The Witch and the Tsar by Olesya Salnikova Gilmore

Pages: 400 

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Released: 8th of December 2022 

In this stunning debut novel, the maligned and immortal witch of legend known as Baba Yaga will risk all to save her country and her people from Tsar Ivan the Terrible—and the dangerous gods who seek to drive the twisted hearts of men.

As a half-goddess possessing magic, Yaga is used to living on her own, her prior entanglements with mortals having led to heartbreak. She mostly keeps to her hut in the woods, where those in need of healing seek her out, even as they spread rumors about her supposed cruelty and wicked spells. But when her old friend Anastasia—now the wife of the tsar, and suffering from a mysterious illness—arrives in her forest desperate for her protection, Yaga realizes the fate of all of Russia is tied to Anastasia’s. Yaga must step out of the shadows to protect the land she loves.

As she travels to Moscow, Yaga witnesses a sixteenth century Russia on the brink of chaos. Tsar Ivan—soon to become Ivan the Terrible—grows more volatile and tyrannical by the day, and Yaga believes the tsaritsa is being poisoned by an unknown enemy. But what Yaga cannot know is that Ivan is being manipulated by powers far older and more fearsome than anyone can imagine.

Olesya Salnikova Gilmore weaves a rich tapestry of mythology and Russian history, reclaiming and reinventing the infamous Baba Yaga, and bringing to life a vibrant and tumultuous Russia, where old gods and new tyrants vie for power. This fierce and compelling novel draws from the timeless lore to create a heroine for the modern day, fighting to save her country and those she loves from oppression while also finding her true purpose as a goddess, a witch, and a woman.

What I Have to Say 

I wanted to love this book so much and parts of it I really did. I just found the start of it so slow. It took a while for me to get into it and even when I was into it, it just felt a bit dense to read. I will say that my dyslexia was playing up a lot while reading it, so that was partly to blame, but it doesn't account for everything. 

I did enjoy how the author had blended the mythical story of Baba Yaga and the old Russian gods with the real historical events of Ivan the Terrible. I've seen a few interpretations of Baba Yaga and this is definitely my favourite (and definitely read the author note at the back for more info of where she got her inspiration). I really enjoyed seeing the conflict between the old ways and the new religion. 

All in all, there are parts of this book that I will look back on fondly and it got me very interested in the pre-christian Russian culture, but I just didn't enjoy it enough. If it looks interesting to you, definitely give it a try, because I do think it was worth reading even if I didn't enjoy it as much as I feel I should have. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for providing me with this copy for review. 

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent

Pages: 352 

Publisher: HQ Digital 

Released: 12rh of October 2022 

Meet Kitty Collins.

FRIEND. LOVER. KILLER.

Have you ever walked home at night, keys in hand, ready to throw a punch in self-defence? That’s how it all started. The killing spree, I mean.

I sort of tripped into this role… Literally. The first one was following me. That guy from the nightclub who wouldn’t leave me alone. I pushed him, he stumbled, and fell onto his own broken wine bottle. Oops. It was such a waste of a good house white.

But now I can’t seem to stop and nor do I want to… I’ve got a taste for revenge and quite frankly, I’m killing it.

What I Have to Say 

This book is perfect for any feminist who loves a good contemporary story. If you are angry and upset about any of the misogyny in the world and want to live vicariously through a funny and lighthearted novel, this is for you. 

I loved how it didn't take itself too seriously. Kitty is an influencer. She an instagram star and is vegan. Vegan but gets her thills from killing men in a variety of ways. And despite the subject matter it was a very easy to read, quite cosy book. It was really nice to sink into and have something that was relatable and just not too realistic. 

The characters were probably a bit shallow, but in this sort of book, that didn't really matter. They weren't meant to be really deep, thought out characters, it's just not that sort of book. 

This book was just exactly what I needed right now. 

 

My thanks go to HQ Digital and Negalley for gifting me this copy for review. 

