Category: Serena’s Reviews

Serena’s Review: “The Gods Time Forgot”

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Book: “The Gods Time Forgot” by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez

Publishing Info: Alcove Press, April 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: Manhattan, 1870. Rua knows only two things: her name, and that she has no memories. So when the wealthy Harrington family mistakes Rua for their missing daughter, Emma, Rua goes along with the charade, hoping for answers about who she really is. As she tries to blend into a society she doesn’t remember, she’s drawn to a firmly off-limits the Lord of Donore, a newcomer to Manhattan society who is somehow familiar to Rua.

Finn is new to this side of the Atlantic and knows that the best way to fit in as Lord of Donore is to make friends in high places and play by the rules of society. He knows he shouldn’t become involved with a mysterious, recently missing debutante, but he’s intrigued by Emma Harrington, and Finn has an uncanny feeling that this isn’t the first time they’ve met. 

With societal pressures mounting on both sides, Rua is determined to discover the truth about the missing Harrington daughter and her own past. But when her memories begin to return, they’re of a world far stranger than New York and traced in dark magic.

As ancient secrets unfurl in Rua’s memory, Rua and Finn are forced to uncover the mystery of their past and try to save their future. In this gritty and glittering romantasy, nothing and no one is as they seem.

Review: Looking back on my reading experience of this book and what I think will likely happen for other readers as well, I keep coming back to “expectations vs. reality.” No one is done any favors when a book is set up as one thing, but then turns out to be very different. There are two primary areas where this happened: the marketing of this book’s genre and the book summary’s explanation of the romance.

So, first off, the genre expectations. This is marketed as a romantasy title. As we discussed in my subgenres post from a few weeks ago, this would mean the book is first and foremost a romance novel but situated within a fantasy setting. Now, the summary does explain that this book is also set in a particular point in history, so it can only be expected that an exploration of life in this place and time will make up a portion of the book. The problem here is that this actually took up the majority of the book! I got over the half way mark in this book before even remembering that this had been promoted as a romantasy…and other than a few throwaway lines here or there, there had been zero actual fantasy elements involved. I enjoy historical fiction, so it’s perhaps not surprising that I got as far as I did before this became apparent. But for readers who go in with the expectation of a romantsy novel, I think there will be disappointment.

Even on the historical front, I did struggle to really enjoy this book. There were a lot of ball room scenes and society scenes that simply began to feel repetitive, with many people behaving as the worst versions of characters from Bridgerton. Not only these settings, but the fact that every single time, these events would result in Rua making some “shocking” statements about how messed up all of these restrictions were. But more often than not, it just came across as Rua saying the most brain-numbingly obvious fact in the most abrasive manner possible. I think there are ways to write characters who defy societal expectations and thus draw attention to its flaws, but Rua was like a bull in a China shop in all of the worst ways.

The second problem came down to the romance and, again, how it is marketed in the book summary. As you can see above, the summary clearly pairs Rua with a character named Finn. Several paragraphs give us a brief overlay of their story together. But then I picked up this book and discovered, oh wait, it’s another love triangle and a character named Annette (who is NOWHERE TO BE SEEN in the book summary) is going to play a role in the romance. Again, poorly managed expectations don’t benefit anyone! Some readers really enjoy love triangles, but looking at this book description, they’d have no idea that this was a straightforward MF love story. Conversely, other readers (like me) don’t enjoy love triangles and try to avoid them. I know myself well enough to know that almost all love triangles set back my reading experiences fairly significantly, so I try to avoid requesting/reviewing those titles, as I don’t love writing critical reviews, especially when I know this aspect of it is totally subjective.

The story also struggles with its pacing. As I said above, the first half to 75% is largely focused on Rua’s experiences living in this society. But then the last quarter is a mad whirlwind, trying to wrap up all of the plotlines. It is here, too, where the fantasy elements finally really show up.

All of this to say, this book wasn’t for me, but that’s because I wasn’t the correct reader for it! (Well, I could get behind the historical stuff, but I just wasn’t expecting it as much when I went in.) I think there are readers out there who will enjoy this one, but I do think it would have been in this book’s best interest to be more straightforward about the romance tropes at its heart as well as the primary genre focus of the story.

Rating 6: Unfortunately, this one didn’t work for me. There was less fantasy than I was expecting, and I felt blindsided by yet another love triangle.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Gods Time Forgot” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Victorian Fantasy and 2025 Debut Novels.

Serena’s Review: “Chaos King”

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Book: “Chaos King” by Kacen Callender

Publishing Info: Tor Teen, April 2025

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

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

Book Description: Ever since he rose up against his father and saved New Anglia from destruction, Ash has been struggling to adapt to his new life. He has nightmares every night, haunted by strange black orbs and his screaming dead mother. Ash is sure she’s trying to warn him that the world is still in danger, and becomes determined to find a way to speak to her again―but communicating with the dead isn’t easy, even for an alchemist as powerful as Ash.

Previously Reviewed: “Infinity Alchemist”

Review: I didn’t love the first book in this series, but many of its problems also may have came down to all the elements a first book must tackle. Given more familiarity with the characters in this second go-around, I was interested to see where the story would go from there!

