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Guys, Red Sister by Mark Lawrence is phenomenal. Will do a more in-depth review in a bit, but for now, just know it's an immediate 5 stars.

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His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

I've already read Uprooted by Naomi Novik, so I was relatively confident that I would enjoy this book. And I did! Dragons in Napoleonic Europe is definitely right up my alley, and the fact that Temeraire (the dragon) can talk and develops a personality is even more so.

The plot is pretty straightforward: a British warship takes a French ship that has a dragon egg in its hold. They seize the egg as a spoil of war, it hatches, and one of the navy officers ends up becoming its rider. They train for battle, the climactic battle ends in victory, we're golden.

The real strength is in the characters. Unfortunately, it's mostly dudes. Even though an entire breed of dragons accept only women as their riders, we meet only three female riders/riders-to-be. And two are related. And none of them pass the Bechdel test.

It also doesn't help that the narrator of the audiobook was a guy whose female voice was just breathy and overall vapid-sounding. Even though none of the women riders were actually vapid. I just needed to see them more and get to know them better. Is that so much to ask?

One of the subplots was learning more about Temeraire's breed. He's identified as an "Oriental" breed fairly early on, but not much is known about his abilities, so we all mostly find out about them when they manifest in real time. Which is cool! I liked it.

I can't say much for the plot. As I said, it's pretty basic. But that said, I do think that it serves a good foundation for what I believe is already a series. I'm just late to the party. I'm actually pretty disappointed in myself for how late I am. I mean-- dragonriders are 100% my thing! So maybe I can also hope that the lady riders are featured more heavily in later books.

Overall-- I enjoyed this a lot. There's a line that made me laugh out loud, so thank you Temeraire! If you like Pern, Eragon, or How to Train Your Dragon, it's hard to go wrong with Temeraire. He's an absolute gem!

Rating: 4 stars

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Sisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross

I loved this book. It isn't a challenging read, but it's a novel that is heavy on ladies supporting ladies, and the relationships between all the characters feel totally organic and well-developed.

It centers on two sisters-- the eldest, Halcyon, has trained for years as a hoplite, and the younger sister, Evadne, remained at home living a quiet life. Everything changes when Halcyon is suspected (and then convicted) of murdering her training partner. Evadne volunteers to assume half her sister's sentence, and ends up serving the portion of the sentence that would have been spent serving the family of the victim-- who just so happens to be Halcyon's commander, his wife, and their remaining son. Halcyon keeps the portion of her sentence that starts with years at the local quarry, then several more years locked away in the local prison.

But what seems like a simple sentence split between two sisters quickly turns into a secret quest and political intrigue in a world where magic is real and a secret evil faction of the royal cabinet seeks to find and control the godly relics that grant significant magical abilities. Both sisters become embroiled in a battle of good versus evil, each in their own way.

I loved the way the sisters were portrayed, and the way the author captured the essence of sisters who've spent a long time apart. There's no room for the usual bickering you might find between siblings who've spent every day of their lives together, and what's left is total devotion to the other, even as their paths seem to take them in opposite directions.

The author also plays with the traditional concepts of strength and weakness, which was really compelling to watch as the story progresses. Similar to other recent books, there is some romance, but it takes a backseat to the love the sisters have for one another. I really have only one disappointment in the book, which is only because I had a theory for the plot that didn't pan out.

I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for strong female/sister friendship, greek mythology (vibes only), and false dichotomies in fiction.

Rating: 4.5 stars

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Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

SPOILERS AHEAD

I found this one exclusively through TikTok, and it was marketed heavily as a love triangle that resolves into polyamory. Which it kind of was, but imo doesn't really count. More on that later. It was also marketed as Pacific Rim meets Chinese mythology, which it was.

We start with a world where young men and women with high chi levels are recruited to pilot giant mech suits called Chrysalises, except in this world the patriarchy is hella strong, so the women recruited pretty much serve as a chi batteries for the men who actually do the piloting, until the women inevitable run dry and die in battle.

Our main character Zetian volunteers as a pilot specifically to murder the pilot who drained her older sister. Except when the time comes for their first time to pilot together, instead of being a battery for her "pilot", Zetian fights for dominance in the chi world and ends up killing her male partner. There's actually a great moment after he dies where Zetian shoulders her way out of the mech suit and dumps the guy's body on the hull as the news helicopters circle around and broadcast everything in real time.

Of course, this gets her in trouble, because Patriarchy, and what follows is a speedrun of the hunger games complete with makeovers and navigating high society and public interest in order to survive. She's paired with a legendary pilot, but who has a reputation of killing girls because his chi levels are just so great. He feels bad about it though. Oh, and he's also a convicted murderer (from his pre-chrysalis days). Which is okay because he killed his rapist brothers.

