Review - The Luminaries (The Luminaries, #1) by Susan Dennard

 

Title: The Luminaries (The Luminaries, #1)

Author: Susan Dennard

Pages: 305

Publisher: Daphne Press

Release Date: 1st November 2022

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

From NYT bestselling author comes a haunting, high-octane contemporary fantasy for fans of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Winnie Wednesday fights to take the deadly Luminary hunter trials in Hemlock Falls' nightmare-filled forest.

Hemlock Falls isn't like other towns. You won't find it on a map, your phone won't work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you…

Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie's town—and the rest of humanity—from the monsters and nightmares that rise in the forest of Hemlock Falls every night. Ever since her father was exposed as a witch and a traitor, Winnie and her family have been shunned. But on her sixteenth birthday, she can take the deadly Luminary hunter trials and prove herself true and loyal—and restore her family's good name. Or die trying.

But in order to survive, Winnie must enlist the help of the one person who can help her Jay Friday, resident bad boy and Winnie's ex-best friend. While Jay might be the most promising new hunter in Hemlock Falls, he also seems to know more about the nightmares of the forest than he should. Together, he and Winnie will discover a danger lurking in the forest no one in Hemlock Falls is prepared for.

Not all monsters can be slain, and not all nightmares are confined to the dark.

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My Review:

 *I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Daphne Press and NetGalley*

Winnie Wednesday lives in Hemlock Falls, a place where nightmarish creatures stalk the forest every night.

The town is protected by the Luminaries, who have treated Winnie and her family like they don't exist since it was revealed that Winnie's father was a traitor.

Winnie is determined to become a Luminary hunter and get her family back into the Luminary fold. To do this, Winnie must survive three trials, and she finds herself asking her ex-best friend, Jay, for help.

Can Winnie pass all three trials? The forest may be more dangerous than anyone realises . . .

This book started out as a series of Twitter polls, some of which I voted in, so I was intrigued to see what this finished version would be like. However, I was also a little hesitant to read this, as the only other book I've picked up by the author I ended up not finishing, so I wasn't sure if that would be the same case with this book. Luckily, I enjoyed this book more.

Winnie was a likeable protagonist - I felt sorry for her and was rooting for her to get what she wanted and become a hunter. One thing that really annoyed me about Winnie was how her teeth were always clicking - I didn't even know that teeth could click, but Winnie's seemed to click nearly every page.

I was angry on Winnie's behalf by the way she, her mother and brother were treated by the Luminaries. I think I would have moved away if I were them, but they were very loyal and stayed.

The concept of the sleeping spirits and them dreaming monsters into existence at night was interesting and something I wanted to find out more about.

The plot was interesting and held my attention throughout, but I wasn't gripped. There were a couple of things that happened that I didn't expect.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

 

Review - Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose

 

 

 Title: Dirty Laundry

Author: Disha Bose

Pages: 309

 Publisher: Penguin

Release Date: 24th March 2023

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 Keep your friends close and your neighbours closer...

Ciara has it all - a loving husband, well-behaved children and an immaculate home. But behind the filters, her reality is far from what it seems.

Mishti is stuck in a loveless marriage, raising her daughter in a country that is too cold, among children who look nothing like her.

Lauren is mostly happy, despite being judged for letting her kids run naked, wild and free.

Then Ciara is found murdered in her pristine home and suddenly everyone is a suspect.

Hushed whispers, secret rendezvous and bloody betrayals . . .

Everyone has their dirty laundry, but this goes beyond gossip.

This is all-out war.

A deliciously scandalous page-turner about the dark side of suburbia that peels back the layers of Ciara's insta-perfect life to reveal friendships gone rotten, manipulation masquerading as love and families riddled with lies . . .

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My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Penguin and NetGalley*

 

 

Influencer Ciara appears to have it all - a wealthy husband, darling children and the devotion of every mother in the town, apart from one.
Lauren is the only mother that is willing to voice her true thoughts and feelings about Ciara, something that isolates her from the other mothers.
Ciara is Mishti's only friend, but Mishti doesn't tell her everything.
Will Mishti and the other mothers see behind Ciara's facade?
Can Ciara maintain her lies or will cracks start to show?

The idea of a book about housewives and their secrets intrigued me, and while I wasn't blown away by what I read, I enjoyed it overall.
The three protagonists of Ciara, Mishti and Lauren were all very different. I found Ciara to be quite unlikeable, but as I found out more about her childhood, I felt a bit sorry for her. I also felt sorry for both Mishti and Lauren - Mishti because she was stuck in a marriage with a man who didn't love her and controlled aspects of her life, and Lauren because of the way she was treated by the other mothers.
The setting of Ireland was different, but I wouldn't have known that Ireland was the setting if not for a couple of comments.
The plot held my attention throughout, but nothing that happened surprised me, and I wasn't itching to pick up the book and find out what happened next.
The writing style was easy to follow.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Review - Strike the Zither (Kingdom of Three, #1) by Joan He

 

 

 Title: Strike the Zither (Kingdom of Three, #1)

Author: Joan He

Pages: 359

Publisher: Text Publishing

 Release Date: 1st November 2022

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 A dazzling new fantasy from New York Times and Indie bestselling author Joan He, Strike the Zither is a powerful, inventive, and sweeping fantasy that reimagines the Chinese classic tale of the Three Kingdoms.

