The Folk of the Air | Review

I know I usually write about each individual book in a series but I read The Cruel Prince, The Wicked King, The Queen of Nothing, and How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories in such quick succession that they have all blurred together for me. The fact that I read them all so quickly is probably more than enough of a review for some of you but I actually started and ended the series a little unsure, it wasn’t until I accepted that it’s mis-sold as purely enemies-to-lovers (this is a plot point but it’s such a small part of the plot!) and that it’s YA for a YA audience (Holly Black’s writing style is so brilliant I could have mistaken it for adult fantasy if not for the ages of the characters and some of the tropes) that I realised it’s actually pretty amazing. After I finished these books I really thought I’d just forget them in the same way I’ve sort of just let go of The Grisha Trilogy but Holly Black’s The Folk of the Air has stuck with me and I can’t stop thinking of it for a few reasons;

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The Fae

First of all, anyone who knows me will know I’m deeply obsessed with the Fair Folk, the Good Neighbours, the Hidden People, they are my jam, literally just look at my blog title, I wanna look at goblin men and Black delivers plenty of hobgoblin-y goodness for me to gaze upon. Black’s fae, or the Folk, are so close to real folklore they are horrific and believable and utterly inhuman. I know it sounds silly but I love that aesthetic of the fae in literature that isn’t particularly dark or light, evil or good, they are just a terrifying morally neutral thing that dwells in nature. For me Holly Black’s work is up there with books like Jonathan Strange and Me Norrell and Under the Pendulum Sun which are perfect examples of fae to me.

The story follows Jude Duarte, a human whose parents are murdered in front of her by her mother’s ex, the redcap and general of Elfhame, Madoc, only to be taken in and raised by him. Now Madoc isn’t the small redcap goblin we usually imagine; he is tall, but that’s the only real difference from folklore (and I’m sure there’s folklore of taller redcaps) he is green, goblin-like and does indeed have a red cap that he dips in the blood of his slain enemies. He is bloodthirsty, but he is also a father to four children, two of them human, who he raises with care and genuine affection and worry. If you couldn’t tell Madoc is my favourite character but he’s also the perfect example of how complex and interesting Black’s Folk are, they are just so genuine it’s hard not to become a little obsessed with them.

The Politics

Though I’ve spoken about the fae being morally neutral I mean that as a whole. They are not an evil race in the way orcs are in LOTR, but individually they are as morally complex as humans but without the ability to lie. How exciting is that?! Imagine Game of Thrones where no one can tell a lie except for Tyrion. That’s basically how the politics here work, everyone has to be underhand and clever with their words, except for Jude and her sister. Jude would rather live her life by the blade but her ability to lie pulls her into a tangled web of faerie politics that involves her with her arch nemesis Prince Cardan Greenbriar.

Jude and Cardan

Jude and Cardan could be the stuff of a ye olde folk ballad or a medieval epic. They are such strong and distinctive characters. Even without the enemies-to-lovers subplot their relationship is a wild ride. I can’t give away too much but every small progression of their relationship ties in so well with the rules of the Folk, their magical limitations, the relationship between the Folk and humans, it’s just brilliant. Although I wouldn’t say this series is explicitly enemies-to-lovers I can see why people focus on that arc so much Jude and Cardan are just a car crash character pair you literally can’t look away no matter how brutal it gets. I did feel like their relationship was a little rushed towards the end (in fact the whole last book felt rushed) but it was still compelling nonetheless and I think it’s a testament to Black and how she writes relationships that this small aspect of a massive plot captures everyone’s imaginations so thoroughly.

So I guess that’s my review/thought-vomit over, I loved this series and I can’t imagine any lovers of the fae or urban fantasy wouldn’t love it too. It’s probably some of the first YA I’ve read in a while that crosses over very well to adult readers too without relying on steamy romance to build that bridge, looking at you Maas!

Romance Wrap-Up | April-June 2021

Here comes three whole months of my romance obsession growing, I really can’t stop, especially with historicals.

I thought in this post I’d maybe start adding a few trigger warnings to books, can’t believe I haven’t been doing this already but it took me being slightly triggered to even think of it and I always hate having something pop up in a book I’m not ready for so here we go.

