Tag: 7 Rating

Serena’s Review: “The Spellshop”

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Book: “The Spellshop” by Sarah Beth Durst

Publishing Info: Bramble, July 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

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

Book Description: Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Review: Sarah Beth Durst is one of those strange authors for me. On one hand, I’ve really loved some of her books; I gave “The Bone Maker” a 9 rating! But on the other hand, while I started out enjoying her “Queens of Renthia” trilogy, by the end, I was incredibly frustrated by the series and gave the final book a 5 rating. But given how much I’ve enjoyed some of her books, she’s still an “auto-request” author for me. Plus, “The Spellshop” sounded like just the sort of cozy fantasy I was hankering for!

So, with that introduction out of the way, I’ll jump to the end of the review and say that this book fell solidly in the middle of things for me. It didn’t live up to the highs that I’ve enjoyed from this author, but it also was far from the worst. But let’s start with the things I unequivocally liked. And the first thing that comes to mind is the tone and “vibe” of this story. This book leans in hard to the “cozy” aspect of its subgenre, and, for the most part, does it very successfully. It’s whimsical, humorous, and full to the brim with lovable characters, including a wide cast of fantastical villagers, a beguiling leading man, and, of course, the hilarious sentient spider plant that is Kiela’s best friend. Durst’s style of writing is also well suited to this sort of light-hearted fare, and it was easy to want to sink into the lush scenes that were painted on the page.

There were two aspects of the story, however, that began to drag it down. One of them was Kiela herself. I have to say, I was honestly surprised by this turn of events since when Kiela was first introduced, she was hitting all of the right notes for me. Her devotion to her books was both compelling but also funny at times, and her general reflections on her circumstances were initially quite interesting and had me eager to follow her on her journey. However, once she really started to settle in to the run-down cottage, things took an extreme turn for the worse. What I had initially pegged as a love of solitude that was played up a bit for laughs I quickly realized was in fact Kiela being incredibly naive and, at times, fairly rude. I was shocked when I realized that she somehow thought she was going to live in this abandoned cottage and no one was even going to notice, that she’d somehow be able to sustain herself completely independently based on…what? It was honestly so silly that I was taken aback. From there, she proceeds to be “rescued” from this silliness by her kind-hearted, handsome neighbor who essentially feeds her and fixes her house. And she proceeds to berate him and be rude. I understood the first time, but then she seems to double down, and I found myself beginning to mentally root for her neighbor, thinking he could do better and should just leave her to her own foibles.

I also began to struggle with the world-building and plotting as the story continued. I simply don’t understand how this magic system operates in the way it does. It seems that all that is needed in this world to do magic is to know the correct incantation and say it. That being the case, it was incredibly hard to believe that this information had been successfully restricted in the way that it had. Beyond that, I began to question more basic things. For example, when we first visit the tiny local village, Kiela describes meeting a handful of very diverse fantasy beings. We’re talking a faun-like creature, another faun-like creature but with wings, a centaur, a being with four arms, Kiela herself (a blue humanoid being) and more. All of these on what we are repeatedly (!) told is a tiny, remote island. And, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t stop wondering about how the biology of this all worked! These sure sound like different species of people, and yet they’re all on a tiny island where you have to imagine there are very few of each and…well, you understand my confusion. It was things like this that left me feeling as if the actual cohesion of the world-building was sacrificed at the alter of cozy vibes. All of these people were adorable in their own right and clearly stood in for the type of “quirky villagers” you’d find in a similar cozy mystery. But this is a fantasy world still, these things need to make sense as well.

I also struggled a bit with some of the plot and Kiela’s own motivations and priorities. She begins the story hyper-focused on protecting the secrets of the books at all costs. Again, we hear all about this repeatedly (if you haven’t caught up, being a bit repetitive was also a sticking point). But as the story continues, she quickly flips to not only selling the spells of these books but outright teaching others how to use them (again, from a practical point, would this be a believable choice for someone whose only source of income is selling these spells??).

Overall, this was just an ok book for me. There were moments that were truly enjoyable, and when I wasn’t distracted by questions about the world or Kiela’s decisions, I could find myself sinking easily into the experience of the story. But that’s just it, it felt more like an experience than a fully-realized story. If you’re a big cozy fantasy fan, this might still be a great fit for you! But if you’re a fantasy reader who needs there to be more meat on the bones of your fantasy world, this one will come up lacking.

Rating 7: Vacillating wildly between enjoyably cozy moments and frustrating pitfalls in world-building and characterization, this book was a bit all over the place.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Spellshop” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Cozy Fantasy Romance reads.

Serena’s Review: “The Wren in the Holly Library”

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Book: “The Wren in the Holly Library” by K. A. Linde

Publishing Info: Entangled: Red Tower Books, June 2024

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

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

Book Description: Can you love the dark when you know what it hides? Some things aren’t supposed to exist outside of our imagination.

Thirteen years ago, monsters emerged from the shadows and plunged Kierse’s world into a cataclysmic war of near-total destruction. The New York City she knew so well collapsed practically overnight. In the wake of that carnage, the Monster Treaty was created. A truce…of sorts.

But tonight, Kierse—a gifted and fearless thief—will break that treaty. She’ll enter the Holly Library…not knowing it’s the home of a monster. He’s charming. Quietly alluring. Terrifying. But he knows talent when he sees it; it’s just a matter of finding her price.

