Category: Serena’s Reviews

Serena’s Review: “Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night”

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Book: “Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night” by Kresley Cole

Publishing Info: Gallery Books, June 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: finished copy from the publisher!

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

Book Description: Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan was nearly destroyed when he lost the one woman meant for him. The ruthless warrior grew even colder, never taking another to his bed—until a smoldering encounter with his enemy, Mariketa the Awaited, reawakens his darkest desires. When sinister forces unite against her, the Highlander finds himself using all his strength and skill to keep her alive.

His slow, hot touch is irresistible…

Temporarily stripped of her powers, Mari is forced to take refuge with her sworn adversary. It’s rumored that no one can tempt Bowen’s hardened heart, but soon passion burns between them. Though a future together is impossible, she fears he has no intention of letting her go.

No deed is too wicked for her seduction…

If they defeat the evil that surrounds them, can Mari deny Bowen when he demands her body and soul—or will she risk everything for her fierce protector?

Review: It’s been a while since I’ve checked out a paranormal romance read on this blog, so I was excited to see that Kresley Cole’s “Immortals After Dark” series was getting a new look and republished. I’ve had the first one down on my TBR list for a while (but honestly, those OG covers threw me off every time). After looking into it, the series seems like the sort where the world is connected, but each book follows a new couple. So I felt comfortable picking up the series with this, the third book, that was releasing in June. Let’s dive in!

This was a bit of a mixed bag right from the start. And I really do mean “right from the start.” The first chapter left me very confused about how I was feeling about the book. We jump right into the action (great!) and I really enjoyed some of the early grumpy/sunshine banter that we got from our two main characters. On the other hand, within a page or two (I kid you not!), these two were already getting hot and heavy. We went from zero to 60 in no time flat! What’s more, after shooting out of the gate at a gallop, after the first chapter, the book screeches to a stop, separating our characters and adding a bunch of backstory and other characters. Now, all of this backstory and the extra characters themselves weren’t bad by any means (indeed, much of the backstory for the MMC was incredibly important), but it did leave the pacing in a strange place and me floundering to settle myself in this world.

As the book continued, I was better able to piece things together. I can confirm that it was approachable as a stand-alone book, but also that there were numerous references to characters and portions of this world that I likely would have better understood had I started with the first book.

This also read as rather dated with its approach to the love story. We have a large age gap (not something that I typically quibble with), fated mates, and a lot of internal conflict driving the love story. All of these tropes are quite delicate to handle well, in my opinion, and this book walked right up to the line on a few of them. Particularly with the way the werewolves and their need to “claim” their mate was handled. There was the tiniest bit of “ick” to the entire thing, with how compulsive it all felt. This in particular was a bit that made the book feel a bit dated, as it was the sort of thing you often found in older romance book but that is more carefully handled nowadays.

This carried over a bit to the dynamics between the FMC and the MMC. Again, I don’t have an issue with age gaps on their own, but this one felt a bit egregious, especially when paired with the grumpy/sunshine trope and the fact that Mari was “fated” for Bowen. None of these things were bad on their own, but there was something about the way they all layered on top of one another to make me not fully able to invest in their love story.

All of this said, I very much enjoyed the world and society of this series. There was a ton of creativity to be found in the ways these various different creatures interacted with one another and shared a world. I’m definitely interested in checking out another book in this series, just to see more of this world and experience the dynamics between two other characters. (I’m going to avoid the first book, however, as a cursory look at it highlighted the fact that the whole “claiming” thing is perhaps even worse there). However, if you enjoy paranormal romances, I can definitely see the appeal in this series and I’m excited to see if another book/couple might be a better fit for me!

Rating 7: I didn’t feel like a few of the romantic tropes worked well together, but the world itself was super interesting, and I’ll likely check out the next book!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night” can be found on these Goodreads lists: So you love a Bad Boy or Tortured Hero and Best Highland/Scotland Romance Novels.

Serena’s Review: “A Dance of Lies”

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Book: “A Dance of Lies” by Brittney Arena

Publishing Info: Del Rey, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: Vasalie Moran was once a dancer in King Illian’s court, until he framed her for murder. Barely surviving her two years in the dungeons, she’s suddenly called to face her king. He offers her a deal: become his spy at the six-week royal Gathering and he’ll grant her freedom.

