“This was nothing but an illusion. A cruel manifestation of her own mind, like the chandeliers in the old circus tent or the turn of a lock. This i
“This was nothing but an illusion. A cruel manifestation of her own mind, like the chandeliers in the old circus tent or the turn of a lock. This is what she’d wanted to see.”
Lara has lived her entire life in a small, quiet town in Virginia where she and her mother have never been suspected of performing magic. It was there that she met her fiancé, Todd, who disappears on their wedding day without a trace, in the same way and on the same day as another man 30 years ago. As the months pass and Lara tries to move on with her life, her mother gives her a painting that seems to have much more value than they imagined and which features Lara’s great-grandmother, a circus performer named Cecile. This, along with the promise that there she will get the answers she seeks about Todd’s disappearance, leads Lara on a trip to France.
The story is told in two timelines. We follow Lara trying to find answers in 2005, but we also get a glimpse of Cecile’s life in 1925 through the journals that Lara finds of her. I have to say that I didn’t care much for the flashbacks and I especially got frustrated with Cecile because, despite everything her twin did to her, she kept giving up her happiness for her. And for someone whose favorite book is set in a magical circus, the dark and secret circus in this story was probably the element of the story that interested me the least.
Overall, this was an entertaining read. I didn’t connect with the characters, but I liked how the story presented different mysteries—the disappearances in the town, Lara’s connection to the circus, the mystery of the three paintings—and how the revelations played out. I didn’t see the big plot twist coming until two paragraphs before the characters did, which is always fun when a book surprises me like that, especially since it doesn’t happen that often.
“But faith was so easily manipulated. After all, what was faith but belief in something intangible? Something unseen, something unheard.”
After yea
“But faith was so easily manipulated. After all, what was faith but belief in something intangible? Something unseen, something unheard.”
After years of waiting for the orisha to speak to her and eventually become a priestess, Ashâke, an acolyte in the temple of Ifa, decides to try to summon a orisha to find some answers. But this act ends up attracting the attention of a powerful sect that, following the preaching of a person once called The Teacher, wants to wipe out all the orishas.
It took me a while to get into this story, as Ashâke got on my nerves on more than one occasion, although I have to say that I started to like her more as the story progressed. I really enjoyed the glimpses we get into this world and the twist the author threw in near the end. I especially loved the interactions with the griots, their scenes narrating events through songs in which the audience is transported to the time and place where they occurred.
Overall, a fast-paced and engaging novella inspired by Yoruba mythology. I look forward to reading the next and final instalment of this duology when it comes out.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“Even though you’re strong and capable of taking care of yourself—and I truly believe in that—you also need to be strong enough to know when to ask for help.”
This second book in the Campus Diaries series follows Diane and Shane, the best friends of the main characters in The Graham Effect. Diana feels some animosity towards Shane after seeing how he slept with her cheer teammates last year, leaving some broken hearts even though he had made it clear to them from the beginning that he was not looking for a relationship.
So when Shane moves into the apartment across from hers, Diana decides to establish some rules. But when Shane’s ex shows up at his house and Diana starts being harassed by her own ex-boyfriend, they both decide to fake a relationship. And guess what? As they spend time together, they begin to realize that they may be much more compatible than they thought.
I liked this book quite a bit, although not as much as I liked The Graham Effect. Some of the dialogues at the beginning of the novel seemed quite childish to me, the unnecessary mention of the size of a certain body part made me roll my eyes and, once again, this book didn’t have to be over 500 pages. But overall, I had a good time reading it and I quite liked how the romance developed, especially heading into the second half of the book. And well, the fact that this book has one of the spiciest scenes I’ve ever read was also a plus.
The Dixon Rule even made me cry, which rarely happens to me while reading books, but this one deals with the loss of a loved one and it made me very emotional. Other heavy themes are stalking and domestic violence, so be careful if these are topics that could trigger you.
All in all, this was another enjoyable college sports romance by Elle Kennedy.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“That kind of sacrifice creates a debt, and there’s nothing magic likes better than the great hollow of a debt.”
It’s been a decade since I read a
“That kind of sacrifice creates a debt, and there’s nothing magic likes better than the great hollow of a debt.”
It’s been a decade since I read a book by Veronica Roth but when I saw she had an adult urban fantasy novella coming out this year, I was immediately intrigued—and let’s be honest, that pretty cover caught my eye as soon as I saw it. This is a story based on Slavic folklore and set in modern-day Chicago. It follows Dymitr, a mortal who has been taught to hunt monsters his entire life, and who now sets out on a quest to find Baba Yaga. To do this, he offers a zmora a powerful flower that can break her curse in exchange for her assistance in finding the powerful witch.
