So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole

Pages: 382 

Publisher: Atom 

Released: 16th of January 2024 

Faron Vincent can channel the power of the gods. Five years ago, she used her divine magic to liberate her island from its enemies, the dragon-riding Langley Empire. But now, at seventeen, Faron is all powered up with no wars to fight. She's a legend to her people and a nuisance to her neighbours.

When she's forced to attend an international peace summit, Faron expects that she will perform tricks like a trained pet and then go home. She doesn't expect her older sister, Elara, forming an unprecedented bond with an enemy dragon-or the gods claiming the only way to break that bond is to kill her sister.

As Faron's desperation to find another solution takes her down a dark path, and Elara discovers the shocking secrets at the heart of the Langley Empire, both must make difficult choices that will shape each other's lives, as well as the fate of their world.

What I Have to Say 

So this was a really interesting book for many reasons. For one, it dealt with characters who had been chosen ones in their backstories. It showed a main character who had been chosen by the gods, gone to war and then come home along with a hidden queen who had discovered her heritage and been pushed onto the throne at a young age. It was really interesting that the author decided to have these things in the past and gave me echoings of a gifted child to disaster teenager storyline. 

It also felt at times very much like a queer Forth Wing. Which was fantastic because Queer and dragons is definitely the genre for me. I really enjoyed the complexity of Elara's relationship considering the bond that ties her to both the dragon and her love interest and I'm really looking forward to seeing how it develops in future books. 

This book was also such an easy read. I got caught up in the story so fast and both Elara and Faron's voices were easy to relate to. The politics was interesting and exciting and didn't bog down the plot one bit and I just really enjoyed the story as a whole. 

4.5 stars 

My thanks goes to Atom and Netgalley for providing me with this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review. 

City of Stardust by Georgia Summers (audiobook)

Pages: 352

Publisher: Hodderscape 

Narrator: Kitty Parker 

Released: 25th of January 2024 

A young woman descends into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge to break her family's curse in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy debut.

For centuries, generations of Everlys have seen their brightest and best disappear, taken as punishment for a crime no one remembers, for a purpose no one understands. Their tormentor, a woman named Penelope, never ages, never grows sick – and never forgives a debt.

Violet Everly was just a child when her mother Marianne vanished on a stormy night, determined to break the curse. And when Penelope cannot find her, she issues an Violet has ten years to find Marianne, or she will take her place. Violet is the last of the Everly line, the last to suffer from the curse. Unless she can break it first.

To do so, she must descend into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge. She must also contend with Penelope’s quiet assistant, Aleksander, who she knows cannot be trusted – and yet whose knowledge of a world beyond her own is too valuable to avoid.

Tied to a very literal deadline, Violet will travel the edges of the world to find Marianne and the key to the city of stardust, where the Everly story began.

What I Have to Say 

I just love books like this with multiple worlds and epic quests. The description of the worlds and the society they lived in were just wonderful. I loved how dark it got towards the end as well, the lengths that Penelope was willing to go to just to get Violet. 

This book felt like a modern day fairytale. The way it was written and the writing itself gave it a dreamlike quality that added to this. Even when they were using phones and working in a cafe, it felt like a book from another age, another world and everything tied into this. 

The narration was very good. Again it had a lovely dreamlike quality to it that added to the text and made it all the more delicious to read. I would definitely pick up a book from this narrator again.  

The Astrals were my favourite. They were so dark and all powerful. It gave them a real dangerous quality to them whether they were aiding or hindering Violet's progress. 

This is definitely one for fans of The Night Circus or His Dark Materials. 

4.5 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Hodderscape for providing me with a gifted copy of this audiobook for review. 

The Knowing by Emma Hinds

Pages: 304 

Publisher: Bedford Square Publishers 

Released: 18th of January 2024 

In the slums of 19th-century New York.

A tattooed mystic fights for her life.

Her survival hangs on the turn of a tarot card.

Powerful, intoxicating and full of suspense. The Knowing is a darkly spellbinding novel about a girl fighting for her survival in the decaying criminal underworlds. It is a hard-hitting story of love, obsession and betrayal.

