Alexis’ April 2026 Wrap Up

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April reading wrap up graphic from Storygraph

Alexis:

I had a great reading month in April! Despite a busy month (I feel like I say this every month) I read 6 books and 2,530 pages.

  1. Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsae: This is a classic, Chinese-inspired quest YA fantasy that I read as an ARC, so thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s. You can read my review here!
  2. A Forest Darkly by A.G. Slatter: I’m always down to read more woodsy novels. This is a slow-moving, witchy book with a creepy forest. It’s weird, and half of the book is like a dark, horror fairytale, and the other half is closer to Stardew Valley. Slatter describes it as her “grumpy menopausal witch in the woods” novel. ⁣
  3. ⁣Honey in Her Veins by Ruth McKell: I actually preordered this one because it sounded right up my alley, and I was right. It’s a contemporary fantasy with bee/honey/plant magic, possession (think One Dark Window), lyrical writing, lush, Appalachian atmosphere, a creepy forest, and second chance romance. It’s 5 stars from me based off of this list alone!⁣
  4. The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan: The Red Winter is a dark historical fantasy set in France. Sebastian Graves, an immortal with a demon living in his head, returns to the French countryside when there are rumors of the Beast returning—the Beast he narrowly defeated 20 years ago. ⁣While there were aspects I enjoyed, this was just too gross for my tastes, too slow moving, and it wasn’t my sense of humor. ⁣
  5. The Road of Bones by Demi Winters: I picked this one up on a whim after hearing about it, and I was pleasantly surprised by it. I love the beginning (a dangerous trek though a creepy forest with vampire deer is my jam) but wasn’t quite sure about some of the middle, especially because I hated one of the side characters. But the ending completely validated and surprised me. I’m currently reading the sequel!
  6. How to Write a Love Story by Catherine Walsh: An editor travels to Ireland to help a writer: the daughter of a famous, passed away author who is tasked with writing the final book of a fantasy series. This was a fun read, but I actually enjoyed everything else about this book more than the romance. 

Review: Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsai

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Kindle with Deathly Fates cover, a plant, and a chai latte on a coffee shop table

Alexis: 

Happy pub day to Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsai!

Review:

Deathly Fates is a classic quest YA fantasy book. I really enjoyed learning about Siying’s job as a corpse-driving priestess. I appreciated her personality, her dedication to her family, and her flaws.

I also really enjoyed that the prince, Ren, had a unique personality compared to a lot of love interests in romantic fantasy novels. The banter and conversations between Siying and Ren were great, and I liked the humor mixed in with the more serious topics of death, war, and duty. (I also loved seeing so many ghosts, of course.) 

I’m a huge fan of political intrigue in fantasy books, so I really enjoyed learning about the politics of this world and the feud between two nations.

My main criticism is that the fight scenes felt a little clunky to me. I also wasn’t a huge fan of one of Siying’s decisions near the end, as it felt a little too out of character. However, this was a fun read and I enjoyed it overall!

Thanks so much to Netgalley and St. Martin’s for my e-book copy in exchange for a review!

VERDICT: 👻👻👻👻/5

In other news, my latte was a Blueberry Muffin Chai latte and it was fantastic. 10/10 recommend

Synopsis:

As a corpse-driving priestess, a holy servant paid to guide the deceased home, Kang Siying has never feared death. But when her beloved father collapses due to his declining health, Siying realizes that even she is not free from the cruel grasp of mortality. Desperate to provide her father with the medical aid he needs, Siying accepts a dangerous job that promises a generous commission, and travels to a hostile state to retrieve the corpse of a missing prince.

But the moment Siying places her reanimation talisman on the dead prince’s head, rather than make the corpse obedient to Siying’s commands, the talisman brings the prince back to life. Worse, he won’t stay alive for long―not unless he absorbs enough qi, or life force, to keep his soul anchored to his body.

In return for a reward worth twice her original commission, Siying agrees to aid the frustratingly handsome prince in finding and purifying evil spirits for their qi. But as they journey across the countryside, encountering vengeful ghosts and enemy spies alike, they gradually uncover dark secrets about the prince’s death―secrets that could endanger both Siying’s father and their entire kingdom.

Review: The Second Death of Locke by V.L. Bovalino

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Alexis in front of a bookshelf holding The Second Death of Locke

Alexis:

Welcome to another book review featuring a lady knight!

The Second Death of Locke follows Grey, a knight/hand who has dedicated her life to her mage and long-term best friend, Kier.

When a quest to protect the child of an enemy kingdom pulls them into the dangerous heart of their nation’s war, Grey and Kier will need to decide what they are willing to sacrifice to protect their secret.

