Isaiah Roby's Blog: MI Book Reviews, page 2

That Devil, Ambition

Now this is dark academia!
The honors class at a renowned school of magic only has one task – kill the professor, who is a devil summoned each year only for this purpose – and get your student debt forgiven and become one of the most respected magicians ever.

There is only one school worth graduating from, and it creates as many magicians as it does graves…

First in his class and last in his noble line, Fabian Galloway’s only hope of a good future is passing his elite school’s honors class. It...

Letters to Half Moon Street

This was an absolutely delightful historical romantasy written entirely in letters.

I must have been drunker than I realized because all I remember is how well he tied his cravat and how perfectly his coat fit him…

London, 1815: where magic can be purchased at convenience, and the fashionable and wealthy descend for the start of the social Season. But 25-year-old Gavin Hartford finds the city intimidating when he arrives, alone, to his family’s townhouse. The only company he seeks is in his b...

One of the Boys

I absolutely adored this YA coming-of-age story about a trans girl grappling with what her transition may mean for her football career, juggling friend groups, and dealing with the big decisions about her own future.

Grace Woodhouse has left a lot behind. She used to have a great friend group, an amazing girlfriend, and a right foot set to earn her a Division I football scholarship—before she came out as trans. As senior year begins, Grace is struggling to find her place in early transition,...

Girl Dinner

Super fun satirical read about sororities, feminism, what it means to be a “good woman”, and, of course, how women deserve a little treat.

Good girls deserve a treat.

Every member of The House, the most exclusive sorority on campus, and all its alumni, are beautiful, high-achieving, and universally respected.
After a freshman year she would rather forget, sophomore Nina Kaur knows being one of the chosen few accepted into The House is the first step in her path to the brightest possible future...

The Everlasting

The Six Deaths of the Saint is one of my favourite short stories, so when I heard there would be a full-length novel inspired by it, I was super excited. The Everlasting takes some of the core-ideas of the short story and expands them into a twisting, complex narrative with a lot of feelings and heart.
Also, lady knights!

Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s bo...

A Game in Yellow

I loved the idea of microdosing The King in Yellow in order to fix the bedroom issues in your relationship, and A Game in Yellow was a wild ride from start to finish.

A kink-fixated couple, Carmen and Blanca, have been in a rut. That is until Blanca discovers the enigmatic Smoke in an under-street drug den, who holds pages to a strange play, The King in Yellow. Read too much, and you’ll fall into madness. But read just a little and pull back, and it gives you the adrenaline rush of survivor’...

The Isle in the Silver Sea

I love me a good lady-knight story, and a tale about a cursed witch and knight who fall in love and kill each other again and again sounded really fun! And overall, this tale-within-a-tale book absolutely delivered.

From World Fantasy Award-winning author Tasha Suri comes The Isle in the Silver Sea, a heart-shattering romantasy of sapphic longing, medieval folklore and a love that spans the centuries.

In a Britain fuelled by stories, the knight and the witch are fated to fall in love and doom...

The Works of Vermin

I already admired Hiron Ennes’ vision in Leech, and The Works of Vermin absolutely stunned me with its layers of worldbuilding and the twists and turns that masterfully unravel as the plot progresses.

He was sent to kill a pest. Instead, he found a monster.
Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard, a metropolis carved into the stump of an ancient tree. In its canopy, the pampered elite warp minds with toxic perfume; in its roots, gangs of exterminators hunt a colossal worm with an appetite ...

Queen Demon

Witch King ended on an incredibly high note for me, and my only complaint was that by the time I finally felt like I fully understood what was going on, the book was over, and no sequel was announced. Therefore, I was absolutely thrilled to finally be able too read Queen Demon.

Dahin believes he has clues to the location of the Hierarchs’ Well, and the Witch King Kai, along with his companions Ziede and Tahren, knowing there’s something he isn’t telling them, travel with him to the rebuilt u...

The Golden Raven

I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t really enjoy The Sunshine Court, and I can also admit that a lot of that was because of how heavy it was, while also not giving a (happy) conclusion to Jean’s story (yet).
The Golden Raven was much more up my speed – it was still heavy, but not quite as unbearably so as The Sunshine Court, and while it still doesn’t give a conclusion to Jean’s story, it ends on a much higher note.

I do not care what they think of me. I can’t. It only matters that I pla...