Last Chance Books (Review)

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Information:

  • Author: Kelsey Rodkey
  • Genre: Romance, Contemporary
  • Page Count: 352
  • Year Published: 2021

Read This if You Like:

  • Romcoms
  • Enemies-to-Lovers
  • Insta-Love
  • Warring Businesses
  • Books about books(tores)
  • Somewhat unlikable main characters
  • More focus on family
  • Pink covers

Spoiler-Free Summary:

Madeline Moore’s favorite place has always been Books & Moore, the independent bookstore owned by her family. And she is determined to take over the store from her aunt, Astrid, when she returns from college. But currently, there’s a few problems in her life. To begin, Madeline’s mother, a movie star who is constantly abandoning her family, has just returned to stay with Madeline, and she doesn’t know if her mom is going to stay for good or just leave them again. And then there’s the fact that a new location of Prologue, the popular chain bookstore, has just appeared across the street from Books & Moore, and Madaline is fed up with having all their loyal customers abandoning her store for the big cooperation-made place. Soon, an all-out bookstore war starts between Madeline and Jasper, the annoying employee who Madaline believes is out to ruin her life. And even if Jasper’s sort of handsome, there’s no way that Madeleine will ever see him as anything more than a rival. Right?

Review/Opinions:

This book sounded amazing when I first found out about it- I was just starting to read YA romance, and an enemies-to-lovers story focusing on bookstores was a really cool idea, in my opinion. Plot twist- it sat unread on my bookshelf for months, and I barely even touched it. Then I finally decided to just read the book and get it over with, the story being my first male-female romance in months (as I read a lot of books with same-gender couples, since they are generally less generic.) So, anyway, I read this book, and overall, it was… fine. It definitely wasn’t one of my favorite romances, but it wasn’t too awful either. It was just… fine.

Most of the issues in this book came from the fact that Madeline wasn’t the greatest main character. Personally, while in general I love enemies-to-lovers, it becomes one of the worst tropes when paired with an unlikable character or love interest. And this is exactly what happened with this book- Madeline frequently gets angry at everything and everyone just to achieve her goals. And she is way too determined to save her bookstore. Yes, I do like woman characters who are high achieving and perseverant. But Madeline was a little too determined. If I could write one line of dialogue from her perspective that sums up her entire character, it’s “I’m the best, you’ll never win.” These kind of whiny, overly determined characters are my least favorite part of enemies-to-lovers because it escalates the conflict too much, and it was sad that this was how Madeline was written, it ended up dragging the book and made me get angry at her character.

The majority of the first half of the book didn’t even focus too much on the bookstore rivalry or the romance- it mainly focused on Madeline’s relationship with her family. As described in my summary, Madeline’s mom returned to stay with the family even though she constantly breaks her promises of not abandoning them again. This plot dominates most of the book- and it’s not even mentioned in the official book blurb. The actual summary of the book makes it look like this is solely an enemies-to-lovers story, and doesn’t acknowledge the fact that there’s a huge family story in there too. However, I did enjoy how much Madeline’s family was included in the story- YA in general focuses more on romance and teen friendships than families, so it was great to see them have a large role in Madeline’s story. On a smaller and more personal grievance, I had trouble keeping track of everyone’s role in the family- I actually thought Astrid was Madeline’s older sister or something until page 120 or so, when I finally realized she was Madeline’s aunt.

And then there’s the actual romance. For starters, it was awkwardly paced- as said in my previous paragraph, the first part of the book focused more on the parts with Madeline’s family than the romance. And guess what happens around page 150? Madeline and Jasper are still enemies, but an incident happens, Jasper and Madeline start talking to each other, and they kiss. They just go straight from being enemies to lovers, no time as friends. Yes, I prefer stories with less of a slow burn, but this one just escalated way too quickly, especially because just minutes ago Jasper and Madeline were fighting. Also, Jasper was essentially the love interest whose most important trait is his beauty. Madeline is saying he looks hot even before their bookstore war escalates, giving this story more insta-love vibes. This story really can’t decide if it wants to be slow burn or have the leads fall in love as soon as possible. Plus, Madeline and Jasper weren’t even the best couple- they weren’t awful, but they didn’t have great chemistry or really cute vibes. However, I did like their little book war, it was probably the most fun part of the book, and I was entertained how far they would go to sabotage each other.

There were also a couple of little details that I enjoyed. The main thing I liked was the ending- while Madeline and Jasper are technically still together, they have to figure out how they’ll continue their relationship in the future, especially because the book takes place in the summer before college for both Madeline and Jasper. It did leave a bit of a more open ending, but it added some emotional weight. There was also some good humor- while a lot of the dialogue was cringy in a teen-romcom movie way, some of the scenes had a bunch of laughable parts. And on a non-story note, the cover is also cute- I can’t resist a romance with a light pink cover, especially if it has books on it.

So overall, while this book had many of issues with its pacing and romance, it still was a fun, light enemies-to-lovers story. However, while it had enjoyable parts, I most likely won’t be rereading this book or looking at anything else from this author.

