On the outskirts of the empire, Dinios Kol and Ana Dolabra confront a shocking mystery. An officer of the treasury has been murdered, after disappearing from a heavily guarded room with exterior locks and windows still intact. The territory of Yarrowdale is the only Canton free from the Empire’s influence – staved off by a hundred-year treaty that is about to draw to a close. With the horrific discovery of parts of the treasury officer’s remains, Ana and Din realize the conspiracy reaches further than just a simple disappearance. The threat comes from an individual who appears to be steps ahead of them, able to predict the moves of their investigation and all its intersecting figures. Far from the threat of the Leviathans, Yarrowdale still plays a vital part in the empire’s tapestry. Here, the dead carcasses of the Leviathans are hauled to an off-shore compound known as The Shroud – where their inner workings are harvested for their magical properties and transported around the rest of the empire. With an omniscient adversary setting his sights on a necessary part of the empire, Din and Ana have their work cut out for them. Yet it is the past that they investigate that could bring the case and Yarrowdale to ruins.
The Tainted Cup was one of my favorite books of the past year, a series debut that ingeniously blended fantasy and mystery in a punchy yet poignant fantasy world featuring an unconventional investigative pairing. Robert Jackson Bennett serves up his follow-up in a novel no less witty nor utterly transformative. Ingeniously plotted, A Drop of Corruption takes our detective duo far away from the influences of their pesky empire, to Yarrowdale, a canton teeming on the edge of change – to be absorbed into the empire or continue to stand on its own. Corruption and the unsettling biology of the Leviathans take root as investigative assistant Din and the ever-brilliant detective Ana Dolabra delve ever deeper into the strange murder and a new conspiracy that could threaten the safety of Yarrowdale and the entire empire. Snaking back upon itself continuously in Bennett’s typical style, A Drop of Corruption nurtures the flawed reality of those who relentlessly pursue progress within an empire and the costs of those who continue to unearth the corruption at its heart.
Robert Jackson Bennett’s Shadow of the Leviathan series is as powerful and reinventive as the leviathans that wreak havoc on the shores of his flawed empire. In A Drop of Corruption, Bennett takes Din and Ana away from the center of this empire to its outskirts in Yarrowdale where a conspiracy bears unexpected fruit and has unforeseen repercussions. As Ana and Din confront a new case with a confounding center, Bennett draws a tighter net around the workings of the empire and the civil servants who work tirelessly in service to its unending goals. The characters continue to delight – Din, sardonic and chronically tired, and Ana the peculiar and brilliant investigator who continues to call people out so precisely, all while blindfolded. Our assistant and local bisexual disaster Din is back and more chaotic than ever, as he copes with greater financial burdens after the passing of his father and a growing sense of helplessness as he is exposed to the reality of the empire. A Drop of Corruption jumps beyond these established dynamics to delve deeper into the psychology of the characters and the makeup of the empire.
What continues to amaze me about The Shadow of the Leviathan series is the balance it strikes between its cynical humor and the deeper commentary taking place within Bennett’s world. Din’s concerns from book one become more prevalent as his loss, his new financial burdens, and his innate desire to enact change fester a desire to leave his job behind. All of these tempt him away from his work with Ana and this could very well be their final case. Through Din and the other characters intersecting his mystery, Bennett gives voice to the fatigue of unburying corruption that seems unending and only drives dedicated people to corruption or absolute pessimism. The revelation that the people who think they are doing things for the greater good – in service of the empire or Yarrowdale’s independence end up bringing about corruption and causing greater suffering was an interesting link in that chain. A Drop of Corruption continues to emphasize people at the mercy of a system and how this empire only begets further pain and violence. Building a better world is oftentimes a tiring endeavor and drives further cynicism but it is still a necessary one, a tenet at the heart of this mystery. A Drop of Corruption is not just a perfect sequel it is a perfect book. The characters are at their height, the dynamics polished and razor-sharp, and the mystery just as world-altering as its predecessor. Robert Jackson Bennett is a formidable talent and I’ll be needing a million more mysteries with Ana and Din.
Thank you to Netgalley and Delrey for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.
This is book five in a seven-book series. As such, former books and events contained in this installment will be discussed. Read with caution(I’m serious).
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
When Paige Mahoney wakes she finds herself captured and outside Scion-controlled territory for the first time since childhood. Six months have passed since the Paris bombings, but Paige has no memory after the night of the masquerade. Dosed heavily with the White Aster plant by her captors to suppress her memory, Paige’s amnesia threatens to drag her under with no chance of returning to her former self. Yet Paige escapes, journeying to Venice to find allies who thought her long dead, and the world transformed in her absence. The memory of Arcturus’ betrayal still cuts fresh, but in coming face to face with the Ranthen and her clairvoyant allies Paige begins to question the truth behind their last conversation. News reaches the Domino Programme of a new Scion plot, Operation Ventriloquist that will tip the scales of control over Europe in Scion’s favor unless they unravel the means behind this new plan. Though Paige was brought out of her stupor with the White Aster it still has roots deep within her dreamscape and there is only one individual who could help her, if he’s even still alive. Traveling to Italy, the team has one chance to bring themselves out of the shadows and play the first hand in the fight over the remainder of the free world. And it all starts with rescuing Arcturus Mesarthim.
What began in Oxford and the clairvoyant underworld of London to the catacombs racing beneath Paris transforms across the winding streets of Italy in this fifth installment to the Bone Season. With The Dark Mirror, Samantha Shannon presents the fifth chapter of her groundbreaking series and it is assuredly her strongest work by far. This fifth book is this series fully realized, in its themes, characters, and deftly constructed plot finally blossoming with astonishing precision. After the agonizing events that concluded The Mask Falling, this sequel is as much a soul-deep reconciliation between Dreamwalker and revolutionary Paige Mahoney and the warden Arcturus Mesarthim, as it is an expansion in the fight to bring the Republic of Scion to its knees. Paige and her allies take the next step outside Scion to unmask a new threat in Italy that will transform the free world. Teeming with angst and decisive action, The Dark Mirror is everything I could have hoped for interwound in one astounding volume. With so many emotional reconciliations, confessed feelings, near misses, and epic confrontations it’s no wonder I spent most of this book being stressed as hell waiting for the other shoe to drop and the rest basking in its brilliance. Samantha Shannon leaves no holds barred in her fifth Bone Season novel which redefines the world order and the next stage for our revolutionaries.
Reading The Dark Mirror was the most stressful reading experience I’ve ever gone through and I can say that with a finality that should by no means assure you that this is not one of my all-time favorite books and I would not venture back into it willingly (as I already have done several times). The Dark Mirror is made all the more stressful by the concluding moments of book four, with Paige racing across Paris as airstrikes commence desperate to free Arcturus whom she realizes did not betray her – to her capture at the hands of Cordier whose intent we don’t fully understand. The Dark Mirror is full of unfamiliar experiences for Paige who suffers further loss of agency with her capture and exposure to the White Aster, a drug that could destroy her dreamscape from the inside out. Her memory loss is coupled with the startling revelation that she has lost six months of her life to the drug, causing her to question everything about herself and the decisions that led to Arcturus’ capture. As she comes back to herself with limited memory Paige rejoins the fight against Scion and must reconcile all that has occurred in the half a year since she was taken.
The Dark Mirror takes a further leap from Paris to the free world in Italy – a world outside Scion that represents immense possibility, for the Sargas expanding their dominion and for the world still free from its control. Book five presents the first time most characters have left Scion in decades and is fraught with the weight of that freedom. The way they react to this newfound freedom and the costs of knowing it for themselves were some of the most intriguing aspects of this novel. Nick and Paige in particular struggle with the free world and it in contrast to the things that have been done to them simply because of who they are and where they were born. As she wrestles with the reality of this free world, Paige continues to experience the lingering ramifications of her torture at Westminster. The continued impacts of Paige’s torture sink in deep, in Venice with its surrounding water, to Capri where her relationship with water is truly put to the test. Being near a constant trigger is challenging for her but beyond that Paige’s loyalty is tremendous when in rescuing Arcturus she puts herself in the path of something that has the power to drag her back to those horrific experiences. Her connection to water and the mastery of her fear is truly awe-inspiring and it reminds me of why she is such a powerful protagonist – her startling tenacity and guiding loyalty that remains unshaken.
