Siavahda's Blog, page 31

An Unmitigated Mess: The Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis

Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Brown PoV characters, sapphic PoV character, sapphic PoV character with a speech impediment, blind PoV character, minor nonbinary character
PoV: Third-person, past-tense; multiple PoVs
Published on: 19th March 2024
ISBN: 1529391660
Goodreads

The Grand Budapest Hotel in space, Floating Hotel is a hopeful story of misfits, rebels and found family, perfect for fans of Becky Chambers.

Welcome to the Grand Abeona: home of the finest food, the sweetest service, and the very best views the galaxy has to offer. Year round it moves from planet to planet, system to system, pampering guests across the furthest reaches of the milky way. The last word in sub-orbital luxury - and a magnet for intrigue. Intrigues such as:

Why are there love poems in the lobby intray?

How many Imperial spies are currently on board?

What is the true purpose of the Problem Solver's conference?

And perhaps most pertinently - who is driving the ship?

At the centre of these mysteries stands Carl, one time stowaway, longtime manager, devoted caretaker to the hotel. It's the love of his life and the only place he's ever called home. But as forces beyond Carl's comprehension converge on the Abeona, he has to face one final question: when is it time to let go?

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~no one has a happy backstory
~secret sonnets
~a rebel propagandist
~cows as presents
~don’t judge this book by its cover

Let’s get one thing straight: this is not a cosy book. I don’t know why it’s being marketed as one – perhaps the publicity/marketing team had no more idea of what, exactly, this book is trying to be than I did.

Because what it is? Is kind of a mess.

And before we go any further, I want to let you know that Floating Hotel doesn’t have a happy ending. It’s one of those infuriating endings that tries to dress itself up as a happy or at least hopeful one, but is in fact pretty fucking tragic if you think about it for more than .2 seconds. It’s an ending that retroactively ruins any feel-good fuzzies the rest of the book managed to scrape together. (And it did not scrape together many.)

So if you’re looking for a nice cosy sci fi to curl up with…this isn’t it. Allow me to instead point you in the direction of Lovequake by TJ Land (Lovecraftian alien takes human form and adopts human and superhuman misfits) or perhaps Three Twins at the Crater School by Chaz Benchley (traditional English boarding school story but set on Mars, reviewed here) or Gail Carriger’s Tinkered Starsong series (forming a band in space, first book reviewed here). But absolutely, categorically not Floating Hotel.

Like Frontier, Curtis’ debut, Floating Hotel follows a different character with every chapter. Unlike in Frontier, most of these mini-stories don’t tie together into an overarching plotline; instead, each one is more of a flashback to how the character in question ended up working for, or visiting, the hotel, sometimes split between that flashback and what their life looks like now. The characters’ backstories are, to a one, pretty miserable, and the hotel is presented as an escape, a home for all these misfits – one they appreciate to varying degrees. Not everyone’s happy to be working in a hotel for what will presumably be the rest of their lives.

This had plenty of potential to be a very cosy book indeed, which might be one of the reasons I’m so annoyed with it – because instead, Floating Hotel reads like a book that doesn’t know what it’s trying to be. Let’s take the imperial spies mentioned in the blurb as an example. In a cosy story, the spies would probably be played for comedic effect; they might be useless, or completely on the wrong track, or essentially toothless. (…which is an unintentional pun, which you’ll recognise if you’ve read the book.) Instead, we have discussions of and see the aftermath of torture and murder, backed up by many, many mentions and reminders of how horrific the Empire is – and how useless and pointless trying to change things is.

…What part of that is cosy?

There are some smaller storylines that follow developing romances or partnerships, but even those held thorns for me – past trauma leading to awful behavior in the present, for example, or a musical performance that has to abruptly turn into an attempt to save someone from assassins. Even the thing with the love poems ended in someone being emotionally crushed! And the bigger plotlines? Every single one of them ends tragically, heartbreakingly. People die, are blacklisted, tortured, left homeless.

HOW ABOUT NO???

It’s like Floating Hotel was trying to tackle big issues – poverty, the abuse of artists in the music industry, censorship, an even worse capitalism of the future, a big sprawling corrupt empire – while also trying to zoom in on smaller, personal stories; attempting to be cute and sweet while also serving up borderline-grimdark awfulness. And the result is a mess. It doesn’t work, and for the record? That messiness, that inability to commit to one end of the emotional spectrum or the other, made everything so boring. The pacing dragged out what needed to be urgent and high-stakes, and sped up moments of emotional intensity that we should have got to revel in. I had to force myself to finish–

–only to be punched in the face with that ending, which dares to present itself as vaguely hopeful, cautiously optimistic, when really, everything’s been burned to the ground and the earth salted.

I can’t recommend this to anyone: it’s too bitter for those looking for a comfort read, but the more action-y/darker aspects are watered down by the attempt at cosiness.

Just skip this one altogether.

The post An Unmitigated Mess: The Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr!

The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Representation: Gay MC
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads

An extraordinary, gloriously uplifting novel about the power of friendship and the puzzling ties that bind us

Clayton Stumper might be twenty-six years old, but he dresses like your grandpa and drinks sherry like your aunt. Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, he was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists and now finds himself among the last survivors of a fading institution.

When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton's life, Pippa Allsbrook, passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune. As Clay begins to unpick the clues, he uncovers something even the Fellowship have never been able to solve—and it's a secret that has the potential to change everything.

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I don’t step away from SFF very often, but every now and then a book comes along that I just can’t resist. And The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers is definitely one of them.

I mean – AN INFANT RAISED BY ECCENTRIC ENIGMATOLOGISTS?! In a commune of puzzlemakers, no less?! That is such a whimsically weird premise that I cannot help but be utterly delighted by it. Can you blame me? Really? Who does not want to read about a young man who has spent his entire life in a commune of puzzlemakers??? That’s just!

*FLAILS*

And I’m not gonna lie, I’m very curious about what kind of mystery/puzzle ‘could change everything’. What is the ‘everything’ here? The commune? The culture of puzzlemaking (and seriously, is puzzlemaking distinct from puzzle-solving?) Or something even bigger, something that might revitalise the ‘fading institution’ and draw more people to devote their lives to puzzlemaking???

(What would convince you to devote your life to puzzlemaking???)

How big a deal could Clay’s parentage actually be, really?

It all sounds like just-silly-enough FUN that I can’t wait to get to dive into it!

The post I Can’t Wait For…The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers by Samuel Burr appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #176

Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.

NINE books this week!

(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)

The Truth of the Aleke (Forever Desert, #2) by Moses Ose Utomi
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: African-inspired cast and setting
Published on: 5th March 2024
Goodreads

Moses Ose Utomi returns to his Forever Desert series with The Truth of the Aleke, continuing his epic fable about truth, falsehood, and the shackles of history.

The Aleke is cruel. The Aleke is clever. The Aleke is coming.

500 years after the events of The Lies of the Ajungo, the City of Truth stands as is the last remaining free city of the Forever Desert. A bastion of freedom and peace, the city has successfully weathered the near-constant attacks from the Cult of Tutu, who have besieged it for three centuries, attempting to destroy its warriors and subjugate its people.

