Month: August 2024

Serena’s Review: “A Scandal in Mayfair”

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Book: “A Scandal in Mayfair” by Katherine Schellman

Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, August 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: London, 1817. The London Season is beginning once more, and Lily Adler’s return to her home on Half Moon Street feels different this year. No longer a recent widow, she has a life and friends waiting for her. Lily also has new responsibilities in the form of her protégée Amelia, the sister of her longtime friend Jack Hartley, who is escaping her own brush with scandal and murder.

It doesn’t take long for Lily’s growing reputation as a lady of quality who can discreetly find what is missing or solve what is puzzling to bring a desperate young woman to her doorstep. But helping her means unraveling a tangled web of family secrets. Soon, a missing will, a dead body and the threat of blackmail leave Lily facing danger every way she turns. 

The glittering society of Mayfair conceals many secrets, and the back alleys of London hide even more. Lily Adler will need to find the connection between them quickly if she wants to stop a killer before it’s too late.

Previously Reviewed: “The Body in the Garden” and “Silence in the Library” and “Death at the Manor” and “Murder at Midnight”

Review: We’re back with the latest Lily Adler mystery! While this series has been a bit hit and miss, the hits have been strong enough to pull me through some of the weaker books in the series. And, notably, Lily Adler herself, as well as the various characters that surround her, has always been an intriguing leading lady, carrying the brunt of my interest when the mysteries themselves have been on the weaker side. Well, I’ll spoil my own review and say that I am pleased to report that this is another solid entry! Which makes two in a row, since the low point that was “Death at the Manor.”

We’ll start with the mystery itself. While I did enjoy this one more than others, it remains to be true that the mysteries themselves are not the main draws for this series. If you’re a fan of the mystery genre and have read a decent number of them, many of the twists and reveals found in this series are easy to spot well in advance, as they are often staples found in many other books that use similar plot devices. Now, that’s not unique to this series and many of these tried and true mystery devices have been used repeatedly for years, so the inclusion of a familiar device isn’t a problem. It’s the execution. One of my biggest frustrations with “Death at the Manor” was the blundering way in which one of these familiar mystery devices was used; in that it was presented in such an obvious way as to undercut Lily’s intelligence.

This book tackles another familiar mystery trope, but I’m pleased to say that it does so in a much more smooth and well-executed manner. While I was able to piece together what was going on fairly early, the mystery itself was complex enough and had enough red herrings and other dead-end pathways as to keep my interest piqued. And to present a challenge that is believably difficult for a character like Lily. There were a number of different storylines playing out at once and, as the story continued, they were neatly woven together in a way that felt organic and interesting. The new characters who peopled these storylines were similarly of interest, with some familiar faces popping up in unexpected places. I appreciated the shades of grey that was used in constructing many of these characters, as well, with the villains given some sympathetic motivations and heroes acting in sometimes very unlikable ways.

On top of the solid mystery, I was thrilled to realize early in the book that we’d finally reached a point in the narrative when the slow-burning romance between Lily and Captain Jack would finally come to a head. And it was everything I’d been waiting for! Jack was given a few POV chapters himself, and these were used well to explore his mindset during this shift in their relationship. And I appreciated the delicate balance the author used in dealing with Lily’s conflicting feelings about entering into a romantic entanglement with the good friend of her late beloved husband. For a situation that was rife with drama and angst, I very much appreciated the straight-forward manner in which much of this was dealt with. The book takes the time to explore these topics thoroughly, but there is very little “silliness” or dramatic dithering only for dramas’ sake. I, of course, appreciate this approach to romance subplots, but it also would be out of character for practical, steady Lily Adler to slide into an angst spiral over this.

Overall, this was a very satisfying entry into the series. Probably my favorite since the first book even! The mystery, while a bit predictable, was interesting, and I loved the character progression on the romance front. Fans of this series (particularly those interest in the slow-burn love story) are sure to enjoy this one!

Rating 8: With a compelling mystery at its heart and the lovely bloom of new romance, this is a fantastic new entry into the Lily Adler mystery series!

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Scandal in Mayfair” can be found on this Goodreads list: Historical Mystery 2024

Serena’s Review: “Full Speed to a Crash Landing”

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Book: “Full Speed to a Crash Landing” by Beth Revis

Publishing Info: DAW, August 2024

Where Did I Get this Book:

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

Book Description: Ada Lamarr may have gotten to the spaceship wreck first, but looter’s rights won’t get her far when she’s got a hole in the side of her ship and her spacesuit is almost out of air. Fortunately for her, help arrives in the form of a government salvage crew—and while they reluctantly rescue her from certain death, they are not pleased to have an unexpected passenger along on their classified mission.

But Ada doesn’t care—all that matters to her is enjoying their fine food and sweet, sweet oxygen—until Rian White, the government agent in charge, starts to suspect that there’s more to Ada than meets the eye. He’s not wrong—but he’s so pretty that Ada is perfectly happy to keep him paying attention to her—at least until she can complete the job she was sent to pull off. But as quick as Ada is, Rian might be quicker—and she may not be entirely sure who’s manipulating who until it’s too late…

Review: I’ve had a bit of a mixed reading experience with this author’s books. I read her YA science fiction novel, “Across the Universe,” years ago and really struggled with it. But then, more recently, I absolutely loved “Night of the Witch,” which Revis wrote collaboratively with another author. Given the strength of my more recent experience, I’d been eying this upcoming novella for a bit before the publisher reached out about potential coverage, and I was decided!