Now she’s locked into a dangerous bargain with a creature unlike any other. She’ll sacrifice her freedom. She’ll offer her skills. Together, they’ll put their own futures at risk. But he’s been playing a game across centuries—and once she joins in, there will be no escape…

Review: I was excited to check this one out when a publicist reached out with a copy for review! For one thing, the cover is lovely, and I’m always happy to have more pretty books. On top of that, either the author or the publisher knew what they were doing to pique a librarian’s interest: 1.) simply include the word “library” in your title (yes, we are that easy to please) and 2.) blurb the book as a vague re-telling of “Beauty and the Beast.” You know, the story where the hero gifts the heroine an actual library. So, let’s see how this all bore out!

While this wasn’t quite the perfect read I was hoping for, there was still a lot of really good stuff included, so let’s start with all of the positives. One of the first things that stood out to me was the unique world-building. I very much enjoyed the modern urban fantasy setting and the way the author played with the idea of a New York City that is still recovering from a massive reveal: that monsters are real. Especially in the first section of the book, we spend a decent amount of time roaming the streets with our main character and her friends, exploring all the various ways in which this shift in reality affected every bit of society. In some ways, nothing has changed, with the rich still able to essentially buy their way out of the monster problem. But in a myriad of more subtle ways, the entire culture of the city has shifted, from the lack of a night life to the delicate balance of politics at play between the city’s human and monster populaces. I very much appreciated how much time and effort the author put in to creating this world, and it was one of the things that really pulled me through the first half of the book when I was struggling a bit with the pacing and character work.

The characters were a bit more of a mixed bag. On one hand, I liked the fact that many of the characters, especially our two main leads, were truly morally grey characters. Our heroine essentially spends the first bit of the book telling readers that she got into theft simply because she enjoyed stealing, full stop. And then turned out to be good at it, hence her job. Unlike “bestest best assassins” who never kill anyone and when they do they then break down with massive internal crises, I appreciated that the author simply allowed her characters to be a bit questionable. This is a dark world, and in many ways, we see again and again that only those able to adapt have even survived up to this point.

That said, I did struggle to really connect to Kierce (weird name alert). In the first chapter, I really enjoyed her. She meets the mysterious love interest, and, overall, manages herself well, being both reasonable in her actions, entertaining in her commentary, and, notably, not simply overcome by good looks as so many heroines seem to be. That said, as the story continued, I struggled more and more to maintain my interest. Part of the problem, I think, is that shortly after this first chapter, Kierce goes back into the world and the reader is quickly introduced to a huge cast of supporting characters, all with various connections to Kierce and her life. It simply became overwhelming, and given how many of them there were, I was never quite sure where I was supposed to be directing my interest. Further, because so many characters are introduced quickly, many of them felt like they were presented in a flurry of “check box traits lists” before the reader was hurried on to meet the next one.

This wasn’t helped by the very nature of the story; that it, it’s one chock full of betrayal and secrecy. That being the case, for most of the read, I was left feeling off-balance and, again, unable to connect to any of these characters as they were constantly revealing/withholding information and betraying one another, to the point that it was almost easier to disconnect a bit than to try to keep track of motivations on an individual basis.

And, lastly, I didn’t particularly enjoy the spicy scenes in this one. The dialogue in these scenes, especially, felt a bit cringe-y to me. But this is an incredibly subjective area, so I’m sure other readers will not struggle with it the way I did.

All of that said, I do think this book has potential as the beginning of a series. The world-building was interesting and the writing was fairly strong throughout. Honestly, I think this will be a hit for a lot of urban fantasy fans who are looking for a spicy romance read as well. I struggled with some of the character work, but I’m also hopeful that some of this is now resolved in this first book and I will enjoy the sequel more. If this one has been on your TBR list, it’s probably worth checking out!

Rating 7: An intriguing world people with truly morally grey characters, though perhaps a bit too keen to betray and withhold information from one another.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Wren in the Holly Library” should be on this Goodreads list: Speculative Fiction Heist/Caper Stories

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

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

Publishing Info: Del Rey, June 2024

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

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

Book Description: Kim Hani has retired from a life of devouring souls. She is, simply put, too full. Once known as the infamous Scarlet Fox, she now spends her days working in a coffee shop and annoying a particularly irritating, if unfairly handsome, trickster god as often as she can.

That god is Seokga the Fallen. Exiled from the heavenly kingdom of Okhwang, he now begrudgingly resides in the mortal realm, working toward his redemption and suffering through his interactions with the particularly infuriating, if sneakily charming, gumiho barista at his favorite café.

But when a powerful demon escapes from the underworld and threatens to end all of humanity, Okhwang’s emperor offers Seokga an enticing bargain: Kill this rogue creature, as well as the legendary and elusive Scarlet Fox, and he will be reinstated as a god. Hani, however, has no intention of being caught. Seokga might be a trickster god, but she has a trick of her own that he’ll never see coming: teaming up. As Seokga’s assistant, Hani will undermine and sabotage his investigation right under his overly pointy nose. Sure, she’ll help him kill the demon, but she certainly won’t allow him to uncover her secret identity while they’re at it.

As the bickering partners track their case down a path of mayhem and violence, the god and the gumiho find themselves inescapably drawn to each other. But will the unlikely couple stand together to prevent the apocalypse, or will they let their secrets tear them—and the world—apart?

