Author: thelibraryladiesmn

Serena’s Review: “Twelfth Knight”

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Book: “Twelfth Knight” by Alexene Farol Follmuth

Publishing Info: Tor Teen, May 2024

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

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

Book Description: Viola Reyes is annoyed.

Her painstakingly crafted tabletop game campaign was shot down, her best friend is suggesting she try being more “likable,” and school running back Jack Orsino is the most lackadaisical Student Body President she’s ever seen, which makes her job as VP that much harder. Vi’s favorite escape from the world is the MMORPG Twelfth Knight, but online spaces aren’t exactly kind to girls like her―girls who are extremely competent and have the swagger to prove it. So Vi creates a masculine alter ego, choosing to play as a knight named Cesario to create a safe haven for herself.

But when a football injury leads Jack Orsino to the world of Twelfth Knight, Vi is alarmed to discover their online alter egos―Cesario and Duke Orsino―are surprisingly well-matched.

As the long nights of game-play turn into discussions about life and love, Vi and Jack soon realise they’ve become more than just weapon-wielding characters in an online game. But Vi has been concealing her true identity from Jack, and Jack might just be falling for her offline…

Review: I knew this one would be a bit out of my wheelhouse when I requested it, but as I’ve seemed to move into also covering the romance genre to some extent on this blog, and the fact that I’ve loved this author’s fantasy work (she also writes under the name Olivie Blake), I thought it was worth a shot! Plus, this is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, so I was excited to see it re-imagined into a contemporary setting. Plus, plus, I really loved playing “Baldur’s Gate” which is essentially video-game DnD, so I was definitely interested in a story that focused on this type of gaming.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t quite land the way I wanted it to. But let’s start with some of the positives. And for me, that largely comes down to the male lead character, Jack. I thought it story was really well done, following the tragic but hopeful arc of a young man who was a rising football star before he suffered a debilitating injury. I thought the exploration of this topic was so well done: the upheavals of identity, the loss of purpose and floundering to find direction, the very real mourning for a life that will now not happen. It was all very touching and well done.

There were also elements of the romance I liked, especially the fact that it came across as believable and relatable. All too often, romcoms seem to get caught up in overly complicated “meet cutes” and then a “paint by numbers” style conflict/resolution in the third act. This one hits many of the expected notes, but I think one of this author’s strong suits has been her dialogue, and with this book, the very natural, realistic dialogue helped ground the love story in a way that I appreciated. That said, I was surprised to see the romance essentially take a back seat to some of the gaming stuff for the first half of the story. And, even for me, someone who enjoys gaming quite a bit, this was frustrating. Not only did I pick this one up first and foremost for the romance, not the gaming, but it also forced the actual love story to have to go through all of the stages in a rather short period of time in the second half of the book.

I also struggled to enjoy Viola. And this made for a complicated reading experience, because on one hand, her anger is justified and much of her arc is her learning how to lower her shields, even when she’s been hurt in the past. But on the other hand, even if some of her anger is earned, she was also incredibly unlikable for much of the first half of the story. And as much as my brain could understand this, especially the fact that she is a teenage character which makes all of these big emotions even harder to wrangle, the rest of me was so often annoyed at her that I struggled to enjoy her. I had to keep stopping and essentially explaining to myself why she behaved the way she did, but…having to give yourself a pep talk about enjoying a book doesn’t make for, well, enjoyment.

Overall, this was kind of a “meh” read for me. There were elements that I liked, but there were enough issues with the pacing of the love story and the likability of one of the lead characters that left me feeling rather cold on the story by the end. Fans of YA contemporary romance might still want to give this one a shot, however, as the author’s quippy dialogue is still as fun as ever! Plus, there’s a nice little barb launched at the “Game of Thrones” finale towards the end of the book. Always love to see it.

Rating 7: Just ok. I thought the book touched on some important themes, but the love story felt oddly paced and I struggled to like Viola as a character.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Twelfth” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2024

Kate’s Review: “Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit”

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Book: “Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” by Nadine Sander-Green

Publishing Info: House of Anansi Press, April 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from Zg Stories.

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

Book Description: A woman’s coming-of-age through a toxic relationship, isolation, and betrayal―set against the stark landscape of the far north.

Millicent is a shy, 24-year-old reporter who moves to Whitehorse to work for a failing daily newspaper. With winter looming and the Yukon descending into darkness, Millicent begins a relationship with Pascal, an eccentric and charming middle-aged filmmaker who lives on a converted school bus in a Walmart parking lot. What begins as a romantic adventure soon turns toxic, and Millicent finds herself struggling not to lose herself and her voice.

Events come to a head at Thaw di Gras, a celebration in faraway Dawson City marking the return of light to the north. It’s here, in a frontier mining town filled with drunken tourists, eclectic locals, and sparkling burlesque dancers, that Millicent must choose between staying with Pascal or finally standing up to her abuser.

In the style of Ottessa Moshfegh’s honest exploration of dysfunctional relationships, and with the warmth and energy of Heather O’Neill, Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit illuminates what it’s like to be young, impulsive, and in love in one of the harshest environments in the world.

Review: Thank you to Zg Stories for sending me an ARC of this novel!

