Category: Serena’s Reviews

Serena’s Review: “Somewhere in the Deep”

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Book: “Somewhere in the Deep” by Tanvi Berwah

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: Seventeen-year-old Krescent Dune is buried under the weight of her dead parents’ debt and the ruinous legacy they left behind. The only way she can earn enough money to escape her unforgiving island is by battling monstrous creatures in an underground fighting pit. After a fight goes terribly wrong, she’s banned from the pits. Now hopeless, she is offered a deal: in exchange for the erasure of her debts, she must join and protect a hunting party for a rescue mission deep within the mining caves beneath the island.

Krescent is determined to keep her head down and fulfill her role as the dutiful bodyguard, even though she is trapped underground with her childhood enemy and a company of people who would gladly kill her if they knew who her parents were. As they come across creatures she believed only existed in legends, it becomes clear they are in far more danger than she could have imagined. But someone doesn’t want her to make it out alive. And she’ll have to figure out who before she’s left alone… in the dark.

From the author of Monsters Born and Made comes an action-packed South Asian inspired fantasy that will have your heart racing at every turn.

Review: I immediately clicked to read more about this book when I spotted this cover. It’s so unique and strange! Paired with the title, you get a vague sense of a sea creatures, alien worlds, and a sense of wonder and danger. Which, reading more about it, pairs perfectly with the type of story this proports to be! It’s also very original from the covers you typically see for YA fantasy, so it does a good job of allowing the book to stand out from the crowd right off the bat. But let’s get into the book itself.

So, I did struggle with this book, but it was more on the side of my failing to really connect to or become invested in the story itself. Some of this is surely down to my preferences, and other parts of this can come down to weaker elements in the book. But, that said, there were also a lot of strengths and I do think there are definitely readers out there who will like this book.

For one thing, it is definitely a breath of fresh air in the current YA fantasy environment. As much as I love fairytales and witchy fantasy stories, we’ve seen a good number of them over the last few years. But this book treads new ground feeling slightly sci-fi and slightly post-apocalyptic, all while exploring a very unique world made of an island and its deep, dangerous cavern system. I really enjoyed the creative creatures that populated this world, and the culture and society that had been built up around surviving in this sort of harsh landscape. All of these elements also creates the perfect stage on which to place a fast-moving, action-packed plot. The pacing starts out fasts, keeps going fast, and then wraps up fast.

That said, I struggled to really connect to the story that was being told. It is one of those cases where there is nothing actively wrong that I can point to, either in the style of writing or the characterization, but more a situation where everything felt a bit watered down. Krescent Dune (well, I guess I can point to that character name as highly questionable) is your generic YA heroine: strong, brave, but also conveniently obtuse about the motivations of those she claims to know best (we’ll get to that). The writing, for its part, was also…serviceable? Again, nothing wrong with it, but it also felt incredibly generic, with a limited vocabulary and fairly repetitive approach to sentence structure. Like I said, none of it is bad, but it was also the type of writing that doesn’t necessarily draw you in. It tells the story, but not much else.

I also went in with high hopes for the romance. We’ve seen a good number of enemies-to-lovers romances, and of course I love those as well. But I was excited going into this one with the promise of a friends-to-lovers story (I will say that the book description seems to be intentionally misleading on this point, which I find very annoying, especially as romance tropes/types are very subjective as far as what readers do and don’t enjoy). And while I did still appreciate this change in tone and approach to a love story, I was also fairly frustrated by much of it. Like I hinted at earlier, much of the tension in the romance was centered around Krescent’s inability to see what was right in front of her: Rivan’s feelings for her. Of course, there are ways to make this sort of relationship drama work, but I do think it takes a certain skill to create a love story where you main character has to be oblivious to the motivations of someone she knows well without also coming across as a bit of a dunderhead herself. It also wasn’t helped that much of their relationship was completely dependent on the reader being told that they have had this long-standing friendship, more than showing these moments between them.

So, I don’t really know where to leave things. I think that some readers will enjoy this book for sure, but I also wasn’t blown away by anything it had to offer. If you’re highly anticipating this one, definitely give it a shot. But if you’re on the fence, there might be other ones you want to check out first.

Rating 7: While the author created a unique world and had some interesting creatures, I struggled to stay invested in the story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Somewhere in the Deep” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2024

Serena’s Review: “A Fragile Enchantment”

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Book: “A Fragile Enchantment” by Allison Saft

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.

Transporting readers to a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, A Fragile Enchantment is a sweeping romance threaded with intrigue, unforgettable characters, and a love story for the ages.

Review: I’ve had access to this e-book for a while thanks to the publisher sending me an ARC a few months ago. But there have been many books to read and review between then and now, so it’s been quite the struggle! I really enjoyed Saft’s “A Far Wilder Magic,” and then combine the romantic cover art on this one with a description that includes the phrase “fantasy of manners” and, well, the anticipation has been killing me! But we’re finally to 2024 and now it’s time to dive right in!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, though there were a few odd things about its pacing, especially towards the final quarter of the book. But let’s start with the all of the good stuff. First of all, I love Saft’s style of writing. It’s approachable, engaging, and I very quickly felt attached to the characters and plot. The dialogue was also capable of delivering laughs just as much as conveying the more emotional, romantic scenes. It was a very smooth reading experience, and, like I said, for the first 75% of the story, I was zipping along without a care in the world. I also enjoyed the world-building and magical elements. Nothing was overly complex here, but it also all felt complete enough that I felt solidly placed within the world and understood how the magic worked.

