Tag: Fantasy

Serena’s Review: “This Ravenous Fate”

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Book: “This Ravenous Fate” by Hayley Dennings

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, August 2024

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

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

Book Description: It’s 1926 and reapers, the once-human vampires with a terrifying affliction, are on the rise in New York. But the Saint family’s thriving reaper-hunting enterprise holds reign over the city, giving them more power than even the organized criminals who run the nightclubs. Eighteen year-old Elise Saint, home after five years in Paris, is the reluctant heir to the empire. Only one thing weighs heavier on Elise’s mind than her family obligations: the knowledge that the Harlem reapers want her dead.

Layla Quinn is a young reaper haunted by her past. Though reapers have existed in America for three centuries, created by New World atrocities and cruel experiments, Layla became one just five years ago. The night she was turned, she lost her parents, the protection of the Saints, and her humanity, and she’ll never forget how Elise Saint betrayed her.

But some reapers are inexplicably turning part human again, leaving a wake of mysterious and brutal killings. When Layla is framed for one of these attacks, the Saint patriarch offers her a deal she can’t refuse: to work with Elise to investigate how these murders might be linked to shocking rumors of a reaper cure. Once close friends, now bitter enemies, Elise and Layla explore the city’s underworld, confronting their intense feelings for one another and uncovering the sinister truths about a growing threat to reapers and humans alike.

Review: One of the most fun parts of reading historical fiction is the broad swath of time periods and places one has to pick from! There’s almost always something new, with different places and times presenting a plethora of unique story opportunities. So now you have a book that not only explores 1920s New York City but pairs it with a lesbian vampire romance? Sounds super weird and super interesting!

While this wasn’t a perfect read for me, it still was a pretty good one! First of all, the setting didn’t let me down. I loved exploring this time period and its version of New York City, with its dark alleys contrasted with its vibrant night life. The author definitely succeeded in creating a sense of space with its specific vibe and culture. While I think a bit more could have been done with the world-building on the fantastical side, the author seems to effortlessly capture the essence of a large city.

Part of this comes down to her lyrical style of writing. I loved the turns of phrase and varied word choice the author used in crafting this book. If nothing else, this is a beautiful book to read on its own merits as a written product. I often find that a more lyrical approach to writing often results in a bit of a slower paced story, and so we have here. But like my experience with most books written in this style, I was happy to settle in and enjoy the ride, even if it wasn’t the most action packed at times.

I also enjoyed the characters, for the most part. However, Layla was doing much of the work here. I found her to be an interesting character, a young woman who had gone through much in her short life and was rising to meet the challenges placed before her. Elise was the more complicated one. Part of this is built into her character: she’s lived a very priveleged life and is in the midst of still trying to earn the love of an abusive parental figure. Both of these elements, while interesting, did leave her in the unfortunate position of being a very frustrating character to follow. It would be frustrating how little she recognized her own privilege at one point, and then infuriating not to see her stand up to the abuse in her life, even when she’s beginning to fully understand it. That said, these are complicated issues to write about, and there’s really no believable way to do it that wouldn’t run into the growing pain frustrations we dealt with here.

The romance between these two was also only ok. Unfortunately, I feel like the style of writing struggled most with clunky dialogue, and this impacted my ability to really invest in the love story between these two. On paper, this love story should have been right up my alley, but for some reason, it failed to really land for me.

Overall, this was a pretty fun read. I think it almost succeeds more as a historical book than a fantasy, as I feel like the style of writing was at its peak when it was describing the city of New York in this time period. The lore of the reapers, while interesting, didn’t feel quite fully fleshed out. I also thought some of the mystery aspects were quite predictable, with the villainous characters presenting very obviously as such. If you enjoyed historical fiction and aren’t burnt out on the resurgence of vampire fantasy, than this one might be worth checking out!

Rating 8: The lyrical style of writing is at its best when creating this fascinating version of the underworld of New York City in the 1920s!

Reader’s Advisory:

“This Ravenous Fate” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Queer Books Set in the 1920s and Queer Vampire books

Serena’s Review: “Down Comes the Night”

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Book: “Down Comes the Night” by Allison Saft

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, October 2021

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

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

Book Description: He saw the darkness in her magic. She saw the magic in his darkness.

Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: she’s been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend–the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself.

The mansion is crumbling, icy winds haunt the caved-in halls, and her eccentric host forbids her from leaving her room after dark. Worse, Wren’s patient isn’t a servant at all but Hal Cavendish, the infamous Reaper of Vesria and her kingdom’s sworn enemy. Hal also came to Colwick Hall for redemption, but the secrets in the estate may lead to both of their deaths.

With sinister forces at work, Wren and Hal realize they’ll have to join together if they have any hope of saving their kingdoms. But as Wren circles closer to the nefarious truth behind Hal’s illness, they realize they have no escape from the monsters within the mansion. All they have is each other, and a startling desire that could be their downfall.

Review: This is one of those funny books that made its way up my TBR list in a unique way. In that, I’ve now read and very much enjoyed two different books by Saft in the past, and then the other day while I was going through my backlog of NetGalley requests to find a new read, low and behold, there was a (several years old) book I’d requested from the very same author! It’s also clear that this might not be that unique of a situation, as the publisher has now re-released this book with this updated cover. Funny how that goes, when an author releases one or more books before they finally strike upon one that opens readers’ eyes to their potential, and then bam! That back catalog of book suddenly seems well worth a second look! A very similar thing happened with Syvia Moreno Garcia after she published “Mexican Gothic.” Of course, I was a fan before it was cool! 😉 Anyways, on to the review for this book.

