Review: Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao

Song of the Crimson Flower by Julie C. Dao
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finished this late at night in bed and did not want to get out of bed to write my review. So I let it sit and roll around in my head and I think I can get out what I took away from it. There are some spoilers in this review.

First, to see where exactly I stood on the matter of Lan's behavior, I read a few reviews, positive and negative. These were both pretty great reviews, and I guess I find myself right in the middle of them! The positive one I read after I finished, and I think it says a lot about how I felt about the book so I'm just linking to it instead of trying to rewrite all that in my own words.

I had skimmed the negative one before going into the book (sometimes I like to read negative reviews before I read something just to get a feel for what I want to look for), and was waiting the entire time for Lan to be the horrible person that this reviewer read. The moments that were brought up in the review are definitely pretty bad ones for Lan - she's selfish and stuck-up, and demanding that Bao apologize to her for being rude to her after she shattered his heart is pretty damn rude itself. I get it. I did not like these parts of Lan's character, so in that respect I completely agree with the reviewer! But I think that, while that reviewer couldn't get over their dislike for Lan for how she treated Bao after he was cursed, I think I had a different interpretation of Lan's behavior. Hear me out.

Bao had built Lan up in his mind to be perfect. He put her on a pedestal. This never ever turns out well for anyone, especially for the person put on said pedestal. When Bao confessed his role in the duplicity to her and then offered her his heart at the same time, she proved herself only human by lashing out at him and saying the most hurtful things she could. I understood this compulsion, and I did not hate Lan for it. But Bao could not reconcile what had happened with the woman he had built in his mind, and he was so shattered by it that he ran away. Also understandable. I felt horrible for both of them.

Once Lan finds Bao after he's been cursed, she is still thinking only of redeeming herself because she doesn't want the guilt. Bao points this out, she dismisses it, but it's obviously right there in the forefront of her mind. We also need to consider that Lan was brought up wealthy, spoiled, and prepared to marry into another wealthy family and never have to worry about anything ever again. As a young child she was adventurous and excitable because of her grandmother, but her grandmother had died and Lan had put aside that part of her to become a wife. So she was still in "proper lady mode" when she set out with Bao. Her rudeness to him is a direct result of her upbringing, because he is being rude to her (well within his rights after her behavior, of course), and she feels affronted. But if you keep going and keep following Lan, you see that she does still have the trickster adventurous side that her grandmother nurtured. Lan picks up parts of that personality she laid aside, and realizes how much she has hurt Bao, and really how much Bao means to her. How much he has meant to her.

Lan still has her bratty moments. At one point after a major upset, she's mad at Bao for not thanking her enough for saving his life. I think that, while we're watching the two of them actually fall in love, the author is reminding us that no one is perfect. I found myself slipping into the pedestal-placing myself while reading, because Lan had started to change her behavior and her thinking. Having these little moments of imperfection and rudeness brought me back to earth, and to the fact that Lan is not perfect. Neither is Bao. And at the end, when he finally sees her as she is, he realizes that even though he found out she's not perfect, he wouldn't want that perfect Lan anyway. They are both human, imperfect, and in love. I thought it was pretty damn beautiful.

So in sum, loved the story, loved the characters, loved the development, and want to read more in this world. I see there are two books before this one, so I hope that I can get around to reading them someday. I'd like to read about Empress Jade and Xifeng, who were brought up (and one met) in this book, but there wasn't a ton of information about them. I'm looking forward to seeing more from this author.

Thank you to Bookish First and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. I received a free copy, but my opinions are my own.

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Review: Weathernose by Maram Taibah

Weathernose by Maram Taibah
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Admittedly I didn't realize this was actually a novella, so I was a bit disconcerted when I looked down after a while and saw that I was 65% of the way through the book and it was going up with every page. There were some good points to this, I enjoyed seeing Tart and Cypress becoming friends, but I think it was a bit too easy to get there. Then again, I guess that's the point of it being a novella, eh? But I wish there had been more to it.

The character development is interesting. I had a serious dislike for Tart from the moment he was fired, and it only got worse until the last bit of the book. Even then, though, I didn't love him. I didn't really connect to any of the characters to be honest. But I did like that there were a few changes of heart as things went on, and I liked seeing Cypress express the desire to be "just a kid" at one point.

