“And when the Empire is weak, it is often because a powerful few have denied us the abundance of our people.”
if you’re looking for a fantasy murder mystery that has a sherlock and watson dynamic, with a setting that feels like you were dropping into attack on titans, with themes of systemic injustice, and discussions on classism, with a story that follows a queer mc with a learning disability… well, i am here to tell you to please look no further
in this world, the land is separated by rings, and those rings are walls that are constantly being reinforced to keep leviathans out and the people safe. especially the outermost wall, that is also constantly being manned by a military force. also in this world, people are able to get magical augmentations that enhance abilities - and there is a vast range of different augmentations from strength, to sight, or even memory. this land, these augmentations, and different sorts of technological advancements are constantly changing and evolving because of the flora and the importance of the array of plant life on this land. also, this story takes place right on the cusp of the wet season, where the land is less forgiving, alongside the leviathans trying to breach the walls. and if the leviathans do reach the shores, their blood and bodies have a very strange effect on the land and can make a place completely uninhabitable. and lastly, a murder rather unusual, involving the flora in this world, just happened and no one has any clues as to why or how, but the empire needs it solved before the wet season officially hits.
this story follows an assistant to a detective, named dim, who is an engraver, which means he has an enhancement that allows him to remember everything he is seeing, and relay it back to his detective with 100% accuracy and certainty. this is because of an augmentation that he has, and he is able to extra anchor the memories with a vial of a fragrance he is able to tie the experience to. and truly, him exploring all of these places, and manors, and crime scenes, and attaching all of these clues to scent, was one of my favorite parts of this book.
but the detective herself? oh, ana is the best character i’ve read in years! truly a new favorite for me! ana is a bit of a mystery herself throughout the book, so i don’t want to say too much, but she seems to be banished to the outer ring, but she needed a new assistant for a murder mystery in which she is very much needed to solve. and together we watch din and her work together and try to find the murderer(s), while more and more mystery ensues.
this was just a really fresh story, and something that really pushed the bounds of both fantasy and mystery genres. yet, also combining both and making a really beautiful and harmonious experience for readers. this felt different to read, and special to consume, and it really surpassed absolutely every expectation i had prior to purchasing this book at b&n because i love the trend of covers being printed directly on hardcovers with no dust jackets.
“Born into systems beyond our control, into relationships and organizations that obligate us to change, all so our families may prosper… That’s what the empire is, isn’t it?”
to me, this story really also discusses themes of classism and social injustice, where the rich colonizers get to live in safety in the most inner walls, while also having the money to protect themselves from any and all things. while the essential workers who are trying to make all the walls and land a safer and better place are forced to work and live in unsafe conditions. and while people from impoverished communities are forced to give everything they have, in hopes that something will make it back to their families so they will be able to live a tiny bit of a better life. (please know, there is a lot more i want to say, but i won’t because of spoilers - but i really loved some of the themes and thoughts that i felt like were presented within this story!!)
“If you want to figure out where everyone got fleas, look no further than the biggest pack of wild cats. Even if they do prowl behind high walls and fancy gates.”
this book also, to me, has some good representations that i loved reading. both of our main characters have disabilities and they are shown and felt throughout, especially din’s reading disability. but also the message of learning and having to do things differently does not mean it is lesser, it’s just a different way and there is a lot of beauty and strength in that. din is also queer, even though no words are used on page, but he was for sure giving me pan or bi vibes. and there is a very sweet m/m romance that really did have me kicking my feet.
overall, this is the first 2024 published novel that i am giving five stars to this year! you know, i have tried to read so many horrors and thrillers, but maybe the secret sauce was just me picking up a murder mystery. i just fell so in love with our two main characters, and seeing their adventures unfold was a joy and highlight of my 2024 reading. also the amount of tabs i used because the descriptions were so lush and vivid and the quotes so powerful and beautiful? very wild, i promise. even more wild than me being so very alert and looking out for any and all cups because of the title and the cover lol. but i just loved this and i think it really reminded me how much i love murder mysteries, especially with a fantasy back drop. if you have any recommendations, please let me know! and i hope you all have even half as good of a time with this story as i did, because i still believe that will be a five star!
