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nerdinthelibrary's Reviews (926)
content warnings: pica (eating pages, flower petals and hair), violence, loss of a loved one, grief, discussions of hospitalisation, suicide and past child abuse, underage drinking, panic attacks
representation: protagonist, main and side characters with pica, Black main characters
If there's one thing I can rely on, it's that reading a Katrina Leno book will make me hate how hot my country is and wish I was reading it by a fire in a nice sweater while the wind gently howls outside. But I digress.
Horrid is Katrina Leno's latest book and follows Jane, a teenage girl who's father has recently died of a heart attack. He had hidden how dire the family's financial situation was from her mother, Ruthellen, forcing Jane and Ruth to move from California to Ruth's hometown Bells Hollow in Maine. They move into Ruth's childhood home North Manor which has stood empty for two years ever since Ruth's mother died – or has it? The more time Jane spends in the house, the more certain she is that something strange and spooky is going on.
This is a book that's perfect for the spooky season, so of course I read it in mid-November when the weather is becoming disgustingly hot. It's atmospheric and chilly, full of lengthy descriptions about the creepy and draughty North Manor. We start the book on the road to Maine, so we never get to see the sunny California that Jane longs for. While Jane can dream of one day returning to the place she grew up, we have no such escape from this cold, oppressive town and home; we just have to survive alongside Jane with no reprieve.
Everything about this book feels oppressive in absolutely the best way. Even when Jane walks through abandoned streets and long hallways, it feels like the walls are closing in on both her and us. Katrina Leno is the master of transporting you to wherever her book is set and makes you experience every emotion her protagonist's do in the most painful way possible. That's especially effective with this book, which is all about Jane's anger and grief and confusion, and how these emotions physically manifest themselves.
I can't speak to whether Jane's pica is well represented or not, but as a metaphor it's masterful. Not just in the way it helps her deal with her anger, which seems to be forever present even when she's at her happiest, but the way it's also used to represent generational trauma and mental illness. From the first moment Jane steps foot in town it seems like everyone isn't telling her something about the house she now lives in, the house that has been nicknamed creep house, and for good reason.
There's a plot twist of sorts later in the book which I called pretty early, but I'm not someone who disregards a mystery or thriller just because I worked out the plot twist; in fact, I prefer it. It means that it's well-written enough to make sense to the average dummy, AKA me. Besides, I don't think the plot twist is meant to be shocking to the reader, or even to Jane. Because Jane's always known that something was wrong and she's just repressed everything.
Jane's habit of repressing things such as emotions and memories make her an incredibly unreliable narrator but not frustratingly so, mostly because she isn't aware that she's an unreliable narrator. She's also not the only one; everyone in the book is an unreliable narrator, because they're all telling their version of events. There are scenes towards the end of the book where the same story is told several times, all by different people, and everyone's version is just a little different, making it hard for both Jane and us to figure out who's telling the truth.
The ending is perfect. It's one that a lot of people won't like because while I would say it's very satisfying, it is ambiguous and abrupt, which happens to be my favourite way for this kind of spooky story to end. I won't be surprised if a lot of people give this 1 star just based on the ending, so go into it knowing that.
This book never had a chance of topping Summer of Salt, which is such a raw, deeply personal read for me, but it has jumped near the top of my favourite spooky reads list (which, admittedly, is a fairly small list). It has one of the best covers I've ever seen and the inside is just as good!
representation: protagonist, main and side characters with pica, Black main characters
“And Jane had felt alone. Really alone. And with the realization that you could never go back. Time marched forward. The figurine couldn’t be unbroken.
And now, in the hallway, that same bitter truth.
Jane couldn’t un-slam the locker door. They couldn’t un-move to this terrible town. Greer couldn’t un-die. ”
If there's one thing I can rely on, it's that reading a Katrina Leno book will make me hate how hot my country is and wish I was reading it by a fire in a nice sweater while the wind gently howls outside. But I digress.
Horrid is Katrina Leno's latest book and follows Jane, a teenage girl who's father has recently died of a heart attack. He had hidden how dire the family's financial situation was from her mother, Ruthellen, forcing Jane and Ruth to move from California to Ruth's hometown Bells Hollow in Maine. They move into Ruth's childhood home North Manor which has stood empty for two years ever since Ruth's mother died – or has it? The more time Jane spends in the house, the more certain she is that something strange and spooky is going on.
