Genre: Horror novellas Published: Titan Books, July 2023 My rating: 3/5 stars Sensitivity warnings at the bottom. With They Lurk, Titan Press have rebound and rereleased 4 of Ronald Malfi’s out-of-print novella’s, together with a brand-new tale in this new collection of short-horrors. Being a more recent fan of Malfi, after only first discovering his work back in 2021, I was all too happy to be offered a second chance at checking out some of his older work. Overall, I wasn’t disappointed. While I generally prefer his longer novels, each of these novella’s had his signature sense of ominous atmosphere combined with memorable characters, and a perfect balance between supernatural- and psychological threads. In Skullbelly, a weathered detective investigates the disappearance of three teenagers in a nearby forest, and the urban legend on what happened to them that haunts the town. In The Separation, a psychotherapist chases down his friend/client; a washed up boxer who’s moved to rural Germany, and is exhibiting increasingly odd behaviour. Is this a simple case of depression, or is something more malicious at play…? In The Stranger we follow the cuttingly tense situation that arises when a man returns to his car in the parking lot, only to find a stranger at the wheel. A stranger with a gun… In After the Fade, we witness the start of an apocalyptic event from the point of view of the regulars of a bar, after a young woman stumbles in with something strange protruding from the back of her head. Finally, in Fierce, a mother and daughter narrowly survive a carcrash in the snow, only to end up in an even more intense survival situation that strangely mirrors one from their past. I’ve compared Malfi’s novels, stylistically and thematically, to some of the works of Stephen King. Most recently Black Mouth, which reminded me a lot of It, without some of the big problems I had with that book. This collection too was reminiscent of Kings style, in both strengths and weaknesses. The latter is most apparent in their endings. Although I know Malfi has proven he can stick an ending (e.g. Come with Me and the aforementioned Black Mouth), he seems to struggle with this in his older works. Where the final and most recent novella Fierce goes out with a bang, the first four go out with various levels of whimpers. My final issue that brought me to round my initial 3.5 star rating down instead of up, was the lack of cohesion in the collection. This might be a matter of personal taste, but when a publisher releases something as a joined collection, I like there to be an overarching theme/style or other factor to bind the individual stories together. That isn’t the case here, as these stories were never written to be released together. This is made worse by the fact that the final story was obviously written years later, by a more experienced Malfi, which makes it stand out a bit from the rest. Overall, I’m a big fan of Malfi’s work, and I’m happy to add this book to my list of reads by him. I’d recommend it if you’re in the market for a good collection of horror novella’s, although I think I personally preferred the authors previously collection Ghostwritten over this one. Many thanks to Titan Books for providing me with an in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. You can find this book here on Goodreads. Sensitivity warning: this book contains depictions of violence against animals. The final story also contains the depiction of children with physical deformity in a way I didn’t personally agree with. Depicting those with physical disabilities or deformities as savage or villainous is a trope I personally very much dislike, so do with that information what you will.

Genre: Fantasy Published: Titan Books, July 2023 My Rating: 5/5 stars “There are fates worse than death, Mr. Rosser.” For the past few years, a specific genre/trope has dominated my fantasy-novel wishlist. A single request I’ve been sending out into the universe, hoping for the Bookish Gods to grant me this favour: please, give us an incredible pirate-novel set in a fantasy world that we’ve all been craving. I think it was somewhere into 2022 that I gave up on this wish, after being burned by one too many ship-based-dud. Ironically, as I often the case when you stop searching for something, 2023 blessed me with not one but two pirate-favourites. Back in March, we had a whimsical take on the pirate-life in Tress of the Emerald Sea. Next month, you can look forward to swashbuckling start of an Adult Fantasy series set on the high seas of a world rich in lore, magic and mystery. Our story begins with a young woman, facing the gallows for a crime she didn’t commit. In a desperate attempt at escape, she unleashes a power inherited from her missing mother, that she’s kept hidden within herself for years; a voice powerful enough to sing up a storm and command unruly waves. Although she’s spared the noose, her display of power does not grand Mary Firth the freedom she hoped for. Instead, she becomes the pawn and the lynchpin in a complex play between the Royal Navy and fleets of pirates, each hoping to hone her skills to guide them safely across the treacherous waters of the Winter Sea. Yet Mary isn’t the passive play-piece people take her for. Rather, she has alliances, loyalties, and motivations of her own. Her top priority: cross the Winter Sea in order to find and free her mother, who suffered a similar faith of captivity due to her powers. Told through dual perspectives from both Mary, and the naval officer Samuel Rossner, who chases her across the oceans; this was every bit the fantasy-adventure I hoped it to be. Without hyperbole, Dark Water Daughter has everything I want in a fantasy novel. If we take a look at it through the “Sandersons triad of story-telling”, it has nails all three: characters, world and plot. Whilst Samuel and Mary carry the story, there are many memorable supporting characters that do a lot of heavy lifting too. Each of them has a distinct role to fulfill in the plot, but simultaneously has enough unique character-traits, skills (both magical and personal) and motivations to feel like a fully-fledged person inhabiting this world too. It creates a world that feels alive and lived in, adding a layer of “realness” that is so hard to capture. (also, the romance subplot never commit mutiny and overtakes the rest of the story, which is always a welcome change!) Speaking of worldbuilding, this attention to detail and depth goes beyond the characters. Each place, spirit or magical power comes with its own lore and history supporting it. With every flip of the page, I was excited to learn more about this universe of H.M. Long’s creation. Although the synopsis focusses mainly on the Storm-singing, my favourite magical element was by far the Ghistwold. To avoid ANY spoilers, I won’t say anything else about this, other than that I hope to learn and explore so much more of it in the sequels. Perhaps, if I keep singing this novels praises to my heart’s content, I might actually conjure up a storm myself. Suffice to say, it’s one of my new favourite nautical fantasy-novels and probably among my top reads of the year so far in general. If you’ve ever shared that craving for the perfect pirate fantasy-novel, or loved the likes of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Liveship Traders Trilogy and The Grisha Trilogy, and are curious as to what a mix-up of those three would look like: make sure to be on the look-out once this novel hits shelves next month. Many thanks to Titan Books and Recorded Books Audio for providing me with an ARC (physical as well as Audio) in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Historical Fantasy Published: Bloomsbury Publishing, May 2023 My Rating: 4/5 stars “The thing is, Shay: the stage is the only place where anything makes sense. “Out there”, he flung his arms wide, “is arbitrary. Hero’s die and the good suffer.” He stomps his foot on the theatre roof: “This, here, is where truth lives. Outside everything is dead, and nothing can breathe and nothing can grow. Words are stillborn. But here. He stood with one foot forward, like he did for heroic roles , and he spoke for the clouds; we are kings.” An absolutely magical story about a girl outlawed for her worship of birds, and a boy who lives the lives of others on stage to escape his own, against the background of the rich atmosphere of Elizabethan London. When the two of them collide, the subsequent spark ignites a revolution of the classes that ripples through every layer of London's society. I loved how The Ghost Theatre transported me into its world of stage-magic, plays and "roles" (in more than one sense of the word), in a way I haven't experienced since reading The Night Circus. Don't get me wrong; The Ghost Theatre has a very different and more dark feeling to it, but with their similar themes of theatre, magic and a doomed relationship in a richly described historically British setting, the tickled similar parts of my brain regardless. With his creative ideas, intriguing protagonists and an element of magical realism that I absolutely loved (Shay's underground religion in which Gods are birds and Birds are gods), Mat Oseman had all the ingredients for a 5-star read in his hands. Unfortunately, for every hit his rythmic and descriptic prose lands, he misses one too. Meandering at best, getting lost in nonsensical metaphors that placed style and "sound" over content at worst. A great example of this, I saw pointed out in Erica Wagners review written for The Guardian. There's a point in which Oseman describes Nonsuch's name as “a name made of stone and glass". I mean; it sure sounds pretty when you first hear it, but on second thought, it doesn't actually mean anything really. Regardless of the occasional prose that overstayed its welcome, The Ghost Theatre is strong contender for one of the top fantasy releases I've read in 2023 and one I highly recommend to any historical fantasy fan. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Literary Fiction Published: Simon & Schuster, June 2023 My Rating: 4.5/5 stars "He didn’t understand why these bittersweet memories were suddenly surfacing. Thirty-eight years, and still, just a finger snap from grief." Little Monsters was my first introduction to Adrianne Brodeurs work, so I didn’t completely know what to expect going in. The synopsis and the authors memoir suggested a tale of dysfunctional families and mental health, whereas the cover and the authors previous fiction hinted at more of a beach-read. I was very happy to see it delivered the first. This is a layered story of a family teetering on an edge, the threads that bind them stretched to the breaking point. With clear allusions to the biblical tale of Cain and Abel, this is a narrative that I highly recommend you experience for yourself. Little Monsters achieves a sense of momentum and pacing through a ticking clock counting down the months to a large event. We meet Adam Gardner, a brilliant oceanographer with an almost obsessive fascination with whales, counting down the summer months to his 70th birthday in September. Struggling with the prospect of mortality and the legacy he will leave behind, he decides to quit his medication for his bipolar disorder, convinced this is the only way to unlock his genius and make one final scientific discovery to put him on the map forever. Also preparing for their fathers birthday are his two children, Ken and Abby. Ken a successful but ruthless businessman, providing financial support to not only his family, but his sister alike. Abby a passionate visual artist who depends on her brother’s goodwill, in part because he owns the studio where she lives and works. Tensions rise due to the increasing feeling of rivalry and competition for their fathers approval between the siblings, and climax when a third (half-) sibling enters the playing field with an urgent message to share. Meanwhile, all three of them might be missing what’s happening under their nose: their father losing his mind more and more to the secrets of the ocean he’s desperately studying. Told through gorgeous prose that brings to live these flawed characters and the vivid Cape Cod setting alike, Adrienne Brodeur retells a timeless tale in a modern coat of paint. Connections to Cain and Abel go deeper than the obvious name-references, but weave into the character dynamics seamlessly. It combines themes the familiar themes of jealousy, narcissism, infidelity, pride and a desperate need to be seen by their sole parent, with ones that weren’t present in the original story. Capitalism, the lingering grief over a mother lost too soon, and the family inheritance of mental- and physical health. Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Literary Fiction, Climate Fiction Published: Simon & Schuster, January 2023 My Rating: 4/5 stars "I put in earbuds and listened to the sound of rain. I thought about how there will always be something about me that finds happiness too painful." The Deluge is a tricky novel to put a rating on. Throughout my reading, I went through a lot of emotions with this book; from a deep, quiet melancholy for the freakishly realistic future the author puts in front of us, to sympathy and care for the characters, to utter annoyance at the squandered potential this book had for greatness. The best way I can put it is this: there’s a 5-star novel in here. It’s just a shame that it’s about 300 pages long, and buried in between 500 pages of weaker narratives, and unnecessary repetition. The Deluge sets out to be a climate epic, both in size and scale, yet it’s often at its best in its smaller moment of character work. Some of these characters stories were genuinely moving and meaningful to me, and I’m personally glad I read the book just for those narratives. I don’t think it justifies it’s 900 page length though. On the strong side we a fantastic narrative voice and some incredible sentence-work. It’s beyond any doubt that Markley is an incredibly gifted author with a love for language. Then there’s a few brilliantly memorable characters, like Tony, which the novel opens with. He’s a maverick biologist investigating ocean-floor bacteria, and publishing on climate science. His story was easily my favourite and had me hooked from page one, which starts with an anti-eco-activist sending him an anthrax-threat by mail, until the final and very emotional scene which almost had me in tears. I was also a fan of Kate and Matt’s narrative, although Kate as a character was absolutely insufferable to me, and I’m surprised so many readers (and the author himself) seem so fond of her. The perspective of Ashir, a brilliant mathematician struggling with his sexuality and an illness in the family, was also very interesting in the beginning, although I felt his neurodivergence became a bit gimmicky later on. On the weaker side, we have the glacial pacing and some of the other perspectives I could’ve done without, and mostly the repetition when it comes to its messaging. The sad part is: there are some very important messages in here, and the passion the author feels for them really shines through. My fear is just that the only people who are willing to commit to a 900 page eco-fiction novel aren’t the once that need to be preached on these messages. Overall, I’m personally happy I read The Deluge, but I honestly wish it had been about half the length. 900 pages is a lot to commit to, so be your own judge whether you think the time investment would be worth it for you, based off the above. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Literary Fiction Published: Faber&Faber, May 2023 My Rating: 2/5 stars "Well, Sailor. Here we are once more, you and me in one another's arms. The Earth rotates beneath us and all is well, for now..." When everybody and their mom (yes, I just dared to make that awful pun) so unanimously seems to love a novel, I always feel a kind of guilt for feeling differently. Claire Kilroy’s latest novel has been received with almost universal acclaim, but unfortunately, it did absolutely nothing for me. Soldier Sailor is a stream of consciousness-style monologue of a woman to her newborn son, in which she reflects on the struggles new motherhood, and the seeming impossibility of this task that seems to come so natural to every other woman around her. Kilroy captures that feeling that many new mothers have felt well, and I can understand the appeal in seeing oneself reflected on page like this. My problem with it, is that there are already so many books that do this exact same thing. I am truly grateful that we’ve lifted the taboo on speaking on the downsides of having children in recent years. We’ve taken motherhood off its pedestal as “the highest, most honorable calling for a woman”, to its far more nuanced reality, and it’s high time we did! For that reason, I’m happy about last decades increasing trend of troubled-motherhood-fiction, and even motherhood-horror-fiction. In fact: I have a pretty good stack of them on my shelves. My problem with Soldier Sailor, is that it’s just another book on that stack, bringing nothing new to the table. Although the words Kilroy choses are beautiful, the message is familiar and even trite. What brought the book down from a 3 to a 2-star rating was the general negative picture the novel paints of men. I see this often in feminist novels, where attempt to uplift a woman, or critiques of one individual man cross the line into generalized man-hate. I’m very tired of that trope. Soldiers husband clearly isn’t the picture-perfect family-husband and deserved some criticism for that, but we didn’t need to generalize this into a guilt-trip directed at all men. From constant references to “the mans-world” out there, to quips about “only a man being able to design a car-seat with straps to free their hands from the baby”, to passive aggressive advise directed to her (infant!) boy about how to respect women when he’s grown. It crossed a line from righteous annoyance to wallowing in victimhood for me. Overall, I can’t recommend this book, but I’m clearly in the minority here, so don’t let it deter you. Many thanks to Faber&Faber for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. You can find this book here on Goodreads. On a completely separate note, specifically to the publisher: my reviews are about the content of the book, but I have to mention it. This cover is the most hideous thing and does not do the book any favours. I really hope they will consider a cover change on a next release.

