Several months have passed since the attempted revolt at midwinter and the CounPros: interesting magic, political intrigue
Cons: pacing is a bit uneven
Several months have passed since the attempted revolt at midwinter and the Council of Nobles are preparing to vote on the new Reform Bill that Prince Theodor has advanced. Sophie Balstrade prepares to give up her seamstress business and accompany the prince to a trade conference in West Serafe. But trouble from home follows them there, as the nobles don’t intend to give up their power. Meanwhile Sophie’s casting ability has been faltering and she needs to figure out why, and if it can be recovered.
This is the second book in the Unravelled Kingdom series, and heavily depends on knowing what’s happened in book one. There’s less sewing and more magic and politicking in this book.
I love Sophie and seeing her relationship with Theo deepen is a real pleasure. They sometimes butt heads, being from different social strata, but work out their difficulties.
The magic is interesting. I love how Sophie sews charms, and seeing her abilities expand is fun. The musical magic gets examined a bit more and Sophie develops a new form of casting.
There is a lot of political intrigue. I love that there are no easy solutions to how to resolve problems of social and economic change. People in power don’t want to give that up. The book shows very realistic responses to the various solutions proposed. The brutality of people fighting for their future comes across.
I did find that some parts of the book were more interesting than others. The pacing got a bit uneven at times.
I enjoyed the book and can’t wait to read the final volume....more
Pros: fun characters with some unique takes on fairy tales
Cons: the story meanders, convoluted plan
Prince Charming has been rescuing women - and payinPros: fun characters with some unique takes on fairy tales
Cons: the story meanders, convoluted plan
Prince Charming has been rescuing women - and paying himself with half their treasuries - for years. Now, a group of his victims has banded together to bring him to justice.
This is an entertaining reworking of several classic fairytales, but with the idea that Prince Charming is a real cad. I enjoyed seeing how the author would rewrite each woman’s history. The characters were fun to watch, even - especially? - Charming.
Once the women got together and started their plot, things began to meander a bit. Their plan, as it’s revealed through the story, is so convoluted when you consider it after the fact, that it’s hard to believe it succeeded. The ending was also a bit lacking of consequence.
I did find it strange that with how many women he’d defrauded and how THEIR part of the stories travelled, that the prince wouldn’t be more easily recognized. He’s using the same name, just translated for new languages after all. Seems with a detailed description and his modus operandi new potential victims could be warned away.
It was a fun, quick read. Don’t think too hard about it. Just go along for the ride - and the reworked fairytales....more
Recently I’ve been working on reducing my anxiety so I requested this on NetGalley.
The book has 2 parts (Understanding Anxiety & How to Manage Your AnRecently I’ve been working on reducing my anxiety so I requested this on NetGalley.
The book has 2 parts (Understanding Anxiety & How to Manage Your Anxiety) and 9 chapters (Anxiety & Women; Navigating Life with Anxiety; Calm Your Body & Mind; Observe Your Anxiety & Identify Your Triggers; Release Yourself from the Cycle of Worry & Rumination; Replace Your Anxious Behaviors with Healthy Ones; Navigate Relationships and Manage Social Anxiety; Acknowledge & Address Specific Phobias; and Reclaim Your Life & Reach Your Goals). The book ends with a short list of resources, online sites for additional help if you need it.
The first chapter has a lot of repetition, which is great for getting you to really take in the information. I found it helpful to learn why anxiety exists and how it’s meant to help in dangerous or unusual circumstances. Anxiety becomes a problem when it overstays its usefulness.
The book progresses through teaching you about anxiety, then ways to deal with different aspects of it using a variety of exercises. I found some activities worked better for me, but the variety means people with different ways of learning and thinking - and different levels and aspects of anxiety - will find useful activities. There were several exercises dealing with intrusive thoughts/ruminating on past actions, on how to relieve black & white thinking, etc. Unexpectedly the book didn’t just deal with ways to improve yourself in private, there’s a section on how to do small talk and introduce yourself to strangers. The chapter on breaking down goals into manageable pieces was also unexpected and useful. I really appreciated the reminder to celebrate your successes.