trigger + content warnings: murder, death, blood, vomit, talk of poverty, bullying, abuse, anxiety, smoking, violence, medical testing (involving humans and animals), magical compilation, body horror, contagion, and a lot of talk and imagery of fungus and spores
i have been very vocal about my new found love of the r/fantasy bingo , and one of the challenges (with hard mode activated) is to read a self pubbed i have been very vocal about my new found love of the r/fantasy bingo , and one of the challenges (with hard mode activated) is to read a self pubbed or indie book with less than 100 ratings on goodreads. And as of typing this review, i am number 43! but also, i really love Mark Lawrence's spfbo awards that he (and a team of so many cool sff bloggers) holds every year, really honoring and uplifting indie and self published authors and their stories! So this very long preamble is to inform you that i knew i had to pick a crossover book for this challenge and this one was on the list of spfbo x books and was free on kindle unlimited!
this was a really charming story about a girl named rose, who very unexpectedly gets a message from her aunt lily, asking her to come take care of her flower nursery for her, because she has to leave immediately. and basically, once rose arrives she thinks everything is normal and what she has always known to be true, but a magical elf inspector comes and shows her a secret magical greenhouse and teaches her about a whole new world filled with magic. but together, they also need to figure out where lily went and how to get her safely back asap!
this was really cute and i easily fell in love with both characters. rose is also an artist, and i really loved that about her, and just her finding happiness and being able to navigate the new and old world a little less lonely. i liked the small town, i liked meeting all the side characters (i loved* a faun in a blazer), and i really liked learning about all the magical plants and potions that can be made with them.
this story also just reminded me how much fun it can be to pick up a book not really knowing anything about it and just being able to have a good time with it, without any expectations. yes, the writing and banter was a little cheesy at times, but sometimes cheesy isn’t bad. and i hope this just really helps me reach for more unrated indie stories, because this really was a fun and cozy reading experience!
trigger + content warnings: mention of loss of grandparents and parents in past (illness and car accident), brief talk of addiction, brief mention of bullying in past, talk of drugs, magical compulsion / slavery / captivity, gun violence, drinking, grief, vomiting, unexpected loss of consciousness, magical overdose
fourteen pages of cozy fantasy murder mystery meets a d&d campaign perfection. we follow zyll (wit♡ download and read for free from subterranean press
fourteen pages of cozy fantasy murder mystery meets a d&d campaign perfection. we follow zyll (with her greatcoat of many pockets), and her pony (named round boy ...more
this anthology was such a wonderful surprise! i do have a little bit of a soft spot for all siren-like characters, some of these short stories are truly masterpieces, and i am so thankful i had the joy to read them all. i think the deepwater van-dal by darcie little badger was my favorite, so let me go read elatsoe right away, because wow! but down below are my individual thoughts and feelings about all the stories in this anthology collection, with the trigger and content warnings i wrote down while reading!
━━♡ Storm Song by Rebecca Coffindaffer ★★
this is about a siren who needs to sing for a ritual to call down the storms, but this is ultimately a story about finding your own voice and your own power. and how some songs can be filled with anger, and that's okay! i really liked what this was saying, and i loved the sapphic vibes too, but i just didn't love this story overall.
cw: violence, gun violence, blood, murder
━━♡ We'll Always Have June by Julian Winters ★★★
a ten year old is saved from drowning by a merperson, and he has thought about him ever since. and then they meet again, this time on the beach, and make a deal that the merperson will teach him how to swim, and he will help teach him how to sing. and i really did like this present story, but i kept feeling a little weird that they first met when our mc was only ten
cw: drowning
━━♡ The Story of a Knife by Gretchen Schreiber ★★★★★
this was so hauntingly, and so beautifully, written. the crafting of this story, and the atmosphere, actually took my breath away a little. but this is about a girl, wanting to break the legacy of all the women in her generation being stranded in a house, on a cliff, on an island, trying to cover the scars on their legs. the only time she was able to leave the island is when she had to go to the hospital for major surgeries on her legs. and then she talks to the boy from the sea, who leaves her wondering what her family really are and what the truth of each generation before her.
cw: brief mention of parental abandonment, talk of child illness (involving many scars after), withholding medical information
━━♡ The Dark Calls by Preeti Chhibber ★★
this is a story about a merfamily, living a normal day to day life, that is... until our mc starts to hear a strange voice, calling her name. and then she meets a strange boy, with an eel tail, at a canyon she is not supposed to go to. i loved seeing the family and their cave in this, but the actual story just didn't capture my attention for some reason, sadly.