 

The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard

Pages: 336 

Publisher: Gollancz 

Released: 24th of November 2022 

Xích Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship has just been captured by the Red Banner pirate fleet, famous for their double-dealing and cruelty. Xích Si expects to be tortured to death-only for the pirates' enigmatic leader, Rice Fish, to arrive with a different and shocking proposition: an arranged marriage between Xích Si and herself.

Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants Xích Si's help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying Xích Si means Rice Fish can offer Xích Si protection, in exchange for Xích Si's technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.

But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and Xích Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together...

An exciting space opera and a beautiful romance, from an exceptional SF author.

What I Have to Say 

This book had a really fascinating world that I really wanted to explore and find out more about BUT NOTHING WAS EXPLAINED. I wanted to know how everything worked. I wanted context for certain thing. This story had LIVING SHIPS that were at least slightly biological in their make up, but do I know how the ship fits together? No. Not even a little bit. They have something called the "mind" that seems to be the biological element, but I cannot even tell you what it looks like. It was just shoved into the scene and left there unexplained. 

You may be saying "that's all right, I'm sure I can cope with that" but let me tell you, it was also the most complex and elaborate sci fi world I've ever seen, so much was so different from our world. So much needed an explanation and not one single explanation was given. I had to guess every single thing. 

Honestly  I have not much else to say. The love story was sweet I guess, but I was so distracted trying to work out how everything actually worked or even looked like so I didn't really get to enjoy it. 

I so very nearly DNFd it. I would have if it hadn't been so short. 

My thanks go to Gollancs and Netgalley for gifting me this copy for review. 

The Weather Woman by Sally Gardner

Pages: 496 

Publisher: Head of Zeus 

Released: 10th of November 2022 

Neva Friezland is born into a world of trickery and illusion, where fortunes can be won and lost on the turn of a card.

She is also born with an extraordinary gift. She can predict the weather. In Regency England, where the proper goal for a gentlewoman is marriage and only God knows the weather, this is dangerous. It is also potentially very lucrative.

In order to debate with the men of science and move about freely, Neva adopts a sophisticated male disguise. She foretells the weather from inside an automaton created by her brilliant clockmaker father.

But what will happen when the disguised Neva falls in love with a charismatic young man?

It can be very dangerous to be ahead of your time. Especially as a woman. 

What I Have to Say 

This book was a celebration of what it means to be different. It showed characters who didn't fit in with society but still find a life and a home in a beautiful unconventional family. It shows acceptance and found family and gives hope to anyone who sees the world differently. 

I really liked the book for the most part. I liked the characters and the way they interacted with society. I liked Neva and her male persona. But the ended didn't hit quite right. I felt that so many things fell into place in the story, all the legal stuff just sort of righting itself by chance more than anything else and so I found it hard to believe that the characters were in any actual danger. Everything had worked out so far so why shouldn't they continue to work out? It just ruined a book that I was really enjoying up until that point. 

I was glad to see there was a mention of someone living in a gender that they were not assigned at birth while Neva was learning how to act and behave as a guy. I felt that was a good head nod to the trans community. But I was disappointed that the only other LGBTQ+ representation was the villains in a very unhealthy relationship. Especially in a book that's so much about respecting what is different, I expected me. 

I also felt that the author leaned too much into giving people a happy ending with a partner and children. It really felt as though the only happy ending was through marriage and kids. 

3.5 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and House of Zeus for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske (audiobook)

Pages: 400 

Publisher: Tor 

Released: 10th of November 2022 

Magic! Murder! Shipboard romance! The second entry in Freya Marske's beloved The Last Binding trilogy, the queer historical fantasy series that began with A Marvellous Light

The most interesting things in Maud Blyth's life have happened to her brother Robin, but she's ready to join any cause, especially if it involves magical secrets that may threaten the whole of the British Isles. Bound for New York on the R.M.S. Lyric, she's ready for an adventure.

