The Ex Hex was cute. I wouldn’t say it was as good as the last two witch books I read, but still entertaining. While in college, Vivienne had a fling with Rhys, and it ended badly. So bad, she drunkenly cursed him. Nine years later, Rhys comes back to town to renew the ley lines in the town, but because he is cursed, he ends up cursing the ley lines and the whole town. Vivienne and Rhys have to team up to figure out how to reverse the curse so they can straighten out the ley lines and get themselves out of this mess. They are both likeable characters, but honestly, they are not all that memorable separately. I can’t say that either really stands out to me, but they do have some cute banter back and forth. It’s just a good book, when you need something quick and whimsical to read that won’t make you think too hard. If that is what you are looking for, this fits the bill.
Sangu Mananna really knows how to write a cozy novel. Just like the last book I read, this one was comforting to read. Also, about witches who live in Britain, it is not a part of the same world. Mika has always been alone. She has been told it has been too dangerous for witches to hang out because it would cause too much magic, and that would alert witch hunters. So, it’s a surprise when Mika gets a job offer to teach three young witches how to control their magic. She agrees to move in with them and their adult caretakers and discovers that not only is it okay for witches to be together, but also that Mika herself is worthy of love. In this world, as soon as a new witch is born, their parents die, and they become orphans. Mika is taken in by Primrose, a powerful witch, but is raised alone with a rotating slate of nannies. As she grew up, she never stayed anywhere too long. Always moving so she cannot become attached to anyone. That is, until she meets the young witches of Nowhere House and Jamie, one of their caretakers. It’s a sweet book about found families and founding oneself. Mandanna’s writing style is just so crisp and accessible that you feel like you not only know these characters but are a part of their lives. I couldn’t help but feel comforted by the story and so happy that Mika had finally found the family she had always wanted. I hope that Mandanna writes more books like this because we all need a little comforting, cozy reads rightnow.
In the description of this book, they call it cozy, and it is. Reading it was like being wrapped in a warm blanket, even while reading on the subway. Sera was one of the most powerful witches in Britain, and then she cast a spell to resurrect her aunt, who died suddenly when she was a teenager. Fifteen years later, she is running her family’s Inn, housing the most unusual lodgers. There is a nosy, gardener, Matilda, Nicholas, who believes he is a real-life knight, a witch, cursed to live as a Fox and the Inn it’s self. Before she lost her powers, she magic’d the inn could only be found by those who needed it. Enter Luke and her sister Posey. Luke has taken responsibility for raising Posey, who is autistic. A smart girl, but she doesn’t understand why she has to hide her magic. Luke is also a historian who happens to arrive when Sera comes into possession of a spell to get her magic back. It is written in a language that not a lot of people know, but Luke does. This book touches on found family, depression, abuse, rascism and discrimination. Sera is half Icelandic and half Indian, and that alone is enough to ostracize her, but then she had all this power, and she didn’t, and was exiled from other witches. When once was once an apprentice to the other most powerful witch, and he was threatened by her power. He used his power not only to bully her but also others as well. He made sure that when she was exiled, no one would ever help her. Sera used to think that what made her worthy was her powers, but over time, she learns that she is more than her powers. Her new family may be unconvential but they truly love her, and she truly loves them. They are all a bit crazy, but it is also what makes each character so lovable. No one was one-dimensional. They all got their own little story arch and even if the ending is a little bit heartbreaking, it was still lovely because no matter what happens. They have each other, and that is worth more than all the powers and magic in the world.
