Book Review: The Unspoken Name (The Serpent Gates #1) by A.K. Larkwood

The secret of greatness is to know when you should risk the wrath of god.

The Unspoken Name,
A.K. Larkwood

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

At 14 years old, Csorwe was the chosen bride of the Unspoken One, and had lived her life in preparation for sacrificing herself to her religion’s god. As she walks into the tunnels that lead to the shrine, a wizard named Belthandros Sethennai asks her to run away with him and be his apprentice as he seeks to regain control of his home. Csorwe chooses life, and runs away with him, and as she grows up he trains her to be his right hand, and tasks her with finding a magical relic that will help secure his power. As she embarks on this quest, she meets people who force her to examine what she actually wants for herself.

I had a bit of a rough start with this one—the first few chapters were really intriguing, but there’s a time jump that skips over a lot of Csorwe’s training and sends her directly on a mission that was not all that interesting. This section dragged some, but I was still into the fantasy atmosphere of it all and I was having a good time. After this section, there is yet another time jump, which made the novel seem rather disconnected up to this point—like a collection of stories as opposed to one novel. However, after this point I really started enjoying it so much more! The action picks up and our cast of characters grows to include many interesting characters, solving the central problem with this book: Csorwe, for most of the book, is boring.

The reason for this, of course, is that for the first 24 years of her life, Csorwe dedicates herself entirely to others and their desires. She’s raised to die for the Unspoken One, and then she takes that loyalty and places it onto Sethennai. After her decision to live, every choice she makes is for him, never for herself, and all she wants throughout is his approval. This is completely understandable for her character, but doesn’t really make for an interesting main character. Fortunately, she definitely undergoes some development in this area, and it’s incredibly satisfying when she starts questioning what she wants for herself. By the end of the book, Csorwe had really grown on me.

This does not sound like a four star review so far but I promise I really liked this book!

The other characters were really great. Shuthmilli is an interesting parallel to Csorwe; she was also raised to give up her life for her god. She’s powerful with magic, is really interested in her studies, and funny. I loved following her on her journey with Csorwe, and their romance was pretty sweet. Oranna is a powerful necromancer and her motivations and abilities made for a complex antagonist. My favorite character was Tal Charossa; he’s an asshole who doesn’t want people to know he cares about things and also really funny. I enjoyed his antagonistic relationship with Csorwe. They absolutely despise each other but for a good portion of the book, are the closest either of them has to a friend, and I loved the dynamic.

The world-building was really well done. The world consists of several different worlds, connected to each other by a series of gates that can be traveled through via airship. Several of them are visited throughout the course of the novel—dead worlds, dying worlds, as well as thriving worlds. Each world has a different god that is worshipped, with its own mythology and history, and the gods are the sources of magic. I was really interested in all of this, and the fact that there were different types of magic. There’s also a world of giant snakes!

I had a lot of fun reading this, despite it’s problems. Maybe it’s because I was just really in the mood for fantasy, but I think the world, the characters and the second half of the book really make up for the problems I had. It’s also really funny, especially during Tal’s POV chapters. I look forward to reading the next one!

Book Review: Bonds of Brass (The Bloodright Trilogy #1) by Emily Skrutskie

But no empire is worth it if I don’t have him too.

Bonds of Brass, Emily Skrutskie

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

When Ettian Nassun was a child, the Umber empire took over his home planet Rana; 7 years later, Ettian has put that behind him and joined the Umber military academy, where he’s be training to fly an Umber military ship. His best friend and roommate (Oh my god, they were roommates) Gal Veres is not as good of a pilot but is adept at diplomacy. He’s also something of a pacifist, frequently going off course in his classes to tear down the Umber empire’s violent military strategies, to the chagrin of his teachers.

During one of their flying drills, their classmates attempt to assassinate Gal, forcing him to reveal to Ettian that he is the Umber heir. It’s not long until Gal will be expected to take the throne, and Ettian believes he’s their best chance at creating a more peaceful empire. As Ettian works to keep Gal safe, he uncovers a rebellion against the Umber empire led by people from his home, and finds himself at a crossroad: does he continue to help the boy he loves, or does he help the rebellion take back his home?

