dragoninwinterfell's Reviews (147)

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Teen for an ARC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

For me, Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons was one of those books with an amazing premise and a lackluster execution. The summary sounds exciting with the characters being forced to return to a location where they left their friend for dead years before and vowed never to tell the truth of what happened. They are forced to play a game centered in Japanese mythology to get their friend back and to get out alive themselves. This should have been an edge of your seat story. Unfortunately, the characters, dynamics, and the plot itself were poorly established. As the story unfolded, I didn't care about any of the characters and therefore didn't care if they survived or continued to the next phase of the game. If anything, it was tedious. I kept hoping it would finish, repeatedly checking to see how much time remained in the audiobook.

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson is a beautifully spooky novel where vampirism is treated as an illness that nobles from the North inherit along with their ancient wealth, requiring them to have a steady supply of blood that must be filled from multiple sources. That blood is supplied by bloodmaids, young women hired to be companions to these nobles who live in luxury with them, jockeying with each other for the position of reigning favorite. These young women are promised pensions that will leave them wealthy once their contracts with the nobles are complete. At the same time, bloodmaids are considered similar to, if not worse than, prostitutes and the loss of their blood takes a toll on them physically.

Marion begins the story in difficult straights as a house cleaner who is treated terribly by her employer while also having to deal with an abusive brother who tries to squander what little money she earns on drugs. When she finds an ad in the paper for a bloodmaid, she applies for the position and is accepted with suspicious ease. The difficulty of her circumstances and the promise of life-changing wealth lead her to cut ties with her former life very brutally so she can escape to the North. Once there, she meets Countess Lisavet Bathory and is officially hired and brought into a life of opulence and leisure that she has never known before. But even as Marion settles into her new life, she discovers signs of a more dangerous reality hiding beneath all the luxury. 

I loved how Henderson fleshed out the world-building not just with Marion gaining info dumps but also through the epigraphs which were made up of quotes from various bloodmaids and supervisors of the maids from all the different houses. That gave the feeling of depth to the world and views that existed beyond what Marion had access to. It was also interesting that Henderson seemed to base this novel on the legends surrounding the real Countess Elizabeth Báthory, who seems to be the basis for Countess Lisavet Bathory. She was accused of murdering hundreds of women and was rumored to bathe in the blood of virgins to retain her youth. Lisavet similarly relies on the blood of younger women to retain her health.

Lisavet draining other women for her own gain as well as pitting those women against each other so they are competing for her favor highlights a prominent issue that women have to deal with in interacting with each other. Often, women are taught to see each other as enemies on sight regardless of whether the idea is justified. It's based on the belief that there are only so many slots available for women so they must combat each other to gain those slots. Typically, it would be a man in the position that Lizavet is in in this scenario. So it's interesting to see a woman not only exploiting other women, but making them see each other as the enemy instead of her. She's weaponizing a sexist system to her own gain. Had this been played as natural and right, I would cry fowl, But this is absolutely something Henderson was critiquing and unpacking as part of the narrative, which enriched the overall story and was essential in strengthening the plot's resolution.

I couldn't give it five stars because I couldn't connect to the characters. Marion had a lot of potential as a heroine with her rough upbringing and the desperate tragedy that led to her accepting a position as a bloodmaid. But despite that, she didn't feel like she had much personality. She simply flowed along with the plot, tagging along with the reader from plot point to plot point without actually seeming to guide the story herself. Since the story was so strong, the inability to become emotionally invested in the main character wasn't a complete hindrance. 

Overall, this is an excellent book.

Noemí Taboada is one of the most refreshing and relatable heroines I have read in a long time. Noemí is a socialite in 1950s Mexico who enjoys parties and flirting while having no intention to marry anytime soon. She's also an ambitious, intelligent, and well-educated woman who wants to pursue a master's degree. She's well aware of the sexism in her culture and is adept at navigating antagonistic situations with charm while still demonstrating her intelligence. Female characters with this combination of traits are very rare. Following her as she navigated her way through this eerie story was so enjoyable.

Then there's the story itself. The plot starts with Noemí being sent to check on her cousin who sent a cryptic letter. Said cousin lives with her new husband and in-laws in a secluded area. She finds her cousin sick, but cated for while everyone resident of the home is creepy without being overtly hostile enough to come to obvious conclusions about. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an incredibly gifted author. Her prose flows beautifully, creating such strong visuals. While the story is slow, it felt like the exact right pacing for the plot. It never felt like the story was dragging even as the narrative took its time in unveiling each creepy twist. 

My only struggle with this book was the "romance". I put that word in quotes because, despite being an essential part of the climax and resolution, the connection between Noemí and her love interest wasn't well-developed. As wonderfully as Noemí herself was written, the love interest and his motivations were completely empty. He felt like more of a plot device than an actual character in his own right. In turn, his dynamic with our heroine felt very formulaic and lacking in emotional substance. 

Despite this issue, the overall novel was incredible. It's absolutely an instant favorite for me. 

It has been years since I was so fully captured by a book that I couldn't stop reading/listening to it until I reached the end. Straight from the first couple of lines, I was drawn in by Jane McKeene and her story. Justina Ireland has created a gritty alternate history where the Civil War ended when soldiers began turning into zombies, forcing both sides to come to terms to deal with the greater threat. Slavery has technically ended, yet Black Americans are still being exploited and racism is still normalized. Black and Native American teens are forced to attend schools where they are taught to fight zombies in preparation for jobs where they will protect people of European descent. 

