TL;DR: This was such a surprising win. An attentive and fascinating biography of a woman I’d never heard of. Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher! Plot: Julie of Sax-Coburg is married off at 16 to a man who has more than a few screws loose, and she strives to escape him and... Continue Reading →
The Cyprian by Mercedes Lackey
TL;DR: This would have been fantastic if the blurb didn’t FULLY spoil the whole plot. Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher! Plot: The first paragraph of the blurb tells you the first 67% of the book, and it has the rest in the next paragraphs. Characters: I really liked them, they were... Continue Reading →
All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu
TL;DR: Sadly a disappointing read with a passive main character. Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher! Plot: Julia Z has been laying low but gets unwillingly pulled into a missing woman investigation. Characters: This might have been the worst part for me. I just could not connect to anyone here, nor find... Continue Reading →
The Library at Hellebore by Cassandra Khaw
TL;DR: Absolutely loved the idea but this needed so much more meat on it's bones. Source: NetGalley, thank you so much to the publisher! Plot: Take a twisted magical school and put a bunch of very unhinged characters inside. Fun times follow. Characters: They had a lot of potential for me! But ultimately we didn’t... Continue Reading →
Herculine by Grace Byron
TL;DR: This writing style just didn’t work for me, it was exhausting. Source: NetGalley - Thank you to the publisher!! Plot: Our narrator gets trapped in a cult, demons abound! Characters: A bit of a mess to be honest. We’re so trapped in our narrator that no one felt real. Setting: The cult’s headquarters felt... Continue Reading →
Vesselless by Cortney L. Winn
TL;DR: This felt very much like every Romantasy out these days. Source: NetGalley - Thank you to the publisher!! Plot: He needs her, he loves her and she’s not like the other girls. Characters: A bit flat for me guys. They read like every other Romantasy couple I’ve seen. Setting: Some effort was made to... Continue Reading →
The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam (Hart and Mercy #3) by Megan Bannen
TL;DR: What a fun little escape and great ending to the series. Source: NetGalley - Thank you to the publisher!! Plot: Rosie, Adam, and Duckers get trapped in the mist cloaked Tanria and have to get out and save the world from invasive god thorns. Characters: They’re so fun, I loved Rosie and even Adam... Continue Reading →
Spellcaster by Jaymin Eve
TL;DR: This one is entirely just for fun. Source: NetGalley - Thank you to the publisher!! Plot: Paisley’s dormant magic pokes it’s head up so she goes to Weatherstone College and monsters begin to appear, hunting her down. Characters: They were okay. Setting: This was nice, it’s a magical school so it has some very... Continue Reading →
Breathe in, Bleed Out by Brian McAuley
TL;DR: Very fun with some unique deaths. Source: NetGalley - Thank you to the publisher!! Plot: Hannah is trying to recover after the death of her fiancé and agrees to go on a ‘wellness retreat’. All is not well. Characters: A cast of somewhat tropey characters but not the worst. I enjoyed hating some of... Continue Reading →
Killer on the Road / The Babysitter Lives by Stephen Graham Jones
TL;DR: Surprisingly complicated with some more thrilling elements than scary ones. Source: NetGalley - Thank you to the publisher!! Plot: A double feature, this has a young girl hitchhiking and running into the wrong man and then a babysitter fighting a house for her freedom. Characters: These two girls felt very similar, I’m not going... Continue Reading →