Review: I was very excited when I received an ARC from the publisher for this book! Right off the bat, it has a lot of things going for it: combining urban fantasy and South Korean mythology, and then setting the story in the early 90s. Looking at all of that, it was easy to see that this book was going to be lots of vibes all mashed together. Add in an enemies-to-lovers romance, and yeah, easy to see why I was excited. Let’s get into the full review!

While I had a lot of hopes for this book, it didn’t all come together quite like I wished. But there was still a lot to like about it, and I do think there are many readers out there who will enjoy it. Let’s start with some of the good stuff! I’ve had some exposure to South Korean mythology in other fantasy books, but I’m by no means an expert. In that regard, some of the fantasy elements were just familiar enough that I felt like I understood this world easily, but were still exploring new dynamics and aspects of the mythology that felt completely fresh. Even the familiar elements were twisted into new forms that were intriguing.

I also thought the writing was approachable and easy to read. While I think it was a tad simplistic at times, especially with regards to characterization, it shone as far as pacing and fast-paced storytelling. The reader will be quickly drawn into this world, and the story will catch them up for the ride from there. As a reader who often focuses on characterization above most other elements, it speaks to the readability of the style of writing that I finished this one up fairly quickly even though I wasn’t connecting to the main characters.

Now, as I’ve mentioned, I did struggle with the characters themselves, both separately and as a couple. From the romance angle, I was left wanting right away when I realized that the “enemies” portion of their relationship came from a mess up in a coffee order. Now, I get that this is played for humorous effect, but it just didn’t work for me. We’re talking about centuries-old beings here with untold powers; the fact that they are equally ridiculous about this minor altercation doesn’t speak well of either of them. And it simply wasn’t as funny as it was clearly meant to be.

Things didn’t really improve from there. On one hand, we have a trickster god, and yet I barely ever felt this aspect of his personality. Instead, he was very much the “grumpy” side of the relationship, and the chaos aspect of what I imagine from trickster gods was nowhere to be found. As for Hani, we learn early in the story that she has been in hiding for decades now after committing a mass murder for which she is still being hunted today. We’re told that she is incredibly clever to have avoided capture for so long. But again, right from the beginning, we see her making choices that clearly give away her past. In one notable example, when choosing a weapon, she immediately picks the type of weapon that her wanted identity was most known for using. And, predictably, this is what begins to alert the hero to her past. It’s just…kind of silly. And there were multiple instances of things like this for both characters, where we are told they have certain traits, but the actual choices and behaviors we see on the page directly contradict this. And, again, I could never get past some of the ridiculousness and immaturity of characters are are hundreds of years old.

Overall, this was just an ok read for me. The readability of the style of writing and some of the more fun aspects of the world-building were enough to pull me through this read fairly quickly. But throughout it all, I struggled to connect to these characters or become invested in their love story. If you’re looking for a fresh-feeling urban fantasy, this might be one worth checking out, however!

Rating 7: A fun concept and world were dampened a bit by characters who I found more ridiculous than not most of the time.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The God and the Gumiho” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Asian SSF and Adult SFF by BIPOC Authors.

Kate’s Review: “The Pecan Children”

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Book: “The Pecan Children” by Quinn Connor

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Landmark, June 2024

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: For fans of The Midnight Library and Demon Copperhead comes a breathtaking story of magical realism about two sisters, deeply tied to their small Southern town, fighting to break free of the darkness swallowing the land—and its endless cycle of pecan harvests—whole.

How long will you hold on when your world is gone?

In a small southern pecan town, the annual harvest is a time of both celebration and heartbreak. Even as families are forced to sell their orchards and move away, Lil Clearwater, keeper of a secret covenant with her land, swears she never will. When her twin Sasha returns to the dwindling town in hopes of reconnecting with the girl her heart never forgot, the sisters struggle to bridge their differences and share the immense burden of protecting their home from hungry forces intent on uprooting everything they love.

But there is rot hiding deep beneath the surface. Ghostly fires light up the night, and troubling local folklore is revealed to be all too true. Confronted with the phantoms of their pasts and the devastating threat to their future, the sisters come to the stark realization that in the kudzu-choked South, nothing is ever as it appears.

A story of the love between sisters, and an allegory of decay in small-town America, The Pecan Children walks the line between beauty and horror.

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

We are about half way through Pride Month, and I’m happy to be able to say that today I have a horror-esque novel that will be a great choice if you are wanting to read LGBTQIA+ books through the end of June. Sourcebooks Landmark reached out to me with “The Pecan Children” by Quinn Connor (the pen name of writing duo Robyn Barrow and Alex Cronin), and touted it as a Southern Gothic story that has a lovely sapphic romance at the center of it. All of this caught my eye, and I was eager to jump into it leading up to Pride. And I think that it did make good on the majority of the promises it made in the description.