The love triangle comes in the form of Zetian's mutual childhood crush, who finagles his way onto her publicity team to stay close. He develops a crush on Zetian's copilot, and the copilot likes the childhood crush too, so, voila, polyamory. Right? Well....

The thing that gets me is that I never got the sense that Zetian fell in love with her copilot. She definitely softens towards him over the course of the novel, but it still felt like the eventual threesome was because the guys liked each other, and not that Zetian loves them both. It's not the end of the world. I just went in with certain expectations due to Zhao's own TikTok vids, so I was left wanting more.

[And we'll just ignore the fact that one of their little throuple is presumed dead by the end of the book. It's not burying your gays if the author is queer, right? Right?]

One thing this novel actually surprised me with was the fact that Zetian isn't exactly.... likeable. She is so full of rage and resentment and distrust that she ends up being really fucking mean to almost everyone around her. But you still end up rooting for her! The world around her deserves to burn, so she's well justified. It's just an unusual angle most authors don't take in regards to their female main characters, that it's a refreshing moment of "I don't relate to this character at all, but I still root for her."

I like the Chrysalises a lot, I just wish we got a bit more lore around them. They're all tied to different elements, just like chi itself is, and it's a relatively unknown area for me so I would have liked to see more world building in the story of it. In fact, that would be my biggest complaint for this book-- it felt like two parts of a trilogy in one, and as a result feels rushed and the world around the characters is kind of glossed over except for the Patriarchy of it all.

I really enjoyed the book overall. Perhaps not as much as I was hoping or expecting to, but I'm definitely in for the sequel, whenever it ends up being released. I know there's some background issues between Zhao and their publisher, but I'm hopefully we'll still see it soon.

Rating: 3.5 stars

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Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Just posted this on my main blog by mistake, and even though I copied the whole post before deleting, it only pasted the first paragraph. So fuck this review, I guess.

This book is about a woman named Seraphina who is a half-dragon (secret) serving as a court musician (not secret). It has a bit of romance, but isn't the main focus. I would say the main focus of the plot is keeping Seraphina's heritage a secret, exploring its potential, and also some political intrigue between humans and dragons.

Even though it's politics and dragons, it's not like game of thrones at all, which is honestly to its benefit. And even though there's people who are half-breeds, it's less about blood heritage and more about watching history be made and seeing political turmoil unfold in real time from the point of view of a single person just trying to navigate it all on her own.

Humans and dragons struck a treaty 40 years before the start of the story, and there's factions on both sides either for or against the treaty. Some dragons can take human form, but their transformations and activities are heavily regulated. Even so, some dragons and humans enjoy being able to intermingle with each other, and others of both species who want to see the other wholly eradicated.

So you know, just your normal run of the mill current events kind of story.

Other than that, I don't really have much to say about it. It was totally enjoyable, but nothing really sticks out as a "omg you have to read this" kind of moment. It was low bandwidth to read, which I really needed. I'd recommend this to any one who is looking for a pleasant period piece about dragon/human politics and some romance on the side.

Rating: 3.5 stars

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I owe you guys my thoughts for a few books:

Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

Sisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross

If you guys have read these and have thoughts, please send!

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Gwen and Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

This book is the literal definition of a fun romp. Not only that, it's a GAY fun romp! It takes place in a world where Camelot is already legend, and our title characters basically have "old fashioned" names. It's great. Gwen and Art have been betrothed since they were infants, but they very much do not like each other. Gwen is pining after the realm's only lady knight named Bridget, and Art slowly comes to have feelings for Gwen's brother and heir to the realm, Gabe.

The characters are all really fun and they get into the most ridiculous situations. And seeing Gwen and Art slowly become friends is just the best. There's plots and shenanigans, and they all kind of come together in a unit to face it all together. Definitely the "us against the world" mentality that I love. It does get a little gruesome at the end, with a big ultimate battle for good and justice, but still absolutely delightful.

I recommend this to young adult readers and full adults alike. It's cute and fun, with quirky characters and queer content. And the thing is, while the queer relationships are kind of kept under wraps for a long bit, there's no blatant homophobia, which is nice. Just really refreshing. And it's a standalone! Great for a low-bandwidth read.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix

This novel has the absolute most compelling premise ever. Serial/spree killers abound, and their single surviving victims form a support group. Except the book opens decades after their traumas, and the women are edging towards disbanding... until one of their founding members is found murdered in her home. What ensues is a fight for their lives as the killer hunts them all down, all while trying to unravel the mystery of who could be doing this.