I will say, I did like this one better than the first. For one thing, I think the pacing was more balanced here. This makes sense, as it didn’t have to do nearly has much heavy lifting with regards to introducing the basic structures of this society and magic system. That being the case, the story had more free rein to dive straight into the main plot and several intense action sequences. This same benefit extended to the characters. While I still don’t love multiple love interests, the longer I’ve spent with all three of these people, the more I came to care about their various travails.

However, I still found myself struggling with the swapping pronouns for one of the characters. Inclusivity is important, but there are practical realities of reading a story via the written word that does create barriers to how this sort of character is presented. As it stands, swapping pronouns often throughout the story left me struggling to piece together who was saying/doing what. And this markedly detracted from my ability to stay connected to the plot, as I had to constantly come out of the story to piece together sentences and scour previous bits for context clues. Like I said in my original review, I’m not sure what the solution is here, but I think in light of the very real limitations of the written word, simply sticking with “they” as a pronoun would have greatly improved the writing in this book.

I did enjoy the themes explored here. This society has very real boundaries placed on its people, and we see the struggles our characters go through. Beyond that, we have the exploration of themes regarding religion and magic, and the lengths people are pushed to in their devotion to their beliefs. Revolution stories are always a good time in fantasy!

That said, the book has an odd ending. I thought this was a duology when I picked this one up, but the end definitely leaves the door open for more, with several questions left unanswered. Ultimately, I think if you enjoyed the first book, this one will definitely hold up as a good sequel. Even for those who didn’t love the first book, this was definitely an improvement!

Rating 7: While it’s an improvement on the previous book, I still struggled with the readability at times, and the ending had me scratching me head a bit.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Chaos King” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 Dark Academia Releases.

Serena’s Review: “This Monster of Mine”

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

Book: “This Monster of Mine” by Shalini Abeysekara

Publishing Info: Union Square & Co., April 2025

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

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

Book Description: Eighteen-year-old Sarai doesn’t know why someone tried to kill her four years ago, but she does know that her case was closed without justice. Hellbent on vengeance, she returns to the scene of the crime as a Petitor, a prosecutor who can magically detect lies, and is assigned to work with Tetrarch Kadra. Ice-cold and perennially sadistic, Kadra is the most vicious of the four judges who rule the land – and the prime suspect in a string of deaths identical to Sarai’s attempted murder.

Certain of his guilt, Sarai begins a double life: solving cases with Kadra by day and plotting his ruin by night. But Kadra is charming and there’s something alluring about the wrath he wields against the city’s corruption. So when the evidence she finds embroils her in a deadly political battle, Sarai must also fight against her attraction to Kadra – because despite his growing hold on her heart, his voice matches the only memory she has of her assailant…

Review: This is going to be a very strange review to write, mostly because it was a very strange book to read. I’m honestly having a hard time thinking of a book that was more of a roller coaster ride than this one. One minute I’m loving it, whipping through action scenes, swooning over the love interest. The next, I’m irate, considering DNFing, franticly scanning other reviews to see if I’m way off base or totally missing something.

Beyond the whiplash that this experience created, I was also off balance due to the fact that my usual points of interest/concern were reversed. I’m a character reader first and foremost, and more often than not, if I get through a book I’m otherwise struggling with, it comes down to the strength of the characters or the narrative voice. Here, however, the characters (more, the main character) was the problem, but the writing itself was so good that it carried me through the real deep troughs I experienced otherwise. The author simply has an excellent style and voice! The world-building was perfectly crafted, the dialogue all felt believable, hitting all of the right notes in its humorous, serious, or romantic moments. And the exploration of its themes regarding law and justice were *chefs kiss.*

And, again, when I wasn’t getting bogged down in the main character, I really enjoyed the romance! The story is a true slow burn, and while the romance is important to the story, it doesn’t overshadow the other serious aspects of the story, such as the aforementioned themes regarding justice or the mystery behind what happened to Sarai. And, for his part, Kadra was an excellent romantic interest in his own right! Strong, but compassionate. Filled with purpose, but also focused on Sarai as she works through her trauma. And, honestly, a hell of a lot more patient with her more ridiculous moments that I ever would have been.

And then, there’s Sarai. Now, if she had simply been an unlikable heroine through and through, we probably wouldn’t be here, good writing bedamned. No, instead, she has a lot of strengths as a narrator! I enjoyed most of her inner voice, and her motivations and magical abilities were all very interesting. The problem, however, came down to her approach to discovering the truth behind the attempt on her life. To get into my feelings with this, I’m going to have to go into some spoilers of actions in the first half of the book. For those who want spoiler free, I’ll just say she makes wild leaps of logic throughout that make zero sense. The rest of this review, however, will be a bit more in-depth with my problems here.

SPOILERS BELOW!

So, a little backstory: years ago, someone attempted to kill Sarai. The nature of the crime left her body and mind broken, with all but the barest fragments of memory of the event wiped from her mind. All she does remember is a specific voice, one that instructs another person to patch her up and get her out of the city, granted in a rough and tough tone of voice. In the years since, there has been a suicide spree, with many individuals with magical abilities like Sarai seeming to kill themselves in odd ways. Years later, she returns to try to discover what happened and who tried to kill her. Almost immediately, she recognizes the voice from her memories as Kadra.

