I’m back with another 5-star book recommendation! If you’re looking for the next best romantic fantasy, A Song to Drown Rivers is releasing this fall!
Don’t be fooled by the term “romantic fantasy,” however. This book deals with a myriad of dark, impactful themes, including war, sacrifice, and womanhood—alongside love, of course.
The two main characters, Xishi and Fanli, were so well written. I love Xishi’s voice, as it’s from her first person POV.
I’m actually devastated at how beautiful this story was—and heartbreaking. Liang’s writing is gorgeous and lyrical. Liang tackles the themes of war and sacrifice especially well. And despite me literally crying at the ending (which is very rare for me!) this was such a beautiful and well-written book.
Look out for A Song to Drown Rivers on October 1!
VERDICT: 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊/5
Inspired by the legend of Xishi, one of the famous Four Beauties of Ancient China, A Song to Drown Rivers is an epic historical fantasy about womanhood, war, sacrifice, and love against all odds.
After a nice beach vacation and a lot of work this month, I’m back with a review of a new adult fantasy called Five Broken Blades.
ShortSynopsis From Goodreads:
The king of Yusan must die.
The five most dangerous liars in the land have been mysteriously summoned to work together for a single objective: to kill the God King Joon.
He has it coming. Under his merciless immortal hand, the nobles flourish, while the poor and innocent are imprisoned, ruined…or sold.
And now each of the five blades will come for him. Each has tasted bitterness―from the hired hitman seeking atonement, a lovely assassin who seeks freedom, or even the prince banished for his cruel crimes. None can resist the sweet, icy lure of vengeance.
Review:
I’ve seen mixed reviews of Five Broken Blades—but I loved it! It was a super fun, fast paced read, and I was impressed with how well Corland juggled so many POVs. Usually, I prefer books with 1-2 POVs. However, each chapter is short, which keeps the pace moving. They’re in first person, which allows you to get to know each character. And I genuinely enjoyed learning about each character.
They’re morally gray and flawed, and I liked learning about their backstories and motivations. I would say this book is almost equally driven by both the plot and characters. And you know I can never resist a book with political intrigue and romance subplots. If you like romantic subplots, you’ll be kicking your feet! (Because every character has one.) But if you don’t, then this story may not be for you. However, I enjoyed that love and deserving to be loved was one of the main themes.
My only main critiques are that the backstories of each character were introduced very early in the story and the writing style leans on telling and not showing. While sometimes I wished the writing was more subtle or had more subtext, it didn’t prevent me from enjoying the story. It’s also a new adult book, so if you don’t jive with a more young adult voice, it might not be for you.
Overall, if you’re looking for a low fantasy, Korean-inspired world with political intrigue, secrets, and a band of misfits on a mission to assassinate a king, pick this one up. It’s 5 out of 5 swords for me (ha!)
I recently reread The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten, which was one of my favorite reads of 2023, and I’m happy to say that I loved it just as much the second time around.
I read the sequel and the next installment in the trilogy, The Hemlock Queen, directly after. I can’t say too much about this book without going into spoilers, but I can say that I really enjoyed the beginning, but I thought the ending was especially well done; there were some stories included near that end that I enjoyed reading, and that added a lot to the lore and religion of this world.
However, I found that the middle of this book did drag a little, and I kept wondering when Lore, the main character, was actually going to do something or make a decision.
Overall, I didn’t love this one as much as The Foxglove King, but I did enjoy it. I’m looking forward to the last book!
If you’re interested in a fun yet gritty fantasy series with necromancy, an undead horse named Horse, a religious cult with religious trauma, and a love triangle (/quadrangle?), then I would recommend this series.
The Sins on Their Bones is a gorgeously written story about grief, abuse, and moving on from the past.
It has a loveable yet flawed cast of characters, a fantastically written evil villain, and enough humor to balance out the dark themes. (At one point, the main character, Dimitri, has to hold a goat, and it’s hilarious).
I loved the LGBTQ+ characters, the Jewish mythology, and the Russian-inspired world.
Samotin did an amazing job with the body horror elements in this. The descriptions are dark and gruesome—but I liked that the story isn’t dark just for the sake of it.
I also really enjoyed the multiple POVs—I think Samotin balanced them out really well.
I would avoid this one if you’re squeamish or uncomfortable reading about abuse. But if you like Anastasia, Frankenstein, and Shadow & Bone/the Grishaverse, then I recommend it!
Pub Date: May 7, 2024
VERDICT: 🦴🦴🦴🦴🦴/5
TW: Blood/gore, body horror, sexual abuse and violence, death/murder, trauma/PTSD, drugs and alcohol use
Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Canada for my e-ARC!
Synopsis From Goodreads:
Dimitri Alexeyev used to be the Tzar of Novo-Svitsevo. Now, he is merely a broken man, languishing in exile after losing a devastating civil war instigated by his estranged husband, Alexey Balakin. In hiding with what remains of his court, Dimitri and his spymaster, Vasily Sokolov, engineer a dangerous ruse. Vasily will sneak into Alexey’s court under a false identity to gather information, paving the way for the usurper’s downfall, while Dimitri finds a way to kill him for good.
