mspilesofpaper's reviews
856 reviews

Killers and Monsters is the second instalment in the Three Fates Mafia series although it can be read alone. It's a spicy monster romance with a M/M, M/F, and M/M/F pairing.

The review might contain spoilers.

PLOT
Let's be honest: there's no actual plot. If it would be a fanfiction on AO3, it would have the tag "porn without plot" because the main aspect of the book is the sex scenes. There's a bare minimum of plot into which the romance/the sex is nestled into. Serena is the niece of a mafia boss and gets married to another mafia boss - Ian, the Dragon - when she's barely 18 years old, which results in her moving from Italy to California where she lives in a remote castle/villa with her personal bodyguard, Luca, and several other guards hired by Ian. In all those years, she sees her husband only twice, which in her opinion, is twice too much. In her opinion, he's a monster, so when she receives news that he plans to visit her, she snaps. Luca and her plan to kill Ian but they never receive the chance as dark secrets start to appear and Serena realises: her husband isn't as horrible as she thought he would be.

WORLD-BUILDING & MAGIC
There's not much concerning the world-building. It plays on our planet in somewhat modern times (there's no mention of a year) but it incorporates mafia elements and Ancient Greek mythology in the form of Gods, demi-gods, monsters, and the three fates. There's no actual magic but the demi-gods have powers granted by their godly parent, so it can be considered as a type of magic. The entire book plays in a fictional city in California (USA) but there are references to other countries (e.g., Italy) but everything is very superficial.

CHARACTERS
The main characters are Serena, Luca and Ian. There are a few other characters who either appeared in the first novel or will appear in the following books. It is known that Ian is a monster, an actual dragon, while Serena and Luca consider themselves as humans until the truth comes out and it is revealed that Serena is a demi-god.
Serena is "a princess/a queen" and acts like a spoiled child all the time despite being considered as tough and deadly. Of course, she's also utterly beautiful. Luca is so angsty - emo teenagers have nothing on him - with his "my darkness will push her away". He's utterly obsessed with Serena, extremely possessive and brutal. Ian is the only one who has a functional brain cell and uses it occasionally. He's considered as brutal and arrogant as well but he's rather soft towards Serena (and Luca). There's not much depth to any character and some of their actions lack conviction as well. As for their sexualities: Serena is straight, Ian and Luca are bi-/pansexual.

ROMANCE
Insta-lust, obsession, insta-love, and insta-forgiveness. The author gets partly away with it by making all Serena and Luca mates to Ian, and with each other despite being not monsters, but the insta-forgiveness is my pet peeve (e.g., Serena thought that Ian forbid her from leaving the villa for 10 years when it had been Luca who kept her captive there). Their relationship is so utterly toxic (especially the one between Serena/Luca and Luca/Ian) as it's built on obsession, stalking, tons of lies and blackmail. There's also the fact that Luca met Serena as a child, saved her in some alley, and became already smitten with her there. I know that the author wanted to highlight that she's his first love but he's a few years older than her and it has soft grooming/paedophilia vibes to me. While Ian demanded Serena as his "price" when she was just 17 years old while he is an ancient dragon, so there's also paedophilia there. Plus, he dreamed of her as an adult as soon as she was born.

It is a polyamorous romance as all three are in a relationship with each other. It starts as Serena/Ian and Serena/Luca, with Ian/Luca on the side, but evolves quickly into all three being together as they each Ian's mates (and Serena/Luca become mates as well).

As for the sex, I would give it 4 🌶️. It's very graphic and very sexual from the start (although the actual sex scenes happen after a few chapters). If you are into it: two dragon cocks, double penetration (vaginal, anal), threesomes, BDSM moments, actual monster sex (as in Ian in his half-dragon and full-dragon forms), choking, non-consensual voyeurism, degradation play, mating bites, masturbation, breeding kink, Dom/Sub. I'm sure that I forgot something but let's just say that it's very spicy.

TW
Head the trigger warnings that the author already lists at the beginning of the book.

Voyeurism, breeding kink, degradation, double vaginal penetration, erotic photo (consensual and non-consensual), biting, cum inflation, dragon sex, size difference, BDSM, general violence, multiple murders, intimate partner violence, captivity, arranged/forced marriage, attempted rape, paedophilia, (soft grooming), alcohol, alcohol abuse, hangover, unprotected sex, fear of flying, anxiety, mentioned past parent's death, general sexism, soft ableism (concerning mental health), child slavery (Luca gets sold as a child to pay a debt), sex toys, pregnancy (epilogue), blackmailing, obsessional love, stalking, toxic relationship, ...

Please check other reviews for more/additional trigger warnings. These are the ones that I noticed/marked in my Storygraph journal for the book.

TL;DR
Monster romance with a focus on the sex scenes (that are very explicit and graphic). The romance itself is between two men and a woman (all are in one relationship and are each other's mates). Based on the idea "What if the princess fucks the dragon that kept her in a tower and falls also in love with the knight that was meant to save her?" (just with a dark knight). 

Whispers of the Deep is the first instalment in a series (so far, one book has been published and the second instalment will be published in September, and I suspect that it might become a trilogy as there are three main-ish merman) that falls into the paranormal romance category.

