Wayward

Assassin of Reality didn't hit as strongly as its predecessor for a few crucial reasons. Is it silly to say there were too many answers and not enough questions? One of the things that hooked me from the start with Vita Nostra was that... it was mind-boggling and drip-fed me any sort of answers. And then OF those answers most were vague or implied rather than stated. Things were much more straightforward in this book. Still weird and complex, but not nearly AS MUCH. There was no body horror. No creeping dread. No sitting on the edge of my seat or wondering what was going to happen to Sasha next. And, importantly, the focus of this story was more strongly on the insta-love romance that spawned between her and a new character and the drama around fitting that puzzle piece into her life rather than surviving the Institute of Special Technologies.

This story, this continuation, also re-vilified a character Sasha had almost become friends with or had, at least, reached some level of mutual understanding: Farit Kozhennikov. Which, okay, maybe the finale of Vita Nostra implied that possibility on some level, but he took a turn in this book that felt like a left one. He was much different from the stoic, scary but just doing his job cage-rattler in Vita Nostra and became a straightforward, maniacal villain in this one. And, again, yes, some of this was implied if you looked closely enough in the previous book's finale, but I felt like he was a completely different (and cliched) creature in this one, the Satan to Sasha's God.

Ironically, since the characters had now reached adulthood and the authors decided to include quite a bit of swearing in this book where there was literally none in the first, this one, Assassin of Reality, felt more juvenile and more like a Young Adult category read than the first in this series, not least of all from the romance INJECTED into this one, where the subtle undertones of such were more there to keep the characters personified and sane in book one.

I... continued to want to see what would happen to Sasha, yes, but mostly because of the curious bond I formed for her while following her tortured journeys in book one. This book didn't leave me aching to find out what would happen next. I wouldn't label it "just a story" since there were still strange mechanisms and strange people I haven't entirely seen done in other reads, but it wasn't a fascinating or bated breath or brain peeling read either. It was all right.

I do plan on reading the third book, but I'm less excited about it than I was. I more want to read it because I like completing things, and since I've come this far, I might as well find out what happens in the conclusion (though book one could have been read as a standalone and book two as a duology; reading book three is completely arbitrary). I'm not sorry I read Assassin of Reality, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it either unless you're someone dying to have more overt answers after finishing Vita Nostra and like the idea of Sasha in a star-crossed romance while Farit the villain causes trouble for her at every turn.

While this book takes a unique spin on style as the entire book is written in letter form, with how much description Gavin puts into his letters it's easy to picture all of the characters and the adventures Gavin gets up to. It's quite a cute romance in a regency setting with a relatable neurodivergent main character.

That being said, it's a pretty slow-moving story that I don't know if I would have gotten through had I not been reading it by audiobook so that I could listen to it while doing something else. It was PERFECT for audiobook, though (with an excellent narrator too). Easy to listen to while performing some other task and entertaining enough in that way.

Surprising to probably no one, this is definitely not a bodice-ripper. It's a charming, heart-warming, and rather wholesome romance with a lot of very gradual character development and growth. If that sounds like it's for you, then check it out. I think it would fit in the "cozy" category quite well. As for me, I have most of the rest of the series on audiobook, so while I'll probably read something else first, I'll likely come back to this series when I'm in the mood again for a charming, light-hearted book of manners.

I felt like layers of my brain peeled open reading Vita Nostra. Ideas I'd never had, metaphysics I'd never imagined, were written into this in a way that had me utterly transfixed. Discovering what the universe in this book was comprised of was FASCINATING. I can imagine how the basics of the idea for this story mayhaps formed, but it was layered with the depth and structure of humanity and revealed through mind-bending metamorphosis, yet structured so meaningfully and patiently with human experience, emotion, and connection woven into its very fabric that it carried this... earth-shaking feeling right through to the very end.

The characters in this are incredible creatures also, very real and relatable. Watching a simple teenage girl go through the metamorphosis she's forced to take throughout this book with all attendant human emotions MOVED me and effectively put its claws in my interest from early pages. That only multiplied as I watched Sasha go through her own growth, learn, and change.

