Jordyn

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Everything that was built up in the first two novels all comes to a boiling point in The Empire of Gold. It is a wild ride from start to finish, with a handful of new characters, and many terrifying older ones. Overall, I enjoyed this series, but it isn't a new favorite or anything. Unfortunately, the ending of all the fighting and violence was at about 80% of the way through the book, and the last 20% was just...almost epilogue-y things. It made the ending of the book feel rather unnecessarily drawn out, and that's coming from someone who really likes epilogues. Throughout the book things would ramp up, and then plateau, over and over. I kept waiting for things to finally get to that tipping point, and when they did, it was almost disappointing how smoothly things went.

Nahri learns more about her past, and that was fascinating. I loved learning more about who she really was, and why everything about her life went the way that it did. She makes some decisions throughout this book, and I mostly agreed with them. There were a few I questioned, but ultimately she made the right choices, I think. Ali learns more about himself, too, and becomes even less irritating. Things like mortal peril and your friends dying will do that to you, I think. Dara finally grows a backbone, and while I loved how that played out, there was so much death and violence by his hand that it was hard to continue liking his character. (I did like how Chakraborty chose to end his storyline, though. Very fitting.) Manizheh was flat out terrifying, a picture of insanity brought on by decades (and generations) of abuse and enslavement. I understand why she did the things that she did, but holy cow does that not excuse any of it. Wow. Way to make everything worse.

I do wish we could have seen how things played out far into the future for Daevabad. The ending of the book was already looooong enough, but I do want to know what happened to the great city. Do they work it out? Does it fall again? But alas, it was not to be since we don't learn anything about the future. Oh well. Final rating for this one sits at four stars. I enjoyed it. Overall for the whole series, I think I'd rate it at barely 4 stars. I loved the first book, the second was mediocre, and the third book I just liked. But despite saying that, I would definitely recommend it, especially if you're looking for something Non-Western culture inspired!

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Everything that I liked about the first book is still here — the sweeping beautiful descriptions of the city, the magic that awes, and the stellar cast. But compared to the first book, this one just didn't hit quite as well for me. I'm not entirely sure why — The Kingdom of Copper moves at a remarkably quick pace, and everything really comes to a head right at the end — but I found myself not enjoying it at as much as The City of Brass. It's possible its just a me thing, but who knows. Perhaps I just missed Nahri being amazed and shocked at how most of the djinn and daevas live, and in aw of the city around her. In The Kingdom of Copper, Nahri is seemingly done with being amazed, and has circled back around at being annoyed at the lack of progress and the amount of bigotry present.

Poor Nahri has been through a lot in her relatively short life, and everything just seems to be getting worse for her. She's handles it all admirably though, so she continues to be one of my favorite characters in the bunch. Dara, on the other hand, I want to shake silly. I can't really get into it too much without spoilling anything, but he makes some really crappy decisions here, and doesn't fight hard enough, in my opinion. Instead of fighting to break the circle of war, he just...goes along with it. It was frustrating to the extreme. And Ali, oh Ali. Yes, to all of those who said he grows on you, he definitely does. But that doesn't mean I still don't want to slap him sometimes. He's remarkably short sighted, and makes some really stupid decisions, but he's infinitely more likeable in this book than the first.

I think a lot of the conflict in this particular book could have been avoided (obviously) if anyone ever, actually bothered to explain to Nahri what was going on, and what was being planned around her. Instead, everyone just assumes that she'll go along with whatever they're concocting. I really loved that she didn't just fall into line. She remained herself, and kept who she was in spite of everything.

Overall, still enjoyable! I'm giving it 3.5 stars. I'm barely into the next book, but keep your eyes peeled for my review of The Empire of Gold soon!

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So, for as long as I've known about the Daevabad series — years — I thought it was a young adult fantasy series. I've mostly out grown the idea of young adult fantasy series. After reading so many of them, they really do all start to feel similar. That's really the only reason I haven't picked up The City of Brass before. Bad excuse? Oh definitely. But when I finally went digging through Goodreads in search of something to read, I looked a little closer at it this time. And lo and behold, it is not a young adult fantasy. Goodreads places it solidly in the adult category, so I snapped it right up, and gobbled it down in a little less than two days. So what I'm saying is, whoops I regret not picking this up earlier.

The world Chakraborty paints in this novel is a stunningly painted. It's a world that mirrors our own — Cairo is a main setting at the beginning of the book — but vastly differs in other ways. Djinn and other such creatures/peoples exist, and their magic is littered throughout the pages of The City of Brass. Chakraborty does a fantastic job of making Daevabad feel tangible. The descriptions are just enough for the world to unfold in your mind, without making it seem tediously detailed.

Nahiri is our main character, and she starts the novel as something of a con woman. She's got magic that no one else does in the city — she can see when people ailing, and heal them and herself (seemingly) with a touch of her hands. I liked her right away — she's competent, and willing to do what she needs to in order to survive. She's a woman in a world where it is absolutely not easy to be a woman. You get the sense she's tired of this life, and of course, things happen and suddenly she's thrown out of it, and into a new world entirely — Daevabad. She's resistant to the new culture she has to live in, and fights every new thing she's got to do.

Very quickly into the book Nahiri runs into Dara, who is a daeva — a proud djinn who used to be a slave. He's a little arrogant, but a lot (eventually) in love with Nahiri. Dara is also extremely old, older than he should be, by daeva standards. He's something of a berserker — Dara turns almost feral when it's time to protect her. Since that's one of my favorite romance tropes, I was totally in love with him. We learn more about his past at the very end of the book, and what he was made to do, and its rough. You feel bad for him, while also hating him a little bit.

