Author: thelibraryladiesmn

Serena’s Review: “Long Live Evil”

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Book: “Long Live Evil” by Sarah Rees Brennan

Publishing Info: Orbit, July 2024

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

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

Book Description: When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favourite fantasy series.

She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she’s not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor’s tale.

So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they’re doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor’s fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.

This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain’s shoes, for an adventure that is both ‘brilliant’ (Holly Black) and ‘supremely satisfying’ (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue’s gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.

Review: It’s been a few years now, but I last read and reviewed this author when she wrote a YA mystery/fantasy trilogy. While that trilogy took a bit of a turn towards the worse as it went on, I remember distinctly enjoying the first book. So I was excited to see Brennan now dipping her toes into adult fantasy, knowing that I’ve enjoyed her books in the past and that part of my struggles before had to do with the “YA”-ness of it all. (This isn’t a general dig at YA; heaven knows I enjoy young adult literature as well. But sometimes it seems as if authors dumb down the stories when they’re writing for younger audiences, and this is my vague memory of what happened in “The Lynburn Legacy” trilogy.)

Regular readers may have noticed that I’ve been in a bit of a rut recently with my reviews, with several stuck in the “7 rating” zone. Well, the good news it that this one didn’t come in at a “7.” Bad news is that it came in at a “6.” But let’s start, as usual, with some good things. I’ll be honest, my experience of this book was fairly negative, but I will say that I liked the overall idea of the story. Not only is the idea of jumping into the pages of one’s favorite book a concept that almost all readers imagine, but pairing the fantastical aspects of that alongside the more serious nature of the main characters struggles with a terminal illness should have been the perfect balance to form a well-rounded reading experience.

Unfortunately, the entire thing falls apart in terms of execution. Pacing, characterization, plotting as far as late-game reveals that were easy to predict, it all was fairly weak. To go in order, the pacing was off from the start. For a book with such an exciting concept at its heart, the story begins with a strong sense of overall drag. While the information provided in this section is crucial to understanding the context for the story, including the introduction of the beloved book at the heart of the story and our main character’s motivations for choosing to travel there, it’s all laid out in such a clinical fashion as to be incredibly skim-worthy. It was then jarring to switch to a much more action-packed pace once Rae enters the book. But then, again, the story seem to become a slog during the middle, with Rae spending much of her time doing very little indeed. Frankly, given this entire set-up, it’s almost impressive that the story managed to become as dull as it did during this portion. It did pick up again towards the end, but that wasn’t enough to save the reading experience.

There was also an early disconnect between the tone and characterization that we are given in the first few chapters in the “real world” vs. what we experience when Rae travels to the land of the book. Yes, the “real world” must deal with some heavy topics regarding Rae’s illness, and I wouldn’t have a problem with this more subdued tone on its own. The problem lies in the complete, sudden 180 the book takes once she enters the book. We’ve spent a few chapters now with a fairly dour Rae, a young woman who is struggling with the shift her world has taken and with her relationship with her sister. But then within seconds of her taking on her role as the evil stepsister in the book, we have one quip after another. It’s just bizarre, and not in a good way. Yes, she’s in a fantastical realm, but she’s still the same person at her core. However, as it reads, this is a completely different person who just cracks jokes all of the time and has never even heard of the word “cancer.”

I also did not enjoy the comedy aspects of the story. And as that was a fairly major portion of the book, this was also a big problem for my read. Now, to be fair, campy humor is really never my thing. I don’t enjoy campy/corny movies, books, or really anything. So readers who do enjoy this style of humor may have an entirely different experience. But even with that aside, I felt like much of the humor here didn’t land. It felt very try-hard, and I had to catch myself during several eye-rolls.

This was a pretty big disappointment for me. Especially because I had been anticipating it quite a lot. I’ve enjoyed the author in the past, and I was very much hoping for a better version of what I had hoped Django Wexler’s book “How to Become a Dark Lord and Die Trying” would be. While I will say this one is probably more approachable to the general audience than that one, I still ended up having many of the same problems with it. The characters were flat, the comedy wasn’t funny, and the story itself was straight-forward and predictable. Perhaps if you very much enjoy campy humor this one will be for you. But, as a whole, I can’t recommend it.

Rating 6: It’s hard to recover if your comedic book isn’t funny; add on top of that poor pacing and weak characterization, and you ended up with a bit of a struggle book.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Long Live Evil” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists, but it should be on Oh the Villainy!–Evil Geniuses, Super Villains and Overlords.

Kate’s Review: “Crumbs”

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Book: “Crumbs” by Danie Stirling

Publishing Info: Clarion Books, July 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Description: Falling in love just got sweeter in this charming, romantic YA graphic novel from WEBTOON, the #1 digital comic platform. Ray, a young seer struggling with her powers, discovers first love and friendship in her town’s magic bakery.

In a very special town, there’s an even more unusual bakery with a selection of baked treats hand-crafted to help your dreams come true. For Ray, a quiet young woman with special powers of her own, the order is always the same: a hot tea with a delicious side of romance.

When Ray meets Laurie, the kind barista who aspires to be a professional musician, she gets a real taste of love for the first time. But even with a spark of magic, romance isn’t so simple. Both Ray and Laurie are chasing their own dreams and even when Ray starts to see the future, she can’t predict her fate with Laurie.

Based on the beloved webcomic from WEBTOON, this sweet coming-of-age story of friendship and first love comes to life in graphic novel format with gorgeous illustrations and exclusive content.

