Tag: 6 Rating

Kate’s Review: “Man, F*ck This House (And Other Disasters)”

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Book: “Man, F*ck This House (And Other Disasters)” by Brian Asman

Publishing Info: Blackstone Publishing, October 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received a finished copy from the publicist

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

Book Description: In the titular “Man, F*ck This House,” Sabrina Haskins and her family have just moved into their dream home. At first glance, the house is perfect. But things aren’t what they seem. Sabrina is hearing odd noises, seeing strange visions. Their neighbors are odd or absent. And Sabrina’s already-fraught relationship with her son is about to be tested in a way no parent could ever imagine. Because while the Haskins family might be the newest owners of this house, they’re far from its only residents …

In “The Hurlyburly,” a troubled teen loses his grip on reality after checking out the wrong internet meme …

In “In the Rushes,” a coastal cycling trip turns terrifying for a feuding mother and daughter …

Malevolent doppelgangers, bizarre murders, ancient evils, Western ghosts, mirror monsters, poisonous playthings, and more populate the pages of this brilliant—and petrifying—collection of stories.

Review: Thank you to Kaye Publicity for sending me a finished copy of this novel!

I never stay away from horror stories for too long after a brief lull post Horrorpalooza, and I’m back into the genre with a short stories collection that is by an author that is new to me! “Man, F*ck This House” by Brian Asman had a interesting title which hooked me in, as well as a promise of a couple more short stories beyond the titular novella. I’ve been having more luck with short stories collections as of late, after all!

There were definitely some standout stories in this collection, which has fewer stories than I am used to when it comes to short story anthologies (that’s neither here nor there, just an observation). I especially loved “In The Rushes”, a story about a mother and her teenage daughter on a cycling trip that has been rife with tension and animosity that eventually becomes a story of terror. I thought that the relationship between mother Carol and daughter Becca was poignant and realistic, with a harried divorcée mother and her surly teenage daughter butting heads in ways that feel true to life. Carol hates feeling like she’s the bad guy when she has to put her foot down, Becca craves for independence and her own choices, and I really liked how Asman gave us a superb backstory that makes the tension when they encounter something supernatural all the more palpable. I’m obviously biased when it comes to mother and daughter stories but this one just worked for me on every level, especially when the horror elements shifted into gear. I also liked the story “The Hurlyburly”, as urban legend/creepypasta meme horror tales are lots of fun and a favorite of mine when it comes to tropes.

I think that my biggest hang up was more to do with the titular story, the novella “Man, F*ck This House”. I had really high hopes for it, as I do love a haunted house story, especially if a dysfunctional family is involved at the heart of it. But I think that this one had a strange tone to it (the title makes it sound a little tongue in cheek but it isn’t really), and had very few people to root for. I felt like Sabrina, the harried Mom, was probably the most fleshed out, but on the flip side we had an incredibly precocious and psychopathic for no reason son named Damien who felt like Stewie Griffin come to life as he tries to plan his mother’s downfall. His reasons were difficult to parse through, and he was SO precocious and vicious that I just couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief for him. And if I can’t suspend my disbelief in a story about a literal haunted house, that says something. The rest of the stories were fine!

So it’s a mixed back of a collection. If you like horror short story collections you could check it out for sure. It was a bit middle of the road for me. But if you like to have stories to work through at your own pace it could be a good pick.

Rating 6: There were a couple of stand out stories (I really loved “In the Rushes”), but I found it to be a bit of a mixed bag overall, with the title story feeling all over the place.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Man, F*ck This House” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Horror Short Stories”.

Serena’s Review: “Throne in the Dark”

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Book: “Throne in the Dark” by A.K. Caggiano

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Casablanca, November 2025

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

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

Book Description: His dark destiny awaits, and nothing will stand in his way. Except her.

Dark lord
Demon spawn
Prophesied realm destroyer

With a demon for a father, Damien Maleficus Bloodthorne’s destiny could be nothing but nefarious, and with the completion of his most vicious spell, Damien is on the cusp of fulfilling the evil inevitability all of his dark machinations have led to.

And then, her.

Bubbly
Obnoxious
Blonde

Harboring secrets of her own, a tiny yet troublesome thief calling herself Amma completely upsets Damien’s malevolent plans when she mistakenly gets chained to his side through magic, forcing him to drag her across the realm. Killing her would fix things, of course, but the nauseatingly sweet Amma proves herself useful on Damien’s unholy crusade and then proves herself the source of something even more sinister: feelings.

Will Damien be forced to abandon his villainous birthright to help the tender thorn in his side? Or will he manage to overcome the virtue Amma insists on inspiring and instead cut it out at the heart?

Review:I lurk on a lot of fantasy/fantasy romance subReddits and, as such, I’d heard quite a lot about this book before it was picked up by a traditional publisher. Suffice it to say, it’s very beloved by many indie readers, often recommended as an improvement on some of the lower-quality fare that has been coming out recently, now that romantasy is trending so hard. So, I was excited to see what all the fuss was about. And… I’m still wondering, honestly.