It is useful to try various exercises, even if you don’t think they’ll work for you. I did the ‘write a letter to your anxiety’ and it was surprisingly insightful.
Through the work I’ve done over the years some of these lessons were no longer necessary for me, but I could see how they would have helped (and were similar to techniques I used in the past).
If you suffer from anxiety and want to learn techniques that can help, give this workbook a try....more
Pros: fun and interesting characters, tight plot, some thought provoking moments, good fight scenes
Cons:
The characters are so much fun. They’re all nePros: fun and interesting characters, tight plot, some thought provoking moments, good fight scenes
Cons:
The characters are so much fun. They’re all neurotic in complementary ways. Surly and snipey at times, talkative and playful at others. Eoan’s curiosity about everything was a real joy. Despite their arguments it’s clear Nash and Saint are a tight knit crew. Seeing Jal and Anke dropped into the crew’s dynamic made for some great interactions.
The plot is tight with enough down time to get to know all of the characters between chase scenes and fights. There are some real tense moments.
The politics of this future are suitably complex without taking over the story. There are a few decent questions about morality and whether it’s better to focus on the needs of society at large vs saving your personal friends and family. And who should make the necessary sacrifices.
It’s a book about the choices we make and how we deal with the consequences of the bad decisions of our past. Of working as a team to complete a goal. Of betrayal and redemption.
It’s a delightful story that, though it dealt with heavy issues at times, left me feeling hopeful about the future....more
Pros: compelling, fast paced, interesting characters
Cons: abusive dom/sub scene
The Rochford Institute is hosting their class of 2064 reunion on Space Pros: compelling, fast paced, interesting characters
Cons: abusive dom/sub scene
The Rochford Institute is hosting their class of 2064 reunion on Space Habitat Altaire. As an added bonus, attending will net each participant at least 5 MERIT points, necessary to gain coveted spaces in the new Mars colony. Unlike her classmates, Ava Khan isn’t there to schmooze. She wants to know who really killed her abusive twin brother their last year of school, and she thinks her three oldest friends have the answer. Meanwhile, the station crew have a plan for how to make the world a better place.
The story is told from the alternating perspectives of the four friends and Cielo, chief housekeeper on the Altaire. You learn more about each one, how things went in school, what they’ve been up, and why they’re really on the station. They’ve all got compelling stories, even if - despite what they think - they’re not particularly good people.
The book delves into the kinds of backroom deals that allow the super rich to influence the world and come out on top.
There’s an orgy scene (mildly graphic) and one character acts as Dom to another, in which a lot of minimizing language and swear words are used. The second scene with that pair went past words, and though it wasn’t graphic, it still left me feeling uncomfortable.
The ending hits hard and wasn’t what I was expecting. It’s a fast paced, compelling read....more
After losing years of her life in the Land Where the Lost Things Go, Antsy Ricci has found her way to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. But a After losing years of her life in the Land Where the Lost Things Go, Antsy Ricci has found her way to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. But a school filled with kids trying to find their Doors back to magical lands might not be the best place for a girl that can find anything,
This is the 9th book in the Wayward Children series and is best read in sequence. It takes place a bit before and directly after the events of Where the Drowned Girls Go and Lost in the Moment and Found. It’s worth rereading those if you don’t remember what happened.
Antsy’s an interesting character. She’s 9 years old in the body of a 16 year old, with no idea of how to act around kids her visible age. Seeing her face her past and giving real resolution to her story in Lost in the Moment and Found, was wonderful.
I loved Sumi in this story. She can be a bit much but acts like a real mother hen crossed with a real no nonsense attitude. She has some of the most insightful lines in the book.
Despite the rules of the school, a quest is at hand. As a novella it only takes a few hours to read, but has a very satisfying story arc.