Review: I had seen “Crumbs” by Danie Stirling here and there on my various book related social media accounts, mostly Goodreads. The cover kept showing up and I had to look into it because it was, admittedly, super cute, and by the time I did check it out I was pretty convinced that I should read it. What’s not to like, after all? I like graphic novels, the magical elements sounded cute and serene, and I like a nice feel good romance. And besides, I feel like I’m suffering from massive existential dread in my day to day life, so something fluffy and sweet could be welcome. So I checked it out from the library and gave it a go. To mixed results.

I will say that this book is admittedly very sweet and cozy. I do like that there seems to be a sudden rise in more cozy fantasy novels, with titles like “Legends and Lattes” and “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” being pretty well liked by audiences, as sometimes you just need a charming and sweet story and you want it to have fantasy elements to boot. I did find “Crumbs” to be a very easy going read, and I liked the light fantasy tidbits like the magical bakery, the phones with little spirits acting as Siris, and even the hinted at broader magical government system and how even THAT can be a bit of a can of worms. I would absolutely LOVE to spend time at Marigold’s bakery, eating cakes and drinking coffees with various spells and charms cast upon them to help the consumer with things like self confidence and romance (but not in a boundary breaking or violating way). I also really liked that our protagonist Ray is a Seer, but not in the usual sense, in that she can only see things that are happening in the present and are existing in the now. So while she can’t, say, predict a giant storm that is going to be coming in a week’s time, she can see that at this moment there is a rainstorm happening miles away. Usually we think of seers in fantasy as being strictly dabbling in the future, so having it be in the now is SO interesting to me. This of course grows and shifts as Ray hones her powers during her time working for the Grand Council, which helps keep society in place and acts as governing body of sorts, and I enjoyed the ins and outs of it.

But I think that there is a clear flip side to this, and that is the fact that it’s almost TOO cozy and twee when it comes to the romance arc between Ray and her boyfriend Laurie. It starts cute and sweet enough, as Laurie is the barista at her aunt Marigold’s bakery and Ray is a regular customer, going there once a week for tea and a romance pastry, and seeing them tentatively begin a relationship was tender and felt pretty realistic in a number of ways. But I think that what was less interesting to me was that their conflicts, while pretty realistic as well, just didn’t feel very high stakes to me, and therefore felt kind of boring. I don’t need there to be a huge melodramatic problem that leans towards full on dysfunction or toxicity. But at the same time, I really don’t find myself super invested when the problems are about mild trust issues (that we don’t REALLY explore beyond one moment) and someone who is too much of a people pleaser. I can understand that there are people who aren’t comfortable with any kind of high stakes unhealthiness being portrayed in a relationship, but man, I do kind of want a little more conflict in my fiction, because for me fiction is about being able to explore those things in a safe way BECAUSE it is fiction. I know that this is personal preference, and that there are almost certainly people out here who will really love this aspect of the book. But it didn’t gel with me.

Finally, I really liked the artwork. It fits the tone of the story, and I always love seeing how food is drawn in graphic novels because it’s fun to see how tantalizing it can be.

(source: Clarion Books)

“Crumbs” didn’t work for me an all levels, but I definitely know there are people who like cozy fantasy and gentle stories about romance and relationships that will enjoy it.

Rating 5: It’s a sweet and gentle romance with some hints of magical creativity, but “Crumbs” didn’t invest me too much in the central characters and their maneuvering through a relationship.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Crumbs” is included on the Goodreads lists “Cozy Fantasy Romance Reads”, and “Food Themed Romance Comics”.

Serena’s Review: “Castle of the Cursed”

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Book: “Castle of the Cursed” by Romina Garber

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, July 2024

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

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

Book Description: After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor’s guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra.

Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbors a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents’ deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebastián is a hallucination, but he claims he’s been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress.

As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra’s secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she’s chasing has already found her . . . and they’re closer than she ever realized.

Review: One of my favorite subgenres recently has been gothic fantasy. There have simply been so many good ones of late that I almost have gotten to the point where I just expect them all to be amazing, simply by definition. I was also intrigued by the promise of a murder (?) mystery regarding the loss of Estela’s parents. And while I knew that a romance would be involved, and often I like a good romantic subplot, unfortunately the loves story brought it all down for me.

But let’s start with some positives! Of the three primary aspects of the story (gothic, mystery, romance) the gothic portion of the story fares the best. Once Estela gets to the estate, the author’s style of writing seemed to come more to life, effectively building tension and creating an atmosphere of barely-concealed horror. Second to the gothic aspects, the mystery was also compelling, especially in the beginning of the book when Estela is first beginning to realize that there is more going on here than a random, tragic accident. Once certain elements were introduced, I did feel like the big twist was a bit predictable, but on its own, I think this was a creative turn to the story. I wasn’t expecting the book to go quite so far into the fantastical as this one went, and for the most part, much of this was successful.

Unfortunately, the romance really killed it for me. A large part of this comes down to the fact that much of the story takes place over a very compressed number of days. I always struggle with love stories that develop this quickly; I can’t quite turn of my own skepticism over it all. That’s not to say, however, that a fast love story never works, but I do think it takes a very solid hand on characterization overall to pull it off. And here, neither Estela nor Sebastian were up to it. Both felt very flat, especially in their interactions with one another. Estela’s original arc, her struggles with the guilt of surviving the deaths of her parents, had a lot of potential. But the minute the love story started up, she seemed to lose much of this inner character work. And, again, this all happens rapidly, so it was difficult to believe in the sincerity of these emotions.

