BOOKS | Review: The Thorns Remain by J.J.A. Harwood

Name: The Thorns Remain

Author: J.J.A. Harwood

Publisher: Magpie Books

Date published: February 2023

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, historical

Pages: 410

Rating: 3/5

A dance with the fae will change everything
1919. In a highland village forgotten by the world, harvest season is over and the young who remain after war and flu have ravaged the village will soon head south to make something of themselves.
Moira Jean and her friends head to the forest for a last night of laughter before parting ways. Moira Jean is being left behind. She had plans to leave once but her lover died in France and with him, her future. The friends light a fire, sing and dance. But with every twirl about the flames, strange new dancers thread between them, music streaming from the trees.
The fae are here.
Suddenly Moira Jean finds herself all alone, her friends spirited away. The iron medal of her lost love, pinned to her dress, protected her from magic.
For the Fae feel forgotten too. Lead by the darkly handsome Lord of the Fae, they are out to make themselves known once more. Moira Jean must enter into a bargain with the Lord to save her friends - and fast, for the longer one spends with the Fae, the less like themselves they are upon return. If Moira Jean cannot save her friends before Beltine, they will be lost forever...

- From Goodreads.

This book had a great use of folk tales and mythology and it was fascinating to learn about all the different creatures included in the story and to see what the faerie realm looked like. The atmosphere was created very well and you could really feel the fear and tension build throughout the story. I was definitely kept in suspense and was hooked until the end to find out what was going to happen.

The characters were all interesting and distinctive, I think the Lord Under the Hill was especially well written and really felt like he was not human and saw the world differently.

Unfortunately I did not end up feeling completely satisfied by how some of the plot threads wrapped up, not that it was a bad ending, and it was fun to read, but it did not feel like quite the right ending from the way the story had been building up, and some parts never felt fully explained.

Overall while I did not completely love it, I still think that there was a lot of good to it and I could see why other people might enjoy it more than I did. I think it is definitely worth a try if you enjoy stories using folklore and stories about fae.

BOOKS | Review: Blood Mercy by Vela Roth

Name: Blood Mercy (Blood Grace series #1)

Author: Vela Roth

Publisher: Five Thorns Press

Date published: January 2022

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 648

Rating: 4/5

 

When Cassia seeks out a Hesperine, he could end her mortal life in a heartbeat. But she has no fear of his magic or his fangs. She knows the real monster is the human king, her father. If he finds out she’s bargaining with his enemy, he’ll send her to the executioner.
As a Hesperine diplomat, Lio must negotiate with mortals who hate him. Cassia is different, but politics aren't why she captivates the gentle immortal. He wants more than her blood, and if he can’t resist the temptation, he’ll provoke the war he's trying to prevent.

- From Goodreads.

This was a really fascinating story with a very detailed world and a lot of interesting characters. This is definitely a book for anyone who is a fan of a slowly paced story that carefully builds up a mystery of interweaving plot lines. It was exciting to unravel the mystery and see all the plot twists revealed. The only downside to the way the mystery slowly became revealed was that sometimes we were left a little too much in the dark and could have used a little more context to understand what was happening, or sometimes there were scenes we were told about that had happened off-page that would have made the story easier to follow if they were on-page. But mostly it was a great plot to follow and I was excited to see it through to the end and find out what happened.

I loved the way Lio and Cassia's romance was built slowly over a lot of deep and thoughtful conversations, it was lovely to see how their bond grew and how they came to understand and trust each other and it was very believable that they felt such love and attraction to each other. It was also lovely to see how they comforted each other and helped each other grow and gain confidence in themselves. Lio really helped Cassia to believe in herself and it was wonderful to see her develop over the course of the book, how she came to realise she was not alone in the palace and that she had friends and allies there too and she did not just have to survive, she could live and find her own power and start to change things.

I will definitely be reading the next book to find out how their story continues, this book left off at an exciting place and I am curious to see how all the threads resolve.

BOOKS | Review: Where the Dark Stands Still by A.B. Poranek

Name: Where the Dark Stands Still

Author: A.B. Poranek

Publisher: Penguin Books

Date published: February 2024

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy

Pages: 416

Rating: 4/5

This review contains minor spoilers.

Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters.
After a deadly mistake, Liska delves into the dangerous spirit-wood, guarded by a demon to steal a mythical fern flower. Pluck it, and she can use its one wish to banish her own power.
Everyone who has sought the fern flower has fallen prey to the horrors of the Czantory, so when Liska is caught by the demon warden of the wood - The Leszy - a bargain seems better than death: one year of servitude in exchange for the fern flower and its wish.
Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska soon makes an unsettling discovery. She is not the first person to strike this bargain. And If Liska wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her taciturn host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts - figurative and literal - of his past.
Something wakes in the woods, killing off villagers one by one. Something that frightens even The Leszy... something that cannot be defeated unless Liska embraces the monster she’s always feared becoming.

- From Goodreads.

The atmosphere, setting and descriptions in this book were all perfect. I loved how it was both a little scary and creepy with all the creatures in the woods and the curse, but also beautifully magical with the house that came alive and had a personality of its own. The magic that Liska and the Leszy could do was also fascinating and so exciting to learn about.

The plot really had me hooked, I was so invested in learning all the mysteries and following Liska and the Leszy as they learnt more about each other and came to understand each other. The way their relationship slowly built was just perfect and I adored them together.

The whole story was like a brilliant combination of Howl's Moving Castle, Beauty and the Beast and darker fairy tale style stories like Naomi Novik's Uprooted. I think the author did a wonderful job of weaving together all the different elements of inspiration to create a new story.

The only thing I was conflicted on was the ending, which was left quite open-ended. While it did have a hopeful note at the end, I had been hoping for more of a happy ending, after everything the characters had been through. This might just be a more personal preference as I know not every book needs a completely happy ending and it is not always a bad thing when they do not have one, and since this was a darker fairy tale style story I was not even expecting a total happily ever after, but I think personally I just needed something a little bit more satisfying at the end.

BOOKS | Review: This Vicious Grace by Emily Thiede

Name: This Vicious Grace (The Last Finestra series #1)

Author: Emily Thiede

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Date published: June 2022

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance

Pages: 436

Rating: 4/5

Three weddings. Three funerals. Alessa's gift from the gods is supposed to magnify a partner's magic, not kill every suitor she touches.
Now, with only weeks left until a hungry swarm of demons devours everything on her island home, Alessa is running out of time to find a partner and stop the invasion. When a powerful priest convinces the faithful that killing Alessa is the island's only hope, her own soldiers try to assassinate her.
Desperate to survive, Alessa hires Dante, a cynical outcast marked as a killer, to become her personal bodyguard. But as rebellion explodes outside the gates, Dante's dark secrets may be the biggest betrayal. He holds the key to her survival and her heart, but is he the one person who can help her master her gift or destroy her once and for all?

- From Goodreads.

The story had a bit of a slow start and some scenes were hard to picture and understand as the descriptions of what was happening were not that clear. I also did not really get a grasp on the personality of the main character and what her thoughts and feelings were right away because most of what she was telling us at the start in her narration was exposition, not really about herself. But once Dante appeared the plot picked up and I started to feel more invested and it started to get more exciting.

Once the story got past the slow start it did get easier to read as the characters became more developed, the chemistry between Dante and Alessa began to show and I really did end up rooting for them, they had quite a sweet and fun partnership with some well done emotional moments. The characters around them became more developed too and I enjoyed the group of friends that they became and look forward to seeing more of them in the next book and hopefully see them developed even more.

The concept of the story was interesting and although at a couple of points how it all worked could have been explained a little better, I mostly enjoyed seeing the mysteries and plot twists all unravel. I did guess one of the reveals but it was still satisfying and I liked how it was done. There were some further twists and threads left open at the end for the next book that I did not expect and were exciting to read.

I will definitely be picking up the next book to find out what happens and although it was not perfect, I definitely feel like it was a story that was a fun read.

BOOKS | Review: The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton

Name: The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love (Love's Academic series #1)

Author: India Holton

Publisher: Penguin

Date published: July 2024

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, romance, historical, comedy, cosy, mystery

Pages: 361

Rating: 5/5

Rival ornithologists hunt through England for a rare magical bird in this historical-fantasy rom-com reminiscent of Indiana Jones but with manners, tea, and helicopter parasols.

Beth Pickering is on the verge of finally capturing the rare deathwhistler bird when Professor Devon Lockley swoops in, capturing both her bird and her imagination like a villain. Albeit a handsome and charming villain, but that's beside the point. As someone highly educated in the ruthless discipline of ornithology, Beth knows trouble when she sees it, and she is determined to keep her distance from Devon.

For his part, Devon has never been more smitten than when he first set eyes on Professor Beth Pickering. She's so pretty, so polite, so capable of bringing down a fiery, deadly bird using only her wits. In other words, an angel. Devon understands he must not get close to her, however, since they're professional rivals.