Now, as readers, we know that Kadra can’t have been the attempted murderer, simply because we know we’re reading a romantic fantasy novel and he’s the romantic interest. Sarai couldn’t (and shouldn’t!) think this way, too. However, from the memories she does have, even she admits early in the book that whomever the voice belonged to was responsible for patching her up and could have very well been there for other reasons than being the person behind the attempt on her life. I read a paragraph from her saying just this and I thought, “Great, phew! We got the obvious bit out of the way right from the start and reinforced the idea that the true mystery here is why Kadra was there, why he helped her, and why he banished her out of the city.”

Unfortunately, no. In the very next chapter, Sarai is full-on convinced that Kadra must have been the one to try to kill her (somehow immediately forgetting/disregarding the fact that he then, inexplicably, saved her?? Why he wouldn’t have just finished her off for good is simply…never mentioned or thought of). What’s worse, Sarai begins to suspect that Kadra must also be behind the deaths of the others like her, those who have been supposedly committing suicide.

Early in their time working together, Kadra and Sarai go to the morgue to look over the body of the most recent “suicide victim.” While there, Sarai witnesses Kadra fighting with the coroner over the manner of death, insisting that it couldn’t be a suicide (something that Sarai agrees with, after viewing the body). The coroner, on the other hand, is sure it’s a suicide and has ruled it as such. What’s more, she’s sick of Kadra coming by FIVE OR SIX TIMES before this over the last few months to argue this very point! Sarai, internally, goes on to think this: “Aha! Kadra must be behind this! He’s perfectly positioned himself to cover up his crimes by being the investigator behind them!!”

Girl, what?? No one thought this guy was murdered EXCEPT Kadra! If it wasn’t for him, this guy would have been buried and listed as a suicide months ago! And yet somehow, Sarai, dumb dumb that she is, has decided that it’s totally reasonable and smart that a murderer would stage an elaborate scene to make a crime look like a suicide, and then, after completely getting away with it, spend the next few months arguing with a coroner, insisting that it was, in fact, a murder! It honestly boggled my mind.

Next, a few days later, Kadra decides that he and Sarai should go inform the family that this guy didn’t commit suicide but was killed and that they’re looking into it. Sarai, SUPREME DUMB DUMB that she is, thinks to herself this: “Great! Maybe while I’m there I can uncover proof that Kadra was behind it!!”

Girl, WHAT?!?! You think that Kadra murdered this guy, set up an elaborate staged suicide, called that very same staging into question, and is now going to take a woman with incredible magical abilities back to the home of the victim where he just so happened to leave around evidence that explicitly condemns him?? What is he getting out of this?? How is this helping him and not, as any normal person would think, clearly revealing him to be the only person most likely to have NOT killed these people. And again, throughout this, Sarai never deals with the fact that her theory of Kadra as the man behind her own murder attempt is completely blown out of the water by the simple fact that he WAS THE ONE TO SAVE HER!

The face-palming throughout all of this was frankly appalling. I won’t go into more details, but these flaws in thinking and ridiculous theorizing continued on well over the halfway mark in the book. Later, there are even more “revelations” that Sarai takes as confirmation of Kadra’s guilt, all of which are equally as stupid as the two examples I listed above. Even writing about it now, I’m getting mad about it all again.

What’s worse, as I said, so much about this book was clicking so well for me! The writing was so strong, the story-telling was good, Kadra was excellent! All the right pieces were there. But somehow, it feels like the author went astray with Sarai herself, as if she knew she wanted to create this suspicion between Sarai and Kadra, but couldn’t quite manage to make it actually work. So, instead, Sarai is just an idiot who thinks completely illogical things, just to maintain the mystery element behind Kadra and his involvement.

All of this said, I’ll definitely check out another book by this author. I think she’s got great potential, and with a few tweaks, I could have loved this book! Unfortunately, I couldn’t get past Sarai herself; I can’t remember the last time I read a book where a main character was this flawed in their reasoning for so long. However, other readers may be less bothered with it, particularly if characters are less important for you. The vibes of the story and the romance itself were very good!

Rating 7: I’d give this a 6 just for Sarai herself. But the actual writing and world-building deserves enough praise to bump it up to a 7.

Reader’s Advisory:

“This Monster of Mine” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 Debut Novels.

Serena’s Review: “Faithbreaker”

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Book: “Faithbreaker” by Hannah Kaner

Publishing Info: HarperVoyager, April 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+

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

Book Description: War has come. The fire god Hseth is leading an unstoppable army south, consuming everything in her path. Middren’s only hope of survival is to unify allies and old foes against a common enemy.

Elo navigates an uneasy alliance with Arren; his friend, his enemy, and his king. Now they each must decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice to turn the tides of war.

Meanwhile, Inara joins her mother on their ship, the Silverswift, to seek aid. Still grappling with her powers, Inara must reconcile who she is and where she belongs, while Skediceth has to question if their bond will be enough to keep them safe.

Kissen has no allegiance to the old ways of Middren. But, as she tries to find her family, she is forced to question what, and whose, future she is fighting for.

Previously Reviewed: “Godkiller” and “Sunbringer”

Review: I’ll be honest, I’ve put off writing this review for a bit. On reflection, this trilogy has been a challenging experience. Mostly because the first book hit it out of the park for me, and now each subsequent book has been a step further and further away from that high. While this book does stick the landing of the overall plot itself, it wasn’t enough to temper my disappointment with various other aspects of the story.

But let’s start with the good. Like the two books before it, this one capitalizes on the intricate world-building that has been created over the course of the trilogy. There’s been excellent exploration of themes regarding religion, devotion, and the extremes to which individuals can be driven to under the influence of strong ideologies. This one continued in these veins. And, like I said, while it takes a while to get everything and everyone in place, the final confrontation and climax of the trilogy hits well.

