Tag: 6 Rating

Kate’s Review: “The Darkness Bites Back”

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Book: “The Darkness Bites Back” by Laura R. Samotin & Ben Alderson

Publishing Info: Angry Robot Books, September 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received and eARC from NetGalley

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

Book Description: Centuries ago, Tobias Osian had his mortality stolen from him when he was unwillingly turned into a vampire. Ever since, he’s been consumed by the need for revenge against the monster who took his humanity – Vladimir Damianos, the head of Britain’s most powerful vampire clan.

Now, Tobias is finally ready to enact his plan for vengeance, using Vladimir’s son Alexander to infiltrate the family and bring down the entire clan. But what he doesn’t expect is that Alexander has rebelled against his bloodthirsty father by protecting mortals instead of hunting them. When the two meet, Alexander is instantly enamoured with Tobias. And as a string of attacks rocks the city of Oxford, Alexander proves himself committed to protecting Tobias, not knowing that Tobias is just as much of a monster as he is.

With his attraction to Alexander growing, Tobias must decide what means more to him: vengeance, or a love growing from the most tragic of places.

Perfect for fans of Interview With the Vampire and Saltburn, this high-heat paranormal romance brings together blood and lust in an intoxicating combination.

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

We are about halfway through Horrorpalooza (more even!), and while I’ve really been enjoying the all horror all the time thing I have going on with it, it is known that I also like to throw in a couple ‘horror adjacent’ reads during this time period. Things that may not be PURE horror, but could pass when it comes to themes. Usually this comes out in the form of romances, and that is true for how it shook out this year, as I decided to take on “The Darkness Bites Back” by Laura R. Samotin and Ben Alderson. This was in part due to the fact that even though it ended back in July, I’m still fully fixated on “Interview With the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat” and my favorite ship of the moment Lestat and Louis (this ship has been part of my collection since I was a teen but REALLY ramped back up thanks to the show). I’ve been feeling incredible withdrawals now that the show is done, and while I do/can rewatch it is a REALLY rough show at times and it takes a lot out of me. I’ve thought about finding some good Loustat fan fics, but parsing through seems daunting and I STILL REMEMBER when Anne Rice would get REALLY grumpy about people writing fan fiction with her characters, so I’ve held off. When I saw that this book was about two vampires, it was MLM, and it seemed to have smut AND angst, AND it had comparisons to “Interview with the Vampire” I was like ‘LET’S DO IT’ and hopped on board.

God only knows how long until these two are reunited on my screen again between season hiatus and where they are in the plotline…. (source)

In terms of giving me a sweet sweet Loustat-esque dopamine shot right to my veins, “The Darkness Bites Back” absolutely has the vibes and elements that I have been surely missing since the show ended back in July. Our MLM romance involves two vampires. The first is Tobin, a vampire who was forced to become a vampire centuries in the past when he was turned by the ruthless and infamous Vladamir Damianos, who is the head of one of the most dangerous vampire clans in all of Europe. The second is Alexander, who teaches at Oxford passing as a human, who also happens to be Vladamir’s son, and whom Tobin wants to target and seduce only to kill him in revenge. But of course, his plan is a bit thrown for a loop when, pretending to be someone he is not, he actually falls for the charming and secretly noble Alexander. Forbidden romance, enemies to lovers, dark academia, it certainly has a lot of things that I like, trope wise. It also has some pretty steamy romance scenes, and I did find myself hoping that Tobin and Alexander would be able to figure out a way to be together (aka that Tobin would realize that Alexander is not responsible for her father’s terribleness and is not a carbon copy of him, come ON Tobin!). The emotional moments were there, as was the banter, and I enjoyed their romance journey.

All that said, I think that in general this book is pretty middle of the road. I liked Alexander and Tobin, but I’m sure that was in part due to the fact I was looking for an outlet for a ship that I am really missing at the moment (they are enjoyable, don’t get me wrong). Some of the vampire lore was confusing, a lot of the secondary characters weren’t terribly interesting, and the ending felt pretty abrupt. It also didn’t really go outside of the tropes that I listed in ways that were interesting or unique. I was entertained, but after I was done it wasn’t really leaving much of an impression. I went into it with the express purpose of trying to chase the Loustat high I had been missing, and it provided that, but that was about it.

So all in all, “The Darkness Bites Back” was fun in the moment, but it wasn’t reinventing any wheels or lingering long after I was finished. I’m not mad I read it. But I think I probably just need to sit down and find some well done Loustat fan fics on AO3 to tide me over (I’m so sorry, Anne).

Rating 6: Steamy and fun, though not really moving outside the expected tropes, “The Darkness Bites Back” gave me a Loustat hit, but was fairly middle of the road.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Darkness Bites Back” is included on the Goodreads list “Adult Queer Romances of 2026”.

Serena’s Review: “This Shattered Tempest”

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Book: “This Shattered Tempest” by Thea Guanzon

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, October 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley

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

Book Description: Throughout their political marriage, Alaric and Talasyn struggled to resist the undeniable pull between them, even as rising tensions forced them on opposite sides of a looming war. Hand in hand, they vanquished the cataclysmic threat of the Moonless Dark—and started to hope for a future together.

