Tag: fantasy

Snow and Poison

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Snow and Poison

Snow and Poison by Melissa de la Cruz*

Genre: fantasy

I read it as a(n): digital galley

Length: 288 pp

Her Grace’s rating: 2 out of 5 stars

De la Cruz’s lush retelling of Snow White is set in 17th century Bavaria. The central figure is Sophie, the Duke of Bavaria’s daughter, and her love interest is Phillip of Spain. They meet at her debut ball, which is also the marriage of her father to a woman called Claudia, who hails from a remote region of Bavaria. Events are set in motion that will test the strength of Sophie’s resilience as well as the bond between Sophie and everyone she loves.

There were many things to like about this book. In particular, the relationship between Sophie and Claudia was delightful; it’s always refreshing when an author makes a traditionally negative character into one worthy of love and respect as she did with Claudia. She turned the trope of the wicked stepmother on its head. 

There were several drawbacks to the novel as well, though. The pacing was generally poor. The first three-quarters of the book were a straightforward historical story; one wondered when or if there would be any elements of the Snow White tale. I had actually wondered if this was perhaps the first part of a duology or trilogy. Then, in the last quarter of the book, the dwarves’ and the wicked witch’s characters were introduced and the whole rest of the fairy tale proceeded from there in a very rushed manner. Mostly because of the inconsistent pacing, the characters in general all lacked development, and a couple of them who had the potential to be honestly fascinating were more or less glossed over in favor of concluding the story. Many unanswered questions remained as a result of the pacing deficiencies.

The novel should appeal to younger teens or established fans of de la Cruz, but I think it would disappoint older teens or adult YA readers.

*This review was originally published with the Historical Novel Society

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The Bird and the Sword

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the bird and the sword

The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon
Genre: fantasy
I read it as a(n): audiobook
Narrator: Trina Nishimura
Length: 10:57:00
Her Grace’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Set in a world where certain people possess magical abilities, referred to as Gifts, The Bird and the Sword tells about a Gifted young woman named Lark. Her Gift is the power to control words: she can come up with a rhyme and manipulate creatures, objects, and other people. However, in order to remain safe, her mother, who was also Gifted, put a spell on Lark that she must remain silent and never speak. As a result, Lark is mute and cannot even write because in their world, Gifts are seen as wicked and the Gifted are objects of hatred and persecution, outlawed by the king himself.

I loved the discussion about the power of words in this book. That concept has been explored in literature forever. Authors from antiquity to Shakespeare to modern-day novels have recognized the impact that language can have on our lives. The whole purpose of writing is to manipulate words and reality. So I liked that play on, well, words woven throughout the novel.

The new king, Tiras, takes Lark as a hostage to ensure her father’s compliance, but doing so has a far greater impact on their lives and the political landscape of their entire kingdom. As Lark navigates the political machinations of Tiras’s court, she discovers the true extent of her power. Her ability to control objects and beings is not limited to spoken words but extends to the written word as well. She can change reality just by altering the words on a page.

Through Lark’s experiences, Harmon highlights the immense power that words hold. They can be used to create and inspire, or they can be used to destroy and manipulate. In the hands of those who understand their power, words can change the course of history.

Related to that, the book also examines the responsibility that comes with possessing such power. Lark’s silence is a reminder of the danger that comes with speaking carelessly. Her ability to manipulate words also puts her in a position of great responsibility. She must use her power for good and resist the temptation to use it for personal gain. If ONLY certain U.S. politicians could grasp that very basic concept! The idea of words holding power is certainly not a new one, but The Bird and the Sword offers a fresh take on it. Harmon’s use of a fantasy setting allows her to explore the theme in a unique way, creating a world where the power of language is literal rather than metaphorical. Once again, this helps prove my point that sci-fi and fantasy are the perfect genres in which to examine social, political, religious, scientific, or other topics that people might object to if they were set in a realistic and recognizable world. 

