Author: thelibraryladiesmn

Kate’s Review: “Now She’s Dead”

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Book: “Now She’s Dead” by Roselyn Clarke

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: Last summer, Sara Ellis was found dead by the lake, and only Mandy knows what really happened. This summer, she’s desperate to keep it a secret.

For a few weeks every summer, Sara was Mandy’s best friend. At Highmark, the lake resort where their families vacationed, the two were in a world of their own. Or at least Mandy got to be part of Sara’s world.

But now Sara’s dead. The police ruled her death an accident; a tragic mistake after a night of impaired judgment. For the past year, Mandy’s coped by escaping: leaving home and barely keeping it together at school. The last thing she wants to do is return to Highmark this summer—even if she does need “closure.” As soon as she’s back, though, she hears the whispers: someone killed Sara Ellis. And if she’s not careful, they’ll figure out it’s all her fault.

As evidence resurfaces and anonymous accusations are scrawled in angry red spray paint, Mandy must confront the truths she’s been avoiding about last summer. Because someone wants to make her pay for what happened to Sara that night.

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

Summer is basically here, and while it’s probably my least favorite of the seasons (it’s just so hot), I do really enjoy the vibes and ambiance of sitting by the pool with my book. It’s especially fun if the book is engaging, a little soapy, and filled with lots of drama, shocks, and surprises. Admittedly, I have a pretty picky standard when it comes to books like these, and if it even so much as VAGUELY drifts into no no territory (like last minute twists that don’t feel earned), I will feel sour about it, poolside or not. But I have great news! “Now She’s Dead” by Roselyn Clark is the kind of book that not only would make great poolside reading for the season, it also managed, for me, to not fall into any pitfalls I associate with the genre!

The structure of this thriller mystery is fairly straight forward. Our protagonist is Mandy, a teenage girl who is returning to the lakeside resort where her summer best friend Sara died in an assumed accident the previous year. Mandy off the bat has a lot of guilt, and since it’s first person POV she tells the reader that it is her fault that Sara is dead, and we get a story told through the present summer as a true crime content creator has started sniffing around the resort, and through flashbacks to the days leading up to Sara’s death. It’s a great device, and it’s the perfect kind to have an unreliable narrator drive the story as the audience has to piece together what really happened. When done well this is quite possibly a favorite structure of mine when it comes to thrillers, and Clarke manages to make it flow easily. It has a nice slight of hand, and while I was pretty convinced that Mandy didn’t have all the information and was probably missing something (and side note, her dialog DID sometimes veer to bashing the reader of the head with all the ‘BUT I KILLED HER’ quips), I was still curious to see how it was all going to unravel to what actually happened, and I was surprised a good deal of the time! The clues are there, but the sleight of hand keeps them hidden until Clarke is ready to reveal them for the most part.

And what really kept me going in this book was how it portrays a very complicated, close, but somewhat unbalanced friendship between two teenage girls. You can tell that Mandy and Sara see themselves as incredibly close, but that their closeness and their friendship is in many ways unhealthy, with resentment, jealousy, and insecurities nagging at them both during the lead up to Sara’s death. It’s a bit soapy as Mandy and Sara keep aggravating and baiting each other as disaster looms on the horizon, but what I really appreciated is that while it could solely have been a motive, it’s actually a rather emotional examination of this kind of toxic friendship between teenage girls that may hit close to home for some readers, be they the intended YA audience or not. I know that I can think of at least one close, but at times unhealthy, friendship I had when I was in high school, with my role being VERY similar to Mandy’s in the friendship of the sidekick who is overshadowed and resentful, but also unable to process my own contributions to the toxicity. It felt real and honest, even if most of us in these shoes weren’t dealing with a murder mystery we may or may not have been involved with. Minor details!

“Now She’s Dead” is a sudsy and twisty thriller that should definitely join you on your summer adventures. It’s a fun ride and I really enjoyed it.

Rating 8: A fast paced and well crafted thriller, absolutely perfect for summer reading season!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Now She’s Dead” is included on the Goodreads lists “2025 YA Thrillers and Mysteries”, and “Bisexual Books of 2025”.

Highlights: June 2025

We’re both getting excited for ALA 2025 in Philadelphia! And, while we’re there primarily for the convention itself, you know we both plan on getting in a good amount of personal reading time as well! Alone, in our separate hotel rooms, like true BFF introverts do! Here are a few titles we’re excited to check out this month!

Serena’s Picks

Book: “Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil” by V. E. Schwab

Publication Date: June 10, 2025

Why I’m Interested: V. E. Schwab is one of my favorite modern fantasy authors, so of course I’m looking forward to her new book! I’m particularly excited for this one to see how she tackles vampires. There are so many vampire books out there that I imagine it’s challenging to find a way to approach the topic from a new angle. On the other hand, I’m a bit concerned that this book might be a bit too similar to “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue,” both focusing on long-lived beings and the challenges of staying “in the world” when you’re so disconnected from time and death. That said, I did enjoy “Addie LaRue,” so it may all work out in the end anyways!

