Nico
A perfectly fine little sci-fi novella about a ship's detective who wakes up in a body that isn't hers and finds a dead one that isn't hers either. I didn't connect too much with this until the end, where there's some scratching of the surface of complex motives but I did not like/love this like some of my favorite reviewers did. I would read the sequel.
This was an interesting one where Victorian meets paranormal urban fantasy and gothic meets cozy. A young woman who grew up isolated is fated to a life of solitude and duty amongst the ghosts that inhabit Thorne Hall. I really enjoyed this and I liked our MC and her journey as she battles the sense of duty with her desire for friendship, connection and her own identity, which she has no clue what that is. Once I got through a couple chapters I gobbled up the audio.
A crime scene photographer in New Mexico who sees many a violent crime and accident also sees ghosts. It's on two timelines, her present day with a high-stakes mystery on her hands and her growing up while she and her Diné family try to make sense of her ability and keep the ghosts OUT. I thought this was horror since I queried it on my library's horror list and after that opening chapter I definitely thought it was going to be disturbing, but it was more of a supernatural thriller (not in the suspenseful way that makes me uneasy). I did like both timelines, especially her story as she grew up. Parts of the resolution/climax annoyed me, but this was a bingeable listen and I will be picking up the sequel.
I devoured this cozy/adventure/queer romance adult fantasy debut. A 5th year is assigned to be partners with his arch nemesis at magic school, where he is in jeopardy of being kicked out. Little does the non-serious Leo and too-perfect Sebastian know an adventure is coming their way. I loved the MC and yeah there is a romance in this one — and a damn good one I would say (not steamy for those who don't like that) — but it was the woods setting, the monsters (if you know you know) and the woods friend that I adored. I will definitely be reading the second book.
Alex Verus, a seer mage, owns a storefront and he and his apprentice are dragged into the politics and dangers Verus has avoided for a decade. This was really just okay. It's hard to not compare this to Dresden Files, so I'm going to compare it the Dresden Files. Where DF deals with the usual supernatural suspects (e.g. vampires, werewolves), this one has some newer-to-me supernatural creatures and those aspects were more interesting. But unfortunately I was put off by Alex (in a different way than Dresden, who was at least a fun character to follow), the lack of depth of Luna, and the maneuvering of the story, what was mediocre for me.
A cozy story about Kiela, an incredibly introverted librarian, and Caz, her sentient spider plant assistant and friend. They escaped rebellion and Kiela is trying to find her place in this new life chapter back at her childhood home. While in the background you know the stakes are high (and there is some surface level grief and trauma), you never really feel them as everything heavy is buried or glossed over and every challenge ends up being pretty convenient. Read if jam, mur-horses, a chicken-plant friendship, or cloud-bears peak your interest.
There's a review on this that says “Caz and Meep carried the whole book.” Yeah, for me this pretty much sums it up, even though I thought the plot was decent. The secondary and tertiary characters were my favorites and where I thought the heart and warmth of the story was around the new neighbors and finding “self” and “home” it was dulled by the cloddish writing and dialogue and too much time was spent on the romance. Yeah our hot teddy bear is a great guy, but I hated the romance and wish it was thrown out so it could have just been about how an isolated and socially stunted librarian forms rich friendships and learns how to be part of a community.
A debut cozy, quest novel written in first-person single POV story following Jenny, a Jenny whose lake is near a village. Jenny is doing her normal routine keeping up a clean and tidy lake when all of a sudden a chained witch is tossed in by the community. Could an unlikely friendship stand firm as they venture to save their land from an old threat?
I did love Jenny's POV, the first quarter of the book, and overall story rooted in folklore with sweet friendships, but ultimately the ease of moving through the quests putt-putted and I was ready for it to be over...and then it just was. There was a very serious character conflict that felt very juvenile in how it was addressed even though both sides felt very strongly about their positions, but it happened somewhere near the middle and it never got the page time I think it deserved. Overall this felt more YA to me than adult and my quibbles overpowered my enjoyment of the Jenny's strong narrative voice. I would consider reading O'Neil's next book.
This is a graphic novel about a young boy who is dropped off at his grandparents' house after his mother goes missing. Great for that feeling of being in the woods and if you seek out books with mushrooms this is a must read.
The artwork is lovely, but the coloration is striking and it absolutely outshines the story instead of complimenting it. Where I see any glimmers of love, fear, loneliness, or poignancy, it misses due to the minimalistic dialogue and text that I found to be cold and distant. I wish I had my heartstrings pulled with this one, but maybe you will.
Ahhhh, it was great to be back in a world with djinn and sci-fi. This one reminded me of Hossain's dystopian yet sweet yet fucked-up found-family short story, Bring your own Spoon. There's something to be said about the choice of title: you may not have a lot, but do you have and cherish the people? Living is about the people who lift you up and you lift up back. Just my two-cents.
