I’ll admit – Detective Richard Zuraw didn’t give me a lot to root for – and he’s a main character. I mean he automatically assumes that because Jack is a Black Mage and is able to to suck life energy out of people – that Jack’s bad. Like, the Mages that can wield fire can just as easily set people on fire – and kill them – just as easily as Jack could suck their life out? But, you know, no – Jack’s bad because he deals with life.

Then the Detective tries to stop Jack from carrying a book in his (Jack’s bookstore) bookstore because it’s banned – promotes dangerous ideas about magic. So that really pushed my liking of him down. By the end of the book I liked him a bit more (not by a lot though). Hopefully the next book has him more fighting against his employers (the magic police, unfortunately). Or maybe even just rebelling entirely and not being a magic cop anymore. Who knows!

Also he just up and asked Jack “where he’s from… ethnically”. And then followed up with “you don’t look exactly white”. What is that even supposed to mean? Jack does tell him off but that question shouldn’t have been asked? Like if Jack had told him on his own accord – that’s ok – because Jack chose it (to share his ethnicity). He better do a lot in the next book to make up for it – because this… wasn’t a good look for him at all. Please note that I have no idea of the author’s nationality, race, or ethnicity. All I know is that Lily C. Strauss is a pen name for this series. Meaning I don’t know if the author perhaps shares Jack’s ethnicity – I’m criticising Zuraw, the character; not Strauss, the author.

I’m glad we had Jack as a main character because I liked him almost immediately. I mean, he owns a bookstore so boom? Also he’s very “rage against the machine” compared to Richard. Other people too, not just Richard, harbour a stigma against Black Mages that they’re bad because of the type of magic they wield and I didn’t like reading that at all. Another thing I hope happens in the next books – that the stigma lessens and/or Jack doesn’t feel like he has to explain himself all the time. 

I think as a first book in a series (I have no idea if Strauss has written before – only has a Tumblr and apparently Lily C. Strauss is a new pen name?), it works. You can see it’s a first book in a series – there’s a lot of room to grow – for the plot, story line, characters, author’s writing as well – I hope Strauss manages to take that opportunity.

There’s a big secret surrounding Jack that comes out in the book (it’s not his sexuality, don’t worry – I would’ve added outing in the Content Warnings). He refers to the secret a bit before it’s revealed but I didn’t really understand why he was keeping it a secret? The reasons he gave felt, I don’t know, not good enough? It felt like he was the only one who acted like it was a big deal? Maybe the secret will be told to more people in the sequel and there will be a bigger reaction then? As usual, I’ll have to wait and see. 

I’m a big fan of magic systems in books – I think you have to be if you grew up with fantasy books like me. I don’t think there’s a lot of fantasy books without magic? Or at least I don’t read those so I don’t really know 😄. But I wanted a lot more of the system that we got in the book. We got little bits but I wanted more because I liked it.

I liked that Strauss allowed us to learn and understand the magic through the characters. We get to know and understand the magic how the characters use it, how it feel for them. I like it when magic is explained in this way – it helps us as readers to know both characters and magic system. In books like these – where the magic is tied to the characters so much – it helps that it’s written well. 

Something I’m doing more often and something I have to constantly remind myself is just to enjoy reading, you know? Even if it’s for a review – there’s no sense in not enjoying a book. You’re only going to hurt yourself. So that’s the thought I had when I went into reading this – that I maybe wouldn’t like it. But I was wrong, I did, and I’m glad. 

I think a mark of a good writer – fantasy or otherwise – is that you’re able to lose yourself in the story and just read a ton without actually realising that you’re reading a ton. With this book I went from like 2 something percent and then finishing the book 😂. So I think it’s safe to say that this book is good if you want to get lost in a book, fantasy or otherwise. 

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Just like my previous read, A Curse of Salt, the female main character here (Kat, or Katerine) is a strong one and she cares for her family – cares for them so much she’s willing to enter in a competition to win the Fae Prince’s hand in marriage. Even though she will literally die if she loses. Obviously she was scared (who wouldn’t be in her case), as her possible success in the competition not only saves her family, but her entire kingdom. But she went ahead anyway. It was that inner strength that made me like her and rot for her.

