Tag: Fantasy

Serena’s Review: “Together We Rot”

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Book: “Together We Rot” by Skyla Arndt

Publishing Info: Viking Books for Young Readers, August 2023

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

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

Book Description: Wil Greene’s mom has been missing for over a year, and the police are ready to call the case closed–they claim she skipped town and you can’t find a woman who wants to disappear. But she knows her mom wouldn’t just leave…and she knows the family of her former best friend, Elwood Clarke, has something to do with it.

Elwood has been counting down the days until his 18th birthday–in dread. It marks leaving school and joining his pastor father in dedicating his life to their congregation, the Garden of Adam. But when he comes home after one night of after a final goodbye with his friends, already self-flagellating for the sins of drinking and disobeying his father, he discovers his path is not as virtuous as he thought. He’s not his father’s successor, but his sacrifice. For the woods he’s grown up with are thirsty, and must be paid in blood.

Now on the run from a family that wants him dead, he turns to the only one who will believe him: Wil. Together, they form a reluctant partnership; she’ll help him hide if he helps her find evidence that his family killed her mother. But in the end they dig up more secrets than they bargained for, unraveling decades of dark cult dealings in their town, led by the Clarke family.

And there’s a reason they need Elwood’s blood for their satanic rituals. Something inhuman is growing inside of him. Everywhere he goes, the plants come alive and the forest calls to him, and Wil isn’t sure if she can save the boy she can’t help but love.

Review: This is definitely one of those books that crosses genres between what Kate and I both like to read. She, of course, would be drawn by the creepy nature of the story, especially the focus on the dark cult. While I like the paranormal aspect of it, and the spooky, haunted forest that sounds right out of the best kinds of fairytales. I think I can safely say that we both liked the cover. Through some snooping on Kate’s personal Goodreads, she also read this book and liked it, overall. For me, it was a bit more hit and miss.

But let’s start with what did work. And the first thing that comes to mind is the atmospheric nature of the story. As I said, I was partially drawn in by the mention of a cursed woods, and man, that cursed woods really hits well. Not only do large chunks of the story take place in the woods themselves, but the author has a real talent for evocative writing, making the trees themselves come alive. This same skillful writing also very much works with the more creepy aspects of the story. There were definitely some scenes and descriptions that were truly horrific, but some of these same scenes were also rather beautiful? While others were simply gruesome. Either way, the author’s writing style definitely leant itself to these more descriptive, lyrical moments of the story.

I struggled more with the pacing and the characterization of the two main POV characters, and, to lesser extents, the side characters. Both of these quibbles come down to the same thing, I think: this is an incredibly short book. On one hand, I always want to applaud authors who don’t feel the need to write massive tomes. But on the other hand, there is also a point where a book can suffer for its brevity, and that’s the case here. While Wil and Elwood had the makings of excellent characters, there simply wasn’t enough time in the book to really flesh each of them out, let alone the complicated nature of their relationship. For all that we are told that they used to be close, they had a fight, and then this book sees them coming together again, the reader is never truly given enough of this history to invest in this changing relationship. Instead, where there was room for a lot of depth of feeling and growth, we are left with a story that goes from “enemies” to “lovers” in the blink of an eye, undermining the supposed seriousness of their original falling out.

The same problem shows up in the overall pacing of the story. Because the book is so short, the reader is jumping from one scene to the next quite quickly. The entire story also only takes place over a few days, adding to this rather frenetic reading experience. While I think books that tell a story that plays out in a short time span can work, they still rely on enough substance to be woven in to allow the reader to fully invest in the characters and the situations they are experiencing. And unfortunately, some of that greater substance was lacking.

Overall, I think this book had a lot of potential, and even fifty or so more pages added on could have bounced this up to an 8 rating for me. As it stands, I think the author has a real skill for lyrical, evocative storytelling, so I’m definitely interested to see what she does next! Fans of contemporary paranormal horror will likely enjoy this one, but go in more for the creepy forest and religious cult than for the characters.

Rating 7: A sure hand on the lyrical style of her writing, I simply wish Ardnt had allowed us more of it than what we got here in this shorter, paranormal horror story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Together We Rot” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Folk Horror and Moody stories about small towns with secrets and magic.

Serena’s Review: “Godkiller”

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Book: “Godkiller” by Hannah Kaner

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, September 2023

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

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

Book Description: Kissen kills gods for a living, and she enjoys it. That is until she finds a god she cannot kill: Skediceth, god of white lies, who is connected to a little noble girl on the run.

Elogast fought in the god war, and helped purge the city of a thousand shrines before laying down his sword. A mysterious request from the King sends him racing back to the city he destroyed.

On the way he meets a godkiller, a little girl and a littler god, who cannot find out about his quest.

