These books feature characters and content for adults.
-
The Four Winds: Depressing and enlightening
This story follows Elsa as famine swallows her life and home, eventually forcing her to make the agonizing choice between staying on the farm (but facing unrelenting dust storms) or going west (but with no certainty of a better life for her and her children).
-
Weyward: Witchy feminine rage
This story follows three women across five centuries who must take their destinies into their own hands. One is accused of witchcraft, one is locked inside her home, and one is on the run from her abusive partner.
-
The Silent Patient: Solid audiobook
Theo, a criminal psychotherapist, is determined to unravel the mystery of Alicia Berenson, a patient locked up for murder who refuses to speak – even in her own defense.
-
A Fate Inked in Blood: Action-packed romantasy fun
After Freya is forced to reveal that she has a drop of Goddess’s blood — marking her as the legendary shield maiden — she must fight to unite a nation while learning to control her magic. At the same time, she must resist her attraction to another of the God-blessed. Otherwise, she risks everything she’s…
-
Call the Canaries Home: Not what I expected, but not bad
Three estranged sisters convene at their Meemaw’s house for a weekend, where they must confront their differences as they try to understand the decades-old disappearance of their fourth sister.
-
Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Worse the more I think about it
In a small café in Tokyo, patrons can travel in time – but they have to return before their coffee gets cold. This book follows four different women who decide to do just that.
-
August 2023 DNF Roundup
In lieu of a review this week, I’m covering a quick list of some recent DNFs (books I gave up on). Come sip the tea.
-
Warbreaker: An instant favorite
One princess is forced to marry the God King and another begins a quest of vengeance, setting off a chain of magical and political events.
-
House of Sky and Breath (Book 2): Entertaining, but overall just okay
Bryce and Hunt are dragged into the rebel cause, only to discover that nothing about their world is as it seems.
-
House of Hunger: An addicting sapphic gothic tale
In a world where blood is a valuable commodity, a young woman named Marion agrees to become an indentured bloodmaid for a noblewoman – but not everything in the mansion is as it seems.
-
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Book 1): Cozy and delightful
Emily Wilde is a socially awkward scholar of fairies. In this diary, she records the encounters and events she faces in a small Scandinavian village as she attempts to study their previously undocumented “Hidden Ones.”
-
A Dowry of Blood: Dark and seductive
Told from the perspective of Constanta’s letters to Dracula, we follow her through the centuries of her second life as the ancient vampire’s first bride.
-
The Ocean at the End of the Lane: Whimsical and creepy
A middle-aged man suddenly remembers the strange, magical happenings he experienced as a child when he returns to visit the house at the end of the lane from his childhood home.
-
Ninth House (Book 1): Gripping and creepy
Alex Stern, who has lived a hard life of drugs and petty crime, is offered a place in Yale’s secret dark magic societies because of her unique ability to see ghosts. One semester in, a woman turns up dead – and Alex thinks the societies are involved.
-
Outlawed: Intriguing, but slow
Ada’s life of crime begins after she fails to conceive a child, is accused of witchcraft, and runs away to a gang of non-conforming outlaws.
These books target an audience in the 18-23 age range. New Adult tends to straddle the line, featuring tropes or plot points beloved in Young Adult, but with Adult characters and content.
-
Long Live Evil (Book 1): Fun and campy
Rae, who’s dying of cancer, is teleported into the world of her favorite fantasy series for a chance to find a cure. There’s just one problem: she’s woken up as the villain who’s supposed to get executed early on. Now she has to scheme her way into survival.
-
The Hemlock Queen (Book 2): Tense and subtly gory
After the events of the eclipse, things begin changing very fast for Lore, Bastian, and Gabe. Now they’re wrapped up in politics and scheming Gods while war looms on the horizon.
-
Throne of Glass: Full series review
This series follows a young assassin with a mysterious past who was raised by an infamous Assassin’s Guild leader. Everyone wants to use her unique skills for themselves – or otherwise eradicate the threat she poses. As she struggles for freedom, she is also forced to confront her deepest secrets.
-
Iron Flame: A mid sequel
Book 2 in the Fourth Wing series by Rebecca Yarros.
-
Divine Rivals: Sweet and well-written
Two competing young journalists navigate life, love, and the front line in the midst of war between gods.
-
August 2023 DNF Roundup
In lieu of a review this week, I’m covering a quick list of some recent DNFs (books I gave up on). Come sip the tea.
-
House of Hunger: An addicting sapphic gothic tale
In a world where blood is a valuable commodity, a young woman named Marion agrees to become an indentured bloodmaid for a noblewoman – but not everything in the mansion is as it seems.
-
Ninth House (Book 1): Gripping and creepy
Alex Stern, who has lived a hard life of drugs and petty crime, is offered a place in Yale’s secret dark magic societies because of her unique ability to see ghosts. One semester in, a woman turns up dead – and Alex thinks the societies are involved.
-
Fourth Wing (Book 1): The best of 2023 so far
Despite being untrained, dealing with chronic pain, and having a target on her back, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail’s mother forces her to enroll in a dragon-riding military college – where the mortality rate for first-years is something like 50% or more. Now Violet has to survive not just the deadly training but the other ruthless students…
-
Zodiac Academy (Book 4): Shadow Princess – DNF review
Book 4 in the Zodiac Academy series.
-
The Foxglove King: Fun and thought-provoking
Lore, a necromancer who can wield death magic, must spy on the crown prince in a world where such magic is a highly-priced illicit commodity. Here the church and the monarchy are dangerously interwoven, and Lore must find a way to navigate the obscenely opulent royal court.
-
Zodiac Academy (Book 3): The Reckoning – More of the same
Book 3 of the Zodiac Academy series.
-
Zodiac Academy: Ruthless Fae (Book 2) – The revenge story
Book 2 of the Zodiac Academy series.
-
Zodiac Academy: The Awakening (Book 1) – A mixed bag
A pair of twins who’ve just aged out of the foster system learn that they’re not just Fae changelings, but apparently heirs to a Fae throne when they are whisked away to Zodiac Academy in a parallel world.
-
A Court of Silver Flames (Book 4): A new favorite
Book 4 in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series.
These books have characters and content for teenagers.
-
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath: A superb cozy fantasy
Anequs, an indigenous islander in this fantasy world, is required to attend the colonizer’s school away from her people after a newly-hatched dragon chooses her to be its rider.
-
Firekeeper’s Daughter: Entertaining and enlightening
After Daunis witnesses a murder, she becomes a confidential informant to the FBI. As more people in her community die, she becomes increasingly conflicted between protecting her tribe and trusting the feds to solve the crime.
-
The Inheritance Games (Book 1): Fun and easy
A teenager learns that a stranger has written her into his will – and that she’s inheriting billions. But there’s a catch.
-
Serpent & Dove: Full series review
A young witch, Lou, is forced into marriage to Reid, a witch hunter, while also hiding from her dark and mysterious past.
-
Wolf by Wolf: Duology review
In an alternate history where Hitler won, a concentration camp survivor joins a treacherous Hitler Youth motorcycle race with the goal of assassinating the dictator.
