Month: July 2025

Kate’s Review: “With A Vengeance”

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Book: “With A Vengeance” by Riley Sager

Publishing Info: Dutton, June 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley

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

Book Description: One train. No stops. A deadly game of survival and revenge.

In 1942, six people destroyed Anna Matheson’s family. Twelve years later, she’s ready for retribution.

Under false pretenses, Anna has lured those responsible for her family’s downfall onto a luxury train from Philadelphia to Chicago, an overnight journey of fourteen hours. Her goal? Confront the people who’ve wronged her, get them to confess their crimes, and deliver them into the hands of authorities waiting at the end of the line. Justice will at last be served.

But Anna’s plan is quickly derailed by the murder of one of the passengers. As the train barrels through the night, it becomes clear that someone else on board is enacting their own form of revenge—and that they won’t stop until everyone else is dead.

With time running out before the train reaches its destination, Anna is forced to hunt the killer in their midst while protecting the people she hates the most. In order to destroy her enemies, she must first save them—even though it means putting her own life at risk.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

For me, summer has some guarantees that I can always count on, and one of those things is a new Riley Sager book. I’ve been reading a Riley Sager book every summer for the past eight years, starting with “Final Girls” and going with a new book every year from there. It’s just a staple of the season to me. And because of this it was obvious that I was going to read his newest novel “With A Vengeance”. It’s just what summer brings. I know that Sager has his fans and his detractors, but I haven’t had a bad experience with any of his books, finding all of them at the very least entertaining and ultimately good reads. That is, until now.

Hey, eight out of nine ain’t bad, right? (source)

But first the good. I an always respect and author who wants to switch things up in their writing, and “With A Vengeance” is a huge tone shift for Sager, as the sub-genre is an Agatha Christie-esque locked door mystery and the time period if post-WWII 1950s America. It’s a huge shift from his previous works, and I definitely applaud him taking this risk. I also think that he has the bare bone foundation of a solid locked room mystery, with a dubious cast of characters who could all be suspects, and with a pretty well thought out motivation at the heart of Anna wanting revenge for her brother’s and father’s deaths and her ruined life, as well as having pretty clear reasons for many of the conspirators that sought to take her father down. Sager has a solid set up here, I can’t deny that.

But the execution was off. There were so many twists and turns that were supposed to be interesting and scandalous, but they were either predictable, or they just felt like they were too many things going on at once. We’d have one solution, only to have another new solution, only to backtrack on ANOTHER solution, with a few obvious red herrings thrown in that didn’t really work. By the time we got to the third or fourth shocking twist, I was pretty much over it, and I was just ready for the train to pull into the station so that it could all be over and done with. On top of that, while I thought that the characters had believable motivations to want to set up Anna’s father to take a pretty horrendous fall, I didn’t feel like I got to know ANY of them beyond their villainy (with one possible exception I won’t spoil here, but their reasoning was at least humanizing to the character which made them a bit more interesting), or their need for revenge in Anna’s case. Anna also didn’t do much for mer, as her rage and desire to get her vengeance was understandble, but there wasn’t much else to her, which made her less interesting and made her less likable because of it. I know that Sager can be pretty hit or miss for lots of people when it comes to his protagonists, but this was the first time I just really didn’t care about a main character in one of his books. I really and truly wanted more and it just sputtered out.

“With A Vengeance” had so much potential but never quite reached it. I’m not giving up on Sager after one misstep, but as someone who has been a staunch defender of him in the past, it was a disappointment to be sure.

Rating 5: While I appreciate Sager experimenting with other sub-genres of thrillers, “With A Vengeance” was too muddled and didn’t have enough well developed characters to really endear me to the story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“With a Vengeance” is included on the Goodreads list “Haunting Books For A Stormy Night”.

Highlights: July 2025

We’re back to good, old muggy Minnesota! Serena is anxiously looking forward to her escape to the dry heat of the West later this month and Kate is hunkering down either inside or poolside. And of course we both have piles of books to get through!

Serena’s Picks

Book: “Never the Roses” by Jennifer K. Lambert

Publication Date: July 8, 2025

Why I’m Interested: This book sounds right up my alley! Not only does it feature a mature hero and heroine, but they are warring sorcerers who have been pitted against one another by their respective nations for years. But when Oneira manages to finally retire, she becomes curious about the rival she never met. And, of course, romance ensues! While there have been a few misses here and there, Bramble has done pretty well as a new option for quality romantasy/romance reads, so I have high hopes for this one!

