book reviews & misc

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[keytoyourhearts]

hello!!

i like to share my thoughts on the books i read here

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my reviews are generally spoiler-free, but my replies may not be. consider yourself warned!

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[keytoyourhearts]

Review of Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger (2019)

DISCLAIMER:

               I was unaware of the allegations against this author before reading this novel and writing this review.  My review is honest, but I do not wish to support this author now or in the future.  I urge those who may want to pick this one up to do so second-hand (where you may find my copy).

SYNOPSIS:

Steel Crow Saga follows four main characters, paired into duos, shortly following three successful rebellions that freed three countries from the oppression of the Iron Throne of Tomoda.  The first pair, Sargeant Tala and Iron Prince Jimuro, are trying to return said prince to the Iron Throne to be crowned.  Unfortunately, their partnership is rife with conflict, as Tala’s family was killed following a conflict with the Tomodanese.  She also has a shade, an animal which is soul bonded to the wielder.  The Tomodanese believe this practice to be slavery. The second pair, Lee Yeon-Ji and Princess Shang Xuilan, are working together to capture the Iron Prince to turn him over to Xuilan’s father so she can be named heir to the Shang throne.  Lee is a thief who comes along after the very verbose Xuilan saves her from prison and promises her a shade.

See my full review and rating below the cut!

RATING: 2/5 STARS

MY THOUGHTS:

This novel was an easy read, but it was overall, just fine.  It really did not bring anything new to the table; being advertised as “anime” and something inherently derivative (ie. Pokémon meets The Last Airbender) did not do it any favors despite its interesting premise and story.  Simply put, this was written for a specific type of reader, and I am not that reader.

TAGS: fantasy, young adult, romance, magic, Asian-inspired

CW: racism, colonialism, murder, war, graphic depictions of death and violence (including but not limited to: disembowelment, loss of limbs, decapitation), PTSD, suicidal behavior

RECOMMENDATION: I would recommend this novel for those looking for an easy introduction to the written fantasy genre who enjoy anime, manga, or JRPGs.

THE GOOD:

Overall, this story was fun, simply put.  The author made use of parallels fairly well and often, and I found some of the repetition to be artistic while carefully toeing the line of being overdone without crossing it.  I could not get over the fact that the occupiers became the occupied and then acted like victims lol.  The twist in the midpoint of the book was totally unexpected and surprised me, which was refreshing!

I found the magic system to be compelling, being soul-based.  It was almost like the people of each nation’s soul spoke a different language (metal, animal, people, etc.).  I only wish this was explored more in depth.

THE BAD:

This book is best described as “anime-inspired,” and I mean heavily anime-inspired.  At one point, Jimuro’s glasses flash as if to convey an emotion.  No other reason.  I do not know what emotion; I do not watch anime.  What did this mean??  Also, the author used the “return” command a la Pokémon too often.  It is one thing to be inspired by a franchise, it is another to directly rip off certain phrases.

Honestly, most of the characters were terrible and unlikable, Lee being the worst offender.  She was rude and crude for seemingly no reason and would never let a moment go by without saying something awful and cringey (No, I would not enjoy if a male character delivered these lines either).  Jimuro is literally shocked by everything.  Literally everything.  Xuilan was always touted as so smart but was unintelligent regarding big picture issues.  She probably could not find her way out of a paper bag without Lee’s help, I have no idea how she got this far.

The relationships were a little ridiculous and half-baked.  One couple seemed to fall in love almost immediately, and the other never really paid off in the end despite hints being dropped throughout the story.

This one is just a personal gripe, but I hate when fantasy books involve a good amount of travel and various regions/countries but don’t include a map.  You could include three different pages with the title, but not a map?  I was lost throughout this entire book.

[SPOILER] Finally, the ending.  It was completely lackluster.  I found the man with the purple cloak to be an interesting villain, but his final showdown felt so inconsequential and like nothing we had not seen before.  Every fight scene with him came off the same, so much so that despite supposedly having thousands of shades, only the same few are ever mentioned or called on.

[keytoyourhearts]

Review of The Nightward by R.S.A. Garcia (2024), 1st book of the The Waters of Lethe duology

SYNOPSIS:

On the day she would be granted her Blessing at nine years of age, Princess Viella’s court is overthrown, and she is sent on the run after witnessing her mother and queen murdered.  Her bodyguard with a hidden past, Luka, manages to escape the court with the now-Queen Viella relatively unscathed and must now keep her safe from the Dark and the secret magic found in the pages of the Nightward.  They eventually meet the third of their trio, Eleanor, a warrior-mage tasked with escorting Queen Viella to nearby court to give the young girl a fighting chance at retaking her thrown.

See my full review and rating below the cut!