17-year-old Osi is a Junior Peacekeeper in the City. When the mysterious leader of the Cult, known only as the Aleke, commits a massacre in the capitol and steals the sacred God's Eyes, Osi steps forward to valiantly defend his home. For his bravery he is tasked with a tremendous responsibility—destroy the Cult of Tutu, bring back the God's Eyes, and discover the truth of the Aleke.

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I loved the first book in this trilogy – and had no idea book 2 was going to take place 500 years later until I was putting this post together! That makes me a whole new level of curious about what the book’s going to be like!

Saint, Sorrow, Sinner (The Gideon Testaments, #3) by Freydís Moon
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Autistic sapphic MC, trans Latine/Latinx love interest
Published on: 5th March 2024
Goodreads

An exploration of religious mythos, Brujería, and spiritual ascension…

Sophia De’voreaux never expected to escape Haven, but after a bloody confrontation in the Gideon Preserve, she finds herself under the protection of a rogue witch, her menacing guard, and their cautious friends.

Crumbling beneath an onslaught of ancient power, Sophia must put her reservations aside, because the Breath of Judas is no ordinary relic, and trusting the strange, dysfunctional group might be her only chance at ridding her body of its dangerous magic.

Before it’s too late.

Guided by Colin, Bishop, Tehlor, and Lincoln, Sophia leaves Colorado, seeking help from a mysterious mystic, Juniper Castle, and enters a race against time, chasing salvation, redemption, and a second chance at freedom.

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IT’S THE FINALE OF THE GIDEON TESTAMENTS!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! Early reviews for this have been majorly positive (no surprise) but I did see a recommendation that you reread the earlier books before diving into this one, just to have all the details fresh. I think I’ll do that!

Saints and Monsters by Ellen McGinty
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Disabled MC
Published on: 5th March 2024
Goodreads

With her crooked spine and reckless heart, Princess Meera always knew she wasn't meant to become queen of Ezo. But when her sister, the rightful heir, is cursed on the eve of her coronation, Meera must defend her kingdom from ruthless invaders by taking the throne. Yet, while some countries have simple coronations, in Ezo . . .

The princess must first claim a sea dragon.

Only the dragon is vicious, perfect, and whole-everything Meera is not. And if the dragon doesn't deem her worthy, it will devour her. Turning to the Saints for help, she doesn't anticipate that her actions will transform the dragon into a mortal, or that she'll steal his heart . . . literally.

Now, as two hearts beat inside Meera's chest, she's reminded that her life is entwined with a dragon, who despises her weaknesses. Despite their differences, they must work together to reverse the curse and save the kingdom before more is lost than their stolen hearts.

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A disabled princess who literally steals a dragon heart??? HERE FOR IT!

Chicano Frankenstein by Daniel A. Olivas
Genres: Speculative Fiction
Representation: Latine/Latinx love interest
Published on: 5th March 2024
Goodreads

A modern retelling of the Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley classic that addresses issues of belonging and assimilation

An unnamed paralegal, brought back to life through a controversial process, maneuvers through a near-future world that both needs and resents him. As the United States president spouts anti-reanimation rhetoric and giant pharmaceutical companies rake in profits, the man falls in love with lawyer Faustina Godínez. His world expands as he meets her network of family and friends, setting him on a course to discover his first-life history, which the reanimation process erased. With elements of science fiction, horror, political satire and romance, Chicano Frankenstein confronts our nation’s bigotries and the question of what it truly means to be human.

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The early reviews I’ve seen for this have been full of praise, and obviously that blurb has me curious. It doesn’t seem to be a Frankenstein retelling (thank the gods), more using the idea of reanimation as a way to examine racism/xenophobia. I’m intrigued!

Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk, Heather Cleary
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F
Published on: 5th March 2024
Goodreads

Across two different time periods, two women confront fear, loneliness, mortality, and a haunting yearning that will not let them rest. A breakout, genre-blurring novel from one of the most exciting new voices of Latin America’s feminist Gothic.

It is the twilight of Europe’s bloody bacchanals, of murder and feasting without end. In the nineteenth century, a vampire arrives from Europe to the coast of Buenos Aires and, for the second time in her life, watches as villages transform into a cosmopolitan city, one that will soon be ravaged by yellow fever. She must adapt, intermingle with humans, and be discreet.

In present-day Buenos Aires, a woman finds herself at an impasse as she grapples with her mother's terminal illness and her own relationship with motherhood. When she first encounters the vampire in a cemetery, something ignites within the two women—and they cross a threshold from which there’s no turning back.

With echoes of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and written in the vein of feminist Gothic writers like Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, and Carmen Maria Machado, Thirst plays with the boundaries of genre while exploring the limits of female agency, the consuming power of desire, and the fragile vitality of even the most immortal of creatures.

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This sounds like one of those stories where dual-timelines are a very good thing – and I’m also hopeful for a properly dark vampire MC. Although we’ll see if I can actually handle that, instead of wimping out!

The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black bisexual MC
Published on: 5th March 2024
Goodreads

In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.

Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.

Then an enemy's iron bullet kills her mother, Venus’s life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother's killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.'s most influential politicians.

As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it's hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.

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I had an arc of this one and couldn’t finish it, not because it’s a bad book, but because it contains content that’s triggering for me. (It includes a list of potential triggers at the start of the book; potential readers should pay attention to it.) But what I did read was pretty awesome, and I’m hoping I can give this another go now I know what I’m getting into, you know?

What Monstrous Gods by Rosamund Hodge
Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 5th March 2024
Goodreads

Centuries ago, the heretic sorcerer Ruven raised a deadly briar around Runakhia's palace, casting the royal family into an enchanted sleep - and silencing the kingdom's gods.

Born with a miraculous gift, Lia's destiny is to kill Ruven and wake the royals. But when she succeeds, she finds her duty is not yet complete, for now she must marry into the royal family and forge a pact with a god - or die.

To make matters even worse, Ruven's spirit is haunting her.

As discord grows between the old and new guards, the queen sends Lia and Prince Araunn, her betrothed, on a pilgrimage to awaken the gods. But the old gods are more dangerous than Lia ever knew - and Ruven may offer her only hope of survival.

As the two work together, Lia learns that they're more alike than she expected. And with tensions rising, Lia must choose between what she was raised to believe and what she knows is right - and between the prince she is bound to by duty...and the boy she killed.

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I loved Cruel Beauty when I was a teenager, and I was looking forward to What Monstrous Gods for YEARS. But then I forgot about it? And then I was reminded! Sleeping Beauty isn’t a story I care about, or its retellings, but pacts with gods and evil sorcerers??? THAT sounds much more my thing!

Sona and the Golden Beasts by Rajani LaRocca
Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 5th March 2024
Goodreads

From Newbery Honor and Walter Award–winning author Rajani LaRocca comes a gripping middle grade fantasy perfect for fans of The Serpent’s Secret and The Last Mapmaker.

Though music is outlawed in the land of Devia, Sona hears it everywhere. Sona is a Malech, a member of the ruling class that conquered Devia centuries ago. Malechs forbade music to prevent the native Devans from using their magic, and Sona hides her abilities lest they put her in danger. Then Sona discovers an orphaned wolf pup. She believes the pup, with its golden ears, might be related to one of the five sacred beasts of Devia, and she vows to keep it safe. That means bringing the pup in tow when Sona embarks on a perilous quest, along with a Devan boy, to secure the nectar of life for a loved one who has fallen gravely ill. On the journey, as Sona uncovers secrets about the Malechian empire and her own identity, she realizes that the fate of the sacred beasts, and the future of Devia, just might come down to her.