The world-building in the book was vivid and imaginative. I was able to get fully immersed in the story. I always appreciate a well-planned and richly political story, and this checked those boxes. I think it is interesting to see how differently we can imagine various worlds or ways of managing a government. The character development was pretty good, though Tiras and Lark were the most developed of the cast. Some of the other characters were flatter or seemed there more to fill a role than to be a wholly-realized person. 

I listened to the audiobook version, narrated by Trina Nishimura, rather than eyeball reading this one. Nishimura’s performance was ok. I didn’t think it was the best, but it was certainly not the worst I’ve ever heard. Her voice isn’t as low or rich as some women’s voices are who narrate other books, so she sounded a little shrill sometimes. I am also firmly convinced that she should never, ever narrate a book with a lot of children characters. Her child’s voices were obnoxious and I’m glad there were only a couple short bits with children speaking. Overall, she did fine and it wouldn’t stop me from listening to another book if she were the narrator. She’s just not one of my favorites, and that’s ok. 

Overall, The Bird and the Sword is a fun and fast-paced read that offers an insightful commentary on the power of words. It serves as a reminder that words can be both a tool and a weapon and that we must use them wisely.

The Heavenly Sword

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the heavenly sword

The Heavenly Sword by Alice Poon 

Genre: fantasy

I read it as a(n): digital ARC

Length: 390 pp

Her Grace’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Alice Poon delivers the first of a duology epic fantasy based in Chinese mythology and kung fu. In this first novel, Sai’er is a simple village girl training in the ancient arts of kung fu. Thanks to a helpful sprite, she learns she is the reincarnation of the goddess Chang’e. She must go on a quest to stop the wicked Sky Wolf, who is reincarnated as the Ming Dynasty Emperor Zhu Di. Aided by her foster brother Binhong and several other friends, both mortal and supernatural, Sai’er embarks on an adventure rivaling any in the fantasy genre. 

I enjoyed this, as I did Poon’s earlier books. She does a terrific job of blending fantasy, mythology, and real history all together to make a credible story. I would almost categorize this book magical realism rather than fantasy simply because the elements of magic are so closely woven into the factual parts of the story. They just…belong. Of course Sai’er has a sprite friend. Of course she is an immortal sent to earth. It could be no other way. There isn’t any suspension of disbelief while reading this, it’s just the way things are in Sai’er’s life. So that is particularly well done on the author’s part.

I did have a little trouble, mostly in the earlier parts of the book, with the pacing. This is a very fast-paced story (which is fine, it adds to the kung fu feel of the plot for me), but sometimes I felt like I overlooked something when, for example, I thought we were in one place and then the narration kicked us over to a different place. For example, Sai’er and Binhong were traveling and one minute they were on a very steep staircase carved into a cliff and the next they were surrounded by imperial guards and there was a courtyard. The text hadn’t indicated any other setting prior to that so it was a little jarring to change settings like that. But then I got used to the pacing and it was fine after that.

I think for someone like me, whose experience with wuxia/kung fu extends to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and a handful of Jackie Chan films, this is a very good introduction to the genre. Poon talks about her lifelong love of wuxia (Chinese martial arts/kung fu novels), and references Jin Yong. I had never heard of him before so now I am tempted to read some of his works. Apparently, he’s big in the genre… I never would have learned about him had I not read this book. I always appreciate a book that teaches me something! 

I don’t think this necessarily has to be an adult novel, either. Yes, there’s some sex and gore, but I don’t think it was gratuitous or anything inappropriate for a teen to read. Maybe that’s just my Gen X showing. My parents had no clue what I was reading – or where I was, really – most of the time. So maybe take it with a grain of salt, but this read-all-of-Stephen-King’s-and-V.C.-Andrews’-then-published-works-by-the-time-I-was-12 GenXer thinks it’s totally fine for teen readers as well.

