howlinglibraries's Reviews (1.85k)

Wow. This is my first time experiencing Christina Sng's writing voice, but it certainly won't be my last. She has such an incredible way with words, weaving together dark fantasy and horror, fairytales and social commentary — needless to say, I enjoyed this quite a lot. I don't think this leans as heavily on the "horror poetry" side as I expected it to, but I enjoyed the SFF and speculative elements to it all the same and found it a nice mixture of genres and themes.

Most of all, I loved the section of fairytale retellings and, without going into too much detail and risking spoilers, the way many of those stories blended into one another seamlessly. I tend to view most fairytales as singular beings separate from one another, and to view them as all being connected like this was such a fascinating take on the presentation that I really enjoyed.

Though this wasn't what I expected, I'm truly so happy I had the chance to pick it up because Sng's writing just blew me away. It made me desperately want to pick up more of her collections, starting with this one's predecessor, A Collection of Nightmares, which I have no doubt will be another instantly beloved piece of work for me.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was really lovely and sweet! I adored the art style so much, and I wish it had been longer because I'm already ready for more. I didn't realize it was an adaptation of a light novel series, but now I want to look into the source material because I could see this being the type of story I would really enjoy reading the original version of! It reminded me of so many JRPG games I've played over the years and that's a feeling that I wish more books gave me. ♥

✨ Representation: Lizel & Gil are both queer

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

animal death (brief — Lizel must slay a "monster"/giant rat for a quest)

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

Science fiction can be hit and miss for me, so I don’t request ARCs from the genre terribly often, but when I heard the synopsis on this one—and the fact that it has own-voice Moroccan rep, which I’d never seen in a story before—I knew it was one I couldn’t afford to miss out on, and for good reason. I don’t say this lightly in my advance reviews, but honestly, I believe Mirage is going to be one of the best, and most important, releases of 2018.

The crown of Dihya had been stripped from me, my face changed, my body broken. But I was not a slave and I was not a spare. I was my mother’s daughter, and I would survive and endure. I would find my way back home.

First, let’s just go ahead and get this out of the way: the writing in this book is fantastic. Especially with this being Somaiya Daud’s first novel, it is evident from page one that the woman was born to weave stories. I read this in a scheduled buddy read where we split it into sections, and at the end of every single day’s reading, it was a literal struggle to keep myself from continuing because I couldn’t get enough of this world, these characters, and the suspense of the unfolding plot.

Endurance was strength, to be sure, but even a rock wore away to nothing if asked to endure enough rain.

It’s not just a beautiful story, but a haunting one, as Amani’s people have been steadily erased by their Vathek conquerors; more and more of their cultural expressions are becoming outlawed, and nearly all of their political figures have been de-throned to make place for the Vathek king and his family. In YA releases, I think we frequently see these “brutal” kings that don’t actually do much of anything brutal, but that’s not the case—Somaiya Daud goes there, and the Vathek people are absolutely awful, murdering innocent citizens left and right just to prove a point.

The blood never dies. The blood never forgets.

Maram, the half-Vathek princess who Amani is taken to become a body double for, is no exception, but she’s also young and mother-less, with a father who resents her very existence. I love the portrayal of her character as this ambiguous villain, who we’re never quite certain what to make of—is she as vicious as she seems, or is she misguided and looking for her father’s approval? It doesn’t excuse her actions, but watching her develop into this incredible, complex character was a brilliant experience.

And this, poetry like this, was all we had to preserve our stories, our music, our history.

There’s also a surprising amount of love shining through the bleakness of Amani’s circumstances—not only for the man she is pretending to be betrothed to, Maram’s fiancé, Idris—but also for the forbidden poems and stories she clutches in her heart to remember not only the ways of her people, but also the beliefs of her religion. The representation of her faith was beautiful and empowering, and I never tired of the stories-within-a-story of her deity, Dihya, and the emboldened women of the past that Amani looks up to.

“You are not defined by the men in your life, no matter how powerful. You lived before them and you shall live after them.”

Altogether, Mirage is such a gorgeous tale of faith, family, love, loss, betrayal, and endurance. Amani and her loved ones are so inspirational and strong, and each of the primary players in this game are complex and evocative in their own ways. I was hooked from cover to cover, and know that it’s going to be a long, cold wait until the sequel, because I positively must know what happens next. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to any fans of YA sci-fi and/or fantasy—and would like to add that the science fiction elements are soft enough that even readers who don’t reach for sci-fi would be able to thoroughly enjoy this book.

Content warnings for cultural erasure, physical abuse, imprisonment

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Flatiron for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Buddy read with Danielle, Kelly, and Kaleena! ♥♥♥

I enjoyed this so, so much. The art is absolutely lovely, the characters made my heart ache, and the romance was angsty and sweet. Childhood-friends-to-lovers is one of my favorite romantic pairing tropes of all time, and this is the way I love to see it executed best: two people who have pined after one another for so long that they can't possibly imagine ever actually being together, leading to the most emotional, passionate confession moments possible. Precious. ♥

I adored both Kasumi and Kyousuke tremendously, and their polar opposite selves balance one another beautifully. Kasumi struggles with taking care of himself at times, so Kyousuke steps in to keep him functioning, but Kyousuke's lack of self-care through overworking himself is still present, too, on top of his general struggles with internalized homophobia. I felt like the two of them both worked to smooth the jagged edges left by the other's traumas so well — nobody "fixed" anyone, but they supported one another as much as they could.

