Wayward Bookshelf

Omni and the Blazed Boy by Benjamin Ver Burg & Sheri Ver Burg This debut novel offers quite a lot to middle grade readers! It's got engaging main characters, dragon bonding (and hopefully riding in the coming books?), a magic school, creative world building, an ensemble of characters who end up being fast friends, and some good puzzles and mysteries that need to be solved. My personal favorite element was the nature of the world itself - it is unique and I imagine would be very intriguing for young readers. And as a reader who enjoys all things dragons, I also really liked the method of finding a dragon to bond with, and the classification of dragons by the type of magical breath they possess. There are a few elements that will feel familiar to the more avid young scifi/fantasy fans: the magic school and after-hours shenanigans that ensue are not unlike what we see at Hogwarts. And in an effort not to spoil any of the fun surprises the story holds, suffice it to say there are...

The Viscount Says Yes by Sarah Wallace Viscount says yes is the 6th in the Meddle & Mend series, and involves characters we've already come to know and love from the earlier books planning a union that we've hoped would happen for some time. This was a very cozy read with lots of time spent planning the details of how our beloved characters will eventually make a home together as they gradually get more comfortable spending time with each other. There's actually very little meddling from the peripheral characters in this installment, and a lot of just offering support and kind advice. It was gentle and hopeful, and I so enjoyed reading it. The Meddle & Mend series has always felt like a cozy little safe place for my reader heart to land, but this book in particular was so restful. I'm in a season of life (mama to a newborn) where I'm reading much slower than usual as I try to sneak in a chapter here and there, but I still decided to stay up late to finish ...

Tea You at the Altar by Rebecca Thorne I went into this thinking it was the final book in the series, but in case there are any other prospective readers making the same error I did, Tomes & Tea it is a quartet and not a trilogy so there is still one more book coming! Which I'm honestly pretty excited about because I find these to be fun reads. I started reading this series as a cozy fantasy, and while it definitely still has some of those elements and the general vibe of coziness, the stakes have gotten a little too high in the continuing installments for me to really classify it as 'cozy fantasy' anymore. They're still a lot of fun to read, but I wanted to make the point in my review that there are some bigger world events at play, and our heroines play a direct role in those events. Things I really enjoyed: -More dragons! And I especially liked the discussion of dragons/magic/belief that happens around the reappearance of dragons in this world. - Reyna gets a ...

Fiasco by Constance Fay This is the second in the Uncharted Hearts series, and Fay has proven that they really know how to write a prickly femme MC with a soft center. Like Temper from book 1, Cyn is on her own as a bounty hunter, and she has developed a tough outer shell to protect herself. The only beings she seems to let in are her pet lizard and her feisty older neighbor. Cyn has long wanted to catch the kidnapper who killed her cousin, and when an opportunity comes up to resume the hunt, she joins the crew of the Calamity and follows the trail to her home planet, which she hasn't visited since her cousin's death. It was fun to be back on board the Calamity (from book one), to see the crew through Cyn's eyes, and to watch them each offer acceptance to the prickly bounty hunter in their own ways as they begin to work together. There were a couple fun plot twists that made this a truly engaging read, and a solid on-board romantic thread to keep things interesting. As al...

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher I enjoyed a lot of details in the book, but the thing I loved most was our narrator. Thornhedge is a fairytale inspired by Sleeping Beauty, told from the perspective of the fairy who gives a gift to the princess on her christening day, and things don't go exactly to plan. Our fairy is named Toadling, and she is so gentle and humble and determined not to do any harm and to right her past mistakes. I just loved her. Other characters are not exactly what you'd expect from the original tale either, the princess and the knight in particular have also undergone intriguing changes in this retelling. This tale also turns the original quest on its head by asking the question, 'what if some curses aren't meant to be broken?'. When the knight discovers Toadling's brambly hedge, that question is put to the test. Thornhedge may be a quick read, but it brings a fresh take to this familiar tale, and the focus is on the journey through the story, n...

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett This was more or less exactly what I'd hoped for from book 3 in this series! Emily continues to try and tackle problems using her scholarship and study, Wendell continues to be both fearsome and endearing by turns, and the majority of this book actually takes place in Faerie.  My only real complaint is that while I really appreciate how much our two have grown to trust each other to be competent in their own strengths, and it is very sweet to see them so in love, I did miss some of the bickering and banter that we saw in the first two books. I would have liked to have more of that, perhaps with a more playful or teasing tone as their relationship matured. I really enjoyed the nature of the problem that they were trying to solve, the stakes felt a little higher, and the application of storytelling and fairy tales applied to searching for a solution was excellent. And I especially liked spending more time getting to know...

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...