The Lunar Chronicles

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Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter by Marissa Meyer

Genre: sci-fi/fantasy

I read it as a(n): audiobook

Narrator: Rebecca Soler

Her Grace’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars for the series as a whole

The four main novels in the Lunar Chronicles series are all thoroughly tied up with each other, in the most delightful way possible. Cinder sets up most of the world-building and character introductions. The overarching plot is that Cinder, a young, part-cyborg mechanic from the Eastern Commonwealth (formerly China) and Kai, the Eastern Commonwealth’s Emperor, are trying to find Selene, the Lunar princess and rightful heir to Luna’s throne, who was long thought to have died in a fire as an infant. Kai doesn’t think that is true and is on a mission to find Selene and overthrow Levana, the evil Lunar Queen who killed her sister (the true queen) and her niece and took the Lunar throne for herself. The secondary plot is Levana’s determination to take over Earth, using what the Lunars call their “Gift” – the ability to sense and manipulate a person’s bioelectrical energy. As a result, Lunars can force humans or Lunars with weaker Gifts to do anything they want them to do. The Lunar gift has varying strength, apparently based on one’s social class, and the queen is the most powerful of all, followed by her thaumaturges, her highest councillors and advisors. They can force people to do anything from being silent to committing murder or suicide. The Lunar queen is one nasty bitch. Cinder plans to stop her.

Throughout the four books, Cinder is joined by Iko, the bubbly android with a faulty personality chip; Dr. Erland, the brilliant but unethical scientist trying to find a cure for a disease ravaging humanity; Carswell Thorn, an irreverent American spaceship captain who broke out of prison with Cinder; Scarlet, a French farmer whose missing grandmother knows something vital about Selene; a street fighter named Wolf who knows where Scarlet’s grandmother is; Cress, a Lunar girl who was born without the Lunar Gift and who has been kept alone on a satellite for years, forced to do technological spying for the Queen; Jason, a Royal Lunar guard who isn’t sure what side he should be on; and Winter, Levana’s stepdaughter who is slowly going insane because she refuses to use her Lunar gift.

Levana has a cure for the disease but she won’t give it to Earth unless Kai agrees to marry her and make her his Empress. Doing so will save millions of lives but also will all but ensure that Levana will kill Kai and use her power as Empress to take over Earth. She could do so through her Gift. Kai agrees to marry Levana to get the antidote, even though it’s the last thing he wants to do. Cinder, meanwhile, gets arrested for crashing Kai and Levana’s engagement ball, then breaks out and makes new friends while she is trying to help track down people who might know about the Lunar princess, Selene. 

For those folks who are unaware, the four novels in this series are retellings of the classic fairy tales – you guessed it – Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meyer centers them all in a sci-fi setting, which is fucking awesome. It is set in some indeterminate point in the future. The years refer to the time since the 4th World War and the signing of a global peace treaty, so we don’t really know exactly how far ahead it is. The political climate is complex and nicely explained within the context of the overarching plot. I like that it doesn’t beat you over the head with billions of minute info-dump details but also doesn’t just gloss over politics altogether. Readers get a fully developed political system that is delivered as relevant bits of info throughout the series. 

Similarly, each character is a complete, complex, imperfect, and conflicted individual. They each have their own distinctive voice and ideas. Their personalities are clear – I don’t think anyone would ever be confused as to whether they were reading Cinder or Cress, Thorn or Kai. I really loved that they are all imperfect. None of them are perfectly good or always certain of the right thing to do. They all are trying to do what they think is the right thing, but what that is doesn’t always mesh with what the others think. They are all good people – well, Cinder’s group is. Levana and her Lunars are garbage and you love to hate them – but they also all do “bad” things sometimes. Then they are conflicted about the things they did and the reasons they did them. No one is 100% certain and I think that’s great. It’s so much more realistic that way. 

I also really loved the way the various characters and stories got all woven together. It was satisfying in a way the original fairy tales are not since they are self-contained stories of their own. It is more interesting when they all mingle and know each other. Kind of like the idea that the hunter who killed Bambi’s mom was Gaston from the film version of Beauty and the Beast, or that the sunken ship Ariel swims around in is the one that went down carrying Anna and Elsa’s parents. It’s all the same universe, folks. Similarly, Meyer weaves the various threads of these four fairy tales very nicely together into one satisfying Gordian knot of a bow.