Even though a good part of her journey (in the book) was unfortunately very much “get the guy”; it was done in a way that tied to her want to save her people. That made it easier to read and like her. Her motivations changed slightly towards the end so that helped as well. I know romance books are usually “do x to get y as a romantic interest” – which is fine – but I want more than that. Not just for me or for other readers, but for the characters as well. 

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I thought it would be a simple love triangle between Kat and the two brothers – the golden boy and High Prince, Terrin, and the bad boy, Lysander. It turned out to be much different and I’ll probably see something even more different in the next two books to come. Which I am happy to wait for – both for the development of the story and romantic interest. And also I’m fine to wait because (as usual) I have about a dozen other books to read 😂😭. 

I won’t say as much as I would like to, because spoilers – of course – but I liked the journey we took to get to know the Princes. Lysander… well, he definitely had his moments where a lot of people could and would call him a bad boy and probably irredeemable. But as with a lot of other bad boys, I knew that there was something deeper and he’s more than what he seems. I was rewarded with keeping that thought as he did indeed show more of himself – and likely more in the following books. 

Which I think is a whole thing with a bad boy – are they really bad or are they just perceived to be bad? Okay, yes, with Lysander it could be a bit of both; but I think I saw more of how he truly is, and maybe a little bit of the person (well fae) he’d like to be if things were different. In this you only got to see how he is under all the tall walls he builds at the very end; so I do hope the next book is him being himself. Or if he wants to keep the front (of being the bad boy), allowing himself to really let his guard down around those he trusts. 

Just gonna put it out there – I was not a fan of Terrin all throughout the book. I found his goody-two shoes look that he puts on (or at least I think he puts it on) to be annoying. Maybe he’ll grow on me, maybe he won’t – who knows. Maybe just like his brother, he has hidden depths and it’ll take a while for him to truly show himself. That’s the good thing about a trilogy/series – characters have more time to grow – both as characters and also in your heart.

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I was annoyed/let down that the tasks in the competition weren’t super great? Like I enjoyed the first one and then they went down. There’s one task that made me angry because it further pushes the notion that women are there for the man’s pleasure. Which is entirely the opposite of what I want to read. It’s also the opposite of what I knew Kat to be – she’s more than what the tasks wanted to make her look like. It also made me dislike Terrin more and probably why my rating is 3.5 stars (4 for sites that don’t allow for half stars). 

I wasn’t too impressed by the action scenes – the little that we received. I think I was expecting there to be more action scenes and instead we get a lot of passive scenes. Or scenes where Katrine’s thinking and just being there. Or being fascinated by everything Terrin. Another thing I wasn’t happy with was that the fae in this use ‘mind magic’ – read people’s thoughts, their minds. That’s a bit invasive, especially how it was shown in here. That probably won’t change so much in the next book but I guess I can just skim read those parts.

Reading and liking A Curse of Salt didn’t go hand in hand at first. I think it was maybe around the 20% mark that I actually started to enjoy it? And – I know – I should’ve dnfed if I wasn’t really enjoying it – but I decided to carry on for a bit. I was rewarded for that as I enjoyed myself the more I carried on! It’ll definitely stay in my mind as a favourite and a title to recommend if someone’s looking for a sea-faring journey or a retelling.

And a retelling it certainly is! As I said at the start – it’s Beauty and the Beast – which probably is one of my favourite Disney movies and Belle a top Disney Princess. Street definitely knew what made the movie so good and she captured the magic of the movie and the couple very well. A good part of what makes Belle, or in this case, Ria, a good person is that she has a good heart. Ria put herself in danger to save her family – knowing very well she might not coming back because of how, well, heartless, The Heartless King is.

What I really enjoyed seeing was how Ria comes to know the Blood Rose‘s crew – seeing past the fearsome front they all put on. Going “Oh, they’re super scary” at the start of their journey to “they’re family now” at the end was a delight to read as I also got to know them and saw them like Ria did. It’s also a found family story – something I always enjoy seeing and reading about. And it was done well in here! I could tell they cared fiercely about each other and would indeed take up arms if one of their own got hurt. Which is exactly what I like to see (re found family).

