Books. Cats. Nonsense.
I have a funny relationship with the Wayward Children series -- two of the books are my absolute favourite fantasy books, one I really hated, and another left me feeling very ‘meh’. I was very excited to read Come Tumbling Down, but also very cautious due to my mixed feelings on the series so far. Ultimately, this book was just fine, although I think I have now figured out what works and doesn't work for me with this series.
You know those books that sound like they’re written just for you? That was The Library of the Unwritten for me -- a story for book lovers that’s set in Hell’s library and featuring a snarky and slightly uptight librarian? Count me in. I ended up listening to the audiobook and ended up really enjoying it -- it is equal parts madcap, heartfelt, and joyful.
I’ll be honest, as soon as I heard ‘psychic cats’ I was all in on Chilling Effect. I love space opera, I love off-beat heroes, and I love cats. While banter-y ‘squad’ sci-fi books don’t tend to work for me (see my burning hatred of Aurora Rising), but there was something about Chilling Effect that just worked. While it wasn’t perfect, it was so much damn fun.
A Queen in Hiding is a fantasy debut perfect for anyone tired of waiting for the next installment in their favourite series to release. One of the big marketing points of this book is the fact that one book in the series will come out per month from January through April 2020, making it the perfect bingeable series While I am not a series binger myself, I think that this will be perfect for anyone in need of a quick fantasy fix.
I discovered the Wounded Kingdom series in mid-2019 and devoured it before the year-end -- very uncharacteristic for me, a notoriously slow series reader. I loved the first two books, but was a little wary of finishing it up, as I was seriously let down by two of my most anticipated trilogy conclusions of 2019. However, King of Assassins proved to be the best book in the trilogy and one of the most satisfying ends to a series I’ve ever read.
The Harwood Spellbook is a delightful series of fantasy short novels and novellas centering on the Harwood family and their peers in an alternate version of Regency England. In a rigid world in which women are politicians and men are magicians, the Harwoods are shattering gender roles and pursuing their hearts. This series is one of my absolute favourite comfort reads!
I’ve been hearing buzz about The Deep for a few months now and the amazing concept captured my interest. I’ve never read a book by Rivers Solomon before and admit I am unfamiliar with the song and artists that inspired and helped work on this book, so I didn’t know what to expect. This novella is an absolutely powerful story of memory, pain, history, and surviving in the face of adversity.