A cute little novella, good story, but really wish there was more to it.

Thank you to Book Sirens for the opportunity to read and review this book. My opinions are my own.

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Review: If Darkness Takes Us by Brenda Marie Smith

If Darkness Takes Us by Brenda Marie Smith
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book frustrated me so much. There was so much that could have been done with this story, but it really just ended up as the inner monologue from a self-loathing bitter old woman. The one thing I thought the book got right was that there was mention at one point about all the post-apocalyptic stories that Bea had read, and how none of them really covered the grieving process for losing your entire life and having to start over. This book certainly focused on that aspect of it...to the point that nothing *really* happens. Sure, a few people die, someone gets knocked up, vagrants start coming to town trying to steal stuff, the usual perils when the world goes off the rails. But the vast majority of the book was about Bea painting herself as the town's savior, trying to fix everything, and screwing it all up horribly.

I'm sure there was something in here that was supposed to make me feel like Bea redeemed herself by the end, but I really just did not feel that way at all. There was no conclusion, there was no progress, it was just (view spoiler)["Welp, had a stroke, my family's home and everyone's pissed at me, bye now!" (hide spoiler)]

Sorry, this seems dismissive. I know that there must have been some deep research into what it would take to grow food after the apocalypse, and how long batteries would last, and how to put bees into the walls of a house, and dig a cistern that would hold thousands of gallons of water, etc. It's just that...beyond the few upheavals, that's *all* that happened. They learned to live without refrigeration and electricity. They taught themselves how to build sheds and other things they'd need. They planted crops and harvested them. They screwed and buried and fought and that's it. I guess I'm just not sure where the actual story was supposed to be. And I really couldn't stand any of the people in it, especially Bea and her insufferable husband and children. (The grandkids, especially Keno, were ok.)

There are a lot of 4- and 5-star reviews out there, so it looks like I'm in the minority. I just found it a bit of a bore and not interesting. Thank you to Book Sirens for the opportunity to read and review this book for free. My opinions are my own.

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Review: The Absinthe Earl by Sharon Lynn Fisher

The Absinthe Earl by Sharon Lynn Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Whooooo *fans self* If the cover hadn't given away that this was a bodice-ripper, there was no doubt in my mind pretty early on when there was so much tension between the two main characters that it was oozing into every aspect of the book. I don't normally request these things because I have so many other things to read but this sounded interesting at least.

Overall, this is a fantasy book tangled up in Irish fairy folklore. Honestly, I'm not a scholar of Irish fairy stuff, but I've read a lot of different fey stories so I wasn't completely out of my depth here. We briefly meet WB Yeats (which frankly, I didn't see the point of, but I get the little homage there), we read about different folk heroes and fairy kings and queens, and all the while we're on a (sexy) adventure with two pretty attractive people ;) The naughty bits are definitely graphic, so if you're not up for that then steer clear. But if you are, have fun!

4/5 stars because even though it was something I'd consider "fluff," even if you take out the bedroom romps it was still a great story with plot and character development.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

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Review: The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis

The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've typed and erased and typed and erased and I just can't express how good this book was besides that it was soooooooo GOOOOOOOOOOOD. And since it's a debut, I'm doubly surprised and in love! Also, that cover - fierce Aster!

There's so much to unpack with the nature of trauma, reactions to it, and the differences between the two girls who actually experienced being prostitutes and the three who were about to but escaped before it happened. Aster shrinks back from men, and Clementine is drawn immediately to one. Violet is cold and closed-off because she feels that's what she needs to be to survive. Take care of yourself first, is her motto. I really enjoyed watching her character progression as she got further away from the Welcome House. I wish we could have seen a little more into her head too.

A couple characters fell flat (I felt like by the end Clementine was just kind of shrinking back into a tropey maiden in distress, and Tansy and Mallow seemed, admittedly, a bit superfluous after a while), and the ending happened to quickly after everything we've been through. So those were the downsides for me. But everything else was really really good. Like, the raveners are the only ones who can use magic, and it's all evil and used to torture people (or track people). They are mortals who eventually lose their souls because the work is so evil. And then there are the different types of "ghosts," some that are harmless and others that will rip you to shreds. And the setting itself - we're talking Wild Wild West saloon stuff, and even the cover gives off that vibe. I got very entrenched in the environment, hearing the voices in my head, seeing what was happening. The whole thing was very visual for me, very cinematic. I wasn't just reading it, I was experiencing a lot of it with the characters.

