Month: August 2023

Highlights: August 2023

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Whelp, it’s still quite hot. Hot and humid! We’ve taken our kids out for a few playdates at the park early in the morning, but that’s about all we can manage in this heat! Serena has retreated back to her hometown out West where at least the hot is a dry heat and Kate has found herself sitting by a pool in any capacity she can SO LONG AS THERE IS A HUGE UMBRELLA TO KEEP HER IN THE SHADE. As we survive the heat, there are a bunch of great books coming out this month to get us through until fall!

Serena’s Picks

Book:“Cassiel’s Servant” by Jacqueline Carey

Publication Date: August 1, 2023

Why I’m Interested: So, I have to say, I’m not really a big fan of this trend of re-telling certain stories, often romances, from the POV of the other character, often the male hero. It’s hard not to feel like it’s a redundant money grab, since the story is the same, any tension with regards to plot has been neutered, and the characters are already established. But if there was going to be a book with this approach that I’d be interested in, it would be this one! For one thing, the original book, “Kushiel’s Dart” was published over 20 years ago, so for many readers, this can feel like a fresh return to a barely remembered story. And beyond that, much of the story is built around the very real conflict in world-views between Phedre and Joscelin. That being the case, there is some legitimately interesting and new ground to be covered in reading his experiences of that story.

Book: “Thornhedge” by T. Kingfisher

Publication Date: August 15, 2023

Why I’m Interested: Obviously! Beyond all the usual reasons that I would, of course, be looking forward to a new book by T. Kingfisher, I’m particularly excited about this one because it’s a return to her twisted fairytales. This one takes on “Sleeping Beauty” and “The Princess and the Toad,” I believe. We’ve seen a few different attempts in the past to re-tell fairytales from the villains’ perspectives, but none of them have really stood out to me. But if there was an author who could do it right, I’d bet on Kingfisher any day of the week. Can’t wait for this one!

Book: “Forged by Blood” by Ehigbor Okosun

Publication Date: August 8, 2023

Why I’m Interested: For one thing, the cover on this one is phenomenal. For another thing, I met the author at ALA in June, and she was delightful. For a third thing, well, it’s a fantasy novel with a focus on Nigerian mythology, which just sounds super cool. I’m also very intrigued by the fact that this one is billed as an adult fantasy rather than YA. As much as I love the cover, it is definitely giving YA vibes, so I’m curious to see what balance is actually struck in the story itself.

Kate’s Picks

Book: “I Feed Her To The Beast and The Beast Is Me” by Jamison Shea

Publication Date: August 29, 2023

Why I’m Interested: I was lucky enough to see Jamison Shea at a panel at ALA that was talking about new voices in YA literature, and they were promoting their debut horror novel. It caught my eye because I was surprised to see a horror novel as part of the books, but when they described the premise I knew I needed to seek it out. I snagged an ARC shortly thereafter, and it became a highly anticipated read. Laure is a Black ballerina in Paris, whose talent is immense but constantly shoved to the side. When she ventures into the catacombs and encounters an ominous river of blood, she makes a deal to get the admiration and acknowledgement she deserves. With her new powers and axe to grind, she starts to cut her way through the competition. But her new self comes with a price, and she finds herself with a target on her back with her new monstrous form. I love a villain story, especially when you can see where the villain is coming from.

Book: “Vampires of El Norte” by Isabel Cañas

Publication Date: August 15, 2023

Why I’m Interested: I so loved “The Hacienda” and I told myself that whatever Isabel Cañas came up with next, I was going to jump all over. So imagine my elation when I saw that her newest historical horror novel was going to be about vampires! Nena is a woman living on a ranch in 1840s Mexico, trying to honor her father’s wishes while making a life for herself. With threats of war from white settlers North, tension is high. But there is also whispers of a monster in the wilderness that comes out at night to drink blood from unsuspecting victims. When she is reunited with her childhood sweetheart Nestor in the face of a war, they must come together to protect their home, not only from other countries, but also from a blood drinking creature that feeds relentlessly. Cannot wait to see what Cañas does with this one.

Book: “Whalefall” by Daniel Kraus

Publication Date: August 8, 2023

Why I’m Interested: I’m not a religious person but have a passing familiarity with various Biblical tales, and when I saw this book, a book about a guy swallowed by a whale, my immediate thought was “LIKE JONAH?!” What a hook! I also have been meaning to give Daniel Kraus another go after reading “Scowler” and enjoying it but being super disturbed by it, so “Whalefall” seemed like a good place to start! A diver is searching for the remains of his father in the waters off the coast of California, but in a freak of nature twist finds himself swallowed whole by a sperm whale. When he realizes he’s in the first of four stomachs, he thinks that he can MAYBE escape. But how is he going to do it, especially with his oxygen running out. THIS SOUNDS WILD!

