Genre: Fantasy

Imagine a fantasy world with an affinity for plants. Now in a pot, throw in the essence of a monster-filled world, Sherlock Holmes and Watson, dark academia alchemy, and an Agatha Christie complete collection. What you get is Robert Jackson Bennett’s impeccably crafted and compelling The Tainted Cup, the first novel in what has since become the Shadow of the Leviathan series. While considered a high fantasy novel to be expected from RJB, at its core The Tainted Cup is a brilliantly written serial murder mystery thriller embellished with a distinctly unique and creative fantasy wrapping. Featuring a complex and twisty murder investigation, a lavishly developed fantasy world, not to mention a charming pair of off-beat main characters, The Tainted Cup is an incredibly cool genre bender that I loved every minute of. “Projecting motives is a fool’s game. But how they do it- that’s a matter of matter, moving real things about in real space.” In the world of the Tainted Cup, the Imperial Empire maintains a series of hulking walls that are designed to keep giant leviathan monsters in the bordering seas from invading and destroying everything in their path (think of Attack on Titan but in the…

The following review is based on a complimentary ARC provided by Sourcebooks Fire via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. What if Mary, Queen of the Scots’ tumultuous reign and the surrounding scheming were influenced by the presence fae magic and other Scottish folklore? Sara Raasch and Beth Revis’s collaboration novel The Crimson Throne is an entertaining and straightforward YA romantasy novel as well as a liberally interpreted historical fiction story. Magical fae powers, cursed objects and weapons, historic grand castles and sweeping scenic landscapes, The Crimson Throne has all the right elements for a great fantasy story. Presented from dual perspectives, one a Scottish half-fae guardian of the crown and one an English spy sent to infiltrate said crown’s inner circle, the scene is set for a forbidden romance between two opponents meant to outplay each other with both the Scottish/England Kingdoms and the Fae Kingdom’s future at stake. An important note that is not clearly mentioned on early previews and listing at the time of this review for The Crimson Throne is that this is the first book in a brand new fantasy duology (the ARC received as well as Amazon’s presale store states it’s part of…

Some books are cozy comfort reads, some are poetic and philosophical, and some are humorous comedy or steamy romance. But then there are some like Olivie Blake’s Gifted & Talented that set out to be something entirely different that’s difficult to highlight and discuss due to its complex yet unusual presentation. Following the musings and drama of three siblings and the entangled web of partners, conspirators, rivals, and more, this literary fiction book is a behemoth of a novel that feels far longer than its nearly 500 page count would suggest. Meticulously deliberate, very light on plot, yet incredibly detailed with its spectacular character writing, Gifted & Talented is absolutely not going to be for everyone and admittedly was not my cup of tea. That said, I have nothing but respect for what this novel delivers and while it was on and off from an enjoyment factor for me, from a critical reading/writing standpoint, this novel is great. Although this Gifted & Talented is technically classified in the fantasy, urban fantasy and science fiction genres, they’re largely surface level classifications due to the novel’s premise involving certain magical, or as the novel calls it, “magitech” powers. Each of the three…

Book #2 in Sara Raasch’s Royals and Romance series, Go Luck Yourself is a fun and highly entertaining romance novel continuing Raasch’s unique blend of royalty woes mixed with holiday shenanigans. Contrary to what I thought was an anthology series due the main character being Coal’s younger brother Kris this time around, Go Luck Yourself is a direct sequel that picks up immediately after the events of The Nightmare Before Kissmas which is a required read in order to understand this book’s plot (I made the mistake of trying to read this book without context and it simply doesn’t work). Although more or less following the same formula as the first book, this one felt more refined, cohesive, and thematically strong paired with outstanding character work (not to mention steamy scenes). Tweaking and addressing many of my previous nitpicks, I thoroughly loved Go Luck Yourself and found it to be an ambitiously crafted and all-around perfect romance novel that can be read at any time of the year. Set a few months after The Nightmare Before Kissmas’s conclusion and shifting the main character to Coal’s younger brother Kris, Go Luck Yourself revolves around his struggle to figure out his place…

Entry #2 in Rebecca Yarros’s the Empyrean series similar to my review of Fourth Wing, I’ll be jumping right into my general impressions and skip the usual editorial-style intro and recap since most people are quite familiar with the series one way or another. Dividing into two parts that are roughly equal in page counts, Iron Flame is like a tale of two different reading experiences vastly different from each other. The entire novel covers about half of Violet Sorrengail’s 2nd year at the Basgiath War College, with part 1 following a similar formula to Fourth Wing’s rider academy training arc and part 2 diverging and focusing on the larger political factions and war strategizing across the continent, most similar to Fourth Wing’s late War Games arc and the subsequent events. Interestingly, Iron Flame’s overall direction with its plot, characters and hybrid romantasy genre largely addressed and improved on nearly every point of criticism I mentioned in my past review of Fourth Wing. And while I found Iron Flame’s Part 2 half to range from great to stellar, its opening Part 1 half felt like an endless slog to get through. Although the plot and world-building were substantially more ambitious…