Tag: 8 Rating

Serena’s Review and Blog Tour: “The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield”

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Book: “The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield” by Claudia Gray

Publishing Info: Vintage, June 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: After a disastrous London Season and a (somewhat) successful investigation, Jonathan Darcy has recovered from the wound he received in his most recent investigations. But his parents aren’t over the shock, and insist that Jonathan must stop these dangerous adventures with Miss Juliet Tilney—particularly now that she is a young lady of ruined reputation.

Jonathan still hopes for some opportunity to be with her again, and then it comes—unfortunately, in the form of his uncle Charles Bingley’s brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, being found murdered at Netherfield Park. His Aunt Jane is desperate for answers, and in the end, Jonathan’s family must ask Miss Tilney to Netherfield to help solve the mystery!

Juliet, still reeling from her ruination, is happy to be back in the thick of an investigation—and in the company of Jonathan. But the scheming Caroline Bingley Allerdyce and her daughter Priscilla feel the same, leaving the young pair to not only look for clues but also dodge their machinations. When Mr. Hurst proves to be only the first victim, casting a pall of danger—and worse, scandal—over the Bingleys’ household, Jonathan and Juliet are under fierce pressure to find the culprit—and perhaps even more momentously, to make a final choice between respectability…and love.

Previously Reviewed: “The Murder of Mr. Wickham” and “The Late Mrs. Willoughby” and “The Perils of Lady Catherine de Bourgh” and “The Rushworth Family Plot”

Review: These reviews are almost getting boring in how predictable my feelings are: all the books have been great, and yes, this one lives up to the standards set before! But really, who is going to complain about too much of a good thing? Not me!

Let’s start with the mystery! As usual, Gray does an excellent job of setting up both the murder(s) and a vast number of potential suspects. I don’t think it gets mentioned enough just how much of an extra challenge Gray has taken on in writing these mysteries featuring so many known entities from Austen’s original novels. For one thing, the list of murder victims and suspects is greatly reduced by the simple fact that readers are familiar with these characters and will know, largely, who has the potential for villainy and who can be easily lost as a victim. This is dealt with by both introducing a select few new characters (here we meet Kitty’s husband, a friend of Jonathan’s from childhood, a new sibling of Bingley, and a few servants) as well as carefully selecting side characters from the original books who, while not murderers in Austen’s books, are easy enough to hate here! I was able to piece together just the right amount to feel like I was solving it myself, while there also remained a few surprises at the end as well.

I especially enjoyed the Bingley family dynamics we explored here, from the relationship of Charles to his handful of sisters, to the relationships between the sisters themselves, to Jane’s ability to deal with in-laws like this! Gray deftly takes the small tidbits we see from the Hursts and expands on them cleverly. And while both of them remain incredibly unlikable, the work done with Caroline is even more impressive. She’s both hateable (especially after the events of the previous book and some continuing actions here), but her arc is also more complicated by the inclusion of a loving husband and a kind daughter.

It was also fun seeing the other “Pride and Prejudice” characters included here, especially getting to see Mr. and Mrs. Bennet on the page, along with Kitty. But what I most enjoyed was getting to spend more time with Mr. Bingley and Jane. Especially Jane. Jane is such a lovely character in her own right, and it’s always a bit sad that we truly get so little of her in the original novel. Well, that is rectified here. Gray perfectly captures Jane’s kindness, her gentleness, but also her strong sense of right and wrong and the fact that, when pushed, those doing wrong will run headlong into a steel wall of morality, one that will present its case with kindness but will not give. Jane and Mr. Bingley are the perfect characters to deliver smacks upside the head to their sister and friend, respectively. Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth have had several books of various levels of ridiculousness about Miss Tilney and their son, but Jane and Charles are there to set them straight. There was one particularly great scene between Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy that had me re-reading it a few times, just to revel in the perfectly balanced, perfectly kind, perfectly pointed zingers Charles was slinging Darcy’s way.

And, of course, the burgeoning romance between Jonathan and Miss Tilney was as lovely as ever. After the events of the previous book, this one didn’t waste much time in getting to the heart of their feelings, though that didn’t leave them without a hefty set of obstacles before them. It was lovely getting to see some of the romantic bits finally coming together, but there was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end for how things will progress going forward.

Overall, I really loved this book! It was a solid mystery, and Jonathan and Miss Tilney remain a great detective duo, both in their investigative skills as well as in the development of their romantic relationship. But looking back on my read, I think my favorite parts of this book came down to the time spent with the Bingleys, characters I loved from the original novel and whom we finally get to spend more time with here. If you’re a fan of the series up to this point, this is a must-read!

Rating 8: A wonderful mystery, a heartfelt romance, and a return to Netherfield at last!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Fatal Unpleasantness at Netherfield” isn’t on any Goodreads lists but it should be on: Austen Retellings.

Kate’s Review: “A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery”

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

Book: “A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery (Saffron Everleigh Mystery #5)” by Kate Khavari

Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, June 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: Saffron Everleigh is newly engaged and full of optimism as she sets off on the adventure of a lifetime for any a research expedition. She sails to newly formed Turkey, with her fiancé, Alexander Ashton, and a bevy of fellow researchers under the watchful and reformed eye of Dr. Henry. With only two other women on board, Saffron soon finds she is right back in the same infuriatingly misogynistic environment that marked the earliest days of her career. Only this time, Saffron is determined to show everyone, including Alexander, that she can handle the trials of an expedition.