The following review might contain spoilers.

PLOT 📖
Humankind left the land centuries ago as massive storms are destroying the lands, making surface life difficult. To find a new home, they turned towards the ocean and developed underwater cities in various depths (the deeper, the newer the technology) that belong - more or less - to corporations instead of nations or governments. Mira belongs to the city Beta and works as an engineer to keep the city running. During a solo job in an abandoned section of Beta, she encounters Arges - an undine. Humans consider them monsters and undines consider the humans as monsters as they destroy the ocean with their cities. A failed attack by Arges and his group leads to them helping each other to survive to return to their respective people. The contact results in a new task for Arges: find her, steal her and use her to find out how to destroy her city. So he steals her and keeps her, protects and feeds her, and falls for her as much as she falls for him. Their future will decide the future of their people.

CHARACTERS 🧜🏻‍♂️ 👩🏻‍🦰
The main characters are Mira and Arges while there are a few side characters of various importance as well. Among others, Arges' brothers who will be the main characters of the following books. Where Arges is slightly distrustful and grumpy, despite being considered as 'chatty' by his people, and very protective of Mira in later chapters, she's surprisingly optimistic. Occasionally anxious but mostly optimistic about her own future while she worries about Arges' safety/life in later chapters. They both are incredibly stubborn. 😂

I have to say that I found the leader of the People of the Water extremely shortsighted in her decision-making. "Oh, she will die because she is not meant to live underwater? Oh well, tough luck, Arges, go and find a new one." Arges' brother is also extremely distrustful, aggressive and impatient. There are hints at him having a difficult past but for the majority of the book, his behaviour is rather unexplained.

WORLD-BUILDING 🌎
Rather superficial because the author just informs the reader that the land is inhabitable for humans due to storms (hurricanes, tsunamis) and volcanos and that humankind went beneath the sea several centuries ago. There's a lore drop towards the end when Byte, an android that Arges found for Mira, explains who is behind the idea of underwater cities. In addition, the robot will reveal the truth about one founder's fate to Mira even later, which results in Mira's decision to choose Arges. Aside from these two lore drops, there are only a few scattered ones considering the underwater cities but if anyone would ask me to describe those, I couldn't do it. All I know is that there are four cities in various depths and that they use glass to create the domes for the cities.

The world-building for the merpeople is equally superficial because all the reader learns is that there seem to be various kinds of merpeople who are organised in pods but still have a family structure, and have their own gods (all sea-related) and something called The Ancients who are responsible for future telling, and are more or less their own kind of gods.

The author mentions it in the foreword but I want to highlight it: you will need a good amount of suspension of disbelief when reading the book because physics (and the basic principles of it) are only loosely used. Please, don't think too much about how it's possible.

ROMANCE 💘
I'm pretty sure that the romance qualifies as 'Stockholm Syndrome' because he kidnaps her and they fall for each other while she's still kidnapped. Aside from it, I think it's one of the few books where the trope "enemies-to-lovers" is accurate because their people are enemies. Arges wants to gain information from Mira, so he's rather aggressive, while she's distrustful and considers him a monster. Over time, as it's a slow burn, they learn more about each other and learn their languages (with the help of technology) as well.

If you want to read the book for the spice: there are only two sex scenes, which I would rate with 2 🌶️ because they are mildly graphic but not as intense or extreme as you might expect for a monster romance. Yes, he has two dicks 🍆, which adds a bit of spice to the sex scenes but it's still surprisingly mild. (Especially if you compare it to "Entranced by the Basilisks" by Lillian Lark where the basilisk has also two dicks.) You will need a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief because the author described positions that might not be doable in real life (even not underwater, haha).

TL;DR
A quick paranormal romance read with a human x merman pairing that's built on the enemies-to-lovers trope. Despite a monster romance, the spice level is rather low and the focus is on the development of the romance/relationship. The male main character can be an ass but is still surprisingly romantic in his own way. Healthy dose of suspension of disbelief is required for the novel but if you're ok with it, you will get a cute and funny read with Whispers of the Deep. 

How To Fake It With A Fae is the first instalment in a series that will spawn seven books. It's a romantasy with two sex scenes, lots of tension and funny banter.

The following review might contain spoilers.

PLOT 📖
Addison Thornrose is the witch without magic and as soon as a male wizard knows about it, he will end the relationship because "What good is a witch without her magic?". So, she's extremely excited when her current boyfriend invites her to a restaurant because she's sure that he will ask her if she wants to marry him! Unfortunately, he ends the relationship and shortly after, Addison learns of her grandmother's death and what it means for the family, so she's forced to come home. Quickly, she finds out that her family's magic is vanishing until all seven sisters are married, so they have to hold witch balls (balls in Bridgerton style) to find potential suitors for each sister. When her ex confronts Addison during the ball, she claims that she's already engaged to someone: Feylin, the fae king, who plays along and causes ancient fae magic to happen. Following this, both will pretend to date each other to reach their own goals until feelings actually happen.

CHARACTERS 🧙🏽‍♀️ 🧝🏻‍♂️
The author used the sunshine/grump trope for Addison and Feylin. While Addison is fierce, eternally optimistic, bold, and on the neurodivergent spectrum (likely autism based on the itchy clothes, picky eating, ...), Feylin is arrogant and has walls around his heart but he still supports her and helps her find her magic.

