Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma is a convoluted dark academia vampire story filled to the brim with morally grey characters. It’s got some bite to it, but it really struggles to find its footing. Can you take this book’s heat if there’s not a solid world to back it up? Let’s find out. After witnessing…
Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe is an action-packed story about an executioner and an assassin colliding to either kill each other or destroy the system that oppresses them both. If you like enemies to lovers, sticky situations, and some strong ladies taking back their power, then this one is for you. The elites of New Found…
Heartless by Marissa Meyer is a prequel story about how the Queen of Hearts came to power in Wonderland. The book pays homage to Lewis Carroll’s world and the well-known characters of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. But Meyer expands the story, giving us insight into the fury-filled, unreasonable queen Alice eventually meets. Catherine would rather…
I have heard for years how lovely Katherine Arden’s The Winternight Trilogy is, and despite it sitting on my shelves, I hate to admit that I have not read it yet. So it feels weird to be here today, reviewing Arden’s newest release, The Unicorn Hunters. But I had to start somewhere, and I’m very…
Bone of My Bone by Johanna van Veen is a horror novel that’s about the obsessive, deep sort of love that you would do anything for. Set in Germany amidst the Thirty Years' War, van Veen uses horror to explore love, the prevalence of violence, and the influence religion has in making sense of chaos. …
Sunyi Dean’s The Girl With A Thousand Faces is a ghost story that has haunted its characters for generations. In this story, it’s not only the grief and trauma that linger. The dead stick around, and they have a story to tell. The walled city of Kowloon sits in the shadow of Hong Kong, home…
Continue reading ➞ The Girl With A Thousand Faces – A Mask Unveiled
Holly Black knows how to write an interesting urban fantasy with a magic system intertwined with a healthy dose of crime. You’ll find this same dark and gritty fun in The Charlatan duology, and having loved that, I decided it was time to read White Cat, one of Black’s earlier works that had a similar…
I read The Language of Liars by S. L. Huang in one sitting, fearing I would miss a word if I set it down. And words are what’s important in this story because language is a portal to the stars, quite literally in Ro’s case. Star Eaters are the only alien species that can locate…
Tesia Tsai’s young adult fantasy novel, Deathly Fates, tells a story you’ve likely encountered before: a serious young woman is inconveniently thrust into an adventure with a frivolous male counterpart that makes her situation more difficult. It’s a comfortable read with its formulaic and predictable plot. It won’t make you work very hard, but it…
Daughter of Crows by Mark Lawrence is an intriguing, strange, and brutal story. This was my first time reading something by Lawrence, and my experience with Crows has inspired me to read more of his catalog. In his newest book, Lawrence tells a story that is mostly about the Academy of Kindness and how it…