I really enjoyed this one! Of course, it had a lot of things I like going for it from the start: a sympathetic leading lady, strong female friendships, creepy gothic vibes, and a lovely slow-burn romance. Let’s start with the main character! I really appreciated the overall arc that Wren travels over the course of the book. In the start, we see her struggling against the judgements and expectations of those around her, people she loves and respects, all of whom are telling her that her sympathy and emotional decision making are weaknesses that must be suppressed. As the story continues, we see Wren push back against this, slowly beginning to reclaim the power of her own sensitivities and instinctual kindness. But it’s not a straightforward journey, and I appreciated the “two steps forward, one step backward” nature of her story. It’s not an easy thing to throw off the expectations of those you admire and to instead choose to follow your own path, and we see Wren struggle more than once to follow through on what she knows to be right, in her heart.

While it took a bit to get there, I loved the time we spent in the gothic-inspire manor. It had all of the slow-build dread and lingering horror that one looks for in a haunted house. Saft’s lyrical style of writing shone particularly strongly in these depictions, and there were scenes and settings here that truly gave me the shivers. And, of course, on top of that we have enigmatic lord of the house, with all of his secrets to be slowly revealed. I did feel like some of these secrets and mysteries were perhaps a bit easy to guess, but it’s one of those cases where the conventions of this sort of story betray it a bit, as far as these reveals go. Even if the reader has their suspicions, the experience of the gothic story makes up for some of the predictability.

I also really enjoyed the relationships in this book. Of course, the love story is the primary focus, and this was as sweet and lovely as you could wish for. There were even a few bumps in the road that I hadn’t fully anticipated which helped to add a greater level of depth to a relationship that could have become a bit too straight-forward. However, the more complex relationships came in the form of Wren’s best friend (and first love interest) and the Queen, Wren’s aunt. Through these female relationships, the book explores the challenges of close relationships, the ways in which those we care about can hurt us and misunderstand us more than anyone else. And, of course, likewise. The Queen, in particular, was an interesting character, because for much of the story, she’s almost cartoonishly horrible to Wren. So I was pleased to see a greater level of depth brought to her later in the book.

I will say, however, that now having read three books by this author, it does seem to me that she struggles with pacing towards the end of books. Like “A Fragile Enchantment,” the final third of this book is a roller-coaster ride of building conflict, a seeming resolution, only to lead directly into another conflict. It’s hard to put my finger on exactly what the problem is, but there’s something off with the pacing and the reader’s ability to feel like the story is building to a true climax. Instead, you keep getting these mini climactic moments, not knowing which is meant to be the true one. It’s too bad, because the first parts of this book (and the others from Saft where I’ve struggled with a similar problem) are well-paced. It’s specifically an issue with the endings.

That said, I did enjoy how it all wrapped up, and the overall experience was good. Fans of this author, or those looking for a “cozy/gothic” fantasy story should definitely give this one a go!

Rating 8: Saft continues to impress with her incredible female leads and her swoon-worthy romances!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Down Comes the Night” isn’t on many Goodreads lists, but it is on Books with “Night” in the title.

Serena’s Review: “Long Live Evil”

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Book: “Long Live Evil” by Sarah Rees Brennan

Publishing Info: Orbit, July 2024

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

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

Book Description: When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favourite fantasy series.

She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she’s not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor’s tale.

So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they’re doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor’s fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.

This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain’s shoes, for an adventure that is both ‘brilliant’ (Holly Black) and ‘supremely satisfying’ (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue’s gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.

Review: It’s been a few years now, but I last read and reviewed this author when she wrote a YA mystery/fantasy trilogy. While that trilogy took a bit of a turn towards the worse as it went on, I remember distinctly enjoying the first book. So I was excited to see Brennan now dipping her toes into adult fantasy, knowing that I’ve enjoyed her books in the past and that part of my struggles before had to do with the “YA”-ness of it all. (This isn’t a general dig at YA; heaven knows I enjoy young adult literature as well. But sometimes it seems as if authors dumb down the stories when they’re writing for younger audiences, and this is my vague memory of what happened in “The Lynburn Legacy” trilogy.)

Regular readers may have noticed that I’ve been in a bit of a rut recently with my reviews, with several stuck in the “7 rating” zone. Well, the good news it that this one didn’t come in at a “7.” Bad news is that it came in at a “6.” But let’s start, as usual, with some good things. I’ll be honest, my experience of this book was fairly negative, but I will say that I liked the overall idea of the story. Not only is the idea of jumping into the pages of one’s favorite book a concept that almost all readers imagine, but pairing the fantastical aspects of that alongside the more serious nature of the main characters struggles with a terminal illness should have been the perfect balance to form a well-rounded reading experience.

Unfortunately, the entire thing falls apart in terms of execution. Pacing, characterization, plotting as far as late-game reveals that were easy to predict, it all was fairly weak. To go in order, the pacing was off from the start. For a book with such an exciting concept at its heart, the story begins with a strong sense of overall drag. While the information provided in this section is crucial to understanding the context for the story, including the introduction of the beloved book at the heart of the story and our main character’s motivations for choosing to travel there, it’s all laid out in such a clinical fashion as to be incredibly skim-worthy. It was then jarring to switch to a much more action-packed pace once Rae enters the book. But then, again, the story seem to become a slog during the middle, with Rae spending much of her time doing very little indeed. Frankly, given this entire set-up, it’s almost impressive that the story managed to become as dull as it did during this portion. It did pick up again towards the end, but that wasn’t enough to save the reading experience.

There was also an early disconnect between the tone and characterization that we are given in the first few chapters in the “real world” vs. what we experience when Rae travels to the land of the book. Yes, the “real world” must deal with some heavy topics regarding Rae’s illness, and I wouldn’t have a problem with this more subdued tone on its own. The problem lies in the complete, sudden 180 the book takes once she enters the book. We’ve spent a few chapters now with a fairly dour Rae, a young woman who is struggling with the shift her world has taken and with her relationship with her sister. But then within seconds of her taking on her role as the evil stepsister in the book, we have one quip after another. It’s just bizarre, and not in a good way. Yes, she’s in a fantastical realm, but she’s still the same person at her core. However, as it reads, this is a completely different person who just cracks jokes all of the time and has never even heard of the word “cancer.”

