mweis's reviews
1104 reviews

*I received an audio review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

It feels weird saying that this was a fun book because it is a murder mystery and it deals with some very heavy themes, but I did really enjoy it.

Lavender House is a queer historical murder mystery, set in 1952 San Francisco following Evander Mills who until recently had been a detective with the SFPD but was fired and evicted when he was caught in a raid on a gay bar and outed. 

Personally, I found the mystery aspect of this novel to be fairly middle of the road. It is a fairly slow narrative and I didn't find the resolution to be that shockin; however, I loved all of these characters. Andy was such an interesting character to follow and I loved his journey throughout this book. From where he starts to his reaction upon learning about the family in Lavender House to where he ends up, it was such an evolution and the ending sort of sets up for potential sequels and I would love to see more of him and some potential cameos of characters from this book. 

I also really loved the thematic unpacking of queerness in this book. Throughout the book we see Andy grappling with how to move on from his traumatic outing and we see how the residents of Lavender House feel about their situations (living openly queer at home but still needing to hide outside) and we see how Andy reacts to their lives. This story does not shy away from the homophobia and violence of the time period and it asks some interesting questions about queernesss in that era and I really hope we get to see more of it.

I also loved the audio narration. Vikas Adam is one of my favorite narrators and I thought he really brought to life the gritty noir detective feeling without being too over the top.

 *I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Billed as "space opera filled with sapphic romance, space pirates, a blind witch and powerful priestesses," I was expecting a lot out of this book and unfortunately despite having so many of my buzzwords I didn't love this book. I was expecting more of a The First Sister vibe and instead I got a Some Desperate Glory vibe. Though in saying that, I seem to be in the minority of people who didn't like Some Desperate Glory, so maybe this would work better for others.

I think this world is really interesting, though it's definitely falls into the Star Wars-esque genre of space fantasy. There are blood witches, old gods, pirates, an evil big bad, a blind main character and a sapphic romance. It's fast paced and full of action. There is a lot to love on the surface. I love the concept of exploring the way foundational myths create a society, as each of the three main religions we see in this world have the same/similar history but have gone in much different directions.

Unfortunately, I found myself losing interest pretty early on. I tend to be a world and/or character driven reader. If one or both of those things are done well, then I will be hooked nine times out of ten. While I do think the world is interesting, there was a lot about it that didn't make sense or felt hand-wavey, and while sometimes that works for me, here it started to grate, especially as some of the plot points became repetitive. I also found that I had a hard time distinguishing between the voices of the main characters. Korinna is the most fleshed out, but even her character felt fairly one dimensional. I loved that we got blind representation and it seemed to be well done to me; however, I struggled to buy into her which made it hard to buy into the book as a whole.

Overall I think Mooring had some really interesting ideas here, but to me it felt like a lot of aesthetics/vibes and not enough meat, which made the execution fall flat. 

 *I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I was obsessed with Pierce's Tortall universe (specifically Alanna: The First Adventure) as a child, so when I saw they were releasing graphic novel adaptations of First Test, I knew I had to read it. It's been a while since I've read the Protector of the Small books, as they were never my favorite, but I loved seeing this world that I've loved for so much of my life in a visual format. The art was stunning and I thought fit very well with the story. As with most adaptations, you lose some detail from the book, but I think this adaptation made the transition well.

While I still love the Tortall books, and I hope that these adaptations and the recent release of the 40th anniversary editions of the Song of the Lioness Quartet bring new readers to this universe, I also realize that these stories are far less groundbreaking than they were when they were originally being released. That being said, I love that Kel is such a different personality from Alanna. They both want to stand up for the "weak", but where Alanna's temper is famous, Kel is consistently and unfailingly calm and kind.

Overall, I had a really great time reading this and I am looking forward to seeing how they adapt the rest of the series (and if they adapt more books in this universe), but in the meantime, I'll be rereading my beat up mass markets of the rest of the series. 

*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I didn't realize when I requested this that it was the third book in a series based on an RPG, I just saw new Marie Brennan and immediately wanted to read it.

I do think I would have enjoyed this more if I knew the lore and had read the first two books; however, this plot does stand on its own. There are just smaller relationship and world building aspects that would have been more impactful with more backstory. I liked the Asian inspired world and thought the plot moved at a good pace. Marie Brennan's writing is phenomenal as always, and was by far my favorite part of this story. 

If I get the chance, I'll go back and read books 1 and 2, but for the time being I am satisfied with having just read this story.

*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I love a good amnesia trope, so was thrilled to see this main character not only suffered from amnesia but turned out to be an evil wizard. There's a princess locked in a cell, goblins, a killer moat squid, and a garlic festival. I thought the prose fit perfectly with the tone of the book, and thought the amount of humor was perfect for my tastes. I can struggle with humor in books, and I think the book was a smidge long, but overall I thought this was a really solid debut and look forward to seeing what else Rozakis writes.

I think this is a perfect read for fans of T. Kingfisher's brand of humorous fantasy. And like with Kingfisher's prose, I think you'll know within the first chapter if this is the book for you or not, as the prose is very voicey.

*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I had picked up the eARC a while back and bounced off this book because I wasn't able to focus on it, and at the time was unsure if it was because I wasn't really clicking with any ebook or if it was because the prose was rather dense. After finishing (via audio, narrated by Emily Woo Zeller), I think it was a combination of the two. 

While this is compared to stories like Piranesi and The Night Tiger, which made me expect some sort of fantastical element, this is more of a narrative deep dive into Shek Yeung, a Chinese pirate active in the South China Sea in the early 1800s. I love the feminist take on pirates, and I find this era and area of history really fascinating, but I'm not sure how successful this was as a work of fiction. This is a short book, but I slogged through it, and despite being a book about pirates there was a shockingly small amount of action. 

I think this was an interesting premise, but for me the execution fell flat.

*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I've read several of Tlotlo Tsamaase's short stories so I thought I knew what to expect with this debut novel but wow did it still take me by surprise. The book starts slowly, dropping the reader into this dystopian futuristic Botswana and then transitions into a thriller-esque paced story where Nelah (and the reader) are constantly questioning what's real and what's not. 

This is a fascinating world where people can pay to move their consciousness into new bodies, and I loved how this technology highlighted the colorism and classism that still exists in this future world. Nelah is also micro-chipped to record her every thought and interaction, which her husband can review, and there is interesting commentary on family through Nelah's relationship's with her host body's biological family. There is a lot going on here, and to be completely honest, I think I need to reread to fully digest everything I read because there are so many interconnected concepts in this world but I loved the imagination. 

The writing is beautiful, which contrasts with the dystopian nature of the world in a really interesting way. This definitely won't be a book for everyone, and I have mixed feelings on it, but I think it'll be a book that really strikes a chord with certain readers.

 *I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I heard historical queer gothic plant horror and went yes please give me that immediately. I really enjoyed this, though it will not be for everyone. Simon is a taxidermist and Gregor deals with exotic plants, and they live together peacefully hidden away from the rest of Victorian London until Gregor comes across a strange new fungus. What follows is a Frankenstein-esque experiment featuring lushly creepy nature descriptions and queer longing.

This is a slow narrative and I wish that there had been a bit more development with the characters, but overall I think this was a really solid debut novel!

 

The author's note is what bumped this up from 4.25 to 4.75