That hope is shattered when a devastating attack sets off a chain of events that tears them apart once more. Now, as two rival nations prepare for a final, decisive clash, the Master of the Shadowforged Legion and the last Lightweaver fight to find their way back to each other. But the odds are stacked against them, and time is running out…

Is love enough to rewrite destiny? Can a new beginning rise from the ruins of the past? Or are Alaric and Talasyn doomed to meet as enemies on one last battlefield? This explosive third and final book brings the beloved Hurricane Wars series to a stunning conclusion—where passion and power collide, and the fate of a divided world hangs in the balance.

Previously Reviewed: “The Hurricane Wars” and “A Monsoon Rising”

Review: My review of this one could probably be summed up with one big, drawn-out sigh. I remember distinctly writing about two things in my review of the second book. One, that I was concerned that this didn’t need to be a trilogy, based on the pacing of the plot and its conflicts. And two, that I hoped the miscommunication/deception/general angst of the romance would finally cease in the third book. Well, unfortunately, both of those concerns feel well-founded, and, in hindsight, I think the fact that this was originally a fanfiction story shows more than it should in a traditionally published series.

It’s tough, because there are still things that in a vacuum I enjoyed about this book. But because it was wrapping up the trilogy and was retroactively lowering my opinion of the entire series as a whole, it was difficult to step back and try to evaluate this one on its own merits. I will say that I think this author’s writing is still incredibly strong. For all that I’m going to rant about fanfiction later, there are incredibly talented authors who write fanfiction, and many of them, like this author, deserve to make the leap to traditional publishing. When Guanzon publishes another book, I will definitely be first in line to read it. Her world-building is creative, her characters are complex and interesting, her dialogue is distinctly non-cringy (something I shouldn’t have to say, but unfortunately really does stand out when you finally see good dialogue on the page in romantasy novels), and while I think the romance here was too drawn out, she does write romantic tension well.

But yeah, this book and its place as the cap of the trilogy just didn’t work for me. It started off well enough, picking up immediately after the cliffhanger at the end of the second book. I had high hopes that would help the pacing along, but unfortunately, no. This entire situation was wrapped up so comedically fast and easily that I ran into the exact same question I had in the second book: was any of this really necessary? Instead of feeling like an actual plot point, it instead felt like only a small speed bump inserted to break up the romantic angst.

And, unfortunately, right after this is all wrapped up, we immediately dive right back into the same angst that we’ve been reading about for two books already. I like a slow burn as much as the next person, but this is an example of an author refusing to allow her characters to travel an actual romantic arc. They simply quickly climbed the first half of yearning, got to the angst, and have now hung out here for hundreds upon hundreds of pages.

And at a certain point, it doesn’t matter how strong an author is at writing romantic tension, it’s going to get pretty dull spending your time in the heads of two people who continue to travel the same tired ground of drama over and over in their own minds. It’s incredibly frustrating to read, and I was increasingly annoyed at both of these characters. We’re well past the “enemies” stage, so instead the author threw in tons of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and a truly baffling amount of time spent on each character internally bemoaning the secrets they were keeping from each other. It was honestly awful, and I wish that some editor had taken the author gently by the hand and said, “It’s ok to move on to the ‘lovers’ stage now, honey. Let it go…”

This romantic “tension” took up so much of the third book that the greater conflict largely fell to the side. At the end of the second book, Talasyn loses her magic. This is a pretty big deal. But she doesn’t even really bother with trying to get it back until nearly halfway through the book because instead so much energy must be focused on the romantic travails.

And this gets to the fanfiction roots of it all. Fanfiction, especially long-form fanfiction of the sort that this came from, is often a relationship-focused medium. Likewise, the longer fics out there are truly behemoths, going on for thousands of pages. And this was one of those, originally. But what works for fanfiction, a medium that releases periodically and is consumed in a very different manner than traditional books, doesn’t necessarily translate straight over to traditional publishing. This entire trilogy needed editing. I’m now fully convinced that with a firm editor at the helm, this could have been trimmed down to a duology and would have been a million times better for it. Every aspect would have been strengthened, from the actual plot and conflict to the progression of the romance. Needless side plots could have been removed, since it’s clear they were mostly there to break up the romantic drama. And that same romantic drama could have been pared down to a tight, satisfying romantic arc, instead of leaving readers stranded on a frustrating angst plateau for almost two entire books.

So it’s tough to know who to recommend this one to. Because, like I said, the writing was still strong, and some of the romantic beats were truly good. But the pacing and the romantic drama were all too much for me. If you don’t mind miscommunication/misunderstanding tropes and really enjoy angst, I’d say you’re much more likely to enjoy this book and this trilogy as a whole.

Rating 6: While I can still see the potential of this author, this book was a frustrating conclusion to a trilogy that started off so well.

Reader’s Advisory:

“This Shattered Tempest” can be found on these Goodreads lists: October 2026 Most Anticipated Romance Releases and End of Series in 2026.