In terms of a genre I would PROBABLY classify this as more of a dark fantasy than a horror novel (which was what I thought I was getting into), but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be scary at times or definitely have horror elements that shine through. There are so many moments of dread, even if it’s just through the description of invasive kudzu, or strange children encountered in the wilderness, or strange fires that flicker to life only to abruptly disappear like they never started in the first place. We are mostly following twin sisters Lil and Sasha, who have grown up in a small town in Arkansas that has relied on pecan harvests and local community to survive, only for land to suddenly stop producing and predatory land grabs snatching up and threatening the town. But this is not the case on Lil and Sasha’s farm, the one that Lil has tended to ever since her other passed, and the one Sasha has returned to after being away. The slow building suspense of what is happening around them as they reconnect with old loves, the first being Lil’s ex boyfriend Jason who has also returned and the second being Autumn, an old friend of Sasha, makes for an eerie and creepy read as things just seem off. And by the time we find out just what IS going on (and I’m not going to spoil anything), the tension snaps back and reverberates as the story hurtles towards its end. I think that I was hoping for more straight up horror beats, but when I started approaching it as a dark fantasy it worked really well for me.

But like so many tales, “The Pecan Children” is rife with real world obstacles and societal commentary. The first is that Lil and Sasha’s hometown is in stasis and slowly succumbing to a rot and decay of an outside force that is sucking it dry. It works well for the horror elements and reveals that are in place (no spoilers here, again), but it’s also a pretty poignant way to talk about the way that many small towns in poorer rural areas are really struggling for many reasons, and how in turn many of the people who do stay cling to aspects of the past. But along with that is the fact that I also loved the dichotomy of the twin sisters, as Lil has stayed to continue the pecan farm as her mother had put that mantle on her, and Sasha left for a time, only to return and to reconnect with her sister, in spite of the resentment between both of them for different reasons. It’s a heartfelt thread that crosses throughout the dark fantasy elements and eerie scares of the greater story, and it has siblings that clearly loves each other while having to overcome bitterness and familial heartaches. It was the very human and realistic moments that worked best for me in this novel, whether it’s the love between the twins, or the romance between Sasha and Autumn, or the reconnection between Lil and Jason. I REALLY liked the relationship between Sasha and Autumn, as I love seeing two old friends reconnect and realizing that there was always something more there, and finally being willing to explore it more than they had in the past.

With a strange and dreamy aura about it and some easy to root for relationships, romantic and sisterly, “The Pecan Children” is a dark fantasy read that would be a great choice for Pride month, and a solid read for dark fantasy readers who like a Southern Gothic twist.

Rating 7: A creepy and dreamy dark fantasy tale that is also about sisters, lost loves, and decaying small town identity, “The Pecan Children” is an eerie read for summer.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Pecan Children” is included on the Goodreads list “Queer Books Set in Arkansas”.

Serena’s Review: “Daughter of the Merciful Deep”

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

Book: “Daughter of the Merciful Deep” by Leslye Penelope

Publishing Info: Redhook, June 2024

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

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

Book Description: “Our home began, as all things do, with a wish.”

Jane Edwards hasn’t spoken since she was eleven years old, when armed riders expelled her family from their hometown along with every other Black resident. Now, twelve years later, she’s found a haven in the all-Black town of Awenasa. But the construction of a dam promises to wash her home under the waters of the new lake.

Jane will do anything to save the community that sheltered her. So, when a man with uncanny abilities arrives in town asking strange questions, she wonders if he’s might be the key. But as the stranger hints at gods and ancestral magic, Jane is captivated by a bigger mystery. She knows this man. Only the last time she saw him, he was dead. His body laid to rest in a rushing river.

Who is the stranger and what is he really doing in Awenasa? To find those answers, Jane will journey into a sunken world, a land of capricious gods and unsung myths, of salvation and dreams made real. But the flood waters are rising. To gain the miracle she desires, Jane will have to find her voice again and finally face the trauma of the past.

Review: I’ve read several books by this author in the past. I started out with her original world, high fantasy trilogy, and very much liked that. But I have also enjoyed the swerve towards historical fiction that she’s now taken, incorporating fantasy and magical elements alongside stories that very much tackle the cultures and issues of specific points in history. Her last one, “The Monsters We Defy,” was set in the 1920s, and while the story was made up of many elements (including a heist!) the jazz movement and its place in Black history was very central to the story. All of this to say, that I was very excited when I saw that in this book she was going to tackle an even lesser known point in history: that of the drowned towns of the South.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this book. It manages to fit a lot of excellent historical information into a narrative that is still very character-focused, all told through the eyes of our leading lady. For her part, Jane is a sympathetic character, a young woman who has suffered greatly, but throughout the course of this book, rediscovers her own power and sets a course not only for herself but for her entire community. There’s also a very sweet romance included, something that this author often incorporates in her stories, much to my appreciation!

I will say that the book did struggle a bit with pacing, however. The start to this story is fairly slow, with very little actually happening for much of the first half of the book. For readers of historical fiction, however, this may be less of an issue. The story is definitely following more genre conventions for historical fiction in this half, with its detailed focus on the details of this time and place. Readers who were more intrigued by the fantasy elements, however, have a while to wait for these to truly show up. And then when they did, I feel like a little more could have been done to blend these fantasy elements into the previously established historical setting. The reader is left to take much of them magical stuff at face value and just go with it.

I also appreciated the author’s note that was included at the end. For whatever reason, I’ve gotten into the habit of flipping to the back of books to read the author’s note before I even start, and yet again, I feel like this method has paid off. I had vague knowledge of the sunken towns, already. I grew up in a town next to a large, dammed reservoir; though no towns were destroyed in its making, the concept of drowned towns was always a morbid point of curiosity to a population that went about its day in the shadow of a huge dam like this. But I appreciated the greater detail I received in this author’s note, which went on to further enrich my reading experience as the characters confront this looming danger. Perhaps some of the plotting was a bit predictable, here, but at the same time, the characters were compelling enough that this wasn’t a problem for me. Readers who enjoy historical fiction with a lighter focus on fantasy should definitely give this one a go!

