i absolutely love books that entice students to read that are a bit historical because most historical books that were available when I was in school never excited me like this one did! Another great thing is that this book is a stand alone which excites many readers because they don't have to commit to a whole series. I love the premise of this story and it keeps you engaged through the entire plot of the story to find out what happens next.

I. Loved. This. Book. I think I could probably end my review with just those four words, but I’d love to tell you a little about why I so enjoyed this read.
Fawkes is a fascinating twist on historical fiction: the perfect blend of truth and fantasy, bringing new life to history. Brandes does a fabulous job of staying fairly true to the historical facts: she included most of the primary characters of the Gunpowder Plot and the basics of the motivations behind the plot with King James I and his persecution of certain members of English society. As I read, I was impressed with the level of research she must have put into this piece. But then she used her own special tweaks to freshen the tale, turning it from a struggle for religious liberty to a battle for magical freedom.
And I was entranced and so encouraged by Thomas’ theme: do not blindly believe what you are told, don’t simply trust your emotions, but always search for the truth. That is so important for everyone today, young and old, to learn.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. However, you’ll have to wait a few more weeks before you dive in. Fawkes releases on July 10. Trust me, it will be worth the wait! Happy reading 🙂
Many, many thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for the digital copy of this book for review purposes. I was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my very own! 🙂

I haven't read anything by Nadine Brandes, even though I have wanted to read her previous series. I just don't own them yet. But when I heard about Fawkes, I LOVED the cover, so I couldn't wait to jump into the story. I'm really glad that I did. Brandes captivated me, and I have already recommended that my sixteen year old read this novel too.

The writing was well-done. I loved how well Brandes dives into the character's personalities and thoughts. I loved being able to see what Thomas and Emma thought and felt. Since London is my dream place to visit, I loved seeing Brandes bring the seventeenth century to life for me. Even though it is a fantasy novel mixed with a historical element, I loved how Brandes mixed the historical with her imagination. It filled the story and made a wonderful story.

The plot kept moving quite well and quickly. There were many moments I kept glued to the story and couldn't wait to see what happened next. Brandes wrote a wonderful story. It is different than everything I have every read, and I loved it. I loved the idea of power color masks that use the elements according to the colors. The idea of the White power fascinated me, and I understood the metaphors, enjoying the story. I anxiously sped through the plot. I really couldn't wait to see how the story would unfold before my eyes.

The romance isn't really there. It is a teenager crush, developed during the trials and troubles claiming their personalities and talents. It isn't overly done, yet I know Brandes wrote this novel to capture they young adult crowd.

Overall, Fawkes by Nadine Brandes is a unique story with a mixture of historical and pure imagination. Brandes' story captured me and kept me spellbound as I flew through the story. I really loved this story and can't wait to tell everyone about it. Pick it up. It is wonderful!

I received a complimentary copy of Fawkes by Nadine Brandes from Thomas Nelson Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

Amazing and so different from anything i have seen lately - as many fantasy YA novels seem to have the same themes.
Can wait for my customers to read this !

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Fawkes had me instantly intrigued when first read the synopsis, and I knew I needed to pick this one up and dive right into it. I've always been a big fan of fictional novels that are based on real historical events, and so while I honestly wasn't too familiar with Guy Fawkes or his story, I was really looking forward to reading this one.

I decided not to research anything about Guy Fawkes before I picked this up, so that I could have complete enjoyment in Nadine Brandes' story, without getting sidetracked by whether something was historically accurate or not. And I'm really glad I made this decision, as it definitely allowed me to enjoy the book more.

Nadine has taken historical events and weaved them into a fantasy novel about a stone plague, color magic, racial segregation, and political tensions. I completely loved the premise of this novel-color magic controlling society, and political tensions arising from whether you stood on the Keeper side of color magic, or on the Igniter side. All of the magic was tied in so well with the historical events, and you could tell that the author had really done her research in the way all of the characters were portrayed and the way that the events transpired.