I also really enjoyed the characters. Niamph was a unique leading lady in that she had a powerful magical ability, but also struggled with a degenerative disease that limited her actions. I liked the exploration of how Niamph approached life with an illness that left her unknowing of what time she had left. Throughout the story, we see both the struggles and strengths that this brought to the character. On one hand, we see her rise to grab life by both hands, knowing she must experience what she has been given. But on the other hand, we see her struggle to place the appropriate value on herself and her own desires, all too willing to put others before herself when she sees a limited life span before her.

This theme, the exploration of what is owed to one’s family, is one that carries over to many of the other characters in the story, most notably the romantic interest, the prince himself. Kit is in an arranged marriage, so it is very easy to see how this theme would pair with his story. His struggles with his relationship with his brother, the king, were interesting and dove deeper into this overall theme in ways I was not expecting.

That said, this same theme of familial obligation popped up with yet another character in the final quarter of the story. And it was at this point that I began to feel a bit beaten over the head with it all. At this point in the story, I felt like we’d thoroughly explored the angles of this topic, and, importantly, we see these struggles through the experiences of our two main characters. So when I ran into the exact same theme and talking points showing up for this third, very much side, character, I was a bit exasperated. It felt unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the examination of this theme or to the story progression itself.

I also loved the romance at the heart of the story. In some ways, it progressed a bit quickly, but I was also so invested in Niamph and Kit that I was able to go along with it fairly easy. I don’t think this quite rises to the level of “enemies to lovers,” but they do have a contentions start to their relationship that builds up nicely to the eventual resolution. However, again, what felt like a very organic, natural build to their relationship was interrupted in the last third/quarter of the book in ways that seemed to break the natural pacing. It began to feel choppy and bit all over the place, as if the author had several extra plot beats that she wasn’t sure how to fit in naturally, so it was all just shoved into this final bit of the story.

So, in the end, this was a bit of a broken up reading experience. The first 60-75% of this book was a solid 9-10 rating for me, enjoyment-wise. But then it felt like things fell apart during what should have been the climax of the story. The overall themes of the book began to feel tired and over-used when they were applied to a third, side character, and the romantic tension also felt let down by some odd beats in this last bit. All of that said, I still would recommend this book to romantic fantasy fans, especially those looking for a fantasy of manners story that is low on the spice level.

Rating 8: Sweetly romantic with two compelling leading characters, though the book stumbles in the last bit of the story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Fragile Enchantment” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Regency Fantasy and Romantasy.

Serena’s Review: “The Invocations”

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Book: “The Invocations” by Krystal Sutherland

Publishing Info: Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to bear—that her sister was murdered by a serial killer and there is precisely nothing she can do to change it. If there’s anything Zara cannot stand it’s feeling powerless, so she decides she will do whatever it takes—even if that means partaking in the occult—to bring her sister back from the dead.

Jude Wolf might be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul is now slowly turning necrotic. Flowers and insects die in her wake and monstrous things come to taunt her at night. If Jude can’t find the right someone to fix her mistake, she fears she’ll die very soon.

Enter Emer Bryne: the solution to both Zara’s and Jude’s predicaments. The daughter of a witch, Emer sells spells to women in desperate situations willing to sacrifice a part of their soul in exchange for a bit of power, a bit of magic to change their lives. But Emer has a dark past all her own—and as her former clients are murdered one-by-one, she knows it’s followed her all the way to London.

As Zara and Jude enter Emer’s orbit, they’ll have to team up to stop the killer—before they each end up next on his list.

Review: I haven’t read anything else by Krystal Sutherland, but I was familiar with the name when I was approached about reviewing her latest book. Mostly, I have vague memories of a YA dark fantasy that she released a few years ago that had a creepy but compelling cover. This one, too, follows in that line where, at first glance, it seems normal enough. But then you look closer…yep, creepy! I was also drawn in by the promise of witches and a mystery centered around tracking down a serial killer.

Unfortunately, this book didn’t quite hit the way I wanted it to. However, in this case, I do think a lot of it comes down to many of these tropes and beats simply not being to my taste. But let’s start with the good! Like I said, I was drawn in by the witches and the murder mystery, and from a distant perspective, I think both of these things were interesting. I liked the idea that in this world magic was only something that came to women. Through this lens, the book then had a lot to say about feminism and the ways that women experience society. I haven’t watched the “Barbie” movie yet… *ducks*…but I would bet that this has very similar vibes. That said, I also felt that some of the messaging was a bit heavy-handed at times. There were moments where it almost had an “after school special” feeling to it….”See?? The patriarchy!!” I found myself wishing for a bit more subtly on that front.

I also liked the serial killer aspect of the story. This book was definitely a lot darker than I was expecting, and I appreciated how much it committed to its themes, really diving into some of the body horror moments. Fans of dark fantasy and horror will likely appreciate the fact that the book doesn’t shy away from these more gruesome scenes.

However, I found myself struggling to remain invested in the story. While the action does pick up in the last 100 pages of the book, that’s always a bit too little, too late for my overall reading experience. I found myself setting the book down too often and having to force myself to continue reading. There wasn’t anything objectively wrong with the writing, but it didn’t grab me. It felt a bit to formulaic and simplistic at times to really give the book much of a unique tone. It wasn’t helped that it was written in present tense, a style that I always struggle to enjoy. That said, readers who are not bothered by this approach to writing may not come away feeling the same way.

Similarly, because the writing was on the more simple side, I struggled to truly connect to any of our three characters, as their chapters had a bad tendency of beginning to read the same as one another. I liked the idea of all three characters, I just didn’t end up really loving any of the actual characters themselves.