The one thing I think was not at all well developed was the diversity. As in, I don’t think there was any anywhere in the entire series. Based on location and naming convention, it’s assumed that Cinder, Kai, Cinder’s stepmother and stepsisters, and Kai’s court are Asian. But there are no hints or outright descriptions of Asian culture otherwise. The same is true for all the other groups of beings as well. Nothing about them stands out as American or European or Commonwealth other than, in a couple cases, an accent. Even Cinder and Kai do not have any kind of accent that could be identified as coming from an Asian region. Winter is described as having dark skin and curly hair, and on the audiobook cover she is depicted as a young Black woman. Other than Winter, I am not entirely sure there were really any people of color in the series at all. 

The same is true for LGBTQ+ and disabled characters. There wasn’t a single one of either community in the entire series unless you want to count Winter since she’s slowly going insane. But that is an identifiable disease within the Lunar Chronicles universe and by the end of the series she’s being treated for it so she can be “normal.” Maybe she meant for Thorn to be disabled because he lost his vision? But again, that lasted for about a month and then he went back to his old sighted self. You could really, really stretch and say Cress has social anxiety disorder, but again, she’s gotten over it by the end of the series and her shyness a) isn’t a disability and b) was a direct result of being locked away and never interacting with anyone besides the thaumaturge in charge of her for like a decade. Anyone would be a little socially awkward after that. So yeah. Meyer seriously needs to do better in terms of any kind of representation. 

The lack of diversity makes me rate the series as a whole at 4 stars. I think Cinder, Cress, and Winter each rate  4 stars on their own as well. Scarlet was my least favorite of the series and I give it 3 stars. 

I read these four books via audiobook. The narrator, Rebecca Soler, did a good job. Maybe a tad over emotional in some places where it wasn’t really warranted. But overall she was a decent narrator though I don’t think she will ever be one of my favorites. 

I definitely recommend the series to all who love fairy tales and a good sci-fi space opera. It hits all those spots.

These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends

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Book cover with roses twined around a sword and a golden Asian dragon. Text reads These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Genre: fantasy

I read it as a(n): hardback

Length: 449 pp

Her Grace’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Romeo and Juliet, but in 1920s Shanghai. With monsters! How can this be a bad thing? I’ll answer my own question: It can’t be a bad thing at all! 

The first book of this duology opens in September 1926. A monster has awoken in Shanghai, though no one knows it yet. Instead, the city is embroiled in the perpetual feud between the two ruling gangs: the Scarlet Gang, led by Lord Cai and his heir, Juliette; and the White Flowers, led by Lord Montagov and his heir, Roma. Juliette has recently returned to Shanghai after several years in America, where she had been sent for her own safety in the wake of a violent attack at the heart of Scarlet territory. No one knows that she and Roma have a past relationship and if it ever became known, it would bring even more violence into the feud. 

Shortly after her return, citizens of Shanghai begin to go insane and literally tear their own throats out with their own hands. Eventually, the people learn that the madness is spread by a monster living in the river that infects people through insects. As the madness spreads, the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers warily put aside their feud and allow Roma and Juliette to work together to find a cure for the madness and kill the monster at the root of it all.

I loved this story so much. It had a cast of characters that was diverse with complicated personalities. Shanghai was very much a character in itself, vibrantly depicted and with moods of its own. The feud between the gangs is heavily influenced by politics and history, one being between Nationalists and Communists, and the other through a long history of colonization and exploitation. 

I enjoyed all the interactions between the characters. They reflect in various ways the complex histories they all share with each other, whether that history is romantic, friendly, familial, or violent. They were believable people who were all torn by duty, loyalty, and morality. 

