Tag: Fantasy

Serena’s Review: “The City of Stardust”

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Book: “The City of Stardust” by Georgia Summers

Publishing Info: Redhook, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: A young woman descends into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge to break her family’s curse in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy debut.

For centuries, generations of Everlys have seen their brightest and best disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt.

Violet Everly was just a child when her mother Marianne vanished on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. And when Penelope cannot find her, she issues an Violet has ten years to find Marianne, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer from the curse. Unless she can break it first.

To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet whose knowledge of a world beyond her own is too valuable to avoid.

Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.

Review: I was pretty excited when I saw that this book was coming out this winter. Between the book description itself and the marketing team literally referencing “The Starless Sea,” it sounded a lot like books I’ve enjoyed in the past. I obviously always love portal fantasies, and I was also intrigued by the potential slow burn relationship hinted at within the summary. Well, I’ll say that it definitely lived up to my expectations of the former, if less so the latter.

I’ll be honest, it took a bit to become invested in this story. In the beginning, we meet a lot of different characters, all hinting at mysterious curses and histories that the reader knows nothing about. From there, the story proceeds to jump forward in time for different chapters for the first 15-20% of the book. At a certain point, even, I was pretty sure we’d finally landed on the time period in which the rest of the story would take place but…nope! Another jump was in hand! Once the story finally settled down a bit, moving forward in a more linear fashion and following Violet’s day-to-day exploits more actively, I found myself quickly drawn in.

I was also very impressed with the world-building and greater approach to characterization, especially of its side characters and villains. It is one of those books that has stories within stories, and as you go, you learn various versions of events and are left to piece together what exactly you think really took place. Even by the end, the book never feeds you easy answers about Violet’s family history and what really happened. The point, importantly, is that people are flawed, neither purely good or bad, and their actions will speak louder than anything else, so at a certain point, knowing the actions and results, some of the smaller details matter less.

Similarly, there was an equally nuanced look at some of the side characters and villains. There are many characters who you meet (or hear enough about to feel as if you’ve met) and who you recognize from other archetype characters you’ve seen in other books. With that comes a lot of assumptions about whether they are “heroic” or “villainous.” I was truly surprised with some of the massive swings my opinions of some of the characters went through, often ending up nowhere near where I was expecting, either liking or disliking character who I’d expected to feel the opposite towards. Similarly, the villain of this story is truly evil at many points. But the book goes out of its way to, not justify her, but to explain some of her own tragedy. Of course, this character is still responsible for their actions, some of them truly horrific, but it’s not left as easy as hating them for just being a “bad guy.”

All of that said, this was one of those strange situations where I ended up more interested in the side characters and villains than in the two main characters themselves. For her part, Violet came across as incredibly naïve for much of the book. She does have an interesting arc, especially her relationship with her uncles and her missing mother, and I was pleased that towards the end of the book, she didn’t simply let people she loved off the hook for their bad treatment of her. But she was still fairly frustrating for the first half of the book, which is always a bit tough to deal with from a main character.

And then Aleksander. Here was a character who had a lot of potential, especially with a deeper look into the primary relationship in his life, an abusive, manipulative one with his parent/mentor. But as he is the secondary character in what is clearly Violet’s story, his story was often even more frustrating. We would get small brushes of what his life looked life, but not enough to truly understand all of his choices. And, as it stands, it left him as a fairly unlikeable character for much longer than I was expecting. There came a point around the halfway point of the book where I felt we were finally making progress, but nope! It still took a good while longer for him to have an awakening to his reality and adjust his relationships appropriately.

All of this left the romance in a very uncomfortable place: in that the time spent between these two was always filled with betrayal, lies, and disillusionment. There is such a brief window at the very end to see any interactions between these two that read as a true moment in their relationship. It was one of those cases where I feel like the book might have done better pairing down the romance all together. As it stands, it felt like the love story was jammed in around the edges of an already emotionally packed story.

However, those quibbles aside, I still very much enjoyed this story! The writing was strong and compelling, and I think if you make it past the rather disjointed first bit, it quickly draws you in. I loved the portal fantasy aspects of it all, especially the magical histories between these worlds. And most of the characterization was nuanced and deep, though the two main characters were notably a bit lacking. Overall, if you enjoy portal fantasies or books like “The Starless Sea,” yes, this might be one worth checking out!

Rating 8: Full of magic and mystery, this book beckons you to dive into strange worlds, quickly becoming lost in curses and doorways.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The City of Stardust” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2024.

Serena’s Review: “Into the Sunken City”

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Book: “Into the Sunken City” by Dinesh Thiru

Publishing Info: HarperTeen, January 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: In the slowly sinking city of Coconino, Arizona, the days are long, the money is tight, and the rain never stops.

For Jin Haldar, this life is nothing new—ever since her father died in a diving accident, she’s barely made ends meet for her and her younger sister, Thara.

Enter Bhili: a drifter who offers Jin and Thara the score of a lifetime—a massive stash of gold hidden in the sunken ruins of Las Vegas.

Jin knows it’s too dangerous. She stopped diving after her father’s accident. But when her sister decides to go, Jin’s left with only one choice: to go with her.