I wish we had gotten a little closure on one of the characters, but since I see that it's book #1 of a series, I guess book #2 is going on my TBR list.

Thank you to Bookish First and the publisher for a free ARC for review purposes. My opinions are my own.

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Review: The Swallows by Lisa Lutz

The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm not quite sure what I was expecting but it wasn't what I got. There are several different viewpoints and I hated them all. Yes, even the kids. The teachers were all assholes, the boys are all douchebags, and the girls are ridiculously overdone. The story wasn't that interesting and nothing super major happened until the end and by then there had been a whole lot of buildup for not much of an explosion.

2 out of 5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Review: The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OK folks, buckle yourselves in, because if you pick up this book you're in for a wild ride.

(As an aside, I can't remember the last time I saw a fantasy book that was being hyped like this one that was actually this good. And I also can't remember the last time I saw a book like this with so many four- and five-star reviews that are actually genuine. So I think the hype was well warranted with this one. Although I'd market it more as adult fantasy than YA as another reviewer commented.)

There is a lot to love here - a badass female lead who is strong AF while still being able to admit to uncertainty and fear. Fie is the heroine we all need in this world of wispy girl leads who pine romantically for the prettiest boy they ever did see and everyone else be damned.

One of the best things about this book is the magic system. Every caste (I'm still a bit confused about them but don't totally care) has their own "birthright," which was given to them by their own dead gods. The Crows have no birthright, and must take from others. They are called "bone thieves" as a slur by every other caste because they get their magic from other castes' teeth. Now, I am not a huge fan of this kind of thing, it's a little gross to think of someone holding onto a bunch of teeth, pulling them out of dead bodies, and carrying them around in a bag (or on a string around their neck). I admit to being squeamish. But this was so unique that I couldn't put it as a negative. It's seriously amazing to think that the person holding a tooth can see the entirety of the former owner's life and then harness that former owner's magic. Fie gets really good at using the Phoenix teeth (for fire) and the Sparrow teeth (to hide).

The Crows are called "merciful" because they are the ones who answer the plague beacons. As the only caste who can't get sick from the plague, they are charged with finishing off the sick (mercifully slitting their throats) and then burning them away from the village so the plague doesn't infect everyone else there. If the crows don't answer a beacon they are supposedly punished by the Covenant, which I gathered is the magical "rules" which were settled when the gods died.

The rest of the castes really hate the Crows and go out of their way to make them miserable, even though the Crows help them with the plague. The Oleanders even hunt them down and kill them in terrible ways (Fie's mother was murdered when Fie was a little girl, and she found her body by following a trail of her fingers). No one ever does anything to help them against the Oleanders, and that is something that Fie wants to change.

So when the two lordlings that are supposedly dead from the plague sit up in her cart, Fie sees her chance to change the Crows' fates. And after she forges that covenant vow with Jasimir, she is forced to live with everything that happens because of it.

There is a lot going on in this book between the Oleanders, the skinwitches trailing the band, the love story (which was pretty well done, actually), everyone out to kill them. A few times I thought I had pegged how the next bit was going to go and was wrong. And while I figured out the "big reveal" that comes at the end a long time before, admittedly it was still a bit of a surprise to be proven right.

I so love Fie's character development, and I even liked Tavin (although it was pretty obvious that the two of them were going to get together). Jasimir... I could take him or leave him. He's whiny and has a stick up his ass, but by the end he does have a new side to his personality that I warmed to.

The only thing that made this four stars for me was that sometimes the magic really didn't make sense, it felt like it was just being used to get them out of a scrape that they never would have escaped from otherwise, and wasn't well-thought-out. There was also at least one nick-of-time rescue that wasn't believable. Otherwise, this is fantastic, I loved it, and I highly recommend it.

You know what, screw it, I'm giving it five stars anyway.

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book!

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Review: Wanderers by Chuck Wendig

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

There are apparently 800 pages in this book. I've read books that long (and longer) many times before. That wasn't a stumbling block for me, but damn were those a long 800 pages.