Book: “The Rushworth Family Plot” by Claudia Gray

Publication Date: June 17, 2025

Why I’m Interested: This is another obvious pick for the month! Claudia Gray has been hitting every one of these books out of the park, and at this point, I’d be foolish to expect anything different. It’s always such a relief to be able to go into a book know that it will be good, and that’s what we have here. Plus, I’m excited to see how she handles a plot that is more closely tied to the characters from “Mansfield Park.” Not only is Edmund and Fanny’s relationship one of the more challenging ones to depict for modern audiences, but there are also several challenging topics, such as slavery and plantation wealth, that will likely be covered. Beyond that, I’m itching to see how Mr. Darcy and Miss Tilney’s fraught relationship progresses! The last book left off with their pesky fathers standing in the way of their happy union!

Book: “A Legionnaire’s Guide to Love and Peace” by Emily Strukskie

Publication Date: June 24, 2025

Why I’m Interested: I’ve heard next to no hype about this book up to this point, and even without having read it at this point, I feel like that’s a damn shame! The romantasy genre is desperately in need of fresh material and this book, with its focus on common soldiers with no special abilities (or dragons!) to speak of and their slow-burn friends-to-lovers romance, seems like the perfect fix! Of course, it also has to be good, but I have high hopes already! I, too, enjoy an enemies-to-lovers love story, but please, for the love of everything, can we have some variation in our fantasy romance stories??

Kate’s Picks

Book: “Bald-Faced Liar” by Victoria Helen Stone

Publication Date: June 17, 2025

Why I’m Interested: I don’t know why I insist on touching the hot stove of the huge triggering topic that is The Satanic Panic, but whenever a book about this ludicrous and highly maddening time comes out, I have to read it. So of course “Bald-Faced Liar” caught my eye! Elizabeth May is a traveling nurse who has been trying to run from her past as a witness to a high profile trial that involved the Satanic Panic, especially since she was revealed to be a liar who put innocent people in prison. Now she has settled down in Santa Cruz, still hiding, still planning to move on. But then someone starts stalking her, someone who may be eager to expose her identity, and to punish her for what she did. Sounds devilishly twisty.

Book: “Atmosphere” by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Publication Date: June 3, 2025

Why I’m Interested: I have loved every Taylor Jenkins Reid book that I have read, and while this may not end up being reviewed on the blog as it’s outside my genres (though if I love it enough I may make an exception), “Atmosphere” is high, high, HIGH on my anticipated titles for the year. Joan Goodwin is one of the women who has been selected to be a part of the NASA Shuttle Program of the 1980s, fulfilling a dream that seemed impossible until she was given the position. And when she meets Vanessa Ford, an aeronautical engineer who is a skilled pilot to boot, she realizes that not only could she potentially help make history, she could also perhaps find a kindred spirit. If Reid can do for space flight what she has done for 1970s rock bands, dysfunctional families, and tennis players, this will surely be a winner of a read.

Book: “With A Vengeance” by Riley Sager

Publication Date: June 10, 2025

Why I’m Interested: I haven’t missed a Riley Sager book yet and I don’t intend on doing it now! And besides, it wouldn’t be summer time if I didn’t have a Sager book at the ready. And this one sounds a little different. Anna has been plotting revenge against those who wronged her family for years, and her plan has all led to luring her targets onto a train in hopes of turning them all in after she makes them confess to their crimes. But then someone else commits a murder against one of her targets, and that just won’t do. Because SHE is the one who gets to get her revenge, not someone else! So now she has to figure out who wants them dead, and how she can save them… for now. Always nice to have Sager back in my reading rotation!

Serena’s Review: “The Devils”

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Book: “The Devils” by Joe Abercrombie

Publishing Info: Tor Books, May 2025

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

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

Book Description: Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.

Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters. The mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.

Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it’s a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side

Review: I’m one of those rare modern fantasy readers who HASN’T already read a Joe Abercrombie book it seems. But rather than start with one of his trilogies, I was excited to see that he was releasing a new book/series this spring, thus giving me a great entry point!

I’m on the record with how difficult I believe it is to write ensemble casts in these sorts of books. Nailing down one unique character with a compelling arc and clear point of view is difficult enough. Now do it multiple times! But here Abercrombie illustrates how well a properly portrayed and established ensemble can elevate a fairly simple story to something much more! At its core, this is a fairly standard questing fantasy, with our group travelling the continent to reach a defined point, meeting enemies along the way. What carries it, however, is this amazing group of characters who make up our little troupe.

The simplest way to put it, perhaps, is this is essentially the epic fantasy version of “Suicide Squad.” Not all of our characters are outright villains, but many of them have some level of darkness to their past. By slowly adding layers to these characters, the author neatly side steps the pitfall of these characters falling into overt fantasy stereotypes. Something that would be all too easy when you have a cast made of up werewolves, elves, undying knights, vampires, snarky thieves, etc. All the good stuff us fantasy readers are all too familiar with! However, here, each goes beyond many of the initial assumptions brought in by the sort of fantasy creatures/characters they are.

Our werewolf is a Viking who relies on her poor memory to cope with the death of her friends, often at her own hands. Our elf is just misunderstood, her ability to turn invisible mirroring how she feels in the group itself. Our sorcerer, ahem, “magician” just wants out of this whole freak show, sure that he is more powerful than everyone around him. And, of course, our thief is a con artist now caught up in a con that has gotten out of control! That’s only touching on some members of the cast! Throughout it all, whenever it felt like the characters were getting a bit lost in the extreme violence on the page or even some of the humor, Abercrombie always managed to pull it back to a humanizing moment, dealing with themes regarding penitence, grief, and what we owe one another.