What she actually finds is a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and a beautiful stranger in Violet Debenham, who is everything—a magician, an actress, a scandal—Maud has been trained to fear and has learned to desire. Surrounded by the open sea and a ship full of loathsome, aristocratic suspects, they must solve a murder and untangle a conspiracy that began generations before them. 

What I Have to Say 

This book fell completely flat for me and I honestly don't know why. I really liked A Marvellous Light, I adore sapphic romances, I love a good mystery, but this didn't hit the spot and there's nothing in there that explains it. I didn't dislike the characters, in fact I really liked Violet a lot. I was interested in the magic society and exploring the way it intersects with regular society in a way that we didn't get to see in A Marvellous Light. 

I suppose the main thing was that I didn't get very into the relationship, which is a big part of the book. There were three really long sex scenes, which I just found left me bored, though that's not unusual, I'm not really one for spicy books. And there was just no heat in the relationship. I didn't feel the passion and the love that I love to feel. It felt too easy and not very romantic. 

I'm very disappointed because I was ready to really love this book. I was looking forward to it so much. 

3 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with this copy for review. 

 

Ocean's Echo

Pages: 464 

Publisher: Orbit 

Released: 3rd of November 2022 

When Tennal - a rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster - is caught using his telepathic powers for illegal activities, the military decides to bind his mind to someone whose coercive powers are strong enough to control him.

Enter Lieutenant Surit, the child of a disgraced general. Out of a desperate need to restore a pension to his other parent, Lieutenant Surit agrees to be bound to Tennal and keep him conscripted in the army, a task that seems impossible even for someone with Surit's ability to control minds.

Tennal just wants to escape, but Surit isn't all that he seems. And their bond may just be the key to their freedom.

What I Have to Say 

This book caught my attention at the start, but I got bored of it. It started out with very fanfic tropes and if it had continued in that vein, I think I would have really liked it, but for me there wasn't enough about the relationship between the two guys. It didn't have much romance in it. They were just getting to know each other and then suddenly they were in love? It just didn't hit for me. 

I was really interested in the syncing and the way it would work for two minds to sync as well, so the fact that they put that off for so long disappointed me. It raised interesting issues about conscription and consent though and that was good to see. 

In all, I just wasn't that into the book. I guess I was reading it for a romance when it was more political than that. But some bits were interesting. 

 

3 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Orbit for providing me with this copy for review. 

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Tor 

Released: 10th of November 2022 

High Fantasy with a double-shot of self-reinvention

Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.

However, her dreams of a fresh start pulling shots instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners and a different kind of resolve.

A hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth. 

What I Have to Say 

This was just what the fantasy genre needed. A nice refreshing tale about an orc who opens a coffee shop, this book hit the spot quite nicely and made me crave coffee and cinnamon buns in the process. I would love this to bring new stories to the fantasy genre, because there's so much scope for slice of life stories in fantasy and sci fi books. It's a chance to explore worlds in more calm relaxing ways without the protagonist being whisked off to  save the world. I just absolutely love this idea. 

The story itself was great too, though it was probably the uniqueness that made me rate it so highly, it had a strong plot and a really loveable cast of characters. My favourite was Thimble the rattkin, but the other characters are notable as well. It was really easy to see the friendship and camaraderie that formed between the characters. 

If I had to make one complaint it's that the romance wasn't introduced until really late into the book. I'd have liked a stronger romance especially since it was sapphic which is always my favourite type of romance and the two characters worked so well together. If it had been a little more slow burn this book would have been absolutely perfect. 

5 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with this copy for review. 

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

Pages: 576 

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's UK 

Released:  8th of November 2022 

The shadows have risen, and the line is law.

All Bree wanted was to uncover the truth behind her mother’s death. So she infiltrated the Legendborn Order, a secret society descended from King Arthur’s knights—only to discover her own ancestral power. Now, Bree has become someone new:

A Medium. A Bloodcrafter. A Scion.

But the ancient war between demons and the Order is rising to a deadly peak. And Nick, the Legendborn boy Bree fell in love with, has been kidnapped.