I also did not enjoy the comedy aspects of the story. And as that was a fairly major portion of the book, this was also a big problem for my read. Now, to be fair, campy humor is really never my thing. I don’t enjoy campy/corny movies, books, or really anything. So readers who do enjoy this style of humor may have an entirely different experience. But even with that aside, I felt like much of the humor here didn’t land. It felt very try-hard, and I had to catch myself during several eye-rolls.

This was a pretty big disappointment for me. Especially because I had been anticipating it quite a lot. I’ve enjoyed the author in the past, and I was very much hoping for a better version of what I had hoped Django Wexler’s book “How to Become a Dark Lord and Die Trying” would be. While I will say this one is probably more approachable to the general audience than that one, I still ended up having many of the same problems with it. The characters were flat, the comedy wasn’t funny, and the story itself was straight-forward and predictable. Perhaps if you very much enjoy campy humor this one will be for you. But, as a whole, I can’t recommend it.

Rating 6: It’s hard to recover if your comedic book isn’t funny; add on top of that poor pacing and weak characterization, and you ended up with a bit of a struggle book.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Long Live Evil” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists, but it should be on Oh the Villainy!–Evil Geniuses, Super Villains and Overlords.

Kate’s Review: “Crumbs”

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Book: “Crumbs” by Danie Stirling

Publishing Info: Clarion Books, July 2022

Where Did I Get This Book: The library!

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

Book Description: Falling in love just got sweeter in this charming, romantic YA graphic novel from WEBTOON, the #1 digital comic platform. Ray, a young seer struggling with her powers, discovers first love and friendship in her town’s magic bakery.

In a very special town, there’s an even more unusual bakery with a selection of baked treats hand-crafted to help your dreams come true. For Ray, a quiet young woman with special powers of her own, the order is always the same: a hot tea with a delicious side of romance.

When Ray meets Laurie, the kind barista who aspires to be a professional musician, she gets a real taste of love for the first time. But even with a spark of magic, romance isn’t so simple. Both Ray and Laurie are chasing their own dreams and even when Ray starts to see the future, she can’t predict her fate with Laurie.

Based on the beloved webcomic from WEBTOON, this sweet coming-of-age story of friendship and first love comes to life in graphic novel format with gorgeous illustrations and exclusive content.

Review: I had seen “Crumbs” by Danie Stirling here and there on my various book related social media accounts, mostly Goodreads. The cover kept showing up and I had to look into it because it was, admittedly, super cute, and by the time I did check it out I was pretty convinced that I should read it. What’s not to like, after all? I like graphic novels, the magical elements sounded cute and serene, and I like a nice feel good romance. And besides, I feel like I’m suffering from massive existential dread in my day to day life, so something fluffy and sweet could be welcome. So I checked it out from the library and gave it a go. To mixed results.

I will say that this book is admittedly very sweet and cozy. I do like that there seems to be a sudden rise in more cozy fantasy novels, with titles like “Legends and Lattes” and “The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches” being pretty well liked by audiences, as sometimes you just need a charming and sweet story and you want it to have fantasy elements to boot. I did find “Crumbs” to be a very easy going read, and I liked the light fantasy tidbits like the magical bakery, the phones with little spirits acting as Siris, and even the hinted at broader magical government system and how even THAT can be a bit of a can of worms. I would absolutely LOVE to spend time at Marigold’s bakery, eating cakes and drinking coffees with various spells and charms cast upon them to help the consumer with things like self confidence and romance (but not in a boundary breaking or violating way). I also really liked that our protagonist Ray is a Seer, but not in the usual sense, in that she can only see things that are happening in the present and are existing in the now. So while she can’t, say, predict a giant storm that is going to be coming in a week’s time, she can see that at this moment there is a rainstorm happening miles away. Usually we think of seers in fantasy as being strictly dabbling in the future, so having it be in the now is SO interesting to me. This of course grows and shifts as Ray hones her powers during her time working for the Grand Council, which helps keep society in place and acts as governing body of sorts, and I enjoyed the ins and outs of it.

But I think that there is a clear flip side to this, and that is the fact that it’s almost TOO cozy and twee when it comes to the romance arc between Ray and her boyfriend Laurie. It starts cute and sweet enough, as Laurie is the barista at her aunt Marigold’s bakery and Ray is a regular customer, going there once a week for tea and a romance pastry, and seeing them tentatively begin a relationship was tender and felt pretty realistic in a number of ways. But I think that what was less interesting to me was that their conflicts, while pretty realistic as well, just didn’t feel very high stakes to me, and therefore felt kind of boring. I don’t need there to be a huge melodramatic problem that leans towards full on dysfunction or toxicity. But at the same time, I really don’t find myself super invested when the problems are about mild trust issues (that we don’t REALLY explore beyond one moment) and someone who is too much of a people pleaser. I can understand that there are people who aren’t comfortable with any kind of high stakes unhealthiness being portrayed in a relationship, but man, I do kind of want a little more conflict in my fiction, because for me fiction is about being able to explore those things in a safe way BECAUSE it is fiction. I know that this is personal preference, and that there are almost certainly people out here who will really love this aspect of the book. But it didn’t gel with me.

Finally, I really liked the artwork. It fits the tone of the story, and I always love seeing how food is drawn in graphic novels because it’s fun to see how tantalizing it can be.

(source: Clarion Books)

“Crumbs” didn’t work for me an all levels, but I definitely know there are people who like cozy fantasy and gentle stories about romance and relationships that will enjoy it.

Rating 5: It’s a sweet and gentle romance with some hints of magical creativity, but “Crumbs” didn’t invest me too much in the central characters and their maneuvering through a relationship.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Crumbs” is included on the Goodreads lists “Cozy Fantasy Romance Reads”, and “Food Themed Romance Comics”.

Serena’s Review: “Castle of the Cursed”

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

Book: “Castle of the Cursed” by Romina Garber

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, July 2024

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

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

Book Description: After a mysterious attack claims the lives of her parents, all Estela has left is her determination to solve the case. Suffering from survivor’s guilt so intense that she might be losing her grip on reality, she accepts an invitation to live overseas with an estranged aunt at their ancestral Spanish castle, la Sombra.

