TL;DR Review: Beautifully lush writing, noble and compelling characters, and a story that takes its time to build to an emotional ending. Synopsis: From the critically-acclaimed author of The Fionavar Tapestry comes an epic fantasy novel of love, both courtly and forbidden, and two kingdoms endlessly opposed… Blaise of Gorhaut is a warrior. He fought […]
Historical
Review: This Too Shall Burn by Cat Rector
Synopsis Arden has lived in the woods near the deeply religious town of Arrothburg all her life, practicing magic and keeping balance with nature. She heals the sick, as her mother did before her. No matter how deeply the people of the village hate witches, they still arrive at Arden’s cabin in the dead of […]
Review: The Fright Before Christmas by Jeff Belanger
Synopsis Step into the dark roots of Christmas past where the Krampus punishes the bad boys and girls. Christmas time is truly the darkest and creepiest time of the year filled with devilish creatures lurking in the shadows waiting to get us. Best known is the Krampus who has been the subject of films and […]
Review: Miss Percy’s Guide to the Care & Feeding of British Dragons (A Miss Percy Guide #1) by Quenby Olson
Synopsis: Miss Mildred Percy inherits a dragon. Ah, but we’ve already got ahead of ourselves… Miss Mildred Percy is a spinster. She does not dance, she has long stopped dreaming, and she certainly does not have adventures. That is, until her great uncle has the audacity to leave her an inheritance, one that includes a […]
Review: Loreland Bestiary by Hope Christofferson
Synopsis Turn your gaze toward the skiesWhere wyvern, lung, and phoenix fly.As mermaids swim through oceans blue Under Arctic ice, past coral hues. Accounts arise from here and there, Of manticores in hidden lairs, And faeries dance ’round mushroom caps As brownies steal your fabric scraps. But beware the moon and mind the howls For many hungry beasts doth prowl. My dearest […]
Review: Loreland Bestiary by Hope Christofferson
Synopsis An illustrated mythology of the world’s most fantastical creatures. Turn your gaze toward the skiesWhere wyvern, lung, and phoenix fly.As mermaids swim through oceans blue Under Arctic ice, past coral hues. Accounts arise from here and there, Of manticores in hidden lairs, And faeries dance ’round mushroom caps As brownies steal your fabric scraps. But beware the moon and mind […]
Review: In the Garden of Monsters by Crystal King
In the Garden of Monsters brings together art, history, and mythology, all wrapped up in a delightfully fun romance novel.
Review: The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
Synopsis: January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, Laura receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura […]
Review: The Quiet Stillness of Empty Houses by L.V. Russell
Synopsis: Theodora Corvus can hear the whispers of her crumbling family home. She can hear the whispers of Kingsward Manor, her place of employment. She sees the watchers by the lake, black-eyed and waiting. But Broken Oak is silent. Broken Oak is empty. When Theodora takes the job as governess to young Ottoline Thorne, she […]
Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Synopsis: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is […]
Review: A Warrior Still by Shelly Campbell
Synopsis I am a creature of war. A centaurine, to be precise. Before my colt died, I was all gnashing teeth and nerves of ice. Even now, my chest burns for air thick with bravado, my ears long for clanging iron amidst hoof beats, and my nostrils quiver for bitter fear oozing from a thousand […]
Review: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Synopsis: A tale of gods, kings, immortal fame, and the human heart, The Song of Achilles is a dazzling literary feat that brilliantly reimagines Homer’s enduring masterwork, The Iliad. An action-packed adventure, an epic love story, a marvelously conceived and executed page-turner, Miller’s monumental debut novel has already earned resounding acclaim from some of contemporary fiction’s brightest lights—and […]