Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the review copy.

tl;dr
Great intro to clothing and using photo references, ideal for artists who have moved past the beginner stage.

Thoughts
I wish I had this book years ago when I was figuring out how to draw clothing folds. The physics and gravity of clothing folds can be hard to follow, and I've found they're usually one of the last things an artist really manages to figure out. This book is an excellent resource in de-mystifying the process. The first part details types of folds, how to recognize the physics, and how to recreate them. It's a fairly quick overview, but the breakdown is very useful, and it works as a good foundation for the rest of the book. Chapters quickly move into types of clothing and how they work based on environment, interaction, and the weight of the fabric itself. It's also a great introduction in how to use photo references while drawing. Photo reference books can be difficult to start into sometimes, since it's just a bunch of photos and a note wishing you luck. This book includes the photos and the drawings, with occasional notes on what to look for when using references. There's a very brief section on shading, followed by practice pages that allow you to try placing folds on the sample images in the book. Recommended for artists who have moved past the beginner stage.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for an advance copy!

tl;dr
A useful reference book for artists moving past beginner level artwork.

Thoughts
I was initially drawn (ha!) to this book because I liked the art style on the cover. I am happy to say that the art inside is also excellent. There are several artists featured in this book, and I found all the art and hair styles extremely pleasing to look at. If you want to learn, you could do a lot worse than the skill presented here.

This is more a reference book than a how-to book. When I see a book is "how-to" I usually expect a lot of numbered step-by-step instructions, and complex images broken down into simple shapes. Reference books include a lot more finished drawings (or photos), often with notes. How-to books are a great benefit for beginners who haven't yet exercised breaking down bigger ideas into smaller shapes. The downside is that they don't leave a lot of room for creativity - you either follow the steps or you don't. Reference books assume that you've been doing this long enough that you can simply take what you need and leave the rest. There comes a point in time when an artist moves from how-to books to reference books, and this book seems to sit exactly on that line. The front part covers the basic breakdown of sectioning off hair, setting a hairline, and finding the crown and the part. But more complex ideas like braids and curls aren't given a similar breakdown - only finished drawings with notes. There's a large portion dedicated to hair physics that I liked, including working with gravity, wind, water, and human interactions. I feel like I learned the most in this section. Would recommend this book for artists who have moved past beginner level, are developing their own style, and are looking to expand. Of note: This book does not include much by way of textured hair or extremely short styles.

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for an advance copy!

tl;dr
Bright charming artwork strikes an ideal balance between cute and spooky. Less a single story and more a series of vignettes at this point.

About
Planchette the kitchen witch moves into a magical town so she can finally fit in, but the house she thought she got a great deal on turns out to be haunted! The only way to exorcise the ghosts is to lay their spirits to rest, but that sort of work is far beyond a kitchen witch's capabilities. Good thing there are plenty of other residents in Planchette's new town who can help.

Thoughts
If you didn't tell me this was based on a webcomic, I think I would have figured it out at some point anyway. Chapters are easily digestible with a bit of plot conceit tying them together, and make for a very pleasant read. Everything also moves incredibly fast, with characters and backstory unfurling sometimes in a single panel. The blurb made me think we'd be following Planchette's storyline exorcising ghosts, but that's only one of the things going on here. There's also an incredibly endearing plot line about a siren and a cursed girl that feeds directly into my love for the opposites attract trope. And possibly a murder mystery? There are hints of a bigger plot at work that might eventually tie everyone together, but for now it's a very light affair. Heavier topics like unsolved murder or family trauma are not dwelt on for too long, but be advised that they are definitely in here. The art is bold, with distinct character designs and broad expressions. I think maybe some emotional nuances get lost in all of it, but overall it's a very fun look. A great read for anyone looking for witchy vibes and some strong artwork.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an advance copy.

tl;dr
Equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, a strong follow-up to the previous book. Romantic endgame might be divisive.