Overall, this was a bit of a middling read for me, but much of this came down to some of my own preferences on writing styles and the way larger themes are handled. I do think that it will connect for YA readers who are looking for a good, creepy witchy book, however, and if you’re a fan of the author, I’m sure this will be a hit!

Rating 7: Appropriately creepy and witchy, but I was distracted by what felt like heavy-handedness with the overall message.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Invocations” can be found on this and other similar Goodreads lists: YA Novels of 2024

Serena’s Review: “Unbound”

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Book: “Unbound” by Christy Healy

Publishing Info: Blackstone Publishing, January 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

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

Book Description: Rozlyn Ó Conchúir is used to waiting—waiting for the king, her father, to relent and allow her to leave the solitude of her tower; waiting for the dreaded and mysterious Beast of Connacht to at last be defeated; waiting for the arrival of the man destined to win her heart and break the terrible curse placed on her and her land. So, when she meets Jamie—a charming and compelling suitor—she allows herself to hope that her days of solitude and patience are at long last over.

But as she finds her trust betrayed and with newer, more sinister threats arising, Rozlyn learns that some curses are better left unbroken …

For fans of Hannah Whitten and Rebecca Ross, Unbound is a gender bent re-imagining of the classic tale of a monstrous beast and the beauty determined to tame it, set against the lush backdrop of Irish mythology and folklore.

Review: I’m not really sure which came first: my love of Irish folklore fantasy or my love of Juliet Mariller’s books. I suspect the latter likely lead to the former. Either way, through no real study on my part, I’ve become fairly familiar with Irish mythology, legends, and folk tales/characters, so whenever I spot a book purporting to be about these topics, I’m always eager to check it out and see how it compares to the other stories I’ve read. But, while I’m a big fan of both Hannah Whitten and Rebecca Ross, I sure do wish that Marillier would get her due for books like this! While I can see the similarities to those authors, Marillier’s works are a perfect read-alike to this author’s style and general concept. Plus, she’s a very under-the-radar author who I just wish more fantasy readers were aware of, so I’ll do my part and plug her here now!

I will say, subjectively, I very much enjoyed this one from start to finish; that said, objectively there are some quibbles to be found with parts of it. The style of the writing (very lyrical and fairytale-feeling) is just the sort I enjoy, with sweeping prose and beautiful turns of phrase. Like the best fairytales, the style could take on the tone of a how one might imagine a storyteller presenting the fable to an audience around a fire at night.

However, on the other side of this, there were many blatantly anachronistic aspects to the writing and world-building. These are always tough things to point out about historical fantasy books like this, because if you wanted to, almost every book in the subgenre likely strays outside of the strict boundaries of historical accuracy. Plus, one can always say it’s fantasy, so are there really any historical rules to be applied here and isn’t this just nit-picking? Healy writes in her author’s note that she was conscious of these anachronisms and left them in intentionally, using pretty much this exact reasoning about fantasy. But, on the other hand, she chose to seemingly set this in the “real world” and even included the exact year before each chapter (needed for plotting reasons that we’ll talk about next) which firmly and repeatedly sets it in the reader’s mind that this is in fact taking place at a specific point in history.

I wish, instead, that she had simply created a new world and year system. Really, no great world-building or changes would have needed to be made. Just come up with the name of a fantasy world, make an obviously different calendar system, and ta da! Many of these anachronisms go away! As it stands, many of them will only really be noticeable to those who know a lot about the time period and the import histories of things like chocolate. But others, like the repeated use of the word “okay” in dialogue, really do stand out as distracting.

The inclusion of the years at the start of each chapter heading are very important however, whether using a fictitious calendar system or not, as the story is told in a very non-linear fashion with many jumps forward and backward in time. Now, I’m on record through my various reviews as enjoying this sort of fragmented story-telling. I enjoy meeting characters who clearly have a long, complicated history with one another and then jumping around through their stories to slowly piece together how they came to be in this state. I think, when done right, it can create some excellent stakes to the plot right from the start. But it also requires the reader to trust that the author will bring answers eventually and be patient with not understanding exactly why characters say and do what they do currently. So, for some readers, this may be a challenging read, as the story does very much jump around in time between the current situation, the past, and then, even more strange, a several-centuries-long jump that comes about halfway through the book. Even for me, this half-way-through jump and the introduction of new characters was a big ask on the author’s part. It all ties together nicely, but I think some readers might struggle to stick it through.

I also do not like the fact that this book has been marketed as a gender-swapped “Beauty and the Beast.” If you squint, yes, you can see how the promoters got there, but there are really no elements of the actual plot of that tale to be found in this book. It’s more, we seem to have come to the point where anytime there is ever a vaguely (reallllly vague sometimes) monstrous character and a love story, marketers can’t help but shout “Beauty and the Beast re-telling!” at the top of their voices, forgetting that a “re-telling” implies that the story itself should be similar to the original fairytale. It’s misleading to readers to call books like this re-tellings and more likely to result in disappointed readers leaving negative reviews and thus out-pacing any gains that had been hoped for in using this fairytale as a lure in the first place! It’s even more frustrating in this case because there are actual Irish folklore characters that are obviously the inspiration for much of this book.

So it’s tough to sum this all up. I did enjoy this book, overall. I think the writing was fairly high for a debut novel, and I’m especially looking forward to any future books by the author when, perhaps, some of my quibbles will be improved upon. I think there were a few stylistic choices that a good editor could help with. And then, as far as the plotting, I do think it will be challenging to some readers, but it worked for me, so it’s something to keep in mind going in, whether or not this will work for you!