This is a book that's perfect for the spooky season, so of course I read it in mid-November when the weather is becoming disgustingly hot. It's atmospheric and chilly, full of lengthy descriptions about the creepy and draughty North Manor. We start the book on the road to Maine, so we never get to see the sunny California that Jane longs for. While Jane can dream of one day returning to the place she grew up, we have no such escape from this cold, oppressive town and home; we just have to survive alongside Jane with no reprieve.
Everything about this book feels oppressive in absolutely the best way. Even when Jane walks through abandoned streets and long hallways, it feels like the walls are closing in on both her and us. Katrina Leno is the master of transporting you to wherever her book is set and makes you experience every emotion her protagonist's do in the most painful way possible. That's especially effective with this book, which is all about Jane's anger and grief and confusion, and how these emotions physically manifest themselves.
I can't speak to whether Jane's pica is well represented or not, but as a metaphor it's masterful. Not just in the way it helps her deal with her anger, which seems to be forever present even when she's at her happiest, but the way it's also used to represent generational trauma and mental illness. From the first moment Jane steps foot in town it seems like everyone isn't telling her something about the house she now lives in, the house that has been nicknamed creep house, and for good reason.
There's a plot twist of sorts later in the book which I called pretty early, but I'm not someone who disregards a mystery or thriller just because I worked out the plot twist; in fact, I prefer it. It means that it's well-written enough to make sense to the average dummy, AKA me. Besides, I don't think the plot twist is meant to be shocking to the reader, or even to Jane. Because Jane's always known that something was wrong and she's just repressed everything.
Jane's habit of repressing things such as emotions and memories make her an incredibly unreliable narrator but not frustratingly so, mostly because she isn't aware that she's an unreliable narrator. She's also not the only one; everyone in the book is an unreliable narrator, because they're all telling their version of events. There are scenes towards the end of the book where the same story is told several times, all by different people, and everyone's version is just a little different, making it hard for both Jane and us to figure out who's telling the truth.
The ending is perfect. It's one that a lot of people won't like because while I would say it's very satisfying, it is ambiguous and abrupt, which happens to be my favourite way for this kind of spooky story to end. I won't be surprised if a lot of people give this 1 star just based on the ending, so go into it knowing that.
This book never had a chance of topping Summer of Salt, which is such a raw, deeply personal read for me, but it has jumped near the top of my favourite spooky reads list (which, admittedly, is a fairly small list). It has one of the best covers I've ever seen and the inside is just as good!
content warnings: discussions of transphobia and homophobia
representation: transgender Japanese protagonist
I've been meaning to read this for so long, for so many different readathons, but my library has been very difficult about getting this to me. They finally did, though, and I've had the pleasure of reading this very cute memoir!
I'm still quite new to manga and have never even heard of another manga memoir, so this was a really interesting reading experience. This is about the author, Chii, and her experiences as a transwoman in Japan. It's a perfect blend of personal story and facts about transitioning in Japan, which I loved. It broke up the chapters really well, as she relays information concerning the laws in Japan as well as answering FAQs with her opinion. As well as being about her transition, from when she was a child to now, this also shows her meeting her husband and their romance which was the absolute cutest. The back half is almost entirely devoted to their impeding marriage and it gave me the warm and fuzzies.
This is the third or fourth manga I've ever read and it's easily my favourite. It was a quick and easy read that was mostly fluffy but doesn't necessarily shy away from how difficult it is to legally transition in Japan, even if Chii had an 'easier' experience than most. If you can find it, I would highly recommend seeking this out, it was so good!
representation: transgender Japanese protagonist
I've been meaning to read this for so long, for so many different readathons, but my library has been very difficult about getting this to me. They finally did, though, and I've had the pleasure of reading this very cute memoir!
I'm still quite new to manga and have never even heard of another manga memoir, so this was a really interesting reading experience. This is about the author, Chii, and her experiences as a transwoman in Japan. It's a perfect blend of personal story and facts about transitioning in Japan, which I loved. It broke up the chapters really well, as she relays information concerning the laws in Japan as well as answering FAQs with her opinion. As well as being about her transition, from when she was a child to now, this also shows her meeting her husband and their romance which was the absolute cutest. The back half is almost entirely devoted to their impeding marriage and it gave me the warm and fuzzies.
