January & February Reading Update 2025
Mar. 15th, 2025 04:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penwallaForgot to do these back when they were due, but whatever, it's my blog and no one is reading it.
New Reads:
Tristan by S. Legend
1/5. Why are there weird incest vibes everywhere in this book? What about these fictional cultures where everyone is a horny robot is sexy? Why does the author treat dom/sub like those are fundamental personality types and also the only characteristics a person can have? I guess this is someone's kink but it is Not Mine.
Concubine by Jill Knowles
2/5. This book is terrible in many ways, from the weird incest vibes to another culture which seems to revolve solely around sex, but for me the most annoying thing is that it keeps telling us the warrior-turned-sex slave is still a warrior or still a scholar or whatever but he never does anything besides fuck his new master ever again. If the book is about him discovering his goal in life is to be another man's sex toy, that's fine, but don't keep telling us that's not the case.
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
5/5. As the story unfolds, it develops a wonderful ambiguity that mirrors the strangeness of dreams. It's a masterful book, and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu: Vol. 3 by Tang Jiu Qing
4/5. I feel like the romance has really grown on me although I had problem following the plot at times. I like that as the two MCs become closer, more external factors appear to separate them, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they finally overcome them.
The Alpha of Bleak Isle by Kathryn Moon
4/5. Overall a fun romance with some interesting worldbuilding regarding the oppression of omega women. If you want something light and sexy, I think it's a good pick up. I still don't understand the point of het omegaverse where all women are omegas and all men are alphas or betas, like at that point what is the point of omegas even existing? All you're adding is a category of guys that it's acceptable to cuck. And I really got sick of the word 'perfuming' by the time the book was over.
Her Ruthless Duke by Scarlett Scott
2/5. This is marketed as "guardian/ward" and it technically is, but it makes minimal use of the premise. And our "ruthless" duke is just, like, some guy who supposedly was a badass spy but shows no sign of being a badass in the present day. The romance is just sexual attraction, and all the non-sexual moments happen in drive by exposition. Oh, and the plot is laughable--our villain appears once on page at the end of the book before being revealed as a jealous maniac determined to kill the hero if she can't have him. Like. It's so anti-climactic. If you want to see two people with no sexual chemistry bang and pretend their love is forbidden, sure, pick this up.
Doctor D'Arco, Sorcerer of London by Kathryn Colvin
5/5. If it were possible to give it more than five stars I would. I love everything about this: the extremely slow burn, the villainous hero who is in fact a villain with no attempt to have him turn out to be secretly good, the heroine who gets to have agency and power of her own, and the lush, descriptive prose. No notes, I want to read it again.
Mothership: Player's Survival Guide by Sean McCoy
Mothership: Warden's Operations Manual by Sean McCoy
Mothership: Another Bug Hunt by Luke Gearing
5/5. Have been looking for something I could pick up and theoretically run for some friends locally, felt like the manuals are super easy to understand.
How to Flirt with a Hellhound by Shannon Mae
3/5. The characterization is very thin in this book, and it's quite silly despite all the gorey murders the hellhound is committing. Not bad, but nothing exceptional either. Good if you already have KU and want a quick palate cleanser.
How to Hack a Hellhound by Shannon Mae
4/5. Characters feel better developed than they did in the first book, which helps a lot. And it does something more interesting with all the murders than the last one. If you liked the first one, I think you'll like this one.
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
3/5. There's a lot of interesting ideas, but the poor pacing really lets it down. It's never really scary and for me it never really came together in a satisfying way. I also wish Zeke was a developed character instead of a cardboard cutout that says supportive things.
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
4/5. Overall enjoyable. It's a horror fairytale with themes of oppression and tyranny.
Sunbringer by Hannah Kraner
3/5. Objectively, I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but nothing about the premise of this book interested me at all. Ultimately I think the heavy focus on religion is a big turnoff for me.
The Last Hellion by Loretta Chase
2/5. Vere is such a useless, worthless human that I find it hard to respect Lydia for developing feelings for me. The author tries to redeem him in the back half of the book, but it's too late, I already wish he were dead and can't believe that a woman like Lydia would want him. She's worried about ruining HIS bloodline? Ma'am, he's a parasite on society, you can only hope no part of his personality is genetically transmissible.
Love Potion for the Alpha by Alice Coldbreath
3/5. You can tell this is an early work, both because the writing is clunky and because it feels like the author is uncomfortable with the genre. The whole 'love potion' aspect is silly. I think there's some cute romantic moments--probably best for superfans like me who are waiting for her next installment.
The West Passage by Jared Pechacek
5/5. This is a delightfully weird book. I never knew what to expect while reading, and I was always excited to find out what was going to happen. The author drops you into the world and never stops to explain anything.
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
4/5. Provokes a lot of thoughts about animal preservation and wealth in our world now. Made me sad. I think I would have liked to spend more time with the mammoths, to be honest, learning about their culture. But overall solid.