Here’s the thing: this book will be a hit for a lot of readers, and I can understand why it is so beloved by those who read it as an indie book first. If you’re a fan of the grumpy x sunshine dynamic, this is the epitome of everything that romance has to offer. Beyond that, on a technical level, the writing flows easily, and the banter can be quite witty at times. Unfortunately, subjectively, I really dislike a lot of what this book was doing. That being the case, go ahead and take this entire review with a grain of salt. If you like the things I just mentioned, you should probably check this one out. If you are questioning things, let’s get into my problems.

For one thing, while the writing was fine, I really dislike the inclusion of modern lingo in books like this. Now, again, I get that this is a fairly standard approach for fantasy romcoms like this, à la Assistant to the Villain and books of that ilk. However, I will probably never not hate it. Like those other books, I immediately felt disconnected from the world and characters, attempting to strike some mental balance where I’m in this high fantasy world but regularly coming across words like “kiddo” and “pops.” All the worse, these two examples, at least, were coming from the “villainous” love interest. Which, I get what the book was trying to do—defying genre conventions and all that—but in reality, it just made me cringe and have a hard time taking him seriously in any capacity, evil or not.

However, my real problem stemmed from the FMC. Man, did I dislike her. If you want to look up the dictionary definition of “character with no agency” or “damsel in distress,” here’s your girl. Again, there are “reasons” and all of that for these choices. But that doesn’t do away with the fact that I’m left with a fairly hefty book where the female main character does practically nothing. What’s worse, we’re stuck in her mind for a good chunk of the time and, boy, nothing is happening there either. If I had to sum up her personality, it would be “nice” and “whiny.” (It’s not lost on me that those two traits shouldn’t go together, and you’d be right there too.) And, let me be clear, when I say “nice,” I’m going full Minnesotan on the word and really mean “boring as hell.” I didn’t find her panic in the face of danger cute. I didn’t enjoy her cutesy response to the brooding MMC. And no reveal toward the end would change this.

I don’t want to rant anymore about this because, again, as I said at the top, much of my dislike of this book is fully wrapped up in my own personal preferences for romances. I’ve long known that I usually struggle with grumpy/sunshine (too often I feel like authors think “sunshine” simply means “dumb as a rock”). And I also often have a hard time buying into the cozy factor of these romcom-like romantasies. However, the romance fantasy subReddit really sold me this book hard, and I was incredibly disappointed with what I got. That said, if you enjoyed Assistant to the Villain or the grumpy/sunshine trope in general, I really do recommend you check out this book! It just wasn’t for me.

Rating 6: Why, oh why, do authors write “sunshine” characters as just plain ridiculous and stupid?? This one was definitely not for me, but I do think that it will appeal to readers who enjoy romcom fantasy novels!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Throne in the Dark” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Shadow Men Megathread and Cozy Fantasy Books.

Serena’s Review: “A Heart So Haunted”

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Book: “A Heart So Haunted” by Hollie Nelson

Publishing Info: Alcove Press, October 2025

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

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

Book Description: Landry is ready to clean house—not just Harthwait, but the traumatic memories and family entanglements that haunt her. Left reeling from her aunt’s sudden death, Landry knows she has to restore the old house and sell it for much needed cash. Preferably, before autumn arrives. But as renovations begin on Harthwait, she notices some motion sensors activate when no one is home, doors slam shut, and every night, at a quarter after midnight, the disembodied crying begins. Then, when she uncovers a hidden door during the renovations, she dares to open it.

Behind the door is a world of nightmares, some of which are hers, while others belong to a monster—who is trapped inside and desperate to get out. Both haunted by their pasts, Landry makes a deal with the monster, but as they develop feelings for each other, she realizes that the thing that looks like a beast may not be the most beastly thing after all.

This rich and spellbinding tale explores the idea of what we call home and who we call family.

Review: While I’m not as committed to celebrating the Halloween season as Kate, I do try to find a few books that both align with my typical reading genres while also touching on Halloween themes. And this one, with its promise of a haunted house and beastly love interest, felt like it neatly checked that box!

This was one of those cases where I think my expectations (and many other readers’, I suspect) were misaligned in a number of ways. Perhaps I wouldn’t have greatly enjoyed it more had I been more properly prepared for the sort of book I would be reading, but it would have at least been a bit less jarring. And, ultimately, I think the readers who are more likely to enjoy this one would have an easier time finding it.

As it stands, the book description and even the cover, though to a lesser extent, prep the reader for a gothic fantasy story featuring a darker tone that explores not only the romance but the nightmares that surround these two characters. And yes, technically we do get that. But this aligns way closer to the cozy fantasy genre than it does to gothic or horror fantasy. From the very start, the overall voice of the story is lighthearted. Even the “creepy” moments are treated with such a soft hand that I never felt even the teensiest bit of trepidation. And, like I said, there is nothing overtly wrong with this, but it wasn’t what I had been led to expect and it ultimately wasn’t what I wanted.

Perhaps I could have gotten on board more easily with this bait-and-switch of vibes if the story itself had been strong. But boy, did this one drag. I knew we were in trouble when in one of the early chapters, the characters hear a bump in the house… and then proceeded to talk about who should go check it out, whether they should go check it out, jokes about how neither wants to check it out… for pages! Before, you guessed it, finally going and checking it out! By which point, any suspense or tension had been so thoroughly killed that I was bored before we even got into the room in question.

