Author: thelibraryladiesmn

Kate’s Review: “Sisters of the Lost Nation”


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Book: “Sisters of the Lost Nation” by Nick Medina

Publishing Info: Berkley, April 2023

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

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

Book Description: Anna Horn is always looking over her shoulder. For the bullies who torment her, for the entitled visitors at the reservation’s casino…and for the nameless, disembodied entity that stalks her every step–an ancient tribal myth come-to-life, one that’s intent on devouring her whole.

With strange and sinister happenings occurring around the casino, Anna starts to suspect that not all the horrors on the reservation are old. As girls begin to go missing and the tribe scrambles to find answers, Anna struggles with her place on the rez, desperately searching for the key she’s sure lies in the legends of her tribe’s past.

When Anna’s own little sister also disappears, she’ll do anything to bring Grace home. But the demons plaguing the reservation–both ancient and new–are strong, and sometimes, it’s the stories that never get told that are the most important.

Part gripping thriller and part mythological horror, author Nick Medina spins an incisive and timely novel of life as an outcast, the cost of forgetting tradition, and the courage it takes to become who you were always meant to be.

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

Horror fiction is, for me, a fun way to escape the horrors of the real world whilst also safely exploring emotions of fear and anxiety in a controlled environment. I love getting lost in a horror novel or movie, as it gives me some time away from real life scary shit. But more and more I’ve really come to appreciate horror stories that tackle themes of these real life horrors, especially in times like these where there is so much uncertainty and discord. Give me horror fiction that delves in metaphors for terrible things, especially if it brings awareness to these terrible things. Enter “Sisters of the Lost Nation” by Nick Medina, a new horror novel that involves a young adult Native woman named Anna living on a reservation who works at the local tribal casino. Strange things have been happening at the casino, and while Anna tries to tell herself that it’s nothing, it becomes harder and harder to ignore. Especially when her sister Grace goes missing after being involved with the casino and its shady practices.

I’m actually going to start with the thing that didn’t really work for me as well, just to get it out of the way because it did affect my experience, but not in a way that derailed it. I just think it’s needed context to make my ultimate rating make sense as I’m going to be gushing for the most part. The one aspect that fell a bit flat was the way that the book was structured. There was a lot of time jumping between chapters, in non-linear ways that felt a bit jarring and confusing at times. I did eventually get used to it, and it did eventually settle into a more clear cut timeline, but for awhile I had to keep flipping back on my eReader to remind me where I was in the story arc, and that could be frustrating.

But now onto the good stuff, as there is a lot of it. For one, I really liked the horror elements that Medina creates that come from various Indigenous stories from lots of different groups of Native peoples. The one that stands out the most is a story that has translated into that of a disembodied head that rolls around the (fictional) Takoda Reservation. Protagonist Anna Horn has been terrified of this story as long as she an remember, as her uncle told her the story as a young child and is now a teenager who still lives in fear of it. The weird beats where Anna catches a glimpse of something possibly rolling around, or feels the heat of breath from an unknown source, really creeped me out. But I also liked that her fear and obsession with this story and her belief that it is real also made it so that she was interested in the lore and mythology of her community and people, as it made for a stark contrast to the real life horrors of a casino that may be hiding some really dark secrets and is in some ways turning its back on this history in favor of monetary gain. Anna’s interest in her culture and its stories is a really powerful thread in this tale, and how the power of stories, be they terrifying or not, can play such an important role in a person’s life and their motivations.

And the best aspect of this book for me was how Medina has put such a candid and devastating spotlight on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, a terrible epidemic that has reflects the continuing violence, apathy, and racism that Indigenous women face from greater Western society. Anna faces her own sets of victimization and racism at the hands of her peers and those above her at the casino, but she is also realizing that Indigenous women are going off the radar, and being dismissed as either runaways, or merely addicts who are off on the search for a hit. So when her own sister Grace goes missing, and there are few people taking it seriously, it hits close to home, and she begins to notice that there are suspicious things going on at the casino. And that the girls who are disappearing may have ties to the higher ups. I was so deeply invested in where these missing women went, and when it becomes clear that they are quite probably in danger, or being manipulated in other ways, it just makes the story that much more tense and upsetting. Medina sets the tension on edge and really builds it up, and addresses a very real problem against the backdrop of this fictional tribe with very real problems of poverty, corruption, racism, and misogyny. I also really appreciated the author’s note at the end which gives greater context to MMIW, as well as resources he used and information spots for the reader to familiarize themselves with all of it.

“Sisters of the Lost Nation” is a visceral and chilling read. Fans of horror and thrillers need to check it out, but I also think readers of all stripes should do themselves a favor and look into it. It’s wholly unique and talks about very real injustices that need to be paid attention to.

Rating 8: A searing and devastating horror-thriller that not only finds horrors in Indigenous mythology and lore, but also in the all too real Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Sisters of the Lost Nation” is included on the Goodreads lists “Indigenous Horror, Thriller, etc”, and “Horror To Look Forward To in 2023”.

Serena’s Review: “Wings Once Cursed and Bound”

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Book: “Wings Once Cursed and Bound” by Piper J. Drake

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Casablanca, April 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description:

My wings unbound, I am the Thai bird princess
The kinnaree
And no matter the cost,
I will be free.

Bennet Andrews represents a secret organization of supernatural beings dedicated to locating and acquiring mythical objects, tucking them safely away where they cannot harm the human race. When he meets Peeraphan Rahttana, it’s too late—she has already stepped into The Red Shoes, trapped by their curse to dance to her death.

But Bennet isn’t the only supernatural looking for deadly artifacts. And when the shoes don’t seem to harm Peeraphan, he realizes that he’ll have to save her from the likes of creatures she never knew existed. Bennett sweeps Peeraphan into a world of myth and power far beyond anything she ever imagined. There, she finds that magic exists in places she never dreamed—including deep within herself.

Review: First of all, thank you so much to the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, for sending me an ARC of this book! I can say that the cover is just as fantastic in person as it seems from the small image above. Very unique and vibrant, just the sort of cover that would make me pause when browsing the aisles of the bookstore. Unfortunately, however, I didn’t enjoy the actual book itself nearly as much.

