2025 book 208

 Tansy Rayner Roberts’ The Season of Dragons

This was cute—it’s basically Pride and Prejudice with dragons (with humans in a world with dragons, to clarify), from the POV of the Caroline Bingley character (they all have different names, which I appreciated). I can think of at least two other Pride and Prejudice with dragons books—what a funny subgenre! I dislike most Austen retellings/reworkings because they don’t understand that Austen is funny—this book at least has a sweet sense of humor. Perfect light reading. A-.

2025 book 207

 Tanya Huff’s Direct Descendant

Huff’s books are hit or miss for me, but this was definitely a hit! It’s a super cute lesbian romance set in a small Canadian town full of eldritch horrors! (It’s not at all dark or scary though, there is some tension but this is fairly cozy and funny as these things go.) I’m not even gonna try and explain the plot/backstory, just will say I really enjoyed these characters a ton, and even the predictable bits felt fitting. A/A-.

2025 book 206

 Kate Wilhelm’s Death Qualified

I bought a novel by Wilhelm a while ago that won both the Hugo and the Locus awards, but then I saw she also has a mystery series and I was in the mystery mood! This felt unusual to me—it’s long and slow and really dives deep on all the characters. It’s also a courtroom drama! Anyway, the story here involves a woman accused of murdering the husband who abandoned her seven years ago—but the reader knows he was the victim of some kind of weird psychological experiment. And it’s also the story of the woman who agrees to take the case, despite having sworn off the law. I definitely thought the end dragged on too long, and was completely over the top, and was also pretty upsetting. Not sure I’ll read any more in this series. B.

2025 book 205

 Florence Knapp’s The Names

Ah, I do love a Sliding Doors scenario. The story here features a woman and her young daughter who are headed to register their new baby boy’s name—she’s supposed to name him for her abusive husband—and the choice she makes there leads to three very different paths for their family. I read this in one sitting and really enjoyed it (and even cried a couple times). I had mixed feelings on the epilogue but otherwise liked this a lot, great concept and execution. A/A-.

2025 book 204

 Emma Lathen’s Murder Against the Grain

This was an especially entertaining John Putnam Thatcher mystery, involving a government wheat deal with the Soviet Union (this came out in 1967) tied to a million dollar robbery from the Sloan. Very funny political shenanigans and a solid mystery. A/A-.

2025 book 203

 Jane Fletcher’s The Walls of Westernfort

Great plot here, involving a young Temple Guard who’s part of an undercover team sent to infiltrate the band of heretics from the previous book—and kill their leaders. But things get complicated as she makes friends and falls for the local potter. As usual, I found the romance a little under-developed, but it doesn’t really get going till later in the book so I had plenty of time to enjoy everything else (and look, I think the characters are cute together, I just don’t like the way this author writes the actual romance). A-.

2025 book 202

 Jane Fletcher’s The Temple at Landfall

This picks up not long after the previous one, and it’s like one of those romance series where the main character is a secondary character from the other book (though I don’t like how Fletcher writes romance, they’re all just like poof! We’re in love! And I prefer a little buildup!). Anyway, interesting stuff here as the main character is an Imprinter (one of the few people who can magically help ppl have babies in this all-women world), who’s basically a prisoner of the Temple, who make a lot of money off of her services. I liked all the political wrangling in the guise of religious observance, very dryly funny. Her romantic interest is Chip’s friend from the first book, and both have their own engaging plotlines going on that go to some unexpected places. I’m really interested in what will happen next! A-.

2025 book 201

 Jane Fletcher’s Rangers at Roadsend

Hooray for fantasy with lesbian romances and mysteries! This is set in a world where there are only women. but it’s not all HEY LOOK AT OUR WORLD WITH ONLY WOMEN!!! Though I am curious about the history of the world since it’s pretty clear there were men at some point and this is probably actually science fiction.* Anyway, our main character is a Ranger, and a new member of her squadron is super pretty and also has some past issues that need to be worked out—namely, proving she’s innocent of a murder! I really liked the characters and plot; the romance was slightly saccharine/under-developed, but I really enjoyed reading this. Looking forward to more in this world. A-.

* This is actually all addressed in an appendix, which kind of takes the fun out of guessing! 

2025 book 200

 Melina Marchetta’s Jellicoe Road

Somewhat recently, the NYT books section did a list of dark academia books and this was on it, which a) pleased me because more people should know about this book, and b) confused me, because dark academia brings to mind magic and murder, and this book isn’t dark in that way at all—it’s just very sad! But also hopeful. It’s the story of a (depressed) girl at a boarding school in Australia, dealing with the “wars” the school has with the locals and a troop of cadets, and also piecing together the story of her past and a group of kids who were at the school almost twenty years earlier. But also it has my favorite thing in stories, which Marchetta does so well: being vulnerable and opening yourself up and making friends and people caring about each other. One of my faves.

2025 book 199

 T. Kingfisher’s Snake-Eater

I was worried that Kingfisher’s latest would be too scary, but it’s really more on the darkish-fantasy side than straight up horror. It involves a woman and her dog (the dog is fine!) heading to her aunt’s in a tiny desert town to escape her emotionally abusive boyfriend, where she befriends various quirky townspeople! And occasionally there are weird spirits hanging around. But it’s all too chill to really be more than occasionally creepy. Not a complaint! A-.

2025 book 198

 Natasha Pulley’s The Hymn to Dionysus

I didn’t read this when it first came out, bc like, there are SO MANY retellings of Greek mythology, and I was like, enough already! But I like Pulley and some people on Discord were chatting about this one, so I decided to try it. I liked it! It’s funny and sad and sweet and tense! And I feel like it’s not trodding the same ground as everyone else. It was a little slow for my taste but still a good read. A-/B+.

2025 book 197

 Naomi Kuttner’s The Retired Assassin’s Guide to Country Gardening

Very entertaining story that does what it says in the tin: it’s about an MI6 assassin who retires to a small New Zealand town where he’s soon caught up in a murder investigation. And the prime suspect is the sweet young guy who does his gardening! And also sees ghosts! Luckily an older woman with a mysterious past is there to take everything in hand. Plus there’s a cat. I do think this could have been a bit tighter, but it was very fun and I have already pre-ordered the sequel. A/A-.