thelesbianlibrary's Reviews (357)

Thelia and her sisters were once the Goddess Proserpina's maidens, sworn to protect her. Now, they are monsters now trapped on the island of Scopuli as punishment for allowing Proserpina to be kidnapped. There, they live out their days luring sailors who cross their path and sacrificing those who live to the Goddess Ceres. However, Ceres has grown apathetic to their torture, allowing Thelia and her sisters to starve. Finally, after almost a decade of nothing Thelia hears a familiar voice promising her food in exchange for a sacrifice worthy of the Goddess she had once betrayed, Proserpina.

Thelia agrees and sets out on the open ocean with a mission and a human form that will last her 6 turns of the moon. Eventually, she washes ashore at the newly settled Roanoke colony, and although there are plenty of men for her to offer, luring them out without giving herself away proves to be far more difficult than she had anticipated. Can she convince these hate-filled settlers to follow her back to Scopuli before time is up? Or will the dangers of the patriarchy and her growing care for her love interest prove to be too deadly? All the historical horror and more in Those Fatal Flowers.

This book was heart-wrenching, unexpected, and full of horror. The idea of Greek mythology being intertwined with the disappearance of the Roanoke colony is a fun twist on two classic tales. I would have never thought to put them together, but what a horrific and fun story it turned into. I enjoyed the plot and characters, especially Thelia’s internal and moral battle over her quest. I have also hated fewer characters than Thomas and his mother. I was seething every time they were on the page and flew through this book to see them get their karma. 

The pacing and dual-timeline structure are the only two things I wasn’t a huge fan of in this book. The first two chapters felt like they went on forever. Whenever Thelia described their time on the island, I wanted to skip to the current timeline. Not that those chapters didn’t give crucial backstory and context; I just thought they were a bit long for what they were trying to say. This relates to the pacing, which was a bit slow for me. I understand why it was necessary, but it did drag in places. 

However, overall the book was great. The writing was interesting and flowery yet contained visceral instances of violence. Not to mention the grueling emotional experiences such as assault, misogyny, miscarriage, and homophobia. As much as it contained graphic grotesque scenes, it was equally filled with the horrors of humanity and the depravity of men. The men in this book were horrid, I have never read something so anti-man and I loved it. I was scared it would veer into “not all men” territory at some point but it didn’t. It was a fantastic balance of hating the patriarchy and acknowledging how some individuals are redeemable. It added depth to the plot and helped to give meaning to Thelia’s quest. 

All in all this monstrous historical story is a must-read. From the bloodied shores of Scopuli to the cruel colony of Roanoke you will not want to put it down. Not to mention going and renting a Greek mythology book just to brush up. If you hate men and love monsters, you are in the right place. Happy reading! 

CW: Abortion, abusive relationship, alcohol, alcoholism, assault, attempted murder, attempted rape, blood, bones, cannibalism, death, emesis, emotional abuse, famine, gore, homophobia, kidnapping, miscarriage, misogyny, murder, physical abuse, pregnancy, rape, religion, sexism, sexual assault, starvation, and violence. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for sending this eARC for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Sarah Miller is a marine, not a space soldier. Or so she thought until her father, the esteemed Fleet Admiral, is forced to step down, with Sarah first in line to take his place. Despite Sarah’s reluctance she agrees to play the role and along with her twin brother Max, boards the Crown Space Station.

While aboard she faces interpersonal setbacks, corrupt internal politics and PTSD unlike anything she encountered on Earth. Not to mention her crippling fear of deep space. However, despite everything, she manages to find romance with a Lieutenant Commander, Annie. Can her relationships and love keep her sane and safe in cold dark space? Or will her demons and enemies prove too much for even Sarah to take? All the space thrills and more in, The Fleet Admiral’s Daughter.

This book was a ride that’s for dang sure. I took a bit of a risk reading this one because I am terrified of space. However, the premise looked interesting and I am glad I gave it a chance because I enjoyed it. I was anticipating an alien foe or some space demon. Instead, I found an emotional story full of depth, growth and human connection.The plot was fairly easy to digest, minus some technical jargon. The characters were layered. And the writing style overall kept me engaged. If you like intense action and deep space stories then you are in the right place.

I appreciated that the plot took turns I didn’t expect, given the setting is space. For the first half of the book I was anticipating an external threat to pop up. Such as aliens, or other hostile entities outside the space station. However, as the story progressed it became obvious that the real threat to Sarah and her mission were the people inside the station. Without giving away any spoilers let’s just say that first impressions and gut feelings in this story are key to Sarah’s survival. There are no coincidences and every little thing that seems suspicious, probably is, which was so fun in the end when she started putting it all together.

Sarah is a great MC. I loved her emotional depth and growth over the course of the book. Her anger at her father and unhappiness at being forced to be on the space station is surprisingly relatable and I found myself empathizing with her. Plus her relationship with her twin is sweet and I love how realistic and imperfect their connection is. However, I was caught off guard that they called each other “brother” and “sister”, instead of their names. Sarah’s sweet sapphic romance was a highlight of the story for me though. I appreciated that they came into this book already having history so their connection was evident from the get-go and you were just hoping for them to get together.

Overall the writing style was great and kept me engaged. However, it did drag on in some bits and went maybe a tad too into the day to day for my taste. I think I’m slightly more of a thrill seeker in this genre. Though If you enjoy very in depth character stories with intense action scattered throughout I think you’ll really appreciate that aspect. The technical jargon did also lose me a bit but that is 100% just my opinion.

All in all, this deep space thriller is a read with surprising depth. From the perilous missions to the interpersonal betrayal you will not want to put this down. Not to mention you’ll consider putting in an application to the Space Force. If you like high stakes sci-fi and sweet sapphic romance, you are in the right place. Happy reading!

Thanks to G.A Gaudio for an ARC of this book. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Oh how I love messy lesbians but messy lesbians with a backstory? Yes please and thank you. The amount of emotions Dana manages to pack in without letting it drag down the romance is so impressive. Also love the characters, their rivals to lovers was the perfect amount of give and take. Highly recommend.