Beneath its gothic façade, la Sombra harbors a trove of family secrets, and Estela begins to suspect her parents’ deaths may be linked to their past. Her investigation takes a supernatural turn when she crosses paths with a silver-eyed boy only she can see. Estela worries Sebastián is a hallucination, but he claims he’s been trapped in the castle. They grudgingly team up to find answers and as their investigation ignites, so does a romance, mistrust twined with every caress.

As the mysteries pile up, it feels to Estela like everyone in the tiny town of Oscuro is lying and that whoever was behind the attack has followed her to Spain. The deeper she ventures into la Sombra’s secrets, the more certain she becomes that the suspect she’s chasing has already found her . . . and they’re closer than she ever realized.

Review: One of my favorite subgenres recently has been gothic fantasy. There have simply been so many good ones of late that I almost have gotten to the point where I just expect them all to be amazing, simply by definition. I was also intrigued by the promise of a murder (?) mystery regarding the loss of Estela’s parents. And while I knew that a romance would be involved, and often I like a good romantic subplot, unfortunately the loves story brought it all down for me.

But let’s start with some positives! Of the three primary aspects of the story (gothic, mystery, romance) the gothic portion of the story fares the best. Once Estela gets to the estate, the author’s style of writing seemed to come more to life, effectively building tension and creating an atmosphere of barely-concealed horror. Second to the gothic aspects, the mystery was also compelling, especially in the beginning of the book when Estela is first beginning to realize that there is more going on here than a random, tragic accident. Once certain elements were introduced, I did feel like the big twist was a bit predictable, but on its own, I think this was a creative turn to the story. I wasn’t expecting the book to go quite so far into the fantastical as this one went, and for the most part, much of this was successful.

Unfortunately, the romance really killed it for me. A large part of this comes down to the fact that much of the story takes place over a very compressed number of days. I always struggle with love stories that develop this quickly; I can’t quite turn of my own skepticism over it all. That’s not to say, however, that a fast love story never works, but I do think it takes a very solid hand on characterization overall to pull it off. And here, neither Estela nor Sebastian were up to it. Both felt very flat, especially in their interactions with one another. Estela’s original arc, her struggles with the guilt of surviving the deaths of her parents, had a lot of potential. But the minute the love story started up, she seemed to lose much of this inner character work. And, again, this all happens rapidly, so it was difficult to believe in the sincerity of these emotions.

I also don’t want to get into spoilers with regards to some of the major twists in the end. But, essentially, I felt like the explanation for the resolution to the final conflict to be fairly ridiculous. It pretty much required the reader to disregard everything we’d seen from Estela up to this point and pretend that she was a very different character than she was. One of the things that I appreciated initially with this character was the struggles that she continued suffer through in the beginning of the story. But as the story went on, because the character became so consumed by the romance, we didn’t see the necessary growth to justify the things we were being told about her in the end. In fact, only a few pages before the fact, the character behaves in a manner that directly contradicts what we are later told is a crucial trait she contains!

Overall, I was a bit disappointed by this read. After a promising start, the story quickly began to fall flat and the characters were unable to hold my interest. The writing was strong enough and particularly shone with regards to the gothic/horror elements of the story. But the romance was uninspiring and dull, and as that ended up taking up a large chunk of the story, that killed it for me a bit. That said, romance is an incredibly subjective element of storytelling, so other readers may enjoy this one more than me!

Rating 7: While the gothic/horror elements were interesting, the characters and the love story failed to capture my imagination.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Castle of the Cursed” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Gothic and Ladies of Horror and Dark Fiction Writing.

Kate’s Review: “The Drowning House”

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Book: “The Drowning House” by Cherie Priest

Publication Info: Poisoned Pen Press, July 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 Review: A violent storm washes a mysterious house onto a rural Pacific Northwest beach, stopping the heart of the only woman who knows what it means. Her grandson, Simon Culpepper, vanishes in the aftermath, leaving two of his childhood friends to comb the small, isolated island for answers―but decades have passed since Melissa and Leo were close, if they were ever close at all.

Now they’ll have to put aside old rivalries and grudges if they want to find or save the man who brought them together in the first place―and on the way they’ll learn a great deal about the sinister house on the beach, the man who built it, and the evil he’s bringing back to Marrowstone Island.

From award-winning author Cherie Priest comes a deeply haunting and atmospheric horror-thriller that explores the lengths we’ll go to protect those we love.

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

The description of “The Drowning House” by Cherie Priest made me do a double take the first time I read it. Surely I had read it wrong! A house, a full on HOUSE, washes up on a beach after a crazy storm? Obviously it has to be supernatural or something like that, but still, the very CONCEPT was SO interesting to me that I knew that I HAD to read the book. And not only do we have a weird house washing up on shore, we also have a missing man, his grandmother who died the night he vanished, which also happens to be the night the house washed ashore, and his childhood friends coming back to the small island community to try and find him, only to find something supernatural and menacing. All of these things come together to make a very odd read. In a good way, mostly.

There are lots of very creative aspects of this book, from the idea of an abandoned house washing up on shore, to some of the ancient magical and ritualistic elements that Priest creates for this book, to the concepts of communicating between dimensions and the way that this is achieved (mild spoiler but I HAVE to talk about it: a deranged otherworldly switchboard with some rather gruesome elements showed up at one point and I was completely horrified but also enthralled). I also did like some of the horror imagery, from figures materializing in the mist, to small town tragedies of missing boys whose spirits are seen crying the corners of Mrs. Culpepper’s home. So many of these things really worked for me, and it had this seaside atmosphere that was always tinted with some ominous undertones. It’s weird and dreamy and somewhat unnerving. I think that I would more categorize this as dark fantasy with horror elements as opposed to straight up horror, but trust me, the horror elements are on point.

