Sharon Shinn's Unquiet Land
Once again, I like that although there is an interesting romance in this book, the focus is on the protagonist (the spy from the last book) returning to her homeland to confront her past—and meet the daughter she gave up. I mean there is also a lot of action and intrigue, but I just really like that this series is about women figuring out what they want from life and going for it.
Sharon Shinn's Jeweled Fire
The third book in the Elemental Blessing series is right up my alley, as it involves a princess dealing with the politics of a foreign court, making friends and allies, and also maybe there's a murderer? Plus the romance is sweet and mostly on the back burner (the second POV character here is another young woman, a spy from the princess' home) while the princess tries to figure out what she wants from life. Good stuff.
Sharon Shinn's Royal Airs
The second book in this series is more of a straightforward romance, since the male love interest also becomes a POV character and has his own lil story arc. But there are still a lot of interesting politics and relationships between all the characters (very complicated intertwined families) and I enjoy spending time in this world.
Sharon Shinn's Troubled Waters
I'm rereading some gentle fantasy novels for the next couple weeks, because I just don't have the mental capacity for new books, and it's not fair to the ones I keep giving up on. This is the first in Shinn's Elemental Blessings series, set in a world where everyone is aligned with one of the five elements, and also there are blessings that have meaning regarding their fate, and there are slow building romances, but mainly the stories are of young women figuring themselves out. Satisfying all around.
Jaclyn Moriarty’s The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst
Moriarty’s latest is the third in her Kingdoms and Empires/Bronte Mettlestone series, and the protagonist/narrator here is the middle of Bronte's three girl cousins (who have a fairly terrible mother and a slightly absent minded academic father). She’s excited to start a new year at her boarding school, but there’s an odd new teacher, her best friends are both gone, there are mysterious new girls, and she's having a recurring dream about the rain. I will say that I love Moriarty and I loved how this wrapped up, but I did find parts of this to be really stressful! Poor Esther! A-.
AJ Lancaster's The Court of Mortals
This was a pretty fun read, lots of mortal politics and fairy politics and amusing relations. It does take the characters way too long to figure out who has it out for them, but otherwise I liked this one a lot. I have faith the author will wrap this up in a satisfying way (including a happy ending for the protagonist’s brother!) in the fourth book, which sadly isn’t out yet. B+.
AJ Lancaster's The Prince of Secrets
I liked this second volume a little bit less, because the love interest is added as a POV character and he’s not as interesting to me. To be fair, the book does mention that he is melodramatic, which is exactly my complaint! Things do pick up and get a lot more fun like halfway through. It looks like this series is going to be more about Fae politics than amusing squabbling relatives, which isn’t exactly what I wanted but I’ll still read the next one. B/B+.
AJ Lancaster's The Lord of Stariel
I'm still seeking out new fantasy series to read, and this one was definitely up my alley. It's set in your usual old-fashioned-version-of-England-with-magic (or anyway somewhere England-ish, I think the author is from New Zealand). Our heroine left home years ago to study magic and work in the theatre, gasp, scandalous! but now she is heading home because her father has died and a new Lord must be chosen (magically). Lots of secrets and mysteries and hijinks and a lil romance ensue, which is just how I like it. There's also a lot of good (and funny) family stuff here, which I look forward to seeing more of in the rest of the series. A-.
Jaclyn Moriarty’s A Tangle of Gold
Definitely a satisfying and charming conclusion to this series; it is a little bit of a slower start than the others, but once the plotlines start to come together, it gets great (and in the meantime, everything with Keira is a delight). And I love every single thing about the ending. So good.
Jaclyn Moriarty’s The Cracks in the Kingdom
This is such a good volume two of a trilogy—raises the stakes, answers some questions and introduces some others, has a totally great cliffhanger ending, and is also really satisfying in of itself. I really love Moriarty’s characters and their relationships, and I especially love her sense of humor. I mean, even her discussions of physics manage to be interesting! (Maybe you already like physics, even better!) This series is perfect escapism.
Jaclyn Moriarty’s A Corner of White
Just rereading one of my favorite series because I wanted to be sure I was reading something great and magical and full of mystery and friendships and family etc. Not to mention a lot of conversation about Lord Byron and Isaac Newton. And general humor and adventure and great characters. You know, an awesome book.
TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea
This book is a good example of why sometimes you need to be in the right mood or headspace to enjoy something: I got it from the library months ago and read the first few pages and felt very MEH about it for whatever reason. But I kept seeing people talk about how sweet it was, so decided to give it another shot, and this time I connected with it. It’s the story of a caseworker for the government department who deals with orphanages of magical children, and what happens when he’s sent to inspect some very special children indeed. It’s all predictable and a little bit cheesy at times, but it is also very sweet. I was partial to Talia for sure. There are some great funny moments, which help balance the sometimes heavy-handed moral lessons. B+.