Whilst working as a living canvas for an abusive tattoo artist in the slums of 19th-century New York, Flora meets Minnie, an enigmatic circus performer who offers her love and refuge in an opulent townhouse that is home to the menacing and predatory Mr Chester Merton. Flora earns her keep reading tarot cards for his guests whilst struggling to harness her gift, the Knowing - an ability to summon the dead. Caught in a dark love triangle between Minnie and Chester, Flora begins to unravel the secrets inside their house. Then at her first public séance in the infamous cathouse Hotel du Woods, Flora hears the spirit of a murdered boy prostitute and exposes his killer, setting off a train of events that leaves her fighting for her life.

The Knowing is a stunning debut inspired by real historical characters including Maud Wagner, one of the first known female tattoo artists, New York gang the Dead Rabbits, and characters from PT Barnum's circus in the 1800s.

Something Powerful Is Coming.

TW: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Ableism, Confinement, Drug use, Sexism, Pedophilia, Racism

What I Have to Say 

This book was full of trauma and while it was done really well, I would advise any reader to check the trigger warnings above carefully. There was a content warning at the start of the book, but it didn't even mention the pedophilia, which I would have thought a pretty big trigger. There are also zero healthy relationships in this book, so if you're looking for romance, perhaps go elsewhere. 

Though the trauma was very authentic, I wasn't so keen on the plot. It didn't seem very cohesive at all. Like the author was kind of directionless. I also wasn't that keen on the characters, so there wasn't anything that was really driving me to keep reading. 

One thing I will say for this book, is it had a disabled woman in the role of love interest, which I have never seen before. It's why I picked up the book in the first place and although there was some mistreatment and ableist language used, it was more a reflection of the times and the lack of language they had to describe people gently, than the author just using slurs for no reason. Minnie had agency, she had a strong character and she wasn't seen at all as lesser or unattractive because of her disability. I was really, really encouraged by how she was portrayed. Just be careful if you're disabled yourself or if you're sensitive because there are slurs. 

If you're looking a dark read, with an authentic view of trauma, then this could be the book for you. 

 

3 stars 

My thanks go to Bedford Square Publishers and Netgalley for providing me with this gifted copy for review. 

 

The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi- Pearson

Pages: 432

Publisher: Gollancz 

Released: 18th of January 2023 

A century-spanning space fantasy novel that will take you on a whirlwind adventure, from a Regency Era love affair between a time-traveller and the prince waiting for him in the past, to a rescue mission in the 60th century, where a girl desperately races against time as she searches for the sister the emperor stole.

6066: In Emperor Thracin’s brave new galaxy, humans are not citizens. Instead, they are indentured labourers, working to repay the debt they unwittingly incurred when they settled on Gahraan - a desert planet already owned by the emperor himself. Asha Akindele knows she’s just another voiceless cog working the assembly lines that fuel his vast imperial war machine. Her only rebellion: studying stolen aeronautics manuals in the dead of night. But then a cloaked stranger arrives to deliver an impossible message, and her life changes in an instant.

1812: Obi Amadi is done with time-travelling. Never mind the fact he doesn’t know how to cure himself of the temporal sickness he caught whilst anchoring his soul to Regency London, the one that unmakes him further with every jump. Or if the prince he loves will ever love him back. Or why his father disappeared. He is done. Until he hears about the ghost of a girl in the British Museum. A girl from another time.

When Obi’s path tangles with Asha’s and a prophecy awakens in the cold darkness of space, they must voyage through the stars, racing against time, tyranny, and the legacy of three heroes from an ancient religion who may be awakening, reincarnated in ways beyond comprehension.

What I Have to Say 

Prophecy, time travel and gay romance, this book has everything. It had so many threads that I was surprised they managed to fit it all in one book! But they did and it turned out to be a great one. There was a moment when everything was coming together, when I was really blown away by the scope of what was happening. It felt epic. 

I loved Obi and the threads from 1812 a lot. Even though, because of his temporal sickness, they couldn't use the time travel much for the resolution of the plot, I felt it gave him a really interesting backstory. I loved the little references like the one to the cat bus from Totoro, the little reminders that he was from more than just one time period. 

