Synopsis: All they needed to break the world was a door, and someone to open it. Camford, 1920. Gilded and glittering, England’s secret magical academy is no place for Clover, a commoner with neither connections nor magical blood. She tells herself she has fought her way there only to find a cure for her brother […]
Fantasy
Book Review: Reaper’s Bend by Jonah Evarts
TL;DR Review: A shockingly good debut. A dark and beautiful story about hurt people finding healing through healing another. Synopsis: Kairos will stop at nothing to get his revenge. He chases the man who took everything from him deep into the twisted land of death, Reaper’s Bend. Eris refuses to give into the curse that’s […]
Review: The Cyprian (Elemental Masters #18) by Mercedes Lackey
Synopsis: A cozy, cottage-core Regency fantasy perfect for fans of Bridgerton Elena Whitstone and her seven brothers, abandoned by her mother, find themselves with a new stepmother. At first she seems more neglectful than evil, until just after Christmas she proves herself to be worse than evil; she is an actual magician, a Master of […]
Review: War of the God Queen by David Hambling
Synopsis Jessica: a modern woman, thrown back into the bronze age, alone among a strange and violent people. Amir: a nomad warlord, leading a hopeless battle against monstrous invaders, looking for a miracle. To Amir, the beautiful stranger is a sign from heaven. And Jessica, though no warrior, has hidden talents even she does not […]
Review: Quiet Spells (Spells for Life and Death, 2) by Isa Agajanian
Synopsis A dark academia contemporary fantasy featuring witches, found family and yearning. From TikTok sensation Isa Agajanian, Quiet Spells is perfect for fans of A Discovery of Witches and Divine Rivals. Ghosts passed through the cottage sitting on the peak of Townsend Hill like passengers in a train station. Some, Teddy Ingram knew, stayed longer than others. More than half a […]
Review: Grand Conspiracy (Wars of Light and Shadow #5) by Janny Wurts
Synopsis Where there is light, there must always be shadow… The fifth volume in Janny Wurts’s spectacular epic fantasy, now re-released with a striking new cover design along with the rest of the series. The wars began when two half-brothers, gifted of light and shadow, stood shoulder to shoulder to defeat the Mistwraith. Their foe […]
Review: Anji Kills a King (The Rising Tide #1) by Evan Leikam
Synopsis Anji works as a castle servant, cleaning laundry for a king she hates. So when a rare opportunity presents itself, she seizes the chance to cut his throat. Then she runs for her life. In her wake, the kingdom is thrown into disarray, while a bounty bigger than anyone could imagine lands on her […]
Review: The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean
Synopsis: Aila has spent her entire life dreaming of saving phoenixes. She pulled countless all-nighters at uni just to sneak a toe in the door of the breathtakingly competitive field of conservation, stumbling through failed romance and disastrous class presentations thanks to social anxiety, while also surviving a ferocious class rivalry with the (unbearably beautiful) […]
Eleni’s Top Reads of 2025
I couldn’t really pick a top five, nor a top ten this year. So you get the fun of a top 15! Like last year then, I’ll just be sharing all of their glorious covers and if I reviewed the book itself I’ll be linking the rambles in their titles so you can see if they are the books for you, at your leisure.
These are all books that kept me up till the very small hours of the night, some even made me see the first inklings of dawn and deprived me of even the little sleep I do get. But! I have no regrets whatsoever and neither would you, I believe, if you gave them a go!
Review: Eldritch Prisoners edited by David Hambling
ELDRITCH PRISONERS, edited by David Hambling is the sixth anthology in the Books of Cthulhu series. The series takes a pulpier more adventurous take on H.P. Lovecraft’s mythology. Each book focuses on a specific theme and has some of the best new Neo-Mythos authors contribute their short stories or novelettes. This volume has Davd Conyers […]
Review: Fallen Gods (Fallen Gods #1) by Rachel Van Dyken
Synopsis The world believed the Gods were myth and the Giants were only stories. They were wrong. The Gods aren’t dead – they’re merely sleeping, locked in mortal bodies, scattered across the world, waiting for the right spark to wake them. And Rey Stjerne’s father is the most ruthless of them all. He raised her […]
Book Review: This Gilded Abyss by Rebecca Thorne
TL;DR Review: Murder on the Orient Express meets Train to Busan by way of Arcane, with a hint of Titanic to really ratchet up the tension! Synopsis: Sergeant Nix Marr is a damn good soldier, but she’s desperate to leave her haunted past in the bioluminescent ocean, buried alongside old friends…and old flames. Unfortunately, even […]