Aside from these two main characters, there are also several side characters: Addison's family as well as Feylin's cousin Ryals, and his best friend Trawick, but also a few other characters that play more or less a role.

WORLD-BUILDING 🌎 & MAGIC 🔮
The entire story plays in modern times (I don't think there was a year mentioned but it feels very 2020s) while it still has elements that I would connect with Regency England (e.g., the witch balls) or general fantasy worlds (e.g., the existence of fae, witches & wizards, werewolves & vampires and the fact that their world and the human world co-exist). The modern setting results in pop culture references and Feylin being described as "a grumpy Henry Cavill" (especially with a focus on Cavill's role in The Witcher). As it plays in the South of the USA, it has plenty of Southern touches (e.g., sweet iced tea, the "y'all" and other dialect-specific English, witches riding on iron skillets, ...), which irritated me occasionally because I'm from Germany and not very familiar with Southern things (aside from typical stereotypes). Overall, the entire world-building is very superficial as the romance is the main point.

ROMANCE 💘
While it is insta-lust, and to some degree also insta-love, it is still a rather cute romance. As they learn more about the other one, they actually fall for each other and get to know each other (which is more than I can say about some other romantasy novels).

The author mentions in the foreword that the book will contain sex scenes but they can be skippable. There are two sex scenes that I would rate with 1 🌶️ because they are mildly graphic (though not a true "fade to black", the author danced around certain vocabulary, so it's rather mild).

My main issue with the romance is the 3rd act breakup as it is built on intrigue, miscommunication and results in the destruction of someone's happy place. Unfortunately, Addison forgives Feylin rather quickly because "he did it out of love for you", which is an utterly stupid argument as to why he destroyed a family's income and Addison's happy place. He knew exactly how important it was to her, and her family, and was still set on revenge because he didn't trust her, and didn't listen to her either. I hate insta-forgiveness (it's even worse than insta-lust and insta-love) because they didn't work through what actually happened. It's basically "I didn't mean to do it, I did it because I love you so much, but I found out the truth through a third party whom I believed (instead of believing and listening to you), so let's get back together", which is the cheapest way of solving a conflict and is the solve reason why I didn't give this book 4 ⭐.

TL;DR
A short and light-hearted romantasy novel with a witch and a fae as main characters that plays in Southern USA. Addison fakes an engagement with the fae king to save her family's magical legacy but their pretend relationship turns quickly into something real. However, a third-act breakup based on misunderstanding and revenge strains credibility, leading to a rushed reconciliation. 

Danke an Netgalley und die Autorin für die Bereitstellung dieses Rezensionsexemplars.

Don't Kill The Demon - Das Artefakt ist ein Fantasy Jugendroman, der Auftakt einer Trilogie, welcher im Jahr 2022 spielt und damit viele Anspielungen auf moderne Popkultur hat. Stellt euch also auf Marvel & Co. ein. Leider fällt das Buch in die Kategorie "it's not you, it's me", weil ich einfach zu alt bin. Die Zielgruppe ist definitiv 14 - 18 Jahre und hätte ich es damals gelesen, so hätte ich es wahrscheinlich mit 5 ⭐ bewertet. Leider bin ich mittlerweile Mitte 30 und habe immer wieder gemerkt, dass ich zu alt für Jugendromane bin.

Die folgende Bewertung enthält eventuelle Spoiler.

HANDLUNG
Im Grunde gibt es vier Handlungsstränge, welche miteinander zu tun haben und teilweise in diesem Buch, aber definitiv im nächsten Buch, zusammen fließen. Handlungsstrang 1 betrifft Liz' Mutter und Stiefvater, welche ein gesuchtes, und gefährliches, Artefakt in Yemen gefunden haben, und es zerstören müssen, um die Welt zu retten. Dieser Handlungsstrang löst den zweiten Handlungsstrang aus, welcher Liz selbst betrifft, die auf einmal aus ihrem Internat in Potsdam flüchten muss, um in Oxford Zuflucht zu finden. Hier lernt sie, dass sie noch eine Großmutter hat und sie selbst nicht ganz menschlich ist. Im Laufe dieses Handlungsstranges wird Liz zum Spielball anderer Charaktere, die hoffen über das Mädchen an das Artefakt zu kommen. Die letzten Handlungsstränge sind nicht ganz offensichtlich, aber betrifft die politischen Intrigen innerhalb der nicht-menschlichen Gemeinschaft sowie den Plan des (vermeintlichen) Bösewichts.

CHARAKTERE
Elisabeth "Liz" Farnsworth ist die Hauptfigur des Buches (und damit der Trilogie) und gerade einmal 17 Jahre alt. Leider fällt sie ein wenig in das typische Schema einer weiblichen Hauptfigur in Jugendbüchern und hat "special snowflake" Tendenzen. Natürlich findet sie sich nicht schön mit ihren auffällig roten Haaren und den zahlreichen Sommersprossen während andere sie als wunderschön beschreiben. So ähnlich ist es leider auch mit ihren Fähigkeiten und ihrem Wissen. Und natürlich auch wenn es um ihre Abstammung geht. Leider ist sie auch der Typ Charakter, der handelt bevor er nachdenkt, und ich bin kein Freund von solchen Figuren. Wäre ich selbst 16 Jahre alt, so hätte ich sie wahrscheinlich unglaublich cool gefunden, aber mit Mitte 30 habe ich mir immer nur gedacht "Ich brauch einen vernünftigen Erwachsenen, der mal kurz für Ordnung sorgt".