Speaking of violence and humor, as I said, I haven’t read this author’s work before, but I do know that he is known for his dark fantasy. So I went in with an expectation of reading a grimdark fantasy novel, even though those are not necessarily my favorite of the fantasy subgenres. However, I wasn’t expecting just how funny this book was! Even in the midst of some of the most gruesome fight scenes that I’ve come across, I often found myself chuckling out loud. I will say that while most of the humor hit home for me, I did find a bit too much emphasis on bodily function humor. Perhaps this just comes from living in a household with three boys (my husband and two sons), but I only have so much tolerance or interest in reading jokes about farts, even if they’re incredibly well written.

Overall, I really loved this book! It was action-packed, hilarious, and full of a cast of characters of which I could never quite settle on a favorite! It’s truly a testament of the author’s steadiness at the wheel when I was only ever excited to see what the next character had to say! It’s hard to remember a book where I didn’t have at least one dud POV character. But here, they were all excellent! If I had to pick favorites, perhaps Vigga (werewolf) and Balthazar (sorcerer/magician) might come out on top. But honestly, they were all great. If you enjoy epic fantasy, definitely give this one a shot! I will only warn that it is definitely high on the violence, but I think the excellent humor balances this out well.

Rating 9: How to write “grimdark fantasy” without all of the “grim.” Abercrombie hits it out of the park with this one!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Devils” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Serena’s Review: “Written on the Dark”

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

Book: “Written on the Dark” by Guy Gavriel Kay

Publishing Info: Ace, May 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: Thierry Villar is a well-known–even notorious– tavern poet, familiar with the rogues and shadows of that world, but not at all with courts and power. He is an unlikely person, despite his quickness, to be caught up in the deadly contests of ambitious royals, assassins, and invading armies.

But he is indeed drawn into all these things on a savagely cold night in his beloved city of Orane. And so Thierry must use all the intelligence and charm he can muster as political struggles merge with a decades-long war to bring his country to the brink of destruction.

As he does, he meets his poetic equal in an aristocratic woman and is drawn to more than one unsettling person with a connection to the world beyond this one. He also crosses paths with an extraordinary young woman driven by voices within to try to heal the ailing king–and help his forces in war. A wide and varied set of people from all walks of life take their places in the rich tapestry of this story.

Review: When I think back about my burgeoning love of fantasy fiction, Guy Gavriel Kay is right there at the beginning. I obviously can’t remember exactly, but I have a feeling that his Fionavar Tapestry trilogy may be one of the first adult fantasy series I picked out and read myself, without the direction of my mom. That said, I’ve been hit and miss keeping up on all of his books since, having read a few here and there, but definitely not up to date on them all. So I was excited to see he was coming out with a new one this spring, giving me a great excuse to jump back in!

This book was pretty much everything I’ve come to expect from this author over my many years of reading his work. Mostly, the intricate weaving of historical events and new fantasy worlds, this one taking on the 100 Years War. I will say, I found myself putting the book down quite a bit to look up real-world facts about the major events/players during this period of time and my primary reaction was often a feeling of being let down by my high school education! But, at the same time, Kay does an excellent job of creating something wholly unique, even while pulling from history.

For one thing, he deftly uses a wide variety of characters, giving the reader glimpses of people whose lives are touched in many different ways. From the most lowly, to the most powerful, to those who seek out influence, to those, like our main character, who are pulled into the action. I often struggled with books that rely heavily on large casts of POV characters, but it works incredibly well here. Without these insights, the reader would lose the greater scope of events or fail to see the trickle down effects of some points of action.

Granted, it’s been a bit since I last read a book by this author, but I do feel like his style of writing was changed somewhat here. I’m guessing it must have been intentional, but the writing was much more choppy, with shorter, more emphatic sentences throughout. I wouldn’t go as far as to say his writing before was “flowery” or “lyrical,” but I do seem to remember a more verbose style, with a greater emphasis on weaving sentences and drawn out thoughts. Personally, I prefer this latter sort of writing, so it took me a bit to sink into this new style and its more abrupt manner of story-telling. That said, this is definitely a preferences thing, as, on its own, the writing was still very strong. I just prefer his other style more.

Overall, this was an excellent read! I really didn’t expect anything else, but it’s always re-assuring to find your favorite authors out there still killing it here in 2025. This is definitely a book to check out, especially if you’re a fan of this author or enjoy historical fantasy fiction!

Rating 8: An expert at work, Guy Gavriel Kay hits another one out of the park!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Written on the Dark” can be found on this Goodreads list: My favorite Medieval Fantasy novels.

A Revisit to Fear Street: “Fear Street: Prom Queen”


Given that I did a re-read of R.L. Stine’s original “Fear Street” series a few years ago, as well as a few “Super Chillers” and a couple special Trilogies within the Universe, when Netflix started releasing modern “Fear Street” films I had to review those too! And four years after the original trilogy released, we now have a NEW “Fear Street” film, this one loosely adapting the book “The Prom Queen”! So we once again find ourselves on another Revisit to Fear Street!