This book is honestly so difficult to describe. As I mentioned, it's mind-bending and unique. It's also a dark academia, but not in any modern Young Adult fantasy sense. It's deep and dark, philosophical, and full of moral dilemma. There's also a healthy dose of body horror, fantasy, and sci-fi elements, with just an insinuation of romance. Though for much of the book, all of these little human emotions are almost made inconsequential, shown starkly in dichotomy of those chatacters who have yet to be transformed next to those who have already transitioned through their metamorphosis, yet at the end of the day, EMOTION and the connections formed are the most important things in the universe.

Vita Nostra is intense, beautiful, and utterly intelligent. The authors managed to write a story that pulls the reader by the hand but lets them discover answers on their own. It's not for the faint of heart or the distracted. It's for those looking for something NEW, weird, clever, deep, and beautifully well-written. While I'll admit that some sections moved slower than I would have liked, and there were a few areas that I believe fought the bounds of their translation, this was a phenomenal, incredible, and deeply enjoyable book. If you want to go on a journey and ride on the edge of your seat and perhaps hurt your brain a bit along the ride, this book's for you. It's an experience that I'll brag about. Surprisingly, it CAN, as I'd heard, be experienced as a standalone, but I'll be scooping up the sequel audiobooks from my library app and consuming them with as much thirst as I did this one. Highly recommend in any format. But if you're a fan of audiobooks? The narrator is top tier.

All in all, this was a book I didn't know I was looking for. "Impressed" is not a strong enough word, and I'm very interested in catching up on these authors' backlog.

This book, my god. I don’t even know where to BEGIN explaining how much this book messed me up, but like, in the best ways. I’m shook.

Miners of the Resilience is a continuation of *exception* and somehow, perhaps, even better than its prequels if that’s even possible? If you could rate a book 6 stars (let’s be serious, 10 stars) that’s what I would give this. It’s *so good*. Like, I don’t think you quite get it. It’s SO GOOD. I-need-to-walk-it-off good. Chuck-the-book-across-the-room-and-scream-into-a-pillow good. Stressed-and-OBSESSED good. If you like horror mixed with SOFT romance, THIS BOOK WILL CHECK YOUR BOXES. Found family and queernormative societies your vibe? HELLO, PENNY MOSS. How about monster romance where the monster is just a little too big, a little too eager to leave MARKS, and a little too desperately, *co-dependently* in love? Please take this as your sign to read this book/series, it’s wildly, sensationally good, and increasingly one of my favorite series of all time.

There’s is *so much* happening here. Resilience picks up from the cliffhanger of the previous book, but I won’t give any spoilers for that. Let’s just say… the plot is plotting VERY stressfully. There are moves and counter-moves with a great deal of WHUMP tempered by gratuitous, needy, and delicious monster smut. The hurt/comfort is actually off the charts, and my little heart couldn’t take ANY OF IT. There’s TONS of action and danger and developments that, ahhh, I want to tell you about but cannot for the sake of spoilers. Believe me when I say it’s exciting and brilliant and clever and horrifying the entire freaking time.

AND THE CHARACTERS, my GOSH, this author is so dang impressive at balancing a large cast of characters while keeping every individual’s motivations and personalities clearly distinct. I never quite realized how much I enjoy a large cast and found family until I started reading the first book, Miners of the Mystics. They’re just done so WELL here I find myself loving everyone so much. The cast has even grown from the first two books, yet there’s not a single character I’m not invested in, even the side characters who’ve made mistakes, somehow? Somehow, they’re all uniquely different and damaged and imperfect yet likable?(!!) How Moss does it, I don’t know, but even when I enter a story ready to dislike a character, Moss somehow makes me see their hearts and by the end I sympathize or like the character or am at least intrigued by them. It’s CRAZY, wildly skilled writing that has me–like Ollie in Tau’s claws–in its clutches.

That writing and style which carry all of the characters and plot and smut and is simply so extremely good. There’s gorgeous description woven with the action, creating these effortlessly vivid scenes. In fact, there’s so much striking cinematography, I felt sometimes, I was watching a movie or a freaking epic anime, except I had intimate knowledge of each character’s thoughts and emotions. The Moss writing style? It’s STUNNING. It’s crack, and I need moreeee.