As Illian’s orders grow bloody and dangerous, forcing her to harm and betray those around her, Vasalie discovers that the monster she serves may be aligned with a bigger monster—one far closer to home. With her world threatened, Vasalie enlists the help of Illian’s brother and greatest adversary, the infamous King of the East.

As the rivalry between brothers escalates, with Vasalie caught in the middle, the horrifying truth of her past comes to light. If she wants to survive, she must decide who to trust, who to fight for, and how much of her soul she’s willing to damn in the process.

Review: Well, another romantasy down in the books. Another mixed bag affair. At this point, I acknowledge that I’m probably just a picky reader when it comes to this subgenre, and more often than not, I’m better off in “romantic fantasy” than romantasy, a distinction you wouldn’t think would make as much of a difference as it does! This one had a lot of potential, but in the end, it didn’t work for me in the way I had hoped it would.

Not a lot really worked for me with this one, unfortunately. But some of that is definitely objective. The style of writing, for one thing, felt fairly simplistic, leaving me feeling distanced from the characters and action and not able to fully invest myself in what was happening on the page. Part of this came down to what I felt was an imbalance between inner monologues and outward action/description. Yes, our main character has had a rough go of it, but there came a point in the first third of the story where I simply didn’t need to revisit some of these hardships as often as we were. All of this said, however, readers who prefer a more straight-forward style of writing or who prefer more inward-reflecting main characters may not struggle with the writing as much as I did.

I also liked the general idea of Vasalie’s disability and the inclusion of a character like this. That said, I’m not sure the execution quite worked. Again, a lot of inner narration was devoted to the struggles and adjustments that Vasalie needed to make due to this disability. However, whenever she needed to perform, it felt as if this disability suddenly, magically disappeared! The story didn’t outright say this, but the implication and depiction was that a person affected by a disability could simply “get past it” whenever it was needed. There was nothing egregious in this area, but I did think there was a heavy disconnect between the inner reflections of Vasalie’s disablity and the actual affect it had on her life (very little, especially when her dancing was needed for plot purposes).

I also didn’t love the romance. I didn’t expect a love triangle situation, so I was displeased to see one emerging fairly early on. While not the worst I’ve read, I often found myself frustrated by Vasalie’s choices. I definitely had a preference of her two choices, and I felt like she spent way too much time chasing the wrong one. Beyond that, I’m not sure if I’ve ranted about it before, but I’m so over the cutesy little nicknames that seem to now be a requirement in the romantasy genre. Authors, they’re not cute. Please stop.

Me cringing so hard at the latest “clever” nickname to pop up in my romantasy read

So yeah, this was kind of a bummer of read. Nothing was horribly wrong with it, but on the other hand, nothing was really great. More general fans of romantasy (i.e. less picky ones) will likely enjoy this one, especially those who like love triangles/less defined romantic interests. However, if you’re just a casual fan, I’m not sure this is the read for you.

Rating 6: Unfortunately, this one just didn’t click with me, feeling at once too familiar and too remote to become invested in.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Dance of Lies” can be found on this Goodreads list: June 2025 Most Anticipated Romance Releases

Serena’s Review: “The Palace of Illusions”

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Book: “The Palace of Illusions” by Rowenna Miller

Publishing Info: Orbit, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: In the run up to the 1900s World’s Fair Paris is abuzz with creative energy and innovation. Audiences are spellbound by the Lumiere brothers’ moving pictures and Loie Fuller’s serpentine dance fusing art and technology. But for Clara Ironwood, a talented and pragmatic clockworker, nothing compares to the magic of her godfather’s mechanical creations, and she’d rather spend her days working on the Palace of Illusions, an intricate hall of mirrors that is one of the centerpieces of the world’s fair.
 
When her godfather sends Clara a hideous nutcracker for Christmas, she is puzzled until she finds a hidden compartment that unlocks a mirror-world Paris where the Seine is musical, fountains spout lemonade, and mechanical ballerinas move with human grace. The magic of her godfather’s toys was real. 
 