The themes of identity and fate come to a head in this fifth chapter, as Paige sets out to rescue Arcturus from Nashira but finds it’s not so simple. Past motifs like the devil and death inverted cards are finally unveiled with devastating effect and unforeseen ramifications. Never would I have guessed the reality of Arcturus’s rescue and it was excruciating to read the chapters dealing with the discovery and the aftermath. This fifth chapter centers heavily on emotional tension and misperception as Arcturus comes back to himself after his latency and Paige continues to provide support – with a degree of distance. In the aftermath of Capri and Arcturus’ return both Paige and Arcturus struggle with guilt and where they stand with one another. Arcturus wants to hide his experiences of being mentally and physically tortured by the Sargas and the dreamwalker Cade Fitzhours, who used his memories with Paige to psychologically and physically torment him. On the other hand, Paige holds herself personally responsible for his capture and believes that he must as well since he is more emotionally reserved. Despite where they believe they stand Samantha flips their dynamic, with Paige looking after Arcturus and relying on her knowledge of him to bring him peaceful moments. The scene where they perform the Gloaming together is probably the standout of this sequence and a wonderful callback to their beginnings at Oxford.
The emotional reconciliation between Paige and Arcturus is a long time coming, but it is agonizing to read, yet made all the more hopeful on the other side. Paige and Arcturus have always shared their truth no matter how painful and excising their truths after six months apart isn’t easy for either of them. Several scenes carved out a hole in my chest, particularly when Arcturus confides in Paige that their time in Paris in that dark room became his shelter during his torture in Carcassonne. I don’t know what hurts more the fact that Arcturus’ dreamscape was in complete shambles and then his spirit shifted it to the Guildhall, the place he first kissed Paige and where he felt the safest, or that when he was being tortured he only had to think of their night in the dark to take himself out of his physical body. I’m still impressed at the depth of intimacy these two share and how that is represented across this fifth installment. At times it almost doesn’t seem real but then Samantha Shannon reminds us of everything they have done for one another throughout the journey they have been on. Their trust and intimacy have held fast against some of the darkest things anyone should ever have to face and that is fully honored by the sexual intimacy they develop in their reconciliation. The whole duet chapter is a testament to the trust and innate love they share. The connection between the dark rooms and physical darkness being outweighed by the firelight at Orvieto is one such instance. Paige and Arcturus have spent so much time within the darkness, in Oxford, and in dark rooms meeting the feelings that burn through them that it’s crucial for this stage — the consummation of their physical relationship and emotional reconciliation— to reflect a stepping into the light.
Across Venice, Capri, Orvieto, and Rome, Samantha Shannon tightens the knot and brings old allies and new enemies into the fight over the freedom of Italy. Nick and Maria are back in full force and are more than ready to assist Paige in this next stage and it is an utterly heartfelt reunion for the Mime Order crew. I loved all the moments with them standing up for Paige and advocating for her against the organizations that intersect the fight outside of Scion. Maria undeniably stands out in this one and is probably my new favorite side character (her channeling Frodo Baggins was terribly funny). She just wants to light things on fire and hang out with her hot girlfriend and I have nothing but respect for that. The Dark Mirror is a real turning point for Paige, as she opens up to those in her life about her experiences and allows them to support her in her recovery. I appreciated how much of that connected to her coping mechanisms in the past and turning aside from them as she embarks on a new chapter. The Dark Mirror is a reminder for our core characters of just how much they can accomplish together as they reunite and make one of the greatest stands against Scion.
As Paige and her clairvoyant allies unveil the truth to Project Ventriloquist, they unmask three new players on the board – Grapevine, Tin Man, and the Council of Kassandra unfurl a world on the brink of war. It all goes down in Rome, in an epic sequence across streets beset by Buzzers allowed entrance through the cold spots awakened by latent Rephaim hidden underneath the city. This final act layers all the known lore about the Rephaim and twists it into a horrific act by Scion to take control of Italy in the next stage of its European invasion. The final fight at the Colosseum with the Ranthen fighting the Sargas Rephs and Paige coming face to face with Cade while the rest of their allies explore beneath for the final body as Buzzers swarm the ruins was utterly masterful. The Dark Mirror highlights Paige’s desperation as a kind of strength, particularly in her fight against the dreamwalker Cade Fitzours who has spent his life coming into his power. Samantha Shannon makes it clear that Paige didn’t have that luxury, she was quite literally thrown in to her power. She has always made unconventional moves, in her time at the side of the White Binder and her reign as Underqueen and she uses that to her advantage. As she fights a dreamwalker with seemingly unlimited powers, her cleverness is again on her side as she uses her own memories to suffocate him in her Dreamscape.
The Dark Mirror is a resounding ode to dreamers and resisters and is undeniably the best in the Bone Season series. This flawless installment manages to entwine every strength from its former novels, with the mystery, trauma, and heartbreak coalescing across a pivotal fight in Italy. It is also Samantha Shannon at her most diabolical. I already cried my eyes out to chapters twelve and thirteen, and the journey out of chapter twelve was so intense and genuinely made me feel like I was being hunted for sport. The echoes of certain scenes of books past, and long-awaited developments make this such a treat for fans of the series old and new. The Dark Mirror is a wonderful tribute to the journey this series has taken and is further proof that it is just the best of fantasy right now. The Dark Mirror is certainly a long-awaited sequel but it’s heartrending and masterfully plotted and deserves to be read over and over again.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Bloomsbury for providing me with an advance review copy.
Something about the winter season just screams fantasy to me so as the weather gets colder and the days get shorter I have been settling into reading more and more from the genre. This winter, the sheer number of fantasy books really popped off so this entire list simply reflects my inability to pull myself away from anything resembling fantasy or romance. But I’m mostly focusing my attention on underrated fantasy gems – books that I haven’t seen enough people talking about for my liking that should definitely be on everyone’s lists for the remainder of the year and beyond. A snapshot of these recommendations includes a rivals to lovers light academic fantasy, a fated reincarnated duo who can’t stop killing each other, a time travel do-over, a new twist on fae romantasy that includes talking daggers, and two brilliant academic fantasy novels.
Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley
A magical dagger that talks to you and thirsts for the blood of your enemies? Say less.
As a proud romantasy enjoyer I am always on the hunt for my next obsession and Sarah Hawley’s romantasy debut is my latest. After managing to navigate the treacherous bogs that separate the fae and mortal lands, Kenna, a young human, is bound in servitude to the illustrious Earth House. Forced to assist the heir as they compete for immortality and control over their power, Kenna must outwit the members of the other fae houses while securing her place in their violent world. From the moment Kenna discovers a magical dagger in the bog with a thirst for blood and a tendency to beg for violence I knew this was going to be a unique romantasy. Playing off of some standard tropes, Servant of Earth is anything but typical. Our protagonist Kenna is clever and outspoken, as she navigates the fae court, unsteady alliances, and several romantic paramours (I am here to put forth the Kallen agenda). All I wanted for Kenna was to witness her rise after her struggle and it was so incredibly iconic to get to that point. She’s a legend, your honor!! I love the books that lean into the brutality of the fae lands and this is very much doing that while also exploring the longevity of war and living under tyranny. Book two is certain to be bloody and nothing short of brilliant and I await it most eagerly.
With one of the most fraught opening chapters, M.L. Wang signified the true excellence awaiting in her academic fantasy standalone, Blood Over Bright Haven. From those first moments I knew this book was going to wreck me, but I didn’t know to what degree. Sciona, a young mage, has become the first woman to take on the mantle of highmage, but when she enters her new ranks she discovers more than the expected animosity with her peers but a flawed reality behind her city’s power that could cost her everything if acknowledged. Unflinching in its look at exploitation at the heart of progress and academia, Blood Over Bright Haven flawlessly details the descent into disillusion and Sciona’s rebirth as she resolves to bring the fetid truth to light. Part of what makes this book so brilliant is how frustrating it is to read from Sciona’s perspective – someone who while marginalized as a woman in academia, still benefits from the system in place and struggles to decenter herself when she learns the price of that power. The connection between her ambition, her underlying biases, and the desire to be seen made for a fascinating character arc, one that culminates in a rage nothing short of spectacular. In the face of this masterpiece, words really do fall short but it is brutal, powerful, and a necessary piece of fiction for modern times.
Ever since she bargained with an eldrich entity, Karys Eska has been able to commune with the dead. Her latest job to uncover a ship gone astray leads her to the only survivor of the wreck, a young man named Ferain. Moments from dying, Karys binds him to her shadow, a choice that sets them on a collision course with the beings that caused the wreck and their divine allegiances holding sway – as she and Ferain become further entangled with the chance they can never separate. Perhaps the most underrated of the books I have chosen here, Asunder by Kerstin Hall is a fantasy triumph. With one of the most confounding and intense opening sequences, Kerstin Hall frames a world caught against a violent past and the uncertain future of a young woman turned Deathspeaker fighting for a future entirely of her own making. Its protagonist Karys, grasps for power in a world that has resisted her and rages against a terrible fate that awaits her when her contract is up. Karys’ vulnerability clouds the narrative and her fear of real connection, while frustrating, lends itself to her growing romance with Ferain and friendships with our main crew. The ending is SOOO diabolical and I need it to mess up more people!