Connor "Con" Saint James und Gideon (der, glaube ich, nie mit Nachnamen benannt wird) sind ihre potenziellen Love Interests und relativ unterschiedlich. Connor ist der abgebrühte, unheimlich gefährliche Kämpfer während Gideon zwar unheimlich attraktiv ist, aber meist auf seinen eigenen Vorteil bedacht ist und ggf. Dinge nach Regelwerk machen möchte. Mit Gideon hat Liz eine "hot and cold" Beziehung, die arg von der Situation abhängt während sie mit Connor eher eine "wenn ich dich foppe, heißt das, dass ich dich mag" Kiste fährt. Natürlich entwickelt sich eine Romanze zwischen ihr und Connor, aber die kommt irgendwie aus dem Nichts heraus (inkl. des Liebesgeständnis) und wirkt nicht wirklich natürlich. Aber gut, ich finde Romanzen in Fantasy Büchern meistens eh doof und würde die Seiten für mehr Handlung und World-Building verwenden.

Neben den drei Jugendlichen gibt es dann natürlich noch weitere Nebenfiguren wie Paulina, die Hexe, Nisha, Liz' beste Freundin, Arnaud, der Vampir, die Riege der Bösewichte, sowie Liz' Mutter und Stiefvater. Letzere sorgen zwar für einige Kapitel aus anderer Sicht, aber tragen ansonsten nicht so viel bei. Hätten sie nicht das Artefakt, so wären sie wahrscheinlich komplett sinnfrei.

WELT UND MAGIE
Der Grundgedanke für die entwickelte Welt ist, dass es nicht nur Menschen sondern "Menschen 3.0" gibt, welche im Grunde allmögliche Figuren aus Fabeln und Mythen sind. Werwölfe? Sind Gestaltwandler, welche sich in ihre jeweilige Tierrasse verwandeln können. Feen und Elfen? Vorhanden. Hexen und Hexer? Check. Vampire? Ja, sind vorhanden. Meerjungfrauen? Werden erwähnt, gelten als ausgestorben. Im Grunde könnte man einen Dartpfeil an eine Wand voller Figuren werfen und zu 98% ist die Figur definitiv ein Linewalker, wie die "Menschen 3.0" genannt werden. Zudem gibt es dann noch Jäger, welche versuchen die Menschheit zu beschützen, aber im Laufe der Jahre angefangen haben mit den Linewalkers zusammen zu arbeiten, und im Grunde nur noch gefährliche Wesen jagen.
Während die Geschichte hauptsächlich in unserer Welt, die wir kennen, spielt, so gibt es noch Portale, welche verschiedene Orte miteinander verbinden, und so den Linewalkers ermöglicht halbwegs unerkannt in der heutigen Welt zu leben. Dadurch, dass es in unserer Welt, im Jahr 2022, spielt, gibt es zahlreiche Anmerkungen auf moderne Popkultur wie Film und Musik. Vor allem die Marvel und DC Filme/Comics werden häufiger erwähnt.
Während die Linewalkers auch Magie besitzen (zumindest einige Arten), so scheinen sie auch viel weiter in der Technologieentwicklung zu sein als die reguläre Menschheit. Die Kombination von Magie und Technologie fand ich teilweise verwirrend und hat mich auch öfters aus dem Konzept gebracht, vor allem wenn die Umgebung dann wieder eher Mittelalter Style hat (Verliese, ...).

SONSTIGES
Ich weiß nicht, ob es am Leseexemplar lag, und es damit keine überarbeitete Version ist, oder ob die reguläre Version unter der gleichen Problematik leidet, aber leider gibt es Szenen und Dialoge, wo die Charaktere auf etwas reagieren was nie gesagt wurde bzw. gar nicht vorhanden ist. Es ist als ob Szenen davor fehlen, die im Laufe des Editing einfach entfernt wurden. Dementsprechend fühlen sich viele Dialoge auch unheimlich unnatürlich an was die Problematik verstärkt, dass die Dialoge viel "es wird gesagt, aber nicht gezeigt" sind. Vieles, was der Leser über die Welt erfährt, passiert über Dialoge oder Monologe, so dass es sich manchmal sehr plumb anfühlt. (Das ist etwas, was ich z.B. bei "Fourth Wing" auch gehasst habe, weil alles World-Building dort über Monologe passiert während sich Violet von Herausforderung zu Herausforderung hangelt.)

TL;DR
Don't Kill The Demon - Das Artefakt ist ein Fantasy Jugendroman und den Auftakt einer Trilogie bildet. Die Geschichte folgt Liz, einer 17 Jährigen Internatsschülerin aus Potsdam, die in ein Abenteuer um ein gefährliches Artefakt verwickelt wird. Trotz einer interessanten Welt mit vielfältigen Figuren und Magie leidet das Buch unter unglaubwürdigen Dialogen und fehlender Kohärenz in einigen Szenen. Geeignet für 14-18-Jährige, könnte ältere Leser jedoch aufgrund der jugendlichen Hauptfigur und der typischen YA-Romanze weniger ansprechen. 