This is the third or fourth manga I've ever read and it's easily my favourite. It was a quick and easy read that was mostly fluffy but doesn't necessarily shy away from how difficult it is to legally transition in Japan, even if Chii had an 'easier' experience than most. If you can find it, I would highly recommend seeking this out, it was so good!
1) Just Like That ★★★★½
content warnings: discussions of bullying, violence and the unlawful kidnapping of Indigenous children
representation: gay protagonist, gay Indigenous protagonist, main m/m romance, side gay characters
When I read Cole McCade's Just Like That earlier this year, I was blown away by how much I loved it so I had high expectations going into the sequel, which thankfully did not disappoint.
Taking place once again at Albin Academy, Just Like This follows Rian Falwell and Damon Louis, an art teacher and football coach respectively, who realise that a mutual student of theirs, Chris, has been lying to both of them about where he is when he's supposed to be at football practice. Out of concern for Chris, the two teachers decide to put aside their mutual dislike in an attempt to figure out what's going on with him. Romance, of course, ensues.
I love how invested McCade is in the world of this series. It would be easy to just make Albin the setting and not do much with it, but so much of the book centres on the complicated politics of this school where rich parents send their troublesome sons and what that entails. With the two perspectives being Rian and Damon, this is explored from two different angles and makes for honestly a fascinating read if you, like me, find the strange lives of rich people weirdly compelling.
But you don't want to hear about the politics of an academy for rich boys; you want to hear about the romance. Oh, the romance is so good. I'm obsessed with the way Cole McCade structures his romances like a Nancy Meyers movie, with the leads getting together halfway through the story and then figuring out how to be together. This has the added flavour of being a very soft enemies to lovers, which we all know I'm a sucker for, so that's a nice bonus.
Because of the way the story is structured, you get to spend the first half or so with Rian and Damon before they get together and then the next half with them as a couple, which gives you enough time to understand them as individuals before understanding them as a couple. If I had my way, most romances would play out like this.
Outside of the romance, I also really enjoyed the mystery subplot about Chris. It deepens the characters because you see how they react to the situation and their reasons for it, but it's also just really damn compelling. Without giving too much away, I definitely didn't guess where it was going to go and loved the ultimate resolution.
This is a very dramatic book because it features two very dramatic main characters, but I like that about it. The romance is lovely and the story is incredibly compelling; I read most of it in one sitting. It's a great sequel to Just Like That and makes me want to pick up more of McCade's work, which you should absolutely also do.
content warnings: discussions of bullying, violence and the unlawful kidnapping of Indigenous children
representation: gay protagonist, gay Indigenous protagonist, main m/m romance, side gay characters
“Some things just had to be dealt with.
And Rian Falwell was apparently one of them.”
When I read Cole McCade's Just Like That earlier this year, I was blown away by how much I loved it so I had high expectations going into the sequel, which thankfully did not disappoint.
Taking place once again at Albin Academy, Just Like This follows Rian Falwell and Damon Louis, an art teacher and football coach respectively, who realise that a mutual student of theirs, Chris, has been lying to both of them about where he is when he's supposed to be at football practice. Out of concern for Chris, the two teachers decide to put aside their mutual dislike in an attempt to figure out what's going on with him. Romance, of course, ensues.
I love how invested McCade is in the world of this series. It would be easy to just make Albin the setting and not do much with it, but so much of the book centres on the complicated politics of this school where rich parents send their troublesome sons and what that entails. With the two perspectives being Rian and Damon, this is explored from two different angles and makes for honestly a fascinating read if you, like me, find the strange lives of rich people weirdly compelling.
But you don't want to hear about the politics of an academy for rich boys; you want to hear about the romance. Oh, the romance is so good. I'm obsessed with the way Cole McCade structures his romances like a Nancy Meyers movie, with the leads getting together halfway through the story and then figuring out how to be together. This has the added flavour of being a very soft enemies to lovers, which we all know I'm a sucker for, so that's a nice bonus.
Because of the way the story is structured, you get to spend the first half or so with Rian and Damon before they get together and then the next half with them as a couple, which gives you enough time to understand them as individuals before understanding them as a couple. If I had my way, most romances would play out like this.
