I was excited to see this new book from Lucy Knisley, but I didn't realize they were all previously published comics on her website that I had read whI was excited to see this new book from Lucy Knisley, but I didn't realize they were all previously published comics on her website that I had read when they were released. Still, nice to have them all connected in one place. I've missed Linney comics....more
I love this series more with every book, and this one really amped up the stakes emotionally. I'm excited to see where it all goes and also how much mI love this series more with every book, and this one really amped up the stakes emotionally. I'm excited to see where it all goes and also how much more weird shit I will get to read about. I will be buying Dungeon Crawler Carl fandom stuff as soon as it makes itself known to me. I shall become unbearable once I reach book five.
"STOP PRESSURING ME, CARL."
[4.5 stars, rounded down for now, anything could happen in the future]...more
One verrry uncomfy and confusing scene aside, I had a lot of fun with this. The audiobook is just as good as everyone has said. I love LitRPG when donOne verrry uncomfy and confusing scene aside, I had a lot of fun with this. The audiobook is just as good as everyone has said. I love LitRPG when done well and when not offensively misogynist (which I don't think this was, aside from a few nitpicks) because the feeling of coming along for the ride of a game or puzzle makes my brain very happy. Plus a talking cat is a main character. I will definitely be continuing the series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
This was a cute, fun time. I love Alicia Thompson's characteThanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
This was a cute, fun time. I love Alicia Thompson's characters and her dialogue. I liked how detailed this got in a way that made it feel like it was really happening. I didn't love the main conflict, which was that the MC becomes embroiled in A Situation where she is one person to her love interest online and another in person. (This involves her drunk heckling said man while he plays professional baseball, and she makes him cry!)
Unfortunately, this did suffer a bit from my reading it side by side The Rom-Commers, which I could not put down, whereas I found this one easier to put down. The stakes just seemed much lower here emotionally (I don't mind lack of plot stakes but the emotional ones still need to be there).
I will very much continue to read this author's books! In fact, reading her second one starting tomorrow.
This was almost perfect. I just wanted a little bit more from it at the end. Will be updating my spreadsheet of things that make me want to read lit-fThis was almost perfect. I just wanted a little bit more from it at the end. Will be updating my spreadsheet of things that make me want to read lit-fic to include unstable, lovable, queer neurodivergents.
Didn't expect for this to be the book that finally got me to give Ilona Andrews five stars. More thoughts later! (hopefully)Didn't expect for this to be the book that finally got me to give Ilona Andrews five stars. More thoughts later! (hopefully)...more
This wasn't my favorite of Mimi Matthews' books, but I still think it's worth reading. (And worth noting that she was writing this book, where the maiThis wasn't my favorite of Mimi Matthews' books, but I still think it's worth reading. (And worth noting that she was writing this book, where the main character is still in mourning for her father, fresh off the death of her own father in real life.) Just know going in it's a bit more rough going than her other books have been (for me, at least, obviously). It could also just be that the MCs here, Anne and Hart, weren't my favorite! Anyway, it doesn't matter. I still love this author and her books.
So this book, as mentioned above, follows the Lady Anne Deveril, who for the last six and a half years has been in official mourning for her father, because her mother can't seem to move on and won't let Anne move on, either. They are still wearing black long after they should have been (the author based this behavior on Queen Victoria's response to the death of Prince Albert, who has only been dead six months as of the time in this book), and they are seen as social eccentrics, not least because her mother has dived headfirst into spiritualism, constantly attempting to commune with the dead. Her father's death also put her budding romance with Hart on the backburner, and a hurtful confrontation (for both of them) ensued. They have been at odds ever since (the lion's share of the antagonism coming from Anne).
Now, of course, they are coming back together.
I don't think this book will stick with me for very long, despite it being about grief in many ways, and that is usually something that I'm drawn to in books. But the focus wasn't really on the grief, it was on repairing the (frustrating) relationship between Hart and Anne. The first half of this book I wanted to shake these people, especially Anne, almost constantly.
Hoping for a strong finish this fall for Stella's book. ...more
I was at a bit of an emotional remove from this one, and I don't know why, but it was still a fun time. Julie was v. relatable and Elle made my heart I was at a bit of an emotional remove from this one, and I don't know why, but it was still a fun time. Julie was v. relatable and Elle made my heart hurt. I skipped all the sex scenes.
Read Harder Challenge 2024: Read a book by an author with an upcoming event (virtual or in person) and then attend the event. (Saw them at the 2024 Tucson Festival of Books and got this book signed!)...more
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
This book does exactly what cozy fantasy is designedThanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
This book does exactly what cozy fantasy is designed to do (I know this was published by Bramble, Tor's fantasy romance imprint, but the romance is not the central aspect of the book; it is a cozy fantasy first and foremost). About an hour in, I wanted to drop my entire life and move into the book so I could have a flying cat and a sentient cactus who can only say MEEP and a spider plant best friend, and do magic with my friends while we drink tea and make friends with tree spirits while eating jam-filled pastry.
