corabookworm's Reviews (264)

It's like Game of Thrones and Six of Crows had a child! It has all the elements of an incredible high fantasy (political intrigue, big battles, large casts of characters, grand adventures) and a beautiful found family story (ADORABLE relationships, romantic and platonic, good backstories, character depth). I liked this one way more than I remember liking the first one, and I can't wait to finish the series!

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is a story that turns the typical "pirate" genre on its head by weaving in the real horrors of that time period and featuring a queer woman of color as the captain. The book follows Jacquotte and her friends as they escape a violent political overthrowal and join the crew of a notorious pirate as indentured servants. But Jacquotte refuses to be controlled by anyone; so begins her quest for freedom, romance, and revenge.

I really liked the concept behind this book. It was a decent story, and elements of it were well done. However, I didn't really vibe with the writing or the pacing. I hate saying this, but it felt almost "amateur"? Not necessarily bad, just not very remarkable? I didn't feel connected to the characters or particularly interested in the plot. (Also. a warning to my romance friends: the romance plays less of a role in the plot than the summary makes it out to.) I'm fascinated by the fact that this book was based on real events, and it makes me want to dig deeper into the story. But, unfortunately, on it's own, this book was just fine, and not much else. Good for those in the mood for an easy-to-read, historically-intriguing pirate story.

NOTE: I procrastinated on writing this review, so many of my opinions weren't fresh enough in my brain to word them well. But this book was amazing, one of the best I read this year!!

Lorelei, a grumpy folklorist out of place among her noble peers, is selected to lead a group of talented, tight-knit scholars on a quest for the king. But the mission quickly goes awry when their mentor is found dead. Lorelei and her academic rival, Sylvia, must team up to solve the mystery, even as they are caught in webs of politics and hindered by both their peers and the magical creatures of their world.

I absolutely loved this book. The first thing that came to mind when trying to describe it was The Atlas Six meets The Cruel Prince. The beginning, especially, has all the elements of a good dark academic fantasy, featuring a group of scholars with wildly different personalities and complicated relationships. You will hate and love pretty much all of them. Except Sylvia, who is an angel. But it also strongly reminded me of The Cruel Prince, with fae-like creatures, complex politics, and a BEAUTIFUL enemies-to-lovers romance. But this one is sapphic. Which obviously makes it better. I haven’t fangirled over characters like this in a while.

The plot of this book was very well constructed, incorporating elements of high fantasy, adventure, and mystery. I thought I was actually onto something with the whole murder, but I was completely off! The addition of political intrigue made it even more fascinating, and the water-based magic system was super cool. I do wish we could have seen more of the worldbuilding, and the author definitely likes using big words that make my brain hurt. But this book was pretty exceptional overall, and I highly recommend it!

Initial Thoughts:
Holy shit he did it again. Andrew Joseph White never misses. Full review to come. 

Full Review:
Compound Fracture is a queer Appalachian thriller that follows the story of a brutal blood feud between two families and the trans socialist teenager who finds himself involved after an attempted murder.

Well, folks, Andrew Joseph White has done it again! This book is a little different from the author’s first two, as it's more "thriller" than "horror", but it's just as dark and just as good. It's scarier, even, because unlike the first two, it’s set in the real world, and all that dark stuff is grounded in reality. And the contemporary setting didn’t discourage the author from his usual gore and body horror, either: if you’re easily bothered by blood and guts, this is NOT the book for you. It was incredibly gross but also so fucking cool.

And Compound Fracture is not just a thriller! At its core, this book is a coming-of-age story about a teen finding words to describe himself, learning he’s autistic, and coming out as queer. People are also not wrong when they call this book a “political page-turner.” I was initially surprised by the number of political references and stances within this book, but it only added to the powerful characters and conflicts. 

And it WAS powerful. The story was brutal, the characters wild, and the writing utterly fantastic. Though White’s biggest strength, once again, is his character’s emotions. Reading this book, I was blown away by the visceral fear and fury and the raw exhaustion leaking through these pages. I loved it.

Compound Fracture is definitely not for those looking to escape reality or for the faint of heart, but for anyone who loves bloody thrillers, queer and neurodivergent characters, and stories packed with vicious emotion.

This book was absolutely sickening in the best way. The actions and inner-monologue of the main character, paired with the building stakes, create constant discomfort and anxiety for the reader.

I skimmed some reviews for this book after reading it, and while I understand the mixed feelings, if you go in expecting a very meta dark satire book with a very unlikable main character and just roll with it, you'll be able to appreciate the story a lot more. If references to real-world companies and social media sites bug you, I don't recommend Yellowface—the author references these companies, platforms, and cultures to weave in commentary on the modern publishing industry. She addresses many aspects of it: "cancel culture," the racism of "token diversity," and the loneliness of the job, to name a few. (The last one there felt very exaggerated for the point of this book; that, or the real world is just very depressing.) If you do enjoy that "meta-ness", or if you're willing to accept it as part of the satire and social commentary (like me), then this book is pretty damn good. R.F. Kuang never disappoints.