Book: “Red Tempest Brother” by H.M. Long

Publication Date: July 8, 2025

Why I’m Interested: I keep thinking this series is over when it isn’t! The first one I thought was a stand-alone. Nope! Then the second I thought was wrapping up a duology. Nope! And here we are with the actual conclusion to the trilogy. I’ve loved the heck out of this sea-faring fantasy story! It’s the perfect mix of high seas action, intricate fantasy world-building, and a lovely romance that is firmly a subplot but also given all the time and attention it needs to thrive. This entire series seems to be completely off so many readers’ radars, and it’s such a shame. Hopefully someone will pick it up for a special edition (looking at you “The Broken Binding”) or something else will propel it further into the public’s eye, because boy, does it deserve it! At this point, I’m not even concerned for the ending, just excited to see how it plays out!

Book: “The Jasad Crown” by Sara Hashem”

Publication Date: July 15, 2025

Why I’m Interested: It’s been two long, painful years, but the sequel to 2023’s “The Jasad Heir” is finally here! The first book took me completely by surprise with its excellent world-building and superb romance. Truly, that book was a masterclass in how to do enemies-to-lovers the right way! Of course, it left off with some major secrets being revealed and the stakes skyrocketing, so there’s a lot of ground to cover in this conclusion to the duology. Mostly, I’m worried how the romance will be managed with our two characters now separated not only geographically by ideologically. There are a lot of moving pieces, but if the first book taught me anything, it was not to doubt Hashem’s storytelling abilities!

Kate’s Pick

Book: “Everyone Is Lying To You” by Jo Piazza

Publication Date: July 15, 2025

Why I’m Interested: As someone who has always been very left wing, I am always so deeply fascinated/horrified by right wing propaganda disguising itself as life style tips, and the recent rise in ‘trad wife’ content has me OBSESSED because of how insidious it is. So OBVIOUSLY I’m interested in a thriller that is all about trad wife influencers, social media ambition, and MURDER! Bex and Lizzie were besties in college, but after graduation Bex fell off the face of the earth. Now she’s a picture perfect tradwife influencer, who reaches out to now journalist Lizzie with an offer for an interview and a trip to an influencer convention. But then Bex disappears, and her husband is found murdered. Can Lizzie figure out what happened? I guess I’m going to find out!

Book: “Not Quite Dead Yet” by Holly Jackson

Publication Date: July 22, 2025

Why I’m Interested: I have basically loved most of the books that I’ve read by Holly Jackson, and imagine how thrilled I was when I found out that she had a new thriller coming out… and that it was for adults! Don’t get me wrong, I love her YA stuff, but I feel like an adult story can open so many more doors for her thriller writing, and “Not Quite Dead Yet” sounds like a doozy. Jet is a somewhat aimless woman who is part of a wealthy, but somewhat damaged, family. When she is brutally attacked on Halloween, she has a head injury so complex that the doctors are predicting an aneurism in a few days time that will take her life, even though she is cognizant. So Jet decides that with the little time she has left she’s going to solve her own eventual murder, with the help of childhood friend Billy. Jackson hasn’t failed me yet and this one sounds amazing.

Book: “The Library at Hellebore” by Cassandra Khaw

Publication Date: July 22, 2025

Why I’m Interested: I’ve enjoyed Khaw’s work before, with their adept skill for writing stories that are incredibly gory and grotesque, but with the most beautiful language and descriptions. And now we aren’t getting a novella, but an actual novel! And it sounds like a gory and grotesque dark academia tale! The Hellebore Technical Institute for the Gifted is an elite school that has a very different kind of student. Namely, incredibly dangerous beings that can cause much violence and chaos, who may not want to be there in the first place. At least, that was Alessa’s experience, having been taken and enrolled against her will and told that Hellebore can offer a new start for hopeless cases. Until graduation night. Because on graduation night it becomes clear that Hellebore’s promises are filled with lies. Sounds like it could be some nasty fun.

Serena’s Review: “Bound by Stars”

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Book: “Bound by Stars” by E. L. Starling

Publishing Info: Entangled: Teen, July 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: She never belonged in his world. He never thought he’d leave it.

