The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero Lucruz

Pages: 533

Publisher: Daphne Press 

Released: 25th of July 2023 

In a lush world inspired by the history and folklore of South America, a sweeping epic fantasy of colonialism, ancient magic, and two young women's quest for belonging unfolds.

Reina is desperate.

Stuck living on the edges of society, her only salvation lies in an invitation from a grandmother she’s never known. But the journey is dangerous, and prayer can’t always avert disaster.

Attacked by creatures that stalk the region, Reina is on the verge of death until her grandmother, a dark sorceress, intervenes. Now dependent on the Doña’s magic for her life, Reina will do anything to earn—and keep—her favor. Even the bidding of an ancient god who whispers to her at night.

Eva Kesare is unwanted.

Illegitimate and of mixed heritage, Eva is her family’s shame. She tries her best to be perfect and to hide her oddities. But Eva is hiding a secret: magic calls to her.

Eva knows she should fight the temptation. Magic is the sign of the dark god, and using it is punishable by death. Yet, it’s hard to deny power when it has always been denied to you. Eva is walking a dangerous path, one that gets stranger every day. And, in the end, she’ll become something she never imagined.

TW: Violence, Child death, Death,  Body horror, Medical trauma, Body shaming, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility

What I Have to Say 

This was brutal. If you skipped the content warnings, go back and read them because it was a lot. But I didn't  hate it. There were bits that I certainly wish I hadn't read, but I enjoyed the rest. I liked the characters, I liked the plot and the magic system was really interesting. 

I did feel like part of the plot was introduced too late. For one thing, I was led to hate Javier and then in the second half, I was meant to feel sympathy for him? Like his plotline was interesting, but there was a pretty big thing that didn't even seem to be hinted at, it was just dumped in the middle of the book and I was expected to go with it. Maybe there was foreshadowing I missed but it put me off. 

I also started to really hate Reina by the end of it. She was the character I was most interested in at the start, but she made some really, really bad choices and treated Celeste terribly so I went off her. Celeste wasn't that great to her either, but that doesn't excuse it. 

I probably won't read on with this series. 

3 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Daphne Press for gifting me this book for review. 

White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link

Pages: 272 

Publisher: Head of Zeus 

Released: 28th of March 2023 

Seven ingeniously reinvented fairy tales that play out with astonishing consequences in the modern world, from one of today's finest short story writers - MacArthur 'Genius Grant' Fellow Kelly Link, bestselling author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Get in Trouble.

Finding seeds of inspiration in the Brothers Grimm, seventeenth-century French lore, and Scottish ballads, Kelly Link spins classic fairy tales into utterly original stories of seekers - characters on the hunt for love, connection, revenge, or their own sense of purpose.

In 'The White Cat's Divorce', an aging billionaire sends his three sons on a series of absurd goose chases to decide which will become his heir. In 'The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear', a professor with a delicate health condition becomes stranded for days in an airport hotel after a conference, desperate to get home to her wife and young daughter, and in acute danger of being late for an appointment that cannot be missed. In 'Skinder's Veil', a young man agrees to take over a remote house-sitting gig for a friend. But what should be a chance to focus on his long-avoided dissertation instead becomes a wildly unexpected journey, as the house seems to be a portal for otherworldly travelers - or perhaps a door into his own mysterious psyche.

Twisting and winding in astonishing ways, expertly blending realism and the speculative, witty, empathetic, and never predictable - these stories remind us once again of why Kelly Link is incomparable in the art of short fiction.

What I Have to Say 

This is it. This is the weird and slightly disturbing short story collection that's going to haunt me until the end of my days. So this was a mixed bag. The writing wasn't great. There was a lot of stuff that wasn't needed in the stories and honestly some of the stories bored me completely, probably because they were trying to say something that I didn't get. But I enjoyed some of them and the last story Skinder's Veil, I am obsessed with. 

Skinder's Veil is about a PHD student who goes to housesit for someone to get away from his annoying roommate. I didn't need to know all the stuff about how the roommate had so much sex and that his girlfriend was haunted by a ghost. That all bogged down the story. It could have easily been summed up in a couple of lines. But the actual bits in the house and the descriptions of the visitors and the magic of it all completely captivated me. I've been thinking about it since I read it and I definitely want to read it again some time. 

The rest of the book, I will not revisit. I enjoyed some of the stories well enough, but not enough to read again. but the weirdness of it all and that last story is gonna be something that I think I'm gonna remember for a long time. 

3 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with this copy for review.