Genre: horror, sci-fi/speculative fiction Published: HarperVoyager, April 2023 My Rating: 2.5/5 very conflicted stars Ascension was one of my most anticipated speculative/sci-fi releases of 2023, because of its intriguing concept, as well as comparisons to books like Annihilation and Thin Air: A Ghost Story. In the end, I was left feeling very conflicted. The majority of what want to discuss is spoiler-filled, so I’ll divide this review into three parts: synopsis, spoiler-free opinions, and the spoiler-discussion. Please proceed with caution in the final section! Synopis An enormous, mysterious mountain has appeared in the Pacific Ocean. No one knows when exactly it showed up, precisely how big it might be, or how to explain its existence. An expedition-team, made up of mostly scientists from different fields, is gathered for a daring mission to scale the mountain and uncover its secrets. Amongst them is the brilliant physicist and former medical doctor Harold Tunmore. Years later, his brother finds a collection of journals and unsent letters he composed, chronicling the events on the mountain as they unfolded. Will these letters finally bring closure as to what happened, or perhaps offer more questions than answers instead. Spoiler-free thoughts: Ascension felt like a book with an identity crisis. It’s a strange mixture of smart speculative concepts, and some of the worst dialogue and cheesy, cliché reveals I’ve read in a B-horror. Had Binge taken the concept fully either way, I think I would have loved this more. As an example: I love Annihilation and its full embrace of the strange and metaphysical. But I also love The Anomaly for being an unashamed camp fest. This mixes elements of both these books in ways that don’t quite jell together, taking away from what could’ve been great. I also didn’t enjoy this epistolary format of the book. I have nothing against epistolary novels in general, but it mismatched with the high-stake and at times high-paced nature of the story. I kept asking myself: when between life-threatening events exactly did the protagonist sit down to leisurely write these letters? Find this book here on Goodreads. BEWARE SPOILERS BELOW -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I will get straight to the point: I was fully on board with all the metaphysical shenanigans: time-distortions, quantum-states and conversations on science, philosophy and religion. We were clearly on a track of high-speculative sci-fi here. The addition of an emotional backstory to Harold, and his crushing guilt over the death of his son driving him to his relentless pursuit for answers on this mountain, fitted this style well. Then I was suddenly thrown completely off kilter by the addition of a species of monsters on the mountain (honestly, the environmental claustrophobia was enough, so I don’t think any suspense would’ve been lost if we’d ditched the leviathans completely). This is why mentioned The Anomaly as my other comparison in the spoiler-free section: that book pulls of the monster-trope by leaning all the way into its B-movie style. Monsters don’t feel out of place in that world. In this one, filled with very serious science and high-brow concepts, they just feel goofy. The same can be said for the alien-ending, but even more so for the foreshadowing. If you want a laugh, you can check out my status-updates on reading this book and see the exact moment I pick up on the twist, disregard it because it’s too stupid to actually be true, and then go through several stages of grief when I realize that, yes, the author is actually doing this shit. They literally named one of the already sussy-characters I AM ALIEN spelled backwards. Please sir, get in the bin right now…. Then last but not least of my complaints is the way these characters talk to each other. There’s the fact that the letters and journals we’re reading are addressed to the protagonists teenage niece, and yet this adult man is completely fine with including explicit language and descriptions of his sexual escapades with his wife in them… Yikes… Yet the in-person dialogue is no better… From characters insisting they be called “the Warden” (spoken in a stern tone and with a stone-faced expression, mind you), and nobody thinking that’s a bit weird, to passages like this one: “when I come for you, I will come in a blaze of fire and heat. I will burn my way through the heavens searching for you, and I will find you. I promise you that.” If it were me lying there on the floor dying, at least I’d die laughing, because Oh my Lord… That’s only a few tentpoles shy of a camp-fest right there…

Genre: Literary Fiction Published: Granta Books, January 2022 My Rating: 3/5 stars "If you can't let go of anything, let go of everything. She read this once somewhere." If I had to review this book using only two words, it would be melancholic and pointless, both in terms of content and the feeling I was left with after flipping the final page. Tides tells the story of a deeply troubled woman and her (very unhealthy) way of coping with a complex trauma she’s suffered. When we meet Mara, she has already traveled a long way by bus, not towards- , but away from something. Her flight lands her at a seaside village at what feels like the edge of the world, penniless and without connections. She finds work and refuge at the local wine store and its owner Simon, a man who’s losses mirror her own. The book has its moments of brilliance, often on the sentence level, but as a whole didn’t really pull together for me. It’s nails its atmosphere, from the loneliness of a coastal town abandoned outside of the tourist-season, to the heavy blanket of melancholy and troubledness that weighs on these characters. Much of it is raw, ugly and bleak, and that’s clearly the intention. I’m fine with the melancholic part; in fact, I often appreciate the beauty in that. What didn’t work for me was the pointless-part. Mara feels like her life is pointless, but rather than take action and accountability in her life, we only see her engage in more and more pointless acts throughout the novel. She indulges in the vapidness of empty sex, alcohol and luxury food she cannot afford, and by the end has learned absolutely nothing. She ends the story in the exact same place she started, having undergone no character growth or development. Maybe the intent was “realism”, but from a story-telling perspective, this is a problem. Nothing changed over the course of my read. In other words; it was pointless. Those few beautiful lines of prose, unfortunately flanked by an equal amount of “not quite” sentences that just missed the mark when aiming for profound, weren’t enough to redeem the book for me. I’m interested to see what Sara Freeman writes in the future, but this unfortunately wasn’t a book I’ll go out of my way to recommend. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: horror, supernatural thriller Published: Poisoned Pen Press, May 2023 My Rating: 3.5/5 stars, rounded up "An entire life devoted to the care and nurturing of another, always fearing, always convinced you were screwing up, knowing deep down that whatever happened would be your fault. The surprising thing was that more mothers didn’t lose their minds." The line between the normal anxieties of new motherhood and dangerous delusions blur in this sophomore horror-thriller by Katrina Monroe. Dark, tense and impossible to put down once I got started; I deliciously devoured this in less than 2 days, but was left with a slightly bitter aftertaste by the aftertaste. Synopsis: Being a new mother can be plenty scary on its own right, and yet Olivia and her wife Kris have more to worry about than your average couple. Olivia was the victim of an attempted murder by her own mother when she was only 4 months old. Suffering from what was assumed to be post-partum psychosis, her mother became convinced that the baby she was taking care of wasn’t her daughter Olivia, but instead a changeling, swapped out by a black-haired woman who has been lurking at the edge of her vision ever since she gave birth. The only way to get her real daughter back, is to do the unthinkable to the changeling. Saved in the nick of time by her grandmother, Olivia grows up without contact with her institutionalized mother, never knowing her side of the story of what happened that day, but never feeling the need to find out. That changes, when soon after giving birth to a daughter of her own, Olivia finds herself stalked visions of a black-haired woman herself. Has she inherited her mothers mental illness, or is something more happening here? What I loved: “Motherhood-horror” is a trope that seemingly gets me every time, and Katrina Monroe delivered even more so than she did in her debut They Drown Our Daughters. Graveyard of Lost Children truly managed to unnerve and disturb me, not only with its eerie imagery, but more so with its terrifying roots in reality. This needs to be said (and I’m glad the author herself does so on page 1): strong trigger-warnings for postpartum-depression/psychosis and subsequent thoughts of harm to self- and baby. Being inside Olivia’s mind as she begins to question if she’s losing her grip on reality is terrifying. I wasn’t able to find out if Monroe is speaking from a point of close experience herself, but her depiction of these difficult topics feel respectful and genuine. Her character work is impeccable here: she manages to portray Olivia as a likable and simultaneously unreliable narrator; a combination that is difficult at the best of times. She also keeps her sympathetic and (sort of) relatable, despite the very dark inner demons she wrestles during the story. The same can be said for Kris: I loved her character and the way their relationship was portrayed. Because I came to care for the characters, I was tense throughout the entire story almost up until the ending. What I didn’t love: By the 275-page mark or so, I begin to worry that the book would fail to wrap up all its threads before the end, and unfortunately that was indeed the case. The ending feels rushed and leaves a lot of questions and problems unresolved. I’m personally the kind of reader who loves when the answer isn’t spelled out, but able to be puzzled out or interpreted by the reader in a satisfactory way. That isn’t the case here: no matter which explanation you believe leaves plot holes and unresolved issues. I’m also a little conflicted on my thoughts on the representation mental-health, outside of Olivia’s character. I didn’t like the depiction of the mental health-institution Shannon is committed to, ór that of her fellow inpatients. Mental health facilities are not prisons, and depictions of hysterical women being strapped to gurneys do not belong in the 21st century. You could argue that it’s a reflection of the way Shannon experienced it, or that it’s due to the storyline being set 30 years ago. It still felt like a big contrast to Olivia’s excellent portrayal. Psychosis can lead to violence in its victims, but it’s luckily very rare, and we need to retire the “Shutter-island-trope” of mental health facilities being filled with violent criminals, locked up there for life. Because of the excellent portrayal of some of the other characters, it kind of balanced things out for me, but there were moments where the Shannon’s story definitely was toeing a line I didn’t like. Overall, a wonderfully tense and gripping story that I thoroughly enjoyed about 80% off, and was ready to give a 4/5-star rating. The weak ending leaves it stuck at a 3.5, but still one I’d recommend if you’re in for a tense ride. Readalikes: The Nesting and The Ghost Woods by C.J. Cooke. Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. You can find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Middle Grade Contemporary, Novel in Verse Published: Peachtree Publishing, June 2023 My rating: 4.5/5 stars “That’s how the big changes happen: whether you like it or not.” Told in beautiful language, Half Moon Summer is a heartfelt middle grade novel about friendship, family, and finding balance between not giving up and letting go what you cannot change. The summer of Seventh Grade brings along many big changes for 12-year old Drew and Mia, that neither of them have asked for. Drew spends his first summer without his best friend Isaac, and finds himself coping with the news of his fathers recent diagnosis on his own. Mia has to divide her worries between her dying grandmother and her fathers financial troubles that threaten to lose them their family-house. The two strike up a friendship over a shared goal: training to run a half-marathon at the end of the summer. Each of them runs for reasons of their own, but along the way they learn that some tasks are to big to carry on your own, and you need the shoulder of a friend to lean on. Half Moon Summer shines in its quiet moments and shows how these small displays of family-love and friendship are the once that matter most in the end. There are few big flashy moments or perilous adventures, but there is an emotional, character driven journey to be had here. The story is told in dual POV, Drew’s sections being told in prose, and Mia’s in verse. The fact that this isn’t stated explicitly on the cover or publishers synopsis is a missed opportunity in my opinion, as I think this would help the book find its audience. Novels in verse aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, so I feel like “fair warning” will help with managing expectations and prevent disappointment. I personally really enjoyed the mixed format and loved the authors writing in general. The book is packed to the brim with quotable lines, beautiful prose and wisdoms beyond the years of its protagonists. Therein lies one of the few complaints I have about the book. Without spoiling the story: the way Drew handles his fathers situation by the end of the book didn’t feel fully authentic to me. Admirable, yes, but maybe not too realistic for a 12-year-old-boy who’s only gotten this big news sprung on him. Grief in all its forms is a journey that takes time, and I personally would’ve loved to see Drew start that journey, but not necessarily being rushed to the end in order for the story to complete his arc. It’s okay to show kids that these things aren’t easy, and that it’s normal to take your time. Apart from that minor point of critique, I wholeheartedly enjoyed and recommend this novel. Many thanks to Peachtree Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Contemporary Fiction Published: Knopf, July 2022 My Rating: 2/5 stars “What is a game?" Marx said. "It's tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. It's the possibility of infinite rebirth, infinite redemption. The idea that if you keep playing, you could win. No loss is permanent, because nothing is permanent, ever.” This is not a “my feelings are somewhere in the middle”-3-star rating. This is more so an “I feel so conflicted that I don’t even know what the sensible middle-ground would be”-3-star rating. This is going to be a long, possibly rambly and spoiler-filled review, so I will give you the short summary up front: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow falls into this rare category of books that I would confidently recommend to some others, even though I personally really didn’t like it. That’s because those reasons for why I hated it are so specific to me and my personal allergies as a reader, that I don’t think they will apply to many others. First and spoiler-free: the entirety of this book I felt like I was reading a John Green novel, written under a pseudonym. That’s probably a phenomenal compliment to the author, but personally for me, John Green is so far in my allergy zone that I can’t enjoy anything that even resembles his style. If you do however, I think it’s a safe bet that you’ll love this too. The book has some very strong points, especially in the first half, which I will mention later on, but undercuts itself in other aspects. Mild spoilers from hereon out, heavy spoilers underneath the spoiler-tag. What I loved: What drew me to this novel originally, is the idea of a story centering around a life-long platonic friendship, rather than a romantic relationship. Friendship is so underappreciated in art and our modern culture compared to romantic love, so my ace-loving self was all for bringing some good friendships into the literary spotlight. Additionally, I really enjoyed the portrayal of the creative and artistic process of videogame design. My lifelong best friend works in the field, so I know how much of a nightmare the industry can be from a secondhand perspective. (She loves this aspect of the book, but has similar issues with some of the element I’ll mention later on, so ultimately feels conflicted just like me). You don’t have to be a game-enthusiast to relate to this part however. Anyone who engages in any form of art will recognize elements of it: the struggles of bring the vision in your head into reality (especially when you’re just starting and, as the novel says so beautifully “your taste exceeds your abilities), the vulnerability that comes with showing your art to the world, and the massive pressure to follow up a first-time success with a sequel. All of this is present in the first half. Unfortunately, it’s in the second half where the story takes a dramatic, or should I say melodramatic turn for the worse. What I didn’t love: This is where the similarities to John Greens work come in. None of these characters feel like actual people. Rather, they’re pretentious facades for the author to show-off their own intelligence and “culturedness”. They endlessly spout overly deep and philosophical thought and reference and quote the Iliad and Shakespeare in random dialogue, before throwing some clever pop-culture reference in for good measure. I’m fine with all those things being in a novel, but not in the dialogue of teens/young adults because NOBODY ACTUALLY SPEAKS LIKE THIS! This was true for Sadie in particular, who felt very “not-like-other-girls”, based on the sole character trait that she likes videogames, and is the sole woman in a man-dominated field. There are so many opportunities for her to grow throughout the rest of the story, yet she never really seems to do so. Secondly, the way Sam's disablity was used as a "tool" in the story didn't sit well with me. It's often brought up to show how "sad and miserable his life is". It's more than just the character himself expressing having these feelings at times (which is natural); it's the author's feelings shining through that bothered me. Sam's disability is used as his "excuse" to be depressed and to feel like his life is hopeless. There's nothing wrong with writing this kind of character, but to put him as the lovable protagonist we're supposed to see ourself in isn't the healthiest portrayal of a disabled character. Thirdly, I mentioned that I was very excited to read a novel centered around lifelong friendship rather than romantic love. Unfortunately, I just didn’t quite love this particular friendship. Multiple reviewers have mentioned annoyance with the constant conflict and bickering between the two, but my major issue lies on a deeper level and involves story-spoilers. BEWARE: STORY-SPOILERS AHEAD Some of Sam’s behaviour and motivations seriously soured the idea of their friendship for me. Later on in the story, it is revealed that Sadie is the one who pushed for a platonic relationship, whilst Sam initially had romantic feelings for her. He just never acted on them, fearing rejection based of his disability and ethnicity. Uncalled-out racism and ableism aside, him keeping this a secret for years puts their entire friendship on inequal footing, which bothered me a lot. Another example of Sams behaviour bothering me, is when he swindles his way back into Sadies life via a game he designed especially for her. It sounds sweet, perhaps “romantic” even, but take into account that Sadie has just experienced a major traumatic loss and is suffering from post-natal depression. She tells Sam she wants space, and he just completely disrespects her boundaries and manipulates his way back into her life. I personally have one lifelong friendship that lasted through periods of depression on both of our sides. The only way it did so, was that we trusted each other enough to provide the other space when they needed it. “Being there” for someone in grief, illness or depression does not always mean “being by their side”. It means being by their side when they need you to be, but also at a far distance when thát’s what they ask of you, regardless of how hard that is. Sam and Sadie aren’t shown to have this trust, despite the author telling us on multiple occasions that they do. Finally, I didn’t enjoy what the author did to Marx. This is very personal to me, so please feel free to disregard this point completely. His death due to gun-violence felt so out of left field. It felt like a cheap way to get the character out of the way to further Sadie’s storyline, whilst also jerking some emotions from the reader. The idea that this happened because of the portrayal of a same-sex marriage in a videogame also felt too far fetched to me. I will 100% admit that this might be a cultural difference: I’m not American. Gay-rights and LGBTQ-acceptance is not perfect in the Netherlands, but it’s about 50 years ahead of the US, so this stuff feels so strange to me personally to read about. You can find this book here on Goodreads. This novel was purchased with my own money, and all opinions are my own.