About
After winning the Celestial Emperor's pardon (although not his favor), Xingyin thought she'd be returning to her quiet life on the moon with her mother. But political turmoil rages in the Celestial Kingdom, churned on by her previous actions. With her home on the moon threatened by old enemies and new magic, Xingyin must once again take up her bow and fight for the ones she loves. And maybe even the ones she thought she gave up loving.

Thoughts
The first book of this series was largely an adventure punctuated with romance. This one is definitely a romance punctuated with adventure. Xingyin is already an accomplished fighter, and so we see very little by way of her development in that area, with more time spent on her growing emotionally and learning how to process different kinds of grief. There's a lot more at stake here, with several deaths, and the loss of potential lives lived, with no one coming out entirely faultless in the process. The moral depth and complexity definitely outshines the first book in this space. The romantic triangle from the first book takes front and center here, with Wenzhi, Liwei, and eventually Xingyin all being way more honest about their feelings than the first go-around. There's a clear endgame this time around, and your enjoyment will probably hang entirely on who you cheered for in the first book. Action scenes move quickly, with fewer "epic" set pieces and more subdued fights (on average). There's also more time spent on Chinese lore, which I really enjoyed. Overall, I feel like it's a really good conclusion to the previous book, and it ties up all the loose ends really well.

Also, I am aware there wasn't really time for it, but I am devastated that

the entire enemies-to-lovers romance between Shuxiao and Menqi

happened off screen. I would have loved to see that develop.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for an advance copy!

tl;dr
Romance sits front and center in this urban fantasy with two smart and likable adult leads.

About
Elle is a low-level employee at Roland & Riddle, making simple magical glyphs for members of the agency. Luc is the agency's top security expert, favored by Oberon himself. When Luc starts coming to Elle for glyphs for his mission, feelings blossom on both sides. But both sides also carry a lot of secrets - Elle's hiding the true extent of her power, and Luc's still living with the fallout of an old assignment gone wrong. There's also the small matter of Elle's murderous younger brother, and Luc's latest assignment to hunt him down...

Thoughts
Congratulations to fans of pining, this one's for you. The pining is incredibly strong here, with both characters quietly and powerfully into each other before the first page, and a lot of longing thoughts even after their mid-book hookup. I typically read fantasy books with romance in them, but this is most certainly a romance book with fantasy in it. Our lead couple's relationship is firmly fixed as the focus of the book, which is a surprising thing to say about a piece that also includes family drama amongst descendants of gods, and a fight against the fae king Oberon. And yet, it works. In some ways, it feels as if we're getting a slice of insight into our two leads - all the things that mattered before do not matter quite so much in the presence of a loved one.

Elle's arc learning to love herself first before she allows herself to love Luc was incredibly painful in a very real and relatable way (I was not expecting to feel so attacked by this book, but here we are). I love that she's already extremely smart and capable, and she knows it. I also love that a plot twist in the middle could have turned into my least favorite trope - bad communication - and Elle navigated it incredibly well and made no assumptions. I genuinely cheered.

Luc is a likable lead as well, although we get significantly less insight into his story. The narration did a good job of highlighting who he is at work vs who he is with Elle, and his own struggle with who he wants to be always. Also, I will never not be excited about an elf who also cooks.

I think my only "complaint" about the book is that it's written in third person present tense, which is for some reason really hard for me to get into. It took a couple false starts from me before I could actually finish this, but I'm glad I did.

tl;dr
Solid inclusion in the ladies who are assassins in fantasy worlds genre with a lot of cool characters. World building can be confusing.

About
Keera is the King's Blade, his favorite assassin. She's killed many in his name, including her own people. Her latest mission is to hunt down the Shadow, a mysterious fighter who's been causing trouble for the crown. But when she chases the Shadow into the faelands, she discovers that everything she's learned about the kingdom and her history may be a lie.