Outside of the romance, I also really enjoyed the mystery subplot about Chris. It deepens the characters because you see how they react to the situation and their reasons for it, but it's also just really damn compelling. Without giving too much away, I definitely didn't guess where it was going to go and loved the ultimate resolution.
This is a very dramatic book because it features two very dramatic main characters, but I like that about it. The romance is lovely and the story is incredibly compelling; I read most of it in one sitting. It's a great sequel to Just Like That and makes me want to pick up more of McCade's work, which you should absolutely also do.
I received an ARC of this book for free as part of a blog tour in exchange for an honest review.
SapphicAThon: read a book you got for free.
content warnings: groping, mentions of stalking, internet harassment (specifically sexism, fatphobia and rape threats)
representation: sapphic protagonist, main korean-american character, main lesbian of colour, main interracial f/f relationship, main interracial m/f relationship, main gay character, main gay man of colour, minor interracial m/m relationship, minor f/f relationships
My thoughts on this book are a jumbled mess so this review will probably be a jumbled mess, apologies in advance.
This is the sequel to Geekerella, which I haven't read, and follows two different girls: Imogen Lovelace, a girl raised among fan conventions who has spearheaded the #SaveAmara campaign to try to bring her favourite Starfield character back from the dead; and Jessica Stone, the actress playing the new incarnation of Amara who is desperate for the character to stay dead so she can move onto other projects. These two girls also look eerily similar to each other and decide to switch places over the convention.
In general I'm a big fan of books about fandom (Radio Silence, I Was Born for This and Queens of Geek being some of my favourites) so I've been excited about this series for a while. I do plan to read Geekerella at some point, I only read this earlier because it's SapphicAThon and I own a physical copy. But of all the fandom books I've read, this goes to the bottom of the pile. Let's pro-con list this shit because I think that's the only way I'm going to be able to be remotely coherent.
PROS
- Jess was a fantastic main character. She's not very likable for a lot of the book as she spends a lot of time hating her fans, hating her film franchise, hating fandom as a whole. But her reasons are so sound that I couldn't help but always sympathise with her, and I ended up falling completely in love with her.
- The entire supporting cast is also great. I loved any scene with lots of them just hanging out.
- I must admit, I do love a geeky reference, and unsurprisingly this was full of many.
- Sexual assault was handled really well in this. There's a part when Imogen-as-Jess is meeting with a guy who, when hugging her, gropes her ass. Every character makes sure that Imogen knows she did nothing wrong and that he's the asshole, and he ends up getting banned from the convention forever. Unfortunately a bit unrealistic but wonderful to read about nonetheless.
- The romances made me swoon, even the one with a character in it I didn't really like, which I think really speaks to how good Ashley Poston is at writing it.
- I found the main mystery plot really compelling and fun. This book in general is just an incredibly fast read which makes it so good when you're in a mini-slump like I am.
- I listened to most of this through audiobook, and it was fantastic. The two main narrators were really good as both their characters, their characters playing the other character, and all the other characters in the book.
CONS
- God, Imogen was so insufferable. She is exactly the kind of entitled fan I hate who thinks that she has some sort of ownership of the thing she loves and has the authority to dictate what should or shouldn't happen and anyone who disagrees with her is wrong. For someone who grew up at conventions and seems very well-versed in fandom, she was also infuriatingly naive. She somehow can't even fathom that Jess would be receiving constant hate, including things like death and rape threats, despite the fact that this book establishes that the Kelly Marie Tran situation happened. It makes her look really stupid and sheltered in a way that made me irate while reading.
- There are many times when this book reeks of "pretentious nerd". On several occasions someone will monologue, either internally or aloud, about how wonderful it is to be in fandom and love something (which I agree with) and that actually sci-fi and fantasy is better than boring drama movies because who even remembers those anyway (which I disagree with). There are plenty of pretentious film snobs out there but in response there's been the rise of this weird counter-culture of Star Wars/MCU/etc. fans who have decided that actually the sci-fi and fantasy movies they love are better than all the boring Oscar-bait dramas, which are stupid and no one will ever remember them in ten years anyway so who cares, the things we love mean something. There's a level of this I understand: when Jess is talking about how worthless Starfield is and that she just wants to get out of the franchise so she can do important work, it sucks. But the book feels like it takes one step further, which might work for some people but doesn't work for me at all. There's one part where the book seems to be trying to combat this with Jess and Ethan having a conversation where he's saying all these points and says "Does anyone remember who won Best Picture in 1977? Or do we remember the cheesy sci-fi movie?" and Jess points out that Rocky won that year*, but the book quickly pivots away from that. I'm not entirely sure if I'm even making sense here, but basically the pretentious nerd vibe this book gave off really rubbed me the wrong way.