Genre: Middle-grade fantasy Published: Candlewick Press, March 2023 My Rating: 5/5 stars Look, I’ve done the whole “I’m not crying, you are- gag” a few times with these middle-grade books that unexpectedly get me in the feelings… This time I’m not even apologizing: I was full-on in tears by the end, and I’m not even ashamed of it. I read and review quite a wide range of genres: from high-brow literary fiction to horror, from medical memoirs to 800+ page-fantasy epics. And yet middle-grade fiction can be a league of its own, and a craft I respect to my core. There’s this saying that if you can’t explain something to a 12-year-old, you don’t understand it well enough. Books like this exemplify that saying; they boil a story and an emotional journey down to the core, and distill it for a 12-year-old to understand (without patronizing or talking down to them!) in a way that many a literary fiction author fails to do in double the page count. Our story begins on the titular island of Earth’s End, the smallest of the Gardenia Archipelago. So small in fact that it only has three inhabitants; twelve year old Henna and her two papa’s. As a family, they act as caretakers of the island and its lush variety of plants and gardens. That all changes, when one of Henna’s papas falls seriously ill. When Henna learns of the existence of a legendary, near-extinct plant with miraculous healing powers that used to grow on the Gardenia’s, she is determined to find the last seed to save her papa. To do so, she must apply to the St. Basil’s Conservatory; a botanical boarding school on the main isle which is rumoured to own the last seed. Along her journey, she is helped by her two roommates: genderfluid, quick-witted P, who’s nose for schemes and adventure proves more than helpful, and Lora; the self-reliant and resourceful daughter of one of the richest businessmen of the area. Will they succeed their quest before it’s too late. In short: this book has everything I love. On the surface: it has gardening, botany and the love of nature. On a deeper level, it covers big emotions such as grief, including the specific kind of anticipated grief that comes from the illness of a loved-one, that many children’s fiction shies away from. In contrast, it’s packed to the brim with love, tender friendships, adventure and found family to keep the story from becoming too heavy. There’s a wide range of representation; from Henna’s two-dad-family-system, to her two friends (one of which identifies as non-binary, and the other uses a wheelchair), to the staff and students at school who each come from different ethnic and financial backgrounds. All these themes are appropriately depicted and discussed in a way that’s natural and never preachy. It’s clear the author wanted readers to see themselves in these characters, rather than “be taught about them”. This is what true representation is all about. As far as the representation I can personally speak to (disability/wheelchair use, grief and loss of parent and the inequal opportunities in schools/academia): I 100% recommend this to readers of all ages 12-and-up. Especially great for fans of Ali Standish and Lisette Auton. As for me, I’m happy to count this as the newest addition to my middle-grade favourite shelf. You can find this book here on Goodreads.

At the start of April I shared my TBR for the Magical Readathon in which I mentioned my goal of completing 12 books to fit the prompts for my selected career path as an Alchemist/Druid. I of course, forgot to take into consideration that there would be ARCs that needed reviewing and library books to be read before return-date, that I hadn’t included in that TBR. As such I ended up with a fairly ridiculous TBR, two of which I retroactively worked into the remaining prompts for the Magical Readathon, making it so I completed them all. By the end of the month, I completed 16 books. In this post I will talk briefly about all of them, discuss my rating and link to additional reviews where I’ve written them. Magical Readathon Reads: The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell Prompt: Alchemy: a book with metal in the title Verdict: 3/5 stars An entertaining locked room mystery set at the fictional equivalent of The Great British Bake-off. I was entertained throughout, although the one-dimensional characters and predictable plotpoints kept it from being a standout in the genre. Full review here. Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad Prompt: Animal Studies: a non-fiction book No rating Suleika Jaouad’s memoir on her life before, during and after her cancer diagnosis. This was one of the hardest books for me to read, let alone review, due to the subject matter hitting so close to home. I’ve decided not to rate it, but I have written down some thoughts in my Goodreads review. Overall: I highly recommend this book, but be aware that it might be a tough read, as it was for me. Emily Wildes Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett Prompt: Artificary: start a book with a snack Verdict: 3.5/5 stars A cozy, cottage-core fantasy about a scholarly young woman traveling to a remote Nordic village to research a species of faeries. I actually really enjoyed this book, which says a lot coming from me. I’m basically the fae-grinch: I’m só over that trope that I will actively avoid any book that even mentioned it in the synopsis. I trusted Heather Fawcett to put her own spin on it, and I’m glad I did. Full review here. Sea Bean by Sally Huband Prompt: Astronomy: a book with 2 E’s in the title Verdict: 2.5/5 stars Not my lowest rating of the month, but my biggest disappointment nonetheless. This was a book I’ve talked about multiple times as one of my most anticipated releases, for its story that promised to interweave a narrative of disability and chronic illness with a sort of “travel-journal” of the author exploring various northern European beaches. I haven’t quite figured out what happened here, but I felt completely void throughout the entire book, even though on all accounts I should’ve been able to relate an engage with all of the subjectmatter. I will try to update or write a full review, if I figure out what happened here, but for now it’s an inexplicable fluke for me. Ascension by Nicholas Binge Prompt: Demonology: a book compared to one of your favourites Verdict: 3/5 stars A proper review is currently in the making, because I had a lot of conflicting thoughts about this one. In short: yes, the comparison to Annihilation is valid, as is the one to Thin Air. The problem is exactly that: this book has an identity crisis. It’s a strange mixture of amazing and quite smart speculative concepts, and some of the worst dialogue and cheesy, cliché reveals possible. The dissonance is so great that at times I felt like I was reading two completely different books. Beneath the Earth, A Sea by Chris Beckett Prompt: Illusion: match your outfit to the cover of your book (photographic evidence below) Verdict: 3.5/5 stars Another book that could’ve easily fitted the previous prompt of being compared to Annihilation. Again: valid comparison, and I liked this book a bit more than Ascension. It knows what it wants to do (going full in on the high-brow, metaphorical side of speculative), but loses subtlety along the way. Bonus points for having some of the best and strangest nature descriptions I’ve encountered recently though. Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah Prompt: Elemental control: flowers on the cover Verdict: 1/5 stars The worst read of the month by a stretch. The less said about this one, the better, but if you want I have a full Good-Bad-and-Ugly style review here. Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger Prompt: Inscription: a book from your highest shelf Verdict: 5/5 stars We can keep this one short for a completely different reason; Elatsoe was a reread that 100% stood up to scrutiny. It was a favourite before, and remains a favourite still. Full review can be found here. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross Prompt: Lore: a book with a map Verdict: 4/5 stars A Fire Endless was the satisfying conclusion to the Elements of Cadance duology, starting with A River Enchanted. It has strong “YA-fantasy-vibes” which isn’t my personal favourite, yet I still found myself deeply attached to these characters and rooting for their happy ending. Full review on both novels in the duology here. The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker Prompt: Spells and Incantations: a book with between 389 and 410 pages Verdict: 4.5/5 stars This was a great take on the classical maritime/coastal ghost-story with an important message of learning from the past, or risk it haunting you forever. A bit of a slow burner, but a beautiful atmospheric tale underneath. The Hollow Kind by Andy Davidson Prompt: Restoration: pick a book from your TBR with your eyes closed Verdict: 4.5/5 stars This intense Eldrich horror novel got under my skin more than I expected it too. With influences of The Haunting of Hill House, H.P. Lovecraft and the film Hereditary and beautiful prose that rises well above the average horror-novel, there was a lot to love here. Especially during the first 50% or so, I was ready to give this book 5-stars, but unfortunately it didn't stick its landing the way I hoped it would. I guess it shows again that, when it comes to the Lovecraftian, less is more and "showing too much" can actually lessen the impact of the terror you've set up. Full review will be coming, after I've let it sink a bit, and decided on a final rating. Wolfwood by Marianna Baer Prompt: Shapeshifting: Wolf on cover, title or author name Verdict: 5/5 stars One of the most criminally underhyped Young Adult releases of the year, about a 16-year old girl uncovering her mums past through the lush artistic worlds of her paintings. Although it’s marketed as fantasy, it feels more like contemporary with some magical realism elements, with great attention to detail in the characters personal lives and their interactions. Full review here, please check this book out if it sounds even remotely interesting to you. Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward Prompt: Psionics and Divination: clouds on the cover. Verdict: 5/5 stars I was a fan of Catriona Ward before, and I’m an even bigger fan now. Looking Glass Sound is her latest, and my favourite novel by her. Elements of the classic Stephen-King-esque novel, combined with existential and metaphysical dread and exploration of childhood trauma make for an absolute masterpiece of horror. Full review here. Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka Prompt: Conjuration: a book recommended by a friend Verdict: 4/5 stars This magical realism/political satire about a Sri-Lankan man making his way through the first 7 days of the afterlife after his murder has been discussed by many reviewers with much more knowledge about it, so I don’t feel like there’s much I can add. The short and sweet is that I completely agree. This book is smart, funny, dark and despite the very specific mythology and political/societal commentary on Sri-Lankan life, still manages to be accessible to an outsider like me. Additional Reads (outside readathon-prompts): Shy by Max Porter Verdict: 2/5 stars Oh Max Porter, why must you disappoint me this bad…? Full review here. Brother and Sister Enter the Forest by Richard Mirabella Verdict: 4.5/5 stars I was unsure what to expect of this literary novel about the volatile bond between a troubled pair of siblings when I was sent it for review, but it was such a positive surprise. Full review here. That concludes my April wrap-up, and my semi-structured reading for a while to come. I’m not planning on a set TBR for the month of May, although I do have a few books I’d like to get to, including Demon Copperhead, The Graveyard of Lost Children and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow. If you participated in the Magical Readathon this year, let me know if you managed to complete all the challenges you’ve set for yourself, as well as what was your favourite read. Happy reading, and until next time.