Rating 7: A bit disjointed in its balancing of genre conventions between fantasy and historical fiction, but the strength of the historical topic and the compelling characters still made it a worth while read!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Daughter of the Merciful Deep” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2024 Adult Fantasy/Sci-fi/Speculative Releases by BIPOC Authors

Kate’s Review: “What Fire Brings”

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

Book: “What Fire Brings” by Rachel Howzell Hall

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, June 2024

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: A writer’s search for her missing friend becomes a real-life thriller in a twisting novel of suspense by the New York Times bestselling author of These Toxic Things.

Bailey Meadows has just moved into the remote Topanga Canyon home of thriller author Jack Beckham. As his writer-in-residence, she’s supposed to help him once again reach the bestseller list. But she’s not there to write a thriller—she’s there to find Sam Morris, a community leader dedicated to finding missing people, who has disappeared in the canyon surrounding Beckham’s property.

The missing woman was last seen in the drought-stricken forest known for wildfires and mountain lions. Each new day, Bailey learns just how dangerous these canyons are—for the other women who have also gone missing here…and for her. Could these missing women be linked to strange events that occurred decades ago at the Beckham estate?

As fire season in the canyons approaches, Bailey must race to unravel the truth from fiction before she becomes the next woman lost in the forest.

Review: Thank you to Sparkpoint Studio for sending me an ARC of this novel!

We’ve actually had a pretty wet Spring going into Summer here in Minnesota, which means that in my part of the state we have no drought conditions and no threats of fires spreading dangerously (for now. We’ll see what Summer brings). Wildfire season hasn’t been a big thing for my state outside of the fact smoke has been making its way here for the past few years, but I know that it’s a huge problem out west. “What Fire Brings” by Rachel Howzell Hall takes that very real threat and throws a mystery of a missing woman, an intrepid detective, and a charming author in for good measure, and that kind of combination is super intriguing to someone like me. I was pretty hopeful going in, and my hopes were pretty well met, I’d say.

The mystery here is pretty unique and has a lot of interesting layers. We have Bailey, an aspiring private detective from L.A. who has taken on a case involving a missing woman Sam, who disappeared in the Topanga Canyon wilderness near the sprawling estate of famed author Jack Beckham. Bailey has snagged an undercover position as Jack’s writer in residence, and is using that to investigate, and while investigating starts to realize that Sam isn’t the only woman who has gone missing in the area over the years. It’s a great hook, and it has a built in suspense factor of whether or not Bailey will be discovered by Jack and his staff on top of the weird things she’s finding during her investigation. It makes for all of her moves to have added weight and potential consequence, as she is playing a part, being deceptive, and starts to realize that there may be bigger problems at hand for her outside of the investigation at hand. Bailey herself is a bit unreliable, as it slowly comes out that she has been having some problems and instabilities of her own, whether it’s a mysterious wound we aren’t privy to the origin of from the get go, an implied problem with fugue states here and there, and weird phone calls that are rattling her. It really added some dread to the ongoing investigation, which has its own twists and turns that I found surprising and enjoyable.

One thing that dinged it a bit was the pacing feeling pretty lackadaisical for a lot of the story, in spite of the fact the dread was built pretty well otherwise. It didn’t exactly meander or feel like it was stalling, but I remember there was a moment in my reading that I thought to myself ‘hm, there’s a lot of book left here’. I wasn’t bored or anything like that, but when I’m reading a thriller, even thrillers that ultimately don’t work for me (this one doesn’t fall into that category, I want to emphasize), I can at least give credit for a fast paced read that feels like it flies by. This one didn’t really have that, and by the time we did eventually get to the start of the climax it felt like it had been a long wait to get there. Once it got going it was breakneck, however. I think it’s sometimes a hard balance to get a solid slow burn for suspense while also doing a good job of keeping things moving smoothly. It’s certainly not a dealbreaker.

“What Fire Brings” is a sizzling thriller perfect for the summer months. Rachel Howzell Hall is making a name in the genre to be sure.

Rating 7: I enjoyed the mystery and the way there is already built in suspense with the private eye angle, though the pacing was sometimes a little slower than I would have liked.

Reader’s Advisory:

“What Fire Brings” is included on the Goodreads list “2024 Books by Black Authors”.

Kate’s Review: “Follow Her Down”

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Book: “Follow Her Down” by Victoria Helen Stone

Publishing Info: Lake Union Publishing, June 2024

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

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

Book Description: Decades of doubt, fear, and suspicion won’t let a woman overcome her trauma in a riveting novel of suspense by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Jane Doe and The Hook.

The murder of Elise Rockwood’s sister shattered her family. Their mother’s anxiety kept her housebound. Elise’s paranoid brother, Kyle, saw conspiracies everywhere. Elise numbed her grief in an aimless lifestyle that left her emotionally broken. All of them victims. A local boy eventually confessed, but the damage was already done.

Years later, Elise is reinventing herself. She’s bought a mountain lodge to be close to home again and to find stability. Not even an email from her ex tempts her into revisiting the past. But Kyle won’t let it go. He still believes there’s more to their sister’s murder—and the confession—than meets the eye. When Elise’s ex is found dead in the same forest where her sister went missing decades before, Elise is finally willing to listen.