I have really been looking forward to this book since it was announced, and it was frequently being talked up as a balm to the dashed hopes of FinnPoe shippers. And it definitely was! Bonds of Brass is an action-packed space adventure with plenty of flying scenes and a romance featuring fake dating and there is only one bed, aka, a book designed specifically with me in mind.

I loved every moment of Bonds of Brass. It drew me in immediately, and between the characters, the action, and the plot, it never let me go. It is fast paced but with a ton of character building moments as well, and I loved the three main characters. They were all so different and came from different, interesting backgrounds but they worked well as an ensemble, and Emily Skrutskie deftly handled the evolving dynamics between the three of them. All three of them were really likable while having believable flaws: Wen Iffan is reckless and surprisingly cavalier with her own safety (and by extension, the safety of others), but her story, her relationship with Ettian, and the fact that she is a lot of fun make her a great character; Gal is charming, funny, and critical of his family’s violent ways, but is frustratingly blind to the evils of the Umber empire that are less violent in nature, and has a ruthless streak that frightens Ettian; and Ettian himself has a soft heart that makes him so lovable but gets him into trouble, and frequently takes care of others over himself, to the point where I desperately wanted him to consider his own desires for once!

The romance is handled perfectly as well. It is not a quick and easy get together-Gal and Ettian both struggle with how they feel and how a relationship will affect their plans. Ettian in particular struggles with the knowledge of who Gal really is and what Ettian’s role would be in his life, and as the novel is narrated from Ettian’s point of view, his struggles are heartbreaking and compelling. The second book is narrated from Gal’s point of view, and I’m really excited to see the relationship from his eyes.

Bonds of Brass is a short, page-turning read that is so much fun, and I am eager to read the next one.

Book Review: What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

After many, many years of entering Goodreads Giveaways, I have finally won! I really was starting to believe it would never happen to me, and I was really glad it was an ARC of What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter, a book I heard about many months before on Twitter. I was drawn in by the description of the book as being about a girl named Kels, a book blogger who likes to bake, as I am a girl named Kels, a hobby book blogger who likes to bake. Throw in a romance and I was really excited to get to a chance to read it.

Halle Levitt is a YA book blogger-she runs a blog called One True Pastry, where she reviews books and pairs covers with cupcakes. She has built a brand and a life online as Kels, complete with group chats and a best friend, Nash, who has an ongoing online comic. She likes keeping her personal life separate from her online life, until she moves in with her grandfather and ends up at the same school as Nash. Thus begins what I can only describe as an outrageous catfishing tale.

I really wanted to love this book, but I didn’t end up enjoying it as much as I thought I would. There were some parts I really liked! Halle and her family are Jewish, as well as several other characters, and there are a lot of Jewish traditions and holidays sprinkled throughout the book. I think that it handled grief really well, and showed how different people deal with grief. I really liked Halle’s younger brother, Ollie, and I wish we had gotten to see more of his life other than occasional updates when Halle remembered to care about what was going on with him. It also seemed like a good depiction of how much work it takes to maintain a book blog and a book Instagram, especially when one is hoping to make a career out of it.

Besides those things, most of the book fell flat for me. The romance had potential to be cute, but Halle hides the truth about Kels for almost an entire school year, including at least several weeks after she entered a relationship with Nash. The reader also finds out that not only is Halle lying to Nash, but she’s been lying to him as Kels as well. She hasn’t told him anything true about her family, or where she lives, which is why he’s unable to recognize anything in her life when they meet. There was little buildup to their irl relationship as well. For the first part of the book, Halle would be nice to Nash and then incredibly mean when she remembered that she was trying to keep him for Kels, and she kept writing this off as being socially awkward instead of a deliberate choice she was making to act this way. They had one or two cute moments before getting together, and I might have been able to be more invested in it if it were not for the catfishing, and how long Halle lets it go on.