Serena’s Review: “Reign”

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Book: “Reign” by Bethan Croome

Publishing Info: Cosmo Reads, September 2026

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

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

Book Description: The Kingdom of Lyonesse is absent of magic but not of rain.

In the rain-soaked Kingdom of Lyonesse, magic is outlawed―punishable by death. So when Niamh’s forbidden witchcraft is exposed, she flees her rainy village disguised as a man. She never meant to end up on a battlefield.

Mistakenly conscripted into a brutal war engineered by a paranoid king against a vengeful sorceress determined to reclaim the throne, Niamh now hides another secret―her womanhood. Between fighting terrifying beasts and confronting arcane powers she once believed were merely folklore, Niamh is thrust into a world where survival relies on more than luck―it demands alliances.

In battle, Niamh must obey Prince Fitzroy, the king’s infuriatingly handsome illegitimate son and sharp-tongued commander tasked with eradicating magic. He is everything she despises…and everything she struggles to resist. Back at camp, she forges a complicated friendship with Bash, a fellow soldier who sees her like no one else does and stirs forbidden feelings that could shatter her disguise.

As war tightens its grip on the kingdom, Niamh is forced to choose: obey the prince who could expose her, trust the soldier who could love her, or embrace the forbidden magic that could save them all.

But war is merciless, and not everyone will live to see which side prevails.

Review: I’ve seen a lot of reviewers mentioning Mulan when referencing this book. And while I get it, that’s one of the most well-known examples of a “woman dressing as a man” story we really have, it’s also a very specific tale, and mentioning it every time a book features a female character dressing as a man just messes with people’s expectations. We might as well reference the “Alanna” series by Tamora Pierce or, heck, Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” while we’re at it! Anyways, I’ll get off this weird soapbox and get on with the review.

By the time I finished this book, my primary feeling was that I really wished I had liked it more than I did. There were some good ideas here, and I’ll be honest that some of my struggles came down to my own preferences (we all know my feelings on love triangles by this point). But the book also struggled in too many basic ways to truly be thought of as a successful read or one that I would recommend generally to other fantasy readers.

For one thing, the writing itself was a tough read. It felt wooden and lacked any sense of a unique tone or voice. The structure felt very rigid, and the entire affair left me feeling cold and unable to connect to anything that was happening on the page. In the most basic sense, there was way too much telling throughout the entire book and not enough showing. From character development, to plotting, to world-building: it all felt like a slow progression of checklists just being tacked one upon the other.

The characterization was equally bland. This wasn’t helped by the fact that the dialogue was incredibly choppy-feeling and didn’t read in a way that felt like believable interaction. And while I could appreciate some of the basic components of these characters, they also quickly began to feel overly familiar, without much new to be added or experienced while following their stories. And, of course, this didn’t help the romance. Setting aside the multiple love interests thing, which is very much just a “me issue,” I also simply didn’t buy any of these relationships. It never felt like any true connection was built between these characters. Instead, like everything else, the reader was simply informed that a connection was there.

Overall, this was a very lackluster read. I really enjoy fantasy stories that follow a woman dressing up as a man, as I think this can explore some really interesting concepts of misogyny and the different dynamics between the sexes. But this one didn’t really do anything with all of this. Instead, the wooden and choppy writing took me out of it almost immediately, and the flat characterization prevented me from ever connecting to the story. Readers who enjoy romances with multiple love interests and who want to experience another “woman undercover as a man” story may still want to check it out, however!

Rating 6: I wanted to like this one, but everything fell just a bit short, from the characterization, to the choppy dialogue, to the flat prose.

“Reign” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2026 Most Anticipated Romantasy & Fantasy Romance Releases

Serena’s Review: “The Shadows That Listen”

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Book: “The Shadows That Listen” by Louisa Carmody

Publishing Info: Orbit, August 2026

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

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

Book Description: It’s been five years since the world was brought to its knees by an immortal war. Daemons crawled from the depths of hell and the sky bled gold as the angels arrived. Humanity thought it was saved, but the angels did not come to protect us.

Amara is a human warrior working for the Angel Intelligence Agency. She spends her days searching for those who don’t make it home after curfew. But when her boyfriend Jeremy goes missing, she decides to venture into the shadows to bring him back. Even if it means death.

Nathaniel is an archangel tasked with leading the destruction of humanity, for which he cares little. He doesn’t have time to protect little humans running around in the dark, especially those who stab him in the stomach.

But Nathaniel and Amara will soon realise they share a foe, one that lurks in the shadows and stalks them from the skies. She might long to kill him, but Amara knows that having an angel at her side is the only way to find the man she loves.

The shadows lengthen. They listen. Who will survive the night?

Review: I’ve always felt like fantasy books have been sleeping on angels. We have a bunch of demon stuff, but, as “Supernatural” proved, you can make angels just as badass as demons, if not more so! I also missed the train on “Angelfall,” which is one of the more popular angel series that currently exists. But I heard some comparisons being thrown around between these two books, so I thought I might get another chance at this sort of book with this series. Well, let’s just say the comparisons aren’t warranted, because this was a pretty big disappointment for me.