I do love an unabashedly good fantasy novel. Multiple POV’s, magic, mythical creatures, an obvious bad guy, and an obvious good guy. Coryane and crew are in retreat and spread across the ward after the attack against Taristan goes very wrong. All is not lost, though. Coryane survived and has Taristan’s sword. Andrey has made allies with Valtik’s people. Charlie finds a spin, and Dom, Sigil, and Sorasa, have wreaked havoc on Erida’s castle. In the first half of the novel, our heroes are separated from each other and have to work to get back together. This gives each character a chance to grow and come into their own. For Corayne it was finding the strength in herself. She discovered that not only can she take care of herself, but she can also inspire others to help. This found family is strong, and they show that throughout the story. They may despair at times, but they never question each other. As for Erida and Taristan. We start to see a role reversal in them. Erida, becomes more obsessed with power and will do anything to get it. Taristan, was once like that, but discovered that Erida was the one thing he would give up power for. Twists and turns throughout the book kept me invested and had a satisfying ending to an entertaining trilogy. I look forward to what Victoria Aveyard does next.
I understand why this was such a talked-about book when it came out years ago. It’s very intriguing. In her grief of losing her brother, Fox, she finds out she is a Bone Witch by accidentally raising her brother back to life. She tells her story to a Bard while in exile. We do not know what she did to be exiled, but we know that she is someone with extraordinary powers. Tea tells her story from when she raises Fox, through her training as a Bone Witch. She is a little bit of an unreliable narrator because the events are all coming from her perspective. What we do learn is that she is someone who definitely chafes a little bit at authority and often questions her mentors. She also has a good sense of what is right and wrong and is a bit inflexible at times. She also has a lot of power and likes the power. A recipe for going rogue. I do like the world-building of this story. The witches are kind of like geishas in a way. They are trained in the arts and entertain in the tea houses. They are also trained in martial arts. Bone witches are revered but also feared. Makes sense because they can raise and control the dead, but they also have an important role in combating the Daeva, dragon-like creatures that, left unchecked, can destroy cities. I am intrigued to see where this series goes because we do not learn why she was exiled, but we get a little bit of a clue with one cliffhanger of an ending.
This book was cute, if you can call a book about serial killers who kill other serial killers who fall in love. Sloane and Rowan are killers. However, they hunt other killers. It is a form of vigilantism. Going after people who have victimized other people who can’t defend themselves is an interesting moral code, but really, they do it because they like it. It gives them a rush. After a chance meeting, Rowan proposes a game. Once a year, they will meet up and hunt the same person. Whoever gets the kill first wins. Their banter between the two as they mock and goad each other is fun. They are attracted to each other from the moment they meet, but it shouldn’t surprise you that people who kill people for fun are not the most sociable or had a happy childhood. For years, they have played these games and ignored their feelings for each other. Once they do open up, the floodgates open, and oh boy, it gets spicy. It does take almost 2/3 of the book to get there, but worth the wait. It was a fun read, and I am looking forward to reading the next book that follows Rowan’s older brother and Sloane’s best friend. It’ll be a while before I can read it because it’s a long waitlist at my library, but I have other books to read in the meantime.
This was a very cute book. Osric has an incurable condition, and Aurielle is the only one who has any chance of finding a cure. The problem is that they are from different orders that are opposed, let’s say ethically. Osric is a paid killer, and Aurelle is a healer. They are forced to work together because Osric agrees to pay an exorbitant amount of money to find research for a vaccine for a pandemic affecting children. Aurielle is the best at what she does, so her order’s leader tells her to do what she can to help him. With all traditional methods proven to be unsuccessful, she must study the old ways, which, of course, puts them in tight situations. Over time, they both start to learn more about each other and that they may have more in common than they thought. I love the banter between the two of them. They are both quick and cunning. It is quite amusing. Halfway through, they start to discover that the virus causing the pandemic might not have been an accident, and someone powerful is behind it, but who? That is the mystery for the next book, which I don’t think has been released yet. I am very interested in seeing how this will end and maybe get a little more than just a kiss between our new lovebirds.
Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is a complicated story of three women from different eras. First, you have Sabine, who we first meet in Spain in 1532. She is a woman who craves independence, living in a time when that wasn’t really an option for them. She gets out of our small town by marrying up, only to find she has less freedom than before. Lottie, in London, 1827. Lottie, growing up in the Regency era, is being forced to marry and is desperate to get out, and finally, Alice in Boston in 2019. Alice is trying to make a new life after a tragedy. We go back and forth between their POV’s as we try to discover how they are all connected. Through their narratives, we see how they navigate their societies as women as they try to live life on their own terms. The thread begins with Sabine, who is turned into a Vampire because she is desperate to escape an unhappy marriage. She starts to travel as a widow because, in her time, it was considered appropriate for women to live alone. Lottie is also turned into a vampire because she sees it as a way to live the life she wants to live and love the woman she wants to love. The saddest of them is Alice, who is turned without her consent. Unlike Sabine and Lottie, who chose to be turned, Alice did not. Alice goes to a party, has a one-night stand with a girl, and wakes up a vampire. She doesn’t know how this happened or why, and is caught in a centuries-long battle that has nothing to do with her. This book is a good examination on historical struggles of women and the violence they have to endure. I do like the ending. It is not at all a happy ending but kind of a bit hopeful for Alice to exert her own authority as she now will move through the world on her own journey.
This was a lot. I am still kind of processing it. It’s not that it was bad, but it’s a lot. By far the spiciest book I have ever read, and I have read all of Sarah J Maas’ books. If you know, you know. This is just um. I don’t know. Aly is an emergency room nurse who likes to wind down after a tough shift with a glass of wine and her favorite thirst trap, a man covered in blood in a mask. Josh is the said, masked man, with a sad past. One night, Aly gets a little tipsy, texts a past hook up her fantasy for him to wear a mask and chase her, and wouldn’t you know it, Josh is his roommate and sees it and is like, bet. Let’s see if this is what he is really like. Red flag number one. He has already started stalking her. He might have seen her once, during one of her hookups with his roommate, and from then on, he found out where she lives, works, and her work schedule. He is a skilled hacker, so it’s not hard for him to find her profile online and learn how to break into her house. He breaks into her house, tapes a thirst trap, and then leaves. Aly is understandably freaked out, but is also turned on. Hey, I am not kink-shaming here, but Josh didn’t just break into her house. He hacked into the hospital security cameras to watch her while she works. Breaks into her car to drive her home because it’s snowing. That’s the second red flag. He breaks all these boundaries and then love bombs her afterwards. Buying her food, shoveling her driveway, doing other little things to make her feel taken care of. I do think he does care for her and that nothing is malicious. Still, as someone who knows what emotional abuse feels like, this feels like it. It is explained that he is like this because of his childhood and the abuse his father inflicted on him and his mother; he has spent years scrubbing the internet of them to shield them. There are a few people in his life that he loves, and knowing what they do at all times is the only way to keep them safe. That being said, all the sexual activity is consensual, and Aly really responds to the first being scared to death and then taken care of afterwards, so again, who am I to judge? Things with their relationship kind of take a turn for me. Once they get together, they become so codependent on each other that I just find them annoying. The last third of the book was kind of a slog to get through. The spiciness kind of took a back seat, so that didn’t help. Two other books in the series follow a couple of the supporting characters. I am not sure if I even want to give them a chance. Who knows. I guess I’ll add them to the list.
Here are my favorite books of this past year. In no particular order because I don’t think I truly liked one more than another. Cop out as that may be, it’s how we are rolling.
The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater – Historical fiction but with Maggie’s signature magical elements. Set against the backdrop of WW2 in a luxury hotel in West Virginia. Instead of their normal clientele, they are serving the diplomats of the United States enemies.
The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh – I do love a good Vampire book, and this one is no exception. As soon as I finished, I had to go to my library to get the next one.
The Dark Mirror by Samantha Shannon – This series just keeps getting better and better. Fleshing out more of the world to include outside of Scion, and for once, a hopeful ending.
Accomplice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer -This series is so funny. I can’t help be amused by the whole premise and story. So glad to find out that it isn’t a trilogy and more books to come because I am not ready to say goodbye to these characters.
Red City by Marie Lu – The complicated world we live. Nothing is black and white. What would you do for family? Power is addictive, but it is also destructive.
2 Women, So Many Books 