Dripping with blood and brimming with desperation, An Education in Malice is an intoxicating gothic academia intsapphic carmilla retelling??? say less
Dripping with blood and brimming with desperation, An Education in Malice is an intoxicating gothic academia intimately entangled with fraught relationships, desire, and obsession. S.T. Gibson places her own twist on the story of Carmilla, reinvigorating it with an intense dark academic atmosphere and rivalry between two young women aspiring for the attentions of their poetry professor. Dark urges intensify and in the dark corners of Saint Perpetua’s College lie in wait something that could test the growing bond between two former adversaries. Gibson’s prose is suffused with hunger and violence, a glittering and deadly knife point through which she ensnares her readers in the journey from estrangement to complete and utter devotion. This is a gorgeous story. An Education in Malice is a bloody feat made ready to devour. A retelling I will be singing praises to for ages to come.
Thank you to Orbit Books for providing the review copy.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries enchants with a cozy atmosphere and scholarly inquiry into the world of the fae. Combining fantasy, mystery, hisEmily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries enchants with a cozy atmosphere and scholarly inquiry into the world of the fae. Combining fantasy, mystery, history, and romance elements, this is a one-of-a-kind story, unlike anything I've read concerning faerie so far. Fawcett debuts a delightful academic fantasy to cherish and revel in.
sometimes a family can be a demon, two lesbians, and their adopted daughter on the road to revenge
I love my chaotic found family
Following a band of unsometimes a family can be a demon, two lesbians, and their adopted daughter on the road to revenge
I love my chaotic found family
Following a band of unlikely allies tethered together across the past and present, Wells delivers an intricate examination into the lingering echoes of revolution and the ties that forever bind us. A rare high fantasy that establishes its characters and world stage so strongly from its first moments. Accompanied by characters that are wry, a bit cynical, and lovable above all else, prepare to fall in love with this epic fantasy adventure.
Thank you to the publisher for providing this review copy
An inaccurate map and a long ago made bet draw two childhood nemeses back together in this stellar conclusion to Kate Bateman's Ruthless Rivals seriesAn inaccurate map and a long ago made bet draw two childhood nemeses back together in this stellar conclusion to Kate Bateman's Ruthless Rivals series. Fiercely intelligent and packed with longing, this delightfully wicked addition is sure to be a new favorite....more
Romance novel obsessed Tara Chen has had more than her fair share of heartbreak. Ever since her most recent breakup, adding to a long line o� 5 stars
Romance novel obsessed Tara Chen has had more than her fair share of heartbreak. Ever since her most recent breakup, adding to a long line of men that dumped her because of her supposed clingy tendencies, her love life has grown sour. Tara wants to find love more than anything, but with the growing popularity of dating apps, a modern meet-cute is out of the question. Luckily, an insightful interview gives her an idea: revisit her past exes and reevaluate the relationship in an attempt to earn one of the most time-honored tropes, the second-chance romance. In her quest to reconnect with her past relationships, Tara enlists the help of her standoffish roommate Trevor, who couldn't be any more against commitment. As the two venture deeper into Tara’s past, the closer they become, and though the disappointments grow even higher, finding the love she’s been looking for may not lie in the past at all, but in the everyday details.
Amy Lea did not hold back with this wholly magnetic and exquisitely tender slow-burn love story. I mean I heard the words “and they were roommates� and immediately dropped whatever I was doing to go and read this. Exes and O’s has a lot going for it, what with its central protagonists, an emotionally unavailable fireman, and a nurse with a tendency to romanticize, falling for one another under the guise of a search for a second-chance romance. Lea quietly constructs a simmering slow burn, with close-the-book level tension and enough going on that I never wanted to stop reading. Plot aside, the strongest part of this novel is its leading characters, Trevor and Tara. Not only was there enough set up to establish an emotional conflict that never became overbearing, but both character arcs intersected and complemented one another in increasingly fascinating ways. Out of the two main leads, Tara has to be my favorite. She’s the romance novel aficionado and book-lover heroine we deserve, and her inner struggle really resonated with me. I know many people appreciate dual POV in romance, but with a slow burn in mind and the characters in question, I loved the fact that we only got Tara’s. It helped make the pining almost unbearable and the undercurrent of the whole will they won't they vibe. Throughout Tara’s entire emotional arc, Lea illustrates the importance of learning to be yourself wholeheartedly when it comes to love while continuing to hold onto your dreams and ideals. It's obvious that friends to lovers is one of my all-time favorite tropes and I think this one might be at the top of that list. Exes and O’s is a novel dedicated to all the romance-obsessed daydreamers out there, entirely charming, swoon-worthy, and vulnerable.
On the outskirts of England lies a secret society, a line of supernatural beings known as book eaters that consume books as food, retaining � 5 stars
On the outskirts of England lies a secret society, a line of supernatural beings known as book eaters that consume books as food, retaining all of their content and knowledge. Threatened by their ever dwindling numbers, book eater women are raised into a life of marriage contracts and childbearing. In spite of this, Devon Fairweather, the sole daughter of an old clan, has grown up curious, but with the birth and subsequent seizure of her firstborn daughter, Devon realizes the truth of her circumstance. When her second son is born a mind eater, a darker subset of book eaters with a hunger for human minds, Devon vows not to make the same mistake and flees with him. Freedom is not all it is cut out to be, and as Devon and her son Cai attempt to live among humans, she is forced to do horrifying things for them to survive. Against her will, Devon is drawn deeper into the inner workings of her kind, until remaining free becomes a matter of unspeakable sacrifice.
The Book Eaters is a decadent dark fantasy novel alight with imagination and a fierce kind of devotion. Debut author Sunyi Dean draws together a contemporary gothic horror narrative centered around the power of stories and breaking free from a restrictive upbringing. It’s an altogether fitting title for a book that I aptly devoured in just one evening. With a striking atmosphere that evolved with Devon’s recount of her past, I fell in love with the imagery presented and the progressing themes of loss, patriarchy, and control. I wholly admire the emotional journey this book guided me on, quietly leading me through Devon’s descent into disillusion and ferocious fight for her and her son's freedom. Narrative structure, in turn, is what really set this up for success. The flip between the past and the present was delicately done, slowly revealing Devon’s history and its influences on her current thoughts and actions. Dean's use of epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter worked in the same fashion, lending themselves to the larger issue of how the stories we are exposed to can shape our capacity for possibility. How love lends itself to sacrifice and restricting imagination becomes control. The topic of motherhood is subtly investigated on behalf of Dean, as Devon comes to accept that love doesn't have to be another form of control and she becomes more ruthless in the face of her son's survival. While it was a smaller subplot, Devon’s evolving relationship with Hester and her own sexuality really sealed the deal for me on this one. Book eaters may consume texts to survive, but at the center of this debut is a testament to the role of stories in shaping our minds. Devon's character arc illustrates beautifully the impact of new experiences on broadening our opportunities and view of ourselves. Beautifully constructed and deeply moving, The Book Eaters is a feast of a novel, interlocked with a quest for agency, transformation, and ultimately identity.
Thank you to Edelweiss for providing the arc
Trigger warnings: Body horror, gore, explicit violence, domestic abuse, violence against children...more
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