Honestly, there wasn’t much I liked about this one. I would say that the general idea was interesting, but, like I said, angels seem to be an untapped paranormal being in the current fantasy landscape, so their inclusion was always going to make this one stand out from the crowd. I’ll also say that this is one of those easily digestible romantasy reads that I know clicks with a lot of readers out there. The distinction between romantasy and fantasy romance is a big one, and I know that I fall more into the latter category. So this one, playing more toward romantasy (romance is the primary focus, fantasy secondary), was always going to be a bit of a tougher sell for me. However, readers with a strong preference for romantasy books and their current trends will likely connect with this one better.

But even still, this book was simply not well written. No other way to put it, really. From a technical standpoint, I’ve seen worse. But even on a line-by-line basis, it lacked any sense of voice or style, feeling flat and mechanical more often than not.

The worst sins of the writing came with the characterization, however. And, since characterization is king for me, this was a true enjoyment killer. The characters simply didn’t make sense. The world is set up in a very specific way, with a very specific dynamic between angels and humans. And yet, from the start, our main leads do not behave as if this is the case whatsoever. It’s one thing to have an almost all-powerful being come to appreciate those they have seen as beneath them and reflect on their own errors, eventually coming to a place where they are capable of forming a true connection with someone they would have historically seen as beneath them. But this wasn’t that. This was a being whom we were told saw humans as insects who immediately treats the heroine as anything but that, flirting away and in every way behaving as if she is not only worthy of any attention, but extra attention. Beyond that, this main romantic lead was simply boring. You know everything you need to know about him from the first introduction.

The same can be said of Amara. She’s exactly the sort of fantasy lead you’ve seen a million times before, especially in urban fantasy: feisty, seemingly competent, and the dreaded “not like other girls.” For all of her spunk, we’re never really given any reason that she should stand out to a being like Afriel. If anything, more often than not, Amara’s actions and choices don’t make a lick of sense.

The entire thing was boring, predictable, and, believe it or not, pretty cheesy. The dialogue was clunky, with characters randomly dropping tons of lore into responses in a context that makes no sense (the character to whom they’re speaking would already know this information, for example). And there were so many clichés it was almost a joke. Look, I’ve read some great paranormal romances. In fact, I’m right in the middle of reading Ilona Andrews’ “Burn for Me” trilogy and am absolutely loving it. Spunky heroines and overpowered love interests can work. But here, the author didn’t seem to have anything new to say and relied too heavily on tropes and clunky delivery to get her story across. Even for romantasy fans, I think there are better options out there that deliver on this same concept.

Rating 5: Not for me. Too many tropes, clichés, and poor characterization to really make any sort of impact other than an eye roll.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Shadows That Listen” can be found on this Goodreads list: Dystopias I Would Like To Make An Exception For.

Book Club Review: “Other Ever Afters”

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

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. 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! This season’s theme is books with specific colored covers where we all drew a color and matched it with a book.

Book: “Other Ever Afters” by Melanie Gillman

Publishing Info: Random House Graphic, September 2022

Where Did We Get This Book: from the library!

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

Prompt Color: Purple

Book Description: Once upon a time . . . happily ever after turned out differently than expected. In this new, feminist, queer fairy-tale collection, you’ll find the princesses, mermaids, knights, barmaids, children, and wise old women who have been forced to sit on the sidelines in classic stories taking center stage. A gorgeous all-new collection in graphic novel format from a Stonewall Honor-winning author and artist.

What if the giant who abducted you was actually thoughtful and kind? What if you didn’t want to marry your handsome, popular, but cold-inside suitor? What if your one true love has all the responsibilities that come with running a kingdom?

Kate’s Thoughts

This was actually my pick, as I knew that I wanted to do a graphic novel and this was one that stood out to me with a ‘purple’ cover. I also just liked the idea of a reimagining of fairy tales and fairy tale tropes with a queer twist. I do love a reimagining as we all know. I had also read other works by Melanie Gillman and was interested in seeing what they would do with the concept.

I did want more from this book as a whole, though it’s true that there were definitely stand outs in the collection that did really work for me. I enjoyed themes of found family, and love in unexpected places, and going beyond the ideas of happily ever after. I really liked a story about a woman who falls for a goat-like creature who accepts her for who she is, and I also liked a story about a knight that learns about love and community without expectations. But (and I think Serena will probably say the same) I also thought that some of the stories felt like they weren’t totally fleshed out. I know that Gillman said that some of these stories had origins in fast fiction challenges, and some of them really felt like it, which could make the stories feel hurried and flat.

But the artwork? GORGEOUS. The colored pencil aesthetic lends to a gentle vibe throughout the stories, and I thought that the colors and design were exquisite. I really enjoy Gillman’s style and it absolutely matched the fairy tale feelings.

“Other Ever Afters” will surely please people looking for queer stories that fill a gap of representation in a well loved genre. The ones that hit for me REALLY hit.