This poor pacing continued throughout the story and really was my primary problem with it. Very little truly happens. And I mean, very little. Instead, pages and pages are devoted to the smallest of interactions and depictions of mundane scenes. This could easily have been edited down to a shorter novel or perhaps even a novella. And I’d argue it would have been stronger for it!

I also never felt invested in these characters. There were, perhaps, smidgens of interest to be found in the predicament of the MMC, but even that wasn’t enough to really hold my interest. And I will say that the romance itself was one of the stronger elements. However, there were also numerous side characters who felt so pointless that it almost boggled the mind. (One of these side characters was the other half of that early, pointless scene I described above, which didn’t endear me to him.)

Overall, this was a bit of a disappointment. I think the author has potential, and I did enjoy the romance. But the story felt bloated with unnecessary characters and drawn-out scenes that severely hampered the pacing and plotting of the main story itself. I will say, cozy fantasy readers who enjoy slower-paced books still might enjoy this one!

Rating 6: Bogged down by unnecessary side characters and drawn-out scenes, this one failed to capture my interest, ultimately.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Heart So Haunted” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Gimme a Beast.

Book Club Review: “Someplace Generous”

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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again pulling genres from a hatch and matching them together in one book. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “Someplace Generous: A Romance Anthology” edited by Elaina Ellis and Amber Flame

Publishing Info: Generous Press, May 2024

Where Did We Get This Book: the library!

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

Mix-and-Match Genres: Romance and Short Stories

Book Description: In these pages, desire is centered and explored through queer, trans, Black, AAPI, Latinx, Jewish, disabled, and neurodivergent lenses, and the ages of authors and characters span generations.

The brilliant authors herein have spun lush, poetic tales featuring characters and perspectives historically excluded from romance narratives. Through a variety of styles, lengths, and subgenres–ranging from flash-fiction to short stories, speculative to satire to romcom–there is something here for every kind of reader.

Two Modern Orthodox Jewish women cross a magical threshold on the holiday of Shavuot. A Chinese American grandmother in a nursing home plays matchmaker, just in time for the Lunar New Year. A nonbinary sexworker with psychic abilities helps an older woman connect with her long-lost lover. Two disabled young adults find new levels of intimacy as they work to overcome shame. An enslaved couple jumps the broom and can see the future, which is freedom.

The lovers in Someplace Generous–whether they are sapphic vampires or undercover super-heroes, teenagers, or middle-aged mamas–choose each other, and along the way, they choose themselves, too.

Featuring twenty-two stories by twenty-two authors, Someplace Generous presents voices largely new to the genre of romance-fiction, each bringing a fresh take on what it means to tell a love story.

Kate’s Thoughts

I’ve had a generally okay run of short stories and anthology collections in recent years, so much so that I am not nearly as hesitant to pick them up as I had been in the past. And when book club picked “Someplace Generous” for a romance short stories collection I was actually kind of optimistic. I really liked the idea of a romance short stories collection that had a focus on diverse and own voices reads, as for so long romance was a genre that could have fairly narrow focuses when it came to story and characters (many genres really). So I was hopeful! Unfortunately, this one was disappointing.

There were a couple stories that I did like! I especially liked “How To Open A Door” by Sammy Taub, which centers on a gamer dealing with PTSD after a not so specified ‘incident’ who finds connections online through RPGs. She eventually connects with Hax, a fellow gamer, and they start to build a romantic bond. This one was sweet and I liked the progression of their relationship. Another standout was “Runner” by Rachel McKibbons, in which a woman obsessed and hyperfocused on true crime (specifically women disappearing) starts up an interaction with a stranger. There was just something really intimate to me about this story, and I found it to be soft and quietly bittersweet. There were a couple others that worked for me too, like a story about a seance with a psychic sex worker and a grieving widow, and a forbidden romance between two Orthodox Jewish women.

But there are a LOT of stories in this collection, and a lot of them didn’t connect with me at all. I think that one problem was that there were a lot of entries of ‘flash fiction’, which makes for VERY short stories with little time with the characters. This can be done successfully for sure, but it’s hard to pull off and in many cases the authors didn’t pull it off here. And even some of the longer stories felt half thought out and not really well explored, and I found my thoughts wandering while I was listening more than I was hoping for.

It’s a really good concept and an important imprint to be sure, but “Someplace Generous” was overall a miss of a short stories collection in my opinion.

Serena’s Thoughts

I second everything Kate said. Similar to her experience, I’ve had some recent successes with short story collections, which have shifted my generally pessimistic views more toward the positive. Plus, who doesn’t want more romance in the world? But this was a definite example of ambition outpacing talent, perhaps both on the editing and the writing side.

Like Kate said, there were certainly some standout pieces that I did enjoy (often these ended up being the longer ones, which speaks to an important point about the balancing act that must be struck in word count when writing a short story). The handful that I enjoyed were better able to capture a true sense of character—a necessity, particularly in the romance genre, as the characters and the relationships between them usually make up the majority of whatever plot there is.

However, the vast majority of these simply didn’t work for me. Many of them felt like ideas instead of actual stories. Kate mentioned the “flash fiction” entries, and these ones were true sticking points for me as well. I’ve only ever seen “flash fiction” work in fanfiction, and that comes down to the crucial point that readers go into the story already knowing everything there is to know about the world, characters, and their relationships. Here, we were given single-page-length stories where I was left feeling as if I’d read the writing prompt handed out to students at a college writing seminar instead of an actual story.

