kalinda has only one hope for escape, and it lies in an arcane, forbidden power buried within her.

Haunted by Alexandra Adornetto | Goodreads
Alexander Reade turns up at Sycamore High not remembering how he got there. But worse, he doesn’t remember Chloe Kennedy and believes he has come back to search for his lost love Isobel. Chloe soon realizes that Alex needs her help surviving in the modern world since Alex has been dead for 157 years and when she begins to experiences dreams that take her to a past life, she realizes they are linked to Isobel. When Isobel appears to hunt Chloe, who is just as vengeful as ever, she is out to destroy any bond between Alex and Chloe.

Remind Me of How This Ends by Gabrielle Tozer | Goodreads
It’s the summer after high school ends and everyone is moving on, except Milo Dark. He feels like he’s stuck on pause until Layla Montgomery barrels back into his world after five years. As kids, Milo and Layla shared everything, but they haven’t spoken since her mum’s funeral and pushed away her dad, dropped out of school and recently followed her on-again-off-again boyfriend back to town. What begins as innocent banter soon draws them into a tangled mess with a guarantee that someone will get hurt.

Dividing Eden by Joelle Charbonneau | Goodreads
Twins Carys and Andreus were never destined to rule Eden. With their older brother next in line to inherit the throne, the future of the kingdom was secure until the king and crown prince are killed by assassins. Now with the line of succession no longer clear, Carys and Andreus are faced with only one option: to take part in a Trial of Succession that will determine which one of them is worthy of ruling the kingdom. With their country and their hearts divided, Carys and Andreus will discover exactly what each will do to win the crown. 

The Gentleman’s Guide To Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee | Goodreads
Henry “Monty” Montague was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions, but as Monty embarks on his yearlong tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of ending. Nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and travelling companion, one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt and calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Once and For All by Sarah Dessen | Goodreads
Louna, daughter of famed wedding planner Natalie Barrett, has seen every sort of wedding: on the beach, at historic mansions, in fancy hotels and clubs. Perhaps that’s why she’s cynical about happily-ever-after endings, especially since her own first love ended tragically. When Louna meets charming, happy-go-lucky serial dater Ambrose, she holds him at arm’s length. But Ambrose isn’t about to be discouraged, now that he’s met the one girl he really wants.

Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios | Goodreads
Grace wants out. Out of her house, where her stepfather wields fear like a weapon and her mother makes her scrub imaginary dirt off the floors. Out of her life, and into the role of Parisian artist, New York director—anything but scared and alone. Enter Gavin: charming, talented, adored. Controlling. Dangerous. When Grace and Gavin fall in love, Grace is sure it’s too good to be true. She has no idea their relationship will become a prison she’s unable to escape.

The post June Book Releases: Young Adult appeared first on The Nerd Daily.