Nico

Updated review: Since I was reading to Penelope's new release, I wanted to relisten to this one. In a world where the spirits roam, Enigmas offer the desperate charms and tricks, and ancestors watch over their loved ones, Clara Johnson was born with the sight. She's vowed never again to use her charm, but when her poorer coworkers and neighbors go missing, what will she do to save them? Followed by the spirit of her grandmother, Mama Octavia, and her roommate, Zelda, who can thieve like it's a gift, Clara sets off on a mission to put together a charmed, ragtag crew who will hopefully help save her community and maybe even save her too.

This historical fiction fantasy will make you feel like you're in 1920's DC, US, with guest star appearances by big names from the time. With lovable characters and characters you'll love to hate, Penelope created a story that is fun and joyful in a bustling backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance while showcasing classism and hinting to colorism, racism, hate and Jim Crow segregation. The plot and pace will keep you engaged with a mystery, loads of humorous dialogue, a smidge of satisfying romance and a burgeoning found family that peels back the layers of shame and regret. This is a must read for anyone who enjoys magical realism, urban fantasy, paranormal or historical fiction. Anyone who likes the arts will likely want to check this out too.

I normally don't like books set in the 20's, but I LOVED every. single. thing. about this book. The lore explored in this and the mystery around what was happening to people both hooked me from the beginning. Then Penelope takes you on a ride and it was such a fun and enjoyable read overall. I adored every character, well except for the snobs we meet, but they are all written fabulously and I especially adored Clara. What was the most impressive is that she felt like a real woman, as imperfect and exceptional, even with her gift and charm. And I wish I had such a boisterous and brave (and a bit reckless) roommate as Zelda, who absolutely shines and got quite a few chuckles out of me. This is multi-POV, but just to help explain some of the backstory of our crew while keeping the main focus on Clara. I'm not saying the book is completely light, there are references to the KKK, slavery and it is clearly the time of Jim Crow. The characters mention they have to navigate their lives around these threats, and there is on-page belittling of characters for their class status. I'm just saying that Penelope has a clear talent for demonstrating how many realities can be true at once, and in this case while making you smile. There's so much more I want to or could say about his book that is missing here, but I truly highly recommend this book.

Comparing her two latest releases: Because I loved Monsters we Defy so much, I was hoping for the same good ol' time in a different story with Daughter of the Merciful Deep. What I found is Penelope demonstrating her range and versatility within her own style: fantastical historical fiction, inspired by real people and real stories, showcasing the beauty within early 20th century African-American communities while not shying away from the truth and horrors inflicted by Jim Crow laws and hate. In the mood for a fun romp featuring spirits and a ragtag crew? Try The Monsters We Defy. In the mood for a historical drama featuring gods? Try Daughter of the Merciful Deep.

I understand that not every fantasy reader enjoys the historical-fantasy mashup, yet I will still say everyone should try at least one Penelope story. In comparing these two I'd say for me the journey through Monsters was smoother than Daughter, but while Monsters is an all time favorite I think Daughter has deeply impacted my being and it is not one I will forget for years to come. Penelope is solidified as an auto-read author for me at this point and I strongly suspect we'll see a lot more from her. I look forward to exploring more of what she cooks up next AND I need to go back to her releases as L. Penelope.

Quit at 25%. It completely lost the magic with what it's doing and all the cozy for me, maybe one day I'll go back but feeling zero rush.

What pure joy. So much heart in this story, I'm a sucker for ones around grief, familial love and healing, so I repeatedly teared up and the humor was spot on for me. I had no idea this was inspired by Good Omens when I started (went in blind), though I was curious throughout. I've only seen the show, and this felt similar but different. It focused more on a fallen angel's relationship with others and their relationships than an angel-fallen angel friendship. I loved all of it. I think fans of TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea or In the Lives of Puppets might like this one too.

Audio note: it was EXACTLY the audio experience I was seeking. Great narration, but there is an angelic-sounding ping-ping-ping for every footnote, and this greatly irked me in the very beginning. My brain did adjust to it at some point.

Quit at 18%. I was not into one POV. I might go back to it another time.

Quit at 5% - just wasn't feeling it.

This is a beautifully written novella with lots of body horror that very unfortunately made me feel nothing. A mermaid, who was held captive and was mutilated by her husband, is traveling with a plague doctor until one day they run into children playing a game of “piggy.” I know there were themes in this that should have enraged or touched me, but yeah a complete miss for and I don't know why, it has so many things I normally like. Honestly I think it was too intellectual for me.