This is a good book: it's well-written, it's fun, it's diverse, it breezes by. All my grievances aside, if you've got a few hours free you wouldn't be wasting your time by picking this up.
*EDIT: Okay, I'm aware of how nitpicky this is, but I would like it to be known that Rocky and Star Wars aren't even from the same year: Rocky won in 1976, Star Wars was nominated in 1977. Annie Hall was what beat Star Wars, and it's honestly kind of weird that the author didn't think to do a quick google to double check that.
content warnings: groping, mentions of stalking, internet harassment (specifically sexism, fatphobia and rape threats)
representation: sapphic protagonist, main korean-american character, main lesbian of colour, main interracial f/f relationship, main interracial m/f relationship, main gay character, main gay man of colour, minor interracial m/m relationship, minor f/f relationships
“But up here there are no echoes and no trolls, and I am just a girl wearing her heart on her sleeve, staring at the sky, asking the universe—just for a moment—to be enough.”
My thoughts on this book are a jumbled mess so this review will probably be a jumbled mess, apologies in advance.
This is the sequel to Geekerella, which I haven't read, and follows two different girls: Imogen Lovelace, a girl raised among fan conventions who has spearheaded the #SaveAmara campaign to try to bring her favourite Starfield character back from the dead; and Jessica Stone, the actress playing the new incarnation of Amara who is desperate for the character to stay dead so she can move onto other projects. These two girls also look eerily similar to each other and decide to switch places over the convention.
In general I'm a big fan of books about fandom (Radio Silence, I Was Born for This and Queens of Geek being some of my favourites) so I've been excited about this series for a while. I do plan to read Geekerella at some point, I only read this earlier because it's SapphicAThon and I own a physical copy. But of all the fandom books I've read, this goes to the bottom of the pile. Let's pro-con list this shit because I think that's the only way I'm going to be able to be remotely coherent.
PROS
- Jess was a fantastic main character. She's not very likable for a lot of the book as she spends a lot of time hating her fans, hating her film franchise, hating fandom as a whole. But her reasons are so sound that I couldn't help but always sympathise with her, and I ended up falling completely in love with her.
- The entire supporting cast is also great. I loved any scene with lots of them just hanging out.
- I must admit, I do love a geeky reference, and unsurprisingly this was full of many.
- Sexual assault was handled really well in this. There's a part when Imogen-as-Jess is meeting with a guy who, when hugging her, gropes her ass. Every character makes sure that Imogen knows she did nothing wrong and that he's the asshole, and he ends up getting banned from the convention forever. Unfortunately a bit unrealistic but wonderful to read about nonetheless.
- The romances made me swoon, even the one with a character in it I didn't really like, which I think really speaks to how good Ashley Poston is at writing it.
- I found the main mystery plot really compelling and fun. This book in general is just an incredibly fast read which makes it so good when you're in a mini-slump like I am.
- I listened to most of this through audiobook, and it was fantastic. The two main narrators were really good as both their characters, their characters playing the other character, and all the other characters in the book.
CONS
- God, Imogen was so insufferable. She is exactly the kind of entitled fan I hate who thinks that she has some sort of ownership of the thing she loves and has the authority to dictate what should or shouldn't happen and anyone who disagrees with her is wrong. For someone who grew up at conventions and seems very well-versed in fandom, she was also infuriatingly naive. She somehow can't even fathom that Jess would be receiving constant hate, including things like death and rape threats, despite the fact that this book establishes that the Kelly Marie Tran situation happened. It makes her look really stupid and sheltered in a way that made me irate while reading.