First, let me say how happy I am that this is NOT a series and that the story is wrapped up (mostly) in just the one book. I didn't have to wait for ten more sequels to come out to figure out what was happening. I didn't have to slog through thousands of pages of bullshit just so someone could drag out the story.

A lot of other people have talked about the themes of this book and all the issues it explores in much more detail and probably better than I can. We have the fundamentalist Christian pastor who gets into bed with neo-Nazis, a female president who apparently most of the country hates, a kind of strange look at homosexuality, there's even a pretty brutal male-male rape scene that I was...seriously disturbed by. The sickness itself is disgusting, frankly. And there is a lot going on that is left up in the air as mystery for a very long time.

And I'll admit it - Wendig got me. I'm usually sitting here reading and picking out the "twists" that are supposedly so hidden but are actually pretty plain. Not with this one. At first I couldn't figure out the purpose of the walkers. When that was revealed, awesome, I was surprised (although looking back it's probably pretty easy to spot and I just missed it in all the science talk). There was a lot of blatant commentary on the people who weren't getting sick, so I figured that one out early enough. But the ending - I always suspected Black Swan of being more than just the "benevolent AI who wants to save the human race," and while I wasn't surprised about what happened, I can say I didn't see that exact scenario playing out. And Shana's part in the end of it all was definitely unexpected.

There were a few characters I grew "close" to - Marcy, Pete, and Benji. Once Pete got over his rockstar status and became an actual human I liked him very much. Benji was always just trying to do the best he could for everyone else. And Marcy was such a good-hearted person that it wasn't hard to love her. I do still wish we had been told exactly what had happened between her and the "glow" - Sadie mentioned that Marcy was a receiver because of the metal plates in her head, but how that made her more functional is beyond me.

There are two reasons this does not get a 5 star review - first, I am not one to shy away from swearing in books, but I feel like it was over the top in this one. There were a lot of random fucks interjected into conversations, thoughts, revelations, etc. It was too much for me to even feel like it was realistic. Second, the ending wasn't quite satisfying after all we went through to get where we were going. It came too quickly after all of that, and it felt cut off (although very sinister - good job at upping the creep factor at the end there).

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. My opinions are my own.

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Review: Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon

Gravemaidens by Kelly Coon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This review is full of spoilers. Read at your own risk.

The idea of this book came out better than the finished product, I guess. Three young maidens are chosen to accompany the dying Lugal (king? emperor? same diff) to the netherworld as his brides. Kammani, the main character, is dismayed when her sister Nanaea is chosen as one of those maidens, even though Nanaea is positively gloating and excited about it. Kammani decides she has to heal the Lugal so that her sister doesn't have to die. This is a noble goal, but if Kammani were honest with herself, it really has nothing to do with her sister and everything to do with herself, and if she'd just listen to her sister instead of dislocating a shoulder patting herself on the back for all her sacrificing, maybe no one would have ended up in a tomb. A plot that only gets set into motion because of the main character's idiocy really doesn't float my boat.

Kammani is one of the most infuriating main characters I've ever read. She has a savior complex and will not accept help from anyone else. She's madly in love with Dagan but won't admit it because she doesn't want to be a wife and mother, because apparently you aren't allowed to be a wife and mother and still be a healer, even though Dagan's mother is a wife and mother and is perfectly capable of healing people too. Dagan is like a puppy around her, following her around with his tail wagging like she'll eventually turn around and acknowledge that she's really rather fond of him and of course she'll marry him... And after Kammani's mother dies (before the events of this book, even though the actual event is written out in detail later in the book) apparently Kammani takes her comment of "You're the only one" as meaning she's the only person in the entire world who could ever possibly help her family and no one else on the planet is as good at that or as self-sacrificing about it as she is. I wanted to smack her upside the head before she even got to the palace.

She is also incredibly gullible. Dagan makes an off-hand comment about how is she sure the Nin (the princess) isn't the one poisoning the Lugal, and suddenly she's all gung-ho that the Nin is the one to blame and she goes off on a crazy single-minded quest to accuse this woman in public. Never mind that Uruku and Gudanna are horrible villains and very obviously hate her guts. Never mind that the person who ordered her thrown out of the window didn't *actually* sound like the Nin. Nope, let's go after the girl whose father is dying and who has shown nothing but eagerness for him to be healed, just because one time she looked like she was enjoying herself at a festival.