The one critique I do have of this book is that I wasn’t as interested in our main characters Melissa and Leo, and their personal journey of having to team up in spite of their uneasy history in hopes of saving Simon, their childhood friend they are both deeply enamored with. I thought that they both had interesting back stories and understandable and believable motivations, but their tension never really resolved itself to create a genuine partnership that I was rooting for. Even getting flashbacks to their childhood and their friendship with Simon and some insight into Mrs. Culpepper’s background and her home (as well as some reveals about her connection to the washed up house and certain other things) didn’t really bring as much out of them as I would have liked.

Overall I think that “The Drowning House” has some really creepy beats and some really creative world building. But boy do I wish that the characterization had a little more oomph.

Rating 7: An atmospheric and at times creepy read, though I would say that “The Drowning House”‘s main characters weren’t as engaging as I had hoped they would be.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Drowning House” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it would fit in on “Gothic Vibes (Modern Books)”.

Serena’s Review: “These Deathless Shores”

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

Book: “These Deathless Shores” by P. H. Low

Publishing Info: Orbit, July 2024

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

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

Book Description: Jordan was once a Lost Boy, convinced she would never grow up. Now, she’s twenty-two and exiled to the real world, still suffering withdrawal from the addictive magic Dust of her childhood. With nothing left to lose, Jordan returns to the Island and its stories—of pirates and war and the heartlessness of youth—intent on facing Peter one last time, on her own terms.

If that makes her the villain…so be it.

Review: I’ve written before about how I often find myself mentally considering certain books to be THE definitive re-telling of any particular fairytale or folk story. For example, it’s hard for me to imagine any story beating Robin McKinley’s “Beauty” as my definitive version of “Beauty and the Beast.” There are also fairytales and stories for which it has been notoriously difficult for me to find this “one true version.” “Peter Pan” is one of these. But I live in ever-lasting hope, so I was excited to check out this new version of the story, this time following grown-up “lost boys” who travel back to the magical island and now find themselves cast as the villains.

Unfortunately, I’m still on the hunt after reading this book. However, that’s not to say that this book didn’t have its own strengths and new takes on the classic story to explore. For one thing, I very much like the overall concept with these former “lost boys” (this is in quotes mostly because one of the main characters is a woman who had disguised herself as a boy when she was in Neverland to avoid the typical role of housekeeper that girls must play while there) travelling back as adults. And not only are our lead characters adults, but the entire story is very adult in tone. This is a bloody, grim look at the horrors that would lie at the heart of an island where kids spend most of their time fighting battles with pirates.

Even more so, the story centers addiction and childhood trauma as primary themes throughout the story. Obviously, these are not happy topics, but I think that added an interesting level of seriousness and severity to the tale. One of my struggle points with this book, however, came down to how it handled some of the discussions about addition. On one hand, I think some of it is incredibly effective, highlighting the on-going difficulties that people face, year after year. However, I’m not quite sure about how it was ultimately handled. Fairy dust is clearly a magical substance, so its addictive properties do not necessarily need to be based in reality. But the story almost dodges some of the harder aspects of this addition in the end of the book, and I’m not exactly sure what message was being conveyed here. That said, I could be missing something, and this all might work fine for other readers.

I also struggled a bit with the characters themselves, particularly Jordan. On her own, she had a lot of the traits I enjoy in my female main characters. She’s flawed, brash, and ruthless. However, I struggled more when it came to her relationship and interactions with Baron, her staunch childhood friend. At times, this relationship felt a bit strange, with Jordan seeming to take advantage of Baron’s friendship and feelings for her, almost bullying him at points. This could be simply that their temperaments were very different, but it just felt rather off throughout.

Overall, this was just an ok read for me. The tone was a bit too grimdark throughout, without enough levity to be found to counterbalance it in the way I wanted. I also liked the broader strokes of the characters, but their relationship also felt a bit off in a way that didn’t allow me to fully connect to their arc together. If you enjoy darker fantasy stories, however, this still might be one worth checking out!

Rating 7: Tackling dark themes of addiction and childhood trauma, this had a lot of potential, but began to feel weighed down by its own grim tone as the story went on.

Reader’s Advisory:

“These Deathless Shores” isn’t on any relevant Goodreads lists, but it should be on Peter Pan Retellings.

Serena’s Review: “The Night Ends with Fire”

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Book: “The Night Ends with Fire” by K. X. Song

Publishing Info: Ace, July 2024

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

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

Book Description: The Three Kingdoms are at war, but Meilin’s father refuses to answer the imperial draft. Trapped by his opium addiction, he plans to sell Meilin for her dowry. But when Meilin discovers her husband-to-be is another violent, ill-tempered man, she realizes that nothing will change for her unless she takes matters into her own hands.

The very next day, she disguises herself as a boy and enlists in her father’s place.

In the army, Meilin’s relentless hard work brings her recognition, friendship—and a growing closeness with Sky, a prince turned training partner. But has she simply exchanged one prison for another? As her kingdom barrels toward destruction, Meilin begins to have visions of a sea dragon spirit that offers her true power and freedom, but with a deadly price.

With the future of the Three Kingdoms hanging in the balance, Meilin will need to decide whom to trust—Sky, who inspires her loyalty and love; the sea dragon spirit, who has his own murky agenda; or an infuriating enemy prince who makes her question everything she once knew—about her kingdom and about her own heart.

Review: I’ve been eagerly looking forward to checking out this book since back in January when I put together my picks for our “most anticipated” list for 2024. I love fairytale/fable re-tellings, and “Mulan” is one of those stories that has only been re-imagined a few times, to varying levels of success. I was especially excited that this book was being billed as an adult fantasy novel, as those are even fewer and further between when it comes to this particular subgenre. So I had high hopes going in to this one!

As it turns out, this one didn’t quite live up to these expectations, but let’s start with the positives. First of all, if you’re looking for a “Mulan” retelling that pulls on your nostalgic heartstrings for the Disney movie, than this is the book for you. While it does introduce its own fantasy elements, particularly with the dragons and their magic, it also strongly reminiscent of the Disney film. At times, it almost felt like direct scenes were copied and pasted from one to the other. This could also be a criticism of the book, that it follows a bit too closely, but I also think there are plenty of readers who loved the Disney version and would be happy to see some of it translated fairly directly into a book format, so for them, this is a win.