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Love is a Revolution – Renée Watson (TW: racism, parent-child estrangement)

So this was my first time picking up contemporary YA romance in a loooooong time. I’ve not really read this subgenre much since I was a teenager (boy am I feeling old) and I haven’t been too keen to revisit it for several reasons: the worst of which being that I crave the steamy scenes in adult romance (I refuse to be ashamed about this, they are good!) and most mature of which being I’m an adult and the love lives of children feel a little weird for me to pry into even fictionally. But after my success re-reading Howl’s Moving Castle I decided that YA and KidLit need to be more of a priority for me now, especially as they inspired my love of books and cause I have kids now I guess. But anyway, onto the book!
Love is a Revolution focuses on Nala, a young fat black girl growing up in Harlem, New York, who is not quite into the passionate activism that her cousin is. But when she meets a boy named Tye at one of these activist events she decides to pretend she does engage with activism to impress him. And hoo, boy, dear reader, cringe is not the word. I spent most of this book feeling the same deep embarrassment and stress that Nala did. The inevitable reveal of her secret is so much worse than I expected and I found myself projecting all this embarrassment right back onto my teenage self, but what I really enjoyed was Nala’s and Tye’s exploration of what it means to be black and what it means to perform your blackness in a political way versus and private way. The two characters were extremes of each example and they really balanced each other out well. Oh and it never hurts to see a fat heroine being loved and adored without having to change herself or her body.
Renee Watson has made me feel a right fool for assuming YA romance no longer had the emotional punch I needed, clearly I was just trying to escape my teenage self by stepping away from it, but my teen self is still in there somewhere and she still loves reading and she must be satiated, expect a lot more YA of all genres coming soon from this goblin.

To Sir Phillip With Love – Julia Quinn (TW: suicide, post partum depression, child abuse)

Finally made it to Bridgerton book #5! I was so disappointed in #4 I wasn’t sure I’d pick it up, but I already had it on my kindle and wanted something light and sweet to read on my phone while up all night with a baby who dislikes the sound of turning pages (is she even mine?!) and so I turned back to the series. This was not the light fun book I was expecting. Julia Quinn really lured me in with the quaintness of the first four books just to throw some real cruel and much too relevant stuff at me. Eloise is the most fun character in the Netflix series so seeing her deal with a hero who is still reeling from the suicide of his wife who hadn’t been the same since their twins were born and who emotionally neglects his children who are suffering at the hands of a nursemaid who beats them was all just a LOT. But I’ve said it before, Quinn has been brilliant throughout this series at character perception. In her sibling’s stories Eloise was a fun, blue stocking spinster with not a whole lot going on but no one really is how their siblings perceive them and in this story Eloise really comes into her own and we see a whole wealth of emotional depth that Quinn is so good at.

When He Was Wicked – Julia Quinn (TW: spousal death, miscarriage, sickness)

Once again Quinn decided to really attack me on this one. Bridgerton #6 follows Francesca, who, up until this point, has been a minor character only briefly referenced as living her widowed life out at her late husbands estate in Scotland, so the emotional punches on this one were a lot less of a surprise but no less powerful for it. Eloise decides, four years after losing her first husband and miscarrying their baby, that she wants a husband, not for love, but because she wants to attain motherhood, but at the same time her husbands dashing rogue of a cousin, and the new Earl, returns from his trip to India after leaving to escape his pure guilt at being in love with his cousin’s wife. My god, the drama. I could barely take it. The problem is though that this is a lot of emotion to set up and it kind of all fell flat in a heap in favour of focusing on steamy sex scenes and rushing to that HEA. My guess is Quinn got very into writing a bit of darkness in Bridgerton #5 and went all out for this one, but there wasn’t enough of a pay off for me after sitting through all that depressing grittiness. Quinn really had a chance to make me cry my heart out and she kind of dropped the ball, but still I liked it enough to carry on to the last two books.

Fat Chance, Charlie Vega – Crystal Maldonado (TW: fatphobia, parental death, possible eating disorder, weight loss)

So I won’t lie I picked up Fat Chance because the girl on the cover looks a lot like me, I didn’t really know what I was getting into but it was a beautiful and wild ride. The titular Charlie is fat and she is a POC and she is insecure, like all teenagers, and these things inform all her decisions. Especially because her thin, confident friend Amelia seems to be living a perfect life in comparison. So when Charlie finds out that her new boyfriend asked Amelia out first igniting all her insecurities. This book was frankly brilliant, it was everything YA romance should be, Charlie’s voice was clear and real and her struggles were real and all too relatable. I’m excited to see what else Maldonado writes because I’m certain I will love it, I need all the fat rep in my romance books, and all my books really so I always love adding a body positive author to my list.