However, this one was unfortunately not the five star read I was anticipating, and that was mainly because I found it so hard to get into. The book drags on and on for the first half or so, and I was basically forcing myself to continue to muddle through it. Once the second half comes along, everything gets more interesting, and I found myself really enjoying the story, but it does take a long time to get to that point. I also didn't really care for the main character, Thomas, as I found him to be slightly whiny and self-righteous, and I ended up wishing that the story had been told from both his and Emma's point of view, as she was my girl, and I loved how she wasn't scared to be strong and powerful, despite her situation.

All in all, Fawkes is definitely an enjoyable read that introduced me to a side of history I was definitely not familiar with. I appreciate the fact that there is clean fantasy novels on the market like this one, as it's nice not to have to weed through a bunch of objectionable content to enjoy the rest of the story. I only wish it hadn't been quite so slow moving, and that the main character had been portrayed a little less obnoxiously.

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐


Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for the chance to have read this!

I came for a magical portrayal of the Gunpowder plot, history and fantasy entwined and family dynamics explored and I was not disappointed. What an unusual and engaging take on one of British History’s best known events. While I wasn’t Thomas’ biggest fan, I found his character journey entertaining enough to follow and I loved some of the other characters. The author really breaks down the Catholic/ Protestant divide and the argument for and against taking radical and violent action to remove a monarchy. I really loved this book.

"Fawkes" is a YA historical fantasy that sounds so interesting! Unfortunately, I could not get into it. In this alternate reality of the early 1600's in Britain, we follow Guy Fawkes's son, Thomas. Thomas caught the Stone Plague about a year earlier, which turned his eye to stone- it seems to be dormant for now, but it could potentially kill him by turning him completely to stone. What Thomas is really upset about is that he is unable to declare a color power and thus wears a colorless mask. Everyone gets to declare a color when they become an adult which gives them certain powers. These people are called Keepers.

Igniters are the enemy of Keepers, as they wield the White Color Power to do untold damage- and supposedly, they created the Stone Plague (though the fault for this is less clear). There's propaganda on both sides with very clear divisions. Thomas soon learns that his distant father, Guy, is part of a revolution set on taking down the Igniter King. However, all Thomas really wants is to declare a color power.

Thomas was really hard to like- he comes across as self-involved, petulant, and petty. I had a really hard time getting into the story mainly because I didn't care for him much. He does seem to grow as the story continues, but I really had to force myself to keep going. I did love his romantic interest- she is fiercely independent and resourceful- I wish the story had been told from her point-of-view.

I also had a hard time really imaging the altered setting with color powers and why the Keepers/Igniters were so adamantly opposed. I almost would liked more background on this to explain it to me better. Overall, I think it was very promising, but I personally could not get into it as much as I hoped I would.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

This is an incredible blend of fantasy and historical fiction! There's people who wear masks and control the color that coincides with their mask. Pretty original! There's assassination attempts and a magical plague. The world building was so unique and I loved the twists to the real historical event. I enjoyed this book so much!

Thomas is Guy Fawkes son and his father is relentlessly trying to get him to join his gunpowder plot. If you remember historically, Guy Fawkes and the gunpowder plot were real. The stone plague was not. Thomas has contracted the stone plague and he is desperately hoping to find a cure but keeps being distracted by the things unfolding around him. Will he join his father or fight against him?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I have tried a few times to write a review of Fawkes, but each time I have just gushed and gushed about how wonderful it is and I do hate including spoilers in my reviews so I think that the best thing for me to do is to tell you to READ THIS BOOK NOW.

It's fantastic and you will not regret it.

First of all can we talk about the absolutely stunning cover? Just absolutely breath taking, the Houses of Parliament, a traditional Guy Fawkes mask, combined with the blue and gold is perfection.

And beneath that beautiful cover the book doesn't disappoint.
As a Brit, The Gunpowder Plot is a story we are told as children and celebrate every year (we're complicated) and has always interested me. I love a historical event based story with a twist and the twist here is that instead of being Catholic/Protestant, the separation of people is Igniters/Keepers and how they wield their magic. Historical and Fantasy blending 2 of my favourite genres.

Thomas, son of the famous Guy Fawkes, needs his father to make him a colour mask. When he doesn't, Thomas heads to London to find him and get a mask. Instead becoming part of the Gunpowder plot and a servant to his school bully and his fathers ward, Emma, who Thomas is intrigued by.

