Thundrhed! By Damon Wolfe - Laugh out loud until you cry funny!!

 

I scrolled past this five or six times, telling myself that the title alone guaranteed it would not be worth my time. I finally read the synopsis and decided that it would possibly be a tad bit funny. I would like to be the first to admit that I make mistakes sometimes and can be very wrong. This wasn't a tad bit funny, it was laugh-out-loud until I'm crying funny.

I'm not even sure how to describe it. It was as if Monty Python, Neil Gaiman, and Terry Pratchett all got together and decided to write rewrite Indian Jones but with Thor in place of Indiana Jones. There's an entire chapter that's basically The Hangover but with just one guy and his greatsword.

Highly recommend it if you need a good laugh.

Improper Mage by Taylor Westwood

 *Updated and edited because I wrote this on my phone yesterday before coffee and holy crap should I not write, or really do anything for that matter, before coffee. And I know that and yet I still did.*

So here's the deal. These stories are a dime a dozen; a quirky, kind of outcast girl who underestimates herself, catches the eye of a powerful and exceedingly attractive man, I've read two similar books in the last two weeks alone. And for the most part, they are all pretty good, if they weren't I don't think they'd be as popular of a genre. So if you have an ocean of the same books how do you decide which ones are exceptional? I've found that, at least for me, it is the author's unique voice that truly makes all of the difference. And that doesn't speak to technical writing ability or anything like that, that when they decided to sit down and write a book in a genre that is overpopulated they wrote one that is not just distinctly them but is important to them, that it means something and that myself as a reader can see that meaning through their words. Maybe I don't know exactly what it means to them, but I can tell through their story that it's well precious to them. Westwood nails that perfectly. 

The Kingdom of Triaedian united the three races under the Ashwood reign one thousand years ago. The Ashwoods a Vampire family reign as monarchs and underneath them are the Counsel of Mages and finally the Counsel of Shifters. And while they are united each counsel creates the rules which dictate the social fabric of each race. Within the Vampire and Shifter races, women are looked upon as equal to men. Unfortunately, for Liana Monroe a young mage, the Mages do not see women that way at all. Female mages are taught just enough magic to keep their homes, their lives wrapped around the idea of marriage and motherhood from an early age. Liana wants more and at a young age, she starts practicing magic in secret so that by the time she is old enough to marry she is one of the most powerful mages in Triaedian. She also wants to have absolutely nothing to do with marriage, she makes it clear that she would much rather become a spinster living with her father where she can tend to her gardens and practice her magic for all of her days, unfortunately for her again her quirky ways attract the notice of none other than King Damien Ashwood himself and Liana must resign herself to marriage because who can say no to the King? But as a shadowy group from the kingdom's past rises up Damien and Liana find themselves bound together in a fight to protect what they hold dear, which may just be each other more than anything else. Even a kingdom.

Triaedian operates under a "Separate but equal" mentality. While yes, the kingdom is united the races do not intermix on a social level, this resembles the Civil Rights movement of the mid-twentieth century. There isn't a law calling for segregation in Triaedia, it is motivated purely by social customs and norms, and if our own history is any example these can be far harder to break than any law on paper. Income disparity is also a very real issue in this kingdom among all of the races. The reason I point these out is that by using real-world problems Westwood has already created a bond with the characters through her world-building. We can (especially women because of the Patriarchal rule of the Mages) understand Liana intimately through the social issues she faces in her world and the steps that she takes to try to better the world on her own. 

And let's talk about Liana for a minute; because she's wonderful. She is one of the best most complete characters I've read recently. Her insecurities are understandable and even relatable if you were ever the "weird kid", hell if you still are the "weird adult". She's sweet and caring but she's erected this kind of shield because of the ridicule she's received her whole life for simply being herself which society deems as "different". Her smart-ass game is absolute perfection so for that alone I love her. Damien is great as well but kind of stereotypical of the male role in this type of book. He's super hot, he's pretty intelligent and desperately in love with Liana which I can't really blame him.

Once again I'd like to thank an author for introducing a shadowy villain who is brought to our attention in the book in several instances but since this book, in particular, isn't about them that's all we get, we've got another book coming so we can explore this evil group hell-bent on destroying the peace at a later date. We know they are bad we know they are out there and now we can look forward to book two!