A ragtag crew is assembled—including Jin’s annoyingly hot ex-boyfriend. From there, a high-stakes heist ensues that’s beyond even Jin’s wildest fears. Crumbling ruins, sea beasts, corsairs, and a mysterious figure named João Silva all lie in wait. To survive, Jin will have to do what she promised herself she’d never do again: dive.

Review: While I do enjoy post-apocalyptic fiction, for some reason I don’t end up reading much of it. And I read even less cli-fi, though I have enjoyed many of them when I have picked up a title in this subgenre. So I was intrigued when I came across this book: an intriguing mixture of a climate -change stricken world and a swashbuckling pirate adventure story!

There was a lot to like about this book, starting with the world-building. At its core, its recognizable as the world we inhabit today by the names of current cities and the like. But nothing of the landscape we know remains; instead, much of it is sunken beneath rising ocean tides. I felt like the environmental aspects of the world-building worked very well, in that I felt immersed in this water-soaked world in a way that was both intriguing and, at times, uncomfortable! It was fun piecing together the bits of our known geography on top of this landscape that is completely foreign to what we know now. I also enjoyed how this society was built up around the challenges its people faced living in this new environment. It had a very “Waterworld” type of vibe.

I also liked our main character Jin. She had a funny, sarcastic voice that was immediately appealing. And, of course, I always love sisters stories, so it was a pretty easy win on this book’s part what with the focus being on Jin’s attempts to keep her sister safe, necessitating her dangerous dives. Is it a familiar character motivation, the young woman who takes on the dangerous task to prevent her sister from doing the same, ala “Hunger Games?” Yes. But is it still as effective a character motivation as ever? Also, yes. This book also doesn’t shirk in truly establishing the complicated nature of this relationship. They may be sisters, but there are messy aspects to that relationship, all tied up with their love for one another.

That said, I felt a bit mislead on the romance front. This book was tagged as a romance and includes a fairly decent focus on the relationship between Jin and her ex in the book summary itself. As it stands, this was a very minor part of the book. On one hand, I’m happy with romance taking on only a smaller role in a story (indeed, I think some of my favorite love stories are the ones that are secondary to the primary story itself). But I do think that this book was set up in its marketing in a way that may lead some readers a bit dismayed on the very subtle romantic elements. However, while the book doesn’t end on a cliffhanger per se, it’s clear a second book is coming, so the love story may take on a bigger role in that book.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this book! The unique setting was interesting, and I the close look at family dynamics and Jin’s relationships with those around her really drew me in. If you’re looking for a different sort of read, definitely check this one out. Just temper your expectations on the romance front (I didn’t think this was a loss for the book, but more for readers’ awareness purposes!)

Rating 8: Action-packed and surprisingly deep with regards to its portrayal of family dynamics!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Into the Sunken City” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Teen Pirate Books and Heist / Criminal Books in YA.

Serena’s Review: “The Dark Fable”

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Book: “The Dark Fable” by Katherine Harbour

Publishing Info: Bloomsbury YA, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: Magical heists. Deadly secrets. Come along for the ride . . . if you dare. This heart-stopping, seductive fantasy is perfect for fans of Six of Crows .

Evie Wilder is an orphan who has gone through most of her life unnoticed . . . until she’s caught up in a dramatic heist and captures the attention of the Dark Fable. They have chosen her for a she can turn invisible. This skill would make Evie a treasured asset to the legendary group of thieves known for spiriting away obscure and occult artifacts.

Evie cannot resist their allure and is eager to join this newfound family. But she discovers there are more skeletons in the Dark Fable’s past than she could have ever imagined. And these secrets might be the answer to her own tragic past.

No one is who they seem to be and the price of uncovering the Dark Fable’s cryptic history just might be fatal . . .

Review: I honestly am starting to wonder if there has ever been another book as popular to name drop when attempting to hype an upcoming YA fantasy novel as “Six of Crows.” I mean, that book has been out for years and years now. There have been many other popular YA books since then, as well. And while there are other contenders (“Uprooted” sure had a run there for a while), I don’t think there’s any underestimating just how many books have been heralded as the next “Six of Crows.” But if producing another “Six of Crows” was as easy as it is to name-drop it, well, we’d have about a million excellent heist books on our hands! As it stands, it is not that easy, and instead we have an almost overwhelming number of found family/thief books that are mostly…ok. And this one, while definitely not the worst I’ve seen, is yet another continuance in a years-long trend.

One thing this book definitely did not lack was creativity and ideas. The author not only creates a huge cast of characters, but she equips them all with a plethora of magical abilities and detailed (often traumatic) histories. She also didn’t hold back in her descriptions of said characters; perhaps diving into exactly what they were wearing a few too many times for my taste. I felt like I had a very good, very superficial understanding of who everyone is, but not much more than that. While I was impressed by the large scope, the actual character development felt lacking. For a book with many characters, you’d think a larger focus would have been placed on creating more in-depth relationships between them. But, instead, I felt like I was quickly given the parameters within which they all engaged with one another, and not much more was established beyond this initial insight. And, again, because the cast of characters is so large, a decent chunk of the beginning of the novel must be devoted to Evie meeting each and every one of these characters, which puts an immediate stumbling block in front of the pacing right from the get go.