For Grey is no ordinary magical well, but heir to the lost island of Locke—the root of all power. If she dies, all magic dies with her.

I debated picking up The Second Death of Locke after hearing mixed reviews, but I ultimately decided that lady knights are having a moment, so why not? ⁣

I’m glad I did!

I really enjoyed the first half of this book especially. The yearning, the vibes/atmosphere, and the magic system were all wonderful.

⁣I liked both Grey and Kier’s characters, learning about their pasts, and the battlefield/fight scenes.

The second half was a little slower paced, and while I enjoyed the more political intrigue that it brought to the story, it wasn’t quite as strong. However, this was still a solid read overall and is definitely one of the more standout reads in the romantic fantasty/romantasy space.

VERDICT: 🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️/5

Review: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao

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The Poet Empress with a matcha latte

Alexis:

The Poet Empress follows Wei, a poor girl from the rice fields of her kingdom who becomes a concubine to the Azalea Dynasty’s heir. The Azalea Dynasty is struggling: the emperor is dying, the heir/prince is violent and cruel, famine is striking the land, and poetry magic is lost to all except the powerful.

Wei must learn to survive in a world cruel to women, even if it means learning poetry magic herself to craft the most powerful spell of all.

What I Liked: 

I bought this book because it sounded similar to A Song to Drown Rivers, which was a devastating book that I loved, and I was right! However, be warned that, no matter what marketing you see, The Poet Empress is not a romantasy or romantic fantasy. It’s a dark, political, historical fantasy that explores the theme of love—and suffering.

(Also, as an aside, the cover is completely covered in sparkles, which I was not expecting! It was a fun surprise). 

I love a good political fantasy, so I was glad to pick this one up. It’s a brutal, often depressing read, yet I found myself rooting for Wei and hoping she would be able to navigate the cruel world of court intrigue without losing herself. 

Tao’s writing is gorgeous, and I found myself impressed that this is her debut! I definitely look forward to reading more of her books in the future. 

The poetry magic, called literomancy, was such an interesting concept, and I wished we got even more of it.

I love how Tao explores humanity. She does an in-depth exploration of how decisions and your upbringing can affect your life, and she truly shows how no one is perfect or wholly good.

What I Didn’t Like As Much:

The pacing was sometimes a little off. When I got to the middle of the book, I found myself waiting for more plot points to happen. However, everything else was so well crafted that this doesn’t affect my overall rating!

VERDICT: 🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶/5

Review: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

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The Everlasting with a bookmark, candle, and glasses

Alexis:

The Everlasting was actually my first read of the year, so at least I started 2026 off with a bang.

While it took me a bit to really get into the story, once the first plot twist happened, I was hooked. 

If you want to learn more about the story, check out the synopsis below:

Synopsis:

Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters―but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.

Centuries later, Owen Mallory―failed soldier, struggling scholar―falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives―and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.

But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend―if they want to tell a different story―they’ll have to rewrite history itself.

What I Liked:

This was such an interesting concept overall, and that’s coming from someone who historically isn’t into time travel stories! Harrow approached time travel in such a unique way. She also tackled themes of war, love, family, and power.

As for the setting, it changes with the time travel. However, the beginning is set in a fantasy version of WWI that I found really interesting. But I won’t say any more so as not to give anything away. Just know that Harrow’s writing gives each setting a great atmosphere. 

A lot of romantic fantasy stories have copy and paste protagonists, so I found both Owen and Una refreshing. Owen is a bookish academic who is also a veteran, and Una is a lady knight. I found their characters and dynamic interesting and different—in a good way.

What I Didn’t Like As Much:

The only thing I wished we got more of was watching Una and Owen falling in love in action. ⁣I think this would’ve allowed me to get hooked even earlier in the story. But the rest of the story made up for it!

VERDICT: ♞♞♞♞♞/5 

⁣

January 2026 Wrap Up

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January Wrap Up graphic on a snowy background

Alexis: 

I’m happy to say that I read 7 books in January! What a way to start off the year.

January felt like it was 10,000 years long. After being exposed to Covid, I quarantined for a week, though I’m grateful I never caught it. And then we got a bad snowstorm and I was stuck inside for another week. Needless to say, I had a lot of time on my hands.

One of my goals for this year is to actually watch more TV and read slightly less (I know, a crazy goal). On top of the books I read, I also watched Heated Rivalry (and Reheated Rivalry; if you get it, you get it) People We Meet on Vacation, and the first half of Bridgerton Season 4. It was definitely a good month for TV adaptations—I loved all of them.

I’m planning on writing longer reviews of The Everlasting and The Poet Empress, so look out for those!