I also liked the general idea of a lot of what this book was trying to do. It was the execution that let it down. For example, one of the major changes from the Disney version of “Mulan” to this one is a change in the main character’s motivation. Instead of being driven by a sense of duty and the wish to spare her father, Meilin is, yes, attempting to escape an arranged marriage, but also highly motivated by ambition and greed. In some of the book’s more “telling” moments, she outright tells readers that these are her primary motivations. She also wishes to prove that she, a woman, is capable of the same things men are. However, the thought isn’t taken further than that, with Meilin’s focus remaining on her own abilities as compared to men’s versus the general attitude that ALL women are done poorly by with these comparisons. Now, I think it’s entirely possible, even quite effective, to write a character whose motivations are not as sympathetic as others’ or who, while clear-sighted in one way, is very much missing the larger picture. But Meilin was not written as a strong enough character to pull this off.

Not only is the writing flat from the start, making it difficult to discern any real personality in the characters, including Meilin, but there is a distinct lack of true inner reflection or motivation given for many actions. For example, early in the book, Meilin encounters a prince who makes a throw-away comment about her kung fu abilities being as good as a man’s. She then goes home and there is a single paragraph where she reflects on this line and how it is true: she is as fast as a man and skilled at martial arts. The very next paragraph sees her up and sneaking out of her room and setting off on her journey to impersonate a soldier.

This is a huge, monumental decision, and Meilin seems to make it in the blink of an eye with no deeper thought than “hey, this hot guy said a nice thing about my fighting prowess and I guess he’s right!” It was so off-putting that I honestly went back and had to re-read to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, it was that abrupt. Transitions from paragraph to paragraph, from inner monologue to actions aren’t just the work of English classes, they are necessary for creating well-crafted stories. And it was failings like this that proved that this book wasn’t quite up to the task.

This flatness of tone carried on throughout the book. I simply struggled to care about any of these people. For lack of a better word, the book seemed to lack the heart of the story. In the movie, the deep camaraderie and friendship that Mulan builds up with her fellow soldiers and the love interest are not only engaging on their own, but later pay off with the heightened emotional stakes when the truth of her deception becomes known. Here, the reveal with the love interest falls incredibly flat, with none of the dramatic impact that you’d wish from this situation. And the friendships were almost entirely missing. I was even more put-off on the romance front when another potential love interest seemed to be introduced towards the end of the book? Of course, I can’t say for sure one way or another, but I was getting strong ACOTAR vibes with a Tamlin/Rhysand situation brewing up here. And we all know how I feel about that…

All of this said, I would by no means say that this was a bad book, on its own. Indeed, I think the author has a lot of potential, and I’d definitely be interested in checking out more in the future. I also think this book will be much appreciated by many fantasy readers, especially those who are looking for a close re-telling of “Mulan.” However, the writing and characterization were too weak at times for me to fully recommend it with no caveats.

Rating 7: The strength of the writing wasn’t quite up to the task of telling the story that it wanted, but I still think it will satisfy many readers who are looking for a solid “Mulan” re-telling.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Night Ends with Fire” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Asian SSF and East Asian Fantasy.

Serena’s Review: “Bound to the Shadow Prince”

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Book: “Bound to the Shadow Prince” by Ruby Dixon

Publishing Info: W by Wattpad Books, July 2024

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

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

Book Description: In order to protect her kingdom from the wrath of a vengeful goddess, Princess Candra must remain locked inside a tower for seven years. Seven long years without a friend―or a lover―by her side. And shut inside the tower with her? A Fellian, the enemy of her people, a fearsome warrior race complete with wings and claws and fangs. Nemeth is terrifying, cruel, and disturbingly magnetic. Candra should kill him for his supplies, but she’s desperate for his company…and his touch.

As time inside the unchanging tower rolls on, Candra uncovers the man behind the stony facade. And when their tenure hits an unexpected snag, Candra and Nemeth are forced to make a difficult choice. They’ll need to face an outside world they no longer recognize, one that threatens their lives and their surprising love.

Review: While I’m aware of the phenomenon that is Ruby Dixon’s “Ice Planet Barbarians” series, I’ve been a bit hesitant to jump in. While I enjoy SFF romance, I’m also incredibly picky with the balance between the fantasy elements and the romance. Plus, I’ve never really pushed my boundaries on the romance genre with more wacky paranormal beings than your usual vampires and werewolves. All of that to say, when I saw that she was releasing a stand-alone romantasy title, I though this would be the perfect opportunity to see what all of the fuss was about!

I’ll be honest, I went into this one fairly skeptical, ready to shift away to my every-growing TBR pile at the slightest provocation. And, initially, that’ s the way I thought it might go. The first few chapters before we get to the tower were a bit of a slog as I found it difficult to really like any of the characters on the page, including our heroine. But hoo boy! The minute the story got to the tower, the love interest was introduced, and the general stakes of the plot (being trapped in a dark tower for seven years) settled in, I was locked in!

If nothing else, Dixon’s style of writing is the definition of “approachable” and “engaging.” She simply has a fun and snappy way of writing that is quick to pull readers in and make the story feel action-packed, even when, objectively not much is really happening (again, see the fact that our main characters are stuck alone in a tower.) Given the restrictions of this setting, it was truly impressive how engaging Dixon made this portion of the story. It was so engaging, in fact, that I was almost disappointed when the story shifted in the second half of the book. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed a lot of that as well. But I will say that I probably would have been more than happy to have spent the entire book simply in the tower with our two main characters.