Fantasy foodies, this one is a must. The only times I was so hungry because of a book was when reading “The House Witch” and “Light from Uncommon Stars.” On the cover it says, “A Cozy Cooking Fantasy,” which was 100% true for most of the novella. I was completely relaxed with this slice of life as Emily Woo Zeller was telling me about the food being prepared and people being satiated by it, but then there is a conversation that made me think of COVID and I literally had a sinking feeling in my gut. This was still a great listen and I will be continuing on with the next book that comes out this week.

Update: so I read it after quitting a while ago for fat-phobia. This is a love letter to the opera and Phantom of the Opera, but with the witches.

Not much to say, I was convinced to read this because I originally decided to quit and skip due to the fat-phobia present. It was fine, I went in with a bad taste in my mouth so that probably tainted the book for me. I did chuckle a bit from time to time and I liked the ending, but not my fave Discworld for sure however still glad I read it.

From when I originally quit: It's kind of weird how badly Pratchett wants you to know how large of a woman the main character is. I got through 25 pages and it's very nearly on every page. She can't turn around, she doesn't know her own body, etc. It's dumb and I didn't want to keep reading it.

Quit at 28%. I was immediately hooked by the first chapter and I loved Chandrasekera's writing, but it began to feel more slice-of-life and I was getting bored. I looked at some reviews and some spoilers, and think this is not a book for me.

In full transparency I didn't read every story, which is my new approach to anthologies - just read/listen to what I'm feeling and move on if if I'm not by one page or one minute. Some of my top favorites were “March Magic” by WC Dunlap and “Soul Would Have No Rainbow” and by Yvette Lisa Ndlovu. With this collection I was really happy I read it because it gave me an opportunity to finally read something by Steven Barnes and Marcus Broaddus. I do wish there was some curating stories by organizing and sectioning them, since the collection has 30+ stories, which is a lot! That would have bumped this to 5 stars for me.

Reading this was like being back with an old friend, both for the comfort and also for seeing how time has changed them. This is Vo's darkest installment of the Singing Hills series yet and I dug it. I heard this was a [ ] retelling, which was a spoiler but the novella still absolutely managed to be a surprise. I think between the last book and this one Vo is shifting away from it being about the story and integrating Cleric Chih much more into the plot (and thus having more plot) which I thoroughly enjoyed in this installment. But I do hope we return to the Cleric collecting stories in the next one. One of favorites of the series yet for sure.

A thriller-esque and horror-ish mystery set in Alaska where Detective Atkins of the Forensic Vampyr Anthropology Department is sent to investigate the murder of a teenage boy — and the human town is demanding an authorized cull of the neighboring vampires. This is exactly like our world, except in 1983 a US law was passed making vampires a protected species.

I thought this was a fantastic murder mystery story. I liked the detective, deputy and vampires (and how all the characters were written even if I despised them), the premise and the world building around the vampire-human history were really fascinating, and there's actually some themes on hate, discrimination, oppression and the depravity of humanity that I found interesting too. I had some minor issues and on the petty side it is evident Tudor is not from Alaska and didn't seem like she did much Alaska research outside of the fact that Denali and reindeer exist. This was my first Tudor and I only picked this up for the Alaska setting so I was disappointed, grump. But I would read more, including a sequel to this one.

I would highly recommend for mystery folks. If you're looking for horror, I would say this is not it, for me it has more disturbing elements than eliciting fear. There is reference to trafficking, torture and child abuse. If you avoid blood, you might want to avoid this book.

This is a must-read series for people who like to eat. Read this if you want to be hungry or if you're looking for a quick, calming read or listen in between heavier reads (with the caveat of the brief COVID-ish conversation in book one). Book two brings us back for another night to Mo Meng's restaurant. This one has a smidge more magic and worldbuilding, and we learn a little bit more about the mysterious Mo Meng, which was all satisfying. Plot-driven readers or those looking for super fleshed out characters: this might not be everything you're looking for, but if it sounds interesting to you I encourage you to take a bite.

I really, really liked this finale. The whole trilogy is a win for me, and I recommend for epic fantasy fans or if you're looking for non-Euro Western fantasy. This does reinforce the idea that I should not start an epic fantasy series until it's done, because I was lost from time to time after a big read gap between this one and the second book.

This was my IRL book club's pick for this month. It had mixed reception amongst the crew, but I really liked this and think it's a strong debut. For me I was immediately hooked by the premise; off the bat you learn that every single white person in America walked into the water one day. You follow a father and daughter, who had never met before the event for reasons. What kept me interested were the glimpses into the physiological and societal responses to such an event happened and the thriller-esque tension as they traveled from place to place. So, so much more I could say and it was a good book club discussion. I could nitpick some things and some folks absolutely did in the meeting, but to paraphrase a fellow member, it was provocative and I'm glad I read it.