Overall I really don't believe I have any complaints other than the whole vamps don't need blood thing, in this case, though no stars lost because Damien absolutely has a vampire moment towards the end of the book. I just finished a rather similar book so I wanted to take the time to really digest this one before reviewing it and make sure that I wasn't giving it five stars because I did find it to be better than the last. And I can say with certainty this is a great book that comes across as superficial on the surface but has some deep undercurrents to it.

I of course want to thank BookSirens for the free eArc of this magical book!

Revevant by Gina and Anne Marie Dicarlo - The never-ending horror

 Renee and Lou are as close as two sisters can be, after the loss of their mother when Lou was twelve they have relied on each other through everything good and bad. As adults, the girls now work together as photographers for a travel magazine along with Renee's long-time boyfriend Ian. The girls' newest assignment will take them to Romania to do a spread on the area's castles, something Renee is not looking forward to except that she gets to work with Ian. Lou, on the other hand, is excited she loves the occult, and when a passenger on their train offers her a tarot reading on the way to their first castle Lou jumps at the chance. Unfortunately, the reading casts an ominous future ahead and after stumbling upon a castle that has such a bloody past the entire village surrounding it abandoned it decades ago even Lou is beginning to think this wasn't such a good idea. 

I honestly didn't connect with much of anything in this book. Even though it was really long (or at least it felt like it was) I never really felt like I got a feel for any of the characters. I didn't really care what happened to them as long as it hurried up and happened.

The dialogue felt unnatural at times as well. There were several conversations where it just felt like no one would actually say the things the characters said in the manner that they did. And the way they talk about Lou's "incident" was really just not right. Even after Renee reveals the "incident" it's still super vague. It felt like we were back in 1980 and these are things you just don't talk about. 

The plot kinda mixes up the story of Elizabeth Bathory (Bathory isn't actually in the book just a character that resembles her), Gypsies, and Hindu beliefs and I thought that was a bit much too. Without giving to much away one of the characters is possessed by the Bathory character, that would have been enough right there. You've got a person possessed by one of the most prolific serial killers in history, the story practically writes itself. But the authors threw in all of this other fluff that was just not needed. 

Overall it was meh. It wasn't bad but it also wasn't great either. I really thought what really dragged it down was the length, cut a couple of chapters out and this would have been much better.

Yagi the Bookshop Goat by Furukawa Fumi - My heart cannot handle this much cuteness!!

 

This was sssooo cute! I haven't read boys love manga in probably fifteen years, so it was super nice that the first one I've read in a while had so many adorable characters! 

Yagi is a goat who loves reading but he also likes eating books just as much as he likes reading them. This is not exactly what bookshop owners look for in their employees. After being turned down at every bookshop in the Herbivore Zone he finally ventures into the Carnivore Zone and is hired by Ookami where the two of them discover that they've known each other since childhood. Is this the beginning of a romance? 

I really enjoyed the anthropomorphic side of this, it really just puts the character's cuteness level over the top! The storyline was adorable as well with them being childhood friends but I'd like to have seen a little bit more character building, the relationship between Yagi and Ookami moves quite quickly. 

Just a heads up this book is intended for mature audiences. And as always thank you so much to NetGalley and TokyoPop for the eArc to this adorable little romance!

The Maleficent Seven by Cameron Johnston

If one person had started their review with "This book has piggy bombs" I wouldn't have waited so long to read it! Who knew I needed bombs made out of pigs in my life!?

Black Herran the Demonologist is on the verge of conquering all of Essoran when she just up and decides to quit. There's nothing to really gain from it as far as she's concerned and besides she's trained her Captains well. They *should* be able to finish it off on their own. Or so she thought. When her seven monstrous Captains realize their leader is gone their final siege which would have brought Essoran to its knees falls apart and the seven are scattered. Forty years on though one of her Captains is leading a new and terrifying religion and it threatens everything Black Herran holds dear. She knows the only beings that can stop her old comrade is the remaining six Captains, that is if they don't kill her first. 

I've been reading a lot of books with happy non-violent monsters lately and they are great but oh man was fantastic to get back to demons being demons and vampires ripping people's throats out! Sometimes you just have to read a good bloody book ya know? 

The characters in this were all amazing and it has been difficult to pick one I like more than the rest but it's got to be Black Herran she's just a badass and the smartest person in the room to boot. That is always a deadly combination. I loathed Maeven and I'm not gonna lie I'm sad we don't get to see her get hers in this book. And yes, there absolutely were some heartbreaking moments of bravery from everyone around monsters included. 