And all of this is nothing compared to Kammani's hare-brained plan, hatched in about thirty seconds after she escapes the palace, to sneak back into the palace and onto a platform in front of hundreds of people to accuse the Nin with something she found in her chambers, as if her word and the word of a soldier would prove a damn thing! And on top of that, the Lugal dies anyway right in front of everyone.

Then we get to see her and the other three girls thrown into the tomb anyway. Some weird-ass scene with the Boatman happens, everyone gets poisoned, Kammani tries to save them all, yadda yadda, she wakes up safe at Dagan's farm and now like 10 people get to go into hiding in a giant caravan, as if no one would notice a huge cavalcade of people leaving the city in broad daylight on stolen horses and oh they all just happen to be fugitives.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book. I wish I had enjoyed it more and was less annoyed by the MC and her terrible ideas. This just did not work for me.

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Review: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.5/5 stars

This book was exhilarating. Our scene is set almost as a Cinderella story, but it goes so much further than that very quickly. Soon our heroine is on an adventure with a deposed Mayan god, and her pace almost feels breathless. I was sucked in quickly and inhaled the book over about a day and a half.

(SN: Anyone else have The Road to El Dorado stuck in their head the whole time? Every time I saw the word Xibalba I was tossed back into the movie and I'm sure that's terrible but eh that's life :P)

Anyway, Hun-Kame was not exactly likable as a god, but as he grew more and more human I sort of started falling for him too. Casiopea's longing for adventure finally caught up to her, and she got what she wanted, but not exactly as planned. Martin - I just wanted to slap him silly. And pretty much the entire rest of her family.

The reason I gave this 4.5 stars is because we don't get to see what happened to Casiopea's family after the final "game." I wanted to know what was going to happen to her grandfather, how her mother was affected, and all that. I wanted to know what kind of person Martin would become. And admittedly, even though the way it ended was actually kind of perfect, I was a little disappointed that it didn't end the way I half expected it to. I think it could have worked out either way, and I do like that the author was bold enough to end it with the outcome she chose.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this wonderful book.

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Review: The Book of Flora by Meg Elison

The Book of Flora by Meg Elison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was going to say that this book must have been the shortest of the three, but it turns out it's actually the longest. I'm actually sad it's over. I *loved* it, I mean, as much as one can love such a brutal world. The series as a whole is so original and so well-written. I was reading through in this book and noticing (for the first time - how is this possible??) how the city and state names were all bastardizations of actual cities. Estiel - STL - St. Louis. Niyak - New York? Demons - Des Moines. Iwa - Iowa. I am guessing that Shy is Chicago (Chi-Town). And it keeps going and going and I was amazed at the sheer number of cities these people were able to make it to and through in their journeys. Also: No magical Mormons as many people feared!

The exploration of gender was very interesting. And the idea that humans were evolving so rapidly - literally in a generation or two - was a really compelling take. I think my main problem with the story line was what was happening with this army, and why. I guess I didn't understand the motivations of the army's leader, even though it seemed like it was explored and laid out in quite a bit of detail. It just didn't make a lot of sense to me.

Overall I loved the book, and I loved the entire series. I wish that this book had been longer! Even a little extra at the end with the army's arrival, and a longer epilogue with more detail would have been fantastic. But what a fitting end to the series. I'm looking forward to more Meg Elison in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

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Review: Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Utterly predictable and tropey, but boy did I love it anyway. The only thing I wished was that Maia wasn't so stubborn and immature (although I know she's very young), and that she'd stop referring to Edan as a boy (he's a grown man, dammit!). Otherwise, the writing was well done, the story was compelling with a couple of interesting twists and turns, and I got seriously lost in the love story. I stayed up waaaaaaaaaaaaay too late two nights in a row because I didn't want to stop reading.

Can't wait to read book 2!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing this book for review purposes.

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Review: Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan

Gates of Stone by Angus Macallan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There is a lot to like in this book - complex political intrigues, battles, betrayals, magic, epic adventure...but there's also a lot to dislike. The only character I actually cared about wasn't even a major player (Tenga). There is graphic rape, descriptions of bodies being hacked apart, and pretty much everyone was insufferable. I started to get into the story once things started picking up (around 75%) but by then I was too bored with the rest of it to get much enjoyment out of any of it. I couldn't root for anyone to succeed because I disliked them all.

