TL;DR: A surprisingly fast paced and gripping thriller. Source: NetGalley - thank you so much to the publisher! Plot: One girl’s death rocks the It crowd clique. Characters: No one here was good, but you truly end up enjoying all of them. Setting: Not the strongest but it wasn’t necessarily needed with the strength of... Continue Reading →
The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard
TL;DR: Quite a disappointment. Source: Netgalley - Thanks you to the publisher! Plot: Randomly chosen women are made to compete for a prince’s hand in marriage, and it gets spicy. Characters: Honestly, no thank you. I didn’t enjoy them at all. Setting: We got the flavor of our inspiration here, but it was lost entirely... Continue Reading →
Laozi’s Dao Di Jing translated by Ken Liu
TL;DR: A very friendly exploration of a philosophy I’ve heard of but didn’t know many details. Source: Netgalley! Thank you so much! I also purchased my own copy after completion. Structure: This includes essays from Ken Liu about the translation and his thoughts on several of the chapters which really helped add to the overall... Continue Reading →
How To Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler
TL;DR: I haven’t laughed this hard at a book in a hot minute. Definitely not for people who don’t like humor or sarcasm in their books book definitely for me. Source: NetGalley, thank you so, so much to the publisher! Plot: Davi is stuck in a loop of ‘Wake up and try to save the... Continue Reading →
Court of Wanderers by Rin Chupeco
Source: NetGalley, Thank you to the publisher for the eArc!!TL;DR: A pretty good wrap-up to a duology, but with some real unnecessary sexual content. Plot: The courts came together in this one and we finally saw the Night Empress's story which I enjoyed.Characters: I wish we'd gotten more of some of our secondary characters but... Continue Reading →
Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie
Source: NetGalley - Many thanks to the publisher!TL;DR: A really fantastic collection, some more challenging than others but nearly all were winners for me. Plot: Each plot was well drawn and worked within the confines of the story. Ann Leckie has a real knack for short stories.Characters: A good variety of characters existed here, all... Continue Reading →
These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart by Izzy Wasserstein
Source: NetGalley - Many thanks to the publisher!TL;DR: Some weird choices were made here, but I didn't dislike my time. I would definitely read more from the author. Plot: A transwoman returns to her former home, a commune of anarchists to solve the murder of an old ex. Clones start popping up!Characters: The entirety of... Continue Reading →
Blood Debts by Terry J Benton-Walker
Source: NetgalleyTL;DR: Wow that was a lot, and I’m on the fence. Trauma and PoVs for days, but interesting magic and themes. Plot: Slow yet it took place over a short time as two twins who don't trust each other and have petty fights constant work to figure out generational curses.Characters: There were perhaps too... Continue Reading →
All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata
Source: NetGalley - thank to the publisher!TL;DR: Not for me, just... no thanks. Plot: Supposedly a slow burn romance between a older man and younger woman. Very... flat burn more like.Characters: Fairly flat for me, to be honest. And I didn't care for our PoV character. She was written as if she were 19, not... Continue Reading →
Spirit of the Wood by Kristen Britain
Source: Netgalley, thank you to the publisher!!TL;DR: An absolutely lovely novella for new and old readers about empathy and how life continues on. Plot: A new Green Rider has to keep his cold superior alive after an attack. They end up in a deep wood, and then magic!Characters: I loved the characters, and this as... Continue Reading →