Genre: Literary Fiction Published: Faber & Faber, October 2022 My Rating: 4.5/5 stars “A good story doesn’t just copy life, it pushes back on it.” With the amount of praise this book has gotten, you guys don’t need me to tell you that this is good. Because it is. Barbara Kingsolver has taken on the absolutely daunting task of retelling a world famous classic, with a modern twist, and has somehow managed to do justice to the original, whilst simultaneously writing a novel that stands well enough on its own. What I loved: Almost everything that needs to be said about this novel has already been said by other reviewers, and I mostly agree with the majority. Technically, I think this novel is brilliant. Barbara Kingsolver had already proven herself as a fantastic author with Flight Behaviour and The Poisonwood Bible, but this is another testament to her talent. Through her words and narrative voice, Demon Copperhead came to life as a character far more than David Copperfield ever did. They same goes for many of the side characters, which are all very recognizable from their original counterparts; keeping the essential elements and building onto them. The same could probably be said about the entirety of Demon Copperhead. It echoes the themes and structure of David Copperfield, but adds a modern coat of paint to it, without discrediting the original. I’ve seen other reviewers mention this felt like “another woke-modern-retelling”: it didn’t feel like this to me. It all felt authentic and fitting, and right up until about the 60% I was sure I would give this novel 5-stars. What I didn’t love: It’s about that 60% mark where some things began to bother me. Mostly, it was the stereotyping of the environment Demon grows up in, and the choices he made in life because of it. I’m not American and I’ve never been to Appalachia, but you cannot convince me that every single person there is a substance-addicted hillbilly. Yet many of the characters, including Demon himself play into that stereotype, right up until the end. (view spoiler in my Goodreads Review) Much of that is in stark contrast with the core message at the center of David Copperfield about social mobility being possible thanks to making the right (moral) choices. The ending, maybe because of the aforementioned spoiler, didn’t feel completely earned to me, and the final image Kingsolver sent us off with felt uncharacteristically “romanticized”. For that reason, Demon Copperhead missed the full 5-star mark in its final stretches, but still stands out to me as a phenomenal piece of fiction that I can support being awarded the Women’s Prize for fiction. Find this book on here Goodreads

Genre: horror Published: Viper Press/Serpents Tail, April 2023 My Rating: 5/5 stars “I don’t think people should live by the ocean. It’s too big to understand.” I have really enjoyed Catriona Wards brand of horror in the past, but Looking Glass Sound hit me on an even deeper and more existential level than any of her previous works did. What seemingly starts off as a traditional King-esque thriller about a trio of teens confronted with the threat of a serial killer in a small town quickly opens up to reveal a layered masterpiece of metaphysical horror on memory, storytelling and more. Synopsis: Our story begins in the late 1980’s, with 16-year old Wilder, vacationing with his parents in a cottage in rural Maine’s Whistler Bay. Over the course of the summer, Wilder develops a close friendship with Nat and Harper, exploring the beaches and scaring each other with local legends of oceanic ghosts and the infamous serial killer known as the Dagger Man of Whistler Bay. The three make a seemingly naive vow to return to this place every year to meet up, and relive these glorious days. When a gruesome discovery is made, involving the legend of the Dagger Man, it reframes the magical events of this summer forever. Wilder, unable to shake the trauma of what happened that fateful summer, returns years later to Whistler Bay to face his ghosts and to finish his book: the autobiographical tale of the summer that changed his life. Before long, the lines between facts and fiction begin to blur for Wilder ánd for us as the reader. A layered masterpiece Ward weaves a tale of layer upon layer, twist upon turn, and, fiction upon truth. The result had my had reeling in the best way possible, and makes for a novel that I couldn’t stop thinking about even after putting it down. I read it compulsively and even caught it doing circles in my head when I was doing something else entirely. The setting and atmosphere are vivid, characters are memorable, but the true strength of the book is in its unpacking of the nature of storytelling and memory. Wilders novel is an exorcism of his own childhood trauma: revisiting it, examining it through the eyes of different “characters” involved, and ultimately twisting and warping it into a cohesive narrative. For both the character ánd the reader, it’s a trip through the looking glass; a desperate hunt for answers in a tale that seems to spiral its way down into the dark. These meta-layers make Looking Glass Sound a that novel requires the readers full attention. It also made it one of my favourite reads of the year so far, as a mindboggling piece of psychological horror, but also a heart wrenching and strangely relatable tale of a man haunted by childhood trauma he cannot shake. Personal take-aways Full disclosure: I read this book as I’m in the middle of writing my own novel. A lot of these themes of storytelling were already taking up free real-estate in my mind, so that may have helped to deepen the impact this book had on me personally. It does not take away from the depth of my recommendation that you read this book. If you are a fan of psychological horror, do yourself a favour and set apart a chunk of time to commit to this book. Catriona Ward has created a masterpiece that I hope will be enjoyed by many. Many thanks to Viper Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. You can find this book here on Goodreads

Genre: Literary fiction Published: Catapult/Dreamscape Audio, March 2023 My Rating: 4.5/5 stars Richard Mirabella delivers an impressive debut with this literary novel about trauma, queer coming-of-age, and the unique, volatile bond between a brother and a sister. Our story opens with Willa, a put-together if somewhat withdrawn nurse, finding her estranged brother on her doorstep, in need of a place to stay. His turbulent teen-years involving a toxic relationship, a horrific crime and the physical effects of a traumatic brain injury have sent Justin into a spiral of self-destruction, and forced Willa to cut ties with him to protect her own stability. Now years later, his reentry into her life sets the two off on a path towards tentative reconnection. However, the past still hangs between them and more than time is needed to mend old wounds. Through beautiful prose and poignant insights, Mirabella does something that few books in its genre are able to do: it captures the quiet, everyday-fallout of trauma. When it comes to traumatic coming-of-age narratives, there’s the temptation to flare into the dramatic. To show the highest of highs, only to almost physically jerk the tears from your audiences eyes during the tragic lows. For a textbook example of that, we need look no further than a book I’ve already seen some reviewers compare this to: A Little Life. Dear readers, this book is not like A Little Life. Where A Little Life is a bombastic orchestra, this is a quiet, acoustic ballad that never feels like it revels in the characters misery. In my opinion, this is much harder to do and therefore much more impressive when done right. Mirabella expertly captures the shaky grounds on which the relationship between Willa and Justin is funded, and their tentative attempts at reconnection. I also really enjoyed the imagery used, especially the dioramas Willa builds to literally frame her personal memories. What had me round my 4.5 down instead of up comes down to two issues: the pacing and the audiobook. The pacing took a bit of a dip between the 40 and 70% mark. It wasn’t that I wanted more “action”, but around this point the heaviness of the subject matter, in combination with very little “lightness” in between made the book feel very bleak. So much so, that I couldn’t quite enjoy my time with the book for a while. My second issue is regarding the audiobook, which I was specifically sent for review. I feel the audio-narration would’ve been improved with a second (male) narrator for Justin’s POV. Although I enjoyed the female narrator overall, she worked very hard to differentiate her voice between the characters. For Justin and Grace specifically, she was quite obviously “performing a man and an elderly woman” respectively, which distracted from the story a bit. Many thanks to the publisher Dreamscape Media for providing me with an advanced-audio copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. You can find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Literary Fiction Published: Faber & Faber, April 2023 My Rating: 2/5 stars “The night is huge and it hurts.” Since I’ve enjoyed the originality and style of Max Porters previous works so much in the past, his next novel was an easy addition to my most-anticipated list of 2023 releases. Unfortunately, it has quickly vacated that spot and made its way to my most-disappointing list from there on. Although made out of the same building blocks as Grief is the Thing with Feathers and Lanny, Shy stands out to me as Porters weakest work to date. The story set-up is simple: we follow our titular protagonists; a troubled teen with a violent past and an unsure future. We meet him in the darkness of night, as he runs away from the Last Chance-home where he lives with other “delinquents and disturbed young men”, carrying nothing but a backpack filled with rocks. As Shy converses with the voices in his head throughout his hike, we slowly get to know his inner world and what brought him to where he is now. From the first page, Porters distinguishing style that blurs the line between prose, poetry and typography is evident. Themes explored in Lanny and Grief is the Thing with Feathers make a reappearance as well: unruly boys coming of age and having the chaos of their inner world leak into the outside world. Where they somehow fell into place with his previous works, these signature “Porter-elements” began to feel gimmicky and stale in Shy. The innovative quality that transformed them is absent. Shy attempts to set itself apart as an “edgier/darker” tale, mostly by leaning into the ugliness, violence and vulgarity of this teens mind. Although I can see what the author tries to do here, using 5 swear-words and mentioning dicks on every page does not make for an “raw” or “artsy” novel in my book. No matter how befitting it might be of the protagonists noisy and chaotic inner-world. In short: it’s more of the same from what we know from Porter. Just not necessarily more of what made his writing special to me. (succinctness, originality and capacity for innovation). You can find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Magical Realism, Young-Adult Published: Levine Querido, August 2020 My Rating: 5/5 stars, all-time favourite Elatsoe (both the character and the story) has had a special place in my heart since I first read it in 2021, yet this re-read cemented it as a definitive all-time favourite. Nothing is harder to review than a feeling a book gives you, but I’ll do my best anyway. Elatsoe is what I imagine a hug made out of paper and words to feel like. Not just any hug though… A hug after hard times; a bit like a comforting embrace following a funeral. A hug in which you know that sad things are happening around you, but you will get through it together, because you’re safe in the connection to your loved ones. The Story Elatsoe tells the story of a Lipan Apache teen, who lives in an America quite similar to our own. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. When Ellie’s beloved cousin becomes the victim in a horrible crime, she sets off on a journey for answers. Along the way, she’s helped by her inherited talent for communicating with- and raising ghosts. With the wisdom of her ancestors, including her namesake Six-great Grandmother, and her the loyal ghost of their late family dog Kirby, Ellie sets off on a quest to protect the community she loves. A quest that will take her from the mysterious neighboring town of Willowbee to the depths of the underworld… Connections and the power of family Ellie’s journey is far from easy. Despite the warm feeling this book has, Darcie Little Badger never shies away from difficult topics like grief, discrimination, and violence- and injustice against native communities. What sets Ellie apart from many other YA-protagonists though, is that she’s never alone in facing these challenges. Her bravery to face them comes not from the typical teen-bravado, but from the confidence that she is embedded and backed by a support system that tracks back generations. Family is at the core of this novel. They may not always agree with each-other, but they are always present to back Ellie and catch her when she falls. The foundation of this support system go back decades, and even transcend death, as Ellie knows herself to be supported by not only her living relatives, but the ghosts of her ancestors as well. I love this message to my core. Death doesn’t mean gone from your life: the support your family and loved ones gave you, the challenges they overcame… you carry that with you, as the legacy they leave behind. Note that any time I mention “family”, I’m not only talking about blood relatives. Jay, Ellie’s best friend, feels as much part of the family as the others. Ellie, and of course in extension Darcie, knows how family can be made from the people you surround yourself with. Keeping an open mind to a beautiful world Open mindedness and curiosity are another core theme of Elatsoe. You’d have to, living in a world like Ellie’s. To quote her “Even if most urban legends were fictitious, Ellie had a ghost dog companion. When it came to strange stuff, she could not be too open-minded”. Ellie and her family take this inquisitive and tolerant worldview towards the supernatural elements, but also towards any real-life differences they encounter. For example: Ellie is asexual (mentioned on page) and nobody makes a big deal of this, including her best friend Jay. This shouldn’t be that rare in YA-literature, but it creates a beautiful kind of world, and one that I’d love to live in. Speaking of beautiful worlds: the imagery in Elatsoe is stunning, especially when it comes to the underworld. This is only enhanced by the physical beauty of the hardback, adorned with illustrations throughout. Chef’s kiss to the illustrator and cover-artist. If you’ve made it this far into my gush, I don’t know what else to say to convince you to read this book honestly. Elatsoe is a beautifully inclusive, supportive, and important novel that mixes socially relevant themes with humor, phenomenal characters and a great support-system for our protagonists. It also has a lovable ghost-dog, so if that doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will… 😉 Massive thanks goes to Kayla from BooksandLala, without whom I’d have never found this gem. You can find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Young Adult Horror Published: Wednesday Books, February 2023 My Rating: 1/5 stars It’s been a while since a book made me angry enough to warrant a “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" style review, but thanks to Where Darkness Blooms here we are. I really appreciated what the author was trying to do, and the themes they were trying to tackle, but unfortunately, the execution was just all over the place. So much so, that it did more harm than good in some places. Long review incoming! The Good: Credits where credits are due: this book nails its aesthetics. And I’m not just talking about the cover, although that one deserves some awards in its own right. Massive, massive compliments to Marcela Bolivar, for not only creating this stunning artwork, but also capturing the feeling of this book so well within it. Thát is what good cover-art is all about!! The aesthetics within this book are spot on as well. Every descriptions of scenery of the rural town of Bishop and its surrounding sunflower-fields painted a vivid picture in my mind, and ended up tying into the plot as well. The beauty and claustrophobic, creeping dread of the landscape are balanced well, which isn’t easy to pull off. Unfortunately, that’s where my praise ends. The Bad: Although the world that these characters inhabit may look pretty, it doesn’t make sense. Which is my way of saying: it’s riddled with plot holes. From page one, there are signs that this world either isn’t thought through enough, or the author accepted some non-sensical things, just so the plot could progress. As a very early (so least spoilery) example: Our four protagonists are underaged, yet live completely emancipated in a giant house by themselves, after their mothers went missing years ago. How does any of this work? Who takes care of them? Where are their dads? Where the heck is CPS? How do they afford this house and bills when they’re all still in school? Why does nobody question any of this? The author makes a flimsy attempt at explaining that their fathers “were absent all their lives, so they can take care of themselves” or something… All I kept thinking was: these are literal children, none of this is legal, and none of this is okay… Things only get worse from there: the town being fully functional, yet completely cut off from the entire rest of the world (like how the hell do supplies get here than? The townspeople don’t live off sunflower-seeds alone, do they?), the inhabitants not questioning some very strange and unacceptable situations and our protagonists being the first ever smart girls to do so… it all felt so unbelievable to me. Also, the trope of non-communication does a lot of heavy lifting, which is never a good thing. If a conflict only holds as long as the protagonists don’t talk to each other, it isn’t a good conflict to center your story around. The Ugly: Depending on how sensitive to spoilers you are: consider this your warning. I will mention as few as possible specific plot-points, but I will discuss major themes and “reveals”, including late-story ones. This book clearly tries to communicate a central message of feminism, but it’s a strange branch of feminism that is prevalent in YA these days, and that I’m increasingly uncomfortable with. Let’s call it “chosen-girl-feminism”. In these stories, all men are assholes, and all women are victims. That alone is problematic enough of a take, but let’s continue. Enter our chosen protagonist: the first girl with the smarts to question the status quo, and the power to defeat the male-threat, where countless other women have failed. Where Darkness Blooms takes that to the extreme with the following. Near the end, our characters reflect on why they could break this curse, when generations of women, including their mothers failed. We then get this gem of an explanation: “they weren’t ready to break the curse”. It’s this strange way of making our protagonists feel special, but simultaneously victim-blaming the other women in the story as “if only they’d been strong/ready/special enough, this wouldn’t have happened”. Victim-blaming shows up in a more literal form as well, when Evan, who we’re supposed to like, tells one of the girls “she asked for/wanted to be sexually assaulted”. Hard no. The “chosen-girl-feminism” makes another appearance at the end, when our four mains make it out of the town, after they’ve destroyed it with the power of their collected female rage. We’re supposed to see this as a victorious ending, and completely ignore the faith of literally every other woman in that town! Our mains made it out right… Who cares about the rest. I don’t really know how else to say this than: this is not my kind of feminism. My kind of feminism is not just for a chosen few, but inclusive to everybody. Speaking of inclusivity, my second gripe with this book lies with its minority-representation, which felt very tagged-on. I appreciate the mention of characters of colour, indigenous characters, and trans-characters, but neither these themes or the characters were explored enough to feel like they belonged in the story. They felt like tokens to pay the way past a sensitivity-panel. In my opinion, banning your minority characters so far to the margins of your story is almost more harmful than not mentioning them at all. “I acknowledge your existence, but you cannot take away center stage from my protagonists”. Again; not my kind of inclusivity. On a final short note, as many other reviewers have already pointed this out: the mothers in this story are terrible for abandoning their daughters in the way they did and do not deserve to be forgiven so easily. The “happy ending” here is completely unearned and unsatisfying. If you’re looking for something similar (small-town horror with ghosts/creepy vibes, similar themes and some LGBTQIA+ rep), I’d recommend: The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould, We Speak in Storms by Natalie Lund or Burn Our Bodies Down by Rory Power. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Fantasy Published: Harper Collings, Dec 2022 My Rating: 4/5 stars Note: this is part two in the Elements of Candence duology. Link to my review on the first book here. It really snuck up on me how attached I had gotten to this series and its characters. Within only two books, Rebecca Ross created a world and a cast of characters that vividly came to life in my mind’s eye and will probably remain there for years to come. A Fire Endless follows perfectly in A River Enchanted’s footsteps, and my thoughts on both books boil down to the same core message: I loved the worldbuilding, the atmosphere and the distinct Scottish-folklore-vibes this series has. As mentioned, I also found myself even more in love with these characters than I first anticipated, and was actually holding my breath and rooting for them throughout the story. I do feel these books have a distinct YA-feeling to them, despite being marketed as adult fantasy, having protagonists in their twenties, and containing quite mature themes. My main personal gripe is that typical YA-instance to put the romance center-stage, even if that is sometimes completely at odds with the other stakes presented in the story. Spoiler-free example: in book one, the central plot revolves around young girls (including the protagonists family-members) going missing from the town, and a literal war between rival clans raging. With such high-stakes concurrent plotlines, I have a hard time focusing on the romance, or believing the main characters would. Clearly all that is personal preference, but it was the main factor that made this a 4-star read, instead of a 5-star one. If you are typically more of a fan of fantasy-romance though, I can see this being an easy 5-star for you, and highly recommend it. You can find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: fantasy Published: Orbit, January 2023 My Rating: 3/5 stars “Perhaps it is always restful to be around someone who does not expect anything from you beyond what is in your nature.” I still stand by my original point: fae-stories are not my thing. Yet, if I was going to enjoy one regardless, it would have to be one by the capable hands of Heather Fawcett. I’m actually very happy I gave this book a chance, as this was such a positive surprise in every way. Synopsis: Our story begins with a prickly young professor in the field of dryadology (the study of Faeries). A meticulous researcher and a genius in her field, Emily Wilde has devoted herself to the creation of the first encyclopaedia of faerie lore. If her studies require it, she is more than willing to do field-research, and interact with the Folk themselves, even if that means some human interaction in the process as well. Something Emily has never excelled in. When her field-expedition into an elusive species of faeries in the Scandinavian woods is rudely interrupted by the arrival of her academic rival Wendell Bambleby, Emily falls into an adventure like never before. One that will require not only the use of her head, but also her heart. My Thoughts: I loved Fawcett’s take on an overcrowded genre. The story is told through Emily’s field-notes, which truly brings to life her narrative voice and her frazzled young professor persona. It also covers the whole thing in a “light-academia-”sauce, that brings an utterly unique feeling to the story. Unique is also her take on the fae-narrative. Fawcett brings us cottage-core, rather than pristine fae-courts, heroines who stand their own with their wit rather than shiny swords, and even a romance subplot that I think I’m actually on board with. Let me (without spoilers!) explain a little about that last part. My big turn-off with fae-romances, similar to bully-romances, is how unhealthy they always feel. They often start with an incredibly inequal situation and a lot of (not so) subtle coercion, often not called out on page. Fae prince captures helpless mortal woman; forces her into relationship/marriage, sometimes with the help of mind-altering glamours. He treats her like shit, but is so handsome that we’re somehow supposed to be okay with that. Cue the “dangerous situations” within the Fae-realm, where our helpless girl is saved by handsome asshole-prince and falls for him. The romance in Emily’s story clearly takes inspiration from this, but subverts all these tropes. Emily is not a helpless maiden and her mind and that of her love-interest are perfectly matched. Their relationship, their banter and their slowly building trust therefore feel very equal and deserved. NOTE: I’m not shaming anyone who loves the above mentioned style of bully-fae-coercion romance. You do you; I’m just an old lady who likes her romance to have equal power-dynamics and be filled with consent. Overall: not my typical kind of book. I definitely cringed a few times, but I also got an incredibly comforting cozy read, that came at the exact right time for me currently. Recommended? YES! If even a Faerie-scrooge like me likes it, I don’t know who won’t… 😉 You can find this book here on Goodreads.