The pacing is also fairly slow throughout. But this is true for the first two books as well, so readers should essentially expect a similar reading experience to those stories. Personally, I think the slower pacing works for the sort of story being drawn here. Never does this series claim to be an action-packed romp. But instead, it’s very character-based, and, as such, spends a lot of time in various characters’ heads exploring their personal arcs.

Now, unfortunately, we get to my complaints. First off, from the start I’ve mentioned that delicate balance that has been struck between the shared POVs. In the first book, all three POV characters were strong enough to make this approach work well. And, as they all spent the majority of their time together, these different POVs didn’t take us away from the two other characters, allowing the reader to still spend time with them all. In the second book, one of my complaints had to do with the lessening impact of these various POVs. Inara remained mostly the same, but Elo’s story took a massive dip, with much of his subplot feeling tacked on. And, in a strange turn, the excellence of Kissen’s chapters only served to further undermine the story, as it began to feel as if any chapters focused on the other two dragged even more than they should have in comparison.

Well, here, where I had so many hopes now that our main trio were finally reunited, this problem has only been expanded upon. Not only do they get immediately broken up into various groups again and sent off in different directions, but the story added in TWO more POVs. And, honestly, I couldn’t have cared less about Arren or Hestra! Not only did these chapters feel as if they were taking up precious page space from the characters I actually cared about, but in Arren’s case, the entire project behind him was DOA.

I get that the author thought that this added POV for him was necessary to attempt to make him a sympathetic character, but frankly, it was too little too late. I couldn’t simply sweep under the rug all of the actions I’d seen from this character in the first two books. Perhaps if these chapters were attempting to simply lighten opinions on him some, it would have worked. But to attempt to re-create him as a romantic interest for Elo? NO THANK YOU! I was so upset by this switch. Not only did it feel like the excellent dynamic that was created between Elo and Kissen was swept under the rug for no apparent reason (and frankly, this is the kind of stuff that just makes me furious because it makes me feel as if the author set me up for disappointment from the start), but Elo’s entire story has played out in him coming to realize what he deserves and what he doesn’t. What he absolutely doesn’t deserve is to end up with a character like Arren, who treated him so poorly and, frankly, betrayed him to a point that even if forgiveness could happen, romantic love certainly shouldn’t.

And it was more of the same for Kissen. Yes, her natural charisma as a character carried this new relationship further than my total disinterest in Elo’s relationship. But still. This felt like a late-game switch that simply wasn’t necessary and wasn’t set up to succeed. We had two entire books with plenty of other lore and action that needed to be resolved in the rather short page count of this last book. To attempt to wrap all of that up while also adding in two new relationships that only really appear in this last book? Something’s got to give, and it was with these romances.

It’s hard to be objective with this book. Once I saw where things were going with these new romances, I was so frustrated with the trilogy as a whole that I had a hard time focusing in on the rest of what the story was trying to accomplish. There was a solid ending, and one that pulled at the heartstrings in some meaningful ways. But what I loved best about this series were the three main characters. And as the trilogy wore on, it felt like more and more, that’s where the story struggled. Readers who are perhaps less invested in the main trio as a core group may enjoy this more than me. And that said, I do enjoy this author’s style of writing, so I’ll definitely check out what comes next (though, I’ll be honest, if it’s another series, I might wait for it to complete before starting up, so I know what I’m getting into. I really hate having the rug pulled out from under me, and it’s one of the few grievances that I have a hard time forgiving in authors.)

Rating 7: For me, personally, this was probably a 6. But as I know that I got caught up in my feelings, I’d say that on a whole, this one was still a solid conclusion to the trilogy, just not as good as the first book.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Faithbreaker” is on this Goodreads list: 2025 Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Serena’s Review: “Exquisite Ruin”

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

Book: “Exquisite Ruin” by AdriAnne May

Publishing Info: Gallery Books, March 2025

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

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

Book Description:

Review: Sadaré wakes in a labyrinth, remembering nothing except that she is a powerful sorceress. Her only companion is a hostile immortal named Daesra—beautiful, dangerous, and demonic—who bound his divine soul for power and revenge.

Despite their animosity, the two have no choice but to work together to reach the center and defeat the monster who prevents their escape. But the longer they wander, the more deadly and alive the maze becomes—and the more Sadaré finds herself drawn to Daesra in ways she can’t explain.

As sorceress and demon develop a tenuous truce, the labyrinth gives Sadaré glimpses of their shared history of passion and pain that make her question everything she knows. Unlocking the secrets of her past may be the only way to survive and heal their entwined fates—but as she learns more about the betrayals that brought them to the labyrinth, Sadaré begins to fear that the monster at the center could be Daesra … or even herself.

Review: Regardless of my “hit and miss” track record with the romantasy genre, I was immediately intrigued by this one given its ties to the Minotaur myth. What a unique story! The only other version I know of that tackles this myth was the excellent short story by Naomi Novik in her latest short story collection. Now, that entire collection was probably my favorite short story book ever, so the bar was fairly high. But still, given how rarely this tale has been adapted, I felt confident that there was still a lot of room for exploration, especially with a romance angle added on.