I also don’t want to get into spoilers with regards to some of the major twists in the end. But, essentially, I felt like the explanation for the resolution to the final conflict to be fairly ridiculous. It pretty much required the reader to disregard everything we’d seen from Estela up to this point and pretend that she was a very different character than she was. One of the things that I appreciated initially with this character was the struggles that she continued suffer through in the beginning of the story. But as the story went on, because the character became so consumed by the romance, we didn’t see the necessary growth to justify the things we were being told about her in the end. In fact, only a few pages before the fact, the character behaves in a manner that directly contradicts what we are later told is a crucial trait she contains!

Overall, I was a bit disappointed by this read. After a promising start, the story quickly began to fall flat and the characters were unable to hold my interest. The writing was strong enough and particularly shone with regards to the gothic/horror elements of the story. But the romance was uninspiring and dull, and as that ended up taking up a large chunk of the story, that killed it for me a bit. That said, romance is an incredibly subjective element of storytelling, so other readers may enjoy this one more than me!

Rating 7: While the gothic/horror elements were interesting, the characters and the love story failed to capture my imagination.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Castle of the Cursed” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Gothic and Ladies of Horror and Dark Fiction Writing.

Kate’s Review: “The Drowning House”

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

Book: “The Drowning House” by Cherie Priest

Publication Info: Poisoned Pen Press, July 2024

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

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

Book Review: A violent storm washes a mysterious house onto a rural Pacific Northwest beach, stopping the heart of the only woman who knows what it means. Her grandson, Simon Culpepper, vanishes in the aftermath, leaving two of his childhood friends to comb the small, isolated island for answers―but decades have passed since Melissa and Leo were close, if they were ever close at all.

Now they’ll have to put aside old rivalries and grudges if they want to find or save the man who brought them together in the first place―and on the way they’ll learn a great deal about the sinister house on the beach, the man who built it, and the evil he’s bringing back to Marrowstone Island.

From award-winning author Cherie Priest comes a deeply haunting and atmospheric horror-thriller that explores the lengths we’ll go to protect those we love.

Review: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me an ARC of this novel!

The description of “The Drowning House” by Cherie Priest made me do a double take the first time I read it. Surely I had read it wrong! A house, a full on HOUSE, washes up on a beach after a crazy storm? Obviously it has to be supernatural or something like that, but still, the very CONCEPT was SO interesting to me that I knew that I HAD to read the book. And not only do we have a weird house washing up on shore, we also have a missing man, his grandmother who died the night he vanished, which also happens to be the night the house washed ashore, and his childhood friends coming back to the small island community to try and find him, only to find something supernatural and menacing. All of these things come together to make a very odd read. In a good way, mostly.

There are lots of very creative aspects of this book, from the idea of an abandoned house washing up on shore, to some of the ancient magical and ritualistic elements that Priest creates for this book, to the concepts of communicating between dimensions and the way that this is achieved (mild spoiler but I HAVE to talk about it: a deranged otherworldly switchboard with some rather gruesome elements showed up at one point and I was completely horrified but also enthralled). I also did like some of the horror imagery, from figures materializing in the mist, to small town tragedies of missing boys whose spirits are seen crying the corners of Mrs. Culpepper’s home. So many of these things really worked for me, and it had this seaside atmosphere that was always tinted with some ominous undertones. It’s weird and dreamy and somewhat unnerving. I think that I would more categorize this as dark fantasy with horror elements as opposed to straight up horror, but trust me, the horror elements are on point.

The one critique I do have of this book is that I wasn’t as interested in our main characters Melissa and Leo, and their personal journey of having to team up in spite of their uneasy history in hopes of saving Simon, their childhood friend they are both deeply enamored with. I thought that they both had interesting back stories and understandable and believable motivations, but their tension never really resolved itself to create a genuine partnership that I was rooting for. Even getting flashbacks to their childhood and their friendship with Simon and some insight into Mrs. Culpepper’s background and her home (as well as some reveals about her connection to the washed up house and certain other things) didn’t really bring as much out of them as I would have liked.

Overall I think that “The Drowning House” has some really creepy beats and some really creative world building. But boy do I wish that the characterization had a little more oomph.

Rating 7: An atmospheric and at times creepy read, though I would say that “The Drowning House”‘s main characters weren’t as engaging as I had hoped they would be.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Drowning House” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it would fit in on “Gothic Vibes (Modern Books)”.

Another Take: Summer 2024

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

Don’t just take it from us, other readers like these books, too! And we have decided that we would like to showcase other reviewers and bloggers that have their own thoughts and feelings about books that we have loved. Here are a few of the books we’ve enjoyed recently and what other bloggers have to say about them.

Book: “Heavenbreaker” by Sara Wolf

Book Description: Bravery isn’t what you do. It’s what you endure.

The duke of the powerful House Hauteclare is the first to die. With my dagger in his back.

He didn’t see it coming. Didn’t anticipate the bastard daughter who was supposed to die with her mother—on his order. He should have left us with the rest of the Station’s starving, commoner rubbish.

Now there’s nothing left. Just icy-white rage and a need to make House Hauteclare pay. Every damn one of them.

Even if it means riding Heavenbreaker—one of the few enormous machines left over from the War—and jousting against the fiercest nobles in the system.

Each win means another one of my enemies dies. And here, in the cold terror of space, the machine and I move as one, intent on destroying each adversary—even if it’s someone I care about. Even if it’s someone I’m falling for.

Only I’m not alone. Not anymore.

Because there’s something in the machine with me. Something horrifying. Something…more.

And it won’t be stopped.