Review: I was drawn in by the fantastic cover art for this novel, but I stayed for the book description of a young woman whose mission in life is hunting down gods. I’m always a sucker for fantasy novels that deal with wars with gods as I think the themes of religion and fantasy play so well together, each dealing with belief and how that shapes an individual, for good and bad. And this one definitely lived up to my expectations!

While the above book description mentions both Kissen and Elogast, I still went into it with the expectation that this was a single POV story, probably because the title implies that the godkiller, Kissen, would be the main character. And, while I would argue that she still is, the story is in fact not only a dual POV between Kissen and Elogast, but also includes the young girl, Inara, and, surprisingly, the god Skedi as well!

And while Skedi by far has the fewest chapters, I do think his inclusion was integral to the success behind the general premise of this story. The prologue and Kissen’s story set up one clear narrative with regards to gods: they are dangerous and bring only harm to those around them. But Elogast’s history and perspective, and Skedi’s very existence, complicate this narrative. What’s more, Skedi is not a perfect rebuttal, being a very flawed individual in his own right. Instead, his POV serves to highlight the chaotic nature of the gods in this world and to blow wide the discussion regarding inherent nature and how that plays into the ways we regard those around us.

I also really enjoyed the relationships that are built up in this story between all of the different characters. Yes, there is the slow-burn romance between Kissen and Elogast, always a winning feature for me who enjoys a love story included in my fantasy. But all of the characters had nuanced and interesting relationships between them as well! Kissen and Inara, with Kissen’s long-standing dislike of children being slowly worn down in the face of Inara’s strength and persistence. Between Inara and Skedi, we see a long-standing friendship tested with betrayal and misunderstanding. Between Skedi and Kissen, we see how immediate distrust and bias can push people (and gods!) into harming those around them and betraying their own most basic moral baselines. For his part, Elogast’s relationships to all of these characters was the most straight-forward. But I think his more steady character type served as a necessary foundation upon which to anchor much of the chaos created by those around him.

I will say, however, that my one big quibble came down to the geography of this world. This is such a weird, obsessive point that I know many people won’t even care about, but for me, I kept hyper fixating on it throughout the book. The story includes a map in the beginning (yay maps!) and it lays out one of the major cities as across a large body of water from the rest of the world. And then much of the story itself it taken up with the characters travelling to this city. And yet, it seemed like they travelled completely by land, were able to spot the city from quite a distance across land, and generally never acknowledged the layout of the map. I could very well have been missing something, but throughout the book, I kept getting confused about their actual route and looking at the map and just being even more confused. I did read an ARC, so maybe the artwork or these references weren’t finalized (though the word “references” underplays how much the geography plays into the main storyline). Weird quibble, but I couldn’t complete my review without mentioning it as it did take up a serious amount of my reading time, flipping back and forth between the text and the map.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! It felt refreshing in an often-crowded genre, while also relying on some tried and true character types. There were some legitimately surprising twists and turns towards the end of the novel that lay out an interesting path forward for the next book.

Rating 8: A deceptively simple premise belies the depths to be found in this fantastic fantasy debut tackling themes of religion, family, and what makes up one’s very nature.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Godkiller” isn’t on any Goodreads lists, but it should be on Gods and Goddesses Books

Serena’s Review: “House of Marionne”

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Book: “House of Marionne” by J. Elle

Publishing Info: Razorbill, August 2023

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

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

Book Description: 17 year-old Quell has lived her entire life on the run. She and her mother have fled from city to city, in order to hide the deadly magic that flows through Quell’s veins.

Until someone discovers her dark secret.

To hide from the assassin hunting her, and keep her mother out of harm’s way, Quell reluctantly inducts into a debutante society of magical social elites called the Order that she never knew existed. If she can pass their three rites of membership, mastering their proper form of magic, she’ll be able to secretly bury her forbidden magic forever.

If caught, she will be killed.

But becoming the perfect debutante is a lot harder than Quell imagined, especially when there’s more than tutoring happening with Jordan, her brooding mentor and— assassin in training.

When Quell uncovers the deadly lengths the Order will go to defend its wealth and power, she’s forced to choose: embrace the dark magic she’s been running from her entire life or risk losing everything, and everyone, she’s grown to love.

Still, she fears the most formidable monster she’ll have to face is the one inside.

Brimming with ballgowns and betrayal, magic and mystery, decadence and darkness, House of Marionne is perfect for readers who crave morally gray characters, irresistible romance, dark academia, and a deeply intoxicating and original world.

Review: Well, I’m predictable at least. If you give me a beautiful cover and mention the words “dark academia” in your book summary, there’s a decent change I’ll check out your book. Also, “Bridgerton” season three has been taking foreeeever to come out, so the reference to ball gowns and high society is a nice little perk to my current interests. Unfortunately, this was one of those cases where a lot of excellent individual ingredients were thrown into a single pot, but the end result was a mess.

