This was so fun! Having watched the Netflix series before picking up the book, it was difficult not to compare it to the show (even though going into reading the book, I knew the show had pulled content from more than one source), but even in comparison it was a great ride! I listened to the audiobook copy and was quickly immersed in Pike’s world.

We meet a group of five terminally ill teenagers who have come to a hospice called Rotterdam Home to live out the remainder of their lives. Every night they meet at midnight to create and tell each other scary stories. One night, they make a pact with each other to promise that if (when) one of them dies, they have to send a sign of some sort to the remaining Midnight Club members from beyond the grave. When one of them eventually dies, do they leave a message for the others?

I found the book to be less creepy and horrifying than Flanagan’s vision, so I’d recommend the book to those who are looking for a quick horror read with lots of short stories mixed in (the Midnight Club members’ contributions). For those who have watched the Netflix series, this is an interesting look at the main inspiration and source material for the show. The series fleshes out individual character storylines a little more and there are more, darker subplots than in the book. Regardless, I highly recommend both to lovers of horror (books and television)! I thoroughly enjoyed both, so I don’t think you can go wrong with one or the other.

Let me first say, if you’re looking for a sci-fi cozy fantasy, this ongoing series of novellas is absolutely perfect! We return to Giant – the planet Jupiter renamed by the humans who colonized it after the climate crisis made Earth unlivable – and to our beloved main characters, Pleiti and Mossa. Pleiti’s life has resumed relative normalcy: mentoring and advising Classical students at Valdegeld University, visiting her partner, and working on some new-to-her avenues of research. Mossa, our investigator, surprises Pleiti one night on a work trip in Valdegeld: a student has gone missing from the university, so she’s following up on it. They join forces, once again, to locate this missing student, but soon uncover over a dozen more recent disappearances from the university – students AND employees. Flattered by Mossa’s desire to work with her on another case, Pleiti uses her connections at the university to gather information and feeds it back to Mossa. Together, their investigation takes them to Mossa’s home planet, Io, and halfway around their resident planet, Giant, before the case comes to an end.

This series has been dubbed a cozy murder mystery, and there’s no better way to describe it! Malka Older manages to build an intricate world with a rich history through her descriptive language and imagery. The internal dialogue of our narrator, Pleiti, provides insight in their world, and depicts the realistic sapphic longing she feels toward Mossa. Though they are in an established relationship, we witness Pleiti’s doubts about Mossa’s affection throughout the story, showing her vulnerability as a character, though the two are certainly getting better at navigating their relationship together. Watching the two grow together through their investigations is very reminiscent of a sapphic Sherlock and Watson situation, which I thoroughly enjoy, so I’m eager to see how the future investigations of Mossa and Pleiti continue to play out!

I’m having trouble putting together my spoiler-free thoughts about this book, even several days AFTER finishing it. My main message to anyone reading this is: if you love your fantasy BIG, packed with morally grey characters, underground revolutions to overthrow empires, and teeming with an amazing magic system — this series is for you. PICK UP the first book in the series (The Final Strife) and read the first two books in this trilogy before the final installment releases later this fall! You won’t regret it!

We start with a creative recap of The Final Strife’s major events — the perfect way to jog my awful memory of the people, places, and things we last encountered. Readers are quickly reintegrated and immersed in the lives of our main female characters: Sylah, Anoor, and Hassa. They all remain relatively separate in this installment, meaning we get to watch their individual stories and adventures unfold. I loved watching the characters shift and grow (not always for the better), but Hassa’s storyline this time around was my favorite. I felt that my understanding of her was greatly expanded, and I’m eager to see how she continues to develop.

Each woman encounters seemingly impossible challenges, we slowly uncover layer after layer of histories and storylines, and the ending was quite a doozy. Though it was sometimes difficult to keep details and secondary characters straight, I kept wanting to read another chapter. And the cliff-hanger ending had me slamming the preorder button for the next book almost immediately. And seriously, fall can’t come quickly enough! I desperately need to know how everything is going to come together and resolve!

I read this for my virtual book club and honestly, it was exactly what I expected. It was fun and exciting, full of familiar New Adult and Romantasy tropes! I get why people rave about it, I really do. The nonstop action is thrilling and keeps readers turning page after page, but I am not a romantasy reader at this point in my life, no matter how I have tried. We follow our main female character, Violet, as she begins her journey toward becoming a dragon rider at her mother’s instruction. Despite being small for her age and living with daily, debilitating chronic pain (which is actually well-represented in the book), she flies through each challenge - rising the ranks of the school’s elite. The odds are against her for a dragon bonding, but that doesn’t stop the most unlikely dragon candidates from choosing her as their bonded human.