Film: “Fear Street: Prom Queen”

It’s been four years since Netflix debuted the campy, gory, and altogether nostalgic “Fear Street Trilogy”, a set of films that gave us a new imagining of the iconic R.L. Stine YA horror series. They were not only fun (albeit VERY different) adaptations of the books I have loved so much for so long, they also built and interesting backstory and lore for the plagued town of Shadyside and all the murder and mayhem that befalls it. So imagine my pleasant surprise when I saw that there was a brand new “Fear Street” movie coming out this year, and not only was it taking inspiration from one of my first “Fear Street” revisits on the blog, “The Prom Queen”, it took place in 1988! Not only does that reopen the door for a cursed Shadyside (as the trilogy wrapped up with an end to the curse of Sarah Fier), but it has SO MANY opportunities for homages to 1980s slasher movies and all the tropes that come with them! Suffice to say, I was STOKED.

So a quick plot summary: Somewhat similar to the book that it takes its name from, “Prom Queen” takes place leading up to and on Prom at Shadyside High, with multiple girls vying for the title, and a killer taking them out one by one. In THIS, it’s 1988, and our group of nominees are a group of mean girls, led by Tiffany Falconer who wants the title of Prom Queen REALLY badly, bad girl Kristy Renault who entered the race just to piss people off, and Lori Granger, school outcast with a tragic past. But a masked killer is taking out the girls one by one, as well as anyone who may get in the way.

To just get it out of the way, this was a little bit of a let down for me, and I’m not sure if it’s just because the momentum from the original trilogy has long since passed, or if it was just an overall less engaging film. It has glimmers of what I really liked about the Trilogy, and even has some references to it (the camp massacre in the second movie is what really sprang to mind). But I think that the problem was that it never REALLY connected to the trilogy, and it could have been just any generic slasher film. I know that that was something of a criticism of “1994”, “1978”, and “1666”, but at least in those movies they were building up a mythology for the series that DID have some references to the “Fear Street” books (the Fier Family, Camp Nightwing, the Shadyside Mall) and fit well within it. In “Prom Queen” it just felt like this could have easily been a remake of “Prom Night”. Also, talk about a missed opportunity to reference MY GAL RUBY DAY, one of the ghosties from the trilogy, who had her OWN murderous and bloody prom night! This one created a different bloody history with Shadyside Prom involving Lori’s mother, setting up a reason to want to win to remove herself from a tragic narrative, which was fine, but kind of hack. OH, and not to get into spoilers too much, but this movie also has some contradictions to the curse in regards to Shadyside vs Sunnyvale and the way that the curse doles these things out. And on top of that, I wasn’t really invested in any of the characters either, outside of Lori’s bestie Megan, who is a horror movie Goth weirdo stoner who may or may not be in love with Lori. Everyone else was fairly two dimensional, be it tragic Lori, or uber bitch Tiffany, or her lapdog girl gang. One of the things I liked best about the trilogy was that I genuinely cared about the characters, so it was extra upsetting when they were ultimately brutally murdered, and in this one I just didn’t feel it for most of the players. I honestly would have liked more from bad girl Kristy, but she was played by Ariana Greenblat who is making her own way these days and didn’t stick around too long so that it felt more like a cute cameo of a rising actress.

But, sloppiness aside, the VIBES of this movie gave me everything I needed. I thought that the costuming department and the design department was pretty spot on for a lot of the styling of the time, REALLY enjoying the looks of Megan and Kristy (what can I say, I’m a Goth/punk chick at heart), but even the more preppy and ‘in’ styles seemed pretty on point to me. Hell, just the whole feel and tropes and execution of this movie tapped into the 80s era of slasher films, with lots of gore, pretty bland characters only there to add to the body count, and melodrama melodrama melodrama. This movie knows what its references are, just take a look at the poster I picked. Full on “Nightmare on Elm Street”, 80s horror VHS sleeve panache! Even if the story itself was kinda ho hum, this is the kind of case that I’m willing to grant some leniency because of VIBES, baby.

And we once again have a GREAT soundtrack, very 80s centric, but not even necessarily only obvious 80s songs but also some less thought of ones. I mean sure, we still got things like “Hungry Like The Wolf” and “I Think We’re Alone Now” but I actively screeched in glee when they played the song “Gloria” by Laura Branigan! And what’s more, the music didn’t stop with the pop music at the time, but the instrumental tracks were tailored to sound like they were from 80s slashers at the time with a huge emphasis on synthesizers and electronica. I kept thinking about John Carpenter scores, like from “The Fog” or “Christine” (honestly the man’s whole musical catalogue) or even things like the scores to “C.H.U.D” or “Suspiria“. Or hell, even a more modern score like in “It Follows” that REALLY hit the synth wave hard, GOD that is a banging score. The music was my favorite part of this film.

So, overall, a bit of a mixed bag. Story and plot execution, meh. But candy coated slasher homage to 80s horror schlock AND books that were incredibly formative to me serving as a backbone? FUN AS HELL! I certainly won’t pass up on the opportunity for more “Fear Street” movies, especially since, given the lore and mythos, they will all be historical fiction horror, and that opens up a lot of opportunities.

Serena’s Review: “A Letter from the Lonesome Shore”

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

Book: “A Letter from the Lonesome Shore” by Sylvie Cathrall

Publishing Info: Orbit, May 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: Former correspondents E. and Henerey, accustomed to loving each other from afar, did not anticipate continuing their courtship in an enigmatic underwater city. When their journey through the Structure in E.’s garden strands them in a peculiar society preoccupied with the pleasures and perils of knowledge, E. and Henerey come to accept – and, more surprisingly still, embrace – the fact that they may never return home.