It’s In His Kiss – Julia Quinn (TW; parental death, estranged parents, sibling death)

This is easily my favourite of the Bridgerton series! This instalment follows Hyacinth, the youngest Bridgerton who has been mostly overlooked having been a child for most of the series, but her story is definitely the best! There’s a mystery, puzzles to be solved, a wonderfully realistic romance, and loads more Lady Danbury. I almost don’t want to read Gregory’s story because, other than Anthony, the male Bridgerton’s pale in comparison to their much notes interesting sisters.

The Wicked Wallflower – Maya Rodale (TW; familial death)

This one took a while to get going for me, I picked it up because the plot is very similar to My Darling Duke by Stacy Reid which I love; Lady Emma accidentally announces that she is to marry Blake, the Duke of Ashbrooke, a rogue she has never met, and Ashbrooke goes along with the ruse to compete in the annual games held for his aunts fortune. At first I wasn’t very into Blake, he wasn’t very likeable but as the story progressed and he grew I kinda grew to like him, the ending was lovely and I got swept up in the last third of the book but until then I didn’t feel it. I’ll definitely carry on with the series though.

How to Catch a Wild Viscount – Tessa Dare (TW; animal attack, injury, war mention)

This was a cute little gothic romance novella. It was apparently Dare’s first published work and it was so wonderfully written it’s nice to know she’s been super talented from the start even if it’s made me feel very inadequate. It’s only a teeny little story but Dare packs a lot of feeling into it. I’ve read another of her novellas before and enjoyed it just as much, I’m accepting I might just have to read everything she’s ever written.

On the Way to the Wedding – Julia Quinn (TW; kidnap, blackmail, gun violence, childbirth)

The first half of this book was cute fluff, all about falling for the best friend of the girl you think you’re into, cute as hell. Half way through it gets wild, suddenly it verges on being a romantic thriller. I got whiplash from the plot twist but damn was it good. I’m really going to miss this series, I think some of them are definitely re-readable, especially the post-Whistledown books.

The Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires | Review

It’s been a good few years since I’ve endeavoured to read any horror. I read Shirley Jackson and sort of figured it wouldn’t get much better so why bother? But I’ve been writing a story that involves vampires and as much as I adore Shirley Jackson she has very little to offer in the way of vampires and having read all the vampire books I own I thought I’d pick up something new. I picked up Fangs by Sarah Anderson, a cute little graphic story about a vampire and a werewolf dating, and then I found the complete opposite of that in Grady Hendrix’s The Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

The Southern Bookclub is a lot like what the title sounds like; a group of housewives in the south come together over their love of true crime fiction (which we can all relate to) but when a new neighbour arrives in town with an aversion to sunlight, a Ted Bundy feel and a trail of missing children behind him Patricia tries to spur the bookclub into action.

This is the first of Grady Hendrix’s work I’ve ever read and holy crap did it revive my faith in horror fiction; the bitter cocktail of suspense, frustration, and beautiful writing that Hendrix mixes makes a work of art that to me at least is better than anything Stephen King has ever even dreamed of.

The horror was hardly in the vampire at all, this was an exploration of the inherent horror of womanhood in a patriarchal society. The lack of agency and lack of protection these women and their children are offered is at the centre of the novels terror, because their lack of agency endangers everyone. These women are knowledgeable and fiercely protective of what they have, but they cannot move freely through their community outside of what is acceptable, despite this they are the communities last line of true defence as they try to protect their families. This is a harsh critique of gender roles and racism and oppressive communities all wrapped up in the most textbook perfect (though no less brilliant for it) example of southern gothic horror.

I’m usually quite wary of women’s stories written by white men, and thankfully I only bought this book based on the title or I might not have considered it. Hendrix writes womanhood better than any cis white man I’ve ever read, no one is boobing boobily down the stairs in this novel. The race side of things wasn’t explored too much, but when it was it was painfully realistic and our protagonist, Patricia, fell short a lot in this regard and became a painfully realistic example of passive racism that Hendrix did so well with a subtlety in Patricia’s own thoughts that only make her shortcomings more horrid to the reader.

Hendrix offers us a new and original kind of vampire, laced with the same classic concerns of sexuality and corruption of community that Dracula brought with him when he docked at Whitby, but his critiques of American values makes it a brilliant and fresh addition to the vampire genre. I’m almost scared to read anything else by him in case it doesn’t match up to this masterpiece.

The House in the Cerulean Sea | Review

It took me way too long to pick up TJ Klune’s The House in the Cerulean Sea. Based on the cover alone I should have known it would be a favourite, it’s just soothing to look at, but it’s deeply therapeutic to actually read.

