Kat

RAE is dying of cancer when a strange woman offers her the chance to enter the world of her favorite book series on a quest that will save her life. She comes to awareness in the story to discover she is in the body of a villainous character on the eve of her execution. From there, she scrambles to save herself in the book narrative, recruit Allie, and complete her quest so she can return to the “real world” before time runs out. 

This book was fun and interesting. I didn't realize it was the first in a series and it could really work as a standalone. Rae is in turns charmong and brittle.  Two characters from within tbe book añso serve as POV characters with their own agendas and ideas about what should happen. Rae often doesn't know what's going to happen because of brain fog and the plot changing from tbe orogonal book. Twists and turns abound. 

This tells the story of Najeeba, a teenager discovering her power. Like her father, she hears the call to travel the Salt Roads, an occupation usually reserved for men. But this is just the beginning of Najeeba's growing abilities. 

This was my first Nnedi Okorafor, but it won't be my last!  I was a little concerned about not having read Who Fears Death, which this is a prequel for, but that is not a problem as far as I can tell.  I am not really familiar with the mythology/folklore this story is drawing from, but the author pulled me into Najeeba's world and gave me enough information to follow along. I believe this is the first of a planned trilogy and I look forward to seeing where the story goes. 

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and Daw in exchange for my honest review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

Eveen is an undead assassin in service to a goddess.  When she comes face to face her latest mark, she experiences a memory, something that is not supposed to be possible. The two escape and try to figure out who has set them up, how, and why, while being chased through the city by Eveen's fellow assassins determined to force her to fulfill her contract and generally make her unlike miserable. 

This novella was a wild ride from practically start to finish, where things just went bat s—t crazy in the best way.  The plot is tight and twisty.  I thought setting the events in the middle of a big festival involving costumes and character roles was fun.  The assassins vary from eccentric, to creepy, to downright sociopathic.  Overall I had a very good time and would love to read more in this world. 

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and Tor in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

This is marketed as a goose girl retelling and while there is a horse or something pretending to be a horse named Falada, and there are geese, it otherwise does not follow the original goose girl story. 

Cordelia is controlled by her mother Evangeline, a sorcerer of great power in a world that believes sorcerers can only do small acts of magic.  Having lost the support of her “benefactor,” Evangeline announes that she must marry as Cordelia is too young yet. She picks out an older country squire and moves them both to his estate. 

The story switches between Cordelia's POV and that of Hester, the squire's sister, who are both well developed. The story was interesting and often suspenseful. It at least edged toward horror if not fully stepping over into it. It is basically a story about an abused girl and her toxic mother and how to get Cordelia to safety.

Overall I liked this book a lot. The central characters, and most of the larger supporting characters are well developed. More minor characters tend to be a bit cookie-cutter. Evangeline is very one note villain, but given that Cordelia is terrified of her and Hester wants nothing to do with her, this is not, perhaps, surprising. Also she's the villain. There's also a romantic subplot that I completely adored. 

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. 

And honestly, this book was a
Real slog for me. I didn't really connect with the characters, the world, or the plot. I still have a lot of questions about the world, the magic system, and the book in general. There was a lot of telling and not enough showing. Basically a lot of “new writer” problems. 

 I really didn't feel like there was a satisfying conclusion to this first book in what I assume is a planned series of unknown length.  It read, to me, like the first part of a quest story (the gathering of the fellowship, If you will) and ended just about when the quest was beginning.

I don't see myself continuing with this series. 

I received an audioARC thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio. The opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

 Dragons rule the world and humans are pretty much just there to serve. And at the top of the dragon power structure is the worst of the worst - the dragon that condemned Anahrod to death 17 years ago. Unfortunately for Neveranimus, she survived and has been living in the deeps ever since. Even more unfortunately, a group of people have tracked her down to help them pull off a robbery of Neveranimus' vault. Hijinks ensue.  

I really liked book. It's largely a heist story, with political intrigue, found family and a romantic subplot that is queer and poly. There was an interesting system of rings to indicate job roles and sexual preferences.  The world building was very well done, giving enough information to enable me to not feel lost without becoming info-dumpy. The magic system made sense and held together. The character building - meh - many of the supporting characters were not very developed beyond archetypes.  But it worked for me, as this is not a character story.  It's a seat of your pants adventure.

This is a fun ride, and isn't trying to be anything more. And I was here for it all the way. It's billed as a stand alone, but the possibility of further adventures is hinted at in the epilogue. I'd be there for that as well should it happen.

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group. The opinions expressed are entirely my own. 