The Bone Spindle (Review)

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Information:

  • Author: Leslie Vedder
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Page Count: 413
  • Year Published: 2022

Read This if You Like:

  • Sleeping Beauty Retellings (with some other fairy tales mixed in)
  • Queer representation
  • Strong female friendships
  • Romantic X Skeptic trope (Not the official trope name as far as I know)
  • Starts of Trilogies
  • Cliffhanger endings
  • Multi POV, third person
  • Ancient tombs
  • Girls who carry around battleaxes

Spoiler-Free Summary:

Hundreds of years ago, a curse was placed by the malicious Spindle Witch onto the kingdom of Andar, putting the young prince, Briar Rose, into an eternal sleep that will only be broken with (you guessed it) a true love’s kiss. In the present, Fi is a treasure hunter and bookish girl carrying around a deadly curse and a strong dislike to romance, while Shane is a warrior lesbian whose goal is to cause chaos and follow her own path. Fi and Shane unite simply to explore an ancient ruin, but things soon take a turn when Fi pricks her finger on an ancient spindle, leading her to become the one destined to save Andar- and she’s also stuck with the spirit of the annoying handsome Briar Rose. As Fi and Shane set out to save Briar- and the whole kingdom, they encounter many obstacles, including ancient tombs, dangerous magic, evil Witch Hunters (as well as a mysterious witch girl that Shane may or may not be attracted to), and the fact that despite Fi’s initial goals, she may be falling in love with the prince.

Review/Opinions:

(I feel like I’ve definitely been writing more than usual lately, so I apologize for the long length of this review.)

Confession Time: I am never able to finish any book series. Unless I preorder the sequels if they are not out yet or purchase a box set, I have trouble making it past the first book in any series. I never even finished Harry Potter (but I got halfway through the last book.) So, I was proud that I managed to finish all 3 books in the Bone Spindle trilogy, and while none of them are in my top 10 favorite books, this is among the best fairytale retellings I’ve read, mostly because of how it uses the original story it’s adapting while adding in a bunch of stunning original ideas. Plus, the characters are just awesome. (I’ll only be reviewing the first book in depth to avoid major spoilers, but I will also bring up elements that appear in all 3 books.)

The best part of the book is the fantasy world it creates. The story is primarily a Sleeping Beauty retelling with the whole spindle and “waking up the prince” thing, but it also has lots of original ideas beyond just being a genderswapped retelling (like we actually get to see the prince interact with characters!). And since this is a trilogy, the other 2 books completely invent a new story for the characters to continue their journey, since this book ends exactly how you’d expect for a Sleeping Beauty retelling (but with a larger cliffhanger.) And there’s also little elements of other fairy tales thrown in. I’m not revealing any of them because the ones I’ve noticed may reveal spoilers, but see how many you can find. But the best part was the original ideas- there’s a lot of really cool backstory relating to the kingdoms, including things involving magical witches and tombs and artifacts and other awesome fantasy stuff. A lot of this backstory becomes really developed throughout the story, both through flashbacks and events in the present.

In terms of what actually goes on the story, like I said, it’s one of the most original fantasy stories I read. One thing I liked was that it took a larger focus on adventure scenes than in other fantasy books. One of the comparisons for the book is “Sleeping Beauty meets Indiana Jones“, and while those stories are very different from each other, it actually makes sense. There’s a lot more action and adventure than actual fantasy elements such as magic in the story. A huge focus of the world is that there’s a bunch of ancient tombs where mysterious artifacts are stored, and the characters spend a lot of time exploring them. These often are the most exciting scenes in the book, because so much goes on in them. In general, there’s a lot of unexpected twists and obstacles the characters need to navigate, and they are really fun to read through.

Another huge part of the story is the romances. There are two main ones, one of which is male-female (Fi and Briar) and the other which is sapphic (Shane and Red, the mysterious witch girl I mentioned.) I’ll start by discussing Shane’s romance, as I absolutely loved her love interest, Red, as a character. I am always a fan of a mysterious woman who is clearly hiding something. And Red has a lot of backstory and development. She has a lot of internal conflict over her allies throughout the series, and it’s beautiful to see how she handles that and decides who her allies are. Plus, her and Shane just make a perfect couple. Fi and Briar’s romance was also cute, but I didn’t like it as much as Shane and Red’s for one reason (and I promise it’s not because it’s a straight romance): Fi being a character that does not want to fall in love. It just made Briar look a bit obsessive over Fi (the first chapter in his POV is literally just romantic musings toward Fi), and it annoyed me a bit since Fi was so opposed to romance (and she has reasons for that.) But their romance ended up being cute, and the annoying parts of it go away later in the series.

On the non-romantic side, Fi and Shane have a really strong friendship throughout the books. Although it seems like they bicker quite often due to their contrasting personality (with Fi being the bookish nerd and Shane just wanting to smash stuff), they end up working well together in many scenes and ultimately connect well with each other. There’s also some great side characters, including the Paper Witch, a spellcaster who frequently helps out throughout the series, but there’s also some unlikable ones, such as an ally-turned-enemy of Fi who I just wanted to punch since he was so unlikable.