And trials she has in spades. Before the expedition team has even arrived, Saffron has managed to find an enemy in historian Joseph Clark, who frequently torments the assistant that Saffron has taken under her wing, Martin Neill. But when Martin unexpectedly dies, Saffron is targeted as the main suspect.

Falling ruins, venomous snakes, and mysteriously blocked passages are the least of Saffron’s worries. With unexpected help from a familiar face, Alexander and Saffron have to work fast to prove not only that Saffron is innocent, but that they both have nothing to do with a larger conspiracy at play among the expedition crew.

Review: Thank you to Kaye Publicity for sending me an ARC of this novel!

After doing a quick catch up on the Saffron Everleigh Mysteries thanks to my local library, it was finally time to pick up the most recent in the series! I was admittedly a bit underwhelmed by the previous book, as I felt like we were treading into a territory that has been WELL established in other mystery tropes (the enigmatic evil rival), but the good news is that Kate Khavari’s “A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery” has decided to go down a different path, at least for now, and it has served as a real palate cleanser!

I’m happy to report that after a lackluster entry last time, at least for me, we have returned to form with Saffron and her adventures as a botanist who also happens to solve crimes using her scientific knowledge and wits. This time Saffron is in Turkey on a expedition with her fiancé Alexander Ashton, and other colleagues, and finds herself not only in treacherous working conditions, but also the prime suspect when one of her colleagues dies of poisoning. The downsides of this book are that Elizabeth is no where to be seen since she wouldn’t be on an expedition, and Lee is also MIA (I really hope he does come back at some point), but the up sides are that Saffron gets to do more work with poison again, AND, amazingly, I actually found myself warming up to Alexander in this book as he hopes to help clear his fiancée’s name. Also having Saffron the prime suspect and being held in a foreign jail certainly ups the stakes, and the mystery itself has some great beats to it and built the suspense in a well done way.

I also loved that there was a complete shift in scenery in this book, as Saffron and Alexander are on an expedition to the newly formed/sovereign Turkey! We have seen Saffron do so much scientific work in London or England proper, but seeing her finally get to go on an expedition was such a breath of fresh air. Especially since we get some interesting historical information about Turkey during this time period as well as archaeology and archeological sites and excavation. My friend David does similar excavation work in Greece at agoras and seeing this kind of thing in this book was a lot of fun. It’s also a pretty candid tale about the way that women in the sciences were treated during this time, especially on an all male expedition, and Saffron has to deal with a lot of misogyny from the other men on the team and has to prove herself above and beyond because of it.

“A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery” is a fun historical mystery! I can’t wait to see where Saffron goes next!

Rating 8: A return to form with a new setting and some new poisons, “A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery” is a fun new entry in the Saffron Everleigh mysteries.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Botanist’s Guide to Tradition and Treachery” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Best Historical Fiction Mysteries”.

Previously Reviewed:

Serena’s Review: “Hopeless Necromantic”

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

Book: “Hopeless Necromantic” by Shiloh Briar

Publishing Info: Orbit, June 2026

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

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

Book Description: Four years ago, Sikras ‘Catseye’ Nikabod had it all: a beautiful wife, friends and family, and the endless luxuries that came with being the all-powerful necromancer to the queen.

Now, his brother-in-law is a walking corpse, he’s wanted for tax evasion, his oldest friend, Vessik, has slaughtered thousands of the queen’s people with a skeleton army, and his wife is dead. Sort of.

With the kingdom under threat, it’s only natural for the queen to task Sikras with the totally normal, not-at-all-cruel chore of brutally murdering his dearest friend. Sure. Great. It’s not like he already failed to stop Vessik’s reign of terror twice or anything.

Turns out, it’s hard to kill a monster when you can’t stop remembering the good man he used to be. Harder still when you’re pretty sure his descent into madness is kind of, sort of, hypothetically … all your fault.

Raise a glass. Raise the dead. Just don’t raise your hopes.

Review:Honestly, I went into this one with a bit of worry. I’ve had bad luck with cozy fantasy and have realized that I’m pretty picky about the subgenre in general. And that cover, while cute, was going hard on the sort of “aggressively quirky” coziness that I particularly struggle with. Well, let this be another case for not judging a book by its cover! Because while this was a cozy fantasy at its heart, it was also much more than that, with smart writing, heartbreaking themes, and layered characters. It also didn’t hurt that this had strong D&D references and, similarly, strong Baldur’s Gate 3 similarities. For those who know, you can’t look at that cover and not see Astarion and Karlach, right??

One of my struggle points with cozy fantasy often comes down to pacing and plotting. I don’t love “day in the life” stories and need a bit more action to get me through. And this one had it in spades! It’s a simple enough plot, full of questing and action-packed battles, but the author perfectly breaks up these faster-paced bits with careful character work. From start to finish, the storyline was compelling, and I blitzed through the entire book without any lulls in interest.