Thoughts
Are YOU a person who likes a YA/NA fantasy novel centered on a female who carries a ton of blades? Because if so, I've got great news for you. "Lady has a lot of sharp objects" is one of my favorite genres, and I was happy to discover that this one is genuinely lethal, and not simply lethal by lip service. (Her kill count in this book alone is well over a dozen.) There are actual several ladies with sharp objects in here, and several fight scenes where they get to show off. This book also features quite a bit of magic, a masquerade ball, political shenanigans, and a sparse amount of lovemaking (spice level: middle?). While there's a clear enemies-to-lovers slow burn going on, it largely takes a back seat to story, so don't expect too much on that front.

World building is sometimes difficult to follow. Terms like fae, elf, mage, and halfling all hold specific meanings that don't always line up with the widely accepted definitions, and then we find out later in the book that some of those definitions were misconceptions anyway. It's a lot to try to keep sorted.

As for the plot, it takes a while to get started. The actual conflict between Keera and the Shadow is postponed quite a bit, and there's a lot of time spend setting up the pieces on the metaphorical game board. I don't think genre savvy readers will find a lot of surprises, but it's still a mostly satisfying series of events, with a

cliffhanger ending that puzzled me a little bit in terms of its execution

.

As a final note, Keera's alcoholism plays a major role in the story and her arc, and might be a difficult read for some.

tl;dr
A deeply self-aware tribute to the golden age of murder mysteries with plenty of twists and a satisfying conclusion. Mostly funny, but also incredibly melancholy.

About
Ernest Cunningham knows plenty about a good murder, or at least fictional ones. He spends most of his time writing books on how to write books, and staying away from his extremely complicated family. But when a mandatory family reunion at a distant ski lodge leads to several real life deaths, our hapless writer will have to unravel the murders and his own family's very messy history.

Thoughts
Snappy writing and dark humor are the order of the day, with the fictional author POV deeply self-aware that this adventure is falling into some of the classic murder mystery tropes. As a fan of murder mysteries from all eras, I enjoyed the genre breakdowns, and definitely laughed at some of his incredibly dry commentary. The writer Ernest promises that true to his name, he will tell no lies. But despite being honest, he is not terribly earnest. Through all the referential jokes, I began to sense an emotional wall in the MC akin to a kid on the playground who is all-too-eager to point out their own flaws so that no one else can mention them first. By the time I got to the end of the book, I couldn't help but feel like the entire thing was a story told by a sad person who is working very hard to insist they are not sad.

Like the MC, the book has a strict adherence to the rules - namely Ronald Knox's Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction, and it does its best to be a fair play mystery, with regular reminders of all the clues currently available. Overall the mystery is really solidly built, with twists in all the right places and a strong reveal at the end. One of the earlier clues felt really out of place to me, and it still feels like a slight coincidence that we even got it. Everything else fits together really well, and although I expected the ending, it still came as a great shock when it actually happened. A fairy easy read for fans of the murder mystery genre with a lot of irreverent narration and a good reveal.

Edit: Second book is out, and it might be even better? You can find my review of it here!

Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for a review copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy!

tl;dr
A fairy tale romance with a great twist on the Beauty and the Beast formula. MC can be frustrating at times.

About
All Jessamyn Elisdream wants is to keep her family's bakery running. The latest job catering for the prince seems like an amazing opportunity until she loses a family heirloom and has to sneak back into the palace to retrieve it. The prince she meets that night seems an entirely different person - because he is. He's been cursed by a witch to become the most evil version of himself when night falls. Jessamyn is now imprisoned in the castle to keep the prince's secret, but the longer she stays, the more she finds herself torn between the prince's two forms.

Thoughts
I love a fairy tale retelling, especially the kind that dig a little deeper into gray morality, so I enjoyed this book's exploration of Prince Nikolaus vs. the version of himself that he most feared becoming. The use of a Jekyll/Hyde transformation was really effective. His character arc is really nicely paced, and I found myself rooting for the romance the entire time. I have mixed feelings about Jessamyn. First off, hooray for curvy girl rep, hooray for someone who isn't a doormat, and I always love a character who bakes. But she often blurs the line between "I don't feel like I fit in," and "I'm not like other girls," which was kind of a letdown. She also doesn't seem great about considering consequences for her actions, which is fine for an individual, and not a good idea if the entire kingdom is going to be rocked because of a single choice. The final major character Finn is a very rare, and very appreciated, male friend who isn't there to make a love triangle happen. He is easily my favorite character in the entire thing, and I appreciated the emotional foundation that he brought to the story. I worried early on that he was going to wind up not nearly as cool as he seemed, but he is, in fact, as cool as he seems.