The other characters are interesting, but most are highly irritating. Especially Alizayd, the second-born son of the King of Daevabad. It felt like every time he opened his mouth on page I was rolling my eyes. Dude is stubborn, and unwilling to look at something from any different angle other than his own. It's his way or the highway, apparently. He's judgemental, rude, arrogant, and just plain mean sometimes. I have been told he gets better, but right now he is firmly in my do not like list. Ali's brother and sister are also a little annoying, but in vastly different ways.

The overall plot is a little thin on the ground at first, but once it settles it is easy to follow. I really enjoyed the world of the daeva, and will absolutely be heading right into the next book. Four and a half stars out of five, simply because Ali was really really irritating.

Cute, and sexy. Read as a quick break between fantasy novels. I liked all three men, but I think Eli was my favorite. I can't help but love the ‘golden retriever' of the group, so to speak. There's nothing much to this book, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. The steamy scenes are smokin' hot, but the overall plot is a little on the limp side.

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.Thank you to Netgalley and Saga for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.Wow. This is going to be a hard one to review, I think. If you've never read James Islington's work before, you're really missing out. The man is a master at manipulating the characters, at plotting something so tightly that you really can't see it coming, and dang is he good at twists. Like so much so that I didn't see one particular coming a mile away. I loved Islington's [b:The Shadow of What Was Lost 22878967 The Shadow of What Was Lost (The Licanius Trilogy, #1) James Islington https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507308087l/22878967.SY75.jpg 42428433], and if you haven't read that one, please go do so. You will not regret it. But we're really not here to discuss his previous work, are we?The Will of the Many is just as tightly plotted as the aforementioned series, and wow, is it a stunner of a plot. There are a million moving pieces and it's almost impossible to keep track of them all in the best way. You think you see something coming, but then something else will rear its head and change direction of the plot. I honestly wasn't sure about this book just going off of the first synopsis that was released. It sounded boring. It sounded like something that had been done to death. (I see you Red Rising comparisons. I see you.) I can promise you right here right now that not only is it not boring, it's got some shine to it. However, the book starts extremely slowly. I wasn't really hooked until we got to the Academy, and that's around 30% of the way into the book. If you start reading, and find yourself slagging — push through. I promise you won't regret it.Our main character is a teenaged boy named Vis. Only that's not his real name. Nor is that one. Or that one. Vis is in hiding, you see. He was one a prince of a small kingdom that was invaded and taken over by the Hierarchy. He's hiding because the second the Hierarchy finds out he's still alive, they'll kill him. Or worse, put him in a Sapper (You'll find out what those are quite quickly into the book, but they're essentially worse than death or prison.) Vis is stubbornly good at everything. Seriously. I don't think we see him really struggle with anything, and if we do, he masters it quickly enough. It was bordering on frustrating, but not enough that it detracted any stars from my rating. Because of his upraising as a prince, a lot of Vis's mastery is hand-waved. Oh, he learned this growing up in the palace, or he was trained as a kid in sword fighting, etc etc. It's a neat way of making him knowledgeable without making it seem ridiculous. I liked Vis, and I wanted him to succeed in his goals almost immediately.The best part of The Will of the Many is that you can't trust anyone. Because of Vis's background, he has to lie to almost everyone he meets. You can't trust any of them to help without wanting something else in return. It was fascinating, and you'll be pulling your hair out trying to figure out if everyone is as dastardly as they seem, or if they really are trustworthy. In my opinion, the best characters are Callidus and Eidhin — Vis's best friends. Their friendship doesn't come easily, and is more than earned by the time the book wraps up. I was also strangely found of Veridius — he's intensely charming, and honestly kind of hard to hate. You'll see what I mean if you pick the book up.I can't talk enough about how mind-blowing the ending of this book was. The last few chapters! The epilogue! I can't say anything without spoiling, but just know that if you read Licanius, and loved how that ended, you will not be disappointed here. Everything that was amazing from Licanius is echoed in new, fascinating ways. Islington's prowess is showing here, and I am so glad. I was more than worried I was going to be disappointed after this one, but I am not. Oh my god, I am not. Five stars, and now I cannot wait to get my hands on the next one.

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Yes, to no one's surprise, I read another Beauty and the Beast retelling. Unfortunately, this one doesn't really feel like the Beauty and the Beast story to me. Yes, there's a curse, and yes there are roses, but other than that, there is very little that calls back to the original tale. However, that does not mean I didn't enjoy this book. On the contrary, I absolutely adored it. This is my new favorite Grace Draven, an author who previously I didn't think worked for me. Maybe I just like her older work? I was granted access to an ARC of her latest last year, and unfortunately ended up DNFing it. BUT WE'RE NOT HERE TO TALK ABOUT THAT BOOK.

Entreat Me hit many of my favorite tropes when it comes to romance. Older man who never thought he would love again? Check. Curses? Check. Stubborn, sassy female lead? Check. I cannot tell you how much I loved watching Ballard and Louvaen dual each other with their words. She was ready to take on an entire army to protect her sister, and Ballard knew it. He also was very much in love with her, pretty much on sight. I would have happily read about eight hundred more words of these two! The chemistry between them practically melted my kindle, and very easily blew right off the (metaphorical) pages. Yes, this is the only retelling that I've read where there are actual sex scenes! (Ballard's curse does not render him a beast all the time, for those of you that were curious.) I repeat, I loved getting to watch Louvaen and Ballard together, and I extra enjoyed watching them circle around each other at the beginning of the book.