That said, I didn’t pay tons of attention to the summary, and when I opened it up and started reading and realized that it was an amnesia story…I was less than thrilled. Totally subjective take, but amnesia is one of my least favorite tropes. For one thing, I think it’s very rare that an author can properly pull it off, and we saw plenty of examples of this stumbling block here: Sure, Sadare claims to remember nothing, but again and again, she makes assertations about her own history/motivations/preferences that she couldn’t possibly know. It’s hard to truly write a blank slate character, as would be true of an actual amnesiac, and Sadare is definitely not it. Beyond that, I have little tolerance for much of the flip-flopping we got from her, one minute drawn to the MMC and the next fearing and hating him once again, often with little given on the page to motivate a change from one emotion to the other.

The writing was also fairly stilted and it took me a long time to get invested. I think this comes down to an over-reliance on a telling vs. showing style. Sentence after sentence begins with Sadare saying “I…” did something/said something/thought something. As this was an early version, more polishing could be done here before the finished copy comes out, but often those changes are things like missed words or spelling rather than sweeping style changes.

So far this has been rather negative, but I do want to touch on what I did like. Whenever the story was given some breathing room from the romantic tension, I liked the exploration of the original myth and their wanderings through the maze. It could feel a bit repetitive at times with dead end met after dead end. But, on the other hand, this is a story about two individuals trapped in a maze. It should feel hopeless at times!

There were the pieces of a lot of good things here. I think both Sadare and the MCC had good foundations and the world-building was also very interesting. I think this author simply still needs some room to grow as far as the actual quality of the writing itself. With a more solid grip on the basics, this could have been a great read! As it stands, I think it will definitely appeal to the romantasy readers who enjoy monster fics. But if you’re generally a fantasy reader first and foremost, this might not be for you.

Rating 7: A unique romantasy with some creative world-building, but it was held back by an overly “telling” style of writing.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Exquisite Ruin” can be found on this Goodreads list: Greco – Roman Fantasy.

Serena’s Review: “Slaying the Vampire Conqueror”

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

Book: “Slaying the Vampire Conqueror” by Carissa Broadbent

Publishing Info: Bramble, March 2025

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

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

Book Description: Sylina has sacrificed everything for her goddess–her soul, her freedom, her eyes. Life in service to the Arachessen, a cult of the Goddess of Fate, has turned Sylina from orphaned street-rat to disciplined killer, determined to overthrow Glaea’s tyrannical king. But when a brutal vampire conqueror arrives on their shores, Sylina faces an even deadlier adversary. She’s tasked with a crucial mission: infiltrate his army, earn his trust… and kill him.

Atrius is a terrifying warrior carving an unstoppable path through Glaea. Yet when Sylina becomes his seer, she glimpses a dark and shocking past–and a side of him that reminds her far too much of parts of herself she’d rather forget. Sylina’s orders are clear. The conqueror cannot live. But as the blood spilled by Glaea’s tyrant king runs thicker, her connection with Atrius only grows stronger. A connection forbidden by her vows. A connection that could cost her everything.

Review: Bramble’s aggressive timeline to re-printing seemingly all of Carissa Broadbent’s back catalog is really biting into my plan to try and space these reads out! So, here we are, back with the latest, one that’s been out as an indie release for a while now and that I had been saving for a rainy day!

While I’ve definitely had favorites, I’ve always highly rated and greatly enjoyed Broadbent’s books, so I was excited to check this one out. I was particularly excited by the nature of this book, its being a stand-alone rather than part of a duology/trilogy, as many of her other titles are. And this one worked great in this format! The romance is a true slow burn, but one that resolves by the end of the book. The characters are strong enough to be introduced quickly and still pack a punch. And the world-building benefits from the various other books that are set in this same world, but still approachable to new readers, with few references to previous storylines.

Broadbent is one of those authors whose books seem to straddle the line between romantasy and romantic fantasy. They’re definitely romances, with a decent number of spice scenes and HEAs. But she also puts tons of effort into her world-building and magic system, and I think this gives the books good cross-over appeal to fantasy readers in general who enjoy a central love story. All of this to say, this was one of her best love stories yet!

I think the slow-burn nature of their relationship played out in the best way possible, with both characters coming in with their own goals and many pre-existing opinions about one another. But through the events of the story, their relationship begins forming first and foremost around mutual respect for one another’s abilities. Indeed, before the book spends much time at all with thoughts of romantic interest, we see several scenes instead of Sylina and Atrius admiring one another’s battle prowess. All of this ground work makes their eventual romance all the sweeter, as it feels as if it progresses at a natural and believable pace.

I also really loved Sylina as a character! The magic behind her blindness and the way that she interacts with the world was so interesting, from the details of her maneuvers while fighting to simple things like the ways that she and those like her connect with one another. As readers, its easy to have early suspicions about Sylina’s religion and the order that she works for. But the book does a great job exploring her slow path to questioning the way she has been brought up to understand the world, her views on authority and individual judgement, as well as autonomy. Throughout most all of her books, Broadbent has taken a keen look at religious extremism, often drawing neat but profound parallels to our current world, and this one is yet another example of this.

The book also doesn’t shy away from the violence and horror of the conflict brewing on the page. There’s a scene in the last third of the book that took me by surprise with just how grim it became. But, as this is a romance as well, things do get wrapped up with a nice HEA for our main characters. If you’re a fan of Broadbent’s work, then this is a must read! And if you’re looking for an easy entry point to her books, this is also a good place to start as it doesn’t commit you to more than one book!

