Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for letting me read an e-ARC of The Gods Below by Andrea Stewart! This book releases September 3, 2024, so you have time to preorder this book from your local library or bookstore.

No surprise, but Stewart has created another sprawling world rife with tragedy, vivid scenery, creative magic systems, and memorable characters. The world is completely ravaged after a divine war, but someone has made a pact with the god Kluehnn to help restore the lands to their former glory. Sisters Hakara and Rasha are living hundreds of years after the Shattering where Kluehnn has been restoring the realm, region by region. The lands that are restored, though, end up isolated. If someone is caught in the area as restoration occurs, there’s a 50% chance that they’ll either vanish – a sacrifice for restoration – or end up altered due to the magic. Hakara and Rasha have been running away from restoration for a while, until it finally catches up to them and they’re separated.

Ten years later, Hakara is a sinkhole diver collecting god gems as tribute for Kluehnn and Rasha is living as an acolyte in service to Kluehnn with hopes of becoming a godkiller (a ruthless group of altered who destroy any remaining gods). We also follow Sheuan as she attempts to restore her family’s status in the region by working with the Sovereign. At the same time, her cousin, Mull, is making the treacherous journey to find the realm of the gods. These POVs are occasionally interrupted with ones from the god Nioanen that take place before the present day.

My only real complaint is that a few main characters felt two-dimensional and they had unbelievable romance plots (two chapters and less than a day to fall for someone? No way, I don’t buy it). Insta-love and slow-burn when you can tell they’ll be romantic interests from the start don’t really work for me, though I moved past it. I can only hope that the characters who felt flat will have opportunities to grow and develop more deeply in the following two books. I’m more than willing to extend some grace, especially having read Stewart’s other works and loving the end results!

I had absolutely no expectations of this book other than the hope of feeling some childhood nostalgia for the stories I read and heard while growing up (The Chronicles of Narnia were a STAPLE of my childhood summer visits to North Carolina and Virginia). These expectations were absolutely blown out of the water! We witness the reappearance of two boys in a West Virginia forest after they’ve been deemed lost for 6 months. Jeremy (Jay) and Ralph (Rafe) return and are completely changed after their time away and are unable to explain the reasoning behind their “lost” time, much less what happened to them. Jay leaves the States and returns home to Europe and Rafe is stuck in this small-town with his parents and never ending questions from locals. Jay starts making an international name for himself when he reveals he’s able to “find” lost girls, and this notoriety is what crosses his path with Emilie, who just so happens to have lost a sister she’s never met in the same forest where Jay and Rafe went missing 15 years ago (at this point).

On a mission to find Emilie’s missing sister, Shannon, Jay tracks down and convinces Rafe to join them (it takes a lot of convincing since they haven’t seen each other in 15 years). We eventually make our way into the kingdom of Shanandoah - an absolutely picturesque realm full of Valkyries, large firefly-like moths, and unicorns, but also plagued by devious and shadowy spirits. I will leave the plot hanging here for fear of revealing too much, but I’ll mention a few more aspects of this book that just WORKED for me: the subtle romance plot; very fun and modern banter; LOTS OF SECRETS; the heartbreakingly realistic commentary on themes such as adoption, substance abuse, and parental abuse; and the poignant fairytale imagery that just kept making me think of Narnia and the Land of Oz. Shaffer really knows how to tug on your heartstrings and she writes beautifully complex characters with a delicious plot to match. I will absolutely read anything Shaffer writes, now. If you’re looking for a fairytale written for adults to remind them of their childhood - this is the book. This is it, for sure.

Trey takes the main stage, here, and he shines beautifully. Taking on the dangerous role of a Population Police member, he attempts to work on the problem from the inside out to ensure that his friends stay safe. He finds out quickly, though, that may be something he needs to pursue longer for the greater cause of freeing all third children.

My book club picked this for our August read (how is it almost August??) and I had some ideas from the start about this book. Will we have an unreliable narrator? A vengeful ex? Perhaps just some really bad luck? I won’t reveal if any of these are true, but I was pleasantly surprised by the end. Our main character, Ellery, is on an anniversary trip to a remote resort in Big Sur, freshly divorced and lacking the husband with whom she originally planned the trip. Not wanting to waste a prepaid vacation, she braves her fears and goes alone. Several unplanned events occur: a wedding is due to be held at the resort (great, she’s surrounded by a happy couple and wedding activities leading up to their nuptials), an extremely dynamic duo who take her in as one of their own (not associated with the wedding party), and the death of the groom. A storm strikes the area completely wrecking the resort and their path back to serviceable roads and civilization. They’re on limited power. More death follows the beloved groom’s, but how many? Will their rescue team make it to the resort before they’re all picked off?

