Wayward Bookshelf

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear is an even-numbered installment in the Wayward Children series, and as such it is a portal fantasy in which we get to see one of the children first find their Door. This book follows Nadya, a Russian orphan who loves turtles. Without getting into spoilers, I really enjoyed Nadya's character. She's tough, confident, and fiercely independent. I especially liked the discussion around her being born with a physical disability, but she doesn't see herself as anything less than whole, regardless of how others might perceive her. The world that her Door leads to was pretty fascinating as well. I really liked the somewhat surreal quality of the environment and breathable atmosphere, and as always in McGuire's portal worlds, there are inherent dangers that come along with the more wondrous elements. I would recommend this book for those who have enjoyed the Wayward Children series thus far,...

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by T.J. Klune An excellent follow-up to The House on the Cerulean Sea, this book is chock full of this found family fiercely protecting the space they've carved out for themselves, with plenty of reminders that our choices and actions are what define our character, and not the stereotypes or labels the world might want to put on us. Linus & Arthur have filed paperwork to adopt the children at Marsyas island, but the government decides to throw a few more hurdles their way instead. I enjoyed the fact that the children have learned enough from Arthur that they start expecting him to follow his own advice instead of bowing before unfair restrictions, and they regularly inspire hope through their creative shenanigans and refusal to be anyone but who they are. There are a few unexpected surprises, and the ending and epilogue were incredibly satisfying. This was a delightful read imbued with hope and the determination that even inspiring a small change in t...

Fire Spells Between Friends by Sarah Wallace Wallace & Callahan have done it again with another lovable duo in their Fae & Human Relations series! This book primarily follows the story Torquil Pimpernal-Smith, an editor of a gossip publication not unlike that of Lady Whistledown, and one of their main subjects for gossip, Emrys Wrenwhistle - an heir who is determined to find a partner during the Season. Meanwhile, Torquil also happens to be thrust into a more public role because of their half-fae, half-human pedigree. In a London that is just starting to figure out what it means to integrate its fae and human members in both social and systemic ways, this book builds on the work of the first book with encouraging more fae/human courtship and spending time with the Council rewriting Society's magical testing system to allow for humans, fae, and fae-humans to test under a rubric that takes the unique magical style of each group into account. As always, I most enjoyed the di...

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher I enjoyed this book! It had a slower build-up to a pretty wild ending. I didn't read it particularly fast at first, but found myself really enjoying the last third or so. Things I liked: - Minor horror elements that didn't squick me out. As someone who's not a fan of horror in particular, but appreciates fantasy with some darker bits as long as I can stomach it, finding an author who's able to strike that balance is always exciting. - Romance and true friendship between the older characters. The MC in this book is a YA character, but she's not part of the romantic thread, nor is she at all interested in romance because she's focused on surviving with a monster for a mother. The story's one true romance is between a couple that reads as being somewhere in their 50's-60's, and I thought it was very sweet. And the friendships that ring as the most lasting and true are also between three middle-aged ladies. I...

Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rules for Ghosting is a charming little book set around a family run Jewish funeral home. It has bits of found family & romance along with a healthy dose of what it means to do life and death as part of a community. There's a pretty wide and diverse cast of characters who are on the whole very real and relatable. Our main character is a trans young man named Ezra who is in the process of learning to recognize his own worth, while figuring out which boundaries to hold and which to let go of. He's also just a little psychic, which is made more interesting by the fact that his family runs a funeral home, AND he's also starting to have feelings for a widower. The plot was fairly messy, but mostly in a good way. It felt like real life, stuff happens, and sometimes it all happens at once. This book is just a slice of life where Ezra is in a season of a lot happening. Families are messy sometimes. That said, it...

The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo I've really enjoyed the Singing Hills Cycle in general, Nghi Vo has a distinct voice and a way of weaving a narrative that is really captivating. The Brides of High Hill is unique in the series so far because it starts off with a bit of an unreliable beginning as the story has already begun, and the reader joins in when Cleric Chi wakes up in the back of a cart with a bride & her parents, Almost Brilliant isn't around, and the cleric doesn't remember quite how she got there. The reader is along for the story as, this time, it unfolds around the cleric as she tries to uncover the reality of the situation and her new friends. This book was more mysterious and perhaps felt a little more sinister than others in the series. There has always been some inherent danger in Chi's travels, sometimes more implicit than others, but the mystery of not knowing exactly what we were dealing with was a new angle and gave this tale a more dangerous...

The Spellmaster of Tutting-on-Cress by Sarah Wallace This book was such a lovely read, probably even more so than I expected - and I've been hoping for Gerry's book ever since finishing Letters to Half Moon Street! In the series thus far, we've watched Gerry becoming pretty protective of her independence after having found purpose in taking over the running of the spellshop in Tutting on Cress, while also enjoying the support and proximity of her family and friends. And having a book focused on Gerry means we also got a lot of time with this world's magic system, which is always fun. Basil is our newest character, and is a very thoughtful and somewhat lonely man, who's found himself a little out of his depth after becoming the head of a family consisting of whole pack of little siblings and his widowed stepmother. I found it touching to watch this particular family's dynamic unfold, while also getting to know all 7 of the little siblings and their antics. One ...

A Letter to the Luminous Deep by Sylvie Cathrall I really enjoyed the world that Cathrall has created. With the under-sea setting, and all the lore that exists within both the scholarship and fiction of the world, I found it very intriguing. Without giving away any spoilers, let's just say I am definitely looking forward to reading the next book, and the promise of getting deeper into the world and it's lore. The epistolary format also made this the perfect book to pick up and read just a few minutes before bed during a particularly busy work season. By about the third letter, a mystery was revealed and I was hooked. I was pleasantly surprised that the investigative nature of the story meant that the letters, articles, and journal entries included are from a whole cast of characters, and not only going back and forth between two people. This added a lot more texture and nuance to both the world and the mystery that was unfolding, and allowed the author to remain really true t...