The romance in here is my favourite – enemies to lovers! I’m glad Street wrote it well because that allowed me to root for them all the more. There’s nothing that I like more indeed than enemies moving to friends and then eventually lovers. It literally never gets old for me 😅. Unless it’s not well written, of course. Luckily, I quickly realised that wasn’t the case with this book or Street’s writing. She definitely understood how one gets from enemies to lovers – the journey both characters have to take. From The Heartless King opening up and showing whom he truly is and the person he’d like to become to Ria seeing his true self.

In fact – me being able to see how Street handled and wrote enemies to lovers in this book makes me excited to see what else she has coming up – even if it isn’t this trope – because I know she’ll write it well (really hope she does and I’m not just saying this). Or if she writes another retelling – whatever it may be, I’m almost certain it’ll be a good one.

I’m happy that I found it easy to enjoy the book because Street made it easy to feel like I was on the Blood Rose, and maybe even being a pirate as well 😄. The descriptions were vivid, the action believable and the dialogue well-balanced! There were comedic moments, sweet, romantic, tense, and on and on it went.

I definitely appreciated how Street wrote the romantic dialogue – between the King and Ria. He used a nickname, she eventually learnt his name. There was banter involved and moments where we were able to glimpse his real personality under the harsh persona – before he actually showed himself to Ria. Banter that leads to romance is indeed a favourite thing of mine, and she wrote it all extremely well!

 
We’re introduced to the characters in this story and I knew whom I would like and wouldn’t like. Drew was good from the start – I liked his easy narration and his character grew on me quickly – which I’m happy about as it’s hard to read and finish a book where you don’t like the main character/their narration.
 
I sort of liked Mac – Drew’s love interest. He’s unfortunately a cop – plus there’s a thing of his family being in law enforcement. That coupled with it being a small town – there’s a big possibility of there being… bias for the cop family. This showed itself in the third story. It did make me dislike Mac and it seemed to me like he just fell into being a cop because there was basically a job waiting for him. Did he not want to become something else? Or did he have to go into law enforcement because “that’s what the family wanted/needed”.

I did like Mac’s stoic personality – especially when met with Drew’s almost chaotic personality. I liked seeing the two mix and that they (their personalities as well as the characters) and I thought they would probably continue to be a good couple. A feature/? of cozy mysteries is that the solver (who’s usually in a profession not known for solving crimes) often buts heads with the law enforcement, often creating banter. This did well here as the banter flowed easily into a relationship.

I didn’t care for Sam – Drew’s business partner. She flits in and out of the stories and I felt I could never get her personality? Either she wasn’t fleshed out properly or just not written well in the first place. So every time she was on the page (screen for me) I sort of skimmed over until she left again. 

 
Michael is terrible (he’s Drew’s ex that pops up) – is it bad to say I was sort of… rooting for him to end up on the other side of the living experience? 😂 He was just really annoying. But I did like that it got Mac to show some jealousy and their relationship to improve – I can handle jealously in relationships but only some times and written well. Thankfully it was so I was happy. 

Kimberling did a good job in describing all the food well – I kept wanting to try some of what Drew was serving! I liked the competition that was featured in this story – especially as it had a little bit of drama for some of the side characters – Julie and Evelyn – an elderly sapphic couple who appointed themselves as Drew’s grandmothers and Joyce, Evelyn’s annoying cousin. That was entertaining to read – I definitely wouldn’t mind another story focusing on Julie and Evelyn. 

I think this story is my least favourite of the three. I liked the the family dynamic and most of the family. Except for the Sheriff – he made a stereotypical homophobic comment towards Drew. I didn’t care for his wife either – I felt like she was basically on the verge of doling out her own share of homophobic comments.