I also really enjoyed our main characters. Candra was a fun POV character, though as the story continued, I did find myself wishing for a bit more from her with personal growth or a more defined character arc. Some of the late-book action does speak to some changes in her perspective, but it still wasn’t a lot. But what we do get is still enjoyable! On the other hand, I really loved Nemeth! I’ll admit, again, that part of my hesitation about the “Barbarians” series and this one was how well the romance would translate for a very, um, non-human love interest. But Nemeth is so endearing in almost every way that you can’t help but love him! He was bookish and bashful, but also protective and confident when it mattered. It was also nice to have a love interest who so easily embodied the caretaker role in the relationship without this being commented on or seen as in conflict with any of his other character traits.

I will add here that that this book is DEFINITELY spicy, so readers should have that in mind! I knew it would be, of course, but this book makes “Bride” look like, well, a blushing bride as far as some of its spicy moments go. One thing that stood out in the positive for this book vs. other very spicy books that I’ve read was the timeline and progression of the romance. All too often, romantasy has an “instalust/instalove” problem where the book is so eager to get to the love scenes that character work and plotting suffer, ultimately making the spice scenes read as undeserved. Here, not only do you have to read a significant ways into the book to get to the love scenes, but the in-world timeline is over a year before Nemeth and Candra really start becoming intimate in any way. It was refreshing!

As I mentioned, the second half of the book took a major shift in the plot. And while I liked a lot of what this brought into the story, this is also the part of the book that I struggled with more. For one thing, given the nature of what is going on in the story, the numerous spicy scenes in this later half of the book started to feel like they were breaking up the pacing. They also began to feel a bit repetitive, and I think the book would have been better served, ultimately, to have cut out a few of these. There was also the seemingly required third act/late game challenge of trust thrown into the romance. This is a staple of romance plotlines, where right towards the end something goes terribly wrong (distrust, miscommunication, etc. etc.) that makes our characters start questioning their relationship. I almost always hate this part of romance novels, as I rarely feel as if these moments feel justified or believable. So, too, here. Some of the distrust we see is so obviously misplaced in light of the entire rest of the story that it was almost laughable. For all that I enjoyed the fact that this love story took place over the course of years, it made this late-game trust issue all the more silly. These are characters who recently fell in love or who haven’t had time to fully understand one another. As typical for me with these twists in romance novels, I began to roll my eyes a bit during this part.

Overall, however, this was a really fun read! It’s heavy on the spice and romance, so readers who enjoy that will likely love this one. I was also impressed with the measured pace of the romance and the endearing love interest. I’ll definitely be checking out more from Dixon in the future!

Rating 8: Fast-paced and fun with a nice love story at its heart, definitely one for the spicy romance readers!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Bound to the Shadow Prince” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2024 – Paranormal Romance (Standalones and 1st in Series)

Book Club Review: “A Study in Emerald” & “Snow, Glass, Apples”

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We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. This June we celebrated our 10 year anniversary of book club. So in celebration of that milestone, we are re-visiting authors we read way back in those first few years of our book club. 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!

NOTE: At the beginning of July, accusations of abuse and sexual assault were made against Neil Gaiman by two women. When our book club selected, met and read “A Study in Emerald” and “Snow, Glass, Apples” and we wrote our reviews, this information had not yet come to light. These accusations are deeply concerning and upsetting. Since we had committed to review these books on the blog before these accusations came to light, we’ve decided to post our reviews of these books to fulfill that commitment. That said, if you or someone you know needs help or wants to find someone to speak with confidentially, HERE is a link to RAINN’s resource page, which also links to more information about the organization in general and how to support victims of sexual violence.

Book: “A Study in Emerald” by Neil Gaiman and Rafael Albuquerque (Illustrator), Rafael Scavone, Dave Stewart (Illustrator)

Publishing Info: Dark Horse Books, June 2018

Where Did We Get This Book: The library!

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

Repeat Author: Neil Gaiman

Book Description: The complex investigation takes the Baker Street investigators from the slums of Whitechapel all the way to the Queen’s Palace as they attempt to find the answers to this bizarre murder of cosmic horror!

From the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, Nebula award-winning, and New York Times bestselling writer Neil Gaiman comes this graphic novel adaptation with art by Eisner award winning artist Rafael Albuquerque!

Kate’s Thoughts

It’s interesting. As someone who loves a good mystery and thriller, I haven’t read TOO much Sherlock Holmes (outside of the stories I read in middle school for English class, and “The Hound of the Baskervilles” for book club way back when). And as someone who loves horror, I haven’t read ANY H.P. Lovecraft. But I know enough about Holmes, Watson, Baker Street, and Cthulhu thanks to the pop culture and literary zeitgeist. So I could absolutely appreciate a LOT about “A Study In Emerald”, which brings the mythos of Lovecraft’s cosmic horrors to Baker Street and Victorian London. It’s a creative mashup, and I found the story up to the task.

I really enjoyed the creeping horror of this tale, and how it does harken back to the classic Holmes cases, and not just through the characters that we see on the page. There are fun references to other mysteries, there is definitely a Sir Arthur Conan Doyle air to the way that the story unfolds, and the way that Gaiman weaves in the Old Ones and Cthulhu into the story and makes it just seamlessly fit in is really fun. It also works as an interesting comment upon the Colonialist impact that England was having across the world, as the Old Ones are coming in and ruling over everyone with a malicious intent towards power and conquest. And I always enjoy the artwork of Raphael Albuquerque, and his style works really well in this story. It’s compelling and fun, and while it’s a stand alone short story it feels very established. It’s a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it very much.

Serena’s Thoughts

I loved this book! There were so many clever ideas all mixed together in a way that felt totally fresh and unique. And given how many adaptations and variations there have been on Sherlock Holmes and Watson, producing something that feels truly original is quite the accomplishment! Of course, the primary factor there comes down to the inclusion and use of Lovecraft’s classic horror creatures. But there is definitely a way that this could have gone very wrong. Instead, Gaiman never over-played his hand. And while the alternate timeline/history of this world and the role the Old Ones play in it was very interesting, at its heart, the story is still very much a classic Sherlock Holmes mystery. From the framing of the story from the companion’s perspective to the use of verbose language with only limited dialogue, it all felt perfectly in line with the tone of the original. Despite the fact that there are tentacled royalty ruling the world!