Thomas can be a bit selfish, angsty and whiny. But Emma is a fabulous, strong, female not quite lead, and although flawed she is fierce. The relationships between characters were well developed and the story was well paced and not rushed. I felt Thomas' struggle to find the 'right' side as the story twists and makes you question which side that is. Being mask less and his infection of Stone Plague adds further to his issues of discrimation, further adding to the conflict between different sectors of society, making them relevant to the prejudices of todays society too.

I enjoyed Fawkes and look forward to reading the Out of Time series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book has so much in it that I love, so I'm just going to start with that. I've been a fan of YA fantasy since...well since I was the age that YA is usually geared towards. However it was very rare that something as good as this came along, especially something that included real life historical events.

The plot of this book comes together really well, winding the historical facts in with the fiction, and the fantasy weaving it all together in one beautifully written package.

The magic within the book is encompassing and wonderful. It was interesting to read how the masks help the users control, or invigorate their magic. 

The writing in this book, and the descriptive nature carried me through the streets of London at a time very different from now. It had me clutching my eReader in fear for Thomas, a character I grew to care about extremely quickly. 

This is definitely one of my favourite books I've read this year. I wished for more the minute I turned the last page, and then proceeded to order a copy to be delivered to myself on release day. After all I am definitely going to lend it to everyone I know as soon as I can.

And I will be reading more of Nadine Brandes' books for as long as she keeps writing.

I was very excited to read this book--the cover was great and the synopsis sounded very interesting. After the first chapter or so, everything seemed to slow way down. I would put the book down and have a hard time picking it back up, because nothing exciting seemed to be going on.
Then Thomas began to really get on my nerves. He was impatient, impulsive, petulant, and whiny. It was difficult for me to identify and sympathize with him. If Thomas had not acted like a spoiled 12-year-old, I would have enjoyed this book much more than I did.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

I will say, this book did not captivate me at first. I liked the premise, and I slogged through for that reason only, but the beginning felt slow and confusing. It does pick up toward the end, but you need to put in the hard yards first.

I personally knew only a very little about Guy Fawkes and the plot before going into this book, which was probably a good thing. I experienced the story without going 'that's not what happened' because the author explains at the end that of course she took some license with the story. I quite enjoyed this era, and felt like the plague being replaced with the stone plague worked well in this almost magical world. I say almost, because although powers exist here, I never got that real fantasy feel of 'I want this power' or 'I want to see this place'. Fantasy books for me NEED this, but I felt like the masks in this world were so overlooked by the characters there was no point in having magic at all.

I also felt like the pacing was way off; somehow I missed that a whole year had passed within the book! It just...doesn't feel like a year's worth of story somehow. I also didn't like Thomas, and he's the main character. His indecision made him less of a character than sat Emma, who kicked ass throughout, or Henry, who's unknown qualities and activities made him more interesting.

For me it was the other characters, and the quality of the writing that makes this a three star read. I would add that the White Light 'speaks' to the characters in their minds, and there is NO indication that it is the White Light speaking which is confusing. I think it needs to have quotation marks or something around it.

Anyway, a good read but not outstanding for me. Three stars.

Did not finish. Historical inaccuracies made for a disappointing experience.

What.a.read! This is one of those books that you stay up all night reading.

Thomas Fawkes has a problem: he’s turning to stone from the Stone Plague that infected his eye. If he doesn’t do something about it, he will turn into a statue. When a solution presents itself, it might be the craziest plot he’s ever seen. He is to join his father in a plot to assassinate the king of England, the Gunpowder plot. The plan is to use 36 barrels of gunpowder to blow him up. The problem is that by doing so, he will kill the family of the woman he loves, but if he backs away, both his father and his followers end up on the gallows. Which side will he choose and which one can he live with?

Absolutely brilliant! I stayed up until dawn reading this one, between the action and the heart-stopping moments, I couldn’t put it down!

The plot is great, complex, very well developed and packed with action. The premise of the book is the Gunpowder plot, a true event that took place in England in early 1600s where a group of Catholic traitors plan to assassinate the Protestant king. If you don’t know anything about this particular event, I suggest you only research after you read the book. Discovering it through the eyes of Nadine Brandes, who mixes history with fantasy and fiction, is absolutely worth it. Plus, it keeps the suspense until the end of the story. The pace starts by being very fast, then it slows down a bit in the middle and then it’s just full speed ahead. It gives the reader enough space to breathe and process the past occurrences without breaking out of the story itself.