This captivating fantasy novel by award-winning author Rajani LaRocca will sweep readers into Sona’s quest across the land of Devia as she grapples with the lasting impact of colonial rule and learns to fight for what she knows is right. 

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This was apparently inspired by the author’s thoughts and feelings on British colonialism in India – and from what early readers have said, she’s managed that theme beautifully while also writing a completely magical story! I don’t read a lot of MG, but I’m dying to read this one!

The Dancing Bears: Queer Fables for the End Times by Rob Costello
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 8th March 2024
Goodreads

A lost boy under the spell of a seductive killer suffers the sting of betrayal while on the hunt for fresh blood. A misanthrope obsessed with death carries on a torrid affair with the malevolent spirit haunting the house in his favorite novel. The dead son of an abusive horror novelist returns from the grave to tell his father what really happened the night he died. An ex-child star desperate for a comeback meets a sinister stranger who reveals the terrible price of attaining his heart’s desire. A headstrong girl determined to seduce her ex-boyfriend discovers what being trapped in the closet really means.

The Dancing Bears: Queer Fables for the End Times showcases eleven darkly speculative tales of the queer and uncanny. With eight previously published and three brand new stories, this debut collection features young queer characters grappling with love and desire in a heartless world hurtling toward the abyss.

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‘Queer fables for the end times’??? Yeah, I’m sold. That’s all I need to hear. I’m good. Gimme!

(This originally appeared in last week’s post, but the pub date got pushed back last minute.)

Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #176 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Immensely Satisfying: City of Bones by Martha Wells

City of Bones by Martha Wells
Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
PoV: Third-person, past tense; dual PoVs
ISBN: B0BSD4SYSJ
Goodreads

Before Martha Wells captured the hearts of MILLIONS with her Murderbot series, there was Khat, Sagai, and Elen, and a city risen out of death and decay…

The city of Charisat, a tiered monolith of the Ancients’ design, sits on the edge of the vast desert known as the Waste. Khat, a member of a humanoid race created by the Ancients to survive in the Waste, and Sagai, his human partner, are relic dealers working in the bottom tiers of society, trying to stay one step ahead of the Trade Inspectors.

When Khat is hired by the all-powerful Warders to find relics believed to be part of one of the Ancients' arcane engines, he, and his party, begin unravelling the mysteries of an age-old technology.

This they expected.

They soon find themselves as the last line of defense between the suffering masses of Charisat and a fanatical cult, bent on unleashing an evil upon the city with an undying thirst for bone.

That, they did not expect.

This updated and revised edition is the author’s preferred text.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~pouches > childbirth
~water as currency
~magical and political factions
~a world built out of the bones of a more ancient one
~nothing is quite what it seems

I discovered Martha Wells through her Raksura series – years before Murderbot – and did my best to go through her backlist at the time, but City of Bones, for whatever reason, was a book I initially bounced off of. Cue the expanded and updated edition, and I decided it was time to give it another go.

And I’m SO glad that I did! Everything Wells rocks at is here in spades; superficially simple but excellent worldbuilding, incredibly compelling characters, and twisty, thoughtful plots that conclude in ways I never see coming. City of Bones is a book you can sink into like a warm bath, but it’s also exciting; not non-stop action, but high-tension and mystery and full of secrets, double-bluffs, and flip-the-table reveals. And I simply ADORED the ending – the final pages went against everything a lifetime as a bookworm had led me to expect, and that simply delights me!

So what have we got? A post-apocalyptic setting, of a kind; many centuries ago, something happened that caused the fall of the Ancients, and transformed most of the landmass into a kind of desert (think Death Valley crossed with the Grand Canyon, not sand dunes). But there were survivors, and in the present day there are a handful of cities around that central desert; within it live the krismen, last-minute creations of the Ancients – a kind of human designed to survive the apocalypse the Ancients thought would destroy everything. Krismen are tougher than humans, need less water, have babies in pouches rather than typical mammalian childbirth (I’m pretty jealous of that one) and their eyes change colours somewhat according to mood.

Humans consider krismen animals, good only for killing (krismen bones allegedly make the best divination tools), so most of them stay well clear of the cities. Which makes our main character Khat an extreme oddity, because when we meet him, he’s hanging out in the wedding-cake-shaped city of Charisat, with his (human) friend and business partner Sagai. We don’t realise how odd this set-up is in the opening pages, but Wells gradually feeds us enough cultural context for us to grasp that Khat living among humans is pretty much unheard-of, making us (or at least me!) rabidly curious about his backstory.

(Which we do eventually get, fear not!)

Khat is an awesome character; smart, saavy, able to tuck his pride away when it would only make things worse (admittedly one of my favourite character traits), and ruthlessly vicious when necessary. And he genuinely loves the relics he and Sagai make a living from, which is something I adore – yes, please, give your characters passions and hobbies and interests! That immediately makes them so much more interesting and real. Playing off against him is Elen, a Warder (magic-user) from the highest of the upper classes, and whose naïveté would probably be annoying in the hands of a less skilled author. Instead, we get to follow along as she grows into her natural intelligence and competence, a character arc that makes it clear that she is not as…small a person as her society has taught her she is. It’s subtly and excellently done, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Story-wise, Elen hires Khat to lead her out into the Waste so she can experiment with an Ancient relic. Things begin to go wrong almost immediately, though not precisely because of the relic; it appears there are factions amongst the Warders, and at least one of them really Do Not Want Elen – or rather, her master, Riathen – to possess this relic.

(Also, cannibal pirates.)

Khat is wary of being drawn into the in-fighting of these people who live on the top tier of Charisat, since any one of them could have him killed with a snap of their fingers (with or without magic). But when it becomes clear that Elen’s relic is actually one of a triad of relics meant to work together for some arcane purpose, he can’t resist the part of him that loves to study and understand the things the Ancients left behind – and he has important plans for the money he’s offered to help find the missing two of the triad.

I am consistently blown away by how much story Wells manages to pack into her standalones, and City of Bones is no exception. We have a sort of political treasure-hunt that takes us from the Waste to the highest (and lowest) tiers of Charisat; Khat’s criminal history and its repercussions; the divide among the Warders, and what the hell is fuelling it; the politics of Charisat’s succession, with Riathen backing the apparent ‘crown princess’ who definitely has her own agenda; Khat’s complicated relationship with the krismen clan who badly want him to come home; and, of course, the enormous mystery of what exactly the three relics everyone is looking for actually do. As the blurb hints, ‘what they do’ is pretty major indeed…

Nothing feels rushed or under-developed, and the pacing is perfect; there’s never a dull moment, but we still have time to learn about these characters and their inner lives, and the webs of relationships that connect them to others all over (and outside of) the city. Belonging and power, in all their various facets, are major themes, and Wells plays our heart-strings like a fiddle, whirling us from tension to aching empathy to breathlessness with the skill of a master. I was never bored, and I never didn’t care, not even about the smallest details of the most minor plotlines – everything was interesting, and everything mattered, if not always directly to the plot then to my understanding of this world and the people in it. I would not like to visit Charisat, but it absolutely felt like a place I could visit, should I so choose; a real place, populated by very real people, and therefore worthy of saving…no matter its flaws.