When Weslie Fleet wins a golden ticket aboard the Boundless, humanity’s most opulent starliner, it’s a dream―and a danger. Raised in the dust-ridden ruins of Earth, she is thrust into the gleaming luxury of Mars’s elite, where every whispered word carries weight and every glance is a silent judgment. And none watch her closer than Jupiter, the golden boy of Mars’s high society, bound by duty, legacy, and a future he never chose.

Their reluctant partnership was supposed to be a one-off assignment. Instead, it becomes a battle of wills, a spark that ignites, and a love neither of them anticipated. But fate is as cruel as it is unpredictable, and when the Boundless veers off course, love won’t be enough to save them.

The ship is failing. The odds are impossible. And in the darkness of space, survival is the only thing that matters.

But some loves are worth defying the stars for.

Review: This is one of those odd reads where what drew me to the book (science fiction re-telling of “Titanic”) is the specific aspect of the read that I most disliked. That is to say, there was a lot to like here whenever I could disconnect my brain from the parallel’s to the movie. While there weren’t any groundbreaking science fiction moments, the struggles between Mars and a vastly reduced Earth was an interesting political stage upon which to set the story. And the overall conflict and themes of the story (mostly centering around classism) were fairly well handled, especially for a young adult novel. The discussions of these themes was also done well and avoided straying too far into preachiness, a perpetual problem it seems in books like this. Further, the disaster itself that befalls the starliner was action packed and intense. However, this is a perfect example of how the comparisons to “Titanic” don’t work in the book’s favor.

Maybe I’m being nitpicky, but to me at least, there is a huge difference between the natural disaster that befell the Titanic with its ramming of the iceberg and a rebellion attack upon a luxury starliner. I picked this book up looking for a disaster and survival story; indeed, anyone who is promised a book that is a re-telling of “Titanic” would expect the same. A rebellion attack is a very different thing, and while not bad on its own, not what I been expecting or wanting from this read.

And you might say at this point “well, just try to read it as an original story, disconnected from the re-telling.” But you can’t! There are scenes that are direct call-backs/re-imaginings of scenes from the movie. From little things, like the FMC winning her ticket onto the starliner at the start of the book to a full scene devoted to re-imagining the “you jump, I jump” scene from the movie. There’s no getting away from the callbacks. (And I didn’t want to get away from the re-telling POV ultimately, I just wish the book had more confidently stuck to that premise in the first place!)

The change-out from disaster to rebellion attack was annoying enough, but I really began to get fed up with the way our main characters’ love story played out. Yes, classism is present in the dynamic between Rose and Jack in the movie. But there, we are seeing it through the lens of how restricted Rose is beneath the weight of this system, and Jack’s role is to free her from these binds and remind her of the joy and love to be found in life. That’s a lovely story! But here, a huge chunk of the first half of this book is devoted to Wes’s resentment towards Jupiter and his place within the wealthy uber-upper class. The enemies-to-lovers trope struck again, and in one of the most inopportune books you could find. Rose and Jack were NOT enemies! Jack didn’t spend all of his time resenting and lecturing Rose!

Not only does the change in this dynamic hurt a book that is being marketed as a science fiction version of “Titanic,” but it’s frankly a more boring choice. I’ve read a million stories that have this exact same romance and commentary on classism at their heart. And frankly, I didn’t need another. The book would have not only been more true to its concept had it stuck with the original dynamics between romantic interests, but it would have been a more interesting read on its own, as well.

If I really squinted, I could try to read this book disconnected from its “Titanic”-retelling origins. And for the brief moments where I could, it was a fine read. As a YA science fiction story, I think there’s definitely an audience for this book. But at the same time, I was incredibly disappointed with the more direct ties to the movie, especially the significant changes made to the love story at its heart. If you’re looking for a decent YA science fiction story, this may be a good fit. But if you were looking for a “Titanic” story, disaster and romance included, this is probably not for you.

Rating 7: Fine enough as a YA science fiction story, but disappointing as a “Titanic” re-imagining.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bound by Stars” can be found on this Goodreads list: Books with “Star” in the Title.

Serena’s Review: “The Baby Dragon Cafe”

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Book: “The Baby Dragon Cafe” by A. T. Qureshi

Publishing Info: Avon, July 2025

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

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

Book Description: When Saphira opened up her café for baby dragons and their humans, she wasn’t expecting it to be so difficult to keep the fires from burning. It turns out, young dragons are not the best magical animals to keep in a café, and replacing all that burnt furniture is costing Saphira more than she can afford from selling dragon-roasted coffee.