Rating 7: Overall, a very solid debut book, though I do wish some work around had been used for the anachronism, either changing the world itself or editing out some of them.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Unbound” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Fairy Tales for Grown Children and Fantasy Romance.

Serena’s Review: “Gothikana”

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Book: “Gothikana” by RuNyx

Publishing Info: Bramble, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: An unusual girl. An enigmatic man. An ancient castle. What could go wrong?

An outcast her entire life, Corvina Clemm is left adrift after losing her mother. When she receives the admission letter from the mysterious University of Verenmore, she accepts it as a sign from the universe. The last thing she expects though is an old, secluded castle on top of a mountain riddled with secrets, deceit, and death.

An enigma his entire life, Vad Deverell likes being a closed book but knowing exactly everything that happens in the university. A part-time professor working on his thesis, Vad has been around long enough to know the dangers the castle possesses. And he knows the moment his path crosses with Corvina, she’s dangerous to everything that he is.

They shouldn’t have caught each other’s eye. They cannot be. But a chill-inducing century-old mystery forces them to collide. People have disappeared every five years over the past century, Corvina is getting clues to unraveling it all, and Vad needs to keep an eye on her.

And so begins a tale of the mysterious, the morbid, the macabre, and a deep love that blossoms in the unlikeliest of places.

Review: I was eager to check out this book when I saw it was slated for publication from Tor this winter. For one thing, it was hugely popular as a self-published titled, and I always love to see indie authors picked up by large publishing companies. Second, Tor has had a great track record this last year for putting out some really great SFF books. I’ve reviewed a ton of them and almost all of them have been positive reviews. Third, the description for this book likens it to “Beauty and the Beast.” I’m a simple person: if you tell me a fantasy story is inspired by “Beauty and the Beast,” I’ll probably read it. So, where did all of this lead me? Well, unfortunately, to a pretty steep disappointment.

I do try to start with the positives, but unfortunately, I really don’t have a lot. Really, the best I can say is that the overall concept was creative. I was drawn in by the book description, and I think if the execution had been up to snuff, than it would have been enjoyable read. Also, a lot of people do like this book. I can’t say I understand why, but they do. So clearly there’s some positive appeal for readers here that I’m not seeing, and if you’re interested in this book, there are a whole lot of people out there who would say go for it!

For me, however, right away I knew there would be problems with the writing. I read an ARC version of this book, so I can’t confirm for a fact that some of my complaints won’t have been corrected in finalized versions, but I’m doubtful. Usually, the kinds of changes you’ll see between ARCs and finished versions are last minute spelling or punctuation problems, like a dropped period or something. But here, the writing failures were way beyond this. Honestly, I was a bit shocked. In many ways it read like a bad stereotype of what self-published books can be: clunky writing, odd word choices, lack of useful descriptions (we got enough superficial stuff about fashion to last a life time) leaving the reader stranded in a wasteland. The sentences structure would be fragmented on one page, and then fall into run-on sentences on the next. Honestly, within the first few chapters, the number of times I had to stop and re-read a sentence to try to understand what was being said was shocking. It was the kind of reading experience where I was spending more time mentally re-writing and re-structuring sentences than I did absorbing that actual story.

Moving beyond the actual functionality of the writing, the style itself was also frustrating. This is a perfect example of writing that simply tells you what you’re meant to feel and see, rather than making any sort of effort to lead readers along in an organic, “showing” manner. This style didn’t help the fact that this book very much felt like it was all vibes and no actual world-building. Whenever I stopped and tried to think about how some of the fantasy elements worked, I became frustrated. I kept waiting for some sort of resolution or explanation for various plot elements that were introduced, but by the end, it became clear that tight structure and plot was not the priority. Instead of addressing the various mysteries that are brought up, the book ends with a sputter…something something magic…something something the mountain itself! If the answer to your numerous mysteries in a FANTASY NOVEL is “whelp, magic” than you didn’t have any mysteries to begin with and what story are you even trying to tell here?

I also very much struggled with the romance. I didn’t care for either character, our leading lady or Vad (the name alone!). At best, it was under-developed and I couldn’t understand why either character was interested in the other. At worst, it wasn’t helped by dialogue that had me experiencing indirect embarrassment for the characters. This also had a hirer level of spice than I was anticipating, which isn’t necessarily the book’s fault. But what I’m coming to understand about myself as a romance reader and my approach to spice levels is that it has much less to do with how spicy the book is, and much more to do with the overall approach to these scenes. There are certain descriptive words that I just don’t like in my romance scenes. And there’s a very fine line where these sorts of scenes can stray into the corny, and the minute that happens, the romance is drained and it all gets a bit of an “ick” sheen. Again, this is going to be very subjective from one reader to another. But all of the problems I had with the writing in general just compounded the problems I had with the romance aspects.

Overall, I can’t recommend this book. The romance aspects are subjective, for sure, and some readers might like these sorts of spicy scenes. But the writing was actually just bad, and there’s no two ways about it. Romantasy is having a big moment currently, which means that readers can hold their books to higher standards than this one had to offer, I’m sorry to say.

Rating 5: Honestly, if I hadn’t requested an ARC, thus feeling more obligated to give it a full review, I would have DNF’d this within the first 25%, the writing was that bad.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Gothikana” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Popular Gothic Fantasy Books.

Serena’s Review: “Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands”

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Book: “Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands” by Heather Fawcett

Publishing Info: Del Rey, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.
 
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.
 
Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.
 
And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.
 
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.

