The Whitechapel Full Moon Society by Elizabeth DeLozier: review

3/5 stars on Goodreads

The Whitechapel Full Moon Society by Elizabeth DeLozier

The Whitechapel Full Moon Society is set in Victorian London. It’s 1888. Caroline Foster has lost her aristocratic father and with him everything she had, as he’d been in deep debt. Out of options, she heads to London to find her brother Charlie, whose existence is a secret only she and her (former) maid know. But when she arrives at the boarding house in Whitechapel where he lives, she learns he’s disappeared months ago. Out of options and funds, she takes a position as a maid in the boarding house. She’s not really suited for the job, as she’s sickly and has never worked before, but she adapts fast.

Outwardly, it’s a very good place where guests are well fed and looked after. The boarders are a collection of mostly foreigners or people who have physical differences of some kind, but apart from raising Caroline's suspicions, it’s just surface level diversity. Nothing is made of it. But there are some odd rules, the most important of which is that Caroline isn’t to go to a locked room in the east wing, and she has to lock herself in her room during the full moon night. For the first half of the book, she obeys.

Outside the boarding house in Whitechapel, Jack the Ripper is spreading terror among the residents. It doesn’t take long for Caroline to start to believe that the locked room and the killer are somehow connected.

This was a fairly good read. It was well-written and managed to convey historical setting and Caroline’s new life in fairly short scenes without getting bogged down with too many details. The plot is fairly compact and small. There are two mysteries: what happened to Charlie and what’s going on behind the locked door. First mystery is more interesting to reader, and one that I didn’t easily guess, but Caroline doesn’t really do any meaningful investigation and in the end the truth is simply revealed to her.

The second mystery is more mysterious to Caroline than it is to reader, as the name of the book pretty much reveals it. The pacing is slightly off concerning it. The first full moon doesn’t happen until about midpoint and nothing happens. All in all, nothing happens until the latter half of the book and then only at the very end. Maybe it’s my fault for reading this as a mystery, and expecting an investigation plot.

Then there is the Jack the Ripper storyline that is woven into Caroline’s mysteries. I thought the story would’ve worked fine without that connection. Surely there’s room for more than one serial killer in Victorian London, especially since the author took liberties with reality and historical facts already. In the end, everything wrapped up nicely and neatly without much effort on Caroline’s part. I especially liked the acceptance Caroline showed and received when the truth finally came out, and that true monsters were elsewhere.

Caroline was an ok lead, but her inner life, memories of Charlie and her writing took much of the narrative instead of her forwarding the plot. Even so, her inner life would’ve had more meaning if it had foreshadowed the truth about her in any meaningful way. Now it was a bit of deus ex machina at the moment it was needed and not a moment earlier. All in all, this wasn’t a memorable read, but it was a good way to spend a few hours.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher

Daggerbound is a follow-up to Swordheart that came out in 2018, and while I didn’t read it until later, the wait has been long enough that I believed Swordheart would end up being a stand-alone. It’s part of the World of the White Rat world that began with Clockwork Boys in 2017. That book introduced Learned Edmund. Already back then I wished he’d get his own book, and finally, he’s the protagonist here.

Learned Edmund is a scholar of the Many-faced God’s temple, but he’s had enough of their ways and inability to change. So, without telling anyone, he’s accepted his last mission, to deliver some books and a sword that can’t be pulled out of the scabbard, and then he won’t return. Even if it means he’s also stealing his favourite mule, Sweetheart.

But soon after leaving, he’s attacked by bandits. He ends up pulling the sword that can’t be pulled, and a man with daggers and silver etchings on his face emerges. No-Longer-Learned Edmund believes he’s an angel. He turns out to be a former mercenary, The Dervish, who’s been trapped inside the sword with magic for a long time, dead but not quite, forced to protect his wielder. That is now Edmund.

The two set out to deliver the books, and maybe the sword, because Edmund has learned that it might be possible to break the curse on The Dervish. But they meet misfortune after another, bandits and a dragon even. They make friends too, a gnole and a giant sentient pillbug. There’s a great deal of attraction between Edmund and The Dervish, a great flirt who believes in his good looks. But Edmund is shy and The Dervish is badly traumatised, and so nothing seems to come of it. Also, it’s difficult to start a romance when you’re in constant peril.

But the existence of the sword isn’t a secret. The followers of the original wonderworker who made the sword want it back. And they’ll do anything to get it. Even hurting Edmund. But they underestimate the sword’s need to protect its wielder—especially if he’s fallen in love for the first time.

This was such a good book, a return to form after The Paladin’s Faith, which I found disappointing. The whimsy and delight were back—and gnoles! Edmund and The Dervish were both great characters with their own issues to go through, though Edmund was having easier time with his decision to leave the temple. The yearning was well done and kept the reader hooked the whole time. Dog Flower the gnole and Large Francis the pillbug were both wonderful additions with proper roles in the story. Some old faces featured too.

The ending was satisfying. The Dervish still has his trauma, but he’ll have centuries to work on them. Edmund emerged from his shell. They made a great pair despite their differences, one attentive and the other sympathetic. Together, they’ll be stronger, and I’m sure Edmund will find a way to solve the problem of the swords. The long wait for Learned Edmund’s book was definitely worth it.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Little Mushroom (Novel) Vol. 1 by Yi Shi Si Zhou: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Little Mushroom vol. 1 by Yi Shi Si Zhou

Back when Peach Flower House publishing went bust, I couldn’t get my hands on Little Mushroom: Judgement Day. The publisher had a print on demand publishing model and the books disappeared instantly. I have the second volume, Revelations, but what fun is that when I couldn’t read the first book. But luckily, Seven Seas bought the rights and now the first volume is available again, as an ebook too, with a new translation and illustrations.

Little Mushroom is set in far future where humanity has faced several extinction events that began with magnetic poles disappearing, followed by natural disasters, radiation sicknesses, and finally wild mutations that instantly change a human. Only two human bases are left of four there originally were, those protecting the new artificial poles, one in China and one in the US. Everything outside the bases is left for mutations, but some people risk their lives venturing out to forage materials for the bases.

