“It struck me as I looked over the injury, the print at the deepest part turned blurry and smudged with fluid, that it was a hopeful thing, tending to your wounds, assuming you would be around to enjoy a time after they healed.”
don’t sleep with the dead is a companion novel to the chosen and the beautiful , which is a reimagining of the great gatsby, yet in this story we follow nick carraway and his journey of coming to new york in 1922, where he is a columnist for a local paper. this book actually opens up with him in an alley, with a bunch of other queer people, while they are being held and harassed by police. but nick is able to escape thanks to a fire and maybe also thanks to jay gatsby, too. but that simply cannot be, can it?
this is a story about magic, both with paper and with life. this is a story about creating, and destroying, and how those things can sometimes feel just like one another. this is a story about choosing yourself, and the ones you love, for better or for worse, and continuing to choose over and over. i really adored this, the writing is beyond words beautiful, and i think i will always just be a sucker for a story with a deal with a devil.
trigger + content warnings: talk of war (wwii), talk of death, police brutality (targeted at queer folk), homophobia (negative light), fire, insomnia, blood, gore, vomit, hurting a wound more / self harm, one sentence mention of a pandemic, assault / physical abuse, abuse of power, talk of rape, talk of death of pregnant person, a lot of talk of suicide, and sexual content
“She just flew. Collected every bit of life she had made, all the parts of her that were precious and fine and beautiful, and carried, pushed, drag
“She just flew. Collected every bit of life she had made, all the parts of her that were precious and fine and beautiful, and carried, pushed, dragged them through the veil, out, away, over there where no one could hurt them.”
this story is a very harrowing masterpiece that on the surface is a haunted house story. but it deeply discusses generational trauma, ptsd, and how “freedom” doesn’t feel very free while carrying so much trauma, and living with ptsd, from the true horrors you and your bloodline have experienced. ghosts can haunt you, but ghosts can also protect you. yet, community can sometimes be the greatest gift higher powers can give us.
toni morrison’s gift with language and prose is something of magic. the way this story is written is something i will never forget. truly some of the best craft i have ever had the honor of reading. beloved is a hard read, but i truly do recommend it to everyone who has yet to pick it up, because it is truly one of the best stories i have ever had the honor of reading and sitting with. i finished reading this a few days before super bowl lix, where kendrick lamar performed another masterpiece of art that, in my opinion, portrayed what america is really built on. slavery and white supremacy, things that white people will continue to create different names for, very much still in 2025.
trigger + content warnings: slavery, racism, colorism, plantation settings in past, torture in past, death, death of child in past, loss of so many loved ones, rape, violence, beastiality, pregnancy, birthing scenes, use of slurs (obv in a very negative light), segregation, ptsd, trauma, grief, talk of jail, sickness, caring for a sick loved one, captivity, talk of the kkk, vomit, war mentions, abandonment, fire
a party, a poem, and one really heartfelt dedication to dandelions later…
i finally am reading this very beloved series, and i am so very excited, buta party, a poem, and one really heartfelt dedication to dandelions later…
i finally am reading this very beloved series, and i am so very excited, but i will admit that i was unexpectedly surprised by this first book. a lot of friends have told me to think of this first book as a prequel, that really sets the tone for the story to actually come! so i was expecting that a little bit, but i was not expecting this to read so much like a historical and so not like an sff story. yet, i think there are few authors are talented as ken liu, and his storycrafting and telling are truly god tier. and even though my reading experience was not what i was expecting, i still had a really good time with this one. and also, i just deeply respect what this book is.
this is essentially a reimagining of the fall of the qin dynasty and the rise of the han dynasty. and it reads very much like many different stories, from a few different povs, from all over the land during this time, that all come together and weaves one big story! i truly don’t want to say much more than that, but the major theme that i ultimately took from this first installment is how heavy the price of power always was, always is, and always will be. and how it changes you, shapes you and your life, even if you never asked for that power in the first place.