Finally, after reading a handful of other reviews, I thought it may be necessary to remind anyone interested in this manga that it is an adult romance and, yes, there are absolutely explicit scenes. If that makes you uncomfortable, this is probably not the manga for you, but if you're comfortable with fairly graphic (though brief) depictions of sex, I recommend this romance manga so highly! I hope to have the chance to read more from this author very soon!

✨ Representation: all characters are Japanese. Kasumi is bisexual and Kyousuke is gay.

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

memories of parental emotional abuse, parental neglect, loss of family members/caretakers, internalized homophobia, homophobic comments

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

Meh. I'm really glad this wasn't my first read of Shirley Jackson's, otherwise I probably wouldn't have been inclined to pick up anything else by her, honestly. I know this is a widely beloved book, and I'm happy for everyone who adores it, but sadly, I can't count myself in that group. After TWO failed attempts to read this visually, I finally settled for borrowing the audiobook from the library and putting it on in the background while I played video games because NOTHING HAPPENS.

DNF @ pg 210

I normally don't give star ratings to DNFs unless I've put in a substantial enough effort to fully determine my thoughts on the book, but I'd say 200+ pages of effort is enough to justify a star rating for this one.

Do you ever have one of those books that something in your gut tells you, 'You're not going to like this one, but you give it a try anyways? And then within a few chapters, you realize that your intuition was totally right and you never should've bothered? Because that was this book for me, from chapter one onward. Despite reading this with a group of lovely reviewers who were all enjoying it vastly more than I did, I just couldn't seem to get into the hype or form any enjoyable connection with the plot or characters.

Furyborn starts off strong, don't get me wrong. The prologue is absolutely beautiful and had me thinking that maybe I would end up shocking myself and loving this book, but as soon as chapter one began, it felt like a totally different author had taken over. The writing wasn't as beautiful or captivating, the characters weren't as intriguing, and the plot wasn't as enthralling. By the end of the first chapter, I felt like a dark, gloomy cloud had settled over my entire reading experience.

The story shifts between two perspectives: Rielle, from the past, and Eliana, from the present - two queens, both with incredible powers foretold by prophecies. I love alternating perspectives, I love split timelines, and I love prophecies. I even love tournaments, which is what a substantial portion of Rielle's narrative revolves around. And there's bi rep? Theoretically speaking, this book should have checked all my fantasy boxes! Here's why it didn't:

• Eliana is painfully unlikable. I adore morally grey characters more than anything, but I need them to be genuinely grey, and in my opinion, Eliana wasn't. She flips constantly between cold-hearted cruelty, or bouts of angst and shame, and I just wanted her to commit one way or another rather than falling to pieces every time she was alone for more than five seconds.

• I immediately grew weary of Eliana's arrogance and insistence that she could destroy or seduce anyone she met. I am so here for sex positivity, don't get me wrong! But half of the time, her motives behind seduction or even flirting are to gain the upper hand or trick someone, and that's a trope that gets old fast for me. I'd much rather see a character have sex because they want it, as opposed to using it as a means to an end.

• Rielle is not only boring, she's also fully out of control - which makes sense, given that she was raised not to utilize or temper her powers, but her lack of self-control is portrayed via a scene of animal abuse that left me positively infuriated and sickened. There are so many ways it could have been presented that wouldn't have made me hate her character, but the fact is that, as the abuse was occurring, she noticed that her actions were harming the animal, but disregarded the consequences until they were brought to her attention in a fairly graphic and incredibly difficult to stomach manner.

• The world-building feels so unrefined to me. The entire notion of their world, politics, and belief systems were fascinating on the surface, but after over 200 pages, I still felt like nothing had been properly explained and, to be frank, had lost faith that they ever would be. I love books with action as much as the next reader, but I genuinely feel that Furyborn sacrifices building up its world and magic system in favor of over-dosing on fight scenes and trials, and I wasn't here for it.

There were a few things I enjoyed, such as the prologue, or the bi rep Rielle offered (I actually almost finished the book just in hopes of seeing a polyamorous relationship form between herself, the man she loved, and that man's fiance). Unfortunately, though, there was a lot more that I didn't like.

I received this ARC from Fairyloot, but these are still my honest opinions, as always. If you disagree with my opinions, I'm always happy to have a friendly conversation about our disagreements, but please be respectful in your discourse! <3

This is a nice introductory compilation of information on witchcraft, and it doesn't focus too much on one path or another, which I appreciated. If you do follow a specific path, this may be too generalized and surface-level for your interests, but if you're someone who is brand new to witchcraft (or just interested in learning about it from the outside), check this out!