I also felt like the plot was a bit muddled at times. Again, there is no lack of ideas and the action kept on coming throughout much of it. But, in a weird way, there’s this thing when reading where too much going on can result in just as much boredom and disconnect as too little. And here, we definitely had the former. While seemingly important and exciting events were constantly unfolding, I felt myself loosing interest and drifting away from the primary story itself.

Towards the end of the book, there were a decent numbers of twists and turns that were able to draw me back into the story. So if you’re invested enough early on, I do think the book can offer up a decent payoff for those who stick it through. I also think the writing itself was approachable and fairly strong, and if I had gotten a bit more in actual character development and perhaps a bit less of some of the superficial descriptions, this book might have worked better for me. As it is, this was a bit of a middling book for me. If you’re a die-hard found-family/fantasy heists reader, than this one might be worth checking out. But if you’re already on the fence about yet another “Six of Crows” read-alike, then I don’t think this one is really going to blow your mind.

Rating 7: Approachable and even at times fun, but too little actual character development really sank this one for me.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Dark Fable” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Releases January 2024.

Serena’s Review: “The Longest Autumn”

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Book: “The Longest Autumn” by Amy Avery

Publishing Info: Flatiron Books, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: Tirne is one of four humans rigorously selected to usher the turn of the seasons into the mortal world. Every year, she escorts the taciturn god Autumn between the godly and human realms. Autumn’s seasonal stay among mortals brings cooler weather, changing leaves, and the harvest of apples and gourds until Winter takes his place.

This year, the enchanted Mirror that separates their worlds shatters after Tirne and Autumn pass through, trapping both of them in the human realm. As the endless autumn stretches on, crops begin to fail and the threat of starvation looms. Away from the magic of the gods’ home, Tirne’s debilitating headaches return with a vengeance. Worse, Autumn’s extended stay in the human realm turns him ever more mortal and vulnerable, stirring a new, forbidden attraction to Tirne.

While the priesthood scrambles to find a way to reassemble the Mirror, Tirne digs into the temple’s secrets and finds an unlikely ally—or enemy—in the enigmatic sorcerer and master of poisons, Sidriel. Thrown into a world of mystery, betrayal, and espionage as she searches for the truth, might Tirne lose her morals, her hard-earned position, and the illicit spark between her and Autumn?

Review: I have to say, I barely made it past the cover on this one. I don’t know what it is, but it doesn’t read “fantasy” to me. Instead, it looks more like some sort of historical, literary fiction type book (nothing wrong with those, just not my preference!). But once I actually looked at the book description itself, it definitely sounded like something up my alley! I’ll be curious to see if other readers had similar feelings. We all say not to judge a book by its cover, but in reality, that’s the first thing a perspective readers sees and, try or not, they make a lot of assumptions about the type of book it will be based on this initial glance. And, while this book wasn’t a perfect book for me, I do think there are a good number of fantasy readers who will enjoy this, and I’d hate for them to miss it simply because the cover looks like what you’d find for another book entirely.

When thinking back on my reading experience of the book, I find myself coming away with the thought that I still liked the overall idea of the book more than the actual thing itself. In that, I thought the world, magic, and characters all sounded interesting. There was almost the feeling of it being a re-telling of some ancient Greek myth (though it isn’t). It had nice nods to the struggle of chronic pain, and the approach to romance was more realistic than you often see. However, all of these things still never quite came together the way I liked.

For one thing, I found Tirne to be a very passive character, spending much of her time dealing with her chronic migraines and simply reacting to and trying to survive the various challenges thrown at her. And while I think this kind of representation of chronic pain is useful, it also began to feel as if it was Tirne’s only character trait. Beyond this, it seemed that much of the story’s plot and mystery was hung on Tirne’s struggles to deal with these debilitating headaches. I found myself increasingly wanting more not only from Tirne as a character but also from the story itself. Representation of chronic pain, no matter how good, is not a story in and of itself.

And, while I appreciated some of the nods towards more realistic romances, I also felt mislead on this front by the book’s overall description. I was expecting the love story to play a more important role in the book, but instead I found myself feeling rather adrift, not knowing who I was meant to be rooting for or whether the romance was actually going to be important to the story at all. Things ended in a satisfactory way, but not necessarily in the way that most romance readers will be looking for. So, again, kind of like the cover art, I’m concerned that this book won’t easily find its way to the readers who will most appreciate it. Instead, readers looking for a romantic fantasy story may find themselves a bit disappointed by the love story that is presented here.

I also never felt myself becoming overly invested in any of the side characters. The book is written in first person which can sometimes run into this problem. And its unfortunate that Tirne felt as passive as she did, since establishing a solid main character is the primary strength of this style of writing. But the weaknesses that can be found do often come down to the portrayal of side characters, as we only have the limitations of the main character’s perceptions of them to really paint any sort of picture. This was definitely the case with this book, as I can’t point to a single side character who really stood out to me.

Overall, this book was fine. It was a fast, easy read, but it wasn’t exactly the story I was looking for when I picked it up. Fantasy readers who are less interested in the romance may find themselves enjoying it more. And those looking for a heavy focus on chronic pain may also find this to be a good match for them.

