Jeannelle M. Ferreira’s Ochre, Quartz, Or Ivy
I’m going to be honest, I did not understand what was happening in this book at all, but I enjoyed the vibes. There’s a Selkie married to the nonbinary Pendragon (this is Arthurian I guess?), they have a son, there’s magic and ghosts and time travel? Or alternate versions of the characters throughout time?? No clue!!! Seriously, none. It was interesting though. B+.
Helene Wecker’s The Gates of Midnight
I finished this thinking like, well, this was fine, and then I got to the author’s note and was like, a nice person wrote this and now I feel bad for not being super into it? It wraps up the story of the Golem and the Jinni pretty well but leaves it open if she wants to write more in this world. Like I said, I just wasn’t super into it! I was impatient for all the story strands to come together. I do enjoy the characters though. B+.
Helene Wecker’s The Hidden Palace
I really didn’t remember a thing about this book, maybe because there is a LOT going on in it (including a cameo from Lawrence of Arabia, lol)? It does make things move much more quickly than the first one, but I wasn’t really invested in it. Still a pleasant read though! We’ll see how the new one is. A-/B+.
Helene Wecker’s The Golem and the Jinni
Rereading this because a new one in this series recently came out—and I remembered that I really liked this, but yall, I REALLY liked this!! I didn’t remember much besides the golem (a woman, created to be a wife) and the jinni (freed after a thousand years trapped in a jar) exploring 1890s New York, so most of the plot was a surprise. Really interesting and moving and occasionally tense. It is a little slow at parts but all comes together in a great way. I don’t remember the second book at all and am excited to revisit that and read the new one! A/A-.
Marissa Lingen’s A Dubious Clamor
What a GREAT book! Sometimes novellas feel rushed or incomplete but this is the perfect length for this story. Which involves a young woman who was once cursed to be a harpy, but the spell was broken and now she helps people with magical problems. When one of her friends comes to her with a magical sword that is trying to control him, she needs all of her friends and allies (and her harpy ex girlfriend) to save the day. Great friendships and family relationships here, and I loved the mentions of Gilbert and Sullivan. I am probably the target audience for a book like this but I ATE IT UP. Definitely will be keeping an eye out for more by Lingen. A.
HG Parry’s The Witch Below the Dreaming Wood
I’m somewhat lukewarm on Arthurian stories—they’re fine, but there are SO MANY, just not my particular favorite subgenre—but I really enjoy HG Parry, so figured I’d try it. This is an interesting take—the main Arthurian POV is Nimue, here raised by Morgan Le Fay to bring about Merlin’s doom—but this is interspersed with the story of a young librarian sent to catalog the library in an isolated Welsh manor, and to escape the Blitz, because it’s 1941. Also, tons of ppl are having dreams about Arthur—but she’s dreaming of Nimue. This went some cool and unexpected directions, and even when I found the plot a little silly, I enjoyed the writing. I will recommend this to my Arthurian nerd friends! A-.
Kim Fay’s Love and Saffron
I just discovered this extremely delightful novel has a sequel so obviously I had to reread it! It’s epistolary, letters between two women in the 1960s, exploring new cuisines, sharing about their lives, encouraging and caring for each other. Just really lovely. We need more books about friendship. As a side note, I often see people complain that epistolary novels don't feel like real letters--too much exposition, properly written dialogue, etc--but the letters here do feel like real letters to me (ok, maybe the ones about JFK's assassination feel a little clunky, but maybe in real life they would too?). Anyway, excited to read the 90s-set sequel!
Sarah Wallace’s The Viscount Says Yes
I was really hoping we’d get some POV from the Viscount in this one, bc he has never felt like a real character to me and so it’s hard to be invested in his romance. It is great to see Pip going through his healing process (after being forced into prostitution by his abusive boyfriend/pimp, dark shit in a cozy series) but Bertie is just a perfect supportive happy rich guy with no nuance. If you’re into that sort of thing, awesome! I thought it was a teensy bit dull. Also like if you are trying to figure out what a magical monocle does, why would you not LOOK THROUGH IT, I thought yall were magical geniuses. It’s all very sweet though. B/B+.
Sarah Wallace’s The Spellmaster of Tutting-on-Cress
FINALLY a book for Gerry (the sister of various other characters, who’s been a big part of all the other books). This one changes format again, lots of POV characters, as basically every character plots to matchmake Gerry with the new young man in town (whose father has died and now he has seven adorable and hilarious siblings and a grieving stepmother in his life), who is very impressed by her career. Very funny and sweet. A-.
Sarah Wallace's Dear Bartleby
This was super sweet!!! No tragic backstories here!!! Just the mildly immature and rascally younger brother coming to stay in the country and learning to be a better person from the example of all the nice people around him. And assisting the Viscount with a magical competition to determine the next Royal Spellcaster--and falling for one of the candidates! All told to his journal, one of my favorite storytelling devices. Very pleasant and engaging. A/A-.
Sarah Wallace’s The Education of Pip
Not sure how to feel about this one! Pip comes up in the previous book—he’s friends with that protagonist—and his backstory is pretty dark—his abusive boyfriend pimped him out against his will—so of course he’s all cower-y when the nice rich people from the previous books adopt him and teach him magic (the viscount seems to be his love interest and even in this queer-normative fantasy world, I have no idea how that’s societally acceptable, not to mention there is a touch of the white knight). It was just a weird vibe for me. Like yeah I want this poor guy to be happy but this is beyond my suspension of disbelief. B/B+. (Gonna keep reading bc it looks like the next one is told as the diary of the troublesome younger brother and I am psyched for it.)
