Author: thelibraryladiesmn

Kate’s Review: “Tiny Threads”

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Book: “Tiny Threads” by Lilliam Rivera

Publishing Info: Del Rey, September 2024

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

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

Book Description: A young woman gets her dream job working for a famous designer—and discovers the dark side of the glamorous world of fashion—in this gorgeously sinister novel of supernatural suspense.

Fashion-obsessed Samara finally has the life she’s always dreamed of: a high-powered job with legendary designer Antonio Mota. A new home in sunny California, far away from those drab Jersey winters. And an intriguing love interest, Brandon, a wealthy investor in Mota’s fashion line.

But it’s not long before Samara’s dream life begins to turn into a living nightmare, as Mota’s big fashion show approaches and the pressure on Samara turns crushing. Perhaps that’s why Samara begins hearing voices in the dark in her room at night—and seeing strange things that can’t be explained away by stress and anxiety, or by the number of drinks she consumes every night.

And it may not only be Samara’s unraveling psyche, because she soon discovers hints that her new city—and the house of Mota—may have been built on a foundation of secrets and lies. Now Samara must uncover what hideous truths lurk in the shadows of this illusory world of glamor and beauty, before those shadows claim her…

Review: Thank you to Del Rey for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

Whenever we go to ALAAC I always come with a list of titles that I am looking for. I resign myself to the fact that my desired titles aren’t always going to overlap with what is available, but this past year I had a pretty good ven diagram of things I wanted and things that were available. One of the books I was on the hunt for was “Tiny Threads” by Lilliam Rivera, partially because Cynthia Pelayo had been singing its praises (and I really enjoy her books), and partially because I LOVE a dramatic interpretation of the fashion industry. If it has horror elements, I’m even more sold. So when it was available I was very, very pleased. I went into it expecting a full on horror story. I found something a little different, but in a positive way.

This wasn’t as scary as I had hoped that it would be, but what it lacked in obvious scares it made up for in a good old fashioned feminine rage story and a psychological spiral of our main character, who keeps hearing ‘rats’ in her new aparment’s walls at 2am. We follow Samara, who has moved from New Jersey to California after she is hired by the iconic (but recently struggling) fashion designer Antonio Mota to work as a fashion promoter in his fashion house. What should be a dream job and an amazing opportunity is not so much, as Samara soon realizes that Mota is an abusive narcissist, there are many divisions in the company, and her new home in Vernon, California, is being disrupted by a hostile work environment and strange noises that keep her awake at night. The pressure and the lack of sleep make Samara more inclined to turn towards a bottle as she desperately tries to help throw together a make or break fashion show, and she has started seeing strange and disturbing images of a woman, as well as the name ‘Piedad’ everywhere. It’s pretty clear to this seasoned horror reader what Rivera was setting up, but the execution of watching Samara spiral into deeper and deeper madness (or is it a horrifying enlightenment?) was intense and nerve wracking. Rivera also examines through Samara, as well as other Latine women characters, a hostile racism and misogyny that is seeping at every turn, whether it’s Antonio’s abuses, or the history of the town and how it has used brown skinned women as worker bodies that are expendable, or how powerful white people take advantage of them in all kinds of ways.

I am also a huge sucker for drama filled stories that take on the fashion industry. I am by no means a fashionista, as you can usually find me wearing jeans, band tees, hoodies, and pajama pants, but I am very fascinated by fashion and beauty and the industries that promote those concepts up (and profit off of them). I enjoyed the way that Rivera portrayed Mota fashion house as a place that creates gorgeous and decadent clothing that is envied and coveted by many, but how how it also rings their employees dry, and how at the end of the day it is a capitalistic machine that is out to make money and to convince the masses that they should be spending their money on their designs. Even the setting of Vernon, California, is the perfect vehicle for this, as it’s a small town that was built on corporate need and greed, and sustains itself through this while also reeking of it (literally; there is a meat processing plant that stinks the community up and is hard to ignore). “Tiny Threads” does a great job of juxtaposing the beauty ideals that the fashion industry pushes forth with the mass production corporate greed that ultimately brings harm to many who work within that system, and how they aren’t so dissimilar be it fashion or meat packing and slaughterhouses. I found it compelling and haunting.

“Tiny Threads” is a great adult debut for Lilliam Rivera, and an incredibly psychological horror tale that has just as many real world scares as it does supernatural ones. Highly recommended!

Rating 8: Intense and angry, “Tiny Threads” is a psychological ghost story that takes on misogyny, violence, racism, and the fashion industry.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Tiny Threads” is included on the Goodreads list “2024 Mystery Thrillers Crime to Be Excited For”.

Diving Into Sub-Genres: Sherlock/Watson Mysteries

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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.

There is an entirely different subgenre of mystery fiction that is focused on detectives more broadly and then gets more nuanced from there (hardboiled, noir, etc.). But I’m an unabashed Sherlock Holmes fan, so I’m just skipping over all of those (to potentially be covered later) and just going straight to my favorite version of the genre: Sherlock/Watson re-tellings or re-imagings.

At a certain point, Holmes has become such the quintessential mold of what a mystery book detectives look like that all clever detectives start to look like him. But while Holmes himself is an excellent character, I think the true appeal of the original stories was the dynamic created between both Holmes and Watson. That being the case, I’m going to focus on stories that more directly re-tell or recreate this relationship. There are tons of examples out there, but I’m going to draw from a few of my personal favorites, as well as some of the more creative takes on this famous duo!