While the action scenes and magical fighting were great, the story really lives and dies based on the strength of its two main characters, Sikras and Helspira. I was honestly surprised by just how heart-wrenching many of the themes explored in this story would be. The cover and general description led me to believe it would be mostly a rom-com-type affair. And it does have that, but oof, does it get into some heavy topics as well. Helspira’s is the smaller arc of the two, focused on her fight to create a new home for her family and herself, all while fighting against her own demonic tendencies. In many ways, hers is a story of immigration and the challenges and joys of coming to love your new homeland, even while others still see you as a foreigner.

But Sikras’s story is where the story really shone. Throughout the book, Sikras’s arc is focused on the complex nature of grief, loneliness, and love beyond the grave. Yes, it’s all tied up in the humorous trappings of a walking, talking skeleton, but it becomes clear quite early on that this comedic setup only masks the depths below. Sikras’s past is rife with grief and loss, and all of these connections presented grief in its different stages, from denial, to bargaining, to anger. And while one of them is the death of his wife years ago, I was impressed that this relationship was by no means the one given the most emphasis in the story. It’s clear that Sikras loved and grieved his wife, but we’ve also read that story a million times. Instead, the author wisely shifted the focus to different relationships: that between childhood friends and even between Sikras and his now-skeleton brother-in-law, the most unlikely of relationships I think we’d usually see in a book like this! Without overbalancing the story into an overall darker tone, these themes were explored so well that there may have been tears.

At the same time, I definitely laughed out loud a few times as well! I’m also pretty picky about humor, but this one definitely nailed it for me. Sikras was hilarious, and his interactions with Helspira, especially early in the book, were pitch-perfect.

Overall, I really enjoyed this read! It was a fun, fast story that hid within it a surprising well of deeper themes. If you’re looking for a cozy fantasy that doesn’t hold back on the plot, definitely give this one a go!

Rating 8: If D&D, Baldur’s Gate 3, and perhaps a grief counselor’s handbook (??) had a child, this fantasy rom-com would be where you end up! What a blast!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Hopeless Necromantic” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Cozier Fantasy Romance Palate Cleansers.

Book Club Review: “The Wizard of Earthsea”

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. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again pulling random words from a hat and finding a book that matches the prompts. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “A Wizard of Earthsea” by Urula K. Le Guin

Publishing Info: Parnassus Press, November 1968

Where Did We Get This Book: from the library!

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

Prompt Word: Ocean

Book Description: Ged, the greatest sorcerer in all Earthsea, was called Sparrowhawk in his reckless youth.

Hungry for power and knowledge, Sparrowhawk tampered with long-held secrets and loosed a terrible shadow upon the world. This is the tale of his testing, how he mastered the mighty words of power, tamed an ancient dragon, and crossed death’s threshold to restore the balance.

Kate’s Thoughts

I’ve had a copy of “A Wizard of Earthsea” in my collection since I was a teenager, but I never actually read it until it was time for this book club. I’ve mentioned it many times but I’ve come to realize over the years that swords and sorcery fantasy as a genre/sub-genre doesn’t really appeal to me outside of Tolkien’s works and a few other exceptions (hellooooo “The Neverending Story”!). But given that I know that Ursula K. Le Guin is a formative and important voice in fantasy fiction, I went in with an open mind.

There were definitely aspects I liked of this book! I really enjoyed that Ged’s story is kind of a selection of significant vignettes during his training as a wizard, ranging from his first time encountering magic to his schooling to actually being out in the world and applying it. I enjoyed a few of the stories more than others (I always love a dragon!), but overall I thought it was kind of a nice slice of life story while also building up a cohesive world.

But at the end of the day, I’m still not really into sword and sorcery fantasy and “A Wizard of Earthsea” didn’t really break outside those constraints like other fantasy stories. I absolutely see why this is one of the books that had a huge influence on the fantasy genre as we see it now, especially for kids and teens, and my hat goes off to Le Guin for creating a story on her own terms that has endured for so long. It’s still just not really my thing.

I’m glad that I finally read my old copy of “A Wizard of Earthsea”. Book club continues to help me go outside my usual reading bounds, and I’m happy I did so this time, even if it wasn’t a favorite read.

Serena’s Thoughts

My parents read this to my sister and me when we were little, but we must have been super little, because I only had the vaguest memories of something to do with a shadow monster and lots of sailing. And, as far as it goes, that all checks out here! But I was glad to have an excuse to return to this book, as it’s a cornerstone text in YA fantasy fiction, and now I have a much better reading experience to pull from when thinking about it and its influence on modern fantasy fiction.

I really enjoyed this read! As did my kids, who listened to the audiobook to and from school this last month (I highly recommend the audiobook, as an aside). It was easy to see both its influences (Tolkien) and the ways in which it influenced titles that followed it (magical schools, a hero’s journey where the villain is a version of yourself, etc.). And for being an older title, it remains completely approachable for fantasy readers today.

It’s hard to put a finger on exactly what it is, but there’s a certain fantasy style that one associates with Tolkien and other older fantasy fiction, and Le Guin perfectly captures that here. It’s something like a combination of lyrical language, epic, sweeping worlds, and an almost fairytale-like approach to storytelling where the larger narrative is broken up into smaller, shorter adventures along the way.