Beyond that, several of the stories simply didn’t have anything to say and weren’t very well written. I understand that the editors set out a bit of a tightrope before themselves: with a title like Something Generous, the concept of telling prospective authors to go back to the drawing board or simply, “No, we won’t be including that story,” has to be incredibly difficult. But, as they say, that’s why the editors get paid the big bucks (I know they don’t! And editors are criminally underpaid, but my point stands that the role comes with a lot of responsibility, and some of that is making the tough choices and having to deliver unwelcome news). All in all, this collection would have been better served had the number of stories been substantially cut down, allowing the gems to truly shine.

Kate’s Rating 5 : I love the concept and a couple of the stories did work for me, but too much flash fiction, and too many half baked stories made for an overall weaker collection.

Serena’s Rating 5: The only thing I really liked about this was the idea behind it, unfortunately, and the collection as a whole would have been better served with more judicious selection.

Book Club Questions

  1. What was your favorite story in this collection?
  2. What other kinds of themed story collections have you read over the years? Do you prefer a theme, or do you like a collection by a single author more?
  3. Are you familiar with the story telling structure of flash fiction, which is used a fair amount in this novel? What were your thoughts on it in this collection of short stories?
  4. Were you familiar with any of the authors in this book? Do you think you would read more stories by any of them?
  5. Who would you recommend this book to?

Reader’s Advisory

“Someplace Generous” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Romance Anthologies/Collections.

Next Book Club Pick: “My Best Friend’s Exorcism” by Grady Hendrix

Serena’s Review: “Red City”

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Book: “Red City” by Marie Lu

Publishing Info: Tor Books, October 2025

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

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

Book Description: Alchemy is the hidden art of transformation. An exclusive power wielded by crime syndicates that market it to the world’s elites in the form of sand, a drug that enhances those who take it into a more perfect version of themselves: more beautiful, more charismatic, simply more.

Among the gleaming skyscrapers and rolling foothills of Angel City, alchemy is controlled by two rival syndicates. For years, Grand Central and Lumines have been balanced on a razor’s edge between polite negotiation and outright violence. But when two childhood friends step into that delicate equation, the city―and the paths of their lives―will be irrevocably transformed.

The daughter of a poor single mother, Sam would do anything to claw her way into the ranks of Grand Central in search of a better life. Plucked away from his family as a boy to become a Lumines apprentice, Ari is one of the syndicates’ brightest rising stars. Once, they might have loved each other. But as the two alchemists face off across opposite sides of an ever-escalating conflict, ambition becomes power, loyalty becomes lies, and no transformation may be perfect enough for them both to survive the coming war.

Review: I’ve met Marie Lu twice now, and both times she was incredibly kind, interesting, and did a fantastic job selling me on the concept of her upcoming title. I was particularly interested in this one, as it was her first venture into writing adult fantasy. Beyond that, the familiar-yet-appealing premise of deadly rivals who fall in love will likely always hold some appeal. Unfortunately, all of this promise didn’t live up to the reality of the book.

Overall, my primary emotion while reading this book was boredom and disconnect. But before getting into my struggles, I do want to quickly touch on some aspects that did work for me. For one thing, of all the relationships and characters presented, I was by far the most invested in the complicated, painful nature of the relationship between Sam and her mother. We don’t often see a mother/daughter relationship explored in this way, and whenever we got back to Sam’s POV (my preferred of the two, by far), I was always intrigued by the added layers of complexity that were given to this dynamic.

Beyond that, I liked the idea of this world, with rival alchemical gangs duking it out in an alternative Los Angeles. Even here, however, while my curiosity was piqued, I never felt like aspects of this world and magic were ever fully drawn together. At times, it felt like disjointed pieces floating in a world full of potential, but not much more.

All of that said, I really struggled to keep reading this one. If I didn’t have an ARC copy, there’s a decent chance I would have DNF’d this. For one thing, I really hate books that are written in present tense. I think authors have been made to fear both third person and past tense, being told by publishers and various TikTok accounts that all readers care about in their books is the ability to self-insert, something they claim is only possible with first person and present tense. I simply don’t think this is true. And while it is definitely possible to write excellent novels using different perspectives and tenses, I do think that others flop more often than not. Sometimes readers will review a book and mention not being able to “connect” with the story, and my personal theory is that this often comes down to the wrong choice being made with regards to tense and perspective. Here, the present tense style repeatedly kicked me out of any ability to immerse myself in the story. Others may enjoy this style, but I found it to be restrictive more than anything for this story.

Beyond that, the pacing was incredibly slow, especially at the start of the book. I can get on board with a story that builds slowly, but to do that, I must feel invested in either the characters or the world pretty much from the start. Here, I just couldn’t get myself to care about either of these characters. Sam was by far the better one, especially with her strained relationship with her mother. But Ari was just a blank, with very little actual characterization holding him together. We’re told that he’s pretty and charming. But that’s pretty much it. I can take the author’s word on the prettiness, but the charm has to at least be present on the page, and we didn’t even get that.