What books are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!

Serena’s Review: “The Embroidered Book”

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Book: “The Embroidered Book” by Kate Heartfield

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, August 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org |Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: 1768. Charlotte, daughter of the Habsburg Empress, arrives in Naples to marry a man she has never met. Her sister Antoine is sent to France, and in the mirrored corridors of Versailles they rename her Marie Antoinette.

The sisters are alone, but they are not powerless. When they were only children, they discovered a book of spells – spells that work, with dark and unpredictable consequences.

In a time of vicious court politics, of discovery and dizzying change, they use the book to take control of their lives.

But every spell requires a sacrifice. And as love between the sisters turns to rivalry, they will send Europe spiralling into revolution.

Review: I was really excited to check this one out when the publisher reached out with an ARC. It’s a perfect cross-section of two of my favorite genres, fantasy and historical fiction. On top of that, while, like many, I know a decent amount about Marie Antoinette, I knew next to nothing about her older sister. Honestly, if you’d quizzed me on whether she even had and older sister, there’s a 50/50 chance I’d have gotten it wrong altogether!

This book really fell into two categories for me, when organizing my thoughts for this review: the impact of it as a piece of historical fiction, and the impact as a fantasy novel. Overall, this was a positive reading experience for me, but by and large this came down to my enjoyment of the book as a work of historical fiction. As I said, I came at this book with only the basic understanding of Marie Antoinette during her life as Queen of France, and knew next to nothing about her childhood or the life of her sister. Immediately, it was quite clear that the author had done her due diligence with the research that went into re-creating the lives of these two women. I enjoyed witnessing their childhood, and then, through their separation, the similarities and differences they each faced in their roles as rulers. There was a deep exploration of the limited preparedness that women brought to these roles, by the nature of their cloistered upbringing and education, as well as the strict boundaries of their power. Yes, in name, they are rulers of countries. In reality, their roles as women are equally defined and bound by the men in their lives as the “common” women.

As characters, I thought they were each well-drawn and compelling, both coming across at times as sympathetic and at others as incredibly foolish and short-sited. However, due to the historical boundaries placed on the story, their relationship as sisters was hindered by the fact that they are separated fairly early in their lives and then spend the next several decades only communicating via letters and through magical means. I understand why this had to be the case, but it did make the relationship between the two feel fairly watered down.

Lastly, the fantasy elements. There were a lot of unique magical elements introduced early in the book, as well as the brewing conflict that plays out throughout the story about who all should have access to magic. There were some interesting developments here, but in the end, I do feel like this was the weakest aspect of the book. Not only did the climax of this particular arc fail to land with any weight, but, in the end, the story concludes exactly as history has seen in, as if magic was never even a factor. I understand not wanting to re-write history, but you’re also introducing literal magic to this world, so it’s not as if this is ever a “realistic” presentation of the story. Indeed, it felt as if you could lift the fantasy elements out of this story whole cloth and really not feel the change. And that’s not really a criticism, as I think the strength of the story as a piece of historical fiction alone would have been enough to make it a worth-while read. In the end, that’s who I would most recommend this book to, those who enjoy historical fiction and who won’t mind the sprinkled fantasy elements that are included.

Rating 8: Perhaps not making the best use of its fantasy elements, this book is still an intriguing piece of historical fiction that explores the lives and limits of two sisters.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Embroidered Book” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Historical Fantasy Genre Books.

Kate’s Review: “What Never Happened”


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Book: “What Never Happened” by Rachel Howzell Hall

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, August 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher via Spark Point Studio.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Colette “Coco” Weber has relocated to her Catalina Island home, where, twenty years before, she was the sole survivor of a deadly home invasion. All Coco wants is to see her aunt Gwen, get as far away from her ex as possible, and get back to her craft—writing obituaries. Thankfully, her college best friend, Maddy, owns the local paper and has a job sure to keep Coco busy, considering the number of elderly folks who are dying on the island.

But as Coco learns more about these deaths, she quickly realizes that the circumstances surrounding them are remarkably similar…and not natural. Then Coco receives a sinister threat in the mail: her own obituary.

