Review: Summer Sons

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Yeesh, sometimes giving an honest review is hard for me... when I just didn't like a book. I feel bad, because authors put their soul, their blood, their sweat, their tears into their work, and I hate feeling like I'm somehow diminishing them by giving a low rating.

Alas, I didn't enjoy this one. The characters weren't likable, even in the least. The story was slow, the pacing was off, and I just was bored for most of it. It hooked me at the beginning, but that hook was pulled out and left bleeding for the majority of the rest of the book as Andrew makes bad decision after bad decision, uses drugs, races cars, gets angry, treats his friend like garbage, and just screws everything up royally.

It definitely has a Gothic atmosphere that was rather enjoyable, and I really wanted to like it, especially with the LGBTQIA+ tags, but it just felt... meh.

I didn't like Andrew, I didn't like Eddie from what we learn of him, I didn't like the roommates. Heck I didn't like any of them.

Overall, I just felt like this was a time sink that I shouldn't have invested my valuable reading time in, and I absolutely abhor saying that out loud.

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Review: Under the Whispering Door

Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor (MacMillan-Tor/Forge) for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved The House in the Cerulean Sea so much, so I was super excited to receive an ARC of Under the Whispering Door. Boy was my excitement spot on?!

This story is a much different one than Cerulean Sea. This one immediately starts with death, and all that comes after it. I don't want to spoil it too much, but the main character, Wallace, dies and is taken to a way station on the path to the afterlife, where he meets a ferryman, Hugo, and his "team"/family of Mei, Nelson, and Apollo. It is at this way station that Wallace learns what it truly means to be alive.

This book is a beautiful tale of grief - the grief of losing ones self, the grief of losing someone you love, the grief caused by life. A line from one of my favorite songs, Human by Jon McLaughlin, says it best, "I'm smart enough to know that life goes by, and it leaves a trail of broken hearts behind."

But also at the core of this story is another beautiful tale of becoming. Wallace's arrival and subsequent time at the way station changes him to his core. It changes Hugo. It changes Mei. It changes Nelson and Apollo. It changes EVERYTHING.

This book is highly recommended. It does have some slow parts, so I had to round down my 4.5 rating instead of up, but definitely highly recommended. This was a beautiful tale of grief and becoming.

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Review: When Sorrows Come

When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

Well, we finally made it to the altar. Or at least, the book about the altar. No spoilers on if we actually get there or not. ;)

Toby and her motley crew (at least, a big chunk of them... someone has to hold down the fort at home!) make their way to Toronto for "the big day!" which obviously means that she's walking into trouble and stabbystabs and bloody clothes.

We've got intrigue. We've got danger. We've got elfshot and blood and poison and disguises and royalty and deception and meeting new kinds of Fae and pomp and ceremony and SO MANY CHARACTERS in the same book!

And most importantly.... THE LUIDAEG - one of my favorite characters of all time, ever, EVER.

You definitely should NOT start with this one. This is 15 books and countless short stories worth of history and plot and character development leading up to a wedding. Please don't do yourself a disservice and read this without the depth of all of that backing it up. :)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

(Also includes a fun novella, With Reveling, that takes place immediately after the final scene of the book!)

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Review: True Dead

True Dead by Faith Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for nothing more than an honest review.

FAITH YOU ARE A GENIUS. You've given new life to an already amazing series. You've sent some surprising shockwaves through Jane's world that are sure to massive consequences and reverberations throughout the rest of the Jane series and into Nell's series as well. And you've just blown me away.

I loved the heck out of this one. More big bad setup. Some storylines tied up, but in a way that means they were really threads of a bigger story. Progress on some already setup plotlines. Huge shocks. More Jane-family. More Beast.

Needless to say, I am even more excited about the next (and final *sad face*) Jane book now, and I know that while it's a longer wait, it'll be worth it.

Gosh, I can't rave about the Jane-verse enough!!!!

GO READ THIS! But if you've not read the rest of the series and it's Nell spinoffs, please read those too. You'll be glad you did, both because they're awesome books and because there's so much history that you'd miss out on!

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