The pacing in this was awesome as well, I did not get bored reading this once. Johnston brilliantly juggles action and story in this.

It's laugh-out-loud funny which is probably the icing on the cake. I don't believe you can actually write a book with this much violence without inserting some humor into it and Johnston does a great job of it. Seriously. Piggy Bombs. It may not sound funny here but trust me when you get to that part in the book you'll giggle at the very least. You may feel guilty about it, but you'll giggle. 

I really don't believe I have any complaints, there were definitely some formulaic elements but everything else was so good it really didn't matter. 

Definitely recommend this to anyone that is into dark fantasy books it's 100% worth the read.

The Dragon Universe Various Authors

Cover art is not available yet, as soon as it is I will upload it!

This was by far the most beautiful book I've read so far this year. All of the art was absolutely gorgeous! And I mean all of it. Usually, with art books, there are one or two pieces that are just not my style but I did not find one that I didn't like in this book. I actually kinda hope some of these are for sale as prints that's how amazing they were! 

The stories in this stood out as much and I'd actually say in some cases maybe even more than the art.  Many of the stories were incredibly sad, Ragnarok (probably one of my favs from the book) was absolutely heartbreaking. Others were amusing, the very last tale in the book was hilarious and I giggled reading that one more than a few times. They were all short but very well-written, rich tales that enrich dragon lore. 

I honestly cannot wait until this one is published, reading it truly made my day a little better!

I want to thank Edelweiss and Diamond Books for filling my afternoon with a little bit of magic!

Alice in Kyoto Forest Vol. 1 by Mochizuki Mai and Illustrated by Niwa Haruki

 

Alice's parents died in a car accident when she was a child, as a result, she moved from Kyoto to Tohoku to live with her Aunt and Uncle. Unfortunately, her Uncle makes it very clear that he doesn't feel like taking care of Alice should be his responsibility so she turns to books to escape his harsh criticism of her. One day Alice announces she'd like to go to High School, her Uncle is completely against this because it would cost him money, Alice finally gets fed up and decides that she needs to get out of her Uncles house and answers an ad to become a Geisha in Kyoto. The very next day an older gentleman arrives in a limo and whisks Alice back to Kyoto, only this isn't the Kyoto Alice knows and now she's stuck there with nowhere else to go. Alice has to find what she truly wants to find her place in this strange new Kyoto but that means Alice has to find herself. 

I have to address the art in this first because it is absolutely stunning! Alice is absolutely adorable and the details on the Kimonos are beautiful! 

I enjoyed each of the characters we meet in this first volume as well, especially Natsume and Hachisu because c'mon who doesn't like adorable animal sidekicks? I truly enjoyed Alice though, obviously because we both like to read but I like that she takes the whole finding herself thing seriously. I think especially in the last few years many of us have asked what we really want out of life and I think Alice's reaction was very realistic. Denial at first and then taking the question seriously and doing (or starting to do) some real soul searching to answer it. 

And of course, who couldn't love an Isekai that drops you into a Japanese version of Alice in Wonderland? Alice in Wonderland is one of my favorite books so I really love this unique twist on it! 

Absolutely looking forward to the next volume!

Thank you to NetGalley and TokyoPop for the eArc!

Death on Gokumon Island by Yokomizo Seishi, Translated by Louise Heal Kawai

 This one doesn't actually have any cover art yet so no picture right now, I'll add it as soon it's available though!

Detective Hindaichi has just returned from the war and has been tasked with keeping his fellow soldier's sisters alive. He only has one clue and that is that the girls' fate rests on their cousin. But as the girls start dying with their cousin still far-away in Burma Kindaichi realizes he may have met his match in this murderer. 

Yokomizo is the master at writing about messed-up families. Every Kindaichi book I've read makes me kind of grateful I'm broke and thus there will be no motivation for anyone to kill me or my heirs to kill each other or for me to kill my heirs for that matter! 😅

I found this one to be a little slower-paced than the others and kind of anticlimactic but I think that's the feeling he was going for because when you find out why the murders took place it's incredibly sad, especially since Kindaichi was tasked with preventing them. 

The murders themselves were on the same level of complexity that I've now come to expect from this series which makes it so difficult to figure out who the actual murderer is. And this one really threw me for a loop. I understood the significance of some of the clues but where they actually lead was totally unexpected!

Overall another fantastic addition to this wonderful series and I want to thank Edelweiss and Penguin Random House for the eArc for this!