And I’m happy to report that the positive trajectory continues, and I very much enjoyed this short, science fiction romp of a ride! The story is told in the first person which places a lot of pressure on the strength of the narrator to carry the story. And Ada was well up to the task! At first, she had the potentially of falling into the trap of “snark machine” without much substance to back it up. But as the story continued, it became clear that Ada was not a super reliable narrator, leaving the reader to the enjoyable task of attempting to piece together what was really going on as the story progressed. I also enjoyed the presentation of the other crew members, as seen through Ada’s eyes. Again, the use of first person was very successful in presenting these characters through a limited character’s view point, with Ada’s first impressions needing adjustment as she comes to better understand those around her.

I also really enjoyed the plot and action of the story. This is a novella, so there’s a lot to crunch into a fairly small page count. Not only do you have the romantic elements (more on that later), but there was entire adventure to get through, with numerous high stakes scenes. The book starts off in the middle of one of these tense moments, with Ada stranded in her broken down ship with only minutes-worth of air left. And from there, the story quickly bounces into even higher stakes as the salvage crew gets to work. With such high stakes and so much fact-paced plotting, it was sometimes easy to miss the more detailed world-building that went into the story. But whenever I came up for air, I would look back a realize just how fully fleshed out this universe, and the life of a salvager like Ada, felt.

I also, overall, liked the beginnings of the romance, though I will say that this was perhaps one of the weaker elements of the story. While Revis does show much restraint in only marginally moving this “relationship” forward (this is all that would make any sense given the fact that the entire book takes place over a few days’ time), it still felt like a bit too much at times, too close to insta-lust. But I was so well-satisfied with the fact that the envelope wasn’t pushed too far on this point, and the fact that the next book is coming out in a few months’ time, to complain too much.

The only thing that really stood out was the manner in which the book wrapped up. After the primary action is concluded, and Ada is off on her next adventure, the book concludes with several pages’ worth of epistolary material, mostly Rian’s reports on the events of the book and various messages he sends piecing together more information on Ada itself. While all of this information was interesting and crucial to enlightening Rian (and the reader) to some of the details of Ada’s life and plan, it did read as rather clunky and tacked on.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read! I blew through it in a single sit-down and am anxious to get to the next book! Readers of adventure science fiction (and those patiently waiting for more romantic science fiction to come out and catch up to the romantasy boom!) should definitely check this one out.

Rating 8: Jam-packed with adventure and intrigue, with a healthy dose of romance sprinkled on top, I can’t wait to jet off on Ada’s next high stakes adventure!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Full Speed to a Crash Landing” can be found on this Goodreads list: [ATY 2025] Science Fiction or Fantasy by a Woman

Ripley’s Reviews: An Introduction and Brief History

“Ripley’s Reviews” is an ongoing series where I will review every book in Patricia Highsmith’s “Ripley” Series, as well as multiple screen adaptations of the novels. I will post my reviews on the first Thursday of the month, and delve into the twisted mind of one Tom Ripley and all the various interpretations that he has come to life within.

I remember when I was a teenager my family took a trip to California to visit relatives for Spring Break. It was around the time that the film “The Talented Mr. Ripley” had come out, and while I hadn’t seen it yet, the concept intrigued me enough that I got myself a copy of the book specifically for that trip. I have memories of reading it on the beach whilst staying in a house that our families had rented in the small tourist town of Capitola, and how enthralled I was by the story of a man slowly usurping another man’s identity and the murder and intrigue that went along with it. Recently, Netflix put together a new adaptation of the original novel called “Ripley”, which stars Andrew Scott as the sociopathic chameleon, and when that dropped I had an idea: not only was I going to revisit the original story, I was also going to read the whole series. AND watch as many adaptations as I could find. Thus, the “Ripley’s Reviews” series came to be.

Patricia Highsmith: The Creator

Patricia Highsmith is the author of the “Tom Ripley” series, whose works have been adapted over the years with not only “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and all of those forays, but also with the movie “Carol” which is based on her book “The Price of Salt”, and “Strangers on a Train”, one of Alfred Hitchcock’s earlier films. She was born in Texas in 1921, was abandoned by her mother and stepfather to live with her grandmother, and went to Barnard College, which was also when she started submitting her stories to various publications. She struggled with alcoholism, self loathing (as she was a queer woman living with internalized homophobia), and wasn’t exactly known as a genial or well liked person. But she was highly regarded as a very talented writer, and with the successes of “Strangers on a Train” and “The Price of Salt” she made her mark in the writing world. And then in 1955 she wrote “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, which became her arguably most well known work, as well as a character that had unsettling parallels to her own psyche. Her whole point was to make her readers root for a villain, and thus Tom Ripley was born.

Tom Ripley: The Impact

Tom Ripley is the main character in Highsmith’s “Tom Ripley” series, which she liked to call “The Ripliad”. His first appearance was in the aforementioned first book in the series “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, and was followed with four more books: “Ripley Underground”, “Ripley’s Game”, “The Boy Who Followed Ripley”, and “Ripley Under Water”. Tom Ripley is a con artist, who can seamlessly insert himself into unsuspecting people’s lives and slowly take them over. The first book in the series, and the most well known by the public, has Ripley starting his ‘adventures’ when he is hired by the wealthy Herbert Greenleaf to retrieve his cad of a son Dickie from an extended holiday in Italy, as Tom and Dickie once ran in a similar circle.