I also really enjoyed the magic system and thought this was another area where we see this book’s influence carry on. While the concept of “true names” is a staple in fairytales (think “Rumpelstiltskin” and the like), here Le Guin takes that concept and builds a much more elaborate magic system. It was both beautiful and intimidating all at once, making it clear why wizards would be as revered as they are after the years of study it would take to even scratch the surface of this magic.

Overall, I thought this was a lovely fantasy novel, and it’s easy to see why it continues to show up on lists of best fantasy books many years after its original publication.

Kate’s Rating 6 : I understand why this is a formative fantasy book and really liked having a new fantasy text to add to my knowledge, but it’s still within a genre that I don’t tend to connect with as much.

Serena’s Rating 8: A beautiful fantasy novel that will appeal to almost every age of reader, from children, to teens, to adult fantasy lovers!

Book Club Questions

  1. What influences on modern fantasy do you see in this book?
  2. Why do you think names, the power of a true name, and naming conventions were so important in this book?
  3. What did you think of Le Guin’s choices when it comes to race and identity in this book?
  4. What were your thoughts on the way women were portrayed in this book?
  5. What did you think of the ending of this book and how the climax wrapped up? Do you think a battle would have been more effective? Why or why not?
  6. Do you think you will keep reading the Earthsea books?

Reader’s Advisory

“A Wizard of Earthsea” is included on the Goodreads lists: Visionary & Metaphysical Fiction and Time Magazine Best YA Books of All Time 2021

Next Book Club Pick: “Other Ever Afters: New Queer Fairy Tales” by Melanie Gillman

Kate’s Review: “You First”

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

Book: “You First” by Caroline Kepnes

Publishing Info: Random House, June 2026

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

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

Book Description: Joe Goldberg is ready for his life to start. He’s seventeen years old, working in Mr. Mooney’s bookshop, falling in love with every girl on the subway all while wondering who will be the one. He knows what he needs: A woman who will force him to get his GED, go to night school, and make something of himself. But who would ever fall in love with him?

Then he spots it: MISSED CONNECTION, NYC Bookstore Babe.

Someone is looking for Joe. And that someone is Vail Gunderson, a production assistant with a passion for rom-coms. The only catch: she’s twenty-four, which means that Joe has no choice but to lie about his age…and, naturally, nearly everything else in his life. Joe thinks he’s found true love, but when Vail needs more convincing that Joe is her happily ever after, he’s determined to convince her…no matter what it takes…

With her incisive and darkly comedic prose, Caroline Kepnes captures Joe poised on the edge of manhood, entering the vicious, dog-eat-dog New York dating scene for the very first time, and buffeted by forces that will determine what kind of man he will become—and how he will write his own twisted love story.

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

It’s been a couple of years since we last saw stalker super creep Joe Goldberg in book form. His show on Netflix had its run and finale, and I was pretty satisfied with how it all shook out, but it’s been since his time in “For You and Only You” that we’ve seen him on the page. And he’s very different on the page. I will admit that after time passed and I was cycling through my insomnia listens of his books, that previous book was the one I revisited the least, and I was a bit worried that it was the end of his story. When it was announced we were getting a fifth book I was excited. When I saw it was going to be a prequel instead of a sequel I was…. apprehensive. What could teenage Joe tell us that we don’t already know about him? Was it going to be a little bit of a retcon that upends the canon? I didn’t really need to be nervous, because Caroline Kepnes’s “You First”, while a shift in the timeline, is still entertaining and a solidly ‘Joe’ story, giving us a glimpse into what made him Joe, terrible personality and all. I’m still a okay with shitty villain protagonists and their gross twisted stories, and this one keeps it up!

Footage of me when I see people complaining about trash main characters doing obviously trash things in a thriller novel as if its an endorsement of trash. (source)

This is less of a thriller this time around just based on the fact that TECHNICALLY Joe doesn’t really start getting fully into his murderous ways until AFTER this point in the timeline just based on what happens in the other books in the series (there is a little bit of wiggle room here, just to note), and more of a character study set in a historical fiction genre (oh GOD, the early aughts are now historical fiction, I’m Joe’s age and this makes me feel OLD). We meet Joe when he’s seventeen, working at Mooney’s Books (hooray for the return of Mr. Mooney!), and the entire city is still dealing with 9/11, which only happened a few months earlier. He’s hyper-focusing on the Internet and Missed Connection ads, and through his he meets Vail, a twenty four year old woman who works on the “Sex and the City” set. Vail is the blueprint for his future obsessions, and she is neurotic, self absorbed, and flitty. But this is through the eyes of seventeen year old Joe, who has basically been abandoned by his parents, left to his own devices with the occasional support from the weird and abusive Mr. Mooney, and we see how his experiences are, indeed, warping his sense of love and connection. This may sound like it’s getting into excuse territory, but I don’t feel like it is for the most part. Something that does have to be kept in mind is that he is still, technically, a kid here, and it’s an interesting trajectory to see his obsession form and how it stays with him from here on out. Especially since everyone else in this book that influences and interacts with and affects him is a full on adult. It explains a lot. And he does sound like a nervous teenager in his inner monologue with insecurities that feel familiar, even if they are dark and fucked up. It’s a twisted coming of age story to be sure.