Book: “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice” by Laurie R. King

I believe this was my first exposure to a re-telling of Sherlock Holmes! It’s also one of those crazily impressive series where I remember picking up the first book when I was in high school and yet there are still new books coming out today! Admittedly, I’m very behind on the series as a whole, but this still remains high on my list of recommendations for readers looking for a new version of the classic duo. It is also one of the more-closely-tied series to to the original, serving more as a sequel to the classics than as a re-imagining overall with the story starting out on a Sherlock Holmes who has been long retired. He goes on to meet the main character of the story, Mary Russell, who becomes his apprentice and, fairly early in the series, his wife. However, the romantic relationship is very, very far down the list of focal points of the series, with the stories more often centering around the partnership of equals that forms between Russell and Holmes. As it is a long running series, there are definite highs and lows to be found, but the first 8-10 books were all solid entries from my memory!

Book: “Shadows Over Baker Street” edited by Micahel Reaves and John Pelan

While I haven’t read this entire collection, the short story version of “A Study in Emerald” (which we read for bookclub a few months ago) is included within. Like that story, the collection mashes together classic Sherlock characters and plots alongside aspects of H.P. Lovecraft’s horror worlds. It’s such a strange concept, but sometimes the more odd the mash-up, the more exciting the creative result is in the end! If you’re looking for a more wild take on the classic detective, than this might be a collection worth checking out!

Book: “A Study in Charlotte” by Brittany Cavallaro

This YA book plays around with several aspects of the original. Instead of following the original characters, the story jumps forward several generations, taking place in a contemporary setting and following Jamie Watson as he is thrown into the path of Charlotte Holmes, the great-great-great granddaughter of the original Holmes. Of course, it must contain a mystery at its heart, and this time the duo must not only solve a murder, but also clear their own names, for they are the primary suspects! This is a great introduction to the world of Sherlock Holmes, especially for younger readers who may feel more comfortable picking up a story set in the modern era.

Book: “Jackaby” by William Ritter

This is probably the furthest removed from the original story as any of the books. I could probably create an entirely separate list that is just mystery novels with duos who read as Sherlock and Watson without being directly tied to that series in any way. This is one of those examples. The story takes place in a fantasy world, and the famous detective in this version is a man named Jackaby. However, the book follows the “Watson-like” character, a young woman named Abigail Rook who becomes his assistant as they investigate the supernatural. There are several books in this series, and I very much enjoyed the ones I read. This is definitely a good read for those looking for “Sherlock” vibes, but who are willing to follow the story into brand new territory!

Book: “A Study in Scarlet Women” by Sherry Thomas

No one who reads this blog will be surprised to see this one here! I’ve read a bunch of Sherlock Holmes stories (including everything on this list), and this one is definitely my favorite! Thomas masterfully captures the tone, setting, and style of mysteries that is found in the originals. But she also manages to re-imagine many of the characters into gender-swapped versions of themselves, all while remaining true to the core concepts of their identities. Charlotte Holmes is very much her own character, but at the same time, she is also immediately identifiable as much like the original Holmes. Similarly, the gender-swapped Watson is also fantastic. I can’t say enough good things about this series. And if any readers have been delaying reading it for fear of how much the gender-swapping would impact the characters, do yourself a favor and check it out immediately! I think it will surprise you!

Book: “Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson” by Lyndsay Faye

To now go full circle, we will round off the list with a book that follows the original characters largely written as they were first introduced. The twist, of course, is that they are now solving the Jack the Ripper killings. There is much to like about this book, but one of my favorite aspects it the way that Faye returned to the style of Watson recounting the events of the plot itself. This book is also great for how much attention and detail went into the historical aspects of the story. It’s a great read for both fans of Sherlock Holmes as well as those who enjoy Jack the Ripper stories, with an emphasis on historical accuracy.

What are some of your favorite Sherlock/Watson stories ? Let us know in the comments!

Serena’s Review: “The Gods Below”

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Book: “The Gods Below” by Andrea Stewart

Publishing Info: Orbit, September 2024

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

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

Book Description: The series is set in a world ravaged by ancient magic, where precious gemstones bestow magical abilities on the few individuals able to harness their power. Full of clandestine power struggles and the battles between gods, the story follows Hakara, a young woman searching for her missing sister and who will do anything to find her — even lead a rebellion against the gods themselves.

Review: While I haven’t reviewed them all on the blog, I have read the previous trilogy put out by this author and very much enjoyed it. It’s been a bit, but from what I remember, her biggest strength was in the creativity of her world-building, a crucial skill for a fantasy author. On top of my previous experience with her books to recommend her, we all know I’m a sucker for stories about sisters, so this was an obvious choice to pick up this fall!

While I did have a few quibbles here and there, I largely enjoyed this read. Like the author’s previous trilogy, the world and lore of this world were creative and interesting. Further, everything was introduced in a very organic way, with limited info-dumping passages or awkward exposition-y dialogue. I also very much enjoyed the beginning of the story itself, as we set up the scenario with the two sisters who have become separated and working to re-unite throughout the story.

There were also some interesting themes explored over the course of the book. Specifically, the author offers up a commentary on climate change in a unique manner. Notably, she didn’t bash readers over the head with this metaphor either, but allowed the story to naturally progress through this theme, with readers taking as much (or little, I guess) from it as they would like.