In the end, I can give it 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 simply because GR doesn't do half stars. It was pretty well-written (although the advance copy I had was riddled with spelling and word errors), a lot of people would enjoy something like this (especially people who like grimdark), and it's definitely a richly-imagined world. But I didn't love it, I had to really slog through to get to the end, and I have zero interest in picking up the next book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book and provide a review.

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Review: The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had to read a few other reviews to really get a handle on why I can't give this book four stars. I liked it, it was a fast read, and the main character was very well-developed (for the most part). Then I realized - it's the rest of it that didn't add up. Poe was really the only thing that was fully fleshed out (besides the ship). The worldbuilding was vague, not much was known, and not much was discovered. The raiders/drifters have their own society somewhere, but there's absolutely no information about it. Even the Outpost didn't make much sense. And I really wish there had been more about the Palingenesis at the end. I wanted to see what that group was about, I wanted to know about them. Basically, I wanted *more.*

Poe is deeply flawed, but still a character I found myself liking (or at least rooting for). I wish I'd been able to learn more about the others, especially Tam and Brig. Naomi's motivations fell completely flat and I just couldn't really believe how her character development went off the rails at the end.

There's a lot to like here - an interesting story, fast-paced and easy to read. I breezed through it in a few hours, so I definitely liked it. But there's also a lot missing, which really is why I can only give this book three stars.

Thank you to Bookish First for an advanced reader copy of this book for my review.

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Review: Glow by Aubrey Hadley

Glow: Book I, Potency by Aubrey Hadley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

NetGalley provided me with a free e-copy of this book to review.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 since GR doesn't do half stars.

The concept was interesting. Finding out you're a human-alien hybrid has to be disorienting. Trying to figure out who in your life is telling you the truth sounds even more difficult, when both sides are telling wildly different (and completely unbelievable) stories. Poor Harper has to do both of these things, and her confusion definitely reigns in this book.

The thing is, I really just didn't love it. I can't say I've read it before, because I haven't, and can't think of anything else I've heard of that's similar. But for some reason it just didn't elicit any real emotions from me. I was disconnected from just about all of the characters. I worried more about the people left on earth than I did the hybrids in the Base of Ki. From the moment Harper's human body was dissolved and she became more Ancient than anything else, I had a general sense of unease about the Ancients that never went away. Everything was creepy, all of the Ancients' interactions with the hybrids were strange and condescending, and I just could not get past it all. Of course this was intentional, we were supposed to question the Ancients, but I just felt weird about it.

One thing I noticed (and mentioned in my reading notes) was that one of the hybrids who told his tragic story mentioned that his pregnant wife was executed right in front of him. But a big deal was made previously about the fact that hybrids were sterile. Was this an oversight, an error that was meant to be written out? Or were the Ancients lying about that, too?

The ending wasn't a satisfying ending, not even a cliffhanger. It was like the book just stopped, like there was supposed to be more but it got left out. After the however many pages (seriously it felt like 1000 pages), I think there could have been a couple more devoted to Harper thinking about what was going to happen next. Or at least something to make me clamor for book 2.

I have no idea where this is going to end, but I'm not sure I'll pick up the next book to find out. 2.5 stars because it wasn't a bad book and it was an OK read, I rounded up to 3 because I didn't feel like 2 was enough. But again, no spark for me. I guess it just wasn't the right book for me.

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Review: The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons (Preview Excerpt)

The Ruin of Kings by Jenn Lyons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a free e-copy preview excerpt of this book from NetGalley for review purposes. It included the first 23 chapters (seemed like about half the book).

Ho-lee-crap. I was *not* expecting to love this as much as I did. I was expecting it to be your average adventure-fantasy, but there's a lot here to like. Kihrin is kind of a dumbass, but I was fascinated by his story. Getting to know the various characters was interesting, because they each had their own actual developed personality (unlike a lot of the newer stuff out there that sacrifices world-building and characterization for romance and a badly-written plot). The plot itself is pretty tangled up, and even though I'm pretty sure I got the first half of the book, I have no idea where it's really going. And for once, I liked that!!

There were two things that really took away from the book for me:

1. I HATED switching back and forth between Kihrin and Talon for each chapter.
2. Those footnotes! They were numerous, they didn't seem to be super helpful, and who the heck was speaking in them? It wasn't Talon, and presumably wasn't Kihrin - was it supposed to be the person writing everything down from the recording stone? Was it someone else? I'm hoping we get that later.