- There are many times when this book reeks of "pretentious nerd". On several occasions someone will monologue, either internally or aloud, about how wonderful it is to be in fandom and love something (which I agree with) and that actually sci-fi and fantasy is better than boring drama movies because who even remembers those anyway (which I disagree with). There are plenty of pretentious film snobs out there but in response there's been the rise of this weird counter-culture of Star Wars/MCU/etc. fans who have decided that actually the sci-fi and fantasy movies they love are better than all the boring Oscar-bait dramas, which are stupid and no one will ever remember them in ten years anyway so who cares, the things we love mean something. There's a level of this I understand: when Jess is talking about how worthless Starfield is and that she just wants to get out of the franchise so she can do important work, it sucks. But the book feels like it takes one step further, which might work for some people but doesn't work for me at all. There's one part where the book seems to be trying to combat this with Jess and Ethan having a conversation where he's saying all these points and says "Does anyone remember who won Best Picture in 1977? Or do we remember the cheesy sci-fi movie?" and Jess points out that Rocky won that year*, but the book quickly pivots away from that. I'm not entirely sure if I'm even making sense here, but basically the pretentious nerd vibe this book gave off really rubbed me the wrong way.
This is a good book: it's well-written, it's fun, it's diverse, it breezes by. All my grievances aside, if you've got a few hours free you wouldn't be wasting your time by picking this up.
*EDIT: Okay, I'm aware of how nitpicky this is, but I would like it to be known that Rocky and Star Wars aren't even from the same year: Rocky won in 1976, Star Wars was nominated in 1977. Annie Hall was what beat Star Wars, and it's honestly kind of weird that the author didn't think to do a quick google to double check that.
content warnings: discussion of parental death, infidelity, step-sibling romance
This is such a weirdly dull book. I don't know about anyone else, but when I make the choice to read a step-sibling romance, I want to be scandalised. But the fact that the two leads are step-siblings doesn't even factor into the plot all that much until the very end. Hell, the fact that the main character is cheating on her fiance is more scandalous. The ending is also so incredibly stupid and immediately put me off of reading the two bonus novellas from this author that my copy had.
The sex is decently written which is why this is getting a 3 instead of a 2, but you can do better.
“‘What we just did can never happen again. It will not happen again.’
He lifts his hand to caress my cheek, ‘That’s where you’re wrong sweetness. I will have you before the night ends.’”
This is such a weirdly dull book. I don't know about anyone else, but when I make the choice to read a step-sibling romance, I want to be scandalised. But the fact that the two leads are step-siblings doesn't even factor into the plot all that much until the very end. Hell, the fact that the main character is cheating on her fiance is more scandalous. The ending is also so incredibly stupid and immediately put me off of reading the two bonus novellas from this author that my copy had.
The sex is decently written which is why this is getting a 3 instead of a 2, but you can do better.
3.75
1) Son of the Dawn ★★★
2) Cast Long Shadows ★★
3) Every Exquisite Thing ★★★★★
4) Learn About Loss ★★
5) A Deeper Love ★★★★
6) The Wicked Ones ★★★★
7) The Land I Lost ★★★★★
8) Through Blood, Through Fire ★★★★
9) The Lost World ★★★★
10) Forever Fallen ★★★★½
I'm feeling especially lazy so I won't be fully reviewing The Lost World or Forever Fallen. Just know that they're both great. A+ Kit, Jem, Tessa and Mina content, with a dash of Ty, Livvy, some people from Thule and our TMI gang. They're also both directly setting up The Wicked Powers, which I'm so excited for I can't actually handle it.
I (shamefully) still haven't read The Bane Chronicles, but comparing this with Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy there's a clear winner. I think that as a whole TFTSA feels more cohesive and works better as a whole, but none of the stories in that can hold a candle to the best GOTSM stories.
1) Son of the Dawn ★★★
2) Cast Long Shadows ★★
3) Every Exquisite Thing ★★★★★
4) Learn About Loss ★★
5) A Deeper Love ★★★★
6) The Wicked Ones ★★★★
7) The Land I Lost ★★★★★
8) Through Blood, Through Fire ★★★★
9) The Lost World ★★★★
10) Forever Fallen ★★★★½
I'm feeling especially lazy so I won't be fully reviewing The Lost World or Forever Fallen. Just know that they're both great. A+ Kit, Jem, Tessa and Mina content, with a dash of Ty, Livvy, some people from Thule and our TMI gang. They're also both directly setting up The Wicked Powers, which I'm so excited for I can't actually handle it.