But, first, some of the good individual ingredients. I liked the writing style, overall. It did fall a bit on the younger side of YA for my own personal preferences, but everything ran smoothly and I had a clear idea of the scenes we were exploring and the characters making up this world. It seems silly to point out, but whenever a writer manages to tell a story without throwing me out of the narrative with awkward word choices or jilted or repetitive sentence structure, that’s already a great win, and Elle manages all of that here. Overall, I was pretty into the book in the first little bit. I also like a lot of the ideas that make up this world, but this is also where things began to fall apart a bit.

Once we get to the magical world of it all, we quickly discover there are several different societies with different histories and priorities of magic. Luckily for me, I always check out the end of a book, author’s note, etc. before really starting a book, so I was able to discover an appendix with the histories of all of these houses. However, unless a reader also happened to look at the back of the book like I did here, the world-building given in the actual text is very confusing and sparse. The details provided in the appendix were sometimes key to understanding some of the politics of this world, and by hiding this information at the end of the book, it presents a challenging reading experience.

There were also aspects of the world and magic that seemed fairly arbitrary. For example, the women have these tiaras that are essentially part of their heads? And the men have masks? And somehow these are connected to their magical abilities? It’s all very obscure and never explained in any way. Instead, it’s easy to see the author simply picturing this world in this way, and then plopping it down in the book without much support for the entire concept. There were other aspects of the world and magic like this that, as I went a long, became increasingly frustrating to just roll with.

I also really struggled with Quell. Fairly early on, she comes across as a very unserious person who isn’t appreciating the reality of her situation. We’re told that her mom has had them on the run her entire life to protect Quell from those who would harm her for her strange magic. But then the second they are separated, Quell chooses to run straight to the very people her mother has been running from. It’s a bizarre choice, and one that isn’t well supported unless Quell is just a dunderhead. From there, she proceeds to become a Mary Sue, quickly conquering magical tasks that others have been struggling with for years at the school. The were some legitimate twists and interesting choices that Quell makes towards the end of the book, but these were too few, too late.

As is often the case, if I struggle with the main character, I also struggle with the romance. For what it’s worth, I didn’t actively dislike the romantic interest. He was perfectly fine for the type of character he was supposed to be. But my increasing frustration with Quell made my interest in the progression of this romance to wane fairly quickly. Again, there were some interesting turns towards the end in this regard as well. But also again, it wasn’t enough to save my overall reading experience.

Rating 6: A frustrating main character and confusing world left me feeling fairly turned off on this YA fantasy.

Reader’s Advisory:

“House of Marionne” can be found on these Goodreads lists: YA Releases September 2023 and Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2023

Serena’s Review: “The Phoenix King”

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Book: “The Phoenix King” by Aparna Verma

Publishing Info: Orbit, August 2023

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

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

Book Description: The Ravani kingdom was born of a prophecy, carved from unforgiving desert sands and ruled by the Ravence bloodline: those with the power to command the Eternal Fire.

Elena Aadya is the heir to the throne—and the only Ravence who cannot wield her family’s legendary magic. As her coronation approaches, she will do whatever it takes to prove herself a worthy successor to her revered father. But she doesn’t anticipate the arrival of Yassen Knight, the notorious assassin who now claims fealty to the throne. Elena’s father might trust Yassen to be a member of her royal guard, but she is certain he is hiding something. 

As the threat of war looms like a storm on the horizon, the two begin a dangerous dance of intrigue and betrayal. And the choices they make could burn down the world.

Review: This book was originally self-published as “The Boy With Fire” before it was picked up by Orbit to be traditionally published under this new title. As such, it already has a fairly devoted fan base who really loved it and, I’m sure, were very excited to get this new version of the book. For me, I hadn’t heard of the book originally, but was excited to check it out, not only due to the hype of previous fans, but because the synopsis sounds right up my alley. I obviously really loved “The Poppy Wars,” so any comparison there is a good sign. And then I was also intrigued by its connections to Hinduism and Indian mythology.

But, while the book overall did have positives, I found myself struggling to read it. Before I get into any of the negatives, I do want to talk about the aspects of the book that I appreciated. For one thing, the writing was very evocative and strong. This very much read as an author who has a firm grip on their own voice and style. The plot moves smoothly (if slowly) and the characterization is fairly solid. I also really liked the book’s depiction of religion and how it is explored throughout the story. While I don’t have a strong knowledge of Hinduism, I liked what we saw here with how it was applied to this fantasy world. As far as world-building goes, I also liked the general idea of mixing fantasy and sci-fi elements into one story.

However, while these all were strengths of the story, my actual experience of reading the book felt like a slog. I think a lot of this has to do with pacing. This book is not short and it takes a long time for any real action to begin. However, at the same time, some of the information is presented in a way that feels rushed or under-explained. The pacing wasn’t helped by the multiple POVs that make up the story. There are many challenges of writing a successful multi-POV novel. The one I’ve most often talked about is the difficulty of writing voices and characters that feel distinct from one another and who have enough of an arch to justify their own page time. But another challenge is the fact that switches in POV can disrupt the pace, and I think that was one of my struggles here.