As mentioned, this is a trilogy, and both books 1 and 2 end in cliffhangers. Luckily, both sequels, titled The Severed Thread and The Cursed Rose respectively, are available now. I do believe that the first book is the best one in the series, mostly because the pacing slows down a bit in the other 2 books. But none of the books are bad- both contain the parts that I liked in the first book and have plenty of entertaining scenes to expand on the character’s story.

Overall, this is one of the few full series that I will recommend in its entirety. The world and story is perfectly original even for a fairytale retelling, and it pairs well with the really developed characters. The author’s next book, releasing in 2025, will be her Middle Grade debut so it may take some time before she returns to the YA space, but I’m excited to see what they write next!

Limited Collector’s Editions: Yay or Nay?

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The 21st century has brought many new and exciting innovations to the world of books. Booktok is allowing stories to quickly ascend to the top of the bestseller lists and lets people share what they’re reading to millions of strangers at a time. AI gives us the ability to write a story in seconds (yet we don’t know if that’s truly good or bad yet.) And while the topics above are mainly about how the online world affects books, there’s another trend I’ve seen popping up that relates more to the physical books themselves- limited edition books for collectors. These editions can look more beautiful than some of the oldest books in the world, and they are often hard to track down- as when they’re gone, they’re gone. But are these rarities a truly beneficial addition to publishing- or is there some drawbacks to the special painted edges and endpapers?

First, what do you mean by “Limited Collector’s Editions”?

Limited Collector’s Editions (which I’ll refer to as LCEs), also known as “Deluxe Limited Editions”, “Limited First Print Runs”, and a bunch of other titles (I don’t think there’s even a universal term yet), are special editions of print books that are meant to be fancier than their regular counterparts and bedazzled with special features. They are most common with fantasy titles (The romance-specializing publisher Entangled seems to be a pioneer of this trend, as they put out a lot of LCEs with their “romantasy” titles), though I’ve seen them with some other genres. Sometimes LCEs may be wildly available at all bookstores, while others may be limited to one bookstore chain (such as those B&N exclusive editions).

A key thing to know is that these editions are truly limited- in general, the books are only printed with these special features in the first print run, which varies based off of the author’s popularity, but for debut authors it will be the first 3000-5000 copies printed and can be up to 100,000 copies for big authors. That may seem like a bunch of special editions, but remember many people are going to be purchasing the book due to it being a limited edition, each bookstore only receives a fraction of the total copies, and people will preorder the book ahead of time to guarantee a copy. After all those initial copies are gone, you’re going to need to get the copy from the second print one, which will just be a regular book with no special features. From what I’ve seen on bookstore shelves, it appears most LCEs last on shelves for 2-5 months before all the copies are sold out, but this may factor on book popularity.

As for what actually makes these books so special, there are many features an LCE can have. For literary fiction, it’s mostly as simple as having all the copies in the first print be signed by the author. But for other genres, the features go above and beyond. They mostly include, but are not limited to, foil details on the covers (basically the letters in the title are shiny), illustrations or patterns inside the front and back cover, and sprayed edges (where the edges of the book are painted in a color other than white, a personal envy of mine because the only books I own with sprayed edges are much more widely available collections of Edgar Allan Poe stories and Death Note 3-in-1 editions.) Some of the more anticipated titles may also have a special bonus chapter to continue the story.

Here are some examples of some recent LCEs in the YA genre, with emphasis on the sprayed edges:

The Pros of LCEs:

The top benefit of releasing limited edition books is the same thing I will say as the top benefit of BookTok- it helps authors and books get seen. One thing I’ve noticed with books with LCEs is that the authors who wrote these are often either debut authors or authors whose works aren’t noticed as much in mainstream publishing. The decision to make an LCE of a book is most likely decided by the publisher and not the author. Therefore, when an author decides to make a special edition of a lesser known author’s title, people will rush to get it because it’s a special edition, and if the actual book is good, the author will quickly be noticed and discussed.

Another thing these LCEs can benefit are local and indie bookstores. Since most people are going to be eager to receive these editions as soon as possible, people will come to the indie bookstore to get a copy, especially since it will most likely sell out online quicker, and by buying it at a smaller local bookstore, they will be more supported and make a profit. And Indie stores have noticed- some big-name titles have exclusive editions of the book that can only be found at Indie bookstores, adding further incentive to shop at these smaller businesses.

The Cons:

As with every innovation, there are also some drawbacks that come to releasing these special editions. The main issue is how these editions are overwhelmingly designed to value aesthetics over promotion of the story. Many of these editions are meant for people to impulse-buy these books simply because they look really nice (I’ve had this impulse many, many times. And I’ve been able to resist it.) So most likely, people won’t buy it for the actual story, just the aesthetics. This ultimately promotes this strategy as a way to simply make money, rather than convince people to support the author’s writing.

