2025 book 96

 Kate Elliott's The Nameless Land

This isn't out till November, but I got the ARC and wanted to read it while the first in this duology was still fresh in my mind! This one is a little more action-packed--secrets are revealed, there's lots of politics, etc. I loved the characters and their evolving relationships. I still was not super into the romance, but there's a lot of humor here, and I did love how things wrapped up. Satisfying for sure. A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in November.

2015 book 95

 Caitlin Rozakis’ The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association 

I wanted to read something on the lighter side, and this fit the bill. It’s about a woman adjusting to her child’s new school and their life in a new town, because it’s a magical school and the town is full of magical people (their daughter was bitten by a rogue werewolf). Lots of drama involving mean moms and a magical prophecy and marital problems. Fairly predictable but pleasant and entertaining. B+.

2025 book 94

 KJ Charles’ Copper Script

This was fine. It involves a policeman in the 1920s who’s trying to figure out if a handwriting analyst is a fraud, and falls for him, but his conflict is that gay sex is illegal. The plot is all over the place (mafia, murderers, evil cops [acab], weaselly cousins) but I enjoyed the characters’ chemistry. B.

2025 book 93

 Kate Elliott’s The Witch Roads

This is the sort of long epic fantasy that I enjoy reading but don’t particularly have anything to say about. Very interesting world and characters, I did not care about the little bit of romance and wished there was less of it. This is the first in a duology and the second is out in November (and seems like it will involve court politics!), which is cool. A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on June 10th.

2025 book 92

 Emily Tesh’s Some Desperate Glory

Rereading this for book club and it’s totally the sort of book that is even better on a reread (and this was one of my favorite books of whatever year it came out, so that’s saying a lot). Here’s my initial review.

2024 book 91

 Malka Older’s The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses 

HOORAY for a new Mossa and Pleiti book! This one starts a bit odd, something is up with Mossa, but soon we’re involved in a mystery where an academic friend is anonymously accused of plagiarism. I loved everything about the pettiness of academia here, though the mystery itself is kind of whatever. Still, I mainly read these for the characters and loved their relationship in this one (and seeing Pleiti with her friends), and the story moves at a quick pace. Another very entertaining outing and I can’t wait for more! A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in June.

2025 book 90

 John Wiswell’s Wearing the Lion

There are soooo many Greek myth retellings now that normally I wouldn’t bother, but Wiswell’s first novel was interesting and cool, and this grabbed me from the first line, which finds Hera calling Zeus her “dipshit husband” lol. Anyway, this is a very smart take on Heracles and his Twelve Labors, and of course Olympus and its gods, told in the alternating POVs of Hera and Heracles. I was totally a child way too into Greek mythology and really enjoyed this. It’s funny and tragic and has an amazing found family. I did think it was kind of slow, but nothing wrong with that! A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in June.

2025 book 89

 Stephen Spotswood’s Murder Under Her Skin

Not sure if it was the book or my brain, but I wasn’t as into this second one. It involves the murder of the tattooed lady from the circus Parker used to work at, and her old mentor the knife-thrower has been arrested, so of course they have to go set things straight! But the mystery felt like it was just spinning its wheels until near the end, when I correctly guessed almost all of it. I mean, it was fine, and I do plan on reading the rest of the series, but first I’m going to get back to my ARCs. B+.

2025 book 88

 Stephen Spotswood’s Fortune Favors the Dead

Oh hooray, it’s a new mystery series (to me) to get into!  This one involves a young woman who is the assistant detective to a famous lady detective in 1945 New York. (The narrator is the assistant, she has a circus background, she is very queer, and I love her.) Solid mystery involving the death of a wealthy woman in a locked room after a seance, and really great characters. I really liked this and can’t wait read the next one. A/A-.

2025 book 87

 Janelle Brown’s What Kind of Paradise 

I feel like I’ve read several books with this basic premise—a girl raised in isolation with her paranoid father who is obviously keeping secrets from her—but this is a pretty solid entry in the genre. It’s set during the 90s dot-com boom, which was a fun nostalgia trip. I liked this enough to read in one sitting, but did find parts of it overwrought. I think this author usually does mystery/thrillers, but this feels like more of a coming of age story with some weird/bad stuff happening offscreen, and also thoughts on technology. Shrug emoji? A-/B+.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in June.

2025 book 86

 Rachel Hartman’s Among Ghosts

I’m a huge fan of Hartman’s, and this was another great one from her! It involves a boy who can see ghosts, and dragons and spies and assassins, and a bunch of extremely cool girl ghosts, and nuns, and stories, and it’s funny and sweet and sad and wonderful! (I started trying to explain the plot but got lost in the weeds a little, but the story itself is straightforward.) I think this is a standalone but I do hope these characters pop up again sometime. A.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in June.

2025 book 85

 Karen Dukess' Welcome to Murder Week

This was fun! It’s about a thirty something woman who discovers that her recently deceased (and mostly estranged) mother had purchased a murder-mystery-themed vacation for the two of them in a small town in England. Since she’s unable to get a full refund, she decides what the hell, and is off to solve a mystery with her teammates, a cool gay man (trying to figure out his life) and a romance novelist (and new divorcee). (There’s also a couple of Jewish middle-aged sisters from Pittsburgh, one of whom is a lesbian, and obviously now I want to take a vacation like this, lol.) But of course there are ACTUAL mysteries afoot—why did her mom book this trip?? Is the hot distillery owner into her or is he playing a part? Will they solve the fake murder and win the competition???? Very sweet and satisfying story, I think this will be a great summer read! A/A-.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in June.

2025 book 84

 Sherwood Smith’s Treason’s Shore

The conclusion to the Inda series was fine? Again, lots of great character moments, but I still don’t care about sea battles and the ending dragged a lot. I did like this series but will be glad to move onto something else. B/B+.

2025 book 83

 Sherwood Smith’s King’s Shield

I was a little less into the third book in the Inda series, because it’s a lot of journeying to war and then fighting in war. It’s also more straightforward than the first two books. Still, I am very invested in the characters and there are some really great moments in here between all the trudging around on horses. Looking forward to the next one. A-/B+.

2025 book 82

 Sherwood Smith’s The Fox

This book was like 800 pages long and soooo much happened but also some parts were soooo slow? There is a lot of business with fighting pirates and I did get tired of it after a while. But I remain invested in all these characters and can’t wait for book three (I’m hoping for more court politics and diplomacy in that one). A-.

2025 book 81

 Sherwood Smith’s Inda

I’ve really enjoyed the other books by Smith I’ve read, so decided to try one of her earlier series. It’s interesting to see which sorts of plots/settings she’s interested in that have recurred across series (ie nilitary academies), as well as the way she always turns the story in its head! The story here involves the eponymous Inda, the younger son of a prince, being sent to military academy in the midst of all sorts of political intrigue. But there are lots of other POV characters and I loved the women in this world (I also love Inda!). I do love stories with this level of political plotting and I hope the good guys triumph soon (but it’s a four book series so who knows lol). A/A-.

2025 book 80

 Sydney Graves’ The Arizona Triangle

This was WAY too dark and fucked up for me. I was more or less enjoying it for a while, it’s about a PI who’s hired to find her missing childhood best friend, but the reveal was so upsetting and gross that I deeply regret reading this.