While I am usually a person who loves predictability and not so much spontaneity, one of the areas where I DO tend to divert from the norms is my reading. And while that isn’t shown as much on the blog, I found myself compelled to dip my toes outside of my usual genres when the book “Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” by Nadine Sander-Green came across my path. I was wholly taken with not only the setting of a small town in The Yukon (far up North small towns are very near and dear to my heart, even if my frame of reference is more Minnesota and Wisconsin versus Canada), and it sounded like an interesting character study of a woman trying to find herself, and unfortunately being targeted and manipulated by a toxic older man. So while it MAYBE had some thriller potential due to the latter bit of that, I felt that even if it was ultimately not a thriller, I still wanted to give it a go. And I’m happy I did, because “Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” hit a nerve in a good way.

“Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” is a contemporary novel that follows Millicent, a twenty four year old woman who has uprooted her life to take a job at a small town newspaper in an isolated community in The Yukon called Whitehorse. Her only initial connection is her roommate Sophie, a friend from university whom she has drifted from, and her new job has left her with a serious case of imposter syndrome as she is at her heart a poet, not a journalist. The small town setting is both claustrophobic, but also striking and very grounded. I could imagine Whitehorse, I could almost see all the people, and the dark winter landscape as Millicent tries to adjust. I also got a full sense for the community as a whole and the very real issues that happen within the time and place, with references to relevant social issues in the Yukon in regards to politics and the First Nations people who are living there, and the ins and outs of a dying newspaper that Millicent works for. It’s a quieter novel, but I found it very engaging perhaps in part because of that. Millicent is a bit of a fish out of water, and her isolation, even from her supportive roommate and coworkers, makes it easy for her to be drawn to Pascal, a local eccentric who fancies himself and artist and is living a transient lifestyle in a bus like a mercurial bohemian. His eccentricity makes him stand out in this setting, which is so well drawn out by Sander-Greene that his appeal, at least on the surface, is wholly believable (and more on him in a bit).

Another thing I enjoyed about this book is how straight forward it is in terms of the plot and narrative. As we follow Millicent’s story, there are few bells and whistles, very little melodrama, no twists, and no big reveals to upend expectations of the plot. Instead we just have a very clear cut story about a young woman who is trying to find herself in a new environment that can feel quite isolating, and who becomes wrapped up with a manipulative and charismatic man in the hunt for connection. And this thread in the book was what stood out to me the most, this portrayal of a toxic relationship and how a smart young woman could find herself entangled within it. Pascal is absolutely a villain in this book, but his villainy is very well done in that it is very subtle and very easy to see why Millicent, who is yearning for connection and with an idealistic view of the world, could be sucked in by him. He’s charming, his life seems artistic, romantic, and interesting, and how many times have we heard of older men preferring the company of young women because of, at least in part, how much they can control them, and manipulating them to feel connected and genuine. Pascal is sinister as hell, but he never feels like an moustache twirling antagonist that is over the top with his malevolence, and if anything that makes him that much scarier.

“Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” was a gratifying shift from my usual genres, with a powerful new voice for contemporary and literary works. I will certainly be looking out for more works by Nadine Sander-Green in the future!

Rating 8: A compelling, quiet, and intense story about isolation, identity, and finding oneself in the face of abuse and hardship.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on the Goodreads list “The Yukon”.

Serena’s Review: “Ruthless Vows”

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Book: “Ruthless Vows” by Rebecca Ross

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, December 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: own it!

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

Book Description: Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor’s reign.

Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.

Previously Reviewed: “Divine Rivals”

Review: Sometimes I find it difficult striking a balance between keeping up with all of the new releases that I’m sure readers are looking for reviews for while also not slipping behind on books that are parts of a series and have sequels coming out during that same period of time. So, alas, here we are several months after the fact for a review for the second half of the wildly popular “Letters of Enchantment” duology. *les sigh*

I’ve been a big fan of Ross’s stories for a while now, so I have been incredibly pleased to see this duology so well received by many readers who are new to her work. That said, while I do like this book and its predecessor, I have to make a small plug for some of her earlier books, which I think are even stronger! But, of course, the focus of this review is this book. The last one ended on a huge cliffhanger, so I went into this one with a lot of pent up anxiety about where the story would go from here! The book picks up two weeks after the events of the previous book, with Iris back in the city and Roman behind enemy lines with his memories wiped.

I was a bit concerned about how this story would play out with our two main characters separated once again and with Roman’s lack of memories, but I was pleased with the way this was dealt with. The author doesn’t wipe the board completely clean, but instead neatly maneuvers the characters through a series of events that keeps the focus strong on their romance. While I still think the first book’s love story was the stronger of the two, I will always appreciate sequels that allow the love story to move further forward, instead of resetting it completely. Yes, we have to see these two rediscover each other to some extent, but we also get a fairly significant portion of the story that deals with them reconciled and moving through the next stages of their relationship.

I also really enjoyed the scenes we had from Roman’s perspective, the chance to see behind enemy lines and meet the big bad that was so often discussed in the first story. I particularly enjoyed the exploration of the soldiers who had been forcibly recruited, all struggling with memory loss and fighting for a cause they didn’t choose. In Iris’s chapter, we explored themes of loyalty, resistance, and the experiences of the civilians in a city under siege. Like the first book, these scenes of warfare were all incredibly powerful, presenting some of the many moral challenges faced by those in these situations.

I do think the book struggled a bit with how Dacre himself was dealt with. There were several points in the story where I struggled to understand some of his decision making. For such a powerful god, it didn’t make sense that he was relying on Roman and even Iris so much in the ways that he did. How these two weren’t outright murdered several times is frankly beyond me. But, believability aside, I still liked the overall themes of this book enough to not be too put off by that.

Overall, this was an excellent sequel to an excellent duology! Fans of the first book are sure to love it (who am I kidding though, all of the big fans have already read it by now!) and, with a conclusion as solid as this one, the entire duology is one I’d recommend to readers looking for a fresh take on a YA fantasy novel!

Rating 8: Love, war, and the impossible choices found therein, this duology is one of the best in YA fantasy out there!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Ruthless Vows” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Best YA Sequels and Romantasy.

Kate’s Review: “Missing White Woman”

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

Book: “Missing White Woman” by Kellye Garrett

Publishing Info: Mulholland Books, April 2024

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

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

Book Description: The truth is never skin deep.

It was supposed to be a romantic getaway weekend in New York City. Breanna’s new boyfriend, Ty, took care of everything—the train tickets, the dinner reservations, the rented four-story luxury rowhouse in Jersey City with a beautiful view of the Manhattan skyline. But when Bree comes downstairs their final morning, she’s shocked. There’s a stranger laying dead in the foyer, and Ty is nowhere to be found.

A Black woman alone in a new city, Bree is stranded and out of her depth—especially when it becomes clear the dead woman is none other than Janelle Beckett, the missing woman the entire Internet has become obsessed with. There’s only one person Bree can turn to: her ex-best friend, a lawyer with whom she shares a very complicated past. As the police and a social media mob close in, all looking for #JusticeForJanelle, Bree realizes that the only way she can help Ty—or herself—is to figure out what really happened that last night.

But when people only see what they want to see, can she uncover the truth hiding in plain sight?

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

Two years ago I really enjoyed Kellye Garrett’s book “Like A Sister”, as I found it tense, complex, and endlessly readable. Because it was such a win for me I was absolutely interested in reading anything new that she came out with, so of course “Missing White Woman” was going to make my must read 2024 list. Already enjoying the author is a huge plus, but the name alone carries promise of deconstructing certain problematic issues in media and the public when it comes to in real time true crime. Just icing on an already promising cake, really.

Approaching this as a thriller first and foremost, Garrett has once again crafted a really interesting mystery that not only has some solid twists and turns, but a perspective that has some greater weight due to the sad realities of systemic racism (and societal but more on that later) in the United States. Our protagonist is Breanna, a Black woman who is on a much needed short vacation at an Airbnb in Jersey City with her new boyfriend Ty. While it starts out well, the on the last day Breanna wakes up in the house to find not only Ty has disappeared, but there is a dead body in the house, who appears to be that of Jenelle Beckett, a missing white woman whose disappearance has gone viral online. Breanna is met with some suspicion by the cops, though their focus is mostly on Ty, who is missing. It’s a simple story about a woman trying to clear her name and also the name of her new boyfriend, with the help of her former best friend turned lawyer Adore, and it has a lot of good surprises, red herrings, and suspenseful moments based not only in Breanna perhaps being in danger, not only because of not knowing Ty’s involvement, or the public starting to gnash for blood, but also because of the fact she’s a Black woman who is a person of interest in a dead white woman’s murder. It doesn’t help that Breanna has a VERY traumatic history with law enforcement, as she was the victim of police mistreatment when she was a young woman and a police officer pulled her over and profiled her as a Black woman, which led to an unjust arrest and conviction that ruined her life. This means that it not only makes Breanna more likely to be cagey around law enforcement and make her seem more suspicious to them, but that we also have to worry about it happening to her again even though we know she didn’t do it. It’s a dynamic layer that really worked for me.

Garrett also does a fantastic job of tackling some pretty relevant issues in regards to the pitfalls of true crime as it exists on the Internet and on social media platforms. And she does it in a way that doesn’t feel ham fisted or preachy! The most obvious is the subplot of a beauty influencer named Billie Regan who has platformed the story about Jenelle and is blasting it on her TikTok to seemingly build up views and to bring attention to herself/get some clout on the back of someone else’s tragedy. I really enjoyed the transcripts of Billie’s lives as she puts on a huge performance about how worried she is about Jenelle, and how she is feeding the frenzy of her followers and true crime addicts who fancy themselves armchair detectives and whips them into a hysteria about this missing white woman. Add into the way that she does her own unethical and reckless investigating and blasts Ty and Breanna to millions of followers, and makes them targets of random people who are out for blood and it’s all the more upsetting. It combines the already insidious racist implications of the ‘missing white woman syndrome’ (see the title) and how that kind of case gets ALL the focus while victims of color are all too often ignored, with a misguided mob of people who take a real tragedy and try to make themselves a part of it for clout, attention, or to feel like they are doing SOMETHING by targeting two Black people. It would be SO EASY to make this kind of commentary about true crime and social media feel well meaning and correct but SO clunky and preachy that it’s just obnoxious, as we have seen this kind of thing before (looking at you, “Black Christmas” 2019). But Garrett nails the tone, captures the gravity of it, and finds the nuance and trusts her readers to be able to parse it out without having to spoon feed it. Apparently this is a fine line to walk for some, but Garrett succeeds.