Aiden is a local gardener, and local heart-throb, more interested in his plants than actually spending time with his disobedient baby dragon. When Aiden walks into Saphira’s café, he has a genius idea – he’ll ask Saphira to train his baby dragon, and he’ll pay her enough to keep the café afloat.

Saphira knows her happy-go-lucky attitude isn’t Aiden’s cup of tea, but everywhere she goes, Aiden seems to follow. Has Saphira finally found the answer to the baby dragon cafe’s problems, and maybe a little love along the way, too?

Review: It looked so cute and yet I struggled so much! And really, by the end of the book, the “cuteness” is really the most this book has to offer. The cover art is adorable, and I’m sure it will do its job selling this book to many fans of cozy fantasy. The concept, also, is fun. Dragons are obviously very “in” right now, and what’s better than an adult dragon? A baby dragon! And when the book was setting up these initial world-building aspects, it was enjoyable enough. But unfortunately, quite quickly things began to fall apart.

Right off the bat, I knew this was going to be a bit of a struggle with the decision to not only use modern lingo, but hyper “online” lingo. This is, of course, a personal bugaboo of mine, so I’m not a totally objective agent when reporting annoyance at this style of writing. However, I do think a legitimate criticism can be leveled when a book relies on these sorts of “quirky” vocab choices as strongly as this one does. And in this case, it’s not just a matter of “modern” phrases or word choices. After all, this is a contemporary cozy romance, for all that it is set in a fantasy world. But the writing seriously read like the author leads her life online and was forming her entire vision of dialogue, description, and interactions based on what was found in Threads conversations. It was cringy to the extreme, and I guarantee it won’t age well. I’m sure authors are primarily focused on just getting their books out the door and into the world, but I do think some attention should be given to the book’s ability to then last in the world and not immediately date itself into oblivion with Bookthreads-speak.

Another of my main struggle points with cozy fantasy is the challenge of striking the correct balance between a homey, comforting vibe with low stakes and simply not having any stakes or plot to speak of. This unfortunately fell firmly in the latter category. As this is a romance story first and foremost, most of the plot revolved around the development of and conflict within the romance, and it struggled in every area. Right off the bat, the story fell into instalove/lust territory, with the characters quickly becoming enamored of one anther. This is annoying but not necessarily a deal breaker.

However, what really took me out of the story was what followed: a series of decisions by the main characters WHOLLY disconnected from any motivation shown to us on the page. With inner dialogue, they would reflect on choosing not so share certain bits of information (for no reason!) and then literally pages later, they would change their mind and just casually mention that same information (again, for no reason!). Quite quickly it became evident that the author was struggling to maintain any sort of tension or arc within this romance, and all of these bizarre decisions and interactions were simply being clumsily slotted in to draw out the romantic resolution.

Beyond this, the writing was simply rather bad, overall. Again and again, the reader was told basic facts about things and how they are meant to feel about it all. There was basically no showing to speak of. The sentence structure and vocabulary was similarly limited and straight-forward (I guess there was some variety in the type of Internet slang you’d be reading from one moment to the next…). Even things like punctuation were off, with a plethora of exclamation points to be found littered across any given page!

Honestly, this book was incredibly disappointing. It’s all the more surprising in that it’s coming from an established author, which makes me suspect that something perhaps was missing on the editing side of things. Too often, we keep seeing authors/publishers trend chasing at a pace that outruns quality and creativity, and such was the case here. Unfortunately, I can’t really recommend this one. There are simply too many other great books to read out there!

Rating 5: With bizarre character choices and drowning beneath Internet slang, this book was a disappointing read.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Baby Dragon Cafe” can be found on this Goodreads list: July 2025 Most Anticipated Romance Releases

Ripley’s Reviews: “Ripley” (2024)

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“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. 

