Fantasy

Immersive, atmospheric, imaginative and of course gothic, Alix E. Harrow is an amazing storyteller and it’s immediately clear to me why Starling House has its following. The estate’s vivid descriptions and Eden’s somber setting set a distinctive scene that envelopes the reader in its quiet and character-focused narrative. The book’s is also full of elements that feels specially catered towards millennial/gen z contemporary readers; excessive footnotes (this one peeved me though), heavy emphasis and themes on mental health, stigmatism and judgement against those who are different, cynicism of the American dream/working economy), and several LGBTQ+ characters (though one character’s bi/pansexuality feel randomly tossed it and has nothing to do with anything apart from checking genre/bookTok boxes). Despite the cover and synopsis heavily focusing on the title house, the story is mostly a character-driven one focused on the world and people seen through Opal’s eyes as she struggles to make ends meets for her brother Jasper’s sake. Unfortunately, this novel lives and dies by Opal’s character and both her character and the tone of the story were not for me (subjective opinions, objectively this book is well-written). The majority of the book heavily hinges on Opal’s feeling of being judged, neglected,…

Despite having a lot of wonderful elements on paper, I thought book #1 Midnight Riot/Rivers of London was messy and unable to seamlessly mix its two story arcs, lore and world-building, and an urban noir investigation together coherently. The ambiance, setting, brief history lessons and Peter’s character voice helped cover up a weakly constructed plot and investigation. Thankfully I trusted other reviewers that wrote the series gets better as it progresses which I can see now. Akin to enjoying a glass of fine wine in a jazz bar hindered by an amateur musician (or what I would imagine it would be like, I’m not a drinker personally), I found Moon Over Soho to be a cool and low-key entertaining experience provided I not look too closely at some of the finer details of its plot. Across the board, Moon Over Soho felt like a true sophomore sequel work that was more confident and focused compared to Rivers of London. There’s a bit less action here than the obvious riot plot, but just about everything else is stronger across the board. Similar to Rivers of London, Moon Over Soho features two separate story arcs. The first involved multiple oddly timed deaths…

This might be the earliest I’ve ever read a newly published book as I ninja-ed it the day my library got a digital copy and I was very excited based on the synopsis and listed genres. For me, the Book of Doors was a solid comfort read (note, NOT the actual Comfy read genre) that felt nostalgic in the first half, invoking the wide-eyed magical feel of many YA fantasy books I read growing up yet clearly intended for adult readers. This book is also fully targeted towards book lovers with countless descriptions and settings based on book collections, stores, or libraries (to be expected for a story involving magical books). What I did not expect was the surprisingly ambitious and well-executed time-traveling/manipulating second half that manages to recover and tie-up the narrative successfully after a disjointed mid-section. Despite the obviously heavy fantasy elements provided by the magical books (I assume it’s not mentioned in the synopsis as not to show it’s trump card early), the Book of Doors should first and foremost be considered a soft time-travel drama. A young women in her 20’s living day to day in New York, Cassie is at the pivotal stage in her…

It took me longer than it should’ve to learn that Rivers of London was released in the US as “Midnight Riot” hence why it took me so long to read this despite it being high on my to-read list. In hindsight the rename makes perfect sense as Midnight Riot is a much more appropriate title for the better of two core plot/cases covered in book (not to mention that the series this book ended up starting is also called Rivers of London). Confusion on its dual-title release aside, I wanted to like Midnight Riot a lot more than I did as it has such an exciting premise. Peter Grant is a probationary constable/loose police officer who is assigned as an apprentice to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale after having a run-in with a ghost while on surveillance duty following a grisly beheading murder at Covent Garden (as in the actual real Covent Garden, all locations are either real-life places or are heavily inspired fictional interpretations on boroughs of London). In training as both a supernatural investigative officer and a magic user, Peter Grant and Thomas Nightingale team-up to unravel the truth behind a series of seemingly random murders who’s only…

Note: The following original review for this book is old and does not meet current review standards. A fully rewritten review is planned. An incredibly ambitious novel with wonderful writing that is also incredibly niche. Erin Morgenstern certainly has a set style as I found this novel shares many of the same strengths and drawbacks as The Night Circus amplified. Beautiful and otherworldly visuals combined with a multiple layers of symbolisms, unfortunately the novel’s plot is slow, complex and vague. Are you interested in a passionate queer romance story? How about multiple factions with cult-like tendencies? Multiverse-style dimensions or dreams within dreams with a clear resolution? A fantasy adventure across land and sea to reach a final goal? An engrossing page turner? If you answered yes to any of the above, the Starless Sea is not for you. There are so many compelling elements that have mass appeal, but the delivery will likely alienate all but the most patient readers who appreciate the essence of literature. The chapters are also broken up jumping between the primary narrative focusing on several main characters and short fables, stories or exerts that seemingly have no connection to the main story or each other. Each…