I also generally liked our main characters. The cast slowly expands as the story continues, and none of them were big misses. Rather, my problems came in a bit with my expectations. For one thing, all of the characters felt fairly simplistic, with familiar motivations and arcs to ones we’ve seen in other similar fantasy stories. And then, at the odd moment, they would make decisions that wouldn’t seem to line up with these previously established factors about their characters. I guess I expected a bit more, especially from a seasoned fantasy author who already has a completed trilogy under her belt. And, judging by this book alone (which perhaps isn’t fair, as we have three books’ worth of time with the other characters), I do feel like the character work presented in the previous series was better. Though, now that I’m writing that, I do remember I had at least one set of POV characters who I really struggled with there. So perhaps this is simply still not a strong point for this author’s writing currently.

That said, I was mostly pleased with this story. While it wasn’t breaking any new barriers as far as fantasy fiction goes, it was servable and enjoyable. The writing was steady and engaging, and I particularly appreciated the detailed effort that went into the world-building and the history. The characters could have perhaps been deeper, but they also weren’t unlikable, which goes far for me.

Rating 8: An interesting new world to explore, though hopefully the characters will gain more depth as the series continues.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Gods Below” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2024 SFF Books with Female Leads or Co-Leads

Serena’s Review: “The Scarlet Throne”

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Book: “The Scarlet Throne” by Amy Leow

Publishing Info: Orbit, September 2024

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

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

Book Description: Binsa is a “living goddess,” chosen by the gods to dispense both mercy and punishment from her place on the Scarlet Throne. But her reign hides a deadly secret. Rather than channeling the wisdom of an immortal deity, she harbors a demon.

But now her priests are growing suspicious. When a new girl, Medha, is selected to take over her position, Binsa and her demon strike a To magnify his power and help her wrest control from the priests, she will sacrifice human lives. She’ll do anything not to end up back on the streets, forgotten and alone. But how much of her humanity is she willing to trade in her quest for power? Deals with demons are rarely so simple.

Review: Would it be shallow to admit that I initially picked this one up to check it out further because of the cool black panther on the cover? Yes? Well, I definitely didn’t do that then…That aside, I also was intrigued by the themes hinted at it in the summary. The lengths one will go to to hold on to power, always an interesting topic!

This was a strange read. On one hand, I very much appreciated the character work that went into it. This is a dark look at the lengths to which people will go not only to survive but to cling to the power they have on hand. Much of the plot (such as it was) is caught up in this character study and much page time is devoted to the exploration of these topics. So on one hand, I appreciate the fact that the author didn’t shy away from the realities of the sorts of characters she was writing. The characters were allowed to go down dark paths and commit vile actions.

That said, however, it didn’t make for a very enjoyable reading experience. Not only were many of the characters incredibly unlikable, but there were also aspects of the decision making that were very frustrating. I get the idea, that those who are operating in survival mode are just looking to get through the present in whatever way works. However, very early on it became obvious that these tactics would never work in the long run, so it was frustrating seeing characters make decisions again and again that would only lead to discovery and disaster. Again, yes, this is a very true-to-life mode of behavior, but it made for an aggravating reading experience.

I also was a bit disappointed to discover that this was the first book in a series (a trilogy, I believe). The ending to this book is tragic, as one would expect given the nature of the story. And I think there would have been something more powerful about allowing the story to end there. As it stands, the promise of more to come almost works against what this story was trying to do on its own. I feel like the author could have easily cut it off a few pages earlier, and then just tacked on the ending of this book to the beginning of the next. This way, this book could have read as a stand-alone OR as the first in a series.

In the end, this was an odd reading experience for me. Quality-wise, I think this book is fairly high. The author set out to tell a story about a morally dark character and succeeded in thoroughly committing to that theme. However, for a character-driven book, I had a hard time enjoying it simply because I disliked so many of the characters so much. Readers who enjoy dark fantasy should probably still give this one a go, even if it wasn’t really for me.

Rating 7: The story tackles a dark character and explores themes of power and survival, but given the nature of these topics, I struggled to truly enjoy this read.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Scarlet Throne” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Main Characters Who Aren’t Afraid To Get Their Hands Dirty.

Kate’s Review: “The Lightning Bottles”

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Book: “The Lightning Bottles” by Marissa Stapley

Publishing Info: Simon & Schuster, September 2024

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

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

Book Description: The author of New York Times bestseller and Reese’s Book Club pick Lucky returns with a love letter to rock ‘n’ roll and star-crossed love, following Jane Pyre’s road trip around Europe as she attempts to find out what really happened to her partner in love and music, who disappeared without a trace years earlier, leaving Jane to pick up the pieces.

Jane Pyre was once one half of one of the most famous rock ‘n’ roll duos in the world, The Lightning Bottles. Years later, she’s perhaps the most hated (and least understood) woman in music. She was never as popular with fans as her bandmate (and soulmate) Elijah—even if Jane was the one who wrote the songs that catapulted The Lightning Bottles to instant, dizzying fame, first in the Seattle grunge scene, and then around the world.

But then Elijah disappeared and everything came crashing down. Even now, years after Elijah vanished, Jane is universally blamed and reviled by the public. In an attempt to get some peace and quiet, Jane rents a house in a remote part of Germany where she knows she won’t be disturbed. But on the day she arrives, she’s confronted by her new next-door neighbor, a sullen teenaged girl named Hen who just so happens to be a Lightning Bottles superfan—and who claims to have a piece of information that might solve the mystery of what happened to Elijah, and whether he is, in fact, still alive and leaving messages for Jane after all these years.

A cross-continent road trip about two misunderstood outsiders brought together by their shared love of music, interwoven with flashbacks to the beginnings of Jane and Elijah’s love story and meteoric rise, The Lightning Bottles is a love story, a celebration of rock ‘n’ roll, and a searing portrait of the cost of fame.