When a competition to become Birder of the Year by capturing an endangered caladrius bird is announced, Beth and Devon are forced to team up to have any chance of winning. Now keeping their distance becomes a question of one bed or two. But they must take the risk, because fowl play is afoot, and they can't trust anyone else - for all may be fair in love and war, but this is ornithology.

- From Goodreads.

The two main characters in this book had wonderful chemistry and the attraction between them felt very real, you could really get lost in the moment with them. I loved that they obviously really liked each other from the moment they met but their connection became deeper over the course of the book and they came to admit it to themselves and to each other by the end. It was very sweet and endearing. It made both of the characters even more loveable.

Both characters had different personalities but they fit so well together and both were sympathetic and understandable and I enjoyed reading from both their perspectives.

It was very cleverly written, with meta jokes about romantic comedies and about the time period it was set in, and I liked the general silliness and goofiness of the tone of the story, but it was also balanced well with more sincere and touching romantic moments.

The world was very interesting with all the different magical birds which I thought were so fascinating and creative. I would have loved to learn more so hopefully in future books we will see the world expanded.

I would definitely recommend reading this if you enjoyed Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, they both have the brilliant sense of humour and academia in a whimsical fantasy setting along with a perfect romance. I would also recommend if you enjoyed Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater as this was also a great historical romance with excellent humour where the characters had to deal with the rules of society.

BOOKS | Review: The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison

Name: The Grief of Stones (The Cemeteries of Amalo series #2, The Chronicles of Osreth series #3)

Author: Katherine Addison

Publisher: Solaris

Date published: July 2022

Genre: Fiction, adult, fantasy, mystery, steampunk

Pages: 330

Rating: 5/5

Celehar’s life as the Witness for the Dead of Amalo grows less isolated as his circle of friends grows larger. He has been given an apprentice to teach, and he has stumbled over a scandal of the city - the foundling girls. Orphans with no family to claim them and no funds to buy an apprenticeship. Foundling boys go to the Prelacies; foundling girls are sold into service, or worse.

At once touching and shattering, Celehar’s witnessing for one of these girls will lead him into the depths of his own losses. The love of his friends will lead him out again.

- From Goodreads.

Thara was once again a great choice for narrator in this book, he is a very sympathetic character and you understand his point of view as well as his friends', and he is great at describing what is happening around him. He has good judgement and a wonderful heart.

It was lovely to see his friendships grow with people like Anora and to see him find new friendships with people like his apprentice and to see him admit to actually wanting to stay in Amalo. When we first met him in The Goblin Emperor he was such a lost and lonely character, so sad and heartbroken, and now he's starting to find his place. He's still got a lot to struggle with and in this book he faces more events that brought him heartbreak, but he definitely doesn't have to face it alone anymore.

My favourite relationship in the book is definitely his with Iana, how much the two of them clearly care about each other, how careful they are about respecting each other but how there also always seems the possibility of something more, it's so sweet and tender.

The book was also good at dealing with multiple mysteries and all of them linking together to create a satisfying ending and keep up an exciting pace that made you want to keep reading. I have found this is true throughout all of the books in the world of The Goblin Emperor and I think it shows that Katherine Addison is a very skilled writer, and I look forward to any further books that build on this world and show us more of it.

BOOKS | Review: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

Name: Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1)

Author: Rebecca Ross

Publisher: Magpie Books (Harper Collins)

Date published: April 2023

Genre: Fiction, young adult, fantasy, romance, historical

Pages: 368

Rating: 5/5

When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.

After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.

To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish - into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.

- From Goodreads.

This was a very dramatic and compelling story that kept me invested all the way to the end. I liked that the story took you on quite a journey and the setting was often changing and the characters had a lot of opportunity to learn and grow and change.

Roman and Iris were wonderful main characters, both had a lot of depth, a lot going on in each of their lives that pulled at your heart and made you feel for them, and you could see why they would be drawn together despite their initial rivalry and begin to have such an intense and meaningful connection that I really loved.

I thought the world was so interesting and the way it was built and all the ideas put into it were so creative. The idea of the gods fighting a war but using the humans to do it and it also being set in a time equivalent to something between World War One and Two in our world was quite clever because it brought together something so ancient and powerful as the gods but in almost a modern setting. I thought the war scenes were described very well, you could feel how terrifying it was to be in the middle of all the destruction and how heartbreaking it was to be surrounded by all the loss.

Overall, it was a really incredible book that I was really happy to have enjoyed so much. I was devastated by the ending so I will have to pick up the sequel soon to find out what happens next!