Once there, Tom becomes obsessed not only with Dickie, but also with the life of opulence and privilege he is living. Tom Ripley is a devious antihero who does despicable acts, but is one of those characters that is so fascinating to follow BECAUSE of how despicable they are. Recent character sensations who fit this mold are absolutely Joe Goldberg from “You” (both series by Caroline Kepnes and Netflix show), as well as Oliver from “Saltburn”, who obsess, covet, and kill all while the audience feels scandalized and enthralled. His impact on the Thriller genre is huge, and he was also one of those characters that felt completely real and in control of the narrative to the woman who created him.

Adaptations: Ripley and Beyond

“Ripley” is the newest adaptation of “The Talented Mr. Ripley”, but Andrew Scott is obviously not the first to step into the shoes of this malicious yet ever so intriguing imposter murderer. Matt Damon played him in 1999, which is very well known. But the adaptations don’t start there. In 1960 the French director René Clément made the film “Plein Soleil” (“Purple Noon” in English), starring Alain Delon as Ripley. And even more interesting to me, DENNIS HOPPER of all people played him in the 1977 film “The American Friend” which adapts the third book in the series “Ripley’s Game” for the screen. Which was then adapted again in 2002 starring John Malkovich as Ripley. It will be entirely dependent on how many of these films I can actually find, but I intend to watch and review as many of them as possible, as well as the Netflix series.

I am quite excited to jump back into the world of Tom Ripley and to go fully into the series instead of stopping at the first. My review for “The Talented Mr. Ripley” will go up in a week from now, and I invite you all to follow me on this journey into the stories of one of the most enduring thriller villains, and antiheroes, of the genre. I hope that you will join me as I jump into what will surely be a strange, disturbing, but really fun adventure as I go into the many worlds of Tom Ripley! -KATE

Sources:

Serena’s Review: “Mistress of Lies”

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

Book: “Mistress of Lies” by K. M. Enright

Publishing Info: Orbit, August 2024

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

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

Book Description: The daughter of a powerful but disgraced Blood Worker, Shan LeClaire has spent her entire life perfecting her blood magic, building her network of spies, and gathering every scrap of power she could. Now, to protect her brother, she assassinates their father and takes her place at the head of the family. And that is only the start of her revenge.

Samuel Hutchinson is a bastard with a terrible gift. When he stumbles upon the first victim of a magical serial killer, he’s drawn into the world of magic and intrigue he’s worked so hard to avoid – and is pulled deeply into the ravenous and bloodthirsty court of the vampire king.

Tasked by the Eternal King to discover the identity of the killer cutting a bloody swath through the city, Samuel, Shan and mysterious Royal Bloodworker Isaac find themselves growing ever closer to each other. But Shan’s plans are treacherous, and as she lures Samuel into her complicated web of desire, treason and vengeance, he must decide if the good of their nation is worth the cost of his soul.

Review: This is another case where I’ll admit that I was initially drawn in by the unique cover art. Even without the book description or the title, it’s pretty easy to understand the general tone of the book with one simple look! And after looking into it further, I found a lot of other elements that typically intrigue me. Morally grey heroines! Spies! Revenge tales!

To start with the pros, I did like some of the original world-building elements of this story, especially its use of vampires. Not only are vampires one of the most popular supernatural beings to pop up in fiction for centuries, but they are having a bit of a resurgence here in 2024, with numerous titles releasing this year focusing on vampires in one way or another. So to introduce a fresh-feeling take on a society in which they exist is worth noting and praising! I really enjoyed learning about this society, with the Blood Workers, blood magic, and the lowly unblooded. If anything, I’d say that the strength of these ideas was let down in the rather lackluster focus that was given to them. For having one of the main characters being unblooded himself, I felt like we were still left with very little insight into the actual lives of these people.

In a similar vein (ha!), I found myself liking the idea of many of these characters more than the characters themselves. For one thing, the story quickly fell into the trap of telling the reader a lot of facts and traits about the characters, but then proceeded to roll out a plot in which the reader never saw any of this in action. The most obvious example is Shan herself. The story opens with an action-packed bang, with Shan finally committing step one of her plan for vengeance. It’s exciting and sets Shan up as an interesting character with much more to come! But, unfortunately, that very first scene is ultimately the peak of her entire arc. We’re told repeatedly that she’s a mastermind, but as the plot bottoms out towards the middle, the reader is left to reconcile what they’ve been told to believe about the character with the reality of Shan’s very poor decision-making throughout.

This is a polyamory romance, as well, which I think requires even more skill from the author to properly set up and convey. Personally, I don’t love polyamory romances, but that’s a “me thing” as far as my own preferences for the types of love stories I enjoy and thus I didn’t factor this into my rating. That said, I do think that, again, the reader is often told that these character have chemistry, rather than showing it in any meaningful way. There seems to be insta-lust every way one looks, and I couldn’t buy any of these characters as truly having deep feelings for one another, in any combination.