Rating 7: A bit lackluster with its main character, and I felt like there was a bait-and-switch in the overall concept of the book as presented in the description.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Longest Autumn” isn’t on any Goodreads lists yet, but it should be on Best Books To Read In Autumn.

Serena’s Review: “Once a Queen”

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

Book: “Once a Queen” by Sarah Arthur

Publishing Info: WaterBrook, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: When fourteen-year-old Eva Joyce unexpectedly finds herself spending the summer at the mysterious manor house of the English grandmother she’s never met, troubling questions arise. Why the estrangement? What’s with the house’s employees and their guarded secrets? Why must Eva never mention trains, her father, or her favorite childhood fairy tales?

After strange things start happening in the gardens at night, Eva turns to the elderly housekeeper, gardener, and the gardener’s great-grandson, Frankie, for answers. Astonishingly, they all seem to believe the fairy tales are true–that portals to other worlds still exist, though hidden and steadily disappearing. They suspect that Eva’s grandmother was once a queen in one of those worlds.

But Eva’s grandmother denies it all. After a horrific family tragedy when she was young, her heart is closed to the beauty and pain of her past. It’s up to Eva, with Frankie’s help, to discover what really happened, whether family relationships can be restored, and if the portals are closed forever. As she unravels generational secrets, Eva wrestles with the grief of a vanishing childhood–and the fear that growing up means giving up fairy tales forever.

Review: I don’t typically read books on the younger side of YA (or at least, ones that feature characters who are on the younger side, such as 14-year-old Eva in this one). I’ve found that more and more I’ve struggled to connect to YA fiction, especially when it reads on the younger side. There are still ones out there that fully grab my attention, and I can think of a number that rose to truly high levels. But, either it’s me or its the subgenre, but I feel like there have been more and more tropes, and less and less original content. That being the case, I was almost more intrigued to try this book, in that it was well outside of my usual YA fare, brushing shoulders more with middle grade fiction than anything else. And while it didn’t fully work for me, I do think it was a pleasant, satisfying read, especially for those who are looking for a good middle grade fantasy novel.

Let’s start with what I liked! In a lot of ways, this book will read as cozily familiar for classic fantasy fans: you have a mysterious manor house full of nooks and crannies and even more mysterious relatives who hint at secret pasts. It’s clear that the author was influenced by books like C.S. Lewis’s “Narnia” series and similar classic portal fantasies. But while it is referential to other fantasy stories, it also felt unique enough to hold its own. I enjoyed exploring alongside Eva as she discovered more and more about her family history.

That said, for the first 75% of the book, the pacing was fairly sluggish. It’s a long wait to actually see the main character dive into any real action or really put together all that she’s learning. It takes even longer for any of the actual portal fantasy elements to come into play. In this way, it was a bit of a frustrating read for me. However, I can see readers who are less familiar (or less interested in) fantasy feeling differently, that the magical elements were merely sprinkled on top of an interesting family-drama-centric middle grade story.

I also enjoyed the exploration of Eva’s relationship with her grandmother, a relation that has largely been an unknown entity in her life up to this point. As her grandmother’s history was revealed, I was intrigued to learn how her grandmother had ended up where she was and why she had made the choices she did. The idea of a granddaughter helping her grandmother rediscover her belief in fairytales is just as cozy at it sounds.

All of that said, I still struggled to get through this book. For me, I was looking for a bit more action and a bit more time spent in other magical worlds. However, I do think it will connect better for readers looking for a cozy fantasy novel with a strong focus on familial relationships and histories.

Rating 7: More successful as a family history story than a portal fantasy, but I do think middle grade cozy fantasy readers will enjoy this one more than I did!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Once a Queen” can be found on this Goodreads list: YA Novels of 2024

Serena’s Review: “Somewhere in the Deep”

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

Book: “Somewhere in the Deep” by Tanvi Berwah

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: Seventeen-year-old Krescent Dune is buried under the weight of her dead parents’ debt and the ruinous legacy they left behind. The only way she can earn enough money to escape her unforgiving island is by battling monstrous creatures in an underground fighting pit. After a fight goes terribly wrong, she’s banned from the pits. Now hopeless, she is offered a deal: in exchange for the erasure of her debts, she must join and protect a hunting party for a rescue mission deep within the mining caves beneath the island.

Krescent is determined to keep her head down and fulfill her role as the dutiful bodyguard, even though she is trapped underground with her childhood enemy and a company of people who would gladly kill her if they knew who her parents were. As they come across creatures she believed only existed in legends, it becomes clear they are in far more danger than she could have imagined. But someone doesn’t want her to make it out alive. And she’ll have to figure out who before she’s left alone… in the dark.

From the author of Monsters Born and Made comes an action-packed South Asian inspired fantasy that will have your heart racing at every turn.

Review: I immediately clicked to read more about this book when I spotted this cover. It’s so unique and strange! Paired with the title, you get a vague sense of a sea creatures, alien worlds, and a sense of wonder and danger. Which, reading more about it, pairs perfectly with the type of story this proports to be! It’s also very original from the covers you typically see for YA fantasy, so it does a good job of allowing the book to stand out from the crowd right off the bat. But let’s get into the book itself.