Serena’s Review (9 Rating)

Forever Young Adult

Star-Crossed Book Blog (4 Stars)

Carole’s Random Life (4 Stars)

Book: “Foul Days” by Genoveva Dimova

Book Description: As a witch in the walled city of Chernograd, Kosara has plenty of practice taming rusalkas, fighting kikimoras, and brewing lycanthrope repellent. There’s only one monster Kosara can’t defeat: her ex the Zmey, known as the Tsar of Monsters. She’s defied him one too many times, and now he’s hunting her. Betrayed to him by someone close to her, Kosara’s only hope is to trade her shadow―the source of her powers―for illegal passage across the Wall to Belograd, where monsters can’t follow.

Life in Belograd should be sweet, but Kosara soon develops a fast-acting version of the deadly wasting sickness that stalks shadowless witches―and only reclaiming her magic can cure her. To trace her shadow, she’ll have to team up with the suspiciously honorable detective investigating the death of the smuggler who brought her across the Wall.

Even worse than working with the cops is that all the clues point in a single direction: one of the Zmey’s monsters has found a crack in the Wall, and Kosara’s magic is now in the Zmey’s hands.

The clock is ticking, the hunt is on, and Kosara’s priorities should be clear―but is she the hunter or the hunted? And in a city where everyone is out for themselves, who can Kosara trust to assist her in outwitting the man―the Monster―she’s never been able to escape alone?

Serena’s Review (10 Rating)

Dragonmount

One Mike to Read Them All

Jill’s Reads (4 Stars)

Book: “The Hedge Witch of Fox Hall” by Anna Bright

Book Description: In this gorgeous stand-alone fantasy romance perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Allison Saft, a rebellious witch undertakes a last-ditch quest to restore magic to medieval Wales—as two princes vie for her heart.

Ffion is the last hedgewitch in Foxhall. To work her magic, she takes only what nature can spare, unlike the witches of the powerful Foxhall coven, who sacrifice whole forests to fuel their spells. But across the warring kingdoms of Wales, all magic is fading. Even the dragons have vanished.

Prince Taliesin would love nothing more than to watch magic die. But when his father charges Tal and his brother, Dafydd, with destroying King Offa’s dyke—the massive earthen wall raised by their Mercian enemies to the east, which may be the cause of magic’s disappearance—he begrudgingly seeks aid from a witch.

Because whichever prince succeeds in destroying the dyke will win the throne, and Tal is willing to do whatever it takes to become king. Even if the Foxhall coven refuses to help him. Even if he’s forced to team up with a spitfire hedgewitch who hates him almost as much as he hates her magic. And even if Dafydd proves to be a worthier rival than he anticipated…for the crown, and for Ffion’s heart.

Serena’s Review (8 Rating)

The Storied Blog (4.5 Stars)

Whisporia (5 Stars)

Kirkus

Book: “I Was A Teenage Slasher” by Stephen Graham Jones

Book Description: 1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton—and a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge. Here Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, the unfairness of being on the outside, through the slasher horror he lives but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography. Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic.

Kate’s Review (10 Rating)

Books, Bones, & Buffy (5 Stars)

Grimdark Dad

RA for All

Book: “First Light” by Liz Kerin

Book Description: “I came all this way to watch you burn.”

It’s been nine months since the catastrophe in Tucson sent Mia fleeing from her home. But she’s not running away from the darkness―she’s running toward it, obsessively pursuing the man who gave her mother a thirst for blood and destroyed their lives.

But when Mia finds the monsters she’s been hunting and infiltrates a secret network of fugitives, she discovers she might have been their prey all along. To escape their clutches, she’ll have to reckon with her mother’s harrowing past and confront a painful truth: that they might be more alike than she ever imagined.

Kate’s Review (10 Rating)

FanFiAddict

Morbidly Beautiful (3.5/5 Butterflies)

The Fandomentals

Book: “Horror Movie” by Paul Tremblay

Book Description: In June 1993, a group of young guerilla filmmakers spent four weeks making Horror Movie, a notorious, disturbing, art-house horror flick.

The weird part? Only three of the film’s scenes were ever released to the public, but Horror Movie has nevertheless grown a rabid fanbase. Three decades later, Hollywood is pushing for a big budget reboot.

The man who played “The Thin Kid” is the only surviving cast member. He remembers all too well the secrets buried within the original screenplay, the bizarre events of the filming, and the dangerous crossed lines on set that resulted in tragedy. As memories flood back in, the boundaries between reality and film, past and present start to blur. But he’s going to help remake the film, even if it means navigating a world of cynical producers, egomaniacal directors, and surreal fan conventions — demons of the past be damned.

But at what cost? 

Horror Movie is an obsessive, psychologically chilling, and suspenseful twist on the “cursed film” that breathlessly builds to an unforgettable, mind-bending conclusion.

Kate’s Review (9 Rating)

Fantasy Book Nerd

Musings by Michelle (4/5)

Rami Ungar the Writer

Serena’s Review: “These Deathless Shores”

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

Book: “These Deathless Shores” by P. H. Low

Publishing Info: Orbit, July 2024

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

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

Book Description: Jordan was once a Lost Boy, convinced she would never grow up. Now, she’s twenty-two and exiled to the real world, still suffering withdrawal from the addictive magic Dust of her childhood. With nothing left to lose, Jordan returns to the Island and its stories—of pirates and war and the heartlessness of youth—intent on facing Peter one last time, on her own terms.

If that makes her the villain…so be it.

Review: I’ve written before about how I often find myself mentally considering certain books to be THE definitive re-telling of any particular fairytale or folk story. For example, it’s hard for me to imagine any story beating Robin McKinley’s “Beauty” as my definitive version of “Beauty and the Beast.” There are also fairytales and stories for which it has been notoriously difficult for me to find this “one true version.” “Peter Pan” is one of these. But I live in ever-lasting hope, so I was excited to check out this new version of the story, this time following grown-up “lost boys” who travel back to the magical island and now find themselves cast as the villains.