Overall, this was a bit of a lackluster reader for me. There was a lot of potential in the world-building, and the entire thing started out on a high note. But as the story continued, the plot began to feel thin on the ground and the character inconsistencies became difficult to ignore. If you’re a bit fan of poplyamory romances, this may be worth checking out (again, as I don’t love this sort of romance novel, I don’t have a lot of comparison to bring in to my evaluation). But as a general fantasy title, I think there have been better vampire novels all around.

Rating 7: An exciting start and a creative world were let down by some lack-luster characterization in its protagonists.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Mistress of Lies” can be found on these Goodreads lists: The Vampire Renaissance and Queer Polyamory.

Kate’s Review: “Practical Rules for Cursed Witches”

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

Book: “Practical Rules for Cursed Witches” by Kayla Cottingham

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, August 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher at ALAAC24.

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

Book Description: Magic is in Delilah Bea’s blood. Her absentee father is the world’s most famous cursebreaker, while all the women in her family are fated to never find true love. So when Delilah graduates her magical training and must complete her Calling, she has the perfect task in mind—to break the Bea family curse.

But Delilah’s Calling is hijacked by Kieran Pelumbra, a member of the wealthiest and most powerful family in the country, and breaking his curse suddenly becomes her official assignment. Every generation, a pair of Pelumbra twins are doomed, with one twin draining the other of their life and magic. Each day, Kieran grows weaker while Briar gets closer to…something monstrous.

As Delilah and the twins set out on their quest, they quickly realize that breaking the Pelumbra curse isn’t going to be simple. For one, the Pelumbra family doesn’t actually want their curse broken—and they’ve sent hunters after them to ensure they fail. Secondly…it’s Briar. There’s just something about her that gets under Delilah’s skin and makes her want to kiss the perpetually grumpy look off her face. But with time running out for the twins and Delilah’s own curse getting in the way, they may not stand a chance of finding their Happily Ever After.

Review: Thank you to Delacorte and Penguin Random House for giving me an ARC at ALAAC24!

One of the books that I was very much on the hunt for at ALAAC24 (there were many, mind you) was the newest novel from Kayla Cottingham. I really enjoyed their previous two YA books, which were both horror stories with some Sapphic romance themes, and I found them both to be engaging and well done. When I heard that their next book, “Practical Rules for Cursed Witches”, was going to be witch centered I was very excited, for obvious reasons to those who know me. What I didn’t expect was that it was going to be a departure from the horror genre completely, and instead would be a cozy fantasy romance. It didn’t make me less excited, but it did make me wonder if my expectations were going to be a bit dashed. And the answer to that is ‘yes’. But not in a bad way!

The first thing that stood out for me is that even though I don’t usually gravitate towards fantasy, the coziness of this one really worked for me. It’s not too shocking given that I have liked other cozy fantasies as of late like “Legends and Lattes”, and much like that one this book just felt really comforting and filled with a certain whimsy. Our protagonist is Delilah, a young witch who wants to make her Calling (a final trial to fully come into her powers) about breaking her family curse (in which the women in her family are doomed to be forgotten by their romantic partners), but has it hijacked by Kieran Pelumbra, who has his own family curse he wants rid of. Delilah is the daughter of a well known Cursebreaker (though she never met him), and Kieran wants her to break the curse that is siphoning his powers to his estranged twin Briar. I’m already into it in terms of the basic groundwork, and Cottingham easily builds this magical world and all of its systems, making all of it easy to f0llow and easy to invest in. The magical society is well established and I really enjoyed all of the witchy moments in this book.

I also really liked the ‘found family’ aspects of this story, as well as the way that Cottingham writes the romance between Delilah and Briar. It checks a lot of boxes for my romance preferences, as I really liked the antagonism between the two at the start and how they slowly start to understand each other because it makes for a very satisfying pay off. Cottingham’s biggest strength in their works is how well they piece together characters and relationships, and I so loved seeing this group of friends come together to try and save Kieran and Briar from their family curse, and finding connections with each other along the way. These kinds of themes are the things that really make fantasies work for me, and this one is SO sweet and so charming. It strikes me as the kind of book you would want to read in the Fall when you are trying to find some of the homier and cozier aspects of the season, and I’ve said ‘cozy’ so many times because this is just the epitome of that for me. And while it’s true that this being a fantasy story means that it does have personal drawbacks for me as a reader, I know so many people who love the genre who would probably love this book. I’m thoroughly impressed that Cottingham jumped so easily from horror to this story.

“Practical Rules for Cursed Witches” is a sweet novel that showcases Kayla Cottingham’s talents as an author beyond their usual genres (or at least the genres I’m used to). I love being surprised by a book and this one really achieved that.

Rating 7: A charming cozy fantasy romance from a YA author I really enjoy, “Practical Rules for Cursed Witches” is the perfect read if you want a cozy fall book!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Practical Rules for Cursed Witches” is included on the Goodreads lists “Sapphic Fiction 2024”, and “August 2024 Romantasy Releases”.

Not Just Books: August 2024

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

Sports: Summer Olympics 2024

Per the usual, whenever the Olympics happen, it’s sure to pop for me on this list! Our TV was pretty much on the entire two weeks that the Olympics were running, though the first week was definitely my main point of interest. I always really enjoy all of the swimming events, and this first week also saw the return of Simone Biles in all of her glory. And what a fantastic return it was! I was on the edge of my seat through some her routines and perhaps got overly invested in it all!

