the bookshelf

The Spear Cuts Through Water is a standalone high fantasy novel. What is interesting about it is its narrative format. The book is told primarily in 2nd person, with occasional switches to 1st and 3rd person, and is split between two alternating timelines. In one timeline, 'you' are learning about the life of an unnamed narrator who is watching a play in a magical theater in his dreams. The second timeline is the story of the play, and the book seemlessly merges the two timelines by making references to the performance of the play before switching back. While the narrative choices are interesting, the book itself has a pretty simplistic plot. Two warriors, Keema and Jun, escort a dying moon goddess across the land to free it from the rule of a tyrannical emperor. The emperor and his sons, the Three Terrors, rule the land with an iron fist, and its people suffer as the land slowly dries up due to the moon goddess's absence in her proper place.

It's interesting. From a narrative perspective, this book is similar in some ways to Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. Both books are told primarily in 2nd person, with swaps to 3rd/1st person. However, while I really liked Harrow, I was less impressed with The Spear Cuts Through Water. Harrow had narrative reasons for this stylistic choice, but in this book, I felt like the author mainly wrote it like this to be artsy-fartsy. Nothing wrong with that. I feel like more authors should push the boundaries of how they can tell a story. I just wasn't that impressed by this book. The characters all felt a little flat, with Keema probably being the most developed. While I thought the dynamic between Jun, his father, and his brothers was very interesting, Jun himself was a boring character. I feel like the author could have done more with him, especially considering he spent six months essentially having his mind broken by the goddess. Instead, he was just a mopey coward. Some aspects of the world building were interesting. I liked the apes and tortoises, as well as the Red Peacocks. I also liked how creepy some parts of this book were. The scene with the Second Terror and the tortoise was pretty gross lmao. I enjoyed the exploration of fatherhood, both in the unnamed narrator's father as well as the fathers in the imperial line.

My primary issue with this book is the pacing. It is simply too long. By the halfway point, the book definitely loses steam, and the ending was a little rushed. The Third Terror just came out of nowhere, and I feel like he could have been cut from the book. While I admire the amount of plot threads the author was juggling throughout the book, I felt like by the end, he just rushed to weave things together. I think in some ways, he bit off more than he could chew. The usage of 1st person, where we would jump into the heads of minor characters, was overdone. It's nice in moderation, but this narrative technique was overused and made the book a little tedious to read. I also didn't like the epilogue of the book. I felt like it undercut the impact of the book's ending and wrapped things up too easily. I didn't care at all about how the spear was passed around before it eventually reached him. It felt like a worldbuilding tidbit the author included just because he could. There were some writing choices I didn't care for. While this book isn't grimdark fantasy, it contains, in some ways, the edgy 'grittiness' of grimdark in its descriptions. I didn't care for the descriptions of shit and bodily fluids. I also didn't like the erotic aspects of the book. I didn't like or see the point of talking about pornographic tablets and thought the way the author described sex scenes was incredibly unappealing. I've read the First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie, which is a grimdark fantasy series known for very unappealing sex scenes. However, Abercrombie purposefully writes these scenes to be as gross and messy as his battle scenes. In the case of this book, I simply couldn't tell if the author intended the scenes to be weird, or if he was just bad at writing them. Also, I don't really get why he kept mentioning nipples. Like, what's up with that? Does he have a fixation on nipple play or something?

Anyway, I read this for book club. My rating was in the middle, with the overall ratings being: 4.5, 3.5, 3, and 3. There were definitely aspects of this book I didn't like, but I think if you're looking for a standalone fantasy novel or a book with interesting narrative structures, maybe give this book a try.

Emily Wilde is a socially awkward and reclusive professor who studies fairies. When she arrives in the far northern village of Hrafnsvik, she hopes to focus only on her studies and the development of her fairy encyclopedia. Unfortunately for her, she has somehow managed to offend the entire village in less than a week. Worse, her irritating academic rival and fellow professor, Wendell Bambleby, has suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She suspects he arrived to coast off of her own hard work, and she is even more irritated when he manages to effortlessly charm the villagers. But Emily must set her differences with Wendell aside when people in the village start disappearing. Suspecting they have been abducted by fairies, she must work with Wendell to rescue these people and uncover the secrets of the Hidden Ones, the most elusive of the fae.

Pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this, especially considering I basically only read it because I liked the cover lol. This book is a cozy fantasy romance. I normally don't find cozy fantasy to be appealing. For me, 'cozy' usually means that the book is going to be boring and underdeveloped. However, I did enjoy this book. I liked Emily's dynamic with Wendell and thought Wendell was a very adorable himbo. I enjoyed learning about Emily's work and the fairy folklore of this world. However, while reading this book, I never felt a sense of tension. I was never worried about the characters or if a situation was going to turn out alright. I'm not sure if this is because of the way the book is written (it's told via Emily's journal entries) or if this is just a fundamental aspect of the cozy fantasy subgenre. Regardless, I had a good time reading this book and would recommend it if you want a light read.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is the latest release by Katherine Arden, author of the Winternight trilogy. I read and enjoyed her prior trilogy, so I was looking forward to this, and she did not disappoint! The story takes place during WWI. I'm not sure if this qualifies as historical fantasy, as it's basically a historical fiction novel, but it does contain minor speculative elements.