But stopping Alexey is not so easy as plotting to kill an ordinary man. Through a perversion of the Ludayzim religion that he terms the Holy Science, Alexey has died and resurrected himself in an immortal, indestructible body—and now claims he is guided by the voice of God Himself. Able to summon forth creatures from the realm of demons, he seeks to build an army, turning Novo-Svitsevo into the greatest empire that history has ever seen.
Dimitri is determined not to let Alexey corrupt his country, but saving Novo-Svitsevo and its people will mean forfeiting the soul of the husband he can’t bring himself to forsake—or the spymaster he’s come to love.
Happy April! I hope you all have been reading some good books. One of my reading goals for this year is to pick up more adult fantasy books. I heard nothing but good things about The Will of the Many, so I grabbed it from the library.
I’m happy to say that it lived up to the hype!
The Will of the Many is one of those books where it’s good to go into it with little expectations. But here’s what you can know about it:
The main character, Vis, is such a great, well-rounded main character. He’s vicious, caring, and intelligent.
A main theme is colonialism and the evils it can bring.
The book is in first person present tense, and it serves the story well.
It’s an Ancient Roman-inspired political fantasy.
It’s partially set in an academy, which gives strong dark academia vibes.
The story has tons of twists and turns!
It has a unique magic system; the society allows a person’s strength, drive, and focus—what they call Will—to be leeched away and added to the power of those in a higher societal position.
It hits on so many hard themes, and despite the chunky page length, I was never bored. While Vis is only 17-years-old, this is definitely an adult book meant for adult audiences. That being said, it appeals to me as a mostly YA reader, as well. If you’re looking for a clever fantasy book, I definitely recommend it!
Where the Dark Stands Still is my kind of book. It’s Howl’s Moving Castle meets Uprooted with a dash of Sorcery of Thorns. I really enjoyed it, and it ended up being 4.5 stars for me.
“‘God,’ Liska pants.
‘Not quite,’ the Leszy says, watching her carefully. ‘But it’s still a better compliment than screaming the moment you see me.’
She might have rolled her eyes if she wasn’t still trembling.”
I loved the atmosphere and Poranek’s writing style. The world is Polish folklore-inspired, which I really enjoyed. It was great seeing Liska, the main character, learn and grow as a character as the book went on. And if you like Howl, well, you’ll like the Leszy, the demon of the wood.
My only critiques: The Leszy’s nickname for Liska was definitely overused, and the beginning was a little slow.
This was a great debut! If you like creepy woods, demons and spirits, and magic/forest magic, I definitely recommend it!
House of Flame and Shadow, the third book in the Crescent City series, has already been controversial in the SJM community, but I really enjoyed it!
It’s not perfect (let’s be honest—ACOTAR (A Court of Thorns and Roses) isn’t either) BUT with the magnitude of everything she had to pull together in House of Flame and Shadow, I thought it was a great, wild ride!
The stakes are high. So many things are happening and being revealed, and despite the massive page count, I was on my toes for all of it. I loved how she pulled everything together!
A lot of people don’t like Bryce, but I’m not one of them. While she’s a little hot-headed, I love a character with actual flaws—and she’s a badass! She also reminded me a lot of Aelin in this book, and a lot of the plot actually reminded me of ACOWAR, the 3rd book in the ACOTAR series.
Two of the side characters were definitely the stars of this book: Lidia and Ruhn. If you know, you know!
House of Earth and Blood is definitely my favorite of the three, and I only gave House of Sky and Breath 3 stars, so it was definitely my least favorite of the bunch. While I think the first book is honestly the best and stands perfectly on its own, I did enjoy this one. I just missed the dynamic of Bryce and Hunt from the first book.
All of that being said, I think Maas did a great job. Sure, the final battle definitely could’ve been a little longer. And sure, there are some info dumps in the first half. But Maas had a lot of things to link together, and overall, this was a great ending. (Or is it the ending? You never know with Maas!)
Hello! I’m a little behind on book reviews, but I’m excited to talk about one of my recent reads, The City of Stardust.
The City of Stardust follows Violet Everly. Violet’s whole life is her uncles, who keep her tucked away in the Everly house, and wondering what happened to her mother—who left to break the Everly family curse years ago. When Violet’s mother never returns, Penelope, her family’s ageless tormentor who never forgets a debt, issues an ultimatum: Violet has ten years to find her mother, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer. Unless she can break it first.
I really loved this book! It gets all the stars (or stardust) from me.
The writing is so atmospheric, lyrical, and ethereal. This is a dreamy, almost dark fairytale-like story, and on a prose level, it’s gorgeous to read!
It has so many elements that I love—it’s a portal fantasy with magical doors and magical keys. There’s a curse and angry gods. There’s a secretive, snooty group of scholars. There are mysteries that you uncover alongside the main character.