A year and a half later, Sophy and Vyerin finally discover one of the elusive Entries that will help them seek their siblings. As the group’s efforts bring them closer to E. and Henerey, an ancient, cosmic threat also draws near. . .

Previously Reviewed: “A Letter to the Luminous Deep”

Review: While I didn’t end up enjoying this one quite as much as the first, I’ll say at the start that, all things considered, this is a wildly creative and beautiful duology! It’s especially successful in its depictions of anxiety and mental health, as well as its use of “historical” or “academic” language.

This book picks up pretty much right where the previous one left off. But unlike the first one, which slowly built to its action, this one came in hot right from the start! Immediately, we begin uncovering so many new layers of history and magic that make up this world. Like E. and Henerey, the reader is left trying to piece together what exactly is going on, always just on the cusp of understanding, without being able to put the entire puzzle together until the end of the book. I had a few theories here and there, but not only was I wildly off base most of the time, but I never even got close to guessing how things would finally wrap up!

I also continued to greatly enjoy all four of the main characters. As I referenced above, this book stands out for its incredible representation of mental health and struggles with anxiety. E.’s journey is one of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and coming into her own, compete with her unique strengths! Her struggles were never hand-waved away, but they also didn’t define her. And E. herself had much to say when others began seeing her only through this lens. It was honestly refreshing. I feel like I’ve read a number of books that have attempted to tackle mental health, chronic pain, or similar struggles. But too often authors seem to create characters whose only personality or sense of self is completely wrapped up in this one aspect of themselves. E. acknowledges and explains her own limitations, but we also see her continue to push her own boundaries, always trying to find new ways to follow her passions and dreams.

I also really enjoyed the continued romance between E. and Henerey. This is the kind of cozy fantasy that I enjoy. It’s soft, quiet, and respectful. But it also wasn’t dull, without exhaustive details about mundane everyday events. Theirs is an untraditional love story, but it was all the more beautiful for it!

I also continued to love the writing style of this book! As a lover of historical fiction, I’m always drawn to this sort of verbose style, full of long, complicated sentences and large vocabularies. I also think the use of the epistolary style works really well. The action is definitely on the slow side, but by telling the story in this format, the author was able to set out little clues that the reader would have to then wait to put together as more information was slowly doled out via various other letters or journal entries.

I will say, however, that this book didn’t quite reach the highs of the first book. I enjoyed all the reveals about the greater reality of these characters’ world and histories, but because this information didn’t come until the very end, the reader has to live with a lot of questions for the majority of the story. The pacing was also a bit too slow towards the middle of the book. I was invested enough in the characters and the writing itself to be carried through this lull fairly easily, but it was a notable difference between this one and the first, which was so tightly paced.

Overall, this was a fantastic sequel! So many mysteries were explored and revealed, and the duology concluded in a way that I truly could never have predicted. If you enjoyed the first book, definitely give this one a go! And if you’re a fan of cozy fantasy and enjoy a historical-feeling writing style, this is definitely the duology for you!

Rating 8: Pure whimsy and lyricism, with a lovely understated love story at its heart!

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Letter from a Lonesome Shore” can be found on these Goodreads lists: 2025 Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction and Regency Fantasy.

Kate’s Review: “Lore Olympus: Volume 8”

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

Book: “Lore Olympus: Volume 8” by Rachel Smythe

Publishing Info: Inklore, May 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Book Description: “You have no authority here.”

Revelations rock Olympus as Persephone’s trial ends, threatening to throw the gods into a new war.

Though Persephone and Hades become closer than ever after she opens up to him about all she has endured, their peace is shattered when another truth is revealed: Apollo is Zeus’s son. The announcement shocks the pantheon, and the king of the gods realizes that the would-be usurper wants Persephone’s power to take the throne.

Zeus banishes Persephone to the Mortal Realm and, out of fear, cuts it off entirely from the rest of the gods. This decree succeeds in undercutting Apollo’s plan, but also inadvertently begins a decade-long divine cold war when Hades strikes back by shuttering the Underworld. With the gods scattered and weakened, Kronos uses the ensuing bedlam to finally escape his imprisonment and begin staging his own coup.

Persephone has only one choice when she discovers all the realms on the verge of collapse: Descend into the Underworld to try to defeat the power-hungry Titan, claim her rightful place as queen, and reunite with her one true love.

This edition of Smythe’s original Eisner Award–winning webcomic Lore Olympus features a brand-new, exclusive short story from creator Rachel Smythe and brings the Greek pantheon into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

Review: After dropping the ball on reviewing the previous volume of “Lore Olympus” in a timely matter, I promised myself that I wouldn’t let that happen again. I mean come on, it’s one of my favorite series, how can I let it fall by the wayside?! So here we are with “Lore Olympus: Volume 8”, in a more timely manner and at not a moment too soon! Because things are really heating up with the gods and goddesses of Olympus, barreling towards a wrap up of a THRILLING story arc that has SO MUCH going on.

