mirandagoing4baroque

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I love it when an author clearly understands what it was about the first book that everyone liked so much. Melissa Caruso has stayed true to the spirit of The Last Hour Between Worlds with this sequel. Once again Kembral Thorne and Rika Nonesuch are back for a magical multiverse adventure. This time Jaycel (one of my favorite characters from the first book, if you forgot her, she’s the one who’s entire personality is challenging people to duels and making witty remarks) has dragged Kembrel to a will reading. But with Kembrel’s friends, you know this can’t be normal.

This one had most, if not all of the magic of the first entry--I admit, I did miss some of the fancy party vibes of the first one--can the third have more pretty dresses please? But it was great to see more of the city and get a sense of its history. Also if you know me, you know I’m a sucker for an opera subplot.

If you read and liked The Last Hour Between Worlds, then you should absolutely pick this one up. If you’re trying to decide if you should start the series, first, you should definitely start at the beginning, and know that the first book was written by Caruso on a dare from her editor who said “if you like party scenes so much you should write a whole book set at a party.” This series is very sparkly, very fun, and a great magical world to escape into. It’s also literally laugh out loud funny. (And text your friends screenshots funny, which is maybe a higher compliment.)

Recommended for fans of The Princess Bride, Lies of Locke Lamora, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

I received an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I respect a book that is exactly what it says it is. This book is about a crew of lesbians robbing an AI casino. Do you think you want to read about lesbians robbing an AI casino? If you do, you’ll like this book, if not, you’re right! I went in expecting this book to be a good time and not that serious, and I got what I was looking for. I wanted to read about attractive women in pretty clothes stealing things, and I got to do that. This book is not, and does not claim to be, literature, or about anything deep. It’s a heist novel. It’s about heists and jewelry and people looking hot and palming id cards.

Don���t think about it too hard. Unlike the characters, this book isn’t trying to con you, deceive you, or make you think it’s something its not. This book is exactly what you expect, and I find that refreshing. Given the state of the news these days we could all use some attractive-people-being-competent style escapism.

Recommended for people who support women’s rights and women’s wrongs, anyone who has a be gay do crimes sticker, and fans of The Last Hour Between Worlds.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I quite enjoyed The Drowning House, so I was very excited to see that Cherie Priest was writing another haunted house book, and absolutely thrilled to get the opportunity to review an advanced copy. If anything, I liked It Was Her House First even better! Priest delivers on every level you’d want a haunted house book to deliver on. The vibes are immaculate, and the rising tension as the characters get more entwined with the house is very well paced.

Priest is working with a limited cast--we have Ronnie, who has inherited some money after her construction contractor brother Ben died. She uses it to buy a decrepit old mansion at auction. As she and Ben’s fiance begin work on the house, they learn the story of the starlet, Veronica, who lived in the house in the 1930s with her husband, child, and a mysterious detective houseguest. By the end of the story, all four of them were dead, and some of them...well they never left the house. After all, it was Veronica’s house first, and why should she give way to a millennial just because she bought it at auction? Something evil happened in that house, and in addition to a new roof and plumbing upgrades, this house may also need an exorcism.

If you are a fan of Mexican Gothic, Isabel Cañas, or scrolling through cursed looking houses on zillow, you’ll also enjoy this beachy summer read.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have been a huge fan of Silvia Moreno-Garcia ever since Mexican Gothic gave me the biggest plot twist of my entire life. (IYKYK.) I have enjoyed traveling with her as she’s traversed all different facets of the horror genre, but I confess I am delighted to find her back in gothic, or at least gothic adjacent waters.

This novel draws most on Weird Fiction, and especially that of Lovecraft and his contemporaries. Minerva is a poor student from Mexico writing a thesis on the life and literature of Beatrice Tremblay. She is a student at the very institution that Beatrice attended many years ago, and her most famous work “The Vanishing” is based on a true story, of a bright and vibrant friend of Beatrice’s who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. As Minerva gets closer to her subject, she also remembers her own grandmother’s stories of mysterious disappearances in their family history. As the three tales wind together, a dark magic is rising.

Moreno-Garcia’s deft hand at capturing atmosphere and place is at great advantage in this book, and I enjoyed spending time with all these characters. I did find that some of the plot points were exceedingly obvious--to the point where I couldn’t believe that characters were truly as oblivious as they seemed. And ultimately that was frustrating enough that my 3.5 stars got rounded down.

Fans of Moreno-Garcia will still enjoy this spooky atmospheric tale, and if you just read Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil and aren’t quite ready to let the spooky magical women go yet, you could do worse than picking this one up.