Each of the final girls have stories that would be familiar to those who like classic slasher films, and now they all have new lives they've built for themselves, and their personalities are all unique to each other-- it's clear they are their own people, regardless of the similarities of their pasts. Our main character, Lynette, is seemingly the most dysfunctional of the lot-- paranoid, resistant to change, vigilant. Yet that paranoia serves her well when they really are after her.

I really enjoyed this one! There's action, good character development, and a compelling plot. I confess that I went into this with some expectations-- I expected it to play out like a ten little indians story, as the girls dropped one by one, but honestly I'm glad that it didn't. But as a result, the pacing felt a little off, in a way I can't really quantify. But it hits all the right beats, and all the character development comes really natural. I love all the girls, including the one(s) we don't get to meet.

Oh! And one of the girls is gay af! It's truly wonderful. Nothing like a lesbian terminator coming to protect her friends. Made me really root for them. All of them.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes mysteries and final girls (obviously). It truly is a wonderful read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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The Excalibur Curse (#3 of Camelot Rising Trilogy) by Kiersten White

Okay, here's the thing. This book had the most potential out of all three. You know, book one is the setup, you don't really know what to expect. Book two was a disappointment, but it ended on a really good set up for book three. Guinevere was on her own, ready to seek out other sorceresses for answers-- she was perfectly poised to come into her own, both as a woman and a magic user. So when this installment fell flat, the disappointment was... considerable.

I mean, we met MORGANA for cripe's sake. Finally. Yet she was used for nothing but to be mouthpiece for Guinevere attraction to Mordred. Which, considering I never saw the point of the love triangle, did absolutely nothing for me. They could have had Morgana serve as a mentor, or at least an unintended guide for Gwen's magic abilities, since Guinevere is notoriously hesitant about her abilities. So, a waste there.

There's also the matter of Guinevere's origins. Well, we find out. Aaaaaaaaand...... Guinevere promptly becomes a wet blanket. They could have really explored the philosophy of life and identity with the revelation, but it immediately just jumped to Guinevere wanting to undo herself. The back two-thirds of the book are all about her friends and loved ones trying to explain to her how important she is, and she ignores ALL OF THEM. Cuz fuck them, right? She doesn't falter in her decision, for once in the entire series, and it's the one time she should have.

They spent all this time building up her relationships with these people, and they ultimately mean nothing. It bugs the hell out of me, and makes it feel like I wasted my time.

I dunno if I could recommend this to anybody. The first book alone would be fine, if only it wasn't set up to be a series. I guess it could be read as a standalone, but it introduces some plot that isn't resolved until book three, so I don't know if it would be all that fulfilling.

That said, the book did do something right-- they made Merlin an absolute monster. FINALLY someone gets it right.

Rating: 2 stars

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I know I owe you guys thoughts on The Excalibur Curse, but wanted to get the word out that I'm listening to the Final Girl Support Group, and it is definitely one of those books that if your mind wanders for even a second, things happen and you have to rewind to catch back up.

Probably should switch to digital reader for this one, but oh well.

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Guess who just got signed up for Illumicrate and is very excited!! First box comes in March and I am thrilled. I'll share pics of any pretty books I get in the box...

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I'm listening to The Excalibur Curse rn, and in the final 3hrs, and hooboi I'm gonna have some thoughts. Stay tuned!

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Renegades Thoughts

Spoilers ahead!

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There are things I really enjoyed about Renegades. It's just that it's shortcomings kind of overwhelm everything else. Like, they have the perfect characters to carry a truly interesting story right there, and they chose to just... not. I saw so much potential as the books progressed that every refusal to go down an untraveled road just got me more and more frustrated.

Adrian's and Nova's team members are adorable and convincingly normal. Unlike the adult superheroes, the patrol team are all teenagers who could be anyone's brother, anyone's sister. They're people first and foremost. AND they have cool and unique superpowers! Girl who can transform into a swarm of butterflies, anyone? And being one of the most badass heroes among them? And Adrian brings his drawings to reality, which doesn't seem all that valuable in combat on the surface, but in execution lends Adrian a versatility that others don't have.

As far as the plot goes, the fact that the story plays with superhero archetypes meant that I was looking for a predictable/archetypal story structure. In my head, it should have gone thus: Book 1 = ends with Nova being found out, Book 2 = consists of heroes vs villains with Nova and Adrian on opposite sides, and Book 3 = Nova and Adrian realizing the hero/villain conflict of their parents' generation doesn't have to be their story, and find a way to come back together to navigate a path of their own, joined by others their age from both sides.

That's not what I got.

