Jefferz

Set in a gothic and snowy city where its citizens put their trust in the church to protect them from dark forces held at bay, their faith is put to the test when a series of mysterious murders occurs. As the holy wards and seal appear to weaken, murder victims are found, and unrest within the city grows, the head inquisitor, a blessed izir, and a selfless church caregiver without a soul work to discover who is to blame for these seemingly unrelated disturbances. The first book of a planned duology also serving as Cate Baumer’s full length traditional published novel debut, the Faithful Dark is a tense and atmospheric dark fantasy book that features highly relevant themes that touch on faith, heresy, testing one’s loyalties, and what it really means to be blessed. Two of the most important elements when it comes to dark fantasy stories for me are the book’s sense of tone and sufficient world-building to ensure the stakes are set high. When it comes to ambiance and style, the Faithful Dark is a beast of a novel. Baumer’s fictional walled city of Silgard appears to be loosely inspired by a more urbanized version of the Vatican…

Mock dates, work-related forced proximity, a second chance romance, and collab between a self-improvement podcast and a B-list celebrity interview show called the Sausage Talk, Mazey Eddings’s Well, Actually is a romcom novel that mixes slapstick hilarity with great character writing. Marketed as a black cat/golden retriever pairing that explores personal growth, success, self-worth, and viral engagement, this is a book that’s flirty, fun, self-aware and hopeful. Its base premise and character dynamics is a contentious sticking point that has led to very polarizing opinions of its FMC, but I was shocked by how much I enjoyed this which was a big surprise! “Hot girl is an armor you put on. An impenetrable fortress of makeup or dyed hair or fake nails or killer clothes or expensive perfume or any other bodily adornment that makes you feel f*cking good. Powerful.” For better or for worse, the most notable and crucial factor when it comes to enjoying Well, Actually comes down to whether one can get behind the bitter, savage, and cold Eva Kitt, an aspiring journalist and host of the freeform interview show Sausage Talk. As the host of B-list celebrity gossip show consuming hot dogs that is obviously not…

A modern dark academia urban fantasy story with mysterious hauntings evoked by unsettling moments of déjà vu, Kamilah Cole’s An Arcane Inheritance is a high-concept book that pulls an impressive sleight of hand with its ambitious ideas. A perfect example of a slow burn mystery that is as twisty as it is intelligent, this is a fascinating fantasy book that reads and feels quite different from what its listed genres would suggest. Creative, immersive, and beautifully written, the purposely slow pacing isn’t for everyone nor is its sometimes directionless narrative, but the payoff for those that stick with Cole’s strong storytelling are in for a unique experience and one whose ending suggests a quick re-read on details and clues easily missed. An Arcane Inheritance is a tricky book to talk about and review due to how crucial its major plot twist developments near the end of the story are, requiring the reader to almost fall into its intended sense of familiarity. In a sense, about three quarters of the book is that of its main character Ellory Morgan’s on-campus collegiate school life mixed with mysterious and foreboding paranormal-like occurrences involving familiarity, unknown visions, or conversations that may or may not…

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Wednesday Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Press. A necromancer priestess in foreign territory, a mysterious corpse that isn’t as dead as they should be, and the quest for qi energy across a tense Kingdom under authoritarian control, Deathly Fates has a lot of strong narrative elements in a story inspired by Chinese Taoist mythology. Featuring strong themes such as familial responsibilities, grief/loss, and the corruption of power, Tesia Tsai’s debut novel is a fast-paced and accessible YA fantasy story that has a good mix of adventure, action, age-appropriate spooks and mild horrors involving the dead carried by a very compelling premise. Well-plotted and generally appealing, I personally found this book to be an underwhelming and juvenile in its execution, but is a book with lots of good ideas that is well-suited for young pre-teen readers. The story follows Kang Siying, a young but skilled ganshi priestess who uses talismans to reanimate the dead to return their corpses to their loved ones or to release their spirits from this world. Given the book’s likely intended YA and younger readership, the book follows its summarized blurb and throws the…

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Harper Voyager. In a tense and snow-covered world where academic studies are punishable by death, Max Francis’s Honor & Heresy follows a pair of scholars tasked with discovering the identity and motivations of a mysterious invading force threatening the city of Northgard. Accustomed to a life of persecution and suffering by political leaders that detest scholarly pursuits, Roy Dawnseve is recruited by the Governor to explore the mysterious and vast archive of the Orphic Basilica in the company of the standoffish and opposing philosophical scholar Percival Atherton. A highly atmospheric and immersive dark academia tale featuring a rivals-to-lovers M/M romance, this book is a slow burn story that’s haunting and a very promising debut novel despite a somewhat weak ending. Marketed as a story set around the concept of scholastic inquiry and a mysterious library, Honor & Heresy mostly delivers on its promise of a dark academia tale crossed with M/M romantic interests. Dark academia is a very popular genre buzzword that can relate to a variety of narrative topics and styles depending on who you ask, this book’s take on it is one of literary interest and analysis…