When a fellow dancer hands Peeraphan a box with beautiful red dancing shoes, she can’t resist their magnetic appeal. Now, however, she finds that these are not in fact ordinary shoes, but slippers that have been cursed to compel their wearer to dance themselves to death. Luckily for Peeraphan, her own magical heritage has given her some level of protection from the shoes themselves. But there are those who are hunting artifacts like these, and they don’t seem to care that the shoes are currently attached to a living woman. Another artifact hunter, a vampire named Bennet, has also been tracking the shoes, but after meeting Peeraphan, he realizes that much more is at stake than a simple recovering mission.

I initially requested this book because of the very intriguing premise of the Thai legend of the kinnaree. Urban fantasy has long been entrapped by the classic monsters like vampires, werewolves, ghosts, etc. So I was incredibly excited to see a story focused on a lesser known legend. I also know next to nothing about Thai folklore or the legend of the kinnaree. Unfortunately, I still don’t. I’m not exactly sure what happened here really. I feel like I was sold on this very specific premise, but then I started reading the book and it turned out to be…not that. Our main character, who also goes by Punch (dislike), knows next to nothing about her own abilities. And then as the book goes on, very little is added on to that. Instead, we were once again bogged down with vampires and the typical “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” ilk.

I also never felt like Punch was given much characterization. The shoes show up with in the first few pages, far too quickly for any good character work to have been established prior. And from there, the action quickly sweeps her along, but I’m never given any reason why I should care or be particularly invested in her story. Instead, I was mostly just frustrated from the start! She senses something strange about the shoes right off the bat, and then, of course, just puts them on anyways. It wasn’t a strong start for the character, and the story never seemed to recover from there.

I also didn’t really care for Bennet or the romance as a whole. Again, his character and story felt incredibly familiar, with very little new to say about vampires or any of the other beings we encounter. The love story also felt rushed towards the end, and I couldn’t tell exactly who the audience was for this book. It didn’t feel as if it could commit fully one way or another, reading at certain points as very YA and then at others trying to take on a more gritty, adult tone.

Overall, the entire thing really didn’t work for me. Part of the problem was that I had fairly high expectations going in. I was really excited by the idea of a new urban fantasy story that was pulling from lesser known legends, and then when the book failed to deliver on that, it was hard to latch on to anything else. I think there will be readers who enjoy it, however, especially those who really enjoy urban fantasies as a whole. It just wasn’t for me, sadly.

Rating 6: While it’s an acceptable urban fantasy on the whole, I feel like the primary premise, that of the legendary Thai kinnaree, was a complete let-down.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Wings Once Cursed and Bound” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Fairytale Retellings in Contemporary Romance.

Kate’s Review: “The Haunting of Alejandra”

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Book: “The Haunting of Alejandra” by V. Castro

Publishing Info: Del Rey, April 2023

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

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

Book Description: Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. To her own adoptive mother, she is a daughter. But they cannot see who Alejandra has become: a woman struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her.

Nor can they see what Alejandra sees. In times of despair, a ghostly vision appears to her, the apparition of a crying woman in a ragged white gown.

When Alejandra visits a therapist, she begins exploring her family’s history, starting with the biological mother she never knew. As she goes deeper into the lives of the women in her family, she learns that heartbreak and tragedy are not the only things she has in common with her ancestors.

Because the crying woman was with them, too. She is La Llorona, the vengeful and murderous mother of Mexican legend. And she will not leave until Alejandra follows her mother, her grandmother, and all the women who came before her into the darkness.

But Alejandra has inherited more than just pain. She has inherited the strength and the courage of her foremothers—and she will have to summon everything they have given her to banish La Llorona forever.

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

I have had a serious, serious fascination with the La Llorona folk tale ever since I stumbled upon it in an American folklore book in elementary school. The idea of a ghostly woman who drowned her children, and now wanders the river banks of the Earth looking for her children, weeping loudly along the way, scared the absolute crap out of me (especially since as a child I lived within walking distance of the Mississippi River). When V. Castro, a Latina horror author who has taken Mexican folklore and written some fantastic horror fiction, said she was writing a La Llorona story, it became one of my most anticipated reads of 2023. I had really high hopes for this book. And man oh man did it deliver.

I am SO excited that V. Castro decided to take on the La Llorona story because of my childhood obsession with it, and given that she’s a fantastic horror writer with a voice that is so unapologetically Chicana it is just the perfect fit. And the way that she applies it to this story to fit real world horrors is just fantastic. It’s told mostly through the perspective of spiraling mother Alejandra, who has started seeing visions of a woman in white during especially trying moments. But then there are the ways that we trace back through the generations of Alejandra’s familial line, and how this presence has been there to torment many of the women through the generations, and whose lives were impacted or destroyed, the trauma passing down and down. Whether it’s an Indigenous woman who is making a dark bargain with this entity to escape her Spanish abuser, or Alejandra’s biological mother who gave her up after becoming pregnant as a teenager (and thought she was doing the right thing, BUT Alejandra was left with a very cold and controlling Evangelical family’s care, that’s a whole other layer to this story that I really thought was well done), or her grandmother with few choices in a marriage with too many children and a philandering husband, the presence of ‘La Llorona’, or whatever it is, serves as the perfect metaphor for the horrors of marginalized women with very few options. I loved seeing all of these women and their stories, and seeing Alejandra be pushed to perhaps try and stop that cycle and to fight against this entity is really, really empowering.

But I also found a lot of the horrors of motherhood aspects of this story pretty relatable. Caveat, I am no means in the same position as Alejandra is, as she is in a loveless marriage with a controlling boob who pressured her into more children than she wanted and discouraged her from working outside the home, while I have a really great romantic and parenting partner and we are one and done with our hilarious but spirited three year old. But all that said, there were so many spot on moments that Castro put in this book, whether it’s the frazzled rush of having to go go go with meandering children in tow, or having to be in charge of schedules and chores and doctor’s appointments and more, or feeling like you really don’t get a break while having to sacrifice so much, and then feeling guilty for feeling like you deserve more. While the supernatural demon/La Llorona bits and the suspense surrounding Alejandra and her women ancestors were super effective and scary, I was more set on edge by the way that Alejandra was being pushed closer and closer to breaking, and what that would mean for her and her children. Because THAT is something that does happen in real life, and the consequences of that can be deadly and devastating. This is just as much a horror story about postpartum depression and psychosis as it is generational trauma, and it is SO well done.

“The Haunting of Alejandra” is harrowing and evocative and everything I could have wanted from a La Llorona story. V. Castro continues to thrill and amaze me, and I am so excited to see how she tops herself next time, as I feel like she is always exceeding my expectations.

Rating 9: A deeply unnerving and scary examination of generational trauma and the unspoken pressures of motherhood, “The Haunting of Alejandra” is another fantastic horror tale by V. Castro.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Haunting of Alejandra” is included on the Goodreads “Latinx Horror/Fantasy”, and “The Female Malaise: She’s Sad, Mad, and Bad”.

Diving Into Sub-Genres: High Control Group Escape Memoirs

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We each have our own preferred genres of choice. Kate loves horrors and thrillers, really anything that will keep her up at night! And Serena enjoys escaping through hidden doors into realms of magic and adventure. We also read mysteries, historical fiction, graphic novels, etc. etc. And that’s not even counting the multitude of sub-genres contained within each greater genre. In this series, one of us will present a list of our favorites from within a given sub-genre of one of our greater preferred genres.

I could probably just call this “Cult Escape Memoirs”, though I think some people would come after me were I to refer to some of these groups as ‘cults’. That and some are less about groups and more about toxic family dynamics which are run like a cult, but aren’t technically cults. So High Control Group it is! I’ve always been super fascinated by groups that close ranks, isolate members, put leaders on a firm pedestal, and build and build up abuses and corruption and use intimidation, coercion, and violence against those within, and all the brainwashing that comes with it. I also love harrowing memoirs of people who have been a part of such groups, and how they ultimately break away no matter the personal cost and sacrifice (and it is usually a lot).

There are a lot of different cults and high control groups that have functioned over the years, so this is merely a smattering of the various groups. But all of the stories are harrowing, enraging, heartbreaking, and hopeful, and it shows the resilience of those who have escaped when they never should have had to go through their trauma in the first place. These are all admittedly difficult reads with lots of content warnings, but I’ve found them to be fascinating and engaging reads.

Book: “A Billion Years: My Escape From A Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology” by Mike Rinder

Scientology has been pretty heavily scrutinized in the past decade or so, and a lot of voices leading the way are those who jumped ship and lost so, so much by doing so. Leah Remini is a very clear example of this, but her celebrity insulated her a bit from the fallout, which is why I decided on “A Billion Years” by Mike Rinder. Rinder used to be a very high ranking member under L. Ron Hubbard, but once Hubbard died and David Miscavige took over, the toxicity and abuse ramped up to the point where Rinder no longer felt he could stay. Leaving his family behind (they are still alienated from him) and everything he knew, he is now a whistleblower and a very outspoken critic. This memoir is a really good look at his time in the organization, and gives insight as to what it’s like for those inside who aren’t powerful celebrities. I really love that Rinder is trying to repent for his past complicity, and this memoir is honest and very harrowing.

Book: “Unspeakable: Surviving My Childhood and Finding My Voice” by Jessica Willis Fisher

This is the first of two memoirs that isn’t about a specific larger group, but more about the influence of an extremist fundamentalist family and its leader, and this one is a really, really hard read (it’s actually the read that gave me the idea for this list). Jessica Willis Fisher was initially known as the oldest of the Willis Clan, a Fundamentalist Christian family that performed in a band together and had its own reality show following their lives. What viewers and fans didn’t know was that the patriarch, Toby, was verbally, physically, and sexually abusive to his wife and children, Jessica herself one of his rape victims and ultimately the family scapegoat. Her memoir speaks to her childhood, her relationships with her family members, her love of music, and how she eventually started to push back against her father, and how that cut her off from her siblings and mother, but also pushed her towards people who did support her and help her come to terms with her traumatic childhood, and help her eventually turn her father in. Willis Fisher is so incredibly brave, her memoir so well written, and it has hope in darkness and love and empathy.

Book: “Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs” by Rachel Jeffs

I have read so many books about the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints as run by Warren Jeffs/Rulon Jeffs and the compound in Short Creek, but if I had to pick one that encompasses the horrors of the compound and the abuses of the people who lived there, I would go with Rachel Jeffs’s memoir. They are all harrowing, but Rachel is one of Warren Jeffs’s many children, and her experience shows that his sadistic abuses and violence towards others was also very much a part of his family life as opposed to the non-related members of the community. Rachel is brutally honest about the things that she went through, and it gives a deeply personal connection to the Warren Jeffs years of the FLDS. It’s also a good look into the FLDS culture as a whole, and doesn’t mince words about how abusive, violent, and oppressive it is for those who live in it, especially the women. And it’s especially disturbing seeing how Jeffs treated his own children, his abuses and cruelty being doled out to them as much as it was to others in the community. Rachel is incredibly brave for getting out, and I’m glad she was able to push back in her own words.

Book: “In The Shadow of the Moons: My Life in the Reverend Sun Sun Myung Moon’s Family” by Nansook Hong

Of all the cults and high control groups that have fascinated me over the years, I actually didn’t know much about the Unification Church, a religious cult based in South Korea run by Sun Myung Moon. This memoir was written by his daughter in law Nansook Hong, whose marriage to his oldest son was wrought with discord and abuse. The Moonies, as they are known, present themselves as an ideal group of Divine Christianity, and Moon himself placed himself as a messiah-like figure and hoped to have influence across countries and political positions and leaders. But this memoir exposes the hypocrisy and corruption within the group and how Moon abused his power, and hid the violence and troubles within his own family. After years in an unhappy marriage that had abuse and addiction issues, Hong escaped one of the Moonie compounds and divorced Hyo Jin Moon, the eldest and heir apparent to the Unification Church. The Moonies kind of go under the radar these days when it comes to cults and high control groups, and this memoir has some really interesting context and has the story of a brave woman who left.