The perfect balm for the pandemic Cerulean Sea follows Linus Baker, a caseworker at the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. His job is to assure magical orphanages are being run properly, and he is good at it. So good that he’s sent to an orphanage full of magical youth so unique and powerful it’s been kept secret from the greater population. There he meets Arthur Parnassus and his host of magical charges who baffle and amaze Linus and throw him into a way of life he never knew existed.

I’m gonna be up front here this is the cutest, queerest most comfortable book I’ve ever read, and though it’s very cheesy in places it’s never overwhelming or cringey it’s just sweet and honest. It manages to tackle prejudice and acceptance and parenthood and even the endless drudgery of government jobs without ever being too heavy or too much. Everything is wrapped up in comedy and sweetness and enjoying the small things in life in the way only children sometimes can.

I’ve got to admit I am a massive fan of the concept too. There’s no fantasy concept I love more than just our world but with magical creatures living in it alongside humans. Give me sirens in bands and centaurs pulling ploughs and vampires as night watchmen any damn day of the week and I will pretty much inhale it, but Klune adds a little something extra with the sinister government departments in charge of registering and controlling these magical creatures. Somehow though, completely miraculously, this sinister feeling is present and real but never takes away from the comforting nature of the book, it’s always lingering but the found family trope is too well wielded to make us feel anything but joy and acceptance.

I’m really just itching to read everything TJ Klune has ever written so here we go.

Circe Review

This review is coming a good two months after I actually read Madeline Miller’s Circe. It’s basically just taken me this long to process the novel, it really blew me away. I’ve spent a while avoiding it because it seemed like one of those fantasy reads that everyone picks up and says is amazing but is really just a bit meh. I can’t tell you why I would think that because I’ve found out I actually do love Lord of the Rings, A Court of Thorns and Roses and many more books that I thought were a bit too popular for my tastes. The point is, I’m still working on shedding the book snobbishness I acquired in my youth. But even past book snob me would have adored Circe wholeheartedly.

The novel follows the titular character, Circe, the famed witch from Odysseus’s journey home who commands her own island and turns wayward men into pigs. We see many important points in Circe’s life played out: her relationship with her father, Helios, her creation of Scylla the sea monster, the discovery of her powers, her meeting of Odysseus, her motherhood, and her subsequent acceptance of her lot in life.

What struck me the most, quite possibly for personal reasons, was Circe raising her child, Telegonus. We rarely see motherhood in fantasy fiction and it is often not very realistic. There are cruel, hard mothers in fantasy such as Cersei Lannister, or there are dead mothers such as Lily Potter. Of course there are exceptions to this rule like Catelyn Stark, who winds up dead, or Pratchett’s Magrat in Carpe Jugulum. But my favourite exception of all time has to be Circe. Because she is not cruel and hard, she is not dead, in fact she is immortal, but she is not perfect, she is not intrinsically motherly. She is a woman who has a child and she struggles with it. Her struggle is plain, it is mortal, it is wholly normal, which we see as it’s in stark contrast with Medea who murders her sons or Pasiphae who births the minotaur only to abandon it to a labyrinth, and even Circe’s own mother fails her children in a myriad of ways. Circe for all her flaws is the best mother, despite not being the perfect mother, what’s important is her best, and it’s so refreshing to see parenthood represented this way in literature.

This complicated representation of motherhood only succeeds in my opinion because of the absolutely stunning prose Miller offers up. Not often do you find adult fantasy written in first person but Miller makes it work and makes it work well. Circe’s voice is full of melancholy and raw emotion without being too obvious, it draws the reader down into the darkness Circe feels into her loneliness and her brief but powerful connections with others when she can find them.

I often find that there is a character bias with first person, we have a limited view and I have to constantly check myself to make sure I’m considering the other characters and their truths whilst I’m reading. But given the nature of Circe and its relationship with its source material as a reader we can simply sit back and let Circe’s bias wash over us. We as a culture know this story inside and out, but the first person narrative soaked in Miller’s harrowing emotive language gives us a fresh new look at an old tale that every western schoolchild knows at least a little bit about.

It is so easy to sink into this book and just breathe in what Circe feels and knows and take that journey with her. Unlike Odysseus Circe doesn’t have a chance to return home, she has to keep creating new ones and Miller shows us that creation with such skill that you feel bone-tired by the end, as though we’ve suffered along with Circe.