The plotting was also strange. It’s clear that the romance is pretty much the central point of the book/series, but that made various plot points in this book feel as if they were just thrown in to elongate the book. For example, both characters end up getting together with other characters at points in the book. And, knowing where the book was going, I just couldn’t care less about any of this. I felt like my time was actively being wasted, being asked to care about relationships that were so clearly being set purely as stumbling blocks to the primary romance.

So, yeah. I didn’t enjoy this read. It felt like a chore more than anything. This was all the more disappointing as I think Lu is a very talented author, and I was super excited by the concept of this book going in. However, the execution just wasn’t there.

Rating 6: I really struggled to get through this one or to care about anything that was happening. But those less bothered by present-tense writing may enjoy it more!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Red City” can be found on this Goodreads list: All the New Fantasy Books Arriving in October 2025

Serena’s Review: “Savage Blooms”

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Book: “Savage Blooms” by S.T. Gibson

Publishing Info: Orbit, October 2025

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

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

Book Description: Adam has been in love with his best friend Nicola since college, but the closest he can come to admitting his feelings is inviting her to travel with him to Scotland in search of a legendary cave from his grandfather’s bedtime stories. When a storm washes out the road, Adam and Nicola find themselves at the mercy of Eileen, an eccentric aristocrat, and Finley, her brooding groundskeeper. The Americans quickly get more than they bargained for as they become entangled in Eileen and Finley’s world of mind games, kink, and ancient enchantment.

Review: Oof, this book was not what I expected and not what I wanted. Yes, I did see the word “kink” snuck in there at the very end of the book description, and while kink isn’t really my thing, I’m not for writing off entire books based on one piece of it. Well, more fool me, as the percentage of this book summary that focused on plot versus erotica was WAY out of line with what the book actually had to offer.

I was led to believe that this was going to be a Gothic fantasy set in the Scottish countryside. I was promised mystery, I was promised enchantment, I was promised misty nights and shadowy doors. But no, what I got was page after page of spicy scenes with practically no plot to speak of. This book could have been set anywhere, at any time, about any random characters, and it hardly would have mattered.

Now look, there is nothing wrong with erotica in principle. That said, it needs to be incredibly clear right from the start (and this includes the book summary!!) that that is what readers are getting. When I say there was no plot here, I mean there was really no plot here. What little plot we got felt like it was there just to move characters from one sexy-times room to another sexy-times room. The erotic scenes were pages long and took up well over fifty percent of the book, I’d say.

Beyond that, when we did come up for air and have a moment to get to know these characters, I found them all to be incredibly unlikable. None of these people felt like they were in a healthy place in their own lives, let alone in various combinations of “relationships” (if we can even call what we’re seeing here “relationships”). It was incredibly toxic and messy, but not in a fun way. More in a frustrating, “get your shit together” way where I just wanted to smack everyone across the back of the head.

It’s hard to know how much to focus on editing when reviewing ARC books since they are early copies and still going through the publishing process. But this one was above average with its errors. And it was across the board: spelling errors, missing words, and inconsistencies in basic facts given in the plot. It was incredibly distracting. Of course, much of this could change in the finished book, but even for an ARC, this book was in a poor state.

I know that Gibson is a beloved author, so I’ll be curious to see how this is received. Frankly, it feels like one of those books that fans might gaslight themselves into thinking is good, just for the author’s sake. Because as it stands, this isn’t something I’d recommend to just about anyone.

Rating 5: Don’t sell me straight erotica under the guise of “Gothic fantasy” and expect it to go well.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Savage Blooms” can be found on these Goodreads lists: 2025 Gothic and Creepy Fruit.

Serena’s Review: “A Land So Wide”

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Book: “A Land So Wide” by Erin A. Craig

Publishing Info: Pantheon, September 2025

Where Did I Get this Book: Edelweiss+

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

Book Description: Like everyone else in the settlement of Mistaken, Greer Mackenzie is trapped. Founded by an ambitious Scottish lumber merchant, the tiny town on the edge of the American continent is blessed with rich natural resources that have made its people prosperous—but at a cost. The same woods that have lined the townsfolks’ pockets harbor dangerous beasts: wolves, bears, and the Bright-Eyeds—monsters beyond description who have rained utter destruction down on nearby settlements. But Mistaken’s founders made a deal with the mysterious Benevolence: the Warding Stones that surround the town will keep the Bright-Eyeds out—and the town’s citizens in. Anyone who spends a night within Mistaken’s borders belongs to it forever.

Greer, a mapmaker and eccentric dreamer, has always ached to explore the world outside, even though she knows she and her longtime love, Ellis Beaufort, will never see it. Until, on the day she and Ellis are meant to finally begin their lives together, Greer watches in horror as her beloved disappears beyond the Warding Stones, pursued by a monstrous creature. Swiftly realizing that the stories she was raised on might be more myth than fact, Greer figures out a way to escape Mistaken for the very first time. Determined to rescue Ellis, she begins a trek through the cold and pitiless wilderness. But Greer is being hunted, not only by the ruthless Bright-Eyeds but by the secret truths behind Mistaken’s founding, as well as her own origins.

Playfully drawing from Scottish folklore, Erin A. Craig’s adult debut is both a deeply atmospheric and profoundly romantic exploration of freedom versus security: a stunning celebration of one woman’s relentless bravery on a quest to reclaim her lost love—and claim her own future.