The year is 414 of the Xin Dynasty, and chaos abounds. A puppet empress is on the throne. The realm has fractured into three factions and three warlordesses hoping to claim the continent for themselves.

But Zephyr knows it’s no contest.

Orphaned at a young age, Zephyr took control of her fate by becoming the best strategist of the land and serving under Xin Ren, a warlordess whose loyalty to the empress is double-edged—while Ren’s honor draws Zephyr to her cause, it also jeopardizes their survival in a war where one must betray or be betrayed. When Zephyr is forced to infiltrate an enemy camp to keep Ren’s followers from being slaughtered, she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who is finally her match. But there are more enemies than one—and not all of them are human.

 

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My Review:

 *I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Text Publishing and NetGalley*

Zephyr is a renowned strategist who serves Xin Ren, a young woman who fights for the empress against those trying to usurp her.

Zephyr would do anything for Ren, even seemingly betray her in order for her plans to come to fruition.

While in the enemy camp, Zephyr trades barbs with their strategist, Crow.

Can Zephyr help Ren to save the empress and the realm?

The blurb for this book intrigued me - I liked that the protagonist was a female strategist. However, I ended up being disappointed.

Zephyr was a mixed protagonist for me - I liked how loyal she was to Ren, and how far she would go to make sure things happened exactly as she wanted. However, I also found her perhaps a little arrogant and didn't really connect with her. I felt she could have done with fleshing out a bit more, as could Ren, who seemed two-dimensional at times. I liked Lotus, Cloud, Dewdrop and Tourmaline as they had a bit more personality.

The setting was interesting and I would have liked to find out more about the empress and their history/family.

The plot was up and down for me - straight away the reader is dumped into the story and for a while I wasn't entirely sure what was going on. It felt like I was expected to know everything about the situation straight away, which was jarring. Parts of the book felt rushed and I struggled to get into the storyline. I did consider DNFing, but I persevered and there were several things that I didn't foresee, but I wasn't invested enough to be shocked.

I liked the themes of honor, loyalty and sisterhood.

I'm disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall, this was a mixed read.

 

 

Review - A Magic Stepped in Poison (The Book of Tea, #1) by Judy I. Lin

 

Title: A Magic Stepped in Poison (The Book of Tea, #1)

Author: Judy I. Lin

Pages: 380

Publisher: Titan Books

Release Date: 29th March 2022

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 I used to look at my hands with pride. Now all I can think is, "These are the hands that buried my mother."

For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her—the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu.

When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi—masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making—she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning's only chance to save her sister's life.

But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.

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My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Titan Books and NetGalley*

Ning's life was changed forever on the day her mother died from drinking poisoned tea. Tea that Ning herself brewed.

Now Ning's sister has also been poisoned, and Ning finds herself making her way to the imperial city to compete in the competition that will appoint the new palace shennong-shi (tea master). Ning hopes that by winning she will save her sister's life through a favour from the princess.

Once in the imperial city, Ning finds herself embroiled in court politics and discovers secrets that threaten the future of the empire.

Can Ning survive the competition long enough to save her sister?

The gorgeous cover drew me to this book, as did the concept of magical tea.

Ning was a likeable protagonist. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

Whilst I liked several of the supporting characters, I didn't have a favourite character overall.

The setting was interesting, and we are told a little bit of history.

The concept of tea masters - shennong-shi - and the tea magic was my favourite aspect of the book. I found it really interesting and would have liked to find out more.

The plot was mixed for me as I preferred the first half and lost interest a little in the second half. I wasn't very invested in what happened and nothing particularly surprised me.

I am a little disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall, this was a mixed read.

 

Review - Poster Girl by Veronica Roth

 

 

 

 Title: Poster Girl

Author: Veronica Roth

Pages: 302

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Release Date: 18th October 2022

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

A fallen regime. A missing child. A chance at freedom.

WHAT'S RIGHT IS RIGHT. Sonya Kantor knows this slogan - she lived by it for most of her life. For decades, everyone in the Seattle-Portland megalopolis lived under it, as well as constant surveillance in the form of the Insight, an ocular implant that tracked every word and every action, rewarding or punishing by a rigid moral code set forth by the Delegation.

Then there was a revolution. The Delegation fell. Its most valuable members were locked in the Aperture, a prison on the outskirts of the city. And everyone else, now free from the Insight's monitoring, went on with their lives.

Sonya, former poster girl for the Delegation, has been imprisoned for ten years when an old enemy comes to her with a deal: find a missing girl who was stolen from her parents by the old regime, and earn her freedom. The path Sonya takes to find the child will lead her through an unfamiliar, crooked post-Delegation world where she finds herself digging deeper into the past - and her family's dark secrets - than she ever wanted to.

 

 Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

 

 

 

 

My Review:

 *I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton*

Everyone knows Sonya Kantor's face - she was the poster girl for the Delegation who ruled the Seattle-Portland megalopolis.