When you’re cursed to obey your greatest rival who you maybe want to kiss a little.
A brand new fantasy duology that feels like a mashup of Ella Enchanted and light academia, Sorcery and Small Magics is a delightful foray into spells gone wrong and forced proximity between two rival sorcerers who team up to break a curse. Tethered closer and closer together despite their animosity due to an unexpected curse, Doocy brings together an adventure into an enchanted forest where two rivals learn just how much they can accomplish together as they work to break it. Our protagonist Leovander was an unmitigated disaster (affectionate) and I love him so much. Characters constrained by insurmountable family expectations who rise above them to cause chaos and write their own stories will never not be loved by me. This is the first in a duology that serves to set up the larger framework for the remainder of the series but it is a thoroughly charming start. Lot’s of bickering, romantic tension, and external issues to make it so that you never put this one down.
A water nymph annoys the local exorcist so much he falls in love.
Escape into a whimsical fantasy with a smidgeon of meddling, and a heck of a lot of heart. Gisela is a river nymph, cursed to forever wander the river in which she drowned. The only way back to her human form is a kiss from a willing human. Luckily, the spa town nearby is full of potential suitors, but Gisela can’t get past Kazik, the grandson of a witch determined to excise the troublesome creatures in the town. After a failed attempt at exorcising Gisela, Kazik agrees to help her regain her humanity, yet neither of them expects to fall for the same man and the intended receiver of Gisela’s kiss. This Fatal Kiss has a cozy fantasy atmosphere that ensnares you in its depths as nymphs, witches, and demons wander and revel in the delights of a small spa town, and something darker lies in wait. The character dynamics are what truly set this one apart. We’ve got a fantastic grumpy sunshine dynamic with Kazik and Gisela as they begrudgingly agree to help one another, and Aleksey rounds that all out with his mischievousness and secretive demeanor. The friendships among the different water nymphs were also so sweet. I went in thinking this was a standalone, but there are several loose ends I imagine will be addressed in a later sequel.
When you’re tethered across every lifetime but you just can’t stop killing each other.
For as long as she’s remembered, Evelyn has not lived to see beyond her eighteenth birthday. Across lifetimes Evelyn has been hunted by Arden, a young man whose very soul is tied to hers. Evelyn has never been able to surmise why Arden hunts her, nor why they are connected in this way, but her current life has never needed her so badly – with her sister in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant that only she can provide. To bargain a way out of her established fate, Evelyn will turn to her murderer across lives for one final stand-down that may prove far deadlier than their connected pasts. Our Infinite Fates was an addictive thrill ride across various lives, and loves, of two complicated people tethered together by an unknown fate. Narratively layered with Evelyn and Arden’s past lives counting back to the truth behind their curse, Steven bridges a love story for the ages that stands against the fabric of time and asks whether love truly can win out against the weight of the past. The twists in this keep coming, unburied even as they seem fully excised against the truth behind this fated connection. Admittedly the final scene in this was enough to make me cry and the entire resolution was so wonderfully wrought you’ll be thankful for the tears.
What if you were one of the angels responsible for destroying a city built up over centuries by a demon and she cursed a bit of herself to follow you forever
I am never shocked by Nghi Vo’s brilliance so this intimate expose into the lives of two immortals endeavoring to rebuild a city after its destruction was never not going to be an unforgettable story. Writing in the face of some truly iconic angel and demon duos, Vo flips the script with angels descending on a city to destroy its people and a demon who built the city up over centuries enacting her revenge and laboring to restore what was lost. The beauty in The City in Glass is in the passage of time and the resolve of a demon not wanned in the face of centuries. Nghi Vo brings together two immortal beings meant to forever bear the weight of the past and witness the hurts and triumphs of humankind. Vitrine, a demon, grapples with impermanency in contrast to her own permanency as an immortal beholden to time. The writing is a reflection of this, as years pass by and the city is restored but inevitably falls prey to violence and change. The love between Vitrine and the angel ostracized by his own kind and cursed with a part of herself was really the icing on the cake. I promise you will never be able to predict where the story ends but it feels altogether fitting for two immortals who have both hurt and loved in their own ways.
Cats, time travel, friends to lovers to enemies to lovers??? A triple threat.
Cozy apocalyptic time travel fantasy is a heck of a combination but Shoestring Theory pulls the threads together to create a unique and oddly hopeful queer fantasy standalone. Many years future, an aging Grand-Mage hides away from his kingdom now in ruins. His husband, King Eufrates Margrave, now rules with an iron grip and has descended into paranoia. As his days dwindle, Cyril casts a powerful spell that pulls him back to the days of his youth – before the death of the princess pulled Eufrates to the throne and madness blossomed, but unfortunately, that is not the only thing he brought back with him. Overhung by a dark future, Shoestring Theory feels like a one last shot kind of plot as cat transformations, old bonds, and future tragedy intertwine with one mage’s search for reconciliation. Rarely do I see friends to lovers to enemies that hinge back to lovers and Eufrates and Cyril were serving that to the extreme. The hatred was so powerful that I really believed these two were too far gone to ever reconcile, but Costa proves just how the past can be healed and these two, and others, can move forward. I really enjoyed the conclusion and who was really pulling the strings of fate all along. Very cozy and armed with a poignancy that had me floored.
Oh no, the hot bisexual man with an impeccable sense of style and a tendency to announce himself in the worst possible way is tasked with keeping an eye on me!! Whatever shall I do??
Rewitched, part cozy fantasy, part bookstore love letter, and part romance is the coziest book I read this fall. I felt swept up in the magic as Belladonna Blackthorn, a young witch newly turned thirty realizes she must prove her worth to maintain her magic or lose it entirely. With the month of October to train Rewitched sparks a journey of rediscovery, with Belle’s interconnected past, her family, and her connection to her power reenlivening her way forward. Lucy Jane Wood thrilled me with a magical atmosphere that travels throughout London from the magical to the mundane spaces – all rendered with a remarkably vivid hand. The slow-burn romance kindling on the sidelines and the family bonds and close friendships really built up a foundation for the narrative and cultivated that sense of community. This was quite simply the coziest fall fantasy with a dash of romance to round it all out and you bet I will be continuing with the next novel set in this universe next fall!
The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H.G. Parry
Good soup: another book exploring exploitation at the heart of academia
Four friends reunited in secret scholarly pursuits are torn apart when experimentation takes a deadly turn and old secrets bring it all crashing down. It’s 1920 and as England recovers from one the deadliest conflicts in its history, Clover Hill, a commoner, is admitted on scholarship to Camford a secret magical academy that exists to raise the next generation of magic users. She tells herself she does it for her brother – one of the only survivors of a deadly faerie attack on the battlefield during the war, but soon Clover is drawn into her own ambitions and plans that could wreck her newfound world. A dark academia similar to Babel in its narrative breadth and core friend group united and then scattered to the winds, The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door intertwines the worlds of the human and fae to expose the wounds of an established system built upon exploitation and the price of dissent. H.G. Parry adds new layers to this overarching conversation of scholarly pursuit in academia with class and gender unifying around the true cost of magic in this world. This character driven academic fantasy certainly stands on its own and should be talked about in conversation with other pillars in the genre.
Every hundred years, a Starfall signifies the arrival of the next queen of Pixie Hollow who will emerge from the embers of the dying star to inherit the crown. Since her fated arrival Princess Clarion, the queen in training, has struggled to learn the teachings of her governing talent and master the magic brimming inside her. Though she inhabits the most renowned position within Pixie Hollow she has never felt more alone, left to spend her days being shunted between meetings and locked inside her bedroom. Not entirely without its charms, Clarion’s bedroom affords a perfect view of the snowy peaks of the Winter Woods – the one season entirely cut off from the other three. No one has seen winter fairies in many years, and the theories of this strange snow-capped world have become extremely far-fetched. When reports of a monster crossing over from winter reach the attention of the palace, Clarion resists the order to remain in place and travels to the boundary between winter and summer. There she meets Milori, the Warden of the Winter Woods and someone just as burdened by duty as she is. Meeting at sunset on the boundary, Clarion and Milori hatch a plan to save their respective worlds but their growing emotional connection could be infinitely more consequential than the nightmares plaguing their lands.