Review: I haven’t read many books by this author, but the one I did read I absolutely loved (“The Thirteenth Child”). While that book was particularly up my alley with its original fairytale feeling, the writing throughout was incredibly strong and I loved the romantic subplot. This all being the case, I was super excited to check out the latest book by Craig coming out this fall, especially since it was her adult debut!

Unfortunately, this one wasn’t for me. Which is pretty surprising, because looking at the book description, this one definitely should be for me! However, there were some important factors not included in the book description that really played with my expectations vs. reality. Let’s start with some positives though! Overall, I still found the quality of the writing itself very good. The prologue was fire and perfectly set up this creepy woods and the claustrophobia of the village and its people now trapped within it, essentially. As the story expanded, I enjoyed a lot of what we learned about this world itself and the beings who inhabited it. Some of these twists were definitely not of the sort that I expected (the types of magical beings, especially), but I was happy enough to go along with it, as I thought the interpretation here was interesting.

However, I really struggled with both the romance and the main character. Like I said, the prologue was excellent, and after that strong start, I went in to the main plot of the story with high expectations. The prologue was mature, dark, and epic, setting up what I thought would be an excellent adult fantasy novel. However, the very next chapter when we meet the main character and are introduced to the current time and cast of characters, I immediately had concerns.

Gone was that adult voice. Instead, while I was told that Greer was in her late 20s, she immediately read as a teenager. Her thoughts, actions, and dialogue all read as incredibly immature, and I really struggled to take her seriously as an adult woman. I get that part of her arc is that she is rather naive to start with, but this felt like more than naivety and really just like she was a teenager instead. Perhaps if I had been primed for a YA fantasy story, this might have bothered me less. But I can’t even say that for sure, as much of what Greer was saying and thinking would have been fairly immature and annoying even in a teen book. I know this is Craig’s debut with an adult book, but I’m struggling to see what changes were made to this text to age it up from her typical YA books.

The pacing was also fairly slow. On one hand, I don’t mind slower books, but, like I said, there was a mismatch between the book description and reality. In that, the book summary emphasizes Ellis’s disappearance into the forest and Greer’s subsequent quest to find him. It makes it sounds like these events happen early, with the main focus of the text centering around Greer’s time looking for him. Instead, this event doesn’t even take place until nearly halfway through the book! Again, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing on its own, but some readers may find themselves frustrated, having picked up a book marketed as one woman’s quest only to find that that story is only the last half of this entire book.

Lastly, there was a love triangle introduced out of nowhere. And man, did I hate it. Obviously, it’s well-document that I don’t enjoy love triangles. But this one felt egregious, in that I felt like the entire romantic rug was pulled out from under me. Again, the story is set up to be Greer’s quest to find and save the man she loves! And much of the first half of the book is devoted to the foundations of this relationship. And then, randomly, this second love interest is introduced, completely undercutting the romance and love story of the first relationship, the one that is meant to serve as the core of the book plot that was advertised to me in the first place. Beyond that, there were some weird dynamics in this second relationship that I didn’t particularly enjoy. In the end, by the time I got to the end, I was less invested in the love story than I had been at the start. And that’s never what you want.

So, yeah. Unfortunately, this one was a pretty big whiff for me. I know that Craig is a talented author, so I’m not quite sure what happened here. Part of me wants to blame this on her shift to adult fantasy, that perhaps she took the wrong lessons to heart when trying to make this jump. Adding a love triangle and minor amounts of spice isn’t what’s important to adult fantasy. Instead, your characters have to…you know…read like adults. Fans of this author may still want to check this one out, especially if you enjoy love triangles. But I don’t think this one quite hit the target it was aiming for.

Rating 6: An unfortunate love triangle and a main character who read as much younger than her years really tanked this one for me.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Land So Wide” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2025.

Serena’s Review: “The Baby Dragon Cafe”

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Book: “The Baby Dragon Cafe” by A. T. Qureshi

Publishing Info: Avon, July 2025

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

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

Book Description: When Saphira opened up her café for baby dragons and their humans, she wasn’t expecting it to be so difficult to keep the fires from burning. It turns out, young dragons are not the best magical animals to keep in a café, and replacing all that burnt furniture is costing Saphira more than she can afford from selling dragon-roasted coffee.

Aiden is a local gardener, and local heart-throb, more interested in his plants than actually spending time with his disobedient baby dragon. When Aiden walks into Saphira’s café, he has a genius idea – he’ll ask Saphira to train his baby dragon, and he’ll pay her enough to keep the café afloat.

Saphira knows her happy-go-lucky attitude isn’t Aiden’s cup of tea, but everywhere she goes, Aiden seems to follow. Has Saphira finally found the answer to the baby dragon cafe’s problems, and maybe a little love along the way, too?

Review: It looked so cute and yet I struggled so much! And really, by the end of the book, the “cuteness” is really the most this book has to offer. The cover art is adorable, and I’m sure it will do its job selling this book to many fans of cozy fantasy. The concept, also, is fun. Dragons are obviously very “in” right now, and what’s better than an adult dragon? A baby dragon! And when the book was setting up these initial world-building aspects, it was enjoyable enough. But unfortunately, quite quickly things began to fall apart.