If you’ve read the prior novellas in the series, this is a strong follow-up. If you haven’t, I can’t recommend the series enough.
The book is split into 4 sections, with 12 chapters, an introduction, and a short conclusion. There are end notes at the back. The 4 sections are: BecThe book is split into 4 sections, with 12 chapters, an introduction, and a short conclusion. There are end notes at the back. The 4 sections are: Becoming Christian, What the First Christians Believed, How the First Christians Worshipped, and How the First Christians Lived.
I reviewed an advance reader copy from Netgalley, meaning it wasn’t in its final form. My copy had no illustrations, just captions where the illustrations should go. So I cannot comment on their quality, though there were a good number of them and they’re placed to illustrate interesting aspects of the text.
The author used a decent number of quotes from ancient texts in addition to numerous Old and New Testament quotes. He often tied things together with modern examples which I found a bit jarring but might help a general audience better understand the thought process of ancient peoples.
The book has some great aims and asks some excellent questions. These are questions that cannot be fully answered, as sources are limited, but it was frustrating at times how short the discussion was. The author might give a few possible answers but little or sometimes no reasoning on why these answers should be considered.
For example, in the 3rd chapter he questions why Romans would join the new Christian church when it was so radically different from what they were used to. He mentions 4 possibilities: the intriguing idea of monotheism, the promise of eternal life, that the new faith blended religion, philosophy and morality in a way others didn’t, and the concept of loving everyone. He mentions these but has no follow-up discussion about them and simply ends the chapter. Also strange is the absence of Christianity’s idea of equality as one of those possibilities. Many early adopters of Christianity were rich upper class women (women whose houses were gifted to the church to become buildings of worship upon their deaths). While upper class women had more agency than many in ancient Rome, the Christian faith gave them power over belief in ways other religions denied them. The author does cover the stratification of Roman society and how Christians tried to upend that with their idea of everyone being treated equally within the church in a later chapter, but he never posits this as a reason why lower class individuals might have joined the church in the first place. Even in his conclusion, when he again considers the question of what made Christianity so compelling, he neglects to mention it in favour of purely spiritual answers.
Despite my desire to see more discussion, the book is excellent at giving a good idea of how differently ancient peoples thought about concepts like religion. It was very useful learning how Greeks and Romans worshipped. I also appreciated learning more about how early Christian practice was different from the Jewish faith it sprang from. I highlighted numerous passages in the book that I thought were worth reflecting on. Christianity has changed a lot from those early years, so it was interesting seeing what the first Christians believed and how they followed Christ.
Consider this a great introduction to the topic of how early Christians practiced and how their worship and thought patterns differed from those of the people around them. It’s a fairly short, easy to read book that will give you a lot to think about....more
Pros: lesbian mermaid love story!, gorgeous artwork, deaf/mute characters
Cons: some sad scenes, emotional abuse
Fifteen year old Corinth’s boyfriend SePros: lesbian mermaid love story!, gorgeous artwork, deaf/mute characters
Cons: some sad scenes, emotional abuse
Fifteen year old Corinth’s boyfriend Seth is emotionally abusive. When she meets a mermaid at the beach she discovers that friendship doesn’t have to be painful. But Skylla wants to stay with Corinth, and bad things happen when mermaids transform into humans.
The artwork is gorgeous. Vibrant colours, lots of curvy women. While you don’t see much of the underwater kingdom, I loved how this author represented the mother mermaid and the fathers (they’re so CUTE!). The mermaid design is all fish, with sharp teeth, webbed fingers, and various coloured skin.
Corinth’s a great character who’s lack of self-esteem is being exploited by her emotionally abusive boyfriend. There’s nothing over the top in the story, just constant little episodes of negging and gaslighting. Seeing her regain confidence is a real treat.
Corinth’s mother is deaf so she knows sign language. After meeting, she starts teaching Skylla all sorts of new language based things, including sign language. It’s great to see.
The relationship between Skylla and Corinth is built on mutual admiration and affection, and it’s is a real pleasure watching it blossom into love.