If you watched Secret of the Wings back in 2012 and had your young heart irrevocably shattered, then Wings of Starlight is the book to heal those wounds. When Wings of Starlight was announced a few weeks after I had rewatched the entire Pixie Hollow movie series and dissected at length the plot that should have existed for Clarion and Milori’s love story, it felt like fate and prophecy were working in my favor – not to mention that one of my all-time favorite authors would be writing the love story for the ages. A star-crossed lovers’ plot that resolves in a second chance arc many years later was a job only Allison Saft could accomplish. With her innate ability to give voice to the desperate longing and the callings that connect us across distance, Saft has long been an author I have turned to for romance. No one else could have given voice to a story so full of loneliness and longing, and it’s a wonder that I survived reading this at all. Even if you’ve never seen the iconic films, or stepped into the Pixie Hollow lore, Wings of Starlight is the kind of romance that transcends both things and can be read entirely on its own, although its ending will certainly leave you wanting to experience more from this world and its characters.
Returning to Pixie Hollow, a world that made up so much of my childhood was a comforting slip back into something forgotten, yet indescribably familiar. Allison Saft sweeps you away on a crisp summer breeze into a realm made up of tiny little details down to the colors of the autumn leaves and the sparkling dewdrops on a spider’s web. This intricately detailed world left me wanting nothing more than to sit on the leaves of a tree in the springtime and the overwhelming desire to be a fairy in Pixie Hollow has never been stronger than in reading this novel. Wings of Starlight combines the world of Pixie Hollow against an ardent star-crossed romance between two leaders adrift in a swirling sea of responsibility. With Clarion as queen in training Saft reveals a side of this character previously unseen, someone unsure and alone desperate to master their skills. Clarion’s characterization as someone who feels deeply but has been taught to close off that part of herself to be an effective ruler provides a unique view into leadership and whether or not leaders can retain some semblance of themselves at all. Her profound loneliness as she shoulders the responsibility of her role alone is immensely sad but mirrored in the character of Milori, the Warden of the Winter Woods, her great love. Meeting at twilight on the borders between their respective worlds Clarion and Milori find a similar desire to take action and the borders separating them become insignificant in the face of danger and their growing connection. Containing that quiet yearning that Allison Saft has honed over time, Wings of Starlight pays homage to two iconic characters and the cost of the love that they find with one another. Bringing in dream magic and long-forgotten lore, Saft shapes the mysterious world of winter and all of Pixie Hollow, rounding out this romantic fantasy standalone. Wings of Starlight is a contradiction– a story encapsulating all the beauty in knowing one’s self and the discovery of love, to the agonizing heartbreak in having to sacrifice something you’ve only just begun to call yours. It’s as emotionally devastating as I expected and still, I would not change a thing. Undoubtedly going to return to this one again and again.
Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Happy autumn! It’s officially the start of my favorite season and coincidentally the time of year with the best books being published. With so many books coming out over the next few months I’ve been wanting to share my curated list of fall book recommendations. I’ve been buzzing for months about some of these so here is my somewhat complete list of the books that should be at the top of your tbr for the fall season. It can be overwhelming to wade through the sheer amount of books making their debut, to the ones already published so I’m keeping it simple with just nine titles. Whether you’re craving a gothic romantasy, historical fiction, vampires, young adult, witchy romance, or an expansive fantasy epic I have you covered. Look no further for your next fall read!
Heir by Sabaa Tahir
Return to the world of An Ember in the Ashes, following a new generation of characters across the empire as they encounter a grave threat that could endanger their world. Heir is a bittersweet reunion with characters from books past and an introduction to those who are carrying the torch for the future. Come for the cameos of our old trio, and stay for this masterful expose into corruption and vengeance. Sabaa Tahir’s talent for storytelling across three intersecting points of view and unique timelines is undeniable – as is her penchant for putting the characters we love through the most horrific things imaginable. Expect the Sabaa Tahir standard of having the rug swept out from under you in the most ingenious way. Once I figured out what she was doing I had to close my book and stare at the wall for several minutes it was that good. Heir is not only an incredible book, it’s a timely one. The connection to justice being rendered immobile in the face of violence against innocents, particularly children was very clear. That the path to justice accomplished through further suffering is not justice at all. Centering one figure’s descent and others fighting despite, Sabaa Tahir gives voice to resistance and the power of those walking that path, and the task for those of us bearing witness.
The sequel to Ariel Kaplan’s, ThePomegranate Gate is out this October. Kicking off a slower pace than its predecessor, but aided by the momentum from its chaotic conclusion, The Republic of Salt brings further context to the mirrored mortal and mazik realms, on the brink of war with La Caceria. The Gate city of Zayit is predicted to burn unless the Cacador’s conquest can be brought to a halt, and Zayit’s salt trade could be the key. Deviating from book one, The Republic of Salt features a variety of perspectives across the realms like scattered pieces within the mirror fracturing and mending against an inevitable destruction. My favorite of these continued character arcs is certainly Toba’s. A buchuk of the original Toba now dead, Toba Bet struggles with her identity in the face of her creator’s beheading and her being the one that remains with those memories and experiences. Despite this, Toba is steadfast in her way forward and finds an unlikely path in allying with her sister, Tsifra, the very person who killed her prime self. Connecting two realms and building up to an irrevocable confrontation, Kaplan’s sequel is as immersive as its first installment, providing further context to a wonderous fantasy series.
With fall officially here I am retreating into fantasy worlds and there’s no better break from reality than with Olivie Blake’s upcoming collection of short stories, Januaries. Split into four seasons these fairy-touched tales strike at the monstrous, twisted, fetid, and endearing love and the magic and power-hungry beasts inside us all. The guardian of a magical bridge that grants wishes desires more than her stationary existence, vampirism allows a young woman agency and a way out of her situation, two spouses play a centuries-spanning game of murder, and more. Aided by Blake’s punchy flair and signature prose, Januaries has stories for every kind of fantasy reader. Journey through the year with stories that hit right at the heart of the seasons. While I loved all of these stories my favorites were probably Wish Bridge, The Audit, and The Animation Games. However, this entire collection is top-tier. There are certainly a lot of fantasy story collections coming out this fall, but Januaries deserves to be at the top of your list.
Saara El-Arifi is one of the best writers in fantasy right now and her Ending Fire trilogy has been one of my favorites to follow over the last few years. The Ending Fire, its conclusion, is just as gripping as its former two books and has only further solidified her as an epic fantasy writer pushing boundaries within the genre. Simmering with magic, blood, and sacrifice, the battle over the future of the Warden’s Empire has begun. Sylah, Jond, Hassa, and Anoor have all been set apart on different paths, but in this final fight, El-Arifi draws them back together to face their pasts and the hurts that have further sundered them. After three books we get some truly gratifying concluding arcs – Hassa standing in her place and having a leading position, Jond choosing the future he never thought he could have, and Sylah and Anoor finding their way back to one another. This trilogy is flawless, from its character journeys to the dissolution of a flawed empire. The commentary on history as a tool for control and the powerless becoming powerful was incredibly well done across this series. While I am sad to be putting this series to rest I will continue shouting about it because it is THAT GOOD.
Julie C Dao’s adult debut is a blood-soaked gothic delight that gives the character of Lucy Wenestra the depth and journey into depravity she so justly deserves. Vietnamese and queer, Lucy has always felt isolated in English society, playing a part she abhors and desperate to free herself from the inevitable confines of marriage and motherhood. But it is her fascination with death that leaves her sleepwalking through her family’s mausoleum and caught in a mist that seems to be beckoning her somewhere…or to someone. Unfortunately, her dreams are more than fiction and they have a price. Now Comes the Mist explores the darkness at the heart of immortality and the true cost of freedom for women at this time. Lucy’s desperation is palpable and it’s easy to understand her desire for agency in a world that seeks to confine her. Through vampirism, Julie Dao explores the flawed nature of this freedom, tying in purity culture and an individual who seeks to further limit her. Now Comes the Mist is the best Dracula retelling I have read in years and if you are deciding between the myriad vampire books published this fall, let it be this one.
Now this book has no bearing on the fall season, I just happened to read it in September and needed an excuse to talk about it. Elizabeth Kingston is at the heart of my September reading, from her medieval to regency historical romances something about her writing was scratching that itch for me. One Burning Heart is a continuation of her Welsh Blades series and follows William, the ambitious Lord of Ruardean, and his pious wife Margaret, whom he has not been able to stand since they were wed. But what he doesn’t know is that is by her design, as Margaret hides her true self so that she can undermine his plans to aid the king and the Church in funding a new Crusade. One Burning Heart is quite a hilarious novel, featuring a tempting blend of romance and history – specifically the deviations from the Church’s teachings and their consequences. Religious piety as a facade for many to prop up their agendas is central to the plot and the conflict between William and Margaret, who work to build trust while confronting the true nature of the church they serve. I really love how much of this was about moves and countermoves, up until the resolution. This has one of the most astonishing first lines I have read this year. Read it and tell me you don’t want to buckle in for this wild ride.