I read these all back to back, so it all kind of runs together in my brain (especially since I listened on audiobook), but iirc Nova isn't even suspected until Book 3, and even though she's arrested, she's ultimately acquitted in short order. She's not TRULY found out until the finale.

The FINALE.

She then proceeds to stand by while Adrian is quite literally tortured, flayed even, with hardly a word of protest. It turned my stomach to know that this girl I've come to enjoy so much suddenly lacked any spine whatsoever, and it was enough for me to feel like Adrian's quick forgiveness after wasn't actually earned. Nova ends the story still in a moral deficit, which was kind of lazy. Like-- why.

I also expected Nova to grow into her own identity, as she starts of executing someone else's plan to infiltrate the Renegades, and then ends up crafting her own plan when she's suddenly required to maintain the facade longer than expected. In my mind, I expected her to actually take on a role of authority, but any time she's undermined or in conflict with other villains she shrinks back into obedience. When she finally acts to her own morals, it's not because she's grown and gained unique experiences, but because it turns out her uncle lied to her about the deaths of her parents and baby sister Evie.

Speaking of, what REALLY gets my goat is that the most interesting twist on the story, the thing that would have 100% redeemed this story if it had been explored in the main text, happens in the EPILOGUE.

See, there's this character we meet in the same scene we meet Nova. Nova is on the street during a parade, and a young pickpocket tries to steal her bracelet-- the last token Nova has of her parents, her most prized possession. The pickpocket turns out to be Maggie, codename Magpie, a Renegade who has a talent for identifying and unearthing valuable items. From then on, Nova positively loathes Maggie, and the feeling is mutual. They hate each other's guts, and can barely be in the same room without fighting each other.

It's actually quite refreshing that Nova doesn't suddenly lapse into mother mode, as other stories may be wont to do. Two girls hate each other-- it happens! And it's 100% in character on both girls' parts.

But here's the thing: in the finale, Maggie is revealed to be Evie. You know, Nova's murdered baby sister whose death motivates every one of Nova's actions for three whole novels? Yeah. That Evie. No one knows, not even them. Maggie was delivered to an orphanage as an infant, after her parents were found murdered and her older sister missing, never to be heard from again. Maggie grew up hoping that her sister would re-appear and claim her, but she's abandoned that dream-- she's far too cynical and streetwise for that.

But imagine. If the story had let Maggie and Nova learn the truth... How would they reconcile? Would they believe it? Would they eventually come together and love each other like they always dreamed of doing? THAT would have been 100% more compelling than the lukewarm commentary of the hero/villain dichotomy that we got. That could have easily been the main focus of Book 3.

Ugggggggghhhhh... it makes me want to tear my hair out.

Especially because there's been no mention of Marissa Meyer of returning to the world of Renegades.

On a side note, as a kid I had a habit of fancasting the characters in almost every book I read. I've mostly grown out of that, but this series did have a character (Nova's uncle) that instantly put an actor in my head-- Phil LaMarr, who I know predominantly as Malefic J'onzz in CW's Supergirl. Nova's uncle Ace had such a distinct presentation and delivery that LaMarr's face was the only thing that popped into my brain. (And in casting LaMarr, it would suggest that Nova would be black or at least mixed race, which opens up a whole world of wonderful casting choices.)

So-- yeah. Any story where the most interesting and compelling plot twist happens in the epilogue is certainly on the struggle bus.

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Renegades Trilogy Review

Includes: Renegades, Archenemies, & Supernova by Marissa Meyer

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This series starts off strong with compelling characters and effective worldbuilding. We see two sides of a single world through the experiences of our two protagonists– Nova, the niece of a fallen villain, and Adrian, the adopted son of the world’s most beloved superheroes. Though star-crossed from the start, the pair meet in total ignorance of the other, in a heartbeat of utter, charming normalcy that is soon nearly lost in the chaos of the world around them. Even so, they find each other again when Nova goes undercover as an aspiring superhero and joins Adrian’s patrol team.

Nova quickly navigates herself to a trusted position within the world of the Renegades, the first and only superhero organization in the world. No one suspects her true goal of toppling the organization from the inside– especially not the boy slowly but surely falling in love with her. 

As the story progresses, however, the romance between the protagonists seems to be the only thing that develops. Nova seems to have almost everything handed to her, without needing any kind of dedicated effort to wheedle her way into restricted areas. The Renegades are almost comically trusting, even as mountains of evidence against Nove are heaped in their laps. 