Review: Thank you to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC of this novel!

I was a bit young to really get into the grunge era of music, but I do remember some of my elementary school classmates listening to Nirvana, and some of my tween friends worshiping Kurt Cobain in middle school a few years after his death. But by high school I was very much aware of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love and their short lived, dramatic, but ultimately true romance, in part due to the fact I was hyperfocusing on The Sex Pistols and there were lots of comparisons between Sid and Nancy and Kurt and Courtney. So I was very familiar with the pop culture zeitgeist around that when I heard a description of “The Lightning Bottles” by Marissa Stapley at the Simon & Schuster Fall Preview panel at ALAAC24. I loved the idea of a road trip mystery as a former rock star goes on a journey to perhaps find her husband and musical partner who disappeared, and to come to terms with the way that fame shaped and in some ways destroyed them both. Especially since it sounded like it was going to perhaps do some unpacking of Kurt and Courtney through the characters of Elijah and Jane.

I had been expecting more of a mystery, but what I got was basically “Eddie and the Cruisers” meets Kurt and Courtney. And that’s not too much of a complaint! I do enjoy the idea of a mystery of a beloved rockstar disappearing, and his controversial wife/bandmate going on a journey to try and see if he is still alive (with scrappy teenager in tow), and “The Lightning Bottles” does deliver an interesting plot with lots of twists and turns. But this book is more about artistry, the price of fame, and how sometimes love isn’t enough to keep two damaged people from causing more damage towards each other. Stapley definitely takes inspiration from Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and his marriage to Hole frontwoman (and perhaps one of the most hated women in music) Courtney Love, but Elijah and Jane, Jane especially, stand on their own two feet. I liked learning their love story through the flashbacks and the transcripts of their chat room conversations, and while I don’t think I got to know Elijah as much as I did Jane (which is to be expected given it’s really her story at its heart), I REALLY got to know Jane, and I really loved Jane by the end. I do wish that there was a little bit more mystery at the forefront though. Even “Eddie and the Cruisers” had some tense moments in regards to what happend to Eddie, even if it was ultimately about Tom Berenger rediscovering himself.

And that may be my one complaint in this book; Stapley may be a little TOO forgiving of Jane, and in turn perhaps her inspiration (an author’s note makes it fairly clear that Stapley really wanted to champion Courtney Love). Please don’t misunderstand me, I absolutely believe that a lot of the animosity towards Love, especially when it comes to Kurt Cobain, is unfair, unfounded, and steeped in misogyny, especially since we’ve seen this kind of thing before in rock and roll narratives of a horrible woman ruining a band when that’s just not founded at the end of the day (Yoko Ono comes to mind). I love that Stapley wanted to be sure to show that Jane was so wholly misunderstood, and that it was very unfair that Elijah’s problems were never laid upon Elijah and only on Jane. Especially when those problems were causing JANE problems in her own right. But that also makes Jane a little less interesting by making her flaws easily explained away, when her real life counterpart is VERY flawed for reasons that go waaaay beyond the bullshit she had to endure in regards Cobain. And I felt that by denying Jane some flaws that had some bite, it denied her some more complexity that she probably could have used.

As a whole I enjoyed “The Lightning Bottles”. It’s a love letter to a musical era, it’s an enjoyable love story, and it has some emotional beats that caught me off guard.

Rating 7: I was expecting more of a mystery but instead found a compelling love story about fame, music, and the highs and lows of being in love as an artist on the verge of greatness, or tragedy.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Lightning Bottles” isn’t on many Goodreads lists yet, but it would fit in on “Best Rock and Roll Novels”.

Serena’s Review: “Fear the Flames”

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Book: “Fear the Flames” by Olivia Rose Darling

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, September 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

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

Book Description: As a child, Elowen Atarah was ripped away from her dragons and imprisoned by her father, King Garrick of Imirath. Years later, Elowen is now a woman determined to free her dragons. Having established a secret kingdom of her own called Aestilian, she’s ready to do what’s necessary to save her people and seek vengeance. Even if that means having to align herself with the Commander of Vareveth, Cayden Veles, the most feared and dangerous man in all the kingdoms of Ravaryn.

Cayden is ruthless, lethal, and secretive, promising to help Elowen if she will stand with him and all of Vareveth in the pending war against Imirath. Despite their contrasting motives, Elowen can’t ignore their undeniable attraction as they combine their efforts and plot to infiltrate the impenetrable castle of Imirath to steal back her dragons and seek revenge on their common enemy.

As the world tries to keep them apart, the pull between Elowen and Cayden becomes impossible to resist. Working together with their crew over clandestine schemes, the threat of war looms, making the imminent heist to free her dragons their most dangerous adventure yet. But for Elowen, her vengeance is a promise signed in blood, and she’ll stop at nothing to see that promise through.

Review: I’ve had a very hit and miss experience with popular dragon romantasy books over the last year or so. I haven’t reviewed either of them here, but over the last year and half I’ve read both “Fourth Wing” and “When the Moon Hatched.” Really hated the former, but, after a rough start, did end up enjoying the latter for the most part. In perusing other fantasy reviewers’ thoughts of these two wildly popular titles, again and again I saw “Fear the Flames” popping up as dragon romantasy title worth checking out. So, armed with my usual caution about BookkTok books (sorry, not sorry), I requested a copy of this when I saw it was being picked up by a trad publisher and re-released this fall. And…oof.