But what I find worse than Halle’s catfishing, from a storytelling standpoint, is that Nash is completely oblivious to the fact that Kels is hiding something. I used to watch a lot of MTV’s Catfish-and I mean a lot-so I know that people can be blind to things that are obvious to everyone else, but usually the person involved is aware enough to know that something is off. Nash has no such awareness. He’s been best friends with Kels for three years and has never seen a single picture of her. Not even a snapchat! She is cagey every time he asks to meet up with her, they’ve obviously never video chatted, or sent each other postcards or anything because they don’t know where each other lives. All of this seems incredibly unrealistic to me! I know that romance books often require some suspension of disbelief but someone in his life should have been emailing Nev and Max.

One of the biggest blogging plot points was when an author made a few comments about not considering her books to be only for teens, and loving her teen readers but hoping adults liked her books, too. Everyone in the book had a weird hangup about adults reading YA, and the character reactions seemed out of proportion with what was actually said. This, at least, is an incredibly realistic depiction of online discourse. Much is made about whether or not Kels will see the movie adaptation of the book written by the aforementioned author, but…I just did not care! As I said, it seemed like an overreaction to the actual comments.

I’m struggling a bit with how to rate this. I feel a lot stronger about the things I didn’t like than the things I did like, but it’s easy to read and there are cute moments. The Jewish rep is important and seemed well done to me. I think the general premise has potential to be really interesting, but I just can’t get over the extent of the lying or Nash’s complete obliviousness to it. However, if a love triangle that’s actually a line and a look into the life of a teen book blogger interest you then I think it’s worth a read, even if your complete disbelief and sometimes rage at the actions of the main character is what fuels you to finish it.

Book Review: Ninth House (Alex Stern #1) by Leigh Bardugo

Magic had almost killed him, but in the end it had saved him.

Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Leigh Bardugo is generally on my insta-buy list, as I’m sure she is for many. I love Six of Crows and while King of Scars wasn’t my favorite, I still really liked it (Nikolai is my favorite, of course). I was planning on buying Ninth House when it came out, but there was all the discussion over the content of the book and trigger warnings that I was afraid I wasn’t going to like it. So I requested it from the library, and was in spot 38, and four months later here we are. And I’m glad that I didn’t buy it because it was…fine. Just fine!

Galaxy “Alex” Stern can see ghosts, which has earned her a spot in Lethe House, monitoring the magical activities of Yale’s secret societies. This is a chance for her to leave her past behind her-in LA she was a drug addict and the sole survivor of a violent homicide. But things are not going to plan, as she’s struggling to keep up in her classes, her mentor is missing, and there’s been a murder in New Haven that the Dean of her house is clearly trying to sweep under the rug.

The book alternates between three timelines: it starts in Early Spring/Spring, which is the most current timeline; Last Fall, when Alex arrived at Yale; and Winter, which explains the events leading up to Spring. I actually really liked the timelines and didn’t find it confusing, because it was fairly straightforward-something would happen in Winter, then the next chapter would flash back to Last Fall or another time in Alex’s life to explain what just happened. It was somewhat formulaic and I began to expect the timeline changes, but I didn’t think that detracted from the book.

I am very familiar with Leigh Bardugo’s work, so I know that she writes both plot and characters really well. With Ninth House, the plot was intriguing and kept me interested throughout, but the characters mostly fell flat.

Bardugo sets the atmosphere really well (it reminded me a lot of The Magicians, the TV show not the book), and while many people complained about the pacing, I personally never found it to be slow, though it is true that much of the action takes place in the last 100 pages. I really liked the concept of magical secret societies at Yale, and how it played into the dominant theme of privilege in the novel. The societies are full of rich people, many of whom are white men, and the wealth that the houses have allow them to throw their money around to get them out of trouble. The rich, white men in this novel get away with a lot, as there is only Alex to hold them accountable in her own way, and it is truly horrifying to read.