  1. The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow: Time travel isn’t usually my jam, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised by this book. Harrow crafts a beautiful, moving story in a historical, WWI-esque fantasy world with a knight and a scholar who get tangled up in time—and love.
  2. Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid: I read this after watching the show, of course. My library happened to have an e-book copy available (I’m not sure how, but I grabbed it). The dialogue is almost exactly the same, so I could hear the actors’ voices in my head as I read this. 
  3. The Bodyguard by Katherine Center: This was a reread. It’s Center’s Covid project, so it felt right to read it during my quarantine. It’s a hilarious, ridiculous kind of rom-com that I really needed. It’s also being adapted into a movie!
  4. What Wakes the Bells by Elle Tesch: This is very atmospheric YA fantasy that I just wanted more from, but I enjoyed the vibes.
  5. The Poet Empress by Shen Tao: What a debut! This is a dark, brutal historical fantasy with poetry magic and plenty of political/court intrigue. 
  6. The Nightshade God by Hannah Whitten: I finished a trilogy! This is the final book in The Nightshade Crown series. 
  7. The Long Game by Rachel Reid: This is the sequel to Heated Rivalry. It’s definitely deeper than the first book, and I enjoyed learning what happens to Shane and Ilya (though I’m banking on the show improving the wedding scene in Season 2).

I hope you all had a good reading start to the year and have some great reads planned!

Alexis’ Top 10 Reads Of 2025

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Alexis' top 10 of 2025

Alexis:

I hope you all had a great New Year’s Eve! I made Earl Grey hot chocolate and watched While You Were Sleeping, so it was a nice and cozy way to ring in the new year. 

I read 60 books and 24,365 pages in 2025. While I rated more books 5 stars than just the ones listed below, here are my top 10 reads of 2025 (in no particular order). If you’re interested in learning more, I’ve written reviews for most of them! Here’s to a great 2026, and I hope you all read some great books!

  1. Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross
  2. The Summers Between Us Noreen Nanja
  3. The Floating World by Axie Oh
  4. The Demon and the Light by Axie Oh
  5. Skipshock by Caroline O’Donoghue 
  6. Dark Heir by C.S. Pacat  
  7. Red City by Marie Lu
  8. Katabasis by R.F. Kuang 
  9. First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison  
  10. Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames

Review: The Bookshop Below by Georgia Summers

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The Bookshop Below with a holiday mug

Alexis: 

Welcome to my last book review of the year! The Bookshop Below was also my last read of 2025. This year felt like the longest year ever, yet somehow December is already coming to a close. Time is weird that way.

Look out for my top 10 books of the year, and Anna’s, as well! My nephew is 9 months old now, and I know Anna is hoping to write more book reviews next year.

When I read The City of Stardust, Georgia Summers’ debut, I remembered being shocked at how low of a rating it has on Goodreads. This is a reminder that if a book sounds interesting to you, pick it up and try it! Some of the most underrated books I’ve read have 3.50-3.70 star ratings on Goodreads and Storygraph. Sitting at 3.62 stars, The Bookshop Below is similar. 

It starts off with a bang, and I immediately thought that this was a story right up my alley.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

If you want a story that will change your life, Chiron’s bookshop is where you go. For those lucky enough to grace its doors, it’s a glimpse into a world of powerful bargains and deadly ink magic.

For Cassandra Fairfax, it’s a reminder of everything she lost, when Chiron kicked her out and all but shuttered the shop. Since then, she’s used her skills in less ethical ways, trading stolen books and magical readings to wealthy playboys and unscrupulous collectors.

Then Chiron dies under mysterious circumstances. And if Cassandra knows anything, it’s this: the bookshop must always have an owner.

The Bookshop Below has:

  • Magical bookshops
  • Unique ink/reading magic
  • Feuding bookshop owners
  • A morally grey main character with a history of thieving
  • A magical cat
  • A murder mystery
  • A romantic subplot 

Summers’ writing style is gorgeously lyrical and literary. I love her descriptions, and the cozy atmosphere of Chiron’s bookshop is perfect. The overall atmosphere of the story leans more on the dreamy, mysterious side and turns a little more sinister with the murder mystery and feuding bookshop owners. 

Cassandra is a fascinating character, and I enjoyed her character arc and watching her backstory unfold and come back to haunt her. Likewise, a bookseller named Lowell was an interesting side character with a compelling character arc. (Did I mention there’s a magical cat?)

While this story isn’t perfect, no story is. The middle of this book dragged a little. Summers’ writing works best when character-driven, so the plot suffered for a bit.