friends’ reviews that i love a lot: mogsy, petrik, ts
trigger + content warnings: war, battle, violence, gore, blood, death, torture, mention of cannibalism, a lot of suicide mentions, slavery, human trafficking, loss of a child, torture of a child, loss of loved ones, abuse, assault, sa, conscription, killing animals for food, animal abuse (horse), captivity, prison, occupation, colorism, starvation, infidelity
this debut novel is a speculative story involving a world where historical figures are back living amongst us. and as the title very much indicates, hthis debut novel is a speculative story involving a world where historical figures are back living amongst us. and as the title very much indicates, harriet tubman is now in present day new york, where this story starts off with her recruiting a once very successful hip hop producer to help her make an album. darnell is still processing ten years ago, when he was at the height of his career, and some horrible things happened. but he promises to help harriet with writing this album and then her group will be able to go on tour.
this is a really beautiful story about the power of owning your history, and learning the things that history books try to hide from marginalized communities that still carry that generational trauma. and this book also really touches upon religion and healing when you maybe haven’t had the best experiences regarding your identity and feeling like you had to hide parts of who you are. this is a really emotional blend of hip hop and spirituality that i just adored reading.
and… i just love bob. he is my favorite queen, and when i found out he was writing a book i was instantly so immensely proud of him. but after reading it? i don’t even have words, but i am so thankful his voice is going to be heard. also, he does narrate the audiobook, so i highly recommend consuming this story that way! but yeah, i really loved this and highly recommend it!
trigger + content warnings: talk of slavery, talk of racism, mention of loss of loved ones, talk of the civil war, talk of being forced to be closeted in past, outing, talk of loss of a friend to cancer in past, kidnapping (child is okay), use of reclaiming words, smoking, maybe internalized homophobia (not from the mc, and in a negative light)
okay, you were all right - this was an amazing volume one and i absolutely cannot wait to continue on with this story! i really love this, and maomao okay, you were all right - this was an amazing volume one and i absolutely cannot wait to continue on with this story! i really love this, and maomao is such an amazing protagonist. i can’t wait to read more about her and her adventures!
in this volume one, we are introduced to our main character, maomao, who was kidnapped and sold to the empire, and is now a maidservant in the inner court. but she soon gets a promotion when her apothecary talents are discovered, and her aid is needed in solving the mystery of the deaths of the heirs born from the consorts in the inner palace. and then… she becomes a food taster and starts to help with more apothecary needs - from chocolate making to solving another mystery of a ghost dancing atop the palace!
trigger + content warnings: kidnapping, talk of child death, poisoning
this is a hard one to review, because up until the 50% maARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
“In fairy tales, big things happen in threes.”
this is a hard one to review, because up until the 50% mark, i actually did believe this was going to be a five star read for me. i guess i will get into that more as i write more, but the feeling of disappointment is very strong with this one, but also this is a very high three star rating at the same time.
this is a story about three women across history, and we slowly watch all of them become vampires in very different ways. in 1500s spain, we watch a girl born into terrible circumstances do what she needs to to survive. in 1800s london, we watch a bridgerton-esqu girl want to be able to love freely whomever she wants. and in 2019 boston, we see a girl who is grieving and attempting a fresh start once and for all.
and i think that my biggest disappointment was kind of woven into this premise, because even though we follow three girls and are watching their stories weave together, it feels disjointed. i am not claiming to be an editor, or even a writer, but to me this felt like the author really kind of only wanted to write about maría, and then added these other two storylines to attempt to just connect everything (and all the big wonderful ideas she had) together! and this is where it gets so hard to rate this, because maría’s story was for sure my favorite and the reason i believed i was going to have a five star on my hands!
i love a generational story, and seeing all the puzzle pieces fit together, but everytime it would switch to alice, i would just find myself a little annoyed. and i did like alice a lot more than lottie, which feels bad to type, but maybe that’s because the disconnect of these two timelines already impacted me. but to me this 500+ page book read like 75% maría, 15% lottie, and 10% alice, and i guess i am not saying that’s a bad thing, but it just didn’t blend well to me, it felt forced to me, and kind of like it was making alice the main mc by the end, which i just didn’t like, no matter how many tears i did shed for her. and the abrupt feeling of how the story went just left me closing this book with a three star feeling!
the constant theme of this story is predator vs prey, and we see that constantly reflected back. We get to see a lot of predators going after prey, but we also get to see how sometimes it’s not so easy to distinguish between those two words and archetypes. this is a story about abuse, and how abuse can look so very different, and how cycles of abuse happen. and how those cycles of abuse can change you, forge you, haunt you… forever.