Descended from an ancient family known only to the secret society she fled from in childhood, Kidan Adane has spent her life avoiding her fate. In the aftermath of her younger sister’s disappearance, all clues lead back to Uxlay University and Susenyos Sagad, the vampire bound to her family’s bloodline. To unravel the truth, Kidan will enter the grounds of Uxlay and take on the mantle of the Adane heir, because someone took her sister for a purpose, and the plot for control runs deep into the heart of this ancient society. Immortal Dark is a stunning debut that laces vampires with dark academia and just a tinge of romance. With such a unique twist on the vampire mythos, this was already at the height of my list of vampire books to read this season and it did not disappoint. Prepare to delve deep into the history of this secret society, vampires, and family bloodlines as Kidan seeks to discover the truth and contends with the vampire companion determined to best her. There’s more of a focus on the academic aspect, but I fell in with the competing families, emerging friend group, and lore. The enemies-to-lovers romance was also a nice addition and really rounded out the story. Count me in for the sequel and anything else Girma writes!
A bloody, gothic feast of a debut, Phantasma will trap you inside its twisted walls and a manor full of secrets where bargains are struck and broken, and one necromancer will contend with its deadly competition to save her sister and receive the elusive wish granted to the surviving player. I have long been an admirer of Kaylie Smith ever since her young adult series debuted and Phantasma is quite possibly my new favorite gothic romance and book from her all in one. Combining a foreboding gothic atmosphere, a competition influenced by the nine circles of hell, and a cursed bargain with a mysterious stranger, Smith casts her shining romantasy with formidable claws. Ophelia Grimm confronts the seen and the unseen, what’s real and what isn’t, and Smith enmeshes this with some stellar OCD representation. Phantasma is the very definition of having your cake and eating it too, it’s smart, sexy, horrifying, rageful, and somehow all of those can coexist without being contradictory. I’m completely under Kaylie Smith’s thrall and not at all upset about it.
Author Nadia El-Fassi brews up a delightful blend of magic, wedding shenanigans, pesky hexes, and sizzling romance in one bewitching debut. In a magical cafe in London, a kitchen witch fends off a love hex by guarding her heart from potential love interests and focusing on perfecting magical bakes for her clientele. Too bad her handsome new customer is the best man at her friend’s wedding and avoiding him is impossible as they’ll be stuck together for the entire weekend. Best Hex Ever promises a twist on that classic witch story imbued with coziness and served piping hot with a side of chai. Dina and Scott have the kind of instantaneous connection that had me hooked on their every interaction. Best Hex Ever is a wonderfully magical romance with sparks that ignite into an inferno (seriously this book is so hot). Nadia El-Fassi proves that romance and magic are often intertwined and some connections are their own kind of magic. I’m certain many readers will find themselves in this miraculous romance novel about charting your path and opening yourself up to love again. Nadia El-Fassi brings together a one-of-a-kind witchy debut that I plan to read over and over again.
Kembral Thorne never imagined that a turn of the new year party, her first outing since childbirth, would throw her back into the action she had been desperately trying to avoid. A member of the Guild of Hounds, Kembral’s job is to leave the prime reality and enter echoes, layers of reality beneath our own, to rescue those unluckily enough to fall through. Just as the clock strikes nine Kembral bears witness to a poisoning that leaves most of the party guests dead, but before she has time to comprehend the murders she and everyone at the manor enter an echo, one plane of reality beneath their own. Everyone is alive and well, but unable to tell they are in an echo, all except Kembral. The only other privy to this sinister shift is Rika Nonesuch, notorious thief, and master illusionist, Kembral’s rival and greatest mistake. Rika’s skills are undeniable, and together they piece that an echo relic is to blame for sending them down from the prime reality, the grandfather clock ringing out the hour. The first echo is only the beginning. At the end of each hour, a horrific murder takes place by strange figures just before they are sent down into the next plane of reality, and time resets. Growing ever enlightened to their strange circumstances, Kembral and Rika will risk everything, even their uncertain future together, to unmask the real players and reset their world before their violent reality turns permanent.
A turn of the New Year party brings on the intrigue and mystery in The Last Hour Between Worlds – a startlingly layered series debut that disentangles a campy, sinister locked room murder mystery spanning twelve different layers of reality. Featuring a postpartum agent on leave trying to stop the murders and a sapphic cat-and-mouse game between two rivals who team up to solve the case, Caruso’s latest is an ambitious cocktail with ever-changing flavors, all of which remained entrenched in my memory long after I finished reading. Caruso plunges her characters into alternate realities that grow more and more bizarre, as she untangles her complicated web of humans, echoes, and empyreans playing a dangerous game to decide the fate of the upcoming year. With twelve new realities to wade through before the game is up, The Last Hours Between Worlds introduces a new kind of fantasy mystery that completely rewrites the possibilities of its genres and the types of protagonists featured at their center.
Wading into Melissa Caruso’s fantasy murder mystery set over twelve warped realities folding into alignment was as mind-bending as these phantasmagorical realities themselves. Set on the eve of The Crux Year, the party brought into focus could not be more unusual, apparent by the bloodshed commencing on the prime reality and dragging down beneath the echoes. As different planes of reality converge whoever makes a kill on that reality binds it to the one preceding, and the person with the most blood spilled at the twelfth and final layer of reality can dictate the outcome of the new year. Kembral Thorne, mother and fierce member of the Guild of Hounds steps into the role of unmasking the true players of the game, from the iridescent beetles swarming the house, to the mysterious masked attendants, and a horned being of pure chaos who shows up to doll out violence according to birth moon. Not all players are inhuman, from the corrupt politician directly responsible for kidnapping Echoborne children, to his spirited adversary, or the host of the evening who willingly brought the echo relic into her home – the clock driving them ever deeper into the echo planes. Superimposing a series of ever-bending realities, Caruso manages to unveil her true purpose as her characters encounter increasing violence and investigate the corruption at the heart of their evening and the motivations of all.
The Last Hour Between Worlds is a revelation in so many different ways, but largely in its central protagonist Kembral – a new mom encountering the challenge of balancing her role in motherhood and her career within the Guild of Hounds. Both are fulfilling in their own unique way but marrying the two seems impossible. Her current situation seems to prove that all the more. As she struggles to balance her diverging worlds Kembral is quite literally thrust down into ever bizarre imitations of her world where she steps back into her former shoes and learns just how she can find harmony. Like layers of a cake all with astonishingly different flavors, the echoes shift – one entangling the house in jungle vines, another an insipid rot, to a lake of blood running throughout the house lapping at our characters’ heels. Caruso attaches these layers to her mystery and everything revealed within the repeat of a single hour. Staving off reaching the twelfth and final layer, Kembral uses her talents as a Hound to untangle the truth connected to the heart of the Crux Year and the relationship with her rival Rika. The reveals to the motivations of our cast and to the true players of the game were completely illuminating, as humanity becomes a playing field and our characters puppets for the machinations of empyreans and the echo beings beneath the prime reality.
Melissa Caruso has left me completely stupefied by this inventive series debut. Playing on the traditions of Agatha Christie and the investigative duo, but integrating concepts of the multiverse and centering queer characters, Caruso puts her own stamp on the classic whodunit and the fantasy mystery crossover. Impressive in its magnitude, The Last Hour Between Worlds is a groundbreaking beginning emboldened by what is sure to be a boundary-spanning series. I’m so impressed by the twists that didn’t lose their punch and how deeply layered this managed to be. I was put through all the emotions from start to finish and though I can’t easily encapsulate the full experience of reading The Last Hour Between Worlds, it is truly brilliant and deserves to be read by everyone this November and beyond.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Malini has fulfilled the prophecy of the nameless gods, crowning herself empress of Parijatdvipa. Yet she will not take it further from the throne to the pyre, decrying the unnecessary sacrifice of the women who burned before her. Back in Ahiranya, war looms. After thrice surviving the deathless waters, Priya thought there would be no consequences for the power simmering beneath her skin. Driven to betray her love, Priya walks a dangerous path against the Yaksa who unveil a plot that will further transform her world. Beneath the deathless waters lies the powerful Yaksa, Mani Ara, who instills faith in Priya, but whose support comes with an irreversible consequence, Priya herself. Led far away from her sister and home, Bhumika is without her memories, her connection to her powers and the Yaksa irrevocably severed. On a path to learn how to destroy their subjugators, Bhumika and Jeevan evade their pursuers by hiding out in small towns desperate to learn information that could turn the tide in this war. Set against an enemy ancient and powerful, three women torn apart by fate and their respective roles must reconcile or see the destruction of their kingdoms and the entire world.
