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mweis's reviews
1104 reviews
Court of Wanderers by Rin Chupeco
4.0
*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I'm not going to lie, I was very afraid of picking this up because early reviews were Not Great and I had such high expectations after loving Silver Under Nightfall. I think if I had gone in with those sky high expectations, I might have been similarly disappointed, but as it is I had a pretty good time with this. Did it live up to Silver Under Nightfall? No. But it was still a fun time.
I have a couple of small complaints. I think the plot could have been tighter because it kind of rambles but without a lot to tie together the various plot points. I think the romance could have been developed more. We see hints of the three of them working on their communication but we rarely see the follow through. And despite being marketed as a sexy poly romantasy and containing hints of kink, the sex scenes were all pretty much close door. My biggest complaint is in the total character shift of a major side character. In Silver Under Nightfall, this character is pretty awful and his actions traumatize Remy, but that's mostly ignored in Court of Wanderers and I don't think anything in the text made me believe his redemption arc was earned.
But at the end of the day, I think this world is fascinating and I love Remy, Zidan, and Xiodan so damn much. So while this was not my favorite sequel, I had a good time in the world.
I'm not going to lie, I was very afraid of picking this up because early reviews were Not Great and I had such high expectations after loving Silver Under Nightfall. I think if I had gone in with those sky high expectations, I might have been similarly disappointed, but as it is I had a pretty good time with this. Did it live up to Silver Under Nightfall? No. But it was still a fun time.
I have a couple of small complaints. I think the plot could have been tighter because it kind of rambles but without a lot to tie together the various plot points. I think the romance could have been developed more. We see hints of the three of them working on their communication but we rarely see the follow through. And despite being marketed as a sexy poly romantasy and containing hints of kink, the sex scenes were all pretty much close door. My biggest complaint is in the total character shift of a major side character. In Silver Under Nightfall, this character is pretty awful and his actions traumatize Remy, but that's mostly ignored in Court of Wanderers and I don't think anything in the text made me believe his redemption arc was earned.
But at the end of the day, I think this world is fascinating and I love Remy, Zidan, and Xiodan so damn much. So while this was not my favorite sequel, I had a good time in the world.
Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou
3.75
*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
I was hesitant to read this because I'm a little burnt out on YA fantasy and mythology retellings, but I'd heard such rave reviews that I was getting FOMO and took the chance when this was relisted on NetGalley in anticipation of its sequel Hearts That Cut.
This was such an interesting take on the Greek mythology. Set in a futuristic world ravished by climate change, where children of gods inherit their powers, our main character, Io, a descendent of the Fates, is a private detective looking into a series of abductions turned wraith attacks. What follows is a twisty investigation full of magic and political intrigue and regrets and revenge.
Kika Hatzopoulou drops the reader into this world which is really refreshing for a book aimed at a young adult audience, though it left me feeling a bit confused for the first 20% or so. The world is fascinating and I liked how complex and fleshed out it seemed. That being said, I think the plot fell into some of the same generic YA steps which isn't a bad thing like there's a reason some of those tropes/elements are popular, but I think because the world was so unique I expected something more.
Overall, I think this was a really solid debut and I am looking forward to finishing out this duology with Hearts That Cut.
I was hesitant to read this because I'm a little burnt out on YA fantasy and mythology retellings, but I'd heard such rave reviews that I was getting FOMO and took the chance when this was relisted on NetGalley in anticipation of its sequel Hearts That Cut.
This was such an interesting take on the Greek mythology. Set in a futuristic world ravished by climate change, where children of gods inherit their powers, our main character, Io, a descendent of the Fates, is a private detective looking into a series of abductions turned wraith attacks. What follows is a twisty investigation full of magic and political intrigue and regrets and revenge.
Kika Hatzopoulou drops the reader into this world which is really refreshing for a book aimed at a young adult audience, though it left me feeling a bit confused for the first 20% or so. The world is fascinating and I liked how complex and fleshed out it seemed. That being said, I think the plot fell into some of the same generic YA steps which isn't a bad thing like there's a reason some of those tropes/elements are popular, but I think because the world was so unique I expected something more.
Overall, I think this was a really solid debut and I am looking forward to finishing out this duology with Hearts That Cut.
Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen
3.5
*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.
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.