In 1918, Laura Ivern was a former field nurse who was discharged after being injured. While at home in Halifax, Canada, she receives news that her brother is missing in action, presumed dead. But something doesn't add up. How could her brother be missing if she was delivered his personal items, like his uniform and tags? And so, Laura returns to Belgium to investigate her brother's disappearance. Upon arriving, she hears rumors about haunted trenches and a strange traveling hotel, and Laura fears her brother may have fallen victim to something sinister.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book! I liked the religious themes throughout the book and felt like they helped to emphasize how the Great War felt apocalyptic, with the trenches and frontlines being hell. The exploration of old vs. new was also interesting, as this time period was very transitional. WWI had chemical warfare and artillery, as well as cavalry forces. I liked how the author didn't shy away from depicting the horrors of war. Some parts of this book were rather bleak. My primary criticism was that the characters felt a little flat. The most interesting one for me was Faland. I was also indifferent to the romantic subplots. While I liked the romance in the Winternight trilogy, here, the relationships were rushed and underdeveloped. I feel like the author didn't explore the... consequences, shall we say, of one of the relationships, especially considering the time period. (I'm trying to word this vaguely so as not to spoil things.) But overall, I quite liked this book. I think I've given everything I've read by Katherine Arden 4 stars, which is a very solid rating in my book. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for her future adult releases.

Gideon the Ninth is the first book in the Locked Tomb series and if you want a more detailed description, refer to my 2022 review. This was a reread (relisten?) for me. It was the first time I listened to it on audiobook, and I really enjoyed it. Moira Quirk does a fantastic job of bringing the characters to life. I especially love the prissy voice she gave Harrow lol. Would definitely recommend the audiobook! I originally listened to this because, allegedly, the final book is coming out this year. I haven't heard any news so that seems less likely. I think I will still go on to listen to Harrow because it's my favorite in the series, but I might wait on Nona until we get an announcement book for the final book.

The Silkworm is the second book in the Cormoran Strike series. After solving the case from the first book, Strike finally has a steady stream of clients for his private investigation business. One day, a woman comes to Strike, asking him to find her missing husband. Her husband, novelist Owen Quine, is known for his eccentricity and dramatics. This isn't the first time Quine has vanished, and so at first, she wasn't worried. But now that several days have passed, she wants Strike to find him. Initially, the case seems straightforward, but the more Strike digs, the stranger it becomes. Quine has recently written an allegorical book exposing many people in his life, and it seems like this book may have foreshadowed his own death.

I read the first book last year and gave it the same rating as The Silkworm. However, I actually like this book better. It felt a lot more 'settled', if that makes sense. More smooth and in the groove of things. I enjoyed the unraveling of the mystery and found the case to be a lot more interesting than the one from the first book. It reminded me in some ways of Hannibal (NBC) in terms of its gruesomeness. The author writes 'fair play mysteries', meaning that if you pay attention, you can solve the mystery as you read. And I'm pleased to announce that I correctly guessed whodunnit! Ohoho! Admittedly, I was suspicious of everyone and assumed every character was the murderer at some point, but still. I solved it! I noticed a specific characteristic about a certain character, formed a hypothesis, and was correct! Anyway, I thought this book was good and enjoyed the character development of Robin and Strike. Looking forward to the next book and whenever Robin ends up dumping her trash fiance.

The Grace of Kings is the first book in The Dandelion Dynasty, an epic fantasy series inspired by Han dynasty-era China. The book is split between multiple perspectives and is about a rebellion against an empire.

I read this for book club. It was my pick and our first read of the year! Unfortunately, none of us really liked it lmao. Out of all of us, I liked it the best. I initially gave it 3 stars, but after further consideration, I dropped it to 2.5 and then to 2 stars. Ken Liu is known for his short stories, and I believe this book is his first real foray into actual novel writing. You can tell. The book is less a cohesive narrative and more like a collection of short stories that relate to one another. I knew this going in, so I tempered my expectations accordingly, but my book club members didn't know and did not like this writing choice. I think if you aren't aware of this, the book can be very confusing, as it seems like it jumps randomly from one perspective to another with no discernible reason. The character work was very lackluster, with most characters being one-dimensional. The writing itself was a little strange. It switched from being utilitarian to archaic and flowery to slangy at times. While reading this book, I was 100% aware that I was reading a book. Not once did I get lost in the story or absorbed by the characters. I think my biggest issue with this book is that it is a literal retelling of the start of the Han dynasty. Like seriously. A one-to-one retelling. I'm not super familiar with the Chu-Han Contention, but even I was able to recognize certain events or realize which characters had real-life historical analogues. I'm fine with books being inspired by history, but I don't think I've ever read a book whose plot is literally spoiled by actual historical events. Like what??? What's even the point then?? I was debating continuing on with the series, as I've heard nothing but good things about the sequel. However, after looking up spoilers for certain characters, I saw that their fates were basically the same as their historical counterparts, so I decided not to. If I wanted to read about those events, I'd read a history book lol.