I am definitely placing this on my to-be-finished shelf (not that I have one) and will hopefully remember to pick up a copy when it's released so I can finish the damn thing! Setting Google alert now...

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Review: Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller

Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes.

This was a fun little book. It was shorter than I expected, only took a couple of hours to read, but it was good. I didn't love it, it wasn't anything very new, but it was well-written and enjoyable. The romance was a bit much, and while we got a very blatant, "It's not because he's the first boy who cared, it's because he's the right one!" argument at the end of one chapter, it still read as a forced thing to me.

The will-they-won't-they thing is tired, the arguments and the "I hate you" attitude that Rasmira gives off is tropey, all the kissing is standard YA. It was pretty obvious from the start what the "god" actually was, I'm just surprised it took Rasmira so long to figure it out. She doesn't seem stupid, but she's also not that perceptive.

Anyway, recommended for people who like romantic YA fantasy with an adventure. If you're looking for ground-breaking world-building or non-trope characterization, you won't find it here.

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Review: Beware the Night by Jessica Fleck

Beware the Night by Jessika Fleck
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

My thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

TL;DR: Predictable, didn't like the main character, but still want to see where it goes. 2.5/5 stars, it was OK.

Beware the Night is utterly predictable, down to the impetuous actions of our heroine, Veda. She is constantly told by everyone around her to wait, and listen, and go with her gut, because she's brand new to this whole thing and everyone else has been planning stuff for a long time. In the end, she listens to the first thing her brain ever tells her and reacts without actually thinking. As she says at the end of the book, she accuses everyone else of only thinking of themselves without realizing she's done the exact same thing.

And what's with the hourglass thing? I realize that hourglasses are a legitimate way to keep time, and that they were used for a long time (and still are in some instances), but the society as it's described doesn't seem to mesh with using hourglasses instead of clocks or some other time-keeping device. They have electricity and technology. There should be some way of making a clock that doesn't rely on everyone having a perfectly-synced hourglass around their neck. (And how does one use it for a timer when it's apparently supposed to be actually keeping time? Do they have multiple hourglasses they carry around? How does this make any sense??)

The love triangle is very strained. The constant mentions of butterflies in Veda's stomach is so overwrought. She's very obviously a love-sick teenager who's thrust into a role she has never wanted. She's confused, angry, being pulled on both sides, and doesn't know what to do. So what does she do? She acts out, completely disregarding the plans people have been making for years, and ruining everything. I couldn't stand her.

BUT BUT BUT (and there's always a 'but' if I'm not going to completely pan a book), I adored both Nico and Dorian. Yes, Nico is a bit wishy-washy, but I feel like he does what he feels is right for everyone, despite feeling powerless. Dorian's a bit of a puppy, but it's pretty clear he's loyal and passionate about what he believes in. Both of them have interesting perspectives, both have compelling arguments for their actions. If it weren't for the whole love triangle thing, I'd have enjoyed their characters so much more.

Anyway, I see that so far there's no mention of a sequel, but it's obviously set up for one because we get a clear cliffhanger at the end. It would be nice if there were a Goodreads placemarker so that I could be notified when it's out, because, if nothing else, I'd at least like to see who Veda picks (if anyone) and how this whole revolution fiasco pans out.

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Review: Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal

Unmarriageable: A Novel by Soniah Kamal
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a free e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review purposes, and I also won a paperback ARC from the Goodreads First Reads program.

The high-starred reviews on this one got me really excited. I'm a sucker for Austen, and I know P&P like the back of my hand. Which made this... disappointing. Here's the thing. It was a really good book. I enjoyed the feminism and the characters' forward-thinking opinions (well, some of them anyway). I loved the writing style, and I even like how Kamal really explored Alys' change of heart regarding Darsee, instead of leaving it to feel like she was wowed by his awesome house.

But despite all of that, I could *not* get past the fact that this was a literal retelling of the story I know and love, complete with similar-sounding character names and some even identical situations. My biggest problem is not that it was just a retelling, but that it was a retelling that CONSTANTLY referenced P&P and Austen, and yet the main character did not seem to realize she was freaking LIVING P&P! She talks about it all the time, but never once thinks, "Hm, I feel like I know how this is going to end because my life and everyone in it is exactly like this book I'm obsessed with..."