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
3/5. Eh. I think this combination of modern language in a fantasy setting just doesn't work for me--it feels like it's trying really hard in a way that's not fun, and I think it sucks a lot of the emotional impact out of the book because you can't forget it is a book. The style gets in its own way. The romance is also insta-love and feels pretty underbaked, but that probably would have been fine if I'd liked the prose.
We Came to Welcome You by Vincent Tirado
3/5. This was pretty good until the end, where it just...stops. Nothing gets resolved, there's no actual ending, it feels like the author forgot to finish the book and no one noticed. It's not an ambiguity that adds to the story at all. Otherwise I thought it was a good queer suburban horror.
Here For the Wrong Reasons by Annabel Paulsen & Lydia Wang
4/5. A fun, sweet romance about two women who fall in love while competing on what is essentially a fictionalized Bachelor. I didn't love the climax, where both of our leads dump Josh, or the resolution where Josh tells them they owe him to let him hook them up on public television as compensation for breaking his heart, but I thought the romance was otherwise really good.
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
5/5. This was so much fun. I thought the premise of a magical MIB was really cool, and Amari is a great protagonist. I definitely called the twist at the end before it happened, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment at all.
Radiance by Grace Draven
4/5. I appreciated the slow development of this romance and I think Grace Draven really does something interesting by having the physical differences between their species be repulsive--so many fantasy romances are just "hot large humanoid" and the lady is immediately into it.
Rereads:
There was a big sale of Agatha Christie ebooks, so I took the opportunity to pick up a bunch of Poirot. Not much to say about these.
The Clocks by Agatha Christie. 4/5.
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie. 3/5.
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. 4/5.
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. 4/5.
Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie. 5/5.
The Hollow by Agatha Christie. 5/5.
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie. 5/5.
Also reread two Loretta Chase novels that I read a few years back and had largely forgotten. They held up pretty well.
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
5/5. This one lives and dies on whether you like Jessica Trent, who I think is a masterful heroine--completely in control, but still emotionally vulnerable enough to be relatable. Her love interest is worthless, and this is a theme in the Chase books I've read, but he's at least somewhat improved by Jessica, and since she wants him, I wanted her to get what she wanted from him even if she could do so much better.
Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase
5/5. This one actually has a love interest who doesn't suck completely, which makes it even better in some ways than Lord of Scoundrels. Yes, Oliver is so arrogant, but at least he does something useful with himself instead of being a rich wastrel. And Clara is a delight.
And of course, I reread Soul Eater. This is one of my comfort reads. I love it to death.
Soul Eater by Lily Mayne. 5/5.
New Reads:
Tristan by S. Legend
1/5. Why are there weird incest vibes everywhere in this book? What about these fictional cultures where everyone is a horny robot is sexy? Why does the author treat dom/sub like those are fundamental personality types and also the only characteristics a person can have? I guess this is someone's kink but it is Not Mine.
Concubine by Jill Knowles
2/5. This book is terrible in many ways, from the weird incest vibes to another culture which seems to revolve solely around sex, but for me the most annoying thing is that it keeps telling us the warrior-turned-sex slave is still a warrior or still a scholar or whatever but he never does anything besides fuck his new master ever again. If the book is about him discovering his goal in life is to be another man's sex toy, that's fine, but don't keep telling us that's not the case.
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
5/5. As the story unfolds, it develops a wonderful ambiguity that mirrors the strangeness of dreams. It's a masterful book, and one I thoroughly enjoyed.
Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu: Vol. 3 by Tang Jiu Qing
4/5. I feel like the romance has really grown on me although I had problem following the plot at times. I like that as the two MCs become closer, more external factors appear to separate them, and I'm looking forward to seeing how they finally overcome them.
The Alpha of Bleak Isle by Kathryn Moon
4/5. Overall a fun romance with some interesting worldbuilding regarding the oppression of omega women. If you want something light and sexy, I think it's a good pick up. I still don't understand the point of het omegaverse where all women are omegas and all men are alphas or betas, like at that point what is the point of omegas even existing? All you're adding is a category of guys that it's acceptable to cuck. And I really got sick of the word 'perfuming' by the time the book was over.
Her Ruthless Duke by Scarlett Scott
2/5. This is marketed as "guardian/ward" and it technically is, but it makes minimal use of the premise. And our "ruthless" duke is just, like, some guy who supposedly was a badass spy but shows no sign of being a badass in the present day. The romance is just sexual attraction, and all the non-sexual moments happen in drive by exposition. Oh, and the plot is laughable--our villain appears once on page at the end of the book before being revealed as a jealous maniac determined to kill the hero if she can't have him. Like. It's so anti-climactic. If you want to see two people with no sexual chemistry bang and pretend their love is forbidden, sure, pick this up.
Doctor D'Arco, Sorcerer of London by Kathryn Colvin
5/5. If it were possible to give it more than five stars I would. I love everything about this: the extremely slow burn, the villainous hero who is in fact a villain with no attempt to have him turn out to be secretly good, the heroine who gets to have agency and power of her own, and the lush, descriptive prose. No notes, I want to read it again.
