What a beautiful story! I love Kay's work and The Moth Keeper feels very timely having gone through a global pandemic. The Moth Keeper is a graphic noWhat a beautiful story! I love Kay's work and The Moth Keeper feels very timely having gone through a global pandemic. The Moth Keeper is a graphic novel about a child who becomes the new moth keeper for her village. It's a big responsibility and requires a lot of time in solitude through the night. This is a story about burnout, loneliness, and the effects of parental neglect, all delivered with gorgeous art in a way that will be accessible even for young children. It's about the importance of community, about how love and friendship can be healing, and about how we don't have to shoulder everything ourselves. I found this to be incredibly moving and will be buying a copy when it's released. I received a digital advance copy for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own....more
I love a badass mom, and this is giving us a badass grandma!
I'm living for it. I also just love the way Kate Elliott does these novellas. They're short, but so rich in world-building, character development, and plot. I'm not sure how she manages to do so much in only 200 pages but The Keeper's Six is a delightful companion to The Servant Mage.
I will say, the beginning took me by surprise. While Servant Mage begins in a very different magical world, this book begins in Hawaii. But you pretty quickly come to realize how they are connected and this story is about a woman doing whatever it takes to save her son, and also protect his non-human husband from people who want him for their own purposes. It's action-packed, with new and interesting tidbits about an expansive world that I hope we continue to explore in future books.
Our main character is Esther- grandma to adorable hybrid babies and a force to be reckoned with. I really liked her as a character, and I loved how the story integrated her Jewish identity in specific ways through the story as well. This is a short book so I won't say too much more, but I am LOVING this micro-trend of getting older heroines in fantasy. I received a copy of this book for review, all opinions are my own....more
Ken Liu is a genius and I'm so glad I finally read from him. This collection is smart, well-researched, hard-hitting, and made me cryWow. Just...wow.
Ken Liu is a genius and I'm so glad I finally read from him. This collection is smart, well-researched, hard-hitting, and made me cry several times, which isn't an easy feat. It makes brilliant use of science fiction and fantasy elements, but also pulls in real world technology and history, while never losing a sense of humanity. I could say so much but if you haven't read this, you really should. I think everyone should read this collection and I will certainly be reading more from Liu.
If you need a good comfort read that is cozy and feel-good, I cannot recommend this enough! Legends & Lattes is a slice-of-life fantasy novel about anIf you need a good comfort read that is cozy and feel-good, I cannot recommend this enough! Legends & Lattes is a slice-of-life fantasy novel about an orc barbarian who decides to retire and open a coffee shop. And very slowly falls for the succubus she ends up hiring. It's incredibly charming, pretty low stakes, and an excellent option for a high-anxiety day....more
At this point I am basically just a Robin Hobb fangirl. The Mad Ship was excellent- interesting & smart world-buLive Discussion: youtu.be/i3xOc08PAl8
At this point I am basically just a Robin Hobb fangirl. The Mad Ship was excellent- interesting & smart world-building, characters I love and love to hate (but either way I'm thoroughly invested) and real arcs of growth and development for those characters. I'm loving the journey, even if there are some painful moments along the way. Malta grows so much in this book and I'm excited to see where her story takes us next. The reveals about the serpents are great, Kennit is pretty terrible, but nuanced and interesting...I could go on but I already spent hours discussing this book so check out the link above! Loved it.
Content warnings include sexual assault, attempted sexual assault, violence, slavery...more
I have a lot to say about this one, and I will in a forthcoming video. But suffice to say, any former, deconstructing, or moderate American evangelical should really read this book. It is a fantastic piece of non-fiction, tracing the history of the American Evangelical movement from its roots in the early 1900's through the Trump years. It is well argued and I was riveted.
As a former evangelical who came of age in the late 90's/early aughts, I found this book to be both incredibly illuminating and deeply validating. I would say the primary thesis of the book is that the early 1900's American church moving toward patriarchy and aggressive, heteronormative, white masculinity (as epitomized by John Wayne) is at the center of how we got here and explains everything that is so toxic and harmful about much of evangelical Christendom. By the end of the book, it makes PERFECT sense why Trump was the candidate of choice, despite his (many!) moral shortcomings. The best thing I've read so far this year....more
Okay, I see what all the hype is about! I absolutely loved this. If you're looking for a smart fantasy with a kick-ass mom, nuanced characters, and interesting magic and politics, you should definitely pick up The Sword of Kaigen. This was immaculate and such a pleasant surprise.