Speaking of horrifying to read, I actually expected this novel to be a lot darker given the drama over the content and trigger warnings. And some of it is absolutely awful; there’s several depictions of sexual assault, one extremely violent and against a child. But outside of these moments, I found it to be pretty mild, which sort of makes me think that these moments really were just added to make it darker and “more adult.” This includes the infamous forced poop-eating scene, which shocked many when people first began to read it. It wasn’t very graphic and to be honest, it was well-deserved!

Alex has experienced a lot of trauma-she was raped by a ghost as a child, and was only able to block out the ghosts by turning to drugs, which led her to be a drug addict and in an abusive relationship with her dealer at 15. This is a lot for one person to handle, and it’s one of the reasons that she is a fish out of water at Yale. But beyond this, she has very little substance. She delivers a lot of one liners. There are glimpes of an interesting character-she cares about her friends, and will protect them in her own way, and she is dedicated to her own survival. But for most of the book, her point of view is not particularly interesting, as she tends to only respond with anger or not respond at all.

I had some hope with Darlington, Alex’s missing mentor. But he was in so little of the book that I lost interest in him, and didn’t even really care if they ever found him. This is the only time I think the structure of the timelines hurt the story-because we spent so little time with Darlington before he disappeared, when the actual event happened I was just like, well, there he goes!

I did really like Dawes, the Lethe House researcher who spends her days in over-sized sweatshirts and headphones among a stack of books. She’s a bit anti-social, but lets down her guard enough to help Alex when she needs it, and her grief over Darlington was the most moving aspect of Darlington’s disappearance. I also liked the Bridegroom, a ghost who makes a deal with Alex to solve the murder of his wife, and Turner, reluctant Lethe House ambassador to the local police, grew on me. Bardugo always writes good secondary characters-all of my favorite characters from the Grisha series are secondary characters (Tamar! Genya! David!).

I can’t say that I was necessarily disappointed, as I didn’t really have any expectations going in. As I was reading, I realized that I wasn’t really looking forward to finishing it, but I wasn’t dreading it either. It was a decent novel, with a solid plot but I really just do not have very strong feelings about it either way. I was trying to puzzle it out with this review but ultimately it just comes down to the fact that the characters were mostly uninteresting to me. I wish that, considering how long this novel is, Bardugo had done more character development, especially with regard to Alex. I wouldn’t really recommend it to anyone, but I also wouldn’t discourage them from reading it; however, I definitely recommend looking into content warnings prior to reading.

As forgettable as I found this book to be, I’m sure I’ll be reading the next one (I cannot guarantee that if Bardugo gets to write five, I will stick around for five. But at least one more.). But next time I’ll be requesting much earlier!

Book Review: Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

She didn’t expect life to be fair, but did it have to be so relentless?

Horrorstör, Grady Hendrix

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

This is only the second book by Grady Hendrix that I have read so this may be a little premature in our relationship of me to say but I feel like he just gets me. His novel My Best Friend’s Exorcism was one of my top 5 reads in 2019, and I loved this one even more.

Amy works for Orsk, a Scandinavian furniture store that is a blatant Ikea ripoff. She’s a floor worker and a directionless college dropout, who is trying to transfer to a store in another town because she believes her boss, Basil, has it out for her. Basil is a model employee, and shows a dedication to the store that Amy just doesn’t understand.

Due to a series of overnight furniture vandalizations, Basil asks Amy and her coworker Ruth Anne to stay the night in the store, patrolling the floor to watch out for any vandals. Basil promises to approve Amy’s transfer and give her overtime pay in cash at the end of the night, and so Amy agrees to help him. The empty store is creepy and things quickly get creepier, as the group discovers the history of the land the store was built on.