I usually like to start with the good things, but I honestly am having a hard time with this one. I mean, I guess there were the bare bones of good ideas here. But at the same time, those bare bones aren’t creatively unique to this author. Sure, dragons are always a good idea, but you can’t really give any one author tons of credit for simply including them in their book. And in this particular case, the dragons were so wasted as to negate the promise of them to begin with! They’re introduced in the prologue and we are told that our super special protagonist bonded to several dragons as a baby. This later causes her family to harm, reject, and banish her, caging her dragons away from her. But we’re never told any details about this! What does it mean to be bonded to numerous dragons? How rare is this? What abilities does this grant her? And then, said dragons don’t even show up again until the last 100 pages of the book! They are wasted in such a way as to be almost inexcusable, and frankly, it made me feel like I had been sold a bill of false goods on the basic premise of this book.

The incoherent world-building continued throughout. We hear that various nations are at war, but we are never told what drives these conflicts, what the parties involved want, or any history behind it. There are dragons in this world, and some hints at various sorts of magic, but how does any of these fantasy elements actually work? Nothing is fleshed out in any way! It feels as if the author looked into what fantasy tropes were currently popular, and then just threw them all in here. A weird metaphor, but go with me: in a good fantasy novel, an author will combine ingredients that may seem strange on their own, but together they become a lush and rich stew. Here, it’s like the author was a small child who went out in the yard and made “stew” with sticks and stones and tried to pass it off as the same.

The romance was equally disappointing. It pretty much happens instantaneously and then the rest of the book is just the hero saying some variation of “who did this to you” throughout the rest of the book. Oh, and following around the heroine as she shops. And here, too, we had more problems. There is coffee, lingerie, and romance novels in this world, all of which our leading lady loves. Except, oh wait, she’s been living in hiding throughout most of her life and she says early in the book that her only priority is protecting the people of her small, hidden realm. If that’s the case, it’s hard to buy that she’s had much time to focus on these frivolous things. Nothing wrong with these pastimes (heaven knows I enjoy all of these things too!) but it makes no sense in the world that is built here or for this character in particular, a woman who it seems would have had practically zero time for leisure, comfort, or excess.

Honestly, this book made me mad. It feels as if more and more often traditional publishers are combing through the various indie books that have been self-published looking for any that have the currently-popular tropes of the moment and the re-purposing them as fast as possible. And I do mean as fast as possible! The entire point of trad publishing vs. indie publishing is the vast number of resources they have to enhance a book to its best version. But here, and in other similar instances, it feels like the publisher forego any of the professional editing they should be bringing to new titles and instead just threw a new cover on the original version and got it out as fast as possible! Got to if you’re book is nothing but vibes and tropes and who knows when those could change! It’s so disappointing and lets down not only the authors themselves who are now missing out on the crucial edits trad publishers can offer to enhance books, but also to readers who have higher expectations for books published in the traditional manner.

I really disliked this book. And even more so, I really dislike the trend that this book perfectly highlights. Books are more than tropes or vibes, and sooner or later, readers are going to pick up on the fact that that’s all certain books/publishers/authors have on offer anymore. I can’t recommend this one. Perhaps if you’re a die-hard romantasy fan, but even then, the market is so flooded right now that it’s impossible to throw a stone in any direction and not hit a million other titles just like it, some much better than this.

Rating 5: An incoherent mess that feels like it was picked up just because its tropes matched the ones currently popular.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Fear the Flames” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists currently but it should be on Dragon Lovers’ Books.

Kate’s Review: “Dearest”

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

Book: “Dearest” by Jacquie Walters

Publishing Info: Mulholland Books, September 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from a panel at ALAAC24.

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

Book Description: A new mom in need of help opens her door to her long-estranged mother—only to invite something much darker inside—in this “fast-paced and frightening debut” (Rachel Harrison) about the long shadows cast by family secrets, perfect for readers of Grady Hendrix or Ashley Audrain.

Flora is a new mom enamored of her baby girl, Iris, even if she arrived a few weeks early. With her husband still deployed, Flora navigates the newborn stage alone. But as the sleepless nights pass in the loneliness of their half-empty home, the edges of her reality begin to blur.

Just as Flora becomes convinced she is losing her mind, a surprising guest shows up: Flora’s own mother, to whom she hasn’t spoken in years. Can they mend their fraught relationship? Or is there more Flora’s mother isn’t telling her about the events that led to their estrangement?

As stranger and scarier events unfold, Flora begins to suspect the house is not as empty as she once thought. She must determine: is her hold on reality slipping dangerously away? Or is she, in fact, the only thing standing between a terrifying visitor and her baby? 

Review: Thank you to Mulholland Books for providing me with an ARC at ALAAC24!

I’ve touched on here about those early days of being a new Mom and how stressful it can be. I was actually very lucky during those first few months of being a new parent, as I have a great support system in town, my husband was able to take a fair amount of time off of work, and we were able to split care up pretty evenly between us (though once COVID hit a few months after she was born the isolation and stress did get to be a bit much!). But I know that I was very lucky, and that even though it wasn’t easy, it wasn’t a nightmare, like it can be for some. I love that more books are talking about this, especially horror novels, and “Dearest” by Jacquie Walters is one of the newest to take motherhood and turn it into a horror story.