The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang This book has some great themes that sold me on wanting to read it. Lin Chong is an arms instructor who gets targeted when a powerful man decides she'd be better off dead. Her options are to die, or to run from the law and its corruption. As an outcast herself, she reluctantly begins to understand what drives the bandits who live at the margins of the Empire. She is recruited by them, and a story of stubbornly trying to right injustice and claw their way to a more equal society unfolds. It's a tale of anti-heroes becoming legends. Some elements that I particularly enjoyed were the alchemy and the scholar's skills that explored super-human capabilities in fighting and channeling power. I also found the camaraderie and intense loyalty between the bandits to be compelling, as well as all the detail in their governance and operation. The characters surrounding Lin Chong were vibrant and complicated, and there was a good amount of growth and cha...

Calamity by Constance Fay I was ready for something lighter, and this book was just the thing! It's a romp in space following a found-family type crew who get hired for a scouting mission, and it doesn't turn out to be quite as straight-forward as expected. I enjoyed the mash-up of Science Fiction and Romance, and found myself really flying through the book. The plot starts right in with action, and the pace pretty much keeps up all the way through, making this a pretty fast-paced read. The characters aren't terribly deep, but they're mostly likable types as we get to know them. The main character, Temperance Reed, has been knocked down by life a few times and copes by being snarky, self-deprecating, a little reckless, and fiercely protective of her crew. Sometimes this comes off as insecurity or incompetence, but I have to say I kinda liked her for it. The world has some definite political dynamics in play, and I thought it worked to add some intrigue to the story. A...

Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire The reviews get harder to keep spoiler free the further into a series we get. But I'll do my best! Things I liked: This book is from the perspective of Mary Dunlavy, the ghost babysitter who has helped raise 3 generations of the Price family, and that combined with her ability to bounce between family members who call her, means she is uniquely placed to be a very effective narrator for this book and the events unfolding in it. McGuire continues to handle big emotions and hard conversations between her characters with her signature pragmatism and insight that I find to be so effective. And that's especially important since there are a lot of big feelings in this one. Things I didn't like as much: Mostly that this was just a heavier book. Things ramp up with the Covenant in a big way, and this read was definitely not as fun or light-hearted as some other Incryptid books have felt. That doesn't mean it's not an excellent book,...

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst My rating: 4 of 5 stars Spellshop is a very cozy read that hit all of the right cozy fantasy beats: leaving an old life behind, starting over somewhere new, finding a community and a purpose within it, and a little no-spice romance. Bonus points for a sentient spider plant, bookish characters, mermaids, and a few other pretty cool magical elements. I did struggle initially with the main character's insular attitude towards other people, but she has a decent growth arc. So if you find yourself rolling your eyes at her at the beginning, I'd say to stick with it knowing she's going somewhere. And it's arguable that her frame of mind at the beginning does have a function in keeping the tone of the story lighter, because there are some rather high stakes things happening in the larger world, but her world view keeps our focus pretty small with everything else being more in the background. This was an easy read, and cozy cottagecore is an ...

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow This was such a wonderful read! It's been a minute since I sunk into a gothic novel, and this was just a lot of fun to spend time with. It was very gothic, a little gritty, and a little romantic. Starling House is a somewhat sentient old manor that sits on the edge of a bad luck town. It's only occupant, Arthur, is a bit of a recluse. Rumors about the house have swirled around for years, and the truth might still be in them somewhere. Opal has always felt drawn to the house. And that's where our story begins. The setting of Eden, Kentucky is so well done, you can almost taste the pollution from the local power plant, and feel the miasma of bad luck that has settled over the town. Opal is fierce, tough, has never felt quite at home, and is still learning how to trust the people who have cared for her. Arthur has been carrying too much for too long, he's resolute, and very broken. I loved them both as soon as they appeared on the page. T...

Remedial Magic by Melissa Marr I fully expected to love this book from the description and the fact that I've really enjoyed a lot of Melissa Marr's work. But I didn't. I think the issue was partly the marketing text and vibe of the cover did not match the book at all. So I'd say there's definitely a bit of a marketing mix up here that's probably not entirely on the author. If you're looking at this and thinking it will be a cozy, sapphic fantasy with just enough stakes to make it interesting (like I did), don't read it. If you're looking at this and seeing a fully complicated world with an ensemble cast of rather flat, morally ambiguous characters who are not always making good decisions as they try to solve problems out of their control, then you'll have a better chance of enjoying it. My other big issue was that there was a major bait-and-switch cliffhanger right at the end that was chock-full of coercion and consent issues due to the nature...

Breeze Spells and Bridegrooms by Sarah Wallace  & S.O. Callahan I was highly anticipating this book, and it absolutely met my expectations! I've read solo works by both Wallace & Callahan, and was very interested in seeing what they came up with working together. The result is an alternate regency era London in which the fae and humans live alongside one another cordially, though not yet entirely integrated as one society. Our MC's are perfectly flawed individuals, each in their own way, and I couldn't help but root for them, and the way they learn to really see each other during one whirlwind of a London season. I also enjoyed the cozy academic vibes, and the discussions on the difference in the fae and human magic systems at play. I also really appreciated how the writers managed to create a world with some built in inequality, and then very thoughtfully found ways for our characters to be aware of it and try to address it in the course of the story, all while k...