This is a fun, beautiful graphic novel that I hope a lot of people read.
Merged review:
Pros: lesbian mermaid love story!, gorgeous artwork, deaf/mute characters
Cons: some sad scenes, emotional abuse
Fifteen year old Corinth’s boyfriend Seth is emotionally abusive. When she meets a mermaid at the beach she discovers that friendship doesn’t have to be painful. But Skylla wants to stay with Corinth, and bad things happen when mermaids transform into humans.
The artwork is gorgeous. Vibrant colours, lots of curvy women. While you don’t see much of the underwater kingdom, I loved how this author represented the mother mermaid and the fathers (they’re so CUTE!). The mermaid design is all fish, with sharp teeth, webbed fingers, and various coloured skin.
Corinth’s a great character who’s lack of self-esteem is being exploited by her emotionally abusive boyfriend. There’s nothing over the top in the story, just constant little episodes of negging and gaslighting. Seeing her regain confidence is a real treat.
Corinth’s mother is deaf so she knows sign language. After meeting, she starts teaching Skylla all sorts of new language based things, including sign language. It’s great to see.
The relationship between Skylla and Corinth is built on mutual admiration and affection, and it’s is a real pleasure watching it blossom into love.
This is a fun, beautiful graphic novel that I hope a lot of people read....more
Pros: tons of politics!, several interesting alien species, excellent world-building
Cons: heavily character driven, so if you don’t like Ingray the boPros: tons of politics!, several interesting alien species, excellent world-building
Cons: heavily character driven, so if you don’t like Ingray the book may be a slog
Ingray Aughskold has hatched a cunning plan to beat her foster brother and gain their mother’s notice - and perhaps be named her heir. Unfortunately for Ingray, that plan starts to unravel immediately as she discovers she’s broken the wrong man out of prison and it turns out her transport ship was stolen from aliens. Her life is about to change in many unexpected ways.
This is a heavily character driven story. I found Ingray intriguing, and wanted to know why she was making so many bad decisions. Seeing her owning up to her mistakes and try to make things right was satisfying. The side characters are also fascinating, with goals that often conflict with hers.
The world-building is excellent. Tyr Siilas station, the planet Hwae, the very alien Geck, and more recognizable but still alien Omkem. Each group has their own very different culture and language. One of my favourite parts of the book was towards the end where Ingray needs to use a translation software to help with a language she doesn’t know and it translates profanity as ‘fiddlesticks’ and complex phrases as near gibberish. Very realistic.
There’s a lot of politics in the book, which I loved. I find it fascinating seeing why people make certain decisions and how those decisions affect their world. It was especially interesting here as the politics crossed so many boundaries. Deeper purposes were constantly being revealed as Ingray learned more about what was happening and how the plans of others intersected with her own.
There are 3 (at least 3) genders, so be prepared for e/eir pronouns.
The book did feel a bit slow at times, I often have trouble maintaining interest in character driven books, wanting more plot to pick up the slack, but it was very enjoyable....more
Pros: lots of information easily digested, plentiful photographs, varied topics
Cons: I feel like there was more magic from the African continent that Pros: lots of information easily digested, plentiful photographs, varied topics
Cons: I feel like there was more magic from the African continent that deserved mention
The book has 5 sections, each broken down into numerous subchapters going into more detail. The sections are: Ancient roots (prehistory to 400 CE), Curse or Cure (400-1500), Scholars and Sabbats (1500-1700), Secrecy and Ceremony (1700-1900), and Modern Magic (1900 onward). There is also a glossary at the back of the book. I was impressed by the number of subsections there were and how thorough the coverage is both in terms of history and geography.
Most topics got a 2 page spread, with a few getting 4 pages. Occasionally side information would get its own spread, like images of fetishes or amulets from different cultures or the meanings of rune stones and how to use them for divination.