As Coco begins to draw connections between a serial killer’s crimes and her own family tragedy, she fears that the secrets on Catalina Island might be too deep to survive. Because whoever is watching her is hell-bent on finally putting her past to rest.

Review: Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and Spark Point Studio for sending me an ARC of this novel!

We are once again in a situation where a new to me author’s new book showed up in my inbox, this time in the form of “What Never Happened” by Rachel Howzell Hall. I am pretty sure that I hadn’t heard of Hall until I read about this book, and the description was enough to catch my eye and reel me in. I mean, the very idea of an obituary writer having to deal with a sinister mystery in her day to day life is just eye grabbing, right? I didn’t really know what to expect, but dove on in, and for the most part was pretty happy with what I found!

As a thriller it has a lot of good to great elements. I liked the character of Coco for the most part, with her return to Catalina Island in the midst of a divorce a good plot device that lends room to explore the many things that have made her a complex and damaged person. I found her to be pretty believable in her caginess, and I found the small town hiding darkness under a veneer of community to be well done. There are a few different mysteries at hand, whether it’s who is sending Coco threatening messages in the mail, to what is happening to a number of elderly women on the island whose deaths are ruled accidents or natural (when they are very potentially NOT), to who killed Coco’s family when she was younger and living on Catalina in the house she has returned to. It’s a lot of balls to juggle, but I did feel like Hall juggles them pretty well and manages to make decent connections as the story goes on. There is also the very real aspect of Coco being one of the few Black people in the community, and the way that her race others her, and in other ways puts a target on her back. Whether it’s microaggressions, general ignorance, or outright hostility, it adds another dimension to the thriller elements at hand.

But here is what worked best for me in this book: Hall uses the COVID 19 pandemic, specifically the early days of complete disarray, confusion, fear, and lockdowns, to create a very unique locked room mystery as Coco is not only on an isolated island that is hiding sinister secrets, but is now potentially going to be cut off because of spreading illness. Now that we are in a less acute phase of this pandemic I’m more able to tackle books and media that uses it as a theme, and what I liked about this is that while it certainly isn’t centered (like in the fun thriller “56 Days”), it makes for a plausible and familiar tension that makes Coco all the more isolated and closed off in a potentially dangerous place, whether it’s because of her history, her investigation, or her race. It also really captured those first weeks of the pandemic, and how disbelief feels like it completely shifted seemingly overnight into ‘oh shit this is really happening’. It’s never heavy handed and doesn’t feel overdone, but it’s present enough that it really gave me the willies because man. THAT was a trip.

I do think, however, that the pacing was a little off. Mostly because I found it sometimes felt a bit draggy in the middle. I’m not sure if it was that there were a lot of working parts that had to be addressed or that some of the investigations and inner thoughts of Coco were a little circular, but I do think that the middle could have been tightened up just a bit. Once we got towards the climax it really picked up, though, and a fair number of the reveals made it feel like it was worth the wait.

“What Never Happened” is a solid thriller with some creative locked room elements and always (sadly) relevant notes about racism, small town facades, and who gets to be seen as a victim by greater society.

Rating 7: An enticing thriller that tackles trauma, small town secrets, and the ever present spectre of racism in America, “What Never Happened” is a claustrophobic read.

Reader’s Advisory:

“What Never Happened” is included on the Goodreads list “Mystery/Thriller/Detective Books Featuring and Written by Black Women: Part 6”.

Serena’s Review: “Cassiel’s Servant”

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Book: “Cassiel’s Servant” by Jacqueline Carey

Publishing Info: Tor, August 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: The lush epic fantasy that inspired a generation with a single “Love As Thou Wilt.”

Returning to the realm of Terre d’Ange which captured an entire generation of fantasy readers, New York Times bestselling author Jacqueline Carey brings us a hero’s journey for a new era.

In Kushiel’s Dart , a daring young courtesan uncovered a plot to destroy her beloved homeland. But hers is only half the tale. Now see the other half of the heart that lived it.

Cassiel’s Servant is a retelling of cult favorite Kushiel’s Dar t from the point of view of Joscelin, Cassiline warrior-priest and protector of Phèdre nó Delaunay. He’s sworn to celibacy and the blade as surely as she’s pledged to pleasure, but the gods they serve have bound them together. When both are betrayed, they must rely on each other to survive.

From his earliest training to captivity amongst their enemies, his journey with Phèdre to avert the conquest of Terre D’Ange shatters body and mind… and brings him an impossible love that he will do anything to keep.

Even if it means breaking all vows and losing his soul.