I really enjoy horror comedy, and Hendrix really hits the mark in this genre. The dialogue in Horrorstör is witty and frequently had me laughing, while the more action packed scenes were intense. It was not super scary, but Hendrix builds a sufficiently creepy and anxiety inducing atmosphere, making you question what is hiding in the dark parts of the store, and what is the character seeing out of the corner of their eye? Each chapter begins with an ad for furniture sold by the store, and as the book gets darker, the advertisements become increasingly threatening, in both a funny and terrifying way.

“Stop saying A&E,” Matt said. “We’re aiming higher than that. Trinity wants us to be the first ghost hunters on Bravo.”

The cast of characters really rounded out Horrorstör. Amy, our protagonist, is faced with hard choices throughout the book, something she has avoided in her life up to this point. Any attempts she has made to improve her life have failed, and she has learned that it’s better not to try. Ruth Anne is a sweet older woman who is unafraid to call Amy out when she needs it. Trinity is a rich kid with the dream of becoming the first ghost hunter on Bravo (also a dream of mine) and unlike the other characters, she truly believes in ghosts. Her sort-of-boyfriend Matt does not believe, though he pretends to for her sake. And then there’s Basil, my favorite character after Amy. He’s super dedicated to the store but also to his family and his employees. Hendrix writes strong, believable relationships between characters and I really loved the dynamic that develops between Basil and Amy. (It is not canon romance at all but in my head…romance!)

I have thought a lot about this book since I finished reading it, and I really enjoyed it! It’s a great horror comedy that manages to deliver on both counts. I think I might go through the rest of his books now. I’m definitely excited for his next book coming out in April: The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

Book Review: The Disasters by M.K. England

Yeah, I know, I’m a bit of a disaster. But hey, aren’t we all? Doesn’t mean we can’t fly.

The Disasters, M.K. England

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Nasir “Nax” Hall has wanted to be a pilot all of his life. He trained via simulations at school and in cars on his family’s goat farm in North Carolina which, in combination with his great-but-reckless approach to piloting, made me think of the scene in Star Trek (2009) when young Jim Kirk nearly drives off a cliff. By which I mean, I loved him immediately.

In order to get his pilot’s license, Nax must graduate from the Ellis Station Academy; unfortunately for him, things don’t go to plan and he does not make it through the admission process. Nax and the other rejected students’ trip back home is interrupted by a terrorist attack on the station. They escape in the shuttle, but are subsequently framed for the crime. Cue space ship chases, rescue missions, heists, and my favorite, a found family.

Sometimes, you get the right book at just the right time. I had a bit of a difficult start to reading this year and haven’t had a ton of fun even though I read 6 books prior to this one. But I asked the LGBTQ Reads Patreon for a gay space adventure and as usual they delivered! I had so much fun reading this book, and it made me happy, and I needed that. Hence the very high rating! Also, that cover is pretty amazing. I love all the purple.

I loved the characters. Nax’s voice was really interesting and funny and I liked being inside his head for the novel. Nax is a disaster bi, and he gets sweet and fun romantic moments with both Case and Rion. My favorite thing about the characters was the way they bonded; they helped each other through anxiety attacks, family issues, crises of self-doubt, and of course, being framed for intergalactic crimes. The development of their relationship was maybe a little fast, but all of them are people who really care about other people and they’re in pretty intense situations, so it was all right with me. Also, as I’ve said like 100 times already, it was fun! So it’s all good here.

The dialogue made me laugh, and I loved all of the action scenes. It was fast paced and intense, and kept me intrigued the entire time. Of course, there were more serious scenes as well. Nax had several family issues that he had to work out, as did the other characters, and they brought some balance to the plot.

Again, I just really enjoyed reading this from beginning to end. It’s a standalone, but could easily be a series and I really wish it was. I would read so many books of these kids and their hi-jinks. While there’s no plans for a sequel, M.K. England does have another book out recently. It’s called Spellhacker, and it’s a fantasy involving heists and an f/nb romance and if my library takes any longer to get it to me I just might lose it. But kindly because I know they’re doing their best and I like my librarians.