Rating 9: Enticing and exciting! When you’re not busy swooning, you’ll be on the edge of your seat!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Slaying the Vampire Conqueror” can be found on this Goodreads list: Titles That “Slay”.

Serena’s Review: “The Prince Without Sorrow”

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Book: “The Prince Without Sorrow” by Maithree Wijeskara

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, March 2025

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

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

Book Description: A prince born into violence, seeking peace.

Prince Ashoka is the youngest son of the tyrannical Emperor Adil Maurya. Considered an outcast by his father for his rejection of the emperor’s brutal onslaught against the witches of the empire, Ashoka longs for change. When the sudden and unexpected death of his father leaves the monarchy in disarray, Ashoka is sent to govern a tumultuous region annexed by Emperor Adil that is terrorized by nature spirits—a task many see as doomed to fail. Suspected by a disdainful governor and evaded by distrustful witches, Ashoka must question his rigid ideals and fight against becoming the one person he despises the most—his father.

A witch shackled by pacifism, seeking revenge.

Shakti is a a witch bound by a pacifist code. After witnessing the murder of her aunt and village at the hands of the emperor, Shakti hurtles down a path of revenge, casting a curse with unexpected consequences. Posing as a maidservant in the famed palace of the Mauryas and armed with newfound powers beyond her imagination, Shakti attempts to dismantle the monarchy from within by having the royal progeny ruin themselves and turn their father’s legacy into nothing but ash.

In a world where nature spirits roam the land, and witches are hunted to extinction, Ashoka and Shakti will be forced to grapple with the consequences of to take it for themselves or risk losing it completely.

Review: I have to say, the cover was doing a lot of heavy lifting for me with this one! I don’t know if I even really looked at the summary much before requesting it! It’s such a lovely, unique image, one that definitely stands out from the typical fantasy crowd!

That said, the book didn’t quite live up to my high expectations. On the other hand, what it does have to offer feels very unique to the genre, so readers looking for a new entry point to fantasy fiction may appreciate what this one has to say. I was particularly intrigued by the exploration of pacifism and the building conflict between the main characters with regards to their approaches to moving through this world. We have one character who is actively trying to approach the world in a less violent manner, and another whose life has been one tragedy after another and who feels shackled by the restraints of nonviolence taught to her.

That said, I don’t feel like the author took full advantage of this premise. By the end of the book, I was left wondering if I had somehow missed the point that was trying to be made? But I also suspect that while a lot of interesting questions regarding pacifism and necessary violence were introduced, the author was unwilling to truly stake a position on these issues, which, ultimately, undercut much of what was presented here.

I also thought the magic system itself was fairly wobbly. The witches can’t use their powers without accruing bad karma, but Shakti is seemingly rewarded for doing just this? And then, later in the story, the other witches are also convinced to do away with what we’ve been told is a deeply held moral conviction? It all felt a bit too convenient. Add that on top of several other conveniences (the good guys and bad guys are almost cartoonishly one dimensional at times and very prone to giving speeches that clear up everything for every one), the story telling itself felt shaky. This was compounded upon by some structural issues with the writing like over-use of certain words and unclear metaphors.

All of that said, I do think there are readers for this book! As I said, the themes regarding pacifism were strong (even if I wish more had been done) and I did like the two main characters, which goes far for me. If you’re looking for a new-feeling fantasy novel, this may be one to check out!

Rating 7: There were strong themes regarding justified violence and pacifism, but some of the other story elements tripped up my reading experience in the end.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Prince Without Sorrow” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 – Paranormal Romance (Standalones and 1st in Series).

Serena’s Review: “Nightweaver”

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Book: “Nightweaver” by R.M. Gray

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

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+

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

Book Description: Six hundred years ago, Nightweavers, cursed beings with untamed power, claimed the continents for their own. The ocean was meant to be a safe haven for humanity, including seventeen-year-old Aster Oberon and her pirate family. But after Aster’s brother is killed in an epic battle at sea against Nightweavers, Aster and her family are thrust into a new life on land.

When a handsome Nightweaver named Will offers the Oberons protection and work at his opulent estate, Aster is suspicious. As the arrogant and entitled right hand to the wicked prince, Will is everything that she has been taught to hate. But as he shows empathy and kindness, Aster can’t ignore a blooming attraction. And even more, Will opens her eyes to a new There are monsters worse than Nightweavers, monsters who may be behind her brother’s death.

As Aster hunts the creatures responsible, dark secrets threaten to unravel everything she once believed about her family, herself, and her world.

Review: Well, while “The Otherwhere Post” reminded me earlier that YA fantasy can still work for me, unfortunately this book reminded me why I also often struggle with the genre. That’s not to say it was all bad, not by any means. More that I think this is the exact sort of book that will work well for its actual target audience of teen fantasy readers. However, adults who often stray into YA fantasy for their reads may have more frustrations with it, like I did.

Let’s start with some good things! I definitely went in intrigued by the pirate angle of the story. This felt particularly fresh in the current YA fantasy genre, and what bits of this we got were all good. Unfortunately, we get most of the actual pirate stuff in the first 25% of the book; after that the story re-located to the land and spends the majority of the rest of the story there. This seems like a missed opportunity to me, but I did enjoy those bits we got at the beginning. On top of that, there were a lot of different tropes here that readers may enjoy, including multiple love interests, chosen one plots, and various kingdoms that have their own goals and politics.