One thing to know is that while most of the book takes place on an island that functions as a patriarchial society a la feudal Japan, it's set in a modern world and people from the outside bring in more modern ideas and technology.
Misaki is among my favorite characters of 2022 and we so rarely get the perspective of women in fantasy who are mothers and not 20. I won't say too much more here since a video is forthcoming, but I loved this....more
Beautifully written collection of meditations on plants, wildlife, indigenous teachings, and our relationship to the earth. Thought-provoking, moving, and fascinating by turns- this is a book I can see myself returning to time and again over the years for quiet meditation. It has me rethinking my own relationship to consumption and the land, and what that means as someone living in an urban center. Definitely a new favorite. ...more
Fans of Red Rising take note! The Blood Trials needs to be on your radar. This gritty, action-packed, sci-fantasy debut was everything I was hoping for. (Note that this is ADULT fiction, not YA with high levels of violence)
Ikenna is the granddaughter of the Legatus of the Mareenian Empire. Not only does she face vitriolic racism as a minority, but she is also a hiding a dangerous secret - forbidden blood magic. When her grandfather is assassinated, she enrolls in a brutal military training academy for elite Praetorian warriors. So brutal that only a fraction of her class will survive training. Because she is one of few women and a minority, people want Ikenna dead. But she will do whatever it takes to uncover who assassinated her grandfather, and then wreak vengeance on the perpetrators.
This is an impressive debut and I truly hope it takes off and the right readers find it. Thematically and in terms of action and brutal twists this book has a lot in common with Red Rising, even while being something all its own. Ikenna can be a stubborn hothead, but she is also a survivor and I loved her as a character. She must survive trial after trial, not to mention conducting a secret investigation. The book ends with a major bang and I CANNOT WAIT for book 2!
Note that the racial and gender inequality Ikenna deals with are central to the book. This does a great job of parsing these issues, and even includes a case of "passing" where a biracial character looks enough like the majority race as to gain privilege. There are more spoilery events that also mirror real world issues in interesting ways as well, but I will leave them for you to find out.
If I had and quibbles with this it's that I would like to know a little more about the social structures of the world and the magic system. But honestly I loved this. If this sounds up your alley go preorder it! I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own....more
And the award for first book to make me cry this year goes to....
Seriously though, All My Rage is an incredible book. Heartbreaking and hopeful, a stoAnd the award for first book to make me cry this year goes to....
Seriously though, All My Rage is an incredible book. Heartbreaking and hopeful, a story about pain, loss, family, and forgiveness. I have enjoyed fantasy from this author and was curious to see how she tackled a contemporary story.
Told in two timelines, this book primarily focuses on current day but also includes flashbacks to a young woman coming of age in Pakistan and getting married. In the present day, two Muslim Pakistani teenagers who were childhood best friends are dealing with really difficult circumstances. Salahudin's mom has died, leaving him and his alcoholic father with a mountain of debt and an aging motel. He knows selling drugs is wrong, but it seems like the only option for keeping his family afloat.
Noor is desperate to escape their small town and the racialized bullying she faces, but her uncle- her only surviving family who saved her when a bomb killed the rest of her family in Pakistan- wants her to stay and work in the liquor store he owns. He doesn't want her getting what he had to give up- a college education. And he hates that she is religious.
This book is beautifully written and will rip your heart out before piecing it back together. I felt so deeply for these characters and Tahir navigates very sensitive issues with grace and compassion. I loved this so much more than I expected it to. I received an advance copy of this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Content warnings include addiction, drug use, medical scenes, physical abuse (on page), child sexual abuse (off page), racial and religious slurs, panic attacks, grief, death, police interactions, probably others but those are the big ones....more
Expectations with this one are going to be everything! It is a LITERARY book that is SOCIAL HORROR - more character study and social commentary than slasher. If you go in looking for a horror novel, you're probably going to be disappointed. It's a slow burn, which isn't going to be to everyone's taste. That said, I knew what I was getting and absolutely loved it! Reprieve brilliantly unpacks various nuances of racism, homophobia, white supremacy, and the fetishization of the other.