As this is a continuation of an ongoing readathon (although you can join at any moment, as G explains in all of her videos and posts), I’m going to link to my post on the first Semester at Orillium, in which I go into a little more depth about the readathon an my character. For 2023’s readathon I will be expanding on what I’ve already built with her. To match Lyra’s ambitious nature, I’ve again created an ambitious plan for her; picking a secondary career path for her to pursue. Last year, Lyra completed the Alchemists questline, making her an Apprentice-level Alchemist already. For this year, I’d like her to continue that path, as well as return to her naturalistic roots a little by “minoring” in either Herbology or the Druids-path. I’ll decide which one in August, as the prompts for this round overlap so much that I’m able to keep all options open. In order to meet the requirements for the Assistant Alchemist ánd Novice Druid- and Herbologist, I’ll need to fulfil 11 prompts. I’m absolutely pushing my luck with those numbers, but as I have a few planned vacation days in April, I might be able to tackle it. All that said, let’s get into my personal curriculum (aka TBR) for the month: Subjects: ALCHEMY: principles of transmutation. - Read a book with a metal in the title. The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell The first prompt was immediately the hardest to match, as I only had 1 single book that would fit available. Although I don’t read a lot of mystery novels, I love the occasional cozy mystery as a “comfort read” once in a while. The Golden Spoon combines cozy mystery with another one of my guilty-comfort-pleasures: The Great British Bake-Off (or its Dutch equivalent Heel Holland Bakt). In short: we have a closed room murder-mystery that kicks off when one of the contestants of a televised baking competition is found dead on set. I’m hoping for uncomplicated cozy fun, to clear my mind after the book mentioned next. ANIMAL STUDIES: heads and tails - Flip a coin. Heads = Read a non-fiction book. Tails = Read a fiction book. Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaoud My coin landed on Heads, so I have to pick a non-fiction book. I’ve debated this pick quite a bit, as I’ve started it twice already, and couldn’t finish it because it hit too close to home. Between Two Kingdoms is Jaouds memoir, in which she details her experience of surviving cancer, and navigating the whiplash from a “terminal diagnosis” to being unexpectedly “cured”, and having to find her way back to the kingdom of the living. Obviously, if you know me and my personal background, you might see why that hits very close to home here. I still desperately want to read this book, as I think I could benefit from it, but I haven’t been in the right headspace. For that reason, I’ve decided to give this one more go: third time is the charm. If it’s still too much for me, I’m resigning in the fact that this isn’t for me at the time, but that I’ve at least given it a valiant attempt. As a backup plan, I have Into The Planet; My Life as a Cavediver reserved from the library. ARTIFICARY: conduit enhancement - Start a book with a snack. Emily Wildes Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett This prompt is a bit of a wild-card, as it can obviously be filled with any book you like. I debated on leaving it open, but to be honest, I already have a pretty good idea what book I’ll want to pick up this month regardless. Emily Wildes Encyclopedia of Faeries is one I’ve been putting off, as “fae/faeries” is one of my most potent anti-buzzwords as of late. Heather Fawcett is an author I’ve enjoyed in the past however, and I’ve heard such great things about this book that I still decided to take a risk on her. Emily Wilde promises to be more scholarly-cottage-core, and less broody-romance than your typical faerie story. In this, we follow curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love. I’ve sampled the first few pages already, and I’m hoping the atmosphere and distinctive writing thus far continue. ASTRONOMY: the Eclipse-Effect - Read a book with two E’s in the title. Sea Bean by Sally Huband One of my most anticipated releases to come out in April happens to fit this prompt perfectly. This is a literary fiction novel about chronic illness, nature and learning to cope with change, following our protagonist who, after a pregnancy triggers a chronic illness, starts on a selfreflective journey over beaches of Europe in search of sea-beans (salt-hardened tropical seeds carried by the ocean-currents across hundreds of kilometers, to wash up on a different continent). DEMONOLOGY: impersonators - Read a book that is compared to one of your favourites Ascension by Nicholas Binge My ever-going quest to find more weird-alienation-sci-fi-biological-horror fiction (yes, that’s hyper-specific, I know) like Annihilation continues. This time, I’m trying my hand at a very new release that I hadn’t heard much about, until it was comped to me as “Annihilation meets Event Horizon”. Of course; I immediately clicked “pre-order” as soon as humanly possible. The synopsis might explain indeed does remind me of those two titles. We follow a group of scientists send to investigate a the mysterious phenomenon of a mountain that has suddenly appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As their findings start to make less and less sense, paranoia rises as to the purposes of their expedition, as well as the motives of the shadowy organization that send them in the first place. I’m hyped for this book and can’t wait for April 20th to be here. ELEMENTAL CONTROL: botanical control - Read a book with a flower on the cover Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah There were plenty of choices for this prompt, but I chose this one, as my library-hold just came through. This book came to my attention mostly because of its beautiful cover, as well as being described as reminiscent of Rory Powers Burn Our Bodies Down. The town of Bishop is known for exactly two things: recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women—missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, the case is quickly closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers’ much-delayed memorial, sending them on a quest for answers. ILLUSION: disguise self - Match the cover of your book to your clothing. Tides by Sarah Freeman This one is a little difficult to predict beforehand, but I cán make an educated guess. Since its still early spring, and therefore quite chilly in The Netherlands, I love to wear my super-fluffy sea-blue fleece vest whenever I curl up on the couch with a book. The cover of Tides by Sarah Freeman matches that shade of light blue perfectly. This is another grief-read, featuring a woman who escapes her previous life after a terrible loss and ends up adrift in a wealthy seaside town with a dead cellphone and barely any money. Mired in her grief, Mara detaches from the outside world and spends her days of self-imposed exile scrounging for food and swimming in the night ocean. As an unexpected connection to the local wine-shop owner threatens to develop into something more, Mara is forced to confront her past, in order to have a shot at moving on. INSCRIPTION: glyph of flight - Pick a book from your highest shelf. Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger This prompt forces me to reread a YA or middle-grade favourite, as my top-shelf is dedicated to them. I’m choosing Elatsoe, which I originally read and loved in 2021, and have been wanting to revisit ever since. Elatsoe tells the story of a Lipan Apache teen, who lives in an America quite similar to our own. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. When Ellie’s beloved cousin becomes the victim in a horrible crime, she sets off on a journey for answers. Along the way she is accompanied by her loyal companions of raised ghosts, most importantly her ghost-dog Kirby, the friendly spirit of their childhood family-pet. LORE: Legends of Dia - read a book with a map. A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross For this, I picked A Fire Endless, the sequel to A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross, which features a beautiful map of the magical Isles of Cadence. This series has its roots firmly in Scottish mythology, and tells the story of two rival clans inhabiting the aforementioned Isles, where magic flows like rivers, and natural spirits are more than just elements of folklore. When local girls start to vanish without a trace from their villages, the local clans are quick to point fingers to the trickster spirits and other mystical forces they share their Isle with. We follow the reluctant duo of Jack and Adaira; a bard from the east and a Laird from the west, forced to join forces to uncover the mystery and return the girls home safely. I’ve been waiting for the conclusion to this duology for months now, and the lush and magical atmosphere that radiates of these pages makes it a perfect match for a magical readathon. SPELLS AND ENCANTATIONS: magical missiles - read a book with a length between exactly 389 and 410 pages The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker Other than the “metal” prompts, this too proved unexpectedly difficult, as I spent quite some time looking before I found a book on my shelves that matched this exact length. I finally found it in The Rattled Bones by S.M. Parker, which comes in at exactly 400 pages. I know fairly little about this book, but I’ve heard it described as “coastal ghost-story about uninhabited islands in unruly seas, grief, memory and the blurring of the line between life and death”, and that was all I needed to hear to be intrigued. RESTORATION: oculi cures - close your eyes, shuffle your TBR and pick a book. The Hollow Kind by Andy Davidson I was very nervous about this, but I’m very happy with the book that ended up in my hands. The Hollow Kind has been on my radar ever since its release and I’m still as intrigued as ever by it. When a troubled woman inherits her grandfather’s turpentine estate, she quickly seizes the opportunity to escape her current life, and flees to Georgia with her eleven-year-old son, Max, in tow. What she finds isn’t the idyllic refuge she hoped for; a decrepit farmhouse isolated amidst an eerie forest. A series of unexplainable and frightening events kicks off to unearth the true legacy of the Redfern family: kingdom of grief and death, and a haunting to which Nellie's own blood has granted her the key. I would love to know if you are participating in the Magical Readathon this year, and what book on your TBR you’re most excited to get to. If you’re new to the readathon, below will be the links to all the resources you need to get started, all credits of course to G from Bookroast. Happy reading this month, and to all of you participating; I wish you a magical reading adventure! Magical Readathon recourses: Introduction to the Magical Readathon Spring Equinox ’23 Announcement Video Google Drive where you can find all syllabi, character guides, additional quests and more