And money relates to the other con I’ve found with LCEs- the cost. Books are becoming extremely expensive due to inflation, and new hardcovers are especially pricey nowadays. The average cost of a new hardcover book in the Adult age category (where most of the LCEs are) in 2024 is 30 dollars. But adding in all those special limited features will also mean the base price will go up, and LCEs on average are worth 33 dollars at the start. It doesn’t help that after the initial print run copies are all sold out, people may resell their LCEs on eBay or similar sites for 70-100 dollars or more. It’s not worth it to pool a few more dollars on an already expensive price just for sprayed edges or shiny details, especially when a cheaper edition will soon be more widely available.

So, should LCEs stay in the publishing world? Yes, because they provide a huge profit for both authors and those who are selling them. But for those who actually purchase these special editions, there’s more harm to our wallets from these beautiful, limited editions.

Lord of the Fly Fest (Review)

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Information:

  • Author: Goldy Moldavsky
  • Genre: Humor, Contemporary, Thriller
  • Page Count: 320
  • Year Published: 2022

Read This if You Like:

  • Lord of the Flies retellings (especially if you hated the original)
  • Deserted islands
  • True crime podcasts as part of a story
  • Celebrities with secrets
  • Cheesy meta-humor
  • Unlikable characters
  • Plot Twists
  • Satire

Spoiler Free Summary:

Rafi Francisco has just arrived at Fly Fest, which is supposedly the biggest, most exclusive events of the year, hosted on a mysterious island. Rafi might be an outsider at the festival, but that won’t stop her from achieving her goal: meeting River Stone, a popular singer who rose to fame after his girlfriend mysteriously disappeared. And exposing River as the killer Rafi knows he is, then gaining a few thousand more followers for her true crime podcast. But soon the festival turns out to not be the exciting, glamorous event that was promised- none of the big name celebrities that were promised are appearing, the food is atrocious, and there’s no wifi. And that’s before people start disappearing and further disaster emerges as the influencers go to desperate measures to survive. And soon Rafi discovers the secrets that River and the other celebrities are holding.

Review/Opinions:

This is one of the only books I’ve ever read where I have no idea what my opinion is. On one hand, this book was among the cheesiest books I’ve ever seen. This felt exactly like one of those bad 80s parody films that eventually becomes a cult classic- in this case, it’s an extreme Lord of the Flies parody. But on the other hand? I secretly loved this.

I’m going to start by discussing the characters, which is one of the most divisive parts of the book. Honestly, the only likable character is Rafi, because she’s the “outsider” character who isn’t as rich or popular as everyone else on the island. Every other character is a bratty social media star who is constantly complaining about how they weren’t given the luxury that they deserved on the island. I seriously don’t get why many YA authors think the way to appeal to teenagers is to write about social media and influencers. Because are those the type of books that actually go viral? No. I feel like it’s a stereotype that doesn’t need to exist. That doesn’t mean that every character other than Rafi is unlikable- River ended up being quite developed, even as a potential murderer, and some of the side characters learn their lesson about how annoying they are. But in my opinion, the best characters were Paul and Ryan, because every scene with them was hilarious.

The book’s survival story and mystery is surprisingly good. There was plenty of suspense, especially when characters started to go missing and secrets were revealed. However, the mystery is another factor that falls victim to how bizarre the book is. The truth about River’s girlfriend and what happened to her is a twist you will never guess… because it’s so ridiculous. Yep, the secret is so absurd that you will never even think of it as a possibility throughout the story and then you will be gasping in shock when it’s revealed. Trust me. Anyway, another part of the mystery I liked was that there was a true-crime podcast in the story, which is a trope that has been emerging in YA recently due to books like A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, but it’s a trope that I think worked well in this book because it gave us a better perspective into Rafi’s thoughts about the mystery, especially because most of the book is in third person perspective.

There were also plenty of references to the original Lord of the Flies story in it. Lord of the Flies is one of my least favorite books, mostly because the entire cast is male characters and the ending was too abrupt and satisfying for a book about human evil. And most YA books that claim to be a LOTF retelling turn out to be a more “original” survival stories with not much related to LOTF in them. But this book had plenty of references to the original story in it, including but not limited to the face paint, the beast, and many others. And most of the characters names even reference LOTF characters- Rafi is this book’s version of Ralph, Peggy is representing Piggy, and Jack… his name is the same as the LOTF character. But I’m not revealing his true agenda. I will note that this book has way less violence and is less bleak than the original LOTF, especially because it’s meant to be more humorous.

Above everything else, this book is mainly satire about the influence of social media and fame. Reading the summary and the first few chapters, it’s obvious that this book is inspired by the real-life disaster that was Fyre Fest, with a Lord of the Flies inspired survival plot thrown in. And this satire also is the main cause of the bratty characters and how desperate they become to return to their perfect lives (leading to a thing relating to makeup that was so disgusting that I’ll never get out of my head.) This also leads to most of the book’s amazing bad humor. There’s also a bunch of pop culture references, but one thing I found weird was that the book discussed Banana Republic and the boy band O-Town with their real life names, but they had a character based off of a real-life supermodel (though I’m not saying which one) where they made up a parody name. This is probably because the celebrity played a much bigger role in the story while the other brands were simply referenced, and it was easier to make up a fake name then risk being caught with copyright infringement, but it still was a weird inconsistancy.