A YA horror anthology by BIPOC Authors and featuring BIPOC characters. Many, but not all, also have lgbtqia content. Like most anthologies, this one is a bit of a mixed bag, with some stories  working better for me than others. By order in the book:

“All Eyes on Me” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️. I wanted to love this one, but it didn't really work for me. 

“Hedge” -⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2 - Creepy and effective. 

“The Golden Dragon” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Revenge with an unexpected twist. 

“Best Served Cold” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. Equal parts scary and gross. Chef's kiss. 

“The Protege” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️. A magician's apprentice gets in over his head. Meh. 

“Docile Girls” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2. Possibly suffered a bit by coming after The Golden Dragon and covering similar themes. Solid, slasher based story. 

“Grey Grove” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Ghosthunter style podcasters explore a haunted mansion. Kinda predictable. 

“Everything's Coming up Roses” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2 - told by journal entries, it starts seeming fairly normal and gradually becomes more creepy. Really worked for me. 

“Heaven” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️. A post-apocalyptic tale about who the real monsters are. It went on a bit too long and didn't really land for me. 

“Break Through Our Skin” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 - A non-binary youth struggles with being accepted, encounters ancient powerful spirit. Features body horror (not my fave) and destruction. 

“Wasps” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - A girl taps into eldrich power to defend her home. 

“Hell Is Other Demons” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - Demon summoning and ghostly possession. 

“The Road to Hell” - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2 - A haunted house story told from the POV of the house. 

I received an ARC thanks to Netgalley and Harper Voyager.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Hellevir discovers at a young age that she can enter Death and resurrect the recently dead. As a young woman, she is asked to raise the Queen's granddaughter and heir. When she does so, she finds herself caught up in political intrigue and conspiracy when all she wants is a quiet life. Things develop from there....

It started a bit slow, which is not unexpected for a first book in a series that has to do a fair bit of heavy lifting in establishing characters and world building. It definitely picked up pace as it went. 

It explores interesting (to me, at least) themes around power dynamics and religion.  There are definite parallels drawn with the spread of Christianity (in the form of the Roman Catholic Church) across Europe in the Middle Ages. 

While it is described as a romance, this isn't really very developed in this book. It is obvious who the romantic interest is meant to be, but given the circumstances (the aforementioned power dynamics being a big part) I think this is a good thing. 

The world is what I consider “generic Medieval European, although the cultural nods were a bit all over the place (Hellevir and her family read Scandinavian-ish, her mentor's name sounds French, the capital is pretty generic but with nods to Venice, etc), which I found distracting in a way that pulled me out of the story.  I think it would work better if the author stuck to on culture or avoided real world cultural references entirely.  But this is a fairly minor quibble for me.

Overall a good debut and a good story and I look forward to the next book

I received an eARC thanks to NetGalley and Hodder and Stoughton Audio. The opinions expressed are my own. 

Remy casts a curse to kill the man who killed his brother, but the curse rebounds on him. Desperate to slow the progression of the curse he must be (physically) close to Idrian, the illustrious criminal he cursed. Only as he learns about Idrian and his compatriots, he comes to realize things are more... complicated than he realized. Now he must figure out a way to break the curse before it kills both of them and Idrian's entire crew. 

I would characterize this book as science fantasy: Post climate apocalypse with space travel to orbiting satellites, but with seemingly magical tethers or bonds between people.

This is a slow burn story. It is queer-normative. It is NOT a romance. At all. Instead it is a story about loss and grief and found family.  It is a story about secrets and lies. It is about betrayal and courage and finding solutions when all hope seems lost.

And the author tells it very well. Half way through I wasn't sure how I felt. I thought it would be a 3 star read for me at best. About two-thirds I realized how much more invested I was in the fate of these characters. By the end, I was all in.

While this book is a stand alone (I believe), and works as a complete story, I would enjoy spending more time in this world and with these characters. I will definitely keep an eye out for this author and check out future stories by her. 

This novella picks up pretty much right where The Annual Migration of Clouds ended. If you haven't read that one yet, go read it before you continue with this one.

Reid arrives where she has been told to go and activated her tracker.  She is brought into Howse and her medical issues are treated (in ways that could not have happened at home). Once she is healthy enough to leave the medical ward, she starts classes and learns about life at Howse. 

This story was very good. I liked it even better than the first one.  Major themes include culture shock, classism, and social responsibility.  If you liked the first one, this one will probably also work for you. I look forward to reading any further stories in this series. 

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and ECW Press. The opinions expressed are my own. 