Right off the bat, I knew this was going to be a bit of a struggle with the decision to not only use modern lingo, but hyper “online” lingo. This is, of course, a personal bugaboo of mine, so I’m not a totally objective agent when reporting annoyance at this style of writing. However, I do think a legitimate criticism can be leveled when a book relies on these sorts of “quirky” vocab choices as strongly as this one does. And in this case, it’s not just a matter of “modern” phrases or word choices. After all, this is a contemporary cozy romance, for all that it is set in a fantasy world. But the writing seriously read like the author leads her life online and was forming her entire vision of dialogue, description, and interactions based on what was found in Threads conversations. It was cringy to the extreme, and I guarantee it won’t age well. I’m sure authors are primarily focused on just getting their books out the door and into the world, but I do think some attention should be given to the book’s ability to then last in the world and not immediately date itself into oblivion with Bookthreads-speak.

Another of my main struggle points with cozy fantasy is the challenge of striking the correct balance between a homey, comforting vibe with low stakes and simply not having any stakes or plot to speak of. This unfortunately fell firmly in the latter category. As this is a romance story first and foremost, most of the plot revolved around the development of and conflict within the romance, and it struggled in every area. Right off the bat, the story fell into instalove/lust territory, with the characters quickly becoming enamored of one anther. This is annoying but not necessarily a deal breaker.

However, what really took me out of the story was what followed: a series of decisions by the main characters WHOLLY disconnected from any motivation shown to us on the page. With inner dialogue, they would reflect on choosing not so share certain bits of information (for no reason!) and then literally pages later, they would change their mind and just casually mention that same information (again, for no reason!). Quite quickly it became evident that the author was struggling to maintain any sort of tension or arc within this romance, and all of these bizarre decisions and interactions were simply being clumsily slotted in to draw out the romantic resolution.

Beyond this, the writing was simply rather bad, overall. Again and again, the reader was told basic facts about things and how they are meant to feel about it all. There was basically no showing to speak of. The sentence structure and vocabulary was similarly limited and straight-forward (I guess there was some variety in the type of Internet slang you’d be reading from one moment to the next…). Even things like punctuation were off, with a plethora of exclamation points to be found littered across any given page!

Honestly, this book was incredibly disappointing. It’s all the more surprising in that it’s coming from an established author, which makes me suspect that something perhaps was missing on the editing side of things. Too often, we keep seeing authors/publishers trend chasing at a pace that outruns quality and creativity, and such was the case here. Unfortunately, I can’t really recommend this one. There are simply too many other great books to read out there!

Rating 5: With bizarre character choices and drowning beneath Internet slang, this book was a disappointing read.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Baby Dragon Cafe” can be found on this Goodreads list: July 2025 Most Anticipated Romance Releases

Serena’s Review: “Birth of Dynasty”

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Book: “Birth of a Dynasty” by Chinaza Bado

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, July 2025

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

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

Book Description: After witnessing the massacre of everyone he’s ever known and loved, M’Kuru Mukundi, the sole surviving member of the High Noble House Mukundi of Madada, vows revenge. M’kuru flees to a small village where he hides under the guise of farm boy Khalil Rausi… unaware that the real Khalil’s father is the bloodthirsty General of Zenzele army, and under the direction of the King’s scheming son, Prince Effiom, was responsible for the murder of M’kuru’s people. When an imposter claiming to be M’kuru shows up in the village, the real M’kuru—now Khalil—must bide his time amongst his enemies, pretending to be everything that he hates in order to get vengeance.

In another part of the country where giants roam free, young Zikora Nnamani, the only daughter of Lord Nnamani, knows nothing of political intrigue—she wants little more than to be a fierce Seh Llinga warrior. But a well-known prophecy places too much potential power on her small shoulders, and—as far as Prince Effiom and the King know—she is the only living threat to their dynasty ruling forever. However, when a messenger arrives to “invite” Zikora to stay at the palace, her family is not in a position to refuse. Before she is taken away, she begins The Rite of Blessing, a magical inheritance that she will need to learn how to use, but that may also bring the world one step closer to the completion of the prophecy that Prince Effiom so fears.

Between scheming ladies at court, backstabbing princes on the prowl, and paranoid kings, M’kuru and Zikora must do what they can, no matter how terrible, to save their people and claim vengeance for their families. But they are just two young people against an entire kingdom—and a prophecy destined to thwart their dreams—and the last thing they can do is trust anyone…even each other.

Review: This one was a bit rough right from the start. Early on, it was clear the author had some lofty goals for this book, particularly with the political stakes, prophesy at the heart of things, and the ways in which characters would plot to see their own goals forwarded. However, the pacing was incredibly slow in the beginning, which made it a struggle to become invested. On top of that, the information we were given often was dropped in the readers lap via long, rather tedious infodumps. As I began to better understand this world, much of this did come together, and I was fairly invested in how things would turn out towards the end of the story. However, I think there’s a pretty steep ask put on readers right from the start with the story structure.

Some of the oddities of the info dumping/pacing weren’t helped by the stilted dialogue. It was the kind of thing that’s hard to put your finger on exactly or explain in a review. People simply spoke in ways that didn’t feel natural or organic. If I didn’t know better, it almost read as if the book had been translated from a different language and much of the spirit of the original dialogue had been lost in conversion leaving everything rather flat.