The predictable but fast-paced story only escalates from there: her arch-nemesis, Xaden, quickly becomes a love interest after Violet’s bonded with the mate of Xaden’s bonded dragon; there’s the growing threat of war looming outside the kingdom’s borders; and she’ll learn the hard way that some people cannot be trusted. Alliances are forged, enemies come out of the woodwork, and Violet is simply trying to survive each day. The typical life of a dragon rider, I suppose.

It was hard to be completely neutral while reading this book. I was apprehensive about it when it first gained traction, but then I also saw a lot of videos and information pop up about the author’s misuse and incorrect pronunciation of the Gaelic language. And, most recently, her lack of a stance on the current Israel-Palestine conflict rubs me the wrong way (this is a Free Palestine household, here). In addition, I already struggle with stories that focus on glorifying war and bloodshed, and Fourth Wing featuring a literal War College was in direct opposition to that.

Why did I finish the book? The dragons. I liked their snark and internal commentary, and I thought they were the best part of the book. I won’t finish the series, but I’ll keep an eye on plot spoilers and whether Yarros changes her political tune.

I didn’t know I needed a collection of short stories about these Celestial Kingdom characters until I read this book. Each story expanded on the relationships between some of our favorite characters, giving them even more depth and making me, personally, appreciate them even more.

It’s hard to narrow down my favorite stories because I really do just love these characters so much, but I really appreciated Chang’e and Houyi’s story. After reading Tan’s notes at the end, the entire compilation of stories made more sense (she even recommends a reading order between the short stories and duology for those who come to the series for the first time). She notes that this story is a reimagining of the myth that the Celestial Kingdom duology is based on. Getting to witness both perspectives was amazing - it was a breath of fresh air after witnessing events through only the eyes of Xingyin for the last two books. It deepened the affection I had for both characters and sets the groundwork for all the events to come in both Daughter of the Moon Goddess and Heart of the Sun Warrior . (I LOVE background stories!)

While I loved the fun, character-shaping stories that take place in the “Twilight” section of the book, my indisputable favorite stories were Wenzhi and Xingyin’s in the “Dawn” section. These take place almost immediately after the conclusion of HotSW and we see Wenzhi’s perspective and thoughts after he meets Xingyin for the first time as a mortal. They’ve arranged to meet for dinner because he is so drawn to her. He goes through the motions of preparing an elaborate dining experience and we watch as their date unfolds from his POV. It’s all absolutely heart-wrenching and swoon-worthy.

Xingyin’s entry is the epilogue, and how appropriate it is for her only story to be the final one. I felt a sense of closure with the end of HotSW: happy to imagine the life that Wenzhi and Xingyin would go on to live together, but this was real closure. They’ve lived together now for over a decade (her as an immortal and him as a mortal) and Wenzhi desperately wants them to marry so they can be together in every way. She’s been refusing him for quite some time, biding her time until Liwei delivers on his promise to provide another Elixir of Immortality. It is in this story that we witness a reunion between Liwei and Xingyin in the mortal realm, and he provides her the promised elixir. Grateful, she asks Wenzhi to consume the elixir to restore his memories and immortality. Upon doing so, they are truly reunited after all these years, and they return to the celestial realm to live for the rest of their immortal lives.

I couldn’t imagine a better ending to a beautiful love story or a better addition to a beautiful duology. Thank you so much for providing these bonus stories to the readers who have loved these precious characters.

I picked up this graphic novel on a whim. After seeing it while shelving at work one day, I immediately knew I had to read it. Amanda Strong (Spotted Fawn) explores her family’s history and strengthens her connection with her ancestors and the land she comes from. She travels in time to witness her family’s involvement in important historical events and how the erasure tactics of Indigenous peoples were not just part of America’s history, but Canada’s, too.

After reading the graphic novel, I found Strong’s short film by the same name online and watched it. I think the story is enriched by consuming both, no matter the order. The graphic novel uses stills from the film as the background of explaining the film’s story more in-depth. It also includes an extensive historical summary of Michif culture and the ways colonialism has wiped out many people’s connections to their heritage.