There are sections on so many different popular areas of witchcraft — everything from a basic overview of herbalism and tarot, to some more in-depth sections on sabbats and palmistry — and while this definitely won't be comprehensive enough to fit all of your needs (no single book is, IMO), it functions as an excellent starting point. It also features lovely artwork and some excellent cheat sheet pages that you could easily copy down into your own grimoire/BOS for quick info. Overall, The Complete Grimoire is a general, but solid overview on witchcraft practices and paths that I would recommend to any newbie.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a very long time, but have been putting off for a number of reasons: 1) It’s honestly pretty rare that I read anything published before the 80s unless it’s classic horror. 2) It’s science fiction, which is my most hit-and-miss genre. 3) I love the film adaptation, and I’m always worried, after loving a film adaptation, that the book will ruin the film for me and I won’t be able to love it anymore.

“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.”

All of that said, this is probably my fiancé’s favorite book of all time, and as his birthday is later this month, I promised to finally read it! It was a quick and fun read, but it’s a really tough book for me to rate. My feelings are so all over the place, but I ultimately decided on 3.5 stars, rounded up.

“If there's anything more important than my ego around, I want it caught and shot now.”

The single greatest thing that this book has going for it is absolutely, hands down, the humor. It’s very dry and probably would fit well into what many of us North Americans like to playfully refer to as “British humor”, but it somehow doesn’t feel dated to the 70s in any way. I laughed out loud—or smirked, at least—more times than I can count during this story, though I don’t know how much of that is in thanks to picturing the jokes being delivered by Mos Def and Martin Freeman. I’m honest enough to admit that I probably wouldn’t be rating this as highly if I didn’t enjoy the film so much, but that’s beside the point.

“This must be Thursday,” said Arthur to himself, sinking low over his beer. “I never could get the hang of Thursdays.”

I’m not rating this book based solely on its wit and snark, though—there’s also something to say for how unique it is, how original it was for its time, and how solidly it has stood through the decades. I always say I’m not a big sci-fi fan, so I don’t really know the genre as well as many of you might, but for any book to have become this big of an international phenomenon, and then to have stayed as such for nearly 40 years as of now, is impressive and probably worthy of praise just for that.

“Ford… you’re turning into a penguin. Stop it.”

Is this book perfect? I don’t know, honestly. I’m a broken record here, but with my ambivalent feelings for the genre as a whole, I’m not the best person to answer that for you. What I can say is that it’s a super fun read, and if you’ve never picked it up before, you should totally give it a try. Or watch the film. In fact, even if you have read it, you should still watch the film, because it’s amazing.

“So long, and thanks for all the fish!”

---

Buddy read with Terry!

You can find this review and more on my blog, or you can follow me on twitter, bookstagram, or facebook!

I love when I pick up a graphic novel and, within just a few pages, know that I’ve found a new favorite series to follow (at least, I’m assuming it’s going to be a series, based on the ending). Witchy takes place in a magical world where each person’s power is dictated by the length of their hair. Having watched her father burned when she was a child due to his hair being deemed too long by the government, Nyneve spends her life hiding who she is in hopes of going unnoticed by the army.

The art style in this is fun and light, but the plot has a lot of nuance and subtle heaviness to it. There’s an oppressive militia/government, a lot of hurting children and families, and something suspicious going on in the way the kingdom of Hyalin’s history is steadily being rewritten and erased. There’s also a ton of gorgeously effortless diversity, including characters of color, casual queerness, a trans girl, and more.

Between the cast of characters, the plot, the world-building, and a certain snarky talking raven, I loved Witchy a whole lot, and I really hope I’m right in my expectations of a sequel, because I definitely need more time with Nyneve and her friends in the kingdom of Hyalin.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The first time Chris buried a part of herself by her son's roadside cross, it was an accident.

Sometimes, horror is about jump scares, blood and viscera, torture, agony. Sometimes, it's about unsettling legends, looming creatures in the night, vicious entities out for revenge. And sometimes, as in Crossroads, it's about making you come face to face with the most nightmarish, suffocating outcome you could possibly imagine — and the realization that, if forced to trade places with that protagonist, you'd consider those same desperate, unspeakable measures, too.

Crossroads plays equally well the parts of an eerie horror story and a tragic ghost tale, but what it does best of all is depict the imminent and unstoppable descent that befalls so many parents who lose their children. It was absolutely brilliant, terrifying, and heartbreaking. Watching Chris make the worst possible decisions, yet knowing that, if I were in her shoes as a mother, I'd do anything, too — there's something very real and horrific about that, yet I couldn't look away, because alongside all of this hurt and fear comes a gorgeous, powerful writing style and a sense of looming dread that had me tense, on the edge of my seat until the very last page.

Whether you're a parent or not, Crossroads is an absolutely stunning ghost story full of grief and rage and fear and dread, and it shook me to my core. It's been days since I finished this little book and I haven't been able to stop dwelling on it since closing the final page because it was just so damn good. This story was beyond worth every ounce of heartache it put me through, and I can't wait to read everything from Laurel Hightower I can get my hands on, because her writing is truly stunning and I can't wait to see what else she has up her sleeves.

✨ Content warnings for:

Spoiler

gratuitous self-harm, suicide attempts, suicidal ideation

Thank you so much to the Off Limits Press for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!