Overall, your opinion on this book will be based on your personal preference. If you don’t like social media obsession in YA or bad humor, pass on this one. But if you want a new guilty pleasure, a so-bad-it’s-good type of read, or just want to see how Lord of the Flies would be like in modern times, I highly suggest reading this. The author does have a few other YA thrillers (including one called Kill the Boy Band that’s about exactly what it sounds like), which I may read due to the fact I secretly loved this book. (Also I apologize for how much longer this review ended up being compared to my other ones, I just had a lot to say. I promise that I’m done now. Have a good day.)

The Memoir Cover Stereotype

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Instead of a book review, today I’m posting a custom creation of mine: a version of the stereotypical cover for a memoir.

Look familiar? Although this book is entirely made up as well the author whose name is on the cover, this cover is done in a similar style to a variety of memoirs (as well as other nonfiction books, especially those focusing on economics and logic), and you probably have seen at least one example of this cover style. If not, do some googling of memoirs, you will definitely find an example.

Let’s check if my example has all the stereotypical elements of this kind of cover:

  • Solid Color background (most often white, but maybe another color)- ✅
  • The title, most likely one word long and written in a Serif font-✅
  • Image of a mundane object, most likely a stock image found easily on Google-✅
  • A little sentence about the themes of the inspiring story inside of the book-✅
  • Some inspiring praise from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, or a similar prestigious book reviewer, maybe with a proclamation about being on a bestseller list to add emphasis- ✅

So hopefully now you learned where that deja vu came from.

Let’s hope that despite these stereotypical covers, the actual stories inside are actually decent, which they probably will be because the cover makes the author’s story look so inspiring. Have fun!

These Witches Don’t Burn (Review)

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Information:

  • Author: Isabel Sterling
  • Genre: Fantasy, contemporary
  • Page Count: 324
  • Year Published: 2019

Read This If You Like:

  • Queer representation
  • Witches
  • Urban Fantasy
  • Female MCs
  • Toxic Exes
  • Teen Drama
  • Cliffhanger endings
  • Books where the “detective” character is somewhat unreliable and the main characters have to do all the investigating themselves
  • Starts of duologies

Spoiler-Free Summary:

Hannah is a witch- an actual Elemental witch with control over the elements. And if she’s caught using magic around Regs (basically a muggle or regular human), she could lose her magic for good. So Hannah just enjoys her normal life as a high school student and works at the local witch goods store, eye-rolling at what the Regs purchase. But when signs of black magic start emerging around Salem, Hannah is sure it’s the work of a malicious Blood Witch, but the rest of her coven and her parents don’t believe her. So Hannah has to find the witch by herself… even if it requires working with Veronica, another Elemental witch and Hannah’s ex who hurt her and hasn’t really apologized. And Hannah is also starting to fall in love with Morgan, the new Reg girl in town. But as the attacks grow larger and deadlier, Hannah will need to find the criminal before her coven, and her romance with Morgan, is destroyed.

Review/Opinions:

I found this to be a fun, if not perfect, take on magical witches in human-dominated towns. Most of the time, I felt like this was the exact vibe of a 2000s Disney Channel movie- it had a creative plot with a story that actually was pretty good, but it also had a lot of teen drama, including crushes and rivals (which I will discuss in this review) that severely overshadowed the magic and witchcraft that I wanted to see more of. That said, this book had a lot to offer.

The magic elements of this book, as well as the overall plot, was well-thought out despite how the standard high-school life scenes invaded some of it. Despite taking place in a normal town setting and not a magical fantasy world, a lot of thought was put into the idea of the modern witches of Salem. We got a lot of description on the spells and how magic is used, the structure of the Elemental coven, as well as the consequences of disobeying the Coven (and how hard it is to avoid doing that.) The main plot of finding out who was using black magic also had a good amount of twists and unexpected moments, and the final reveal was kind of shocking to me. I also was annoyed with the “detective” character- he proved to be unhelpful and ignorant to the protagonists. But I also liked this aspect too- it allowed the main characters to work on saving the day on their own instead of having someone handing them the clues at random points.

The romance subplot in this novel was also a good one. Hannah and Morgan had a really nice relationship dynamic, and it didn’t get to the point of a super bad breakup for them (although there was a moment or two of tension between them.) It was also fun to get to see moments of their dates for some happy parts, as this book could get a bit chaotic. Their relationship is a bit more of an insta-love one (Spoiler: they kiss for the first time on the same day they meet), which I know is a pet peeve of many readers, but it wasn’t excessive enough to feel like Hannah was obsessed with Morgan.

Of course, I can’t talk about the romantic subplot in this book without discussing Hannah’s former lover: Veronica. She ended up being one of the most unlikable characters that I’ve ever read about for so many reasons. Although we only get little snippets of what she was like during her and Hannah’s pre-book relationship, it was obvious that she was toxic and they wouldn’t have worked out as a couple. And despite being forced to work with Hannah due to the current threat in the world of witches, Veronica is still rude to Hannah at many different points. Also, Veronica makes no attempts to apologize to Hannah for the damage she caused (and still is making.) Although Hannah and Veronica find a slight bit of common ground by the end of the novel, it’s obvious Veronica has a lot more growth to go through. I did hear that Veronica is more toxic in the prequel novella, so I guess I can look forward to that.