Bree wants to fight, but the Regents who rule the Order won’t let her. To them, she is an unknown girl with unheard-of power, and as the living anchor for the spell that preserves the Legendborn cycle, she must be protected.

When the Regents reveal they will do whatever it takes to hide the war, Bree and her friends must go on the run to rescue Nick themselves. But enemies are everywhere, Bree’s powers are unpredictable and dangerous, and she can’t escape her growing attraction to Selwyn, the mage sworn to protect Nick until death.

If Bree has any hope of saving herself and the people she loves, she must learn to control her powers from the ancestors who wielded them first—without losing herself in the process.

What I Have to Say 

I love these books so much!! I love Bree and Alice. I love the world of Legendborn and Bloodcasters and how the problems of race and privilege are woven into the story, without bogging it down. I love the tension and the action and just learning more about this world. I don't love the cliffhangers, which leave me hanging so often, but they definitely do their job to keep me reading! 

This book was a good sequel, it wasn't quite as good as Legendborn but I still enjoyed it immensely. I loved learning more about the world and seeing it expand as they moved out of Legendborn territory and into the wider world of magic users. And I definitely loved seeing more of Alice as she is so badass and perfect. I also really loved how dark it got with the regents.  I can't wait to see Bree kick their asses. 

My only hang-up really was that Bree didn't fight many of her own battles. She had all this training in weaponry and fighting, but because she can't call ether she can't fight at all? I felt that was a bit of a cop out. Especially when seeing Alice trotting around all happy with being able to protect herself because she has a pair of brass knuckles. I just don't like seeing Bree sidelined like that and made to be something to be protected rather than the awesome powerful girl she has the potential to be. 

Other than that though, I really loved it. I can't wait for the next instalment! 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Heart of the Sun Warrior by Sue Lynn Tan

Pages: 480 

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Released: 10th of November 2022 

The stunning sequel to Daughter of the Moon Goddess delves deeper into beloved Chinese mythology, concluding the epic story of Xingyin—the daughter of Chang’e, and the mortal archer, Houyi—as she battles a grave new threat to the realm, in this powerful tale of love, sacrifice, and hope.

After winning her mother’s freedom from the Celestial Emperor, Xingyin thrives in the enchanting tranquility of her home. But her fragile peace is threatened by the discovery of a strange magic on the moon, and the unsettling changes in the Celestial Kingdom as the emperor tightens his grip on power.

While Xingyin is determined to keep clear of the rising danger, the discovery of a shocking truth spurs her into a perilous confrontation. Forced to flee her home once more, Xingyin and her companions venture to unexplored lands of the Immortal Realm, encountering legendary creatures and shrewd monarchs, beloved friends and bitter adversaries. With alliances shifting quicker than the tides, Xingyin has to overcome past grudges and enmities to forge a new path forward, seeking aid where she never imagined she would.

As an unspeakable terror sweeps across the realm, Xingyin must uncover the truth of her heart and claw her way through devastation – to rise against this evil before it destroys everything she holds dear, and the worlds she has grown to love… even if doing so demands the greatest price of all.

The epic conclusion to her sweeping Celestial Kingdom series, Sue Lynn Tan’s tale of Xingyin, the daughter of the moon goddess, delves deeper into beloved Chinese myths, weaving them into a wholly new and magical story. 

What I Have to Say 

These books are everything to me. Chinese mythology, political intrigue, a strong female main character, what more would you want? These books are beautiful and an absolute joy to read. 

While the mythology is probably my favourite part and have made me want to learn more about the myths that inspired the story, I want to talk most here about the writing. To me the writing is perfect. It describes things in such a richly detailed and invocative way so that you can picture the scene so clearly. I had to stop several times just to reread stuff and appreciate the beauty of the text. 

I also loved the political intrigue, how there were so many different factors and Xingyin had to navigate all the loyalties and conflicts between the different nations while working to save the world. 

I will be an avid reader of whatever Sue Lynn Tan writes next and I will definitely be rereading these books over and over again. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for providing me with this copy for review.