(I mean, the flaws just make it more real, don’t they?)

City of Bones is not Murderbot, but it’s the perfect book for anyone looking for a rich, multi-layered character-driven fantasy that bucks reader expectations at most every turn. It’s a surprising, unusual, massively satisfying epic, and just serves as more proof that Wells deserved to be a household name long before Murderbot came along!

So, SO strongly recommended!

The post Immensely Satisfying: City of Bones by Martha Wells appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

In Short: February

I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything this month; is it the ADHD, the anxiety, or the depression??? Who knows! Whichever, it means I got a lot less reading and reviewing done than I wanted this month.

ARCs Received

SO IT TURNS OUT THAT EMAILING PUBLICITY TEAMS IS A REALLY GREAT WAY TO GET ARCS. I…am overwhelmed. In a very excited way!!! Thirteen arcs, and most of them straight from my Unmissable SFF of 2024 list!!! EEE!!!

Read

Just 12 books read this month. Very clear evidence that I have been Not Okay.

Sigh.

The Briar Book of the Dead and Mad Sisters of Esi were both absolutely incredible: six-star reads all the way! I hope I can review them and do them justice, as I desperately need more people to read both. (And may have to single-handedly campaign for a UK/US publisher to pick up Mad Sisters, my GODS.) City of Bones and Tarashana were both great, in completely different ways, and I loved the completely fucked-up Next of Kin riiiiight up until that ending.

Scapegracers and Scratch Daughters were equally awesome, rereads in preparation for the last book of the trilogy, Feast Makers. (Spoiler: I am 82% of the way through Feast Makers and am STILL NOT FUCKING READY.)

To the best of my knowledge, 20% of this month’s books had BIPOC authors.

Reviewed

I was terrible at writing this month – I started a bunch of reviews, but only finished writing three. I thought my one for City of Bones wasn’t terrible, though – you’ll see it tomorrow!

DNF-ed

Just two DNFs this month! Much better than some months. Imo, In Universes is objectively terrible, while Be The Sea is intended for a subset of readers that does not include me.

ARCs OutstandingUS Cover

Have I bitten off more than I can chew??? Possibly. But having an overabundance of amazing books is hard to see as a problem.

Unmissable SFF Updates

Once again, I got to add new covers and even whole new books to my Unmissable SFF of 2024 list! This brings us to a total of 91 Unmissable books!

How did my predictions/anticipated reads for February go? Well, of the eleven books I declared Unmissable for Feb (a couple retroactively, after I’d read them and realised they should have been on the list all along!);

two were five star reads (interestingly, they happened to be the two I added to the list retroactively; The Tainted Cup and The Briar Book of the Dead) one was a three star read (Butcher of the Forest)three I am currently reading and enjoying immensely (Red Side Story, Projections, and Sunbringer)one I am currently reading but probably going to DNF (Infinity Alchemy)two were fairly meh and I may or may not give them another chance later (Absinthe Underground and Ours)two were complete disappointments (Fathomfolk and Redsight)

Last month I counted currently-reading-and-enjoying as half-points, so that makes for a ‘score’ of 3.5 out of 11 this month. But 2 of those weren’t predictions like the rest – I only added them to the list after I’d read them and knew they were awesome! So should they count as me ‘getting it right’? I did pick them up because I was interested in them, and my interest turned out to be very justified…so…kinda?

3.5 or 1.5 out of 11, then, depending on how you call it. Definitely not as great as last month’s 4.5 out of 7! But I’m having fun keeping track, regardless. (And should I come back and edit these once I finish the currently-reading books…?)

Misc

I had a brief whirlwind of excitement at the start of the month, when I was accepted as a reviewer for ARB…only for me to have to cancel the day after, as I’d read half of the book they wanted me to review (In Universes) and fucking hated it. As I detailed in yesterday’s DNF roundup.

Otherwise, I’ve been having a surprisingly fun and soothing time pruning my want to read shelf on Goodreads, starting from the earliest books I added (back when I was 17!) It’s clear my tastes have changed a lot in some ways (I no longer have any interest in Contemporary Fiction, or YA about dystopias, love triangles, or girls discovering they are magically special with the help of bland male love interests) and not-so-much in others (I still crave nonconventional worldbuilding, decadence, and heroes who aren’t cishet white neurotypical men!)

Looking Forward

Tomorrow is my birthday, and it’s going to be a most excellent birthday month!!! The star of the show is obviously Feast Makers, and you’d better believe I’ll be reading the final published version despite reading the arc (I’M NOT READY FOR THIS SERIES TO BE OVER)! The Woods All Black is sure to knock my socks off, and I’ve been anticipating Botanical Daughter since before the author had an agent! Welcome to Forever is the sophomore novel of Nathan Tavares, whose debut Fractured Infinity I adored – and then there’s Mars House, the first Pulley novel I’ve ever been interested in.

Basically, there’s a LOT to look forward to – I hope it’s an awesome month for all of us!

The post In Short: February appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

February DNFs

There are quite a few books I’m hesitating over continuing – not convinced I want to push on with them – but only two actual, solid DNFs this month!

In Universes: A Novel by Emet North
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Queer MCs, F/F
Published on: 30th April 2024
ISBN: 0063314886
Goodreads

An imaginative debut that follows a queer physicist’s search for love and belonging across time and space

Raffi works in an observational cosmology lab, searching for dark matter and trying to hide how little they understand their own research. Every chance they get, they escape to see Britt, a queer sculptor who fascinates them for reasons they also can’t—or won’t—understand. As Raffi’s carefully constructed life begins to collapse, they dream of a universe where they mean as much to Britt as Britt does to them. And just like that, Raffi and Britt are thirteen years old, best friends and maybe something more.

In Universes is a mind-bending tour across parallel worlds, each an answer to the question of what Raffi’s life would be like had things happened just a little differently. Across lives, Raffi—alongside their sometimes-friends, sometimes-lovers Britt, Kay, and Graham—reaches for a life that feels authentically their own. The universes grow increasingly strange. Women fracture into hordes of animals, alien-possessed bears prowl apocalyptic landscapes. But Raffi’s divergent existences all lead back to the summer of the terrible thing Raffi did and the guilt that continues to chase them across realities. Blending realism with science fiction, In Universes explores the pull of desire, the power of connection, the nature of identity, and the desire to lead a meaningful life.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Is it fair to call a book boring because you thought it was going to be something it isn’t? Can I call this a bad book when I have a sneaking suspicion that I Just Don’t Get It?

I think I can.