Review: Here we are in a new year starting off with one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 right off the bat! And with a highly anticipated book always comes a bunch of nerves. What if the first book was a one-off?? What if the story takes a turn in a direction that I won’t like? What if I was slightly delirious when I read the first book and it was all in my head?? (Well, less so on that last one, as the first book was well received by pretty much everyone!). But, gentle reader, I am here to assuage your fears: not only did I enjoy this book as much as the first one, I think I liked it even more!

Now, given how much I liked the first one, that’s a pretty big claim to make. But I think it’s pretty easy to back up by simply going through what I liked in the first book and how well this book built upon and expanded on those original concepts. First of all with the world-building and fairy elements. While the first book follows Emily’s experiences out in the field, this book not only does the same (this time seeing her and Wendell off to the Austrian Alps) but we also get a brief look into her life as a professor on campus. The story only briefly stays in this location, but through these insights into her life as professor, we meet other important side characters, such as another professor who is a more senior member of the faculty, and a student assistant who bewilders Emily constantly. I really enjoyed these academic elements of the story. Yes, of course, the fairy stuff is the most exciting, but you can’t have academic fantasy without the “academic” stuff as well, and I was pleased to see this book lean into this aspect of the story.

Speaking of side characters, Emily and Wendell are not the only two off on the expedition to the Alps. The aforementioned professor and student tag along as well. Through this book and the first, it becomes clear that while Emily is a great character on her own, she’s at her best when bouncing off of other characters. Wendell is the main focal point, but I think that these other two characters also allowed Emily’s character to grow and expand as well. We see her struggle to connect to a colleague who approaches their shared work in a very different manner, forcing her to reflect on her own choices, recognizing which are strengths worth fighting for and which could do with a second glance. I also enjoyed watching her interaction with the young woman, Ariadne, her student. These interactions are as hilarious as you’d expect, especially in the light of the fact that it’s obvious that Emily herself probably presented many similar challenges to her own mentor.

I also really enjoyed the fairy elements. I remember mentioning in my review of the first book that I enjoyed how vicious the members of Fae were, something that you don’t always see. Here, we get even more of the same, from some truly frightening new creatures to a much larger exploration of some of the realms of Fae itself. There were moments where this book very much walked right up to the line of horror, which is such an odd thing to say about a book that also falls solidly within the “cozy fantasy” subgenre. Yes, bloodthirsty foxes with baby faces are “cozy!” You heard it here first.

The larger exploration of Fae also touches on another area of improvement in this book (again, this is all “improving” from a very high starting point to begin with.) Due to the nature of the first story, Emily ends up as a fairly passive character in the final section of that book. It works for that story and I didn’t have an problems with it there. But I was incredibly happy to see this book swap Emily and Wendell’s roles in this story, with Emily spending the majority of the book fighting to break a curse brought down upon Wendell. And in pursuit of this, she must enter Fae without him, putting to test all of her skills as a scholar and adventurer. There is so much great stuff in this final third of the book, but obviously I can’t get into much of it without falling into spoiler-y territory. It’s all action-packed, tense, and highlights just how awesome of a character Emily is! She’s smart, brave, and, of course, unintentionally hilarious!

And, lastly, the romance! Obviously, I loved everything we got from Emily and Wendell in the first book, but we get even more here. I was mildly curious how the book would manage the change in their relationship, but they and their interactions with each other are, at the same time, exactly as before and, of course, much further along in their relationship with one another. Each is still bewildered by the other, and their bumbling around within their own emotions is just as cute as you could imagine. There were several moments that were incredibly sweet, and I enjoyed Emily’s internal exploration of what it means to love and trust another in this way. This is just the sort of romance that I love to see in my fantasy stories.

I was so happy with this book! It really met every expectation I had built up in my head and exceeded my wildest dreams in many ways. High praise, but in this case, well earned.

Rating 10: Take the high that was reading the first book and somehow expand it a million times over! Absolutely brilliant in every way!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Fantasy Romance Releases January 2024 and Historical Romantic Fantasy

Serena’s Review: “That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon”

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Book: “That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon” by Kimberly Lemming

Publishing Info: Orbit, January 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

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

Book Description: Spice trader Cinnamon’s quiet life is turned upside down when she ends up on a quest with a fiery demon in this irreverently quirky rom-com fantasy that is sweet, steamy, and funny as hell—perfect for fans of  Legends & Lattes  and  The Dragon’s Bride. 

All she wanted to do was live her life in peace–maybe get a cat, expand the family spice farm. Really, anything that didn’t involve going on an adventure where an orc might rip her face off. But they say the Goddess has favorite, and if so, Cin is clearly not one of them… 

After saving the demon Fallon in a wine-drunk stupor, all Fallon wants to do is kill an evil witch enslaving his people. And, who can blame him? But he’s dragging Cinnamon along for the ride. On the bright side, at least he keeps burning off his shirt.

Review: I’ll be honest, I definitely requested this one purely based on the unique title and the cute cover. Both were unlike any book I’d seen before, and after reading the synopsis, I was looking forward to reading a romantic fantasy with a heavy dose of comedy, ala some of T. Kingfisher’s work. Alas, it didn’t live up to my expectations. It’s hard to say whether it was a book problem or a me problem or a combination of both, but this will be one of those books that I think needs just the right reader to land perfectly.

