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Finished: The River Has Roots

TITLE: The River Has Roots

AUTHOR: Amal El-Mohtar

CATEGORY: Adult Fiction

GENRE: Fantasy

Novella

VIBES: Naomi Novik meets Peter S. Beagle

THOUGHTS: A dreamy adult fairytale esque novella. If you are familiar with the style of This is How You Lose the Time War, this is very much in the vein of it. But it's in a fantasy world that has a great set up.

It's also told in the style of fairy tales and I love that element of it. There's illustrations throughout the book as well. The romance was sweet and you root for the couple as they are split apart (though, not for very long as it's a novella). The sister relationship was also a nice touch.

I enjoyed the hell out of this. I wouldn't mind if this gets turned into a series set in the world or something like that. Though for now, it looks like the author just has a short story collection coming out next, which honestly, I'm looking forward too as well.

RATING: 4 out of 5

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Finished: The White Guy Dies First

TITLE: The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power

AUTHOR: various authors, edited by Terry J. Benton-Walker

CATEGORY: YA

GENRE: Horror

Short story collection

VIBES: Scary Stores to Tell in the Dark meets R.L. Stine

CWs: different each but: racism/sexism, gore, blood, unaliving, monsters (both human and otherworldly), cannibalism for one story, mentions of assault

THOUGHTS: I love short story collections, even if I sometimes don't know how to rate them as quality of the stories very often varies. This one is no exception. The stories follow the one prompt in the title: horror, but the white guy dies first. Each other does their own unique take on the prompt and I love stuff that does that.

If the title makes you uncomfortable, then the rest of the book definitely will. The authors use horror as a way to talk about stereotypes/expectations in the genre of horror. I don't like comparing every horror, not by white people, to Jordan Peele. But I do really feel like if you like what Peele does in his horror: use the genre for social commentary, then you'll probably really like this collection.

My favorite of the collection was Kalynn Bayron's. The others are interesting takes on slasher/monster horror. Which is a sub genre of horror that I can take or leave. I would have liked more variety in the horror, but with the prompt, I kind of get why the stories went in that direction (aside from one that goes more into serial killer then slasher).

An interesting collection. It really drives home that YA has some excellent horror writers in it, right now.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5

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Finished: The Secret History of the Rape Kit

TITLE: The Secret History of the Rape Kit: A True Crime Story

AUTHOR: Pagan Kennedy

CATEGORY: Nonfiction

GENRE: History/Biography/True Crime

PUBLISHED: January 2025

CW: about rape kits, so rape/assault is frequently discussed

THOUGHTS: This was an interesting read. It just wasn't what I really wanted from it. From the title, I thought we'd get...well...a history of rape kits and how they came about/their use in cases etc.

We do get some of that. But the overview is pretty brief. This book winds up mostly being a biography on the rape kits' inventor: Marty Goddard. It's clear from the book that the author became really interested in her. I certainly understand going into Goddard's history, because some of it is relevant to how rape kits came about. But...I wasn't expecting more then half the book to be focused on just her and why she disappeared later in life.

While some of this was interesting, I just wanted the book to focus more on what the title was promising me: a history of rape kits. Again...we do get some info. But a large bulk of this just focuses on Goddard. I feel like the title should have reflected that. Like say it's a biography instead of a history. I just felt a bit misled.

Am I mad I read this? No. I did appreciate some of the information. I just wish we'd gotten more info on the history of rape kits.

RATING: 3 out of 5

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Finished: But Not Too Bold

TITLE: But Not Too Bold

AUTHOR: Hache Pueyo

CATEGORY: Adult Fiction

GENRE: Gothic Horror

Novella

PUBLISHED: February 2025

VIBES: The Shape of Water meets Mexican Gothic

CW: death, spiders, violence, consent issues

PREMISE: A young woman becomes the new Keeper of the Keys in a house owned by an ancient monster who devours her brides. Her first task: finding out who stole some treasures from her new master.

THOUGHTS: A quick novella with immaculate vibes. If you love monster romances, but want more horror with that, this one is for you.