Emily M. Danforth's Plain Bad Heroines
This is a pretty solidly creepy October read full of lesbians, so fairly up my alley. It’s about a girls' boarding school in 1902, where a group of girls are obsessed with the diary of an unconventional girl (apparently a real book), and where mysterious deaths start to happen. And it’s also about three young women in modern times making a movie about said school and its supposed curse. I was a little more invested in the latter plotline; the historical plotline has a lot going in and doesn’t feel fully resolved. Actually, the ending of this is kind of disappointing in general. I liked the very last scene but it felt like a whole section leading up to it got chopped. Good spooky atmosphere though, this book furthers my resolve to stay indoors as much as possible. B+.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on Tuesday.
Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl
I’m partway into two different perfectly fine fantasy novels, but I got volume one of the manga version of this (it's cute) which of course made me want to put those other books down and revisit this one. And it’s such a satisfying story to revisit. I really love these characters, and I think this still holds up even as fandom is much more in the public eye than it was ten years ago. I mean, a lot of people will relate to a super anxious person going to college and being freaked out even if they don’t think it’s weird she writes fic. Rainbow Rowell is one of those writers who writes nice people trying to figure out their shit, and I love it.
Victoria Goddard’s Love-in-a-Mist
I think I would have felt much more bereft about being done with the epic fantasy series I spent the last month on if I didn’t have this book to look forward to! This is the fifth Greenwing and Dart book, and it’s just as funny and full of magic and adventure (and a wee bit of romance) as its predecessors. After the events of the last book, our intrepid duo and their friends are finally heading home, when a storm finds them waylaid at a mysterious manor. There is a UNICORN! And also a MURDER! So basically everything I love in one story. I can’t wait to see what happens next in this series, it looks like a lot of stuff is going to come to a head soon (and perhaps there will be a ball?). A.
Robin Hobb’s Assassin's Fate
Well, I’ve spent basically all of the last month reading this series, and here it draws to a close. And Hobb sticks the landing, bringing all of the various characters and storylines together for an epic finale. I was bawling for like the last four chapters. It was really satisfying as a conclusion and it was also really satisfying to be able to really immerse myself in another world for so long. I need more giant epic series! A.
Robin Hobb's Fool's Quest
Look, it's not like a plot summary of the 15th book in a 16 book series would make sense anyway, but this book is a lot of "hurry up and wait around." I mean obviously I still enjoyed it, as I'm super into all these characters at this point, but it takes way too long for all the inevitable stuff to happen, plus there is a lot of rape. Way too much rape. And then the last couple chapters get so good and it ends! What the hell, Robin Hobb. B/B+.
Robin Hobb’s Fool's Assassin
Sometimes even the most responsible adult gives in to the urge to stay up too late reading because you’ve just GOT to find out what happens. And the first book of the final trilogy set in this world is a doozy. I mean, I enjoy spending time with Fitz and his compatriots, but the introduction of Bee really had me hooked. (She is great, and Fitz is frustratingly stupid about her.) And then that ending! So glad I only have to wait till tomorrow to start the next one! A/A-.
Robin Hobb’s Blood of Dragons
So the conclusion to the Rain Wilds series is /pretty/ satisfying, though perhaps not as totally satisfying as I wanted. I did enjoy one hated character's demise, and the dragons are still awesome in this one. I guess the wrap up just felt a little YA-ish to me with its focus on romance (though I should note that there are some cute gay couples in this series, which is nice). Anyway, I imagine all of this will play into the FINAL TRILOGY, omg, only three books left in this world, crying emoji. B+.
Robin Hobb’s City of Dragons
This was another one that felt like the first part of a book and not a full story on its own. I was glad to see some of my favorite characters make a return, but again, there’s no conclusion here! Not satisfying, really. I do have faith the fourth book will wrap things up well, though. B/B+.
Robin Hobb’s Dragon Haven
Now, /this/ has a conclusion that’s satisfying but still makes me eager to see what will happen next! Lots of good character development, lots of awesome dragons, and a fun little side plot with the developing relationship between two messenger-bird keepers (I love an epistolary story). I really liked this one. A/A-.
Robin Hobb's Dragon Keeper
This is the start of Hobb's Rain Wilds Chronicles, a series of four books that follow on the Liveship Traders trilogy (though obviously the other trilogies are also relevant), with mainly a new cast of characters. I mean, obviously some of the earlier prominent characters make appearances, but I definitely wanted more Malta and missed Amber (AMBER) a lot. Anyway, some of the characters here are a young Rain Wilder girl, recruited to help escort the unhealthy dragons away; a Bingtown woman who wants to study the dragons (and also prove something to her cruel, secretly gay husband); her husband's secretary (and secret boyfriend); a barge captain; one of said dragons, etc. This is all pretty entertaining and interesting, but it ends super abruptly. Like I know this is a series, but normally Hobb kind of wraps things up in some way or another. I thought I was missing chapters! Well, it doesn’t really matter, as I’m obviously about to immediately start the next one. B+.