The prophecy, while confusing at first, also added a huge element to the book. Right from the first excerpt, I was excited to see where it would all fit in and become relevant and there was so many places where I could speculate as to what would happen. It was so great to see it all fit together. 

I'm really looking forward to the next book, which will hopefully have more prophecy and more time travel and even more fun. 

4 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Gollancz for providing me this gifted copy for review. 

Faebound by Saara El- Arifi

Pages: 496 

Publisher: Harper Voyager 

Released: 18th of January 2024 

DIVIDED BY BLOOD.

IMPRISONED BY FATE.

BOUND BY DESIRE.

WELCOME TO THE INTOXICATING WORLD OF THE FAE.

Yeeran is a warrior in the elven army and has known nothing but violence her whole life. Her sister, Lettle, is trying to make a living as a diviner, seeking prophecies of a better future.

When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven lands, they are both forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders. There they encounter the impossible: the fae court.

The fae haven’t been seen for a millennium. But now Yeeran and Lettle are thrust into their seductive world – torn between their loyalty to each other, their elven homeland, and their hearts. . .

What I Had to Say 

This book was everything. I loved every word of it. I will always always love a book where someone has a connection with an animal companion, but I also liked the way they explored how that bond made them see animals differently, how the fae wouldn't eat animals because they saw them as creatures worthy of life. 

I loved the divided loyalties in this book. How the different characters felt about the war. Yeeran the soldier who's loyalty is to her leader and former lover. Her sister, Lettle who sees the war in a very different way. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the next book and how this effects the story. 

I have so many questions about the humans and whether they're really as dead as the characters in the story believe. I can't wait to see how the prophecies turn out. I'm just so excited for the next book, there's so much potential for this series and I really, really can't wait. 

5 stars 

My thanks goes to Netgalley and Harper Voyager for providing me with a gifted copy for review. 

 

More Than a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban

Pages: 384

Publisher: Penguin

Released: 9th of January 2024 

Love is more than just a game for two.

It’s 1857, and anxious debutante Beth has just one season to snag a wealthy husband, or she and her mother will be out on the street.

Gwen, on the other hand, is on her fourth season and counting, with absolutely no intention of finding a husband, possibly ever. She has plenty of security as the only daughter of a rakish earl, from whom she’s inherited her penchant for drinking too much and dancing ‘til dawn.

Beth and Gwen are enchanted with each other on sight. And it doesn’t take long for Gwen to hatch her latest scheme: rather than join the husband hunt, they should set up Gwen’s father and Beth’s newly-widowed mother.

They had a fling years ago, after all…

A swoon-worthy debut queer Victorian romance in which two debutantes distract themselves from having to seek husbands by setting up their widowed parents, and instead find their perfect match in each other—the lesbian Bridgerton you never knew you needed!

What I Have to Say 

This book was really good but there was a section in the middle that was really depressing. Obviously life was hard for gay people at this time, but reading the realities of it, really hurt. I'm afraid that it spoilt my enjoyment of the book a bit. 

Until that point though, I really enjoyed seeing the romance play out. I really liked the two characters, but especially Gwen and her whole family. I loved how they were just skirting with scandal the whole time because of how much they really didn't fit into society. 

On the whole, apart from being a tad depressing, it was a really refreshing take on the regency period and I'd love to see more from this author. 

 3.5 stars 

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

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Pages: 352 

Publisher: Orbit 

Released: 11th of January 2024 

When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.

Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.

And she also has a new project to focus a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.

But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.

What I Have to Say 

This was a great sequel. It sank me back deep in the world of Emily Wilde. I loved many of the same things as I did from the first book, the science of it all and the fact that Emily's character was an introvert and sometimes got cranky, which is rare to see in books! 

It wasn't quite as good as the first though that might be nostalgia talking. The first one had a cosy charm to the cabin that Emily and Bambleby were staying in that just sang to my heart. This one, though it came close, was just missing a tiny bit from the first book. 

I still loved it so much though. While not quite hitting the high standards the first book left, it did still have plenty of charm and whimsy that contrasted nicely with the action and led it to be a beautiful book. 

I can't wait for the next book in the series! 

 5 stars 

My thanks goes to Orbit and Netgalley for providing me with a gifted copy of this book for review.