Basically, if you're looking for a fantasy romance with older characters, I recommend Entreat Me. (Their ages aren't really given in the book, but it's clear they are older — Ballard has a son in his mid-twenties, and Louvaen is widowed.) It's got some familiar tropes inside, and the writing is just top notch. The peril that comes towards the end of the book feels genuinely real here, something that I really appreciated. Most of the time that sort of thing is washed over in the other retellings I've read. The epilogue was perfect, a nice little cherry on top of a beautiful book sundae. Five stars.

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Well, that book was much longer than it needed to be. That's really my only real complaint here – there was a lot of nothing happening towards the beginning. Of course, some of it was actual character growth, but a good chunk of it was just unnecessary. I guess I also wasn't a huge fan of the additional POVs we get in Glow, either. There's something like 3 or 4 new POVs, that just bulk out the book. I'm not sure they were strictly necessary in getting the main story across.

Other than that, though, I'm still really enjoying The Plated Prisoner series. Auren has grown into a powerful fae, and while I love seeing her and Slade together, I also love watching her come into her own power. It's a lot of fun seeing that growth from what we knew of her in the first book. Slade's backstory was INFINITELY needed, and I'm so glad we get so much of it in this book. I hope we see more of Auren's in the last book, but if we don't, we do get a good chunk of it in Glow. (Mostly I'm hoping we somehow learn more about her parents? Please!)

I really want to see our girl have a girl day – I want to see her surrounded by other women, having fun without a man present. Has that ever happened to her? Has she ever solid female companionship? No? Please give that to her? She deserves it.

Oops, one more complaint, mostly about the end of the book. No real spoilers – hasn't Auren suffered enough!?

I am now desperately waiting for the last book, because this one ends on a DOOZY of a reveal. Docking a couple stars due to the length of this book, and the other complaints I mentioned previously. Still definitely going to continue the series, though.

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For a series I really thought was going to be mostly steamy sex scenes, and mediocre-to-crappy writing, The Plated Prisoner series is really impressing me. Like, I'm gobbling these down at a book-a-day rate, and the writing is only getting better. Raven Kennedy clearly learned a lot while writing this series, and it really shows through the story. Everything I liked about the first two books is still present, but we're also getting gobs of character growth!

Auren is really starting to break through her cage, so to speak, and be her own person. She learns a lot about herself in this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. There were a few times in this book where I wanted to grab her and shake her out of her misery, but she does end up doing it mostly on her own. She reaches her breaking point in this book, and once she hits it, ooooo what a fantastic show. We learn a little bit more about Rip in this book, but I'm still waiting on more backstory from him. He's endlessly fascinating, and I hope we get more about him in the next book because I am desperate for more knowledge! I also want more from the Wrath, but I have a feeling that's coming.

And yes, before any of you ask, there are a few steamy scenes in this one. Finally, we're hitting the fantasy romance part of the series. For all that this is advertised as fantasy romance, we don't really get anything more than a couple of kisses from the main couple in the books prior to this. I will hope for more romantic involvement in the next entry, too.

But I'm docking a star yet again because I thought the whole Midas reveal was slightly contrived (it just felt too implausible to me), and I'm still missing out on more world-building. Everything is very vague, and I'm DESPERATELY wishing for a map. We've got six/seven kingdoms messing around with one another here, and I don't know where any of them are in relation to one another! Give me a map!

Anyway, still loving this series. Onto the next!

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This is going to be a short review, because there's not much to say that I didn't already say in the review for Gild. However, Kennedy's writing is vastly improved in this book, which made reading it that much more enjoyable. (And these books are already like popcorn! I'm going through one a day, people!) The characterization of the characters is much more complex, and feels more like an actual adult book, rather than a dark YA one. Though I still am wishing for more world building — actual world building meaning learning more about where we are set, and what sort of leaders and people live there. We get crumbs in Glint, but they were delicious crumbs.

So yes, it goes without saying that I did enjoy Glint more than Gild! I especially loved learning more about Auren's backstory, and more about her as a person in general. The twists in this book were phenomenal! The side characters definitely added more to the story — Auren gets more friends, sort of, and we do see her with another friendly woman! YAY. I do hope this trend continues, but we'll see. I wasn't a super fan of the Queen's chapters, but they did add more depth to the story, so I can't complain about that. I'm sort of rooting for her? We'll see how things continue.

But of course the newest and most interesting character that gets properly introduced in Glint is Commander Rip. He reminded me a lot of a darker Rhys from ACOTAR, but he's definitely not an exact copy. I loved watching him coax Auren out of her cage, so to speak, and I hope that he'll continue to push her. The romance is still not quite there, but I can definitely see where we're going!!! The twist at the end was chef's kiss — Kennedy grabbed my attention, and now I'm basically rushing to find out more about this reveal and what it means going forward.

Four stars, and just picture me hurrying to open the next book on my kindle.

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I wasn't sure if I really wanted to read this series or not, to be totally honest with you. It had been recommended to me a few times simply because it is eventually fantasy romance, even if it doesn't start out that way. (In case you didn't know, I am on a quest to read the best fantasy romance books out there so I can write a nice big recommendation post for you all. So far, I have only a handful of winners, and a lot of really mediocre books.) My hesitancy was simply because there is on page sexual assault, rape, and violence. I'm not one to promote that sort of thing, and well, dark romance isn't my jam. You all should know how I feel about that sort of thing by now. But my friends kept telling me to read The Plated Prisoner series. It's free on Kindle Unlimited, so it's not like I'm wasting my money on this or anything. Might be worth a shot, right?

Well, I read it in one day. A matter of hours, really. It's excessively readable, even if it's really dark. I enjoyed what I read today, even if I really could have done without the on page rape. Gild is about Auren, King Midas's favorite whore. She is his favorite of all the others, so much so that he turned her into living gold. That's right, she's entirely gold, except for her teeth, eyes, and tongue. Needless to say, she's living something of a pampered, but hellish life. I liked Auren — you're supposed to — but damn did I want her to stand up for herself even more than she already does. I wanted her to try harder with the other women, but I understand why they hate her. I hope eventually we'll see Auren with a female friend.

