yawnsbooks's Reviews (510)

The narration style in the first fifty pages just wasn’t working for me. Expected a thriller and it wasn’t pulling me in to read anymore 

The Centaur's Wife by Amanda Leduc is an amazing, magical, devastating blend of post-apocalyptic fantasy. Following a world-ending cataclysmic meteor shower, one survivor, Heather, shortly after giving birth in her town's ruined hospital, feels magically compelled to visit the mountain which has inspired generations of the townsfolk's folklore and fables. She finds that the mountain holds many secrets, fantastical creatures, and dangers for the starving survivors in the surrounding towns. 

Leduc's novel beautifully weaves original fables and folktales in between character narratives that both explain and expand on the mystery of the mountain and its inhabitants. They are excellent and provide a richness and magical realism to an already fantastic survival story

The themes and conflicts in the story are many and complex, such as survival, love, loss, change, difference the power of memory, nature vs. humanity. 

The novel also has great and diverse representation for both queer and disabled representation. The main character, Heather, has cerebral palsy and themes of disability and difference are present throughout Heather's narrative, her relationships, and within the fables Leduc has crafted. 

The Centaur's Wife was an absolute gorgeous novel to read and I loved every second of it. It fulfilled my cravings for a new formula for fantasy books and the survival genre. I would recommend reading this to everyone. 

Book 2 of 2021 Done!

From the inside cover: “These Violent Delights” by Micah Nemerever is a “Hitchcockian tale of two college students, both with troubled pasts, whose escalating obsession with each other will radically alter the course of their lives”

I really wanted to love this one because it’s been on my TBR since August, but it just didn’t hit my mark. 

The main character Paul, is deeply disturbed and enters into a mutually abusive relationship with a classmate, Julian, who together keep challenging each other’s views on ethics and morality. The book picks up when they decide to apply their deranged theories of ethics in the real world.

My favourite thing about the novel was the ethical debates that happened in the university classrooms, but that went away very early on. I kept asking myself in every chapter “why do these two hate each other so much?” - and they tell each other they hate each other so other. I felt like I missed something in every chapter and kept re-reading sections but didn’t find I missed anything relating to character or relationship development (if there association can even be called a relationship).

I gave this book a 2.0 / 5.0 rating because it slogged on, didn’t keep my interest, and I felt really confused. 

This was an excellent first read of 2021! 

Lava Red Feather Blue by Molly Ringle is a wonderful adventure fantasy set on a magical, hidden island in the North Pacific where an unsuspecting half-fae/half-human accidentally awakes a sleeping prince and an ancient, evil power, and now must set off on a quest through the hostile realms of the island to contain the being once again. 

This book gripped me right from the its first few pages, as Ringle fantastically weaved world building while introducing the magical and evil beings of the Island. Ringle's exposition and introduction into the fantastical world of Eidolonia is magnificent because the reader is introduced to two worlds simultaneously; the island in 1799 and the island in 2020. Ringle's writing and ability to introduce readers to all of the magical elements is uncanny. 

I was intrigued by the fast-paced story and writing and kept wanting to learn more about the island's history, government, festivals, beings and the tenuous human-fae diplomatic relations. 

Representation wise, the novel also features several queer relationships and romances within it, which are extremely positive and displayed amongst both primary male characters and secondary female characters in the novel. Additionally, there are characters from several genders - which is fantastic and love to see!

Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to read an urban fantasy novel with a fast pace to it.