I will not review the book because the author is a zionist and I cannot support that.

(Aside from it: plenty of technical inaccuracies about the sport, why is a white author writing a Latinx character [Carrie is Argentinian-American], and why is she pitting a Latinx and a bi-racial Asian against each other?)

Alpha Dragon's Tiger is an omegaverse shifter romance that is the first book in a series (that is currently, as of April 2024, unfinished). It is similar to Bro And The Beast as they are both M/M paranormal romances with mpreg.

Please be aware that the following review includes spoilers.

PLOT OVERVIEW
Taylor is an omega tiger shifter who is satisfied with his lot in life (even if he isn't happy with it) and has accepted that he would never be anyone's omega. Tricked by his friend, and fellow omega, he joins a TV dating show that the seven dragon brothers created to find their mates. Upon arrival at the remote island where the dragons live, Taylor realises quickly that he might like Crimson, the first dragon brother to find his mate, and continues to stay on the show. In the vein of dating shows/reality TV, they have to pass some challenges to prove themselves to Crimson to have a chance at a date. Much to some contestants' disapproval, Taylor wins all of them. Crimson is the only dragon brother who doesn't appreciate the idea of being on a dating show to find his mate but realises just as quickly that he has a connection with Taylor, and endures being on the show to get closer to the tiger shifter.

CHARACTERS
There are two main characters, Taylor and Crimson, who are accompanied by a bunch of side characters of various importance. While the two main characters are relatively well developed, the other characters feel rather flat (especially the other omegas). Even Taylor's best friends, Poppy and Muzo, feel underdeveloped and are reduced to their main character traits: Poppy being anxious and afraid all the time, and Muzo being a trickster and joker with a never-ending amount of optimism. While relatively flat, their friendship with Taylor is sweet and I suppose that they will find their mates in one of the dragon brothers, too. (Or with the gryphon host as he doesn't seem to have a mate either.) The other dragons have somewhat more depth than the omegas but I suppose they will get more fleshed out in their respective books.

ROMANCE
Taylor and Crimson work relatively well together, and the omegaverse setting acts as an explanation for why they are instantly in love with each other, and the author tries to flesh out the development of their romance with each scene. The challenges are utterly stupid and I fail to see how they tested the participants of the traits that Crimson might find important in a mate. If the connection wouldn't have been there already, Crimson might've lost his fated mate to one of the challenges because the man wasn't able to swim or climb a mountain. My main issues with the romance are: the claiming without consent (as it was unclear if it was the "magical" claiming bite or just a kink) and the egg laying (the pregnancy in itself as well but especially the egg thing).

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

TL;DR
Cute omegaverse romance with a happy end (and happily ever after although the epilogue is too close to the last chapter to act as actual HEA) that requires some suspension of disbelief to ignore basic principles of physics and logic. A quick read (~200 pages) for when you don't want a more engaging romance or fantasy novel. 

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc.

The Night Ends with Fire is the first part of a duology, which is a Mulan retelling at its core with the difference that the Mulan in this story is motivated by greed and isn't content with her allotted slot in life.

Please be aware that the following review includes spoilers.

PLOT OVERVIEW
Set in Tianjia, tensions escalate among the three kingdoms of Anlai, Ximing and Leyuan. Through the eyes of Hai Meilin from Anlai (our Mulan), we witness that her father is not an honourable man who will listen to the Imperial's call for arms but a greedy, abusive opium junkie with a gambling addiction. The family is destitute and requires Meilin to marry into a wealthy household as the dowry would offer financial stability for the family. Upon discovering her abusive fiancé and her desire to have "just a little more time", Meilin enlists in her father's steed - as his son Hai Ren who is born out of wedlock - despite her step-mother's worries that they will never allow a woman to hold onto power.

Upon leaving the family, her step-mother gives Meilin a jade amulet, which had belonged to her late mother. Unbeknownst to both women, the necklace contains a cardinal spirit: the dragon Qinglong. Concealing her identity as a woman and a spirit medium becomes crucial, as exposure could mean certain death, given the societal prohibition against women in warfare and the practice of black magic. Being assigned to the Seventh Company, led by the Seventh Prince of Anlai, Liu Sky, Meilin learns to fight and to be courageous. However, she discovers relatively soon that she is not the only spirit medium in the world; a vengeful man named Sima carries the seal of the phoenix: Zhuque. Where Qinglong feeds on greed, Zhuque feeds on vengeance. When the seal is stolen and broken, setting off a chain of events, Meilin embarks on a quest to find the remaining pieces to thwart Sima's plans.

CHARACTERS
There are three main characters, Meilin, Sky and Lei, who are accompanied by several side characters of different importance.