So why am I rating this one as low as I did, if I enjoyed it? Well, the world building was mediocre at best — I really wanted a map, or just more about the world where this is set. It's clearly not earth, but I have no idea other than that. The lack of female companionship bothered me a lot too — I know Auren was kept on a gilded pedestal, but I hate it when main female characters are the ONLY female character around. Especially in fantasy books. Give me more women!

So, yeah, I'll keep reading this series, because I do want to see where the romance comes from. I actually have no idea who the love interest will be, but I'm really hoping it's not Midas.

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While I thoroughly enjoy Murderbot, this particular entry into the series didn't really stand out in anyway. Miki the companion robot was an interesting look into how Murderbot views other constructs. Seeing them realize that not all humans are awful to robotic beings definitely brought more detail into the overall story. However, other than that, there was really nothing particularly memorable in this novella. Definitely will keep reading, though, because Murderbot's sarcasm is fantastic.

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I don't actually know how to sum up my feelings for the ending to this duology. Everything that Strange the Dreamer was, Muse of Nightmares tries to be, too. There's less of the ethereal dreamy quality to the book, but that's because there is constant action. Everything happens, seemingly all at once. I thought this would bother me, but really it didn't. They are two different books, but they work excellently with one another. Hopefully, this makes sense. Lazlo takes a step back in this book — Sarai is really the main character now. Lazlo isn't gone, of course, he's just not at the forefront. I think that's why the dreamy quality isn't quite there? That's my guess, anyway.

Moving onwards, in Muse of Nightmares, new characters are introduced — and what characters they are — new foes emerge, pasts revealed, all sorts of things. Happily, all questions asked in Strange the Dreamer get answered. There is a reason for most things, and that did make me quite happy. What I loved best, however, was learning more about the other gods, namely Skathis and what his motivations were. I don't want to spoil anything, but I was really happy with how bad his motivations were. Skathis was a horrible person, through and through. Muse of Nightmares just reiterates that. Learning more about Minya was equally enthralling. As much as you hate her in Strange the Dreamer, you will learn more about what she did that day and why she did it. Taylor redeems her in ways I did not see coming.

Everything we see through Sarai's eyes as the main character you really feel. She is a deeply emotional character, and she was a phenomenal choice as the main character for this book. The emotions present here are so incredibly strong, and I promise they'll grip you by your heartstrings. Grief, especially, takes lead. Grief for family, for the past, for the self. It's all present.

Gah. I am trying so hard not to spoil this book, because I truly think you'll get the most out of it if you don't know much about it before going in. So, I'll leave it here — if you have any interest in this duology at all, please read it. I can't recommend it enough. Five stars for both books.

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Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Oh, I am so disappointed by this book. You all know how much I love Fae stories, and unfortunately, this one just did not work for me. Though, it really wasn't the Fae part of this book that bothered me. It was literally the main two characters — Delphine and Alaine. But we'll get to them in just a second. I have some more complaints I want aired first.

First of all, the first...half? of this book? is a total slog. It is so slow — you are basically dragged along for no reason. I think some major editing could have maybe saved most of this book, but it's too late now. Almost nothing really happens until about 50% of the way in, and then the story finally kicks off. Ugh. I wanted to like this book so much. I love stories about the fae — bargains, trickery, and general magic all included. All of that is present here, but it's told in such a roundabout, slow way that I almost found myself DNFing this book more than once. I hate to say that. I really do — there was so much potential here that is disappointing that it just wasn't used.

Delphine and Alaine are sisters that grew up together on the orchard that their grandfather bargained for from the fae. They grow up knowing about the fae, about the set-in-stone bargains they can use to tweak the luck of the world to get things they want or need. Alaine wants to be seen as capable of running the orchard on her own. Delphine wants to marry into society and be seen as important that way. This much I followed, this was fine.

But then they — mostly Alaine — start sticking their noses into things they shouldn't. Alaine starts bargaining for bigger and bigger things, starts trying to really change things, rather than tweak, and well, soon enough she bargains for something she shouldn't. The entire book I found myself basically screaming at Leslie and Julie. No, that's a lie, we were all screaming at each other! None of us liked what we were reading, and all of us knew this was going to end badly. Delphine at least had a good reason for her bargains. She marries a rich, powerful man only to discover that he's horrible and abusive. (The abuse we see on page is — she gets slapped, pushed into a wall, and her arm held very tightly.) She wants out of her marriage, so she tries to bargain. Makes sense.

But guys. Guys. I didn't like either of these characters. They both are extremely selfish. They're both unlikable. They both make stupid decision after stupid decision. And we're left to follow as the consequences of these decisions make themselves known. Fortunately, this book does end in a way that I at least tolerated. I don't want to spoil anything, but ugh. This entire book was underwhelming. I'm rating this three stars simply, because the time spent in Fae was interesting.

Thank you to my friends, Leslie and Julie, who buddy read this with me! I really enjoyed having you both to scream at. It made this experience much, much more fun.

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Strange the Dreamer is another book that was highly highly recommended to me by a friend, and its another winner of a suggestion! I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this book. It reminded me so much of the dreamy, atmospheric quality of Erin Morgenstern's work — both The Night Circus and The Starless Sea. This one is so much more fantasy than those books, though, in the best way! I wasn't really sure what to expect from this one — I went in mostly blind, and honestly, I can recommend doing that. You'll dive deep into this awesome world that Taylor has set up, without any preconceived notions on what should happen there.