The traumas of the past are reemerging. So is the truth. Elise’s greatest fear now is who will survive it.

Review: Thank you to Lake Union Press and Kaye Publicity for sending me an print copy of this novel!

I feel like after having a fair amount of focus on horror for awhile I’m finally getting back into throwing in thrillers to balance it out. And there have been some pretty good ones that have come my way without me seeking them out. One of which is “Follow Her Down” by Victoria Helen Stone. I hadn’t read anything by Stone before, but the premise of a woman still reeling from her sister’s unsolved murder years before caught my attention pretty handily. I had no idea what to expect, but I was very pleased with this one.

The mystery is solid and entertaining. We follow our protagonist Elise, a standoffish woman who owns a campground whose older sister Robin disappeared decades ago, and whose death basically destroyed her family. When her ex-lover Christian reaches out after radio silence, and Elise rejects seeing him again, his body is found in the wilderness near her campground, which also happens to be in the same area Robin disappeared years earlier. It’s a good set up, and it was interesting seeing how Christian’s murder may or may nto be connected to Robin’s, especially as Elise’s obsessive brother Kyle starts to hyper-focus on the possibility. I liked Elise as a protagonist as she tries to steer focus away from herself by law enforcement, while also trying to convince herself that Kyle is just doing his usual conspiracy theory nonsense, even as more and more strange clues pop up that could be convincing. Elise is flawed and damaged, which always has the potential to be a little cloying in the genre, but Stone does her justice, mostly because she herself is the skeptic as opposed to the loose cannon.

But what I liked the most about this book was that there was such a focus on the way that the trauma of a missing person can have shattering effects on the people in their lives. For Elise it’s the way that she has shut herself off from most people in her life, focusing on her campground and trying to not think about what happened to Robin all those years ago, unable to connect with many people. For Kyle, he dives into conspiracies and dodgy theories of cover ups, hyperfixating on improbable things because at least with the improbable things there is some kind of explanation. For their mother, she rarely leaves the house, her anxiety too much to bear. While there are plenty of thrillers with the theme of a lost family member that touch on the fallout, I thought that this one really nailed the way that a family can be torn apart due to unresolved trauma, resentment, and survivor guilt. The relationship between Elise and Kyle in particular could turn on a dime, so much so that it would be deeply uncomfortable and at times completely heart wrenching. I do wish that the book had kept this theme the focal point more, and hadn’t succumbed to more well worn tropes to the genre.

At the end of the day, “Follow Her Down” is a suspenseful and at times deeply upsetting thriller that doesn’t hold back in a lot of ways. I had hoped it stuck more to the more unique aspects to the story, but it was an enjoyable read overall.

Rating 7: An emotional mystery that examines unresolved trauma and the havoc it can cause, “Follow Her Down” is raw and at times devastating.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Follow Her Down” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on the Goodreads Shelf “Missing Women Books”.

Kate’s Review: “youthjuice”

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

Book: “youthjuice” by E.K. Sathue

Publishing Info: Soho Press, June 2024

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: American Psycho meets The Devil Wears Prada: outrageous body horror for the goop generation.

A 29-year-old copywriter realizes that beauty is possible—at a terrible cost—in this surreal, satirical send-up of NYC It-girl culture.

From Sophia Bannion’s first day on the Storytelling team at HEBE, a luxury skincare/wellness company based in New York’s trendy SoHo neighborhood, it’s clear something is deeply amiss. But Sophia, pushing thirty, has plenty of skeletons in her closet next to the designer knockoffs and doesn’t care. Though she leads an outwardly charmed life, she aches for a deeper meaning to her flat existence—and a cure for her brutal nail-biting habit. She finds it all and more at HEBE, and with Tree Whitestone, HEBE’s charismatic founder and CEO.

Soon, Sophia is addicted to her HEBE lifestyle—especially youthjuice, the fatty, soothing moisturizer Tree has asked Sophia to test. But when cracks in HEBE’s infrastructure start to worsen—and Sophia learns the gruesome secret ingredient at the heart of youthjuice—she has to decide how far she’s willing to go to stay beautiful forever.

Glittering with ominous flashes of Sophia’s coming-of-rage story, former beauty editor E.K. Sathue’s horror debut is as incisive as it is stomach-churning in its portrayal of all-consuming female friendship and the beauty industry’s short attention span. youthjuice does to skincare influencers what Bret Easton Ellis did to yuppies. You’ll never moisturize the same way again.

Review: Thank you to Soho Press for sending me an ARC of this novel!

I am someone who has very little knowledge about skin care and beauty routines outside of knowing that I need to hide my pale pale body from the sun at all times. It probably doesn’t help that I absolutely cannot abide the feeling of any kinds of lotion on my skin, which makes skin care a little trickier. But even though I know very little about the beauty industry and anti-aging fads and techniques, I was still interested in giving “youthjuice” by E.K. Sathue a whirl. The cover itself is eye catching, with a pale pink background and a simple beauty jar with a bit of blood dripping from it. What’s not to love, really? After all, in a time when skincare and anti-aging beauty products have delved into the likes of bloodletting strategies like vampire facials (with some sometimes horrendous results), this kind of thing seems ripe for the picking in body horror, and Sathue rises to the occasion.