One quibble that I will note because it probably explains the lower rating number after all the well earned praise: the ending. It’s not a bad ending by any means, but it did feel a bit rushed and anticlimactic because of it. I also would have perhaps liked a little bit more time to see some of the fallout of how it all shook out. I never like feeling super rushed in a thriller.

But that’s just a quibble! Overall I enjoyed “Missing White Woman” quite a bit. It’s engaging and addicting, and with summer coming up and a need for vacation reads about to skyrocket, this is a good one to keep in mind!

Rating 8: A twisty thriller with a really well presented message about racism, social media, and missing white woman syndrome is hampered a bit by an ending that feels a little underwhelming.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Missing White Woman” is included on the Goodreads lists “2024 Mystery Thrillers Crime To Be Excited For”, and “2024 Books By Black Authors”.

Not Just Books: April 2024

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

Serena’s Picks

Movie: “The Mummy”

I may, MAY, have forced my sister to watch this movie excessively as a kid. But is there really such thing as “excessive” viewing of this movie?? No, there is not! Proved by the fact that even with our shared childhood watching of this movie, the minute I texted my sister that “The Mummy” was coming back to theaters for its 25th (oof) anniversary, she responded by immediately looking for theaters in her area. I knew she would thank me! Only took…yeah, 25 years apparently. But seriously, this is just a great film. In many ways, it’s the “Indiana Jones” sequel we never got in all of the important wants: action, adventure, romance, and a nice dose of cheese on top of it all. I probably re-watch this one once a year or so, but this was the first time I actually got to see it on the big screen!

Amazon Prime Show: “Wheel of Time” season 2

It may have taken a while, but when my mom was visiting recently she finally pushed me to go back and finish up what we have so far of the “Wheel of Time” series. I enjoyed the first season, for the most part, but I also wasn’t in love with it (hence the delay in getting to the second season in the first place!). But I was pleased to find that I liked this second season better! I think many of the younger actors more fully came into their own, and several of the characters were given more compelling plot line than they had in the first one. Of course, there were still characters whose stories I didn’t care about as much, but the strength of the others balanced it all out. I’m sure fans of the first season enjoyed this one, and now I know not to wait on the third one when it finally comes out!

Netflix Show: “The Gentlemen”

My husband and I stumbled on this one by pure chance, and boy am I glad that we did! I enjoyed the heck out of this! It’s the story of a man who comes into the dukedom after his father passes away only to find that his father had been funding the estate by letting a criminal organization run their marijuana farm on the property. Of course, what’s to be done but some how get tangled up in a mess of rival drug fiefdoms, including the one and only Giancarlo Esposito, who by this point is just trolling us all by playing a character who is a rival drug lord with his own plans. This is the “Breaking Bad” alternate universe that we didn’t know we needed!

Kate’s Picks

Film: “Lisa Frankenstein”

I missed this one in the theaters, but I found myself with no plans, a sleeping kid, and a husband at a soccer game one night, so I decided to sit down and watch it. And I was pretty charmed! It follows Lisa, an outcast teen in the 80s who spends her free time tending to the local bachelor’s grove cemetery. But when a lightning bolt resurrects the dead Victorian boy whose grave she had been especially fond of, she finds not only a true (if dead) friend, but also starts to realize that perhaps she can help put him back together. With the pieces of less than good people. I really enjoyed the 80s aesthetic in this one, and it was written by Diablo Cody, so you know the dialogue is snappy as hell. I’m also a sucker for outcast romances, and this one is VERY that. Also, the soundtrack is fantastic, especially for this New Wave loving former Goth.

TV Show: “Taskmaster”

This is purely my husband’s doing, as he stumbled upon this show on an Instagram reel and was immediately intrigued. He sought it out on YouTube, became obsessed, and then roped me in to watch it one night when we were both home and the kid was in bed. And what a fun and hilarious show! The premise is that a Taskmaster (comedian Greg Davies) and his assistant (creator and fellow comedian Alex Horne) present various ludicrous challenges and tasks to a group of other comedians and/or media personalities over the course of a series, and whoever has the most points at the end wins. Participants have included the likes of Noel Fielding, Katherine Parkinson, Mel Giedroyc, and many many more, and the challenges are bonkers and hilarious and require some serious ingenuity at times (one of my favorites was the participants had to paint a portrait of the Taskmaster but couldn’t stand on the large carpet that the easel was on and had to figure out how to make that work). I’ve laughed until I’ve cried many times.

Film: “Abigail”

You know how much I love a vampire story (assuming it fits only my VERY stringent criteria), and the moment I saw the trailer for “Abigail” I knew that I had to go see it. So Terror Tuesday folks and I hopped on over to the theater, and boy, what a wicked TREAT this movie is! A group of criminals have been hired to kidnap a twelve year old ballerina named Abigail, only told that she is the daughter of a powerful underground figure. But soon they realize that Abigail isn’t a normal twelve year old girl, and that they are trapped inside a fortified mansion with a little girl vampire who has a SERIOUS penchant for blood and gore. I mean, come on. That’s gold. And the cast is stacked, with Giancarlo Esposito, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton (her second film on my list this month!), and Melissa Berrera included. Though admittedly my favorite was Alisha Weir as the titular vampire because she as delightful. I also love cracking wise to anyone who will listen that my own four year old daughter who loves to spin in pretty dresses and who has some, shall we say, emotional regulation issues is pretty similar to the vampire ballerina.