Our main character is Lazlo Strange, and friends, I adored him with all my heart. He is a pure soul, our Lazlo, and I loved being in his head for most this book. Lazlo is a dreamer — he wants his life to be so much more than it is. When the subject of all his dreams literally rides into his town, Lazlo literally jumps for the chance to go on an adventure. We follow him, of course, and it's on this adventure that we get to see the neatest world building. Nothing is really infodumped — you get explanations as you're running, so to speak. I loved Taylor's writing, but I can see how a lot of people would be turned off by it. She's lyrical, descriptive, and tends to use bigger, less used words. It worked for me, but there's a warning if you need one.

Another warning that you'll need is that there is a deep horrible violence right at the center of this book. It works in the world that we've been given, and would not say that it's gratuitous or unnecessary. I won't spoil it, because it's not mentioned in the synopsis. I don't want to give away what is a huge part of the book. It's better to read it in context, anyway. (All warnings in the CW listed above are accurate, but you do not see child death or rape on page. I promise. They are all mentioned in passing more than once, but without great detail.) Anyway — for the first half of the book, you're left wondering why exactly this adventure was started, and once you get the answer...well, things shift a bit. The book at this point pivots, and turns from an adventure/quest into a lot of dreams and romance. Some might be turned off by this tonal shift, but I liked it. Obviously.

The romance at the heart of the book was sweet. Almost sugary. It's very innocent to start, and never progresses past kissing. I do love Sarai, Lazlo's love interest, and I wish desperately that certain things had changed, buuuut it's part of the book. It had to happen this way for a reason, and I cannot wait to dive into the next book to see where Laini Taylor takes us. I am fully on board with this series. It is written so beautifully, and gooooossssssh, thank you so much to my friend to recommended this one to me.

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Woof. I wasn't sure what to expect with a full-length horror novel by one of my favorite authors. I knew firsthand how good Kingfisher is at making you scared, and I was more than a little terrified to see what she did inside A House With Good Bones. Like, I'm a wuss, and I don't handle being scared very well, but honestly? This book was awesome. Kingfisher is a master at work here, guys. She knows exactly how to make you wish the protagonist was somewhere else entirely, but also how to make you wonder what exactly is going on. Allllll while laughing a little bit. Yeah, she's a favorite author for a reason.

I will never get over how relatable Kingfisher's main characters are. They're almost always out of their twenties, and almost always sarcastic and wildly intelligent. Sam fits every one of those bullet points to a T, and and she's fat. Excellent representation here — Sam doesn't care about her appearance very much in the book — she's much more interested in figuring out what the hell is going on at her mom's house. Her need to figure out what is going on with her Mom was just...really nice. Sam tried just about everything she could to help her mom.

I loved how much I wanted to know what was going on, but also dreaded reading the next word on the page. There was exactly one point in the book where I set it down for a few minutes because I had to nope out for a minute. (Teeth!?!?) I took a breather, ate a piece of chocolate, and hopped right back in. The mystery at hand was way, way too interesting for me to give up the book. NOT that there was ever a danger of that happening. I trust Kingfisher too much to step away from one of her books. Though I may have nightmares about our backyard now? Thanks!!!

ANYWAY, what I'm saying is that if you like horror even a little bit, please try this one out. It was creepy, and suspenseful, but I don't know that it ever dipped out right into horrifying. I felt dread rather than fear for 90% of the book. The book ends nicely, too, which was a relief. I wanted there to be a solid reason behind everything, and there is! To no one's surprise, this was five stars.

Now, excuse me while I never plant roses ever.

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It's been probably close to a year since I read the first Murderbot novella, but I found that it didn't matter much here. Each of these stories seem to be self-contained. You don't HAVE to have read the first one in order to understand this one, but you'll definitely have more enjoyment of it if you do! All the mentions of what happens in the first book are explained enough that I think you could get by just fine. But why wouldn't you want to read the first one? These are so short and so much fun.

Good news is, I still love Murderbot, and I still feel so so bad for them. What a life. Constantly either doing what someone else orders you to, or completely on the run. I also really loved ART though I did worry for a bit that ART was going to betray them. Thankfully, that does not happen, and they have a weird sort of construct friendship. I frequently found myself wanting to shake Murderbots employers in this particular novel. What stupid decisions! Seriously! The whole book!

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and will definitely be continuing the series when I can!

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperTeen for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

When I requested this book on Netgalley, I didn't know that there was any sort of controversy about the author. I just thought the synopsis sounded interesting, and, well, I love a mythology retelling. Then I went looking on Goodreads for other reviews — I usually do this before diving into an ARC. I don't really read any of the reviews in detail, but I do check out the star ratings. It's been a good factor for seeing what I'm getting into — if most people rate it around 3 stars, well, then it's probably a mediocre book. You see what I mean? Well, when I went to look up Lies We Sing to the Sea, I saw that it had been rated many, many times as 1 star. That's when I started reading some of the reviews a little more in depth.

Apparently, Sarah Underwood — the author — has never read The Odyssey, yet here she is writing a ‘retelling' of the same myth. Now — color me confused. How can anyone write a retelling without reading the original myth? That makes absolutely zero sense. She cites such sources as Percy Jackson and other modern retellings as how she's gotten the story. But uh...I'm going to be truthful with you here — I don't think I would have requested Lies We Sing to the Sea if I had known this about the author. All of this is really a moot point, because when you get right down to it — Lies We Sing to the Sea is not a retelling of The Odyssey. It takes minor characters from the original myth and weaves a whole story out of them. Odysseus himself is maybe mentioned once or twice but that's it.