Meilin is, at her core, a greedy and power-hungry person who desires more than what society expects from a woman. I don't think that Song meant to portray her as a good and enjoyable character because, to me, she feels like a morally grey character who is selfish and driven by their own ambition and desire for more. Yes, she is a compelling main character as she grapples with her identity and confronts societal expectations in Anlai, but she is not a good character. Unfortunately, her greed makes her partly blind and stupid to anything around her (other characters, the environment, ...), which is always the reason for her getting hurt or getting into trouble. 

Liu Sky is, on the other hand, the least power-hungry person in the story. While he is a kind and gentle character, who cares deeply for his people, his short temper and his sense of honour and duty are his main flaws. The only time where he moves away from following the law is when he discovers Meilin's gender. Instead of executing her for treason, which would have been expected of him, he tries to send her home to protect her as he cares deeply about her. I think, if Meilin hadn't been promised to another man, and if the war wouldn't happen, he would have asked for her hand in marriage relatively quickly (as they met at the beginning of the book where he saves her). In another life, he would have been a good husband for her as she deals with a lot of trauma from her childhood and early adulthood (loss of her mother, abusive father, ...) as he's a gentle character.

Cao Ming Lei, on the other hand, is Sky's total opposite. Where Sky is kind and gentle, Lei is enigmatic, indifferent, sly and ambitious, but also deeply vain. A rather morally grey character who also suffers from trauma (loss of his mother, abusive older brother, strained relationship with his father). While Sky says that he wouldn't use Meilin as a weapon, Lei doesn't hide it. He tortures her for his own gain and uses her as a tool to achieve his own goals, which are still unknown by the end of the book. While I don't doubt that he desires her, he feels like someone who would sacrifice Meilin if it meant that he would win in the end. Rather possessive as well but you have to protect your assets to win a war, I suppose.

WORLDBUILDING AND MAGIC
The story is set in Tianjia, which is a fantasy version of China in a way. Unlike the Disney version, the war in The Night Ends with Fire is caused by infighting between the three kingdoms. I felt that worldbuilding is the weakest part of the book as it's mostly created through reports or annals at the beginning of each chapter.

The strongest worldbuilding aspect is the magic. Song has created a whole new dynamic through the inclusion of forbidden magic and the Cardinal Spirits with their seals. Cardinal Spirits are the four spirits representing and controlling the time of day, seasons, elements and directions. These are:

⋙ Xuanwu - north, tortoise 
⋙ Zhuque - south, phoenix - fire
⋙ Qinglong - east, dragon - water
⋙ Baihu - west, tiger 

While only Qinglong and Zhuque play a role in the first instalment, there is a poem about all four seals, which gives me hope that we will meet the characters who will carry the spirit seals for Xuanwu and Baihu in the second instalment. As Qinglong is already associated with water (despite its element being wood in Qi Gong if I'm not mistaken), I think that Xuanwu will either be earth and Baihu will be metal or Song will go the traditional Western view of elements and will use earth and air for them. 

Due to its traditional link with water, I think Xuanwu might be the one behind "one drowned" and Baihu being "one forgotten". 

I want to point out, as it is a Mulan retelling that uses elements of the Disney version as well, that Qinglong is not Mushu. Yes, he's a dragon but where Mushu is there for comedic relief, Qinglong has his own agenda. He's sinister, cryptic and greedy. He uses Meilin as much as she uses him.

TL;DR
An epic fantasy book, blending elements of myth, history, and fantasy into a mesmerizing tapestry of adventure and intrigue. As readers embark on Meilin's odyssey, they are transported to a world teeming with magic, danger, and untold possibilities, ensuring that the flames of anticipation burn brightly for the next instalment. 

Im Knochenhaus des kaiserlichen Palastes liegt ein Skelett, welches da nicht sein sollte. Im Auftrag des Kaisers ermittelt Mary Parker wer der Tote wirklich war und wer ihn umgebracht hat. Die Identität ist schnell bestätigt, der eigentliche Mörder jedoch ist nicht so schnell zu finden.


Knochen & Dampf ist ein Steampunk-Krimi, welches in einem fiktiven Deutschland des 19. Jahrhunderts spielt. Deutschland ist nach einem Krieg von einer unüberwindbaren Mauer umschlossen und wird von einem Kaiser regiert. Und damit kommen wir schon zu meinem größten Problem des Buches: world-building. Abgesehen von der wagen Angabe, dass es im 19. Jahrhundert in einem fiktiven Deutschland, in welchem Dampfmaschinen aller Art genutzt werden, spielt, gibt es nicht viele Informationen. Es werden nur drei oder vier Städte erwähnt und damit muss der Leser sich begnügen. Wie groß das Deutsche Autonome Territorium (weil das ist der richtige Name und nicht wie in der Zusammenfassung angegeben: Deutsches Autonomes Kaiserreich) ist, ist nicht ersichtlich. Als Leser ist es einem selbst überlassen, ob sich das fiktive Deutschland auf moderne Ländergrenzen bezieht oder auf die Ländergrenzen vor 1914 als Deutschland noch einen Kaiser hatte. Teilweise gibt es Andeutungen zur Geschichte des Kaiserreiches, aber die sind oberflächlich und geben dem Leser manchmal das Gefühl, dass das Buch eigentlich Teil einer größeren Reihe ist und man definitiv die vorherigen Teile hätte lesen sollen, um alles zu verstehen. Zudem wird auch nicht geklärt warum Deutschland auf einmal nur Dampfmaschinen hat, die anderen Länder anscheinend nicht (obwohl die Erwähnung von Kriegsmaschinen irgendwie trotzdem drauf hinweisen kann) und wie lange die Mauer schon existiert. Da "die Taten von Ihnen und Ihrer Vorfahren" erwähnt werden, vermute ich, dass die Mauer schon lange existieren muss und das Kaiserreich sich eher am Abgrund befindet. Zudem werden Rebellen erwähnt, die den Kaiser stürzen wollen und die Mauer abschaffen möchten. Genaue Angaben gibt es leider (wie bei den Grenzen) nicht.