(source)

First let’s talk horror elements, because “youthjuice” has them in spades. Firstly, we have the obvious body horror stuff, as we follow Sophia Bannion as she begins a new job at the beauty company HEBE, and finds out that the new product she is testing ‘youthjuice’, may have some pretty macabre origins and ingredients. It’s a bit of a spoiler, but I’m sure that one can guess based on the book cover alone, that this new product contains some human derived ingredients, with some horrifying means to procure them. It’s still a pretty jarring trope, though it has a long and storied run not only in fiction (vampires living off of blood in their immortality), but also world history (Elizabeth Báthory, anyone?), and Sathue revives it here for a new generation, with a bit of an influencer and capitalistic twist. And it makes for some pretty gory and downright disgusting beats, with descriptions of blood of all types and conditions being thrown on the page. There were some bits that could have been expanded upon more in terms of cause and effect, though perhaps the ambiguity will work better for others reading it. The other horror aspect that I mostly enjoyed was Sophia herself, and how we come to find out she is an unreliable narrator of sorts, and why that is. We blend the modern day with a flashback to a time during her youth where she is learning about desire, power, and attraction, and how she comes to value these things in a way that turns her into the ambitious young woman in a new job that has some pretty dark secrets. It didn’t reinvent the wheel per se, but it worked for the story and I found it believable to the character and her arc.

And there are, of course, the satirical elements of this book that lampoon not only the beauty industry as a whole, but also the framing of a ‘mysterious girl boss’ leader who has captured the imaginations of her acolytes, her fans, and the industry as a whole. The CEO of HEBE is Tree Whitestone, an almost ethereal being of a woman whose is poised, articulate, charismatic, and ageless, who promises beauty and youth to her followers and consumers while exuding power and grace. Sathue paints the perfect picture of a dynamic engaging leader of a brand that feeds on a cult like devotion as well as a social media induced sense of FOMO, and how devotees with do just about anything, including getting into bathtubs full of actual blood, to have a chance to experience the newest miracle product that will surely solve their problems by restoring their youth. I couldn’t help but think about more recent online discourses about aging and beauty products/surgical options being used by younger and younger people because of this fear. Bathing in blood is pretty farfetched, but remember the vampire facials thing I mentioned above? It’s in the same general vicinity, I’d say.

“youthjuice” is an intriguing horror tale that parodies the beauty industry with some gross bits of body horror. It will be a fun pool read for the summer I would say.

Rating 7: An entertaining satire with some gnarly body horror moments, “youthjuice” is as enjoyable as it is, at times, disgusting.

Reader’s Advisory:

“youthjuice” is included in the Goodreads article/book list “From Time Travel to Tech Startups: Five Cross Genre Trends We’re Noticing”.

Serena’s Review: “Everything We Never Said”

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Book: “Everything We Never Said” by Sloan Harrow

Publishing Info: G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, may 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: It’s been months since the accident that killed Ella’s best friend, Hayley, and Ella can’t stop blaming herself. Now Ella is back at school, and everywhere she looks are reminders of her best friend—including Sawyer, Hayley’s boyfriend. Little by little, they grow closer, until Ella realizes something horrifying . . .

She’s in love with her dead best friend’s boyfriend.

Racked with guilt, Ella turns to Hayley’s journal, hoping she’ll find something in the pages that will make her feel better about what’s happening. Instead, she discovers that Sawyer has secrets of his own and that his relationship with Hayley wasn’t as picture-perfect as it seemed.

Ella knows she should stay away but finds herself inextricably drawn to him—and scared of everything she never knew about him. Perhaps it’s his grief. Or maybe his desires, cut short by tragedy. Or could it be something twisted only Hayley knew about?

Review: Every once in a while I do try to stray outside of my preferred genres to see how the rest of y’all are living. So when the publisher reached out about coverage for this YA thriller, I thought “why the heck not!” I was also drawn in by the promise of an interesting romance between two characters who both lost their close friend/girlfriend. So, let’s dive right in!

The challenging thing about reading outside of my typical genres it that I’m less familiar with the conventions and tropes of this type of book, and thus a bit more unsure when trying to distinguish between my own preferences and opinions and what is simply true to the genre, but not something that I’m as familiar with. That said, there were several things that worked for me unequivocally. The first thing is the sheer “readability” of this book. Even when I was coming across things that left questions in my mind, I still felt a draw to continue reading, swept up in the fast-moving plot and approachable style of storytelling.

On top of that, both Ella and Sawyer were very sympathetic characters, and I enjoyed spending time in both of their heads. Of course, much of the story revolves around their complicated feelings for their deceased friend and their own budding romance, but there were a lot of smaller looks at the different relationships they each have with their parents. Both their experiences with their families and with the various social groups at school were of the sort that I think will greatly appeal to many YA readers.

And, of course, the love story was very sweet. Now, it also walked right up to the line of “instalove,” so that’s something to keep in mind. But, again, the readability of the book carried me through this aspect of the storytelling pretty effectively. Stepping back, I think this love story will appeal to many readers, especially teenagers themselves. As an adult, I will say that I did struggle to believe that a teenage boy was quite as, um, romantically adept as Sawyer was presented, but this is one of those cases where no one really wants a true-to-life portrayal of the awkwardness of the teenage years.