Book: “Member of the Family: My Story of Charles Manson, Life Inside His Cult, and the Darkness That Ended the Sixties” by Dianne Lake

There are so many notorious cults out there, but the Manson Family is the one that really shattered the American consciousness in the late 1960s when they carried about the multiple murders of Sharon Tate and her guests, as well of those of the LaBianca Family. While many of Manson’s ‘girls’ are remembered because of the huge court case (or in Squeaky Fromme’s case, when she tried to assassinate President Ford because that would help Charlie, somehow?), Dianne Lake was one of the few that got out, though not unscathed. Lake joined up as a teenager after her family went all in on a nomadic lifestyle, and pretty much just let her go off with Manson and his group, and soon she as deeply under his spell and living on Spahn Ranch. This memoir is about that time, as well as the childhood that led up to it, and then when she turned against him and the others after the Tate/LaBianca murders. I really like this one because it doesn’t only show how a group can manipulate and control vulnerable people, but how people end up in groups like that in the first place if they were not born into it.

Book: “Educated” by Tara Westover

Much like “Unspeakable”, “Educated” is less about a specific group and more about a family that has been overtaken by a zealous patriarch that imposes fundamentalist rules and abuses on his loved ones. But “Educated” is such an amazing book that I really wanted to have it here. Tara Westover grew up in an isolated, off the grid existence with her family, her father forbidding any contact with public education or healthcare and her mother working as an herbalist and midwife to other off the grid people. As Tara gets older, she finds herself wanting to learn and read anything she can get her hands on, and wonders what else is out there to learn beyond her family’s grip. And when one of her brothers becomes more and more violent, and Tara becomes the target of his escalating violence, her yearning to get into the world isn’t just about wanting to learn, but wanting to save herself from a dangerous and isolated family situation. This memoir very well written, incredibly inspirational, and there is a reason it was so well received when it came out.

What escape memoirs have you enjoyed? Let us know in the comments!

Serena’s Review: “Silver in the Bone”

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Book: “Silver in the Bone” by Alexandra Bracken

Publishing Info: Knopf Books for Young Readers, April 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: Tamsin Lark didn’t ask to be a Hollower. As a mortal with no magical talent, she was never meant to break into ancient crypts, or compete with sorceresses and Cunningfolk for the treasures inside. But after her thieving foster father disappeared without so much as a goodbye, it was the only way to keep herself—and her brother, Cabell—alive.

Ten years later, rumors are swirling that her guardian vanished with a powerful ring from Arthurian legend. A run-in with her rival Emrys ignites Tamsin’s hope that the ring could free Cabell from a curse that threatens both of them. But they aren’t the only ones who covet the ring.

As word spreads, greedy Hollowers start circling, and many would kill to have it for themselves. While Emrys is the last person Tamsin would choose to partner with, she needs all the help she can get to edge out her competitors in the race for the ring. Together, they dive headfirst into a vipers’ nest of dark magic, exposing a deadly secret with the power to awaken ghosts of the past and shatter her last hope of saving her brother. . . .

Review: Here I am, still getting sucked in by the covers with hands holding up swords. Not to say that I was swindled by this book, just that I’m a sucker for marketing, even when that marketing is starting to reach max capacity, I’d imagine. However, with this books focus on Arthurian legend, which, of course, heavily features a fabled sword, I guess I can give this one a pass on not just cashing in on the trends. But enough about that, let’s get into the review!

While devoid of any magic herself, Tamsin has grown up in the world of Hollowers, those adventurers who seek out and raids the highly warded crypts of ancient sorceresses. But after she and her brother were abandoned by the Hollower who raised them, she’s had to forge a life for herself however she can. And while participating in a dangerous world that she can only halfway understand would be more than most would choose, Tamsin has another goal: saving her brother who is struggling with an ever more debilitating curse. So when gets wind of an incredibly rare relic that could be the answer to her brother’s curse, Tamsin will do anything to claim it for herself, even going so far as teaming up with the boy who has been her rival for as long as she can remember.

First of all, I want to note how surprised I was to find that this was a contemporary YA fantasy story. I mean, I guess there were no clear indications one way or another, but that cover image sure does look “second world” fantasy to me! The average modern teen isn’t walking around with delicate, silver hand bracelets like that, that’s for sure. So I was fairly taken aback to start this novel and be immediately confronted with cell phones, cars, and the like. I do wish the marketing (either the cover or the book description) had made this more clear, as I had to work hard at the beginning of this read to recalibrate my expectations. It wasn’t an obvious attempt at misrepresenting a book, but I do think the overall affect obfuscates the kind of story readers are actually getting.

Preferences, of course, always lead my to picking up the “second world” fantasy over a contemporary story, so on one hand, I was glad that this book essentially forced my hand into something I wouldn’t typically read. And, overall, I do think it was a fun read. The book is absolutely brimming with new ideas and magical concepts, many of which I thought were very original and intriguing. However, the sheer number of fantastical elements also began to overlap one another in ways that I think began to confuse the issue. I was never quite clear on the history of the sorceresses, or some of the basic details about how their crypts were set up. I think it was meant to read as a combination of something like the tomb raiders of Egyptian burial sites and Arthurian legends. But as I read, I became more and more distracted by some of the details. Just how many of these sorceresses were there? How did they all manage to create these elaborate, curse-riddled hiding places before their deaths? How is there still such a thriving “business” in the raiding of these places? And on top of these questions, there were the curses themselves, the magical items, the potions, the portals. It was just a lot. So, while there was never a lack of ideas, I do think that the story could have used a good polish. A few fewer ideas that were more developed and fleshed out would have been preferred to the overwhelming number of ideas, all of which were very loosely explained.

I did like Tamsin as a character, especially in the first part of the book. I thought her history, her relationship with her brother, and the cobbled together life that she had built for them was interesting and full of nuance. She’s clearly not a perfect character, trying to hold together her small family through sheer force of will, sometimes to the extent that it’s clear she doesn’t fully understand those she loves most. I also really liked the idea that she operated in a magical world that she, being nonmagical herself, couldn’t fully see or experience. Unfortunately, the book chooses to “solve” this problem for her fairly early on, and I thought this was a big turning point to the negative for me. I would have vastly preferred to read a book that held true to that original premise rather than setting up this entire concept only to “magic potion” (quite literally) the entire problem away.