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

 

This is kind of a tough review to write because I don't believe that it is necessarily a failing of the book itself that it just didn't come across well but that being a novella limited the detail the author could go into. I honestly believe this has serious potential to be fleshed out into a full novel but in this format, I don't believe the author was able to bring the world they had created to live in a manner that would do it justice. I would really like to see this actually in a full novel form because it's got the makings of a really amazing world with some really important things to say in terms of xenophobia. 

As the parent of a transgender kiddo, I did really appreciate the struggle the main character and her little brother were going through with his reassignment. My family lives in an area where we are just getting a doctor that deals with minors, my son came out when he was 14, he's 18 now. It's very hard to express to people the failing you feel as a parent that you can't get your child the medical attention they need. It's heartbreaking for everyone involved and I completely understand the struggle that ensued between the two of them. 

Overall I think that the potential that exists within the book is worth the read and to be honest, the author's afterward alone is worth the reading it just to get to understand why the book exists in the first place, it was quite interesting.

Noragami Vol. 5 By Adachitoka

 Hiyori has been kidnapped by one of Bishamon's Shinki, Yato and Yukine raid her base to get her back, we finally find out why Bishamon hates Yato, and the ending is a super heartbreaking cliffhanger!

Even though I've watched the anime eight million times it was still one of those shocking, gut-punch things when I read the real reason Bishamon can't stand Yato. It's so angering especially since she just put herself in the same position again. *sigh* 

And Yukine is soo freaking good. I love that kid! Seriously though he's one of my favorite characters ever because his character is so relatable and his emotions are always so raw. 

Even though I know what happens next I still can't wait to get the next manga!

Witch 13 by Patrick Delaney - What the Hell did I just read!?

 

"What the hell did I just read?" Is what I thought when I finished this.

Sheriff Sterling Marsh has had a rough go of it lately and she has decided to resign as Sheriff of Drybell, Ct, where she's worked for ten years. Her last night working seems like it will be relatively quiet, a little too quiet considering a once-in-a-century storm is raging outside. But she and her co-workers take advantage of it and have a Christmas/Going Away Party and make the best of it. As soon as the egg nog is gone though they get their first call. Her deputy's wife calls to report an intruder at City Hall where she works. Sterling arrives to find an honest to goodness straight out of a fairy tale witch complete with the silly hat is the intruder. Sterling arrests her unleashing hell on her tiny sheriff's office. With the phone lines down all she can to do is protect her people till morning. Easier said than done.

This wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be, it was more creepy than scary. I really just wanted to know what the hell the witch was actually doing, which was motivation enough to finish it in just a few hours. And in the end, I was slightly disappointed as there was one scene that made it pretty clear as to why the Witch was there earlier in the book. That being said it was one hell of a ride getting to the end so that's forgiven. 

Every character in this has some sort of messed-up background too, and the Witch seems to use these to make them do things they normally wouldn't. A depressed wife becomes a suicidal wife, a child who normally isn't a thief becomes one around the witch, etc., etc. 

There are a couple of things that were sadly standard horror fare. The whole "Omfg don't go back in there!" was yelled a lot and the "Why are we disregarding the guy who clearly knows what's going?" was pondered every time the action slows down. But other than that I don't have any complaints. 

Overall this was a solid horror story with a creepy (the Witch was incredibly creepy) villain with just enough violence that you knew you were dealing with something no human could hope to defeat.

Ooh totally forgot to add this to the Netgalley review, it has illustrations, which is worth a whole star in my opinion! 

Thanks to Netgalley and Oblivion Publishing for the eArc of this creepy tale.

Pre-Order available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble! 

Bestiarium Groenlandica by Maria Bach Kreutzmann

 

I think this is the first book of creatures that I had not heard of one of them which was pretty cool. I have to say though they were all pretty dark and violent in comparison to other mythological creatures, which was kind of surprising. Although, I suppose it shouldn't have been considering how harsh the environment is in Greenland. 

In terms of the stories surrounding these creatures they were all incredibly unique, which again points to what a unique environment the people in Greenland live in and I'd say most of them are a direct reference to the environment including animals native to the area as well as weather conditions and of course the northern lights. I have to say my favorite story though was about the Greenland Shark, it apparently protects orphans in the folklore by feeding them when they are about to starve. 