Jane attends one of these schools where she has to learn etiquette (so as to be tolerable company for the people she will serve) alongside combat training with other teenage girls. As the story is told through her first-person POV, her dry wit, well-earned pessimism, practicality, and care for others are at the forefront. Jane is such a fascinating character full of acknowledged flaws alongside rarely acknowledged virtues. Had this been a book where she was just narrating her boring day at home in a world with no zombies, I still would have been attached enough to her to be enthralled. But this is a world with zombies as well as common human atrocities. So it was fascinating following along as she navigated the horrors of both zombies and racism, which equally threatened her life and the lives of those she loves.

I'm awed by Ireland's skill in creating a character and a world that felt so real and immersive. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for an e-arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I really, really wanted to like House of Marionne. The premise sounds amazing. I also follow the author on social media and her excitement and pride in this book really got me hyped for it as well. Unfortunately, the reality of the book didn't meet the buzz. 

First, I want to say that this has been repeatedly touted as "Game of Thrones meets Bridgerton". I do think the author should stop making this comparison. I understand that comparing your work to multiple popular ones is a common tactic for pitching and marketing, but bringing those two TV show's into this creates expectations that aren't going to be met. There is nothing of Game of Thrones nor Bridgerton to be found in this book. It could more accurately be described as an American Harry Potter with a female lead, a darker magic system, and a hyper speed school pace. I get that most wouldn't want to associate their work with HP due to that author's behavior and troubling beliefs, but it would be the more honest comparison that wouldn't confuse potential readers.

For the novel itself, I really liked the world building with the different magic schools run by different families throughout the US. I like that different families and schools specialize in different types of magic. The practice of essentially fostering a member of another school/house/family in another as a way of tying the schools together in peace while maintaining rivalries with each other also sounds very interesting. I just wish yhe complexity of the world was matched with a story and protagonist that were just as intriguing.

Quell, the protagonist of the story has no personality. She has a backstory and she does things to move the story forward, but she feels like a blank slate with no life in her. Her relationships also fall flat, especially the forced "romance" with Jordan and the abrupt "friendship" with Abby. I put those words in quotes because, while we're informed that Quell cares deeply for these characters, there's no emotional development in either dynamic. The strongest relationship Quell has is with Darragh Marionne, her grandmother and the headmistress of her family's school. Darragh also comes the closest to being a fully realized character. When we get a reveal about her, I found myself wishing we were following her instead of Quell. 

I'm giving this one two stars instead of one mostly due to the world building and the interesting premise.

I listened to the audio of this and enjoyed the narrator, Mary Jane Wells.  The different character voices she did flowed together seamlessly and were easy to differentiate from each other.
The story itself wasn't as enjoyable for me. I was never able to connect to the characters and as a result I never cared about the story. It seemed to get better toward the end, but with the story nearly over, there didn't feel like much of a point in investing in it. 
But for others this story may be for, this is a fae story that has an enemies to lovers romance. The female lead has returned home after years training to take up a specific post in her government. Before she can be granted the position, she meets with resistance from another government official who believes she is unfit and before she can disprove the accusations, she is cursed by the fae. 
I do appreciate that this story seems to have gender equality. As someone who reads a lot of fantasy, I do get tired of institutionalized sexism being the norm in those stories. So it was refreshing to see that the female lead's fitness wasn't being questioned due to her gender (other women held offices as well), but due to her behavior which a man was being judged for as well.

This book hooked me from the start with its gritty fairytale feel. Immediately, I was drawn into Candle and her story. The situation she is in with her family and the magic system is very unique. This is a land where the people have to deal with zombies and demons. Magic is also the norm. Where Candle is an outcast within her family and her community is that she can't use magic and her eyes are blue, which is connected to demonic association. So Candle grows up isolated and shunned to the point where many don't even know she exists. 

Once she escapes, readers get to explore more of the world along with her and learn more about the magic systems. As her brother pursues her for his own gain, she gains allies who become like found family even as has to keep secrets from them. They also have their own secrets as well as dark pasts. 

I will say that some elements of the world building shares commonalities with ASOIAF. For instance, the land they're in is called the Seven Kingdoms and they're fighting variations of zombies/wights. I would also say that the Ancestor's Own as a group is very similar to the Night's Watch, but without the ice Wall. But the characters and story are so different that it didn't feel derivative. 

For instance, there seems to be gender equality within this universe, so the Ancestor's Own are made up of both men and women, all of whom learn to fight and have responsibilities as well as leadership roles.

This book is excellent. Definitely recommend!

The Jasad Heir is a solid debut novel and first installment of a series. Though it has a slow start with too much info dumping, once the story gets going and the characters are firmly introduced, the book is engaging. 

The protagonist, Sylvia, is a morally grey heroine with a tragic past filled with loss and abuse. Having lost her family and status as a princess during a war, she lives as a commoner, hiding her identity as well as her restrained magic. I really loved the complexity of Sylvia's character and following her through each difficult choice and harsh revelation from her past. She felt very real. 

While I'm not usually a fan of enemies to lovers romances, the dynamic between Sylvia and Arin is the best example I've seen of the trope. They are natural enemies as he is the son of the man who overthrew her family and the way their relationship progresses is authentic.

I'm really looking forward to the next installment of this series.