An Zhe is a mushroom living in the Abyss, the worst contamination area. A human, An Ze, has come to his cave, badly injured, and in his attempt to heal him, An Zhe absorbs An Ze’s entire DNA and memories. Eventually, he’s able to take the man’s form too. When An Ze dies, An Zhe decides to head to the human base. His objective is to find his spore that humans have taken from him. An Ze has warned him not to go there, because humans kill all mutations at sight. The worst of the humans is The Judge who is able to detect mutations others don’t see.

When An Zhe finally reaches the base, after memorable events where the humans helping him either mutate to huge insects or get eaten by those, he comes face to face with the Judge himself, Colonel Lu Feng. But instead of killing him instantly, Lu Feng is unable to decide for the first time and takes An Zhe to be tested, only for the results show that An Zhe is human.

From there, An Zhe sets to survive in the base while looking for his spore. He settles in An Ze’s home, finds himself a job, and even makes friends of sort. But all around him, mutations increase and they’ve reached the base too. And every time Lu Feng is there, killing them. But he’s always there to help An Zhe survive too, and so he decides the colonel must be a good person.

And then comes the Judgement Day. A catastrophic breach lets mutations swarm the base, and the only solution is to save a few humans and sacrifice the rest. Thanks to Lu Feng, An Zhe is among the saved. But humanity isn’t safe. Just as things are looking a bit better for An Zhe, with a new job, budding friendship with Lu Feng, and finally finding his spore, the worst happens. The artificial pole breaks and the world is about to end once more. The first volume ends with that.

This is a good story. Despite all the death, it’s fairly quiet and melancholy. An Zhe observes humans and goes about his days. He comes close to being badly hurt or tricked a few times, but always avoids those in the last moment. Lu Feng remains a distant, scary figure for most of the book, but becomes more of a real person towards the end. This really isn’t much of a romance, even with all the tropes; just a friendship that neither party really understands but which both of them need. Yet it feels like one, and the reader roots for An Zhe and Lu Feng.

At the core though, it’s a harrowing tale. The desperate struggle of humans for survival against great odds, and the sacrifices they make for it. An Zhe, coming from a species and a place where the survival of the whole requires sacrifices of the few, understands where the leaders of the base come from. But individual humans, with the voice of An Zhe’s friend Cole, argue that it’s useless to save humanity if we lose what makes us human in the process. The base isn’t a happy place, but it’s the only place. And at the end, there might not even be that anymore.

The book is fairly well written, with minor inconsistencies and repetitions. Since I haven’t read the earlier translation, I can’t tell if there are changes there. Art is good and the characters resemble those of the manhua, which keeps the visuals consistent. 

Little Mushroom Manhua vol. 1. Art by Yuchi Jinze & Maomao Tou

 

A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennet

Book 3 of the fantastical detective duo, Ana Dolabra and Din Kol, takes them to the heart of the empire, to its agricultural core where augmented cattle grow the size of wagons and whose feed is picked by small cats conditioned by a fungus to keep up with their need for food. It’s also the area where Din is from and where he hasn’t been back to since he agreed to be augmented as a scribe.

Two families rule over the area. Now the son of one family has killed the daughter of another. Ana and Din need to solve the matter before the families descend in an open warfare, as that would threaten the food supply. She’s bored already.

But from the start it becomes evident that the crime isn’t as straightforward as they believed. The manner of killing has oddities. There have been several earlier deaths in one of the ruling families. It has made the matriarch believe her family is cursed and seek out guidance from the gods of people who inhabited the empire before—and still maybe rule it. And every time the pair thinks they’ve made progress with the investigation, a twist of fate pulls the rug from under them.

To solve the case, Ana has to delve deep into the history of the area and unearth things that she’s in a unique position to know about. But some secrets of the ancients should stay hidden.

This was another great book. The manner with which the victims were killed was unique and something that is only possible in this world, which makes the mystery feel fresh. Ana was more active in the investigation than before, and her character gained a bit of depth. Din was having a personal crisis or two, one that had to do with his augmentations and another with his family that made an appearance. He wasn’t quite as promiscuous as in the previous book, but he had his moment. We were introduced to yet another interesting group of augmented people, the Osrii, who scent and taste the world to determine its state. And the mystery that is Ana came a little bit closer to solving. Maybe.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

D.N.Angel New Edition, Vol. 3 by Yukiru Sugisaki: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

D.N.Angel New Edition vol. 3 by Yukiru Sugisaki

Third volume of this new omnibus edition consists of two stories. First, the latter part of Stage 2 (vols. 6-11), where Dark gets lost in the mirror world. Daisuke goes after him, and the only way to rescue him is to find the feathers of his memories. It’s a bit hasty, confusing sequence, but Daisuke succeeds in the end. He also learns that he likes having Dark around, and wonders what will happen when he’ll eventually leave for good.

The story takes place in the holiday island where the class has travelled. Riku is still missing, so Daisuke goes to find her. Everything should be romantic, but he shies off confessing to her, mostly because of misunderstandings, and because he kind of fears she’ll like him back, which would mean Dark would go away. So Dark takes matters into his own hand.

Another confusing sequence of events follows, where Krad manifests and he and Dark fight. We learn that the magic of Krad and Dark is too much for the hosts and it corrodes the hosts until there’s nothing left, the reason there’s a limit to how long one can host them. Only, it seems Krad doesn’t care, which is why Hiwatari is always sickly.

The second story is called The Second Hand of Time, and we get the first part of it (vols. 1-4). Daisuke’s class stages a play and decides to have an all-male cast. Daisuke is chosen to play the female lead and Hiwatari is the male lead. In a confusing twist of events, a new boy (man) shows up in the class and declares himself as the producer. He changes the classic love story so that the male character is Dark, played by Hiwatari.