My favorite part of this book had to be that they used multiple artists who are native to Greenland. To be honest, I don't really think that many people think of Greenland when they think of art, but I think after reading this more people will. Especially animation, I was really surprised to see that a lot of the artists in the book currently work in animation, and honestly, the more "cartoony" looking images in this were some of my favorites!

Overall I genuinely learned a lot from this relatively short book. Definitely recommend it for anyone into mythology/folklore!

Thanks to Edelweiss for the eArc of this book!

I cracked 50 books for the year!! Here are my Top Ten Favs so far!

 

If you are on Goodreads you've probably participated in their reading challenge. Honestly, it's one of my favorite parts of the website *mostly* because this is a goal that I know I can actually accomplish (unlike the rest of the yearly goals that I set like I will stop drinking soda. Yeah. Right.). This year I've had more time than I normally would to read so cracking 50 books before say June is something that has never happened so I'm pretty stoked. In honor, celebration, or just because I'm bored I've compiled a list of my top ten favorite books/mangas/graphic novels that I've read so far this year. These will not be in any particular order. 

This book was absolutely not what I was expecting at all. And I think that may be part of the reason I enjoyed it, but I think the real reason is that it really allowed the reader to open up a dialogue with themselves regarding a myriad of issues that we all face. It ends on a cliffhanger so I hoping there will be a second one soon!

Have I mentioned I am a huge fan of everything Frankenstein? Well, if I haven't I am. The original was such a well-thought-out social commentary that it still just blows my mind that Shelley wrote it over the course of an evening. And as retellings are one of my absolute favorite things on the planet I knew I had to read this and I was not disappointed. If I had the ability to write this would be the Frankenstein book I wrote. 

Is it possible to write the perfect book? No, I don't think so but I think that RJ Barker has come as close as possible with his Tidechild series. I'm actually putting off reading the last one because I really do not want my time in this beautiful, ugly world to end. 

It was really tough to decide which of Yokomizo's books to pick for this list because honestly, I love them all. I went with this one however because it is one of the most well-known of his books. It is an absolute shame that his books are just being translated to English they are simply some of the best Detective novels I have ever read. 

What I wanted: Yokai wreaking havoc on the U.S. for putting the Japanese in internment camps during WWII. What I got: An intricate story following four people affected by the camps weaving a terrifying tale of how fear and anger can lead to something far worse than any yokai; Hate. A masterfully done look at what led to one of the darkest parts of American history the author uses her family's own personal stories of internment to bring us this story. I received a free eArc of this book from Netgalley, you can pre-order today at major retailers!

Sometimes funny, sometimes heartwarming, but always making you question how you deal with the big things life throws at you. An interesting take on the Reaper story Knox does a wonderful job of weaving heavy ideas like grief and self-reflection into this tale. I cannot wait for the next one! 

So it's not necessarily this book that is my favorite, it is the series itself, I just couldn't pass up the chance to throw this series in my Top 10 list. I just love Sebastian and Hero, honestly, they are my new favorite fictional couple. So this is a shameless plug for them. Plus if you need to read this book they both threaten to kill a guy because he threatened to kill their cat and if there is a better reason to read a book I can't think of it. 

The author states at the end of this book that it is a children's book, Goodreads classifies it as a young adult book. Quite frankly I'm not sure it matters, except that other young adult authors should sit up and take note of the excellent character development that happens in this book. I like young adult books don't get me wrong but many of them lack real, meaningful character development and that drives me bonkers. Ogiwara does not just do an excellent job of this but creating a new version of the Japanese creation story. 

I wasn't going to include this one because it won't be published until April but I really had to. On the outside, this manga looks like it's going to be just a cutesy manga with no real depth to it. On the inside, it has a complex storyline with Alice the main character addressing what she really wants out of life. With the pandemic, I think this is a question that many people asked themselves in a way it almost forced us to address that very question, so I found this to be a timely release that many will be able to relate to. Plus the art is stunning. I received a free copy of this from NetGalley but you can pre-order from any major book retailer!

I own several of Jemisin's books, I just haven't gotten around to reading them so this is my first one. I was not disappointed. Fantasy books in particular allow people to address things that they would rather not while giving them a kind of safety net. At least the good ones. This is one of the good ones. This book opens up a wonderful discussion on how we view death. With several conflicting viewpoints playing out this book will definitely make you reexamine your own beliefs surrounding this subject that is oddly controversial and yet something none of us can escape from. 

A Most Efficient Murder by Anthony Slayton - Mr. Quayle is one hell of a secretary!