Netflix Show: “The Umbrella Academy” season 4

What a wacky show this has been! Not only is the concept, characters, and storylines ridiculous (in the best way), but every season it’s been a wonder that Netflix renewed it! I was particularly pleased that they gave it a renewal for this last season so that the storylines could all be wrapped up properly. And there was a lot to like about this final entry! It does a great job of skewering the multiverse concepts that are all over the place in comic book movies, while also finally allowing its characters to age and tackling what dysfunctional superheroes living in suburbia would look like. Aidan Gallagher has always been the main draw of this series, and I was so pleased to see the storylines his character was given here. And, as far as endings go, this one felt right, even if it wasn’t what I would have wished for.

TV Show: “Alone”

Every late summer, this show is sure to turn up on this list! There’s just something so thrilling about cuddling up in tons of warm blankets while stuffing one’s face with food and offering up harsh criticisms to these contestants who are barely scraping by in the wild. “No! Stop wasting energy hunting and just sit in your shelter!” “Why would you build that elaborate of a shelter? Haven’t you seen any of the previous seasons where those guys always go home first?!” So much judgement, so little actual experience with anything similar. Good times!

Kate’s Picks

Musical Artist: Chappell Roan

I had heard of Chappell Roan before this summer, but when she exploded on the scene I was curious. And once I listened to it, I became a huge fan almost straight away. Her music itself has a poppy feel to it, it reminds me a little bit of The Go-Gos, a little. bit of Blondie. But it’s also unapologetically queer, which is really great to see, with Sapphic themes but also a clear aesthetic influence from drag and queer culture. She also likes to showcase drag artists in her music videos and before her concerts, which is AWESOME. And one of the best parts is that my kid loves ‘Hot To Go” and “Pink Pony Club”, so we can both enjoy car rides so long as Chappell is playing. It’s not often that I get caught up in a music trend these days as an elder Millennial, but hey, she’s fun and frothy and a hoot. Perfect summertime music.

Film: “In A Violent Nature”

We all know how much I love horror movies and how slasher films have a very special place in my heart. Because of this I was very interested in “In A Violent Nature” when I first heard of it, as it’s a slasher film that is almost completely from the perspective of the hulking, supernatural, slasher killer entity, starting from his resurrection and through his killing spree. HOW COOL! We follow ‘Johnny’, a supernatural slasher who is brought back to life due to partying young adults out in the woods, completely following Johnny and learning the story through his experiences. It’s meta, it’s a clever deconstruction, and I really, really loved the execution of it. The filmmakers clearly love the sub-genre, and while one may not think it would be suspenseful as we are LITERALLY following Johnny as he strolls around and kills people, I was still on the edge of my seat just WATCHING him slowly creep up at his languid pace, and then take them out. SO clever. But warning, also pretty violent.

TV Show: “The Decameron”

Who would think that a show about the Black Death would be such a laugh riot? When I first heard of “The Decameron” my interest was certainly piqued, given that the very premise is a bit of a dark comedy soap set in the Italian Countryside as the Plague ravages Europe. I sat down to watch when I had a night to myself and I found it to be a gallows humor filled hoot and a half, as well as an anxiety inducing meditation on mortality and class clashes in the face of death and disease. As the Plague is tearing through the cities of Europe, a number of nobles from Firenze are invited to a villa in the countryside to indulge in the fineries of life as they wait out the sickness, bringing their servants, riches, and terrible attitudes. But as dynamics unfold, tensions rise, and the body count rises, it becomes all too clear that escape from death isn’t a given, no matter how much money and privilege you have. Stand outs in the cast for me include Zosia Mamet, who plays a noblewoman who is worried she is an old maid at twenty eight, Saoirse-Monica Jackson as her dutiful but intense handmaid, and Tanya Reynods as a servant who has found herself in the position of being able to pretend to be nobility. It’s bleak in a lot of ways but it’s also hilarious with fantastic dialogue and some great madcap moments.

Serena’s Review: “Lady Macbeth”

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

Book: “Lady Macbeth” by Ava Reid

Publishing Info: Del Rey, August 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+

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

Book Description: The Lady knows the stories: how her eyes induce madness in men. 

The Lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute, who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed.  

The Lady knows his hostile, suspicious court will be a game of strategy, requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive. 

But the Lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armor. She does not know that her magic is greater and more dangerous, and that it will threaten the order of the world. 

She does not know this yet. But she will.

Review: Ava Reid has solidified herself as a “must read” author for me over the last few years. Her books are sometimes a tough read, subject-matter-wise, but her writing is so compelling that I always end up compulsively reading her books late into the night, regardless of my current state of horror. But I would have been interested in this one regardless of its author, since it sounds like nothing I’ve read before, offering up a new take on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” but told from the perspective of his conniving, powerful wife.

Right from the start, my main attraction to Ava Reid’s books was first and foremost: she’s just compulsively readable for me. Something about her style always draws me in so fully. The pacing and plotting is tight, but the story is spun in a way that feels lyrical and moving. The inherent beauty to her prose almost makes some of her more disturbing content moments all the more striking, and that was fully featured here. This Lady Macbeth is a young woman forced into marriage by her manipulative father. As such, much of the book is focused on the power discrepancies between women and men, fathers and daughters, and wives and husbands. The latter, of course, deals heavily with sexual violence with marriages, and readers should be aware going in that this theme is heavily and directly explored. I think it was well done, all told, but it’s definitely disturbing, as the story doesn’t shy away from the realities of Lady Macbeth’s situation.