Suspiciously Specific is a new bi-weekly series of assorted book recommendations, inspired by the subreddit by the same name, as well as a short video-series by BooksandLala on Youtube. In short-form, I’ll recommend ten books across genres, that happen to have something very specific in common. Whether it be a very niche trope, a cover-trend, or a theme that is só specific you’re surprised there’s more than one book that includes it. Requests for a list are always welcome if you happen to have a specific trope you love, but think is too niche to find recommendations for. I’ve already announced this post a few weeks ago on Goodreads, as well as in my last post, as I’ve been wanting to share a list of my favourite setting-driven books or quite some time now. Unfortunately for me, not only did life get in the way; this list itself became a beast out of control. I found out I have far more “books where setting is as much a character as the characters” than I thought, and instead of the usual 10, I ended up with over 30 candidates… For that reason, this week’s Suspiciously Specific will be a bit more short-form than usual. Instead of going into detail on each book, I’ll simply give you the setting, genre and a link to where you can find more info (either my review or a Goodreads-page) if it tickles your fancy. Without further ado, let’s get into over 30 books, divided over three categories of settings: Natural Environments 1. Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer Genre: sci-fi horror The Setting: Area X; an abandoned, isolated stretch of wilderness that has been mysteriously cut of from contact with the rest of the world. Eleven expeditions have entered to explore and map its alien landscapes; none have returned unscathed. Today, we follow the 12th expedition, in a final attempt to uncover the secrets of Area X. Think natural, overgrown, mutated nature where everything is just a little “off”. 2. Briardark by S.A. Harian Genre: horror The Setting: a treacherous pine-forest on the edge of the Alpenglow glacier, that toys with space, time, landmarks and the expedition of people who travel within it. More reality-bending landscapes: The Ritual, Catfish Rolling 3. Circe by Madeline Miller Genre: literary fantasy The Setting: the Mediterranean island of Aeaea where our titular protagonist is send into exile. At first, she resents her prison, but as time passes she comes to love the land, its creatures and herbs, and the magic she can distill from them. More enchanted islands with strong naturalist/herbalist magic vibes: The Gloaming, The Queens of Innis Lear, A River Enchanted. 4. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens Genre: literary fiction/mystery The Setting: Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village in North Carolina, surrounded by swamplands. These swamps are home to “The Marsh-girl”, a strange young women living off the lands and far from “civilized society”. But Kya is not the feral child people think she is, which we learn as her story unfurls. 5. The Lightkeepers by Abby Geni Genre: literary fiction The Setting: an isolated lighthouse on the Farallon Islands, an exotic and dangerous archipelago off the coast of California, where our protagonist spends a year as a nature photographer, capturing the landscape and escaping her old life. More isolated lighthouses: The Lamplighters, To the Lighthouse, Julia and the Shark, The Secrets of Haven Point 6. Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky Genre: fantasy The Setting: the titular Cage of Souls: a prison island, surrounded by deadly, swampy jungle, where monsters, mutant and madmen roam within the walls ánd outside them. Tchaikovsky brings to life not only the swampy outskirts of the prison grounds, but also the city of Shadrapar where our protagonist originally hails from in vivid details. I could feel the heat, smell the swampgasses and taste the muggy air on my tongue. 7. The Martian by Andy Weir Genre: science fiction The Setting: the surface of Mars, obviously, where our protagonist is stranded with nothing but his wits to survive, after a horrible accident during the first manned Mars-mission. More Mars-settings: Red Rising (although these two books couldn’t be further apart) 8. The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher Genre: horror The Setting: we start our story in a strange museum of taxidermy and curiosities, only for our protagonists to find a hole in the wall that leads to an even stranger place. A foggy, liminal space filled willow-trees, each marking the entrance to a different, often unsettling parallel world. 9. All the White Spaces by Ally Wilkes Genre: horror The Setting: Antarctica, where a group of explorers is left stranded in the wake of WWI. They soon find themselves haunted by more than just the cold, hunger and isolation… More arctic isolation: The Glass Woman, Who Goes There 10. Healer of the Watermonster by Bryan Young Genre: magical realism, middle-grade The Setting: a Navajo reservation, where nature is literally a character, in the form of a water-spirit coming to life and befriending our protagonist. More reservation grounds in middle-grade fiction: Elatsoe & A Snake Falls to Earth 11. Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Schwarup Genre: literary fiction The Setting: sweeping across India, and bringing to life the different faces of not only its stunning landscapes, but the people who inhabit it. I’ve never wanted to visit India before this book, but after it I wish I could buy a ticket today! 12. The Forever Sea by Joshua Philip Johnson Genre: fantasy The Setting: a sailing-vessel powered by heartstone-fires, crossing the miles-high expanse of prairie grasses that form an ocean in this world. This is one of the most unique fantasy worlds I’ve ever encountered! The cover does a fantastic job of giving you an idea of the setting. Next Page Urban Settings

Houses and Buildings 1. Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson Genre: horror, classic The Setting: there is no way to do a list on significant buildings/houses in books without the quintessential haunted house that is an icon in itself. We all know Hill House, and all I can say is: it’s a classic for a reason. More haunted houses: see my Ultimate Guide to Ghost Fiction 2. House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski Genre: horror The Setting: another haunted house, making its way to being a classic within the gerne. House of Leaves is an alternative-format horror novel, completely centered around the titular house that is strangely larger on the inside than it is on the outside. We follow a range of characters, all becoming obsessed with the mystery of the house in their own way. 3. Piranesi by Suzanna Clarke Genre: fantasy The Setting: probably the hardest “place” on this list to describe, as so much of the story is about discovering just that. Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: it’s a series of classical Greek atria, spiraling endlessly. Its walls are lined with thousands upon thousands of statues, each one different from all the others. Within the labyrinth of halls an ocean is imprisoned; waves thunder up staircases, rooms are flooded in an instant. 4. Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix Genre: horror The Setting: two words: haunted Ikea… More Haunted Stores: The Sentence 5. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern Genre: fantasy The Setting: an ancient library hidden deep beneath the earth. In the words of Morgenstern herself: it’s more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. More magical libraries: The Library at Mount Char, Sorcery of Thorns 6. The Nightcircus by Erin Morgenstern Genre: fantasy The Setting: a circus that arrives without warning, opens only at night, and where actual magic is performed as a show for lucky spectators. More Magical Carnavals: Caraval, Daughter of the Burning City, Midnight at the Electric 7. A House at the Bottom of the Lake by Josh Malerman Genre: horror The Setting: the title says it all: a flooded house at the bottom of a lake. This is a take on the haunted house you haven’t seen before. More flooded houses: Cicada’s Sing of Summer Graves 8. In the Dreamhouse by Carmen Maria Machado Genre: memoir The Setting: in this spectacular memoir, Machado uses the titular house as a metaphor to explore the different “rooms” of her abusive relationship. 9. Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko Genre: fantasy The Setting: you’ve seen magical academies before, but not like this one. The Institute of Special Technologies is a place where the metaphysical unravels, where students are encouraged to question everything, and where academia is at its most alienating and infuriating. More magical Academies: Harry Potter, Amari and the Night Brothers, Babel. Note: none of them are remotely comparable to the academic-weirdness of Vita Nostra. 10. Burntcoat by Sarah Hall Genre: literary fiction The Setting: the immense urban apartment with its adjacent sculpting-atelier forms the core of this psychological novel. It’s the claustrophobic, yet comforting setting of two of our protagonists key-life events: her self-isolation with a lover she barely knew during the lockdown resulted from (a very COVID-like) pandemic, and her subsequent final days as an elderly woman reflecting on the life she’s lived.

Urban Settings 1. The City of Last Chances by Adrian Tchaikovsky Genre: fantasy The Setting: The city of Ilmar truly is more of the protagonist of this novel than any of the humans. We follow a wide range refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, against the background of a city under oppressive occupation, at the brink of revolution. 2. Jade City by Fonda Lee Genre: fantasy The Setting: an imperially ruled, Chinese-Cantonese inspired fantasy city, divided by the blood-feud between two powerful families that started over the production of rare magical jade, which grants those with the right training and heritage superhuman abilities. 3. Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft Genre: fantasy The Setting: a fantasy adaptation of the tower of Babel: Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines. 4. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor Genre: fantasy The Setting: mythic lost city of Weep, a place of myth and legends that mysteriously disappeared into oblivion. We follow a scholar with a special interest in the mythology of Weep, who joins an expedition of passionate people convinced that the City of Weep is real, and is desperate to find it. 5. Stravaganza by Mary Hoffman Genre: fantasy The Setting: each of the books takes place in a different Italian city, and its fantasy counterpart, starting with Venice. This series made the list as it’s the first book that truly inspired me to travel to the place it was set in. Walking the streets of Venice had me truly feeling like I was within this book when I first visited it at age 11. 6. A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab Genre: fantasy The Setting: four different alternate versions of London, all ruled by different magics. Our protagonist is one of the few skilled individuals capable of traveling between them and trafficking goods back and forth. More Magical London: Ordinary Monsters, Neverwhere 7. City of Islands by Kali Wallace Genre: middle grade fantasy The Setting: despite not completely loving the plot, I still cannot forget the beauty of the setting of City of Islands, which gave me major Atlantis-vibes. On a foggy archipelago within a magical ocean, we follow Mara, a young treasure-diver, scouring the ocean floor for valuables. Instead she finds the skeletons of strange creatures, thought to be long forgotten, humming with magical powers. 8. Sacaran Nights by Rachel Emma Shaw Genre: fantasy The Setting: this titular city is dark in every way possible. a city divided and permeated by rot, decay and corruption. A city blanketed in perpetual darkness by a vulcanic ashcloud, where the only light comes from the bioluminescent fungi that litter the crumbling walls. A city where the shadows of the dead walk the streets, and the living will go to great lengths to protect their legacies from corruption… One of the most vivid depictions of a fantasy-city I’ve come across recently! Even greater: this book is by a very underrated indi-author, making it a hidden gem that I’m happy to shout out. 9. The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin Genre: fantasy The Setting: A fictional version of New York City in which each of the different major boroughs has a living “soul”, in the form of a human avatar walking the streets. You can see how that would put a whole new meaning to “setting as a character”. 10. Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff Genre: fantasy The Setting: a city built on- and from the bones of dead Gods. I have to say that I don’t like this series, but some of the concepts (the shadow-familiars and this city of Godsgrave in particular) live in my mind rentfree to this day. 11. We Speak in Storms by Natalie Lund Genre: magical realism The Setting: finally, this one is not quite “urban”, but there were simply too many vivid small country-towns that I loved not to include some in this list. In this case, we have Mercer, Illinois. A town still haunted by the memory (and ghosts) of a tornado left its scars on generations of Mercernites for over 50-years now. More small country-towns with ghosts: The Dead and the Dark, Blackmouth, Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves, Saturday Nights Ghost Club, Harrow Lake. Next Page Houses and buildings

Genre: Magical Realism, horror Published: Sourcebooks Landmark, May 30th 2023 My Rating: 3/5 stars "The dead have a tight grip on this place. Did they even know their world was gone and that they were nothing more than the brutal afterimage left behind after a flashing light?" Cicadas Sing of Summer Graves is a difficult book for me to review. For one, because it doesn’t fit neatly into a single distinct genre (I’d say it’s magical realism/contemporary with a bit of horror). Also because I desperately wanted to love this book more than I did. With its stunning, descriptive writing and so many individual elements and ideas that I loved, this was a lock to be a new personal favourite. And right up until the final page I was rooting, even looking for it to be just that. Unfortunately, although the concept was a 10/10, but the execution failed to climb above a 6/10. Synopsis: Years ago, yellow fever gripped the small lakeside town of Prosper, Arkansas. At the height of that summer swelter, in the wake of an unexpected storm, the dam failed and the valley flooded—drowning the town and everyone trapped inside. Now, decades later, when a mysterious locked box is pulled from the depths of the lake, three descendants of that long-ago tragedy are hurled into another feverish summer. Cassie: the reclusive sole witness to an impossible horror no one believes. Lark: a wide-eyed dreamer haunted by bizarre visions. June: caught between longing for a fresh start and bearing witness to the ghosts of the past. Bound together, all three must contend with their home’s complex history—and with the ruins of the town lost far beneath the troubled water. What I loved: First things first: the atmosphere, the imagery and the sense of setting and place are phenomenal. Heat swelters of these pages and this entire read feels like an oppressively clammy July-day with the thickness of a thunderstorm weighing down the air. The authors have a beautifully descriptive narrative voice and a keen eye for striking scenes and setting. From a houseboat filled with glaring telescope lenses hoarded by a troubled individual, to the silhouettes of strange figures wading through reddish lake-waters; I had genuine chills from some of the pictures they painted. Additionally, the book is packed to the brim with phenomenal ideas for layered storytelling, and important themes. Each of our three protagonists, as well as some of the major side-character, each have their own (family-)history, their own themes, and even their own motifs sprinkled through the story. They also all have a historical counterpart in Old prosper, into which the authors clearly put a lot of research. Reading the foreword, you find out the story was inspired by the real Arkansas town of Bucksville, that flooded after a dam-break and an epidemic of yellow-fever. The authors specifically mention the important themes of racial- and class inequality that meant some communities were hit harder than others by the tragedy that took place. All of this was interesting, and clearly, so felt the authors. Unfortunately, trying to put it all into a single 400 page novel made for a product that is wide as a lake but deep as a puddle. What I didn’t like: Simply stated: this book was too ambitious with the amount of themes, motifs, story-lines and threads it had going on. Unable to explore them all, these ideas end up hanging in the air; unresolved and heavy like the muggy summer heat we started this review with. In my opinion, this book would’ve been better had some of the ideas been left on the cutting room floor. Sometimes less is more, and scratching can create room for more depth and a less disjointed narrative. With ideas and a stunning talent for language and writing, I cannot wait to see what this author duo produces in the future, and I will absolutely read whatever they publish next. For Cicadas, I’m left with an enjoyable read, but also the slight aftertaste of “what could’ve been”. Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own. You can find this book here on Goodreads. Available for purchase from May 30th 2023.