Zur Problematik "world-building" kommt auch die Problematik Religion. Die Autorin hat eine neue Religion entwickelt, welche auf der Verehrung von Knochen basiert. Im Grunde ist es auf dem orthodoxen Christentum basiert, aber bei den Ossariern wurde das mit den Reliquien auf die Spitze getrieben. Es werden Knochen von jedem Menschen genutzt, d.h. es gibt keine direkte Heiligenverehrung. Stattdessen glauben Ossarier, dass immer ein Teil des Geistes des Toten in seinen Knochen zu finden ist, und dies kann den Stärken, der im Besitz der Knochen ist. Die Knochen werden auch für Messen genutzt sowie für Beichten, da die Energien/Geister in den Knochen den Gläubigen zu einem inneren Austausch bringen soll. Per se habe ich kein Problem damit, wenn eine Religion entwickelt wird und man sie mit dem Christentum in Verbindung bringt, aber die ganze Darstellung der Religion ist sehr schwammig bzw. negativ dargestellt, weil Mary keine Anhängerin ist. Zudem ist der Priester Johannes auch noch Berater der Kaiserin, was mir Rasputin Vibes gegeben hat. 

Es hilft nicht, dass der Priester und die Kaiserin auch eine Affäre miteinander haben und es gibt genug Gerüchte, dass Rasputin und Kaiserin Alexandra von Russland eine Affäre miteinander gehabt hatten.

Mein zweites Problem mit dem Buch waren definitiv die Charaktere. Mary ist eine ehemalige Generalin und die Tochter eines Britisch-Deutschen Paares, aber sie sieht sich als Deutsch an und dem Kaiserreich verbunden hat. Bei ihr schwingt eine dezente non-binary Tendenz mit, weil sie nicht als "Frau Parker" sondern nur als "Parker"/"General Parker" angesprochen werden möchte. Max hingegen ist ein junger Akademiker aus reichem Hause (nepo baby deluxe), welcher auf Kosten seiner Eltern ein eigenes Labor am Stadtrand hat und es nicht leiden kann, wenn man ihn auf seine Herkunft anspricht. Max hat leichte neurodivergente Züge, und ich bin mir noch nicht sicher, ob er als autistisch dargestellt werden soll oder als jemand mit ADHS. Beide sind wie Elefanten in einem Porzellanladen: Mary ist einfach nur unhöflich und rabiat, Max hat einige Manieren aber sein Übereifer für seine Arbeit (aka Forensik) lässt ihn seine Manieren definitiv vergessen. Trotz Hintergrundgeschichten für beide Figuren haben sie sich immer noch unausgereift und platt angefühlt (oder wie ich es auf Englisch sagen würde "two-dimensional characters without any actual character traits that makes them human"). Sympathisch fand ich beide nicht, und falls die Autorin je eine Fortsetzung schreibt (Anklänge gibt es dazu im letzten Kapitel), so habe ich das Gefühl, dass eine Romanze zwischen den Beiden entstehen soll, die auf "Gegensätze ziehen sich an" basiert, obwohl Mary und Max keinerlei Chemie haben.

Abgesehen von dem fehlenden world-building und den Charakteren, habe ich mit dem Schreibstil teilweise echt zu kämpfen gehabt. Zum Einen befinden sich immer noch genug Rechtschreib- und Logikfehler im Buch, und zum Anderen klingt alles furchtbar hölzern. Vor allem die Dialoge fühlen sich unheimlich gestelzt an bzw. enden teilweise sehr abrupt. Die Dialoge, welche die beiden Ermittler mit der Kaiserfamilie führen, fühlen sich derweil unheimlich lax als ob sie mit Freunden sprechen und nicht mit dem Herrscher eines Reiches.

Bzgl. des Mordes: wer die Person umgebracht hat, war leider sehr früh absehbar. Ich hätte mir gewünscht, dass es bis zum letzten Kapitel nicht klar gewesen wäre wer der Mörder ist, um beim Leser einen "Wtf? Ich dachte, XY ist der Mörder!" erzeugt. 

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc.

April used to be a world-famous actress but her career is mostly reality TV and commercials nowadays, so she jumps onto the chance to go back to her place of birth - the Isle of Skye - where she has to figure out what to do with her grandfather's whisky distillery. Malcolm works as the distiller since April's grandfather died and isn't too fond of her, or people, in general. He would prefer it if the starlet would just go back to London and her career to avoid facing the possibility that April might like him.