 

Mr. Quayle is one hell of a secretary! (Shameless Black Butler reference). When I first started reading this I thought it was going to be good, sometimes you just get that vibe within the first couple of pages of a book. But not read in four hours, download on my phone to read while walking to pick my daughter up from school good (I am not endorsing reading while walking and if you must make sure you stay aware of your surroundings)! 

Mr. Quayle has recently been hired on to be the Secretary to Lord Unsworth and his first big event is ensuring that Fanny's, the lord's favorite niece, eighteenth birthday party goes off without a hitch. And it is up until the body is found. No one knows who the young woman with the angry eyes is that was found stabbed to death, but Lord Unsworth knows that his family name must be protected at all costs, and to that end, he orders Mr. Quayle to do his own investigation besides the one the police are doing. Mr. Quayle reluctantly agrees but very rapidly discovers that everyone in the Unsworth clan has secrets worth murdering over. 

This book was one wild ride. When the whole murder plot was revealed I literally gasped out loud (scaring the crap out of my dog) because I was totally blindsided. The characters were each so well written by the end I had this picture of them in my head right down to how their voices sounded (and unfortunately Lady Constance reminded me just a little bit too much of my grandmother). There were no plot holes, no unanswered questions, and surprisingly the Unsworth Clan seemed to walk away from the whole affair a little stronger for it. I liked that part a lot that even though something really horrendous had taken place this very dysfunctional family had maybe finally found a place where they could trust one another and stop scheming. It wasn't just a good ending it was a happy ending. 

I want to thank BookSirens for the free eArc to this truly puzzling whodunit! This book will be available to purchase on April 3rd, pre-orders however are available now! 

The Me You Love in the Dark by Skottie Young, Illustrated by Jorge Corona - Yeah, it's freaking creepy on more that one level!

 

Alright so normally I just copy and paste my review from Goodreads (now you know) but this one I wanted to go over again because I've had a few days to think about it. 

I enjoyed this book and if you follow me on Goodreads the four-star rating I gave there still stands. However, I have to say that after having a few days to think about it I believe that the book was too short. The premise is that the ghost/demon/thing in this book becomes controlling and abusive. Because of the length of the book, I do not believe that the author was able to really drive home how this happened over time. The situation simply didn't feel as serious as it should have. And now I could be completely wrong about the author using a monster as a stand-in for an abusive partner and none of that could matter, but I don't believe so given how accurate their portrayal of an abusive relationship is. So ya know my complaint could be totally invalid but I really don't think so. 

And that's it, my one complaint. Other than that I found this to be a really phenomenal graphic novel that uses fantasy to address intimate partner violence. Because she uses fantasy I believe that makes this just a little more accessible for those who have experienced it, something they can relate to while also having a cushion between themselves and the situation portrayed. And what is the fantasy or horror genre if not a place for us to address real-world concerns in a manner that is safe?

The art was absolutely gorgeous and really did an exceptional job of setting a creepy atmosphere and let me just say the monster is freaking terrifying. 

All in all this was a great quick read and I'll be picking up the next book in the series! 

March Reading List - Late Again because that's just who I am.

 Actually, it's not really my fault. March has been interesting, to say the least. We had a gas leak (like literally there was some serious concern of a giant fireball erupting underneath our yard.) at the beginning of the month and then my grandmother passed away, and then my, my father's, mine, and my brother's birthdays are on the 8th, 9th, and the 10th respectively (btw if you feel like buying me something here is my Thriftbooks Wishlist) so I've been busy. 

And I'm happy to announce that I actually read half of last month's TBR list!! This month I'm really concentrating on getting some of my older books on my GoodReads TBR list finished. So without further ado my TBR for March: 

This is one of my favorite series, I started reading this one way back in November but one of my children lost my page when I was about halfway through the book and I was soo annoyed that I just shelved it. Gotta get it done though!

Basically for the same reason as above. 

I'm currently about 80% through this eArc so expect a review of this fantastic (so far) book shortly! 

Full disclosure: Not sure if I will get this finished this month, I kinda sort of misplaced it somewhere in my room. 

I'm about halfway done with this one already. I love the story of Monkey but I've never actually read it, all of my knowledge comes from watching shows or movies about it so I am enjoying actually reading it. Apparently, this volume is missing some stories though so I'm going to have to go hunt them down. 

This is the omnibus edition so I picked up all four from the series, I finished the first The Black Tides of Heaven this weekend and I really enjoyed it, so far I can totally understand the hype that surrounds this series. 