Unfortunately, I’m still on the hunt after reading this book. However, that’s not to say that this book didn’t have its own strengths and new takes on the classic story to explore. For one thing, I very much like the overall concept with these former “lost boys” (this is in quotes mostly because one of the main characters is a woman who had disguised herself as a boy when she was in Neverland to avoid the typical role of housekeeper that girls must play while there) travelling back as adults. And not only are our lead characters adults, but the entire story is very adult in tone. This is a bloody, grim look at the horrors that would lie at the heart of an island where kids spend most of their time fighting battles with pirates.

Even more so, the story centers addiction and childhood trauma as primary themes throughout the story. Obviously, these are not happy topics, but I think that added an interesting level of seriousness and severity to the tale. One of my struggle points with this book, however, came down to how it handled some of the discussions about addition. On one hand, I think some of it is incredibly effective, highlighting the on-going difficulties that people face, year after year. However, I’m not quite sure about how it was ultimately handled. Fairy dust is clearly a magical substance, so its addictive properties do not necessarily need to be based in reality. But the story almost dodges some of the harder aspects of this addition in the end of the book, and I’m not exactly sure what message was being conveyed here. That said, I could be missing something, and this all might work fine for other readers.

I also struggled a bit with the characters themselves, particularly Jordan. On her own, she had a lot of the traits I enjoy in my female main characters. She’s flawed, brash, and ruthless. However, I struggled more when it came to her relationship and interactions with Baron, her staunch childhood friend. At times, this relationship felt a bit strange, with Jordan seeming to take advantage of Baron’s friendship and feelings for her, almost bullying him at points. This could be simply that their temperaments were very different, but it just felt rather off throughout.

Overall, this was just an ok read for me. The tone was a bit too grimdark throughout, without enough levity to be found to counterbalance it in the way I wanted. I also liked the broader strokes of the characters, but their relationship also felt a bit off in a way that didn’t allow me to fully connect to their arc together. If you enjoy darker fantasy stories, however, this still might be one worth checking out!

Rating 7: Tackling dark themes of addiction and childhood trauma, this had a lot of potential, but began to feel weighed down by its own grim tone as the story went on.

Reader’s Advisory:

“These Deathless Shores” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists, but it should be on Peter Pan Retellings.

Serena’s Review: “The Night Ends with Fire”

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

Book: “The Night Ends with Fire” by K. X. Song

Publishing Info: Ace, July 2024

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

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

Book Description: The Three Kingdoms are at war, but Meilin’s father refuses to answer the imperial draft. Trapped by his opium addiction, he plans to sell Meilin for her dowry. But when Meilin discovers her husband-to-be is another violent, ill-tempered man, she realizes that nothing will change for her unless she takes matters into her own hands.

The very next day, she disguises herself as a boy and enlists in her father’s place.

In the army, Meilin’s relentless hard work brings her recognition, friendship—and a growing closeness with Sky, a prince turned training partner. But has she simply exchanged one prison for another? As her kingdom barrels toward destruction, Meilin begins to have visions of a sea dragon spirit that offers her true power and freedom, but with a deadly price.

With the future of the Three Kingdoms hanging in the balance, Meilin will need to decide whom to trust—Sky, who inspires her loyalty and love; the sea dragon spirit, who has his own murky agenda; or an infuriating enemy prince who makes her question everything she once knew—about her kingdom and about her own heart.

Review: I’ve been eagerly looking forward to checking out this book since back in January when I put together my picks for our “most anticipated” list for 2024. I love fairytale/fable re-tellings, and “Mulan” is one of those stories that has only been re-imagined a few times, to varying levels of success. I was especially excited that this book was being billed as an adult fantasy novel, as those are even fewer and further between when it comes to this particular subgenre. So I had high hopes going in to this one!

As it turns out, this one didn’t quite live up to these expectations, but let’s start with the positives. First of all, if you’re looking for a “Mulan” retelling that pulls on your nostalgic heartstrings for the Disney movie, than this is the book for you. While it does introduce its own fantasy elements, particularly with the dragons and their magic, it also strongly reminiscent of the Disney film. At times, it almost felt like direct scenes were copied and pasted from one to the other. This could also be a criticism of the book, that it follows a bit too closely, but I also think there are plenty of readers who loved the Disney version and would be happy to see some of it translated fairly directly into a book format, so for them, this is a win.

I also liked the general idea of a lot of what this book was trying to do. It was the execution that let it down. For example, one of the major changes from the Disney version of “Mulan” to this one is a change in the main character’s motivation. Instead of being driven by a sense of duty and the wish to spare her father, Meilin is, yes, attempting to escape an arranged marriage, but also highly motivated by ambition and greed. In some of the book’s more “telling” moments, she outright tells readers that these are her primary motivations. She also wishes to prove that she, a woman, is capable of the same things men are. However, the thought isn’t taken further than that, with Meilin’s focus remaining on her own abilities as compared to men’s versus the general attitude that ALL women are done poorly by with these comparisons. Now, I think it’s entirely possible, even quite effective, to write a character whose motivations are not as sympathetic as others’ or who, while clear-sighted in one way, is very much missing the larger picture. But Meilin was not written as a strong enough character to pull this off.

Not only is the writing flat from the start, making it difficult to discern any real personality in the characters, including Meilin, but there is a distinct lack of true inner reflection or motivation given for many actions. For example, early in the book, Meilin encounters a prince who makes a throw-away comment about her kung fu abilities being as good as a man’s. She then goes home and there is a single paragraph where she reflects on this line and how it is true: she is as fast as a man and skilled at martial arts. The very next paragraph sees her up and sneaking out of her room and setting off on her journey to impersonate a soldier.