The Lotus Empire is the third and final installment in the Burning Kingdoms trilogy, tethering three women across kingdoms against a grave threat that will further transform their already unstable world. Tasha Suri sets Parijatdvipa alight with further consequences as Malini, now empress, stands against the priesthood and taking to the pyre – the ultimate sacrifice, and Priya and Bhumika rage against the control of the Yaksa who have now taken over Ahiranya with sights set beyond its borders. Though old enemies have been ousted, a new fight is on the rise. Drawn outward like a flower in bloom, The Lotus Empire unfolds a deadly approach to the war with the Yaksa and the true cost of defining the future of an empire. Tasha Suri leaves no hold barred in this astounding series finale that tests the depth of our characters’ loyalty and the paths they will walk to reverse the hold of an unknowable enemy on their world. Its breadth of perspective and world scope increasing steadily outward as the stakes only intensify, The Lotus Empire challenges not just its former two books but how one rounds out an epic fantasy trilogy.
Before I sank into the treacherous waters of The Lotus Empire I decided to double back and read through the Burning Kingdoms trilogy in its entirety – quite possibly the best decision I could have made considering just how much I had forgotten from my initial read-through of this series. Witnessing the seeds of the plot unfurling over books one to three was so rewarding and made this finale all the better. The Lotus Empire brings more to the world stage with our three characters scattered to the winds, but slowly unifying against the fight to come. The character arcs given to Priya, Malini, and Bhumika across this final act are my favorite in the trilogy – Malini, desperate to hold fast to her position as empress and facing an alien enemy, Priya at a crossroads with a power that could save her people that comes at the expense of her autonomy, and Bhumika without her core memories on a path to destroy the Yaksa. The way these three narratives intersect and twine throughout the book is sheer perfection and it’s some of Suri’s best plotting so far. Tasha Suri uncovers the depth of the deception of the Yaksa, promising a better world that can only be accomplished through bloodshed and subjugation. Through Priya’s experiences and those working to find a weapon to use against them, The Lotus Empire elevates the history of the Yaksa and the Age of Flowers. Some of my favorite parts of this series have been the intricate histories and cultures, the past hidden from view, and that being unveiled after two books was just nothing short of spectacular. The revelation that the Yaksa fled their homeworld because of violence, making their way to Parijatdvipa where they place that burden of war and violence upon its peoples was a necessary tie-through for this novel’s exploration into empire and its roots.
After attempting to excise Malini from her heart in exchange for her safety and the aid of the Yaksa, Priya confronts her decisions and the truth of what the Yaksa truly desire. Going into this finale I had no idea how Suri was going to reconcile Priya and Malini after the events that concluded TheOleander Sword, only that it was going to be extraordinarily painful, and I had the right idea. Within her decision to turn away from the pyre, Malini grasps all the power she can and wields a weapon that could save her former lover and kingdom, and hold back the threat of the Yaksa. But all power comes at a price, one that Malini must weigh against crown politics and her intricate alliances. Though she went to such painful lengths to walk away from Malini at the end of The Oleander Sword, there’s a shift in equilibrium, with Priya walking into Malini’s orbit to save herself, ultimately casting off the protection the Yaksa granted those in Ahiranya. The callbacks to the wedding garlands with the gold necklace Malini uses to tether Priya away from the Yaksa’s influence was exactly the kind of pain I expected from Suri. But Priya accepts this willingly and reconciles how she went about saving Malini from the wrath promised by Mani Ara before her betrayal. That Priya views her betrayal as an extraordinary act of love because she was saving Malini and she would walk that painful path again even knowing where they are now completely shatters my heart. From dream sequences to confrontations, Tasha Suri ramps up the tension between these two, culminating in a send-off that feels fitting to their characters but no less devastating.
The Lotus Empire is a brilliant blossom of wrath and enduring love set ablaze in a final fight over Parijatdvipa’s future. Full of rage and unbridled determination, The Lotus Empire is a testament to Suri’s craft and everything her characters have fought so hard for, clawing their way toward a future of their own design. With her signature chapters jumping between our core three characters and other side perspectives providing necessary contexts, Suri brings an ending to fruition that honors the entire journey across this trilogy. There’s plenty of sapphic yearning, epic fight scenes, and emotional endings to cling to and leave you completely bereft by the end of this final chapter. This finale was everything I was hoping for and The Burning Kingdoms trilogy as a whole is some of the best in fantasy and deserves all of its flowers. Tasha Suri is an absolute legend and I need everyone to bear witness to her talent with this life-changing conclusion.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Orbit Books for providing the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.
Folks we’re over halfway through the year and I still have so many books to talk about! As we transition into early fall, I’m focusing on some of the advance releases that have been wasting away in my inbox and steadily sharing my thoughts with you all on the titles that I’ve read from this summer. While I am currently in a science-fiction fantasy reading mood, I read quite a few romances this summer to balance out the heavier stuff. I have been reading so much fantasy, most of which was dragging me into a reading slump, so a lot of these were the books I picked up to drag me back out. I took a stab at the cowboy romance trend, read some sapphic recommendations from friends, and returned to my historical romance roots. Here are my thoughts on seven new favorites!
Lost and Lassoed by Lyla Sage
It’s Cowboy Summer
It was indeed all about the cowboys this summer and I decided to hop on this trend with the third book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, Lost and Lassoed. Lyla Sage is a fan favorite in this subgenre and this is the first I’ve read from her. Now all I want to do is double back and read the other two in this series because this was a wild ride. This hate-to-love romance between chaotic fashion-minded Teddy Anderson, out of a job and down on her luck, and far too dependable Gus Ryder, the one man she cannot stand, brought on the heat. I have always had a soft spot for forced proximity romances but I must say, forced proximity but cowboy is on a completely different level. Sage composes this quiet vulnerability as these two cohabitate and open up to one another in their shared evenings. Teddy is definitely my favorite, charming, but equipped with a rough edge to match. THE cowboy romance heroine of cowboy romance heroines. Lost and Lassoed is my first Lyla Sage and it certainly won’t be my last. Just the perfect summer read!
Never let your husband stop you from finding your wife.
There’s nothing I love more than a hidden folkloric fantasy gem, but make it sapphic, and the speed at which I will run to read it will shatter Olympic records. This was recommended to me by the lovely, Emily Hamilton (thank you, icon), and I had the best time reading it. A midwife living on the outskirts of her village discovers a woman in labor on the night of a terrible storm who seems determined to flee to the water and after helping her deliver the baby harbors her suspicions upon the arrival of the woman’s husband. Retelling the Selkie Wife, Sutherland weaves a seaside folktale centering around those isolated within their communities, domestic abuse, and the marginalized pushed to the outskirts. A Sweet Sting of Salt is a unique story that centers strongly around the unsettling mystery of what happened to Muirin – with a slow-burn romance to offset the strange forces at play. I found the focus on midwifery in a seaside town and the commentary on Jean’s skills & labor as what allows her to remain in her community after her “transgression” especially compelling. The ending with this one is fairy tale levels of perfect so don’t be afraid to wade into the strangeness.
A fallen god turned detective and his new assistant who is actually behind the murder of his most recent case solve a series of strange murders that could tear apart the city. Getting back at the insufferable trickster god who frequents your coffee shop by becoming his assistant to throw him off the scent of a murder you committed is only the beginning of this fabulous urban fantasy. Sophie Kim sprinkles some reluctant allies to lovers, hidden identity, and slow-burn romance into a plot to uncover a murderous demon. The God and the Gumiho is as bracing as that first cup of coffee in the morning, filled with delicious banter and the intersection of myth with a modern setting. This book has been compared by many to a Kdrama and that is absolutely spot on, with the humor and romance uplifting the darker elements, and those shocking emotional moments that cut to the core and send you reeling. The God and the Gumiho is a fun one, but don’t doubt you’ll be left in tears.
Ten Things I Hate About You but make it historical romance?? oh, I ATE THIS UPPPPPP. Amalie Howard is only getting better and this whole series is impeccable
The Worst Duke in London is a sublime historical romance twist on 10 Things I Hate About You featuring a financially destitute Duke and a headstrong wallflower brought into one another’s orbit by a sly bargain. Amalie Howard is at the top of her talent with her latest series twisting classic romantic comedies into sparkling regency love stories. Loved that the entire addition with this one was: what if there were animals everywhere and the duke was attacked by kittens. Now I have always counted on Amalie to bring that incredible heat, but this was somehow even steamier than I expected. Gage and Evangeline already have an incredible connection from their initial hatred to their mutual bargain, and that translates perfectly as they engage in a physical relationship. Historical romance that retells an iconic romantic comedy with animal activism and Bridgerton vibes? What more could you want. The Worst Duke in London is a delightfully steamy historical romance romp and a fitting nod to its source material. Lovers of animals, men undone, and scandalous agreements unite!