Kepnes still keeps the weird dark humor and the seediness of the other books in this one! That is part of the reason I love these books so much, just how damn funny Joe can be and how skeevy they can make me feel as I read them. It’s a little harder to swallow at times in this book given that Joe is only seventeen, and Kepnes does tread a fine line with some of the sexual situations in this book between him and Vail, but it’s far more restrained than previous books. We are seeing similar patterns with bad people being bad to each other, and it’s getting a LITTLE repetitive, but it didn’t drag it down too much. Vail is grating but she’s supposed to be, but she also captures that wannabe Carrie Bradshaw NYC delusion that I remember well from being a high schooler and young adult from this time period (I remember binging “Sex and the City” with my roommate and being so insulted she thought I was a Charlotte even though now I’m like ‘yeah probably, but without the WASP-iness’). It has the vibes I look for in these books. But I do wonder how much longer they can be sustained.

I am curious to know where Joe is going from here. “You First” gives us a backstory, and I wonder if it is telegraphs what is next for the character. I’m still fully on board to go on whatever ride Kepnes wants to make me on with this character, and his lore has expanded in a way that worked for me.

Rating 8: Teenager Joe Goldberg as a concept gave me a little pause, but the execution was pretty well done and the outcome was seedy, twisted, and exactly what I’ve come to expect from Joe, even as a teenager.

Reader’s Advisory:

“You First” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it would fit in on “I’ll Be Watching You”.

Serena’s Review: “Sisters of the Lizard”

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

Book: “Sisters of the Lizard” by Jackson Ford

Publishing Info: Orbit, May 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: All Sayana wanted was to enjoy her life in the rolling grasslands of the Tapestry. After she and her fellow Rakada managed to ride humongous fire-breathing lizards to face down the Great Khan’s army, they should have been able to kick back a little for once. Not too much to ask, right?

Instead, the Tapestry is in turmoil – invading armies threaten, the other raider clans are at war, and inside his fortress city of Karkorum, the Khan broods and plots. What’s more, the Rakada’s giant lizards are getting sick, and they have no idea how to cure them. If they die, there’s no telling what might happen to the Tapestry.

But then the Rakada receive a vision – apparently from the gods. A deep emerald pool surrounded by bone-white sands – one that may be able to heal their lizards. With no other option, the raiders set out on an epic quest across the mountains and into the desert.

But the danger that awaits them will be one greater than they’ve ever faced before. These guys really can’t catch a break.

Previously Reviewed: “The Bone Raiders”

Review: After really enjoying the first book in this series, this had a firm spot near the top of my TBR. And this sequel succeeded in the most basic sense: it was more of what I liked from the first book!

The first book introduced a wide cast of female characters, all with excellent and distinct personalities and inner arcs. Here, we got more of the same. While I like all of the main characters, I was especially excited to see that Hogelun moved more to the center stage of the story. She was probably my favorite character from the first book, the one with the most surprising personal story of the sort that we don’t often see in these sorts of stories. And here we see that arc continue even further as Hogelun is pushed to come more fully into her own. The lasting effects of her previous emotionally abusive relationship remain a challenge, and it was so satisfying watching Hogelun progress forward through her own struggles. And while this sounds like a lot of slow, introspective work, the author manages to explore these deeper psychological moments all while making his characters fight on the back of giant lizards!

Sayana’s story also went in a surprising direction. Her story was built more around the fears and challenges the Bone Raiders face in this book, some of which are truly tragic. There was also a stronger emphasis on the religion and lore of this world that was brought to the forefront in Sayana’s story, wrapping up in some fairly incredible twists and turns.

I also continued to be impressed by the author’s ability to merge an action-packed fantasy world alongside deeper themes of family, leadership, and loyalty. Like I said, there was definitely more tragedy in this book, and I definitely found myself tearing up at points. That said, I wouldn’t say it was a heavy read. The action was exciting and there was a humorous tinge to most of the writing.

My one qualm comes down to something that I praised in the first book. There, I enjoyed the fact that the author devoted so much page time to the villain of the story. The same approach was taken here, and while I did appreciate some insights into this character’s perspective, I also disliked them so strongly that I had a hard time wanting to spend any more time with them as the story continued, especially as I became more and more invested in the other storylines.

Overall, this was a fantastic sequel. It delivered on the same strengths in the first book and elevated the overall stakes of the world and story going forward. If you liked the first book or are looking for an action-packed fantasy series, I strongly recommend these books so far!

Rating 8: A bit darker than the first book, but “Sisters of the Lizard” was still a blast, full of action and fierce women!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Sisters of the Lizard” can be found on this Goodreads list: All the New Fantasy Books Arriving in May 2026

Serena’s Review: “A Curse of Beasts and Magic”

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

Book: “A Curse of Beasts and Magic” by Jeaniene Frost

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: Raine Stone was the sole survivor of a horrific creature while camping. Her account of the attack was attributed to shock, but Raine knows all too well that her story is true because now she carries that same Beast inside her!

