Amanda

I wasn't in love with Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, but I did enjoy it just enough to be interested in reading the next book in the series.

As with the first book, I enjoyed the story more than the characters; although I thought they came off a little better here—especially Emily, who wasn't making so many amateurish mistakes.

Fawcett once again did a good job at incorporating faerie lore into the story, although I still think the journal format is a pointless affectation.

I'm not just interested, but eager to read book three.

Received via NetGalley.

The first episode of season two serves as a refresher for season one, reintroducing the world of Tremontaine and getting the reader acquainted with both established and new characters.

Even though it functions as a recap, this episode is still furthering the story and developing characters. Kushner shows intrigue and gossip being wielded with the skill and flair of a swordmaster.

Received via NetGalley.

A collection of recipes inspired by popular horror movies.

This themed cookbook is well laid out and has a good variety of recipes, with required skill level ranging from utter novice to moderately skilled home cook. The recipes are easy to follow, and there are several lists—recipes by movie, movies by theme, movies by year—and themed menu suggestions that would make this handy for entertaining.

There are some really clever movie/recipe match-ups, like grilled prawns for Beetlejuice and pumpkin soup for It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, but some of them feel like quite the stretch—I can't imagine the girls in The Craft whipping up an artichoke dip with gruyère and spinach for their slumber party!

The Halloween Movie Cookbook would be a fun addition to the library of horror fans who enjoy entertaining.

Received via NetGalley.

Contrived and insubstantial.

A vampire and a werewolf become infatuated with each other despite their species being bitter enemies.

As I was reading this one thought kept running through my mind: "Exactly how many times has the author read Twilight?"

The story is unoriginal and the two leads are juvenile assholes. Skip this and go read Anne Rice instead.

Received via NetGalley.

A man dies in a car accident and finds himself reincarnated as a character in a fantasy role-playing game.

I know showing characters working to level up is an integral part of LitRPG novels, but I think Ryan Rimmel takes it too far. It seems like nearly every chapter in the book follows the same formula: recap stats, do a briefly described activity to acquire points, then spend several pages reviewing the new stats and deciding what to upgrade.

For all the time Jim, the main character, spends on character upgrades, there's very little actual character development. Add in the limited, hand-wavey worldbuilding, and I'm left wondering if an editor even looked at this book after it was acquired.

Despite my criticisms, I didn't mind reading The Mayor of Noobtown; it's brainless, but it didn't insult my intelligence. I'm just invested enough in the story to want to read book two, which I hope will have fewer freaking stats in it.

Received via NetGalley.

This is being marketed as a romance?! The title character has a disturbing lack of empathy and revels in manipulative, exploitative, and downright abusive behavior.

No. Just no.

Received via NetGalley.

The inhabitants of a generation ship nearing their new planet must contend with invasive aliens in this sequel to A Hole in the Sky.

Hamilton did this really cool thing in the first book where he presented the world by showing how the characters' assumptions about everything were wrong, and how they were manipulated by an alien force. Here, there's a lot of rehashing the previous book and fighting aliens.I'm still invested in the series and want to know how it ends, but book two felt a bit like filler.

Received via NetGalley.

To love is an act of resistance.

This play is as profound and relevant today as it was when it was written.

Received via NetGalley.

Two outsiders with traumatic pasts forge a strong relationship.

God, this is like peak 90s' teen melodrama. There is so much drama, angst, and floppy hair that I felt like I was mainlining Dawson's Creek.

Kidding aside, this is actually pretty good. The characters have depth and experience growth, and the art is strong. If you're looking for a well written book or just some 90s nostalgia, give Mars a try.

Received via NetGalley.

A young aristocrat runs away from home hours before his wedding and accidentally ends up joining a pirate crew.

If you enjoy young adult novels *and* are still heartbroken over the cancellation of Our Flag Means Death, then this is the book for you. If you don't tick both of those boxes, then you probably won't find A Prince Among Pirates more than mildly entertaining.

Received via NetGalley.

A taciturn knight takes on an exuberant young woman as her squire.

This is a cute story about perseverance, friendship, and finding yourself; it's nothing that hasn't been done a thousand times before, but having the knights be women is a nice twist. I was kind of disappointed that the knights are strictly professional athletes: they fight solely in tournaments for fame and endorsement deals.

The art is hit and miss for me: I like the character designs and am a huge fan of the color palette, but I found the drawings too flat.

Ladies of the Knight isn't great literature and I probably won't read it again, but it was a pleasant way to spend an evening.

Received via NetGalley.

This review is of the audiobook read by Claire Keegan, Sophie Roberts, and Aoife McMahon.

This is the first time I've been dissatisfied with something Claire Keegan wrote. Oh, the writing is evocative, but the characters have a...paucity of humanity that completely turned me off. And there's a streak of moralizing in the final story that left a bad taste in my mouth.

Narrators

The narrators all did a fine job; in fact, they were so good that I kept listening more for their voices than the content of the stories.

Received via NetGalley.

