2 Women, So Many Books

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it’s definitely not a murder mystery. I am not complaining, but I was led to believe this was a sci-fi novel about lesbian necromancers. There was a little bit of that, but you know. Gideon hates living in the Ninth House and wants out. She is allowed to be the Cavalier to Harrow, the Ninth’s Necromancer. They head to the first house, where Harrow will compete against the other houses to become the kingdom’s Lichter. I really enjoyed the banter between Gideon and Harrow but I am also a sucker for the “Enemies to Lovers” trope. Gideon is smart and sarcastic. Just how I like my heroines. They must work together to figure out what is going on and who is murdering the other houses. This was a fun read, and I am looking forward to the sequel.

This was a book club pick way back in January and there’s no good reason why I haven’t already reviewed it. The story of Amina Al-Sirafi and her legendary pirate crew as they come out of retirement for one last job. Amina doesn’t particularly want to leave the safety of her home and her daughter, but when a fallen comrade’s daughter, Dunya, runs off with a dangerous, European treasure hunter, she can’t help but take the job.

The story is told as an interview, with two narrative voices. Amina speaks to her scribe, Jamal. She tells the story of the present narrative of the search for Dunya with flashbacks that fill in what happened to her fallen colleague, why she retired, and how she came about building her crew. The second set of narratives are told by Jamal and they tell the tale of the Moon of Saba, a legendary treasure.

The adventure in this was exciting, the characters were delightful, and the ending was very moving. I really enjoyed this one and I do believe that there will be a sequel, which I’m pretty excited about. If you like pirates, adventure, mystery, treasure hunting, or found family, then this one is for you!