There is a bit of a supernatural bent to this book that I don’t really want to spoil, but I will say that this was surprisingly the weaker thread of the novel. That’s not to say that it was bad or poorly done. I did enjoy the way that Walters brought in these elements and how she built it up, specifically an element regarding sleep paralysis and Night Hags, and how she wove them into the story at hand. It also led to a pretty well done twist that I didn’t see coming at all, which made me go back and look for the clues. But I do think that it undercut the power of the horrors that were about Flora dealing with a newborn as a new mom while also dealing with her estranged mother whom she called for help, and who has always had a cruel streak that is popping up again as they reunite.

But what really worked for me were the themes of postpartum depression, the stresses of new parents, specifically mothers, and generational trauma that can fester and pass down from person to person. I found Flora’s experiences as a newly postpartum mother with a newborn and little to no support (as her husband is deployed and delayed getting home) to be heart wrenching, incredibly tense, and in some ways pretty relatable. Walters shows how much it can be a struggle, and how mothers feel like they aren’t supposed to see it as a struggle and therefore it just gets worse and worse until, in some very tragic instances, the unthinkable happens. She also puts very realistic problems like the pressures to breastfeed (even with painful infections), the way that some people dismiss a mother’s stress, the sleep deprivation, and the societal pressures to be a perfect loving mother from the jump, at the forefront and pulls out the tension and the horrors of simply being a new mother in a culture that doesn’t offer as much support as it could. Add in the way that Flora’s mother, whom she reaches out to in desperation, needles, picks at, and has damaged her adult daughter, and it made this reader very, very tense. I’ve said it many times in the past couple of years, but with many women in this country being forced into pregnancies and motherhood due to a lack of reproductive rights, these kinds of stories are especially chilling these days.

Overall I enjoyed “Dearest”. I would have liked a little more, but it’s another effective horror story about motherhood.

Rating 7: A haunting tale of motherhood, generational trauma, and how a lack of support can drive a mother to do things she’d never dream of, “Dearest” is a tense book that felt all too real at times.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Dearest” is included on the Goodreads list “September 2024 Horror”.

Book Club Review: “Summer Days and Summer Nights”

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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. This June we celebrated our 10 year anniversary of book club. So in celebration of that milestone, we are re-visiting authors we read way back in those first few years of our book club. 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: “Summer Days and Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories” by Stephanie Perkins (Ed.)

Publishing Info: St. Martin’s Griffin, May 2016

Where Did We Get This Book: The library!

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

Repeat Author: Stephanie Perkins

Book Description: Maybe it’s the long, lazy days, or maybe it’s the heat making everyone a little bit crazy. Whatever the reason, summer is the perfect time for love to bloom. Summer Days & Summer Nights: Twelve Love Stories, written by twelve bestselling young adult writers and edited by the international bestselling author Stephanie Perkins, will have you dreaming of sunset strolls by the lake. So set out your beach chair and grab your sunglasses. You have twelve reasons this summer to soak up the sun and fall in love.

Kate’s Thoughts

WAAAAY back during our first cycle of Book Club get togethers one of our members chose the anthology “My True Love Gave To Me”, which had a bunch of then in demand YA authors writing holiday themed romance short stories. We all generally enjoyed it, with some authors standing out quite a bit. So it was fun when one of our other members picked the summertime follow up “Summer Days and Summer Nights”, harkening not only to a repeat author, but also continuing into the quasi-sequel. And much like the previous book in the series, I had some authors who really stood out this time, while others kind of fell back to the wayside.

Unsurprisingly it was the works by Leigh Bardugo, Libba Bray, and Brandy Colbert that I enjoyed most, as I do like those authors in general and I liked their own interpretations of a summer romance short story prompt. You have some fantasy bittersweetness from Bardugo’s “Head, Scales, Tongue, Tail”, you had some horror humor from Bray’s “Last Stand at the Cinegore”, and you had some genuine teenage love story and ache from Colbert’s “Good Luck and Farewell”, and they ran such tonal gamuts and yet completely fit into the prompt it was charming as hell to see. That said, many of the other stories in this anthology were hit or miss for me, some being enjoyable, others just falling flat. Which is probably just due to the fact that romance isn’t really my thing unless it meets certain parameters. Also something to note is this book came out in 2016, and it’s kind of a fun snapshot into which YA authors were being approached with these kinds of ‘let’s cover a broad range of in demand voices’ anthologies.

Overall, it was a perfectly fine summer read for our Book Club, with some strong stand outs from authors who have maintained their popularity over the years. If you want to cling to summer for one last hurrah, this could be a good fit!

Serena’s Thoughts

As readers of this blog know, neither Kate or I read tons of short story collections. I’m perhaps more on the record for usually actively avoiding them. And yet, somehow this is the first of THREE short story collections that I am reading and reviewing this month! You’ll see two back-to-back short story reviews coming from me next week. I had some control obviously over those, but it’s just fate that the bookclub book also fell in this rare category!

And I agree with much of what Kate said. For me, this collection really lived and died on the strength of the individual authors of each story. And, like Kate, I found myself naturally gravitating towards the authors I enjoyed outside of short story collections. I, too, very much enjoyed the Leigh Bardugo story, as it neatly highlighted so many of the strengths of her writing: bittersweet fantasy stories, complex characters, and beautiful turns of phrase.

I also really enjoyed Veronica Roth’s entry. Like so many of her books, her story was incredibly unique, pushing the boundaries of fantasy and science fiction in new and fresh ways. My one critique of this story is that as much as I love a happy ending, I do think this is a case where Roth was held back by the prompt of a love story collection which required happy-ever-after endings. From my experience, Roth has zero qualms about ending her books in tears, and I think this short story would have actually been stronger had it been allowed to be a bit darker towards the end.