As for the mystery of Haley’s death and the thriller aspects of the book, I did struggle a bit more. There were several “believability” issues that began to pile up as the story continued. For one thing, right off the bat, we are told that Haley died in a car crash when Ella was driving, after being seen drinking at a party. It strains every plausible explanation that Ella walked away from this situation with no consequences. Beyond that, she has many people reassuring her that Haley’s death wasn’t her fault. But…wasn’t it kind of, with this version of events?

I also found some of the late game reveals to be a bit predictable, but this is definitely a “mileage will vary” situation from reader to reader. There were several red herrings presented and their success as such will depend on readers’ familiarity with conventions, likely. There were also chapters from Haley’s old diary interspersed throughout the story, and I really struggled with these. They were written in a way that belied belief, with Haley seeming to be able to recount entire scenes verbatim in these entries. I get the purpose these entries were serving, but the style of writing was so removed from anything that resembled an actual diary entry that I found myself often skimming through these sections.

All of that said, I still had a mostly fun time with this book! It was a fast read, and my interest in Ella and Sawyer’s stories was enough to carry me through some of the other aspects that I struggled with. YA readers who enjoy thrillers and romances will likely enjoy this one!

Rating 7: Some parts of the the mystery were a bit predictable, but I enjoyed the fast-paced storytelling and the sweet romance at its heart.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Everything We Never Said” is on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2024

Kate’s Review: “Under the Palms”

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

Book: “Under the Palms” by Kaira Rouda

Publishing Info: Thomas & Mercer, May 2024

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from Sparkpoint Studio.

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

Book Description: During a weekend retreat, a powerful family plays a dangerous game of dark secrets and cold-blooded ambition in a novel by Kaira Rouda, USA Today bestselling author of Beneath the Surface.

Under the direction of the Kingsleys’ new president, Paige, the family has gathered for a weekend retreat at a luxurious Laguna Beach resort. Still clinging to the hope of succession are the sons of Richard Kingsley, the family patriarch and John, the oldest, who’s clawed his way back from a dark tragedy, and Paige’s estranged husband, Ted, the golden boy. When Richard’s ex and his wayward daughter join the fray, Paige finds herself with two fast allies. They know a secret that could shatter the family legacy. Call it leverage, call it revenge, the Kingsley women believe they have the upper hand.

But as the power games begin, greater threats than the howling Santa Ana winds are coming. Because this weekend, amid so much greed and betrayal, no Kingsley is safe. It’s family. Watch your back.

Review: Thank you to Sparkpoint Studio for sending me an ARC of this novel!

Well “Succession” has been gone a long while, and now that I’ve finished it up fully (and hooray, the person I was predicting to come out on top did so!) I can better see the overall arc of the tragic tale of a terrible family fighting for control of their dynasty. Ultimately it was a tragic show filled with garbage people, but who all had a lot of interesting depth and nuance even through their terribleness. I think that The Kingsley Family in “Under the Palms”, the next book in the series after “Beneath the Surface” haven’t QUITE risen to the levels of wretchedness or complexity as the Roys, but hey, there’s still backstabbing, infighting, and heirs fighting for power. But at least in Kaira Rouda’s new story is also another murder. That just adds to the salaciousness, and I oh so enjoy that.

I do love a guilty pleasure read, and the Kingsley Family’s shenanigans are so nasty, catty, and over the top that this I found “Under the Palms” to be a lot of fun. Much like “Beneath the Surface”, it is split into different perspective chapters involving some of our main players, some familiar, others new. The Kingsleys are still mostly miserable and totally unlikable, but if you like a story about terrible rich people doing terrible things and having terrible things happen to them you have come to the right place. We do have a new salacious mystery at hand, as well as a new out of their control weather threat (this time instead of a stormy sea we have a fast burning wildfire, and given that I’m writing this as I can smell Canadian fires at my home I’m finding that a bit situationally appropriate), and we have basically the same set of suspects. I kind of figured out the solution to the mystery pretty early, but I was having a fun enough time with the backstabbing and snideness that it didn’t really matter. Soapiness is always a plus.

In my review for the previous book, I did note that I wasn’t as impressed with most of the characters, as they mostly seemed like two dimensional tropes and archetypes, and that doesn’t really change here. But I think that this time around I was more expecting it, and therefore it didn’t really turn me off as much as I anticipated it would. Though I will say that one of our new characters, John’s new lady friend Krystle, was a bit of a fun addition because she does have some layers, as she is trying to present herself in a certain way to get into the good graces of the total dud John, as she has ambitions that only connections to the Kingsley fortune can provide. And I still like Paige, who is now in charge of the company but finding her place in question as she hasn’t been performing to the levels that patriarch Richard expects of her. Which leads back to questions of succession in the company. It’s a little more of the same, but again, it’s so soapy I can’t even be mad about it. OLD SCHOOL SOAP, PEOPLE.

Alexis Carrington Colby would be proud (source).

If you can embrace that this series has gone less in the direction of
“Succession” and more in the direction of 80s prime time soap operas, “Under the Palms” will surely be an entertaining little treat in our ongoing story of the wretched Kingsley Family. I will be curious to see where things go from here.

Rating 7: Another soapy and over the top family drama with a twist of murder, “Under the Palms” continues the most unfortunate vacation streak for the Kingsley Family.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Under the Palms” isn’t included on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on the Goodreads Shelf “If You Liked Succession”.

Previously Reviewed: