Filled with political intrigue, morally grey characters and lots of yearning, He Who Drowned the World offered a fantastic follow up to the first book. As a gender queer retelling of the Ming Dynasty’s ruler, there’s enough twists and turns here as the three main characters vy for the throne. The three characters are Zhu, […]
A brilliant fantasy to kick off my 2025 reading year. I loved the combination of murder mystery and fantasy, with an apprentice and master investigator duo. Not only were the characters interesting, but the fantasy world also unfolds organically, through the eyes of Dinios Kol, the assistant investigator who has just graduated from his exams. […]
It’s always refreshing to read a fantasy book about a mother, given I’m one myself, but what really intrigued me about this book is that Amina al-Sirafi is a retired pirate captain. Set in a world inspired by Middle Eastern folklore, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi delivers a magical, intriguing and mystical pirate adventure with a twist. […]
Not quite dark academia, not quite fantasy mystery, A Study in Drowning is one of those books that is difficult to define. If I were to call it anything, I would go with a magical realism that fosters the love of books and literature. Through Effy’s perspective, we see the female architecture student accept a task out […]
It’s been a long time since a book has compelled me to read it as fast as possible, but Yellowface was one that I found absolutely bingeworthy. Yellowface is set in a part of the bookish community that I was intimately a part of and witnessed firsthand – the author Twitter takedowns of 2018-2019. Seeing authors […]
So I’m not usually one for WW2 books, I find them bleak and depressing (and rightly so). However, I was willing to give The Killing Code a go, because it features female sapphic codebreakers – and it’s also written by Ellie Marney, whose writing I adore. The Killing Code features sapphic female codebreakers during the […]
Here I was thinking that perhaps dark academia wasn’t for me, but then The Atlas Six comes along, and satisfies my craving for a deeply philosophical novel centered around magic. From the six different magicians, to the competition racing to the death, the philosophical discussions about life, knowledge and magic, this was everything I wanted and more. […]
The Bridge Kingdom (5 stars) The Good Things: I loved this book so much. It gripped me so completely from the beginning that I barely took any notes. I was prepared to give it five stars from the very first chapter Loved the slowburn romance between Aren and Lara. The tension was good. There were […]
I’m a few months behind, but I’m really proud to say that I’ve finally finished House of Sky and Breath (HOSAB)! With two little ones, including a baby, I haven’t been reading much at all lately. But I did manage to do a reread of the first Crescent City in anticipation of this book – and let […]