Killers of the Flower Moon is a nonfiction book that follows the investigation into the murders of the Osage people during the 1920s. After the Osage people were forced from their lands to a reservation in Oklahoma, they became the richest people per capita in the world upon discovering valuable oil fields in Osage County. Each tribe member was paid royalties by oil companies that leased the land to produce oil. However, the Osage people couldn't access their wealth directly and were forced to have white guardians by the US government. During this time period, members of the Osage tribe were dying one-by-one in mysterious ways. One Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, watched as her entire family started to die. As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI sent agents to investigate, unraveling a sinister conspiracy to kill the Osage people for their wealth that permeated through all echelons of white society in Oklahoma. Officially, the investigation only covered a certain set of years in the 1920s, but evidence suggests that the murders started years before and continued for years after, with the total deaths possibly being in the hundreds.

Listened to this via audiobook. The audiobook was pretty good, although I wasn't the biggest fan of the male narrators in parts 2 and 3. Despite that, I highly recommend either reading or listening to this book. It's absolutely fascinating, and it was staggering to realize the sheer scale of the conspiracy. The fact that people got away with it is astounding and deeply upsetting and clearly demonstrates the anti-indigenous sentiment at the time (and that still exists today).

Belladonna is a YA fantasy romance following Signa, a teenage orphan girl who is unable to die and can see Death and ghosts. Misfortune follows Signa as she is passed from relative to relative, with each caregiver dying after Signa enters their lives. After her latest guardian dies, Signa is taken in by her remaining relatives, the mysterious and wealthy Hawthornes. Her uncle mourns the recent death of his wife, while his son struggles to help with the family business, and his daughter is bedridden with a mysterious illness. Signa wants to keep her head low until she becomes old enough to inherit her mother's fortune. But one day, after encountering the ghost of her late aunt, Signa realizes that her aunt had been poisoned, and she suspects her cousin may be dying of poison as well. Signa needs the help of Death to investigate and must learn to trust him and her powers in order to save her cousin.

This was okay. I enjoyed it about as much as I did Divine Rivals. While Belladonna is technically a romance, most of the book focuses on a slow-burn mystery, so if you're looking for a romance-heavy book, this might not work for you. I don't really read YA anymore, but I decided to pick this up since it's been so hyped and because I love the 'Death and the Maiden' trope/motif. Unfortunately, this didn't really scratch the itch. Yes, the romance is between Signa and Death, but Death acts a lot like the stereotypical YA bad boy. Some of the interactions between him and Signa made me cringe, and I absolutely hate it when the love interest uses a pet name for the main character. It almost never works and comes across as super forced and cringy. The mystery itself was okay, I guess. However, I feel like Signa was a little dumb during her investigation. Her justification for not telling her uncle her suspicions about her cousin being poisoned was pretty dumb. Eventually she did tell him, but Signa keeping her suspicions to herself just felt like a way for the author to artificially make things more difficult for Signa. That being said, Belladonna is the first book in a trilogy, and I think I'm more likely to continue with this series than read the sequel to Divine Rivals.

The Splendid and the Vile is a historical nonfiction book following Winston Churchill as prime minister during WWII. It draws on historical documents such as diaries and intelligence reports to paint a picture about life during this time in England as it follows Churchill, his family, his advisors, and ordinary citizens. I listened to this via audiobook. I really enjoyed this! I know the broad strokes of the war, but learning more about the day-to-day life was really interesting. The author did a great job in bringing these historical figures to life, particularly in the way he described Churchill himself. Although hearing about the politics and drama within 10 Downing Street was fascinating, I think my favorite parts are when the author brings up diary entries written by ordinary citizens. During this time, citizens were encouraged to write diaries for a project called Mass Observation to document the mundane details of British life. It was super fascinating to hear about people enjoying a stroll while they watched German and British planes dogfight above them, or how the wealthy youth went clubbing during air raids.