So really, I guess I'm saying is that the fact that Sarah Underwood hasn't read The Odyssey really isn't that big of a deal. The story she creates here is a heartbreaking one, but one that was told really well. It doesn't stand up to other stories that it will be compared to, namely Song of Achilles, but it definitely is inspired by such books. Like without a doubt Sarah wanted to tell a similar story. So yes, for those of you that want to know, Lies We Sing to the Sea has a tragic ending. It is a sapphic love story that does not end well. Is that spoiling things? I don't think so, because this is written in the manner of Greek Tragedies so anyone expecting a happy ending should really know better. Either way, the story was told well, but I did miss the atmospheric, poetic descriptions of Madeline Miller. Lies We Sing to the Sea is told much more simply — possibly because this is, in fact, a YA novel?

Who knows.

Anyway, I enjoyed the book, but I can't see myself picking it up again. I'm not really one for tragic endings, despite loving Greek myths. What it really boils down to is that if you like Greek myths, and know what to expect from them, then well, you'll probably enjoy this.

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I had pretty high hopes for Mr & Mrs Witch, and ultimately, the book didn't live up to them. While this paranormal romance book is heavily (and I mean heavily) inspired by Mr. and Mrs. Smith, it just fell a little short of being something worth recommending. If you've seen the aforementioned movie just once, then you'll know where this book is going. Literally. It's almost an exact copy of the first part of the movie, but with witches.

Savvy and her beau, Griffin, are both living secret lives from one another. Savvy is a witch, who also happens to be a sort of spy who goes out and neutralizes harmful magic. Griffin does much of the same thing, but also hunts down witches. It is unclear if he's ever killed a witch, or if he just sort of stops them using their magic and sends them on their way. (This should have been a bigger deal!) Their secret lives come to light on the day of their wedding, and well, everything goes to hell in a hand basket, as it were. Savvy is a sassy, does-what-she-wants sort of woman. I liked her! I also really loved that her familiar was a huge black panther. Way cool. Griffin was sort of a limp rag of a person, but with some small interesting bits. We really don't see much of who he is, unfortunately. And yes, this book is dual POV, so that leaves a lot out. Either way, they were decently cute together, but there were huge swathes of the book that felt unrealistic. But Jordyn, you say, this is a paranormal romance novel, it's not supposed to be realistic! Uh the RELATIONSHIP can be realistic, my friends. And that's what I'm talking about here.

Could you really stay with someone else after finding out both of you were lying about almost everything? I'm not sure I could. The steamy scenes were pretty gosh darn steamy — I think there were three? Total? Nothing was closed door, thankfully! There's a good one that takes place in a car after a chase. That one was memorable!

There were some bits of neat world building sprinkled throughout the book — I loved all of the familiars, personally. I loved the idea of CRONE and HUNTER. But other than that, this one just fell a little flat for me. I wanted it to be better than it was — especially the ending, which feels more than a little convenient or contrived. Not going to spoil it for anyone because we don't do that here, but I did find myself wondering out loud, “That's it?” Oh well.

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

Oops, this is another Beauty and the Beast retelling, this time by one of my absolute favorite authors, T. Kingfisher. Knowing what I know about her writing (and love about it), I had a good idea that this particular fairy tale was in good hands. There are enough horrifying and terrible things hidden deep in this story that Kingfisher could get creative and twisty with it. And that she did — many of the familiar bits of the Beauty and the Beast tale are here, but there are many others that are missing — for one there is no witch that curses The Beast, there's no Gaston or evil townspeople wanting to murder him. There's no talking tableware or furniture, either. But boy, are there roses. So, so many roses. Horrible roses.

Needless to say, Kingfisher definitely puts her own spin on the story. One that I really liked, though it isn't actually my favorite version that I've read recently. (To everyone's surprise? Maybe?) Bryony is a typical Kingfisher heroine in that she is steadfast, down-to-earth, and willing to just...get on with things. She does what she has to do, and doesn't fret about silly things. Though she does get scared in more than on occasion in the book, but these situations are genuinely scary so she gets points for being sensible. Byrony doesn't really accept the Beast for what he is RIGHT away but it really doesn't take very long for her to get over his appearance. I liked that about her — The Beast promised not to hurt her, and she pretty much takes him at his word.

The Beast himself is fairly vague, as he usually is in these tales, but he does have a predilection for making clockwork things. In fact, he makes Bryony a little clockwork bee so it can pollinate her garden for her. I loved that Kingfisher's Beast had a hobby — something other than skulking around the manor house all day. He wanted to please Bryony, which was cute. Together, they are sarcastic, and like to tease one another. It was a joy to watch on page. I also really enjoyed watching them figure out a way to talk about the curse without angering the house.

Yes, the house is sentient, and not altogether good. I won't spoil more here, but Kingfisher is a master at making you feel dread. She uses this tool frequently on page, but it's not overdone. It's just the right amount of really wishing the characters weren't there right now. The ending and solving of the curse was excellent, and highly unique of all the versions that I've read so far. Overall, I'm going to give Bryony and Roses four and a half stars!

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

After reading Echo North and being reminded just how much I love the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, I decided to venture into the world looking for more retellings of this classic story. I discovered that not only have I already read quite a few of them, that there are tons and tons out there for me to grab hold of. Beauty was one of the highly recommended ones, so it shot straight to the top of the list.

In this particular version of the story, Beauty is given the nickname as a joke — she is not the most beautiful of her sisters, and is in fact rather plain. She's more likely to be found in the blacksmith shop helping shoe horses than to be embroidering or painting or whatever it is that noble ladies do with their spare time. I quite liked this version of Beauty — she was down to earth in a way that a lot of other ‘Beauties' usually aren't. When her father returned with his “bargain” with the Beast, Beauty didn't really hesitate to say that she would go. She was expendable in a way that her sisters were not, and well, it wasn't like she had a lot of other prospects in the small little town they lived in.