Genre: High Fantasy Published: Del Rey, June 2016 My Rating: 3/5 stars Synopsis: Since time immemorial, humans have worshipped the gods they call Fhrey, truly a race apart: invincible in battle, masters of magic, and seemingly immortal. But when a god falls to a human blade, the balance of power between humans and those they thought were gods changes forever. Now only a few stand between humankind and annihilation: Raithe, reluctant to embrace his destiny as the God Killer; Suri, a young seer burdened by signs of impending doom; and Persephone, who must overcome personal tragedy to lead her people. The Age of Myth is over. The time of rebellion has begun. My thoughts: I have mixed feelings about my rating of Age of Myth. This was a well-crafted high-fantasy story, that I had a good time with, and made for a great introduction into a continuing series. At the same time, that was also my problem with this book: it feels very much like an introduction. Not just to the series, but to the high-fantasy genre in its entirety. Throughout, I constantly found myself being pulled out of the story, thinking how familiar this all feels. All the classics are present here; reluctant hero’s journey, humans vs elves (although they go by a different name here), a travel-quest through Tolkien-esque inspired world… Although there’s nothing “wrong” with any of these elements, it all felt very safe, familiar and middle-of-the-road. I blame myself more than the book here. Had this been my first tip-toe into the high-fantasy genre, I would’ve probably loved this book, for the same reason that Eragon and The Name of the Wind hold such special places in my heart, despite their flaws. They were something I’d never read before at the time, and introduced me to a completely different genre. Because of where I am as a reader with the genre now, Age of Myth could not hold that place for me. Maybe it's the start of genre-fatigue, or maybe this was just a one-time fluke. I would recommend this book as an introduction into the gerne. I can also see how, as the series continues, this story will gain more character of its own. I would love to hear from people who’ve continued/completed the series if this was the case, as I’m open to give the second book a chance if so. A random side-tangent: Lastly, I have a very specific pet-peeve here, that was too funny not to mention. Considering what I do for a living, the fact that one of the main characters (Nyphron) is accidentally named after the medical term for a kidney-filter was kind of hilarious and distracting... You can find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Young Adult contemporary, magical realism Published: Amulet Books/Tantor Audio, March 2023 My Rating: 4.5/5 stars “What does it mean that I think it’s completely messed up that some people have so much money, but that I’m also happy I was able to pass for part of the group.” That’s a question Indigo Serra has asked herself many times over the years. The daughter of the once famous artist Zoe Serra, featured as the star of gallery-expositions for the ultra-rich, she has experienced the glamour of the art-world from the side-line ever since she was a child. Nowadays, Zoe and Indigo are barely scraping by, ever since Zoe’s mental breakdown forced her to quit painting for good. When a high-end collector offers Zoe a revival show for her unfinished blockbuster series, Wolfwood, Indigo knows it's a crucial chance to regain financial stability. Zoe, however, mysteriously refuses. Desperate not to lose the opportunity, Indigo secretly takes up the brush herself, and begins to forge her mother’s unfinished paintings herself. Submerging herself completely in the fiction world of the paintings, Indigo finds the lines between reality and fantasy begin to blur when she paints. Soon she finds out there may have been a reason behind her mothers desperate refusal to ever take up the brush again, that goes back through the colourfully painted jungles of Wolfwood, all the way to her mothers past. Despite its Goodreads-tag as “fantasy”, I feel like Wolfwood is more fittingly described as a Young Adult contemporary novel with some slight magical realism elements thrown in. I’m admittedly already a sucker for this genre, yet still, Wolfwood was a standout for me, and exceeded all expectations I had. At its core is a meaningful and relatable story about themes of family, art, privilege and class- and financial inequality, that could’ve easily stood on its own, but was only enhanced in colour by the magical realism of the artwork coming to life in Indigo’s mind. I personally loved the perspective of Indigo, a girl from a middle-class single-parent family, navigating her way through the elitist art-world and struggling with her feelings regarding it. Indigo admires and envies the beauty of such a slavish life-style, but also feels disgusted by the ultra-rich. She wants to simultaneously fit into them, but also stay true to her roots and ends up feeling like a (literal) imposter in both worlds. Dealing with this type of imposter syndrome myself (although in a very different context than art) I think Baer nailed that representation, in a way that I’ve only seen before in the likes of Tripping Arcadia. The magical realism element matches this theme perfectly: a girl displaced in an environment both filled with beauty and monsters, uncovering the history her mother had within it, and finding a place for herself. Another great aspect of the novel is in the character-interactions. Most notably; the mother-daughter dynamic between Indigo and Zoe were great. No diagnosis is mentioned, but it’s clear from context that Zoe suffers from mental health problems that lead Indigo to take up the role of caretaker and “parent of the family” in many ways. Again, without spoiling anything: I thought this representation was spot on. Sensitive, without judgement, and respecting both the negative effects that come from such a dynamic, as well as the love of both parties for each-other. Another great dynamic is between Indigo and her love-interest. I liked their banter, but mostly appreciated them going slow; a rare sight within a YA-contemporary. Overall, I highly recommend this novel if you’re looking for something that balances important contemporary conversations with a lush and vivid world painted in bright colours that almost literally leap of the pages. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but in this case I’m glad I did, as its beauty completely matches the inside. Many thanks to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for allowing my access to an audio-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Suspiciously Specific is a new bi-weekly series of assorted book recommendations, inspired by the subreddit by the same name, as well as a short video-series by BooksandLala on Youtube. In short-form, I’ll recommend ten books across genres, that happen to have something very specific in common. Whether it be a very niche trope, a cover-trend, or a theme that is só specific you’re surprised there’s more than one book that includes it. Requests for a list are always welcome if you happen to have a specific trope you love, but think is too niche to find recommendations for. This month’s Suspiciously Specific book-groupings are all about setting. Starting off with a setting that I’ve inadvertently spent a lot of time within since the start of this year: Magical Forests. In my free time, I love to go for long walks in the forest nearby, and an audiobook with a forest setting is a perfect companion to that. I’ve also been playing the phenomenal game Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which also takes place in a magical forest setting. If you too have caught the forest-exploration-bug this spring, take your pick from the following 10 fantasy reads to accompany you on your next adventure. 1. The Hazelwood by Melissa Albert Genre: Young-adult fantasy One-line synopsis: when Alice’s grandmother, the reclusive author of a cult-classic book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate, Alice and her mum travel to the woods-surrounded home that inspired these fairytales. After a series of strange encounters leads to the disappearance of her mother, Alice discovers that much more of these stories might be inspired by true events. The Setting: an abandoned estate surrounded by woods, filled with creatures straight from the fairytales of Grimm and Alice’s Grandma alike. My thoughts: Upon its release in 2018, The Hazelwood formed the start of a trend of fairytale-forests in YA, inspired by Grimm’s fairytales. Although it’s not my favourite adaptation of it, I think it’s one of the most influential ones in its age-category, so it deserves to kick off this list. 2. The Ravenboys by Maggie Stiefvater Genre: Young-adult paranormal/urban fantasy One-line synopsis: the story of the adventures, unlikely friendship and budding romance between the daughter of a locally famous clairvoyant, and a group of privileged boys from a local private school. The Setting: An ancient, sentient forest at the crossroads of multiple ley lines, where the laws of physics and reality are flexible, meaning the thoughts and feelings of anyone who enters can change physical aspects of the forest. My thoughts: speaking of “classics” within the YA-genre; there’s no way to do a list on magical forests without mentioning Cabeswater. The mere mention of its name brings back so much nostalgia towards this series to me. If I could personally spend an afternoon in any of these forests, Cabeswater would be my first choice without a doubt. 3. Wolfwood by Marianne Baer Genre: Young adult contemporary with a hint of magical realism One-line synopsis: the 17-year old daughter of a struggling artist begins secretly forging paintings, plunging her into a dark and dangerous imaginary world of her mother’s creation. The Setting: a colourful but dangerous jungle, filled with carnivorous plants and other botanical and natural dangers. My thoughts: this was the perfect blend of contemporary with relevant, well-explored real-life themes, such as class, wealth-inequality, mental-health and trauma, with a hint of fantasy to add an extra element of uniqueness. I’ve never read anything quite like it and hope it finds its audience, as it’s the newest release on this list. 4. Age of Myth by Michael Sullivan Genre: Adult High Fantasy One-line synopsis: Since time immemorial, humans have worshipped the gods they call Fhrey, truly a race apart: invincible in battle, masters of magic, and seemingly immortal. But when a god falls to a human blade, the balance of power between humans and those they thought were gods changes forever. The Setting: a large part of the story is set in the Crescent Forest, located within Sullivans overarching world of Riyria; an ancient primeval forest populated by mystical creatures, talking trees, and vicious spirits. My thoughts: the story of The Legends of the Empire series has a lot of elements that you’ll recognize if you’re a regular fantasy-reader, and therefore isn’t the most unique of reads. However, the setting and some of its characters (especially Suri and Minna) really make this book memorable and enjoyable to me. I also think it would make a good entry into Epic Fantasy, if you’re just dipping your toes in the genre. 5. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett Genre: Cozy Fantasy One-line synopsis: A curmudgeonly professor journeys to a small town in the far north to study faerie folklore and discovers dark fae magic, friendship, and love. The Setting: three words: cottage core forest… My thoughts: This book shouldn’t have worked for me, yet it somehow did. I generally do not like fae-stories, and cozy fantasy is about a 50/50 hit-or-miss. Yet cozy fantasy with cottage-core vibes, a scholarly main character, and a take on fae that isn’t all about dark-broody-handsome-guys, apparently was just what I needed. If you’re on the fence about Fae-fantasy: trust me, this one is more than just another brick in the wall. 6. We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride Genre: Contemporary novel in verse One-line synopsis: two teens deal with with grief, clinical depression, identity and more, in a magical and/or metaphorical journey through the dark forest at the end of their lane, that threatens to invade their homes. The Setting: a metaphorical forest, haunted by suffocating roots and monsters that reflect their personal trauma’s. The only way out of the dark, is straight through. My thoughts: I’ve loved Amber McBrides poetry since I read Me (Moth) in 2021. The way she interweaves fairytale-elements, lush and poignant language and difficult themes of mental health and more into something so readable, yet emotionally impactful is incredible. 7. The Book of Lost Things by John Connoly Genre: Magical Realism One-line synopsis: A twelve-year-old boy mourning the death of his mother has only his fairytale books for company. With his family falling apart around him, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld, propelling him into a fictional world that is a strange reflection of his own. The Setting: woods filled with classic and well-known figures from European folk- and fairytales, including a wolf in human clothing, a huntsman, seven dwarves and more. My thoughts: The Never Ending Story meets A Monster Calls in this dark fairytale for adults and teens alike. Many familiar tropes get an emotional spin, making this a book that I won’t soon forget. 8. Now She Is Witch by Kirsty Logan Genre: Literary fiction/fantasy One-line synopsis: a literary fairytale about witchcraft, motherhood, feminism vs misogyny, the beauty of nature and so much more. Important note: as with many of Logans books, you can expect phenomenal language, characters, vibes and themes, more so than a particularly story-driven plot. The Setting: picture thick European woods in winter. At first; seemingly inhospitable, dark and frightening. Yet once you learn where to look, where to find shelter, healing herbs, and fruits of the forest, you’ll find this canopy of trees will nurture you like a mother. My thoughts: As the self-appointed Chair of the Unofficial-Kirsty-Logan-Fanclub, it’s no surprise to anyone that I loved this to pieces. I’m generally becoming a bit burned out on the subgenre of feminist-witch-fiction, but Kirsty Logan made it completely her own. This woman is a Word-Witch, and has yet to fail to work her magic on me. 9. Strange Creatures by Phoebe North Genre: Contemporary One-line synopsis: the heart wrenching story of a brother and sister who grow up joined at the hip, spending their days playing in the small stretch of woods behind their house, imagining it to be the magical woodlands of Gumlea. When real-life tragedy strikes and one of them disappears, the other, entangled in a web of grief, becomes convinced their sibling has traveled to Gumlea for one final time. The Setting: although none of the story actually takes place in a fantasy-land, Gumlea and the fiction the siblings create between them plays a central role in the story. It’s a place filled with knights and princesses, and high-stakes adventures where the two of them can always be the heroes that come out on top. The contrast between the real world and the fiction of Gumlea is what help creates the gutpunch that this novel delivers. My thoughts: clearly a bit of an outlier on the list, as it’s not a fantasy, but it is one of my all-time favourite novels that I don’t get to talk about nearly enough. It’s a phenomenal exploration of paracosm and the ways kids use imagination to cope with trauma through a compassionate and heartfelt lens. Although I understand the subject matter isn’t for everyone, I highly recommend this book if it’s something you’re comfortable to explore. 10. Ronia the Robbers Daughter by Astrid Lindgren Genre: middle-grade adventure One-line synopsis: On the night Ronia was born, a thunderstorm raged over the mountain, but in Matt's castle and among his band of robbers there was only joy -- for Matt now had a spirited little black-haired daughter. Soon Ronia learns to dance and yell with the robbers, but it is alone in the forest that she feels truly at home. The Setting: the Robbers castle and its stunning surrounding woods, inspired by the Swedish wilds and the folklore born within it. My thoughts: to end this list on an upbeat note, I had to mention one of my all-time favourite childhood books: Ronia the Robbers Daughter. This book, as well as the excellent movie adaptation fueled much of my own outdoors explorations as a kid and had me wishing I could run away and actually make a home for myself within the forests. To finish up this post, a quick shout out to 5 more memorable forests that didn’t quite make this list, but still deserve your attention. The titular woods from The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees. This one didn’t make the list because I personally disliked the book, yet it’s still quite popular with fans of the likes of The Hazelwood. The California redwoods featured in The Lost Coast by Amy Rose Capetta, home to the beautiful friendships, self-exploration and dabbling into magic of six queer modern witches. The titular Wyldlands from Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames; a treacherous wilderness that only the bravest and most skilled of bands can travel. Beware Owlbears along the way. The swampy jungle that houses the titular prison of Cage of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Admittedly, it’s more of a swamp rather than a forest, but it’s still one of my favourite sci-fi-fantasy settings of all time for how vividly I could picture it. And finally, the alien woods from The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. LeGuin. A bit of a strange one, but a classic for a reason... If woods aren’t quite your thing (thank you for making it until here, I’m impressed), fret not; the next edition of Suspiciously Specific is a big one and will also be all about book-settings, of all varieties. Check back in at the end of the month for more.