RATING: 3/5 STARS

MY THOUGHTS:

I received an ARC of this book through a giveaway, thank you to the author and Harper Voyager for the opportunity! Overall, I found The Nightward to be an atmospheric, high-fantasy adventure that had me so enthralled, I could not put it down- until the sci-fi aspects were introduced.  I was unaware and found it incredibly jarring for unexplained technology to appear after such an exciting fantasy environment and premise were unfolding in front of me; it felt unnecessary to convolute the plot further.  I am also not well-versed enough in Caribbean mythology to know if it was done well, but I did find the included mythology intriguing.  While I may not pick up the next one, I mostly enjoyed the time I spent in the sci-fantasy genre and The Nightward.  It made me feel things that most books could only dream of.  RSA Garcia is a strong writer, and I would love to delve into more of the worlds she so vividly creates.

TAGS: fantasy, sci-fi, sci-fantasy, magic, speculative fiction

CW: explicit depictions of violence & death, sexism, misandry

RECOMMENDATION: I would recommend this novel for fans of sci-fantasy looking for something emotion evoking, who also don’t need their hand held through world-building and mystery unraveling.

THE GOOD:

The atmosphere of this novel was wonderfully crafted and such a pleasure to read.  RSA Garcia is obviously a talented writer when it comes to her beautiful environmental descriptions and exposition, not to mention her skill in evoking emotion and developing an air of suspense.  The opening of The Nightward exemplifies this.  I was so stressed, so heartbroken, and I knew what was coming!

I found the choice to make a nine-year-old one of the main characters to be interesting and refreshing.  The dichotomy of being practically helpless and emotional while also sophisticated and intelligent due to her upbringing made Viella a compelling protagonist despite not actually doing very much to further her journey.

THE BAD:

Despite the wonderful descriptors, I found the world-building to both be poorly explained and convoluted.  The magic/caste system still does not make sense to me.  I could not tell you the difference between the Word vs. the Sight, except that only certain genders can use one but sometimes both but sometimes none at all?

Perhaps this is rectified in the formal release, but my copy of this novel did not include a map, and boy, did I need one.  Queens and courts are introduced seemingly at random and when convenient, and they are sometimes conveniently connected by portals.  I cannot even tell you if we were on the same continent or a different world by the end.

Unfortunately, The Nightward lost my attention soon after the beginning, which is a travesty for how much I enjoyed it.  Most of the midsection felt like a slog of repetitive scenes and strangely informative dialogue, like the characters were too busy explaining things for the reader to continue their conversation.  Many side characters felt pointless and unmemorable, like their ‘stories’ were only included to pad the page count.

Speaking of padding the page count, here is my final gripe: it is a personal pet peeve of mine when authors are so focused on building up to next book in the series that they leave the ending of the first without resolving a single thing.  It is not a cliffhanger if the climax never comes to a head, it is poor pacing and drawn-out story beats that force readers into purchasing a sequel when all of this could have been solved by writing a single, albeit longer, book.

[wlwvampirism-deactivated2025070]

Hate hardback books with dust jackets but the actual cover is just blank. Like, what are we fucking protecting from the dust here?

[keytoyourhearts]

Review of Novice Dragoneer by E.E. Knight (2019), 1st book of the Dragoneer Academy series, sequel spin-off of the Age of Fire series

SYNOPSIS:

Ileth, an orphan girl with a stutter, dreams of becoming a dragoneer after a chance meeting with one as a child.  At fourteen, she leaves her orphan’s home to join the ranks of the Serpentine as a novice dragoneer, to climb the ranks of the “academy” to even have a chance at working with the dragons she so idolizes.  She faces many challenges, but ultimately, hard work and an incredible amount of luck lifts her into the saddle.

See my full review and rating below the cut!

RATING: 1/5 STARS

MY THOUGHTS:

The Novice Dragoneer is your average dragon-riding academy novel (minus the dragons and the classes) rife with misogyny, ableism, and choppy prose.  Unfortunately, it is unlikely that I will continue this series, nor will I be compelled to pick up another book by E.E. Knight any time soon, but to each their own.  If you are interested in this one, read the Goodreads synopsis instead, it covers about 75% of the plot.

TAGS: fantasy, young adult, dragons, dragon-riding academy, coming of age

CW: misogyny, sexism, ableism, racism, mentions of SA, dubious consent, slut-shaming, fatphobia

RECOMMENDATION: While this is not my cup of tea, and you may need more determination than Ileth to make it through, I would recommend this series to anyone who would enjoy reading about a girl who overcomes literally all odds (her disability; her gender; the circumstances of her birth; the demonization of sex work- I mean, dragon dancing; etc.) to achieve her dreams.

THE GOOD:

Ileth was a strong, female character, who was interesting enough to fail time and time again and keep pushing through.  If she were in literally any other book, I bet she would become a favorite of mine.

The story was fine enough to keep me entertained, and most of the conflicts were resolved by the end.  The ending had a twist I did not see coming, but I have not read the original series, nor was I aware it existed at the time.  Overall, it satisfied an itch for something familiar, as long as you can look past some of the gross, sexist bits.

THE BAD:

As soon as I started reading, the prose stuttered my reading to crawl.  It was choppy, with too many commas and/or short sentences.  It took a few chapters to get acquainted with it, but I stopped noticing it eventually.

I said it before, and I’ll say it again: the misogyny in this novel is heavy-handed and completely over the top.  Ileth’s character faces so many conflicts that knock her down that using a systemic one to force her down over and over felt unnecessary, cliché, and really antiquated.  This is a world where dragons exist, why is it so unbelievable that sexism does not need to?  Even the dragons themselves are sexist!  Also, if this society hates women so much, why did they let them into the dragoneer academy in the first place?

The villains of the story were so easy to pick out, as they were the most ableist, misogynistic, and predatory.  At one point, another country is introduced only to be MORE misogynistic just to prove that the original is not that bad.

At one point, Ileth was nearly taken advantage of by an older novice and is punished for it by being reassigned to a job where she was told that she was more likely to be taken advantage of by even older men.  I did not quite understand the thought process here.  (Also, the purity culture is nasty and outdated too.)

I think the humor was lost on me, and I am worried that I am growing out of the Young Adult genre.  Was that whole page explanation about maintaining regular bowel movements supposed to be funny?

Finally, where were the dragons??  For being a book about a dragon riding academy, there is barely any training or dragon riding.  Sometimes, classes are mentioned, but Ileth never seems to have time for them.  She’s too busy working or doing chores or accidentally ending up in another mess that was not her fault or, worst of all, being preyed upon by just about any male character that happens to show up at the time.  Why did they all have to be so creepy?

Also, did anyone happen to read the author’s afterword?  Lol.

[keytoyourhearts]

Review of The Mask of Mirrors by M. A. Carrick (2021), 1st book of the Rook & Rose series

SYNOPSIS:

Ren goes by many names: Alta Renata Viraudax, Arenza Lenskaya, Renyi.  Though she wears many masks, the face of Ren below them all is the same: a con artist.  Her latest con is to infiltrate the noble House Traementis, posing as a long-lost cousin, to steal a cut of their fortune.  Fate has other plans for her, as she is swiftly swept up in the political intrigue of Nadezra, a city colonized and lorded over by the Laganti while the founding Vraszenians are left to fight over their scraps.  Along the way, she meets Derossi Vargo, a “reformed” crime lord; Grey Serrado, a Vraszenian Captain in the city Vigil; and the Rook, a masked vigilante fighting against the corruption that runs rampant among the city’s elite.  All is not what it seems, however, as an unknown force threatens it all, harnessing the power of dreams and nightmares.

See my full review and rating below the cut!

RATING: 5/5 STARS

MY THOUGHTS:

The Mask of Mirrors is an impressively and intricately woven tale of intrigue with many mysteries to be had.  The author team, made up of Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms, had such a strong hold of my attention, I could barely put it down.  After I was able to tear myself away, I was so enraptured that I found myself puzzling through this novel even when I was not reading it!  I cannot wait to get my hands on the second one.

TAGS: fantasy, political/court intrigue, magic & alchemy

CW: graphic depiction of injury & death, violence, drug-use, drugging, colonialism, discrimination, rioting & police brutality, sexual content, pseudo-incest (fake cousins), mentions of SA, infantilization of someone with a disability

RECOMMENDATION: I would recommend this book to any reader with an interest in fantasy and intrigue who would like a solid introduction into something with more mystery.  This novel has it all; there’s even a little sprinkle of romance!

THE GOOD:

The mysteries strewn throughout the pages are numerous and interwoven in such a way that, while I had no issue keeping them straight, I found that I had the desire to stop and write out my thoughts and predictions regarding their solutions.  And I was pleasantly surprised to be incorrect with each one!  Looking back on them having finished reading, I distinctly remember small details that foreshadow revelations being sprinkled throughout.

The character of the Rook was just plain fun, and I loved every second of every scene they were a part of.  I found myself falling for each trick the authors used to lead me into guessing the identity of the Rook, and I knew that I was.  The reveal was a shock to me, but it made complete sense; the hints were all there.

The ending was so satisfying, everything was wrapped up in a neat bow…until the true source of conflict was revealed, effectively setting up the overarching plot for the remaining books in the series.

I also loved how the cadence of dialogue changed between accents and languages.  I found it to be a clever way to show the language had changed, without the actual text needing to (italicized, etc.).

THE BAD:

First, a small nitpick.  What day is it?  What time is it??  There was no explanation I could find for the calendar system until the glossary…at the end of the book.  Even then, I’m still not sure I completely understand it without it being in context.

