Jessica
Valet by J.P. Lacrampe is one of those books I almost didn't pick up, and I'm so glad I did. It's being marketed as Jeeves and Wooster but with a robot, and while that's not wrong exactly, it is considerably underselling what this book actually is.
Our narrator is Cy, a robot who has been reassigned as valet to Grayson, the 35 year old layabout son of the founder of AI+. Grayson has never had any interest in the family business, until suddenly everything is threatened. And Cy must help him navigate that while figuring out his own place in this world.
What makes this book special is Cy's interiority. We see how much he misses being of real use, the way he used to be to Grayson's father. We watch him change over the course of the novel, begin to want things beyond simply serving. That's not something I was expecting from a book with this premise, and it's what elevates it.
The found family here is genuinely wonderful and a little unexpected. It includes a scientist, a technophobic potter who signals that not everyone is happy with this world, another robot Cy initially underestimates, and by the end even some of the villains. It's messy and earned and emotionally satisfying in a way that a lot of cozy sci-fi promises and doesn't deliver. This one delivers.
This is a genuinely ambitious debut, and one I'm glad that I read in spite of some mixed emotions. This is the story of the city ship Safina, partway through it's 400 year journey to humanity's second chance. This is a multi-pov story, and I enjoyed our two main POVs (essentially a translator and a detective) but I felt that too many one off POVs muddied the waters of the narrative for me.
I loved the Arab cultural lens and the focus on languages. Having said that though, there is a constructed language that some of the characters use that I could not make nice with unfortunately. I tried, but ended up largely skipping those sections, which I hate to do. I don't usually have those issues, but this one missed the mark for me.
The ideas are big, and the pacing is slightly slower. This is a setup novel for a series, and I think that shows in the care the author takes to flesh out the world. It's genuinely impressive. So this one was mixed for me but I may continue the series. I am curious about where the journey is going for these characters.
Fonda Lee has built one of the best series in contemporary fantasy with the Green Bone Saga, and while this standalone SF thriller is a different beast entirely, her gifts for character and world building are fully present. Isako is a corporate samurai in a world where resources are limited, and hard choices must sometimes be made.
The world is vivid and thought through, and Isako herself is a compelling protagonist: competent, unsentimental, and more sympathetic than she has any right to be given what she does for a living. My one lingering wish is that the book had more room to breathe. The themes it's working with are rich enough to sustain a duology, and quite frankly I just wanted more - more characters, more thematic works, and more about the history of this world.
Still, this is a confident and absorbing SF thriller from a writer at the height of her powers. 4 stars.
Marcus Kliewer's second novel will feel familiar to readers of We Used to Live Here, and I mean that as a compliment. His specific horror register is the slow erosion of what can be trusted. The Caretaker follows that instinct with more discipline than his debut, even if it's arguably less ambitious.
Macy is a protagonist worth spending time with. She's aware enough of horror conventions to actively try not to make the bad choices, which makes her alert and resourceful rather than a passive victim of circumstance. Her anxiety and intrusive thoughts are rendered with real authenticity, and Kliewer uses them to do double duty. A character whose internal reality is already untrustworthy is particularly vulnerable to a horror that operates by undermining perception.
Was I scared? Honestly no. But unsettled in a way that stayed with me, which I'd argue is more interesting.
For readers who bounced off We Used to Live Here's opacity, this is the more accessible entry point. For fans of atmospheric, cerebral horror with a compulsively readable pace, this delivers.
4.25 stars.
This one surprised me. Underneath the Bachelor in space premise is a politically ambitious science fiction novel, and the plot went somewhere I genuinely did not see coming.
I had a few issues, which were largely personal to my taste. Both main characters fall into the rebellious and foul mouthed archetype, which was a lot with two of them sharing page space, and the romance didn't fully convince me. But the worldbuilding has real substance and Branham clearly has bigger ideas in play than the premise implies.
Readers who enjoy romance forward science fiction with sharp political undertones and an underdog protagonist will find a lot to love here. I'm glad I read it even if it wasn't quite my thing. 3.75 stars.