So, I did struggle with this book, but it was more on the side of my failing to really connect to or become invested in the story itself. Some of this is surely down to my preferences, and other parts of this can come down to weaker elements in the book. But, that said, there were also a lot of strengths and I do think there are definitely readers out there who will like this book.

For one thing, it is definitely a breath of fresh air in the current YA fantasy environment. As much as I love fairytales and witchy fantasy stories, we’ve seen a good number of them over the last few years. But this book treads new ground feeling slightly sci-fi and slightly post-apocalyptic, all while exploring a very unique world made of an island and its deep, dangerous cavern system. I really enjoyed the creative creatures that populated this world, and the culture and society that had been built up around surviving in this sort of harsh landscape. All of these elements also creates the perfect stage on which to place a fast-moving, action-packed plot. The pacing starts out fasts, keeps going fast, and then wraps up fast.

That said, I struggled to really connect to the story that was being told. It is one of those cases where there is nothing actively wrong that I can point to, either in the style of writing or the characterization, but more a situation where everything felt a bit watered down. Krescent Dune (well, I guess I can point to that character name as highly questionable) is your generic YA heroine: strong, brave, but also conveniently obtuse about the motivations of those she claims to know best (we’ll get to that). The writing, for its part, was also…serviceable? Again, nothing wrong with it, but it also felt incredibly generic, with a limited vocabulary and fairly repetitive approach to sentence structure. Like I said, none of it is bad, but it was also the type of writing that doesn’t necessarily draw you in. It tells the story, but not much else.

I also went in with high hopes for the romance. We’ve seen a good number of enemies-to-lovers romances, and of course I love those as well. But I was excited going into this one with the promise of a friends-to-lovers story (I will say that the book description seems to be intentionally misleading on this point, which I find very annoying, especially as romance tropes/types are very subjective as far as what readers do and don’t enjoy). And while I did still appreciate this change in tone and approach to a love story, I was also fairly frustrated by much of it. Like I hinted at earlier, much of the tension in the romance was centered around Krescent’s inability to see what was right in front of her: Rivan’s feelings for her. Of course, there are ways to make this sort of relationship drama work, but I do think it takes a certain skill to create a love story where you main character has to be oblivious to the motivations of someone she knows well without also coming across as a bit of a dunderhead herself. It also wasn’t helped that much of their relationship was completely dependent on the reader being told that they have had this long-standing friendship, more than showing these moments between them.

So, I don’t really know where to leave things. I think that some readers will enjoy this book for sure, but I also wasn’t blown away by anything it had to offer. If you’re highly anticipating this one, definitely give it a shot. But if you’re on the fence, there might be other ones you want to check out first.

Rating 7: While the author created a unique world and had some interesting creatures, I struggled to stay invested in the story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Somewhere in the Deep” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2024

Serena’s Review: “A Fragile Enchantment”

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

Book: “A Fragile Enchantment” by Allison Saft

Publishing Info: Wednesday Books, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible.

Transporting readers to a Regency England-inspired fantasy world, A Fragile Enchantment is a sweeping romance threaded with intrigue, unforgettable characters, and a love story for the ages.

Review: I’ve had access to this e-book for a while thanks to the publisher sending me an ARC a few months ago. But there have been many books to read and review between then and now, so it’s been quite the struggle! I really enjoyed Saft’s “A Far Wilder Magic,” and then combine the romantic cover art on this one with a description that includes the phrase “fantasy of manners” and, well, the anticipation has been killing me! But we’re finally to 2024 and now it’s time to dive right in!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, though there were a few odd things about its pacing, especially towards the final quarter of the book. But let’s start with the all of the good stuff. First of all, I love Saft’s style of writing. It’s approachable, engaging, and I very quickly felt attached to the characters and plot. The dialogue was also capable of delivering laughs just as much as conveying the more emotional, romantic scenes. It was a very smooth reading experience, and, like I said, for the first 75% of the story, I was zipping along without a care in the world. I also enjoyed the world-building and magical elements. Nothing was overly complex here, but it also all felt complete enough that I felt solidly placed within the world and understood how the magic worked.

I also really enjoyed the characters. Niamph was a unique leading lady in that she had a powerful magical ability, but also struggled with a degenerative disease that limited her actions. I liked the exploration of how Niamph approached life with an illness that left her unknowing of what time she had left. Throughout the story, we see both the struggles and strengths that this brought to the character. On one hand, we see her rise to grab life by both hands, knowing she must experience what she has been given. But on the other hand, we see her struggle to place the appropriate value on herself and her own desires, all too willing to put others before herself when she sees a limited life span before her.

This theme, the exploration of what is owed to one’s family, is one that carries over to many of the other characters in the story, most notably the romantic interest, the prince himself. Kit is in an arranged marriage, so it is very easy to see how this theme would pair with his story. His struggles with his relationship with his brother, the king, were interesting and dove deeper into this overall theme in ways I was not expecting.

That said, this same theme of familial obligation popped up with yet another character in the final quarter of the story. And it was at this point that I began to feel a bit beaten over the head with it all. At this point in the story, I felt like we’d thoroughly explored the angles of this topic, and, importantly, we see these struggles through the experiences of our two main characters. So when I ran into the exact same theme and talking points showing up for this third, very much side, character, I was a bit exasperated. It felt unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the examination of this theme or to the story progression itself.