As a science fiction novel, this is fucking terrible. It’s slow and dreary and the scifi elements are relegated to the background when they appear at all – and they often don’t; every ‘chapter’ is functionally a standalone short story, featuring different versions of the same character/s, and the majority of them contain no scifi stuff at all, nor do they explore or play with scifi themes and tropes. There are so many ways to play with gender and sexuality in SFF – The Unraveling by Benjamin Rosenbaum comes immediately to mind – and none of that is happening here. The blurb is phrased in such a way that I took it to mean we were going to be following one character moving through different universes, something in a similar vein to Nathan Tavares’ Fractured Infinity. That is not what this is! We, the reader, are taking peeks at different realities, at different versions of Raffi in different timelines, but they are all entirely separate; this isn’t a scifi adventure, it’s a collection of short stories about the same characters. Instead of a queer physicist hopping from world to world, we’re reading about professors who are unhappy in their academic success, kids who bow under to peer-pressure, women too cowardly to confess their true feelings to a partner; blah, blah, blah. It’s the kind of Lit Fic nonsense we mock Lit Fic for being, for crying out loud; if it were entertaining, I might even consider whether North intended this book as some kind of satire or spoof on that genre. But I think not: it takes itself too seriously, and is just so mind-numbingly boring, to be (successfully) doing something sneaky and clever.

As a literary fiction novel… Look, I’m not qualified to make that judgement. I hate Literary Fiction with a passion and think it’s all pretentious drivel by default. It is genuinely possible that I Just Don’t Get what North was doing here. But speaking as a nonbinary person, I didn’t see anything being said about gender or sexuality at all, never mind something smart or interesting being said, never mind it being done well or poorly. In some of the vignettes the main character was queer, or sapphic, or nonbinary, and in some they weren’t, or at least did not appear to be: being married to a man doesn’t make a woman straight, of course, but if that’s all I see in that particular vignette, I have nothing else to go on. Using she/her pronouns (as the MC does for at least the first half of the book) doesn’t make you a woman, for that matter – I use she/her pronouns, and am decidedly not a girl – but when a character uses she/her and spends her time obsessing over sandcastles and Shakespeare’s Ophelia, I have no evidence suggesting she’s not cis. It sucks that our society defaults to cishet, that I need evidence of obvious queerness to recognise a character as queer, but the fact is that I do. It’s not like that in real life – in real life, you can call yourself queer and I need no more evidence than that to consider you queer. But when we’re talking about a fictional character, I need to be shown, and in many of the chapters I read, I was not.

On the other hand, sometimes we did get that; in several chapters/universes Raffi is a woman attracted to women, or men and women; sometimes Raffi is nonbinary. But that in and of itself isn’t saying anything interesting. So, not all versions of us across the multiverse will have the same sexuality and/or gender identity: I mean, le duh??? Is that the Big Deal that’s supposed to be blowing my mind? I took that as read long before I even heard of this book. Hells, I would argue that Orphan Black did a better job of showing how wildly different different versions of us could potentially be – including Tony, the trans clone we barely met, who I wish we’d seen more of – and that all took place in one universe!

Insert me banging my head against the desk here.

Push comes to shove, In Universe is a series of vignettes about a person who has depression of varying levels in a lot of the various versions of their life, a person who is not interesting and does nothing interesting, who is sometimes self-destructive in eye-rollingly obvious, even clichéd, ways. I skipped ahead to part 3 and that was no more promising than the first half of the book. It’s mundane and dull and banal, and yes all those words mean the same thing but I had to read dozens of boring versions of the same person’s boring life so you can deal with three synonyms.

Please let me go back to the sci fi that goes pew pew, thanks.

Be the Sea by Clara Ward
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Neurodivergent nonbinary MC with chronic pain, major asexual Filipino character, major queer Filipino character
Published on: 5th March 2024
ISBN: 1961654059
Goodreads

In November 2039, marine scientist Wend Taylor heaves themself aboard a zero-emissions boat skippered by elusive nature photographer Viola Yang. Guided by instinct, ocean dreams, and a shared birthday in 1972, they barter stories for passage across the Pacific. Aljon, Viola’s younger cousin, keeps a watchful eye and an innovative galley. Story by story, the trio rethink secrets, flying dreams, and how they experience their own minds.

When they reach Hawaiʻi and prepare to part ways, opportunity and mystery pull them closer together. Both scientific and personal discoveries take shape as they join with ex-lovers, lost friends, and found family. Wend must navigate an ever-shifting future, complicated by bioengineered microbes and a plot to silence scientists, entangled with inexplicable dreams and a calling to Be the Sea.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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Be the Sea feels a lot like it’s going for The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet vibes, but solarpunk and marine-based rather than out in space. Which feels like a very intuitive set of vibes/themes to me, and a really promising one! I mean, that’s why I requested an arc of it!

But… I was very bored.

It’s not the pacing that’s the problem – I have absolutely zero issue with long, languid, rambly stories; I love them! I would love to see more of them! This is instead an issue of… While I care ideologically about marine life, I’m not actually that interested in fish and algae and so on for their own sake. If Be the Sea had been written more descriptively, I think I could have enjoyed myself – tropical waters are absolutely gorgeous, after all, so I would have loved to have all that colour and diversity described to me! A more sensory style of prose, and this probably would have gotten at least four stars from me.

Unfortunately, it’s not written that way. I wouldn’t call the prose completely bare-bones, but it’s not lush and descriptive. And I completely understand the way the main character, Wend, communicates – how and why they find it easier to communicate via telling stories instead of what a lot of us consider ‘normal’ conversing – it makes sense to me. But instead of having what I can only call the Arabian Nights effect – that thing where stories are nested and interconnected with other stories; is there an official trope name for that? – it reads like semi-constant, and very, very boring, info-dumps. Which I at least can’t connect to whatever Wend & co are, or were just, talking about. I was bored to tears by Wend’s stories, for the most part, and nothing was happening except that they and their crew-mates were on a boat.

From other early reviews, it’s clear that Be the Sea picks up a fair bit towards the middle, and from what I’ve read of the book I think I can guess what the big science conspiracy plot might be. But I really just don’t care – I like the characters fine, but I don’t love them, and without lots of sensory description to balance the slow pace, reading this was a chore. I made it to 20%, but I won’t be pushing on any further.

Just two DNFs isn’t bad! Crossing my fingers for even fewer next month.

The post February DNFs appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…Immortal Dark by Tigest GirmaI

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Immortal Dark by Tigest GirmaI!

Immortal Dark by Tigest Girma
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Black cast
Published on: 3rd September 2024
Goodreads

A dark fantasy romance where one girl must join a secret society of vampires in order to find her missing sister.

Hidden in our world, a society of vampires originating in Africa, are bound to twelve human Houses. Each House represents a bloodline more cutthroat than the next. To ensure peace and inherit their House legacy, human children of these elite families must study at an elite secret university.

Lost Heiress, Kidan Adane grew up far from Uxlay University. She is obsessively protective, mildly nihilistic, and willing to do anything to save her loved ones. When her sister, June, disappears, Kidan is convinced a vampire stole her—her own House vampire to be exact, the alluring yet dangerous Susenyos Sagad.

To find June, Kidan must study at Uxlay and live with Susenyos. It doesn’t matter that Susenyos’ violence speaks to her own and tempts Kidan to surrender to a life of darkness. She must find her sister and kill Susenyos at all costs.

When a murder mirroring June’s disappearance shakes Uxlay, Kidan sinks further into the ruthless underworld of vampires, risking her very soul. There she discovers a centuries-old threat—and June could be at the center of it. To save her sister, Kidan must bring Uxlay to its knees and either break free from the horrors of her own actions or embrace the dark entanglements of love—and the blood it requires.