I will say, however, that there were a few moments throughout where I felt like some of this focus on this one topic became a bit too much and unnecessary. Reid often writes about these hard topics in her books, and while I think she has a steady hand overall, I had a similar criticism in “Juniper and Thorn” where it felt at times over-down and a bit hyper-fixated. So, too, here.

Speaking of our main character, I think readers’ mileage will vary with this version of the Lady Macbeth. If you’re a massive fan of the original play, you may struggle with this story more than others. I enjoyed the original, but was unbothered by the changes made to the character here. This Lady Macbeth is a much younger woman and one of the primary arcs of the story is her slow (very slow, and coming in fits and starts at that) growth towards embracing her own power and throwing off the shackles placed upon her. This is a far throw from the original character who, throughout much of the play, seems to be the real power and mind behind Macbeth himself.

However, the change to the main character was probably one of the lesser changes to the entire story. I don’t want to get into spoilers, but this book definitely includes massive changes to the original, including the addition of a major fantasy element beyond Lady Macbeth’s own abilities. There was an added love interest included (and I very much enjoyed this love story, though it was definitely a subplot to the whole), but I think the changes made to the Three Witches and the role they play in this world was the most striking and effective.

Tonally, this story is dark and grim. If I had to identify my primary emotion while reading this book it would probably be dread. Like Lady Macbeth, the reader is drawn into a near-constant state of tension and fear. It’s incredibly effective, and if it weren’t for the strength of Reid’s writing, could easily exhaust the reader.

As it stands, I think this was an incredibly unique re-telling of “Macbeth,” re-focusing the story on the women that surrounded him and the limitations placed on them by fact of their sex. Readers who have enjoyed Reid’s work in the past will likely enjoy this one. Though more sensitive readers should be aware of its dark themes and scenes.

Rating 8: Exploring themes of women’s power, Reid takes the classic tale of “Macbeth” and turns it on its head!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Lady Macbeth” isn’t on any interesting Goodreads lists, but it should be on Shakespeare Retellings.

Serena’s Review: “Asunder”

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Book: “Asunder” by Kerstin Hall

Publishing Info: Tor, August 2024

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

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

Book Description: We choose our own gods here.

Karys Eska is a deathspeaker, locked into an irrevocable compact with Sabaster, a terrifying eldritch entity—three-faced, hundred-winged, unforgiving—who has granted her the ability to communicate with the newly departed. She pays the rent by using her abilities to investigate suspicious deaths around the troubled city she calls home. When a job goes sideways and connects her to a dying stranger with dangerous secrets, her entire world is upended.

Ferain is willing to pay a ludicrous sum of money for her help. To save him, Karys inadvertently binds him to her shadow, an act that may doom them both. If they want to survive, they will need to learn to trust one another. Together, they journey to the heart of a faded empire, all the while haunted by arcane horrors and the unquiet ghosts of their pasts.

And all too soon, Karys knows her debts will come due.

Review: I requested this one on a bit of a whim. I was vaguely familiar with the author, knowing that she’d released at least one or two other books, but I hadn’t read any of them. This cover, while excellent, doesn’t really give many clues as to what type of fantasy novel this was. And the book description is wild with talk of various types of magical beings (death speakers), fantasy creatures (eldritch entities) and long-reaching spells (binding someone to a shadow, what?). And man, was this an instance where not knowing going in really paid off! This was a crazy ride of a book and I loved every bit of it!

There’s so much to love about this book that I don’t know where to start. But I think I’ll begin with the general type of fantasy novel that this book is. I’m not sure if this is an “official” subgenre of fantasy, but I’d label this book and books like it as “hard fantasy.” As in, the fantasy version of “hard science fiction.” For example, last year I read and loved Martha Wells’ “Witch King.” I loved it so much that I included it (or tried to? I can’t remember) in one of our “Another Take” list where we link to other reviewers who also enjoyed the same book. Problem was, I kept coming across reviewers who struggled with the book because of the complicated world-building and the fact that the reader is essentially plopped into the story with no explanations or answers in sight, left to piece it together over the course of the book. So, where “hard science fiction” leans heavily on the scientific details of it all, I’d say that “hard fantasy” is the type of fantasy that presents a very foreign world, full of totally unfamiliar elements, cultures, and religions that readers are left to piece together largely on their own.

This book is very much that, and, like “Witch King,” I loved it. For one thing, I think this style of storytelling often makes the most sense for fantasy stories like this. In this book, we’re following one main character, Karys, as she goes on a quest to various locations in various countries and, essentially, has a bunch of mini-adventures while gathering up a party of friends. But because we’re following her so closely, and she’s a member of this world, her explanations of what she sees around her are fairly straightforward and undetailed.

She blasély comments on these enchanted dog-like creatures that essentially operate as a free taxi system in her home city. She mentions the various deity-like beings that have warred over the past decades, with one now practically extinct and a new order in place with beings that are only partially understood. She casually describes cultures and customs where it is understood that one simply climbs within a ensorcelled spider-thing that operates like a train. It’s all incredibly creative, incredibly strange, and incredibly straight-forwardly presented. This is all familiar to Karys; she has no reason to go into long monologues about the how and why of it all. As such, the reader is left to piece together these elements over the course of the book, slowly filling out the broad strokes of this world and the true stakes involved. I enjoy fantasy stories that test the limits of the imagination like this one does. That said, this is definitely not an approachable fantasy story, and I can see some readers being turned off by the complexity of it all.