Romance Wrap-Up | Jan-March 2021

So this was meant to be posted almost a month ago but I had to take a break to push a human out of my body so this and many other blog posts may be coming a bit late. Still, I thought the most efficient way to sum up my romance reads was to do it in three month blocks and do mini reviews because it’s less stress and more fun. So here it is, my first three months of romance reads for 2021:

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Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert – ♥♥♥♥♥

Talia Hibbert is some kind of genius. She’s clearly sold her soul for such talent, but no one soulless could write such powerful emotions! Take a Hint, Dani Brown follows Danika Brown and curvy, black, witchy PhD Lit student who is successful and amazing in every aspect of life except love, and when she goes viral looking all loved up with a security guard they decide to keep up the charade for their own reasons. SO, let’s be real, this has fake dating, witchcraft, big feelings, friends with benefits, internal angst, some hilarious tweets, and a black bisexual heroine who speaks to my soul. If Talia Hibbert ever gets less than five heart ratings from me assume I’ve been kidnapped people.

The Duke & I by Julia Quinn – ♥♥♥

I picked this up because I wanted to give the Netflix series a go (a historical romance TV series where everyone isn’t white, heck yes sign me up) and while I enjoyed it it turns out the adaptation is far superior. This book was mostly fluff in my opinion, but the angsty bits were PROBLEMATIC I wasn’t surprised that this was a pre-MeToo novel but was surprised that it didn’t come right from the 70s, the concepts of consent got a bit dubious and then weren’t really addressed that well, but I get that it’s not exactly contemporary. I LOVED the gossip sheet concept, it’s like historical Gossip Girl but I thought a bit more could have been done with it.

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn – ♥♥♥♥

Now this Bridgerton book made me really excited for the second series of the adaptation especially as some amazing casting got announced whilst I was reading it. This (fairly light) enemies-to-lovers romance was amazing, Anthony’s character really developed loads from the first book, it was lovely seeing how he was just a goofy older brother to Daphne in the first book but a whole other person in his own story. Quinn really seems to understand how family sees you vs an actual sense of self and this gets explored really well in this book and also my god the BEES, I won’t spoil anything but the bee motif was powerful and so far this is my favourite Bridgerton novel.

Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert – ♥♥♥♥♥

Hibbert wins the roundup again with a five heart rating because the Brown Sister’s Trilogy is incredible. This book follows the youngest Brown sister, Eve, whose parents cut her off after years of her floating between careers and never really settling down. The rep in this book was fantastic, from body positivity to class difference to autism (presented differently in both male and female characters, and done very well in my opinion) it was all just done splendidly, which is what Hibbert is known for. Eve is such an out there character and it’s always so refreshing to read about a character who has my body type, especially in romance, I feel like it never happens. I’m definitely going to have to read all of Talia Hibbert’s backlog because she’s been writing for years and I’ve only read this one amazing trilogy and I can’t wait for more.

An Offer From a Gentleman by Julia Quinn – ♥

I’m on a bit of a two author spree at the moment, if it’s not Quinn or Hibbert I’m not reading it (I really just want to know who Whistledown is damn it!) so sorry to return to Bridgerton yet again. The third book follows Benedict Bridgerton and has a not-so-subtle Cinderella retelling aspect, which was possibly the only thing I liked about it. I was excited for Benedict because his character is so wonderful in the show, but honestly Netflix gave him a lot more depth than Quinn ever could. At this point I’m only still reading hoping for a return to the brilliance that was Anthony Bridgerton and to a lesser extent Daphne, who’s looking a lot better as the series goes on. Benedict’s character is a bit nothing-y, he seemed to change personality and swing between morality to suit whatever seemed most “romantic” in the scene, there was no consistency and he seemed to be forgiven all things simply because he saved Sophie from rape. It just wasn’t my cup of tea, but the next book is about my favourite character; Penelope Featherington, so let’s hope I enjoy it more.

Romancing Mr Bridgerton by Julia Quinn – ♥♥♥

This installment in the Bridgerton series follows Colin and Penelope, the two I’ve been looking forward to the most, it also gave answers about Lady Whistledown, and made Cressida look a fool, but I still feel a little let down. Colin is the cheery, happy, funny Bridgerton brother, never says a mean word to anyone, except this story’s heroine Penelope, who bears the brunt of all his negative emotions and puts up with it because of her still thriving childhood crush on him. As much as I wanted to love Colin, and though I understand it’s romantic that you can be yourself with someone you love, why was he so aggressively angry to Penelope? The book answers that question but for me it’s not enough to ruin a hero who should have just been a sweet little himbo instead of a ball of rage that only got unleashed on the woman he wants to have sex with, it was just uncomfortable. Also not sure what revealing Whistledown’s identity will do to the rest of the series. Honestly, I’m only carrying on to see more of Anthony, my true literary love at this point. I’m giving you a chance to save yourself, Quinn, please take it!