Book cover with flames and golden dragon twined around a wreath of burnt roses and a metal lighter in the middle. Text reads Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong

Genre: fantasy

I read it as a(n): hardback

Length: 494 pp

Her Grace’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Our Violent Ends picks up right after the events of These Violent Delights. Juliette and Roma are at each other’s throats, partly from pent up desire and mostly because Juliette made a lethal decision to sacrifice her relationship with Roma to protect him from their families’ blood feud. She is now occupied with trying to prevent her cousin Tyler from taking over as Lord Cai’s heir to the Scarlet Gang. 

Roma returns her ruthlessness with interest, working hard to ensure that it is his own White Flowers who emerge from the feud on top. However, they once again are thrown into each other’s path as a blackmailer and a new set of monsters emerge to terrorize Shanghai, citizens and gangsters alike. Balancing the line between love and hate, war and peace, is always fun to read. 

As with the first book, Our Violent Ends features the same rich and complex characters, dynamic writing style, and a good blend of history, fantasy, and politics. 

And that ending – way, WAYYYY better than the original it is based on!

Nettle and Bone

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Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher
Genre: fantasy
I read it as a(n): hardback
Length: 243 pp
Her Grace’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Marra is a princess of a small, unimportant kingdom that has the misfortune to also have the best harbor in the world. To keep the kingdom safe, her eldest sister is married to the prince of the Northern Kingdom. When she dies without a child, Marra’s next sister is married to him. Marra is sent to a convent where she will be out of the way but that doesn’t prevent her from learning a dark, centuries-old secret.


To save her sister and her kingdom, Marra sets off to kill her brother-in-law with the help of a scary dust-wife, an addled and wicked-but-doesn’t-want-to-be godmother, a quasi-suicidal warrior, a dog made of bones, and a demon-possessed chicken. It is exciting for everyone.


I loved this book so much! It was a great dark fantasy that read very similarly to something Neil Gaiman might have written. That is never a bad thing.


The story was exciting with lots of references to traditional fairy tales made along the way. There’s a little Goblin Market, a little zombie apocalypse, a little tatterskin, a little Sleeping Beauty, just a little of everything mixed into a fun and original tale.


I definitely plan to read anything else by this author and strongly recommend that everyone else do the same.

Favorite lines:

  • It was a cruel spirit that would punish starving people for what they had been forced to eat, but the spirits had never pretended to be kind (4).
  • He was a good dog. He had excellent bones and even if she had used too much wire and gotten it a bit muddled around the toes and one of the bones of the tail, she’d think that a decent person would stop and admire the craftsmanship before they screamed and ran away (21).
  • Then again, peasants and princesses all shit the same and have their courses the same, so I suppose it’s no surprise that babies all come out the same way, too. Having thus accidentally anticipated a few centuries’ worth of revolutionary political thought, Marra got down to the business of boiling water and making tea (36-37).
  • …the baby emerged into the world, looked around, burst into tears. “You get used to it,” the Sister told the infant… It was bloody and wrinkly and reddish gray and looked like the sort of thing you would drive back to hell with holy water (37).
  • The flat stones made for uneven footing. … They rattled and slid underfoot, talking to each other in stone language, saying all the words they had been saving up until the next time a human walked across them (66).
  • The old woman had not struck her as religious.
    But I could easily imagine someone making a saint out of her, a hundred years hence. Maybe some of the saints were like that, too – cranky, old women with strange gifts (77).
  • “How did you get a demon in your chicken?”
    “The usual way. Couldn’t put it in the rooster. That’s how you get basilisks (82).
  • “Enough of this place,” said the dust-wife. “Everyone have their souls still? Shadows still attached? Then let’s go before that changes” (97).
  • What did the abbess used to say? That our own flaws infuriate us in other people? (132).
  • Nothing is fair, except that we try to make it so. That’s the point of humans, maybe, to fix things the gods haven’t managed (181).
  • Injustice and the desire for revenge age the body, but they keep the soul going halfway to forever (199).