The linking thread in the book is this extreme, full-contact haunted house/escape room where we know someone has died. We slowly get to see vignettes leading up to that death, interspersed with chapters about the involved characters. The majority of the book is really about the characters and their relationships to race, gender, and sexuality, not about the haunted house specifically. The book is set in rural 90's Nebraska and the main characters include a Black teen girl, her college-aged cousin, and that cousin's roommate who is a gay guy from Thailand.
Through the book we see paternalistic and fetishizing versions of white supremacy, as well as violently dehumanizing versions, and the harm that comes from both. We see the intersection of racism and homophobia and how queer people who aren't white may experience racism from queer white people. We see how anti-Blackness can exist among people of color. You might assume they would support and identify with other marginalized groups, but that isn't necessarily the case. We see misogyny displayed across various intersections. There is a LOT going on in this book.
The ending underscores the themes as all of these various pieces collide in tragic and violent ways. (view spoiler)[ A young Black man with a lot going for him becomes this horror cliche of the Black person dying first. And he is forced into that role by a white man who is puppeteering everything for his own advantage. There are so many levels to the racism that goes into him being chosen as the victim. And the epilogue where the Thai character finally admits his own culpability and racism is a gut punch. (hide spoiler)] I think this is a particularly important book as something written by a gay Asian (Korean) man who is engaging with this issue of anti-Blackness in Asian communities and recognizing that experiencing certain forms of oppression doesn't mean you can't also enact oppression on others.
I loved this book and it's one I want to reread....more
Slow-burn, opposites attract, political fantasy romance between a prince and his bodyguard? Sold!
A Taste of Gold and Iron absolutely delivers on its Slow-burn, opposites attract, political fantasy romance between a prince and his bodyguard? Sold!
A Taste of Gold and Iron absolutely delivers on its premise. This has the perfect blend of dislike growing into love, quiet yearning, dangerous conspiracies, found family, and a touch of magic. This book has characters you are going to fall for (even if you think you don't like them at first) and an incredible supporting cast filled with interesting, nuanced, strong men, women and nonbinary folks. I am expecting (and hoping for!) lots of fan art with this one.
It's a book that knows what it is - primarily a romance. The conspiracy piece adds tension and interest to the plot, but the goal here is not to have surprising twists and you'll know pretty quickly who the villain of the story is. I also want to highlight the fact that Rowland did an EXCELLENT job managing the power dynamics of this story, and the prince/bodyguard thing can make it easy to get it wrong.
There is a bit of magic in the world- some people can "taste" metals by touching them and know things about them- but it's not the main focus. It's a world where people can be casually queer. There are pronouns used for non-binary people and homophobia doesn't exist. We have bi/pan-sexual characters, gay characters, an asexual character etc. That said as royalty Prince Kadou has less say in the gender of who he gets to marry. His sister the empress could in theory decide on a political marriage to a woman even though he is gay.
One other thing I thought was handled well is Kadou has chronic anxiety and experiences panic attacks. He thinks he is just a coward, but through the course of the book comes to realize that isn't the case and the people around him help him find ways to cope.
I don't want to say too much more but there were scenes that were genuinely swoon-worthy, others that were very funny, and the actual prose flowed well and was very easy to read. The slow build-up of tension and passion between the two main characters was perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I think this is going to be a hit! I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher, all opinions are my own....more
Siren Queen is stunningly brilliant and I did not expect it to bowl me over in the way that it did. Set in an alternate Golden Age Hollywood, the novel literalizes the predatory practices of Hollywood studios at the time, especially toward women and marginalized groups with fae magic and monsters.
Blending fae mythology and dream-like prose with 1930's & 40's movie-making, Siren Queen weaves a story of identity, queerness, marginalization, and the desire to be seen and make a mark on the world. Told through the perspective of a scrappy, ambitious Chinese girl who is the daughter of immigrants in Los Angeles who wants to be on the silver screen, the novel explores how the Other is sometimes viewed as monstrous. What I love is that our heroine actually embraces (in a sometimes literal sense) her monstrousness- as a woman who is Chinese, queer, and ambitious. She plays a dangerous game and fights for her own agency.