My second real sticking point was with the characters. I feel like I’ve been running into this problem a lot with some of the recent adult fantasy novels I’ve read lately, but, again, the female POV character, Elena, read much closer to a YA heroine than an adult. Again, no shade on YA heroines, but if a book is billed as an adult fantasy, I expect the adult characters to be going through arcs and challenges that would be typical of that age group. Instead, we see a lot of naivety and a coming-of-age story from Elena, themes which are much more in line with a YA storyline.

For his part, Yassan was more interesting to me, but I did end up becoming quite frustrated with a reveal we get towards the end of the book. I won’t spoil what it was, but it was the kind of reveal that made the fact that we had been in Yassan’s head for large chunks of this book suddenly feel disingenuous. Yassan is not aware that he’s a character in a book and needs to hold back certain information for climatic purposes later in the story. It makes zero sense that he wouldn’t refer to these things in his own inner thoughts, so when it’s later revealed, it’s like a dash of cold water to the reader’s face, casting you out of the reading experience.

Similarly, I didn’t really buy the love story between these two. It wasn’t objectively bad, but I didn’t feel any chemistry between then, and was generally not very invested in their romance. Overall, this was a disappointing read. It definitely has strengths, and I’m sure it will resonate with some readers. Unfortunately, it just didn’t hit right for me.

Rating 7: While the writing is solid and I enjoyed the themes around religion, I struggled to connect with the characters in this one.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Phoenix King” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Indian Inspired Fantasy Books and South Asian Fantasy

Year of Sanderson: “Warbreaker”

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“Year of Sanderson” is an on-going, monthly series that will post on the last Friday of each month in which I will cover various Brandon Sanderson-related things. This will largely be comprised of book reviews (some from his back catalog and some from the books being released this year), as well as assorted other topics like reviews of the items in the swag boxes that will be coming out as part of Sanderson’s Kickstarted campaign. Frankly, we’ll just have to see what we get from this series, very much like the Kickstarter itself!

Book: “Warbreaker” by Brandon Sanderson

Publishing Info: Tor, June 2009

Where Did I Get this Book: own it!

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

Book Description: From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, Warbreaker is the story of two sisters, who happen to be princesses, the God King one of them has to marry, the lesser god who doesn’t like his job, and the immortal who’s still trying to undo the mistakes he made hundreds of years ago.

Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren’s capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.

By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker

Review: This is one of the few other standalone fantasy stories that I’ve read by Sanderson (he really hasn’t written many that aren’t parts of larger series). And as I’ve already covered the other, “Elantris,” I knew that I wanted to work this one into this review series. Like that book, it’s been rumored that there will be some sort of sequel to this book eventually, but there are also a few others the author has mentioned wanting to get through before he gets to those. But, being the crazy book-producing machine that he is, readers can feel fairly confident that the sequels will happen eventually.

That being the case, it was fun to go back and re-read this book. I’d only read it once before, but I had a pretty clear memory of what it was about. And most of that comes down to the fact that I absolutely loved this book when I read it the first time, and loved it just as much the second go-around! Honestly, this book checks off so many things in my personal favorites for fantasy stories that it’s not even funny. There are sisters. There is an arranged marriage/forced proximity romance. There’s an interesting magic system. There’s political maneuverings and upheaval. All good stuff, all good stuff.

The story is split between four POV characters, but like the first time I read it, it really felt as if the story lived and died based on the strengths of the two sisters, Vivenna and Suri. I love both of these women so much. They are so different from one another, and the entire book spends a lot of time challenging them on the aspects of their personalities that they thought were strengths and how their true strengths may lie in different arenas altogether. They each start the book with very clear understandings of themselves and the roles that they are expected to play, but by the end, they are both in wildly different positions than they ever would have expected. What’s more, while almost all of the narrative sees these two separated, throughout the course of the story, you feel them each grow to respect the other sister’s own particular strengths. Both of their arcs are very different, but equally fascinating.

As always, Sanderson also has a very unique, complex magic system built into this world he’s created. There are two kingdoms that had at one point been one. There’s an old and new religious system, with the new one made up of living gods who are mortals who die heroically and are then reborn as gods. And throughout it all is woven a system of magic that sees individuals having various levels of Breath, with it all tied to colors. The cover image of this book is not only beautiful in its own right, but perfectly illustrates the magic system at the core of this story.

Sanderson also likes to have mysterious characters who are operating on a different level in his stories. Here we have Lightsong, a god who is questioning everything around him, and the very unknown element, Vasher, who has his own agenda. While I preferred the sisters’ stories over these characters’ chapters, both Lightsong and Vasher added crucial depth to the goings on that make up the larger plot and mystery of this book. And when the reveals do come, there’s a clear bright line running throughout the story laying out clues to the ultimate resolution.