During this 24-hour mission, the author introduces us to a world of leszy, zmory, strzygi, banshees and other creatures. I enjoyed the premise and it made me realize that, despite me thinking otherwise, I can sometimes enjoy quest stories. I think this one in particular benefits from letting the reader try to figure out what Dymitr’s ultimate goal is and why. I was also surprised by how gory this story is, but I think it complements the mystical and dark vibes of the novella.
It’s true that I generally prefer stories that take place over a longer period of time. And although the dynamics between the characters would have been more interesting if more time had passed, the fact that the mission had a deadline added some excitement to the read. Overall, this was an entertaining read that also explored religious themes and Polish diaspora.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“Power should never be so concentrated in the hands of a few.”
Inspired by the legend of Mulan, The Night Ends with Fire follows Meilin, a young wo
“Power should never be so concentrated in the hands of a few.”
Inspired by the legend of Mulan, The Night Ends with Fire follows Meilin, a young woman who, wanting to escape an arranged marriage to an abusive man, decides to disguise herself as a boy to join the army. As the Three Kingdoms descend into the chaos of war, Meilin must fight to survive and hide her identity from her fellow soldiers (as well as the prince who commands her legion), all while hiding the fact that she possesses a jade necklace containing a spirit seal that allows her to commune with a sea dragon and grants her a power forbidden in her kingdom.
I enjoyed following Meilin’s development over the months: her training in the army, her relationship with Sky, the exploration of the spirit realm and the influence the dragon begins to exert over her—is her ambition really hers or is the dragon trying to control her? I also liked the later introduction of a certain enemy prince; and I’m not going to lie, I hope he’s the chosen one in the love triangle.
What made me get stuck in some parts was Meilin herself. I love following an ambitious female protagonist but many of her decisions and the fact that she doesn’t listen to others or even entertain the idea of not always being right made me want to pull my hair out on more than one occasion. It was truly frustrating that her stubbornness made her realize things too late.
Overall, I enjoyed this first installment in a new fantasy duology. I had my issues with Meilin, but really enjoyed the world and the magic system. I’ll read the sequel and final book once it comes out.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“It was hard to believe in fairy tales when she’d lived a nightmare. And it just so happened that legends were good for business.”
A Tempest of Tea
“It was hard to believe in fairy tales when she’d lived a nightmare. And it just so happened that legends were good for business.”
A Tempest of Tea is a young adult fantasy story that follows the Casimir siblings, Arthie and Jin, who when they find out that they are about to lose their establishment—a tearoom during the day, an illegal bloodhouse for vampires during the night—decide to put together a crew in order to carry out a dangerous heist and infiltrate the Athereum, also known as a secret society of vampires. With the help of a forger, a vampire artist and a captain of the Horned Guard, Arthie and Jin will attempt to recover an important ledger to use as leverage to save their business.
The idea of a tearoom for vampires and the comparisons to Peaky Blinders drew me to this story, but unfortunately I found it pretty average. It has a fun premise and I liked some characters like Jin and Matteo, but I didn’t care for the rest of the crew and I found one of the romances too forced in order to make one aspect of the plot more dramatic. And although I like a ruthless main character and especially when said character is a woman, I have to say that I found Arthie quite one-dimensional.
The plot is very much linear throughout the majority of the book, although there are some interesting twists towards the end; some of them I saw coming, but one actually surprised me. I liked the commentary on colonialism and some scenes between the characters—especially those involving Matteo, who deserved his own point of view—but overall, this was just an okay read for me and I don’t think I’ll read the last installment in this duology.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“A curse can be many things. A wish left out to spoil in the sun, putrid and soft, leaving behind only calcified desire and oxidised envy. Or a poi
“A curse can be many things. A wish left out to spoil in the sun, putrid and soft, leaving behind only calcified desire and oxidised envy. Or a poisoned chalice, a mistake tattooed across an entire family tree, with every generation promising, vowing to never sip until they do.”
The City of Stardust is the story of Violet Everly, a young woman trying to find her mother, who left a decade ago to try to discover a way to break their family’s curse. The clock is ticking and unless Violet finds her mother in time, she’ll have to pay the blood debt to a powerful creature with her own life. In her quest, she discovers a world of magical portals, scholars, secrets and fallen gods. She also meets Aleksander, the second point of the view of this story and the assistant of the dangerous woman to whom the Everly’s debt is owed.
This book began with an intriguing prologue: children disappearing without a trace and a woman leaving her life—and her daughter—behind. Add the beautiful prose to the mix, and it had all the ingredients for a promising story. Unfortunately, the whimsical setting gave way to a plot and characters that I lost interest in as the book progressed. I was more interested in Violet’s uncles than her and I personally think that Aleksander’s point of view didn’t add anything to the plot. I have to say that I kind of liked the ending, especially considering this is a standalone book.