I received an advance reader copy thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Tidal Creatures is the third book in the Alchemical Journeys series by Seanan Mcguire. This time out the focus is on moon gods and goddesses.  Chang'e, second in command of Berkeley's moon divinities, discovers that one of their own has been killed and it seems it's not the first time in the recent past. Chang'e and her human host Judy decide to investigate these deaths. 

Meanwhile, Kelpie, a lab assistant for the local alchemical lab learns that everything she thought she knew about herself and her lab is a lie.  She runs for her life and has to navigate her confusing new reality and try to stay alive. 

Of course, these two storylines are bound to intersect and things get very complicated before it's done. 

I loved this one so much! I don't think it's quite as good as Middlegame, but since that's one of my favorite ever, it's a hard bar to top. I did enjoy it much more than Seasonal Fears, which I found very predictable and anticlimactic. 

In additional to the mystery of who is killing the moons, it incorporated Roger and Dodger (and Erin) in a way that advanced their character arcs as well as the plot of this volume. While this was is very much the story of the Moons, the characters from Middlegame were incorporated into the plot in a way that didn't feel like a cameo/unnecessary inclusion.   I also loved that we got some insight that their journey is not done, just paused for now. 

I received and Audio ARC thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio. The opinions expressed are my own. 

This book is the start of a new series about a trio of magic users in Boston. When David starts experiencing odd episodes related to his magic, he reaches out to Rhys, his estranged ex-boyfriend and rival in the local occult society. Rhys and Moira try to help him figure out what's going on and how to make it stop. Also Rhys and David resume their romantic relationship with Moira's full awareness and permission and David and Moira become friends. 

This book was... not for me.  It was more of a polyamorous paranormal romance than urban fantasy with romantic elements. Which would have been fine if the romance was well done. There was a lot of telling rather than showing.  At one point Moira is telling Rhys information about polyamory from a book. David was described as charming but came off fairly unlikable to me. Your mileage may vary. 

The fantasy/occult elements often felt like an afterthought and the three main characters bumbled around, not finding the right information, ignoring a valuable source of information until very late in the book. And the “solution” to the problem was to transfer and delay the “bad thing” for a ?few months, maybe. 

Oscar Reyes, the narrator was fine. I sometimes lost track of whether we were in David's or Rhys' POV, but that may have been because the story wasn't holding my interest. 

Others might like it more, but again, not for me. 

 I received an advance reader copy thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.
 
Mel is a bartender working at a high end cocktail bar when she meets BeBe, a beautiful lawyer with whom she clicks, until she learns that BeBe is happily married to her partner Kade.  Still, Mel is intrigued and gets pulled into their social circle expecting only friendship.  Then BeBe tells Mel that she and Kade have an open marriage and she wants to date if Mel is interested.

Mel is has recently divorced her wife, who it seems is her only prior long term partner and who cheated on her.  She is gun shy and not sure how to navigate this new reality.  While Mel is initially only involved with BeBe, it isn't long before Kade expresses their interest in Mel as well.  Rounding out the story is a cocktail competition for which Mel tries to come up with the perfect concoction and a gay BFF/Roommate with his own non-monogamy situation.

What follows is a fun, fluffy poly-amorous romance.  I liked this but didn't love it.  It spent a lot of time educating Mel, and by extension the reader, on the way polyamory works and checking off the romance tropes and checkpoints.  But maybe it's just not for me.

I received an advance audio copy thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Service Model follows the travels of a robot valet (Charles, a gentleman's gentle robot) after the death of its master by its own hands. It doesn't remember killing the Master, or know why it would have done so, but the evidence is clear. Now UnCharles leaves the manor with instructions to go to Diagnostics at Central Services. What he discovers along the way is a society in collapse with very few humans left and most of the robots falling into disrepair and decay.

I really liked this book.  It was in turns funny, poignant, and topical without getting too preachy.  The audiobook is read by the author and he does a fine job narrating.  While the story telling is at time stilted, the POV character is a robot, so I believe this is intentional.  UnCharles' quest for new employment allows us to see the remaining human society and a number of different robot groups.  These are Asmovian robots, and as with Asimov, when they act contrary to their programming, there are reasons.   

About 2/3 of the way in, I wondered if we were going to get answers about the murder that started things off, but it all came together in the end with a satisfying conclusion.  

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an advance audio copy for review.  All opinions expressed are strictly my own.Dymitr is a Knight of the Holy Order, sworn to hunt the monsters that prey on humans.  He comes to Chicago and meets Ala, a zmora, cursed to a life of fear, pain, asnd an early death.  He offers her a cure in exchange for her help finding Baba Jaga.  Niko is a rare male strzygon who gets pulled into their quest along the way.  