i also adored and respected the way ve schwab really highlighted vampirism in historical literature with queerness, and gender roles, and even just feeling ostracized from society for being different. it is very felt and honored in the text, and i loved it. and just the concept of hungering for so many things, some of which you can easily get, and other things that might be a little harder, and a little harder to hide, too.
again, this is a very high three star, because there really is so much i did love about this. i loved the themes, discussions, and concepts being explored. and i think i am probably going to be in the minority with loving maría’s storyline the most, which in turn is the reason i didn’t love this more, but this was also very loudly pitched as “toxic lesbian vampires” so i am sorry if i wanted to see my girl’s story go in a different direction, other than making it connect to two other stories, okay? lol >.< happy reading, friends!
trigger + content warnings: abuse, anxiety, panic attacks, smoking, drinking, a lot of loss of loved ones in past, murder, death, one sentence mention of death of a baby, child death / murder, one sentence death of an animal (kitten), one sentence mention of animal death in past (rabbit), grief, a lot of talk of conception / pregnancy, marital rape, unwanted touching, plague, blood, self harm to get blood, vomit, fire, sa attempt, mob killing, mass murder, use of a slur for lesbians, homophobia, colorism, manipulation, gaslighting, drugging, talk of suicide, talk of war
the honey witch is about a girl who is about to take up her grandmother’s legacy being, you guessed it, thARC provided by Orbit - thank you so much !!
the honey witch is about a girl who is about to take up her grandmother’s legacy being, you guessed it, the next honey witch on her island. every eldest daughter in her family had the potential to be a witch, if they so do choose it. we follow our main character (and the eldest daughter), marigold, as she is healing and figuring out what she wants her life to look like, versus the life that society has always told her life should look like. and we are alongside marigold as she is learning her new potion making abilities, while also trying to prove to someone that witchcraft is very real.
this is a really hard book to rate and talk about, because i just never felt connected to the story itself, or the characters, or anything going on with the plot, but i can also recognize that this book had a lot of good in it, that did really mean a lot to me. i mean, first off, sapphic cottagecore vibes, with a queer beekeeper who is learning things from spellbooks her grandmother left her, who is also healing from her past and trying to have a healthy relationship with her friends and family in the present. like, a lot of good! a lot of stuff i will always recommend to you guys!! I just wish i could have connected more with the actual story and plot and not just the themes and concepts.
i also really loved the queer representation in this book, and even though no titles are actually given, i personally feel like the representation of bi, pan, and lesbian was really beautifully done. also, there is a tattoo scene in this book that is truly one of the hottest things i’ve ever read in my entire life. ahhh, friends - i recommend this book just because i want it to succeed and i want more stories from sydney j. shields, and more chances to fall in love with her books completely.
cws from the author at the start of this book: Tattooing/Needles, Burns, Blood/Injuries, Sex, House fire, Bee stings, Loss of a grandparent, Death/Grief, Discussions of infertility, A woman seeks aid of the honey witch for treatment of her miscarriage
other tw/cw i wrote down: mention and talk of abusive and predatory relationship in past, caretaking for a loved one, loss of parents in past, abandonment, fire, blood, vomit
“There is a fine line between a saint and a witch, and I wonder if you are prepared to walk it.”
i really enjoyed this one and it really reminded me of how much i just adore leigh’s prose and style of writing. But this story has a lot of heart, and a lot of tragedy, and you can really tell leigh put a lot of her soul in this story. this book takes place in madrid, during spain’s golden age - where spain colonized, forced labor, forced religious oppression, and forced cultural assimilation (i say this as a filipino, while also recognizing maybe this hit a little bit harder because of my family). but this is also a historical fantasy about three women and an immortal, all cursed in their own ways, all trying to survive in this world that constantly tries to silence them.
➛ Valentina - forced to ask her husband for permission to even leave her house, while also trying to present a fake front of wealth to the upper class society, despite not having much wealth anymore. Valentina is very desperate to gain some kind of agency, and attention from the upper class, and sees a way to do both when she notices a housemaid able to perform magic. but gaining the attention of more powerful eyes might not be a good thing for anyone.
➛ Luzia - works for valentina as a housemaid, and is able to perform magic because of her jewish ancestry she has always been forced to keep secret from the world. but because of valentina, her secret has now spread, and she soon has a tournament to win, for a wealthy patron who wants to gain the attention of the king, who wants to keep winning his wars. luzia is forced to walk the line of performing magic that will please, but not magic that will scare her oppressors forcing her to perform said magic.