Overall, I just was underwhelmed by this story, but I loved the author’s writing so much that I’ll probably check out whatever she writes next.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“There are no gods in this world.” He reaches out to close her eyes. “Only kings and tyrants.”
Inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, Immo
“There are no gods in this world.” He reaches out to close her eyes. “Only kings and tyrants.”
Inspired by Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra, Immortal Longings is the first book in an adult fantasy trilogy where two characters, Calla and Anton, enter a deadly game set in a walled city with 90s noir vibes and where people have the ability to swap bodies. I liked the concept, but I was quite underwhelmed by the rushed romance and the fact that the game gets relegated to the background as the book progresses. That said, the ending leaves things in a very interesting place for the sequels.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“Please know that you don’t deserve your pain. Hear me tell you that and believe it.”
This book has been on my radar from the moment it was announc
“Please know that you don’t deserve your pain. Hear me tell you that and believe it.”
This book has been on my radar from the moment it was announced, so trust me when I say I had high hopes for it. I had previously read the first two installments in the Empirium trilogy—Furyborn and Kingsbane—and enjoyed them, so I was very intrigued by this first book in Legrand’s adult fantasy romance series. Sadly, this one was a huge miss for me.
Pitched as Bridgerton meets A Court of Thorns and Roses, A Crown of Ivy and Glass follows Gemma Ashbourne, a rich socialite and the only member of her family who doesn’t possess magic. When a man named Talan d’Astier enters the scene, she decides to strike a bargain with him in order to help each other with their individual family situations. Soon enough, they find themselves involved in the games of a dangerous demon.
I appreciate that this book portraits a main character who suffers anxiety and the discussions on mental health and chronic pain, but that’s it. The plot felt all over the place, I found the characters very much one-dimensional—and Gemma particularly insufferable—and the insta-love romance made me cringe from beginning to end.
The only reason I didn’t DNF it was because I was listening to the audiobook while commuting and doing chores, otherwise I don’t think I’d have been able to finish it. But even though this was a huge disappointment for me and I won’t be continuing this series, I’ll still keep an eye out for Legrand’s future works. If you haven’t read anything by this author yet but you want to, I recommend starting with her Empirium trilogy.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“You don’t owe people your forgiveness.” “You forgive for yourself, not for them.”
I don’t remember the last time I laughed as much reading a book a
“You don’t owe people your forgiveness.” “You forgive for yourself, not for them.”
I don’t remember the last time I laughed as much reading a book as I did with this one. The Graham Effect is the first installment in a new college romance spin-off of the Off-Campus and Briar U series that takes place 20 year after The Deal. It follows Gigi and Ryder: Gigi is a hockey player at Briar who is trying to qualify for the Team USA in the Olympics, she is also the daughter of Hannah and Garret (the main characters of The Deal). Ryder is a hockey player whose team recently merged with Briar (his former rivals) and who is trying to get a coaching spot at a summer hockey camp organized by Garret Graham and Jake Connelly.
They met a few years ago, when they were both teenagers, and they didn’t make the best impression on each other. But now they decide to make a deal to help each other in their hockey careers, which inevitably leads them to start spending more time together. Ryder is also dealing with tension between the two sides within his team and is, despite his reluctance, named co-captain with one of his former rivals, who turns out to be Gigi’s ex-boyfriend.
I flew through this book in a couple of days. Gigi and Ryder kept me glue to my Kindle from beginning to end. I loved their relationship, how they went from helping each other to friends with benefits to lovers. There was no unnecessary drama to move the plot forward, I think everything happened in a very realistic way and I loved the honesty and communication between them.
This is truly one of the best romance books I’ve ever read and my favorite by Elle Kennedy. She has written a very cute and healthy romance story with humor—seriously, I laughed a lot with this one—but also dealing with serious themes such as grief, trauma and rage. It probably didn’t need to be almost 500 pages long, but I really enjoyed it and I’m excited to read more books in this new series.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“The world starts with a story. So do dynasties and eras and wars. So does love, and so does revenge. Everything starts with a story.”
I was very e
“The world starts with a story. So do dynasties and eras and wars. So does love, and so does revenge. Everything starts with a story.”
I was very excited about this new novella in the The Singing Hills Cycle since I found out that it would have gothic horror elements. And although I enjoyed it and was surprised by the turn the story ends up taking, I must admit that I missed my favorite aspect of this series: Cleric Chih collecting different stories. It was something barely present in Mammoths at the Gates but in this one it practically disappears, changing the structure to put Chih at the center of the plot instead of focusing on the story-within-a-story element.
The premise is that Chih decides to accompany a young bride to meet her future husband and assist her in wedding negotiations. But when they arrive at the estate, they begin to realize that something strange is happening there: the behavior of the lord’s supposedly mad son, mysterious figurines scattered around the estate or how the servants seem to be frightened.
