Source: Netgalley - many thanks to Orbit for the review copy!TL;DR: Full of promising themes and a beautiful world, however cold and distant characters truly killed the story. Plot: An actually fantastic idea - Fathomfolk (water dwelling folk) and human politics coming to a head.Characters: I've met cardboard cutouts more interesting than these characters. Big... Continue Reading →
Kindling by Traci Chee
Source: Netgalley - Thank you so much the publisher. I actually pre-ordered this on finishing it.TL;DR: I loved this. The unique narration style, the characters, everything was so good. Plot: Seven Samurai but make it magical and change the genders. It was fantastic. Loved the tightness and brutality of it.Characters: I loved all these girls.... Continue Reading →
An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson
Source: Netgalley - Many thanks to the publisher!TL;DR: A worthy follow-up to A Dowry in Blood. Even with a slightly predictable ending I really enjoyed this. Plot: The classic Carmilla remixed. Laura and Carmilla are rivals in a poetry course, it was believable and engrossing.Characters: Really loved these over the top and flawed characters (though... Continue Reading →
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip
Source: Tachyon Press - Thank you so much for the arc!!TL;DR: A OG Romantasy in my opinion. A fantasy that focuses on the idea of love, in it’s myriad of forms, and a powerful woman. Loved this one. Plot: Sybel gets caught between the boy she raised, the man she loves and the wars of... Continue Reading →
The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
Source: Netgalley - Thank you so much to the publisher for reaching out to me!TL;DR: Such a slow build but I really think it was worth it. A Holmesian mystery with lots of fantasy and plant magic/science! Plot: This was slow. It started with a single gruesome murder and evolved to a bigger, empire risking... Continue Reading →
Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine
Source: NetGalley - So many thanks to the publisher!TL;DR: If you’ve a fear of being alone, have intense feelings of the pandemic or enjoy more topical mental hellscape type of horrors - this is for you. If you’re here for the creepy, the supernatural, or any type of humor or human endurance? Pass on this.... Continue Reading →
How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly
Source: NetGalley, Thank you to the publisher!TL;DR: Slow but satisfying romance of two women helping each other (but not fixing each other), and falling in love. Plot: A gentle but very involved one of two women learning how to take control of their lives and come togetherCharacters: Anita's characters are so good, I'm always a... Continue Reading →
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Source: NetGalley, thank you to the publisher!TL;DR: An excellent follow-up to the second, and a very good setup for a third Plot: Emily & Wendell go on a search for the Nexus to find Wendell's door and happen to solve a few mysteries along the wayCharacters: I love Emily & Wendell quite a bit, but... Continue Reading →
After the Forest by Kell Woods
Source: NetGalley - My thanks, as always, to the wonderful publisher!TL;DR: A cold, disconnected story with a reactionary character, this was a frustrating read for me. Plot: Hans and Greta having grown up after the gingerbread. Misogyny, fancy red hair, and witchcraft!Characters: Hard pass on these guys, it was the greatest flaw for me. Cold... Continue Reading →
The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka
Source: NetGalley - Many, many thanks to the publisher!TL;DR: A fascinating concept but the characters truly let this one down for me Plot: I really enjoyed the idea behind this one, trapped in a library due to murderous owls, but I'm not sure I'm sold on executionCharacters: Fairly flimsy? I never completely connected, either due... Continue Reading →