Serena’s Thoughts

I really wanted to like this one more than I did. For one thing, the art is absolutely fantastic, by far the best part of the book. Further, the author does a great job matching the overall tone of the stories included with the art itself. These both sound AND look like beautiful fairytales.

I also appreciated the wide variety of characters and themes that were explored. Like a good fairytale, there were a few that had dark moments, but overall, like the cozy art would suggest, most of the stories ran on the more optimistic side of things. I particularly enjoyed the last story about a knight coming to realize that relationships are not transactional, and another story that featured a woman who finally finds an unconventional relationship with a being who recognizes her for who she is.

That said, almost all of these stories felt somehow…lacking. Not only did the author leave several of the stories with hanging endings (something that you do see in fairytales, but the sheer number of them within this collection skewed the overall effect), but many of the themes introduced never felt like they properly landed. Almost all of the stories felt like they could use a few more pages to properly flesh out the stories they were telling.

I just wish there had been more to this book, and then I think it really would have connected with me well. As it stands, I’m almost a bit sad about what feels like missed opportunities and lost potential. That said, YA readers who enjoy fairytales and are looking for some twisted versions of classic tales featuring lovely art and diverse characters should definitely give this one a go!

Kate’s Rating 7: There are some sweet stories here and I absolutely loved the artwork and the concept, but a few of the stories felt unfinished.

Serena’s Rating 6: I loved the art and one or two of the stories, but I closed the book and the defining thought was “I wish there had been a bit more to it all.”

Book Club Questions

  1. Which story in the collection was your favorite? What was it about that story that spoke to you?
  2. In what ways beyond the choice of protagonists did these fairy tales subvert expectations of the genre?
  3. A lot of these stories have ambiguous or open ended endings that don’t necessarily play out on the page. Did you like that as a choice?
  4. What were your thoughts on the art style in this book?
  5. Who would you recommend this book to?

Reader’s Advisory

“Other Ever Afters” is included on the Goodreads lists: Queer mermaids and Royalty in Queer Romance.

Next Book Club Pick: “As I Dream of You” by Jennifer Lee, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Serena’s Review: “Harbour of Hungry Ghosts”

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

Book: “Harbour of Hungry Ghosts” by Eliza Chan

Publishing Info: Orbit, July 2026

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

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

Book Description: The Au family serve the people of Hong Kong as demon hunters and blessing shrines, honoring the dead and dealing with dangerous yiaoguai incursions. The expectations on eldest daughter Kiamling are high, which is not something her strict grandmother and mentor will let her forget.

However, when British colonists interrupt a hungry ghost ritual, and her grandmother disappears, Kiamling must step up and lead the search.

Her bumbling language pupil Archie and her youngest sister Jingling will offer aid, alongside Hoi Gor, Kiamling’s recently returned childhood crush from Canton.

But when British fables mingle with local Chinese monsters, how can Kiamling prove herself, when the old rules no longer seem to apply?

Review: I had high hopes for this one! While I didn’t love her “Drowned World” series, I still appreciated the creative world-building and was excited to see her exploration of ghosts and colonization. However, the book failed to really nail any of its elements, leaving me bored more than anything.

I think many readers’ experience of this book will come down to how they feel about the prose itself. I can definitely be drawn in by the more descriptive, flowery tone, but I am quite picky in how exactly it’s pulled off. “Voice” is a hard aspect of writing to really nail down, but I think it’s this quality that is lacking when I have trouble connecting to a more elaborate prose style. And, sadly, such was the case here. Instead of feeling drawn into this world and able to relish in the plethora of details given about location, characters, and other plot elements, I felt disconnected and bogged down by what felt like extra words that weren’t truly conveying anything.

This also made the pacing read as slower than I think the story truly was. Things were happening, and, on its face, this is an action-packed tale. But again, because of this stylized form of writing, the whole thing began to feel heavy.

But where I really struggled was with the characters, especially the love interests. Yes, plural. Neither of these characters worked for me. Partly, they were each too expected. Each shows up and you know immediately everything you could possibly need to know about them, simply based on previous experience with similar character archetypes. It was also supremely obvious from the very beginning which was the “true” love interest, which made any time spent with the other feel like time wasted, further contributing to the lagging pacing of the storytelling. There was also an over-reliance on simply telling the reader everything we needed to know about these characters and their feelings. All of this combined to leave me feeling very cool on any of them.

Overall, this wasn’t what I hoped for. Fans of this author’s other books may simply connect better with her style and will likely appreciate this one more than me. But for my part, I found the whole thing rather dull and the romance boring to the point of tears.

Rating 6: I struggled with this one. Fans of the author will likely enjoy it, but I found it slowly paced and featuring two romantic interests (already stopped me at “two”) who brought nothing new to the table.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Harbour of Hungry Ghosts” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Asian Fantasy & Science Fiction.

Serena’s Review: “Death’s Daughter”

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

Book: “Death’s Daughter” by S. A. Barnes

Publishing Info: Bramble, May 2026

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

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

Book Description: Jocasta’s carved out a normal life at Beecher University—well, as normal as possible with a name like Jocasta and being the only child of Death.