I (shamefully) still haven't read The Bane Chronicles, but comparing this with Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy there's a clear winner. I think that as a whole TFTSA feels more cohesive and works better as a whole, but none of the stories in that can hold a candle to the best GOTSM stories.
1) Son of the Dawn ★★★
2) Cast Long Shadows ★★
3) Every Exquisite Thing ★★★★★
4) Learn About Loss ★★
5) A Deeper Love ★★★★
6) The Wicked Ones ★★★★
7) The Land I Lost ★★★★★
8) Through Blood, Through Fire ★★★★
9) The Lost World ★★★★
10) Forever Fallen ★★★★½
content warnings: violence, murder, gore, human trafficking, sex slavery, discrimination
representation: gay main character, indonesian bisexual main character, interracial m/m main relationship, biracial (white-chinese) main character, interracial main relationship, biracial (chinese-japanese) pansexual main character, argentinian side characters
“Alec crossed the floor to where Magnus stood considering the whiteboard. Carefully, since Magnus was still holding a bubbling jar, Alec slid his arms around Magnus’s waist, linking his hands together over the embossed buckle of Magnus’s belt. The T-shirt Magnus was wearing had a dramatic scoop neckline, so Alec put his face down in the smooth bare expanse of skin and breathed in the smell of sandalwood and spell ingredients.”
This novella is everything I could ever want and more. The plot by itself is really interesting, with Alec and Lily going to Buenos Aires after Jem and Tessa ask them for help and they end up investigating some shady business going on within the Buenos Aires Institute. That leads to Alec finding Rafael, a Shadowhunter orphan hanging around the Shadow Market.
This entire novella is just full of great character stuff. Malec being domestic dads is the best thing in the entire world, Max and Rafael are the absolute cutest, all of Alec and Lily's interactions are incredibly sweet, Jem and Tessa are almost sickening, Lily still mourning Raphael is absolutely heartbreaking. It's all great and I spent literally every page either squealing or nearly sobbing.
Honestly, this kind of just made me even more excited for The Red Scrolls so I can get more Alec/Magnus in my life. I read QOAAD a month ago and I already missed them, so I'm not sure how I'm gonna last a few months to get more content.
2) Cast Long Shadows ★★
3) Every Exquisite Thing ★★★★★
4) Learn About Loss ★★
5) A Deeper Love ★★★★
6) The Wicked Ones ★★★★
7) The Land I Lost ★★★★★
8) Through Blood, Through Fire ★★★★
9) The Lost World ★★★★
10) Forever Fallen ★★★★½
content warnings: violence, murder, gore, human trafficking, sex slavery, discrimination
representation: gay main character, indonesian bisexual main character, interracial m/m main relationship, biracial (white-chinese) main character, interracial main relationship, biracial (chinese-japanese) pansexual main character, argentinian side characters
“Alec crossed the floor to where Magnus stood considering the whiteboard. Carefully, since Magnus was still holding a bubbling jar, Alec slid his arms around Magnus’s waist, linking his hands together over the embossed buckle of Magnus’s belt. The T-shirt Magnus was wearing had a dramatic scoop neckline, so Alec put his face down in the smooth bare expanse of skin and breathed in the smell of sandalwood and spell ingredients.”
This novella is everything I could ever want and more. The plot by itself is really interesting, with Alec and Lily going to Buenos Aires after Jem and Tessa ask them for help and they end up investigating some shady business going on within the Buenos Aires Institute. That leads to Alec finding Rafael, a Shadowhunter orphan hanging around the Shadow Market.
This entire novella is just full of great character stuff. Malec being domestic dads is the best thing in the entire world, Max and Rafael are the absolute cutest, all of Alec and Lily's interactions are incredibly sweet, Jem and Tessa are almost sickening, Lily still mourning Raphael is absolutely heartbreaking. It's all great and I spent literally every page either squealing or nearly sobbing.
Honestly, this kind of just made me even more excited for The Red Scrolls so I can get more Alec/Magnus in my life. I read QOAAD a month ago and I already missed them, so I'm not sure how I'm gonna last a few months to get more content.
