Natalie Zina Walschots' Villain
The sequel to Hench is very clearly the second book in a trilogy (or series?). Some great moments, some terrifying moments, but I wasn’t as into it as the first one. Like I finished it and felt pretty bummed out! I will still read whatever Walschots writes and hope for the next book soon! B+.
Natalie Zina Walschots' Hench
Rereading this bc the sequel came out!! I remembered that I liked this but the only detail that really stuck with me was the body horror stuff near the end, but really everything else is so funny and sad and good and action-packed. Perfect narrative voice. If you haven’t read this, it’s about a woman who’s a temp, doing data entry for villains, when she’s badly injured by a superhero. And then starts doing the math on how much damage superheroes actually cause. And this starts a whole villainous journey. Really engaging, I’m so excited to see what comes next.
Juliet Marillier’s Heart’s Blood
I was trying to figure out if Mariller’s new book had a US release date (no) and realized I’d never read this one by her! It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling, about a young woman on the run from abusive relatives who takes a job as a scribe at a cursed castle. It’s all steeped in Irish folklore and super atmospheric, but super dark at times too. I was into it at first but it dragged in the middle, even with the threat of a Norman invasion. There is just a lot of talk about HOPE lol. I did like that the heroine has to sort out her own past issues and enjoyed that whole section a lot, and really liked how things wrapped up. A-/B+.
CJ Cherryh’s The Pride of Chanur
Really fun sci-fi adventure about the captain of a crew of feline aliens from a matriarchal society who inadvertently rescue a human and set off a diplomatic incident. I like stories with politics and diplomacy and loved the main character here (and was also interested in the translation/communication aspects). Action-packed and great characters. I do want to read more with the characters but the description of book two has me like 🤷🏻♀️ so we’ll see. A/A-.
Sarah Rees Brennan's All Hail Chaos
So I liked, but didn't love, the first book in this series--I think the concept of isekai stresses me out and the protagonist DEFINITELY was stressing me out! But I was all in from page one of this one! All the characters are in more interesting positions and it is laugh out loud funny at parts (I loved all the pop culture references). I did grow impatient with Rae occasionally but Emer and the Golden Cobra/Marius were always awesome, and Rae got some great moments in the second half. Cannot wait for book three. A/A-.
Susan Juby’s Contemplation of a Crime
Another really fun read!! In this one, our Buddhist butler accompanies her billionaire boss (but he’s like, a kind and self-aware billionaire) to a retreat his son is running, to help a group of people with political differences learn to get along, except things do not go according to plan and everyone has to band together to save the day! All the butler pals are back and there are even more dogs in this one! I love this series, I hope more are on the way. A/A-.
Susan Juby’s A Meditation on Murder
The second Helen Thorpe mystery finds our Buddhist butler dispatched to try and sort out a wealthy young wannabe influencer, who is unaware she’s being targeted for internet drama. Lots of good dogs and horses in this one! Great characters again—I was glad that Nigel popped back up—and though the mystery’s conclusion was over the top, I still liked this a lot. Can’t wait to read book three (and then be bereft while waiting for more). A:A-.
Susan Juby’s Mindful of Murder
Absolutely delightful and slyly funny mystery involving a butler, a former Buddhist nun, who is tasked with determining who will inherit her mentor’s upscale yoga retreat … and also reluctantly solving her mentor’s murder with the help of her two best friends from butler school and some other characters (emphasis on CHARACTER lol). I definitely cackled more than a few times, loved the narrative voices here. It also goes pretty deep on Buddhism to good effect! The mystery ends up being solid, too—a very fun read and I’m psyched for book 2. A.
Marta Randall’s The River South
The sequel to Mapping Winter primarily focuses on the teen daughter of the first book’s protagonist, though there are also some POV characters from the first book. I really loved all the characters and their journeys, and this ended in a fairly satisfying way. I do think it needed one more pass with a proofreader or editor—there are some typos and a few awkward bits (or maybe one character is supposed to be perving on a fourteen year old? No thanks). Otherwise a very cool read. A/A-.