Nobody's Baby is the second entry in Olivia Waite's HMS Fairweather cozy sci-fi mystery series, and it's a genuinely charming continuation. The setup is irresistible: a baby appears on a ship where fertility has been put on pause for the duration of a centuries long journey, and our formidable ship detective Dorothy Gentleman is on the case. The worldbuilding is quietly delightful, rooted in a 1920s aesthetic that feels deliberately preserved rather than accidental, and if you've read a lot of golden age mystery the characters will feel immediately familiar and nostalgic in the best way. My one consistent complaint with this series is the length. These novellas are so well drawn that I'm always left wanting more time with the characters and more space for the mystery to breathe. The resolution in particular moves faster than I'd like, which feels like a structural challenge of the format rather than a failure of the writing. But Waite knows exactly what she's doing here, and for readers who love cozy mysteries with a speculative twist, this is an easy recommendation. Four stars. I would love a full novel next time!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ If you like a sharp, fast-moving heist story with a sci-fi twist, this one is a treat. The world is a corporate-controlled dystopia where “mades” - artificially created people - are treated like indentured servants, and the book uses that setup to explore ideas of personhood, liberty, and freedom without slowing the action.
I loved the multiple third-person POVs, each with a distinct voice, and every character was surprisingly lovable for a story that isn't trying to be cozy. The heist itself is fun and satisfying, and the ending wraps up neatly while leaving me eager for more adventures with this crew.
Recommended for: It's not as mind-bending as Blake Crouch's books, but it has a similar page-turning readability and just enough found-family warmth to balance the grit. A really enjoyable read that I'd happily recommend to anyone who loves sci-fi capers with heart.
I received a gifted copy from Tor in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are my own.
I will tell you off the bat that my favorite book is Jane Eyre, and so I simply loved this book. I am a sucker for a good gothic thriller, and this was a wonderful one. I also loved the main character's musings about books - so similar to the way I think many of us feel about them. I did not guess the twist at the end, and I was interested to the very end to find out more. Highly recommended.
That ending, my goodness... I am dead. Simply dead. ML Wang has done it again with a book that couldn't be more different than her earlier works.
I would recommend this book to fans of Babel, and also to people who thought the message in Babel was spoon fed to the reader a little too obviously. I'm not 100% sure I would call this a dark academia - it's a fantasy with an academic setting, sure, but it is just so much more.
Read it to see the parallels with our own society and get righteously angry. I know I did!
And the magic system is based on coding - so cool!
Seriously, after a slow start (the beginning might be a little info-dumpy, but I forgive it) the book takes off and never takes a breath. I'm trying really hard to avoid spoilers because you really need to experience this one for yourself. Five stars!
Such a delicious dark academia tale! I was totally surprised by how much I loved this one.
We follow Clover, born to a non-magical family in a world where magic is a secret, similar to the world of Harry Potter. Her brother is injured in WWI in a faerie aided attack, and comes home with injuries that introduce Clover to the world of magic. Although most magic users are born into the world, Clover is determined to teach herself. And she does, eventually landing a coveted scholarship position to a magical university.
She falls in with a group of well connected students, and is dazzled by the world they represent. When something dark happens, we flash forward to the future, where perhaps the fruits of that time will all come to a head.
This book is a true cross between dark academia and fantasy. The historical setting and WWI details were excellent, and I would highly recommend it to fans of both genres.
DNF because I just could not with the narrative voice on this one. I love found material stories, but unfortunately this one relied really heavily on scripted dialogue, which might have been great in film but came across as boring to me. The character's voices were also basically interchangeable. Special shout-out to how irritating the phrase “fan fam” is... if you know, you know.
Sabaa Tahir's contemporary YA, “All My Rage,” is one of my favorite books of all time. I didn't love her earlier fantasy works as much, so I requested this ARC with a little trepidation. I needn't have worried, because I LOVED this book! The writing was lyrical and descriptive, and I fell in love with the characters.
My number one question going in was “Do you need to have read the Ember in the Ashes series in order to understand this one?” My answer is no. The characters from the earlier books do make an appearance, but they are more like cameos. I suppose there are a few things in the earlier books that would be spoiled, but in general it's not necessary to have read the earlier books.
We follow three POV characters whose stories eventually intersect. There is a twist that I will not spoil, but I really appreciated it. My favorite character was Sirsha, who was exactly the kind of headstrong, damaged character that I find easy to love.
Lots of world building in this one, it expands the world created in the original series to become much larger.
I can't wait for the conclusion!
Compulsively readable, but ultimately not as satisfying as I hoped, this is a haunted house story that is truly unlike any other I have read.
I found Ezri, our main character, to be frustratingly difficult to follow. They aren't a reliable narrator, and being inside their head was disorienting much of the time. They also aren't a very likeable character, and unfortunately I just struggled with the experience of following them.