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I always get excited when I hear about Black vampires – especially since my favourite vampire book of all time, Darknesses – double-especially when we’re talking about a mythos that has its vampire coming from outside of Europe! Vampires originating in Africa??? GIMME!

As a worldbuilding-aficionado (*cough*worldbuilding-nut*cough*) I have so many questions about the lore Girma’s created for her vampires! What will their abilities be? Will they have an origin story/myth about their own beginnings? Will she be pulling from African mythology, and if so, which parts of Africa? And why are they tied to human houses/families? I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING!

Dark academia is something I’ve gradually become more interested in – so long as it comes with supernatural aspects – and Immortal Dark sounds like it ticks so many of my boxes. A not-NiceTM female main character? One who’s out to get her sister back, and commit some murder along the way??? It’s so ridiculously difficult to find FMCs with genuine dark sides to them, but I’m really hopeful that Girma is going to deliver in spades!

And – intoxicating, fucked-up maybe-romance??? Again: I want to see properly monstrous characters being monstrous together, okay??? IS THAT REALLY SO MUCH TO ASK FOR???

What absolutely cinched the deal for me was the little excerpts of Immortal Dark I’ve seen here and there; Girma’s prose is delicious, rich and dark with gorgeous imagery. You can find short quotes over at her Instagram if you want to see for yourself!

I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT FOR THIS ONE!!!

The post I Can’t Wait For…Immortal Dark by Tigest GirmaI appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #175

Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.

ELEVEN books this week!

(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)

Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Black MC, Black love interests
Published on: 27th February 2024
Goodreads

A stunning Romantasy debut about an enchanted library, two handsome Fae, and one human who brings them all together.

A library with a deadly enchantment.

A Fae lord who wants in.

A human woman willing to risk it all for a taste of power.

In a land ruled by ruthless Fae, twenty-one-year-old Lore Alemeyu’s village is trapped in a forested prison. Lore knows that any escape attempt is futile—her scars are a testament to her past failures. But when her village is threatened, Lore makes a desperate deal with a Fae lord. She will leave her home to catalog/organize an enchanted library that hasn’t been touched in a thousand years. No Fae may enter the library, but there is a chance a human might be able to breach the cursed doors.
She convinces him that she will risk her life for wealth, but really she’s after the one thing the Fae covet above all: magic of her own.

As Lore navigates the hostile world outside, she’s forced to rely on two Fae males to survive. Two very different, very dangerous, very attractive Fae males. When undeniable chemistry ignites, she’s not just in danger of losing her life, but her heart to the very creatures she can never trust.

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I am HEART-EYES for that cover! The book itself seems to have mixed reviews – a lot of readers who think it reads more as YA than Adult, which makes me wary. But: magical library!!! There may be people who can resist a magical library, but I am not one of them!

Blackheart Knights by Laure Eve
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC, nonbinary secondary characters, sapphic secondary character, queernorm world
Published on: 27th February 2024
Goodreads

Power always wins.

Imagine Camelot but in Gotham: a city where knights are the celebrities of the day, riding on motorbikes instead of horses and competing in televised fights for fame and money.

Imagine a city where a young, magic-touched bastard astonishes everyone by becoming king - albeit with extreme reluctance - and a girl with a secret past trains to become a knight for the sole purpose of vengeance.

Imagine a city where magic is illegal but everywhere, in its underground bars, its back-alley soothsayers - and in the people who have to hide what they are for fear of being tattooed and persecuted.

Imagine a city where electricity is money, power the only game worth playing, and violence the most fervently worshipped religion.

Welcome to a dark, chaotic, alluring place with a tumultuous history, where dreams come true if you want them hard enough - and are prepared to do some very, very bad things to get them . . .

"A riveting tragedy of blood and desire - and the coolest thing you'll read this year" ― Samantha Shannon, author of The Bone Season and The Priory of the Orange Tree

"The boldest, smartest, most adventurous fantasy I've read in ages - and it's really f**ing fun" ― Krystal Sutherland, author of Our Chemical Hearts

"Arthurian legend meets urban fantasy in a brilliant, bloody wild ride" ― Jay Kristoff, No.1 New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author

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This is the start of one of my favourite duologies, and it’s finally out in the US this week! You don’t have to know, or enjoy, King Arthur to enjoy this – if you’re paying attention, you can see how Blackheart Knights is a loose retelling, but it absolutely stands on its own as an incredible take on urban fantasy; by which I mean, this is an urban setting, but it’s not our world at all, with knights on motorbikes, legal disputes decided by televised combat, and magic-users registered and tattooed because no one trusts them. It’s SO GREAT!

My review!

Bored Gay Werewolf by Tony Santorella
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Gay MC, nonbinary secondary character
Published on: 27th February 2024
Goodreads

Juno Dawson's Her Majesty's Royal Coven meets a Jim Jarmusch movie. A directionless college-dropout deals with sexuality, minimum-wage jobs, lunar cycles, toxic masculinity and the everyday perils of life as a modern werewolf.

Brian, an aimless slacker, works doubles at his shift job, forgets to clean his room and lays about with his friends Nik and Darby. He's been struggling to manage his transition to adulthood almost as much as his monthly transitions to a werewolf. Really, he is not great at the whole werewolf thing, and his recent murderous slip-ups have caught the attention of Tyler, a Millennial were-mentor determined to take the mythological world by storm.

Tyler has got a plan, and weirdly his self-help punditry actually encourages Brian to shape up and to stop accidentally marking out guys who ghosted him on Grindr as potential monthly victims. But as Brian gets closer to Tyler's pack, and alienated from Nik and Darby, he realizes that Tyler's expansion plans are much more nefarious than a little lupine enlightenment...

Big-hearted, goofy, anarchic and funny, Bored Gay Werewolf is a smart take on the doomsday logic of late capitalism and the complicated meeting point of masculinity and sexuality. More than that, though, and like Scooby Doo with Grindr or Stranger Things with sex and ennui, it’s a buddy novel about finding your pack, the power of friendship, and learning how to be comfortable in your own, shaggy werewolf pelt.

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I DELIGHTED with this when it came out in the UK last year, and it’s another that’s out in the US this week! Strongly recommended; this earned a spot on my favourites shelf EASILY! Snarky, incisive, surprisingly deep at times, and so much fun!

Snowglobe (The Snowglobe Duology) by Soyoung Park, Joungmin Lee Comfort
Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: Korean cast
Published on: 27th February 2024
Goodreads

In a world of constant winter, only the citizens of the climate-controlled city of Snowglobe can escape the bitter cold—but this perfect society is hiding dark and dangerous secrets within its frozen heart.

Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that’s warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city.

The residents of Snowglobe have fame, fortune, and above all, safety from the desolation outside their walls. In exchange, their lives are broadcast to the less fortunate outside, who watch eagerly, hoping for the chance to one day become actors themselves.

Chobahm lives for the time she spends watching the shows produced inside Snowglobe. Her favorite? Goh Around, starring Goh Haeri, Snowglobe’s biggest star—and, it turns out, the key to getting Chobahm her dream life.

Because Haeri is dead, and Chobahm has been chosen to take her place. Only, life inside Snowglobe is nothing like what you see on television. Reality is a lie, and truth seems to be forever out of reach.

Translated for the first time into English from the original Korean.