As Clara explores this other Paris and begins to imbue her own creations with its magic, she soon discovers a darker side to innovation. Suspicious men begin to approach her outside of work, and she could swear a shadow is following her. There’s no ignoring the danger she’s in, but Clara doesn’t know who to trust. The magic of the two Parises are colliding and Clara must find the strength within herself to save them both.

Review: Not only have I enjoyed many of Rowenna Miller’s books in the past, but I’ve long been on the look out for a good re-imagining of “The Nutcrakcer.” And while this one wasn’t perfect, it is by far the best version of this story I’ve read so far!

As always, Miller’s style of writing is excellent. In this book in particular, her prose stood out most in the descriptions of not only the magical version of Paris, but also the real world itself. For the latter, she does incredible work of grounding the story in the specifics of the time and place, noting architectural details of Paris and many of the unique aspects of the city at this time. On the other hand, she does an incredible job with the creation of the fantasy world that mirrors this Paris. It’s easy to understand Clara’s almost inescapable draw to this place, especially given her focus on creation and invention, two themes that are heavily explored in this book.

I also really enjoyed the complicated nature of Clara’s relationship with her godfather. It wasn’t the primary focus of the story, but I think there were some really nice subtle points made about the strength of adult/child relationships and the ways they can be strained as life progresses. The other main relationship in the book was the romance, which, again, wasn’t a huge part of the story but was still quite sweet. It had a nice slow burn arc and it wrapped up nicely in the end.

I did struggle with Clara at times. She’s clearly presented as a very intelligent character, and while it’s understandable that she would be drawn into this magical world, there were several moments where she made incredibly silly decisions. In these moments, she read more like a teen character than the adult woman she was meant to be.

I also think the pacing was a bit hit and miss. The story starts out fast enough, with the introduction of the fairytale elements being introduced quite early on. But as the story continues, the pacing really started to drag towards the middle. Readers’ enjoyment of this section will really come down to how much they enjoy the lyrical style of writing and the many scenes that are more focused on the whimsical parts of this world.

I definitely think this is one to check out if you’re especially interested in “The Nutcracker,” and it will also likely appeal to fantasy fans who also enjoy historical fiction. As I am both of these, I largely enjoyed this read! It is on the slower side, however, so readers focused on fast-paced reads may struggle with it.

Rating 8: A lovely re-imagining of the classic “Nutcracker” tale!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Palace of Illusions” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Nutcracker Retellings and Edwardian Fantasy.

Serena’s Review: “The Mercy Makers”

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Book: “The Mercy Makers” by Tessa Gratton

Publishing Info: Orbit, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: Iriset is a prodigy and an outlaw. The daughter of a powerful criminal, she dons her alter ego Silk to create magical disguises for those in her father’s organization, but she longs to do more with her talent: to enhance what it means to be human by giving people wings, night-sight, and other abilities; to unlock the possibilities of gender and parenthood; to cure disease and even to end mortality itself.

Everything changes when her father is captured and sentenced to death. To save him, Iriset must infiltrate the palace and the empire’s fanatical ruling family. There, she realizes she has a chance—and an obligation—to bring down the entire corrupt system. She’ll have to entangle herself in the lives of the emperor and his sister, getting them to trust and even to love her. But love is a two-way street, and Iriset’s own heart holds the most mysterious and impenetrable magic of all.

Review: I think this book will be very hit and miss for many readers, and mostly this comes down to the style of writing. I enjoy lyrical sometimes even flowery writing, so there were elements of the complex, rather circular descriptions that worked for me. At the same time, however, I think some of this style severely detracted from my actual reading experience. There were times I had to re-read entire paragraphs to even fully understand what was happening on the page. This was also definitely a slower read and the pacing was strongly affected by the ponderous nature of the writing style. I often found myself looking down at my Kindle progress and being surprised by how little progress I had made. Never a great sign!

That said, once I got further into the book and had more fully understood the magic system and world-building, there was a lot to like. The book spends a lot of time exploring the ins and outs of rebellion, the good, the bad, and the ugly. This is best exemplified in our main characters, none of whom are cookie-cutter “good people.” In this way, the entire story was humanized in a way that we don’t often see (usually rebellion groups go the way of “Star Wars,” where everyone’s a hero, the rebellion can do no wrong, and the bad guys are blatantly evil, twirling their mustaches in a corner). The book also explored religion in a way that I wasn’t expecting.