#MurderInWestminster by Vanessa Riley - An amazingly unique idea...If the kinks can be worked out

 

I'm on the fence as to whether this is a three or four star book. When it was good it was really good but when it was not it was also really not. 

Lady Abigail Worthing has a lot going on in her life after marrying her husband James Monroe, Lord Worthing her sister disappears and her father essentially disowns her. Her new husband leaves almost immediately for the high seas to boot and to top it all off the Abolition movement (something near and dear to her heart) has lost momentum after the death of its leader. Abigail can't really do much about the first two things but she has documents that within the hands of the right people may be the jump-start the movement needs, she just has to get them to them and she's got a plan for that. Having her maids take their place at a play Lady Worthing and her cousin Flo slip off to a secret meeting with the current leader of the movement only to be called away before they could even meet, but Abigail can't pass this up, her sister wants to reconcile. Rushing home Abigail is disappointed to find her sister not there and her dog has run off again, to the annoyance of her neighbor Mr. Henderson. As Abbi and Mr. Henderson rush after the dog, they stumble across the gruesome murder of his estranged wife. Now Abbi must team up with her hated neighbor to find out who killed his wife before both of them end up hanging for it. 

That's a lot, isn't it? That's because there's a lot going on in this book. I didn't even mention the fact that Lady Worthing has "visions". Yup, wasn't even gonna go there. There is so much other stuff going on in this book that it all overshadows the most important thing: The Dead Woman. I wish the author had found a lane and stayed in it. It honestly felt like all this extra was fluff because she simply couldn't find a way to move the main plot along. And to be honest with the Abolition Movement that's a perfect secondary plotline but that one is kinda muddled too. 

I did *not* like Abigail at all. She was wishy-washy. A wishy-washy character is good to show character development but Abigail really didn't develop at all. Henderson was a better character but not by a lot. He at least wasn't wishy-washy. (If you've read my reviews before wishy-washy characters who can't make up their minds and flip flop constantly are the bane of my existence.) There's a bunch of other side characters as well. Her cousin Flo is into math so there are a lot of really bad math jokes, Flo's uncle and Abigail's godfather is some sort of high ranking official, and Abigail's solicitor who got a thing for widows. Flo is sssooo positive and supportive it's almost fake. Her Godfather is essentially the same I think he is supposed to come across as wise and sophisticated, and her solicitor I'm not even sure why he was there other than to have access to financial records. 

Overall I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and say that it's rough to write the first book of a series. I really believe it has a lot of potential; a mixed-race woman hunting down criminals while fighting to end slavery is an amazingly unique plotline in period mystery books so I'll definitely check out the next book.

I want to thank Edelweiss Books and the people over at Kensington Books for the eArc!

#TheFairyUniverse by Olivier Ledroit - An absolutely gorgeous and humorous look at the lives of Fairies

 

Artbooks are some of my favorites, the problem is finding places on my shelves to display them and after reading this one I'll have to make room for it! 

The Fairy Universe is a unique and humorous look at the different fairies of the world. From Oberon to Elfezer (my personal favorite was Elfezer) each of the fairies in this book is presented to us with a beautiful drawing and a funny little tidbit of who they are and what their role is. 

I really cannot get past the art in this book though, it is absolutely phenomenal, I would say on par with Yoshitaka Amano which is probably the highest compliment I can possibly give an artist. Some of the pages I spent at least five minutes just trying to find each little creature hiding in the background. 

I want to thank Netgalley and the people at Diamond Book Distributors for allowing me to read this wonderful eArc.

#TheLegendoftheFiveRings The Flower Path by Josh Reynolds - A Unique Locked Room Mystery

 

I honestly didn't expect to like this. It started incredibly slow, there were easily twenty "important" characters, and I really didn't like Shin at first. By the end I loved all the relationships happening and that each character was truly their own, and yup I even like Shin!

It's opening night for Daidoji Shin's newest investment a kabuki theater and everything has to go off without a hitch because he's invested not just money but his reputation on this venture. He believes his and the Three Flower Troupe success is almost guaranteed as he has retained Noma Etsuko, the greatest actress of her generation for the lead role, what he doesn't realize is Etsuko is as arrogant and rude as she is talented and beautiful. No one in the troupe likes her and she isn't even trying to get them to. As the curtain rises it becomes clear that something is wrong with Etsuko and when she collapses on stage Shin knows it's more than just a fainting spell, he rushed backstage to watch her breathe her last. Even with his lead actress dead Shin knows the show must go on and he only has a few hours to find her killer in a packed theater of suspects from her fellow actors to the courtiers gathered in the wings, Etsuko pushed one person just a little too far. 