I would also be forewarned that this book does not involve the use of quotation marks, in case that is a pet peeve of yours.
I did enjoy the mystery itself, and unlike some readers I did like the ending. Overall a mixed bag for me, but I feel like this will really hit for the right audience.
The City in Glass is the story of an Angel, a Demon, and the city that connects them.
I was instantly hooked after the first chapter, and I couldn't wait to see where the rest of the story went. Nghi Vo is a beautiful writer, and the prose here does not disappoint. There are many beautiful turns of phrase that I highlighted, and I do love a story with morally ambiguous angels.
We follow the story of the demon Vitrine's pet city, as it is destroyed and she tries to build it up again. It's also the story of her relationship with an angel, as they are tied together through decades of time.
For me this was ultimately slightly underwhelming. Though the writing was beautiful, I felt we were kept at a distance from our characters. The constant switching of time periods was sometimes hard to follow. I also wished that we learned more about the angel, and the motivations of all the angels in the story.
3.5 stars for the beautiful writing and imagery. I would imagine that fans of lush atmospheres will love this short novel!
This review makes me sad, so I'll keep it short. I adore The Midnight Library, even with the valid criticisms that I see of it. I like sentimental books, and I don't mind a bit of navel gazing.
Unfortunately, this book felt like reading a new age-y self help book to me. It's just so over the top with the wisdom that I couldn't take it seriously. The framing device was also a miss to me, as I can't imagine writing something like this to one of my former students.
Alas. Hoping Mr Haig returns to form for his next book!
A dark, complicated, gory fairy tale. It was just ok for me in the end, but I enjoyed the journey!
What I liked:
- The prologue/setup. I was intrigued right away, and I couldn't wait to find out what the truth behind the sisters' disappearance was.
- Iris. I saw some reviewers were upset that we weren't following Grey, but I deeply did not want to follow her. Centering the story around Iris made it so that the reader was kept in the dark until the end.
- The second half. I thought that the first half was a bit standard, but the story/mysteries really picked up in the end. I enjoyed the ending and found it mostly satisfying.
What I didn't like:
- Grey. Ugh, where to start. I cannot with YA novels and their insistence on having characters who are for some reason the absolute top of their field. Grey is the world's most famous supermodel as well as an amazing fashion designer at the age of 20? Every piece of her clothing that was described sounded like it was trying way too hard, and I just rolled my eyes. She's also brutally unlikeable, but for some reason I feel we are supposed to sympathize with her? No. I could see the sisterly bond between Iris and Vivi, but Grey was just the worst, I'm sorry.
- The language. I love flowery language in books, but this was both too much and not enough. The book loves to describe smells, which is fine, but I didn't feel that I could picture the places described in nearly the same detail as the disgusting smells.
It was a mixed bag for me overall, so it's getting three stars. On my rating scale that indicates a book that was just ok - it had too many highs and lows to rank higher or lower.
‘In real life, people let you go. That was why people longed for the love from stories, love that felt more real than real love.'
Curiously, this is the second book about getting lost in a fantasy world that I've read recently (the first was “The Lost Story,” which is a very different kind of book.) It's also the third recent book that really leans on the “But what if the main character was the villain” trope.
Whether this book will work for you is going to be strongly contingent on whether or not you enjoy the humor. The one-liners are constant, and for me they landed about 50% of the time. Some of them were very funny, and others made me cringe. I'll be honest, I struggled with this aspect of the story, and much of the plot inside the book.
But what did land for me was Rae's discussion of what it's like to have cancer, and in particular how people treat you when you are ill. I didn't realize before starting that Sarah Rees Brennan is herself a cancer survivor, but after having read the book it's obvious that she is writing from deep experience.
Final rating: 3.5 stars. This is a book that you should check out, particularly if you love humorous, self-aware fantasy in the vein of the Tuesday Next series.
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This is the best entry in the series so far!
I've been really enjoying my journey through the expanse, but I did struggle a bit with book two. Both of the first two books had some problematic (to me) ways of describing female characters in a sexual way, and I do not like that in my sci-fi. This book, thankfully, if miles better. There are several new female characters who feel real and are not sexualized when they shouldn't be. They are also well written!
About the plot: well, James Holden is back again, and he's made someone mad. To say more would be spoilers, just know that I think this is worth reading (and if you struggled with the second book don't worry - this is better!)
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3.5 stars. This is a well researched and cited book about the changes that have taken place in the Evangelical movement since the early 1980s.