All Our Hidden Gifts

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All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue

Genre: fantasy

I read it as a(n): paperback

Length: 374 pp

Her Grace’s rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Maeve is a typical teen – she likes hanging out with friends, doesn’t like school, occasionally has behavioural problems, and mainly just wants to fit in. When she randomly unearths a deck of tarot cards while cleaning out a room in detention, she discovers that she has a strange affinity and skill for reading the tarot. Maeve finds herself suddenly popular, her highly accurate tarot readings wildly in demand among her fellow students. But when a reading goes badly wrong and a girl disappears, Maeve once again finds herself on the edges of society. She finds herself assisted in some surprising ways as she struggles to fix what she broke, find the missing girl, and bring balance again to cosmic forces well beyond her understanding. 

This was a pretty fun read, though at times fairly standard. I liked that it was set in Ireland and had a plot involving some of the tensions between Catholics and Protestants. The way the author worked that into the story was nicely done. It invoked some historical elements that added some extra depth to the plot. I also liked how it seemed she was making a commentary on Christianity and how so often they are nowhere near as loving or whatever as they claim to be. 

The author also explored how being a teen is hard, yes, but it is also when you get new life experiences and the chance to have a lot of personal growth. A lot of the story revolved around this and other normal teen issues like learning how to navigate changing relationships. I think a big takeaway from it was that, even when things turn out fine in the end, that doesn’t mean they stay the same or even that they work out well. Sometimes you have to take life lessons with outcomes you don’t want. That isn’t bad, even if things hurt sometimes. It’s just the way it is. 

I read this because my daughter loved it and wanted me to read it as well. I try to read at least a few of the same books as her throughout the year. Most of the stuff she likes is sort of fluffy fantasy and this wasn’t really an exception. I like that she loves reading so I am always happy to share her books if there’s one she really enjoyed. It is one thing that I hope we will always have in common, a love of reading.

A Song of Flight

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A Song of Flight by Juliet Marillier

Genre: fantasy

I read it as a(n): paperback

Length: 446 pp

Her Grace’s rating: 3 out of 5 stars

In this third instalment of Marillier’s Warrior Bards series once again gives readers several separate but connected plots, woven together as skillfully as any Celtic knot. In one, Prince Aolu and his bodyguard Galen are attacked simultaneously by humans and Crow Folk. Galen is badly injured and Aolu disappears. As a result, Dau leads a team from Swan Island, the elite and secret warrior training site, to aid in the search for Aolu. Liobhan is excluded from the initial team because of her relationship with Dau but also because Galen is her brother; she can’t be unbiased as a Swan Island warrior ought to be in this case. Adding to the intrigue is Brocc, the half-fey brother of Liobhan and Galen, who is exiled from the Otherworld and Eirne’s side, along with their daughter Niamh. Brocc’s crime, according to his Elf Queen wife, was trying to understand and help the Crow Folk, whom Brocc believes are not evil but are lost and damaged in some way. 

This one was interesting because we got to see Liobhan in a leadership role unlike anything else she’s done so far. Initially, she is the warrior primarily in charge of training a new recruit, Elka, to Swan Island. Later, she is put in charge of her own team on a mission. Liobhan being who she is, though, she quickly takes the mission on a whole new path after she and Elka see a vision in which Brocc is attempting to turn the Crow Folk into an army that he can control. Liobhan changes the mission without giving the full details to her elders, risking her position on the Island entirely. 

Dau is also growing as a person. He, too, was placed in charge of the initial team to be sent from the Island to search for Aolu. When they arrive at Winterfells, the prince’s home, Dau finds Galen, who is being tended by his and Liobhan’s healer mother Blackthorn, ready to tear off on his own to search for Aolu. Galen believes – rightly as it turns out – that the prince is in the Otherworld and he is determined to find him, with or without help. 

Brocc, meanwhile, is in shock from being banished by his wife, the Elf Queen Eirne. She exiled their infant daughter with him, so Brocc is struggling to care for her in the middle of nowhere and while still attempting to connect with Shadow, one of the Crow Folk he had helped rescue in the previous novel. Brocc knows there is more to the Crow Folk than mindless violence and evil. His actions highlight the optimism and compassion displayed by the best of humanity. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, though it didn’t grip me as strongly as the previous one, A Dance with Fate, did. I liked the scenes with Brocc a lot more in this one since he mainly wasn’t dealing with Eirne, a character I really dislike. It’s good when characters are varied enough that there is a fairly central figure that you just can’t stand, but I found Eirne to be so irritating that I caught myself skimming the sections set in the Otherworld too quickly if she was in a scene. That wasn’t an issue in this book. 

