The second installment takes Bea and Cad through foreign lands as Kest and his creations attack villages for sources of Light. In his wake, they struggle to pick up the pieces and try to find information about the old gods who created the world as they knew it. They manage to encounter a god, Lorgon, who provides them with history they struggle to digest. Now they must decide what to do with the knowledge they’ve been given. Is Kest the villain he seems to be?

Nope nope nope. From the start, too much romance in my fantasy. Not for me. Will not be finishing at this point in time, even for book club. 

I found the third book in this series randomly while shelving at work and after looking at the art style and reading a summary, I knew I had to read all of them immediately. This juvenile graphic novel packs a punch. A young girl lives with her adopted grandfather and they work together to help their community with potions and tinctures. One day while collecting plants, Bea runs into Cad (an ancient Galdurian) who is, coincidentally, looking for her grandfather to help him. This unlikely duo (plus a cat) wind up on the adventure of a lifetime as they search for her grandfather who has gone missing. As they encounter unfamiliar creatures and lands, Bea’s anxiety is beautifully depicted and balanced out by Cad’s positive outlook and his assistance when situations are dire.

Zilan has lofty dreams of becoming a royal alchemist; of being able to pull herself from the bloody streets of her village, provide a better life for the aunt and uncle who have raised her as their own since her mother died and her father left when she was a child, and continue to support her cousins who are more like siblings. She wants to make a name for herself the world won’t soon forget. In the meantime, to make ends meet, she resurrects the dead in her village for their loved ones at a high price, even though this is an illegal form of alchemy – no good can be created without also creating evil.

After the first round of exams, she is approached by a man who’s heard of her ability to raise the dead and asks for her to resurrect him, as he expects an assassination plot soon. Zilan ignores his pleas and continues going about her life as normal. She can’t avoid the spotlight forever, though. She and her cousins travel to the capital for more examinations and she is tested time and time again with all the odds against her. Despite the odds, she catches the eye of Empress Wu, the other royal alchemists, and even the Crown Prince…whom she recognizes. 

Zilan soon realizes she is stronger than she thought and is soon the object of desire for the power-hungry around her. She becomes mired in the politics of the royal family, encounters monsters beyond her own imagination, uncovers long-kept secrets of her past, and begins to truly understand the cost of the alchemy she’s been practicing for years..

This book has everything! Grisly alchemy and a very cool magic system; an evil Empress; a little grumpy x sunshine, slow burn romance; political intrigue; MAJOR PLOT TWISTS that I never saw coming; and one hell of a cliff-hanger. I kept wondering where Baker was taking the plot (she really keeps readers on their toes!), and tore through the last 200 pages of this book. If you have enjoyed books like The Poppy War, She Who Became the Sun, or Strike the Zither, this book had a lot of similar vibes (and I’m fairly certain the author was inspired by The Poppy War, but wanted to write YA). I am ready to tear through the second book in this duology ASAP!

In our final installment, we return to our main character, Luke’s, point of view. We are in a world of full-blown rebellion – the Population Police are being destroyed in one fell swoop from the inside out, people are gaining confidence every day and are taking a stand against the Population Police, and it finally seems that shadow children everywhere will be able to come out of hiding. Who will be in charge of the government now that the previous ruler(s) have been forced from their stations? A familiar face from a previous book steps forward and inserts himself into this position of power. However, the way he presents himself is not in line with his actual views and values. Luke works to uncover his hidden agenda and reveal his true motives to the country before it’s too late.

Continuing my Shadow Children series reread, we finally get to read a book from Matthias’ perspective. When he saves the life of a Population Police officer, they bring him into headquarters and decide he should begin training as an officer. They need men with his bravery fighting on their side, after all. Readers will recognize Matthias as a returning character and know that he is an illegal third child, but the Population Police are not aware. His path crosses with another familiar character, Nina, and she enlists him in a plot to overthrow the Population Police from the inside. We follow along as Matthias struggles against what is right and wrong, trying to keep his identity and the fact that he is working with rebels a secret.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for letting me read an e-ARC of This World Is Not Yours by Kemi Ashing-Giwa! This novella releases September 10, 2024, so there’s plenty of time to request this from your local library.

We meet our main female characters, Vinh and Amara, who are married and have escaped negative family relations to colonize a planet, New Belaforme. With them, they’ve brought Amara’s childhood best friend, Jesse. There is one major not-quite lifeform that has presented itself on New Belaforme that remains an enigma to all: the Gray. It appears to consume anything that it deems a threat to the planet or its survival. Originally, this means it destroys or “cleanses” anything invasive, but it hasn’t harmed any human hosts, so the colonies continue their work.