One last thing I want to note about this novel is how it’s a YA book that actually has the main character’s parents get a good amount of page time. I feel like parents typically are ignored or at the least get a scene or two in YA in favor of the main characters, so it was refreshing to get a handful of scenes with Hannah’s parents (who are also witches!) and see their relationship with Hannah. And we also get the even rarer event of seeing the parent’s reaction to the larger events as the novel, as YA parents often tend to not have a part in these events.

Overall, this is a good choice for anyone looking for magical, urban fantasy reads. Despite some flaws in characters and events, it has a strong, witchy story with great romance.

This book is the start of a duology, the second book is This Coven Won’t Break. There is also a prequel novella, This Spell Can’t Last, which is an ebook-exclusive.

So Let Them Burn (Review)

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Information:

  • Author: Kamilah Cole
  • Genre: Fantasy
  • Page Count: 386
  • Year Published: 2023

Read This If You Like:

  • Black writers/characters
  • Queer Representation
  • Dragons
  • Dual POV, Third Person
  • Absolutely Stunning Covers
  • Fantasy Boarding Schools
  • Sisterly Bonds
  • Chosen One Trope (but transformed)
  • Enemies-to-lovers (and slow-burns)
  • Messages about the Horrors of Colonialism and War
  • Debut Authors
  • Starts of Duologies
  • Cliffhanger Endings

Spoiler-Free Summary:

Five years ago, the dragon-riding Langlish Empire attempted to colonize the Jamaican-inspired island of San Irie. But they were defeated by Faron Vincent, a teen blessed with the powers of the gods. Now 17, Faron is now still remembering the horrors of the war and proving to be an annoyance to her neighbors. When the Queen of San Irie announces a peace summit with the commander of the Langlish empire, Faron expects to simply show off her power and leave- until her beloved sister, Elara, unexpectedly bonds with a Langlish dragon. It is soon revealed that Elara must be sent away to Hearthstone Academy to train- and the only way that Faron can destroy the bond with the dragon is to kill her sister. As the separated sisters attempt to find their way around the bond, they both discover dangerous secrets at the heart of the Langlish Empire that could destroy San Irie for good.

Review/Opinions:

If you’ve been keeping up with book news lately, this book has been appearing frequently on lists of most anticipated debut authors and YA for 2024. And I’m happy to say that it’s definitely worth reading, even though I normally am not the biggest fantasy reader. I’m going to start by mentioning this beautiful cover- it’s definitely one of the most stunning I’ve seen, and the story inside is just as good.

The world created in this book is beautifully developed. My main reason for picking up this book is the promise of dragons, and the book didn’t disappoint on this factor- there is a lot of development on the whole backstory surrounding them, and we get plenty of page time with them too- one of the main characters is sent off to a sort-of magical school to learn how to fly with one, AND she falls in love with the girl she’s flying with (more on that later.) There’s also Jamaican inspired gods supporting Faron. But beneath the fantasy there are also some messages- specifically, on colonialism and war. The book takes place 5 years after the Langlish Empire tried to colonize San Irie in a brutal war, and Faron and Elara frequently remember its harsh consequences and the damage it caused.

The main characters in this book are… interesting. Faron was probably one of the most unlikable YA protagonists I’ve read- the first line of the book is “Faron has been a liar for longer than she has been a saint.” She frequently lies to people, complains, and is overpowered. But it made sense for her character- essentially she’s blessed with a lot of magical power and now has nothing to do with it since the war is over. And Faron does manage to mature quite a bit throughout the story. Elara was also a good character- she certainly was a lot more mature than Faron, but she felt a bit boring and didn’t have as much development.

The romances in this book were also beautifully done. Both Faron and Elara’s chapters contain a romance subplot, and both are mainly enemies-to-lovers stories. Faron allies with Reeve, Elara’s friend who Faron looks down on due to his connections to the commander of the Langlish Empire. Meanwhile, Elara bonds with Signey, who is her female co-rider (as the dragon Elara bonded with needs two riders.) Both the love stories have the same structure- the main characters and the love interests start as rivals, begin a reluctant truce, and then start to fall for each other. The romances are both slow burns, and their relationships aren’t fully established by the end of the novel. But they still were very wholesome and passionate romances, even if they are a little underwhelming.

I do have one major dislike towards this book- the pacing. This is a problem that comes up in many fantasy novels I have read, and it feels like this book has a slow start that doesn’t pick up a whole bunch, especially in Faron’s chapters. The ending was probably the best part- it had many shocking moments and plot twists. It does end in a major cliffhanger too, which I hope gets closed up soon.

Overall, fans of diverse stories and epic fantasies will definitely love this novel. It has fully developed characters, a beautiful world, and dragons.

