Hellooooo cosy autumn reads. It is time. Make sure you’ve got Rewitched on your cosy tbr because it is *perfect*. Coming in at almost 400 pages it’s chonky for a cosy read, but the story hooked me and the pages flew by!
Magical Realism
Book Review: Bringer of Dust (The Talents Trilogy #2) by JM Miro
TL;DR Review: Addictive and enthralling, but not for the faint of heart. Deeper, darker, and twistier—an excellent second installment in this gothic historical fantasy trilogy. Synopsis: In this highly anticipated second book in the Talents Trilogy, the world of the dead is closer than you think. Agrigento, Sicily, 1883. With the orsine destroyed, Cairndale lies […]
Book Review: Ordinary Monsters by JM Miro
TL;DR Review: The X-Men, as written by Edgar Allen Poe. Dark, haunting, gothic, violent, and twisted in all the best ways. Synopsis: Charlie Ovid, despite surviving a brutal childhood in Mississippi, doesn’t have a scar on him. His body heals itself, whether he wants it to or not. Marlowe, a foundling from a railway freight […]
Review: The Lantern of Lost Memories by Sanaka Hiiragi
This is a beautiful, uplifting story exploring a kind of ‘in-between’ place where the dead go to view their memories before they move onto the afterlife. It’s a story that deals with death and grief without actually touching on those subjects directly. You feel for all these people and those they’ve left behind, but it’s also a celebration of their life and what they achieved. The outlier here is the final character, Mitsuru, who tragically dies at the hands of her parents, but ultimately she gets her happy ending still.
Review: Evocation (The Summoner’s Circle #1) by S.T. Gibson
Read Evocation when you want a character-focussed, slow-burn romance with a arcane backdrop. While the plot is present Evocation is far, far more about the evolution of David, Rhys and Moira’s relationship, with a special mention for how David and Moira’s friendship, and eventual relationship grows. The plot is really just a backdrop for our trio to bond, and while I did enjoy the plot it’s quite a slow mover until the very last pages where it suddenly concludes in just a few pages.
Review: Sealed Empire by Norbert Zsivicz
-Norbert Zsivicz first book, the Hungarian Literary Award winner Sealed Empire now available in English by the famous translator Tamás Pétersz (Game of Thrones). Blurb Ser Edward, an experienced sailor, embarks on perhaps the most daring expedition of the Kingdom of Esenworth so far. His mission is to try to earn the blessing of the […]
Review: The Way of the Renegades by Steve D Wall (The Bards and Dragons Saga 1)
Rating: 8/10An action-packed flintlock fantasy book about guns, mages, bards and dragons! Ulric, former war hero, has been living a quiet life of exile in the frontier city of Quinport and wants only to continue hiding from the mistakes of his past. But then he discovers the invention of a revolutionary new kind of rifle, […]
Review: Death of a Christmas Tree Salesman (Sam Shovel #1) by Patricia Meredith
Synopsis Sam Shovel only comes to life for twelve days a year at Christmastime, and this year, he’s in time to solve a murder mystery at the North Pole. O. Tannenbaum—the world’s largest supplier of Christmas trees—has been murdered, and although Nick and Nora Claus are too busy to solve the mystery, Sam has enough […]
Review: The Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin-King
Synopsis John Carver has three rules: Don’t drink in the daytime, don’t gamble when the luck has gone, and don’t talk to the dead people who come to visit. It has been almost five years since the incident in Kabul. Since the magic stirred within him and the stories began. Fleeing the army, running from […]
Review: The Jasad Heir (The Scorched Throne #1) by Sara Hashem
In a world of forbidden magic and cunning royals, a fugitive queen bargains with her kingdom’s greatest enemy and is soon embroiled in a deadly game that could resurrect her scorched kingdom, or leave it in ashes forever. A stunning enemies-to-lovers fantasy debut, perfect for fans of Fourth Wing and The Jasmine Throne. At ten years old, the Heir of […]
Review: Before The Devil Knows You’re Here by Autumn Krause
The best way I can think to summarize this book would be to say that Krause writes up an atmospheric homage to a mixed cultural background and the memory of a person dear to her, depicting a different, darker, and more folk gothic side to early 19th century americana. Bringing to life that solid and vivid mix of folk tales and myth that were also paired with the Christian overtones informing the 1800s American short story. Think Washington Irving’s The Devil and Tom Walker but add more monsters and a gutsy young woman willing to do anything for her family.
Review: The Judas Blossom: Book I of The Nightingale and the Falcon (#1) by Steven Aryan
An imaginative and sprawling epic fantasy reimagining of the Mongol Empire’s invasion of Persia, following the lives and treacherous journeys of four key figures in the heart of war. 1260, Persia: Due to the efforts of the great Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire covers a vast portion of the known world. In the shadow of […]