This an excellent, stand-alone fantasy read. It’s definitely satisfying to read as it is, but I’m also very curious to see where a sequel story would go. Probably still a few years wait on that one, but I’ll be at the front of the line to get my copy when it finally does release!

Rating 9: Complete with all of my favorite fantasy themes, “Warbreaker” is further proof that Sanderson doesn’t need an epic series to weave a fully-realized world and magic system.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Warbreaker” is on these Goodreads lists: “High Fantasy” with Female Leads / protoganists and, funnily enough, Arranged Marriages/Marriages Of Convenience.

Serena’s Review: “He Who Drowned the World”

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Book: “He Who Drowned the World” by Shelley Parker-Chan

Publishing Info: Tor Books, August 2023

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

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

Book Description: How much would you give to win the world?

Zhu Yuanzhang, the Radiant King, is riding high after her victory that tore southern China from its Mongol masters. Now she burns with a new desire: to seize the throne and crown herself emperor.

But Zhu isn’t the only one with imperial ambitions. Her neighbor in the south, the courtesan Madam Zhang, wants the throne for her husband—and she’s strong enough to wipe Zhu off the map. To stay in the game, Zhu will have to gamble everything on a risky alliance with an old enemy: the talented but unstable eunuch general Ouyang, who has already sacrificed everything for a chance at revenge on his father’s killer, the Great Khan.

Unbeknownst to the southerners, a new contender is even closer to the throne. The scorned scholar Wang Baoxiang has maneuvered his way into the capital, and his lethal court games threaten to bring the empire to its knees. For Baoxiang also desires revenge: to become the most degenerate Great Khan in history—and in so doing, make a mockery of every value his Mongol warrior family loved more than him.

Previously Reviewed: “She Who Rides the Storm”

Review: This was one of my more anticipated reads for the summer, after very much enjoying the first book that came out last year. After the masterful showing that was ‘She Who Rides the Storm,” it was a pretty sure thing that this book would rise to a similar level. However, I wasn’t quite prepared for exactly how dark this book turned out to be.

Again, right from the start, it’s clear how much talent this author has. The characters are all fully fleshed out, flawed individuals whose motives and choices are as frustrating as they are realistic. The stakes are also often incredibly high, making some of these choices all the more tortuous to read about. Throughout it all, the descriptions and style aspects of the writing are solid and clear, sucking the reader in, even as they may wish they could step back a bit.

When researching a bit for this review, I saw that the author had written on Goodreads mentioning that she doesn’t consider this book grimdark. In the same note, she referred to “Game of Thrones” as grimdark, and one gets the sense that she was likely trying to differentiate her book from that one, a series that has been criticized by some for being overly graphic in its depictions of violence. Now, I understand trying to differentiate your own book, but I also don’t think that authors are the true arbitrators of what subgenre their own book falls within. Yes, this is her opinion, and no one can deny her that. But subgenres like grimdark exist for the readers, not the author. They are there to allow readers to have a broad understanding of what sort of book they are picking up. And, by any understanding of the term grimdark, this book is definitely that.

Without exaggeration, about 90% of this book is made up of horror after horror. The hopelessness and terror of these situations is pervasive throughout the book. And the descriptions being as crisp and vivid as they are, the reader will find no respite from looking right at all of these awful things unfolding before them. Honestly, this book checks off markers on the grimdark list in an almost aggressive manner. And this isn’t a negative thing! People do enjoy grimdark, and I can appreciate it as well. “The Poppy Wars” often fell into this category, and I loved the heck out of those books. But to try to deny that this is grimdark is honestly doing a disservice to readers and setting up unwitting readers to be unprepared for the type of story they are going to be reading. Even from the first book, this one is markedly more dark and difficult to read.

All of this to say, that my actual reading experience of this book would probably put it in the 7 range for rating. It was a hard book to get through, and I wasn’t fully in the right space to want to read something that was this dark for almost the entire read. But, I also recognize the overall quality of the book and writing, so I’ve bumped up my rating. Fans of the first book will likely enjoy this one. But, yes, this is, in fact, grimdark fantasy.

Rating 8: Brutal and relentless, the strengths of this book are also the parts that make it such a challenging, but worthwhile, story.

Reader’s Advisory:

“He Who Drowned the World” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Best Historical Fantasy and August 2023 Releases.

Joint Review: “Mister Magic”

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

Book: “Mister Magic” by Kiersten White

Publishing Info: Del Rey, August 2023

Where Did We Get This Book: Kate received an eARC from NetGalley and a physical ARC at ALAAC23, Serena received an eARC from Edelweiss+.