And what an action packed conclusion to this story arc it is. To really get into the nitty gritty, we have to get into some spoilers for this volume, so proceed with caution if you don’t want to know anything. This volume really shows the dysfunction of the hierarchy of the Olympians, with Zeus being fully in charge, and making panicked decisions that are more about protecting his own power versus what is good for everyone, culminating with him banishing Persephone to the Mortal Realm and cutting it off completely. Not because he thinks this is a fair punishment, but because he realizes that Apollo, newly revealed as his son, is plotting to overthrow him, and needs Persephone’s mysterious powers to do so. Which, of course, results in disaster. Not just for Hades and Persephone, who are now ripped apart and both devastated and traumatized by this, but for the entirety of Olympus, as Hades, in retaliation and rage, closes access to The Underworld, which separates the Gods and Goddesses even further, and opens all of them up to new vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, Persephone is doing her damnedest to appease Zeus, though she is pretty certain she will never be able to meet his demands by design, which sends her on her own mission to take matters into her own hands (more on that in a bit). All of the pieces that have been put into place are starting to come together, and it’s a fantastic set up with a really satisfying pay off. We have a bit of a time jump so that we can fully see how bad things are, and Smythe slowly reveals what all has happened in subtle and ingenious ways without the pacing falling out of sync (for example, we see that Daphne is no longer a tree), while also having brief flashbacks to the fallout from Persephone’s banishment. It’s a well done device, and it makes for a more engrossing way to tell the story.

But what I loved the most in this volume is that I feel like we finally got some payoff for the way the story has been slowly revealing Persephone’s strengths and powers, even though she herself hasn’t quite figured out her own abilities. I will say that one of my (mild!) criticisms of this series in the earlier books is that Persephone, while being AWESOME in her own right for lots of reasons, was a little bit infantilized or treated in a way like a manic pixie dream girl, at least to start. Yes, we get insights into some darkness, and as her story progresses we find out that she is a fertility goddess and has a bit of wrath inside of her, but it always felt a LITTLE bit like she needed protecting and guidance from Hades. But that has fully fallen away, as their romance, while still pivotal to both of their motivations, is put on the back burner here, as they are mostly separated in this book and Persephone has to figure shit out on her own. And it is here that we finally get to see her come into her own, stand on her own, and fully round out as a character, who has for literal millennia been a bit of a wallflower in her own story throughout many adaptations. This feels like Persephone finally gets to come into her own. And I love to see it.

You’ve come a long way, baby. (source)

And even with all the very intense moments in this volume as a huge arc wraps up with high, high stakes, we still get some genuinely hilarious scenes and interactions, whether it’s wink wink nudge nudge references to the original myths dynamics, or just clever banter and laugh out loud physical comedy moments. Smythe has such a gift for hitting a wide range of emotional beats in her stories, and honestly I still think that her humor is one of her strongest elements in this series.

What a great wrap up of a first major arc to “Lore Olympus”! The foundation for where Persephone, Hades, and all of the Olympians are going next has been laid, and I am so excited to see what happens next. I guess we’ll find out in the Fall! Can’t wait!

Rating 10: A fantastic conclusion to a riveting story arc, “Lore Olympus: Volume 8” dazzles with deep emotion, engrossing romance, and a lot of humor.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Lore Olympus: Volume 8” is included on the Goodreads list “2025 Mythology Releases”.

Previously Reviewed:

Not Just Books: May 2025

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

Serena’s Picks

Video Game: “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33”

Like many video game players, I had never heard of this game until it dropped a few weeks ago. For me, it seemed to come out of nowhere and taking the gaming world by storm! After watching the trailer, I was easily sold on the visuals alone. It doesn’t hurt either that the cast is phenomenal (we’ve got Charlie Cox AND Andy Serkis!). But even with all the hype, even I wasn’t expecting how much I would love this game! It’s beautiful, heart-wrenching, and had me fully engrossed for its entire play through. One of those games that leaves you with a gaming hangover, wondering where to go next. Probably back to “Baldur’s Gate 3” for a comfort run, honestly…

TV Show: “Top Chef: Destination Canada”

I feel like have a variety of cooking reality shows I go to for different things. Want something kind of trashy but fun? “Master Chef.” Want something full of trash people getting yelled at this is all about the drama and barely about food at all? “Hell’s Kitchen.” However, if I want a show about people who can actually cook well who will be evaluated objectively by quality judges, than “Top Chef” is the obvious choice. I’ve even got my husband watching it with me, and it’s the perfect “end of the day” wind down kind of comfort show I need after the craziness that is the end of the school year madness.

Movie: “Thunderbolts*”

The last few years of Marvel movies has been…rough. However, other than the most recent “Captain America” movie that I’m waiting to catch on streaming, I have managed to keep up with it. However, it’s felt more like an obligation done in the hopes of being prepared for a return to greatness at some point. And while “Thunderbolts” may not have been considered “great” when Marvel was at the height of its powers, it’s by far the most enjoyable movie I’ve seen in the franchise for quite some time. Honestly, the executives at Disney/Marvel should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars that they somehow managed to nab Florence Pugh years ago. Wisely, they now seem to recognize the talent they have and, while the movie definitely has an ensemble cast, Pugh takes center stage through much of it. Not only does she bring the necessary gravitas the movie needs, but her deadpan humor also reigns in the goofy/aggressive quirkiness that has too often overtaken Marvel movies recently. The rest of the cast is also excellent, and by the time I got to the end of this movie, I found myself in the almost novel state of being excited to see what comes next!