Halfway through, I just went ahead and preordered the book.
If you like fantasy and want something wholesome and heartwarming to wish your way into for an afternoon, this might be the book for you. Very glad I read it.
Read Harder Challenge 2024: Read a cozy fantasy book. (Just had to do a last-minute swap bc The Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping has been pushed to 2025 sadface.)...more
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
I'm seriously so torn on whether to round thisThanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio ARC. It hasn't affected the contents of my review.
I'm seriously so torn on whether to round this one up or down. I'd written this author off after reading their first book, which didn't work for me at all. But this premise sounded really cute and I'd seen some good-ish reviews, so I thought I'd give them another shot. And this is indeed a much better book than their first! (I still don't want to read their second, and probably won't read any more after this.) But it's also pretty flawed in a way that made it really hard to fall into the story.
I liked the first half of this quite a bit, as Phoebe and Grace got to know each other. Grace is the ten year veteran and Phoebe the energetic rookie. And then the author decided that really doubling down on the miscommunication trope would be a great idea, resulting in the extremely agonizing-to-read result of one of the characters thinking they are dating for a whole month and the other having no idea. On top of this, one of the characters is so mistrustful it verges on paranoia, and is on the autism spectrum disorder (without knowing it). And all of this sort of sploots together in a way that was embarrassing and distressing. The end sort of made up for it, but I had already checked out. It was too much for one story. Just the paranoia/mistrust on the one character's part would have been too much for me.
When their chemistry is working, though, the book was very absorbing. The sex scenes in here are SEX SCENES. Although like other reviewers, it got a bit frustrating to see them constantly using sex to distract from actually communicating.
Worth noting, I did the audio version, which made it easier to overlook the very extensive internal monologues other people seemed to have such trouble with, judging by other reviews, but also I didn't really like either narrator, and they didn't enhance the story for me. I particularly think the narrator for Phoebe was a mismatch.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC. It hasn't affected the content of my review.
I don't know if it's because I did the audio for thiThanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC. It hasn't affected the content of my review.
I don't know if it's because I did the audio for this second book and not the dead tree copy, or because it was free, or just because the author is getting better, but I actually liked it more than the first book. It seems this isn't going to be a cozy mystery series that never lets its heroine grow as a character or keeps her stagnant just to preserve the ViBeS. Evelyn grows a lot in this book, on several fronts, and the author also introduces some things that presumably will be longer term conflicts that can keep the series going without wringing the premise dry. Primarily, Evelyn's rocky relationship with her father, but also solving the death of her mother, and resolving whatever is going on with Mac.
She also gets a partner of sorts in this one, and I am very much in favor of this new dynamic. Grumpy veteran and cheery ingenue is a pairing that works well, and Golden uses it admirably. The mystery was interesting and put together in an interesting way.
There is also now a dog (Presley) AND a cat (Monroe).
I am pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this, and will definitely be continuing in the series, and definitely by audio.
"The ____'s Guide to _____ a/and ______" Accountability Rating: I have decided to start holding books accountable for frivolously using the extremely overused title construction this book also uses. This book gets an 3/10. It gets a little bit of a pass for wanting to uphold the continuity of the title from book one, but Death and Dating is just not a great kicker to the end of this title. So it's really just kind of a bummer of a title, and doesn't really reflect the content of the book.
Alternate Titles for This Book: I'll be honest I can't think of a good title for this one. Somebody else think of one and get back to me....more
Another 4.5 star rating for a Hazelwood, not sure if I'm rounding up or down yet, it did a thing that usually annoys me but was done semi-well here soAnother 4.5 star rating for a Hazelwood, not sure if I'm rounding up or down yet, it did a thing that usually annoys me but was done semi-well here so I don't know if I'm mad about yet and I need to think. Anyway this was super fun....more
I don't read a lot of middle grade anymore, but when I do, this is exactly what I want. What a magical good time.30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 3 Book 17/30
I don't read a lot of middle grade anymore, but when I do, this is exactly what I want. What a magical good time. The combo of whimsical worldbuilding, magical trials, friendship and found family, secrets, and darker elements that many people would say don't belong in children's books makes for something rather intoxicating (I've never yet read a favorite children's book without those darker elements btw). I've seen a lot of people talking about the book series that shall not be named in relation to this book, and I don't think they're wrong. If I would have read this book closer to the actual age range its meant for, I would have lost my mind over it. As it is, I just had a really good time and I can't believe I haven't picked up book two yet (just ordered it from Pango while writing this, so hopefully will get to it soon).