Book Review: Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters

“You can keep all the flowers and the heart-shaped boxes of chocolates. When a man comes over to unblock your toilet, that’s romance.”

Rachel Winters, Would Like to Meet

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I have recently had a rocky relationship with romance novels. This has been a hard time for me, because I love romance! But the last few that I have read have ranged from bad to alright, and I’ve been waiting for one that I could enjoy all the way through. Though I did hit a brief rough patch about 75% of the way through, I recovered quickly and I really liked this one!

Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters is a romantic comedy. Evie Summers works as an assistant at a film agency-she used to have dreams of being a screenwriter, but gave them up when an agent told her that she didn’t have what it takes, and now her goal is to become an agent. Her boss promises her a promotion if she can get superstar screenwriter Ezra Chester to write the romantic comedy screenplay he owes them. When Ezra refuses, claiming that he doesn’t find rom-coms compelling, Evie presents him with a deal: she’ll reenact movie meet-cutes to prove to him that they can lead to real love.

There were a lot of things to like about this! Most of the characters were great, including Evie who I saw several people say that they couldn’t stand. She’s a very flawed character-she makes a lot of mistakes, though sometimes they were out of her hands, and was occasionally frustrating, but I really liked her. She is just trying her best! I really enjoyed her friends as well, and their dynamics were fun. Evie’s relationship with Anette, Ben’s daughter, was also really adorable.

The plot was pretty simple and straightforward, but it was fun. There were a lot of really funny moments which I really appreciated because the last few rom-coms that I have read were not actually funny! The plot was predictable but I kind of enjoy that in romances, because the point isn’t to be shocked but to enjoy the romantic moments born out of the plot points. So even though there was only one moment that shocked me I really enjoyed the way things played out.

There were two love interests, which I wasn’t a fan of at first because it was pretty clear to me early on which of the men was going to be the “endgame”, and Evie’s dynamic with the other character was much more interesting to me. But by the end of the book I was on board and rooting for him. The romance was much softer in this book than many others I have read-as the quote at the top of this review suggests, the romance is in the little things, and in being there. I ended up really loving the romance for this reason.

Would Like to Meet is a really adorable rom-com that has restored my faith in my ability to enjoy romantic novels! And also made me wish that meet-cutes really did work, because if they did I would have met the love of my life in college probably. If only!

Book Review: The Institute by Stephen King

‘Is it weird?’ he asked. ‘Being you, I mean?’

Luke considered this. ‘Sometimes,’ he said. ‘Usually, it’s just life.’

Stephen King, The Institute

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

This is the first Stephen King novel I have ever read; the decision to request it from the library was originally a heat of the moment choice spurred on by my intense month long spiral after IT Chapter Two (2019). I wanted to read a Stephen King book but truly did not think I could survive reading IT in my state and so I opted for his newest release. I was like 76^th on the waiting list, and thus have waited four months for this moment, which is a long time for expectations to build. Fortunately, my expectations were met! I enjoyed The Institute a lot-as much as you can enjoy a book where children are kidnapped and tortured.

The Institute starts off with Tim Jamieson making a cross country trip to start a new life in New York, and then switches POVs to Luke Ellis, a 12 year old child prodigy in Minnesota. Their paths cross eventually, after Luke has been kidnapped by The Institute for showing signs of superpowers. There, Luke and other children are experimented on and tortured by doctors and caretakers for a secret purpose. Despite the desperate situation, Luke and the other children form a strong bond that keeps them sane, a bond which eventually leads to a plan for escape.

The cast of characters in this novel is large, and we get POV sections for many of them. All of the main players in the plot were well written and developed, and the POV juggling was handled really well. I was never confused about whose POV we were reading, or when a switch was made. The characters were my favorite part of the novel, especially the kids. I am really fond of found families so the bonds that were created between the children made me really emotional, which made the story all the more affecting. The antagonists, while very evil, were not one dimensional but had their own personalities.