She’s been restraining its violent urges by letting it ‘feed’ on the pain and chaos she’s exposed to as an ER nurse, and by playing vigilante against would-be muggers at night. But when Raine uses the Beast’s energy to heal a frail elderly gentleman from a seemingly random attack, she opens herself to a new world of danger—literally.

Remington “Remy” Byrne knows that the wall between a realm of deadly mythic creatures and our own world is very thin; he’s the Warden who guards the gateways between them. He also rules the supernatural creatures living in secret among us. Raine’s Beast makes her an intruder on Remy’s territory, but the elderly gentleman she saved is Remy’s grandfather, and her Beast contains power that could tip the scales in a sinister plot against Remy’s rule—if Raine allies with him.

Will they be friends or foes…or will the dangerous attraction between them turn into something else? And can our world be saved by their explosive alliance?

Review: To start with an aside, I do wish publishers would find a better way of differentiating their fantasy titles. Between the book cover and the book description, there were zero hints anywhere to be found that this was an urban fantasy. I enjoy urban fantasy, but for readers who picked this up off the shelf, looked at the ballgown on the cover, and then read the book description, which hints at a fairytale retelling, there’s very little to clue anyone in that this is not the high fantasy story it appears to be. Sure, if you look closely at the one castle, you can see a cityscape, but that’s asking a bit much of readers to dig out clues. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means, but I do think that this kind of thing can lead to a mismatch between the book and the reader, leaving some of the prime audience members unaware that this might be right up their alley! It’s as simple as not putting that central character in a ballgown! Put her in some badass leather jacket number and boom! Problem solved!

That being the case, once I mentally slotted this one into the “paranormal romance” category, there was a lot to like here! Most notably, I did enjoy the romance here. There was an appropriate build-up of tension, and any trust built between the two characters had to be earned. This made the eventual resolution between them that much sweeter. I also thought that the banter here was some of the better that I’ve read recently. While I wasn’t in love with the dialogue, the fact that it wasn’t actively cringey was still a massive win. Most importantly, their banter felt appropriately rooted in the two sorts of characters our main leads are.

The pacing, however, was a bit all over the place. The story starts off quickly, pulling you immediately into the action and introducing the characters and the stakes. However, once you get to the middle portion, things slowed down quite a bit. Some lull is to be expected, but there were moments here where it did veer into infodump territory, with a lot of world-building thrown at the reader all at once, without much else happening for a decent chunk of time. The end picked up again, but it did leave the overall pacing of the book as a whole feeling uneven.

However, and this is a massive however for me, I do feel like the ending was doing yet another bait-and-switch love interest move. I’m so, so tired of this trope, and I can’t say enough how frustrating it is to pick up a book and have to read the entire thing before this trope punches me in the face in the last chapter. It’s really getting to the point where I feel like I might have to stop reading romantasies for the foreseeable future. There’s not enough time in the day and too many books to read to devote hours of reading time to a book only to then run into a deal-breaker trope at the very end, making the entire thing feel pointless.

But this is very much my hang-up, and my suspicions about the next book won’t impact my rating of this one (though I will not be reading it until I’ve read other reviews and determined the direction things are going). Once I settled into the correct subgenre of fantasy, this was a fun, fast read with a compelling romance at its heart. If you’re looking for the high fantasy “Beauty and the Beast” retelling that it looks to be advertising, this isn’t that. On the other hand, paranormal romance and urban fantasy fans should be well pleased!

Rating 8: Uneven pacing in the middle did hurt things a bit, but I enjoyed the romance and Remy as a main character!

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Curse of Beasts and Magic” isn’t currently on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Beauty and the Beast.

Kate’s Review: “Dead Weight”

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Book: “Dead Weight” by Hildur Knútsdóttir & Mary Robinette Kowal (Translator)

Publishing Info: Tor Nightfire, May 2026

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

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

Book Description: An Icelandic night may hide secrets and affairs—or even bodies—in this gruesomely cathartic horror thriller from the author of The Night Guest.

Unnur was living a normal, if lonely, life until a black cat showed up at her door.

Trying to do the right thing, Unnur reunites the lost pet with its owner—a young woman named Ásta who is in desperate need of some help. Unnur reluctantly agrees to take in the cat until Ásta is able to care for it again herself.

Soon, Ásta becomes a fixture in Unnur’s life and the two form an unlikely friendship. But like a black cat, trouble is tailing Ásta, and Unnur is the only one there when things take a violent turn.

Nothing tests a friendship like blood on your hands.

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

I’m a big fan of stories that like to talk about women’s rights AND women’s wrongs, and especially love stories like that if it’s a cathartic story about women getting revenge on the men that cause them harm. Basically I love a story that has a “Goodbye Earl” kinda vibe to it. When I read the description of Hildur Knútsdóttir’s “Dead Weight”, I DEFINITELY caught that kind of vibe from it. I enjoyed Knútsdóttir’s previous book “The Night Guest”, and this one sounded perhaps less strange, but still very much my thing. I jumped in and was pleased that not only did it have the ‘get revenge’ theme, but also CATS!