There was also a romance involved that I mostly liked. I was a bit surprised by how spicy this book was at times, as you don’t often see the mix-and-match of this sort of explicit romance with super complex writing/world-building. I was fine with it, but it may come as a surprise to general fantasy fans who check this one out.

The story also had some good twists and turns as the plot progressed. Nothing was truly shocking, necessarily, but these twists helped to pull the pacing through some of the more slog-like portions of the complex writing.

In the end, I feel like this read was a bit of a mixed bag. It doesn’t fit comfortable in any subcategory really and I think there are pieces that will appeal to very different readers, while other sections leave those same readers disconnected. I’d have a hard time knowing exactly who to recommend this to. The writing, however, is the most striking aspect, so I do think that it will hit best with readers who enjoy complex, rather long-winded prose.

Rating 7: With long-winded and rather purple prose making up the majority of the story, this one could feel like a slot at times. But if you stick with it, there are some great themes to explore!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Mercy Makers” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Flowering Writing.

Serena’s Review: “Realm of Thieves”

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Book: “Realm of Thieves” by Karina Halle

Publishing Info: Ace, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: For Brynla Aihr, crime and survival have always gone hand in hand. Ever since she escaped the fanatical dragon-worshipping cult that controls her homeland, she’s had to carve out a life doing the stealing dragon eggs. Egg theft is illegal and, in most cases, fatal. To breach a dragon’s nest means a harrowing journey through the ancient wards spelled to keep the monstrous beasts confined. Dragons can’t get out and only those with a death wish can get in.

Despite the risks, dragon eggs are highly coveted for their magic. A black market flourishes under competing criminal empires, and Brynla’s loyalty has always been to the highest bidder. Until she finds herself kidnapped and blackmailed by Lord Andor, a formidable lieutenant of House Kolbeck, and thrust into the dangerous political games of rivaling dynasties.

Brynla and Andor clash at every turn, sparking heat in ways Brynla’s never felt before. But in a world that’s prophesized to return to the dragons, and rife with betrayal and secrets at every turn…how close to the flames is she willing to stand?

Review: There are so, so many dragon books in romantasy. To be fair, dragons were always pretty popular in fantasy/romantasy, even before “Fourth Wing.” But now it seems out of control! I honestly sometimes lose track of them all, which one’s I’ve read, how many new ones are coming out and what differentiates them, etc. etc. So, yes, here’s another dragon romantasy review!

Unfortunately, I’m still thwarted in this area. I’m starting to think that I may just need to stick with my more traditional fantasy books for my dragon kick, at least until it dies down a bit in massive popularity. As it stands, too often it feels as if authors and publishers may just be trying to cash in on a popular trope instead of following an organic story-making process. Such is the case here. While there were aspects of the world-building here with its use of dragons that I thought were interesting, as the story continued, this book ultimately seemed to turn more into a gangster/mafia romance story. Which I don’t dislike as a romance subgenre on its own, but wasn’t why I was picking this book up.

Ultimately, from early in the story, everything felt rather flat. The author was telling me a lot of things, but I wasn’t seeing many reasons to become emotionally involved. The characters were just kind of there, following along in many of the standard FMC/MMC archetypes that we’ve come to expect from books like this. The pacing was fairly stilted, with the book dragging significantly in the middle of the story only to fall through the floor with the almost bait-and-switch with the genre change from fantasy to mafia romance in the end. And over and over again characters and plot points operated in ways that didn’t make sense other than as quick resolutions to any challenges that presented themselves. Things happened because a problem needed to be solved. And solved quickly with very little conflict being given any time to brew.

Much of this only came to play as I continued reading, but I was already started off on the wrong foot by the way the romance was handled. When I say “fast” I can’t emphasize enough just how fast I mean. The characters meet and that’s pretty much it. Their insta-attraction/lust/love was so extreme that it felt totally unbelievable and threw me out of the book. True, I prefer a slow burn (typically even across multiple books!) but there are numerous romantasy titles I can point to that have an established romance in book one that I enjoyed (see “Shield of Sparrows.”) This book totally missed the mark for me in this department. As a bit of a side note, I’m very over the cutesy nicknames that the MMCs give FMCs. They are getting more and more ridiculous and over-the -top. If someone talked like this in real life, the cringe would be off the charts.