Serena’s Review: “Dragon Rider”

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

Book: “Dragon Rider” by Taran Matharu

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, April 2024

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

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

Book Description: Can an orphan captive learn the secrets of the Dragon Riders to stand up and avenge his people? Jai lives as a royal hostage in the Sabine Court—ever since his father Rohan, leader of the Steppefolk, led a failed rebellion and was executed by the very emperor Jai now serves. When the emperor’s son and heir is betrothed to Princess Erica of the neighboring Dansk Kingdom, she brings with her dragons. Endemic to the northern nation, these powerful beasts come in several forms, but mystery surrounds them. Only Dansk royalty know the secret to soulbonding with these dangerous beasts to draw on their power and strength. This marriage—and the alliance that forms—will change that forever. But conspirators lurk in the shadows, and soon the Sabine Court is in chaos. With his life in danger, Jai uses the opportunity to escape with the Dansk handmaiden, Frida, and a stolen hatchling. Hunted at every turn, he must learn to cultivate magic and become a soulbound warrior if he has any chance of finding safety, seizing his destiny…and seeking his revenge.

Review: There’s something great about this title. No dissembling, no “A something of something and something” styling. Just “Dragon Rider.” You know pretty much everything you need to know right from the start: there will be dragons, and there will be people riding them! I think this will be good enough for many fantasy fans, and it certainly was for me!

There was a lot to like about this book, right from the start. It’s the kind of story that plops you down right in the middle of things and leaves it to the reader to wade through the various peoples and places that are presented on the page. Also, right from the get go, it was clear that this was going to be one of those political maneuvering stories where everyone has their own agenda and the intrepid heroes fall into the dangerous plans of others. So it is with our main character who quickly finds himself jumping out of the frying pan and straight into the fire. Of course, a lucky run in with a dragon egg changes his fate and leads to the titular concept of this book.

For all of the fact that some of the book’s core concepts were expected, I was also surprised by a large chunk of the middle of the story. There, the book suddenly turns into a survival story, with Jai and Frida (a young woman he teams up with) having to persist in the face of the elements, starvation, and danger, all while caring for a baby dragon. I really loved this aspect of the story, but I will say that it’s the kind of thing that does impact the overall pacing of the story. If readers are buckled in for a slower ride, one in which you’re immersed in the day-to-day struggles and experiences of these characters, than I think the book delivers! But it is a shift from the expectation that is presented at the start, where the focus is more on court politics.

The story also takes its time really diving into Jai’s experiences learning to manage his magic and to bond with the baby dragon. Again, much of this leads to a major slow down in the story, so it will depend on readers’ interests levels how well this part of the story succeeds. I was also surprised by just how violent this book was at times. It’s definitely not for the weak of heart with some fairly graphic scenes of violence, much of which is committed against Jai himself.

Overall, I thought this was a successful fantasy story. It’s the kind of high fantasy story that will likely appeal to readers looking for a more “classic” dragon rider story than “Fourth Wing.” It is dense and can be slow at times, so readers should keep that in mind when picking it up.

Rating 8: A well-rounded fantasy stories that highlights yet again why dragons are such beloved magical creatures!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Dragon Rider” can be found on this Goodreads list: Dragon Riders

Serena’s Review: “A Letter to the Luminous Deep”

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

Book: “A Letter to the Luminous Deep” by Slyvie Cathrall

Publishing Info: Orbit, April 2023

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

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

Book Description: A beautiful discovery outside the window of her underwater home prompts the reclusive E. to begin a correspondence with renowned scholar Henerey Clel. The letters they share are filled with passion, at first for their mutual interests, and then, inevitably, for each other.

Together, they uncover a mystery from the unknown depths, destined to transform the underwater world they both equally fear and love. But by no mere coincidence, a seaquake destroys E.’s home, and she and Henerey vanish.

A year later, E.’s sister Sophy, and Henerey’s brother Vyerin, are left to solve the mystery of their siblings’ disappearances with the letters, sketches and field notes left behind. As they uncover the wondrous love their siblings shared, Sophy and Vyerin learn the key to their disappearance – and what it could mean for life as they know it.

Review: While I used to think I didn’t enjoy epistolary-style stories, I’ve read a number of really great ones over the last few years to the point where I’m now wondering if I had originally just read a few not so great ones and judged the entire format just on that. As it stands, the “Emily Wilde” series has done a lot to reform my opinion, and this one sounded very similar, not only using a similar format but also leaning heavily into the academia side of fantasy and science fiction. Let’s dive in (heh, how clever)!