I've already touched a bit on the downside of this, it is very slow to start, even when you take into consideration Reynolds had a very large stage to set with how many people wouldn't mind seeing the victim dead it still took forever to get to the actual death scene. After that it starts to get a bit better, the momentum picks up and we find a complicated tale of blackmail involving almost everyone Etsuko touched. 

The best part of this book has to be the characters though. I found each and every one of them thoroughly enjoyable and I loved how unique each one was. If I had to pick a favorite though it would be Arban, yes he's a side character but he really was hilarious. 

I'd never even heard of this series until I picked up this eArc so I started it pretty late in the series, I'm definitely going to be going back and reading the rest of them though! Shin seems to be a really interesting character and I'd like to know why he's the outcast in his clan.

I want to say thank you to the wonderful people over at NetGalley and Aconyte Books for this 

fantastic eArc!

The Inugami Curse by Yokomizu Seishi and translated by Yamakazi Yumiko or The Most Dysfunctional Family ever.

 

This was deeply disturbing on multiple levels. The actual killer was evil, pure evil, I think Kindaichi calls them demonic in the book and that is a very good description. But here's the thing almost every suspect was completely unlikable and a shade of evil. To be honest I think this is the first time in my life where I've actually wanted just all of the suspects to be guilty because they all deserved to be in jail for one reason or another. 

As an orphan and on the verge of death Seihi Inugami is taken in by the Head Priest of a Shrine and his wife. This one act of kindness will change Inugami's life and he goes on to become one of the leaders of Japan's silk industry. He knows he owes the people who saved his life everything and even though he has three daughters of his own from his mistresses when the Priests granddaughter Tamayo finds herself orphaned he takes her in too. Inugami's daughters expect that even though he was never a loving father in life they will be remembered in death and when Inugami finally passes away they believe they will inherit his fortune and his company or at least their sons will. But Inugami's love for his saviors family continues even in death and he leaves everything to Tamayo, creating a complicated will that becomes the catalyst for murder. 

I think I covered the whole this book was disturbing but oh man was this book disturbing. Just when you believe that the Inugami Clan can't get any more dysfunctional it does. And while the murders themselves are pretty straightforward cold, calculated acts of greed it's really a series of coincidences that makes this case so complex and difficult to solve. 

Overall this was easily one of the best murder mysteries I've read, ever. I can see why this book spawned not one but two movies in Japan. And really why he was such a beloved author period. From what I can find it looks like only three books from this series have been translated so far so I'm looking forward to reading the next one and hoping that they'll translate the entire series, especially since while in the translated series this stands as book two but in the original Japanese this is book six. I'd really like the four in between!

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman - A surprisingly accurate title.

 This book was exactly what I expected it to be except when it wasn't. I was incredibly surprised that this book published originally in the '60s or '70s was so candid about Mrs. Pollifax's feelings of uselessness and suicide. I mean let's be honest even today we don't talk about whether or not Grandma or Grandpa are feeling mentally awful. So let this be a reminder to check on the elderly humans in your life.

 Mrs. Pollifax is at her doctor's office when he asks her something she's always wanted to do. She says "Be a Spy." He laughs of course reminding her that it was silly ambition when she was young so it's even sillier now that she's old. Except Mrs. Pollifax isn't your standard widowed housewife, the more she thinks on it the more she thinks it wouldn't hurt to at least ask to become a spy. So the very next day she sets off to Washington D.C. to become a spy setting off a harrowing adventure that starts in Mexico and ends in Albania. 

Like I said this is exactly what you'd think it is. Mrs. Pollifax is delightful and delights everyone, including her captors. She's incredibly funny because she is so blunt, and she is, of course, one badass elderly woman. I think that kinda comes with the whole spy territory, she had to be just a little badass before she even started out on her journey. Needless to say, she and her fellow captives kick commie ass (there is no way this was not going to involve communists) all while somehow completing Mrs. Pollifax's original mission. Mostly because the one guy who does end up dead was pretty smart but somehow Mrs. Pollifax gets the credit for it, which was the only annoying portion of this book.

Overall this was just a fun little adventure book and I'll definitely be continuing the series.