Turns out, the man is really after proof that Daisuke is Dark. But Daisuke manages to trick him with the help of Wiz and leave, as Dark, to steal a legendary item, The Second Hand of Time. But things go wrong for him, and he, as Daisuke, gets sucked into a dreamworld, while Dark remains in the real world. Dark goes after him, accidentally taking Riku with him. The volume ends with Hiwatari launching his own operation. But is it to save Daisuke or end him and Dark for good?

This was a great volume, even if it was a tad confusing at times. Both Daisuke’s romance with Riku, and his friendship with Hiwatari progress. I still believe that the latter is more meaningful for them both; Daisuke prevents Dark from ending Krad, because it would mean the end of Hiwatari too. The romance with Riku is childish (though in all fairness, they’re 14) and exists for trope’s sake. But I won’t be getting my wish for a BL story here.

There was a longer extra story about Risa and Riku’s childhood, and like before, excellent full colour character plates.

Full colour character plate of Hiwatari.

 

Hiwatari as Dark for the play.

 

An Unruly Summon: Volume 1 by Cathfach: review

3/5 stars on Goodreads

An Unruly Summon by Cathfach

An Unruly Summon is a fun subversion of the isekai genre. A country at war with demons is in a desperate need of a hero summoned from another world. But they’ve summoned heroes before and things haven’t gone well. Heroes don’t have a cause to fight, their unlimited magic causes trouble, they have strange ideas about slavery being bad, and they always want to invent soy sauce.

King and his council come up with a plan to carefully curate what the hero sees after summoning, so that he’ll help voluntarily. They even gather a harem for him, so that he doesn’t have to do it himself, because that always ends up happening. And they promise to send him back if he doesn’t want to stay.

The plan works well. Thomas is summoned, and unlike so often, knows immediately what is going on. What he sees and learns makes him agree to help the country. He even turns out to be extremely powerful with magic. He learns complicated spells instantly and spells he hasn’t been taught yet. Only problems are that he tends to overuse his mana and pass out, and a dragon haunts him in his dreams, trying to kill him. Oh, and Thomas has no interest in his harem, because he has a girlfriend at home where he intends to return.

Things take a bit of a turn when Thomas learns about having been led. But since the demons are a real threat, the plan remains the same. And then it’s time for the battle. Thomas faces a massive horde of demons and kills them all with a powerful spell. Problem is, demons aren’t the only things it kills. But the hero’s job is done, and it’s time to go home.

This was a good, entertaining read. It was the First Prize winner in the first-ever J-Novel Club Original LN Contest, and I’m sure it deserved to be. Thomas was a good hero, the girls had a role other than bedfellows, because he didn’t want them in his bed, and bad guys weren’t the obvious people.

It was much too long though. The bulk of the book’s almost 400 pages—massive for a light novel—is taken by Thomas’s training. He doesn’t learn about being led until beyond half-point, and the battles don’t take place until 75% mark, after which everything is crammed in a small space. This could’ve been cut to a half of its length and the story would’ve remained the same. Epilogue sets the stage for the next volume, but the events of this one conclude here. I don’t need to read more.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews

Burn for Me starts Hidden Legacy UF series. I picked it at random for a quick summer read having been in a bit of a reading slump, and it worked perfectly for it. It’s ‘old-school’ urban fantasy from over a decade ago when UF still had heroines who weren’t afraid to stand their ground and who didn’t fall on their back when the hero so much as glance at their way. Sex and romance are something that is worked towards, not a page filler.

The book takes place in modern Houston, a location that isn’t exactly overused in fiction. It’s a world with magic that’s been introduced to it less than two centuries ago, but which has since become hereditary, with powerful Houses breeding for best results. Magic has altered the geopolitical situation too, so it’s not US of our world.

Nevada Baylor, 25, is in charge of her family’s PI business, running it with her younger sisters, cousins, mother and grandmother. Her magic allows her to tell when people are lying, something she’s kept tightly hidden so she wouldn’t be used by Houses or government, so much so, that she’s clueless to her own abilities. She’s about to learn.

Thanks to a business decision Nevada’s made around the time her father died, the agency is owned by a large House corporation, and they’re not above pressuring her to take a suicide case. She has to bring in a fugitive magic user who is a Prime level pyrokinetic capable of incinerating her from a distance and psychopathic enough to do it too. Since she knows she can’t apprehend him, her only option is to bait him to come to her. It works a bit too well.

It gains her the attention of one of the most powerful, destructive Primes in existence, Connor “Mad” Rogan who is the head of Rogan house and equally psychopathic to Nevada’s prey. Reluctantly, with equal parts of fear and lust, she agrees to work with him. It’s an explosive case with a high body count that turns out to be more than meets the eye. The case is solved on the surface, but the backstory will continue, as we don’t learn who’s behind everything.

This was a good start to a series. It’s fast-paced and entertaining, with a main couple that’s not so much ‘will they or won’t they’ as it is about ‘when’. There’s enough heat on the page to entice though. Rogan isn’t the typical protective alpha male. He’s cold, callous and selfish, and doesn’t really believe rules apply to him. I’m guessing the romance won’t advance until he’s worked through some of this to become a more decent person. Nevada is the protective one, with issues of her own. And more magic than she thought she did. For all that I chose this for a one-off, I might read the rest of the series too. Had I read this a decade ago when it came out, I would’ve devoured it.

The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads 

The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell

This is a stand-alone fantasy set in a secondary world with dragons and some steampunk elements. The main human city is a remarkable place hanging in the air, with inclusive society and tame dragons. It has been at war for a long time with a totalitarian nation that wants to subjugate it. The dragons are divided to wild dragons who live in a large hive, though each a bit solitary, and those tamed by humans of the winged city for their war. The first look down on the latter and both look down on humans.

The main character is Garrodigh, an ancient three-headed wild dragon. He used to have four heads, but one of the heads died as a casualty of the war. It has left the dragon otherwise incapacitated too, so he can’t fly or move well, and he doesn’t remember his past properly either. But he knows he’s been a great dragon. Other wild dragons disagree and shun him as a human sympathizer, which he can’t understand.

