Review: The Year of the Witching

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

I really liked this one. It was so atmospheric and the setting was perfect. It left enough open for my imagination to fill in the blanks. It feels very... Salem Witch Trials time period, but it's farther along than that I think. It was haunting and perfectly paced to slowly crank up the horror-adjacent elements as Immanuelle delves deeper into what's going on.

I don't want to spoil too much, so I won't tell you if my "The Village" vibes were right. I won't tell you if they overcome the plagues. I won't reveal whether there is a happy, almost happy, or sad ending. But I will encourage you to read this book.

4 out of 5 stars. Definitely recommend if you like witchy stories.

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Review: Peace Talks

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Super extra special thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Christmas is coming early this year, everyone. TWO DRESDEN FILES books after years of waiting. Step aside, George Martin. Feel ashamed, Patrick Rothfuss. Jim Butcher has you beat. He went through a dry spell with quite a bit of personal turmoil and came out the other side writing a book so long it had to be split into two. Take notes, authors.

This one was fantastic after the long wait. We jump back into Harry's life, which of course is still cray cray, and it's like coming home.

Of course, Jim Butcher can't let things stay quiet for long. Soon, allies are in trouble, he's got Winter Knight duties, family decides now's the perfect time to add issues, the Council is being its typical self, and a bunch of supernaturals are in town for a peace talk convention that, let's be honest, we all know is bound to go wrong.

If you haven't read the side anthologies, read them before you pick this one up. You'll be happy you did - you'll recognize a character or two and you'll understand what's going on with Ramirez a little better.

Of course, since this was one book that ended up split into two, the ending is semi-cliffhangerish (yeah, I made up a word). Thank Queen Mab we only have a short wait until September for the next bit.

Highly recommended series, but start from the beginning and don't jump in here!

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Review: The Lantern Men

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

I really enjoy the mysteries that Elly Griffiths writes. I've only read one of her Magic Men series, but I plan on eventually rereading that first one and catching up on the series. She's also had a standalone in the past year or two that was quite good. But I absolutely adore the misadventures of one Dr. Ruth Galloway and friends.

This one jumps ahead a little in time after the last one, setting everyone up in different locations geographically as well as in different places in their lives than the last time we saw them. This one also has a large cast of potential suspects, which made it really fun, since it was definitely a hard to solve mystery. We get a little more depth to some of the characters we already know (specifically Tanya), and we get a new character or two that also show some potential. I really like Tony Zhang!

I don't want to spoil anything, but here's a quick rundown: Ivor March is in jail for the murders of two women. There are a few more victims that have yet to be found, and Nelson and team are convinced Ivor March is responsible. Even more so when he tells them he'll reveal the location of the two bodies but only if Ruth manages the digs.

Of course, things get even more twisty after that. So I'll zip my lips and let you read and find out.

I'd really encourage you to read the rest of the series before this one. Lots of personal relationships and plot points from prior books will be spoiled if you don't. But you could read this one in its own if you wanted. Great entry into the series!

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Review: American Demon

American Demon by Kim Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

I am so happy to be delving back into the world of the Hollows. Don't get me wrong. I like Kim Harrison's Peri Reed, the palate cleanser she worked on to give herself a break from the "finished" Hollows. I'm really sad that she didn't publish the third one. I didn't care much for her standalone Perfunctory Affection. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't her best work either. I hate to say it, because I know authors need to write other things to keep themselves happy and fresh-minded, but Hollows is where she shines the most. It's where she's at the top of her game.

This one opens, luckily, with a quick recap of characters and recent events, which is a blessing. I tried hard to complete my reread of the series before I needed to read this one. Alas, my reading mojo hasn't been nearly as big as in previous years, so I finished up through book five (gasp, that ending is so hard) and wasn't able to finish more.

I'm so glad we're back in Rachel's life. Jenks is one of my favorite characters, and I love Al. Sadly, Al takes a backseat in this one due to a VERY dangerous enemy, but that turns out to be okay. A few new characters are introduced that I really, really like, and Cincinatti's shaken up yet again with new leadership on multiple fronts.

All in all, I loved this one very much, but I did have to deduct half a star and go with 4.5, strictly because of something at the end. It would have been a whole star, but luckily, Harrison hinted that there will be a revisiting of this specific thing. (Can't and won't spoil it for you, sorry-not-sorry)

Looking forward to the next book, The Rule, already. Hope it releases next year and we get a little extra resolution and a lot more of Rachel and gang. Keep 'em coming, Harrison!

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Review: Lies of the Beholder

Lies of the Beholder by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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Review: Something to Talk About

Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

So, as most of my followers know, I'm a dude... a dude that's married to dudes, totally into dudes and just dudes. But I wanted to try to support a writer in the LGBTQ+ community, and I wanted to branch out of my comfort zone a little bit. I'm so glad I did!

This slow burn but realistic FF romance was just the right balance of light and fluffy and deep and sophisticated. The relationship grew over the course of the book, rather than starting with sex and moving into love like a huge portion of the MM romances you read. To be fair, most of the MM books I read are more naughty fantasy romance rather than just romance, and this leaned more into the plain romance side of things.

Of course, that worked out well for me, because I'm not into lady parts. The slow burn built into a magnificent crescendo, and even though things do finally come to a peak (if you know what I mean), it was tasteful, romantic, and not at all too detailed for my vajayjay-averse mind. In fact, I think it was a perfectly beautiful scene.

I will warn readers - while I appreciated the diverse writing and the much needed message about the Me Too movement, there are a few moments in their relationship where the miscommunications seem more like a high school romance, rather than two working adults well past their formative years. But they worked through them, and let's be honest, sometimes adults act like teens anyways.

All in all, I'm excited to see what Meryl Wilsner will do next. I hope she writes some more like this so I can widen my "community" readings into a more diverse field.

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Review: Dark Skies

Dark Skies by Danielle L. Jensen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher, Tor Teen, for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I read Dark Shores last year and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it, so when I saw this one available, I knew I needed to request it. And I'll be waiting impatiently for book three after this story.

The beginning of both books tells basically the same story, Dark Shores telling Teriana's side of things and Dark Skies showing Lydia's. Then they both diverge into two separate concurrent tales. I'm assuming they'll meet back up in book three and become one big story. I hope so, because if we go back to Teriana and don't get more of Lydia's story, I'll be devastated, because while I really like Teriana, I adore Lydia.

The magic system and political machinations of this world are really cool, and the stories are fantastic.

Definitely highly recommend reading these two books as soon as you're able, because they're worth the read!

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