didn’t. In fact, I was thoroughly surprised with this book. C.L. Clark drags you into a rich world filled with political intrigue and a slew of raw relationships in between opposing characters.
Fantasy
Review: Vultures (Shadow Twins #1) by Luke Tarzian
I’ll admit that I am a little unsure how to approach this review. Vultures was one of the most unique approaches to storytelling that I have ever experienced. It was complex, dark, emotional, and raw. The characters are all nuanced and they practically bleed pathos. In many ways this was not an easy read. I was challenged as a reader in ways I haven’t been since Erickson’s Gardens of the Moon.
Book Tour: Legacy of the Brightwash (Tainted Dominion #1) by Krystle Matar
Welcome to FanFiAddict’s stop on the book tour for Krystle Matar’s Legacy of the Brightwash (Tainted Dominion #1). We want to thank Justine & Timy @ Storytellers on Tour for letting us be involved and a big shoutout to Krystle on her new release!
Review: King of the Rising (Islands of Blood and Storm #2) by Kacen Calendar
The King of the Rising is the follow-up to 2019’s Queen of the Conquered (my review of that book is here) and the finale in Kacen Callender’s Islands of Blood and Storm duology. This is a complex fantasy series built around themes of colonialism and power dynamics. I have mixed feelings about the direction this book ended up taking, so let’s dig in.
Review: Mistborn (Book 1) by Brandon Sanderson
Reading Mistborn, formerly known as The Final Empire or book one of the Mistborn series, felt like arriving late at a party when everyone’s drunk—like I had missed out on something special! I bought the Era one trilogy a few years back and never got to it until now, and man was I missing out on the kool-aid. This book took all my expectations, put them in a blender with a high dose of sugar and hit frappe. I haven’t been that much engaged in a book since I read the Harry Potter series.
Review: Mordew (Cities of the Weft #1) by Alex Pheby
Mordew is a wondrous, richly crafted and grimly set first in a new series that surpassed my expectations in everyway possible. It’s the marvel of Guerdon in the Gutter Prayer and the oddity of His Dark Materials mixed into one. To say that it was full of original wonder would be an understatement, it truly took me through a fever dream, a hallucination of new ideas moulded together by Nathan, Gam, Prissy, Joses, Anaximander and Sirius, and the Master; it’s the start of an absolutely stunning new fantasy trilogy that you just won’t want to miss.
Review: The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst
The Bone Maker by Sarah Beth Durst really caught my attention in the beginning. The author uses emotion and adventure to bring the reader in and set up the main storyline.
Review: Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles #1) by Kevin Hearne
I’ll admit that urban fantasy is one of the genres of speculative fiction that I am the least familiar with. For the longest time, I would see the covers in bookstores and just assume that they were like the fantasy romance novels that I grew up watching my grandmother tear through, one after another. I have since learned that this is not (always) the case.
Review: The Sadeiest by Austrian Spencer
I want to start this review off by pointing out a few important trigger warnings. The Sadeiest is about death and describes people dying in many different ways in detail (including death by suicide, disease, drowning, etc). If that is a trigger or even just an upsetting topic to you, please do not continue.
Review: The Gunslinger (The Dark Tower #1) by Stephen King
The Gunslinger is an experimental book for sure, but there is no better way to start your quest to the Dark Tower than this.
Blog Tour: Holes in the Veil (The Goblets Immortal #2) by Beth Overmyer
Holes in the Veil epitomizes the classic middle book of a series: it expands the world and introduces some new characters and a bit of a mini-narrative while continuing with overall narrative for the main protagonists, as well. That is not to say it is boring or overly trope-y, because it is not. Holes in the Veil takes The Goblets Immortal series to a new level, and I was very happy in the direction of story.
Review: Oh, That Shotgun Sky (The Songs of Sefate #1.5) by Sarah Chorn
Like before, Sarah has managed to sift through the weeds of my soul, take hold of my feelings, and completely rip them from my chest. To be fair to the author, I had an idea of what to expect coming in to this fresh out of her previous novel.