➛ Santángel - the immortal (points you to title) who is tasked with helping train luzia to win the competition, but who also has a lot of secrets and mystery from his own past, that keeps haunting him lifetime after lifetime.
➛ Hualit - luzia’s aunt, whose story really intrigued me because she has lived her life doing everything she thinks was needed to survive. i would say that her storyline is the smallest of the four, but she impacted me so much that she needed her own bullet point!
and i really love all four of these very complex characters, very deeply! but i think that’s all i want to say. the journey of this book is what i enjoyed the most, and i think you will too, if you pick it up and give it a try! i saw people say that it had a slow start for them, but i promise you that i was completely enthralled from that bread to the very last page. i just really enjoyed this, and no one, and i mean no one, writes yearning and angst like leigh bardugo. and to write something so beautiful in a world (and real history) that is so devastating, is also a feat of magic in and of itself.
trigger + content warnings: loss of parents in past, loss of a loved one, suicide, antisemitism, colonization, vomit, abuse, spiders, scorpions, sexual assault (forced touching), sexual assault insinuation, talk of torture, torture (including waterboarding), forced nudity, blood, fire, abandonment, blood, murder, grief, fore, violence, slavery, animal death, animal cruelty (squirrel), colonialism, misogyny, drugging, talk of infertility
this second installment is set in 1910 and obviously still follows emily wilde, who this time is focusing her research on creating a map that will track the nexuses that connect all the fae realms (and their doors) to our world. and maybe, just maybe, there is a special emphasis on a fae prince we know and love. but anyways, she is also bringing along wendell bambleby again for this adventure, but also her young niece who also has a passion for the fae and the different research involving them. yet this time, the stakes feel much higher even if the fate of these stakes rely a lot on locating a magical cat behind these fae doors. (again, even if this is a cozy set up and setting, this does deal with some darker themes showing the dark faery side of things!)
for some reason, i just didn’t enjoy this one as much as the first. the format of journal entries is still perfect for me, i love these characters so much, and we even got winter fox faes in this! i mean… so so so much for me and my reading wheelhouse to love! but i guess (while trying to not being spoilery here) i really didn’t like not seeing as much wendell in this one (or maybe in the way… i would have preferred to see him… again, no spoilers is hard but hopefully you feel me if you’ve read this!) but overall, i still had a fun time with this one and loved being back with these characters and exploring some new worlds.
trigger + content warnings: missing person, talk of animals/pets aging, poison, illness/sick partner,, brief mention of loss of parents in past, talk of loss of friends in past, grief, abusive step parent, mention of infidelity (not mcs), blood, gore, violence, spiders
“Her conviction, born of long days and longer nights, was that if the world contained magic at all, then it could not also contain their war.”
the warm hands of ghosts is a story set during world war 1, following a combat nurse who has recently returned home after the hospital she was working at was bombed. now, back in halifax canada, another explosion has happened and all she has left is her brother, who is still in german occupied france fighting in the forbidden zone. but when a package reaches her with some of his items and a note saying he is missing, she knows she must get back to france and see if she can find out any information about the only person she has left in this world. And a beautiful story, within two stories, is crafted about love, faith, and sacrifice as we switch perspective of these two siblings encountering a force this world has always known. (and the speculative element involving a magical inn that is described as a “faerie revels that end at sunrise”? yeah, 11/10 for me and my reading wheelhouse.)
i know a lot of you were really curious about my thoughts on this book, because the winternight trilogy is one of my favorite stories, and it really does mean a great deal to me. comparing that to this book feels so impossible, because the stories are so vastly differently, but i still really enjoyed this book and was completely swept away by katherine arden’s prose and storycrafting and heart.
i am just not the biggest historical reader, and i am also not the biggest fan of reading war stories, but i knew if anyone could make me enjoy a story with a backdrop like this, it would be katherine arden. but i did find myself very much enjoying laura’s pov of traveling and healing and discovering what was going on way more than freddies trapped within this war pov (which seems to be a very not popular opinion according to early reviews)! but even despite this book being very catered not to my tastes, there is just something so magical about katherine’s writing, and ability to tell a story. and the way she handled the different evils in this book was really perfect in my opinion. plus, you all know i love a good big sister and little brother story always!