I was so surprised to see that this book only has 3.46 stars on Goodreads.
It is worth mentioning that this is a slower-paced story, and it does take about 50 pages before the worldbuilding becomes revealed and for the plot to pick up. If you like the books/comps listed below or if we have similar tastes in books, then I recommend it!
Ink Blood Sister Scribe
The Ten Thousand Door of January
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Inkheart
The Starless Sea (I personally haven’t read this one, but I heard it’s similar!)
Destroy the Day is the final book in the Defy the Night trilogy, and Defy the Night is one of my favorite books! It’s a classic upper YA fantasy with political intrigue, romance, and a sickness spreading through the land. The two main characters are Tessa, a Robinhood-like apothecary, and Corrick, the prince of Kandala and the King’s Justice.
I really enjoyed Destroy the Day. The story dives deeper into the world, politics, and scheming of the Kandala government. Kemmerer’s writing flows really well, and I feel like her writing style works well when switching between POVs.
Speaking of which, Destroy the Day has three different POVs: Tessa, Corrick, and Corrick’s brother, King Harristan. Harristan’s chapters end up taking up about as much of the book as Tessa and Corrick’s, which honestly, I like! I think Harristan is a great character, and he’s such a good foil to Corrick (stoic and reserved to Corrick’s more hotheadedness).
What I really appreciated about this book was Kemmerer’s talent in making me care about every single character. Usually, I’m not into new, important side characters being introduced later in a series, but Kemmerer does a great job of really showing the impact a new character has on Tessa. A couple of side characters from the second book end up having bigger roles, and I enjoyed watching them grow and help the main characters grow. I especially enjoyed the emphasis on friendship.
Another aspect I really loved about this book is the way no one is a straight-up villain. Kemmerer makes all of her characters well-rounded with solid motivations, so no character is black and white (yep—that means there are some well-written morally gray characters in this series).
Now, I have two main gripes in this book that I’ll delve into more below with spoilers. But the first one is that we get barely any scenes with Tessa and Corrick together. Yes, there are solid reasons for this, but in the end of the book, I really felt like they needed some more scenes together before the resolution. My second gripe is with an important plot point near the end that I feel like didn’t fit into two of the character arcs, which I’ll talk more about below.
All in all, I loved this finale! However, I’m still not over the ending, so I have to dock half a star (or moon, in this case) for that.
VERDICT: 🌑🌑🌑🌑🌓
SPOILERS BELOW:
If you’ve read this book already, or if you don’t care about spoilers, hello! So at the end of this book there is a heartbreaking scene of Harristan sacrificing himself for his country and his brother. While I saw this coming, I came to terms with it because I thought it fit Harristan’s character, as he would do anything to save his brother and his people.
…Until Quint, Harristan’s new boyfriend, decides to help him, and they die together. This felt a little bit too much like the “bury your gays” trope (aka gay characters tend to get killed off).
And then something felt off, and I just had a feeling that neither of them actually died. And while (ding ding!) I was right, the way it was revealed rubbed me the wrong way—Harristan and Quint escaped and survived, only to hear that Corrick had already arrived back home and been crowned king. So what did they do? They hid in a cabin with false identities. And not with the intention of saying, “Oh, hey! We actually survived and we’ll come back to the castle now.” Nope. It was to start a new, secret life.
Harristan’s main motivations were to save Corrick and to save his people. He spent this entire book earning the people of Kandala’s trust back, only to decide to push the burden of being king onto his nineteen-year-old brother, who the people trusted even less than Harristan. You just can’t tell me that it’s in character for him to just say, “Too late! Just spread the lie that we died,” AND let his brother believe it for a long time before managing to slip him a note.
Anyway. Did I still love the book? Yes. It just sucked that this was the twist at the end because I didn’t feel like it fit into Harristan’s character arc—not to mention Quint, who is Corrick’s best friend.
Lesson: Don’t bury your gays! Even if they come back from the dead.
Divine Rivals is one of my all-time faves, so it’s an understatement to say I was looking forward to its sequel, Ruthless Vows.
Rebecca Ross’s writing is always lyrical and gorgeous—and it was in Ruthless Vows, as well. I really loved reading this book, but my favorite was definitely the last 3/4. Without going into spoilers, it was heartbreaking, and I loved seeing Iris embrace her badass self.
I docked off a star for 1 main reason:
The pacing in the first half felt off. Certain parts felt too drawn out, and I expected this sequel to be faster paced and more action-packed than the first book, considering the buildup in Divine Rivals and the war.
It’s worth saying that I normally really despise the amnesia trope, but it’s a testimony to Ross’s writing skills that I think she 100% pulled it off.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I’m glad it had a satisfying ending! I’m also grateful that I was able to read this book while I was on my winter vacation.
If you’re looking for a beautifully written upper-YA low fantasy book with WW1 vibes, a war between gods, magical letter writing, and romance, then I highly recommend this duology.
takes two to book review 