Jefferz

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Atria Books via Netgalley. A romance story across time mixed with traces of speculative fiction and fantasy, Amy Tordoff’s debut novel All We Have Is Time is an accessible story filled with interesting historical fiction snapshots spread over the course of four hundred years. Time-travelers and immortal beings are two common elements separately, but this book’s unorthodox cross of the two gives it a unique spin and for its characters, different repercussions from its genre’s norm. Easy to follow and generally fast-paced in nature, All We Have Is Time is a safe pick for historical romance readers, though those looking for a strong speculative fiction storyline or deeper introspective character work may find this book underwhelming and bland. Marketed for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, at first glance All We Have Is Time appears to fly too close to the sun with what is clearly one of its inspirations and at risk of being highly derivative. Both books feature a withdrawn female protagonist cursed by a fantasy being with immortality and walking through history a shadow of a person. Both books also feature a tragic…

A beloved franchise set across various forms of media such as the recent Netflix adaptation and video-game franchise, surprisingly it’s been over a decade since Andrzej Sapkowski last touched the series himself. Crossroads of Ravens is a new novel serving as a sort of origin story for Geralt marketed as a sort-of kind-of standalone novel (more on that to come). Covering new narrative material somewhat separated from the rest of the books due to its chronological placement, Crossroads of Ravens is an excellent entry point for Witcher fans familiar with the show or video-games looking to get into the source material books which have their own style and approach to the otherwise familiar story. That said, I personally had zero experience with The Witcher in any form apart from 2nd hand exposure courtesy of my dad’s love for the Netflix show so I went into this book with zero familiarity with the IP as a true test of whether it can be enjoyed standalone. While certain aspects were very appealing, this book overall felt like a bit of a mixed bag, ironically my ignorance with the series being less of an issue compared to the novel’s written presentation. As previously…

A love child between the Disney Channel’s Descendants franchise and Universal’s Dark Universe, Susan J. Morris’s paranormal urban fantasy novel revolving around a serial murder mystery. Featuring great atmosphere, a twisty investigation and all the aesthetics of the Gaslamp fantasy sub-genre, this book has a lot of compelling concepts matched with feminist themes given women’s restricted roles of the period. Though I found the book’s story to notably lag from its middle section onward and its ending leaving much to be desired, Strange Beasts is still a fun read, popcorn entertainment read. Whether it be a coincidence of the books I’ve been finding or a burgeoning trend, fantasy and science fiction flavored murder mystery investigations have become one of my favorite sub-genres lately and Strange Beasts more than fits the bill. The book serves as the start of Morris’s Harker & Moriarty series with long-running plotlines in addition to having its own self-contained murder mystery case set in early 20th century Paris. The book juggles two different storylines, one being the mysterious beastly murders of wealthy and powerful Parisian men and the other being Sam’s volatile channeling powers adjacent to Hel’s dysfunctional relationship with her father James Moriarty. The second…

A futuristic scifi, techno hacker speculative fiction, and queer retelling of the Great Gatsby is a concept I never would’ve considered and one that made me do a double take, but in Jay Gatsby’s own words per K.M. Fajardo’s author’s note, “why not”? Fajardo’s debut novel Local Heavens is a brilliantly crafted book that not only is wildly creative but is also a faithfully adapted love letter to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original story. Modernized for the 21st century with a crazy genre-shift, this interpretation smartly capitalizes on all the best aspects of a retelling without being hindered by the typical drawbacks through careful artistic choices. Featuring beautifully poignant writing, excellent characterizations, and original storylines that work seamlessly with the original framework of events, Local Heavens is an amazing and unique read for both fans of the original book and new ones alike. “Though in this disquiet summer, a summer that pushed us forward into hedonistic apathy, Gatsby was the singular exception, flying over the dust and toils of our world on fire. Beyond that famous, corrupted name, he clung to a vestige of that old cosmic hope I’d readily believed did not exist anymore, his indestructible sincerity blossoming like an…

Book #3 in T. Kingfisher’s Sworn Soldier series, What Stalks the Deep features a great premise of mysterious occurrences and a disappearance at a long abandoned mine in the rural West Virginia countryside. Those that have been keeping up with the series should know what to expect, namely its frank and sarcastic narration courtesy of sworn soldier Alex Easton, a good sense of ambiance, and a grounded approach to paranormal horror beings. Compared to the previous two entries, this one feels like it has snappier pacing and a style that leans more towards a mystery thriller vs foreboding horror. While generally interesting and an overall quick read, I personally found this one to be less stylistic and atmospheric than the previous two books and the series in general, giving me diminishing returns with each new entry. Picking up a year or so after the events of the second book What Feasts at Night, What Stalks the Deep sees Alex Easton and Angus reunited with the American surgeon Dr. Denton, investigating the disappearance of his cousin Oscar in a poorly charted mine inherited by their family. While the eccentric mycologist enthusiast Miss Potter was the popular scene-stealer of What Moves the…