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

Book Description: Thirty years after a tragic accident shut down production of the classic children’s program Mister Magic, the five surviving cast members have done their best to move on. But just as generations of cultishly devoted fans still cling to the lessons they learned from the show, the cast, known as the Circle of Friends, have spent their lives searching for the happiness they felt while they were on it. The friendship. The feeling of belonging. And the protection of Mister Magic.

But with no surviving video of the show, no evidence of who directed or produced it, and no records of who—or what—the beloved host actually was, memories are all the former Circle of Friends has.

Then a twist of fate brings the castmates back together at the remote desert filming compound that feels like it’s been waiting for them all this time. Even though they haven’t seen each other for years, they understand one another better than anyone has since.

After all, they’re the only ones who hold the secret of that circle, the mystery of the magic man in his infinitely black cape, and, maybe, the answers to what really happened on that deadly last day. But as the Circle of Friends reclaim parts of their past, they begin to wonder: Are they here by choice, or have they been lured into a trap?

Because magic never forgets the taste of your friendship. . . .

Kate’s Thoughts

I thought I knew exactly what to expect when I picked up “Mister Magic”, because I thought that I knew how Kiersten White ticked and would tell this story. I’ve greatly enjoyed her horror stories in the past, and I thought that this one sounded like an interesting take on the “Candle Cove” creepypasta with some children’s TV nostalgia and deconstruction to boot. But what I got was something that was far more personal and emotional, and something that connected with me in ways I never anticipated, all while being, yes, very creepy. Because yes, “Mister Magic” is definitely a weird fiction dark fantasy horror about a group of adults who are being drawn back into the children’s TV show they participated in as children, but has since been wiped from the pop culture zeitgeist for reasons the reader doesn’t know at first.

But it’s also a story about childhood trauma, trying to leave a repressive and high control society and culture, and the repression of oneself to live the way others, namely parents and adult figures, think one should to make their own lives easier. I loved the sinister imagery of Mister Magic and the slow dropping of clues from various found texts, I loved following Val as she is brought back into the fold with her former “Mister Magic” compatriots as they all return for a reunion (held by a mysterious podcast in the town in which they filmed the show), and I loved seeing all of them realize that something is very wrong, and it’s NOT just the potentially supernatural elements. As someone who has been trying to raise a very spirited toddler in ways that won’t cause lasting emotional turmoil (and as someone who felt a need to repress my own emotional difficulties as a child and teenager, which led to a VERY dark mental state), this book really cut me to the bone. I applaud Kiersten White for exploring these themes, and for being vulnerable in her author’s notes about her own journey to leave a group that was causing her trauma.

I really enjoyed “Mister Magic”. It spoke to me in ways I never could have predicted, while also creeping me all the way out.

Serena’s Thoughts

Like Kate, I also went in feeling like I knew a decent amount about the kind of book I’d be reading. I’ve enjoyed White’s books in the past, and I felt like this would be a good collab since it would be creepy but not like “trauma level” horror of the ilk that Kate can handle but I definitely can’t! But also like Kate said, the story given in the blurb is only half of what this book has to offer, and the much more straight-forward half at that (believe it or not, the fact that a TV show might have been real is the simple part!). There was a lot of depth to be found in this one, exploring childhood (how it’s experienced by children and how adults idealize it), family (how the “real” families can sometimes be damaging and the joy that can be found in families created oneself), and in the power of oneself, in the face of forces telling you who you can be.

Reading the author’s note, it’s also very clear that this is a personal book for Kiersten White. And while I applaud her for taking a very large topic and finding a creative way of talking about it without, you know, talking about it, I do think that the read itself suffered a bit from the pacing and the mashing together of “typical horror/thriller” and the commentary on larger themes. There were points in dialogue where characters would literally just go on a several-paragraphs-long mini speech just laying all of these greater points out. And while I loved the insightfulness of what was actually being said, it did take me out of the actual book itself. I struggled to connect at these moments, feeling clearly that no one would actually speak like this.

But, again, in total I think this was a highly ambitious book and that it accomplished everything it set out to do. If its quality as a straightly told horror/thriller is dinged a bit by the tendency of its themes to rise above its plots, than in this case, that’s a deal I’m willing to make!

Kate’s Rating 9: Creepy, personal, VERY emotional and hopeful, “Mister Magic” upended my expectations in the best ways.

Serena’s Rating 8: Packing in layers upon layers in themes regarding individuality, identity, and personal strength in the face of oppression, this book will suck you in and take you to some dark, but important, places.

Reader’s Advisory

“Mister Magic” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of now, but it would fit in on “Creepy Kids”.

Serena’s Review: “Masters of Death”

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Book: “Masters of Death” by Olivie Blake

Publishing Info: Tor, August 2023

Where Did I Get this Book: NetGalley!

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

Book Description: Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the house has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on.

Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death.

When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with her ghost-infested mansion, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants). But with the help of an unruly poltergeist, a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel, a love-stricken reaper, and a few high-functioning creatures, Vi and Fox soon discover the difference between a mysterious lost love and an annoying dead body isn’t nearly as distinct as they thought.