There were a lot of things in The Institute that were hard to stomach-fortunately, some of them ended up being fade to black, but even the suggestion was horrible. It got off to a slow start, but I still could not put it down. I always wanted to see what would happen next, and was desperate to know how everything would work out in the end. I am definitely more of a character reader than a plot reader, but the plot was intriguing and kept me guessing. I liked the straightforward writing style, and weirdly, Stephen King writes exactly like I thought he would. Also, in addition to being rather horrible, it was pretty funny!

Having just watched IT Chapter Two (again) hours before writing this review, I know that Stephen King notoriously struggles with endings. But I liked the end of this one, it fit the story and I even appreciated the sort of epilogue at the very end.

I had a good time with my first Stephen King novel, and now I plan to read a lot more! Maybe even get around to IT some day.

Most importantly to me, I can finally get the shirt from Monster Squad (1987) without feeling like a fraud!

Book Review: Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor

Very little is ever gained through silence. If you have something to say and the means to say it, you should.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

I received Tarnished Are the Stars by Rosiee Thor via the LGTBQ Reads Patreon, the tier in which I describe what kind of book I’m looking for and a book is recommended and purchased for me. I really love this service because I am somewhat of a picky person and they recommend things that I haven’t heard of that fit exactly what I am looking for. So not only am I satisfied, I’m finding out about books I have never heard of before! Good things all around.

In November, I asked for “science fiction, preferably in space, with a f/f romance between main characters” and was sent Tarnished Are the Stars. It’s a science fiction novel set in the future, after Earth has become uninhabitable. Humans moved into space, and are now doing the work to terraform a new planet. Post-industrial technology is banned on the planet due to people going overboard with technology in the past, leading to the destruction of Earth.

Anna is a mechanic with a clockwork heart, who supplies the people on Earth-Adjacent with various medical technology under the name The Technician. This puts her in the cross-hairs of the Commissioner, the leader of the planet’s main colony, who has put out 39 decrees that have made it increasingly difficult to access technology and for Anna to continue her work to save lives. When Anna discovers that the Commissioner may be responsible for the disease called Tarnish that infects her village, she sets out to bring him down. Her plans are complicated by Nathaniel, the Commissioner’s son, who has his own plans to catch The Technician in order to earn his father’s approval. Things are further complicated by the arrival of Eliza, the Queen’s personal spy, who has her own agenda.

I had a lot of fun with this book, and I think the characters were the strongest point. The book is told from 3 points of view-Anna, Nathaniel, and Eliza-and each had their own distinct voice and were well-rounded characters. I loved Anna, and the compassion she feels for everyone she meets and everyone who needs her help, and that she was willing to defy the law to provide that help. Nathaniel had to grow on me. It is hard to read him not understanding how his father’s actions have harmed Anna’s village, when she explicitly lays it out for him, and at times it comes across as willfully ignorant. But Thor does a great job of developing Nathaniel’s view of his father-it’s easy to see how Nathaniel might purposely ignore or excuse the things his father has done wrong when he has only ever sought his father’s approval, and it is satisfying to see his view of his father become more realistic. Eliza has a similar arc, though I found her more interesting from the beginning primarily because she is a spy, so her life is automatically more exciting.

Obviously, one of the reasons I read this was because of the f/f storyline, and I really enjoyed it! It’s a sort of combination enemies-as-lovers/enemies-to-friends-to-lovers. Some people don’t like the idea of a relationship between people who pointed knives at each other-I am not one of those people. The progression of their relationship was way too fast for me but other than that I was really into it. But more important than the actual relationship to me were the things Eliza said about her own sexuality. Multiple times she mentioned that she had never envisioned life with a man, and that she could never be happy with a man. I don’t know that I’ve ever read genre fiction where a character explicitly confirmed their sexuality this way. Though the word “lesbian” is never used, which I thought was kind of weird given that there is a rather heavy-handed aside in the novel about how important it can be to finally find a word that fits you. But it did include a refreshing affirmation of Nathaniel’s asexuality!