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan – ♥♥♥

So I finally ended the two-author-stand-off and let Quinn and Hibbert take a rest. After watching the film about eighty times I decided to actually read Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan and I am so glad I did. Though it didn’t blow me away as a romance exactly (Rachel and Nick have already been dating for a year or two when the narrative starts so I didn’t get a meet cute or a first kiss or anything else I usually love about romance) it was a brilliant read. Kwan did so well at describing a world that is completely foreign to me in more ways than one and the drama was enough to propel the story for me even if the romance itself wasn’t. This book was what I’d call sort of low stakes angst, there’s drama and problems but the stress of it doesn’t get you down when you’ve put the book down, you can step away and keep within your personal limits for drama. Though it wasn’t my brand of romance exactly – the hero, Nick, was a bit nothing-y for my tastes – I’ve already bought the second book and I’m excited to see what happens to them.

Howl’s Moving Castle Trilogy | Review

Whenever I think about Diana Wynne Jones I think about my favourite story about her: that she (and one other) was all that was left in Tolkien’s class at Oxford after he purposefully gave terrible lectures in the hopes that no students would mean more time to write. She found even Tolkien’s attempt at being shite too interesting and I kind of love that about her. You can tell in her books that she has such a strong interest and a keen eye for storytelling in the best kind of way. DWJ could find magic in anything and I definitely think these books speak to that.

Now I will admit I haven’t read any of DWJ’s work as a child, I found her as an adult unfortunately and feel like maybe my childhood was deprived because of it (what a young me would have done to have Sophie Hatter in my life) but it’s all too easy to appreciate these books as an adult too, maybe more so. Initially I picked up Howl’s Moving Castle because I so loved the Ghibli adaptation, but wow the book is something else.

The trilogy with a mug that is so Sophie Hatter I just love it

Howl’s Moving Castle
The first book in the trilogy follows Sophie Hatter, an eldest daughter of three who believes she is bound to a boring life never to go and seek her fortune due to being the eldest, but when she crosses the Witch of the Waste and is cursed to live as a ninety year old woman she becomes the cleaner to Wizard Howl who is more of a massive Welsh mess than he is the feared sorcerer of legend.

For me this book, as well as its first sequel, were just perfect for any Discworld fans. The same attention to detail, the same subversion of fantasy tropes, and the same sort of humour rang through it. DWJ has a mastery of story, she weaves our most primal and familiar stories into something so wonderful and fresh and yet unlike Pratchett’s work it doesn’t feel like crossover fiction for me. Though this book is mostly about adults it’s entirely for children I wouldn’t dream of recommending this to an adult unless they already had a big interest in kidlit. This might not seem a particularly strong opinion but I so rarely read children’s lit that it’s strange for me to come across something that is entirely childlike, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Castle in the Air
Despite being a lot shorter than Howl’s Moving Castle I think I read this one a lot slower. It follows Abdullah, a carpet merchant from Zanzib who meets his true love, Flower-in-the-Night, only to see her snatched away by an evil djinn who he then sets out to challenge. I wanted this book to be my favourite (and it was still brilliant, but was also the low point of the trilogy I think) weirdly, I think I didn’t enjoy it quite as much because it focused almost entirely on two male characters. Something about reading children’s lit turned me back into a kid and suddenly I don’t want to read about boys that’s stupid! Hilariously though, like with the first book, it was the female characters who shined through.

What I did love about this installment was the look at Eastern myths and tropes rather than Western. DWJ claims she even wrote it because she realised she hadn’t covered all the fairy tales available to her after she discovered the stories of the djinn. I’m a big lover of djinn in any fantasy story so it was really refreshing to see it in children’s lit not bogged down by adulthood politics or racism or identity crises in the way they usually are. The way DWJ made her fantasy cultures (clearly based on our own) clash ever so slightly was just wonderful too; there was a beautiful scene where Abdullah was angry with one of his travelling companions and grunted in response to a question, something that was a massive slight in his culture but to the soldier he was travelling with it was just more talking. It was these little attentions to detail that I really enjoyed, and even though this was my least favourite of the trilogy it was still an absolutely brilliant read.