However, I did enjoy the reading experience itself. While I had questions about some of the fantasy elements and was disappointed by the character turn for Tamsin, I thought the pacing and plotting was very solid. It was a fun, fast read, and I think it will appeal to a lot of YA fantasy fans, especially those who like contemporary fantasy. I liked the way the Arthurian elements were woven throughout the book, and I thought for a topic that is very, veeeery well-covered, this book did a good job of standing out from a very crowded room.

Rating 7: Perhaps suffering from a case of a few too many ideas, this book still stands out as a fun, unique contemporary fantasy story that tackles the Arthurian legend in an interesting way.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Silver in the Bone” is on this (and others like it) Goodreads list: YA Releases April 2023.

Kate’s Review (and Giveaway!): “The Twisted Dead”

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Book: “The Twisted Dead (Gravekeeper #3)” by Darcy Coates

Publishing Info: Poisoned Pen Press, February 2023

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a paperback copy from the publisher.

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

Book Description: Keira is ready for her life to return to normal. Though, to be fair, normal is a tall ask when your ability to see ghosts has landed you the job of groundskeeper in a small town’s cemetery.

When Keira receives an invitation to dinner at Dane Crispin’s crumbling ancestral estate, she knows she can’t refuse. The last living descendant of the Crispin family is reclusive. Keira only met him once…on the night he tried to kill her.

The mansion is steeped in history that is equal parts complicated and bloody. Keira senses the presence of restless spirits the moment she steps through its door. And Dane, waiting for her inside, wants to ask for her help.

Review: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me a copy of this novel!

We have come to the final entry in my reviews of Darcy Coates’s “Gravekeeper” Series! The most recent book, “The Twisted Dead”, is the third in what I hope is a long running series, and I was very eager to see where Coates was going to take ghost whisperer Keira and her sidekicks Mason, Zoe, and cat Daisy next. I feel like horror is a genre that doesn’t tend to have long running series as much as say romances or mysteries, so I’m quite pleased that we get to spend more time with this merry band of misfits. And “The Twisted Dead” is my favorite adventure yet!

Coates really knows how to balance out the more jovial and lighthearted tone of this series with genuinely creepy supernatural and ghostly moments and mythologies. We have picked up very close to where we left off with “The Ravenous Dead”, Keira having recently freed a shade (or malevolent and rage filled spirit) that had been tormenting the other ghosts in the cemetery, and now she has been invited to the home of Dane Crispin, local wealthy hermit who may or may not have tried to kill Keira, Mason, and Zoe. But instead of revenge or vendettas, Dane is instead needing her help, as he is being tormented by his own ghostly problem. And that is where we get into a new kind of spectral foe: parasitic ghosts that haunt people, not places. I love that Keira is finding new kinds of ghosts and the challenges that their differences present, and there are definitely descriptions and beats here that show how Coates, while doing a bit of a horror lite cozy ghost story with this series, knows how to conjure up some straight up nightmare fuel. And along with the not so friendly spirits, we still get to see the kinder and gentler spirits that Keira sees while in the cemetery, a few of them giving me moments of pure joy as I was reading (and also a moment or two of tears).

And the characters are still very engaging and interesting, and have really grown into their own and beyond their baseline impressions. I still really like Keira and her drive to help ghosts and those that are affected by them, and I like that we are starting to see more insight into the life that she cannot remember. Coates has introduced the mysterious corporation Artec, the group that Keira has been hiding from though she has no memories as to why, and I love that we get a little bit of corporate conspiracy and corruption on top of the supernatural themes. We still don’t REALLY know what the full endgame is for Artec and Keira’s full connection, but Coates has drawn out the suspense without falling into any frustrating traps of milking it too much. We also get to learn more about Mason’s past, and get to go a bit more into his secretive reasons for leaving medical school and coming back to Blighty. And then there’s Zoe, who has gone from making me a little nervous with her conspiracy peddling to being pretty darn endearing and fun without getting into ludicrous ‘quirky girl’ territory. Coates knows how to keep these characters fresh and keeps exploring their potential, and I really like their dynamic.

“The Twisted Dead” is the strongest entry in the “Gravekeeper” Series thus far. And now I am at the point where I have to wait to see what happens next. I can hardly wait.

And now the most exciting part! I’m giving away all three of the “Gravekeeper” Series books I’ve read and reviewed! So you can win not only “The Twisted Dead”, but also “The Whispering Dead” and “The Ravenous Dead”! The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only, and runs through April 19th, 2023

Enter Here To Win!

Rating 8: With lots of things coming to light and a group of characters who are fully realized and comfortable in their characterizations, “The Twisted Dead” is the strongest “Gravekeeper” book yet!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Twisted Dead” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward to in 2023”.

Previously Reviewed:

Serena’s Review: “He Who Breaks the Earth”

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

Book: “He Who Breaks the Earth” by Caitlin Sangster

Publishing Info: Margaret K. McElderry Books, April 2023

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

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

Book Description: Mateo spent years believing he suffered from a strange wasting sickness, but he’s finally learned the much darker truth. Now he will do whatever it takes to save himself, even if it means betraying Lia, the one girl who’s ever made him care about something more than his research.

It doesn’t help that his father kidnapped the last living member of Lia’s family, and though it means Mateo will get to see her again, it’s only because Lia is already hunting them.

Anwei’s rage can’t be contained after the disaster at the tomb that ended with Knox almost dying. Worse, she learned that the brother she’d been desperate to avenge has been living a life of luxury, raised by the monster of her nightmares. With the power of an ancient, nameless god running in her veins, Anwei vows to end the shapeshifter once and for all.

But the members of her crew each have their own motivations—and their own gods whispering in their ears. Anwei has never put much stock in the divine, but as she gets closer to the shapeshifter she’s chased for so long, she realizes that the gods’ plan and her own might diverge. But Anwei has only one goal: revenge, and she’ll destroy anyone standing in her way.

Previously Reviewed: “She Who Rides the Storm”

Review: I always love being able to read books in a series back-to-back. I suspect this inclination is the same as the one that has lead to the preference for binge watching shows for many viewers. I just want to sink into a world and stay there as along as I can. Also, as a SFF reader, many of the stories I consume require a decent amount of brain power and memory to fully understand the world and culture of the story. So there’s a premium to be found in not having to re-learn all of that from book to book when there’s a year plus waiting between stories. All of that to say, I was excited to jump right on to the second and final book in this duology after finishing up the first one.