Personally, I found this plethora of tropes to be counterproductive. Some may enjoy this barrage, but for me, I prefer a more tightly focused story. By the end, the author seemed to be throwing every trope she could find at the wall and seeing what would stick, including a late reveal about the heroine that was so predictable I almost put the book down. In so many ways, this read like too many other YA fantasies I’ve read. It included a ton of things, but didn’t do any of them notably well.

I also didn’t enjoy the main character. She had some strengths, like bravery and such, but she was also clueless to the many obvious things going on around her. Beyond that, the inner voice for this character was simply rather dull. Again, nothing aggressively bad here, but more just bland. Some readers may enjoy her more than I did, particularly actual teen readers. The love interest(s) were equally bland, with some of them disappearing from the page for longer than they were on it, it seems!

Overall, there were some good ideas here, but the entire thing began to feel a bit predictable and mediocre. The author didn’t take advantage of the one truly unique aspect of her story, the pirate angle, and instead pursued story beats that we’ve seen a million times before. The pacing was also incredibly uneven throughout, which left me feeling behind the story at times and, at other moments, as if we hadn’t moved forward at all. Like I said, however, there will be readers for this book! I just think it’s the kind of YA fantasy that reads much better in its actual age range, without much crossover appeal to adults readers.

Rating 7: A YA fantasy that will probably be best enjoyed by actual teen readers; adult fantasy fans may feel underwhelmed by the predictable plotting and rather flat characters.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Nightweaver” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2025.

Serena’s Review: “The Liar’s Knot”

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

Book: “The Liar’s Knot” by M. A. Carrick

Publishing Info: Orbit, Dec. 2021

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: In Nadezra, peace is as tenuous as a single thread. The ruthless House Indestor has been destroyed, but darkness still weaves through the city’s filthy back alleys and jewel-bright gardens, seen by those who know where to look.

Derossi Vargo has always known. He has sacrificed more than anyone imagines to carve himself a position of power among the nobility, hiding a will of steel behind a velvet smile. He’ll be damned if he lets anyone threaten what he’s built.

Grey Serrado knows all too well. Bent under the yoke of too many burdens, he fights to protect the city’s most vulnerable. Sooner or later, that fight will demand more than he can give.

And Ren, daughter of no clan, knows best of all. Caught in a knot of lies, torn between her heritage and her aristocratic masquerade, she relies on her gift for reading pattern to survive. And it shows her the web of corruption that traps her city.

But all three have yet to discover just how far that web stretches. And in the end, it will take more than knives to cut themselves free…

Previously Reviewed: “The Mask of Mirrors”

Review: It’s been a hot minute since I read the first book in this trilogy, and I have no excuse! I really enjoyed the first book and some of the late reveals were truly excellent at setting up exciting stuff for the books to come! The best I can say is that, at 600+ pages, each book in this trilogy is quite the commitment. But one of the book boxes I subscribe to is currently doing this trilogy, so it was the perfect excuse to jump back into things!

As this is the second in the trilogy (and the middle of a trilogy that has been complete for a few years now) there will be some spoilers for the first book included in this review. Beware if you haven’t read the first one! These reveals are really better appreciated when discovered on your own read-through!

This book picks up pretty much immediately after the events of the first. I did have to go back and do a decent amount of re-reading to re-familiarize myself, as the story doesn’t waste time recounting too many details from the previous story. But after I settled in, this one was truly a joy to experience. Ren and Grey were excellent in the first book, but each was even better here. The titular “Liar’s Knot” easily applies to Ren and the numerous secret identities that she is attempting to balance. Through these identities, she has her fingers in numerous pies, with information flowing in from many sources. The challenge, of course, is believably transferring and using this information from one version of herself to another. How would a noble woman be aware of the secrets discovered my a masked vigilante? This all serves to highlight the strengths of not only Ren as a character, but the meticulous plotting done by the authors, to piece together all of these storylines and weave them together so intricately.

Grey, of course, is now particularly interesting after the reveal at the end of the last book that he was the Rook. In the first book, with this knowledge not revealed to the reader, Grey seemed to exist more on the periphery of the story. Here he comes fully into his own, with the readers now given a clear look into the magic and mystery behind the Rook. I really enjoyed the history behind the vigilante and the magic involved in it. Rook is very much a character of his own, and the Grey’s management of his identities is both similar to Ren’s (in that he has to manage who knows what about himself) but is also more magically complex: he must not lose himself to the magic of the hood.

I also really loved the romance that developed between these two. The first book briefly hinted at this as a possibility, but it came more through the Rook than through Grey himself. Instead, Vargo and the late Leato both had more romantic groundwork laid in the first book. But between Vargo’s lies and Leato’s, well, death, Grey/Rook easily stepped into the romantic lead role. And, honestly, I preferred him best in this role anyways, so I was excited to see it play out here! It’s probably no surprise that I loved this part of the story so much. I love one and ONLY ONE version of love triangles and it is the classic “secret identity” Superman/Lois/Clark version. And here we had excellent example of this sort of love story at its best, with Ren falling for both Grey and the Rook at the same time. But, importantly, while the authors took full advantage of this set up, they also knew when to give up the ghost and allow secrets to be revealed.