Sadly, this was a miss for me. I know that this author is quite prolific, so I might need to dig around her back catalog and see if I connect better with one of her previous books. I’m sure fans of her work will enjoy this, but if you want a well-developed romance or a book that focuses strongly on the fantasy elements, you may want to pass on this one. That said, if you like mafia romance, this may be the unexpected hit you’re looking for!

Rating 6: With a flat-feeling plot, lack of complex characterization, and a romance that went from zero to one hundred in two seconds flat, this one sadly wasn’t for me.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Realm of Thieves” can be found on these Goodreads lists:Most Anticipated Romantasy releases of 2025

Serena’s Review: “The God and the Gwisin”

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Book: “The God and the Gwisin” by Sophie Kim

Publishing Info: Del Rey, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: Seokga the No-Longer-Fallen is looking for his love. Since he lost Hani and was reinstated as a god, nothing has felt right – and he’s been desperately searching for her reincarnated form ever since.

But when the red thread of fate leads Seokga to a cruise down the river of the dead, the woman he finds isn’t Hani . . . she’s Yoo Kisa, and she has no memory of him whatsoever – with seemingly no interest in regaining it either.

But when the Heavenly Emperor of Okhwang is murdered, Seokga and Kisa must solve the crime before the cruise ends. And as the mystery draws them closer, they will have to decide what they truly mean to each other.

There’s something bigger at play aboard the ship, something that holds the key to their fated connection – and the very fate of the world.

Previously Reviewed: “The God and the Gumiho”

Review: I mostly enjoyed “The God and the Gumiho” when I read it last year. Yes, I felt it was aggressively quirky at times, but even without connecting fully to the characters, the story was fast and engaging. It also ended in a unique way, with the author making a rather brave choice with her couple. That being the case, I wanted to see where she’d take the story from there! And I’m glad I checked it out, as I enjoyed this one more than the first.

As I mentioned in my review of the first books, one of my major struggling points came down to connecting to the the main characters. Here, however, both characters have changed in big ways. In the case of our FMC, she’s literally a different person now, having died and been reincarnated (then died again and is now a ghost in this book). This was all for the better for me, as I much preferred this more reserved, scholarly style character that we follow here. Kisa finds herself in a truly bizarre situation, learning she is the reincarnation of a woman that was the soulmate of a fallen god. I also enjoyed Seokga more in this book. His is a quieter but more determined journey in this story, with less of what I felt was fairly stilted “grumpiness” from the first book.

I also enjoyed the cast of characters for the most part. Yes, there were times where some of the humor still didn’t quite land for me. But at this point, I think that’s purely a “me thing” where this just isn’t quite my style of comedy, as I know it works for a lot of other readers. Granted, I know that in general I’m fairly picky about what comedy I enjoy.

I struggled the most with the mystery element of the story. I read a lot of mysteries, however, so to me, the culprit was incredibly obvious from the very start of this portion of the story. That said, it wasn’t poorly paced or anything, and even guessing the ultimate reveal early, I still was able to enjoy the story being told.

I also enjoyed the love story itself. I feel like there were a lot of potential pitfalls in trying to write a romance between characters in this situation (Is Kisa the same person as Hani? Is she “obligated” to feel the same way about Seokga? How much of her feelings are then her own?). But the book does a good job exploring the philosophy behind it all (again, this is an aspect of the story where the change in personality from Hani to Kisa really improved things for me!). There was also a refreshingly restrained hand at the “angst wheel” which prevented the book from falling into any pits of melodrama.

Overall, I thought this was a very fun sequel. In many ways, it surpassed my expectations and I definitely enjoyed it more than the first. That said, fans of the first book I’m sure will gobble this one up too!

Rating 8: With a new take on its main characters, this sequel improved on the first and was a fun read all around!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The God and the Gwisin” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2025 Adult Fantasy/Sci-fi/Speculative Releases by BIPOC Authors

Serena’s Review: “Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil”

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

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

Publishing Info: Tor, June 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley

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

Book Description: This is a story about hunger.
1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.
A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But María knows she can only ever be a prize, or a pawn, in the games played by men. When an alluring stranger offers an alternate path, María makes a desperate choice. She vows to have no regrets.