The publisher says this one as a "whimsically speculative ode to Wodehouse’s Jeeves and Wooster," which is one of the more misleading descriptions I've seen recently. Oh, the book counts as speculative fiction and the author has clearly read Wodehouse, but the story is decidedly heavier than Wodhouse, and it is in no way, shape, or form whimsical.

That being said, Valet is actually a pretty entertaining book, and features anxious robots, family squabbles, and corporate espionage. I suppose you could say it's like a Jeeves and Wooster story if Bertie and his friends were written as more pathetic than silly and all the servants had been replaced with robots manufactured by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

Those who come to the book looking for the charm of a P.G. Wodehouse story will be sorely disappointed, but those who are looking for an entertaining story with sardonic, put-upon robots will enjoy Valet.

Received via NetGalley.

Two friends—who really should have become a couple ages ago—unexpectedly find themselves on a quest to slay a dragon.

This could have been a great parody of cozy romantasy novels; it's got all of the ridiculous tropes, from a lack of beds at inns to an overabundance of food descriptions and the author obviously expects us to find it funny. Unfortunately, the author also seems to think it's enough to just pile up the tropes and not bother to make anything humorous out of them, or even write more than a tissue thin story to go with them.

I don't hate Bromantasy, but I was low-key annoyed by it because it has a fun concept that was completely mishandled.

Received via NetGalley.

I am in no way, shape, or form a Beatlemaniac, but even I've heard of the band's manager, Brian Epstein, and knew he played a pivotal role in making The Beatles one of the most famous bands in the world. Despite knowing of Epstein, I knew little about him and was curious enough to read this biography.

Philip Norman gives a satisfactory account of Epstein's childhood, schooling, and his various pre-managerial jobs. Norman devotes a fair amount of ink to Epstein's work at his family's music store, and does a good job showing how that work allowed him to hone many of the skills which would serve him well in his future career.

A large portion of the book naturally deals with how Epstein helped turn four guys from Liverpool into some of the most famous people on the planet. Norman shows the hard work and dedication Epstein gave to his role as manager; he is portrayed as a man who didn't always make the best business decisions, but was largely honest and fair in his business dealings.

Norman does discuss Epstein's romantic life and the complications of his being a gay man in a time when sex acts between men were illegal in a way that feels cursory, but not disrespectful.

I only have two complaints about the book: first, Norman sometimes loses focus on Epstein when he's covering the height of Beatlemania; and second, he felt the need to include a salacious implication that Epstein's death may have been a murder, even though Norman himself admits that his sources on the subject are suspect.

Overall, I feel this is a respectful and informative biography, although I wouldn't call it either revelatory or essential.

Received via NetGalley.

A Confederacy of Dunces is one of the stranger books in the American literary canon. It's a...polarizing satire full of awful and grotesque characters, and one that I find easier to admire than enjoy.

I was genuinely curious how the novel would translate to graphic novel, and I have to say that the illustrations are phenomenal. Monteys captures both the city and the characters well; in fact, the characters are so spot-on that people who have read Toole's novel will be able to tell who's who based solely on the drawings.

Where I think the graphic novel fails is in the telling of the tale. The text comes from the original novel, but so much is by necessity left out that most of the satire is just gone, leaving us with a book that feels devoid of purpose.

Received via NetGalley.

Alarie and Taren quest takes them to a frozen kingdom to retrieve the second relic in this sequel to The Relic of the Wildwood.

My appreciation for this series has increased with the second volume; I think the premise is great and I enjoy spending time with the characters. I love how Venter started this one: she introduces Taren's large, boisterous family, and used them to both provide backstory for Taren and Alarie and add to the worldbuilding.

I'm really looking forward to book three.

Received via NetGalley.

A mother tells her baby about the beauty of their land.

This picture book speaks not only of a mother's love for her child, but also love for the natural world and their place in it. It's a lovely tale, and is made even more beautiful by the stunning pointillist illustrations.

Received via NetGalley.

A collection of three novellas united by the common subject of terrible worlds.

These novellas are as imaginative and intelligent as I've come to expect from Tchaikovsky. He has a knack for inventing complex worlds and presenting them in a challenging, yet still accessible way.

My favorite in the collection is And Put Away Childish Things, wherein a washed-up actor discovers the Narnia-esque fantasy world his grandmother wrote about is real. It's kind of sad and a bit scary, but ends on a more or less hopeful note.

Received via NetGalley.

A picture book about the life of a tree.

This deceptively simple book has a depth and elegance that are simply breathtaking. It shows the beauty of nature and teaches that while change can bring an end, it can also be the start of something new.

Received via NetGalley.

An illustrated and unsanitized collection of retellings of Brothers Grimm stories.

Fairy tale collections are a dime a dozen, so why choose this one over any other? First, Benni Bødker's and Kenneth Bøgh Andersen's renditions are engaging and imaginative. They aren't trying to reinvent the tales, but they put a personalized spin on them that makes them feel fresh.

The second reason to get this collection is John Kenn Mortensen's illustrations; they give a dark, slightly creepy feel that fits well with the stories.

Anyone looking for a collection of classic fairy tales which haven't been Disneyfied should give this one a try.

Received via NetGalley.