I have to, HAVE TO talk about the stunning art too. THE ART!!!! Oh my GOSH, the huge pages of author-created art EVERY CHAPTER have me in a CHOKEHOLD. They’re SO GORGEOUS. Sparkly, effervescent, shimmering, or dark, angry, twisted, and fascinating. There are, again, *25* (yes TWENTY-FIVE) pieces of art in this book and they’re just… freaking gorgeous? Like, I was gobsmacked when I first discovered the art in book one, but THIS art? It’s sooo incredibly generous. COPIOUS character art. Gorgeous lighting, atmosphere, SPARKLES, terrifyingly twisted hands, pieced together creatures, MONSTERS. And then there’s the intimate moments between the love interests, all LOVINGLY rendered in art just as it is in text. How do I begin to explain how awesome this is? What an obviously freaking labor of LOVE this book (entire series) is? It’s STUNNINGLY exceptional.

I am SO satisfied with this series continuation and DEEPLY eager for the next (and tragically final) book. To be completely honest, I’m already looking forward to a full series re-read again before its release, I love these books and this world so much. But, I’m getting ahead of myself a bit. This book, Resilience, is… ugh, gosh. Painful, FULL of angst and whump, delicious, clingy, needy, wanton, LOVING, intense, and thrilling. Basically fire. It’s FIRE, and if you haven’t read it yet, please, for the sake of ME get on that. I don’t think it’s possible for this series to have enough readers or, indeed, fans. Find your place in this world like I did.

I've recently re-read Miners of the Mystics, one of my favorite books, and I think I somehow enjoyed it even more this time around.

Miners of the Mystics is just an incredible book and start to a series. If you haven't heard much about it before, I hope you stick around for this review or jump directly into its world because this book is... intensely meaningful, so smart, and something I haven't seen on bookshelves before. Which, do you know how rare that is? A *unique* book? Miners takes themes I love – found family, liminal spaces, magic, monsters, and monster romance, to name a few – and makes them not only exceptional but NEW.

To start with, just one part of what makes Miners so deeply hypnotizing, is the world-building, which is phenomenal. Taking place largely in a mountain and nearby town, this first book easily, gradually, and without info-dumping, lays the groundwork for some of the rules of how this world works (or at least how the characters THINK it does), and then breaks some of those rules in ways both supernatural and profoundly human. It sets up powers I haven't seen done these ways before and multifarious portals to dimensions filled with unheard of creatures. There's unique magic here in the literal AND literary sense, laced with sibylline nuance and dark and unknown threats nipping at the characters' heels.

Which, the plot is just insanely good. It starts out quite gradual here in the first book, with a laundry list of unknowns and characters trying to move towards what they want while being tugged in the direction their morals make them go. I don't want to say much here because there are so many twists and secrets every reader deserves to discover for themself, but suffice to say it KEEPS me on the edge of my seat. And I'll gladly talk about the characters instead.

The cast of characters in this series is FULL. You want to read about found family, with no blood relation, being there for each other no matter what? Friends with unique histories and personalities getting thrown into danger at every turn, and only having each other to stay alive or stay sane? Forbidden love interests sweetly falling for each other and being so fiercely protective they'd RUIN themselves for the other? Yeah, this book has all of that too, and it has it in spades. It's rare I find a romance book so rich in its characters, with beloved side characters featuring almost as much as the mains, one of the many things I love about it!

Oh yeah, and that ROMANCE. in a queer-normative world full of queer characters of many flavors, the only thing any character finds odd about Oliver's infatuation with the Sentinel Tau is that Tau is twice his size, magical, doesn't seem to be human, and also, touching him is completely illegal. And yet...? Touch, they do.

The slow-burn romance in this book is precious. Despite the setting, despite the darkness and monsters and horrors the characters must survive, Tau and Oliver are preciously sweet. There's no other way I can say it. They're curious and tender and kind, yet roughly desperate when they touch, and if you've ever wanted to read a dark fantasy/horror that ALSO makes you blush and kick your feet? You've found that too.