This narrative is nuanced, raw, and gorgeously written. The sapphic relationships and sexuality are written in a way that is sometimes messy, but beautiful, very human and transformative. On top of which it includes positive fat representation and does a brilliant job of celebrating all different kinds of bodies and evoking a seductive feel to beautiful fat women, angular women, and women who are more magnetic than pretty. There are so many layers that I could talk about here, but I hope you will just go and read it for yourself. I want to read this one again and I didn't expect it to hit so hard. Thank you to the publisher for sending a copy for review, all opinions are my own.
Content Warnings are many but include attempted sexual assault & harassment, mentions of sexual assault including of minors, homophobia, racism, violence, death, disfigurement, self-harm, suicidal ideation (side character), addiction (side characters), mention of forced abortion, physically, psychologically, and verbally abusive practices on set, turning women into a sort of automaton, blood magic....more
LOVE THIS!!! I really loved the first book in the duology, but A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a favorite in a whole different way. This has more consisLOVE THIS!!! I really loved the first book in the duology, but A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a favorite in a whole different way. This has more consistent pacing and feels like a hug in book form, combined with a therapy session.
I adore the way Becky Chambers does sci-fi that is soft and feel-good, with an underlying backbone of hard science. This is no different. It's a hopeful vision of humanity after a near apocalypse, where they have finally learned to co-exist sustainably on earth. Sibling Dex continues their journey of showing Mosscap (a robot) around human settlements. Dex is experiencing burnout and must learn to accept it's okay for them to rest and that their value isn't derived from their production. Mosscap is learning about what it means to be sentient and making choices about themselves and their future. It's just the most lovely, vibrant, cozy book and I adored it. I received an advance copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own....more
Absolutely loved this!! If you are looking for a book that centers women of color in history, is well-researched, tackles thorny issues like generatioAbsolutely loved this!! If you are looking for a book that centers women of color in history, is well-researched, tackles thorny issues like generational wealth from enslavement, and delivers a steamy, compelling romance with a marriage of convenience then this book is for you!
A Caribbean Heiress in Paris is Adriana Herrera's first historical romance novel and the start to a very promising series. It follows Luz Alana Heith-Benzan, a Dominican woman traveling Paris for the 1889 world exposition where she seeks to sell rum from her distillery. While there, she encounters James Evanston Sinclair, a handsome Scottish nobleman who makes and sells Scotch whiskey, and sparks fly from the very beginning.
I adored Luz Alana- she is fiery, confident, and determined to get what she wants. Evan can get protective and a little possessive but she shuts that down very quickly when it's more than what she wants. The steamy bits take a little longer to get going, but the payoff is there throughout the second half of the book because things do get very sexy!
I love how this weaves in history I wasn't aware of, and confronts the realities of what it means for a nobleman of the time to have inherited generational wealth, likely made off of the slave trade. It deals with microagressions and the couple has frank conversations about how to handle that. This is one of the best romances I've read this year and I hope it's a bestseller! I'm also VERY excited for the rest of the series because Luz Alana's girlfriends who traveled with her are great and one of them is sapphic! Love it. I received an advance copy of this book for review from the author, all opinions are my own....more
This book has convinced me I need to pick up the rest of Stacy Reid's backlist because I LOVE how she writes a historical romance! A Scoundrel of Her This book has convinced me I need to pick up the rest of Stacy Reid's backlist because I LOVE how she writes a historical romance! A Scoundrel of Her Own is smart, sexy, socially conscious, and truly swoonworthy. If you're looking for an author who writes characters who must confront historical class politics and the mistreatment of the underclass, while also delivering a steamy romance you can really root for, you need to try her books.
This one follows a high-born girl and a low-born boy who meet as children and bond when he saves her life. Now she's Lady Ophelia- unmarried society lady by day, underworld songstress by night, trying to uncover details of a dark secret her father revealed while deathly ill. He is Devlin Byrne, master of the underworld, incredibly wealthy, but not accepted in polite society.
Ooh this was SO good! Deliciously angsty and full of yearning with chemistry that sizzles on the page. Reid does an incredible job of writing nuanced characters and weaving social issues into a romance you won't want to put down. Definitely recommend!