I was with the plot for the first 75% of the novel, but it sort of fell apart for me in the end. The climax came and passed very suddenly and was just a lot of people talking and very little action. And while things were resolved, it left me with more questions than answers about why things transpired and character motivations. I also think the world-building was great but left me wondering about a few things, specifically, why there was a Queen at all. Also, there really was not a ton of space! I feel like it’s a little misleading to say this is set in space when it’s just a space ship and one Earth-like planet.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book, and think it was the perfect book to satisfy my need for more f/f in science fiction. And of course, if you are also looking for more gay fiction, make sure to head over to LGBTQ Reads!

Book Review: Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb # 1) by Tamsyn Muir

Where I’m going, I promise to piss fidelity all the livelong day. I have lots of fealty in me. I fealt the Emperor with every bone in my body. I fealt hard.

pg 43

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

I put this on hold at the library so, so, so long ago that I was nervous it wouldn’t hold up to my expectations. This happens to me often when I wait for books, so when I started reading, I was somewhat wary. But I shouldn’t have worried, because I had such a good time with this one.

Gideon Nav is an orphan on the planet of the Ninth House. She has made regular escape attempts since she was a child, trying to flee the stifled life of a Ninth House citizen. Harrowhark Nonagesimus, the Reverend Daughter, heir of the Ninth House, owner of my favorite name in the whole book, is Gideon’s childhood nemesis. They have spent their entire lives battling each other because, as they each admit, they “completely fucking hate” each other.

Harrowhark has been invited to complete the process to become a Lyctor, a direct servant to the Emperor. For that she needs a cavalier, and hers has just taken flight, and unfortunately for her and Gideon both, Gideon is her only hope. In exchange for freedom from the Ninth House, Gideon begrudgingly agrees to the role. What follows is a fun, creepy, twisting mystery and adventure that is immensely enjoyable.

There is a large cast of characters in Gideon, and while some might be caricatures, they all have distinct personality. Gideon, very literally a sword lesbian, is funny, charming, and has a huge heart. Harrowhark is witty but unlike Gideon, she keeps her emotions a lot closer to her chest. The development of their relationship was fantastic, an incredibly slow-burn enemies-to-something-between-friends-and-lovers. They are one of my favorite relationships now, and they did nothing more than hug twice, so it is a big deal for me to be satisfied with it!

Each of the other necromancer and cavalier pairs are interesting but my favorite pair was Palamedes and Camilla of the Sixth House. The two of them are very logical and curious and prone to intense examination but they also have very big hearts, and they know each other so well, and I am very weak for those kinds of characters!

Many people have said that they had a hard time with this novel, and I can understand why. A lot of information is dropped in the beginning that doesn’t really make any sense, along with names and titles that are confusing, and if you are a person who needs to make sense of everything right away, or just don’t like to be that kind of confused, it would be hard to get past the first few chapters. But much of it will make sense later, or occasionally you’ll realize that it was just a piece of world building that isn’t all that important to the plot in the grand scheme. Also, I know this has been recommended frequently as “lesbian necromancers in space”, but it is very, very light on the “space” part. But very heavy on the “lesbian necromancers”!

The mystery of the novel is well-written and captivating, and I loved reading it as it unfolded. Since this is the first in a series, not all of the mysteries are solved, but the main one comes to a satisfying conclusion and an intense climax. It sets up the series without making me feel like something was missing from the end of this one-it could have been a stand-alone and I still would be happy with it.

I had a lot of fun reading Gideon the Ninth, and I am really excited for the second one. I mean, look at this cover!

****some serious spoilers below!****

One thing that I think should be warned about that I haven’t seen many others do, is that it does technically have “Bury your gays” trope in it. I don’t want to spoil it specifically, but queer characters are handled well throughout the book and so this didn’t stick out to me as problematic. But some people don’t like to read queer character deaths at all, and I understand, so I thought I would mention it. However! This is a series about necromancers! And it is strongly implied that perhaps it is not the end for this character.