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I feel like any dystopian story is going to have some special X factor when it’s coming from a country next door to the world’s worst real-world dystopia. You know? And it’s tied in with climate collapse and reality tv??? Sounds like it’ll pack a real punch.

Tender Beasts by Liselle Sambury
Genres: Horror
Representation: Black MCs
Published on: 27th February 2024
Goodreads

After her private school is rocked by a gruesome murder, a teen tries to find the real killer and clear her brother’s name in this psychological thriller perfect for fans of The Taking of Jake Livingston and Ace of Spades.

Sunny Behre has four siblings, but only one is a murderer.

With the death of Sunny’s mother, matriarch of the wealthy Behre family, Sunny’s once picture-perfect life is thrown into turmoil. Her mother had groomed her to be the family’s next leader, so Sunny is confused when the only instructions her mother leaves is a mysterious note: “Take care of Dom.”

The problem is, her youngest brother, Dom, has always been a near-stranger to Sunny…and seemingly a dangerous one, if found guilty of his second-degree murder charge. Still, Sunny is determined to fulfill her mother’s dying wish. But when a classmate is gruesomely murdered, and Sunny finds her brother with blood on his hands, her mother’s simple request becomes a lot more complicated. Dom swears he’s innocent, and although Sunny isn’t sure she believes him, she takes it upon herself to look into the murder—made all the more urgent by the discovery of another body. And another.

As Sunny and Dom work together to track down the culprit, Sunny realizes her other siblings have their own dark secrets. Soon she may have to choose: preserve the family she’s always loved or protect the brother she barely knows—and risk losing everything her mother worked so hard to build.

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It’s the hint of supernatural fuckery that has me intrigued by this one, as well as the all-importance of sibling bonds – siblings and friends and found family are generally all MUCH more interesting to me than romances!

Daughter of the Bone Forest (Witch Hall, #1) by Jasmine Skye
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 27th February 2024
Goodreads

Two girls reluctantly bound by fate must weather a dangerous courtship as a prophesied war grows ever closer in Jasmine Skye's high-stakes, queernormative dark fantasy debut, Daughter of the Bone Forest.

Rosy is a bone familiar, gifted with the power to shift into animals marked with exposed bone. She spends most of her days in the magical Bone Forest, caring for her feral grandmother and hiding her powers to avoid conscription by the Witch King’s army. Until the day that Princess Shaw, a witch known as Death’s Heir, visits the Forest. When Rosy saves Shaw’s life, the princess offers her the chance to attend the prestigious school, Witch Hall, as payment. Though Rosy is wary of Shaw’s intentions, she cannot pass up the opportunity to find the cure for her grandmother’s affliction.

But at Witch Hall, Rosy finds herself embroiled in political games she doesn't understand. Shaw wants Rosy for her entourage, a partner to help lead the coming war. All Rosy wants is to stay out of trouble until she can graduate and save her grandmother, but she can't deny her attraction to Shaw or the comfort Shaw’s magic gives her. Will Rosy give in to her destiny, or will the Bone Forest call her home once and for all?

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To be honest, I was sold the moment I heard ‘feral grandmother’! And it doesn’t hurt that the main setting is going to be a school for witches. Bonus: shapeshifting into bone-marked animals??? What??? I have questions!

Live for You, Die with You (Heaven #1) by Kalob Dàniel
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 29th February 2024
Goodreads

For fans of The First to Die at the End and Under the Whispering Door. Live For You, Die With You is an upper-young adult LGBTQ+ urban romantasy about Heaven and Hell lore, a second chance at life, first love, and family.

When Michael Archard accidentally dies on his nineteenth birthday, he soon discovers he doesn't have enough Life Points to make it into Heaven. So he gets sent to Hell until he's up for parole nearly one thousand earthly years later. It’s then a tall(er), sexy, and lavender-eyed angel offers Michael a second chance to relive his last year on Earth before he died. With his guardian angel’s help, Michael is on a time crunch to acquire the Life Points he desperately needs to stay the hell out of Hell.

Gabriel IV has one task: get Michael into Heaven. But he is in over his head since he’s never been a guardian angel before, and his close proximity to Michael is making his Heavenly duties...difficult. Gabriel soon finds himself torn between his job and his fast-developing feelings for his charge. They can't possibly be correlated, right?

Secrets are being kept, but Heaven's laws must be followed. Feelings are running rampant, and Earth time is running out. Can they even truly be together, or will the powers of Heaven keep them apart?

When the end comes, Gabriel will have to choose between his duty as a guardian angel or his soulmate. When the end comes, Michael will have to choose between his destiny, his family, or his own epic love story.

Content/trigger warnings: mentions of death and dying throughout, mention of slavery, passive suicidal ideation, mild homophobia and bullying, mental health confusion, on-page anxiety attack, mature sexual content (all on-page sexual content is between two consenting adults), and pop culture.

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This is unlikely in the extreme to be featuring the kind of eldritch angels I prefer… But it still sounds very cute and sweet, and I’m definitely pouncing on it when I next need a fluffy (feathery?) love story!

Wayward Wings (Dragons of Sinuation) by S Slottje
Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 29th February 2024
Goodreads

"A mighty book set in an amazing world."-Jarek Adams

Exploring the theme of identity, this compelling novel follows a bounty-hunting dragon who discovers that humans prove to be more challenging than she had thought. In this flintlock adventure, a shapeshifting dragon hunts a human, and along the way she learns to adapt to her changed body and her new relationship to humanity.

Dragon Caizhiu the Wayward relishes her life as monster hunter for hire. However, when she emerges from her latest iteration cocoon, her increased size makes it difficult to assume a human guise. Without that, humans consider her a monster.

Before she can adjust to her larger body, a Keeper of Sinuation hires her to bring a lowly human to justice. Caizhiu doesn't know why Ozcahar Nitt is wanted by the powerful being, and she doesn't care. Sinuation is the power that alters dragons, and if there is a chance the Keeper can direct it to restore her size, Caizhiu will take it. Besides, how hard can it be to catch one little human?

But finding her target is only the start of Caizhiu's trouble. Caught between humans and monsters, the lines between friend and foe blur. If she wants to save not just herself but also Ozcahar, she must accept that humans aren't as feeble as she believed. And life is not as simple.

Whether seeking refuge from the frigid winter or searching for a captivating beach read, this rural flintlock fantasy is an ideal choice for fans of the work of Robin Hobb, Naomi Novik and/or Jim Butcher's Cinder Spire series.

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Shapeshifting dragons that are NOT paranormal romance??? Tell me more! Flintlock worldbuilding has surprised me before by being Very Interesting, and I like the sound of a dragon bounty-hunter – especially one who is going to find her views on humans challenged, it sounds like.

The Road Thieves by Harper A Burge
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Middle Eastern MCs and cast
Published on: 29th Feburary 2024
Goodreads

During the ongoing Sudanese-Akkadian war, two orphans discover they have magic in a nation where magic is illegal. Volya, a street urchin and thief, must rise to power to quench his thirst for revenge. Nassa, a reclusive orphan forced to serve her uncle, must deny her magic to preserve her life. When the two unexpectedly meet, they can no longer escape their pasts. They set off to discover their futures in a world of romance, vengeance, intrigue and adventure.