House of Many Ways
The absolute best part of the trilogy if you ask me. This book follows Charmain Baker, a sheltered, bookish young girl who lives mostly off the pastries her father makes in his bakery, who is made to look after her great-uncle-by-marriage’s house whilst he recovers from a mysterious illness. This uncle also happens to be the Royal Wizard of Norland and his house happens to have (you guessed it) so many ways, despite only having one door. Whilst watching the house Charmain becomes entangled in a mystery that is plaguing the royal family and comes across some worrisome creatures whilst discovering her own powers.

This is definitely one for fans of Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching. Despite her naivete Charmain is practical, angry, and ready to fight, though instead of a frying pan she has stern words and a stray dog. What struck me most about this book though was the outright body horror! Without spoiling too much Charmain encounters a creature called a Lubbock that will lay its eggs in you when you’re not looking and the most horrific things will hatch from those eggs and kill you. This might not seem particularly horrible and honestly I found it kind of funny until I remembered that this is a children’s book. Had I read this as a child it would have been on par with Coraline in terms of fears instilled in me. It might still given that I can’t stop thinking about it!

Overall it was refreshing to read some middle grade fantasy instead of my usual depressing reads. I read them quite slowly, but mostly because they were like a literary comfort blanket, I didn’t really want them to end. Luckily now I’ve finished them I still have everything else Diana Wynne Jones has written left to read.

The Grisha Trilogy | Review

Given that the Grishaverse is getting a Netflix series this year I thought I should finally make myself read The Grisha Trilogy. I read it so quick I figured I’d just review them all together and maybe even start fantasy wrap-ups at some point the way I do with romance but more on blog housekeeping another time, when I’ve actually had a chance to plan.

So I won’t lie I wasn’t too pumped to pick this trilogy up. Don’t get me wrong I adored Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom to the point of near obsession, they are excellent books and Leigh Bardugo is an excellent writer who pretty much redefined YA for me and probably a lot of people. But I’d always heard that the Six of Crows duology was her best work and that the trilogy that came before it wasn’t quite as good. Sadly, after reading them all, I sort of have to agree.

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Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate the Grisha Trilogy not even a little bit, in fact I loved it. It follows the story of Alina Starkov who becomes the first Sun Summoner, a type of Grisha (magician, witch, magic user in the Grishaverse) who can summon and manipulate light, who ends up being trained by the Darkling, a Grisha with the exact opposite of her power, someone who can summon darkness. That in itself is a little heavy handed but, I won’t lie, I live for light magic/phosphoromancy/shadow summoning etc. in any kind of fantasy so I was pretty thrilled. But after the first book, Shadow and Bone, it still didn’t reach the glorious heights of Six of Crows. Still, I carried on, because, as with most trilogies, I figured it would get better as I went.

However, I forgot that, in my opinion anyway, most trilogies dip a little in the middle and the second book Siege and Storm felt pretty slow and awkward to me. The ending of Siege and Storm drew me back in though, I don’t want to spoil anything for anyone wanting to read the series before the adaptation, but the second book brings Alina very low and I found myself needing to know what happened so I persisted.

Ruin and Rising is where it paid off though, finally I got a taste of the SoC Bardugo I had come to love and respect. The writing picked up, the plot pacing was spot on, and my investment in the story just skyrocketed. It was absolutely fascinating to read through what was essentially a writer learning how to become the best they can be. It was also really inspiring, the improvements seem sort of minimal in hindsight but they made such a difference to the reading experience. There’s no way for me to tell if a casual read would evoke the same feelings in the reader, I read them all pretty much in a two week period and have the added curse of always judging the writing in what I read because of how I was taught (don’t do creative writing courses if you want to enjoy things folks) but I actually did really appreciate seeing Bardugo grow as a writer.

This comes across as a pretty negative review but believe me I really did enjoy the trilogy. I was dreaming in the Grishaverse for a couple weeks, it became that much a part of my life. It’s made me want to read more YA again and has renewed my love for Leigh Bardugo and her work. If you haven’t yet read Six of Crows read this first, and if you have and are just excited for the Netflix adaptation and fancy an enjoyable YA experience then this is for you!

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue | Review

I read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue toward the end of 2020. Addie and Piranesi were the only two books I’d been really excited for last year and thankfully neither of them let me down. VE Schwab gives us a fresh take on the Faustian bargain and makes it so somber and sweet and gentle that it was a balm for a troubled soul, ironically. It took me a solid week to finish it though, simply because I knew I’d never be prepared for the book hangover that inevitably came afterwards.