Review: After really loving “One for My Enemy,” I’m now fully on board for any books by Olive Blake. So I was super excited when I saw that Tor was re-publishing another book from her back catalog. Plus, the concept of a bunch of supernatural beings all hanging out together and trying to outwit death just sounds like a super fun premise for an urban fantasy story! And while I didn’t love this one quite as much as “One for My Enemy,” it was still a great read overall.

First of all, I do think that the summary of this book given above does mislead radars a bit into thinking that this is primarily Viola’s story. And while she is definitely a main character, probably the second biggest one I would say, I think this is largely Fox’s story. His is the emotional stakes that are truly at the heart of the building conflict with regards to Death and the impossible game that he and the other supernatural beings play. And while I was a bit confused due to this misconception, once I understood the direction things were moving, I was fully on board. Fox, simply put, is a fantastic character in his own right. A snarky, damaged man, a human who has lived his entire life in a supernatural world that he only halfway belongs to, Fox’s story is one of deep-formed loves, both romantic and familial, for beings who only halfway understand him.

I also enjoyed the manner in which this story was told, though I do think that this may be a hit-or-miss aspect of the story for different readers. Similarly to “One for My Enemy,” the story is told in a non-linear manner, with chapters jumping forward and backward in time, sometimes centuries backward. However, I really liked the way these were all strung together. There would be a brief mention of some quirk of a character, and then the story would jump back in the next chapter to show a greater insight into that character’s experiences. You definitely have to be willing to go with the flow, allowing the story to move away from the main plotline at any given moment.

I also really liked the supernatural beings we met and the ways that Blake twisted familiar concepts and beings around from what we typically expect to see. Her take on demons, angels, and even Death himself are all very fresh feeling. Similarly, Viola, a vampire, is not the “Dracula”-like character that we are familiar with, but instead draws from other vampiric myths. I really enjoyed all of these supernatural creatures (and there were a lot of them!), especially as Blake tied their stories to very human arcs of love, betrayal, trust and family.

I will say, however, that there were times when I felt like Blake could have benefitted from a bit more of an editorial touch. Look, she has a great talent for snarky banter, and I absolutely devoured much of it. But there were also times where I felt like the actual pacing of the story was bogged down by pages and pages of almost unbroken banter. I get that she has a real talent in this area, and none of the actual dialogue itself was bad; in fact, almost all of it was excellent! But this was definitely a case of too much of a good thing, at points. A bit of trimming would have made the whole thing read more smoothly and, even better, highlighted the true talent for dialogue she has, rather than perhaps over-exposing readers at times.

As I said, I really enjoyed this book! I think it could have benefitted from a bit of editing and, perhaps, a better explanation of how exactly the game that Death plays works. But overall, it was a really fun read, and I blew through it in only two or three sit-downs. If you’re a fan of paranormal or urban fantasies, this is definitely one to check out!

Rating 8: Quirky and fast-paced, Blake draws readers into a paranormal world full of undead creatures who, nonetheless, live lives packed to the brim with love and loss.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Masters of Death” can be found on this Goodreads list: August 2023 Releases

Serena’s Review: “The Water Outlaws”

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Book: “The Water Outlaws” by S. L. Huang

Publishing Info: Tor, August 2023

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

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

Book Description: Lin Chong is an expert arms instructor, training the Emperor’s soldiers in sword and truncheon, battle axe and spear, lance and crossbow. Unlike bolder friends who flirt with challenging the unequal hierarchies and values of Imperial society, she believes in keeping her head down and doing her job.

Until a powerful man with a vendetta rips that carefully-built life away.

Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice—for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They’re also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats.

Apart, they love like demons and fight like tigers. Together, they could bring down an empire.

Review: This was an obvious book request for me! For one thing, the cover is absolutely phenomenal! It’s one of those covers where you buy the book and display it face out on the shelves just to show it off. I was also very intrigued by the book description, what with its talk of rebel women, outlaws fighting for the betterment of those without power of their own. And, to my delight, it followed through on all of its promises!

Now, I know that this book is a reimagination of another classic Chinese story, “Water Margin” and that this is a gender-swapped version of that tale. But not being familiar with the original, I can’t really speak to how this compares to that one. However, I will say that gender swapping stories is not a simple change. One can’t simply write “King Arthur” but Arthur is a woman. No, there is much more to be done to successfully reimagine a story in this way. And while I can’t speak to the original, this book does an excellent job of centering its tale on the unique places in society that the women and other outlaws are struggling against. The limitations placed around them, the definitions foisted upon them. What’s more impressive was how neatly these larger themes were woven within a story that is very action-oriented.