The characters are the story in this case. It’s like they completely ran out of the author’s control and have a life of their own, they are the plot and the plot revolves around them. They rule the plot, but the plot doesn’t control them. Weird, I know!
Thomas Fawkes, the main male lead, isn’t a very likeable character for me and in the end, I couldn’t completely connect with him. He does bring some spice to the story and I do believe he has a strong character and inner strength; he just needs to grow up a bit more. I felt like he complained a lot during the novel. Even though he has some reasons to, he sounded like a whiny kid. Plus, I couldn’t keep up with his actions and decisions, some of them were incomprehensible to me.
On the other hand, Guy Hawkes is something else entirely. He’s a complex, unpredictable and mysterious type of character. I actually re-read most of the scenes with him. Guy is guided by his sense of bringing justice to the Catholics being prosecuted by the Protestant church. He’s moved by his strong morals and values and in the end, it makes him a memorable character. The main female character is awesome and she reveals herself an important piece of the game. She’s one of the reasons I go so attached to the novel. I cannot go into more details of the characters without spoiling the story, so I will let you discover more of them on your own!

The style of writing is compelling, clean and uses the vocabulary of the 1600s perfectly. Brandes does an amazing job with the descriptions, it’s like you can see a picture of the places and the people. Masterfully done!

Fawkes is a fun read, mixing fiction and history perfectly while keeping a great level of action and suspense throughout the story. I recommend it to the fans of historical fiction with a twist and for those you enjoy the setting in 17th-century London. I can tell you, my friends, the trip to this world is totally worth it!

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher Thomas Nelson and the author for allowing me to read and review a digital copy of this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

In a world where, when you come of age, you are presented with a mask that will allow you to control colour (control brown, you can control brown items, mud, bricks etc, blue you can control water, red, blood and so on), there are two belief systems, the Keepers, who believe you should only control one chosen colour, and Igniters who believe you should be able to control them all.

Thomas is still maskless, at the fault of his father not turning up to present him with one, and worse, infected by a spreading plague that slowly turns its unfortunate bearers to stone. Shunned by society, he sets out to find his father, and join him in a plot to assassinate the king and stop the plague. But his fathers views differ to the woman he loves. Who is right, who is wrong and who can he trust?

I really loved this book. It was original and the colour power idea was both interesting and thought provoking. Fawkes has an underlying message of looking beneath the ingrained ideals of society, and even the people we love, to search for your own truth and your own beliefs. Thomas’ dilemmas revolve around deciding what is right, how far he would go to stop the plague and what version of the history he’s been taught is really true. Most of all, he has to decide between doing what he believes is right, saving the woman he loves and the desire to win his fathers pride. Emma, the woman he loves, is brave and daring, even while being forced to act as a noble woman. Although she has opposing views to Thomas, she too believes she is fighting for what is right.

Fawkes is intriguing, with interesting characters and clever concepts. I loved the way the fantasy aspects of the book were mingled in with real history. Part conspiracy and betrayal, part moral anguish with a splash of magic. I highly recommend it!

This is every ya/fantasy lover's dream book. This has action, espionage, history, and a bit of romance. I enjoyed it and I think any one who loves this genre will enjoy it as well.

Really cool fantasy novel. I can't believe I got to read this for free -it was honestly so good, and I recommend this to anyone who wants to read fantasy.

You have to experience this book for yourself...my words cannot do it for you. Read it NOW....you will so glad that you did. I'm not kidding!!!

The thing that got me to read this book was the cover (and yes I am a judge a book by it's cover type of person). This book is historical fiction and fantasy put together and let me say I loved it since those are two out of my top three genres that I read. I loved the characters (especially after realizing the Guy Fawkes was in this book), the storyline, and how everything fit together, I honestly wasn't expecting much but boy was I wrong. Favorite thing? The masks/ power. Yeah, yeah, yeah something like that has been done before but this just was different in it's own way and if it's done right it can be done so many great ways like in the story.