cw: anxiety, talk of panic attacks, blood
━━♡ Return to the Sea by Kalyn Bayron ★★★★
i really enjoyed this one. a mermaid and a new girl at school form a friendship, and maybe something more, while trying to help a turtle. i loved the way this author did mermaids, i also really loved picturing our mc swimming to catalina island for work. but i just really loved what this story had to say, and the start of this sapphic relationship really made my heart so very happy to read. i really do need to read more from kalyn bayron.
cw: themes / discussion of racism + cultural appropriation, sick animal (turtle)
━━♡ The Deepwater Van-Dal by Darcie Little Badger ★★★★★
this was so so so good. this is a story about a girl who lost her father fifteen years ago while he was searching for the biggest of lost treasures. everyone thinks it was an accident on the water, but she finally learned the truth of what happened. and with the help of a vandal mermaid and the boat that was left behind, she figures out the truth - no matter how painful that truth is. this was a haunting, beautiful, masterpiece of a short story, discussing themes of what can make monsters and what can make people choose to use the word monster - both for themselves and others.
cw: anxiety, insinuation of mass children death, sick child in past (that does make a full recovery), abandonment, grief, colonization, talk of rising sea levels that created a vanishing island
━━♡ The Nightingale's Lament by Kerri Maniscalco ★★★★
kerri really had her character insinuate to the other that his penis might get bit by a fish and it actually made me laugh out loud. lord, help me. i actually did really like this, but it for sure has a sexual vibe throughout, so use caution if that's not for you. but basically we follow a siren, who has the nightingale curse to never have true love, and she spends her nights singing with her sisters and then picking predatory men to murder. and the one she happens to pick this night ends up being not only a monster hunter, but the oldest heir of poseidon himself. and a naked midnight swim dare later... well, that's the story.
cw: murder, death, missing mom (in past), sexual content
━━♡ Sea Wolf in Prince's Clothing by Adriana Herrera ★★★★★
oh, i loved this very powerful story all about breaking cycles, getting revenge, and carving out the story you want. in this world, sirens receive invitations to be concubines at the palace and sea wolves are born only to be protective guards for the royal family. we follow a girl who receives her invitation, with full intentions to avenge her sister. and once she gets to the palace, with her sister's dagger, she finds a very unlikely ally and another power she didn't know she could harness. let me just go read everything by adriana herrera now.
cw: loss of sister in past, grief, brief talk of pregnancy + infertility, unwanted touching (pulling on lap), murder
━━♡ Nor'easter by Katherin Locke ★★★★
i really enjoyed this historical merfolk tale, that took real life events and blended it into something very beautiful. we follow two mcs, one being a trans merperson who loves their friends and is trying to find their place in their own world, and an immigrant from poland who is living in new jersey with their family, and both of their paths cross because of this storm.
cw: nor'easter storm / bad storm with extreme flooding, brief mention of loss of dad in past, anxiety, talk of abandonment in past, mention of xenophobia (negative light)
━━♡ The First and Last Kiss by Julie Murphy ★★★
this story has a cool premise that all merfolk are able to walk on land, and be among humans, 2 nights a month, for one whole year (from their 17th birthday to their 18th). we meet two twin merpeople, with very different outlooks on humans, and we follow the sister as she tries to discover what she wants for her own life. and a cute sapphic romance is brewing at the forefront of this story as well! i just didn't love the end of this one, sadly. but penny being galaxy brain and connecting disney little mermaid dots... 11/10, completely mind blown.
cw: insinuation of death during childbirth in past, loss of mother in past, abandonment / neglect, panic attack
━━♡ The Merrow by Zoraida Córdova & Natalie C. Parker ★★★★
oh my gosh, this is set in the same world as their short story in vampires never get old, which is so very cool, but i actually really didn't like that short story! but thankfully, i enjoyed this one much more (and now i am extra excited to see what this duo does in faeries never lie)! but story switches povs between a human girl whose mother works at a research aquarium, and a mermaid that has been recently captured and is being studied. they make a really lovely bond, and feel very connected to one another, and in turn want to help each other. this was really beautiful, and the mother choosing her daughter really made me emotional.
cw: menti0n of bullying in past (name calling), anxiety, blood, needle mention, captivity, forced medical exams and other situations
━━♡ Shark Week by Maggie Tokuda-Hall ★★★★
i mean, anything with a surprise manananggal is gonna get me... every single time. i know this story isn't going to be for everyone, because it's weird and doesn't focus on a mermaid, but a monster girl who is the daughter of one (and the repercussions of a curse because of her parents falling in love), but it just really worked for me. give me all the sapphic monster girls falling in love with each other, but also with themselves.