Overall, The Brides of High Hill is an entertaining gothic fantasy novella with a touch of mystery that is different from previous installments. As always, the author’s prose is a delight to the eye, something accentuated by Cindy Kay’s wonderful narration of the audiobook (I’ll not tire of recommend physically reading these novellas and listening to the audiobooks at the same time). I look forward to discovering what new stories the author will surprise us with in the following installments.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“The Folk were of another world, with its own rules and customs—and to a child who always felt ill-suited to her own world, the lure was irresistib
“The Folk were of another world, with its own rules and customs—and to a child who always felt ill-suited to her own world, the lure was irresistible.”
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries is a cozy fantasy book set in 1909 that follows a grumpy Cambridge University professor specialized in dryadology—the study of faeries—as she goes to a remote village in Ljosland to document a mysterious type of faeries so she can finish writing an encyclopaedia of faerie lore she’s been working on for almost a decade. She’s soon joined by the charming Wendell Bambleby, her only friend—as she puts it—and fellow scholar, whose assistance will help her uncover the secrets of the faeries in that part of the world and their connection to the disappearances taking place in the village.
I’ve said before that low-stakes fantasy books aren’t my favorite, but after a year hearing so many fantastic things about this one, I had high hopes for it. I was fairly entertained at the beginning, especially once Wendell—the only character I liked—comes into the picture. But my interest waned in the second half to the point where I tuned out the story in the last few chapters. I see why a lot of people loved this book, but unfortunately it didn’t work for me and I won’t be picking up the sequels.
I had high hopes for this anthology because even though I usually don’t love short stories, the idea of a collection of them taking place in a dark acI had high hopes for this anthology because even though I usually don’t love short stories, the idea of a collection of them taking place in a dark academia setting was really appealing to me. Sadly, the majority of these stories were a miss for me, but I enjoyed a couple of them.
➼ 1000 Ships by Kate Weinberg: ★★★★ This was my favorite of the anthology. A prequel to The Truants, this is a story of a college student and her affair with her teacher, who is being investigated for the suicide of another student. The author managed to intrigue me enough to want to read her full-length novel.
➼ Pythia by Olivie Blake: ★ This one was kind of a scif-i story about AI and it intersperses an interview with the narration. It bored me from start to finish.
➼ Sabbatical by James Tate Hill: ★ I would say that calling this story dark academia is a bit of a stretch. It’s a story about a professor who decides to get involved in finding another teacher who has been missing for years. I didn’t like the writing or the story itself.
➼ The Hare and the Hound by Kelly Andrew: ★★★ This one follows a young man who was involved in an accident that resulted in the death of another teenage girl and how he can’t escape his past, no matter how hard he tries. I liked the spooky and paranormal vibes of this one, even though I saw the twist coming from a mile away.
➼ X House by J.T. Ellison: ★★ This story had a very promising beginning, but I ended up being disappointed by the turn it took. It’s about a new teacher infiltrated in a school where several mysterious deaths have taken place in recent months.
➼ The Ravages by Layne Fargo: ★★★ I liked this one. A spooky story about a girl and her cheating girlfriend deciding to play with an ouija and everything that unravels from there.
➼ Four Funerals by David Bell: ★★ This was a story about the aftermath of a school shooting and follows a teacher who blames himself and decides to attend the four funerals of his students. It has some interesting discussions, but overall it wasn’t my cup of tea. I also don’t think this one can be called dark academia.
➼ The Unknowable Pleasures by Susie Yang: ★★★ This one was quite interesting. It’s about an unlikeable young woman getting obsessed with the idea of her teacher and one of her classmates having a secret relationship. I was a little disappointed by the abrupt ending.
➼ Weekend at Bertie’s by M.L. Rio: ★★ I was particularly excited about reading this one because I recently read If We Were Villains and loved it. So I wanted to read more from this author. Unfortunately, I felt kind of meh about this one. It’s about two characters that find the body of a colleague and decide to take her money.
➼ The Professor of Ontography by Helen Grant: ★★★ This story is probably the most spooky of the collection. It had me very intrigued from start to finish, but I wasn’t impressed by the final twist.
➼ Phobos by Tori Bovalino: ★★★ It follows a student who is taking a series of trials in order to become part of a secret society but who has to decide how far she’s willing to go when the society asks her to kill someone. I liked the vibes, although I saw the plot twist coming.
➼ Playing by Phoebe Wynne: ★★ The story of a church organist hinting that the older people who used to go to church and who recently died were actually murdered. I felt quite indifferent about this one. That said, maybe it’s because I read it when I was about to fall asleep, but I was surprised by the ending.
Overall, I didn’t enjoy the majority of these stories and I personally consider that half of them aren’t even dark academia. But I’ll keep an eye on future releases of the authors whose stories I enjoyed.
ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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