I received an advance copy in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️ Perhaps unfairly, I went into this book hoping to find another “The Underworld.” A book that dives deep on a niche topic, but brings you along for the ride, making you a convert by the sheer force of the author’s enthusiasm. Strata: Stories from Deep Time is a serviceable introduction to the study of stratigraphy, and has some interesting information, but if you’re not already interested in the field, I’m not sure this book is going to draw you in.

On the other hand, if you are interested in the natural world, and how it’s evolved and changed, and all the pieces and things that had to come about just so, so that humans could be here to crate the tango, and lasagna, this book has a lot to offer you. Or if you’re simply curious about how we know what we know about geologic history-this book will answer your questions.

I received an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Rook was one of the first unnecessarily gross and very weird urban fantasy reads and it opened my eyes to the genre. I was, therefore, delighted to be given the opportunity to read and review the latest entry in the Chequy files series. As this is book four in the series, let's go in order. If you are already an avid reader of these books, should you sign up for the latest? To make a long story short--yes! This one has all the grossness, hilariously specific powers, political intrigue, and supernatural shootouts you could want. Go forth. Enjoy. In fact, if you were, as some readers (but not this reader) turned off by the split timelines of the third entry, this one is a return to usual structure, so don’t worry.

If you are a potential new reader to the series, let’s discuss if you should pick this up. I’ll say this--it’s kind of a James Bond/The Avengers send up. It’s funny and irreverent. Do you like The Atrocity Archives? Do you think the super powers available to The Avengers make too much sense? Do you think something like “can turn into a very particular kind (just one species) of tree” might be funnier? Then yes you should try these out. Do you have a weak stomach? Do you like your books to make sense? Then pass on and look for greener pastures.

I was provided with an advance copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses is a strong third entry in Malka Older’s Mossa and Pleiti mystery series. I actually enjoyed this one more than the second one, though not as well as the first. As always let’s take the two questions any review of a series needs to cover. Should you start this series at all? This series covers the adventures of two lesbian women who solve mysteries. The catch is that they live on a set of hovering platforms in the middle or upper atmosphere of Jupiter, because climate change has rendered the earth uninhabitable. You’ll have to believe me when I say that these are really cozy mysteries. They have lots of great descriptions of food, and other than the murder it’s got a very calm and small town feel. If you liked Sherlock Holmes, but wish there were more women and also it was in space, it’s worth giving this series a try.

As for this particular entry in the series, it’s a little bit different than the first two. Rather than a cozy mystery, it's got more cozy dark academic thriller vibes. Someone is threatening a researcher at a rival college--a researcher who has just made a very critical breakthrough. There is no shortage of suspects, academic rivals, jilted lovers, industries who stand to lose a lot of money... Pleiti and Mossa will have to stay on their toes to keep this professor safe.

Recommended for fans of Mur Lafferty, The Tainted Cup, and Murder She Wrote.

I received an advance copy in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️ I will begin by saying that every individual essay in here is interesting, well-conceived, and well-executed. Osnos is a professional journalist and his writing shows it. I am not sad that I read any of these essays and if you have interest in the subject matter, I think you will get a lot out of this book.

However, I am not sure you’ll get any more out of this book than you would if you bought a New Yorker subscription and then clicked through on all his articles about the rich and elite in America. He (or his editor) have tried to organize the ten articles in the book into three sections--How to Spend [Money], How to Keep [Money], and How to Lose [Money], but it’s not always clear why one article has been put one section vs. another. For example, the essay on how Greenwich republicans went MAGA is in the How to Keep [Money] section, when it really seems more about spending money on political influence.

The clearest explanation of what I think the book’s central theme and message is comes in the last essay, about a man who runs a support group for people convicted of white collar crime where he discusses how America spends so much time and effort trying to identify causes of shamelessness and criminality in the lower classes but almost none trying to do the same for the upper classes.

Overall this book is a collection of very interesting anecdotes about the upper class in America. Unfortunately that’s all it is.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I read this book in one go (it’s only about 100 pages long) sitting on my balcony having eggs and toast for breakfast. It was such delightful company. I can’t think of a better little book to spend a relaxing morning reading. It was also my first, and a very good introduction to Olivia Waite! I’m excited to discover her back list.

When I say this book is basically Miss Marple fan fiction, you have to understand I mean this as a complement. In this book Dorothy is a ship’s detective on a generation ship taking humanity to a new planet. She wasn’t going to go but her nephew talked her in to going. She was retired, taking some time to hibernate her consciousness in the ships memory library, but now she’s been suddenly awakened in another person’s body--and there’s been a murder. She’s going to have to deal with her nephew’s new boyfriend, financial shenanigans, and a very attractive yarn store owner.