Set in Chicago and drawing heavily from Polish folklore, this novella tells a story og grief and loss, guilt and redemption.  I loved all three main characters and the story itself.  The folklore that weaves through the story was unfamiliar to me, but I was given enough info to understand what was happening.  The narrators were excellent in bringing the story to life.  This tale will live with me for a very long time, and I suspect i will reread it more than once or twice.

An advance copy was provided by NetGalley and Subterranean Press. . All opinions expressed are my own.
This is the second short fiction collection by Seanan McGuire put out by Subterranean Press. Most of the stories contained within were written between 2017 and 2022. About two thirds were only previously available via the author's Patreon while the remaining stories were originally published in a variety of anthologies.

My overall impression of these stories was very good, but mostly very dark as well.  

Standout stories, for me, included In the Land of Rainbows and Ash, Now Rest, My Dear, File and Forget, Come Marching In, Belief, and the titular The Proper Thing. Good Night Sleep Tight was especially creepy. But really I didn't feel like there was a bad one in the collection (I say as a hardcore Seanan McGuire fan). Many of them seem extremely possible in our current sociopolitical environment. 

An advance copy was provided by NetGalley and Macmillan Audio. All opinions expressed are my own.

When Reyna and Kianthe decide to open a book and tea shop together, they settle on Tawney, a border town in north. Missing dragon eggs, feuding local politicians, Kianthe's responsibilities as the leader of the mages, and a queen who isn't ready to let Reyna go from her service all complicate their plan for a simple life. 

This book was charming and everything I want from a cozy fantasy romance. It isn't a “meet cute, love at first sight” kind of romance. It's more “We've been dating in secret when our complicated jobs allow us to be together; we're already in love; now let's try living together full time” kind of romance. Reyna and Kianthe come up against the typical “joining our lives together and considering how my choices will impact my partner” issues. With magic. And dragons. And gryphons. And an evil? queen. 

The narrator did a great job bringing the story alive and the characters distinct.

Can't wait for the next installment. 

An advance copy was provided by NetGalley and Victory Editing. All opinions expressed are my own.

When Violette inherits a cheese shop from her great-uncle, she just wants to sell it and use the proceeds to build a life away from her controlling mother. Then she meets four naked men it the shop the first night after she arrives. They tell her they are cheese-shifters, cursed to be cheese by day and men by night and convince her to keep the shop open long enough to sell off the remaining stock so they can afford to find a new... arrangement. Hy-jinks ensue. 

The title drew me in and the humor kept me going. The puns. The delightful characters, the cheese!  Mixed in is a pretty traditional Why Choose romance, some suspense, and some pretty real mental health rep.   I loved Violette and her cheese-men and was there for every moment. 

This book is bonkers, but in some really good ways. As I was warned, a large chunk of the book is confusing and doesn't line up with events that happened in Gideon. Harrow does say several times that she is insane. Readers should take her at her word. In the latter part of the book, things become clear with payoffs for the things that don't make sense. In addition to continuing the overarching plot started in Gideon, Harrow is a poignant explanation of mental illness and grief. Some questions left hanging in Gideon are answered and even more are raised.  Overall I thought it very good and look forward to continuing with Nona. 

I was given an ARC thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books. The opinions espressed are my own. 

Did not like. This is misrepresented as fantasy, but it is instead historical fiction that includes magical elements such as alchemy, astrology and witchcraft. This mis-characterization of genre would not have stopped me from reading it. 

Instead, my issue was that I was bored and unwilling to keep slogging through to the end. Also, I found most of the characters unlikable and unsympathetic. 

I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and Aethon Books.  The opinions expressed are my own.

I wanted to like this, but it just didn't hold my interest. I know all the scattered plot lines and characters were all going to come together eventually, but I wasn't interested in pushing through until that happened.

I received an AudioARC thanks to NetGalley and Recorded Books.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Interesting concept, but didn't work for me in audio form. The narrator was fine, but I kept losing track of which POV was speaking, what was going on. I think it would work better for me as text rather than audio and I will probably try again as some point in the future. 

Between the same narrator as used for the Hollows with the main character sound exactly like Rachel and the copy/paste feeling of the characters and plot, I'm calling it for the audiobook. May try again in text form and see if that makes a difference, but right now my motivation to explore a Rachel Morgan dupe in a slightly different setting/magic system is pretty much nonexistent. 

This was popcorn science - short simple essays on various scientific subjects. Probably fine for someone else, but didn't hold my attention

I found the story very slow paced and repetitive and the further I got the less I cared about any of the characters or what happened to them.