I think this will be one of those books that might be a struggle for the average fantasy reader, but will also garner devoted fans who also adore it! This largely comes down to the overall style and tone of the writing. Like I said, “Emily Wilde” is definitely a comparable title, but in comparison to this one, that is “epistolary academia fantasy lite!” Pretty much take the tone and style of that book and magnify it and you will get this story! There’s simply more of everything: more focus on the intricacies, oddities, and cultures of academia, more complicated and verbose sentence structure and specialized vocabulary, and even more commitment to the epistolary style. In “Emily Wilde,” many times her journal entries would read as a straight narrative. Here, the author is fully invested in telling a story only through letters and supporting documents, so the narrative plays out in a more distanced way.

And I loved all of this! I love authors who can so naturally capture this sort of long-form, “old fashion” style of writing where sentences are long and word choices are elaborate. I also really enjoyed the slow reveals of the many mysteries and secrets at the heart of the story. Not only do we have the remove of learning this story through the more limited form of what letter writers choose to share with one another, but we also are piecing together what happened in the past as the siblings of another pair of characters work to compile the correspondence of two characters who have passed away.

I really enjoyed all the characters we have here, both pairs of writers feeling fully realized and interesting. E, I think, rose to the top simply for how well the author managed to portray a character who lives with high levels of anxiety that affect how she lives her life. In the past, I’ve often found myself frustrated and disappointed by the rather surface level portrayal of characters like these, but the topic is so perfectly explore in E, both honestly depicting her struggles, but also not defining her by this trait. I also really enjoyed Sophy, her younger sister who has her own adventure and must later work through E’s past letters to try to discover what happened to her. Sophy is a much more action-oriented character, and the contrast between them was nice, as well as the loving, strong sisterly relationship we see between them.

I’ll also make a small plug here with regards to the genre of this book. I’ve seen a lot of reviewers calling this fantasy, but I think this is a perfect example of a science fiction novel that doesn’t take place in space. Too often, it feels like readers and marketers think that “science fiction” and “space” are synonymous, but this book perfectly highlights why science fiction needs to be remembered as being a broader category. In almost every way, this book much more closely aligns with the conventions of science fiction over fantasy, especially with its academic focus, which is very scientific in nature. Not only that, but the history of this world and the mysteries we discover all fall in better line with science fiction than fantasy (in many ways, it reminds of the movie “The Abyss.”) This isn’t necessarily a hugely important distinction, but I do think science fiction readers might miss this one due to the fact that it’s being called a fantasy story much of the time. Anyways, there’s my TED talk on that topic!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I was surprised to find that it’s the start of the series, and it does end on a mild cliffhanger. But there were so many interesting twists and turns (both with the larger mystery and with a few character turns that really took me by surprise) that I can’t wait to see where things go from here! Readers who enjoy rather long-winded, heavily academic fiction will likely enjoy this one! Also those looking for a lovely slow-burn romance!

Rating 9: Cathrall embraces the full beauty of the epistolary novel, creating a vivid, immersive world and peopling it with characters I’d follow into the darkest depths!

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Letter to the Luminous Deep” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Related to the Sea

Kate’s Review: “First Light”

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Book: “First Light” by Liz Kerin

Publishing Info: Tor Nightfire, April 2024

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

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

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.

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

After “Night’s Edge” blew me away last year, I had high high hopes for Liz Kerin’s follow up, though I was also apprehensive for a few reasons. The first is always that fear that a follow up to a well loved read will somehow be a let down or underwhelming. The second and more relevant reason here is that “Night’s Edge” left off on such a bummer of a note that I was steeling myself for a story that had the very real potential to destroy me. And you know what? It did.

Actual image of me sobbing over my kindle in the dark at 3am during an insomnia charged reading session (source).

Before I go into the things that kicked my emotions square in the ass, I want to talk about “First Light” in how it has expanded and further explored the vampire themes and the horror/thriller themes as a whole. So first a refresher where we are as we start this book (and this review will have spoilers for “Night’s Edge”, though I’m going to do my best to avoid spoilers for this one): our protagonist Mia is a young woman living in a world where vampires, or Saras, are confirmed as real and seen as threats to the world. Her mother Izzy had been turned into a Sara by her toxic boyfriend Devon when Mia was a child, and since then Mia had been helping hide her mother’s condition, protecting her, devoting her life to her, and bloodletting to her when needed. When Mia met and fell for a free spirited musician named Jade and was going to leave, Izzy lashed out and was going to kill Jade, so Mia killed her. Now we are catching up with Mia, who is now obsessed with finding Devon and getting her revenge on him for ruining her mother’s life and therein her own. She has been tracking him and the fringe group he runs, known as ADAPT, that has been recruiting Saras online to join them and to make more Saras so that Saras can outnumber humans, and become apex predators.

While there is some bit of Mia that knows this is on a whole wrong, she is more driven by her personal hatred of Devon, and the cat and mouse game that ensues, both at a distance and close up, it riveting, tense, and very well done. I liked learning more about how society has been trying to contain and control Saras, as we go from underground terrorist groups to charity run Sara houses that try to keep them safe and cared for (but also away from others), as well as how Mia finds herself drawn to a Sara named Cora, who may know something about Devon’s and ADAPTs whereabouts. The action rarely stops as we jump from past to present, and I found it incredibly engaging as a horror thriller and very unique and enjoyable as a vampire story and all the bloody bells and whistles that go with it. I especially was horrified by some of Devon’s manipulations and greater plans if only because he is still SO charismatic, which is terrifying in and of itself.