Mothership: Player's Survival Guide by Sean McCoy
Mothership: Warden's Operations Manual by Sean McCoy
Mothership: Another Bug Hunt by Luke Gearing
5/5. Have been looking for something I could pick up and theoretically run for some friends locally, felt like the manuals are super easy to understand.
How to Flirt with a Hellhound by Shannon Mae
3/5. The characterization is very thin in this book, and it's quite silly despite all the gorey murders the hellhound is committing. Not bad, but nothing exceptional either. Good if you already have KU and want a quick palate cleanser.
How to Hack a Hellhound by Shannon Mae
4/5. Characters feel better developed than they did in the first book, which helps a lot. And it does something more interesting with all the murders than the last one. If you liked the first one, I think you'll like this one.
Bury Your Gays by Chuck Tingle
3/5. There's a lot of interesting ideas, but the poor pacing really lets it down. It's never really scary and for me it never really came together in a satisfying way. I also wish Zeke was a developed character instead of a cardboard cutout that says supportive things.
The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
4/5. Overall enjoyable. It's a horror fairytale with themes of oppression and tyranny.
Sunbringer by Hannah Kraner
3/5. Objectively, I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but nothing about the premise of this book interested me at all. Ultimately I think the heavy focus on religion is a big turnoff for me.
The Last Hellion by Loretta Chase
2/5. Vere is such a useless, worthless human that I find it hard to respect Lydia for developing feelings for me. The author tries to redeem him in the back half of the book, but it's too late, I already wish he were dead and can't believe that a woman like Lydia would want him. She's worried about ruining HIS bloodline? Ma'am, he's a parasite on society, you can only hope no part of his personality is genetically transmissible.
Love Potion for the Alpha by Alice Coldbreath
3/5. You can tell this is an early work, both because the writing is clunky and because it feels like the author is uncomfortable with the genre. The whole 'love potion' aspect is silly. I think there's some cute romantic moments--probably best for superfans like me who are waiting for her next installment.
The West Passage by Jared Pechacek
5/5. This is a delightfully weird book. I never knew what to expect while reading, and I was always excited to find out what was going to happen. The author drops you into the world and never stops to explain anything.
The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
4/5. Provokes a lot of thoughts about animal preservation and wealth in our world now. Made me sad. I think I would have liked to spend more time with the mammoths, to be honest, learning about their culture. But overall solid.
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
3/5. Eh. I think this combination of modern language in a fantasy setting just doesn't work for me--it feels like it's trying really hard in a way that's not fun, and I think it sucks a lot of the emotional impact out of the book because you can't forget it is a book. The style gets in its own way. The romance is also insta-love and feels pretty underbaked, but that probably would have been fine if I'd liked the prose.
We Came to Welcome You by Vincent Tirado
3/5. This was pretty good until the end, where it just...stops. Nothing gets resolved, there's no actual ending, it feels like the author forgot to finish the book and no one noticed. It's not an ambiguity that adds to the story at all. Otherwise I thought it was a good queer suburban horror.
Here For the Wrong Reasons by Annabel Paulsen & Lydia Wang
4/5. A fun, sweet romance about two women who fall in love while competing on what is essentially a fictionalized Bachelor. I didn't love the climax, where both of our leads dump Josh, or the resolution where Josh tells them they owe him to let him hook them up on public television as compensation for breaking his heart, but I thought the romance was otherwise really good.
Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
5/5. This was so much fun. I thought the premise of a magical MIB was really cool, and Amari is a great protagonist. I definitely called the twist at the end before it happened, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment at all.
Radiance by Grace Draven
4/5. I appreciated the slow development of this romance and I think Grace Draven really does something interesting by having the physical differences between their species be repulsive--so many fantasy romances are just "hot large humanoid" and the lady is immediately into it.
Rereads:
There was a big sale of Agatha Christie ebooks, so I took the opportunity to pick up a bunch of Poirot. Not much to say about these.
The Clocks by Agatha Christie. 4/5.
Appointment with Death by Agatha Christie. 3/5.
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. 4/5.
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie. 4/5.
Dead Man's Folly by Agatha Christie. 5/5.
The Hollow by Agatha Christie. 5/5.
Five Little Pigs by Agatha Christie. 5/5.
Also reread two Loretta Chase novels that I read a few years back and had largely forgotten. They held up pretty well.
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
5/5. This one lives and dies on whether you like Jessica Trent, who I think is a masterful heroine--completely in control, but still emotionally vulnerable enough to be relatable. Her love interest is worthless, and this is a theme in the Chase books I've read, but he's at least somewhat improved by Jessica, and since she wants him, I wanted her to get what she wanted from him even if she could do so much better.
Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase
5/5. This one actually has a love interest who doesn't suck completely, which makes it even better in some ways than Lord of Scoundrels. Yes, Oliver is so arrogant, but at least he does something useful with himself instead of being a rich wastrel. And Clara is a delight.
And of course, I reread Soul Eater. This is one of my comfort reads. I love it to death.
Soul Eater by Lily Mayne. 5/5.