Marta Randall’s Mapping Winter
I no longer remember why or when I bought this book or what made me pick it up now, but it was great! Lots of court politics and castle life from the POV of a woman who serves a corrupt, dying lord, and is desperate to escape the court and go off and map unknown places. She’s surly as fuck and also adopts a little boy along the way, it’s a reverse Pedro Pascal situation. Really interesting world-building and a narrative it’s easy to sink into. I’m gonna start the sequel immediately. A.
Tansy Rayner Robert’s Curse of Bronze
Super cute supernatural mystery involving a woman who inherits the family home after her curse breaker aunt is turned into a bronze statue, and she has to figure out who did it, with the help of all sorts of people (a lion librarian, a sort of vampire, a talking teapot, some werewolves, etc). I do think this would have been stronger if it was longer, but I liked it a lot and will be reading volume two when it comes out next month. B+.
Fonda Lee’s The Last Contract of Isako
Lee’s latest is a sci-fi story where a middle-aged woman, a high level operative, has to take One Last Job. The book really harps on her age, like she thinks about her knees, menopause, and/or aging multiple times a chapter. It’s so weird that I actually assumed Lee was in her 20s or something but I looked her up and she’s my age!! Girl! Anyway this was fine, some good twists and lots of great action scenes, but a lot of it draaaaaaaagggggged, like this could have been twenty percent shorter. I was super impatient by the end. B.
Tamora Pierce’s The Realms of the Gods
This was fine. I love Daine as a character but, as expected, was not on board with the romance (he’s twice her age and has been her teacher since she was thirteen and she’s only sixteen now). I also don’t know if it was necessary to the plot—they could have just been together in the later series and it would have been fine!!! I also wasn’t super into the plot of this one, which didn’t help. Lots of cool gods and goddesses and creatures though. B/B+.
Tamora Pierce’s Emperor Mage
The third book in the Immortals series finds Daine et al in another country, trying to negotiate peace with the titular emperor mage who’s been causing problems the last couple books. Lots more awesome animal friends, and we get to see more of the gods in this one too—I am always partial to a pantheon meddling just a bit in human affairs. The ending set piece is a CORKER of an action scene, I want to a scream about it but spoilers. Not sure there has ever been a better fantasy action scene tbh. A/A-.
Tamora Pierce’s Wolf-Speaker
Ok, I’m officially into this series, I think! Events unfold here after a pack of wolves that Daine is friends with ask for help dealing with some local miners who are ruining their environment! But it ends up being much bigger than just miners. Sooo many good animal friends in this one, obviously I was partial to the squirrel and the cats but A+ animals and magical people (and regular people—I hope we see Maura again) all around. Very satisfying. A/A-.
Tamora Pierce’s Wild Magic
I’ve never read this Tamora Pierce series before, bc I accidentally read the next series (Protector of the Small) before it, and knew the little girl main character grows up to marry her teacher (gross). But I wanted to read a book with ANIMAL FRIENDS so tried to put that out of my mind. And it’s a good read! Lots of action and fun and friends of all kinds. It made me want to read all the Tortall books in chronological order, but also I want to keep going with this series so that’ll be a future project. A-.
Amy Coombe’s Stay for a Spell
Very funny, cute, sweet fantasy romance about a younger princess who’s the one who has to travel all over, visiting towns and going to events and kissing babies—until she’s cursed to be unable to leave a local bookshop. She is legit psyched about this, as I think many of us would be. With the help of a surly teen and a hot pirate, she’s gonna make this shop awesome! If only her parents would stop sending princes to kiss her in an effort to break the curse. Lol. This was extremely delightful!!!! I hope this author writes a million more books! A/A-.
KJ Charles’ All of Us Murderers
Rereading this for book club (finished with 15 minutes to spare lol), it remains a delightful confection of mysterious gothic tropes and a sweet queer romance. Here is my original review!
Tamora Pierce’s Lady Knight
Very satisfying conclusion to the Protector of the Small series—battles and rescue missions and friends and hope galore! Just what I needed right now.