She has good friends and a messy situationship with her former TA. But her friends, her crush, and her classmates don’t know the truth about who—what—she is. They would be horrified to discover Jo must feed to survive—and she feeds on them. But she refuses to take lives, feasting instead on their disappointments, failures, and rejections. It’s not a perfect system, but it works.

Until a sexy stranger—and descendant of Lust—shows up on campus because Death just named Jo as his successor, making her a powerful ally and a massive target.

Jo’s safe little bubble is about to burst, but she will do anything to protect the people she loves. Even if it means becoming what she hates…

Review: I’ve read and enjoyed a few of this author’s horror/sci-fi books, so I was excited to see that she was branching out into the fantasy genre! I’ll admit, I was a bit concerned about the whole “descendant of Lust” thing, though, as that sounded like just the sort of tack into cheese that romantasy too often takes.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t work nearly as well for me as the horror/sci-fi works have in the past. I will say that this author is still incredibly “readable.” The prose is approachable, and the pacing and plotting remain steady throughout the book. With her other works, the horror aspects pulled me through some of the more lackluster moments for characterization and plotting, but sadly here I didn’t have that same hook to pull me through. That said, readers who enjoy contemporary romance and, perhaps, urban fantasy may have a different experience here than I did.

Sadly, while the “popcorn film” nature of the writing did get me through the book, I really struggled with almost every aspect of it. For one thing, the world-building itself was incredibly lackluster. The reader is thrown into this world, given some brief nods to a Greek-mythology inspiration, and then left to just go with it. For her part, Jo is also very uninformed about this world, and while it can work to use a main character’s own ignorance as an entry point to the world, here it just felt a bit tedious. Jo must be a blank slate so that, through her, the reader can learn more. But that also leaves her… a blank slate.

I was also very underwhelmed with the main hook of the story, that Jo is Death’s daughter. Everything about this sounds like it should be interesting. But in reality, it’s all presented in such a humdrum manner that I found myself quickly losing interest in Jo’s abilities or urges.

I was also displeased to discover a love triangle at the heart of the story. There is a brief nod to this in the book description, but I guess I read that much more as a “previous love interest” that would be quickly set aside for the new one who is introduced. Instead, this felt very much of a certain time in urban fantasy writing, where every long-running series starts out with a love triangle (see Mercy Thompson) that slowly resolves over the first few books. It’s not a style I’d like to see come back, and the author’s attempts here felt very familiar, with the ultimate endgame of the situation reading fairly obvious to anyone familiar with urban fantasy tropes.

Overall, I was left fairly ambivalent about this read. At best, I can say that it was a quick read. But while I enjoyed that “popcorn” nature in her sci-fi/horror books, here it felt like the fantasy world and the characters all lacked the depth to truly make them stand out. And the romance was an incredibly tired return to a format that peaked ten years ago. Perhaps readers who are keen for a nostalgic urban fantasy read will enjoy this. But sadly, it wasn’t for me.

Rating 6: While it was a quick read, it wasn’t one that I particularly enjoyed. The world-building was lackluster, and the love triangle was familiar and tired.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Death’s Daughter” can be found on these Goodreads lists: All the New Romantasy Books Arriving in May 2026 and Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2026.

Kate’s Review: “A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge”

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Book: “A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge (Saffron Everleigh Mystery #4)” by Kate Khavari

Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, June 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Description: Saffron Everleigh returns to Ellington Manor after her grandfather suffers a heart attack. Back in her childhood home for the first time in years, Saffron faces tense family relationships made worse by the presence of the enigmatic Bill Wyatt, hired on as a doctor to the ailing Lord Easting. But the man is no doctor—in reality, he is a mysterious figure involved in the trafficking of dangerous government secrets, and his presence at Ellington can only mean trouble.

When their neighbors, the Hales, invite a spiritual medium into the village who starts angling for Saffron’s mother’s attention, Saffron realizes that there is more afoot in her hometown than she originally thought. Not to mention inviting Alexander to Ellington has put their budding relationship under her family’s microscope.

As tensions rise at Ellington, Bill demands that Saffron hand over old research documents belonging to her late father. With her relatives under his power as their ‘doctor,’ Saffron fears she may be forced to surrender the files along with her hopes of ever understanding her father’s obscure legacy. Nothing and no one is as they seem at Ellington. It’s through the perfumed haze of the séance’s smoke that Saffron must search for the truth before it’s too late.

Review: It is once again time to return to post WWI England and into the world of crime and botany! As I mentioned last time I reviewed this series, I am going to read and review the most recent Saffron Everleigh mystery by Kate Khavari when it comes out next month, but I needed to play catch up! So now I’m taking on “A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge”, in which our plant minded heroine Saffron Everleigh has to return to her family estate due to her grandfather having a heart attack, and finds that a dangerous nemesis has seamlessly placed himself there as well. And it may be true that a lot of mystery readers like a nemesis, but this time around it didn’t really work for me.