Happy HoliGAYS! Ashley Herring Blake is gifting us the holiday romance of the year. It’s cute, angsty, and hot as hell.
Reading a holiday romance in the dead of summer was a feat in and of itself, but for Ashley Herring Blake I will quite literally do anything, even wade into the holidays before it’s time. Make the Season Bright is a second chance romance between two ex-fiances invited to stay in Colorado for the holidays, only for them to end up being stuck in the same town, with nothing to do but deny they know each other. Ashley Herring Blake does an incredible job focusing on characters Brighton and Charlotte separately, particularly with the different perspectives of what exactly went wrong in their relationship and how those differing views can be reconciled. Make the Season Bright brings that holiday warmth and sapphic angst like a bittersweet Christmas cocktail with all the sweetness from the season meeting the lingering bitterness in acknowledging the past. Christmas is a time for memories old and new, and that is honored throughout this holiday standalone. With the past impacting the present even as these two try to give it another go, Herring Blake proves it’s never too late.
When you’re determined to ignore your hot new wizard librarian but he keeps befriending all of the crows and obsessing over fountain pens.
Hidden identities and castle coziness combine like the most bewitching magic spell in this brand new romantasy series. In the vein of Ella Enchanted and Legends and Lattes, Stephanie Burgis delivers an unforgettable romantic fantasy that is uproariously funny and packs an emotional punch right among the coziness. A feared sorceress hires a wizard to aid her in the dark arts and straighten up her massive library, but little does she know he is actually an Imperial Archduke in disguise and the one she considers to be her greatest enemy. Combine castle antics with a bit of found family, intrigue, and romance and you get this book. Burgis traps two unlikely allies in a castle and makes them confront the facades they’ve upheld and the loneliness they could stand to leave behind. I love the focus on who people are behind the masks they wear and how it can be protective, or a lie to uphold to gain power over others. An all-around hilarious beginning that I will continue through for the other witches’ love stories. Read this for the massive library and crow companions alone.
Sophie Jordan I am familiar with your game, but with historical romance, so in a more real way I am unfamiliar with your game.
A Fire in the Sky brings together political intrigue, a marriage of convenience, and dragons in a fiery new romantasy series from author Sophie Jordan. Tamsyn, a young woman in the royal court, has spent her life in the palace raised alongside the royals to endure the beatings and punishments for their transgressions. Her life changes drastically when she is made to trick a feared warrior into marrying her instead of the princess he expected. Playing off of the marriage of convenience trope, Jordan stakes out the space for a new series featuring genre staples and brand-new elements intertwined. Having read an abundance of Sophie Jordan’s historicals I knew that the romance was going to be the star of the show, but considering how this ended I am even more excited to see where she takes the history behind this world and the dragon lore. A Fire in the Sky is a classic romantasy revitalized, with dragons and complicated characters meeting fate and a truth that could reshape their world. Utterly addictive and I cannot wait to read more.
This is book four in a seven-book series. As such, former books and events contained within will be discussed.Proceed with caution.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
London is no longer safe. Paige Mahoney, dreamwalker and fugitive, survived her torture at the Westminster Archon, but now fleeing her city is the only way to survive. Secreted away at the turn of the year by new allies, Paige and Arcturus find themselves in Paris, holed up in a safe house awaiting orders from the mysterious Domino Programme. Though she survived the brutality of the torture at the hands of Scion, Paige’s next trial will be to overcome the physical and mental wounds left behind. Left alone in the Paris safehouse with Arcturus, Paige slowly finds her way back to herself and begins to mend, but the resistance cannot wait long, not even in Paris. Paris is a city wholly unlike the one she left behind, complete with a clairvoyant syndicate slightly removed from the martial law of London yet innately entangled in the struggles of the Grey Market and Sheol II, the next clairvoyant Bone Season. With orders from Domino to infiltrate the French government using her dreamwalking abilities, Paige returns to the action and uncovers secrets even her Ranthen allies hoped would stay buried. In a short amount of time, the shadow of the anchor has stretched further over the free world and Paris now stands on a precipice. United, Paige and Arcturus could sway the outcome, but revolutionaries so rarely get to see the fall.
The Mask Falling marks a divergence from the former three books of the Bone Season as the shadow of Scion spreads over the free world and revolutionary and clairvoyant Paige Mahoney fights to come back to herself in Paris after a period of horrific torture. Framed within a quiet Parisian interlude, Paige and Arcturus take stock of their situation and break free from the roles that have guided their paths thus far to decide who they want to be to themselves and to one another. Lulled into a false sense of security, Samantha Shannon waits to dissolve this peaceful home and pull these two back into the gravity of a different clairvoyant underworld, one that plays off the nightmares of Paige’s experiences and the worst of Scion. In her fourth installment of the Bone Season, Samantha Shannon pulls free the bulk of her delicately designed plot to embark into her next act –one that bites as much as its predecessors but leaves significantly deeper scars.
Fleeing into an inverted world of clairvoyants, Paige and Arcturus are entirely on their own in Paris. Drawn down deep into the dank and decrepit catacombs of the Parisian syndicate, Paige physically confronts her wounds – the waterboard where she was tortured and the emotional scars left over from her entire experience at the Archon. Much of the external environment has sharpened to match these experiences. Water falling down upon window panes, showerheads, headboards, and even the solace of Arcturus are overwhelming and send her right back to the basement where she endured her torture. With the Parisian syndicate, Samantha Shannon broadens her playing field. The catacombs filled with human remains and scattered souls waiting to claim helpless voyants were startlingly claustrophobic to wade through as the scope of this world literally delves ever deeper. Paris introduces a world outside Paige’s element and by extension the reader, a shift in the epicenter of Scion and its plots against the remainder of the free world. The Mask Falling engages fully with the idea of Scion as a puppet government upholding the desires of the Sargas, and questions who is comfortable cutting or transitioning those strings to another power. Is freedom even possible if you are trading one cage for another? All of these are things Paige contends with in Paris alongside her future within the Scion resistance outside of London.
The Mask Falling is a book that haunts you in its finality. Both an interlude that wraps you in its comfort and a shipwreck caught up in a tempest, casting you wet and ragged back upon the shore. I am still held in equal parts disbelief and awe at its ending. Representing the next stage in the resistance against Scion, The Mask Falling is a deeper evolution of Paige and Arcturus as individuals. Though she lost a large part of herself in her torture at the Archon, Paige isn’t given long to compartmentalize before returning as a clairvoyant power and face of the Scion resistance. But in Paris, Paige can keep her armor on around others without having to return to the rigid roles she walked within London. Paige remarks to Arcturus that they are finally on equal footing – as fugitives they can be whatever they want to one another without fear, or even shame getting in the way. Much of this book centers around rebirth and the masks that we cast off or place upon ourselves to survive. Yet, Arcturus desires Paige without any facade or artifice but must confront his shortcomings if he is to meet her unmasked. As a Oneiromancer, Arcturus is someone led by memory and it has become its own kind of prison. Though he has held back the weight of mortality for centuries, his attachment to Paige and her mortality to him by extent has left him led by fear. Paris is a place where they both realize that fear has no place within their relationship and that they can be more to one another without feeling like it will detract from all that they are trying to accomplish. Arcturus is her partner in all things, and the safe house in Paris highlights that despite the initial lack of romantic confrontation. Arcturus taking care of Paige during her convalescence, them watching movies together in the living room, and the sunsets on the roof were these little bright patches pushing back against the darkness. I honestly wished they could have stayed there forever despite all that was needed of them.
The support Arcturus lends Paige as she struggles to reassemble herself after torture is extraordinarily gentle. It was gutting to hear him compare his own experiences being tortured alongside the other Ranthen, to hers at the Archon. “But you were alone, Paige” is a simple statement that strikes back at the profound loneliness at the center of what she went through. Unburdening herself is freedom from walking that path alone, and Arcturus is someone she trusts to walk it with. The idea Arcturus purports of identity as something ever fluid, that every day we die because we are constantly in a state of transformation relating to Paige’s recovery of her identity after torture was really lovely. Paige and Arcturus evolve their emotional intimacy and trust substantially during their time together in Paris. Samantha Shannon calls forth this mutual view of the other as home, as both Paige and Arcturus had to flee their homelands because of violence and have found a solid landing place with each other. The revelation that Arcturus’ dreamscape is a reflection of the Guildhall – representative of the safety and trust he found with Paige, but also where she burnt down their prison and freed them both is further proof of that. The overture sequence in Paige’s bedroom after Versailles is them embracing all that they are. In the dark room with Arcturus, Paige learns that her body is not just a weapon to be wielded for pain or for power, but something that can bring her pleasure that belongs entirely to her. Paige and Arcturus find courage in choosing one another despite fear and build a new room together to stave off the pain of their memories.
