Genre: Fantasy Romance

An ambitiously creative and well-rounded sapphic retelling of Swan Lake, A Treachery of Swans by A.B. Poranek is a wonderful low fantasy story featuring a great mix of storylines and elements. While many retellings either struggle with adhering to their source material or end up predictable given their well-known general plots, A Treachery of Swans makes the concept look easy. Gracefully following Swan Lake’s premise faithfully, this book adds a considerable amount of new context, details, and unexpectedly solid new storylines to the iconic tale, all within a PG-rated scope for YA readership. I didn’t have much of an expectation going into this one, but I was pleasantly surprised and consistently thrilled reading this book! As I walk by them, their faces blur together, artificial as theatre masks, lifeless eyes and painted lips and too-sharp teeth glinting as they seethe their congratulations. They think I will be an easy meal, I realize, the Swan Princess of Auvigny, pearlescent and pure-hearted and ripe for their devouring. But they’re wrong… I’m the darkness of cold gutters and merciless nights, the bruised shadows beneath a thief’s desperate eyes. I’m nothing but a lie, a twisted reflection, a black swan. As evident from the…

The following review is based on a complimentary ARC provided by Forever, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing. A powerful female knight and partner mage, swordplay crossed with magic, and a slow burn childhood friends to lovers arc, V. L. Bovalino’s The Second Death of Locke is a fantasy/romantasy novel that makes the most of all of its appealing narrative elements and ideas. While the fantasy romance/romantasy genre has increasing moved towards romance and smut dressed in fantasy clothing (or lack of, ba dum tss), this novel instead is a true balance of its genres, a very rare epic fantasy romance novel that has the plot and world-building that earns its fantasy classification. Featuring a healthy blend of action, character drama, romance, and magical intrigue, The Second Death of Locke is a great all-arounder that despite serving as the start to Bovalino’s the Hand and the Heart series, has an adequately satisfying ending that can be read on its own. While the romantasy genre originally was a combination of romance storylines set within a fantasy world, the genre has increasingly become associated with steamy romance, smut, and incorporating popular expected tropes. That said, many viral romantasy novels often feel romance…

A reserved young woman whose future and purpose in life is already written and decided meets an inquisitive young man named whose life lacks direction and purpose. One lives in a world of mystical wonder while the other seeks to understand theirs through science and knowledge. Brought together by fate through a door masquerading as an entrance to a ramen shop, Hana and Kei set off into an ethereal world where choices, regrets, memories, and desires hold far greater purpose and influence. Dreamy, whimsical, and full of gorgeously crafted literary metaphors, Samantha Sotto Yambao’s Water Moon is a magical crossover fantasy and speculative fiction novel that is a unique and dreamy experience. Trained all her life to take over her father’s magical pawnshop, Hana Ishikawa’s world is one far different from the one we know of. Puddles are used as portals to other locations, visitors ride the wind on the melodies of songs, markets are perched high in the sky, and the Ishikawa pawnshop’s customers exchange not money, but past life choices. Each customer that finds themselves transported into the pawnshop finds themselves unconsciously drawn to the shop and is relieved of the burden, regret, and feelings associated with a…

Lyrical, reflective, poetically beautiful, not to mention a proudly sapphic and historical take on vampires, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a slow and thoughtful literary fiction and historical novel wearing an exquisite paranormal fantasy gown. Very similar in tone and approach to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, this novel is everything one would expect from V.E. Schwab. Spanning over five hundred years and featuring FMC’s of various backgrounds and stories, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a sprawling and meandering narrative that won’t be for everyone, but is sure to please Schwab fans and classy readers. The best way I can describe Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is vibrant women growing from the midnight soil, restricted by a society dominated by men and the roles they are slotted into. The novel covers the life stories of three women in three different centuries and how obstacles and circumstances in their lives led them to a future of being immortal. The recollection of their lives is unveiled in chronological order, starting with Maria in 16th century Spain, Charlotte in 19th Century Britain, and finally Alice in modern day Boston. Coming off Schwab’s most recent…

Invoking a wonderfully foreboding air of mystery paired with a classic fairytale-like presentation, Kathryn Purdie’s The Forest Grimm is an interesting take on Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Attempting to give bigger context to a few classic fairy tales within an overarching original fantasy story, the novel is a creatively ambitious narrative full of great ideas and inspirations. While not all the ideas are executed to their full potential and I had some notable qualms with certain storytelling elements, The Forest Grimm is a distinctive and imaginative story, albeit one that’s far from perfect. With a premise centered around a dark fantasy forest with a recurring fanged creature imagery, the story is required to have the right tone for the whole book to work. Fortunately, the ambiance and dark fantasy feel is easily one of the book’s strongest elements. Forbidden forests are nothing new but from the get-go, The Forest Grimm sets the tone perfectly with its decaying village fittingly named Grimm’s Hollow. The folklore-flavored storytelling suits the story wonderfully and once Clara ventures into the Forest Grimm, the general feel of the narrative is great. Obviously inspired by Little Red Riding Hood’s red cape and journey into the woods, the atmosphere…