Marillier left plenty of room for more books in the series, and I hope she does continue it! I think my favorite single book of hers is Daughter of the Forest, but my favorite overall series was Blackthorn and Grim. I love that they are still woven into the Warrior Bards stories as well. I look forward to whatever she decides to give her readers next!

A Dance with Fate

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A Dance with Fate by Juliet Marillier

Genre: historical fantasy

I read it as a(n): paperback

Length: 491 pp

Her Grace’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The second installation in Marillier’s Warrior Bards series begins with a fighting competition and tragic accident. Liobhan, daughter of Blackthorn and Grim, and Dau, both Swan Island warriors, are participating in a training exercise when Dau slips, hits his head hard, and wakes up blind. Dau’s father, a local chieftain, blames Liobhan and demands that she serve a year as a bonded servant in his household as payment, along with a handsome sum of silver coins. Liobhan readily agrees to that, even though she knows Dau’s blindness was an accident. Dau’s father insists, too, that he be returned to his family home to be cared for. This is a problem since Dau’s family, in particular his older brothers, are sick twists who love to hurt people. Going to his family’s home is the very last thing on earth Dau wants to do. But his chieftain father prevails and Dau is packed off home along with Liobhan, who is already being treated like a slave. During their time there, Dau and Liobhan have to learn to navigate the family dynamics, survive their abuse, and in the process, uncover a deep and dangerous secret involving the Crow Folk.

I have yet to read a book by Juliet Marillier that I don’t like. There are some I like more than others but I unreservedly recommend all of her books to anyone who likes the historical fantasy genre. This one was another hit for me. I liked the way the character development happened, especially with Dau. I thought it was interesting how he learned to adapt to his new circumstances and how his Swan Island training carried him through even the worst times. Seeing very strong characters like him and Liobhan become more vulnerable is always a thought provoking experience for readers. 

This novel was told from the POV of Liobhan, Dau, and Liobhan’s brother Brocc, who lives in the Otherworld, married to the queen of the fae. I generally enjoy when stories alternate perspectives like that, and this was no different. I didn’t like the parts with the Otherworld as much as in the “real” world, I think because I just don’t like the queen, Eirne, at all. I do think Brocc is an interesting figure and love that his voice can be a weapon or a balm. I like, too, Rowan and True. But unless the Otherworld time was primarily with those three, I didn’t care much for those characters or what happens to them, mainly because Eirne is such a dick. I suppose that is a sign of good writing, though, that I feel so strongly about a fictional character! 

I’m off to read the third book in this series, A Song of Flight. I hope Marillier writes a new book soon. I get so happy when I get to read her work!

Catch-up Lightning Round: The Language of Hoofbeats, Hellworld, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of Gods

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The Language of Hoofbeats by Catherine Ryan Hyde (Website | Twitter)

Genre: contemporary fiction

Setting: Easley, CA (fictional podunk town)

I read it as a(n): audiobook

Narrator: Kate Rudd and Laural Merlington

Source: my own collection 

Length: 10:27:00

Her Grace’s rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I liked it more than the typical 3-star book but not as much as a 4-star. So, 3.5 stars! I’m so smrt. 🤪 A lesbian couple, Jackie and Paula, moved to a small town with their adopted son and two foster children. Across the road from their new digs lives Clementine, the town shrew. She hates everything and everyone and blames it on her daughter’s suicide which, frankly, I think is totally valid. I would hate everything and everyone, too. But she apparently was always like that and she ends up driving her husband away and her treatment of Comet, her daughter’s horse, causes Star, Jackie and Paula’s troubled foster girl, to run away with him. Various dramas ensue and in the end, Clementine decides to be nice, just like that, and everything turns out bright and shiny.