This is a huge, monumental decision, and Meilin seems to make it in the blink of an eye with no deeper thought than “hey, this hot guy said a nice thing about my fighting prowess and I guess he’s right!” It was so off-putting that I honestly went back and had to re-read to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, it was that abrupt. Transitions from paragraph to paragraph, from inner monologue to actions aren’t just the work of English classes, they are necessary for creating well-crafted stories. And it was failings like this that proved that this book wasn’t quite up to the task.

This flatness of tone carried on throughout the book. I simply struggled to care about any of these people. For lack of a better word, the book seemed to lack the heart of the story. In the movie, the deep camaraderie and friendship that Mulan builds up with her fellow soldiers and the love interest are not only engaging on their own, but later pay off with the heightened emotional stakes when the truth of her deception becomes known. Here, the reveal with the love interest falls incredibly flat, with none of the dramatic impact that you’d wish from this situation. And the friendships were almost entirely missing. I was even more put-off on the romance front when another potential love interest seemed to be introduced towards the end of the book? Of course, I can’t say for sure one way or another, but I was getting strong ACOTAR vibes with a Tamlin/Rhysand situation brewing up here. And we all know how I feel about that…

All of this said, I would by no means say that this was a bad book, on its own. Indeed, I think the author has a lot of potential, and I’d definitely be interested in checking out more in the future. I also think this book will be much appreciated by many fantasy readers, especially those who are looking for a close re-telling of “Mulan.” However, the writing and characterization were too weak at times for me to fully recommend it with no caveats.

Rating 7: The strength of the writing wasn’t quite up to the task of telling the story that it wanted, but I still think it will satisfy many readers who are looking for a solid “Mulan” re-telling.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Night Ends with Fire” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Asian SSF and East Asian Fantasy.

Kate’s Review: “49 Miles Alone”

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Book: “49 Miles Alone” by Natalie D. Richards

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, July 2024

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: Four days alone in the desert. Except they’re not as alone as they think.

A year ago, Katie and her cousin Aster survived a night that left their world and easy friendship fractured. Desperate to heal and leave the past behind them, they tackle four days of hiking in the Utah backcountry. But the desert they’ve loved for years has tricks up its sleeve. An illness, an injury, and a freak storm leave them short on confidence and supplies. When they come across a young couple with extra supplies on the trail, they’re grateful and relieved―at first. Riley exudes friendliness, but everything about her boyfriend Finn spells trouble.

That night, after some chilling admissions about Finn from Riley, Katie and Aster wake to hear the couple fighting. Helpless and trapped in the darkness, they witness Riley’s desperate race into the night, with Finn chasing after. In the morning, they find the couple’s camp, but Riley and Finn? Vanished. Katie is sure Riley is in trouble. And with help a two-day hike away, they know they are the only ones who can save her before something terrible happens. The clock is ticking and their supplies are dwindling, but Katie and Aster know they have to find Riley before Finn―or the desert―gets to her first.

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

I truly think that Summer, while not a favorite season of mine, has a book vibe that I really like to adhere to. Much like Fall feeling like the perfect ambiance for a horror story or a cozy fantasy, for me Summer feels like the best time to tap into various kinds of thrillers. One of those sub-genres is survival thrillers, especially if they are set in the wilderness. So I was very excited to read “49 Miles Alone” by Natalie D. Richards, which follows cousins Katie and Aster on a wilderness hike that goes pretty sour and they are suddenly in the web of a killer. This is my FAVORITE kind of wilderness survival tale, and I hopped on in ready for a wild ride!

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not an outdoorsy kinda person outside of the occasional hike through a state or national park, or for some landscape photography excursions. Certainly not multiple days of camping or hardcore hiking and off trail backpacking. But I do love seeing that premise used in a survival/wilderness thriller, and “49 Miles Alone” does a great job of highlighting the real dangers of the wilderness even without having a killer in the vicinity. As Katie and Aster start their journey, it’s already tense due to an incident in the near past that left Aster wracked with guilt and Katie traumatized, and things just keep going wrong and make the tension build all the more. Whether it’s weirdos on the trail, or a storm that manifested out of nowhere and makes the trail that much more unpredictable and dangerous, or Aster suddenly falling ill, many small things keep piling up to turn into one big troublesome and dangerous situation. I’ve known people who do this kind of hiking and camping who have BEEN in these sudden life or death situations where you have to make quick decisions that could end very badly, and watching Katie and Aster have to contend with these things on top of Katie’s trauma and Aster’s guilt made for a lot of really well done suspenseful beats.

But the main point of suspension, when Aster and Katie meet a couple on the trail and Katie suspects the man, Finn, to be dangerous, didn’t hit as hard as i had hoped it would. I normally really like this trope of wilderness savvy people meeting dangerous psychos and having to navigate the wilderness with them, as when it’s done well (like in “The River Wild” or “Desolation”, two films I really like) it can be SO nerve wracking. But I think that in this one it gets a little tripped up, partially due to the timing of meeting Finn and his hiking partner/girlfriend Riley, and partially due to not really getting much insight into the two of them outside of some interactions from Aster’s and Katie’s POVs. To make things worse, by the time we do get to the main driving conflict of potentially being hunted down, it felt a bit more rushed as opposed to the slow build of the earlier parts of the book. I also kind of called one of the big twists pretty quickly, which always kind of pulls the wind out of the sails of a thriller.

So it was a bit of a mixed bag. But that said, “49 Miles Alone” has some really good bits of realistic wilderness survival thrills. It’s a good summer read to be sure!

