Tigers, Not Daughters is the story of four sisters who feel trapped in their own lives. After the oldest sister falls from her bedroom window and dies, literally mid-escape, if only for a few hours, her three younger sisters are left to pick up the pieces. One turns to the church, one to an abusive boyfriend, and the third retreats into herself and her writing and refuses to leave the house. A year after Ana's death, the three sisters begin to notice strange happenings, and conclude that they are being haunted by their sister.

I am definitely a sucker for stories about sisterhood -- it's something that's so important for me since my own relationship with my sister is so messy and beautiful. Jessica, Iridian, and Rosa may have gone in somewhat different directions with their grieving processes, but it's shiningly clear how much they love each other unconditionally and will always have each other's backs, no matter what. This, I believe is the ultimate triumph of the book.

Magical realism is a genre I really really enjoy, and while this kind of teeters on the edge for me as to whether or not I'd actually call it that, there are so many elements of this book that are everything I love about the genre, regardless of if there's enough magic or not (which is honestly unnecessarily nitpicky, so let's just move on). Mabry's writing has the characteristic simplicity I associate with magical realism, the story follows common themes, the small elements of magic push the characters towards growth. Fans of the genre will not be disappointed.

I will say that my only criticism is the number of POVs. Each of the three sisters has one, and there's also the odd chapter that's told by this unified voice of a group of boys who hang out across the street from the Torres' house. They witness Ana's death, and their outsider's perspective gives the audience access to knowledge that the sisters themselves don't (yet) have. I actually kind of liked this fourth perspective, and honestly, my POV issue is with the sisters.

This is a short book, and I almost wished that I could have spent the entire time in just one or two POVs. I was significantly more invested in Jessica's part of the story than either of her other sisters, and perhaps if the book had been longer, I would have been able to connect more with them, but as it stands, I had trouble feeling equally invested in all four narrators.

All in all, though, I'm a fan of Tigers, Not Daughters. It's a story of growing up and growing together and sisterhood and grief and longing for freedom. If magical realism is something you're a fan of (and you don't mind the odd haunting), then this book is for you.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There's scifi that puts the emphasis on the fiction and there's scifi that puts the emphasis on the science, and this is definitely the latter. The actual plot is dry and slow, but if you're interested in the physics and philosophy, it's good stuff.

Unravel the Dusk is absolutely the conclusion that Spin the Dawn deserved.

After the events of Spin the Dawn, Edan and Maia are separated, and Maia's deal with the demon Bandur is beginning to take its toll. When she is forced to step in for Lady Sarnai as the Emporer's betrothed, tensions between her country and Sarnai's come to a boiling point, and Maia is forced to lose even more of herself in order to protect A'landi. How far will Maia go to secure the peace? What has become of Edan? After everything that comes between them, will there ever be a happily ever after?

While Spin the Dawn has a slightly more straightforward plot, Unravel the Dusk has moved away from those archetypes. Maia spends the entire book battling the demon growing within her, which makes for a fascinating character study. Can Maia be tempted to abandon her causes altogether? What happens when she loses parts of herself that make her who she is? Characters fighting the evil within them is an arc I've always enjoyed, and I think Lim did a good job with it.

In contrast, Edan has become a severely watered-down version of himself. I found it difficult to invest anything in any character but Maia, even though I'd cared about them when I read the first book just under a year ago.

Like the first book, Unravel the Dusk is divided into sections, which feature fairly different plotlines, but which keeps the plot moving at a shockingly fast pace (which I appreciate, truly). This meant that the book encompassed several battles, army v army, demon v demon, and that adventure level was certainly up from the first one.

It took me a pretty long time for me to get through this book, for whatever reason. Nonetheless, it was an ending I found deeply satisfying, and I would definitely recommend that anyone who liked Spin the Dawn pick up its sequel.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Good
- representation
- real life ray of sunshine Carlos
- actual discussion about race in this book about an interracial couple
- Olivia and Alexa’s relationship. My sister and I haven’t always been as close as we are now so reading good sister relationships makes me happy.

Bad
- OMFG IF I READ ONE MORE “I DON’T NEED TO TALK TO THEM I ALREADY KNOW WHAT THRY’LL SAY THIS RELATIONSHIP IS JUST OVER I GUESS” BOOK I WILL SCREAM
- tbh I did not feel comfortable with Alexa’s relationship with her weight. She was constantly criticizing herself and comparing herself and I’m just really tired of that kind of fat rep. It doesn’t make me feel included or good about myself, it makes me uncomfortable as sometimes even more insecure (This just is my opinion and experience, and I know some people will relate to it and enjoy the rep)
- Theo? Who and why?

I knew I had to pick this up when I saw the cover — I mean, come on.