I also really enjoyed that we got to see more from Vargo. He becomes almost a third main character in this book, with a lot more POV chapters devoted to his perspective. He’s an interesting counterbalance to Ren and Grey and it was great learning more about his history (and that of Peabody!). That said, my one quibble with the story came down to a few character motivation moments, and one of the most stark was with Vargo. While I really like the direction this character took, I’m not sure I saw enough in the first book or this one to make sense of Vargo’s decisions? While he and Ren got along well enough, the rather extreme levels of devotion he takes for her, even while their relationship is really poor here due to his lies in the previous book, is a bit hard to buy.

In a similar vein, in the first book I really appreciated the morally grey motivations behind Ren’s con. It made sense for a character with a background like hers. However, this book introduces a magical elements that, while great on its own, seems to muddy the waters with regards to the grey aspects of Ren’s character. Like I said, I enjoy the direction the story is going with the greater conflict here, but I think Ren was a more interesting character when her motivations and decision making were more questionable. She’s already near perfect in many ways, so making her too much of your typical perfectly-motivated heroine can only be a loss.

That said, I loved this book! These last bits about characterization were truly minor quibbles and even often ended up leading into or introducing aspects of the ongoing story that I’m incredibly excited for. I’ll definitely be checking out the next book soon! You know, in the next few months, not years like last time…

Rating 9: Full of twisting secrets and layered lore, this book is even bigger and better than the first!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Liar’s Knot” can be found on these Goodreads lists: High Fantasy Written by Women and Renaissance and Tudor Fantasy.

Serena’s Review: “A Harvest of Hearts”

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

Book: “A Harvest of Hearts” by Andrea Eames

Publishing Info: Erewhon Books, March 2025

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

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

Book Description: Before Foss Butcher was Snagged, she thought no more of the magic-users than did anyone else in her tiny village. Sometimes gorgeous women in impossible carriages rolled into town and took bits of people’s hearts. Everyone knew hearts fueled their magic. But Foss, plain, clumsy, and practical as a boot, never expected anyone would want hers.

True enough, when the only sorcerer in the kingdom stepped from his glossy carriage, he didn’t intend to hook Foss. Sylvester’s riot of black curls and perfectly etched cheekbones caught her eye a moment too long, that was all. Suddenly, Foss is cursed and finds herself stomping toward the grand City to keep his enchanted House, where her only friend is a talking cat and the walls themselves have moods.

But as Foss learns the ways of magic, she realizes she’s far from its only unwilling captive. Even Sylvester is hemmed in by spells and threats. It’s said this sorcery protects king, country, and order for thousands. If Foss wants to free herself—and, perhaps, Sylvester—she’ll have to confront it all . . . and uncover the blight nestled in the heart of the kingdom itself.

Review: I had high hopes for this book based on the unique-sounding summary (plus, who can say no to a cover with an adorable cat silhouette?). Unfortunately, this one started out a bit rough and then never quite recovered. I will talk about some of the good things first though. And primarily among those is the creativity at the heart of the this story. The idea of sorcerers who casually roll through villages and suck up parts of peoples’ hearts to gain power? Super interesting! This book has also been compared to “Howl’s Moving Castle,” and as I don’t think this fully works, there were aspects of the writing that did strike a similar note. Moments of whimsy and small interactions between Foss and Sylvester, some of these did have a certain “Howl’s” vibe to them.

However, for the most part, I didn’t connect with this book. It didn’t start off on a good note, with the very first chapter being essentially a big info-dump from the main character. It was paragraph after paragraph of basic facts about this world. This was made worse by some of the inconsistencies with the writing style for the voice of the main character. She’s meant to be have had a simple upbringing, which the author demonstrated with attempts at “folksy” language. But then some of the exposition would completely conflict with this character style, with Foss conveying information to the reader that it doesn’t seem like she would know (always a challenge with this POV style of writing, but the challenge in and of itself doesn’t excuse the error). Beyond that, this manner of introducing a world and magic system was simply clumsy, at best. From this rocky start, the pacing continued to be a problem, with large lulls happening throughout.

I also struggled to enjoy Foss as a character. I appreciate what the author was attempting to do, creating a character who struggles with self-esteem and self-perception. However, the actual execution of this was, again, very clumsy. Foss would bemoan her own looks and her expectations for a loveless future to such a degree that it felt like she was hitting readers over the head with it. And, from what the reader is given, none of these fears seem based in reality. Yes, people often struggle to view themselves as others do, and this is a believable problem. But the degree to which Foss focused on this aspect of herself was over the top and began to overwhelm any other characteristics she brought to the table.

I was also supremely uninvested in the romance. There wasn’t anything overtly bad here, but Sebastian was such a nothing character that, combined with my struggles with Foss’s self-talk, I couldn’t become invested in their love story. Perhaps others will appreciate these characters more than I did. I think each started with some interesting groundwork, but the story failed to realize them as fully-fleshed out characters.

Overall, this was a very underwhelming read. There were brief moments of light and I think the author could come into her own with future projects. But as it stands now, this book felt underdeveloped with fairly weak characters. Perhaps those fully dedicated to the cozy fantasy subgenre may find this one more appealing than I did, and I’m sure there are readers out there who will enjoy it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t me.

Rating 6: There were some creative ideas at the heart of this story, but weak characters and choppy pacing left me struggling to get through this one.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Harvest of Hearts” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Realistic Hearts and 2025 Cozy Fantasy Romance.