I also enjoyed the big twist at the end. As a big Sherlock fan, I was suspicious that this was where we were headed fairly early, but that still didn’t diminish how effective it was. I also think that it was subtle enough that it could still play as a pretty big twist for the majority of readers. It was a clever case of “look at this hand and not the other,” using the Lovecraft elements to great effect. The art also worked perfectly with the overall tone. The sepia color palette worked well to create a sense of the time period, and the inclusion of the little advertisements between chapters was excellent.

Really, my only criticism is that in some ways it felt like the prequel to a series. I immediately went on Goodreads hoping to line up the sequel. But alas. I’d definitely read more in this world if given the chance, and I think this is a great read for all Holmes fans out there!

Kate’s Rating 8: A creative mash up of two literary icons makes for an interesting adaptation that works incredibly well.

Serena’s Rating 9: Clever and unique, which is truly an accomplishment considering the plethora of adaptations out there for both Holmes and Lovecraft’s creatures!

Book Club Questions

  1. What were your thoughts on the surprise reveal at the end of the book? Did you see it coming? Did you think it fit well?
  2. Did you like the theme as the monarchs of Europe actually being Old Ones from Lovecraft’s stories?
  3. Did you enjoy the throw back advertisements that separated the sections of the story?
  4. This is a graphic novel that was told purely in captions and with little to no actual speech bubbles. Did you like this creative choice?
  5. What did you think of the art style of this story? Did you feel like it fit the tone of the narrative?

Reader’s Advisory

“A Study in Emerald” is included on the Goodreads lists A Study in Sherlock Holmes and Lovecraft in Victorian Era.

Book: “Snow, Glass, Apples” by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Dorman (Illustrator)

Publishing Info: Headline, August 2019

Where Did We Get This Book: The library!

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

Repeat Author: Neil Gaiman

Book Description: A chilling fantasy retelling of the Snow White fairy tale by bestselling creators Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran.

A not-so-evil queen is terrified of her monstrous stepdaughter and determined to repel this creature and save her kingdom from a world where happy endings aren’t so happily ever after.

From the Hugo, Bram Stoker, Locus, World Fantasy, Nebula Award-winning and Sunday Times-bestselling writer Neil Gaiman (American Gods) comes this graphic novel adaptation by Colleen Doran (Troll Bridge).

Kate’s Thoughts

I already love a fairytale retelling, especially if it is a bit dark and twisted. And I have come to enjoy “Snow White” more as of late because my daughter got a Snow White dress during our Spring Break trip to Disney, which has made me all the fonder of the story. But then you add in not only a version that is told from the perspective of the Evil Queen AND it has a vampire Snow White?? OH HELL YES. Gaiman knows how to do dark in his stories, and this one is SO creepy and twisted, telling a story about a young queen who finds herself a stepmother to a monstrous vampiric child, and wants to keep her kingdom safe from the predatory nature of the girl whose skin is white as snow and lips are red as blood. Snow White’s Evil Queen is so two dimensional in the original tale and many tales that came after it, so for Gaiman to not only make her the protagonist but to also make her flawed but generally a good hearted woman who is trying to use magic to help her subjects is so excellent and such a breath of fresh air. I loved the subversions in the magical elements, and how it harkens to the source material but tweaks it into something new. And something REALLY disturbing.

And I absolutely loved the art style in this book. It feels like a combination of medieval tapestries and art deco aesthetic, and there are so many gorgeous details that leap off the page. It’s truly breathtaking, with few actual panels but free form mural-esque spilling into each other. But it still remains linear and easy to follow along with the very detailed and complex designs. Our book club host asked us what our favorite image was, and I had such a hard time picking because there are so many amazing images.

I loved “Snow, Glass, Apples”. What a compelling reimagining of “Snow White”.

Serena’s Thoughts

I also really enjoyed this one! Probably no great shocker as I love fairytale re-tellings, especially twisted versions of the story. This one, told from the perspective of the “evil” step-mother succeeded on a lot of fronts. First of all, I absolutely adored this art style! I found myself reading this one much more slowly than the first, simply because I wanted to look at all the intricate details on every singled panel. There are several pages that I would buy and frame and put up in my home library, they were that beautiful. I also really enjoyed the “stream of consciousness” style the art used, with several spreads effectively moving the reader through the page without the use of panels or blocks.

I also enjoyed the twist on the “Snow White” tale. I wasn’t prepared for just how dark it was going to get! Fairly early in the story, the reader is introduced to the major “twist” to the tale and you think “Ok, I get where the darkness is going to go.” And then you get about two-thirds of the way and and it’s like “Oh! Nope, this went way darker and in a way more disturbing direction than I had expected!” For the most part, I think this darkness all worked. That said, there were a few brief moments and details that did feel like they were there purely for shock value and not any real narrative purpose.

Overall, I thought this was a very interesting re-imaging of the classic tale. I think the art really stole the show for me. And while I think many fans of dark fantasy will enjoy this one, it’s definitely NSFW, so keep that in mind if you’re reading it in public!

Kate’s Rating 9: A disturbing but horrifically gorgeous reimagining of Snow White.

Serena’s Rating 8: Horrifying in the best way, but the gorgeous art was really the win as far as I’m concerned!

Book Club Questions

  1. What did you think of following the Queen’s POV in this story? Are you used to seeing her side of the “Snow White” story?
  2. Did you buy into the idea of a vampire Snow White? Why or why not?
  3. What are your thoughts on how Gaiman subverted the witchcraft in this versus the original?
  4. What did you think of the aspect of the Spring Faire in this tale and how it related to the Queen’s motivation in the story?
  5. Did you like the art style in this? Did it fit the tone of the tale?

Reader’s Advisory

“Snow, Glass, Apples” is included on the Goodreads lists Snow White Retellings and Graphic Novels with Fairytale or Mythical elements

Next Book Club Pick: “Superman Smashes the Klan” by by Gene Luen Yang