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I haven’t been able to find any early reviews of this one, or any info beyond the not-super-detailed blurb – but that blurb IS damn cool. I want to know more, and it seems like the only way that’s gonna happen is if I read it myself!

Remember, Remember by Elle Machray
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Black lesbian MC
Published on: 29th February 2024
Goodreads

Gunpowder, treason and a plot to destroy the British Empire…

1770. Delphine lives in the shadows of London: a secret, vibrant world of smugglers, courtesans and small rebellions. Four years ago, she escaped enslavement at great personal cost. Now, she must help her brother Vincent do the same.

While Britain’s highest court fails to administer justice for Vincent, little rebellions are no longer enough. What’s needed is a big, explosive plot – one that will strike at the heart of the transatlantic slave trade. But can one Black woman, one fuse and one match bring down an Empire?

An incendiary alternative history, Remember, Remember is a gripping story of conscience, conspiracy, queer identity and courage in the face of injustice.

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I’m going to have to be in the right headspace when I pick this up – but damn, I want to pick it up! This sounds epic, and the early reviews seem to agree that it is in fact amazing, so I am definitely making room for it on my tbr!

The Dancing Bears: Queer Fables for the End Times by Rob Costello
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Published on: 3rd March 2024
Goodreads

A lost boy under the spell of a seductive killer suffers the sting of betrayal while on the hunt for fresh blood. A misanthrope obsessed with death carries on a torrid affair with the malevolent spirit haunting the house in his favorite novel. The dead son of an abusive horror novelist returns from the grave to tell his father what really happened the night he died. An ex-child star desperate for a comeback meets a sinister stranger who reveals the terrible price of attaining his heart’s desire. A headstrong girl determined to seduce her ex-boyfriend discovers what being trapped in the closet really means.

The Dancing Bears: Queer Fables for the End Times showcases eleven darkly speculative tales of the queer and uncanny. With eight previously published and three brand new stories, this debut collection features young queer characters grappling with love and desire in a heartless world hurtling toward the abyss.

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‘Queer fables for the end times’??? Yeah, I’m sold. That’s all I need to hear. I’m good. Gimme!

Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #175 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer!

The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Ace-spectrum MC, major transmasc character, major bisexual character
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads

A gothic fantasy for fans of Hannah Whitten and Caitlin Starling.

In a holy city where sins and blessings can be revealed through consecrated touch, Csilla - born without a soul - is worthless to the Church that raised her. But when a series of murders corrodes the magic that keeps the city safe, the Church elders see a use for her flaw: she can assassinate their prime suspect, a heretic with divine heritage.

The heretic, however, makes a counter-offer; clear his name and catch the real killer, without becoming a target herself, and he'll use his power to get her a soul. When their investigation catches the attention of Ilan, a ruthless Inquisitor demoted for his failure to solve the case, he reluctantly offers his help in order to earn back his position. He’ll bring in the murderer—and failing that, Csilla and the heretic. But as the death toll rises and their hunt pits them against the Faith, Csilla will find that salvation comes at the cost of everything she believes in.

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This was first described to me as ‘Queer gothic fantasy with an ace healer, transmasc priest, and chaotic bisexual angel hunting a serial killer in fantasy Vatican’ and yeah, that’s pretty much all I need to hear! I think a lot of queer ex-Catholics – and maybe queer currently-Catholics too? – are kind of obsessed with the decadent aesthetic of Catholicism, the powerful mythology of it, the gilt and velvet and blood and wine, the holy suffering…and how all those things can go with queerness, or just be queered outright.

I am definitely one of those people, so pretty much anything queer set in a fantasy Vatican? Is something I’m immediately interested in.

But what has me HOOKED is absolutely the implications and inferences of what the blurb says about souls. Some people have them! Some people DON’T?! How can you not have a soul? What difference does it make, what kind of effect does its absence have? And what would change if Csilla got one??? Can Csilla murder this heretic because the heretic is immune to anyone with a soul, or is it just that if you have no soul, you can’t be damned for murder? So you might as well send an assassin with no soul, rather than damn someone with a soul by ordering them to commit murder?

How can anyone, even someone with divine heritage, MAKE a soul???

QUESTIONS, I HAVE THEM!

And, inevitably, I want to know all about this religion – who or what do they worship, and is it the same thing the heretic in the blurb is descended from??? How can you be a heretic when you have divine blood? Can you imagine the theological (and political!) fall-out from that kind of situation? I’m evil-cackling already just thinking about it!

I notice there’s no mention of an angel in the blurb…or is the angel mentioned in the pitch I was given the same person as the heretic in the blurb? HMM.

We don’t have much longer to wait for this one – just a bit over a month! – and I am COUNTING THE DAYS!

The post I Can’t Wait For…The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer!

The Faithful Dark by Cate Baumer
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Ace-spectrum MC, major transmasc character, major bisexual character
Published on: 2nd April 2024
Goodreads

A gothic fantasy for fans of Hannah Whitten and Caitlin Starling.

In a holy city where sins and blessings can be revealed through consecrated touch, Csilla - born without a soul - is worthless to the Church that raised her. But when a series of murders corrodes the magic that keeps the city safe, the Church elders see a use for her flaw: she can assassinate their prime suspect, a heretic with divine heritage.

The heretic, however, makes a counter-offer; clear his name and catch the real killer, without becoming a target herself, and he'll use his power to get her a soul. When their investigation catches the attention of Ilan, a ruthless Inquisitor demoted for his failure to solve the case, he reluctantly offers his help in order to earn back his position. He’ll bring in the murderer—and failing that, Csilla and the heretic. But as the death toll rises and their hunt pits them against the Faith, Csilla will find that salvation comes at the cost of everything she believes in.

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This was first described to me as ‘Queer gothic fantasy with an ace healer, transmasc priest, and chaotic bisexual angel hunting a serial killer in fantasy Vatican’ and yeah, that’s pretty much all I need to hear! I think a lot of queer ex-Catholics – and maybe queer currently-Catholics too? – are kind of obsessed with the decadent aesthetic of Catholicism, the powerful mythology of it, the gilt and velvet and blood and wine, the holy suffering…and how all those things can go with queerness, or just be queered outright.

I am definitely one of those people, so pretty much anything queer set in a fantasy Vatican? Is something I’m immediately interested in.

But what has me HOOKED is absolutely the implications and inferences of what the blurb says about souls. Some people have them! Some people DON’T?! How can you not have a soul? What difference does it make, what kind of effect does its absence have? And what would change if Csilla got one??? Can Csilla murder this heretic because the heretic is immune to anyone with a soul, or is it just that if you have no soul, you can’t be damned for murder? So you might as well send an assassin with no soul, rather than damn someone with a soul by ordering them to commit murder?

How can anyone, even someone with divine heritage, MAKE a soul???

QUESTIONS, I HAVE THEM!

And, inevitably, I want to know all about this religion – who or what do they worship, and is it the same thing the heretic in the blurb is descended from??? How can you be a heretic when you have divine blood? Can you imagine the theological (and political!) fall-out from that kind of situation? I’m evil-cackling already just thinking about it!

I notice there’s no mention of an angel in the blurb…or is the angel mentioned in the pitch I was given the same person as the heretic in the blurb? HMM.

We don’t have much longer to wait for this one – just a bit over a month! – and I am COUNTING THE DAYS!

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