Sarah Wallace's One Good Turn
So the second book in this series is not epistolary (now I wonder if any of the others are) but I enjoyed it regardless! The protagonist is a young woman who was raised as a thief and wants to live an honest life, and ends up taking magic lessons from the Viscount from book one (who expressly stated he loves teaching people magic!). There's not a romance between them, though, which was nice (they're both gay). The focus in this one is really on friendship, which I appreciated. Very cute story, if a bit slight. A-/B+.
Sarah Wallace’s Letters to Half Moon Street
WHO is in the mood for an epistolary novel set in a magical and queer-normative version of Regency England? Me, always. This extremely cute book involves a shy and grumpy younger son being sent to London for business reasons, and he’s corresponding with his sister (who is talented at creating spells!) as he’s taken under the wing of a notorious rake who’s determined to show him the city. I love epistolary stories and this was super adorable!!!! I hope the next book centers his sister! A/A-.
Claudia Gray’s The Late Mrs Willoughby
I do wonder how this is on ongoing series—like wouldn’t you run out of Austen characters to kill off at a certain point? Anyway, this one involves the characters from Sense and Sensibility, there’s another death, Darcy jr and Girl Tilney are visiting for various reasons and start trying to solve things again. I like both these characters a lot, but I think this series is one that benefits from being read in between other things, and not all in a row (or maybe I was just a little bored after correctly calling the killer and waiting for ages for the reveal). I was also annoyed about romantic miscommunications but that can partially be chalked up to the time period. This was fine but I’m definitely taking a break for something else. B+.
Claudia Gray's The Murder of Mr Wickham
All right, trying out some Jane Austen fanfic here, lol. (There has been a lot of Pride and Prejudice discussion on Bluesky recently, and these were recommended--and I have enjoyed books by Gray before.) I can't tell if the audience for these is die-hard Austenites (who probably don't want fanfic!) or more casual fans like me, though it definitely assumes a lot of knowledge of her less-popular works that I only vaguely remember. Anyway, everyone is married blah blah, there's a house party at Emma's with all the main couples and some of their kids, and Darcy Jr and the daughter of the main character from Northanger Abbey have to solve a murder! I actually love murder mysteries set at British house parties, so ok! The victim is, of course, Mr Wickham, who seems to have invented Ponzi schemes and shows up unannounced for a spot of blackmail—and many of the guests have reason to hate him. Solid mystery, and I liked the main characters a lot (Darcy Jr seems to be on the autism spectrum). The solution is a little eh but I don’t think there was a way to make this really work. Entertaining anyway, I’ll definitely be picking up book 2. A-.
Lucy Foley’s Murder at the Grand Alpine Hotel
Normally I eschew modern writers pairing up with the estates of long-dead writers to resurrect beloved characters, but I am a sucker for Miss Marple, so figured I’d try this. Murder at an isolated luxury hotel in the Alps in 1950 (where Miss Marple is hanging out with her friend from The Body in the Library), war secrets, affairs, lost treasure, etc. Honestly a solid mystery—it dragged a bit in the second half but then picked back up—but it doesn’t at all feel like an Agatha Christie story to me. It didn’t feel like Miss Marple. A fun read though! A-.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in September.
Julia Seales’ A Most Agreeable Murder
This is a firmly tongue-in-cheek historical mystery, full of Austen references, involving a young woman who is obsessed with true crime (and a handsome detective with a newspaper column). When a very eligible bachelor (Mr Croaksworth) is murdered at a ball (at Stabmort Manor), she has to figure out who did it—while still being a proper lady. Luckily the detective’s disgraced former partner is on hand! Also, her youngest sister is definitely a werewolf, if you suspected this book is a little bit silly. I liked this a lot, and will probably read the sequel at some point, but I need a break first. 😹 A-/B+.
Nina LaCour’s Meet Me in the Garden
I’ve loved all of LaCour’s novels, but this one really feels different, more ambitious (is this her first adult novel? I know it’s all marketing categories). It’s the story of a (deeply closeted) Creole woman and her family from 1944 through the 1960s, as they move from New Orleans to Los Angeles and raise their children. Just a really beautiful story about art and various kinds of love and families and friends and making a life. Maybe some bits were a little on the nose but I loved this. A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on August 4th.
Shauna Lawless’ The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
I said recently that I am always looking for more books with political intrigue, and this definitely fit the bill! It’s set in Ireland in the 900s and there are Irish people, Vikings, early Christians, pagans, and a lot of people straight out of folklore. The two protagonists are both women from long-lived people, one up to her ears in political machinations on behalf of her son (and saving herself from various dangers); the other, a healer, afraid of mortal men but forced to spy on them. I liked this a lot, but it was very slow at times. I do want to read more of this series, but I have too many other books on my kindle right now! A-.
Stephanie Burgis’ A Honeymoon of Grave Consequence
Another very entertaining story, but this one was longer which made it better—more room to breathe. Lots of fun new characters as our protagonist and her vampire husband head to the Black Forest to do some supernatural research, and get caught up in more shenanigans. There’s also a cute lesbian side romance! What’s not to like! Excited for book three (out in October). A-.