Rating 7: I loved the tense build up of the perils of an unpredictable hike between tension filled cousins, and I wish it had stayed more in that realm as the dangerous killer on the trail was a little underwhelming.

Reader’s Advisory:

“49 Miles Alone” is included on the Goodreads list “YA Novels of 2024”.

Serena’s Review: “Bound to the Shadow Prince”

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Book: “Bound to the Shadow Prince” by Ruby Dixon

Publishing Info: W by Wattpad Books, July 2024

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

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

Book Description: In order to protect her kingdom from the wrath of a vengeful goddess, Princess Candra must remain locked inside a tower for seven years. Seven long years without a friend―or a lover―by her side. And shut inside the tower with her? A Fellian, the enemy of her people, a fearsome warrior race complete with wings and claws and fangs. Nemeth is terrifying, cruel, and disturbingly magnetic. Candra should kill him for his supplies, but she’s desperate for his company…and his touch.

As time inside the unchanging tower rolls on, Candra uncovers the man behind the stony facade. And when their tenure hits an unexpected snag, Candra and Nemeth are forced to make a difficult choice. They’ll need to face an outside world they no longer recognize, one that threatens their lives and their surprising love.

Review: While I’m aware of the phenomenon that is Ruby Dixon’s “Ice Planet Barbarians” series, I’ve been a bit hesitant to jump in. While I enjoy SFF romance, I’m also incredibly picky with the balance between the fantasy elements and the romance. Plus, I’ve never really pushed my boundaries on the romance genre with more wacky paranormal beings than your usual vampires and werewolves. All of that to say, when I saw that she was releasing a stand-alone romantasy title, I though this would be the perfect opportunity to see what all of the fuss was about!

I’ll be honest, I went into this one fairly skeptical, ready to shift away to my every-growing TBR pile at the slightest provocation. And, initially, that’ s the way I thought it might go. The first few chapters before we get to the tower were a bit of a slog as I found it difficult to really like any of the characters on the page, including our heroine. But hoo boy! The minute the story got to the tower, the love interest was introduced, and the general stakes of the plot (being trapped in a dark tower for seven years) settled in, I was locked in!

If nothing else, Dixon’s style of writing is the definition of “approachable” and “engaging.” She simply has a fun and snappy way of writing that is quick to pull readers in and make the story feel action-packed, even when, objectively not much is really happening (again, see the fact that our main characters are stuck alone in a tower.) Given the restrictions of this setting, it was truly impressive how engaging Dixon made this portion of the story. It was so engaging, in fact, that I was almost disappointed when the story shifted in the second half of the book. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed a lot of that as well. But I will say that I probably would have been more than happy to have spent the entire book simply in the tower with our two main characters.

I also really enjoyed our main characters. Candra was a fun POV character, though as the story continued, I did find myself wishing for a bit more from her with personal growth or a more defined character arc. Some of the late-book action does speak to some changes in her perspective, but it still wasn’t a lot. But what we do get is still enjoyable! On the other hand, I really loved Nemeth! I’ll admit, again, that part of my hesitation about the “Barbarians” series and this one was how well the romance would translate for a very, um, non-human love interest. But Nemeth is so endearing in almost every way that you can’t help but love him! He was bookish and bashful, but also protective and confident when it mattered. It was also nice to have a love interest who so easily embodied the caretaker role in the relationship without this being commented on or seen as in conflict with any of his other character traits.

I will add here that that this book is DEFINITELY spicy, so readers should have that in mind! I knew it would be, of course, but this book makes “Bride” look like, well, a blushing bride as far as some of its spicy moments go. One thing that stood out in the positive for this book vs. other very spicy books that I’ve read was the timeline and progression of the romance. All too often, romantasy has an “instalust/instalove” problem where the book is so eager to get to the love scenes that character work and plotting suffer, ultimately making the spice scenes read as undeserved. Here, not only do you have to read a significant ways into the book to get to the love scenes, but the in-world timeline is over a year before Nemeth and Candra really start becoming intimate in any way. It was refreshing!

As I mentioned, the second half of the book took a major shift in the plot. And while I liked a lot of what this brought into the story, this is also the part of the book that I struggled with more. For one thing, given the nature of what is going on in the story, the numerous spicy scenes in this later half of the book started to feel like they were breaking up the pacing. They also began to feel a bit repetitive, and I think the book would have been better served, ultimately, to have cut out a few of these. There was also the seemingly required third act/late game challenge of trust thrown into the romance. This is a staple of romance plotlines, where right towards the end something goes terribly wrong (distrust, miscommunication, etc. etc.) that makes our characters start questioning their relationship. I almost always hate this part of romance novels, as I rarely feel as if these moments feel justified or believable. So, too, here. Some of the distrust we see is so obviously misplaced in light of the entire rest of the story that it was almost laughable. For all that I enjoyed the fact that this love story took place over the course of years, it made this late-game trust issue all the more silly. These are characters who recently fell in love or who haven’t had time to fully understand one another. As typical for me with these twists in romance novels, I began to roll my eyes a bit during this part.

Overall, however, this was a really fun read! It’s heavy on the spice and romance, so readers who enjoy that will likely love this one. I was also impressed with the measured pace of the romance and the endearing love interest. I’ll definitely be checking out more from Dixon in the future!

Rating 8: Fast-paced and fun with a nice love story at its heart, definitely one for the spicy romance readers!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bound to the Shadow Prince” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2024 – Paranormal Romance (Standalones and 1st in Series)

Kate’s Review: “I Was A Teenage Slasher”

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Book: “I Was A Teenage Slasher” by Stephen Graham Jones

Publishing Info: Simon & Schuster/Saga Press, July 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a hardcover copy from the publisher at ALAAC24.