This is a story about love.
1827. London.
A young woman lives an idyllic but cloistered life on her family’s estate, until a moment of forbidden intimacy sees her shipped off to London. Charlotte’s tender heart and seemingly impossible wishes are swept away by an invitation from a beautiful widow—but the price of freedom is higher than she could have imagined.

This is a story about rage.
2019. Boston.
College was supposed to be her chance to be someone new. That’s why Alice moved halfway across the world, leaving her old life behind. But after an out-of-character one-night stand leaves her questioning her past, her present, and her future, Alice throws herself into the hunt for answers . . . and revenge.

Review: I’ve had an interesting reading journey with Schwab’s works. I started off with her “Shades of Magic” which is probably in my Top 10 favorite fantasy series of all time. So that’s a high bar right there! As I continued to read her books as they’ve come out, there are many that I’ve enjoyed but they’ve never quite reached this original high. Partly, I’m starting to see that the “Shades of Magic” series might have been the exception rather than the rule as far as her fantasy writing goes. Those books were fairly classic portal fantasy. More recently, her fantasy stories have become more abstract, often blending historical fiction and a high emphasis on lyricism and philosophy. All of this is good as well, but, from a pure enjoyment point of view, nothing tops the absolute blast of “Shades of Magic.” This is all a long way of saying that her most recent book is pretty much more of the same, which will either really work for you or remain a bit of a struggle, similar to the reception of “The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.”

There’s no denying Schwab’s talent as an author. The words flow from the page, beautifully depicting a variety of different settings and time periods. We travel around the world in this book, visiting places like Italy, France, London and Boston. The story also spans several centuries (as one would expect following leading characters who are immortal vampires). These lens’ gave Schwab ample time to flex her literary muscles. And while she didn’t necessarily seem to have much new to say regarding vampires and the plight of living forever (we cover many of the greatest hits re: vampires like the disconnect from their humanity, the sense of purposelessness, etc. etc.), all of what she did cover was gorgeously depicted. Even in some of the lulls in pacing I still found myself pausing over a beautiful turn of phrase.

So, in many ways, much of this felt very familiar to “Addie LaRue.” Other than the focus on vampires, we had a bit of a retread in format, with the book jumping from historical time periods to the present. There was also a bit of familiarity to be found in the themes I’ve mentioned above, in that some of these same topics (what makes a life worth living) were also covered in her previous book. I get when authors really feel called to write about certain topics, but, for me, much of this felt a bit too familiar. I will say that this is largely a subjective point. I don’t dislike this sort of literary fantasy story, but as I mentioned at the top, I’m still hankering for a return of Schwab’s epic fantasy books, so to read two books in a row that felt fairly similar…it was a bit of a let-down for me. Others who enjoy literary fantasy more will likely be thrilled by this book!

I do think the pacing was a bit off in this book. That or it needed an editor who could have paired the story down to a more manageable length. As a fantasy reader, I’m more than happy to pick up massive tomes. But this book comes in over 500 pages long, and it feels like it. There were long sections in the middle of the book where there simply wasn’t much happening. This is a slow book, intentionally so, but there were definitely portions of the story that felt unnecessary. It was a relief to get to the back half where things began to pick up more.

As for the characters, well…I struggled a bit here as well. Instead of following the three equally, there was definitely one character who read as the main character more than the others. However, I struggled to connect with all three, feeling oddly distanced from them. In some ways, they felt more like vehicles for Schwab to explore the themes she wanted to cover (very good, important themes, but themes none the less!) than as fully fleshed out characters themselves. I also really struggled to enjoy the ending and will be curious to see how it is received by other readers.

So, this was a bit of a mixed bag for me. This book definitely felt like a book that Schwab has been long wanting to write; it felt personal and important, and I’m always happy to see writers reach a point of popularity where they are more free to pursue the stories they are aching to tell rather than the ones the publishers think will sell. However, I have to come at it from the perspective of a reader, and as a reader, I didn’t love this book. I can appreciate its merits, but it wasn’t my favorite style of fantasy, and I struggled to connect fully to the story, all the worse by its lackluster ending. I do think that readers who enjoyed “Addie LaRue” will very much connect this one (I’m just one of those weirdos who liked “Addie LaRue” but didn’t necessarily want more of the same).