A delightful cozy mystery perfect for fans of Miss Marple, Mur Lafferty, and Murder She Wrote. Long live my favorite new microgenre, murder in space. I hope Dorothy will be coming back for more adventures.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Happy Pub Day!

I love a book that is exactly what it says on the tin. This is a love story about a badass dragonslayer lady with a sword falling in love with another lady. Does that sound fun to you? Great, you’re probably already out the door trying to get your copy. If not, that's fine, there’s lots of books out there.

This is a very tight and well paced novella, and it does not overstay its welcome. It does not need to be any longer, and it’ll be great company for an afternoon. My one complaint is that the main character is a little too slow to put some plot pieces together--I wanted to smack her upside the head a little bit when she failed to realize what was right under her nose. But because it’s a novella this passes very quickly.

Recommended for people who can’t wait for the new Alix Harrow IYKYK, people who loved The Protector of the Small series but are all grown up now, and fans of the Burning Kingdoms Trilogy.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one—I’ve found some of Wiswell’s other work a little saccharine but this one has some nice bite to it. (Pun intended).

It’s a cozy horror rom-com, and more rom com and cozy than horror. So if you go in expecting to be scared, you’ll probably end up disappointed. It reads like a contemporary rom com with shapeshifting monsters. Set your expectations appropriately and you’ll have a lot of fun. Expect Mountains of Madness and you’ll be waiting for the terror the whole time.

Recommended for fans of T. Kingfisher, and Legends and Lattes.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Museum Detective is a very fun Dan Brown-esque thriller. Dr. Gul Delani has spent her whole life fighting, fighting to get access to an education, fighting to get her backwards, misogynistic colleagues in Pakistan to give her resources fighting to get the well meaning but racist westerners to take her seriously. Through grit and sharp elbows she’s managed to carve out a space for herself in the Museum of Heritage and History in Karachi, and despite personal tragedy in the form of the disappearance of her niece Mahnaz, she’s found a place for herself.

Then one day she gets a call from a narcotics officer who has found a mummy. This is the beginning of a mystery that will push Dr. Delani to her personal and professional limits. This is a page turner of a book, and the kicker is it’s based on a true story! Honestly, the biggest plot twist for me was when I turned to the Author’s Note and found that out. My jaw just about hit the floor. I was absolutely in love with Dr. Delani and her niece (who we get to know in flashbacks), as well as the other characters.

This book definitely had some debut moments, for example, the pacing got a little whacky in the middle, and sometimes it forgets that it is a thriller and it swerves a little too long into the literary weeds. But a very fun read, and I will eagerly await the author’s next book.

I received an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I absolutely adored The Tainted Cup, so I was thrilled to be offered the chance to get an early peek at A Drop of Corruption in exchange for this review. If you’ve already read The Tainted Cup, I will promise you this, everything you liked about The Tainted Cup is still here in A Drop of Corruption. Intrigue? Check. Din being a bisexual impulsive disaster? Check. Ana acting like a mad scientist? Check. Convoluted mysteries? Check. Weird fungus. Check. Obviously. So if you liked The Tainted Cup, you’ll have a grand old time with A Drop of Corruption. If you didn’t like The Tainted Cup, I’m not sure why you’re reading this review, honestly.

While you could probably read The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption as stand alone novels, I don’t know why you would when you could read them in the proper order and have everything make significantly more sense. So if you haven’t checked this series out and “Sherlock Holmes is a woman, Watson is a bisexual disaster, cthulhu is weird, it’s biopunk and they solve crimes” sounds like a good time to you, get on this series. If you think that sounds like a bad time, you’re probably right, and you should pass.

I recommend this for fans of Bennett’s other work, and people looking for their next Six of Crows fix.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.5 rounded up for puns.)

John Scalzi has said that he considers this book the third in a thematically related trilogy, the first two entries of which are Kaiju Preservation Society and Starter Villain. When I say that I think this one is the weakest entry, that does not mean I think it’s a bad book or not worth reading. The other two books are absolutely fantastic, and this one has a few flaws that Scalzi can’t quite smooth out.

The premise is very funny--what if the moon literally turned to cheese? How would the world/politics/technology/astronomy DEAL with it. (Spoiler alert: Not well lol). If you’re a fan, as I am, of Scalzi’s irreverent, funny tone, you’ll still find a lot to like here. Where I thought this book was slightly lacking was in the fact that it’s almost more a collection of loosely related short stories. This means that we don’t have a consistent narrator to follow, to root for, to hang our hat on, which means there are some structural problems with pacing and plot.

The plot is...weaker, as unfortunately Scalzi hasn’t done much other than have the initial thought of the premise, which means the disconnected vignettes feel scattered and disorganized, and there’s not a consistent character to buttress against that feeling.