I love, love, loved the side characters in this one. Beauty's sisters loved and adored her for who she was without really wanting to change her. Their father wanted what was best for them, but after he lost his business he was not too proud to accept help. Beauty's brother-in-law, Gervain, was a champion of men and just one of the nicest characters I've read in awhile. Just lovely people all around in this book. And this is all without mentioning the Beast himself.

The Beast is a lonely man who, if I'm recalling this right (it's been several days since I finished this book), had an ancestor that was cursed. I don't remember if it was Beast himself or another member of his family who was the first person to be cursed and sentenced to live in the magical house until a girl loved and agreed to marry him. He has been in the house for at least two hundred years by the time that we know him. He is very clearly alone, hates it, and wants company. He seemed soft, and extremely kind to Beauty right from the start. After ‘kidnapping' Beauty, the Beast sends countless treasures to her family so they are taken care of, and know that she is safe.

Both Beauty and Beast are outcasts inside the story, and together they fit in a way that neither one of them ever expected to. I loved watching them circle around each other, and then finally fall for one another. It is slowly done, and masterfully done. My one problem with this retelling is the ending. Not only is it extremely abrupt, it leaves you feeling as if you're missing something. I wanted a more rounded ending — maybe some more after they are married, or something similar. Instead, we don't even get to see them wed. It ends right before the wedding, as the guests arrive. I was disappointed, but since I liked the rest of the novel, I'm still rating this one 4 stars.

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

I am on a quest to find adult fantasy romances that are actually worth recommending on my blog. A Promise of Fire is one that sits on the border between recommend, and just move right on by. If it helps you decide if you're going to read this one, I don't think I'll be picking up the rest of the series any time soon. The writing just wasn't there for me – it reads as very extremely modern when the world it's set in is clearly inspired by Ancient Greece/Rome. The main character, Cat, frequently says ‘Gag' (and I mean FREQUENTLY.) in response to things she doesn't like, and just...overall it felt like she had been ripped from modern day and dropped into this setting. The author also mentions hairties at one point which just yanked me out of the setting real fast.

The hero, Griffin, was rather nice, but felt a bit...overly likeable? Like he had a bit of a protective side, was jealous, but also warm and kind. He was fantastic in battle, and wanted the country that he took over to make changes for the better. I don't know, friends, he felt almost unrealistic to me. His family is also extremely welcoming, friendly, and again, felt rather idealized.

The plot was there, but its not something that has me begging for answers, or reaching for the next book in a hurry. The steam is fairly steamy, but nothing to write home about, I don't think. One detailed scene, and a couple almost-there-but-not-quite scenes, too.

Overall, this particular novel is mediocre in my eyes. We can do better, pals.

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Ugh. I am so disappointed by The Bladed Faith. I wanted to like this book so much more than I actually did. Orbit, you let me down this time, and you rarely rarely ever do. Now, this might have been the case of this book being hyped up too much and me building it up in my head, but uh wow did this one just not resonate with me at all. The Bladed Faith felt very much like your stereotypical ‘chosen one' needs to mete out vengeance after someone they love is killed kinda story. There was very little that stood out to me as original — though the singular thing that did stand out was very nice indeed. Of the characters, only the main one was a straight white male. Literally almost all the ‘good' characters that were on page a bunch were either POC, queer, or both. Needless to say, that was refreshing! However, I'm not rating a book five stars simply because of it's representation.

My biggest beef, I think, is that the story itself wasn't that interesting. Cyrus is the sole living heir to a kingdom after an empire comes and conquers it. The empire kills his parents in front of him, and then he is led down the path to vengeance. There are god characters, but they are killed almost immediately. Cyrus becomes amazing at fighting after three years of training, and is turned into a sort of vigilante. He's only nineteen when the real beefy part of the novel starts. He's out there beating full grown adults in fights. I just was not interested. Maybe I read this at the wrong time? Maybe this book was never for me. Who knows, but overall, I found myself sort of dreading picking up the book again. I forced myself to continue because one, I did want to know how it wrapped up, and two, I wanted to see if it got any better. It sort of? Gets better? There's a huge betrayal at the end that was interesting, but other than that it just sort of felt typical.

Perhaps I would have been more interested in this if the main character had been literally anything other than a teenaged straight white male. Mari and Stasia, the sisters who help train Cyrus, were infinitely cooler than him, and they're only side characters. Despite having a decently well-rounded cast, The Bladed Faith felt extremely male to me. (Male power fantasy? I guess, is what I mean? Only the young white guy can save an entire kingdom from an empire!!!) This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it is something that fantasy as a genre is overwhelmed with. I sadly (and quite obviously) was not impressed with this one. Two and a half stars.

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

I knew I would enjoy this book, but I had no idea how much I would absolutely adore it! I completely fell in love with the world that Meyer sets up — much of the novel takes place in a magical house, and it is that setting that I really just fell head over heels for. I'm a sucker for a magical house, and well, Echo North‘s house did not disappoint.

Echo is our main character — she's extremely intelligent, clever, and wants the best for her family. She's also heavily scarred on her face — a wolf attacked her when she was young, and left it's mark. Much of the villagers think she is marked by the devil because of her scars. Echo is shunned in town, and lives a very lonely life as she grows up. Some things happen — cue me being extremely vague on purpose — and Echo must choose between her life or her father's. She, of course, chooses her father's life. This bargain is where things really kick off in the novel. It feels very much like a Fae bargain — one that means you get what you want, but at the expense of something else you hold dear. For Echo, it means that her father will live, but she will have to live with the wolf in his house for one year. At first, you're not sure if you (and Echo) should trust the wolf. He is, after all, the same wolf that scarred her when she was young. But then, as you read, you realize that he is so much more than just a wolf.