I received a copy of this book for review from the publisher, all opinions are my own....more
This ending was perfection! And I love Savine- she's such an amazing character.This ending was perfection! And I love Savine- she's such an amazing character....more
Wow, this book hit me much harder than I was expecting. If you are a former or deconstructing Church girl, you really should read this. As a deconstruWow, this book hit me much harder than I was expecting. If you are a former or deconstructing Church girl, you really should read this. As a deconstructing former evangelical who grew up deep in purity culture, this was healing in a way I didn't know I needed. Now let me schedule a session with my therapist...
Confessions of an Alleged Good Girl follows the teenage daughter of a pastor who is supposed be perfect and wait til she's married to have sex. But for the past two years, she and her boyfriend have been trying and failing to have sex. They can't figure out what's wrong and now he's done trying to figure it out. In the wake of a painful breakup, Monique decides to do her own research. Along the way she makes new friends and begins to unpack assumptions she has made and her own sexual hangups.
I wish I had this book when I was younger. Monique suffers from a relatively severe form of vaginismus (a treatable condition involving the vaginal muscles spasming or tightening in a way that prevents penetration or causes painful penetration). This condition is apparently more common in victims of sexual trauma AND people who grew up in religious traditions with intense purity teachings.
I'm going to get personal here, but this is something people don't talk about and I think it's really important. I had no idea this religious piece could be a cause, but I dealt with something similar (albeit less extreme) and it became apparent after I got married. Because I was an actual "good girl", waited for marriage, had pretty limited sex ed, and just assumed everything would be fine and easy. My spouse had similarly limited knowledge and we didn't have friends we could really ask, so we kind of had to figure it out on our own.
I deeply related to Monique's feelings about her body seeming broken, and her intense discomfort with anything explicitly sexual. Thankfully I had a wonderful, supportive spouse instead of a shitty boyfriend, but it took well over a year of marriage to work out solutions, and much longer to start working through some of our other hangups with sex because of purity culture. If we're being real, we're still working on some of it 11 years in. And the thing is, Monique's parents THOUGHT they were protecting her. So did mine. Her mom had a painful past with premarital sex. So did mine. And maybe their intent was never to make her feel less valuable or worthy if she didn't wait, but that's still how it felt. And I can relate to that too. It's why I did wait for so many things and I kind of wish I hadn't. This stuff is hard and messy and painful, and I'm so glad there are books out there now offering so much hope and healing. This book was fantastic. ...more
It's still wild to me that this was written in the 90's because in many ways it feels prophetic. I'm not sure if this book would have hit the same wayIt's still wild to me that this was written in the 90's because in many ways it feels prophetic. I'm not sure if this book would have hit the same way for me if I had read it at a different time in my life. But reading it as a parent in her mid-30's, deconstructing from American evangelical Christianity, seeing in real time the effects of climate change and the Trump administration, this narrative struck me in a way I didn't expect and I will probably be thinking about it for awhile.
While the ending is hopeful, much of this book is quite bleak as America elects a racist, religiously strident president whose tagline is "Make America Great Again" (I'm not even kidding). As a result violent, sexist, homophobic forms of religious extremism flourish. All the while Lauren is a new mom trying to establish her new religion of Earthseed. I'm still gathering my thoughts on this one but I can tell you I had a strong reaction to it.
The removal of children and their placement in religious homes is deeply reminiscent of what has happened to indigenous communities. And Lauren's desperation to balance motherhood and the search for her daughter with her calling and legacy for the future of humanity also feels very real. There is a lot to unpack here and I think it is well worth the effort.
Content warnings include sexual assault, enslavement, torture, violence, murder, harm to children in many forms, homphobia...more
I LOVED this so much!! Delilah Green Doesn't Care is the sapphic romance I wanted, between a tattooed girl with a devil may care attitude and a soft bI LOVED this so much!! Delilah Green Doesn't Care is the sapphic romance I wanted, between a tattooed girl with a devil may care attitude and a soft but broken interior (Delilah), and a curvy, pinup bookstore owner and single mom (Claire). Delilah is back in her small hometown as the photographer for her (mostly estranged) step-sister's wedding, and sparks fly with her sisters best friend....
This was beautiful, funny, sexy, heartfelt, and did a great job of blending a lovely slow-burn romance with real character arcs for both heroines involving the complexities of family, parenthood, trauma, and growing up. I teared up a couple times toward the end, which doesn't happen for me often. I loved Delilah and Claire together so much! I expected to like this, but I ended up loving it. ...more
Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)
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