Condie does a great job about building tension between characters AND between the reader and the book’s content. I tore through this book, anxiously waiting to get through the chapter and wondering about the Big Bad reveal. I rarely try to solve a mystery as I’m reading it, but I found myself doing this constantly! Though I found the ultimate reveal a tad lackluster (and it took a little more of a spoon-fed explanation than I think should’ve been necessary by the end of the book), it was still very tidy and I didn’t hate it! People have related this to a cross between “The White Lotus” and Agatha Christie and I understand the reference clearly. I would only add the caveat that this is a little less sexually-driven or explicit than “The White Lotus” and that the twist wasn’t as great as a Christie, but this was still a very fun, fast read!

I plowed through this book on my drive home from vacation and thoroughly enjoyed this installment! Lee Grant’s (aka Luke) brother, Smits, has come to Hendricks to be with him. What follows is a growing concern that Smits will reveal Lee’s true identity and bring the Population Police down on him. After a fire threatens the students at Hendricks, Lee and Smits are asked to return home to the Grant residence. Are they returning for their own safety or is there a larger plot at play?

It’s recommended to read this novella (#3.5 in the Bone Season series) right after the Prologue of book #4 (The Mask Falling), so that’s precisely what I did. This was such a wonderful expansion of Paige’s world and her relationship with Warden. We get glimpses of their life a few months ago while training, and then lots of trauma processing in the present after Paige’s most recent brush with torture and death, as well as some lovely domestic moments that had my heart fluttering. I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself, but naturally now I want to dive right into The Mask Falling!

I’ve followed Casey Tanner on social media for a while, so this book has naturally been one I’ve eyed intermittently since its release in May. A long, lone car ride was the perfect way for me to enjoy this book. Tanner questions the status quo about our relationship to our sexual selves (including gender identity and sexuality) and gently asks us to consider the intersection of our identities when thinking about our sexual selves. Tanner gives space to all identities and allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about navigating sex and relationships in a friendly and gracious way.

What I loved most about this book, aside from having the author as the narrator, is that Tanner speaks to the reader like a friend. There is literal aftercare built in at the end of every chapter, so readers have the chance to slow down, process what they’ve just read, and consider what they’ve learned about sex and themselves. (I missed out on this opportunity, personally, as I was driving while listening, but I hope to purchase a physical copy of this book to reread in the near future.) This was a deeply emotional read for me, even though I have only grown more comfortable in my own sexuality and identity in recent years. I truly love that there will always be fluid parts of myself that I am constantly able to discover and learn more about as change happens over time. I hope this book can be that comfort and support system for someone who is less sure about the role that sex and identity play in their life.

Another amazing installment in The Adventure Zone saga! If you’ve listened to any of the McElroy boys TAZ podcast, this graphic novel series is based on that, so you should check it out. It’s filled with dark and inappropriate humor, lots of creative creatures and characters, and loads of adventure for those who love TTRPGs. I’m only sad that the next one will be the last!

A precious continuation of the Dungeon Club series. We follow our same D&D crew (Jess, Tyler, and Olivia), but this time we get a look at Olivia’s POV for the majority of the story. New members are added to their party (Sam and Sammi), unpredictable adventures are had during sessions, and Olivia grapples with the reality of growing up and what’s expected of her to fit in. Fortunately, she finds strength in her friendships and realizes that not all changes are bad ones.

I AM SO SAD THIS DUOLOGY IS OVER! I will admit, it took me a few tries to get back into this book after so long away from the first book (I read She Who Became the Sun in 2021 - yikes). But the third time, and a little patience on my part, was the charm! Parker-Chan knows how to write a slow-burn fantasy (with a lot of historical influence) masterfully. By about 25%, I was back in the swing of their storytelling style, remembering characters names and pasts, and refamiliarizing myself with the overarching plot of the series.

Readers watch as events unfold around the Empire: Madame Zhang with her plots to become Empress by any means necessary; Zhu seeking to claim the throne as the Radiant Emperor and forging a fragile alliance with Ouyang who only wants revenge for his father’s death by killing the Great Khan; and a new threat brewing below the surface, Baoxiang, who is willing to debase himself if it means he can claim the title of Great Khan and be the worst one in history. All of these characters’ fates are tangled together, but only one person can come out on top to claim the throne. Who will it be? How much will they sacrifice for their goal?

If you haven’t read this series yet and are interested, I strongly recommend reading the two books back to back, with as little time between the two as possible! As a person who very rarely rereads, I found myself wishing I had reread the first book several times because I think it would’ve made the going easier. I also strongly recommend checking out the content warnings on The StoryGraph, if themes like sexual assault, body horror, self-harm, and brutality, in particular, are challenging for you. This one was really heavy and you should take care of yourself first. All that to say that this was an epic conclusion to a grisly and messy duology that also takes time to explore the depths of human emotion and behavior.