After the explosive events at the end of the previous book, nothing is as it seemed. Anwei’s entire world has been shaken. Her brother, a beloved sibling whose “death” she has been trying to avenge for much of her life, has instead been alive and well living with her worst enemies. What’s worse, she almost lost Knox in the pursuit of this vengeance. But now her fury cannot be contained, and she vows to hunt down the shapeshifters who have so destroyed her life. For his part, her brother Mateo has had to face some harsh truths about his own existence. Now, both siblings will have to confront just how far they will go in the pursuit of their goals. And who they are willing to sacrifice along the way.

I was in a pretty good place to start this book coming off the last one. While the first book was quite a commitment, page-length-wise, this definitely felt like one of those reads that would benefit from a back-to-back read. For one thing, the pacing and reveals came hot and heavy towards the end of the first book, leaving most of character reeling from one discovery or near miss or another. There was a lot revealed, and I was excited to see how it would all be resolved here in the second book.

One of the things that has stood out from the very beginning of this read was the quality of the writing itself. It is clear that the author has a very clear vision for her characters, both their strengths and flaws. This last part, in particular, is difficult to pull off. How do you write characters who behave badly, who make selfish choices, who risk others in the pursuit of their own goals without alienating readers from those same characters who, ostensibly, are still the “heroes” of the story? But I think Sangster really has a handle on how to do this. As alluded to in the book description, both Anwei and Mateo face choices that will seem them prioritizing themselves and their goals over the ones they care about. However, the characterization is so solid that their decisions, even while questionable and, at times, incredibly poor, make sense within the realm of them both being flawed individuals.

I also still very much like the overall world-building and the use of shape-shifters. Shape shifters are the sorts of paranormal creatures that you rarely see, often falling to the side in favor of the ever popular vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. There were some interesting twists and turns to be found in this aspect of the story, as well. I also really liked the way the gods and their powers/connections with each character were used.

I will say that I some of my positive reception of this book could come down to the fact that I was able to read it immediately after the first one. For readers who have had to wait the full year, there is a lot of wading in that will likely need to be done to refamiliarize yourself with this world and the characters. As such, the pacing can also feel a bit slow and tedious at times. I do wonder, overall, whether this series and Sangster’s writing in general might have better translated to adult fantasy. I think some of the pacing and expansive world-building might have worked better with that audience than with younger readers who like faster moving stories.

Overall, if you enjoyed the first book, I think this is a good conclusion to the duology and will appeal to those fans. In general, readers who are looking for a more “meaty” YA fantasy, this might be a good read for you!

Rating 8: A solid conclusion to a unique YA fantasy duology, though the overall pacing might be slower than younger audiences may appreciate.

Reader’s Advisory:

“He Who Breaks the Earth” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2023.

Kate’s Review: “American Vampire: Vol. 7”

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Book: “American Vampire: Vol. 7” by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque (Ill.), & Matías Bergara (Ill.)

Publishing Info: Vertigo, January 2015

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Book Description: Writer Scott Snyder (Batman, Swamp Thing) and artist Rafael Albuquerque bring together even more threads to the complex tapestry that is the world of American Vampire.

When we meet Pearl again, it is in 1960’s Kansas, an era fraught with fear of nuclear war, angry demonstrations and vast social change. But what has changed in the years since the V.M.S. attack? And where is Skinner Sweet?

Review: So we are now at the last volume of “American Vampire” that I read until I just kind of let it fall by the wayside. And as I was reading through it, I think I realized that I may not have actually finished “American Vampire: Volume 7” on my first read through, as I did not remember a lot of what I was reading beyond the first section. And I don’t really know why I didn’t keep going with it, because as I was reading this, I found myself really, really enjoying where the story was going. The new beginning was engaging, the stakes were raised, and what I thought was impossible actually came to pass: I. Actually. Liked. Skinner. Sweet.

I, too, was shocked. (source)

We have shifted into a new phase of “American Vampire”, and have entered the ending arc as well, and we start out very strong. It’s now the 1960s in America, about tenish-years after the Vassals of the Morning Star was dealt a big blow by Carpathians, after Pearl’s husband Henry’s death, and after Skinner disappeared after his betrayal. Pearl has returned to her family home in Kansas, and has started taking in runaway vampire children who are hiding from Carpathian vampires, and finds new, hidden homes for them with other vampires in hiding. She’s still connected with Cal, who is still working with VMS, and after getting hints of a man called The Gray Trader, they decide to look into what he is, and how it connects to the vampires. Meanwhile, Skinner has been making moves on the Mexican Border, but he, too, runs afoul something disturbing, so much so that he seeks out Pearl. So we have a new mystery, we have new trajectories for our favorite characters, and we have a new backdrop of the 1960s that was an incredibly restless and fraught era of change, violence, and social upheaval. Once again Snyder has managed to meld themes of America with his vampire mythology, and I was so here for it.

Pearl is still such a wonderful main character. Her grief for Henry still lingers, but she has persevered and has become a beacon of hope for vampire children, fighting off hostile neighbors and making a network of safety, and her reluctance to go back to the VMS is completely understandable. I like that she’s still close with Cal, and I love how she has been able to bring her warmth to the vampire children whilst also being VERY badass when the moment calls for it. And I think that it’s ultimately Pearl that makes Skinner Sweet work for me. It’s undeniable that they have some pretty heady chemistry, which I am always going to enjoy, but what’s interesting about Skinner is that he really does have an affection for Pearl that does seem to go beyond her resemblance to his old ladyfriend. It’s a bit cliché for the bad boy to be tamed by the love of a good woman, and by no means is Skinner redeemed in any way shape or form, but I do like seeing him recognize the help that Pearl can provide, and that he is actually being VULNERABLE and FALLIBLE and not just falling into old bullshit backstabbing that he has ALWAYS done up until now. We also leave him in an interesting state at the end here which raises a lot of questions about where his story is going to end.