From the very first moment, the book kicks off to a quick start with Lin Chong, an arms instructor, highlighting her fighting prowess in a practice skirmish with a new recruit. I loved the way the action of this fight (and all of the action scenes that followed) was described. It was easy to picture the beautiful, artistic, and yet lethal fighting scenes that were seen in movies like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and the like. Of course, once Lin Chong joins the bandit group, the action expands to larger scenes with much higher stakes, all of which I found equally thrilling.

I also really liked the overall writing style. Like I said, there’s a lot of action in this story, and it takes a particular skill to write out these scenes in a way that allows readers to fully grasp the scope and scale of what’s happening, all without losing sight of any main characters involved. There was also a sort of “meaty” style to the writing that I’ve come to associate with some of my favorite fantasy fiction. I can’t quite describe what I mean by that, only that I know it when I see it, and it always promises to lead to a great reading experience. What’s more, I was surprised by how funny this book was. Right from the start, I found myself chuckling away at the clever dialogue and smart observations.

The only real issue I had was a bit of disconnect I felt to the characters themselves. Usually, character issues are an instant black mark against a book for me, but this one was so strong in every other area that it wasn’t until halfway through the book that I realized I wasn’t feeling the same sense of connection to the characters that I usually expect to feel with a book I’m enjoying. For some reason, perhaps the fast pace or the “meaty” style of writing, I felt a bit distanced from the characters and their personal stories. Perhaps a bit more could have been done to shine a light on the inner emotions and workings of the characters throughout the story. But that aside from that, an issue that I didn’t even notice until halfway through the story because I was so caught up in the action, I really liked this one.

Rating 8: Full of the fierceness and power that comes from all groups pushed to the side by society, “The Water Outlaws” is a fantasy story sure to delight.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Water Outlaws” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Queer SFF of 2023

Serena’s Review: “Thornhedge”

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

Book: “Thornhedge” by T. Kingfisher

Publishing Info: Tor, August 2023

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

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

Book Description: There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He’s heard there’s a curse here that needs breaking, but it’s a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

Review: This is a story of great sadness and loss. Tragedy. Disappointment. No, no, not this book which, like all of Kingfisher’s novels that I’ve read so far, perfectly balances sweetness and sadness. No, this is the story of how out of all the authors attending ALA this past June, the one I was most excited to meet was T. Kingfisher. I even brought along my hardback copy of “Nettle and Bone” to get it signed. And then, the day that she was scheduled for a signing, I found out that she had to cancel. Tearing of garments, I tell you! But at least I did manage to get a hardcover copy of “A House with Good Bones.” Anyways, enough about all of that and on to the review!

So, shocking no one, I loved this book! The last two that I’ve read by Kingfisher definitely fell closer to the horror genre than to fantasy (hence why both previous reviews were buddy reads with Kate!). But my love affair with this author started with “Nettle and Bone” which has a definite fairytale vibe to it. So I was super excited when I saw that she was returning to fairytale fantasies with this one. What’s more, it’s a twisted fairytale where the focus is not on the princess sleeping in the tower, but on the “evil fairy” who cast her into that cursed sleep.

I always love it when authors take a well-known story and twist it like this, and Kingfisher is a master at her craft. Not only does she tackle “Sleeping Beauty,” but the story also contains references to changeling folklore and “The Frog Prince.” These stories are all woven together so expertly that, while familiar, the entire story feels fresh and new. What’s more, per the author’s usual, while the story is sweet and heartfelt, there are also moments of true terror and suspense. Honestly, more so than I was expecting! Once you start getting into some of the history that Toadling has lived through and realize the true stakes of the situation…oof!

I also really liked the exploration of love, especially familial love. Toadling’s life obviously took a major turn when she was stolen away as a baby by the Fae. But instead of living a cursed life, she finds a new family in water beings that others would look at and call monsters. I loved the sweet, honest depiction of how these ties form and how they defy any attempts at definitions or limitations. Beyond that, we also get an interesting look into the limits and depths of parental love with regard to the cursed princess. I don’t want to go into many spoilers, but for such a short book, I think Kingfisher really honed in on the darker side of parenting, and the way certain strengths in a parent can, at times, become weaknesses.

Toadling herself is also an incredibly sympathetic and likable character. So much of her life is chosen for her, and yet, at every turn, she’s constantly trying to do her best, even when she is asked to do things that are quite difficult and unfair burdens to be placed on her shoulders. Much of this story is her slowly taking back control of her own choices and what life she wants to lead. There is also an incredibly sweet romance sprinkled throughout.

I loved everything about this book. For such a short story, it really did manage to pull on nearly every emotion. I was laughing, I was crying, I was genuinely horrified by some of the imagery. Fans of Kingfisher will adore this, and if you’re not a fan of her already, boy, do I have a gift for you!

Rating 10: Kingfisher tackles the sometimes trite “beauty is on the inside” concept and puts together a work of art that proves that who we are is what we choose to fight for.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Thornhedge” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2023.