It’s so incredibly difficult to summarize how I felt about finishing this trilogy. How in the world do you talk about a book that literally takes place over hundreds of years? The size and complexity of the universe shaped by Liu (our universe, imagined in the not so distant future and beyond) is so vast, and yet we focus on a handful of main characters as they move through time (and space) to the ends of the galaxy.

Where I felt disconnected in the second installment, The Dark Forest, I felt like I was on the journey alongside Cheng Xin during Death’s End: from the moments that are set in the first two books, and far into the future as she is put into hibernation and woken from this state multiple times over the course of centuries. Readers delve into the 4th and 2nd dimensions (at their own peril), witness the cyclical nature of time and humanity’s desperate need to exist, regardless of the circumstances.

Liu’s imagination never ceases to amaze me (seriously, how is one person’s brain and imagination so large??), and if you are a person who loves a HUGE, very science-y sci-fi series, I cannot recommend this trilogy enough. While my brain is not nearly in tune with scientific terminology enough to have grasped every minor detail discussed, I was still able to process the overarching series of events and grasp the themes spread throughout the book and trilogy, as a whole. The vastness of the series really reminds me of Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” series, so if you like that scope and style of sci-fi, this might also appeal to you! If you do decide (or have already read the series), I gotta know…what did you think? I’m personally very eager to continue seeing the remaining books adapted for the tv series and how they choose to portray such a large project!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for letting me read an e-ARC of You’re the Problem, It’s You by Emma R. Alban! This book releases on August 27, 2024, so there’s still plenty of time to pick up the first book in the series, tear through it, and then preorder a copy of this book.

Bobby Mason is the second-born son in his family and with that comes a lack of responsibility for family and political affairs and never being able to measure up to his older brother. He takes it in stride, though, by acting like nothing ever bothers him and trying to find ways to make his voice and opinions count for something. James Demeroven, however, is the newest Viscount of his estate and, for all intents and purposes, appears to have an extremely easy life. He is involved in political decisions, listens to his stepfather about what a disappointment he’ll always be, and he simply tries to fly under the radar at all times. Naturally, these two hate each other, even though there is a simmering attraction just below the surface.

When a night out for both men includes a stop by a discreet social gathering in a safe space for men who are attracted to other men, they’re both unwittingly roped into a future stag night for one of the engaged attendees. This whirlwind of a night just might shift each man’s perspective of the other, though their situations are, understandably, complicated. Their situation only grows more complicated as a simple crush quickly develops into something more after their cousins, Gwen and Beth, continue to come up with reasons for their families to spend more quality time together - both in public and private.

While I personally enjoyed Gwen and Beth’s story a little more, Bobby and James have a wonderful story of their own that will make readers laugh and cry and rage as the enemies-to-lovers and miscommunication tropes are ABOUND in this installment. I found the ending predictable and, even though I wasn’t a big fan of this choice, I understand that the time period in which it’s set would’ve made it impossible for each queer couple to legally be together. These characters are making the best of impossible situations and I do love that for them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for letting me listen to an ALC of Hera by Jennifer Saint! This book releases on August 13, 2024, so there’s time to reserve a hold through your local library or preorder your own copy through your favorite indie bookseller. As all of Saint’s Greek retellings, this is a standalone novel, so there’s no need to read her backlist before getting your hands on this one! (Though you might want to read her other retellings after this one, just saying.)

Saint paints a picture of Hera that is multifaceted. She is the wife and sister of Zeus (ruler of Olympus); the goddess of marriage, women, and family; and a person who vacillates between beautiful and generous, and terrible and fearsome. Hera is certainly not a goddess you want on your bad side or someone you want to catch you sleeping with her husband (even if he’s in a mortal disguise). This book takes us from the fall of the Titan gods, through the rise of the Olympians, and even further beyond - when the gods have to admit they remain relevant because of their human worshippers. Readers witness Hera at some of her best moments and at many of her worst moments in fits of jealousy and revenge. Though the novel is rife with an angry and bitter Hera, Saint lends nuance to this image of a woman scorned and mistreated. In Greek mythology, it’s no surprise that the goddess of marriage would land in a thoroughly unhappy one, herself. After enduring abuse and manipulation by Zeus, she takes it upon herself to extract revenge any opportunity she can. And honestly, I love her for that (she’s so real).

The narrator, Naomi Frederick, does a fantastic job at bringing Hera’s internal musings to life. Her voice and cadence are soothing and match the lyrical tone of the text, though it was challenging at some points to understand her pronunciations of certain deities and places (Athena, Prometheus, Demeter, etc.). I picked up on them fairly quickly, but it did take me a few minutes each time to figure out who or what she was referencing at each occurrence. This is a fantastic read for those who love stories about powerful women and/or Greek mythology and mythological retellings!