TV Mini-Series: “Ripley” (2024)

We have come to the final “Ripliad” adaptation, in the form of the 2024 Miniseries “Ripley”. This was, interestingly enough, the thing that inspired me to do this entire blog series, as I saw it on my Netflix, started it, and then thought ‘huh….. I should really re-read the first book’. Which in turn turned into ‘Or MAYBE I should take on the ENTIRE series!’ So I turned off “Ripley”, and decided to save it. And about a year later, I was back, booting up this miniseries once more. “Ripley” stars a few people I am familiar with. The first is Andrew Scott, who I knew best from the movie “Pride” and the show “Sherlock”, who plays Tom Ripley. The next is Dakota Fanning, who plays Marge. I think the only thing I’ve seen her in is “The Runaways”, but she was solid in that. And finally we had Johnny Flynn as Dickie, who I had only seen in the 2020 version of “Emma” where he played Knightley. There was also Eliot Sumner playing Freddie, but I hadn’t seen them in anything before this. I went in with high hopes.

For the positives, I do have a fair amount of praise. The first is that this entire mini-series is brilliantly shot, and it captures both beauty and horror in a way that I found stunning. The black and white coloring makes things all the more stark, and there are scenes in this that took my breath away. In particular, the scene where Tom murders Dickie in the boat really stands out; it’s incredibly abrupt, it’s violent and jarring, and the way that it just keeps going through the murder itself and the way that Tom takes steps to cover it up were so unnerving I had to pause it a couple of times. We also get some beautiful shots of Italian cities, while also finding claustrophobia and lots of tension as Tom walks through various streets. This show takes its time with the story, lingering on its cinematography to set a scene and build tension.

And for the most part, I did enjoy the casting. I thought that Dakota Fanning as Marge was a great choice, and I really appreciated the way that this story presents her, not as a naive and incredibly kind love interest, but as someone who is a bit of a sour puss, but also immediately put off and suspicious of Tom when he just happens to re-enter her friend Dickie’s life by pure coincidence. Even when Tom ‘fesses up’, she isn’t sure, and I liked a more wary Marge in this story. I also thought that Andrew Scott was probably the most sinister Tom we have seen yet, with a cold calculating way about him as he ingratiates himself into Dickie’s life, and it feels as if he has made a decision about targeting and disposing of Dickie almost from the jump. Scott can play sinister, as we have seen in “Sherlock”, and in this he is a truly unnerving Ripley, deeply scary and cold. He is perhaps the most robotic of psychopaths that we have seen of a Ripley characterization, but I really enjoyed how much he scared me.

But, my biggest issue with this mini-series, as gorgeous as it is and as terrifying as Andrew Scott is and as perfect as Dakota Fanning is… Guys, I sincerely feel that Andrew Scott is a bit too old to play Ripley. And I feel that Johnny Flynn is too old to be playing Dickie (and I am saying this as someone who is only a little younger than he is). When Tom and Dickie are in their twenties, I am more inclined to buy Dickie’s devil may care privileged holidaying, and I am more inclined to believe him letting Ripley attach to him because of their supposed college connection. But when Dickie is in his late 30s, I just don’t buy his father not taking measures long before this moment. AND ON TOP OF THAT, we see Ripley running his small cons and schemes, but when it comes to bigger ones he loses his nerve pretty quickly, so I find it difficult to believe that he has been able to be this kind of con man for this long without being caught or without having to pivot off the path due to a lack of sustainability. And to almost add insult to injury, this adaptation felt not nearly as queer as I had hoped it would be. I fully recognize that Highsmith claimed that Ripley was never meant to be gay, but I was hoping that after the 1999 film there would be some kind of precedent to at least push it a little further that the strange quasi-sexual obsession that the Damon film had, and that the book had some undeniable hints at, with Ripley focusing a little too much on Dickie and his charismatic self and seeming to long to not just be him, but possess him. In this adaptation Dickie is kind of lackluster in most ways, and by taking out his dynamic personality we don’t get a captivating obsession from Ripley. It feels more like it’s just a momentary focus for the sake of the hunt, which isn’t BAD, per se. As i said, I find this version of Tom to be absolutely chilling. But without the obsession with Dickie feeling somewhat personal, it takes out a layer I had hoped it would be exploring and toying with, and it made it thud all the more.

So while it’s gorgeous and I enjoyed the interpretations of a few of the characters, overall “Ripley” had weird choices that kind of made it stumble for me. Next time I’m going to do a conclusion write up of my entire “Ripley” experience, and after mulling on it a bit I will be curious to see where this one ends up. I do recommend checking it out for the stunning visuals and the way that some of the scenes play out.