In case you avoided everything online in 2020, which is understandable, here’s a quick outline. Addie LaRue is a girl, born into a French village in the 1600s. Even as a child she knows she doesn’t want what her mother wants for her; marriage, husband, domestic life (cue some real Belle vibes), she prefers running wild and hanging out with the village wise woman learning about the old gods. So when her mother tries to force her into marriage she calls on the old gods, and a dark one answers, she wishes for escape to live forever to be entirely free, and she is granted all of it with a cruel twist: every person she meets immediately forgets her, and once she is fed of up this existence she can give her soul to the darkness. Addie is a survivor though, and centuries later she finds the one thing she never thought she would; someone who remembers her.

If you happen to be a big VE Schwab fan (and you should be if you’re not) this isn’t like her other books, or at least not like the ones I’ve read. It’s a gentler, more folkloric sort of fantasy, that tackles morality and personhood and memory other wonderfully deep things without a whole lot of world building. This surprised me because Schwab’s world building is kind of what I loved most about her other works, but I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of it in Addie, as the reader we just have to accept what we see and sink into the story she offers us and let it soothe us. And while it definitely does soothe it also hypes you up to possibilities, to enjoying little things like walks in the park, old films, paint stains and good books.

What really intrigued me about this narrative was the jumping through time. Obviously Addie’s story is epic, it spans centuries, centuries filled with mostly the same things over and over; Addie stealing, Addie learning, Addie being forgotten. Schwab keeps it exciting by playing with Addie’s memories, we slip through her consciousness in a way, things she sees spark the narrative back a few hundred years, pieces of art, books, sculptures, memories all weave together to create a tapestry of Addie’s life and stitch it seamlessly to how she exists in our modern world.

Honestly, I wouldn’t even be mad if Schwab dropped her more typical fantasy for this sort of narrative entirely. Next time I need a comfort read I’ll definitely be turning to The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

King of Assassins | Review

Before I jump into this review of RJ Barker’s King of Assassins I thought I’d do a bit of blog housekeeping. Usually I do an end of year wrap up post and a new year post with goals for what to read. Last year I didn’t have many serious goals I wanted to finish a few series, Barker’s The Wounded Kingdom Trilogy being one of them, and I did it! But 2020 was a rough year and was full of some truly awful distractions so I’m cutting myself some slack; no end of year post, no new year goals, only good books and self care. So get ready for a whole host of feel good romance and fantasy of manners and possibly loads of Terry Pratchett on this blog because I am all about feel good reads for 2021.

Now onto the review!

This installment in RJ Barker’s The Wounded Kingdom Trilogy is the finale I want all fantasy series to have. It was intriguing and surprising and so, so well written and my god the body horror, I will love any author that ups their body horror quotient as a series goes on.

King of Assassins follows Girton Club-Foot our beloved, complicated protagonist many years after King Rufra has won the throne on Maniyadoc. But Rufra wants to take a step further and spread his peaceful rule by becoming High-King, which means travelling to the capital and engaging in some more exhausting and twisty-turny politics that Girton has no time for, until his apprentice dies mysteriously and he discovers that the previous High-King might not be as dead as everyone thinks.

Dead gods I wish I could write as well as RJ Barker. In no way does he disappoint. The first couple books were a little slow for me (reading depressing fantasy at the height of a pandemic wasn’t the way to go, I should have read some Pratchett or a romance) but despite reading this in the arse-end of 2020 I flew through it and buried myself so deep in the mystery I was at a cork board with string and bloodshot eyes all the while missing the actual mystery that was happening. I don’t even feel like that’s a spoiler because there is no way you’ll see it until Barker wants you to. Barker has such a gift for mystery it makes me eternally grateful that he writes fantasy, had he written crime or thrillers or murder mystery I’d have probably never discovered him, it will never be my genre, but Barker makes it work so well I might consider picking up a few mystery classics before 2021 ends, no promises though.

I don’t have a whole lot to say that I haven’t said in other reviews of Barker’s work; as always his world building is exemplary and the religious and social structures he designs are nearly anthropological in their genius, he continues to write violence better than any writer I have ever come across, and Girton’s voice is as strong as ever right up to the bittersweet, emotional gut-punch ending. Barker is just a straight up genius and I will not trust a single fantasy fan that hasn’t at least given his work a try. So go forth anyone reading this blog, and read RJ Barker instead!