i really don’t want to give away too much of the plot, because it really is cool to discover everything right alongside laura and freddie, but my favorite part of this book is actually the title. just this idea sparking that our own hands can become unusable because of the brutal acts of men (and how women are trying to heal from many of those acts against all odds), and how we can be having our hands guided by ghosts (some ghosts, some angels, some… a little bit of dark entities) was just really thought provoking and so very profound to me. very very galaxy brain. also the theme of how it is easier to blame one person, one thing, rather than a completely broken system that needs to be dismantled and rebuilt. i know this is a world war 1 story, but it feels extra heartbreaking how much of this felt so very relevant in 2024. maybe we need our hands guided a lot more by ghosts and not leaders who still don’t want to view human lives equally 100 years later.
“It was so much easier to hate a man than a system: vast, inhuman, bloodstained.”
this book also puts a very heavy emphasis on hope and how important it is to have a north star to keep that hope alive, keep you having faith, making it easier for you to believe in something and maybe, in turn, believe in yourself. This book really showcases that in a lot of ways - through anger, though sacrifice, though a never waning belief of hope back in that very same person. And also shows the beauty of realizing that you are able to hope in something new, which can also be a safe harbor when the world feels unnavigable by yourself.
also this book has a very big central theme of pairings within the characters. This old and new world that so many of these characters fall into and you can see them having a harder or easier time depending on what way they fall. i feel we (americans) are taught around 8th grade the literary juxtaposition of the 20s and of old and new with gatsby (and at such an annoying length), but this really made me think that maybe this was a heightened view that people were really discussing and feeling during and after the great war (pre jazz era/roaring twenties… listen, i am an sff reader and reviewer not a historical one hahaha but this really was thought provoking for me). but i just really love the element of pairings and how everyone kind of has a co-something counterpart within this story as well. i enjoy it as a reader and also as a type a virgo.
okay i think i am finally able to let you in on the secret reading of this book (i can’t even believe i am about to type this!) I was able to have the opportunity to buddy read this with katherine arden (and a bunch of amazing booksellers and book content creators!) and the amount of research and respect and heart that she put into this novel is so very felt, but i really was lucky enough to experience that so much deeper. i was speechless at how much she knew and how much she dug deeper to learn so many personal stories of families during this time. it allowed me to have an even deeper level of empathy and just taught me so much in regard to understanding what life was really like during this time period all around the world.
i also want to let you know because this was such a magical experience for me, there could potentially be some bias going on, or simply that i just read this book with a different lens compared to if i read it all by myself. You know, it feels a little fated to even write this because the reason i picked up the bear and the nightingale in 2017 was because it was gifted to me by the goodreads staff, which they all wrote sweet things in, and it is forever one of my favorite books in my collection. so maybe i am just destined to have really unique reading experiences with katherin arden.
overall, this was a really heartfelt story and an entire experience that meant a lot to me. it was a true honor reading this, and laura is a character who will stay in my heart forever. i absolutely am already begging for whatever katherine arden does next and this book really helped solidify her as a favorite author of all time.
trigger + content warnings: the whole setting being world war 1, a constant talk and imagery of war, halifax harbor explosion, battle of passchendaele mentions, mentions of chemical gassing warfare, prisoner of war, death, murder, gun violence, so many hospital settings, violence, gore, blood, blood transfusions, needles, surgery, talk of medical conditions and illness constantly, missing loved one, a lot of talk of loss of loved ones (including parents, children, partners, friends), captivity, claustrophobic scenes, extreme ptsd, extreme nightmares, smoking and drinking, crowd crush scene, talk of suicide, suicide ideation.