Garrodigh is a delightful protagonist. Each head has a different personality. The narrator is Centerhead who holds himself to be the most rational of the three, though Lefthead that’s now gone used to be the most intelligent. Bottomhead is a bit simple and straightforward, and cares more about food than anything else. Upperhead believes he’s a human who is only suffering from a delusion of being a three-headed dragon.

Yet another battle injures Garrodigh again. But this time Centerhead has a plan. Since humans take good care of their dragons and never leave them behind, he’ll pretend to be a tame dragon, wait until the humans have healed him, and then destroy the humans. The plan works perfectly. Up until he’s assigned a rider who turns out to be nothing Garrodigh could imagine.

Rania is one of the many refugees fled from the totalitarian society for the free country of the Winged City where people can be who they are, in her case a free spirit who believes in auras, being helpful and understanding, and protecting those she loves. But she too is shunned by her society for a reason Garrodigh cannot fathom.

Little by little, the two strike a friendship, much to Garrodigh’s bewilderment. He tries to understand her and her troubles, like her romantic life, which seems to consist of one-night stands. But there’s also heartbreak in form of a childhood friend who’s turned a cold shoulder on her. And as he learns to care for her, he also wants to defend the city against the enemy. The enemy has a new, bewildering weapon that almost destroys the city. As Garrodigh and Rania go to investigate, they discover a great secret and almost die destroying the weapon.

This was a good story. The focus was on Garrodigh and his struggle with understanding humans and himself. There’s healing and learning, grief and heartfelt moments. All three of Garrodigh’s personalities are delightful and different, and they all grow as individuals and as a whole. Rania wasn’t equally interesting, and she mostly served as an object of observation for Garrodigh. The society was understanding and inclusive, but not everyone was a nice person, which Rania learns first-hand.

I have complaints too though. I would’ve wanted there to be other dragon characters. There were plenty of dragons, but he doesn’t form friendships with any of them and they barely feature. Garrodigh is the only tame dragon who talks, and they shun him as much as the wild dragons did. I would’ve liked there to be a parallel story for him that there is for Rania of being accepted by his own kind. The story is also too long, with too much time and focus spent on Rania’s love life, which wasn’t all that interesting.

There were also moments that took me out of the story. Garrodigh occasionally knows very human concepts, while other times he’s completely clueless. Like he knows what apothecary smells like and what a trans man is. The latter has meaning for the worldbuilding—though it should’ve had more meaning for the story as well, as now it was more of a gimmick—but it would’ve made more sense if it were explained to him by humans.

This is described as a cozy fantasy, but it’s not completely so. There’s the war, with everything it entails, like death and bad injuries, and nasty people who treat others badly. Garrodigh eats people. But it has a wholesome core, growth and understanding. As long as the reader doesn’t expect things to be perfect and nice, it’s a delightful read, with Garrodigh making every scene worthwhile.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Three Coffin Problem by Lavie Tidhar: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Three Coffin Problem by Lavie Tidhar

This is a collection of short stories published separately before. They feature Jonathan, a human assistant to Judge Dee, an ancient vampire. Set in late medieval era, the pair wander from Italy through Europe to London, visiting vampires who are in need of a judge or judgement. They start light, and progress to longer and more detailed, with the titular story being last.

Each chapter tells a full story. Jonathan and Judge Dee arrive somewhere, face vampires who have summoned them or whom the vampire council—of which we never learn anything—has sent the judge to investigate. Death or murder itself isn’t a cause for alarm; they’re vampires after all. But sometimes a murder needs investigating, or more often, the judge has been summoned to witness the cleverness of a vampire as they orchestrate a change of some kind, maybe kill a spouse or a previous owner of a castle.

Each story is told in third person from Jonathan’s point of view. He’s a young man the judge has saved from the streets of London, though we never learn what from, and he feels honour-bound to follow the judge around as his assistant. He’s treated like food by other vampires, but Judge Dee, an ascetic, protects him, doesn’t drink his blood and occasionally even remembers to feed him. Things could be worse, as Jonathan often thinks. They usually are.

This was a delightful cozy fantasy. The stories are fast-paced and interesting, and form a whole, with some characters returning and some mentions of earlier events. Medieval Europe features as a rich backdrop, though the exact time is never clear, and the vampires are interesting and with unique abilities (they turn to wolf and mist too.) Jonathan’s life progressed steadily, and he even learns things about Judge Dee he never thought possible. Each case is unique and seldom end the way the reader expects. And in one occasion, it’s the judge himself being judged. Those vampire librarians are stern on overdue loans.

If you’re looking for a cozy read that’s a tiny bit gruesome, with fun whodunnits, this book is definitely for you.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

The Wife Comes First vol. 2 by Lv Ye Qian He: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

The Wife Comes First vol. 2 by Lv Ye Qian He

In the second volume, the reincarnated prince Jing Shao sets out to handle war campaigns that almost cost him his life the first time round. And now the war has come years earlier, so he can’t be sure it goes the way he remembers. But this time, he has his gentleman wife, Mu Hanzhang, with him as a strategist, keeping their marriage a secret from everyone.

From the start, things go differently. Mu Hanzhang uncovers a large case of embezzlement that had led to Jing Shao’s downfall in his first life. And Jing Shao is able to recruit a warrior that almost singlehandedly turns some battles for him. The war proceeds fast and the prince is victorious. But he can’t afford to give the emperor a notion that he’ll use his success as an attempt to usurp the throne. So it’s time to strategize with the knowledge he has from his first life. But Mu Hanzhang is starting to become suspicious of his knowledge.

Jing Shao’s generals are impressed with Mu Hanzhang, but they’re wondering why the prince spends his nights at the strategist’s tent. There are some comedic moments as the couple tries to keep their relationship secret and the generals try to uncover things. There are plenty of bedroom moments for everyone to realise what’s going on. There’s also a cute tiger cub Mu Hanzhang adopts that adds to the sweetness, though they could treat him a bit better.