AND and and if you didn't know, included in this catalogue of qualities, Penny Moss, the author, is also an artist who NOT ONLY has made the cover of every book it has written, but ALSO has made chapter art for every. Single. Chapter. Of this series. EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER!!

You want character art? You want to see the love interests' tender moments? The terrifying monsters? The portal to another world? The weird, whimsical, and wonderful in this book? YOU'VE GOT IT. IN THIS FIRST BOOK ALONE, there are twenty-five chapters and twenty-five pieces of human-made artwork rendering EXACTLY what the author intended because the author. Is also. The artist. Aphantasia who?!

Miners of the Mystics is a favorite of mine for so many reasons, not even all of which have been included here. Actually, there's not a single moment Miners has only one thing going for it. Every chapter is rich with smart writing, character development, friendship, mysterious plot, and sweet, swoon-worthy romance. I just... I go on these tangents of this series because it’s so insanely good, and I freaking *love* this book. Suffice to say, I am *obsessed*. I can't recommend this book or this author more highly, and if anything here has piqued your interest, please add Miners of the Mystics to some of your lists. While there IS a bit of a cult following for this indie series and queer author, they both deserve more accolades than they've gotten, and all I can do is scream about them both from the rooftops until they finally find their way into more readers' hands. Check them out!!

ReRead

Still adore this. SUCH a unique read. I love the magical alternate world; the dark, twisted elements are everything I want from horror. There are found family vibes dripping from the pages. And then there's Sentinel Tau and Oliver, whose relationship is equal parts CHARMINGLY sweet and obsessively co-dependent, or, in other words, feet-kickingly DELICIOUS.

If you haven't read this yet and these types of genres are ones you enjoy, I can't recommend Miners highly enough, or Penny Moss in general.

Original Review

Oh my gosh!! The slow-burn relationship between Oliver and the powerful creature Tau is so freaking precious, I re-read every single moment, clutching my ereader for more. These two beans deserve every good thing, but, unfortunately, both they and their friends are constantly subjected to horrifying dangers and wrapped up in a dangerous plot that seems bigger than they even realize.

This book is SO GOOD. It builds the world, queer-normative characters, histories, relationships, dark and whimsical magics, surprising villains, and mysteries with ease. I don't know how this can be a debut book, it's so freaking well-written and GOOD. I'm just glad I finally picked this book up before the release of book 2 because now I'm obsessed!

I've never read anything quite like Miners of the Mystics. The world, the magics, the portals to other dimensions, the unique species, the uncanny artifacts - it's all so smart and weird, and I want to know more. There are horrors lurking just under the surface waiting to be dug up, and those themes, the twisted machinations of their puppets, held me enthralled. I can't tell you much without giving spoilers away, but there is a rich plot lurking here that had me on the edge of my seat.

Then there are the characters - contrary to the chilling plot, so full of LIFE and love and hopes and dreams, with twinges of darkness but GOOD intentions, and they're all IMPORTANT. Important to each other and important to the story, and they're so tight-knit they're their own found family. The firm bonds and relentless support and care they have for each other was so intensely loveable. Of course, especially Oliver and Tau, two desperately precious beans for whom I want to create a nest full of blankets and pillows that they'll never have to leave so they'll never get hurt again. They're darling, innocent babes, both willing to break all the rules and burn everything down for each other 😭 Gosh, I love them.

Miners of the Mystics is SO worth reading, especially if you enjoy a dark, plotty, monster romance. Even if it's not what you typically reach for, the characters and world and blooming LOVE is so freaking amazing I feel like anyone would get absorbed by this gorgeous book. It's a story full of hurt and comfort and angst and ends on a cliffhanger, but, book two is OUT, and I'm ACHING to dive in.

If you're considering this book, GIVE IT A SHOT. It's 5/5 read in every way, and if you hear a faint voice screaming across the void, that's me telling you I RECOMMEND IT PLEASE GO READ IT BECAUSE I NEED MORE PEOPLE TO YELL ABOUT IT WITH OHMYGOSH!!!