Serena’s Review: “Birth of Dynasty”

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Book: “Birth of a Dynasty” by Chinaza Bado

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, July 2025

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

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

Book Description: After witnessing the massacre of everyone he’s ever known and loved, M’Kuru Mukundi, the sole surviving member of the High Noble House Mukundi of Madada, vows revenge. M’kuru flees to a small village where he hides under the guise of farm boy Khalil Rausi… unaware that the real Khalil’s father is the bloodthirsty General of Zenzele army, and under the direction of the King’s scheming son, Prince Effiom, was responsible for the murder of M’kuru’s people. When an imposter claiming to be M’kuru shows up in the village, the real M’kuru—now Khalil—must bide his time amongst his enemies, pretending to be everything that he hates in order to get vengeance.

In another part of the country where giants roam free, young Zikora Nnamani, the only daughter of Lord Nnamani, knows nothing of political intrigue—she wants little more than to be a fierce Seh Llinga warrior. But a well-known prophecy places too much potential power on her small shoulders, and—as far as Prince Effiom and the King know—she is the only living threat to their dynasty ruling forever. However, when a messenger arrives to “invite” Zikora to stay at the palace, her family is not in a position to refuse. Before she is taken away, she begins The Rite of Blessing, a magical inheritance that she will need to learn how to use, but that may also bring the world one step closer to the completion of the prophecy that Prince Effiom so fears.

Between scheming ladies at court, backstabbing princes on the prowl, and paranoid kings, M’kuru and Zikora must do what they can, no matter how terrible, to save their people and claim vengeance for their families. But they are just two young people against an entire kingdom—and a prophecy destined to thwart their dreams—and the last thing they can do is trust anyone…even each other.

Review: This one was a bit rough right from the start. Early on, it was clear the author had some lofty goals for this book, particularly with the political stakes, prophesy at the heart of things, and the ways in which characters would plot to see their own goals forwarded. However, the pacing was incredibly slow in the beginning, which made it a struggle to become invested. On top of that, the information we were given often was dropped in the readers lap via long, rather tedious infodumps. As I began to better understand this world, much of this did come together, and I was fairly invested in how things would turn out towards the end of the story. However, I think there’s a pretty steep ask put on readers right from the start with the story structure.

Some of the oddities of the info dumping/pacing weren’t helped by the stilted dialogue. It was the kind of thing that’s hard to put your finger on exactly or explain in a review. People simply spoke in ways that didn’t feel natural or organic. If I didn’t know better, it almost read as if the book had been translated from a different language and much of the spirit of the original dialogue had been lost in conversion leaving everything rather flat.

I also really struggled with the characters. On the positive side to start, however, I did enjoy that the book’s main characters were two noble children. The story takes place during a few time periods, but even in some of the later ones, they are still very much younger children. This was interesting choice, and I think the author successfully re-created the mentality of two noble children in these situations. Unfortunately, however, realistic depictions of noble kids in these situations doesn’t necessarily leave you with characters you enjoy spending time with. On top of that, you do get a variety of other, adult side characters. However, none of them were particularly likable either! I was really left grasping at straws trying to find someone to root for.

The book was also incredibly violent, with numerous traumatic and horrible events taking place, including sexual assault. The author is clearly writing a grim story, one that is set in a world full of awful, striving people who will do whatever it takes, and I think she does succeeds there. But I don’t particularly enjoy this sort of grimdark fantasy ala “Game of Thrones,” so I was largely put off by the violence and rape involved. That said, readers of dark fantasy may enjoy the way some of these themes are discussed and handled.

Overall, this simply wasn’t the book for me. I think there were some struggles with the writing and pacing over all, but I did become more invested in the overarching plot by the end of the book. That said, I’m never going to love a book where most (if not all) of the characters are some degree of unlikable. However, if you’re a grimdark fantasy reader who enjoys political intrigue, this may be the book for you!

Rating 6: Unfortunately, this one didn’t work for me: too dark and with characters I struggled to enjoy.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Birth of a Dynasty” is currently on any lists but it should be on Political Fantasy.

Kate’s Review: “Wearing the Lion”

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

Book: “Wearing the Lion” by John Wiswell

Publishing Info: DAW, June 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publicist.

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

Book Description: This second novel from Nebula Award-winning John Wiswell brings a humanizing, redemptive touch to the Hercules story in this mythological fantasy for fans of Jennifer Saint and Elodie Harper.