This was a good volume. It’s fast-paced and well-written, and there’s plenty of action. The battle scenes are especially good and not too drawn out. Jing Shao and Mu Hanzhang are very much in love, so the romance doesn’t bring tension to the story. The volume ends at a tiny cliffhanger, but I doubt anything comes of it either. Overall, despite all the wars, the stakes remain pretty low and conflicts are handled fairly easily. A lovely low-angst read.

After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine vol. 2 by Liu Gou Hua: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

After the Disabled God of War Became My Concubine vol. 2 by Liu Gou Hua

The second volume of the story of Jiang Suizhou, a modern-day history professor who has transmigrated to past, continues where the first left off. As Prince of Jing, the sickly brother of what he knows to be the last emperor of the current dynasty, he uses his knowledge of what’s to come to change the outcome more favourable for himself.

Jiang Suizhou’s main aim is to try to prevent Huo Wujiu, the enemy general who’ll eventually be victorious, from killing him, as he knows will happen. He’s a bit out of his depth with Huo Wujiu though, because the present reality doesn’t match the history records. Huo Wujiu is his prisoner and his concubine, like a paper he was grading before he transmigrated suggested, much to his anger.

Huo Wujiu is badly injured because of the torture he’s been submitted to. Jiang Suizhou, together with his two advisors, both pretending to be his concubines, have come up with a plan to find a doctor for him. Jiang Suizhou will fall gravely ill—thanks to a poison—and when the imperial doctors are unable to heal him, he can summon his own doctors.

The plan works better than he could believe. The doctor is capable and in no time at all, he can make Huo Wujiu’s legs work again. Not that they tell Jiang Suizhou. And he tells Jiang Suizhou that his sickly constitution is because of poisoning in his childhood and can be reversed.

The second volume was full of court intrigue. Jiang Suizhou is busy trying to thwart the schemes of the emperor’s uncle, the Grand Chancellor. He’s successful, but it brings the chancellor’s wrath on him. Soon, his life is in danger. Luckily for him, Huo Wujiu isn’t as helpless as he appears.

But the best part of the second volume was the development of the relationship of Jiang Suizhou and Huo Wujiu. It emerges during long hours when Jiang Suizhou sits by Huo Wujiu’s bedside when he suffers from the effects of the healing process, and blossoms in their scheming against the emperor. There’s still secrets between them and many misunderstandings of each other’s intentions, but some sweet moments too. And the ending brings clarity to one thing: Jiang Suizhou has definitely caught feelings.

This continues to be well-written and entertaining. There’s nothing unnecessary, no fillers and no repetitions. The characters are well-formed and the plot is interesting. The romance is slow-burn, but worth rooting for. I’ll definitely read more.

Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Field Guide for the Formerly Villanous by Autumn K. England

Oaklin Nettlewood is trying to rebuild their life after years in a brainwashing evil cult that has left them without most of their memories and a fear of using their magic ever again, in case it’s used for evil. They buy a small farm in a quiet village with a vague notion that they come from a farming family—and how difficult can it be anyway.

It’s not an easy start to a new life. Oaklin isn’t a sociable person to begin with and their fear that people of the village will find out they’ve been in a hated cult prevents them from even trying to make friends. But the people of the village have different ideas. They pull them in, and despite themself, they find warming up to their new friends. There’s even a special person they think might be more than a friend—even though she’s a member of a church that used to hunt evil cultists like them. But then inquisition arrives to the peaceful village to hunt former cultists, plunging Oaklin back into despair.

At home on the farm, things aren’t as simple as they hoped either. The ghost of the previous owner still resides there, which turns out to be good, because she knows everything there is to know about farming the place. The bad thing, for Oaklin, is that farming the place requires magic, which they’ve sworn off for good. But the no-nonsense granny is exactly what Oaklin needs to get over their trauma.

Field Guide for the Formerly Villanous is a lovely, feel-good cozy fantasy. It’s a pleasant read, where all characters are nice, good and extremely understanding, but not too twee. Oaklin’s trauma is real and heartfelt, and it’s not glossed over or brushed away. They have to work their way through it. Luckily, they have the ghost and their friends to help them. Characters are mostly non-binary or gay, and it’s never questioned, so the world—a rural pre-industrial society with magic—is diverse and accepting. The ending is conclusive and good, but this appears to be the first book in a series, so we’ll get to read more about Oaklin’s adventures as a farmer. Or maybe we get the stories of the side characters, like Ryn and Jules’s. I would read it.

I received a free book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Radiant Star by Ann Leckie: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Radiant Star by Ann Leckie

Radiant Star is part of the Imperial Radch series, but a stand-alone. While it’ll work best if the reader knows the world and the previous events, it can—to an extent—be read as a stand-alone too. It’s set during the timeline of the original trilogy, but it’s only tangentially touched by those events.

Planet Aai is drifting in space without a sun, completely encased in ice. But it’s inhabited, and the city of Ooioiaa is a thriving underneath the ice. The ecosystem is delicate though, and the planet is heavily dependent on outside provisions. The culture and society are delicate systems too, which the Radchaai discover a bit too late after they conquer the planet.

Thirty years after the arrival of the Radchaai, the planet finds itself cut off the rest of the universe. Since there’s no communication and no way to travel in and out of their space, they don’t know what’s happening or how long it’ll last, and there are no provisions. The Radchaai governor realises that food will soon become scarce and introduces the Radch food stable, a fast-growing algae, into the ecosystem. At first, it works fine. And then the ecosystem collapses and the governor has a famine at her hands.

The governor has other problems too. The local religion that worships the Radiant Star, waiting for its return, is fractured into sects that are constantly fighting, and she has to share space with them. An introduction of the last saint—a practice the governor is trying to end—pushes matters to a point, destabilising an already fragile society.

Within this framework of a city on a brink of collapsing, three people emerge. Speaking Savant Keemat, who becomes convinced that they should be the last saint; Jonr, a neglected son of a consoror system who was supposed to be shipped out of the planet before the Radchaai arrived, but who has been stuck in a stasis pod for three decades, only to emerge to a changed world with no place in it; and Iono, whose father is supposed to be the last saint, which pushes him into a personal crisis and questionable choices. Other characters feature too, but these three are the main stories. Everything is narrated by an all-knowing, unknown person years after the events of the book.