This would have been a four- or even five-starred review if the book didn't reference Austen at all. It was so amazingly similar that every time Austen was mentioned it threw me out of the story and back into the original. And in that respect, the Bollywood movie Bride and Prejudice did it much better. Yes, it was super cheesy. But there was no Austen reference, so I wasn't sitting there wondering why all the characters were so damn dense about it. (Plus, we got the Mr. Collins character and his "No Life Without Wife" hand gestures, and the ridiculous song, which are arguably the best things about that movie. So there's that.)

That said, if none of what I said above bothers you (and apparently it didn't bother a bunch of other P&P fans, so to each his/her own), then by all means, read and enjoy. I liked it, but because it constantly referenced its primary source, I couldn't love it.

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Review: The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta

The Brilliant Death by Amy Rose Capetta
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a review copy of this book from Bookish First.

This one came up on Bookish First a few weeks ago, and I hadn't been planning on entering the drawing, but after reading the first couple of chapters I was hooked. It was an exciting day when I found out I'd been picked, and even more exciting when it showed up in my mailbox. One thing I don't normally comment on is cover art and printing style, but both are things I really appreciated with this book. The cover is bright, font is clean, it's eye-catching and intriguing, and it represents the book perfectly. Inside, the beginning page of each chapter sits inside what looks to be a birdcage, and every page after has a border on the side with the page number (instead of the numbers being at the bottom, they are to the right or left of the text). Every part has a dark divider page with a title. When you look at the closed book from the side, you can see every divider page. I liked the stylistic details of the printing, and having something like this in my hands was extremely satisfying.

Now that we're done with that, let's talk about the story. There is a lot going on in this book - murder, intrigue, plotting, magic, love, and betrayal. All of these can add up to a drab boring cliched tropey story, but here they all worked in sync. Teodora is a strega, she has magic - but she doesn't know much about it. She knows she can transform people into objects, but doesn't know how it works or how to do anything else. She meets a mysterious stranger, Cielo, who can change their gender at will, and longs to know more. When it becomes necessary for her to become a man - not just dress like one, but BE one - she asks Cielo to teach her. Learning how to use her magic is one of the integral plot points, because as she continues on her journey she is constantly having to adjust how she uses it. I don't want to give really any spoilers, since this was so good, so I'll just say that she gains many new abilities, and not in the best ways either.

The intrigue and mystery comes in when Teo gets to the capital city, after her father is almost murdered. She finds out that the heads of the four other Families (who each "rule" an area of the country) were also poisoned like her father, only they all died. Everyone presumes her own father is dead, and that she is her brother, Luca. Teo needs to keep pretending to be Luca in her new boyish body, while uncovering the secrets of the other sons (now heads), and figuring out a way to kill the Capo, who united and now rules the country, and who murdered the heads of four of the Five Families. She also needs to keep learning how to use her magic, and also falls in love with Cielo. She finds that the capital city isn't what it seems, especially when it comes to magic. Cielo's own search for their mother complicates matters even further. Teo is strong, smart, and cunning, but can also be foolish. There is also a traitor in their midst, and she needs to ferret out who it is while still going forward with her plan.

I loved the writing style, the plot twists that got me - I've had a hard time lately with books that have so many twists that they are either ridiculous or completely obvious, and these were pretty solid ones that I didn't always see coming. The characters grow and change and learn. Teo herself goes through a huge transformation, and not just from male to female. And I also loved how she and Cielo loved each other no matter whether they were both women, both men, or one of each. I'm not genderfluid and don't proclaim to truly understand what genderfluid people experience, but I thought it was an interesting perspective to read about people loving each other for who they are and not their gender. There are definitely some interesting gender concepts explored in this book.

Highly recommended to anyone who loves fantasy, especially gender-bending fantasy. I don't see that this is the first in a series, although I can't say that I'm disappointed for a stand-alone. I'm too depressed lately by having to wait and wait for a story to truly *end*. While I loved the world, and wanted to read more of it, especially about the strega, and Teo and Cielo's journey, I am perfectly satisfied by the ending and think it was done very well.

Looking forward to reading more books by this author in the future!

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