The Gilded Crown is an enchanting high-fantasy book about a girl who is forced into the twisted world of politics when the Queen finds out she can raise the dead and forces her to resurrect the murdered Princess. Now, Hellevir must keep the Princess alive and find the assassin before the cost of dealing with Death grows too high.

I loved this book! The magic system, setting, and animal companions made it feel almost like a dark fairy tale, and the writing was excellent. The characters were complex and had complicated relationships with one another, and there was a big focus on family and friendships. The plot was by far the strongest aspect, though. The political intrigue was well-built, including a dark and corrupted but also complicated monarch, and betrayal and assassins and whatnot. There was also some wonderful worldbuilding and history, with some fascinating religious conflict thrown in for fun. Altogether, extremely well-written, especially for a debut!

I only have two real critiques: one is that the romance fell a little bit flat for me. It was marketed as a romance, so I guess I expected more, but even then, I didn’t really root for the relationship as I was reading–and I couldn’t fully explain why! It just wasn’t there. The second thing is that the interactions with Death got very repetitive and boring after a while. Don’t get me wrong, it was a super interesting magic system! But they just kept having the *same* conversation, and certain events felt anticlimactic because of it. 

Besides that, this book was amazing! I was expecting a standalone, but the ending proved me wrong, so it will be interesting to see how the author stretches this into a sequel. I look forward to it. Altogether, I definitely recommend this book if you enjoy magic-focused, fairy-tale-feeling high-fantasy!

This book would be perfect for anyone interested in religious studies or just curious about the “biblically accurate angels” the internet loves so much. It provides a complex look at God and the various translations of the Bible while weaving entertaining stories about the monsters within it. God’s Monsters is also easy to read, even if you know nothing about the Bible (like me!)—the author does a good job of providing context for the stories and explaining overarching themes and parallels. (I’m also inclined to like this book because there were not ONE, but TWO direct mentions of and references to The Walking Dead, my beloved.) Overall, 5/5 stars, definitely recommend!

Erin A. Craig has once again created a perfect creepy fantasy book—the mystery was very well constructed, the atmosphere was creepy, and there were so many little details that just felt *eerie*, you know? And both Jerard and Victor were so unhinged it was terrifying. My only big problem is that I found the romance lacking and not really necessary for the plot–Verity had no chemistry with Alex at all! I loved seeing more of the world and its mythology, and I hope it's explored further in the next book. All in all, this was a solid sequel (more of a companion novel, actually) and I really enjoyed reading it!

If you're looking for a broad examination of women's issues across the world and across history, this is a wonderful book. While very repetitive and sometimes a tad contradictory, Freedman has written a great introduction to the topic of feminism that covers a wide range of ideas and perspectives. I found it a bit dense and hard to get through, but it was genuinely very fascinating. If you're interested in the subject, I'd definitely check it out!

e-ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I’m going to be honest, I have very conflicted feelings about this book. On one hand, it’s a debut novel, so I’m inclined to give it some grace. The plot was interesting, with intriguing political schemes and mysteries twisted around the main conflict. I only wish we could’ve seen the main character and her magic in action more. (She murders so many people? But all of it’s off-page? What?) There were also some super interesting concepts that were only hinted at, like bits of mythology and the details of their magic, that were left as loose ends, hopefully for the sequel. 

The writing also had a lot of potential. I wasn’t a huge fan of the style–there was a lot of info-dumping, repetition, and internal-monologuing, all in a bit of an overdramatic voice–but given it’s a debut, I’m not too upset about it! I particularly liked Chang’s use of metaphors and descriptions in weaving her world and its magic. (Which I also have mixed feelings about.)

The world of Pangu was super cool and had a really interesting magic system! I’m a sucker for magic based around some kind of element/theme like wind, fire, healing, or, in Ruying’s case, death, and the Asian-inspired mythology and world was awesome. But the invading world? Rome? That’s where she lost me. These places are different “worlds” (planets?) and I’m not sure if Rome is supposed to be Earth? Or some made up place? It feels like Earth? But…an alternate version of Earth? And they lean into the Roman theme (mostly with mythology and names) while having *incredibly* advanced technology, which was just disorienting? I don’t know, the explanations there just felt lacking, and I’d love to see it expanded upon in book 2!

Finally, like many other readers, the romance just didn’t sit right with me. (Mild spoilers ahead?) The author has said her intention was to make Ruying an unreliable narrator, and if this WAS the intention, it was done pretty well. The main character comes off frustratingly naive because of it. Stockholm syndrome to the extreme. The real problem is that this book was STILL marketed as a romance. By the author. Like if you’re genuinely recognizing that it’s an abusive and unhealthy relationship (which it is), it feels very weird to call it “enemies to lovers” as part of your marketing scheme? Idk.

Overall, this book had a lot of potential! It suffers from some common debut novel and YA book flaws, but it’s pretty decent otherwise. I’m not sure if I’m interested enough to continue the series, especially if the author continues with the “love-triangle”, but we’ll see!