For one thing, while the book is definitely high fantasy in its world-building and magic, it was very modern in its language, both the dialogue and some of the narration. And when I say modern language, I’m not talking about standard English (a qualifier that you do actually have to make for some fantasy that calls back to older forms of English, or formal English, or what have you). No, this is modern English in that there is tons of lingo thrown all over the place. And this is where I find one of my first points about the narrow lane for readers who will enjoy this book: this is a romance book that is heavy in the “adult themes” of its romance, but on the other hand, the jargon and lingo used is very much on the younger side. It’s not a comfortable pairing. I suspect that many of the adult readers who will enjoy the romance of this story might be put off by some of the ridiculousness of the language. And, honestly, I’m not sure it’s a great example of the use of the lingo even for younger audiences. It just felt corny and try-hard much of the time.

And this points leads right into my second major struggle area: I didn’t connect with the humor at all. Most of the jokes landed with a thud, and rather than laugh, I caught myself rolling my eyes more and more. At its best, humor is not only funny but endears the characters to the reader. Here, the humorous “takes” from our main character had me rapidly losing all respect for her and becoming increasingly annoyed by her choices. At one point, Cin makes some “snarky” remark about how books always have “bandit rapists.” And while I get what the author was trying to do with this meta level of awareness, the scene itself doesn’t go any further in unpacking this trope than using its inclusion as another moment for Cin to say something “witty.” It’s not subverting a trope if you just threw it in there to make your heroine seem clever for recognizing that it’s a trope in the first place. Then, later, there are other moments where horrific violence occurs, and Cin is written as just not really caring about all of the consequences? Throughout it all, she simply became pretty unlikable.

Beyond that, I was uncomfortable with the romance itself. I wasn’t expecting a “fated mates” romance, and those are my least favorite, so that’s just a personal preference thing. But due to this nature, you never feel any true connection between these two other than lust and the fact that they are simply “destined” to be together. On top of that, the book strays hard into dubcon (dubious consent) territory. Now, I’m not a hardliner on this front, as I wouldn’t say that one character kissing another character without directly asking before is dubcon or anything like that. I think if you stray too far down those lines, the entire romance genre becomes fairly unworkable. That said, this book went way further than that. And, again, I know that some readers enjoy these types of romances, but not only do I personally not, I thought that this sort of romance sat uncomfortably against the “cozy,” “humor-centric” story that the marketing presents it to be (cover, title, even the book description itself). So, again, I think there may be a mismatch between readers and books.

Overall, I was really let down by this book. While some of these complaints are definitely personal preferences (and if they’re your jam, you may in fact enjoy this!), but I also think there are some serious quality issues with the lingo and the comedy aspects of the story. It simply wasn’t funny most of the time and instead read as very cliché and as if it was trying way to hard to be cute and quirky.

Rating 6: The humor landed with a thump and the main character became increasingly annoying as the book continued.

Reader’s Advisory:

“That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon” can be found on this Goodreads list: Books with Drinks on the Cover

Serena’s Favorite Reads of 2023: Picks 5-1

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Another a year, another almost impossible task trying to each choose our Top 10 Reads of the year! For me, the word “favorite” is an important part of this list. As I go through the last year’s worth of reading, I often found that some books would strike particular chords within me more deeply than others, even if, quality-wise, another book might be stronger. Of course, this just makes it all that much harder to put them in any order. But here it goes! Today I’m going to countdown my favorites reads, five through 1. And since it’s the end of the reading year, don’t forget to enter our “12 Days of Christmas Giveaway!”

5. “The Serpent and the Wings of Night” by Carissa Broadbent

“The Serpent and the Wings of Night” Review

This was one of those funny years where I was putting together this list and found that I had multiple entries for books that I had just read in the month of December! I featured “The Witchwood Knot” on my 10-6 list, and here we are again with a book that I only finished reviewing a few weeks ago! But like “Witchwood,” I particularly wanted to focus on this book as it was originally self-published and only recently picked up by Bramble. And man, did this book restore my faith in the potential of romantasy! All too often, I think this genre can get bogged down in tropes and fairly low-quality writing. Not so, here. Yes, it has a nice romance, but it also stands perfectly fine as a straight-forward fantasy title! There’s complex world-building and lore. Solid characters with meaningful character arcs. And original and exciting action scenes! I had such a blast with this book and can’t wait to check out the sequel when it comes out in a few months.

4. “The Fragile Threads of Power” by V.E. Schwab

“The Fragile Threads of Power” Review

And now for a pick that won’t surprise anyone! This was probably the most welcome news I can remember seeing in the book world since…I don’t know when! Not only is it a return to a beloved world, but it is the return of the same beloved cast of characters, several years later. I was definitely concerned, as well, wondering how well the balancing act would work between our familiar characters and the new ones introduced. As it turns out, it worked out really well! I was pleased to see that the majority of the story still belonged to our main characters, but I was also interested enough in the new ones to not resent them when the story changed to their POVs. It was also just such a fun, nostalgic trip to be back in this world. Now, however, we’re back to waiting on sequels! Best problem to have, though, I say.

3. The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem

“The Jasad Heir” Review

This book took me completely by surprise. In many ways, it sounded like a fairly generic fantasy story, what with an heir to the throne in hiding , a magical, deadly competition, and an enemies-to-lovers romance. But instead of becoming bogged down in tired concepts, it rose beyond all of these tropes to prove that there is a reason why many of these go-toes are popular to begin with! I also liked that our main character was a bit of an unreliable narrator, with truths about her past slowly coming to light. I was also most impressed by romance. There are a metric ton “enemies to lovers” love stories out there, especially right now, but this book shows the importance of the often over-looked slow-burn aspect of it all. Natural enemies don’t just flip switches in their brain and suddenly fall in love with one another. I also liked the subtle nature of the love story, with them coming together slowly over very small moments of humanity and care. Here’s another one where I’m eagerly awaiting the next book the series, though I’m not sure when it will be coming out!