There are compelling flaws in the world Meyer builds, but many are left untouched and unchanged by the time the trilogy comes to a close, which left me feeling frustrated and a little cheated. There’s too many angles that went unexplored, and too little development in Nova’s subterfuge to be fulfilling, which ultimately led to a climax that felt hurried and the resolution unearned. The story somewhat makes up for it with engaging characters and strong relationships (both positive and negative), but it’s a lot of shortcomings for a few relationships to prop up.

That said, it is possible that my having read the Gilded duology right before reading this series might have been to Renegades’ detriment. Gilded was so strong that the above shortcomings are glaring. My perception may have been different if I had read Renegades first. One thing that is interesting about Renegades is that because there are two points of view, there are two narrators– Rebecca Soler and Dan Bittner. 

As I’ve already extolled on this blog, Rebecca Soler is amazing. Her ability to create unique voices for each character meant that even when dialogue tags weren’t used, I knew exactly who was speaking. While Dan Bittner was just fine, even good, he didn’t have the same nuance in his voice acting, and sometimes I had difficulty telling Adrian’s dads apart. In all honesty, though, I doubt anyone could have matched Soler’s performance. She’s that good. I will definitely continue to follow her projects.

Overall, I would say anyone who enjoys powered characters and slow burning romance would get some measure of enjoyment from the Renegades series. It’s not a will-they-won’t-they, which I appreciate, but rather a slow progression of a deepening relationship. It feels grounded and realistic, despite the super of it all. In the end, I think the quality of the story depends on what kind of reader you are– if you value plot over characters, you’ll probably be left hanging, but if characters are more your thing, then you’ll be fine. I’m somewhere in the middle, and in the end I was disappointed mainly because I expected so much more for something from Marissa Meyer.

Rating: 3 stars

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I have been reading consistently still, don't worry if anyone's been wondering. It's just that I had an opportunity to read a trilogy back to back from the library, so I thought I'd review the trilogy as a whole all at once.

Should be finishing the third book today. Will report back!

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I've been playing around with digital library options-- like, ways to scan books and catalogue them digitally to a phone app or website. I've played around with a few. Goodreads is okay, but not as intuitive as I'd prefer. I really struggled with using and organizing different shelves/tags, and I find the review/rating system bothersome when I'm just prepping the catalogue.

I think I prefer Storygraph for actually tracking my active and completed reads. It has some limited stats reporting, which is interesting to see your preferences play out real time. You can import tbr's from goodreads, but only once, so if you need to add something to goodreads after initial import, you have to log it manually in Storygraph as well. As a result, I really only use it for currently-reading and finished books.

For pure catalogue purposes, I just downloaded and tried Bookshelf. It's intuitive to use, and has a batch scanning option (which goodreads lacks, to my knowledge) that's really convenient. The shelves are easy to create and organize, and it also has a tagging system. It has a multiple-select option to move or tag batches of books at one time, which is very efficient.

So personally, moving forward I'll probably not use Goodreads all that much. The only real reason to use it would be for review/rating purposes, and for sharing thoughts, but I already do that hear, so I don't have much use for another platform.

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The Camelot Betrayal (#2 of Camelot Rising trilogy), by Kiersten White

This sequel to The Guinevere Deception is largely more of the same. Unfortunately, it was to this novel’s detriment. Many of the same plot points and pitfalls are repeated in this installment, reflecting very little character development. The text relates a deepening relationship between Guinevere and Arthur, however there is no tangible expression of this in their public actions. I’d hoped that Guinevere would have gained more confidence following the events of book one, but even the most blatant insults to her authority are demurely glossed over.

Even in the moments where Guinevere is given room to be awesome and an absolute badass, the almost immediate guilt and second-guessing she does undermines those moments completely. I mean, some of those instances do warrant guilt, but the self-flagellation gets a little old when it’s her reaction to every decision she makes. Even the big mystery of the previous installment (which I correctly guessed, for the record) was resolved almost as an afterthought. The revelation is mentioned so in passing that it completely took the wind out of it. 

This stagnant characterization forces the reader to rely on the plot to maintain their interest, however I felt the narrative didn’t fully live up to the challenge. Between the repeated beats and the undermined decisions from Guinevere, there wasn’t much to grip my attention. The sole exception was Lancelot. Lancelot is my favorite character, full stop. Her devotion to her queen pierces her stoicism, putting her unprofessed feelings for an oblivious Guinevere on full display. Gets me right in the feels every time.

I didn’t not like the book. I think it’s still worth the read, if only to get to the next book. It’s my hope that the ending of The Camelot Betrayal will set us up to see Guinevere in her element, learning to stand on her own power and authority. The potential is there, and I’m hungry to see it– I’m anticipating the emotional glow up of the century.

Rating: 3.5 stars