Review: Words cannot describe how excited I was when I first saw that this book was coming out. I absolutely adored Jacqueline Carey’s “Kushiel’s Dart” trilogy when I first read it (one of my earlier memories of very adult fantasy that I read outside of the classics like Tolkien). I went on to re-read the original trilogy several times and read all of the other books that are set in this world. So, yes, I’m a fan. And, if nothing else, this is definitely a book for the fans!

While I do have some questions about what place this book really holds in the general readership, overall, I think it stands on its own feet as a stellar work of fiction. There’s simply no understating the mastery of language and philosophy that Carey is able to weave throughout her works. This latter point, especially, stood out as an important aspect of this work. As a re-telling, a lot of the second half of the book is a re-tread of the plot from the first book in the original trilogy. But woven throughout the entire book is the ongoing arc of Joscelin’s understanding of the order that he has devoted himself to and how that fits into the greater world that he is exposed to throughout this story. From the original, Joscelin very much came across as one of those “still waters run deep” type of characters, so he is an ideal character for a work like this that can really dive into what was going on within him throughout these events.

I will say, as far as the actual plotting and story goes, I did enjoy the first half of this book more than the second. I loved getting to see a bit of Joscelin’s childhood with his family (making his later interactions with them that we saw in the original work hit that much stronger when we come across those plot points again here), but I really enjoyed the portion that was dedicated to his training as a servant of Cassiel. In the original, it was easy to dismiss his upbringing in this group as slightly naïve, rigid, and lacking in the flexibility of thought necessary to exist within “modern” society. So I found it incredibly refreshing to see the positive impacts and positive relationships that Joscelin formed in his early years. Of course, this made the heart-rending nature of his choices later in the book, again, hit that much harder.

However, I will say that meeting Phedre (something every fan I’m sure goes into this book greatly anticipating) and picking up with the plot from “Kushiel’s Dart” is where I did start to question the role of this book. There’s simply no denying that even when reduced to the non-POV character, Phedre is still the driver of all of the action in this story, with Joscelin reduced to a very passive character. And, of course, there’s really no way around this, as that’s the nature of the original story. But it does position this one awkwardly as its own work of fiction. While the world is introduced in a manner that is approachable to new readers, I’m not sure the story itself, especially this second half, would hold up as well. Instead, the joy is largely found for fans of the series who are already “bought in” to this story and have the background knowledge of the original to add context and intrigue to a plot that, for Joscelin himself, becomes quite passive and reactive.

Overall, I think this is the sort of book that will give a huge pay off to the original fans of this world and this series. Those of us who would do almost anything to simply get more, more, more. As a huge fan of this couple, I was more than happy to retread a familiar story if only to get the glimpses into Joscel’s head regarding when and how he fell in love and experienced this relationship. However, I don’t think it stands as well on its own. Readers should really check out the original trilogy before reading this one to truly appreciate these characters and story.

Rating 8: For fans of the original trilogy, this is a must! For new readers, the original story still needs to come first.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Cassiel’s Servant” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Medieval Fantasy Books.

Kate’s Review: “Delicate Condition”


This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Delicate Condition” by Danielle Valentine

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Landmark, August 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received and ARC from the publisher.

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Anna Alcott is desperate to be pregnant. But as she tries to balance her increasingly public life with a grueling IVF journey, she starts to suspect that someone is going to great lengths to make sure her pregnancy never happens. Crucial medicines are lost. Appointments get swapped without her knowledge. And even when she finally manages to get pregnant, not even her husband is willing to believe that someone’s playing a twisted game with her.

When the increasingly cryptic threats drive her out of her Brooklyn brownstone and into hiding in the cold, gray ghost town that is the Hamptons in the depths of winter, Anna is almost at the end of her rope.

Then her doctor tells her she’s had a miscarriage—except Anna’s convinced she’s still pregnant, despite everything the grave-faced men around her claim. Could it be that her mind is playing tricks on her? Or is something more sinister at play? As her symptoms become ever more horrifying and the sense of danger ever more present, Anna can’t help but wonder what exactly she’s carrying inside of her…and why no one will listen when she says something is horribly, painfully wrong.

Review: Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for sending me an ARC of this novel!