I would have liked to learn more about indigenous African beliefs. The authors did a good job of trying to differentiate between magical practices, superstition, and religions still being practiced (which only showed up as they intersected with magical practices, like the Christian persecution of witches). I was impressed by the sheer breadth of information covered. Much of it I was familiar with, but there were sections, like Finnish native beliefs that I had never heard about.
There are a lot of excellent photographs and good use is made of box text diving into specific practices and practitioners that needed a bit more coverage.
I didn’t expect the modern sections to interest me as much as the ancient and medieval sections, but it was fascinating to see some practices return and others morph over time.
If you’re looking for a broad overview of magical practices, this is an excellent book....more
Pros: great characters, detailed worldbuilding, twisty plot
Cons:
After the members of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Al-Jahiz are murdered in a mysteriousPros: great characters, detailed worldbuilding, twisty plot
Cons:
After the members of the Hermetic Brotherhood of Al-Jahiz are murdered in a mysterious manner, Agent Fatma and her new partner Agent Hadia, of the Egyptian Ministery of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities, to solve the case.
This is a fun murder mystery that takes place in an alternate Egypt of 1912, where a portal to another world allowed djinn, ‘angels’ and other supernatural beings to come to earth. The worldbuilding is fantastic and extrapolates the politics of the time to fit these entities in.
This is the first novel, but there are a couple of short stories that preceed this story, introducing some of the characters (like how Agent Fatma and Siti meet), that while not necessary to understand the events of this book, are a lot of fun and give some more depth to the characters.
Agent Fatma is delightful and I loved her relationship with Siti. While I’m not generally a fan of the’ agent who doesn’t want a partner gets a new partner’ trope, it was handled well and I enjoyed seeing them learn to work together.
The murder mystery was interesting, with some fun twists. The ending was properly apocalyptic.
If you’re unfamiliar with Egyptian (and Nubian) food and clothing, there will be some new vocabulary to look up. I looked up some but not all of the terms, learning some interesting cultural facts along with my fiction.
I found this an enjoyable romp in a country I’d love to visit someday....more
Pros: brilliant world-building, interesting characters, fast paced
Cons:
Raised as a princess in one of the 6 remaining book eater houses in England, DPros: brilliant world-building, interesting characters, fast paced
Cons:
Raised as a princess in one of the 6 remaining book eater houses in England, Devon Fairweather learns at her first marriage, that being pampered is not the same as being free. Now, she’s trying to escape the families along with her mind eater son.
The book alternates between scenes in the present with Devon on the run and scenes from the past that explain how she got to this point. The pacing is great and there is a mix of highly tense moments an downtime where you really get to know the main characters.
The world-building here is great. The book eaters are unique, and the mind eaters terrifying. The author does a great job of blending their curious and often antiquated style of living, with the modern day world. I also loved how she worked in knights and dragons.
Devon is a complicated woman. She loves her son, enough to get him humans to feed on, while also being scared of that need to feed. In some ways she’s suffered greatly, in others she’s still weirdly naive. I didn’t quite agree with some of her principles, but despite her crimes she still comes off as sympathetic and you still want to see her succeed.
It’s a strange book, telling about a strange people, and is wildly entertaining if you like darker urban fantasy....more
A year has passed since the events of The Unbroken, and Touraine has discovered that helping toPros: lots of political intrigue and hard choices
Cons:
A year has passed since the events of The Unbroken, and Touraine has discovered that helping to rule a nation is a difficult as freeing it from colonizers. She and Aranen are sent as Qazali’s ambassadors to Balladaire to maintain Luca’s friendship and support. But the Balladairan capital is not safe from its own rebels, nor is Luca’s uncle, acting regent, ready to give Luca the throne.
This is a great follow-up to The Unbroken. The setting is different, allowing the reader to learn more of the Balladairan empire and its territories. But the tension between Luca and Touraine, and Luca and her power, remains just as complicated.
I loved how Luca’s disability causes challenges for her, but doesn’t define her.
