Synopsis: Nightsoul. A name striking terror into the hearts of Eltnia’s people for decades. A mysterious, sinister ruler, buoyed by the foreboding magic of the malevolent sorceress Barbis. A haunting spectre, appearing out of mist, razing kingdoms to the ground, then vanishing like a ghost, leaving behind destruction, ruined corpses, and paralyzing despair. And Nightsoul […]
Grimdark
Review: Queen of Thieves Box Set: Defenders of Legend by Andy Peloquin
THAT’S RIGHT! I loved this trilogy so much that I’m not done boosting it to the masses! Child-, Thief-, and Queen of the Night Guild are some of the best in indie. Grimdark sword and sorcery that packs a band of thieves into so much action, grief, struggle, and perseverance. I wanted to check these […]
Review: Queen of the Night Guild (Queen of Thieves 3) by Andy Peloquin
Synopsis Her life burned to ashes. Her city under siege. She will sacrifice everything she has for bloody vengeance. Ilanna has lost everything: her friends, her home, her family, her dreams of freedom. All that remains is a burning desire to find the bastards who burned down her city and tried to kill her. But […]
Review: Die Slow (The Runeborn Trilogy #2) by Morgan Shank
Synopsis The Runemasters are purged. The Hound, the Tower’s secret weapon, is buried under rubble in the ocean. Most importantly, the mainlanders who ended the Runemasters—Magon, Seneka, High Priest Oath, Itula, and Princess Elthren—survived the ordeal. However, Princess Elthren suffered great loss, and she will never be the same. Itula drained her magic, and she […]
Review: The Price of Fear (The Wretched Trilogy #1) by Miles Lyon
Synopsis: For a Godless like Azreal the Wretched, peace might be a more profitable time, but it’s no less bloody… A decade into the armistice with Inath, the North, once united against invasion, finds itself a divided kingdom. Azreal – an infamous mage of the Northern military – operates in his native land as a […]
Review: Thief of the Night Guild (Queen of Thieves 2) by Andy Peloquin
Synopsis The impossible becomes inevitable with the fate of her loved ones hanging in the balance… A cunning thief of unrivaled ingenuity, Ilanna is determined to secure her freedom at any cost. No price is too high to break the shackles of the Night Guild’s callous cruelty. With her future on the line, nothing will […]
Review: Child of the Night Guild (Queen of Thieves 1) by Andy Peloquin
Synopsis They killed her family. They ripped apart her home. But to repay her debts, she’ll have to sacrifice her innocence. Robbed of everything she loves, Viola mourns the sudden loss of her mother. Now burdened with an impossible debt to the Night Guild, she’s forced to train as a cunning thief. Subjected to cruelty […]
Review: Legacy of Brick & Bone (Tainted Dominion #2) by Krystle Matar
Synopsis: Follow the law and you’ll stay safe. But what if the law betrays you? It all started with the girl from the river: mutilated, tattooed, murdered. Tashué couldn’t help but look for answers and in the process, he uncovered the ugly truths being hidden by the very law he used to believe in—the law […]
Review: ShadowBane (A Schism of Souls #1) by Cal Logan
Synopsis: One womb, one soul, two fates. One will rise. One will fall. Shura and Jin are the last of a divine bloodline, operating at the bloodiest fringes of society where they wield might and magic against the demons they are sworn to destroy. For Shura, it’s the only way to restore honor to her […]
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!
Book Review: Dogged by Michael R. Fletcher
TL;DR Review: Bloody, gritty, action-packed, and…heartwarming? The novel I didn’t know my year was missing! Synopsis: WARDOGS ARE BORN TO DIE. In the final days of the Demon Empire a lone wardog goes in search of the answer to the only question she cares Who murdered her mate? Utterly unqualified to solve a mystery, Dogged […]
Review: An Inkling of Flame by Z.B. Steele
An Inkling of Flame balances an almost cozy found family story with the horrors of war.