But first the positives! This biggest part of this book that worked for me was the plot about spiritualism, which had a huge resurgence after World War I due to the fact that so many soldiers died in a horrific way. Khavari has mentioned the losses that our characters, be they Saffron or her friend Elizabeth, have had to endure, with Saffron’s own father being killed in the trenches as well as her childhood sweetheart Wesley, who also happened to be Elizabeth’s brother. When Saffron, Alexander, and Elizabeth return to Ellington they find out that Elizabeth’s parents, the Hales, have hired a medium to have a seance to try and communicate with Wesley to make sure he is at peace. While none of our main characters believe in it and know the woman is a fraud, this was not uncommon during this time to see grifters who took advantage of people’s grief for monetary purposes. I really enjoyed how Khavari brought this in and made it one of the big mysteries, as they KNOW she is lying, but she sure seems to be on the level.

I also always enjoy the relationships between Saffron and her loved ones. The first and most pertinent in this book for me is her friendship with Elizabeth, who is dealing with the fallout from her suitor in the last book being a lying murderous criminal. She is deeply hurt by these revelations and isn’t doing so hot, and I enjoyed how Khavari doesn’t make this an easy experience for her and how it is causing strain between her and Saffron, who is trying to be a good friend but has her own problems. Eliza is still my favorite character in these books (with Lee being a close second, and he DOES show up here for a bit!), and it was kind of refreshing having her be more than the free spirited snarky friend. As for Alexander, I’m still not his biggest fan, but now that we are done with the will they or won’t they and he is just being a supportive boyfriend (who has to impress her incredibly judgmental family, specifically her grandparents the Lord and Lady Easting) who has his own knowledge and skills to add to the plot. I also liked the setting of the aristocratic manor of Saffron’s family, as it felt a little bit “Downton Abbey” as she deals with her snooty grandmother and her ailing grandfather, as well as the secrets that her mother Violet seems to be hiding.

But there was the other aspect of this book that had a huge theme and plot point, and that is the nefarious character of Bill, who showed up in the previous book as an antagonist and has managed to weasel his way into Saffron’s circle by masquereding as a doctor for the Lord Easting. He was introduced a bit out of the blue in the previous book, and in this book we find out he wants research from that Saffron’s father left behind. He is set up as an ultimate nemesis for Saffron, and the idea of wanting research secrets is interesting enough, but I felt like his presence made for the least amount of botany themes that we’ve seen in this series. I also didn’t enjoy their battles of the wits as much as I had hoped I would, because we’ve seen the Sherlock and Moriarty nemesis trope so many times and unless you really reclaim it, it just kind of comes off as hackneyed these days. Having the two mysteries at hand and one of them being so focused on Bill just threw the pacing off and made it feel like it dragged on and on.

“A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge” had its ups and downs, and I hope we get a bit more back into direct botanical research and themes for the next book.

Rating 6: I enjoyed the spiritualism storyline and Saffron’s relationships are still enjoyable, but wasn’t as into this new ‘prolonged nemesis’ angle that we got with Bill as it really bogged the rest of the story down.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Botanist’s Guide to Rituals and Revenge” is included on the Goodreads list “‘Revenge’ in the Title”.

Previously Reviewed:

Kate’s Review: “What We Did To Survive”

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Book: “What We Did to Survive” by Megan Lally

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, March 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher

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

Book Description: A vacation in paradise turns deadly when four teens’ sailing charter hits stormy seas in this propulsive new thriller from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Megan Lally!

Hannah is having an incredible spring break. A week at a resort in Mexico with her best friend Emmy and her family is perfect for de-stressing from senior year, even if it’s awkward being around Emmy’s older brother, Jackson, who she’s had a crush on for as long as she can remember.

Still, the beach is gorgeous. So is the guy they meet in the surf. Except Hannah is now the third wheel in Emmy’s vacation romance.

Eager to impress Emmy, her wealthy new boyfriend charters a private sailboat to make the most of their last day in paradise, and Hannah and Jackson are invited along. As the clouds roll in and the skies darken, their boat is the only one leaving the marina. And the further they get into open water, the more unsettled Hannah becomes. A storm is brewing onboard that’s as deadly as the one racing toward them. Forget surviving graduation. Who will make it back to land alive?

Review: Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an ARC of this novel!

Even though Spring Break has come and gone (and I opted to spend it someplace not so tropical, but the lake called), I feel like I always enjoy survival thrillers where a tropical vacation goes wrong any time of the year. When I received “What We Did to Survive” by Megan Lally in the mail I knew that it was going to be a fun vacation based survival thriller, as tourists in trouble is always a fun sub-genre within a sub-genre. I jumped into it expecting a ride.

And it was a fun ride in a lot of ways. The basic premise is a familiar one for survival thriller tales: a group of people set out into a wilderness situation unprepared and things go south quickly. In this case it’s teenagers Hannah, her best friend Emmy, Emmy’s brother Jackson (who is also Hannah’s crush), and Emmy’s vacation/situationship based hook up Ben, who are all on vacation at a resort in Puerta Vallarta and want to do more for the last day. Ben charters a boat outside the resort’s purview, and they sail into a storm, with danger and death ensuing. It’s a familiar set up but it’s one that is always entertaining, as they have to fight the elements, secrets, and perhaps even each other to survive. I definitely had a hard time putting it down because Lally keeps it going apace, not wasting any moments and making bad situations worse until it’s clear that not everyone is going to make it out of this. The tension builds well and it reads nice and fast because of it.