For a piece of fluff, this was good. I liked the kids and their histories and I think it was nice that they weren’t written as all escapees from Hell or a mental asylum, nor that they automatically fit right in and adapted to being a foster kid. I thought Jackie and Paula were well developed enough that they were different on the page, but overall they were fairly one-dimensional. Clementine had development, but I didn’t find it all that believable. Still, she was the most richly-depicted adult in the book, a character you love to hate. I would read more by this author, though I’d probably get it from the library rather than spend my own money on it.

Hellworld by Tom Leveen (Website | Twitter | IG)

Genre: horror

Setting: mostly Tucson, AZ

I read it as a(n): hardback

Source: my own collection 

Length: 297 pp

Her Grace’s rating: 3 out of 5 stars

This was a fast read. I like to support local authors and I bought this one and another of Leveen’s books at a local book festival a couple years ago. So that was fun. He is a delightful human being from what I could tell. And I did enjoy this one, but I generally have a very hard time with most horror. Not because I get spooked – I don’t. It’s because I can’t suspend my disbelief. It’s why I don’t like werewolf or zombie or even sexy vampire stories all that much. They simply aren’t believable to me. Why I have a hard time suspending disbelief for horror and not for the billions of SFF books I’ve read over the years, I have no fucking clue. 

That said, I really liked the vast majority of this book. It was told in a sort of back and forth timeline, the same characters living in the moment for one chapter and then the next chapter being set X number of days, weeks, or months ago. I thought the characters were nicely developed for a genre novel. That’s not shade – genre novels don’t focus as much on character development, but these characters all felt like they had a history and experiences that made them people, not just templates of people like you find in a lot of genre novels. The crux of the plot is that four teens lost their parents a number of years ago while filming a show that sounds similar to Ghost Hunters. They were exploring a cave in the Arizona desert and never came out. The kids go gallivanting off to find them, but whoops! Instead they accidentally open an ancient ark of some kind that lets out gigantic monster bug things that can shoot lasers and fireballs and they start annihilating nuclear power plants, hospitals, schools, and news organizations. You know. Kind of like the Republicans want to do.

I’m not entirely sure the whole story isn’t actually an analogy about the GOP, in fact…

The Broken Kingdoms and The Kingdom of Gods by NK Jemisin (Website | Twitter)

Genre: fantasy

Setting: The city of Shadow, in the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

I read it as a(n): audiobook

Narrator: Cassaundra Freeman

Source: my own collection

Length: 11:25:00 / 16:58:00

Her Grace’s rating: 3 out of 5 stars

(The Broken Kingdoms) A blind artist called Oree takes in a homeless man who glows. She can see some things like magic and the homeless man, who Oree names Shiny since he won’t tell her his name, throws magic all over. Also, someone is murdering godlings and now Oree is smack in the middle of it thanks to her act of kindness. Shiny happens to be Itempas, so you know things are going to get weird.

(The Kingdom of Gods) The gods of the Arameri are finally free and now they’re pissed, but they’re also all that is keeping the world from descending into unending war and annihilation. Good times. This one is told from the perspective of the godling Sieh, who has been changed into a mortal and is aging in leaps over time.

As always, crazy rich world-building and awesome characters in both of these books. I will want to read them again one day, only with my eyeballs, because the narrator was what kept these from being 4 star books. Her voice was too calm and unchanging and I found myself bored of listening to her. Once, someone ripped a heart out of someone else’s chest with their bare hands – and I missed that at first because there was just no emotion or anything to indicate exciting action in her voice. 

I really love Jemisin’s writing. It’s so complex and descriptive. She takes familiar fantasy tropes and turns them on their head. Some people might think that is heretical but I think it’s brilliant and it makes for a wholly new reading experience. One should never assume she will let the good guys win or allow a happily ever after in her books. I really, really appreciate that. She has said that she set out to subvert the genre and she has been successful in doing so.