Heracles, hero of Greece, dedicates all his feats to Hera, goddess of family. Heracles’ mother raised him to revere Hera, as her attempt to avoid the goddess’ wrath. Unbeknownst to Heracles, he is yet another child Hera’s husband, Zeus, had out of wedlock.

Hera loathes every minute of Heracles’ devotion. She finally snaps and sends the Furies to make Heracles kill himself. But the moment Heracles goes mad, his children playfully ambush him, and he slays them instead. When the madness fades, Heracles’s wife, Megara, convinces him to seek revenge. Together they’ll hunt the Furies and learn which god did this.

Believing Hera is the only god he can still trust, Heracles prays to Hera, who is wracked with guilt over killing his children. To mislead Heracles, Hera sends him on monster-slaying quests, but he is too traumatized to enact more violence. Instead, Heracles cares for the Nemean lion, cures the illness of the Lernaean hydra, and bonds with Crete’s giant bull.

Hera struggles with her role in Heracles life as Heracles begins to heal psychologically by connecting with the monsters—while also amassing an army that could lay siege to Olympos.

Nebula Award-winning author John Wiswell brings his signature humanizing touch to the Hercules story, forever changing the way we understand the man behind the myth—and the goddess reluctantly bound to him.

Review: Thank you to Wunderkind PR for sending me an ARC of this novel!

Even though fantasy isn’t REALLY my wheelhouse on the blog, Serena actually suggested that I take a look at the book “Wearing the Lion” by John Wiswell, as I have been doing the “Lore Olympus” reviews on the blog. I read the description, and decided ‘why not?’, as Greek Mythology has been a huge thing in my life since I was a kid, and since I was doing the “Lore Olympus” read this would be a fun addendum. I’ve read a few other re-imaginings of Greek Myths beyond “Lore”, as we did “Circe” for book club, and I have read a few others as well. And “Wearing the Lion” was a bit of a median between the darker ones I’ve read and the more vibrant and optimistic ones.

“Wearing the Lion” essentially asks ‘what if instead of completing his tasks of killing the various creatures, Heracles instead finds atonement and redemption by taking them in? And what if Hera has a bit of reluctant guilt over her jealousy causing so much harm to Heracles and his family (as she sent a Fury to kill him but his children were killed instead, by his own hand). The Heracles story has never been a favorite of mine, but I do love a found family trope and this book is definitely all about that. We get our perspectives from both Heracles and Hera, seeing their inner most thoughts and their emotional journeys as they both strive for redemption in their own ways, and it has a lot of poignancy behind it. One of the things I’ve enjoyed about recent retelling of these myths is that authors try to find more empathy or insight into these beings that have been in the minds of humans for millennia, and have become almost untouchable because of it. Heracles has never really connected with me probably because he is so larger than life, but Wiswell delves deep into his grief, trauma, and guilt, and finds interesting motivation that taps into an empathy that this strongman doesn’t get a lot of the time. I loved seeing him befriend the Nemean Lion, and the Hydra, and the Hind, but REALLY loved the twist that Wiswell put on Boar. It’s all so creative and charming while also bittersweet as a man who was manipulated into killing his children seeks to find solace and atonement.

But I also liked how Wiswell portrays Hera. She isn’t to the level of ‘Queen Shit’ that I love seeing, but she has a lot of complexities and her own baggage that he acknowledges while not excusing it. Yes, Hera commanded that a dear friend murder Heracles only for it to go so wrong, and we see the way that Hera is unwilling to acknowledge it at first. But we also see her when she is at her best, when she is helping women in childbirth, when she is trying to help find the strength in herself to take accountability for her terrible mistake. Hera’s anger and resentment towards Heracles is always portrayed as such, but as a reader you do have an understanding as to why she would be so, so upset with the very idea of him, as Zeus is SUCH a jerk to her by flaunting all of his children from his flings and humiliating her over and over again. While I enjoyed the found family angles of Heracles’s path, it was Hera’s story that really resonated.

“Wearing the Lion” is a bittersweet spin on a myth that so many people know. I think that if you are like me and like seeing what present days authors can do with a classical story you should check it out.

Rating 8: A poignant retelling of a classic myth, “Wearing the Lion” is about grief, guilt, and found family.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Wearing the Lion” is included on the Goodreads list “Greek Mythology Retellings”.