I also loved the romance at the heart of the story. In some ways, it progressed a bit quickly, but I was also so invested in Niamph and Kit that I was able to go along with it fairly easy. I don’t think this quite rises to the level of “enemies to lovers,” but they do have a contentions start to their relationship that builds up nicely to the eventual resolution. However, again, what felt like a very organic, natural build to their relationship was interrupted in the last third/quarter of the book in ways that seemed to break the natural pacing. It began to feel choppy and bit all over the place, as if the author had several extra plot beats that she wasn’t sure how to fit in naturally, so it was all just shoved into this final bit of the story.

So, in the end, this was a bit of a broken up reading experience. The first 60-75% of this book was a solid 9-10 rating for me, enjoyment-wise. But then it felt like things fell apart during what should have been the climax of the story. The overall themes of the book began to feel tired and over-used when they were applied to a third, side character, and the romantic tension also felt let down by some odd beats in this last bit. All of that said, I still would recommend this book to romantic fantasy fans, especially those looking for a fantasy of manners story that is low on the spice level.

Rating 8: Sweetly romantic with two compelling leading characters, though the book stumbles in the last bit of the story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Fragile Enchantment” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Regency Fantasy and Romantasy.

Serena’s Review: “The Invocations”

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Book: “The Invocations” by Krystal Sutherland

Publishing Info: Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: Zara Jones believes in magic because the alternative is too painful to bear—that her sister was murdered by a serial killer and there is precisely nothing she can do to change it. If there’s anything Zara cannot stand it’s feeling powerless, so she decides she will do whatever it takes—even if that means partaking in the occult—to bring her sister back from the dead.

Jude Wolf might be the daughter of a billionaire, but she is also undeniably cursed. After a deal with a demon went horribly wrong, her soul is now slowly turning necrotic. Flowers and insects die in her wake and monstrous things come to taunt her at night. If Jude can’t find the right someone to fix her mistake, she fears she’ll die very soon.

Enter Emer Bryne: the solution to both Zara’s and Jude’s predicaments. The daughter of a witch, Emer sells spells to women in desperate situations willing to sacrifice a part of their soul in exchange for a bit of power, a bit of magic to change their lives. But Emer has a dark past all her own—and as her former clients are murdered one-by-one, she knows it’s followed her all the way to London.

As Zara and Jude enter Emer’s orbit, they’ll have to team up to stop the killer—before they each end up next on his list.

Review: I haven’t read anything else by Krystal Sutherland, but I was familiar with the name when I was approached about reviewing her latest book. Mostly, I have vague memories of a YA dark fantasy that she released a few years ago that had a creepy but compelling cover. This one, too, follows in that line where, at first glance, it seems normal enough. But then you look closer…yep, creepy! I was also drawn in by the promise of witches and a mystery centered around tracking down a serial killer.

Unfortunately, this book didn’t quite hit the way I wanted it to. However, in this case, I do think a lot of it comes down to many of these tropes and beats simply not being to my taste. But let’s start with the good! Like I said, I was drawn in by the witches and the murder mystery, and from a distant perspective, I think both of these things were interesting. I liked the idea that in this world magic was only something that came to women. Through this lens, the book then had a lot to say about feminism and the ways that women experience society. I haven’t watched the “Barbie” movie yet… *ducks*…but I would bet that this has very similar vibes. That said, I also felt that some of the messaging was a bit heavy-handed at times. There were moments where it almost had an “after school special” feeling to it….”See?? The patriarchy!!” I found myself wishing for a bit more subtly on that front.

I also liked the serial killer aspect of the story. This book was definitely a lot darker than I was expecting, and I appreciated how much it committed to its themes, really diving into some of the body horror moments. Fans of dark fantasy and horror will likely appreciate the fact that the book doesn’t shy away from these more gruesome scenes.

However, I found myself struggling to remain invested in the story. While the action does pick up in the last 100 pages of the book, that’s always a bit too little, too late for my overall reading experience. I found myself setting the book down too often and having to force myself to continue reading. There wasn’t anything objectively wrong with the writing, but it didn’t grab me. It felt a bit to formulaic and simplistic at times to really give the book much of a unique tone. It wasn’t helped that it was written in present tense, a style that I always struggle to enjoy. That said, readers who are not bothered by this approach to writing may not come away feeling the same way.

Similarly, because the writing was on the more simple side, I struggled to truly connect to any of our three characters, as their chapters had a bad tendency of beginning to read the same as one another. I liked the idea of all three characters, I just didn’t end up really loving any of the actual characters themselves.

Overall, this was a bit of a middling read for me, but much of this came down to some of my own preferences on writing styles and the way larger themes are handled. I do think that it will connect for YA readers who are looking for a good, creepy witchy book, however, and if you’re a fan of the author, I’m sure this will be a hit!