I’m pretty sure this will be a cozy read for most readers - lightly adventurous traveling story, friendship and a cat! I consumed the audio of this between some more aggravating reads and found it very relaxing and soothing. I loved the sweets descriptions and it made me hungry every time. Just noting there is some racism, an estranged family relationship and a missing child.

Tao, a Shinarian, travels Esthera in her cart with her donkey companion reading small fortunes to residents of the towns she visits. At one stop, she tells small fortunes that change the trajectory of her future and begrudgingly welcomes new traveling companions.

Cat satisfaction rating: 🐈🐈🐈 out of 5. Love that there’s a mundane cat, but not enough cat cuteness or other cat behaviors, and why is he always craving sweets and other carbs?! It distracted me everytime!

I have an unpopular opinion from all the reviewers I follow - I mean most gave it 5 stars and some 4. I rarely say this but I wish this was a novella. This is a slow-burn, historical fiction Western with mild, psychological horror elements and some gore. It's mainly about Adelaide Henry, who moves from California to Montana with a mysterious trunk too heavy for most to carry. Adelaide has a secret, as do some of the women she meets in her new town. It was just too slow for me, the details and getting in the weeds didn't entrance me like they did in “The Changeling,” and I didnt really gasp too much at the reveals.

An adventurous, fast-paced, action-packed middle grade delight featuring LOTS of spirits and Hmong mythology. Pahua is an 11yo who sees spirits, including her best friend Miv, a cat spirit. Pahua lives with her younger brother Matt and her mom, who works a lot possibly because her dad left them four years ago. Pahua accidentally does something to a spirit and she finds herself on what seems like an impossible quest. Lots of great themes and topics for younger ones, especially around being othered and receiving bigotry as a minority in a majority community, not having a lot of friends, sibling love, feeling lesser than other siblings and having a parent who left.

2.5 stars. If you're looking for action, space jobs, and an alien crew I would recommend you give this a shot. But this was a massive miss for me despite it having everything I theoretically love, I mean especially psychic cats (but one are they really psychic and two there was not enough cats despite there being 20 of them). This one seems to be mixed in the ratings and I fall on the lower end. I didn't have any emotional reaction to anyone, I didn't get the found family sap moments I crave, I felt our captain/MC lacked the something special I need from a captain (and it's single-POV), and for me it had too much going on in a way that it all became white noise. I did love the aliens, planets/stations and job runs, but quite bummed I didn't like this one overall.

A fabulous middle grade, which seem to be winners for me this year. Fantastic themes for younger ones and I especially liked how it features a father-daughter relationship (even though we don't really see dad on page). Faye is a servant and the daughter of the groundskeeper, who trained his daughter well. While he's away gathering supplies their egotistical and aloof wizard passes away in his sleep, but he doesn't know it yet and everyone is scared to tell him. Faye finds herself having to take charge and protect the living castle and its creatures that she loves so much, while trying to keep secret that she is a witch. Just super cute with friendship and cute creatures, and is fast-paced without being too fast-paced that I got a headache. Perfect.

Quit at 40%, then 56%, then tried again and finished. * A YA to new adult queer love-triangle romance with some feminist themes where a messenger finds herself on a quest across a wasteland akin to Mad Max. The city and dessert settings were the most interesting parts for me, but were unfortunately overshadowed by a plot focused on a tedious romance, characters and dialogue.

Halfway through chapter two I really thought I was going to quit, but alas here I am recommending this to folks who are looking for a unique, hard sci-fi. Maybe it's not unique, but for me this seven-generation humans-colonize-a-new-planet story was unexpected and unlike anything I've read. I thought this was going to be about plants (it was killing me) but it really got into the complicated dynamics of the people and their relationships to the native species, about which I was often wondering what are their intentions?! Although I didn't like “Children of Time” I can see this working for those who liked it and vice-versa.

This is a delightful debut and m/m romance with very mild creepy vibes. I really liked all of the characters, the romance and the housecat tertiary character. In 1934, a conman is recruited by an Egyptologist who works in a small university museum and believes he has a real haunting on his hands. For a debut I thought this was pretty solid and quite enjoyable. There was something missing for me, the closest thing I can think of is the haunting is just to move the plot forward and there was too much time spent with this other threat that emerges.

Very cute middle-grade story about a 13-year-old witch who, according to tradition, leaves home with her familiar cat to find a new home. Kiki doesn't feel like she has the magical skills to serve her new (big) town, so she opens up a delivery service using her broom as transport. Super cute, very relaxing and my version of cozy. If you've seen the Studio Ghibli movie but not read the book the deliveries are different.

4.75 - nearly a perfect book, except for how the plot things from the previous one come back into play at the end.