The stories are, in a way, about small personal goals that either work or fail. They don’t come to a point simultaneously, and only Keemat gets the ending they wish and work for. Iono, who isn’t a very likable character, gets what he has coming, but also not. Jonr’s story is the one I had highest hopes for, but it ended up being the most neglected one. It doesn’t really lead to anything but a status quo for him, nor does it have any impact on the overall plot. We don’t even get a last chapter or epilogue from his POV, nor do we learn what had happened to the consoror he’s in charge of.

The chaos that the planet finds itself in comes to a surprisingly peaceful closure soon enough. Nothing much changes on the planet in the end. The Imperial Radch has changed, but that doesn’t really impact the story here. All the solutions to the governor’s problems seem a bit like deus ex machina, as the narrator divulges information as they see fit, the actual plot happening behind the scenes. Most of the time, the plot was revealed backwards, after the fact.

This was perhaps the simplest, most straightforward book in the series so far, and most readable and easiest to follow. Ancillaries featured, but weren’t a POV character, so there were no complicated scenes where the reader had to follow many events at once. The plot was simple, about the consequences of meddling with the ecosystem. The characters were mostly grey and a bit difficult to root for, except for Jonr who deserved all the best. The problems solved fairly easily and I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but the book ended.

This was an engaging book, but it wasn’t mind-blowing like the previous ones have been. But anything Leckie writes in this universe will interest me, and I’ll definitely read more.

The Dragon and the Blade Saint: This Isn’t Where We End Vol. 1 by Garry: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Dragon and the Blade Saint by Garry

This is a light novel with a time travel/transmigration plot. Mitaelshuroxa, an Elder Dragon, has lost bitterly at the hands of the Blade Saint who has butchered her entire people. When he goes for a killing blow, she activates a device that allows her to jump back in time. She intends to kill him before he has a chance to become so powerful even a magnificent Elder Dragon cannot defeat him.

She finds herself on the grounds of a magic academy, in a realm with no dragons, 17 years in the past, still badly hurt and trapped in human form, with almost no mana to defend herself. She’s rescued by Karen, a Guardian (in training) who offers her an asylum at the school. The only catch is, she has to pretend to be a human named El—and wear a dog collar that restricts her power. It’s almost too much to bear, but she doesn’t have to endure it long, because the Blade Saint goes to the same school and a practice duel is conveniently set between them, so she can kill him and leave. Things don’t go as planned though, and instead, she finds herself fighting a stronger enemy with him.

This was a good start to a series, fast-paced and humorous, with no romantic plot whatsoever so far. There are several POV characters, each with their own mission and distinctive voice. El was grumpy and cranky, though she was only 15 in her own realm too, and powerful despite the restrictions. Karen was saved from being annoying by her sense of humour. Villains were truly bad, with their POV chapters too.

The first half had all the annoyances of a light novel with details changing between one scene and the next, and girls’ obsessing with the size of their boobs, but when the Blade Saint, Ca’al finally showed up, the narrative changed gears. He had a good, tragic backstory that was written like it belonged to a different book, and it elevated the story from three stars to four. Fight scenes on the latter half of the book were well-written too.

The volume ends at a natural place with no cliffhangers. But the epilogue sets the stage for the next book, revealing a new villain. I might read more (if there is more), but the first volume formed a satisfying whole, so I can leave it at this too.

There are no translation notes, so this appears to be an English original. I don’t know if the author is western or Japanese, but they can write in the style of light novels well.  

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

How to Fake It in Society by K.J. Charles: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

How to Fake It in Society by KJ Charles

K.J. Charles has a skill of writing historical romances of ordinary people who are interesting without fancy titles or high social status. She gives her characters skills and occupations that are unique and meaningful for the plot instead of being mere gimmicks. And her gay historical romances never solely revolve around the fear of being found out but have their unique obstacles on the way to happily ever after.

How to Fake It in Society is about two men who know they’re not worthy of being loved. One because he’s been brought up to feel insignificant, and the other because he knows his entire life is a lie. They come together at the cross-roads in both of their lives, and each turns out to be exactly what the other needs in his life. But the lies are there and they’re not easy to forgive, as they’re exactly the kind that makes the other realise how unworthy of being loved he is. It takes a drastic turn for the two to find their happily ever after.

Titus Pilcrow has made a meagre living as a colourist, someone who makes oil and watercolours. But now he’s about to lose his shop, because his vindictive ex is his landlord. But his fate takes a drastic turn, when his elderly client pressures him to marry her on her deathbed so that her unworthy nephew won’t inherit a penny. And then she dies, leaving him a fortune.

Enter Nicolas-Marc, Comte de Valois de La Motte, who had quite counted on that fortune. He has a moneylender at his neck, and he needs funds fast. But instead of asking for money from Titus, he ends up befriending him. And it’s an excellent friendship that gives Titus much needed self-confidence and happiness, while making Nico feel like he isn’t a complete scammer. And then it all goes wrong, with no easy way out to happiness.

This was a delightful romance. I loved both men, their unique stories and especially Titus’ enthusiasm for colours. The detailed stories about different colours never felt stamped on just so the author could show her research. They had a role in the story, up to the climax. Bad guys had their comeuppances and good guys got everything lovely. The men came together in the end on their own terms, without lies or compromises. The reader can be sure that their union will last.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Platform Decay by Martha Wells: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Platform Decay by Martha Wells

Platform Decay is book 8 in the Murderbot Diaries. Like most books in the series, it’s more a long novella that only took four hours to read, but it’s a complete and satisfying story, with no cliffhanger ending.

Murderbot has arrived on a humongous planet-circling torus to free Dr Mensah’s family members Farai, Sofi and Naja, who have been captured by Barish-Estranza corporation in retaliation to events in the previous book. They’re already in a safehouse. Murderbot simply has to get there and take them safely back to their escape shuttle. But things get immediately complicated, because the person who has been helping them wants Murderbot to save other people too, and they’re in a completely different part of the torus, to a wrong direction from the shuttle.