To be clear, I enjoyed reading this and had a great time. But it’s not Scalzi’s best work and you’d be better off starting with Kaiju or Starter Villain to get a taste of his style. If you liked both of those you’ll still probably have a good time here, just set expectations appropriately.

I received an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am a fan of the Lady Astronaut series, so I was delighted to be offered the opportunity to review the latest entry. When I say I didn’t like it as much as The Relentless Moon, you have to understand that I’m not sure I put The Relentless Moon down. It was the kind of propulsive narrative that grabs you and won’t let go.

This had a good bit of tension, and moved briskly, but it took a while to get going, and the stakes never felt quite as high. I also think I just like Nicole as a narrator better than I like Elma. But I loved the calendar structure to this one, and we got a bunch of really fun new characters to work in the background.

As this is number four in a series, we get to play one of my favorite review games: should I read this book if I like the series, and should I read this series if I haven’t started it. If you are a fan of the series, you should definitely read this book. It has all the things you enjoy about the prior entries--people in all their wonderful complexity, relationships that model trust and equality, and a planet spanning future that everyone gets to be a part of. If you haven’t started the series--and want to know if you’d like it, you definitely should start at the beginning. And I think if you cry at Apollo 13, if you liked Hidden Figures, if you loved The Martian, you’ll enjoy this book.

Ad astra per aspera.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Too many people do not know that Katherine Addison’s amazing Goblin Emperor has been continued on for many many books and has become one of my favorite cozy fantasy murder mystery series. (It’s definitely the coziest fantasy series that stars a mortician.) If you know me, you know I love a murder mystery, and nothing makes me happier than seeing the recent rise of fantasy murder mystery and space murder mystery as subgenres.

If you’re a longtime reader of the Cemeteries of Amalo series, you’ll love this newest entry in the series! If the first one wasn’t literally a fantasy murder mystery set in an opera house, this would be my new favorite. It’s still got Celehar being too self-sacrificing for his own good, scrumptious descriptions of food, a cozy feel that hides the deep interpersonal relationships that Addison continues to manage with ease. And your favorite characters stick around! The characters are so wonderfully drawn, and I love watching their relationships grow and deepen as the series progresses.

This series is an interesting one, because even though it’s set in the same world as Goblin Emperor, Goblin Emperor is very different tonally from the rest of the series. So here’s my guide to reading the Cemeteries of Amalo series for newcomers. If you are a fan of fantasy novels with political intrigue, you will love Goblin Emperor! It’s not got as much of the cozy vibe of the Cemeteries of Amalo, but if you don’t read Goblin Emperor then Witness for the Dead will be full of spoilers for Goblin Emperor. If you don’t care about that and want to jump into cozy mortician solves crimes, then you can start with Witness for the Dead as long as you’re willing to be confused for a bit.

Recommended for fans of the Tainted Cup, and Legends and Lattes.

I received an ARC in exchange for this honest review.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When she finished Tempest’s main arc in A Midnight Puzzle, I was worried that we’d stop getting Secret Staircase mysteries. I’m happy to say there is no cause to worry about that! Tempest is back and better than ever. I actually think perhaps shedding all the backstory was good for the pacing of these, as we could do without some of the exposition. But in any case, this time there has been a murder at a new library, and Tempest and her friends (and her rabbit) are on the case.

As always when I am reviewing the nth book in a series, I’ll answer two questions. First, if I’m already a fan of the series, should I read this book? If you’ve been along for the ride, and you have a good set of snacks handy, jump right in on The Library Game. It’s got all the scrumptious food descriptions, impossible murders, immaculate classic murder mystery vibes, that you could want. Go forth and enjoy.

The second question is for people who haven’t started the series and want to know if they should start at all, and if so, do they have to start at the beginning. I’ll answer these in reverse order. Yes. You have to start at the beginning. That main arc I talked about in the first paragraph? Totally spoiled if you jump in now. Should you read the series? That depends.

John Dickson Carr, one of the mystery writers who is an inspiration for these books, has a self insert character go on a tirade about how everyone is always on him to make his books “plausible” and says something to the effect of “I’m not in the business of “plausible,” I’m in the business of possible.” If you want your detective fiction to be “realistic” or “plausible” or “gritty” this is not the series for you. If you want something warm and cozy without being odd or saccharine. But you’ve also gotta like your cozies with a little bit of edge. Not, like a lot of edge, but a little. You’ve gotta be down with a little bit of meta-fictional discussion. If you’re in for some cozy-meta mystery, come on in, the water’s fine.

I received an advance reader copy in exchange for this review.