As I mentioned, while there is a larger mystery and quest involved (Karys’s mission to return the man she bound to her shadow to his rightful body), the plot swings through a multitude of shorter “side quests.” All of these were worked in to the larger plot in small ways, but they also felt like interesting little mini stories in their own right. And, most importantly, they gave the reader more insights into the strangeness of this world and its people.

While I like the plot and the fantasy world, none of this would have worked without a strong leading character, and Karys is exactly the sort of leading lady I enjoy. She’s fiercely independent (often to a problematic level), and much of the story follows her personal arc of coming to trust and rely on the friends she meets along the way. Her past is riddled with trauma, and yet her approach to life is a fierce will to live, even in the face of the most dire of circumstances. Her fairly tightly-wound character is balanced well by her shadow companion, Ferain, who is a more light-hearted and open individual. That said, for a character that spends almost the entire book in a shadow-like state, Ferain’s own story turned out to be more rich than I had expected. Plus, the cherry on the top, I loved the sweet, slow-burn romance that developed between them.

I’m really tempted to give this book a 10 rating. However, I will say that while I enjoyed all of the mini adventures on their own, there were a few points where I felt like these side stories broke up the overall pacing of the story. And there was one that I didn’t really understand the point of, though I may have missed some important detail (like I said, the author doesn’t spoon feed it to you, so if you missed a line, oops!). I also felt like the ending was rather abrupt and felt a bit like a cliffhanger. Normally, this wouldn’t really bother me, but as of writing this, this book seems to be being marketed as a stand-alone, which, if true, makes the ending slightly unsatisfying. That said, I still highly recommend this to fantasy readers, especially those who want to go hard into the crazier side of fantasy world-building and are happy to go along on a mildly confusing, but well worth it, ride!

Rating 9: A perfect example of hard fantasy at its best, with a world that feels completely foreign and rich to be explored, especially alongside a fantastic cast of characters.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Asunder” isn’t on many Goodreads lists, but it is on Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2024.

Kate’s Review: “Strange Folk”

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Book: “Strange Folk” by Alli Dyer

Publishing Info: Atria Books, August 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher at ALAAC24.

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

Book Description: A woman returns to her estranged, magical family in Appalachia but when a man is found dead in the woods nearby, it seems the family has conjured something sinister in this lush, shimmering, and wildly imaginative debut novel that is perfect for fans of Alice Hoffman, Deborah Harkness, and Sarah Addison Allen.

Lee left Craw Valley at eighteen without a backward glance. She wanted no part of the generations of her family who tapped into the power of the land to heal and help their community. But when she abandons her new life in California and has nowhere else to go, Lee returns to Craw Valley with her children in tow to live with her grandmother, Belva.

Lee vows to stay far away from Belva’s world of magic, but when the target of one of her grandmother’s spells is discovered dead, Lee fears that Belva’s magic may have summoned something dark.

As she and her family search for answers, Lee travels down a rabbit hole of strange phenomena and family secrets that force her to reckon with herself and rediscover her power in order to protect her family and the town she couldn’t leave behind.

Review: Thank you to Atria books for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

One of the panels I attended at ALAC24 was a preview of upcoming thriller titles with the authors at hand to describe their books. One of the books that caught my attention was “Strange Folk” by Alli Dyer, which had not only a fantasy element to the thriller story, but also involved a family of healers in the mountains of Appalachia that has used nature and their powers to help those around their community, as well as stirred up some trouble here and there when using those powers. We all know that this is the exact kind of story I am an absolute sucker for, so I was very excited to read this book, my hopes being pretty high.

In terms of the witchiness themes and lore I did find a lot I liked in this book. I was definitely getting some hints and homages to “Practical Magic” as a reluctant woman from a line of healers and supposed ‘witches’ returns to her Appalachia home with her children after a nasty divorce. Lee’s homecoming and reintegration into the town was really fun to watch unfold, as she starts to reconnect with her grandmother Belva, a well respected healer, and starts to interact with the land again and how it can bind and heal, and sometimes take and harm. I absolutely loved the descriptions of the spells, charms, tinctures, etcetera of the women in this family, and the various rituals that they would partake in in hopes of helping and healing. And the Appalachia setting makes for an even more unique lens, with Lee’s family being mountain folk who have hidden away from general society and made their own way, being trusted by some and feared by others. I honestly kept thinking about Misty Day in “American Horror Story: Coven” with her connection to nature and her more ‘folksy’ (for lack of a better term) traditions. This interpretation of witches really worked for me in this story, as I love a story with powerful women doing magic, or something like it.

But that kind of leads to why this didn’t work as well for me, and that is because unlike in “Practical Magic” I didn’t really become attached to any of the characters at hand. A lot of them had some promising backstories, traits, and personalities, but I never fully enjoyed them and never quite believed that they got to what I was hoping they would be. Whether it was our main character Lee, who had some great build up but then didn’t quite get past the building blocks of her character except to be like ‘oh no I guess we will stay because this is my home’, or her mother Redbud, who was consumed by a guilty conscience and then became a drug addict and traumatized her daughter, we had so many things that could have been explored…. but then just didn’t quite get the exploration I was hoping for. I don’t really need characters like this to be likable, but I at least want them to be interesting even if I can’t really root for them. And I had a VERY hard time with the dynamic between Lee and Redbud, and how it felt like there was probably a lot of grace and forgiveness when all was said and done without the amount of atonement that I REALLY needed from her. And by the time we got some answers and reveals about what was going on, I was more happy that we were wrapping up as opposed to actually getting fulfilling answers.