“Sometimes my poems venerated her like a saint, other times they cast her as the Devil herself, but Carmilla always played a starring role.”
my gra
“Sometimes my poems venerated her like a saint, other times they cast her as the Devil herself, but Carmilla always played a starring role.”
my grandmas should have been at the 1968 ivy league dark academy vampire clubs (highkey, that’s what i kept thinking while reading this each time the year was mentioned >.< lol)
okay okay, moving on, this was a very highly anticipated new book by st gibson, after a dowry of blood blew everyone’s minds in the previous years. this story is a carmilla reimagining, where we follow laura, while she attends a very prestigious university in massachusetts, where she wishes to study poetry. yet, she soon meets the carmilla of this story when the poetry professor makes them spend more time than just in class together. and then carmilla slowly introduces laura to an entirely different world, sometimes filled with secrets and monsters.
yes, this book did let me down, too, but I truly do think a lot of people are being a little too hard on this book. i think the expectations for everyone were just so high because of this author’s debut. but there is still a lot of good in this story, besides just paying good homage to the original sapphic story! i think this also has some good discussions, like inappropriate and manipulative power dynamics. the writing is lovely, and i think ts gibson can craft 11/10 settings and atmospheres. again, we love the queer vampire clubs. we love some pan / bi / attraction to multiple genders rep always. and i truly adored the last page of this book, and it has the exact kind of ending i love. i will always root for girls not wanting to be saints, not wanting to be scared, but wanting to become whatever they want to become in that moment, with power they have always deserved to claim and to have.
sadly, i didn’t love this one as much as i hoped, either. the story just never grabbed my attention and the characters never grasped my heart. but i still see the good and i can’t wait to read more from this author, even if this one was not my favorite.
author’s note trigger + content warnings: uneven power dynamics, inappropriate relationships between a professor and students, toxic academic environments, blood, gore, murder, consensual sexual content (including public sex), kink (negotiated and spontaneous), alcohol use, drug use, smoking, racist political policies, homophobia, religious discrimination against women.
additional trigger + content warnings i wrote down while reading: abandonment in past, vomit / bile, one sentence about animal death in past (kitten), mention of loss of mom in past, self harm imagery in poetry.
“I rarely share this part of my life with others, but I want to tell it to you now. A piece of armor, because I trust you. A glint of falling steel
“I rarely share this part of my life with others, but I want to tell it to you now. A piece of armor, because I trust you. A glint of falling steel, because I feel safe with you.”
i really wanted to read this one, because so many of you were recommending it to me! and i ended up reading this in two sittings, because i could not put it down. the writing is beyond beautiful and i feel the story is paced in a way that just makes it so compulsively readable! to write a book about beautiful writing you have to be able to write beautifully and rebecca ross truly delivered on that front. there is a good portion of this book where we see the two main characters writing letters back and forth to each other on their typewriters and some of the things Iris and Roman would write really would make me weep. i loved the first half of this book completely, and i really loved the middle with attie and marisol, but the reason i am giving this four stars is because the more we got to see this magical war of soldiers fighting for gods, the more i wanted to know about the actual war going on, and i still feel so clueless about so much. i feel like the next book will help fill in a lot of the things we didn’t get from this one (oh my god, that ending), but i did close this book maybe not as in love as i was opening it! but i still had a good time with this book, and I really think Iris is a favorite character of 2023 for me.
trigger + content warnings: war, war zones, battle, bombings, death, injury, medical treatments, needle mention, blood, gore, violence, anxiety, panic attacks, ptsd, alcoholism, vomit, loss of a loved one, loss of a parent, loss of a sibling, loss of a loved one in past, drowning, grief, depression, abandonment, insomnia mention
i am such a huge hafsah faizal fan, and i truly will anticipate and read everything they ever choose to create. their stories are always filled with si am such a huge hafsah faizal fan, and i truly will anticipate and read everything they ever choose to create. their stories are always filled with so much heart and i think i will forever just become so obsessed with the characters they write. and the main character of this book, arthie, was maybe the easiest to love yet.
arthie runs a bloodhouse, well, a tearoom during the day, but a bloodhouse at night - both safe spaces for her crew. because in this historical london, vampires and known and feared, especially because twenty years ago a vampire killer was never found. but when the tearoom is threatened, arthie must set out to find secrets and gather her crew (both old and new) for a heist that could maybe change everything.
and that mini synopsis sounds amazing, right? but this is also a story about colonialism and living in the country that colonized your family. this book also heavily talks about the difference between first and second (or 0 and 1) generation immigrants and how they view the world and their colonizers. this also deeply discusses racism and colorism and the difference of being biracial and/or being more white passing (and how those first visual impressions from people/oppressors can offer very different outcomes in every single situation). arthie is a very angry character, and that might not work for everyone, but the girls who get it are going to get it and are going to fall very quickly in love with her, and just want to protect her from a historical world that feels a lot like 2024 at times. also, there are two other povs as well, even though i just accidentally wrote up a paragraph on arthie. but i promise jin and flick (and laith and matteo) are amazing as well!