But on the other hand, the characters in this were all pretty two dimensional. I did like Hannah a fair amount, probably because we got the most in her head, and I liked her and Jackson, but ultimately Jackson didn’t really bring much outside of a protective love interest for her (though she doesn’t think that it would ever be more than a crush on her part, natch) and a protective big brother to Emmy. Emmy and Ben, however, are both pretty insufferable in their own ways, whether Emmy is the shallow best friend who will drop all sense for a boy, or Ben is an over the top villain built of wealth, privilege, and cowardice. I recognize that sometimes YA novels have a bit more direct characters and want to spend time telling rather than showing, but I think that it’s a disservice to their target demo to assume that such OBVIOUS villains and antagonists are needed as opposed to something more complicated. But then again, seeing how all these rich and privileged people are behaving these days maybe Ben isn’t too far off and I’m just being naive. Nevertheless, it made it less suspenseful than it could have been because I wasn’t as invested in their fates as I could have been.

So fun popcorn reading that would be good for a vacation read, but it doesn’t reinvent the wheel outside of a simple survival thriller story. But sometimes that’s exactly what is needed.

Rating 6: A fun survival thriller that was an entertaining read, though some of the characters were a little flat.

Reader’s Advisory:

“What We Did to Survive” is included on the Goodreads list “YA Suspense/Thriller/Mystery”.

Kate’s Review: “Two Truths and a Lie”

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

Book: “Two Truths and a Lie” by Mark Stevens

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, April 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publicist

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

Book Description: Lambasted for a tragedy caught live on camera, then lauded for her help capturing the elusive PDQ, a serial killer, Flynn Martin’s career has reached new heights. But now, the TV journalist and mother has much further to fall. And someone wants to push her over the edge.

PDQ is behind bars, for life and then some, but someone on the outside has picked up the killer’s mantle. Flynn is neck-deep in an investigation when the copycat emerges, targeting her sources and delivering cryptic messages. It’s clear that Flynn’s stories are getting deadlier. This one proves no exception.

A family of four has gone missing, leaving behind ties to New Hope Church more tangled than they appear. The dangerous web rivals the threat in Flynn’s personal life. And it’s up to her to unravel each knot.

Scandal. Conspiracy. Murder. Flynn hardly knows where to begin—and if her stalker has their way, she might not live to see the end.

Review: Thank you to Roger Charlie for sending me an ARC of this novel!

My kid had Spring Break last week and instead of going someplace warmer, we actually opted for colder and went up the North Shore of Minnesota to stay at a resort on Lake Superior. Usually this is a Fall trip for us, but we couldn’t make it happen this past Fall and decided to do it now even if that meant it was going to be in the 30s. But cold weather or not, I LOVE reading by the Lake, and the choice of literature this time around was “Two Truths and a Lie” by Mark Stevens, a mystery with a scrappy reporter, a copy cat serial killer, a missing family, and mysterious and threatening letters. It sounded like it would be up my alley whilst listening to the lake hit the shore.

The premise of this is what sold me, as I do love a detective story that has an unconventional detective at its heart. Flynn fits that mold pretty well, as she is a TV journalist for a local news station and does investigating through the lens of journalism. It’s a very Lois Lane-esque vibe, and I found Flynn to be a fun character to follow and enjoyed her point of view. I enjoyed her character dynamics with the supporting cast, whether it’s her coworker Tamica or her son Wyatt or her ex husband Max (it was nice to see an actually pretty healthy relationship between these two characters). And I also enjoyed the idea of a copycat serial killer and Flynn having to reach out to the killer that is being copied, especially since apparently her catching that killer was the premise of book one (more on that in a bit). It just has a lot of things that did work for me.

All that said, I will say that I probably made a bit of a mistake not reading the first book in the series before picking this one up, as I was missing context for a fair chunk of the references that were being made to Flynn’s previous case, the fallout of it, and her relationships and how they were shaped due to it. That is one hundred percent on me, as I had hoped that it would be similar to other mystery series where you can kind of do that (I think about the Temperance Brennan books and how for awhile I was just hopping around and reading random ones). So my critiques in that regard are absolutely more a reflection on me and not the book. But I will say that it did feel at times like this book could have been tightened up. It clocks in at more than 450 pages, and that’s a lot of pages to sustain a tense and gripping mystery and keep the tension up.

Ultimately it was a mixed bag that probably was mostly on me. But if you like a not as often seen take on detective stories with a fun heroine, perhaps take a chance on Flynn Martin!

Rating 6: A likable protagonist with a unique take on a detective story has lots of potential, though there is a bit of a pacing issue.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Two Truths and a Lie” isn’t included on any Goodreads lists as of yet, but it would fit in on “Female Detective Series”.