Honestly, my only major complaint is that I wanted more of it. I feel like this easily could have been a whole novel. But what we did get, I did really like. I'll be keeping an eye on this author. Because if this is their debut, we're in for some great things, later.

RATING: 4 out of 5

[afangirlreads]

Today's song: Cool for the Summer by Demi Lovato

Also recommend the book by the same name by Dahlia Adler if you want bi-disaster fun.

[afangirlreads]

Finished: Land of Milk and Honey

TITLE: Land of Milk and Honey

AUTHOR: C. Pam Zhang

PUBLISHED: 2023

CATEGORY: Adult

GENRE: Literary Dystopian

CW: Racism, assault, toxic relationships, manipulation, consent issues, death, unethical experiments on people

PREMISE: In a dystopian future, as the world starts to shut down its borders and have food shortage issues, a chef gets employed by a rich man and his daughter in their newly formed country....

THOUGHTS: So this is a literary dystopian, which means its a little less concerned about the big world things and more concerned about the characters and how they react/deal with the situation. The summary says its in the vein of Station Eleven. I have no idea if it is, I have not read Station Eleven (yes, I know, I know. It's on the list)

I did find this an interesting one. The writing style takes some getting used too, and honestly...wasn't my favorite thing. It does that no quotation marks thing, which is a style that I detest. But the author at least has the decency to put the dialogue in a different font, so I guess that's something. There were some beautiful sentences in it, though, so it evened out to at least being readable.

The plot is very much a slow burn type of plot. Which is not going to be everyone's cup of tea, I know. But it was interesting, watching things unfold. I feel like if you enjoyed things like Natural Beauty and the Southern Beach series, where things just start getting that creeping sense of dread as it goes on, you'll probably like this.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5

[afangirlreads]

Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by C.B. Lee

YA, Cozy Fantasy Romance

Cute af sounding cozy romance. I love her superhero series (that I need to finish, actually)

Park Avenue by Renee Ahdieh

Adult, Litfic

Adult debut of a YA writer whose work I've enjoyed in the past. This is saying it's Crazy Rich Asians meets Succession. You have my attention.

The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater

Adult, Historical Fiction with a mix of other genres

Another adult debut from a YA writer whose work I've enjoyed in the past. The summary sounds all over the place and that's fine. I've found with Stiefvater that you just let her cook and go into her books blind.

The Unmapping by Denise S. Robbins

Adult, Literary Dystopian

NYC descends into chaos when everyone wakes up to find that their buildings have all moved into different neighborhoods. If you know anything about NYC's history of city planning and how much race/class played into the shaping of the city, this idea should immediately spark your interest.

Alice Chen's Reality Check by Kara Loo and Jennifer Young

Adult, Romance/Mystery

Promises fake dating on a reality show and having to solve a murder. I'm sold.

Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove

Adult SF/Horror

A wild sounding space opera combined with horror. Look, it's promising Dracula in space. I'm in.

[afangirlreads]

Finished: All My Rage

TITLE: All My Rage

AUTHOR: Sabaa Tahir

CATEGORY: YA

GENRE: Contemporary

PUBLISHED: 2022

CWs: Child abuse, abuse, racism, parental death, grief, drug abuse, substance abuse. Author does have full warnings listed in the book

VIBES: Angie Thomas meets Elizabeth Acevedo

THOUGHTS: As you can probably tell from the CWs, this is a very heavy book. But it is a beautifully written one. Tahir is one of those authors whose books has gotten better over time. I really do hope she writes contemporary again, because she is great at it.

My only major criticism is that I thought at times there was maybe too much going on, so some plot elements didn't have enough time to breathe. The stuff we did get was very powerful though and Tahir delivered on the emotional aspect of this, which is what I tend to look for in hard hitting contemporaries. Make me feel things, I'm yours. She absolutely did that.

While the plot was a bit chaotic, this book was overall a powerful read. The characters leap off the page and are fully developed, the writing is wonderful, and the themes it explores are strong. So overall this was a great read that I highly recommend to anyone looking for hard hitting contemporaries.