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy Published: Delacorte, March 2019 My Rating: 1/5 stars I gave this book two valiant attempts but I simply can’t finish it. DNF at 70%, skim-read the ending to know that I’m not missing anything. I can vividly remember the release of The Waking Forest, as this cover was one of the best things to happen that month. I held off on picking it up though, because of the mixed reception from early reviewers. When offered a copy in exchange for review myself, I decided to give it a try, hoping to get my Grimm-dark (pun intended) fairytale quotum for the year in. The premise and the setting sound like something I should enjoy. Unfortunately, the execution is so all over the place that this book was unsalvageable for me. The first and most obvious issue is that the plot completely disjointed, to the point where I had no idea what was happening. Wees attempts to weave together two storylines (Rhea’s and the witch’s), but ends up with a tangled mess of yarns instead. This confusion wasn’t helped by the fact that none of the characters, nor their narrative voices, really have any distinguishing traits that made them memorable to me, making everything blur together in a way. The plot itself meanders, seemingly without purpose, as if the author was “discovery writing” rather than working towards a clear end-goal. As a result, the resolution of the story comes in the form of some of the most overdone cliché tropes and plot beats in YA-fantasy, that I’m frankly tired of seeing. Seriously, it’s for a reason that I actively avoid any YA-fantasy that mentions the words “lost princess reclaiming the throne” in the synopsis. Last but not least, I had some major gripes with the writing-style. My personal tolerance for “lyrical writing” is pretty high; in fact I love it usually. This however, is what you find in the dictionary under the definition of “purple prose”. Overwritten sentences, non-sensical metaphors "Except for a the few popped pustules of stars and the waning wart of the moon, the sky is dark." and deeply cringe-worthy character descriptors "This boy, this Darkness, an inoculation, my veins frothing with fright, foaming with fascination." I can see there being an audience for this book. If you’re okay with all of the above, and are looking for a classic, early-2010’s-feeling young adult fantasy with a focus on fairytales and stories within stories, this one might be for you. Unfortunately, to me, this was the kind of debut to put me off an author for a long time. I’m all for second chances, but unless Wees’ next book is a miraculous hit, I won’t be picking up any of her works from now on. Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an review-copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy Published: Puffin Books (Penguin), February 2022 My Rating: 5/5 stars “I still haven’t told my gang about all of the stuff he said about us in the diary. That’s the sort of stuff that breaks people here. Not our bodies or brains, but the way outsiders think about them.” This book had everything I could've wanted in a middle-grade novel, in my disability-fiction and more. A lovable full cast of disabled but very capable heroes, a sea-side adventure with a sprinkle of mermaid-magic, and beautiful underlying message about friendship, found-family, love and acceptance. The Story: When Alpha Lux first arrived at Haven Point, washed up ashore as a foundling baby, it was nothing more than an abandoned lighthouse surrounded by ramshackle empty houses. Raised by a mermaid and a maverick sea captain with a kitten in his beard, Alpha has seen Haven Point grow into what it is now; a refuse for disabled kids like herself in need of place to belong. When Alpha spots a strange light on the headland one day, she discovers their safely isolated community might be in danger of being discovered by Outsiders. With their home under threat, she and her fellow Wrecklings must decide what kind of future they want . . . and what they're willing to do to get it. My reading-experience: The book took me on an emotional journey. From putting a smile on my face at the friendship-interactions (specifically between Alpha and Badger), to tears in my eyes at some of the events near the end. From excitement over the characters adventures, to that wonderful feeling of home and safety that radiates from Haven Point. From anger at the (relatable) lack of understanding of their disabilities from the Outside, to pride at the wonderful way they learn to accept themselves and each other, and the decisions they make from there. This is the kind of book I wish I would’ve had growing up as a child with a disability. It’s also luckily timeless enough that I can still enjoy and benefit from it as an adult. Why this book matters: I hope this goes without saying by now, but I’ll repeat it once again for the people in the back: representation matters. Lisette Auton understands that, and gets so much right about disability rep. Disabled characters are still far too rare on page, especially in children’s fiction. If they feature at all, they’re usually side-characters, ór the book is centred completely around an “overcoming disability”-storyline. The Secrets of Haven Point refuses that narrative. It tells a story with a plot that stands on its own, with character-development that has nothing to do with their physical abilities. It’s a story about friendship and trust, prejudice and acceptance, joy and grief, and characters learning to living full lives together, unlimited by their physical differences. “Have you learnt nothing from this place? They’re not reasons to leave, they’re reasons to love harder. They’re reasons to stay”. The Secret of Haven Point will join my list of go-to-disability recommendations, but I honestly highly. It's a book that clearly came from the heart of a passionate author who loves what she writes, and I can't wait to see what she does next. Her sophomore novel The Stickleback Catchers has been added to my TBR as we speak. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Literary Fiction, Sci-fi/Speculative Published: Atlantic Books, February 2023 My Rating: 4.5/5 stars “A family is a group of strangers with a destructive desire for common nostalgia.” Spanning from the vastness of space and the abyssal deep-sea, to the claustrophobia of a tormented childhood in a small home in the Netherlands; In Ascension may be the most ambitious novel I’ve read all year. Paralleling the macro with the micro, MacInnes takes on the classic central sci-fi questions of “where did we come from and where do we go from here?”, and answers them on a human-level as well as a personal one for our protagonist. Our story begins in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where we meet young marine biologists Leigh Hasenbosch. Fascinated by the deep oceans and its ancient organisms, Leigh aspires to travel far away from the Dutch lowlands, and far away from the memory-haunted grounds of her complicated childhood. When a trench is discovered in the Atlantic ocean, Leigh joins the exploration team, hoping to find evidence of the earth's first life forms. What she finds instead calls into question everything we know about our own beginnings, and sets her up on a lifechanging journey even further up. Every now and then you come across a novel that just leaves you in awe at the person who managed to birth such a complex idea, and translate it to pages. In Ascension is one of those books, and is a testament of mastery for the author. The thematic consistency in the parallel of aforementioned personal storyline with the larger sci-fi questions is incredible. Scientific elements are well researched and the character-work is overall good, although the author sometimes falls in the trap of “arm-chair-psychologizing” his characters. The most impressive element of the novel is its structure; its literal “arc”. Through 5 parts, named after their settings, we slowly ascend from the depth of the deep-sea towards the sky, ever moving, reaching, flying away from our roots, only to curve back round again. Although I admire the ambitious message the author puts forward, he admittedly needs a lot of big words to get said message across. That’s a nice way of saying; I found this book very verbose and overwritten. On multiple occasions, an excessively wordy paragraph or one too many repetition took away from the power of an otherwise great passage. Sometimes less is more, and In Ascension could’ve benefitted from an extra trimming of the bulk off the edges. In Ascension was one of the few books I allowed myself to pre-order in hardcover this year, solely based off anticipation and trust in the author. I’m happy to say: I have absolutely no regrets and can highly recommend this to anyone looking for a though-provoking, ambitious speculative read that I feel will stand the test of time for me personally. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Young Adult, Adventure Published: August 2023, Fitzroy Books My Rating: 3/5 stars Demonically obsessed metal-bands, gunslinging grandma’s and perilous adventures through volcanic-cave systems all feature at the centre of this fast-paced YA-adventure set against the background of the Icelandic wilderness. If you’re looking for an action packed novel that reads like an adventure movie or Netflix series with a light supernatural twist, this one is for you. When Rory Quinn spends her winter-break with her adventurous, treasure-hunting grandmother, she finds herself unexpectedly swept up in Gram’s latest contract; retrieve a blood-smeared stone that legend says will lead whoever possesses it to the nearest doorway to Hell. They’re not the only once hunting the volcanic caves of Iceland for this rock, however. From a heavy-metal band who want the stone as a prop for their next show, to a secret society who believe in the demonic powers the legends profess; Rory, Gram and their clients ridiculously handsome grandson enter a race against the clock to get to the stone first. The author has stated that the idea for Hellfinder started out, not with characters or a plot, but with a setting. This shows, in the sense that the rugged Icelandic landscapes and breath-taking nature are the heart and soul of this novel. I felt like I was right there with the characters, exploring volcanic caves, geysers and frozen tundra’s. That, along side with the fast-moving plot kept me engaged throughout, and made up for the novels weaker points. The characters were hit-or-miss for me. Although there was some fun banter here and there, the best character of all (sassy Gunslinging-Grandma of course) felt seriously underused. The family-dynamics and interactions between Rory and her grandma took a backseat in favour of the building romance between Gunnar and Rory. Personally I would love to see more focus on family- and friendship in modern YA, instead of the same overdone and slightly cringy romantic banter all over again. A stronger focus on Rory (and her family’s) past, could’ve added a layer of depth to the story that would’ve elevated it above a fun adventure. As it stands, Hellfinder ends up with three-stars; good fun, great setting, but ultimately a little unmemorable in plot and characters. Bonuspoints for the cover, which is absolutely stunning. Many thanks to Fitzroy Books and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Literary Fiction Published: Bon Esprit Books, August 2023 My Rating: 3/5 stars “I see you’re one of those people who feel they have to be able to reciprocate any kindness they’re about to receive. But what if you have nothing to give yet still need help? What then?” A young man embarks on a journey to Nairobi, Kenya, in order to pay homage to a childhood hero, and unwittingly ends up in an adventure of mistaken identities and retracing his own roots, in this third literary fiction novel by traveling author Ndirangu Githaiga. Jude grew up with his adoptive family, as one of the few black kids within the quaint town of Clarksville, USA. He enjoyed a worry-free childhood with a loving family, longtime friends and low-stake adventures with his fellow- Boy Scouts. Now 27, his life is shaken up by the sudden death of his childhood friend Connor following a short uphill battle with cancer. Inspired by one of their final conversations about their shared hero from their Boy-Scout days, as well as Connors deathbed advise to “not postpone anything”, Jude sets off on a journey to Kenya to honour both of them by visiting their hero’s final resting place in Nairobi. Along the way, he finds more than he bargains for. Hero’s fall in the light of new discoveries, mistaken identities uncover hidden truths, and an unexpected friendship with a local hotel manager places his own roots in a different light. What I liked: Pulled along by the very readable narrative voice and the fast moving plot, I finished this novel within one day, and had a very good time throughout. Although a character-driven story at heart, the star of Place of Cool Water is its vibrant cultural, environmental and political setting of Kenya, which leaps of the pages to greet you. It makes for the perfect background to host the many themes the novel touches upon, including race, discrimination, privilege and the lingering feeling of mistrust brought upon by the political upheaval and terrorist threats in the country. Although the novel doesn’t quite have the scope and length to unpack all these topics completely, it still put them at the front of my mind for days and had me thinking about this book for days after finishing it. Key here are the contrast and similarities between Jude and Qadir, that Githaiga uses to maximal effect. Githaiga manages to keep the novel light and readable, with a likable cast and a good balance of elements of character-work, political- and cultural themes, mystery and some quite suspenseful scenes. What I didn’t like: The novel unfortunately suffers from a lack of balance in many other aspects, including pacing, and the attention of detail between different characters and themes. The synopsis makes Jude and Qadir out to be dual-protagonists, when that does not reflect the content of the book at all. This truly is Jude’s story, with him taking up about 80% of the page-time, leaving Qadir to be little more than a side character. Considering the reveal at the end, I really would’ve liked to have seen more development of Qadir and his background. Speaking of the reveal; a rushed, exposition-filled and very abrupt ending strongly took away from my enjoyment. The pacing at the end only seems to pick up speed, in stark contrast with the start. A major development is dropped within the final pages, leaving no more room for us to see the characters react and grow from it. Overall, Place of Cool Water is an easy book to recommend; it’s compact and well-written and its themes will make it a great candidate for book club-discussions and the like. For readers who prefer to listen, rather than read visually, the audiobook is great as well. The narrator has a very pleasant tone and I personally loved to hear the pronunciation of the Swahili sentences sprinkled throughout the text. Aforementioned balancing-issues and the abrupt ending kept it from rising “good” into “great” for me personally, hence the 3-star rating. Many thanks to Bon Esprit Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Find this book here on Goodreads.

Genre: Magical Realism Published: Viper Publishing, March 2023 My Rating: 4.5/5 stars "See once upon a time there was a woman. And this woman conjured stories from ghosts and gave them to her daughters. This conjure woman's name was Beatrice. The daughters loved her stories, and when she died it was all that she left them. Little did they know that this book had a life before me. You see, I, Your Faithful Narrator, will always carry the burden of knowing how my stories will end." Caribbean spiritual folklore meets a grounded multigenerational saga of a Jamaican-Trinidadian family, in this stellar debut by Soraya Palmer. Based on blurb, themes and genre, this quickly rose to the top of my Anticipated-releases of 2023 list, and I'm happy to say that it did not disappoint. Our story starts with a omniscient, unnamed, and slightly mischievous narrator, recounting the tale of three generations of the Porter women. In modern day Brooklyn, sisters Zora and Sasha have been floating apart for years now; introverted, reticent Zora loses herself in her own mind and journals amidst her hopes of becoming a writer, whilst outgoing and tough-on-the-outside Sasha explores her gender-identity, sex and her first sapphic relationship. When their mothers recent cancer diagnosis brings the family together one final time, old secrets, stories and even ghosts passed through generations resurface, challenging old dynamics and strengthening new bonds. Palmer seamlessly interweaves threads of classic folklore (Anansi, the Rolling Calf and the powerful ocean-deity Mama Dglo) with a modern narrative into a stunning web of layered tales. Fans of magical realism will be delighted by the small interjections of the speculative in the plot, but readers of more realistic fiction can still find a grounded and heartfelt family-tale with folkloric metaphors at the heart of it. Palmer covers a full spectrum of themes, including sisterhood, family-dynamics, sexuality, race, belonging and cycles of trauma. Yet, the theme of storytelling and myth is at the core of this book. From the actual folktales we tell our children, to the mythologization of our own history to make sense of our lives; each of these women is both a teller of stories, as a character in them. This includes our unreliable narrator, whom voice was one of the highlights of the book for me. No, the narrator is not actually "death personified", yet it still reminded me of the narrative voices of Mrs Death Misses Death and The Book Thief. From a representation-perspective: there's much to love here as well. As far as I'm aware, most of it is based on the authors own experiences, and as far as my personal expertise goes: the cancer-representation was beautifully done. Especially near the end, I was deeply invested in the relationships of Beatrice and her daughters, and their final interactions with each other and their mothers ghosts genuinely choked me up for a moment. Overall, I cannot recommend this book highly enough to any fan of Southern Gothic, haunting familial tales or a beautiful depiction of ghosts and storytelling in general. Many thanks to Viper Publishing for providing me with an ARC of one of my most anticipated releases of the year. All opinions are my own. You can find this book here on Goodreads.