I had higher hopes for “Strange Folk”, and while the concept, setting, and lore worked for me, I wanted from from our cast of mountain witches and their loved ones. I think it would be a good choice for the upcoming Autumn, however.

Rating 6: A strong premise and some interesting folk lore makes for a cool concept, but I wasn’t as invested in the characters.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Strange Folk” isn’t on many specific Goodreads lists but I think if you like books like “Practical Magic” and other magical family sagas this could be a good match.

Serena’s Review: “A Ruse of Shadows”

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Book: “A Ruse of Shadows” by Sherry Thomas

Publishing Info: Berkley, June 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+

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

Book Description: Charlotte’s success on the RMS Provence has afforded her a certain measure of time and assurance. Taking advantage of that, she has been busy, plotting to prise the man her sister loves from Moriarty’s iron grip.

Disruption, however, comes from an unexpected quarter. Lord Bancroft Ashburton, disgraced and imprisoned as a result of Charlotte’s prior investigations, nevertheless manages to press Charlotte into service: Underwood, his most loyal henchman, is missing and Lord Bancroft wants Charlotte to find Underwood, dead or alive.

But then Lord Bancroft himself turns up dead and Charlotte, more than anyone else, meets the trifecta criteria of motive, means, and opportunity. Never mind rescuing anyone else, with the law breathing down her neck, can Charlotte save herself from prosecution for murder?

Previously Reviewed: “A Study in Scarlet Women” and “A Conspiracy in Belgravia” and “The Hollow of Fear” and “The Art of Theft” and “Murder on Cold Street” and “Miss Moriarty, I Presume?” and “A Tempest at Sea”

Review: Better late than never! (Though it can be assured that I would eventually get to the latest “Charlotte Holmes” mystery novel!) As much as I love reading new releases, it does become a challenge trying to make sure to leave review room for my beloved on-going series. And at this point, this is probably one of the longer running series that I’m reviewing that is currently still be added to! And, while there have been ups and and downs throughout this series, there have never been any true duds. Indeed, the series has been on a bit of an uptick recently, so I was excited to check out this latest entry!

While those familiar with the series will find many familiar aspects to this story (all of our favorite characters, a return to England, and the use of tried-and-true villains from the past), one of the primary things that stood out about this book was how fresh it felt! And for the *checks notes* 8th book in a mystery series, that’s quite something! There are two primary factors, I believe. First, and to a lesser extent, the first real mystery the reader is introduced to is one in which Charlotte herself is the primary suspect. This is, of course, a rich setup for the story. And while this subplot isn’t really the primary plot of the book, it does provide a unique framing for the entire story, one in which Charlotte is on the other side of the interview, the subject rather than the investigator. No one is surprised to find that she shines just as well in this setting as in her regular role

But the second change was the broken up manner in which the story is told. The book shifts back and forth from various time periods. One being the aforementioned interview in which Charlotte is being questioned about her role in this murder. But the second follows all of the events that lead up to this situation, with a few smaller jumps around in time found within. And, of course, by the time we get to the end of the story and the pieces start falling in place, the reader (and many other characters!) realize that Charlotte, as always, was playing a much deeper game the entire time, with a wholly separate timeline of events playing into the how and why of everything that happened throughout the story. This all lead to a very compelling mystery. There were simply so many layers to the story that every time I began to feel as if I had some theories about one mystery, we would shift focus to the next layer and I would be as befuddled as ever! It was a very “onion-like” read in all of the best ways!

Perhaps less new was the cast of characters, though here too the book shone! While I enjoy Livia Holmes and the important role she plays in Charlotte’s life, there have been times throughout the series when I felt that her chapters felt unnecessary to the larger story. Here, we still follows her story for a few chapters here and there, but I felt like the balance between her smaller subplot and the larger story as a whole was better handled. I also really enjoyed seeing some familiar faces pop up in very unexpected ways! There were a few call-backs to characters from several books ago who ended up playing much larger roles in this book. And, of course, Bancroft is always a good time in all of his snobby glory!

And, of course, I still very much enjoy the slowly developing relationship between Charlotte and Lord Ingram. Some of the more floundering books seemed to struggle to know where to take this relationship, but in these last few stronger entries, this relationship feels more steady and as if its progressing in a natural manner. It’s the slowest of slow burns, but in this way, it still feels very true to a character like Charlotte who understands her important relationships with other people in both a much deeper, but also more difficult to communicate, manner.

Overall, I really loved this one! In fact, it’s probably one of my favorites out of the entire series! The central mystery was compelling, the balance of characters felt right, and we once again were able to revel in all that makes Charlotte Holmes such an intriguing character to follow. If you’re a fan of these books, this one is a solid entry in what I hope continues to be a long-running series.

Rating 9: Successful in every way I could wish, this was a perfect balance of mystery, character work, and a fantastic central character!

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Ruse of Shadows” is on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Books of 2024