The Delegation monitored everyone via Insights - ocular implants that recorded everything that was done and said.

When the Delegation was overthrown, Sonya was imprisoned alongside other people deemed to have done wrong by serving the Delegation.

Ten years after the fall of the Delegation, Sonya is given the chance to earn her freedom by finding out what happened to a missing girl who was taken from her family by the Delegation.

Sonya's search uncovers buried secrets and truths she might not want to face.

The blurb for this book really intrigued me, and I was looking forward to reading it.

I found Sonya to be a likeable and relatable protagonist. She was being punished for something that she'd done as a teen, something that wasn't harmful, but as the face of the Delegation she couldn't exactly be allowed to walk around freely by the new regime.

I liked finding out more about Sonya and I really felt for her - her family were all dead and she was basically waiting to die herself, living with barely anything of her own, in a place that sounded really stifling and depressing.

I really liked Sonya's relationship with her neighbour Nikhil, who was someone she knew from before their imprisonment.

The setting was interesting, as was the comparison between the Delegation and the Triumvirate who replaced them - it was quite thought-provoking.

The plot was enjoyable and held my attention. While I was surprised by some things that happened, I wasn't gripped.

The writing style was easy to follow.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

 

 

Review - Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake

 

 

 

Title: Alone with You in the Ether

Author: Olivie Blake

Pages: 272

Publisher: Tor Books

Release Date: 1st June 2022

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six comes an intimate and contemporary study of time, space, and the nature of love. Alone With You In The Ether explores what it means to be unwell, and how to face the fractures of yourself and still love as if you're not broken.


Chicago, sometime —
Two people meet in the armory of the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy.

After their meeting, those things do not change. Everything else, however, is slightly different.

Both obsessive, eccentric personalities, Aldo Damiani and Charlotte Regan struggle to be without each other from the moment they meet. The truth—that he is a clinically depressed, anti-social theoretician and she is a manipulative liar with a history of self-sabotage—means the deeper they fall in love, the more troubling their reliance on each other becomes.

 

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My Review:

 

 *I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Tor and NetGalley*

Charlotte Regan is a volunteer tour guide at an art museum who has been in trouble for making counterfeits.

Aldo Damiani is studying for a PhD in maths and is obsessed with bees and time travel.

When the two meet, they are instantly drawn to each other.

Aldo and Regan both have their own struggles, but can they make things work between them?

I wasn't a big fan of the previous book that I read by the author, but I decided to give them another go and requested a copy of this book on NetGalley.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this book. It felt rather messy at times, but it was also very honest about mental health struggles.

I didn't feel that I particularly connected to either Aldo or Regan, but out of the two of them I preferred Aldo. I did find Regan to be an interesting character at times, and I did feel for her, but I didn't find her very likeable.

The plot was mixed for me. I definitely preferred the first half as it felt like not much happened during the second half and I lost interest a little.

I struggled with the writing style at times, especially at the beginning, and I wasn't sure I would even end up making it to the end.

I am disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more, but I have to admit that I did go into this book thinking that I probably wouldn't love it.

Overall, this was a mixed read.

 

 

 

Review - The Splendid City by Karen Heuler

 

 

 Title: The Splendid City

Author: Karen Heuler

Pages: 275

Publisher: Angry Robot

Release Date: 14th June 2022

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 In the state of Liberty, water is rationed at alarming prices, free speech is hardly without a cost, and Texas has just declared itself its own country. In this society, paranoia is well-suited because eyes and ears are all around, and they are judging. Always judging. This terrifying (and yet somehow vaguely familiar) terrain is explored via Eleanor - a young woman eagerly learning about the gifts of her magic through the support of her coven.

But being a white witch is not as easy as they portray it in the books, and she's already been placed under 'house arrest' with a letch named Stan, a co-worker who wronged her in the past and now exists in the form of a cat. A talking cat who loves craft beers, picket lines, and duping and 'shooting' people.

Eleanor has no time for Stan and his shenanigans, because she finds herself helping another coven locate a missing witch which she thinks is mysteriously linked to the shortage of water in Liberty.

Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop

 

 

 

 

My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Angry Robot and NetGalley*

Eleanor has been sent to the new state of Liberty as a punishment for transforming her co-worker Stan into a talking cat.

Sharing an apartment with Stan is bad enough, but there is something very strange happening in Liberty - water is rationed, people are taken away in vans, and a witch has disappeared.

While Eleanor investigates what happened to the witch, Stan is determined to win a treasure hunt and will do anything to reach it first.

The premise for this book really intrigued me, especially the fact that the protagonist turned her co-worker into a talking cat.

Eleanor was a likeable and relatable protagonist. I really liked that she wasn't perfect.

Stan was an pretty awful character, but it was interesting to read from his perspective.

The setting of Liberty was interesting, and I can easily imagine something like that happening in real life.

The plot was mixed for me - while I did enjoy finding out more about Eleanor, Stan, and what was happening, my interest did wane and I struggled a little with the writing style.

I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall, this was a mixed read.