Morrigan Crow is a cursed child. In her world, this means she was a baby born on the holiday of Eventide. All children born on this night are cursed, and die before or on their twelfth birthdays. Before they die, they bring bad luck everywhere they go. They are blamed for anything and everything that goes wrong in a community. On top of this fun blessing bestowed upon her, Morrigan is also cursed with a terrible, unloving family (her grandma seems all right). But Eventide comes a year early, and Morrigan flees into another world (a kind of pocket universe, I think?) with a man called Jupiter North who takes her under his wing and wants her to try to enter the Wundrous Society, a society of magic wielders who all have a special "knack." The society is very exclusive, so the trials are intense. Also faffing around the edges of the story is the specter of a man called the Wondersmith, Ezra Squall, who was banished hundreds of years before for committing a massacre.
Everything about this book worked for me: the worldbuilding, the characters and their arcs, the plot, the style of the writing. Morrigan is a classic middle grade protagonist, smart and resourceful and pulling at your heart strings. Jupiter makes for an interesting and frustrating mentor. And the details of this world were so wacky at times, it was a constant surprise. Jessica Townsend basically channeled her childhood imagination for this book (my favorite bits being the enormous talking cat who is head of housekeeping at Jupiter's hotel where they all live, and the chandelier at the hotel that grows and changes into things like pirate ships at its own whims).
Would honestly recommend this one for both younger readers and adult ones looking to have some fun.
I think I might have been expecting a little bit too much from this one. I liked it, but I guess I was expecting to be blown away (no idea why) and itI think I might have been expecting a little bit too much from this one. I liked it, but I guess I was expecting to be blown away (no idea why) and it didn't do that for me, so there is an element of slight disappointment here. Hopefully that will fade away with time and I'll just be able to appreciate the story this book actually wanted to tell rather than the (amorphous, amazing?) one I had in my ahead of time.
This is essentially a portal horror novel about a newly divorced woman named Kara, traveling through a mysterious hole in the wall of her uncle's "wonder museum" with Simon (the man who works at the coffee shop next door). They go in expecting Narnia and instead they get . . . something else. The subtle creep of dread is what does it for me here as Kara ("Carrot" to her uncle and Simon) and Simon slowly realize the rules of the world they have stepped into. But getting out of this nightmarish world is not the only thing they have to overcome.
Like the other T. Kingfisher books I've read, this one is full of her signature cozy/creepy sense of place, and the narrator (in first person) is conversational. I liked this the most when we were in our world, not the other world, so the middle was more sloggy and less interesting than I would have liked, but I loved all the other stuff, even when Kara was learning about the other world (while in ours). I thought the ending was great, and Hillary Huber did a really good job with the narration.
Chipping Away at Mt. TBR, Spooky Season Edition — Book 27/31...more
Ink Blood Sister Scribe is a contemporary fantasy novel that treads some well-worn tropes and plot structures that make it rather predictable, but becInk Blood Sister Scribe is a contemporary fantasy novel that treads some well-worn tropes and plot structures that make it rather predictable, but because of the execution, still very enjoyable. If you haven't spent your life reading fantasy books, you probably won't think this was as predictable as I did, so in that way it might be a good intro to fantasy book, particularly since it's set in our world. But there really is enough here to interest regular fantasy readers as well (unless you're the kind of fantasy reader that only likes young farmer-type dudes out to save the world from the Dark Lord or whatever—there will be too many women and queer people in this for you).
We have three main characters here: Esther and Joanna, half-sisters who share the same father, and Nicholas, a sheltered young man raised in a magical library by his uncle. Esther left home at age eighteen and hasn't stopped moving in ten years, and Joanna hurt by her sister's actions, has stayed at home with the magical books she and her father have cared for her entire life. Now he's died, and Joanna is on her own. Then there's Nicholas, who we meet only to realize there's something important enough about him that he's kept hidden away on the library's estate, and that people want to kill or possess him. These three people are mixed up together in the same thing in various ways, and by the end of the book their paths will cross. And all of their pasts and presents are mixed up with these magical books, the thing Joanna and Esther's father died for.
This was a bit slow to start for me. I liked it, but it didn't really hook me until Nicholas was introduced, and with him, the main conflict of the story. But once I was hooked, I finished this really fast, like in a day (after having spent three days on the first 75 pages). This isn't getting five stars from me, because of the abovementioned predictability, but also because 'Sister' is right there in the title, and I thought that aspect of the book was the most underdeveloped. It felt more like parent/child relationships were overall more important to the themes of the book. I will definitely be reading more from this author, because I like her style, and I liked the characters she created (Collins!). I feel like she could have a Really Great Book inside of her waiting to come out. But in the mean time, you could certainly check this book out and have a good time with something that is slightly flawed and a bit overdone, but full of love.
Lastly, I do want to lodge an official complaint with the authorities that we never find out what they named the cat....more
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