cw: talk of menstruation, blood, body horror, talk of parents working at an abortion clinic
━━♡ Jinju's Pearls by June Hur ★★★
oh, this one made me cry! this was a very heartfelt and heartbreaking story. i am scared to say too much, because i don't want to give anything away about this one, but this is a story about a girl who thinks the sea has taken everything from her, and she is very resentful because of that. this was just beautifully crafted and beautifully written and i can't wait to read more by this author.
cw: missing parents, loss of a parent in past, abandonment, themes of racism (obv in a negative light), blood
━━♡ Six Thousand Miles by Julie C. Dao ★★★★
this final short story was a really powerful one about a asian-american, whose mother immigrated to the states from vietnam, and doesn't want to talk about life before she immigrated (or a magical secret that involves growing scales on their legs on their 15h birthday). i really liked this one for a lot of reasons, like the difference between generations of immigrants and how differently they will view the world and how differently the world will view them. but i also loved it because of the connection (and healing and power and love) to the water i feel because of my own family. i just really liked this twist on mermaids and it felt like a really perfect way to wrap up this anthology.
cw: racism, microaggressions, mention of fetishization, blood
i kept seeing everyone picking this up and really enjoying it, so i really went into this not knowing anything! but i instantly fell in love with the i kept seeing everyone picking this up and really enjoying it, so i really went into this not knowing anything! but i instantly fell in love with the world and our main character, rune, who is a witch in hiding. basically in the past, in rune’s country, there used to be witch queens who ruled over all, but after a revolution being a witch is a death sentence. also in this world, witches need blood as a component to cast spells, sometimes their own, sometimes others, but when you draw blood to use magic, the wound will heal silver, leaving a tattoo-like mark on your body. and in the present day, there are witch hunters who are constantly looking for these marks and other signs of witchcraft.
rune gets around this by saving and using the blood from her menstrual cycles - which i really loved. the blood isn’t as powerful, because it’s not as fresh because she is bottling it, but i just thought this was such a cool concept. i have read so many books, it is very rare that one surprises me with something i’ve never read before, and this one truly did. but rune is close with the witch hunters because she turned her grandmother in to the authorities years before, because of her grandmother’s wishes. this, and her not having the silver marks, makes it very easy for her to hide in plain sight and be able to get information to save other witches and get them out of the country before they are apprehended by the guard.
the guard is constantly looking for a vigilante that they named “the crimson moth” but no one suspects that it could possibly be rune.. except for gideon, the worst witch hunter of them all. gideon wants to get close to rune to see if she is a witch or knows the crimson moth that everyone is after, and rune wants to get close to gideon because one of her grandmother’s best friends was captured and is currently being held in captivity for being a witch. but maybe, just maybe, they kinda like each other.
i actually really enjoyed it, and never once did i want to stop reading. The setting and atmosphere is really good and instantly hooked me completely. i felt a lot of empathy for rune and gideon throughout and was really rooting for them by the end, but oh my gosh the angst - i cannot believe. the ending is very much a cliffhanger, with lots of twists and turns that i actually didn’t see coming. I actually really want to praise kristen ciccarelli, because she threw out some red herrings that had some mystery writers shaking in their boots truly. but yeah, i had a really good time with this one and i will for sure pick up book two!
trigger + content warnings: blood, self harm to get blood for magic, a lot of talking about menstrual cycles, murder, death, loss of parents in past, loss of grandparent in past, loss of siblings, mention of suicides in past, grief, depression, drugging, violence, torture in past, brief mention of child abuse, one sentence mention of loss of a child during childbirth, talk of sexual assault in past (nothing detailed on page, but it is a main theme of this story), i would also say sa for stripping people of their clothes to search for those silver marks, abusive relationship in past, drinking, talk of addiction, guns and gun violence, spiders, fire
i have been loving this series so very much, and after finishing the ashes & the star-cursed king i immediately wanted more, therefore i picked this up also assuming it would be a banger like the rest of this series. oh friends, i am experiencing heartbreak as i type this mini review.
i believe that this in-between story, set in this world at a different time period, was to help us learn more about the goddesses, in particular nyaxia and (view spoiler)[her cousin (hide spoiler)] arachessen. yet, that’s all it really did for me because i just could not get into this story, these characters, their romance, their dynamics with other characters, or anything really. this was ultimately just such a let down for me, but i will still be picking up the songbird & the heart of stone come fall!