2. “Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries” by Heather Fawcett

“Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries” Review

For most of the year, this book was solidly in the #1 position for this list. And honestly, I’ve gone back and forth several times. So, really, maybe read this as two #1 picks! I hadn’t read anything by Heather Fawcett before picking up this book, but man, she’s now an insta-read author for me! This book seems like it was made in a factory specifically for me. I love historical fantasy fiction, two of my favorite genres in one! And, most importantly, Emily Wilde’s prickly, stubborn, supremely confident if a bit socially awkward type of character is one of my all-time favorite character types. She’s very much in line with characters like “Amelia Peabody” and the like. I also really loved the Fae in this book, especially the late-book twist that the story took, veering off in a direction I had never expected. On top of all of this, there’s a lovely, lowkey romance with the grumpy/sunshine trope being gender swapped between Emily and Wendell. Definitely check this one out if you enjoy historical fantasy fiction and lowkey love stories.

1. “Starling House” by Alix E. Harrow

“Starling House” Review

And, finally, my top pick for 2023! While I enjoyed Harrow’s “Ten Thousand Doors of January,” I didn’t expect to love this book quite as much as I did. For one thing, it’s a contemporary fantasy novel, a subgenre that I often struggle with. But man, did this book prove me wrong! I loved everything about it, from the way the classic gothic haunted house story was twisted around on itself, to the exploration of stories and who tells them. But most of all, I loved the voice of the main character, Opal. Another character, Arthur, has his own chapters, but Opal’s are the majority and this is truly her story. She’s a perfect example of how to pull off an unreliable narrator and the voice of a character who, to many, could come across as unlikable. I was instantly charmed by her and whipped through this book in a matter of days. I can’t recommend this one highly enough!

What were some of your favorite reads of 2023?

Serena’s Favorite Reads of 2023: Picks 10-6

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

Another a year, another almost impossible task trying to each choose our Top 10 Reads of the year! For me, the word “favorite” is an important part of this list. As I go through the last year’s worth of reading, I often found that some books would strike particular chords within me more deeply than others, even if, quality-wise, another book might be stronger. Of course, this just makes it all that much harder to put them in any order. But here it goes! Today I’m going to countdown my favorites reads, ten to six. And since it’s the end of the reading year, don’t forget to enter our “12 Days of Christmas Giveaway!”

10. “The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch” by Melinda Taub

“The Scandalous Confessions of Lydia Bennet, Witch” Review

Seems like some variation of a Jane Austen book ends up on this Top Ten list every year! It just speaks to the universal appeal of these stories and characters that there continues to be an excellent adaptation year after year, two centuries after their original release! This one was particularly surprising as the author was really playing fast and loose with the original story of “Pride and Prejudice.” Not only does this story follow Lydia, the much disliked youngest daughter of the Bennet family, but it also must make a romantic interest out of one of the most notorious villains of Austen’s cast of characters AND add in an entirely new fantasy element of witchcraft and magic! It’s a lot of balls to juggle all at once, and somehow Taub pulls it off masterfully!

9. “Tress of the Emerald Sea” by Brandon Sanderson

“Tress of the Emerald Sea” Review

Given my “Year of Brandon Sanderson” series that I had running during 2023, it’s only fitting that one of his books makes this list! And while I really liked three out of the four new releases he had this year, “Tress of the Emerald Sea” remained my favorite of the lot. I feel like it was the most well-rounded and complete of the four books and perfectly highlighted all of Sanderson’s strengths as a writer without over-playing any one aspect of his style. There’s adventure, there’s romance, there’s a new world with interesting magic, and there are, of course, some nice nods to longtime Cosmere fans. It’s also a stand-alone story, like the other three secret projects Sanderson released in 2023, which makes it a great starting off point for readers who may not have picked up a book by this author before.

8. “Witch King” by Martha Wells

“Witch King” Review

This is probably my most controversial pick of my Top Ten this year, in that I think this book didn’t hit right for a lot of other readers. I featured this one on one of our “Another Take” posts, and I was surprised to find a lot of middling reviews out there. Many readers seemed to struggle with the fact that one is simply plopped into this world and plot seemingly halfway through the story and must piece things together over the course of the book. This device is often seen in fantasy fiction and, for me, it is one of the elements that draws me to the genre. I like slowly putting together the history and geography of a world; it’s like a puzzle tied up into a book. I also really enjoyed the characters at the heart of this story. “Found family” is a term that I think gets thrown around too often when describing books, but I think in this case it perfectly applies. The book is also laugh-out-loud funny at times and incredibly tragic at others. If you’re willing to wait it out, I think this book has a great payoff for readers willing to play along with Wells’ concept and style.

7. “Thief Liar Lady” by D. L. Soria

“Thief Liar Lady” Review

I’m not quite sure why this book didn’t seem to get the attention it deserved? On paper, it has a lot of things going for it that are mostly still popular. Fairytale re-tellings do seem to be on a bit of a downwards slope (much to my chagrin), but I think there’s still an appetite for them, especially when they’re “twisted” like this one. There’s a solid romance at the heart of the story. There are morally grey characters, including the leading lady! It was also one of those interesting reads where it could be very light and fluffy one moment, and then very dark another. It also tackles the realities of long-running conflicts between groups of people and how there are never easy answers or simple good guys or bad guys. We have people from the wronged country doing terrible things. We have people from the more powerful faction fighting to do what’s right. And vice versa. But beyond these deeper themes, it was also just a well-paced story with a strong romance at its heart, the type of book that always seems to work for me.