The romantic aspects are direct from a fairy tale, with messages to follow your heart and lines about being the most beautiful girl in the whole kingdom. Romance is largely spice-free. Readers will find a lot of cute interactions and banter along with some passionate kisses and

one fade-to-black style sex scene

.

Extra thoughts that I couldn't fit anywhere else:
-The book includes several small sketched illustrations which are absolutely lovely. I found myself looking forward to them.
-I'm having trouble placing the (imagined) time period. Characters live in a castle, ride horses, and the best weapons tech are swords and bows (and magic). But indoor electricity exists (albeit, it's rare), and characters of all genders regularly wear jeans, sweaters, and tank tops.

Thanks to NetGalley and City Owl Press for an review copy!

tl;dr
A spicy romance that takes inspiration from Cinderella and Snow White, but crafts an entirely new story.

About
Cinderella was never the victim - she was the bully. And when she ascended the throne, she locked up her "evil" stepmother and one stepsister. But the second stepsister Anna got away, and now she's on the run, disguised as a young man named Ansel. Will is also on the run, former huntsman to the king before the mysterious death that left Cinderella in power. When the two of them meet, they share a common goal - take down the queen. But as dangers arise and sparks fly, they might find something more.

Thoughts
There are a lot of Snow White retellings, and even more Cinderella retellings, and this book genuinely feels like it could have existed just fine without being either. The plot and characters stand on their own so well that I didn't think much about either of the fairy tales it's based on while I was reading it. This book is first and foremost a romance, with attraction kicking in pretty early on, followed by a lot of spicy scenes for people who like their romances with spice. Anna is a determined lead with a gentle heart, and a very visible love for her family. I appreciated how the story handled the complexity of Ella as a villain warped by grief, although I think a lot of readers might consider her ending to be too gentle, considering everything she did. Will doesn't get quite as much attention in terms of character development, and I felt in few places that his personality was outshone by Anna's. Still, they have very believable chemistry, and the ending for them was very satisfying. The pacing of the novel is pretty fast for the most part, with lots of fun plot twists, although it does slow the momentum pretty hard pre-finale before picking up again, and I felt kind of thrown by that. A great fantasy romance with fairy tale inspirations and lots of steamy bits.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for an advance copy!

tl;dr
A thoughtful and complex story featuring a likable non-binary protagonist and a great supporting cast. The amount of prejudice the MC has to face is really stressful to read.

About
Only girls do magic. Only boys can be knights. Callie has never thought of themselves as a girl or a boy, but their dream to become a knight someday is blocked by the fact that everyone else sees Callie as a girl. But Callie's determined to prove themselves, and an invitation to the royal capital might be the chance they need to do so.

Thoughts
This is a tough one to review. I typically try to highlight things I enjoyed versus parts that weren't for me, but it was hard for me to enjoy this. To be clear, this is a very good book. Callie's struggles are raw and relatable, and my heart broke for them more than once. The other kids are unique and complex and beautiful, and it was great to see genuine thoughtfulness centered on the discussion of family and abuse, self-loathing, and how messy love can be. But dang, reading this was tough. Callie is misgendered regularly, on purpose, and with hurtful intent. Gender roles in this world are so rigid and pithy that even our heroic Callie starts out with a very dim view of women. Trans readers who have been down this path in real life already might find re-treading this ground to be tiresome. That being said, I think this book would have been perfect for me when I was younger, and I think it will resonate with any young reader looking for a story about friends, family, and adventure.