Here’s another common critique: Ren is a Mary-Sue.  She has a tragic backstory, she is always being described as pretty and charismatic, she never seems to fail at anything, she is incredibly clever, and everyone seems to forgive her for everything so easily.  In all honesty, I did not mind it that much, but it was pretty blatant.

My biggest gripe with this book is the “cousins” romance plot.  Sure, Ren is not actually related to Leato and is only pretending, but everyone believes them to be cousins and even plays matchmaker between them.  It’s even stated that if two characters who swore a familial bond were to sleep together, it would be considered incestuous but not cousins?  What?

Lastly, a character dubbed as a “dawn child” was introduced briefly near the end.  From the context and physical description, I believe she is meant to be a girl with Down syndrome.  Unfortunately, she is immediately infantilized for it, and I believe it carries on into the next book, if not further.  In a book with such incredible diversity and representation throughout, I was disappointed to read this.

[keytoyourhearts]

Review of Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare (2023), 1st book of the Sword Catcher series

SYNOPSIS:

At 10 years old, Kellian (Kel) becomes the Sword Catcher (a body double) of the Crown Prince of Castellane, Conor Aurelian.  Eleven years later, Kel’s loyalty is then tested when he finds himself in the middle of a game of political intrigue and corruption where the entire Aurelian throne is threatened, and he worries that he is not able to protect his Prince while in bed with the renowned head of the criminal underground, the Ragpicker King.  Linnet (Lin) is a skilled Ashkari physician and the granddaughter of the Ashkari court advisor.  Her friend, Mariam, is terminally ill, and Lin would give anything to be able to save her.  When Kel is seriously injured in Conor’s place, Lin’s grandfather calls upon her to save him, pulling her into their world of secrets and playing with power.

See my full review and rating below the cut!

MY RATING: 2/5 STARS

MY THOUGHTS:

The Sword Catcher feels like a young adult fantasy novel parading as an adult fantasy, weighed down by very heavy exposition and only containing slightly dark and sexual themes to earn its “adult” tag.  I found the characters and their relationships to be well-written for the most part, and the dialogue was quite clever.  Overall, this was not a terrible Cassandra Clare book or first entry to a series, but it was not a great one.  I may or may not pick up the next one.

TAGS: fantasy, political/court intrigue, magic, history & world-building

CW: graphic depiction of injury & death, violence, drug-use, alcohol-use, discrimination, misogyny, sexual content (mild), questionable power-dynamic relationship, descriptions of medical processes, mentions of SA

RECOMMENDATION: I would recommend this book to readers familiar with Clare’s writing who are looking for a slightly more advanced young adult fantasy book that deals in court politics and a magic system that does not completely take over the story (thus far).

THE GOOD:

The magic system was unique and took a supplementary role to the rest of the story, and I hope it stays this way.  I enjoyed the fact that the characters had to navigate their problems without (for the most part…) convenient, magical, or lore solutions that run rampant in Clare’s other series.

Between the slog of exposition, small gems of dialogue can be found.  I will admit, the constant bickering and sarcasm made me laugh at times, especially when the joke was not explicitly explained afterward.  I always enjoy when an author does not hold my hand with every little thing.

I also found the platonic relationship between the main characters, Kel and Conor, to be refreshing.  Their casual reliance and trust was well-founded in their backstory, and the examination of their codependence and Kel’s indoctrination in his role is something that I hope is explored more in subsequent books.

THE BAD:

This book starts out very slow and does not speed up until the very end, making it a little hard to get into.  A lot of things seem to happen but never anything of real consequence.  In between anything even slightly interesting is a TON of worldbuilding, description, and exposition.  It killed any feeling the scene was supposed to create and only slowed the book further.  We were often travelling and changing locations every other page, if only to give MORE exposition.  There was a lot of travelling, despite us never leaving the city.

Unfortunately, the only romance to happen in this book was awful and cringy, and I am not even sure I would consider it a relationship.  The power dynamic, strange thoughts, and weird decisions between both characters was just…uncomfortable.

As I mentioned before, I do not feel as if this book should fall under the Adult Fantasy label.  Though vocabulary was slightly more advanced (being a little pretentious and out of place at times), it still had a juvenile feel to it, for lack of a better description.  The NSFW scenes were never particularly explicit and, for the most part, felt a little unnecessary.  The story was never so intense or convoluted that younger readers would be lost, though some scenes get a little graphic.

Despite praising the dialogue before, one character literally said, “Fuck around and find out,” and I have never rolled my eyes harder.  See what I mean by a juvenile feeling?

As for the ending…I do understand the concept of a cliffhanger.  However, something should have been resolved in this book for it to at least pretend to be standalone.  Without all the exposition, I bet we could cut the entire series down into a single, incredible fantasy novel, but then how could we market one book for the cost of the whole series?