6. “The Witchwood Knot” by Olivia Atwater

“The Witchwood Knot” Review

I was lucky enough this year to read many books that would have qualified for this list simply for my having given them 9s or 10s on our rating system. I had to winnow things down quite a bit. But one factor that I always like to take into at least some consideration is whether or not a book is likely to be heard of by the average reader. Some books on this list were massive hits, and I love them as much as the next person (hence their position on the list!), but I also want to draw attention to the authors more quietly pumping out excellent fiction that gets less media attention. Such is this book. Atwater was actually on my Top Ten list last year, so I was incredibly excited to discover that not only did she have a new book coming out this year, but that this one rose back up to the high that was “Half a Soul.” This book is set in the same world, but now takes place in the Victorian period, complete with gothic, haunted house vibes. This book was a bit darker than “Half a Soul” and the other two books in that trilogy, but I think that helped it rise to even higher levels. There was the same humor and vivacity, but also a tinge of horror that made the entire experience feel like it had an increased depth. I also very much enjoyed the main character and the unique love interest. If you’ve enjoyed Atwater’s books in the past, definitely give this one a go!

So that’s ten through six. Next time I will give a countdown of my top five. What have been some of your favorite reads of 2023?

Year of Sanderson: Book Boxes!

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“Year of Sanderson” is an on-going, monthly series that will post on the last Friday of each month in which I will cover various Brandon Sanderson-related things. This will largely be comprised of book reviews (some from his back catalog and some from the books being released this year), as well as assorted other topics like reviews of the items in the swag boxes that will be coming out as part of Sanderson’s Kickstarted campaign. Frankly, we’ll just have to see what we get from this series, very much like the Kickstarter itself!

Here we are, at the end of my “Year with Sanderson” review series! In the end, we’ve covered several of his stand-alone works, the popular “Mistborn” trilogy that catapulted him into the public eye, one of his many novellas, and, of course, the four new books that came out this year. So, lastly, I wanted to talk a bit about the monthly boxes that were an option in the Kickstarter campaign that launched it all!

I signed up for the Kickstarter campaign the day it was announced. There was no question that this was definitely for me, and I was excited to get beautiful, special editions of these four new books. That being the case, I initially signed up for the books-only option. This lasted, ohhhh, a day before I was right back on the Kickstarter site changing my pledge to include the monthly boxes that were being offered as well. Initially I was a bit wary as I’ve had poor luck with book box stuff in the past (often a lot of repetitive, low quality items) and I end up just stashing things places and then re-gifting somewhere along the line. And there was also a steep price tag attached to this option. But I figured if there was ever going to be a book box that would hit it out of the park, this would be the one. And, yep, I was right about that!

First of all, here are all four of the new books. Obviously this picture doesn’t do justice to the amazing quality of these editions, but I had to include it anyways. Even if I hadn’t gone the book box route, I would have been extremely pleased just with these books. The spines alone are eye-catching! But I also wanted to include this picture as it highlights one of my favorite items in all of the boxes: a set of “Mistborn” book ends! Each book end had a different character, and they are stylish and eye-catching. This one, featuring Vin, is my favorite of the two, but the set as a whole is very cool. I’ve moved them around on by bookshelf several times to try to best highlight them. I have dark wood bookshelves, unfortunately, so the black sometimes fades into the background. But I finally moved them to a lighter bookshelf, and they look great there, especially this one paired with these editions.

Next I wanted to highlight the very cool character pins that were included in every box, so we ended up with a total of 12. I’m not planning on keeping them in the wrappers for forever or anything, but I don’t currently have a good pin display set up, so this is what we’re left with. There are a few more of the pins in next pictures, but I mostly have them sprinkled around my bookshelves willy nilly. All of my favorite characters ended up with pins, so I have to say, whoever was choosing which characters to feature, they clearly have very good taste! There’s also a nice balance of characters from many different books and series, so I think most fans were happy with the selection.

I really can’t emphasize enough how high quality were the items in this box! Knick knacks these were not! If I didn’t mind this post being miles long, I’d have included them all! In this picture you can see a few of my favorites: the beautiful leather mini backpack, a great bathroom/vanity bag with all sorts of great pockets, the super cute stuffed Soonie pup (I’ve been diligently protecting this one from my kids who both think any stuffed animals that come into our house must automatically be theirs), and a heavy duty bottle opener. Not pictured, a few other things that come to mind was a really awesome wax stamp set (wooden handle, metal stamp, melting wax included), a lovely set of four coasters, some cool magnets, postcards, and even car air fresheners! There was such a wide variety to what was included, and all of it was unique from what you typically find in book boxes.

You can just barely see the second half of the book end set in this picture (and you can see what I meant by the display problems I have with my shelves!). But this picture also includes my favorite pin for my favorite character, Vin from “Mistborn!” There were also these neat “Elantris” band-aids that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get myself to actually use, and a cool display model of Nightblood, the sword so central to “War Breaker.” The sword is metal, not plastic, and is another example of the high quality. Can’t say it enough, I was so impressed with all of these items!

And lastly, it may seem strange to include a picture of one of the boxes itself, but again, the high production value on all of this required this picture. Every box was specially made for this campaign and had quotes that were tied to the general theme of the box. Everything was also packaged perfectly and I didn’t have a singled broken or damaged item in any of my twelve boxes. Honestly, I’m going to start up this next year feeling kind of bereft not having these boxes to look forward to every month! I’m so glad I pulled the trigger and went for it with this part of the Kickstarter campaign. It felt like a truly unique moment in state of fantasy fiction, and I was glad I was along for the entire ride!