This is a standalone or book #4 of Djinn City, depending on how you look it — regardless this is my favorite fantasy-scifi mashup and I highly recommend these books if egotistical djinn and sci-fi with humor sounds like it could be your thing.
This was my least favorite of the four. It just didn't have the level of humor I've come to expect, it had the slower techie/gamer set up of Cyber Mage, and not enough djinn early on.
Still good and I got my fill, although I am hungry for a good curry dish now and it doesn't look like Hossain has announced he's working on any other stories in this world...bummer.
I would not read this one first. The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday was my entry and I have no regrets about it, so you could start with that go in publication order or recommended reading order (what is on GRs). I would go into this series/world with no expectations, just go in for the ride.
Book #2 of the Molly Southbourne novella series. At the end of the day this was great, disturbing, fun, weird, sad. It's a hard series to talk about without giving spoilers, so I'll just copy and paste my comments from book #1: Molly wakes up to find herself locked up in the basement and she can't remember much, but she finds her captor is herself, Molly. The there is an early reveal that was a nice surprise and it makes up the whole premise of the series (I mean, if you read the blurb it mentions it, but I'm glad I went into this blind). I recommend this for horror readers, especially if they want something short, fun and don't mind the violence. This is horror, but not scary just more horrific with LOTS of blood.
Nate, grappling with the loss of his job and grief after the violent loss of his parents and their bigotry towards him, goes to seclude himself at the family cabin where he finds himself not alone — a man and young girl are hiding out there while on the run. Klune fans will find this to be a similar plot formula to his most popular books with the same charm, sweetness, character struggle and romance to root for, but it is different and for me there was something off-putting about this one. The formulaic parts didn't quite hit the same way and it had more thriller elements while everyone was on the run, yet I still enjoyed it? I haven't walked out of a book so emotionally confused in a while.
It has dark academia vibes, but here a keeper is called to keep darkness contained at a hotel. I. Did. Not. Like. This. It was published in 1999, so I wonder if there was something novel about it at the time, but the MC had nothing enchanting about her, I despised the romance, the plot never grabbed me, and I felt very apathetic during the ending when all hell breaks loose.
What an underread gem, I loved this. A compilation of 13 short stories rooted from Choctaw and Native stories and legends: a deer man who terrorizes hunters, a malevolent being that lures travelers into a hole, a bone picker who tears the flesh off the dead, and more. Highly recommend if you're looking for a shorter compilation. My favorites are: The Deer Man, Grass Water Drop, The Lighthorseman and the Shampe, Tenure, Crazy Indian, The Little People, and The Cornfield.
While this is horror, I would call this baby horror due to its eerie and unsettling style of story telling, without being overtly violent, bloody, or any of the other things that turn people off from the genre. My heart was pounding at some point during every story and I was really worried about a lot of the characters, just wow.
Some stories also explore a question similar to what Akwake Emezi does with Pet: what/who are the actual monsters? And many are rooted in critical moments in US history, like The Trail of Tears/removal, or current issues, like pretendians. The afterward explains the inspiration for each story, including telling what really happened to the real people who inspired some of the stories and it really rounds the reading experience to a chef's kiss.
Quit at 40%, then 56%, then tried again and finished. * A YA to new adult queer love-triangle romance with some feminist themes where a messenger finds herself on a quest across a wasteland akin to Mad Max. The city and dessert settings were the most interesting parts for me, but were unfortunately overshadowed by a plot focused on a tedious romance, characters and dialogue.
Audio: A unique detective, alt-history, portal fantasy and *completely* satisfying sequel in the **Thursday Next** series with some unexpected twists this time around. Fforde is a top-tier creator of worlds that have shimmers of familiarity yet are completely absurd and fever dream, while writing interesting characters and interspersing humorous historical [and in this case literary] references and jokes that go over my head 80% of the time.
The epic story continues, with even more politicking, battles, and heartbreak. I can see why Liu calls his books silkpunk and I wish I was smart enough to understand all of the inventions and science. Even though I didn’t often understand, I enjoyed seeing the creations. And the war scenes never bored me like in other epic fantasy. It was just fantastic.
From my memory The Grace of Kings was fast paced while still spending time with characters, but this one felt like a mix of really getting into the weeds with some characters and time stops and then moving quickly again. I loved it. It gave me the complex and nuanced character development and character relationships I desire, while being a page turner. This one book could have easily been 5 books if Liu didn’t move through time so quickly — thank you, Liu.
Audio: Probably a 5-star book, but considering my enjoyment rating it 4. A high magic, standalone fantasy about a prospective mage and janitor who learn a secret that can break the world. Thematically probably one of the strongest books I’ve read about feminism, colonialism, classism and the cost of modernity while being original without being heavy handed.