Luca’s quest to learn more about Balladairan magic bears fruit, but the answers she finds aren’t ones she likes. Touraine’s attempts to use Qazali magic show that while the theory of using it is easy, the practice is not.
Touraine really comes into her own, learning new things and slowly gaining confidence outside of her military prowess.
I loved Fili, the apprentice woodcarver, and am curious what will happen with her in the next book.
The book has so much political intrigue. I loved it. Luca and her uncle playing against each other for the crown was alternatively thrilling and horrifying. Though there are a few fight scenes, this book has more duels and smaller scale action than battles.
The Unbroken was a great book, and I enjoyed The Faithless even more. If you’ve not read these, you’re missing out....more
Pros: great characters, excellent world-building, thought-provoking
Cons: several near-death encounters
The day they arrive in the country she was kidnaPros: great characters, excellent world-building, thought-provoking
Cons: several near-death encounters
The day they arrive in the country she was kidnapped from as a child, Touraine, lieutenant of the Balladairan Colonial Brigade, saves the life of Princess Luca. The princess is there to quell rebellion and prove her fitness for the throne. She’d also like to learn more about the healing magic the locals used to wield. Touraine just wants her fellow conscripts to survive the coming unrest. As they work together, their feelings for each other, as well as their private goals, clash in unexpected ways.
The world-building is top notch. The level of second guessing motivations was perfect given how the colonial troops were raised. Seeing Touraine torn between wanting to help the princess, the rebels and her conscripts was heart-wrenching, especially when she kept making bad decisions. I also liked seeing how torn Luca was about wanting to do well by her people even when she had to chose what was best for the crown.
Touraine manages to recover from extreme injuries - via healing - quite a few times. It seemed unfair by the end how often she survived when other characters die. Especially given how much of the damage done in the colony was due to her own poor choices.
I loved how easy - and hard - using magic is.
It’s a good, thought-provoking read about colonization and loyalty....more
Mary Magdalene is a fascinating saint. From simple origins, a few mentions in the New TPros: lots of photos, highly informative
Cons: a bit repetitious
Mary Magdalene is a fascinating saint. From simple origins, a few mentions in the New Testament, to becoming amalgamated with other New Testament Marys, to having a variety of stories about where she spent her later years (Ephesus or France), being a sinner, a penitent, a preacher, a feminist icon, her story is constantly evolving.
The book starts with an introduction before separating into two parts. Part One: Towards a Visual History, consists of 7 chapters (Scripture Sources, Patristic Sources, Eastern Christian Narratives & Traditions, Western Christian Narratives & Traditions, Symbols & Devotions, Mary Magdalene through Christian Art, and Coda). This part examines what the scriptures say about the various Marys that were amalgamated into the story of Mary Magdalene and how ‘her’ story was depicted in art through the years. The second part, Motifs, consists of 10 chapters that analyzed specific aspects of Mary Magdalene, and how those were depicted in art (Sinner/Seductress, Penitent, Anointer, Weeper, Witness, Preacher, Contemplative, Reader, Patron, and Feminist Icon). These are short chapters, of 3 to 5 pages each, with 1 to 2 photographs highlighting their subject. The book concludes with an afterward that mentions exhibitions focused on Mary Magdalene and a select bibliography for further reading.
I found the introduction fairly repetitive and a bit harder to parse than the rest of the text. Part one had some great foundation information about how Mary’s story began and developed. It was really interesting seeing how parts of her legend came about. The chapters were thorough and easy to read. While each chapter in part 2 was short, the author packed a lot of great information into them, including mentions of her in early Christian and apocryphal writings. There’s some repetition here as well, though I suspect it’s so each chapter stands on its own. There were occasional page notes with sources for other articles and books to read for more information and a few explanatory notes.
The book has a lot of excellent colour photographs that demonstrate the points the author is making. They cover the variety of motifs Mary Magdalene was used to represent, as well as the various periods during which she has been worshipped.
If you’re interested in Christian saints in general or Mary Magdalene in particular, it’s a fantastic book....more
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