This novella is definitely more of a thriller than a horror story this time around, but Knútsdóttir still manages to find ways to not only bring out suspense but also dread at times. The plot is fairly straightforward as we follow Unnur, a woman living in Iceland who keeps to herself and is carrying on an affair with a married man, convincing herself she’s okay with all of it. One night a cat named Io randomly ends up in her apartment, and a woman named Ásta comes looking. Unnur and Ásta are different in temperament, they get to know each other and Unnur takes on Io (and a surprise kitten!) at Ásta’s behest, as her boyfriend Ragnar doesn’t like the cat and she worries he’d flip about a kitten. As the story quietly unfolds we see more and more hints and evidence that Ragnar is a very dangerous man, we also see two women confiding in each other and finding strength in their friendship as they become closer and danger starts to threaten both of them. It’s pretty clear where this story is going, but I was still kept on the edge of my seat as Knútsdóttir lays out the building blocks for a visceral climax.

I also liked the burgeoning friendship between Unnur and Ásta, and the way that Knútsdóttir compares and contrasts their romantic relationships and deconstructs the different ways that they are toxic. For Ásta it’s pretty straight forward, and Unnur is horrified to see Ásta being dominated and intimidated by her boyfriend Ragnar, and his vileness is pretty apparent with how he treats not only Ásta but also the cats (whose presence has helped Unnur and Ásta bond). But we also see the toxic relationship that Unnur has with her boyfriend Joi, who is married with a family and who has been stringing Unnur along for awhile, making promises that she clings to even though she knows deep down that what she is doing is not only cruel to Joi’s wife, but also to herself. I loved the way that both women could see the damaging facets of their friend’s relationship, but had the blinders put on due to the manipulative and abusive, be it overt or not, relationships they themselves were in. As they disentangle and find connection with each other (and the cats!), we see this really empowering story about female friendship, which has a little bit of the “Goodbye Earl” vibes that I was hoping for.

I definitely enjoyed “Dead Weight”! It’s cathartic and atmospheric and I found it incredibly satisfying.

Rating 8: A quick and enjoyable thriller about friendship, solidarity, and the sour parts of relationships where men mistreat women and the women have to fight back one way or another.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Dead Weight” is included on the Goodreads list “Creepy Statue Covers”.

Kate’s Review: “We Hexed the Moon”

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Book: “We Hexed the Moon” by Mollyhall Seeley

Publishing Info: Saga Press, June 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: Bunny meets The Craft in this speculative debut about four best friends who perform a ritual on the moon in a last-ditch attempt to hold onto one another but are forced to reckon with the consequences.

It is the summer after high school graduation, and four island-grown best friends are about to be forced apart by their Plans for the Future. Rather than process the world of expectations bearing down on them or the secrets they’ve kept hidden even from one another, they perform a ritual on the moon in an impulsive fit of teen bravado.

They don’t expect it to actually work.

But suddenly the moon is gone from the sky and at their sleepover, and she’s not interested in going back where she came from. As the balmy August night unfolds, the girls scramble to find a human sacrifice to replace the moon before their world is plunged into chaos.

Equally tender and biting, We Hexed the Moon is coming-of-age at its best, cutting to the very quick of girlhood to reveal hilarious and brutally honest insights about friendship, gender, and desire.

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

I love seeing stories about tight knit girl friend groups, especially if they are coming of age, in part because I never really got to experience that during my formative teenage years. Yes, I had two other girl friends I was close to and people saw us as a trio, but I was always VERY clearly the odd one out when it came down to it, and my true best friend in high school was a guy. I didn’t really find that solid girls friend group until I was well into college (we called ourselves “The Clever Girls” because of “Jurassic Park” and we were tight and I’m still friends with them all to this day, even if it’s in different capacities due to life), and by that time I was very clear about who I was as a person. But these stories still speak to me as a woman with close girl friendships and who knows how wonderful (and complicated) they can be. “We Hexed the Moon” by Mollyhall Seeley takes on this kind of girl friend group bildungsroman tale and throws in some witch shit and a dark fantasy magical realism bent. Suffice to say, it’s my kinda jam.

Jen, Goldie, Maycie, and Harding are best friends about to go their separate ways after high school. With personal baggage, an existential dread of the next steps and the climate crisis, as well as constant doom and gloom feelings to the life they are inheriting, they decide to hex the moon just for funsies as one last bonding experience. Unfortunately, it works, and the moon not only disappears from the sky, threatening to throw the world into chaos and death, it shows up in the form of a woman who tells them that they need to sacrifice someone to become the new Moon, or else everyone dies. The concept is creative and interesting, and it feels a bit more dark fantasy than horror to me (human sacrifice and end of the world notwithstanding). Seeley splits the story into two timelines, the day before where the friends are clinging to their friendship because they feel it falling apart (be it because of the upcoming change in location or their own baggage with each other), and then the time after they hexed the moon and are having to confront their choices AND the cracks in their friend group. I liked seeing the story unfold and the build up to what choice they were going to make, and found it suspenseful and more tense as time runs closer to running out. I think that it petered out a little bit by the end, but the journey there was still incredibly enjoyable.