The book is the start of a duology, and it ends on a cliffhanger. Since this book is so new, the sequel hasn’t been officially announced yet, so most likely it will be at least a year until it’s published.

By Any Other Name (Review)

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Information:

  • Author: Erin Cotter
  • Genre: Historical fiction, thriller, romance
  • Page count: 464
  • Year published: 2023

Read This If You Like:

  • Shakespeare-era stories
  • Lgbtq+ representation
  • Inspiration from real-life events
  • Enemies to (forbidden) lovers 
  • Theatre 
  • High society books
  • Historical thrillers

Synopsis:

London, 1593. Will Hughes is an actor who has been down on his luck lately and is hiding even more secrets behind his roles. As the son of parents who betrayed the crown, Will’s goal is to hide his identity, and earn enough money to return to his family, which is becoming harder every minute. He manages to get a job with James Bloomsbury, a young lord of England who might have something to hide, and Will does not trust him. But then, Kit Marlowe, Will’s mentor, is murdered right in front of Will after being called to a mysterious meeting with him. Now, reluctantly joined by James, Will must try to solve the murder. But by doing so, he and James get drawn into a web of deadly secrets relating to the royal court and their enemies… and an unexpected romance is forming between Will and James. 

Review/Opinions:

Historical fiction is a genre that I either love or find underwhelming- for me, it really depends what time period it’s set in. I’m a fan of the 1500s Shakesperian era, and also European settings, which is why I was excited to read this book, which also promised a thriller aspect as well as a gay romance- two things I always look for in books. And I was so happy when this book exceeded my expectations.

The thriller and mystery aspect is really developed. It’s not exactly a murder mystery, as the book isn’t focused on finding one murder, but more centering on a plot to extract revenge, and the story slowly reveals who is part of the plot, and the protagonists try to escape their enemies. There are so many twists throughout the book (in fact, I excluded some details from the book’s official “blurb” from my summary so that if you read this book, these details will come as a larger surprise.) The book also is over 450 pages, and while it might seem lengthy for this kind of book, it also allows space for more shocking moments and a more developed plot.

Another huge part of this book is the romance aspect, which is as thought out as the mystery aspect. Will and James started off as very reluctant partners (the reason they met in the first place involves some very interesting activity), but as the novel goes on, they start to develop a really tender and loving relationship. It’s also partly a forbidden love story, as Will has a hidden past and is on the run, while James comes from a noble background, which added even more layers to their romance. I also loved how this was a gay romance set in the 1500s, but is focused less on homophobia and social expectations and instead puts their connection front and center.

This novel also beautifully developed the historical aspect. I loved how it took real-life events from the era and added fictional characters to it- the book’s main premise is on the murder of Kit Marlowe (Marlowe was a real-life playwright who is said to have influenced Shakespeare, and is known for his early death, of which the actual cause has not been discovered.) And Shakespeare also makes a cameo appearance a few times as a character- but honestly, he’s not a character you will truly support.

There’s only one thing that I didn’t like about this book- the writing style. It tries to mimic a more-old fashioned style of writing that was present during the time period, and while adding to the narration voice, it’s also hard to read through because of changes in word choice that we would normally expect in a book published in 2023. (Even the swear words are changed to ones that are from the era.) I found that when I reread this I found it easier to absorb the plot points and understand the story because I was used to the writing, but it can be hard to read through during a first readthrough of this book.

Overall, anyone who is interested in historical thrillers should check out this book. It has a shocking mystery, a beautiful queer romance, and a neatly developed historical setting.

Gwen and Art are Not in Love (Review)

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Information:

  • Author: Lex Croucher
  • Genre: Historical, Romance
  • Page Count: 400
  • Year Published: 2023

Read This If You Like:

  • British novels/authors
  • Queer Representation
  • Alternate History
  • Enemies-to-friends
  • Fake Dating Trope (but reimagined)
  • Dual POV but in 3rd person
  • Terrible(ish) jokes

Spoiler-Free Summary:

Gwendoline, the princess of England, and Arthur, the descendent of King Arthur, have been in an arranged marriage since birth. Which isn’t helping since both of them happen to also have hated each other for as long as they have been betrothed. Arthur is forced to stay with Gwen in Camelot for the summer , and an already rocky start gets worse when the same night Arthur arrives, Gwen finds him kissing a boy, and Arthur manages to find Gwen’s diary that contains romantic confessions about Bridget Leclair, the only female knight in the kingdom. The two then realize that they would make better partners than rivals, and agree to cover for each other as they pursue their real love interests. As the royal tournament season starts, Gwen starts to connect with Bridget, and Arthur begins to connect with Gabriel, Gwen’s brother and the future king of England.

Review/Opinions:

This is an absolutely enjoyable read for fans of alternate history storylines. It’s sort of a retelling of the Arthur and Gwendolyn tale due to the characters, but also changes so much of the story that it’s more its own story at this point. Anyway, it is one of the most delightful stories I’ve read in a while.