Rating 7: Appropriately creepy and witchy, but I was distracted by what felt like heavy-handedness with the overall message.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Invocations” can be found on this and other similar Goodreads lists: YA Novels of 2024

Serena’s Review: “Unbound”

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Book: “Unbound” by Christy Healy

Publishing Info: Blackstone Publishing, January 2024

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

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

Book Description: Rozlyn Ó Conchúir is used to waiting—waiting for the king, her father, to relent and allow her to leave the solitude of her tower; waiting for the dreaded and mysterious Beast of Connacht to at last be defeated; waiting for the arrival of the man destined to win her heart and break the terrible curse placed on her and her land. So, when she meets Jamie—a charming and compelling suitor—she allows herself to hope that her days of solitude and patience are at long last over.

But as she finds her trust betrayed and with newer, more sinister threats arising, Rozlyn learns that some curses are better left unbroken …

For fans of Hannah Whitten and Rebecca Ross, Unbound is a gender bent re-imagining of the classic tale of a monstrous beast and the beauty determined to tame it, set against the lush backdrop of Irish mythology and folklore.

Review: I’m not really sure which came first: my love of Irish folklore fantasy or my love of Juliet Mariller’s books. I suspect the latter likely lead to the former. Either way, through no real study on my part, I’ve become fairly familiar with Irish mythology, legends, and folk tales/characters, so whenever I spot a book purporting to be about these topics, I’m always eager to check it out and see how it compares to the other stories I’ve read. But, while I’m a big fan of both Hannah Whitten and Rebecca Ross, I sure do wish that Marillier would get her due for books like this! While I can see the similarities to those authors, Marillier’s works are a perfect read-alike to this author’s style and general concept. Plus, she’s a very under-the-radar author who I just wish more fantasy readers were aware of, so I’ll do my part and plug her here now!

I will say, subjectively, I very much enjoyed this one from start to finish; that said, objectively there are some quibbles to be found with parts of it. The style of the writing (very lyrical and fairytale-feeling) is just the sort I enjoy, with sweeping prose and beautiful turns of phrase. Like the best fairytales, the style could take on the tone of a how one might imagine a storyteller presenting the fable to an audience around a fire at night.

However, on the other side of this, there were many blatantly anachronistic aspects to the writing and world-building. These are always tough things to point out about historical fantasy books like this, because if you wanted to, almost every book in the subgenre likely strays outside of the strict boundaries of historical accuracy. Plus, one can always say it’s fantasy, so are there really any historical rules to be applied here and isn’t this just nit-picking? Healy writes in her author’s note that she was conscious of these anachronisms and left them in intentionally, using pretty much this exact reasoning about fantasy. But, on the other hand, she chose to seemingly set this in the “real world” and even included the exact year before each chapter (needed for plotting reasons that we’ll talk about next) which firmly and repeatedly sets it in the reader’s mind that this is in fact taking place at a specific point in history.

I wish, instead, that she had simply created a new world and year system. Really, no great world-building or changes would have needed to be made. Just come up with the name of a fantasy world, make an obviously different calendar system, and ta da! Many of these anachronisms go away! As it stands, many of them will only really be noticeable to those who know a lot about the time period and the import histories of things like chocolate. But others, like the repeated use of the word “okay” in dialogue, really do stand out as distracting.

The inclusion of the years at the start of each chapter heading are very important however, whether using a fictitious calendar system or not, as the story is told in a very non-linear fashion with many jumps forward and backward in time. Now, I’m on record through my various reviews as enjoying this sort of fragmented story-telling. I enjoy meeting characters who clearly have a long, complicated history with one another and then jumping around through their stories to slowly piece together how they came to be in this state. I think, when done right, it can create some excellent stakes to the plot right from the start. But it also requires the reader to trust that the author will bring answers eventually and be patient with not understanding exactly why characters say and do what they do currently. So, for some readers, this may be a challenging read, as the story does very much jump around in time between the current situation, the past, and then, even more strange, a several-centuries-long jump that comes about halfway through the book. Even for me, this half-way-through jump and the introduction of new characters was a big ask on the author’s part. It all ties together nicely, but I think some readers might struggle to stick it through.

I also do not like the fact that this book has been marketed as a gender-swapped “Beauty and the Beast.” If you squint, yes, you can see how the promoters got there, but there are really no elements of the actual plot of that tale to be found in this book. It’s more, we seem to have come to the point where anytime there is ever a vaguely (reallllly vague sometimes) monstrous character and a love story, marketers can’t help but shout “Beauty and the Beast re-telling!” at the top of their voices, forgetting that a “re-telling” implies that the story itself should be similar to the original fairytale. It’s misleading to readers to call books like this re-tellings and more likely to result in disappointed readers leaving negative reviews and thus out-pacing any gains that had been hoped for in using this fairytale as a lure in the first place! It’s even more frustrating in this case because there are actual Irish folklore characters that are obviously the inspiration for much of this book.

So it’s tough to sum this all up. I did enjoy this book, overall. I think the writing was fairly high for a debut novel, and I’m especially looking forward to any future books by the author when, perhaps, some of my quibbles will be improved upon. I think there were a few stylistic choices that a good editor could help with. And then, as far as the plotting, I do think it will be challenging to some readers, but it worked for me, so it’s something to keep in mind going in, whether or not this will work for you!

Rating 7: Overall, a very solid debut book, though I do wish some work around had been used for the anachronism, either changing the world itself or editing out some of them.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Unbound” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Fairy Tales for Grown Children and Fantasy Romance.