I saw a few reviews mentioning that the magic system was confusing. However, the magic system is definitely a soft and not hard magic system, and I enjoyed the way Summers integrated it into the story without chunks of exposition. I figured it out with context clues, and I think that worked best with the mysterious vibes of the book.

In conclusion, I love Summers’ writing. The beginning and ending of this book packed a punch. And I’m still thinking about it. If you’re looking for a story with plenty of book magic and don’t mind a slower, more mysterious story, then this one might be up your alley, too.

VERDICT: 📚📚📚📚/5

Review: Blue Willow by Ki Stephens

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Blue Willow rests on a bookshelf next to a pumpkin

Alexis:

I’m happy that I got to read a digital ARC of Blue Willow, a magical realism romance that arrives on December 5, 2025.

Synopsis:

Coming home was never part of the plan.

Leaving again might be even harder.

When Elsie Hart returns to Blue Willow for the first time in eight years, it’s only to settle her grandmother’s estate—not to rekindle old memories or untangle the magic she’s worked hard to forget. But the inn she once loved is more stubborn than it looks. So is the man who’s been keeping it alive.

Wells Rourke never wants to leave. He’s spent the last few years patching the inn back together with his own two hands and the quiet certainty that Elspeth Hart didn’t just pour her heart into the walls; she left something behind. Something that’s worth keeping alive.

Elsie wants a clean break and a fast sale. Wells wants her gone before she can rip apart what’s left. But the house has other plans. As winter deepens and long-dormant feelings surface, the two of them are drawn into a tug-of-war not just over the keys to the inn, but over the pieces of themselves they thought they’d long buried.

In a town where quiet magic lingers, some people—and some places—will never stop waiting for you to come home.

Review:

Blue Willow is steeped in winter imagery and winter vibes. The setting perfectly captures the cold yet coziness of many winter nights, and it made me look forward to the holidays.

And a magic inn? I’m a sucker for semi-sentient houses. The magic of the inn was cozy and present without being over the top, and I really enjoyed it. While I wish we almost got even more about the magical town itself, I really loved what we did learn about the setting (can you tell I’m a sucker for small town romances and a sprinkle of magic?).

The story is told in dual POVs and switches between Elsie and Wells. I enjoyed both of their perspectives, and the romance between them was sweet. I also appreciated how they’re both dealing with realistic situations and feelings. 

While I was reading this, my own grandma passed away. The theme of grief, as Elsie deals with the death of her grandma, ended up being very personal and poignant, so this book hit me a little harder than it would’ve otherwise. 

VERDICT: ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️/5

Thanks so much to author Ki Stephens for my ARC in exchange for a review!

Review: Exo by Colin Brush

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Exo with a coffee cup in a car

Alexis:

Exo comes out on November 18th, 2025!

A debut sci-fi mystery set on an abandoned future Earth, featuring a twisty mystery straight out of a John le Carré novel, a group of larger-than-life characters who’d be at home in the work of John Scalzi, and a deeply weird and dangerous hyperdimensional entity to haunt the dreams of any reader of Kim Stanley Robinson.

Humanity is dying. Banished from the Earth, our descendants eke out lives in orbital habitats and moon colonies–and look with longing on our former home.

But Earth is uninhabitable. Over hundreds of years, its oceans have transformed into an annihilating liquid entity––the Caul. Every living creature approaching its shores is irresistibly compelled to enter. . . and is never seen again.

Scientists working in facilities seek to understand and stop the Caul. And scavenging the shores are the penitents––those who resist its siren lure.

In Exo, Brush explores a myriad of classic sci-fi themes, including environmentalism and what it means to be human. 

The Caul itself was almost impossible to picture, yet Brush’s descriptions mirror the alien vastness of the invading substance. I’ve read sci-fi books with post-apocalyptic Earths before, but the Caul was a very unique and fascinating entity. 

The story goes back and forth in timelines. In the present timeline, Mae, an old woman and ex-policewoman, finds rogue scientist Carl dead—murdered—and his daughter, Sofria, on her own. In the past timeline, we’re reading Carl’s scientific and personal diary entries about his arrival on Earth and study of the Caul. 

I did enjoy this book as a whole; however, it’s not really a twisty murder mystery. Exo is a scientific, mathematical kind of sci-fi book. While it is gritty, it’s a haunting, slow moving book that you have to read slowly to ponder over. The murder mystery and investigation take a backseat to the Caul and Mae trying to help Sofria, and nothing really gets solved until the very end of the book. Yet I enjoyed learning about the Caul, Mae and Sofria, and Brush’s prose, and the ending was satisfying!

Thanks so much to Diversion Books for my ARC in exchange for a review! ⁣

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐.5 /5