But what I enjoyed most about this book were the four girls themselves, and how Seeley explores all of their messiness and complexities and draws out who they are and why they are the way they are. There could have been four girls who fit into obvious stereotypes (Goldie the self centered mean girl, Jen the pretentious stick in the mud, Harding the repressed prude, and Maycie the wholesome naive one), but Seeley takes care to give us perspectives from all of them to see their reasons for their complexities. We have girls who have suffered great loss, like Goldie losing her twin, or a fractured family life, like Jen and her broken relationship with half brother Max as he dives deeper into red pill content, or religious trauma for Harding whose family is repressive, or having to grow up with a lack of structured guidance, like Maycie whose parents all but checked out. There were moments I wanted to shake all of them, but I also felt for all of them too. It shows the way they cling to each other bur resent each other too as they grow apart and change. It’s messy girlhood. It’s heart wrenching at times.

“We Hexed the Moon” is a bittersweet coming of age witchy book. It’s relatable and dreamy, and I think that if you like coming of age girlhood tales it will work for you.

Rating 8: A witchy story about girlhood, anticipated loss, desperation, and coming of age, “We Hexed the Moon” is a magical realism dark fantasy that captures girlhood on the edge of becoming an adult and all the complicated feelings that come with it.

Reader’s Advisory:

“We Hexed the Moon” is included on the Goodreads list “The 52 Book Club 2026: #44: Literary Device- Personification”.

Serena’s Review: “Thistlemarsh”

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Book: “Thistlemarsh” by Moorea Corrigan

Publishing Info: Berkley, April 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: In the wake of World War I, the world is a decidedly unmagical place for Mouse Dunne. She once dreamed of becoming a Faerie anthropologist, but with one telegram, her world shattered. At the Battle of the Somme, her cousin’s body disappeared into the mud, and her brother was left with debilitating shell shock. It was time, she knew, to put aside childish dreams.

When Mouse receives news that her uncle has left her the Faerie-blessed Thistlemarsh Hall, a dilapidated manor in the English countryside, she must leave her brother’s side and return to her childhood home to claim her birthright. But there is a catch in her uncle’s will: If Mouse does not rehabilitate the crumbling house in one month’s time, she will forfeit her inheritance and any hope of caring for her brother.

It quickly becomes clear it’s impossible to repair the manor in the allotted time, until a mysterious Faerie appears with a proposition. He offers to restore Thistlemarsh…for a price. Mouse knows better than to trust a Faerie—especially one so insufferably handsome and arrogant—but she is out of options. There are dark and magical forces at work in the house, and Mouse must confront the ghosts of her past and the secrets of her heart or lose Thistlemarsh, and herself, in the process.

Review: While this wasn’t a perfect read, there was a lot to like about this book! It started off strong right off the bat with the setting and time period. While we see historical fantasy often enough, it still seems rare that we see books set during World War I, especially not as explicitly as this one is. The war isn’t simply mentioned; it’s a driving force behind much of the plot and character arc of the main character. We see the lasting effects in the village with its reduced number of young men. We see the complicated juxtaposition of a woman who has the skills and experience of a trade, but is still living in what is very much a man’s world. And we have the harsh realities of what life after war looks like: the loss of loved ones forever, the lingering pain of veterans who will never recover, and the challenges left to those who care for them and must move life forward.

I also really liked the way this more “true to life” historical fiction narrative was tied together within a world that once took for granted the presence of magic and Faeries, beings who have only fairly recently disappeared from the world. Of course, this is a fantasy book first and foremost, so no one but our main character is surprised when a Faerie shows up fairly quickly to involve himself in the mission to restore the dilapidated Thistelmarsh Hall. Speaking of which, I also really liked the general premise: a young woman given an impossible task; a magical being who comes to her aid with an unlikely bargain. It’s all familiar, but in a nice, familiarly pleasant way.

That said, while I appreciated the familiarity of the story being told, the manner in which it played out felt a bit plodding. The pacing in general was too slow for my taste, and there were numerous “day-in-the-life” sort of scenes that felt like throwaways to me, adding little to the story or character development. This sort of “coziness” doesn’t really work well for me personally, but I know others really enjoy it, so it really depends on your own personal preference how well this aspect of the book works for you. For me, the story itself felt like it was dragging, especially towards the middle, and scenes that I believe were meant to draw me in further to the character fell flat.

I also struggled a bit with the characters and the romance. This was a bit surprising when I looked back on my experience of the book, as I really enjoyed Mouse in the beginning of the story. She was smart, grounded, and driven to succeed where she had been meant to fail. But then, towards the middle of the book, she makes one truly wild and unnecessary decision that felt very out of character and was hard to reconcile with the version of Mouse we’d seen before. I also thought the romance played out in a rather strange way. It had some good things to say about consent, but overall, I didn’t find it very compelling by the time we finally got to the resolution at the end of the book.

Overall, I thought this was a nice historical fantasy novel. It was a bit too slow-paced and cozy for my personal taste, but the historical aspects really carried it through some of the weaker elements. Fans of cozy fantasies that move at a slower pace will likely gobble it up!

Rating 8: The pacing was on the slower side, but the strong historical setting and interesting blending of fantasy and Faeries overall left me quite pleased with it!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Thistlemarsh” can be found on these Goodreads lists: 2026 Debuts and Edwardian Fantasy.