Rating 7: Beautifully written and covering important themes; however, as a story, I struggled to enjoy my time reading it.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Adult Queer Books and Most Anticipated New Releases of 2025.

Serena’s Review: “Six Wild Crowns”

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

Book: “Six Wild Crowns” by Holly Race

Publishing Info: Orbit, June 2025

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

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

Book Description: The king has been appointed by god to marry six queens. Those six queens are all that stand between the kingdom of Elben and ruin. Or so we have been told.

Each queen vies for attention. Clever, ambitious Boleyn is determined to be Henry’s favourite. And if she must incite a war to win Henry over? So be it.

Seymour acts as spy and assassin in a court teeming with dragons, backstabbing courtiers and strange magic. But when she and Boleyn become the unlikeliest of things – allies – the balance of power begins to shift. Together they will discover an ancient, rotting magic at Elben’s heart. A magic that their king will do anything to protect.

Review: There are a handful of periods of British history that I’m much more familiar with than others. Often, it comes down to my enjoyment of specific fictional books that took place during that time period. Obviously, as a lover of Jane Austen, Regency England is one of those time periods. But I also really loved Philippa Gregory’s “The Other Boleyn Girl” which set me on a course to learn quite a bit about the reign of Henry VIII. That being the case, I was incredibly excited to check out this new historical fantasy novel that is centered around many of the major players during that period of history.

Unfortunately, I’ll say that this may be one of those situations where the more informed you are about the place/people/period of time, the less you may enjoy this book. Even for those with only passing knowledge of this time period, there were so many questions raised or pieces that were changed as to leave me wondering whether there was any point in setting this book in a specific, real-world time period in the first place! I was much more often annoyed by the failures in its historical representations than I was enamored by the creativity of blending fantasy and history in this way. There are plenty of books that have pulled it off, but this wasn’t one of them.

Instead, I think it would have read much better as a straight fantasy novel. The fantasy elements were strong throughout (part of problem here was that these elements called into question many of the events pulled from history), and, had the character not been connected to real-life individuals, I could have gotten behind Boleyn and Seymour more as well.

But they are pulling from real life people! And the more you know about these two women, the less satisfying this portrayal is! Anne Boleyn is a pretty well-known historical figure, even by those with only a basic knowledge of this time period. And there are some assumptions that one makes about her: that she was incredibly savvy and politically dexterous, charming, and able to wrap a King around her finger, at least for a period of time. The character we had here did not line up at all with that! At times, she was incredibly naive and taken in by the very obviously nefarious King. I know less about Jane Seymour, other than the fact that she was said to be more quiet and reserved. Picturing her as an assassin is also a bit difficult. I also found her incredibly fickle, which was frustrating at times.

I also felt like the themes of feminism and patriarchy fell a bit flat. There was nothing overtly wrong here, but it all felt very surface level, having very little new to say on either topic. Had this book been written 20 years ago, perhaps it would have felt more revolutionary. But as it is, there are quite a few fantasy books out there covering these themes, and this one didn’t seem to have much new to offer.

Overall, this was a rather underwhelming book. I won’t say it’s bad, but it’s definitely one of those rare examples where the more you know about the history side of things, the less you’ll enjoy it. I think I used this word above as well, but “distracting” is the term that comes to mind when I think about the incorporation of the historical elements. Instead, it would have perhaps been more successful as a straight fantasy novel. Even there, though, it didn’t seem to have much to add with regards to its themes and characters.

Rating 7: The real-world historical elements hurt it much more than they helped, unfortunately.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Six Wild Crowns” can be found on this Goodreads list: queer releases june 2025.

Serena’s Review: “The Devils”

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Book: “The Devils” by Joe Abercrombie

Publishing Info: Tor Books, May 2025

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

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

Book Description: Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reader’s Advisory:

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

Serena’s Review: “Written on the Dark”

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

Publishing Info: Ace, May 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reader’s Advisory:

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