Perhaps you have noticed, readers, that we are getting a fair amount of horror books centered around pregnancy and motherhood as of late. Which shouldn’t come as a shock to any well versed and in touch horror reader, given that horror trends tend to like to tap into social anxieties that are going on at the time. And seeing as reproductive rights have been getting struck down and attacked in the United States ever since Roe v Wade fell, it’s just par for the course, anxiety wise. “Delicate Condition” by Danielle Valentine is the newest entry to this sub genre, and it already has a bit of hype going in because it is going to be the inspiration for the new “American Horror Story” season coming out later this year. With all these things swirling around in my mind, I dove into this book, eager to see the directions it went. And I really, really loved it.

“Delicate Condition” has gotten a lot of comparisons to “Rosemary’s Baby”, one of the earliest pregnancy horror tales that really captured the mainstream consciousness, but it tweaks and twists it into something far more powerful. There are so many themes that Valentine addresses when it comes to pregnancy, reproduction, motherhood, and misogyny that on paper it would seem like too much to have to juggle. But it is all done so well. We have Anna, an actress in her late thirties whose career has just had a massive windfall right when she is trying to start a family with her husband Dex, and who has been unable to get pregnant thus far and has started IVF treatments. Already we have so much to work with. For one, we have the woman who wants to have a career and is proud of it but now wants to have a family as well, and feels torn between two desires that seem to compete with each other. We also have the frustrations and heartbreak of infertility that has no explanation, and pregnancy loss, and the stresses and trauma around that. We ALSO have the themes of how the medical field can feel somewhat dismissive and callous when it comes to Anna and her infertility (with notes and acknowledgements that it is even worse for BIPOC women and non gender conforming people), and then her actual pregnancy struggles (more on that in a bit), with her doctors being condescending at times and at other times straight up rude or hostile. On top of all of THAT, Anna is also possibly contending with a stalker, and as that starts to ramp up and even seemingly focus on her pregnancy, her fear is written off as stress or paranoia or hormones by most everyone around her. It captures the real life horrors of the way that people treat and view women, be they pregnant or trying to become pregnant or already mothers, and it made my blood boil.

And then there are the more, shall we say, supernatural horrors of Anna’s pregnancy in this story. Early in her pregnancy Anna seems to have a miscarriage, but as time goes on something is still growing inside of her. Her doctors are unwilling to believe that this is anything outside of a hysterical pregnancy at first, but as time goes on she is clearly pregnant, though her symptoms go from run of the mill to extreme nightmare fuel. I loved how Valentine tackled this, as all of the things that Anna experiences, like hair loss, and skin issues, and pain, these are all things that do actually happen to pregnant women, just to the nth degree. And as these things happen, once again they are dismissed as just normal things an she is basically told to take a Tylenol and drink some water. Even as someone is clearly following her. Even as she is having visions of talons trying to cut through her body. It’s exaggerated, but again, boy does it reflect the actual horrors of pregnancy. I was especially sympathetic to all of the ‘just take Tylenol and rest’ bits, given that early in my own pregnancy (which was generally pretty uncomplicated and easy) I had such bad cramping that I called the generic nurses line and was just told to take a Tylenol and drink more water. I ended up fainting from the pain. It all turned out fine, but in that moment being told to just drink more water and take a painkiller that did NOTHING was stressful and confusing. So as I was reading all of these things that are depicted as a body horror tale, knowing FULL WELL that a lot of it is really something that pregnant people deal with, even if it’s to a less degree, I was just super, super impressed.

And finally, there is also the way that Valentine brings together a broader story of other women throughout the centuries who are dealing with a similar thing that Anna is dealing with. We get cut scenes and vignettes of women who are pregnant, or have just given birth, or are trying to become pregnant, who are having the same weird encounters, visions, experiences, and horrors that Anna is encountering. It’s all pretty vague and mysterious, but it is done in a way that when Valentine does eventually weave it all together, it fits so well that I just blew my mind. I’m not going to spoil anything here because I just loved the execution and I loved the ultimate reveal as to what exactly is happening. What I will say is while “Rosemary’s Baby” is an obvious comparison that people will know, there is so much more going on, and not everything is as obvious as it seems.

I really loved “Delicate Condition”. It’s another great pregnancy and motherhood related horror tale that cuts to the bone.

Rating 10: A feminist reimagining of “Rosemary’s Baby” themes with a lot of bones to pick with those who discount the experiences of pregnant people, “Delicate Condition” is a perfect read to reflect the horrors of pregnancy, and the culture that touts it as uncomplicated while ignoring its darkness.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Delicate Condition” is new and isn’t included on any Goodreads lists of of now. But if you liked “Graveyard of Lost Children” or “Rosemary’s Baby” this would probably be a good book for you.