Kate’s Picks

TV Show: “Conan O’Brien Must Go”

Conan O’Brien has been a fave of mine since I was in high school (probably like many weirdo elder millennials), and I’ve followed his career through the years, constantly impressed with the way he expands his horizons and niches. His travel show “Conan O’Brien Must Go” is back, and it’s still as charming and entertaining as ever! This season, Conan goes to visit Spain, Austria, and my very favorite place in the world, New Zealand! We get some really interesting insights into the culture and history of the places he visits, but we also get the trademark Conan humor and quirkiness as he interacts not only with locals, but also celebrities that call these countries their home. And while I loved seeing Taika Waititi for New Zealand showing off his Kiwi pride, it was Javier Bardem in Spain who REALLY entertained, as you could tell that he and Conan were having a blast (also I have a huge thing for Javier Bardem). Their chemistry was palpable. My only complaint? I want MORE than three episodes a season! Oh well.

Video Game: “Hello Kitty Island Adventure”

I’m trying to prevent another burn out moment this summer, as LAST summer I was in a pretty rocky place right around this time going through June. So I’m taking more time to rest, more time to connect with friends, AND I’m leaning in to more cozy things. One of those things is the video game “Hello Kitty Island Adventure”! It’s basically “Animal Crossing” with Sanrio characters, including Hello Kitty, Keroppi, My Melody, and more. You get to design your own character, and then go on puzzles and quests to restore an island community and theme park with known adorable favorites. And it also has a cameo from Retsuko of “Aggretsuko” fame! I’m playing with my daughter, who adores Hello Kitty, and that has been a fun experience as well (though she has a LOT of opinions about what I should be doing). It’s just cute and cozy, and it’s so easy to get lost as I fish, create, help out friends, and explore.

TV Show: “Drag Den”

Whenever a season of the regular “RuPaul’s Drag Race” wraps up, it’s guaranteed that “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” will be hot on its heels. But I’ve been a bit reticent when it comes to “All Stars” in the past few years, and I’m not quite ready to pass judgement on the season as a whole yet. BUT, there is another drag show that I am fully on board with, and that show is “Drag Den”! Hosted by my all time favorite Ru Girl Manila Luzon, “Drag Den” is a drag/pageant competition that showcases and focuses on Filipino Drag and Pageantry. Based in the Philippines, “Drag Den” has a number of Filipino drag artists competing for the title of “Next Drag Supreme”. The contestants are all quite talented, the focus on Filipino culture, drag and otherwise, is refreshing and enlightening to this Western drag fan, and I just love having Manila on the screen again. Some of my favorites in Season 1 are Barbie-Q, Shewarma, and Naia. And something I LOVE about this show is that no one gets eliminated episode by episode, instead giving them points that will determine the top 3. So they all get to shine and show off all their talents the entire run! Show off that Pinoy Pride, queens!!!

Serena’s Review: “The Whisperwood Legacy”

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

Book: “The Whisperwood Legacy” by Jo Schulte

Publishing Info: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, May 2025

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

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

Book Description: Welcome to Whisperwood, a sprawling theme park nestled in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, where thrilling rides and picture-perfect scenery bring cult-classic fairy tales to life. Or at least they did until eighteen months ago, when the family matriarch, Virginia Strauss, suddenly shut Whisperwood’s gates and the beloved park was left to wither away along with the family’s dwindling fortune.
 
For seventeen-year-old Frankie Strauss, Whisperwood’s closure has been a blessing in disguise. After seeing three generations of wealth’s corrupting influence, she is more than ready to shed the Strauss-family’s gilded handcuffs.
 
But when Virginia goes missing, Frankie realizes that her family might be guilty of something much worse than mere dysfunction. With the help of the mysterious and handsome groundskeeper, Jem, Frankie sifts through a web of near truths and outright lies, uncovering a reality where nothing is as it seems and fairy tales aren’t just real—they’re deadly.

Review: I live ever in hope that I will find a contemporary fantasy novel that I will connect with. It’s an entire subgenre of fantasy that I often struggle to fully appreciate. That said, I was excited by the concept of this one, especially by its creepy carnival cover! Alas, yet again, I find that I’m perhaps just not the correct reader for these books.

Let’s start with a few positives. While the story starts off weaker, things do begin to improve towards the middle point when some of the fantasy elements begin kicking in more fully. That said, it’s quite a wait to get to this portion, and I think the book would have been better served to have more carefully balanced the two halves and styles of the story. The fantasy aspects were also pretty wacky. This is a good and bad thing, I guess. On one hand, I was left with a strong sense of “what the heck is even happening” through much of it. But on the other, once we got into the back half of the book, it was easier to become more invested in finishing if just because I wanted to see what crazed situation would happen next.

However, this is definitely one of those YA fantasy novels that leans heavily in the YA direction. Of course, this is written for teens, so that isn’t a criticism on its own. However, many YA fantasy readers are adults, and there are way too many stereotypical YA fantasy tropes to be found here for it to be scalable to an older audience. For one thing, the romance struck heavily of instalove, with almost no attempt made for it to be given any further depth. There was also a heavy reliance on what I felt were fairly cringing modern references. Again, I’m not a teen, so maybe these will hit home better with this audience. But I have to say, this is the kind of style choice in writing that will quickly date this book, even by the standards of those who may enjoy it now.

However, while much of the writing and characterization felt very juevenile, there was also a lot of swearing, especially by one character in particular. Now, I’m no wilting flower, but it does leave me and others who recommend books in an odd position. Due to the simplistic nature of the book itself, I don’t think adults or even older teens are going to connect with it. However, I’d also feel a bit uncomfortable recommending it to middle graders, what with some of these language choices.