I mean, it's obvious, because he's a talking wolf, but still. Meyer did a phenomenal job of weaving the story in just the right way that you aren't sure if you've figured out the mystery at the core of the book or not. You'll be guessing until suddenly the answer is right in front of you, staring you in the face. It was done masterfully, and I thoroughly enjoyed being led around here! The characters are all done fantastically — a few are straight up archetypes, but that works for a fairy tale retelling. I do wish we had seen more of Echo's father actually fathering — I wanted to see him show his love for her more on page, but we did get a small snippet that made me happy. Echo's brother never treated her any different because of her scars, and I loved how much he loved her.

The Beauty and the Beast story is only vaguely retold here — the wolf was obviously once a man — but I didn't care that it didn't follow the original story closely. Hopefully, you won't either. Echo North borrowed from a few other myths and fairy tales, but none of it feels like an exact copy. It feels as if Meyer really wove something new here, something both heartbreaking and completely lovely. I will admit I was a bit confused by the ending of the book, but it all shakes out by the time you're done reading. In fact, it even makes some prior things in the book make sense! (If you're wondering who all those things in the house belong to, I promise you get your answer, but it's not spelled out for you.) And yes, before anyone asks, this does have a happy ending. Anyway, now that I've basically word-vomited about this book at you all, I give it five stars. Was this a review? I'm not sure. Oh well.

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

If the synopsis and title of this book remind you very closely of Kings of the Wyld, that is entirely on purpose. The author has noted that she wrote Queens of the Wyrd after being heavily inspired by Nicolas Eames's book. And while she succeeded in many aspects of that, Queens of the Wyrd just doesn't quite live up to the greatness of Eames's original book. Queens of the Wyrd is a self published book, and while that doesn't normally detract stars from books, it didn't exactly help this particular novel.

Queens of the Wyrd is a heavily researched fantasy novel borrowing many aspects of the Norse mythology. You can tell the author loves these myths, and you can tell she put her all into this. She references gods, creatures, and pulls all sorts of things directly from known Norse mythology. I think, however, this book would have really shone even more if it had gotten another pass or two by an editor. Whitecastle was very clearly going for the humor of Kings of the Wyld, but many times she pulled jokes straight from modern day media. (One of the characters makes an almost word-for-word Frozen joke.) I laughed a little, but it did pull me out of the seriousness of that particular moment — they were mid-end-of-the-world-battle, here! Not really the time for a Let-it-Go joke! Many of the quips just didn't work for me — relying too heavily on popular media just yanks you out of a Norse world. The characters also talk like people from the modern world, and most of the time it didn't bother me, but there were more than a few instances where it just felt off.

When it comes to the characters, I did love Lovis, our main shield-maiden. I loved her absolute dedication to her daughter. I loved how unsure she was of herself, but she still soldiered onward anyway. (What else was she supposed to do? She had people depending on her!) The other shield-maidens were fantastic, too, but Lovis stole the spotlight for me. I wish we had gotten to see more of her past, and more of how she had grown up, but what we did see was good. I loved Lovis's daughter, Birke, a little spitfire if there ever was one. (Anyone else think her dad is Loki???) Solveig, another shield-maiden, was frequently irritating, but she was doing everything she could to rescue her daughter.

Overall, I can see very clearly what the author was trying to do, but ultimately this book fell short of that goal. The writing itself needed some serious polishing before it was published. Queens of the Wyrd feels disjointed, and unsure of what it wants to be — humorous take on a fantasy novel, or a serious look at sacrifices of motherhood. I wanted to like this one much more than I actually ended up doing. Three stars.

For more of my reviews, check out my blog.

Thank you to Netgalley and Redhook for providing an ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I wasn't sure what this book really was going to feel like when I originally requested it from Netgalley. I really enjoyed HG Parry's first novel, The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, but wasn't really a fan of her next book, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians. It was a toss up if I'd enjoy The Magician's Daughter, and some early reviews from other bloggers had me a little worried. But, all the worry was for naught, as I really did enjoy this one.

So to start, I don't really think this book has any business being labeled an adult novel. The main character is sixteen, just about to turn seventeen, and for most of the novel, she acts much younger. However, this makes sense within the confines of the story — Biddy was raised on a remote island in the middle of nowhere with only an eccentric magician and his familiar as her adult role models. How would she know how to act in society if she's literally never been around more than one person at a time? In my opinion, The Magician's Daughter reads much more like a YA novel. In fact, reminds me of one of my favorites, Howl's Moving Castle. Basically, The Magician's Daughter is if Howl Pendragon adopted a young girl and had to raise her by himself with a little help from Calcifer. The comparison isn't perfect — Hutchincroft is much more anxious than Calcifer, but overall, the books are similar in really lovely ways.

The setting of the book bounces around a lot, so you see a great deal of London in the 1910's. At one point, Biddy is placed into a poorhouse as a teacher for orphaned girls. Parry does an excellent job of showing how bleak these places were, and you're left feeling like you need to do something. (Biddy felt this way too, of course!) I know these places were true to life, and my heart just shattered when she was taking care of the tiny babies. When it comes to the actual villains of the story, they are appropriately horrifying and terrifying in equal measures. I won't give away any details, but there's a moment in the book where you are scared that everyone has failed and that the bad guys win. Of course, this isn't the case, but oh for that few chapters you are so, so worried.

I really enjoyed The Magician's Daughter, but had just a few tiny things that bothered me. Overall, I'd grant this one four and a half stars! Please do pick it up, and enjoy the story of Biddy and her family trying to bring magic back into the world!