also, this central setting/backdrop being a teahouse? with tea and comfort and safety and gathering and community? that's a very heartfelt galaxy brain setting, if i do say so myself. this book really just had so much to easily feel very deeply and fall in love with.
it does have a cliffhanger ending though, which i am still screaming about, but i am also counting the days until i can get my hands on book two. this book actually has a lot of twists and turns that i did not see coming, which was very unexpected, but made the reading experience even more fun. overall, i really recommend this one and truly can’t wait to see what hafsah faizal does next.
trigger + content warnings: blood, violence, gore, racism, colorism, kidnapping in past, colonization, colonialism, fire, explosions, loss of family in past, grief, human trafficking, drugging, abusive parents, forced military / soldiers
i really enjoyed this novella, and sequel to what moves the dead that i was very much not expecting to ever have! we once again follow alex, going to a somewhat isolated hunting lodge in galician that they inherited, even if they are just longing to be back in paris where the noise is a comfort and the silence isn’t haunting. alex is also with angus, miss potter, and the best horse (hod), and when they get to the lodge, no one is there, not even the caretaker who has been in alex’s life forever. and a mystery ensues, filled with maybe scary ghosts and haunted dreams and hard memories and hot cups of tea. i really had a good time with this one and i hope t kingfisher continues to give us more of alex and adventures in this world!
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, chronic health condition (tinnitus), ptsd, medical procedure imagery, fungus imagery, talk of war and battle and death in past, loss of a friend, depression, nightmares, loss of parent in past, a lot of sickness that hinder breathing and involves the lungs (i do think this could be very triggering for covid related trauma, so please use caution), blood, talk of pneumonia, talk of tuberculous, animal gore / body horror, and just overall this is a dark story with dark themes
This is a gorgeous and heartfelt story, set in historical chicago, where we follow a warlock detective tr
“I would do anything for you, and I did.”
This is a gorgeous and heartfelt story, set in historical chicago, where we follow a warlock detective trying to capture a serial killer. This book also just had a lot of things that really worked for me, as a reader. It focuses on a sapphic romance throughout, we get to see the main character’s unconditional love for her little brother constantly, and we get to try to solve a mystery with the ritual killer's name being white city vampire but it involving angels and demons. All really cool and beloved things in my heart and personal taste buzzword wheelhouse!
But this is also a book about sacrifice and love and hope and how those three things can take so many different shapes, yet sometimes they look the very same. I highly recommend this one and pray it will be the first book in a series.
trigger + content warnings: a lot of mentions of homophobia, mention of conversion therapy, institutionalization, talk of loss of a loved one, mention of a car accident involving death, abduction, murder, gore, ritual killings, human sacrifice, a lot of blood depictions, self harm for blood for magic, possession, misogyny, brief mention of throwing up, gun violence involving cops, a lot of smoking + alcohol consumption.
this first installment, in what i hope will be so many stories, follows an adventure starting after said adventurer has settled down and retired. aminthis first installment, in what i hope will be so many stories, follows an adventure starting after said adventurer has settled down and retired. amina is a mom in her 40s, who is tall and strong and willing to do anything to protect her family. she is trying to live a quiet life, with her daughter and mother, but that all is pushed to a halt when she is forced to help rescue the grandchild of the person needing help, who is also the child of someone who she loved on her crew back in the day. so we get to follow her getting some of her old crew back together, while they are going to attempt a very unconventional heist.
you all knew i was going to enjoy this one, and you all were absolutely right. the opening was really powerful, and then the ending? i was crying. this story very much discusses love, and how differently that can look, and how differently that can shape your life. but also, there is so much gender and sexuality themes in this, and i just adored it so very much. and i just really loved seeing an older character be the main character, and seeing her balance life, and live life, and love life. i truly cannot wait until we get another installment.
trigger + content warnings: grief, kidnapping, talk of loss of loved ones in past a lot, talk of genocide and war, talk of cannibalism in past, violence, threat of sa, talk of slavery, talk of the act of rape, death, vomit, captivity, torture, mention of killing an animal for food