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

Book Description: From New York Times bestselling horror writer Stephen Graham Jones comes a classic slasher story with a twist—perfect for fans of Riley Sager and Grady Hendrix.

1989, Lamesa, Texas. A small west Texas town driven by oil and cotton—and a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. So it goes for Tolly Driver, a good kid with more potential than application, seventeen, and about to be cursed to kill for revenge. Here Stephen Graham Jones explores the Texas he grew up in, the unfairness of being on the outside, through the slasher horror he lives but from the perspective of the killer, Tolly, writing his own autobiography. Find yourself rooting for a killer in this summer teen movie of a novel gone full blood-curdling tragic.

Review: Thank you to Simon and Shuster for giving me a hardcover copy at ALAAC24 and thank you to Stephen Graham Jones for signing it!

I mentioned this in our ALA Annual Conference highlights post, but I’ll bring it up again: one of my favorite moments from the conference this year was getting to see Stephen Graham Jones and getting a copy of his newest novel “I Was A Teenage Slasher”. I hadn’t even realized he was going to be at the conference until a day or two before it started, and then getting a copy of this book was an even BIGGER surprise because it wasn’t listed in the schedule. Since it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, I was absolutely ecstatic, and it was my first ALA read. I gotta say, Jones never disappoints, and this book is, for me, one of his best.

There are so many things I loved about this book I don’t really know where to begin. But I guess the first thing I will talk about is the way it’s another examination of aspects of the slasher genre from Jones, who really REALLY loves his slashers, and knows his slashers front to back. While this is evident in his “Indian Lake Trilogy” with final girl Jade Daniels, it’s approached in a different way in “I Was A Teenage Slasher”, and feels like an inverse. Instead of following a burgeoning Final Girl, we follow a burgeoning slasher killer, and THAT is such an interesting path to take and hasn’t been taken all that many times compared to other storylines in slasher tales. As I was reading I kept thinking about one of my favorite horror movies “Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon”, because in that movie we get a similar angle in that we are getting to know and coming to enjoy a wannabe slasher killer, and in a lot of ways REALLY enjoying him in spite of the fact he’s obviously going to be monstrous by the end. With Tolly Driver we get a lot of that, as Tolly is an awkward misfit in his small town and has had a lot of tragedy happen to him in his life, who is also just kind of a good kid before he is taken over by a drive to be a teenage slasher after a supernatural incident at a teen party. We are solidly in his head, and we get to see all sides of him as he slowly starts his transformation, and as he and his best friend Amber (a fellow outcast in Lamesa, Texas as she is the only Native kid in their school) try to figure out just what is happening to him. I loved this coming of age thread within a slasher story in which the coming of age is that of the killer himself. I also REALLY loved his relationship with Amber, who is so fiercely loyal and whom he really adores, their friendship feeling so real and connected and deep. So much of their connection felt so incredibly genuine that I was just dreading the ultimate heel turn from Tolly, and how much I knew it was going to hurt because of my investment in their friendship. Jones makes them so easy to love, that I ended up gutted in the way only Jones knows how to achieve.

But along with the stellar characters, we also get another fun meta horror romp, with so much self awareness and humor to go with the solidly gory moments that you absolutely need for the slasher sub-genre. Jones cheekily finds ways to show off Tolly’s newfound slasher powers while also poking a little fun at some of the most tried and true tropes in the genre, as once Tolly is on this path, there are certain things that now absolutely happen for him. For example, whenever he picks up a sharp implement like a knife, it makes an over the top SCHING! noise, no matter how gently he does so or how not intimidating the knife is. His speed can vary but his ability to catch up is more about whether he’s being seen or not as opposed to his actual physical abilities (think about the way slashers seem to be able to keep up even when just walking). And so forth. It’s such a fun way to point out the silly things in the sub-genre that are tried and true and don’t REALLY make sense, but no one cares because that’s just how it goes! I loved this and found myself cackling during these moments.

And finally, I love the way that Jones brings the time and place to life in this book. The story as Tolly tells it is in small town West Texas in Lamesa in 1989, and boy did Jones capture all of that to a T. I love 80s nostalgia shit as someone born in the middle of that decade and who has vague pop culture memories of the latter part (and how it bled into the 90s, let’s be real), and the nostalgia is big in this one. As are the realities of growing up in small town Americana for those who are different or don’t fit the mold of what American youth were supposed to be like, as Tolly and Amber both fall into this group and really only have each other through their difficult teenage years even BEFORE Tolly starts to turn into a new Jason Voorhees. And as a bonus to that, Jones even made a Spotify Playlist that is FILLED WITH GLAM METAL, which is a top 3 music genre for me. And not since “Peacemaker” has a glam metal soundtrack felt so, so heartbreaking in certain ways.

Me dancing to “House of Pain” by Faster Pussycat in my spare time. Not pictured, the weeping that almost always comes with it. (source)

“I Was A Teenage Slasher” is probably my favorite Stephen Graham Jones novel yet. We are so blessed to have him in the horror literature community, and his stories continuously blow me away. Horror fans, especially slasher fans, do yourself a favor and go get this book post haste.

Rating 10: So incredibly self aware, meta, and also emotionally charged at times, “I Was A Teenage Slasher” is filled with lots of horror goodness as well as some good old fashioned teenage pathos.

Reader’s Advisory:

“I Was A Teenage Slasher” is included on the Goodreads lists “Slasher Fiction”, and “Indigenous Fiction 2024”.