I did not grow up in that tradition, though I have friends who did, and I have a particular interest in stories about people who have left their faith tradition. This book was ok, but I feel like it tried to straddle the line between memoir and research, and in the end I was a little unsatisfied.
I would recommend this book if you are interested in the subject, and I think especially if you have more background in the evangelical world than I do. I enjoyed it, but I think I was hoping for a more emotional story.
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4.5 creepy stars! I think this book is going to be a big hit this spooky season.
Eve is home alone one snowy evening when a family appears at her door. The Father grew up in the house - could they just take a quick peak around? Reluctantly she agrees... and from there things truly spin out of control.
This book started out as a story on the Reddit sub nosleep, which I do frequent occasionally, so I had seen the rough draft. I was really impressed with the places the author took this story. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around what the heck it all meant, and what was going on with the house/town/woods/everything.
The chapters in the book are interspersed with “found material,” such as interviews and case notes. If you know me, you know I'm a huge sucker for that kind of thing, and it really works here. There are also hidden codes and messages in the book, and real phone numbers that you can call for messages etc.
And did I mention that this book is completely terrifying? Because it is, and I am not easily scared.
4.5 instead of 5 because I didn't love the ending, but otherwise this is the perfect book for a cold and windy evening this fall!
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Honestly, this is not a young adult novel. Although there's nothing explicit, there is enough, particularly talk of the MCs hookups, that I feel would be inappropriate for teens on the younger side of the range. I say that because I had a bookstore employee recommend this for a 13 year old which... no. I would not recommend that.
On to my review: this is my least favorite Ali Hazelwood, and I am a stan for her.
I found Mallory to be incredibly frustrating. She continually makes just the absolute worst choices, and when we find out the core of her trauma (not a big surprise) I rolled my eyes because it just didn't make any sense.
Nolan, our love interest, was a much better character, but I wasn't in love with him either.
Also, people say that you will love the chess scenes even if you don't like chess. I did not like the chess, there was a lot of it and it was very boring to me (sorry!)
2.5 stars for me.
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3.5 stars. This book didn't quite get to where I wanted it to, but I still really enjoyed the reading experience.
The blurb sounds amazing. Asher, a Pentecostal preacher, finds himself ostracized from his community and his family after he supports a gay couple who visit his church. I was so excited to read about his spiritual transformation and how he navigates his viewpoints in a small Tennessee town.
The real sticking point for me was Spoilerthat he's already changed his mind about the LGBT community before the book starts. I expected that the book would detail that journey, and it felt anti-climactic that it has already taken place.
Over half the book also takes place outside of Appalachia, which I was also not expecting.
So maybe that's on me - I wanted a book that wasn't what the author wanted to write. Having said all that, I did really enjoy the book. House has a knack for writing complex characters. I especially loved Asher's son, Justin. It's hard to write child characters that feel real and aren't annoying, and he really nailed it. Asher is also fascinating - filled with regret and self-loathing, he is the kind of character who continually makes the worst choices.
In spite of it not being what I expected, I still gave this book a strong 4 stars and would recommend it. Just be aware that the blurb might be a tiny bit misleading.
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I'm going to be honest here: this book didn't need to exist. I was fine with the conclusion we got to Jack & Jill's story in book 2, which is my favorite in the series so far, and this didn't really add anything for me.
One of my issues is that it feels like there aren't enough stakes in this series. You can only resurrect characters so many times before I stop worrying about them. I also continually wonder why on earth the children long to return to these worlds, which seem uniformly terrible to me. Might be a me problem though.
Having said that, this was certainly an entry in the series, and I thought it was fine. And I'm definitely going to keep reading these for as long as the author puts them out.
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My reading vlog on “The Mercy of Gods” can be found here.
I'm a big fan of the Expanse, which I'm midway through reading right now. Leviathan Wakes, the first book in the series, is a really great start to a series. It sets up out main characters and establishes the setting and (eventually) the main bad guys of the series. I had seriously high expectations for “The Mercy of Gods” as a new series from the writing duo.
This book feels very much like a prologue to a story. It sets up the main characters and where they are from (a planet that is very much like, but isn't, Earth) as well as the alien bad guys. In this book we follow scientists as opposed to military/space captain types, which makes for a slower and more intellectual start.
The aliens themselves (there are more than one species) were interesting to me. They aren't necessarily like your typical alien invading species. Definitely very “Alien” aliens, not humans with different ears or something.
It didn't grip me the way I hoped, but I will be continuing with the series. My rating is a 3.5, rounded up.