There were also a number of authors who had fallen completely off my radar! Libba Bray being one of them! I read and reviewed her YA fantasy trilogy on the blog years ago, but as I hated (HATED) the way that trilogy ended, she’d fallen completely off my list of authors to follow. I did enjoy this story from her, however.

All this said, as a whole, I did struggle with this book. Other than the few stories I’ve mentioned here, I didn’t connect with many of the tales in this book. I’m not really the target audience for many of them, and obviously, I have my own personal hang-ups with short story collections. When your go-to read is epic fantasies that often come in around 55o pages, you really do struggle with the entire concept of a short story. But even putting that aside, I do think that a large chunk of these stories fell solidly in the “just ok” category. Many of them weren’t offering much new to readers and some of them employed “neat little stylistic tricks” that were frankly just annoying. If you’re a love of short stories and romance (and maybe check out the author list ahead of time to see how many of them you already enjoy), you may like this one.

Kate’s Rating 6: The stories I liked I REALLY liked, the others were pretty hit or miss bordering on meh.

Serena’s Rating 6: A few stands outs weren’t enough to save this reading experience for me, unfortunately. But fans of the individual authors involved may want to page through it and selectively read those stories!

Book Club Questions

  1. Did you have a story in this collection that you connected with the most? What about the least?
  2. Were there any authors in this collection that you were unfamiliar with before you picked it up? If so, did you discover any new authors you definitely want to read more from?
  3. In terms of authors you did know from this collection, did any of them surprise you with what they put forth as their story?
  4. Were there any stories in this collection that you would like to read more of, perhaps in a series of short stories or in novel form?
  5. This collection came out in 2016 with popular YA authors from that period making up the story set. If they were going to do another collection like this with present day popular Young Adult authors, who do you think would be part of that collection?

Reader’s Advisory

“Summer Days and Summer Nights” is included on the Goodreads lists “Summer Themed YA”, and “YA Anthologies”.

Next Book Club Pick: “Attachments” by Rainbow Rowell

Serena’s Review: “The Games Gods Play”

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Book: “The Games Gods Play” by Abigail Owen

Publishing Info: Entangled: Red Tower Books, September 2024

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

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

Book Description: The gods love to toy with us mere mortals. And every hundred years, we let them…

I have never been favored by the gods. Far from it, thanks to Zeus.

Living as a cursed office clerk for the Order of Thieves, I just keep my head down and hope the capricious beings who rule from Olympus won’t notice me. Not an easy feat, given San Francisco is Zeus’ patron city, but I make do. I survive. Until the night I tangle with a different god.

The worst god. Hades.

For the first time ever, the ruthless, mercurial King of the Underworld has entered the Crucible—the deadly contest the gods hold to determine a new ruler to sit on the throne of Olympus. But instead of fighting their own battles, the gods name mortals to compete in their stead.

So why in the Underworld did Hades choose me—a sarcastic nobody with a curse on her shoulders—as his champion? And why does my heart trip every time he says I’m his?

I don’t know if I’m a pawn, bait, or something else entirely to this dangerously tempting god. How can I, when he has more secrets than stars in the sky?

Because Hades is playing by his own rules…and Death will win at any cost.

Review: I’d had my eyes on this one for a bit before the publicist reached out about a potential review. While Kate has been reviewing “Lore Olympus” on the blog, I, too, have been reading and loving the series! And this book sounded very much like the same sort of story but in novel format. Plus, a few years ago I read and enjoyed a YA fantasy title by this author, so I felt fairly confident that she could pull it off. And boy was I right!

There’s so much to like about this one that it’s hard to know where to start. I guess I will begin with a note that while we’ve seen many trends come and go within the fantasy genre, I have to guess that the influence of “The Hunger Games” with its deadly competition has to be the most long-lasting. Since that series came out, has there been a point in fantasy publishing where this theme isn’t consistently showing up? Not that I can think of! That being the case, it’s definitely a packed field, making it more and more difficult for authors to make their take on the topic feel fresh. So credit where credit is due, Owens does a fantastic job of breathing new life to a very tried-and-true formula.

While many aspects of the fantasy competition is familiar (the one competitor who is overly vicious, the magical abilities/gifts that can give a competitor a leg up, the teaming up of various parties to make their way through), the most important part is the creativity behind the tasks themselves. And that’s where this book really shines. We see a decent number of these events, and all of them felt new and exciting. There was a lot of variety between them and the forms of danger and challenge they presented were all interesting. If anything, I wish we had seen even more of these events!

My likening it to “Lore Olympus” was also more on point that I had even suspected. Tonally, the two felt very familiar: funny, romantic, and full of heart. While the love story itself was obviously the focus, I also enjoyed the strong friendships that were explored and established throughout the story. And Lyra is a fantastic lead character around whom to build all of these various relationships. She’s brave, caring, and empathetic to the situations of those around her, even while many of them treat her terribly. And, of course, the dynamic and chemistry built up between her and Hades was perfection.

I don’t want to go into spoilers, as there are a few major twists and turns towards the end of the book, but I also really appreciated the way Owens dealt with the lore of the Greek pantheon. It’s the kind of book where readers are rewarded with little winks and nudges here and there depending on their level of previous knowledge of the famous myths. But at the same time, none of these Easter egg moments are crucial, and the book is equally approachable to readers who may know less going in. I also very much liked the way Persephone’s story was dealt with, which was my major concern when I read the description of this book.