The rescue mission takes them through different zones of the huge torus, some of which are civilised and some that are more like the Wild West. Some zones belong to B-E, others don’t, but that doesn’t stop the corporation from chasing them. Transportation turns out to be the greatest problem though. Murderbot isn’t happy with having clingy humans and their emotions to account for. It’s even less thrilled with its own new emotion module that keeps interrupting at worst possible moments.

This was an exciting flight through imaginative environments. Murderbot was mostly its sarcastic self again, with no imminent mental breakdowns anymore, as the emotion module did its job. It was trying new things like direct communication, which went about as well as one can imagine. And it realises that having some emotions isn’t all that bad, and sometimes it’s nice to be thanked and praised. Especially if it comes from small children.

The story isn’t entirely satisfying emotionally though. The setting is new, and the characters are again people the reader hasn’t really met before. They turn out to be nice additions, but the emotional connection isn’t there, like with Mensah, Amena or ART. Their interactions with Murderbot weren’t as funny or poignant either, though an understanding formed between them in the end. But there was Three, the SecUnit Murderbot freed, exercising its free will with unpredictable results. It was nice to follow the bond between the two. And the ending was satisfying, leaving everyone in a good place. I hope we’ll get more books soon.

Out Law by Jim Butcher: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Out Law by Jim Butcher

Out Law is book number 18.75 in Dresden Files series, an odd number considering there isn’t a book n:o 18.5 and it’s a long novella of almost 200 pages. I hadn’t read book 18, Twelve Months, which came out this January (2026), or the novella The Law (2022), which apparently set the stage for this one, and it’s been ages since I read the previous full book, Battle Ground, which came out in 2020. There were a lot I didn’t remember and a lot that had happened in Harry’s life since then, but I was able to read this perfectly fine without knowing all the details. Though now I’m spoiled for some of them, should I go and read the books I skipped.

Harry owes the crime boss Marcone a favour. Marcone decides to collect. A goon of his, Tripp Gregory, wants to get out of the life of crime by starting a charity to help children. But he’s gone about it in a very gangster way, which has landed him in trouble with the IRS, and a bookie who won’t pay up his winnings. Marcone wants Harry to help. Harry is reluctant, because he doesn’t like Tripp. But Marcone appeals to his moral core: you don’t always only get to help the people you like or who deserve your help.

What starts as a straightforward case gets a supernatural twist when someone sends a demonic entity to try and kill Tripp. It turns out, Harry has battled the entity before, and it’s kind of his fault that it’s on the loose. So, now it’s personal.

This was a good and compact, but full story with proper three acts and a good story arc. The old Harry was back, a bit grumpy but one that isn’t crushed with grief, guilt and PTSD. There were funny moments, and good banter. There were many life lessons delivered to Tripp who took them like a five-year-old who has never considered moral questions before. The enemy was powerful, but not overly so; Harry was powerful, but not overly so. I liked this. It returned my love for the series and I might continue with it again.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

An Accident of Dragons by Cheri Radke: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

An Accident of Dragons by Cheri Radke

I went into this book hoping for pleasant cozy fantasy with some adventure in the mix. I definitely got that. Just not the way I thought based on the book description, which is a bit misleading. But then again, so is Teddy, the book’s narrator. It’s not entirely cozy in its details either (some gory stuff in the mix), but I’m not a purist when it comes to genre conventions. I just allowed the story to take me where it wanted to go, and I suggest other readers do the same, as it’s definitely not where they expect it to lead.

An Accident of Dragons takes place in Summer. It’s an island where everything has its place and nothing ever changes. The state of things is maintained by Summer, a huge ancient dragon that lives in the caves beneath the island. And the island is ruled by Summer, the dragon’s caretaker who is bonded with her. Much is made about confusing the three throughout the story.

The position of the caretaker is hereditary, the next ruler inheriting some attributes already at birth that allows them to connect with the dragon. But Jack, the previous Lord Summer, had rebelled against becoming Summer and had died without an heir. To everyone’s surprise, the dragon has chosen Teddy, Jack’s kept man, as the next caretaker.

The book starts six years after that. Teddy has mostly settled into his new position as a ruler that he never thought to become. He’s an outsider to Summer, and has never had a place there, because everyone’s place is set by the dragon and nothing ever changes. Unlike Jack, he’s dutifully married a nice widow and managed to produce an heir despite definitely preferring men, and now maintains cordial if distant relationship with his wife and stepson while doting on his daughter Zinnia, who is five.

And then Zinnia is abducted by people from the mainland, where the people of Summer seldom go, because Summer the dragon doesn’t want them to leave. Unlike on Summer, things change on the continent. A cult is rising there that is utilising dragons’ powers to subjugate everyone. And now they want a dragon’s egg. Summer’s egg.

Teddy is almost forty, not very strong despite the dragon altering his physique a little, and a dandy who prefers fancy clothing and parties to heroics. But he doesn’t hesitate to go after his daughter. With him is the entire navy of Summer (three ships) and his stepson Brook who dreams of seeing the world. Turns out, rescuing Zinnia is the easy part. Defeating a cult that wants Summer—the dragon and island both—is another matter.

This was a delightful read. It’s a book that firmly stands with the voice of its narrator, Teddy, and it does it with great flair. He addresses the reader very directly and with familiarity, but it isn’t until the very end that we learn he’s talking to his children. He has a delightful voice, a rather straightforward outlook on life, and no misconceptions about his importance, even though he’s the ruler of the island. Slowly, we learn why that is the case. But he’s a bit unreliable narrator. Or rather, he alludes to events of the past that give the reader one notion, only to tell the full story later that reveals a different picture.

Teddy is an outsider, made evident because he looks different. It’s never stated outright, but everyone on the island is white and he’s Black, or their world’s equivalent, as skin colour isn’t mentioned, only shown on the book’s cover. But it’s not an issue to anyone; this isn’t a book about race or racism. That Teddy is gay isn’t an issue either, or that he maintains relationships even though he’s married. Everyone does the same, his wife included. Teddy has an odd romance with a married father of two throughout the book—odd because Teddy doesn’t really like him (although it turns out to be a very good relationship.) But this isn’t a gay romance either—though there’s room for it.