But at its heart, beneath all the vampire goodness and gore and vengeance parable is a story about healing and a story about a woman having to find herself after losing her complicated mother, who had been the only person she had really truly lived for, and now has to live without. Mia is focusing so much of her energy and time on tracking down Devon and getting revenge for Izzy and for herself, that she isn’t trying to heal from the terrible loss not only of Izzy at the end of “Night’s Edge”, but also the loss of a functional childhood long before she has gotten to this part and new traumas as this narrative goes on. She obsesses with finding Devon and his ADAPT group of potential terrorist Saras, doing research, delving into volunteer work at a Sara house to try and get information from those who may know something, and falling into a bottle as well as a desire for revenge, that she isn’t finding closure or peace. But Kerin, instead of making this a tragic tale of all consuming revenge, does that on that as a warning, and has Mia start to navigate her traumas even as she gets close to her goal. Even if that means reconciling devastating truths about her mother. Even if that means having to accept new truths about herself. Even if that means seeking closure with Jade, her love interest and spark for a yearning for a better life in “Night’s Edge”, and learning to trust people again, specifically Cora, a Sara that has potential connections to ADAPT and whom Mia first seeks out for information purposes, but then starts to fall for. There are so many gut wrenching moments as Mia goes on this journey, and it all culminates with a lot of action that feels incredibly fulfilling while still tearing my heart out for various reasons. It’s just so good.

“First Light” is a fantastic conclusion to the story of Mia and her vampire mother Izzy. I absolutely loved this book and will dive headfirst into anything that Liz Kerin writes next, whether it’s expanding upon her Sara world building, or bringing us something totally new. Simply exquisite.

Rating 10: A tense, unforgiving, and deeply emotional sequel that tackles vengeance, identity, and forgiveness and expands upon an already unique and effective vampire mythos.

Reader’s Advisory:

“First Light” isn’t included on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Best Adult Vampire Books”.

Previously Reviewed:

Serena’s Review: “What Monstrous Gods”

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Book: “What Monstrous Gods” by Rosamund Hodge

Publishing Info: Balzer + Bray, March 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: Centuries ago, the heretic sorcerer Ruven raised a deadly briar around Runakhia’s palace, casting the royal family into an enchanted sleep – and silencing the kingdom’s gods.

Born with a miraculous gift, Lia’s destiny is to kill Ruven and wake the royals. But when she succeeds, she finds her duty is not yet complete, for now she must marry into the royal family and forge a pact with a god – or die.

To make matters even worse, Ruven’s spirit is haunting her.

As discord grows between the old and new guards, the queen sends Lia and Prince Araunn, her betrothed, on a pilgrimage to awaken the gods. But the old gods are more dangerous than Lia ever knew – and Ruven may offer her only hope of survival.

As the two work together, Lia learns that they’re more alike than she expected. And with tensions rising, Lia must choose between what she was raised to believe and what she knows is right – and between the prince she is bound to by duty…and the boy she killed.

Review: I always enjoy fantasy stories that tackle religion and gods and the many ways these can affect society in both beneficial and horribly tragic ways. It can really go either way! So the description immediately appealed! Plus, the fact that it sounds vaguely like a “Sleeping Beauty” re-imaging, and I’ve read a few other fairytale re-tellings by this author that I liked were also good signs in its favor! And while pieces of all of these things were present (plus a very romantic cover), in the end, I didn’t think any of them fully lived up to their potential.

The story started off with a bang, introducing our main character Lia who has been raised for a large chunk of her life in a convent after the loss of her family to a deadly plague that has ravaged her country for centuries. Her initial goals and drive were clear, and the plot progressed quickly to her harrowing journey through the dangerous hedge around the castle, and from there to her confrontation and eventual murder of Ruven, the man behind the curse. I liked all of this so much and was fairly confident at this point that I was going to like this story! I appreciated Lia’s drive and devotion to her cause, and I always like to see heroine’s who can back up their talk with action. So while her killing of Ruven definitely reads with a large question mark aside of it, from Lia’s perspective, this was her mission and she fulfilled it.

Sadly, the book seemed to fall off a steep cliff from here. What had initially felt like intriguing world building, especially the pantheon of gods and their various saints, soon seemed to become a mire of pitfalls and inconsistencies. Suddenly, information was just popping up here and there, seemingly whenever the plot of the book needed it to. It’s not a spoiler since the summary of the book gets to this plot point, but the manner in which Lia’s engagement comes up in the book is literally some character being like “Oh, you didn’t know about this history of this law? Well, ta da! We must wed!” I really hate when stories just throw in crutches like this that seem to come out of nowhere, with no one, reader or character, having heard of it until it conveniently needs to happen for plot purposes. And this sort of thing happens again and again as the story progresses.

As far as Lia’s character goes, I appreciate what I believe the author was trying to do, exploring religious trauma and indoctrination in a system that is not what it seems. However, the way it plays out on the page leaves us with a character who comes across as incredibly passive and one who for too long refuses to act in the face of new information. This is especially frustrating to read after the action-packed beginning of the story where we see a very different version of Lia.