RATING: 4 1/2 out of 5

[afangirlreads]

Finished: The Rainfall Market

TITLE: The Rainfall Market

AUTHOR: You Yeong-Gwang

CATEGORY: Adult Fiction (though I feel like older teens should be able to read this with no issue)

GENRE: Portal Fantasy/Magical Realismish

VIBES: Spirited Away meets Water Moon

PREMISE: A lonely girl in South Korea writes to Rainfall Market and gets an invitation to go there and change her life.

THOUGHTS: A sweet cozy fantasy type of book. Another one where there's an interesting magical system/idea, but kind of light on plot. But that is kind of also a running theme in a lot of cozy fantasy stories. But this one did have a good strong theme of asking what makes a good life to begin with. So I liked that aspect of it.

The writing is a bit simple, but it is also translated (this was originally published in Korean), so I'm not sure how much was lost in translation. But I did also really like the world built and the atmosphere.

All in all this was a bit of a mixed experience. But I think overall, my feelings are positive. It's a solid read if you're looking for cozy fantasy with Studio Ghibli type vibes.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5

[afangirlreads]

Song of the day: New Laufey song!

[afangirlreads]

Some library books I got this week.

The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power

YA, Horror, Short Story Anthology

Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto

Adult Fiction, Fantasy

The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang

Adult Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Land of Milk and Honey by C. Pam Zhang

Adult Fiction, Literary Dystopian

Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry

Nonfiction, Essays/History

I Had That Same Dream Again-The Complete Collection by Yoru Sumino

Manga, Contemporary/Magical Realism?

Daily reminder: your local library might have these and more! Go look!

[afangirlreads]

Finished: Hotel Magnifique

TITLE: Hotel Magnifique

AUTHOR: Emily J. Taylor

CATEGORY: YA

GENRE: Fantasy Romance

RELEASED: 2022

VIBES: Caraval meets The Night Circus with a dash of Howl's Moving Castle

CW: bodily harm, including mentioning of chopping off fingers

PREMISE: In a magical world: a girl and her sister apply to work at a hotel that moves locations across the world. While there, she gets drawn to the head of hotel's assistant and starts to realize all is not what it seems with the place.

THOUGHTS: This was....fine. Like, that's pretty much all I can think after reading it. I've read this plot before. I've seen this type of book before. Am I mad I read it? No. It's a decent time. I'll probably never pick it up again, though.

The main thing I did like about this, was the concept of the hotel. Atmosphere and vibes were great in this. If you want a more substantial plot/themes though....I've read better. I feel like this is a perfect example of a book that is basically just vibes.

I am going to continue with the author, though. Because I do see potential here. This is her debut. So perhaps she'll improve. We'll see.

RATING: 3 out of 5

[afangirlreads]

Weekly Album Find:

Family by Southern Avenue

Country/Bluegrass/Blues

Recent release of a group I found when they opened for the Outlaw Festival a few years ago.

[afangirlreads]

Today's Song: Higher, from the musical Allegiance. If you don't know what that is, look up the cast recording. Oh, and bring tissues.

[afangirlreads]

Music Artist Recommendation of the Week: Mitski. For all your sad/thoughtful lyric song needs.

[afangirlreads]

[afangirlreads]

Finished: Heart of the Sun Warrior

TITLE: Heart of the Sun Warrior

Book 2 of The Celestial Kingdom duology

AUTHOR: Sue Lynn Tan

CATEGORY: YA

GENRE: Fantasy Romance

RELEASED: 2022

VIBES: Wuxia fantasy meets Shadow and Bone

CW: death, violence, murder

THOUGHTS: An okay ending to an okay series. I love the world that Tan has created here. It is why I will likely read the companion that just came out for this series. At some point. I also really love Tan's writing. She's excellent at action scenes. There are some beautiful lines here and there and the imagery is great.

Plotwise this was...fine. It is a pretty basic fantasy plot that is well paced. The characters are interesting. There's a complicated love triangle that was fairly decent. I feel like Shadow and Bone people who were into the Darkling will probably really like the romance part in it.

Overall it was a solid time, but not anything I haven't seen before. I feel like this will appeal to a lot of C-Drama fans and people who like swoony romance along with their plot.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5

RATING FOR SERIES: 4 out of 5