This book greatly transforms the normal fake-dating trope. The whole point of the story is that Gwen and Art don’t end up falling for each other in the end, and instead fall for alternate love interests. It’s a fun way to change the traditional version of the trope (since fake dating is normally very predictable.) But there is a bit of an enemies-to-friends dynamic between Gwen and Arthur- they start as bickering rivals, but start to connect with each other over time (without falling for each other.)

Of course, we also need to talk about who Gwen and Arthur actually fall for. The relationships between Gwen/Bridget and Arthur/Gabriel were very fun and sweet, and also tender. The love interests are also unique as characters, especially Bridget, who has a huge role to play as the only female knight in Camelot, and has to deal with ridicule and tough remarks for it, but Gwen looks past the bias targeted towards her. I just wish we got a few extra romantic moments- it felt like scenes of romance were spread apart, especially for Bridget, who got significantly less page time than Gabriel, and there was a long period of time where neither Gwen or Art interacted with their love interests until the end of the book.

The following paragraph contains mild spoilers for the ending.

One thing I found weird was that there was a huge tonal shift in the last 50ish pages of the book. Essentially, a giant battle ends up breaking out and there’s a few moments of violence and injury (because the medieval ages were not always a fun time.) So it’s good you know that this book isn’t all lighthearted moments. There is a happy ending for the characters at least, but it’s a timeskip from after the battle, so it comes suddenly, especially since the previous chapter was a battle-focused one. But at least the lighthearted feeling came back and it didn’t end in tradegy.

Spoilers end here.

The last thing I want to mention about this book is the humor. The dialogue is some of the best I’ve read in a while, and it adds really well to the fun vibes of this one. There’s an amazing running joke about the high amount of versions of Excalibur the kingdom has had to make.

Overall, anyone looking for a fun alternate history story and queer love story should try this one out. It’s let down by tonal shifts and a bit of emptiness on the romantic aspects, but it’s still lighthearted, fun, and filled with love.

Be Dazzled (Review)

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(Since the paperback version is releasing in February, and has an updated cover, I’m putting both the hardcover and paperback covers. The right image is the paperback.)

Information:

  • Author: Ryan La Sala
  • Genre: Contemporary, Romance
  • Page Count: 321
  • Year Published: 2022

Read This If You Like:

  • Queer representation
  • Dual timelines
  • Second chance trope
  • More focus on friendship than romance
  • Cosplay/Fashion Design
  • Anime/cartoon references

Spoiler-Free Summary:

Raffy has a passion for cosplay and fashion design, and is on his way to Contraverse, a massive pop culture convention, to compete in his biggest cosplay competition yet along with his best friend, May. But everything changes when Raffy finds out that his ex-boyfriend, Luca, is also competing. Raffy and Luca should have worked out- they had the perfect meet-cute one year ago, bonded over their shared interests in design and cosplay, and worked out perfectly as a team. Yet that was before their personal lives got in the way and everything shattered. Now forced together in the competition, they wonder if they’ll have to avoid each other forever… or if there is still space for them to reconnect.

Review/Opinions:

This addition to the lgbtq+ romance genre was fun, but also had quite a bit of emotion. I first found out about this author through their book The Honeys, a YA horror novel with a genderfluid protagonist, as well as bees, summer camp, mysterious girls, and the most terrifying first chapter you will ever read. So it was interesting to see that they also wrote a romance novel, and it beautifully met my expectations.

Raffy and Luca had a very well written relationship. It felt like there was less emphasis on their romance than in other books- there were many kisses between the two, but Raffy also is confused about if they are truly having a relationship. Even if there was more focus on friendship, the two perfectly clicked together and had a sweet relationship. And even if it didn’t end up working out, they still were able to beautifully reconnect later on.

This book also had a unique style of chapter organization. All the chapters are written from Raffy’s perspective, but they alternated from chapters in the present where Raffy is in the cosplay competition, and ones in the past that chronicle how Raffy and Luca met, and later broke up. Most second-chance books only have a few flashback chapters about the original relationship and breakup, and mainly focus on the present-day, so I loved this chapter structure- it brought a lot more development to not only the characters, but also their relationship. However, it’s also sad knowing that the book will end not only in Raffy and Luca getting back together, but also in a breakup.

There was also another part of this book that added even more emotion- Raffy and Luca’s parents. This is probably the third or fourth queer book in a row that I’ve read that contains parents that make the readers upset for the character’s situation. In this book, Raffy’s mom is the owner of a successful art gallery, yet thinks cosplay isn’t real art and disapproves of Raffy’s hobby of cosplay. Meanwhile, Luca’s parents are worried that his hobbies affect him too much, and these beliefs play a huge part in the eventual breakup. While it is very sad, it adds to the deep amount of layers this book has, but I am frustrated that not a lot was done to improve the situation.

Now it’s time to talk about a much lighter component of this book- the costumes. The fashions and energy of the convention were beautifully illustrated, and I would love to see some of those cosplays in real life. There were also some fun pop culture references (Luca in particular is shown to be a huge anime fan.)

Overall, this is one of the best additions to the second-chance romance genre. While stylish and fun, it’s more importantly an emotional tale on how relationships end and later rebuild.