The romance is also fairly lackluster. I will say, one of the strengths of this book is Ruven’s character, especially the witty dialogue that we get from him in his ghost form throughout. That said, the love story itself felt a bit like an after thought and hit some strange beats. There was never really any explanation for why these two would fall in love with one another, especially after some late-game betrayals between them. It was a strange situation where, on one hand, I enjoyed the interactions between Ruven and Lia more than anything else in the story, but I also struggled to really buy their love story as a whole.

Unfortunately, this book ended up as a disappointment. I will say that the writing was strong throughout, and for readers who are especially interested in the exploration of religious trauma in a fantasy world, this might be a good read to check out. However, I feel like the inconsistent world-building and characterization of the main character were on the weaker side, in the end.

Rating 7: While it started off on a strong note, this book took an unfortunate dive into inconsistent world-building and weaker characterization.

Reader’s Advisory:

“What Monstrous Gods” can be found on this Goodreads list: Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2024

Kate’s Review: “Indian Burial Ground”


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Book: “Indian Burial Ground” by Nick Medina

Publishing Info: Berkley, April 2024

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

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.0rg | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: All Noemi Broussard wanted was a fresh start. With a new boyfriend who actually treats her right and a plan to move from the reservation she grew up on—just like her beloved Uncle Louie before her—things are finally looking up for her. Until the news of her boyfriend’s apparent suicide brings her world crumbling down. But the facts about Roddy’s death just don’t add up, and Noemi isn’t the only one who suspects something menacing might be lurking within their tribal lands.

After more than a decade away, Uncle Louie has returned to the reservation, bringing with him a past full of secrets and horror and what might be the key to determining Roddy’s true cause of death. Together, Noemi and Louie set out to find answers…but as they get closer to the truth, Noemi begins to question whether it might be best for some secrets to remain buried.

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

Last year I read and reviewed Nick Medina’s “Sisters of a Lost Nation”, a horror novel that had its scariest moments not in the supernatural bits (though those were also great), but in the way it addressed the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic. It was such a visceral read that I knew I needed to see what Medina was going to write next, and so when “Indian Burial Ground” ended up on my radar I was ACHING to read it. NetGalley came through, and it ended up on my Kindle. I knew that I needed to carve out some time, because it was going to take up my literary focus once I started. And lo and behold my prediction came true. “Indian Burial Ground” had my full attention.

Like in “Sisters of a Lost Nation”, we return to the fictional Takoda Reservation in Louisiana, and not only do we get a revisit to this setting, but also so some of its side characters (I love it when authors do this, honestly, so that was a bit of a treat from the jump). “Indian Burial Ground” is told in two separate timelines. The first is in the modern day, where we mostly follow Noemi, whose boyfriend Roddy was just killed after being hit by a car, the death officially called a suicide. Noemi just can’t believe that Roddy would do that, and starts to think that something else is at play, just as her uncle Louie returns home after being away from the reservation for years. The next is in the summer of 1986, where Louie has been balancing trying to take care of his toddler niece to help out his teenage sister Lula, as well as trying to keep the family above water as their mother sinks deeper and deeper into alcoholism. During this time, strange deaths start to happen on the Takoda Reservation, as well as some desecrations at the tribal cemetary where bones are being stolen. As Louie starts piecing together rumors, histories, and seemingly supernatural clues, he starts to panic over protecting his niece. Medina effortlessly pulls these two timelines together, switching between the perspectives of Noemi and Louie, and shows an undercurrent of unrest on the Takoda Reservation that is still affecting the people who live, or lived, there. The two stories are both compelling in their own ways, one of which being supernatural and eerie, and the other more of a mystery about a tragedy and whether or not the official explanation is the actual one. And then bringing them together to tell a bigger story with realistic truths couched in supernatural horrors.

And the horrors, supernatural or not, are ample, twisted, and deeply emotional. or the more fantastical scares, I enjoyed the folklore inspirations that Medina created for the Takoda characters, with morality tales that are perhaps playing out in real time as members of the community start diverting from the path that is promoted in their culture and identity, and how that is possibly causing the destruction and deaths in the community in the summer of 1986. There were so many bits of unnerving creepiness, and it is clear to me that Medina is very talented at the slow build scary story. Whether it’s a coyote eating from a corpse in a brazen way, or a dead body suddenly rising up as if alive, I was creeped out many times during my read. But it’s also the real life horrors that Medina delves into in this book that pack a serious punch, with themes of addiction, mental illness, systemic racism, poverty, and many other tragic circumstances of the Takoda people living on the reservation. It could be teenage Louie being parentified to care for his cousin and another child in the community, or his and Lula’s mother being in the throes of alcoholism to the point where she isn’t caring for her children anymore, or the possible mental illness that Noemi just can’t accept as a very real truth in Roddy’s life. It were these moments that really got to me because they were all so emotional and frank about living as an Indigenous person on a reservation in America, and the lack of societal supports given.

“Indian Burial Ground” is dark and unrelenting, and it is another triumph from a fresh new voice in horror writing. Definitely recommended.

Rating 8: A deeply disturbing and heart wrenching horror novel that takes its scares from folklore inspiration, as well as the all too real horrors of being Indigenous in America.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Indian Burial Ground” is included on the Goodreads lists “Indigenous Fiction 2024”, and “Horror to Look Forward to in 2024”.