Misquoting Jesus is a nonfiction book about the many ways the scripts of the New Testament have been changed over the course of history, and how this has impacted historical and modern understandings of the Bible. As Ehrman explains it, across the thousands of known copies of these religious manuscripts, there are more differences between them than there are words in the New Testament. I listened to this via audiobook and I'm not gonna lie, this is a boring book. Not sure if I'd have finished it if I was reading it physically lol. The most interesting part for me was the last chapter, Chapter 7, which discusses the ways the Bible has been purposefully altered to suppress the role of women in the church and to promote anti-semitism. An example given is of Junia in Romans 16. In this, Paul greets members of the Christian community in his letter, specifically mentioning someone named Junia as an apostle. During the Middle Ages, Junia's gender was disputed, as it was viewed that women could not have been prominent members of the church, let alone apostles, so in some copies, Junia's name was changed to the masculine form, Junias, or she was simply viewed as being male. (It should be noted that Junias was an extremely uncommon name, with only one example found in Greek literature and no examples in earlier Latin texts. Meanwhile, Junia was a fairly common female name.) Today, most scholars agree that Junia was a woman, but the misconception continues amongst some Christians due to sexism and copy errors that persist throughout history.

Divine Rivals is the first book in a duology set in a WWI-inspired world. It is a historical fantasy romance following Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt. After centuries of sleep, the gods awaken to start a war. When her older brother leaves to join the war effort, Iris gets a job at the Oath Gazette to support herself and her alcoholic mother. She is competing for the position of columnist with her rival, Roman. To cope with her fear and stress, Iris begins writing letters to her brother and placing them in her wardrobe. The letters disappear every time, and Iris believes that her brother is actually receiving them. However, one day, Iris gets a response from someone who isn't her brother. Thus begins a correspondence where Iris pours out her heart to this stranger as the war creeps closer and closer.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I thought Iris and Ronan's relationship was really cute. I would have liked to see more of it, particularly during the 'rivals' part. This book bills itself as 'enemies/rivals-to-lovers' but you really don't see a lot of the 'rivals' part. The writing was fine and easy to read. But the plot and worldbuilding were clumsily done. The world was WWI-inspired and I wish the author didn't bother with the fantasy aspect because it was really poorly done. I feel like she only made it fantasy because this is a YA book and historical fiction isn't popular, especially in YA. If she didn't want to get into real-world politics or history, she could have just made it a secondary world where it's basically WWI-era England. None of this gods shit because it just isn't good. You don't need to make it fantastical in order to have a fictional setting. The worldbuilding around the gods and their conflict was nonsensical and poorly thought out. The way people responded to it also didn't make any sense. Maybe I'm being too harsh because I'm an adult reading a YA book but whatever, I don't really care. The ending of this book kind of annoyed me lmao. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the sequel, Ruthless Vows, because I've heard really mixed things. I'm also not sure if I care enough to continue? I'm pretty sure I could predict exactly how the sequel will go lol. Idk, who knows. Maybe I'll pick up the sequel later as a palate cleanser read or something.

The Last House on Needless Street is a horror/thriller-ish book following a strange man named Ted. Something is not quite right about Ted. He lives in a boarded-up ramshackle house and drinks heavily, trying to ignore the large gaps in his memory that seem to happen more frequently. His daughter Lauren sometimes visits, but is forbidden to go outside, not after what happened last time. She can't walk and her personality bounces between being sweet to incredibly violent. Of the three that reside in that house on Needless Street, Olivia the cat is the most 'normal'. She enjoys napping, admiring the pretty tabby outside, and reading the Bible. One day, a new neighbor moves in next door. Dee is investigating the disappearance of her younger sister and a lead has brought her to Needless Street. She suspects that Ted may have abducted her sister. Secrets unravel as what is buried in the forest out back comes to light.

Listened to this via audiobook, which I highly recommend! The narrator did a great job! As for the book itself, I'm more neutral towards it. This book is classified as a horror/thriller but I didn't really find it to be scary or thrilling in the slightest. A bit weird and dark, yes, but not frightening. The book is slow-paced, which I didn't mind, but some people might think it's boring. I enjoyed the use of an unreliable narrator. You obviously can't trust Ted, since he outright admits he can't remember everything, but Olivia, Lauren, and Dee were also unreliable in their own ways. I appreciated all of the twists in this book, although 'twist' might be too strong of a word? I feel like when you think of twists in thrillers, it's like a super shocking turn of events with a dramatic 'dun-dun-DUN!!!'. The twists in this book were more like the (very slow) unraveling of a yarn ball. You are led to suspect one thing, but the truth is actually something different. The narrative takes advantage of your own preconceived notions to misdirect you. While listening to this book, I could pinpoint the exact moment I was misdirected as things were revealed, and this happened multiple times. The author did a great job in crafting the story in this way. However, I decided to give this book a 3.5/5 because my ratings are mostly arbitrary and determined by my overall enjoyment. I thought that this was a well-crafted book but I wasn't ever really invested in it.