This is mostly a book about becoming, and accepting oneself. Teddy realises that he’s never really accepted that he’s Lord Summer, and has only waited for his daughter to take over. He’s never really accepted that he’s a father to Brook too, and that he has a wife who has her own needs. It’s about finding the family he already has. Teddy who returns to Summer is different than Teddy who left. The ending is satisfying, but there’s room for more adventures. I’d definitely read them.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  

Alchemised by SenLinYu: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Alchemised by SenLinYu

Alchemised is one of those massive (1000+ pages) fantasy novels I loved to read back before social media killed my attention span. Nowadays, I tend to give these a pass, and I almost didn’t pick this one either. But I ended up buying a physical copy on a whim, and instead of letting it gather dust on my shelf, I started reading. And I’m glad I did, even if it took me two weeks to finish—and that’s without constantly skipping to check my socials. I try to keep this review spoiler free, but if you want to be certain, read my short review here. 

This is a secondary world fantasy, a world with three moons and people with resonance, an inner ability to transmute things like metal or fire, called alchemists. Resonance doesn’t appear evenly in the world and it’s concentrated in Paladia, where the Alchemy Tower gathers the most talented alchemists. Paladia is led by Holdfast family who claim a divine right to rule and have the ability to transmute gold.

Not all forms of resonance are allowed in the religion-led Paladia. Necromancy, the ability to animate the dead is forbidden, as is its more benign counterpart, vivimancy, the ability to heal. But a necromancer has risen who can create Undying, people who have an incredible ability to heal but who aren’t entirely alive.

A devastating civil war has been fought between the supporters of the rightful rule and the Necromancer with his supporters. The book begins a year and a half after the war has ended. The good guys have lost and the Necromancer is in charge. It’s a harsh rule with human experiments and violent punishments meted out by the High Reeve, the Necromancer’s closest man.

Helena Marino has been confided in a stasis pod of the Necromancer’s people since the war ended. She should’ve been sedated, but she’s been conscious the whole time. As a result, she’s lost much of her memory. When she’s finally released, much to the surprise of her captors who didn’t know she was there or who she is, she’s sent to the High Reeve so that he can unravel her memory in case she knows important Resistance secrets.

The first part of the book is about Helena’s captivity in the High Reeve’s manor. His name is Kaine Ferron and he used to be her classmate and rival at the Alchemy Tower, not that she—an outsider to his legacy family—really recognised the rivalry. All she remembers of him now is that he killed the previous leader and caused the war in the first place. She’s deadly afraid of him and for a reason. He’s an animancer who can invade her mind and extract her memories.

It’s not easy or safe captivity. Ferron’s attempts to break her mind cause her almost die several times, the medical leaders of the new regime want to experiment on her, and Ferron’s wife he neglects wants to kill her. And all the while she is a captive of her own mind, unable to remember what happened. Until she does.

The second part takes place in the past, starting five years after the war began. It’s already devastated Paladia, and while the leadership won’t recognise that they’re fighting a losing war, some people know more drastic measures are needed.

Helena has spent the war as a healer. It’s hard, unthankful work, because it requires vivimancy that she’s found the ability for, much to the horror of her friends, the current leader of the country and his paladins. She’s desperate for acceptance and so, when she’s asked to act as a liaison with an enemy who has agreed to spy on their side, she agrees. The spy turns out to be Ferron, already an Undying as a reward for killing the previous ruler, and high up in the Necromancer’s army.

For two years, to the inevitable end of the war, the two meet in secret, both using each other for information and being used by their own people in return. They don’t trust each other—Ferron doesn’t trust anyone—but eventually they realise that they only have one another to rely on. A friendship of sorts forms, a bit unhealthy and codependent, and then, inevitably, a love story. They make plans to disappear together, but he can’t really leave, as the Undying are bound to the Necromancer. And then the war ends, and Helena disappears.

Third part of the book returns to the present where Helena has to reconcile her memories of Kaine of the past and the High Reeve of the present, the love story with her trauma of the captivity. He wants to get her to safety; she won’t leave without him. There are no allies, only enemies on all sides, and a hunt for the last remaining Resistance fighter. And the noose is tightening.

This was an excellent novel: structure, pace, plot, the world, and characters were all perfect. Even though it’s long, there’s nothing unnecessary. The chapters are short and every scene has a meaning. It’s dark and atmospheric, the war with its horrors come close even though they’re mostly seen through the aftermath at the hospital—it’s like watching China Beach or M*A*S*H. Bad things happen to good people, and good people do really bad things. I’m not triggered by much as a reader, and nothing here caused me distress, but some readers might find the reality of war and characters that are both black and important difficult to handle. Pain and suffering, physical or mental, aren’t dwelled on, or described in nauseating detail in order to horrify or titillate the reader. They’re simply the realities of war.

The narrative is from Helena’s point of view in third person, which distances it a little—sometimes a good thing when she’s suffering from all sorts of trauma. She’s an unreliable narrator, especially at the beginning, so the second part is a discovery into her mind and memories. She does paint a good picture of Kaine, so we learn a lot about him and what drives him even though there is nothing from his point of view. The enemies-to-lovers storyline unfolds organically from the needs and deeds of the characters and not from an overwhelming attraction the characters can’t help feeling. I really rooted for them, even as I feared the inevitable, as this isn’t the kind of book where you take the happy ending for granted.

The only weak part is the third, though not by much. The enemy remains mostly hidden and is only seen by proxy, the tension comes from people and deeds the reader isn’t privy to, and Helena’s traumas reconcile with her memories fairly fast. The ending is unnecessarily long, and a bit too easy and convenient.

For such a dark book, this was a surprisingly pleasant read and difficult to put down. I loved the characters and the ending they earned for themselves. I’m glad I gave the book a chance. It’ll stay with me for a long time.