The Mask Falling is just Arcturus and Paige scheming, healing, and yearning with decidedly mixed results. I love just how much of this book is centered around these two taking in a new side to Scion together and communicating and problem-solving against their new allegiance to the Domino Programme and the Parisian syndicate. Paige confronts her personal limitations after torture and puts herself in some horrible situations but Arcturus is there to remind her that she doesn’t have to push herself to perform and she is more than just her power. Her unconventional decisions hit quite a high point here. The assassination attempt at Versailles ending with Paige burning the entire palace down was pure chaos and honestly, I expected nothing less from her. She’s experienced the horrors of Oxford and won’t let anyone else be subject to another Bone Season and she’ll burn down a centuries-old building to ensure it.
The Mask Falling is so many things at once, a quiet moment to heal before danger darkens the door, and love and trust giving way to betrayal. Part of what makes this fourth chapter so devastating is how quickly Samantha Shannon instills a sliver of doubt and then pulls back the curtain just as fast, but it is quite literally too late. Paige running through the streets of Paris as airstrikes commence desperate to rescue Arcturus, only for a bomb to level the building and Cordier to kidnap her as she frantically screams out her lament was entirely surreal. The Mask Falling introduces key new players – members of the Parisian syndicate, rephs, and the dreamwalker Cade Fitzours stake their claim on the chess board, and will undoubtedly appear in the fight over the future of the Scion Republic. In Paris, Paige Mahoney became something more than Underqueen and Dreamwalker but much like the removal of masks, the shift from those armored facades leaves all doubts laid bare. Merciless in every sense, The Mask Falling is a pivotal forge forward in the fight against an unconstrained empire and the courage it takes to stand unmasked in the face of further violence.
Paige Mahoney, the Black Moth, has emerged triumphant in the Rose Ring. Crowned Underqueen over the clairvoyants of London, Paige leads the syndicate on a brutal campaign against Scion who have unveiled a new technology, Senshield, that at its core would allow clairvoyants to be identified on a level previously unforeseen. Assisted by the faction of the Rephaim resisting Sargas rule, Paige desperately seeks to train the clairvoyant factions against this new reality. But the betrayal of Jaxon Hall, the White Binder, and her former mentor cuts into her newly established reign as Underqueen. Jaxon has taken the title of Grand Overseer and aids the Sargas who once held him prisoner in Oxford in their campaign against clairvoyants. With his intimate knowledge of the clairvoyant syndicate and their safe houses across the city, there truly is no safe place left within London. The fight may be over before it could even take wing. When she learns of a Senshield weapon component housed in Manchester, Paige and a few of her voyant allies travel there to attempt to undo the technology set against their kind. There she will confront her past which has more of a hold over her than she realized, and the cost of her place within the Scion resistance.
The Song Rising, the third chapter in Samantha Shannon’s Bone Season series serves as a bridge between the existing state of the clairvoyant underworld and the ever-expanding threat of Scion. Where the Mime Order revealed traitors within the London syndicate and Paige Mahoney assumed the mantle of Black Moth and Underqueen, The Song Rising puts her newfound reign to the test. Samantha Shannon does not give the narrative a second to reorient itself, jumping back to the betrayal of a close ally, marking an irrevocable shift within the clairvoyant syndicate. Brutal in its unflinching perspective of resistance and its personal costs, The Song Rising exposes cracks in the facade of the clairvoyant underworld now facing outright culling through new Scion technology. Walking a fine line between her connection to Arcturus and the cost of leading a revolution against the Scion Republic, Paige must come to terms with her newfound identity in the face of increased onslaught from Scion and where best to place herself within the resistance that she initiated.
Rocked deep by the betrayal of her mentor and the intensifying campaign of violence against clairvoyants, this third chapter introduces significant challenges for Paige. Though she is now a leader with the power to bring about change, there is a deep loneliness at the heart of the role she occupies. Desperation holds immense sway over Paige as Scion enacts the next stage of their horrific scourge against clairvoyants with a technology strong enough to hunt them down in mass. Paige’s entire ethos within the syndicate is further uprooted in the reveal that her mentor, Jaxon Hall, was the one who betrayed Arcturus and the other humans who tried to escape from Oxford decades ago. In the face of immense betrayal, Samantha Shannon contrasts Paige with Jaxon – two individuals who had the capacity to resist at Oxford but who walked down different paths. Opposite to Paige, Jaxon’s core weakness comes from prioritizing his place within the system which comes at the expense of others and is something he will pursue incessantly, caught in a perpetual cycle. Paige’s decision to spur a revolution back in London pulls tighter the thread of her personal history having radicalized her – from Ireland and the Dublin Incursion to the ownership of her power within the clairvoyant underworld. Her resistance comes from her agency and her experiences within the syndicate, but also the violence she witnessed as a child. All of this makes it impossible for her to allow others to meet the fate of the gallows or another Bone Season.
The scene at the Thames at the beginning of The Song Rising marks a profound shift for Paige, with the identity of the arch-traitor now revealed and his new role as Grand Overseer giving him the ability to bring further violence down upon the clairvoyants of London. While Paige acknowledges the emotional abuse she endured from Jaxon Hall when she was at his right hand, she considers his reservations, leaving him room to drive a wedge between her and her main source of strength, her relationship with Arcturus Mesarthim. Pretty much since the moment they met, Arcturus has been someone who can contextualize situations for Paige as he is slightly removed from them and has further objectivity. At Oxford, Arcturus could see that Jaxon viewed Paige as an object of power and a commodity, and he repeatedly made that known. Jaxon’s power over Paige is evident in his ability to cloud her perception of what is, and only unburdening herself to Arcturus will alleviate these doubts. Even so, they reach a divide where she is struggling rather intensely and he can’t show that support publicly for fear that it would reveal the truth to their relationship. Even though Paige and Arcturus find openness with one another time and time again, they both still fear being the first person to stand on the precipice of their feelings, and there are still many things that have been left unsaid. But the romantic moments between them in the dark and empty rooms when the world quiets for a second hold their own kind of power – their romantic connection a resistance to prejudice and the powers that want them to be enemies. Arcturus has this quiet reverence around Paige that is just so bleeding romantic I don’t even know how to explain it properly. Very few characters can make saying a first name so romantic but somehow Arcturus manages to make simply saying her name a kind of benediction. His steadfast support as she struggles and his commitment to reminding her of her strength when she doubts herself is not only deeply admirable, it makes him one of the few people in her corner to see her for who she truly is.
Throughout this third chapter, Paige is fighting a losing battle for control. The belief that she can exert control over her feelings and by extent protect Arcturus leads her down a path with severe consequences. The weight of Paige’s increasing personal blame and guilt is tangible across The Song Rising, building in the background to an irreversible choice. The scene in Edinburgh where she leverages giving herself up to Scion in an attempt to destroy Senshield from the inside was almost too agonizing to read. The psychological callbacks to the Molly Riots and the fear and death in a crowd gunned down are all called forth in startling clarity. Paige endures a horrific period of torture in Westminster at the hands of Suhail and Nashira. Yet her courage is not outweighed by the decision to give herself up. Paige has always been a chancer and flirts with martyrdom at Westminster for even the chance to cripple Scion and the Senshield technology.
What makes Paige such an interesting protagonist is that she is complicated, she’s still figuring herself out and makes plenty of mistakes in her journey as a revolutionary. But her tenacity and tremendous courage in the face of such violence is heartening. Paige Mahoney is driven by her convictions and her unconventional moves do reach a satisfying resolution (no matter how stressful they may be to read). The chaos is just part of her charm. The Song Rising reveals an entirely different atmosphere than the first two books in the Bone Season series. Its hopeless energy overtakes the initial momentum gained from The Mime Order as Paige Mahoney, beset by enemies on all sides makes the worst possible choice to get to the right resolution. Though it is the shortest out of all the books, it by no means holds itself back from depicting the harsh realities of resistance. Desperate and full of personal consequence, The Song Rising builds a resounding call to action against continued persecution as Paige Mahoney unwittingly reaches a crossroads with her place within the clairvoyant syndicate and her opposition against the Republic of Scion.
Trigger warnings: torture (graphic), violence, death, murder, grief, gun violence, drug use
Literaryrobin 