And the new vampire lore is pretty interesting. We get some good body horror bits in this volume, some of which was pretty freaking squirm inducing for me and my various phobias/content I can’t handle too well hang ups. I’m not going to go into too much detail, but it’s an even bigger threat than the characters have dealt with, and it’s very imposing and, while a little ridiculous in some ways, is a fresh new villain for the final arc of this series that has gone to so many crazy places. There is a fair amount of set up to be done here, but it’s done quickly and by the end of the volume there’s a solid jumping off point to go forward from. I am a little nervous about the fact we only have two volumes left after this to wrap it all up. Where are Felicia and Gus? What about the reveal of James Book being a vampire hidden away from the world? Will all of this be wrapped up well on top of the new Gray Trader storyline? I guess we’ll have to see. I’m optimistic as of now.

“American Vampire: Vol. 7” is a good start to the end of a sometimes messy but always entertaining series. I regret not finishing it up on the initial run, but now I just have something to look forward to, I guess! Let’s see where Pearl and Skinner go next.

Rating 8: An enjoyable start to a new and final cycle of vampire lore in the heart of American history, “American Vampire: Vol. 7” jumps into the fraught times of the 1960s and shows how fraught its protagonists are.

Reader’s Advisory:

“American Vampire: Vol. 7” is included on the Goodreads list “Vertigo Titles” Must Read Comics A-E”.

Previously Reviewed:

Book Club Review: “Great or Nothing”

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

We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Our current theme is retellings and re-imaginings.  For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “Great or Nothing” by Joy McCullough, Caroline Tung Richmond, Tess Sharpe, & Jessica Spotswood

Publishing Info: Delacorte, March 2022

Where Did We Get This Book: The library!

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

Retelling/Re-imagining: “Little Women”

Book Description: A reimagining of Little Women set in the spring of 1942, when the United States is suddenly embroiled in the second World War, this story, told from each March sister’s point of view, is one of grief, love, and self-discovery.

In the spring of 1942, the United States is reeling from the attack on Pearl Harbor. While the US starts sending troops to the front, the March family of Concord, Massachusetts grieves their own enormous loss: the death of their daughter, Beth.

Under the strain of their grief, Beth’s remaining sisters fracture, each going their own way with Jo nursing her wounds and building planes in Boston, Meg holding down the home front with Marmee, and Amy living a secret life as a Red Cross volunteer in London–the same city where one Mr. Theodore Laurence is stationed as an army pilot.

Each March sister’s point of view is written by a separate author, three in prose and Beth’s in verse, still holding the family together from beyond the grave. Woven together, these threads tell a story of finding one’s way in a world undergoing catastrophic change.

Kate’s Thoughts

I’m someone who has what is probably an average relationship with the book “Little Women”. I read it once a long time ago, I really like the 1994 film with Winona Ryder, and when I was working at a historic Victorian house I was one of the people who would lead a “Little Women” themed Christmas tour. I’m not super wedded to the book like I am “Anne of Green Gables”, but I like it enough. When I saw that Book Club was going to take on a “Little Women” re-imagining that takes place during World War II, it struck me as a perfect time period to revisit this story of sisters growing up during war time and learning hard life lessons while also finding their places in the world. And I was happy to see that I was right.

“Great or Nothing” is written in four different perspectives from four different authors, one for each March sister. The story plunks us midway through the original tale, with Beth already dead and Jo, Meg, and Amy separated and feeling the distance (especially since they all left on a sour note between the three of them). The surviving sisters take on roles that women could have during WWII that perfectly fit each of them. We have Meg at the home front doing fundraising, planting victory gardens, and teaching children. We have Jo working in a plane factory, doing a whole Rosie the Riveter thing. And we have Amy in London volunteering for the Red Cross, and meeting up with Laurie who is fighting in Europe. Beth also has a perspective, with poetry being used because she’s dead, I guess? Regardless, I really felt like all of these settings were perfect for the various sisters, and I mostly liked how all of the sisters felt like their core characters set in a new time. I think that my favorite was Meg’s, as the home front has always fascinated me with war bonds, fund raising, and advocacy, but I did like Jo’s story of working in a factory and finding romance with a lady war reporter named Charlie (as a true Professor Bhaer fan, I loved how they brought this relationship into this story with a queer twist). That said, I did find it a little bit of a bummer that we were at a point in the story where Meg, Jo, and Amy weren’t really interacting with each other, as that is part of the charm of the original story for me. It seemed like an odd choice, but at the same time since it was four different authors writing each sister, I suppose that makes some sense so as not to step on each other’s toes.

“Great or Nothing” is a really well thought out re-imagining of a classic tale, with a nice blending of voices from different authors to give Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March interesting stories in the 20th century.

Serena’s Thoughts

I’m probably similar to Kate in my devotion levels to the original “Little Women.” Enjoyed the book, liked the 90s version of the movie well enough, really liked the recent one that was released a few years ago. But, like Kate, I don’t have any strong emotions attached to it, which in many ways makes it the perfect book for a retelling! If you’re not a devoted fan, you won’t get as mad at changes!

Anyways, the first thing that stood out to me was how much I liked the change in time period. There are a million and one WWII books out there, but this story really took a unique angle at exploring all of the very different ways that women contributed to the war front, both at home and abroad. Not only did this give the reader a wide range of angles on this particular time of history, but all of these choices also worked perfectly with the characters themselves. I was also very impressed with how well the different writing styles of all of the authors worked together. Perhaps….too impressed? If I hadn’t know that this was authored by four different people, I’m not sure I would have guessed, and I’m not sure that’s really for the best. Obviously, cohesion on this sort of project is key, but I also think you lose something from the original goal if every author’s voice is paired down to the point that they’re indistinguishable from each other.

As for the story, I thought it did a good job of hitting the major plot points that fans will look for. That said, I didn’t necessarily enjoy many of these chapters. While I liked the look at the types of work that Meg and Jo were doing, their personal arcs I found more frustrating. Honestly, if I had to hear one more time about the big fight they all got into, I think I would have screamed. In this way, I felt like this book really missed the mark on the overall theme of “Little Women.” Yes, the sisters have their quarrels, but the primary heart of the story is built around the deep bonds they all share. So for this book to spend the vast majority of its time with each sister endlessly reflecting on their broken ties…it just felt like a bummer and a let down of the original premise. This being the case, Amy’s story rose to the top for me as the only one that felt as it had any real action or stakes involved. I enjoyed getting to see her and Teddy’s romance play out more in real-time as well, rather than the off-page romance we get in the original.