Serena’s Review: “Gothikana”

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Book: “Gothikana” by RuNyx

Publishing Info: Bramble, January 2024

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

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

Book Description: An unusual girl. An enigmatic man. An ancient castle. What could go wrong?

An outcast her entire life, Corvina Clemm is left adrift after losing her mother. When she receives the admission letter from the mysterious University of Verenmore, she accepts it as a sign from the universe. The last thing she expects though is an old, secluded castle on top of a mountain riddled with secrets, deceit, and death.

An enigma his entire life, Vad Deverell likes being a closed book but knowing exactly everything that happens in the university. A part-time professor working on his thesis, Vad has been around long enough to know the dangers the castle possesses. And he knows the moment his path crosses with Corvina, she’s dangerous to everything that he is.

They shouldn’t have caught each other’s eye. They cannot be. But a chill-inducing century-old mystery forces them to collide. People have disappeared every five years over the past century, Corvina is getting clues to unraveling it all, and Vad needs to keep an eye on her.

And so begins a tale of the mysterious, the morbid, the macabre, and a deep love that blossoms in the unlikeliest of places.

Review: I was eager to check out this book when I saw it was slated for publication from Tor this winter. For one thing, it was hugely popular as a self-published titled, and I always love to see indie authors picked up by large publishing companies. Second, Tor has had a great track record this last year for putting out some really great SFF books. I’ve reviewed a ton of them and almost all of them have been positive reviews. Third, the description for this book likens it to “Beauty and the Beast.” I’m a simple person: if you tell me a fantasy story is inspired by “Beauty and the Beast,” I’ll probably read it. So, where did all of this lead me? Well, unfortunately, to a pretty steep disappointment.

I do try to start with the positives, but unfortunately, I really don’t have a lot. Really, the best I can say is that the overall concept was creative. I was drawn in by the book description, and I think if the execution had been up to snuff, than it would have been enjoyable read. Also, a lot of people do like this book. I can’t say I understand why, but they do. So clearly there’s some positive appeal for readers here that I’m not seeing, and if you’re interested in this book, there are a whole lot of people out there who would say go for it!

For me, however, right away I knew there would be problems with the writing. I read an ARC version of this book, so I can’t confirm for a fact that some of my complaints won’t have been corrected in finalized versions, but I’m doubtful. Usually, the kinds of changes you’ll see between ARCs and finished versions are last minute spelling or punctuation problems, like a dropped period or something. But here, the writing failures were way beyond this. Honestly, I was a bit shocked. In many ways it read like a bad stereotype of what self-published books can be: clunky writing, odd word choices, lack of useful descriptions (we got enough superficial stuff about fashion to last a life time) leaving the reader stranded in a wasteland. The sentences structure would be fragmented on one page, and then fall into run-on sentences on the next. Honestly, within the first few chapters, the number of times I had to stop and re-read a sentence to try to understand what was being said was shocking. It was the kind of reading experience where I was spending more time mentally re-writing and re-structuring sentences than I did absorbing that actual story.

Moving beyond the actual functionality of the writing, the style itself was also frustrating. This is a perfect example of writing that simply tells you what you’re meant to feel and see, rather than making any sort of effort to lead readers along in an organic, “showing” manner. This style didn’t help the fact that this book very much felt like it was all vibes and no actual world-building. Whenever I stopped and tried to think about how some of the fantasy elements worked, I became frustrated. I kept waiting for some sort of resolution or explanation for various plot elements that were introduced, but by the end, it became clear that tight structure and plot was not the priority. Instead of addressing the various mysteries that are brought up, the book ends with a sputter…something something magic…something something the mountain itself! If the answer to your numerous mysteries in a FANTASY NOVEL is “whelp, magic” than you didn’t have any mysteries to begin with and what story are you even trying to tell here?

I also very much struggled with the romance. I didn’t care for either character, our leading lady or Vad (the name alone!). At best, it was under-developed and I couldn’t understand why either character was interested in the other. At worst, it wasn’t helped by dialogue that had me experiencing indirect embarrassment for the characters. This also had a hirer level of spice than I was anticipating, which isn’t necessarily the book’s fault. But what I’m coming to understand about myself as a romance reader and my approach to spice levels is that it has much less to do with how spicy the book is, and much more to do with the overall approach to these scenes. There are certain descriptive words that I just don’t like in my romance scenes. And there’s a very fine line where these sorts of scenes can stray into the corny, and the minute that happens, the romance is drained and it all gets a bit of an “ick” sheen. Again, this is going to be very subjective from one reader to another. But all of the problems I had with the writing in general just compounded the problems I had with the romance aspects.

Overall, I can’t recommend this book. The romance aspects are subjective, for sure, and some readers might like these sorts of spicy scenes. But the writing was actually just bad, and there’s no two ways about it. Romantasy is having a big moment currently, which means that readers can hold their books to higher standards than this one had to offer, I’m sorry to say.

Rating 5: Honestly, if I hadn’t requested an ARC, thus feeling more obligated to give it a full review, I would have DNF’d this within the first 25%, the writing was that bad.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Gothikana” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Popular Gothic Fantasy Books.