 I thought the way they handled the crime in this not as well written as the previous two? I just didn’t enjoy it, gave less effort working out the murder like the others. Which is fine and all – can’t always have 5 stars and all that. But it’s the last story in the book so I’d hoped I would as it wrapped up everything. I actually would’ve preferred the second story to not be as good; which would (hopefully) leave the third story free to be good. 

Wendy Heard really wrote grief and managing grief well. I could feel and see it. It definitely made me feel more connected to Casey because I understood her more. When I started the book I wasn’t really connecting to her (Casey) but as I carried on and she spoke about grief more; I did feel more connected. This is my first Wendy Heard novel so I have no idea if the theme of grief is present in her other books – I certainly hope so as I really enjoyed how it was written in We’ll Never Tell. 

I like how they approached the story of the supposed ghost house and the true crime/unsolved murders. That in the end they’re still people and they deserve respect. They should’ve received respect but they didn’t get that. Instead they got a whole media circus over and over again. Every aspect of their lives were searched through and stories were made up left, right, and centre. 

Of course, being that the main characters run a YouTube channel there’s a lot that can be said about true crime and these topics being shown in media. The world is so obsessed with true crime podcasts and they’re the first ones who’ll sit and binge watch unsolved murder tv shows – often forgetting that the victims were all people before all of this. Many times in fact, their families are often still alive and are witnessing the world obsessing over what happened to their loved ones. 

I did want their YouTube channel to have been a bigger plot point. People finding out about it, more reminiscing about other projects they did – even just a simple scene or two responding to comments or looking at analytics. They’re apparently a huge channel (a million or more subscribers?) but it felt like after they went into the house the channel was simply forgotten about? 

Casey and the boys (Eddie and Jacob) were my favourite and I disliked Zoe – I didn’t feel connected to her like I did to the others. But there’s probably others who disliked Eddie and Jacob and whose favourite character was Zoe – that’s what’s great about reading – that we can like different characters. 

I hoped that I would see and believe the friendships in the book and I did! Even though I thought Zoe was the weakest one for me (personally) I could still see her friendship with the others. I think that made me like her a bit more, not enough, though. 

 

I think this is probably my favourite quote of them all. This can be applied to any character in the book – living or dead. But it also can be applied to the reader – and you can take this quote anywhere it needs to be in your life. In this book it’s referring to Casey’s mom and how Casey will always be thinking of her (as is with loved ones who are passed away). The quote is also about the Valentini murders – how they were more than what was written about, and that all the headlines and articles never really seemed to get their personalities right. Which they wouldn’t because they care more about how big of a story it would make and how to sensationalise it all. 

I moved between liking and disliking the book throughout. I had an okay time reading it but I wouldn’t reread the book. I thought of maybe carrying on but I’ll let go. There’s so many other books and series I need to get to.

I liked the friendship group and how they interacted with each other, but I didn’t like the main character. I did like the casual touching amongst the friendship group. There wasn’t much of a solid plot and I think that’s what annoyed me the most. I also wasn’t following along really because it just wasn’t holding enough of my attention but it felt like there wasn’t a good amount of plot anyway. 

This was interesting to read! I really like Hamlet (the play) and I’m up for most of Shakespeare retellings. There’s a lot of talk and discussion to be had around the play in terms of madness and what that all entails. Hamlet being an android here made for an interesting change because madness is (mostly) a human emotion. But an android could be mad if their code were faulty. We’ve seen a lot of movies where androids perform human emotions due to their coding – it’s one of my favourite things in science-fiction. So I really liked how the author approached it here.

I liked the characters in here. Hamlet and Horatio were fantastic. I think in like any retelling (of this I might read) and the original play – I feel for Ophelia. I’ve always felt for her. She’s probably my favourite, I think. I like how in here she’s given more of a voice and treated like a well-rounded character.

The prose was outstanding. I highlighted a lot of it and I reread most of them to let it sink in. I want to see if their other books also has this level of writing/prose – if so, I definitely want to read it. Plus, there was a Lion King reference? Which is doubly funny if you know that The Lion King is loosely influenced by Hamlet. So then to have it – or at least a loose reference to the Disney movie in here – it was just really funny to me.