content warnings mentioned in author’s note at beginning of this book: violence, war, drug addiction. Violence against children, explicit sexual situations
additional trigger + content warnings i wrote down while reading: loss of a loved one, loss of a friend, cult depiction, colonization, drowning, grief, murder, death, a lot of blood depictions, captivity, body control powers, drugging, talk of the subject of rape, power imbalance dynamics / child abuse, slavery mention, extreme drug withdrawal, talk of animal death, graphic detailed mentions of eating animals
“I am glad, glad that you are alive. To see you take breath puts the breath back in my lungs. If there must be another my fate is twined around, I am glad it is you.”
this third and final book in fitz’s first trilogy was just everything to me. you all know i love a quest storyline, and as the title does hint at, there are a lot of quests for my favorite assassin in this concluding novel. truly, i could read another thousand pages of fitz on the road, picking up companions, finding out new information, and reading little story, after little story, to eventually lead up to one big masterpiece. i feel like robin hobb is so amazing at creating characters, because you not only love them, and love reading about them, but you get so attached to them and their lives. i felt fitz’s heartbreak, his rage, his happiness, his contentment, all of them so viscerally.
royal asssassin's ending was very wild to say the least, so i knew the start of this book was going to be heart wrenching, and i was indeed crying seeing fitz learn to be human again (and to contemplate if it is worth it to be human again). but in this third novel, we see him on the road with nighteyes, and on a mission to get revenge, but also on a mission to find the ones he loves - even if they are in a very different location than the mission for revenge. we get to see fitz meet different people, different minstrels, and be in different inns, different towns, who are all trying to stay safe from the forged ones who are out attacking anyone and everyone. and truly there is not much more i can say without getting into major spoilers.
let me do some other really fast, somewhat vague things that i really loved about this book: i loved all the discussions with the fool and with gender and how that can be something so fluid, and so changing, but also something others will prioritize over knowing way more than you could/ever will. i loved everything we learned about elderlings and dragons! and i really liked the first starting glimpses of a new generation being forged by war and hiding, but also by love and hope.
overall, i just can’t recommend this trilogy, and the start of this overarching series, enough. i loved this story, the heartbreak and the love that is so easily felt throughout every chapter. and i know i will carry so many of these characters with me forever. i also am so excited to finally start liveship traders because that is a brand new series for me, and i am so curious how a new cast of characters are going to maybe cross paths with fitz.
trigger + content warnings: blood, slavery, violence, death, murder, gore, seizures, mentions of animal death in past, mentions of suicidal thoughts, poison, drugging, insects, talk of abortion, talk of loss of a baby during child birth, death of a child, illness, physical assault, threat of rape, talk of rape in past, human trafficking, attempted suicide, loss of a loved one, animal abuse, ableism (in negative light), and maybe misgendering (also always in a negative light - i believe the character in this book is somewhere on the gender fluidity spectrum, and could possibly not care about any and all gender labeling, but just use care in case something like this could be triggering for you)
this is two stories… two parts of a story… maybe a bindup of two novellas… that i truly did not know existed, but i promise you this 150 page book was an easy and so heartfelt five star for me. you can totally read this before assassin's apprentice , but i do think you will get a little more out of it if you have read even a little bit of the first trilogy in the realm of the elderlings. but i will very much warn you: this is a tragedy to its core. this reads so very much like a fairytale, yet i was weeping over so many parts, but the ending healed it all and it felt like storytelling perfection.
to not give anything away, the barebones of this story is that we follow a little girl, named felicity, who grows up alongside princess caution farseer. we get to see their lives together and them becoming the people they want to be versus the people their families expect them to become. in the second part of this story, we follow their sons, both very different but their hearts also very intertwined like both of their mothers. and without saying anything else, this story helps put lineage and heritage a little more into perspective. and it also serves as a reason why many people in this world are scared of the magic called the witt.
this was one of the most beautifully written things ive ever read. the writing was so compelling that the story felt like it was being told to me by the most lulling bard to ever sing a tale. i know this is a short read, but from page one this truly put a spell on me and i was unable to put it down. i just loved this completely and highly recommend it to anyone who already loves fitz, but also to everyone who will eventually love fitz.
trigger + content warnings: drugging, a lot of talk of pregnancy and childbirth, loss of a parent, loss of a loved one, loss of a child, violence (a lot), blood, gore, bullying, animal abuse, animal death, scenes of childbirth and death in childbirth, grief, talk of illness, abusive parent, depression - this is actually a very dark story/stories, so please use caution and make sure you’re in a good headspace
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