I also really struggled with the characters. On the positive side to start, however, I did enjoy that the book’s main characters were two noble children. The story takes place during a few time periods, but even in some of the later ones, they are still very much younger children. This was interesting choice, and I think the author successfully re-created the mentality of two noble children in these situations. Unfortunately, however, realistic depictions of noble kids in these situations doesn’t necessarily leave you with characters you enjoy spending time with. On top of that, you do get a variety of other, adult side characters. However, none of them were particularly likable either! I was really left grasping at straws trying to find someone to root for.

The book was also incredibly violent, with numerous traumatic and horrible events taking place, including sexual assault. The author is clearly writing a grim story, one that is set in a world full of awful, striving people who will do whatever it takes, and I think she does succeeds there. But I don’t particularly enjoy this sort of grimdark fantasy ala “Game of Thrones,” so I was largely put off by the violence and rape involved. That said, readers of dark fantasy may enjoy the way some of these themes are discussed and handled.

Overall, this simply wasn’t the book for me. I think there were some struggles with the writing and pacing over all, but I did become more invested in the overarching plot by the end of the book. That said, I’m never going to love a book where most (if not all) of the characters are some degree of unlikable. However, if you’re a grimdark fantasy reader who enjoys political intrigue, this may be the book for you!

Rating 6: Unfortunately, this one didn’t work for me: too dark and with characters I struggled to enjoy.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Birth of a Dynasty” is currently on any lists but it should be on Political Fantasy.

Kate’s Review: “The Root Witch”

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Book: “The Root Witch” by Debra Castaneda

Publishing Info: Second Rodeo Books, September 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it.

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

Book Description: A beautiful forest. A terrifying legend.

It’s 1986. Two strangers, hundreds of miles apart, grapple with disturbing incidents in a one-of-a-kind quaking aspen forest.

Knox is a new Forest Service ranger assigned to a vast, remote territory in Utah.

Sandy is a producer fighting for her place in a tough TV newsroom.

Both have heard about the shadowy figure believed to menace visitors to the forest. When a man disappears and reports of the Root Witch begin coming in, Knox and Sandy are plunged into a living nightmare.

Their lives converge on Halloween. Sandy sends a news crew to investigate the sightings. But when the team goes missing, and a shocking video surfaces revealing the ghastly truth, Knox and Sandy face the biggest decision of their lives.

Review: I’ve spoken of this before, but my favorite horror movie of all time is “The Blair Witch Project”. I remember seeing it in the theater when I was 14, and how transformative the experience was for in when it came to horror. I think that my adoration of this film has really molded my tastes and preferences when it comes to horror as a whole, and nature horror/survival horror is near and dear to my heart. I don’t remember how I stumbled upon “The Root Witch” by Debra Castaneda, but it had been sitting on my Kindle for a couple of years before I stumbled upon it while cleaning up my storage. When I saw it I had an ‘oh yeah, this sounded like “The Blair Witch Project’ moment, and decided then and there to finally take it on.

I’ll start with what I did like. For starters, the premise alone is great: there’s an aspen clone forest in Utah (in real life it’s a real place known as Pando) that is rumored to have some kind of dark entity stalking it referred to as The Root Witch. In 1986 a rookie forest service ranger named Knox moves into a cabin near the forest with his restless young wife, while a Salt Lake City newsroom producer named Sandy, hoping to prove something, wants to send a team into the forest to do a story on the urban legend. The team goes missing, their tapes are found, and something otherworldly is lurking. All of this was solid and absolutely clicked for me. I really enjoyed Sandy’s storyline in particular, as her constant roadblocks in her career, usually due to misogyny, are very real, and because of this her motivations are completely understandable, which in turn makes her guilt over her missing crew all the more stressful. I also really love some good urban legend horror, and the background that Castaneda puts into the Root Witch lore was very enjoyable, and with all of that in mind when we DO get some answers (in the form of found footage described moments) I was very satisfied with the execution.

But there is a flip side to this, which brought the story down a bit for me. I really liked the due diligence of describing the Root Witch lore and legend, but we don’t really get much direct action with The Root Witch itself. We rely mostly on descriptions, or aftermath moments with dead things being discovered, but in terms of actual building suspense with in the moment reveals? Not so much. I did like the video once we got there, but I had hoped for more scary and tense moments instead of a lot of build up for Knox and Sandy. Had there been a more even distribution of build up AND satisfying payoff, I would have enjoyed it more, but as it is, it just felt uneven and unsatisfying. And on top of that, I wasn’t nearly as invested in Knox’s story, which was a little ironic given that I fully anticipated to enjoy the path following the ranger. But I thought his wife was a bit grating, there was a side plot with a rancher that wasn’t as fleshed out as I had hoped it would be, and there weren’t enough forest moments with him. I just needed more action!

“The Root Witch” was a bit of a disappointment, but I think that I may try out more stories from Debra Castaneda. There is so much promise here, and I would be curious to see if it comes out in other spooky tales.

Rating 6: I really liked the premise and it had some great moments of found footage transcriptions, but I wish that we had more interactions with the Root Witch instead of aftermaths.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Root Witch” is included on the Goodreads list “Botanical Gothic and Plant Horror”.