I did have a few stumbling points in my reading experience, however. First and foremost, I failed to truly understand Lyra’s curse on two fronts: both how it worked and why it was necessary to the plot. To the first point, we are told that the curse disallows people to “care” about her. Specifically, this isn’t limited to romantic love. However, as the story progresses, again and again we see characters form connections to her, some so deeply that they are willing to risk their lives to help her. If that’s not “caring,” I don’t know what is! I was honestly expecting a late-game twist where Lyra had misunderstood her curse the entire time and it either never existed in the first place or meant something completely different. However, we didn’t get that. And, in the end, we didn’t really get anything Honestly, if we just took this aspect of the story out, nothing major would change! If Lyra’s character arc needed to focus on her insecurity forming strong relationships, that could happen without a curse and take away some of these major question marks that were left as it currently stands.

I also did not love the late game conflict introduced into the romance. I feel like I just wrote about this recently, but I wish authors felt more comfortable moving away from this strict plotting structure for romance novels. Especially with romantasy titles that have other plot elements built in already, this late-stage conflict point often feels as if it is thrown in simply to check a box and not as something organic to the story itself. Here, the actual conflict didn’t make much sense. And it made even less sense that Lyra would be able to piece together the already nonsensical logic leaps behind it on her own.

With these minor flaws in mind, I should maybe rate this book an 8. However, I simply had too much fun reading this one to leave it that! I read this one in about two sessions and was having a blast the entire time. There was adventure, romance, and drama. Fair warning, however, it does end on a fairly massive cliffhanger, so readers should be aware of that going in (I’m talking to you, Aunt Mary!).

Rating 9: If you’re wallowing in the loss of “Lore Olympus,” never fear! Abigail Owens is here with a fantastic new take on the Greek gods and everyone’s favorite dark and broody love interest, the God of the Underworld himself!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Games Gods Play” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists, but it should be on Greek Mythology.

Serena’s Review: “Serpent Sea”

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

Book: “Serpent Sea” by Maiya Ibrahim

Publishing Info: Delacorte Press, September 2024

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

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

Book Description: Imani is a magic-wielding warrior sworn to protect her land from the monsters that roam the desert. But an even worse enemy now threatens the Sahir. As the powerful Harrowlanders march south with their greatest weapon—spice magic—Imani knows it’s only a matter of time before their invasion of her land begins . . . and it will be a losing battle for her people.

But Imani also knows that one way to fight magic is with monsters. If she can restore Qayn’s stolen powers, together they can summon a supernatural army to defend the Sahir from the Harrowlanders. Forming an alliance with a djinni king is risky, but Imani will do anything to save her people, even embarking on a dangerous quest beyond the sands to find the magical jewels of Qayn’s lost crown.

As Imani journeys far from home, she will discover monsters that warriors have only heard about in myths . . . monsters that can strike at any moment. Meanwhile, her rival, Taha, has been captured and is on a dangerous mission of his own.

One wrong move could cost them their lives—and everyone they love. But they may find that there is more than meets the eye crossing the Serpent Sea . . . and betrayal cuts deeper than any dagger.

Review: We’re back with another one of those strange reviews where I’m covering a sequel to a book that I read before but didn’t write about here on the blog. But the situation was the same: received an ARC copy from the publisher and enjoyed the first book well enough to want to give the sequel a shot! And here we are! The short and sweet for “The Spice Road” was that I enjoyed it overall, though it did fall into a few of the predictable pitfalls of YA fantasy (a bit too much “telling” vs. “showing” as far as the heroine’s abilities, mostly). Let’s dive into this one!

There was a lot to like about this sequel! For one thing, this is one of those rare circumstances where an additional POV helped the book rather than hurt it (I know I’m in the minority with this general opinion on POVs but I stand by it!). Here, since our main character, Imani, was a bit of a struggle point for me with the first book (we were told she was very badass but got to see very little of this in action), the book was better served by adding an additional POV character. Now with two character arcs to follow, it felt like the reading experience was more balanced and drew attention away from any of the weaker moments in the telling vs. showing metric (which was still a bit of a problem here, unfortunately).

I also really liked the expansion of the world. The first book had a very intriguing world full of monsters, magic, and the many challenges of the Swallowing Sands. But here, in a bit to save their land from an invading force, the characters had to travel out into the wider sea. As such, the story benefitted from an increased feeling of adventure and action as our party set out across the titular Serpent Sea and into foreign lands. The landscape and world-building throughout remained solid and one of the primary points of interest for this series as a whole. Where the author has struggled with some characterization, she excelled in fantasy creation.

The pacing was a bit off at times, falling into the typical mid-book slump that so many stories suffer through. However, again, the interesting world-building and magical creatures did a lot to help carry it through these weaker moments in plot. I also enjoyed the exploration of themes such as colonialism and prejudice. The book didn’t have a ton of new insight to offer in these areas, following a fairly tried and true path taken by many YA fantasy books before it, but it also didn’t shy away from the more brutal aspects of these topics. Particularly, the author wasn’t afraid of allowing her characters to be flawed individuals who still have much to learn.

Overall, this was a good sequel to the first book. While I didn’t review/rate “The Spice Road,” I feel like I would have given it an 8 on our scale. And so, too, that’s where this one falls. It’s not without some flaws with pacing and characterization, but it was still a fun ride full of exciting fantasy elements. Fans of the first book are sure to enjoy this one!

Rating 8: The adventure continues, and with the expansion of the world and the adventures it offers, this one is sure to please fans of the first book!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Serpent Sea” can be found on this Goodreads list: Arabian, Egyptian, and Indian Fantasy.