It was just an odd book, all told. If I had been left to my own devices, I probably would have DNF’d this one, but I always want to give a book I’ve received an ARC for my full attention through the end. This may work for some younger teen readers, but I don’t think it will connect to many readers beyond that. Perhaps, ultimately, this will best work for readers looking for a current version of “Goosebumps” or something of that ilk.

Rating 6: Overall, this read as very young even for a YA book and fell into too many tropes to have much new to over to the genre.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Whisperwood Legacy” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2025.

Kate’s Review: “The Manor of Dreams”

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

Book: “The Manor of Dreams” by Christina Li

Publishing Info: Avid Reader Press, May 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: Mexican Gothic meets Everything I Never Told You in Christina Li’s haunting novel about the secrets that lie in wait in the crumbling mansion of a former Hollywood starlet, and the intertwined fates of the two Chinese American families fighting to inherit it.

They say what you don’t know can’t hurt you. But silence can be deadly.

Vivian Yin is dead. The first Chinese actress to win an Oscar, the trailblazing ingénue rose to fame in the eighties, only to disappear from the spotlight at the height of her career and live out the rest of her life as a recluse.

Now her remaining family members are gathered for the reading of her will and her daughters expect to inherit their childhood Vivian’s grand, sprawling Southern California garden estate. But due to a last-minute change to the will, the house is passed on to another family instead—one that has suddenly returned after decades of estrangement.

In hopes of staking their claim, both families move into the mansion. Amidst the grief and paranoia of the families’ unhappy reunion, Vivian’s daughters race to piece together what happened in the last weeks of their mother’s life, only to realize they are being haunted by something much more sinister and vengeful than their regrets. After so many years of silence, will the families finally confront the painful truth about the last fateful summer they spent in the house, or will they cling to their secrets until it’s too late?

Told in dual timelines, spanning three generations, and brimming with romance, betrayal, ambition and sacrifice, The Manor of Dreams is a thrilling family gothic that examines the true cost of the American dream—and what happens when the roots we set down in this country turn to rot.

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

Haunted house stories are one of my favorite sub-genres of horror fiction, and I don’t think that I will ever get sick of the trope of a family moving into a new home, unaware of the horrors that await. And we’ve been getting a few books like this as of late, with “The Manor of Dreams” by Christina Li being one of the more recent ones. And when I was reading about this one, it was pretty clear to me that not only were we going to get a haunted house story, but also a family saga with some shades of dysfunction and the racist undertones of American society. Which meant that I was even more on board to read it.

As a haunted house story, “The Manor of Dreams” is solid and effective. There is a slow build of dread as two families, Elaine and her daughter Nora, and Lucille, her sister Rennie, and daughter Madeline, start a legal fight over the inheritance of an estate that had been in Lucille’s family for years, but ended up being left for Elaine by the owner, actress Vivian Yin. Elaine’s parents had worked for Vivian and her husband Richard, and Elaine harbors enough resentment that she wants to keep the house, while Lucille is furious. But as both families decide to camp there while it all gets sorted, Nora and Madeline, and Rennie too, start seeing things, and realizing something is VERY wrong in the house. From weird images, to shadowy figures, to a very, shall we say, ACTIVE garden, the haunted house trope is alive and well in this book, with a rot seeping not only into the house, but into the women who are fighting over it. We start to learn the various tragedies and moments that may be contributing to the haunting, with a sad and devastating history of the house playing a role, but also with reveals that are well hidden and pulled off as the story goes on.

I also really connected with the ways that Li weaves in themes of racism, identity, and generational trauma into this haunted house story, making it about so many different things that can haunt a person. In the past storyline, we have Vivian, whose fame is growing as she establishes herself as a serious actress on the arm of her actor/producer husband Richard, making a splash as the first Chinese American actress to win an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, but then finding the roles drying up due to a lack of interest in non-white actresses (amongst other things). We also have tensions relating to Vivian’s identity in regards to the history of the house itself, with Richard’s family estate having ties to the Chinese Railroad workers, as his ancestor was a magnate who had no qualms taking advantage of workers who were being exploited in dangerous conditions and cast aside. Add in the tension as Vivian’s marriage starts to deteriorate, and the complexity of Vivian oozes off the page. And in the present day we have Lucille and Rennie, who have darker memories of their childhood in the home and the terrible losses they endured, and the complicated relationship they both had with their mother, and how that informs both of them and their motivations. Which in turn passes down to Lucille’s relationship with her own daughter Madeline. And THEN we have Nora and her mother Elaine, with Elaine having her OWN motivations as the daughter of former staff to Vivian and Richard, and bitterness towards the family that lived there throughout the years. It adds layers to the supernatural haunting angle, and I truly enjoyed how well Li pulled out the family dysfunction along with the haunting itself.

Overall, “The Manor of Dreams” is a creepy and poignant horror story that touches upon family dysfunction and identity with a deft hand. If you like haunted house novels, definitely check this one out.

Rating 8: A suspenseful, creepy, and very poignant story about family secrets, generational trauma, and how bitterness can wreak havoc on the living and the dead.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Manor of Dreams” is included on the Goodreads lists “Horror To Look Forward To in 2025”, and “Queer Releases May 2025”.