Overall, I felt like this book was ok. I didn’t love anything it was doing, but I also didn’t hate any of it. I think Meg and Jo both could have been done better by, but I really enjoyed Beth’s poetry sections and Amy’s plot line. Fans of the original looking for a unique take will likely enjoy this, however.

Kate’s Rating 8: A great new setting for a classic tale of sisters growing up and finding themselves, “Great or Nothing” is a successful “Little Women” retelling.

Serena’s Rating 7: An interesting reimaging with an excellent use of shifting the historical setting, but it still somehow feels as if it misses the mark on the heart of the original story.

Book Club Questions

  1. What did you think of the time period in this retelling? Do you think that World War II fit in with the “Little Women” story?
  2. Each of the March sisters was written by a different author. Did you like any sister more than the others?
  3. Did the Beth sections with the poetry work for you as you were reading? Would you have preferred to see another character’s perspective over Beth’s, like Laurie, or Marmee?
  4. Which of the sister’s plots would you like to be in? The homefront? A factory? Acting as a Red Cross volunteer overseas? Something else?
  5. What is your experience with the original “Little Women” story?

Reader’s Advisory

“Great or Nothing” is included on the Goodreads lists “Book Riot 2022 #21: Read a Queer Retelling of a Classic of the Canon, Fairytale, Folklore, or Myth”, and “YA & Middle Grade Retellings of “Little Women””.

Next Book Club Pick: “The Raven and the Reindeer” by T. Kingfisher

Serena’s Review: “Untethered Sky”

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

Book: “Untethered Sky” by Fonda Lee

Publishing Info: Tor, April 2023

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

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

Book Description: Ester’s family was torn apart when a manticore killed her mother and baby brother, leaving her with nothing but her father’s painful silence and a single, overwhelming need to kill the monsters that took her family.

Ester’s path leads her to the King’s Royal Mews, where the giant rocs of legend are flown to hunt manticores by their brave and dedicated ruhkers. Paired with a fledgling roc named Zahra, Ester finds purpose and acclaim by devoting herself to a calling that demands absolute sacrifice and a creature that will never return her love. The terrifying partnership between woman and roc leads Ester not only on the empire’s most dangerous manticore hunt, but on a journey of perseverance and acceptance.

Review: I really enjoyed Fonda Lee’s “Jade City” trilogy. It was a sprawling, complex, urban fantasy story with an entire host of complicated, troubled characters at its heart. It was truly impressive and left me in no doubt of Lee’s fantasy chops. That said, I was pleased to see that her next book was a stand-alone novella. As much as I’m an epic SFF fan, it’s lovely to be able to break up my reading experience with these shorter, bite-sized looks into new worlds and stories. It also is a unique writing skill, to pare down a story into a compressed number of pages without losing key aspects of the world/characters/etc. I wasn’t concerned that Lee wouldn’t be able to manage; no, I was just excited to see what she had to offer!

Ever since she lost her family to an attack by a manticore, a viscous, cat-like monster that prefers human prey above all else, Ester has pursued one goal: to become one of the rare handlers who work with the giant Rocs that are the only animals capable of hunting and killing manticores. Now, as a young woman, Ester earned her place after successfully training one of these gigantic birds to fly for her. But when a prince of the realm decides that now is the time for the empire to rid itself of the threat of manticores once and for all, Ester and her Roc, Zahra, find themselves on an adventure that may prove perilous to both woman and bird.

I really enjoyed this book! For such a short novel, it really did pack quite a punch, especially on the adventure front. First of all, I really liked the primary concept at the heart of the story: that of a young woman and her journey to train a dangerous, huge bird of prey. For one thing, I was under the misimpression that this was one of those stories where the huge birds are ridden by their handlers. But instead the relationship between rukher and Roc is essentially that of a falconer. Of course, in this situation the “falcon” is the size of an elephant and could kill the handler with one buffet of its wings. But I was incredibly pleased when I discovered this since there have been numerous books released recently about dragon riders or phoenix riders or what have you. So this take felt fresh and new.

I’m not overly familiar with traditional falcon training, so I was also really intrigued by a lot of the details about how Ester forms the relationship with her Roc. Not only is this a bird that could easily kill her, but by the very nature of the relationship, Ester must train a wild bird to willing return to her after each hunt. Unlike riders who maintain direct contact with their mounts at all time, the Roc could essentially choose to fly away at any moment. It made the entire relationship much more complex and interesting.

I also really liked the world-building, as the author had to create some reason to motivate humans to take on the perilous task of training these birds (its established early on that there is a high mortality rate in the effort to train even a single Roc). The manticores are not only terrifying in and of themselves, but it’s a clever conceit to create a threat to human life that can only be managed by domesticating its only natural predator, giant birds.

The human relationships definitely fall to the backburner in a story that is primarily focused on the relationship between Ester and Zhara. But I really liked what we saw with the other rukhers and the ways these relationships wove in and out of Ester and Zhara’s lives. The final third of the book builds to a climatic action scene that pulled in aspects of these human relationships in interesting ways while also highlighting how delicate the balance is between rukher and their Roc.

I will say that while I really enjoyed this read, I did finish it feeling as if the story ended rather suddenly. It took a few surprising turns towards the end, and then finished in a way that left me feeling a bit bereft. I think, on one hand, that was probably the point for a conclusion that was meant to be bittersweet. But I also then looked back on my read and didn’t necessarily feel as if I can away from the book with any real conclusions. Of course, it’s not necessary that every book has some great thesis or “point,” but I think there was just something a bit rushed in the pacing towards the end that left me floundering.

Overall, though, this was still an incredibly fun read for me and I highly recommend this book to all fans of Lee’s work and to fantasy fans in general. There is a lot of great stuff to be found here, and I can’t wait to see what this author has in store for us next!

Rating 8: Fonda Lee strikes again, this time with a poignant novella that captures the wild, bittersweet joy of working alongside powerful creatures and the important relationships that can form between humans and animals.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Untethered Sky” can be found on this Goodreads lists: Upcoming 2023 SFF Books With Female Leads or Co-Leads