Whiskey Business is set in Scotland (Isle of Skye) and is (more or less) a second chance romance with the difference that April and Malcolm haven't seen each other in years but have been sweet on each other as teenagers. I wanted to like it because I thought that a Scottish author might do justice to the location and I like the "grumpy/sunshine" trope but the book just fell flat. It's boring as nothing happens; there are hints of drama but they are brushed away in the next paragraph and are always solved with sex. Aside from the lack of drama, the book made me feel nothing. I believe that books should make you feel something but Whisky Business misses the mark by miles. Also, the fucking playlist. I gave it a listen and it's nice (very pop/folk heavy) but it's utterly predictable and using song titles as chapter titles gives me flashbacks to the time when it was common for fanfiction on Tumblr.

My main four issues:

1.) The writing. I'm sorry but it's badly written and the author's written Scottish accent was confusing. I can understand the Scottish accent but this ... it just feels like a US-American wrote it, which is strange because the author seems to be Scottish.

2.) The characters. Both are boring people but the MMC is just a horrible human being in general. Yes, Mal's and April's first meeting as adults is based on "first bad impressions" trope but he's so fucking mean because of lies, miscommunication and stereotypes. Mal believes that she's a shallow, vapid person because of her celebrity status and because she never cared for her sick grandfather (and never appeared to his funeral), and thinks like it for ~60% of the book until she cries, and suddenly he realises that he's an ass. Also, he has anger management issues and acting like a cave man (or an "alpha man") when "rescuing drunk April" isn't sexy. April is ... she's a people pleaser and should go to therapy as well. He treats her awfully for the majority of the book before he offers some half-hearted apology that she accepts rather quickly because "I know him"? Girl, grow a backbone, please.

3.) The romance in general. They have no chemistry. It's pretty much "I liked you as a teenager but never acted on it" and now, they act on suppressed emotions. Mal treats April like garbage for the majority of the book before he offers her a measly apology, some half-assed breakfast and the "I want you" speech, which she all accepts relatively quickly, and then they just have sex. The last 30% have zero substance because whenever there's a potential issue (cyberbullying, jealousy, money issues, April's future and past, ...), they just fuck it away. Their romance has no substance and is based on sex to the point that she's sore (as they fuck two times a day with multiple orgasms) but yet, they still continue fucking. Their entire relationship is instant-lust, instant-love and based on physical attraction. Aside from that, the author tried the "hot & cold" trope, which just gave me whiplash. Especially with Mal who's like "I want her"/"I don't like her"/"I want her"/"I want her gone". For someone who's supposed to be an adult, he acts like a child.

4.) All the heavy topics. Cyberbulling? "Yeah, I ignore these comments". Toxic family relationship? "Oh, he's sick, I have to forgive him now?". April's acting career? "Oh yeah, #metoo but yolo, I have a better agency now". Societal expectations of young women in the entertainment industry? "Yeah sucks, but it is what it is". If you include such big topics, do it well or do not include it.


PS: The setting on the Isle of Skye is such a scam and doesn't add anything to the plot. The only times it is relevant are for a) tourism, b) "it's an island, dating is difficult here" and c) one hiking scene. I would have expected a bit more and it gave me the feeling of a lack of research. If you would remove the location from the book, the book itself wouldn't suffer much from it. Especially since a) you have tourism everywhere, b) a difficult dating scene can also be used for small-town romances, and c) hiking can also happen in other regions, just swap the Old Man of Storr out for something else. 

The day her mother, Char, died in the arena during a manipulated fight, Ash swore to get revenge. On the gladiator from the Earth kingdom but also on her own god whom she blames for the poverty of their own kingdom. During the war, a large event held with multiple gladiator fights to find out the Champion of each kingdom, she meets Madoc. Madoc who just got into the war to pay for his family's debts. Madoc who doesn't even have Earth magic, which will automatically disqualify him if anyone finds out. Getting thrown into Ash's path of starting a rebellion isn't what he wanted for himself. All he wanted was to survive long enough to have the money to pay off his family's debts. Unfortunately, powers are moving in the background that are larger than the two young adults.


Set Fire to the Gods is a YA fantasy inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender and Gladiator, which should result in a good book that has the reader hooked from the first few pages. Unfortunately, the execution of the premise falls short. The entire book is extremely lacklustre and boring with one-dimensional characters that lack any characteristics to tell them apart aside from their magic (if they wield the same kind of magic, then it's difficult to remember who is who). I didn't care if Madoc would manage to pay off his family's debt. I didn't care about Ash's revenge scheme. I didn't care about one of the side character's grief and his ultimate suicide. In addition to the lack of interesting characters, the book's pacing is exhausting. Mostly, it just meanders like a slow river and suffers from a writing style that's more "tell than show". I don't know why these two authors decided to collaborate but it's noticeable because their respective chapters don't fit together.

Given the fact that it took me 22 days to finish the book (and having around 450 pages is nothing), it says a lot. Whenever I didn't read the book, I wasn't tempted to pick it up and whenever I read it, I struggled so much with reading it because it didn't grab me. I didn't hate it, it's just ... boring and forgettable.


TW: death of a parent, toxic family relationship (father - son), general violence, class differences (magic-wielder vs. non-magic wielder), poverty and lack of resources.