The second part of the Romanus duology. Turns out our MC isn‘t a regular human either, and here we‘re meeting his biological family. They‘re jerks—rich jerks—who disapprove of his partner because of some convoluted prejudice.

Cue intrigue, assassination attempts, and testing of newfound power.

More coherent than the last one, but still strangely unbalanced.

What are those tests even for, story-wise?

Relaxing, though.

3.0/5

Another short shifter (or creature) romance by this author—gargoyles, this time.

A fire fighter rescues an old man lost on the road and finds himself in the middle of a magical world. He meets the man of his dreams there, which quickly ends in instalove.

(Or not exactly instalove, as the characters aren‘t exactly on the same page in this first volume)

Short and reasonably enjoyable.

3.0/5

A man finds out his husband is cheating on him just when he‘s about to share some monumental news: a surrogate is pregnant with their kid. They break up, then meet six years later—and it turns out the breakup wasn‘t as straightforward as he thought

The plot is convoluted and resolved too quickly, but it‘s not even 100 pages & a lot of those are smut, so the plotlessness is understandable if not entirely forgivable

At least the kid is cute

3.0/5

More meat on these bones, comparing to the previous volume. The MC accompanies his vampire prince to his castle of origin and meets the bloodsuckers-in-law. Family drama and court intrigues ensue.

There‘s also a lot of action & near-death experiences here, and smut, and—unfortunately—a mandatory torture scene 😩.

(Or was it in the previous volume? There's one in every book of this author, anyway.)

The best part was the vampire mama.

3.5

Thus far, July has been a month of guilty pleasure for me. I‘m reading through Mary Calmes‘ back catalogue, and these books—while not great—are fast, relaxing, and sufficiently entertaining.

His Consort is a story about an ex-soldier meeting a vampire prince. Insta-lust, some gunfights, New Orleans, pretty neat side characters. Blood drinking & potentiall darkness. Nothing truly remarkable about this romance, but I had fun reading it.

3.25

“No-one is more worried by the actual physical manifestation of a god than his priests; it‘s like having the auditors in unexpectedly.”

Here, Pratchett criticizes the overreliance on the calcified traditions. The fear of the new, the parents mindlessly forcing their way of life on the children, people forgetting the origins of their convictions, and motions replacing the core of being—and it‘s all comedy.

Gosh, was that man brilliant.

4.5/5

This is probably the most comprehensive book on senses I‘ve ever read (and I've read a few), written by a specialist in the field. There was even some information from the newest research on the topic which was new to me—always splendid—and it‘s well organized. To top it off, the language is approachable, with some humor woven in.

If you‘re interested in knowing how your senses work, I highly recommend it.

5.0/5

This is a romance with a big age difference. There‘s also a lot more thriller in this than in the rest of the series. Jared and Owen have a fight, then Owen gets kidnapped, and they don‘t even talk until as much as half of the book is over. Most of it is action, exciting chases, and gunfights.

The love is the driving force for the plot, but for most of it, it‘s not on the forefront.

An enjoyable book—if for a different reason.

3.5/5

A grumpy guy who steps hard on the solid soil is hired to protect a manic pixy dream boy medium. Someone—not necessarily a ghost—is trying to kill him.

This one also features an instant romance, but it‘s offset by a bit of action & an onslaught of supporting characters.

The books in this series are really fast-paced. Although, up to this point, there are not as much thriller elements in them as there was in the series about the Marshals.

3.5/5

I mixed this up with the next one (what with reading them back-to-back, and the titles being so similar), so I had to delete my last review.

Ups.

This one is about an unapologetic guy helping an addict rockstar get back on his feet, then agonizing that it‘s not real love, afterwards.

Less insta-lovey than the rest of them, and there are some nice stakes. I just wish the MC pulled his head out of his ass before it got repetitive.

3.5/5

Even after re-reading, this remains my favorite Discworld book. The opening scene—the parody of the scene with the three witches in Macbeth—is the best opening scene ever.

Seriously, those three are the best characters, too. Each has her flaws, and each has her own good qualities.

Kings, destinies, and the regular magic confronted by the magic of the theatre.

“Things that try to look like things often do look more like things than things.”

5/5

The story of Croy & Jared starts a tad anticlimactic—mostly because they don‘t even meet until we‘ve been through quite a lot of pages and met quite a lot of people. Jared—an insomniac FBI agent—appears eventually, and the romance commences fast.

Vegas and rich people, drugs and kidnappings. And smut. A lot of smut.

The relationship develops like lightning, and you could call it instalove; fortunately, it‘s got a tad more depth than that.

3.5/5

We meet Rincewind again—a wizard who doesn‘t really do magic. Together with Conina, daughter of Cohen (who doesn‘t want to be a barbarian, even if she can‘t help it), and Nijel the Destroyer (who'd really want to be one), they‘re going to save the world from a little kid with a nasty stick.

“Talent just defines what you do,” he said. “It doesn‘t define what you are. Deep down, I mean. When you know what you are, you can do anything.”

4.0/5

Brann is a retired SEAL who works for a “fixer” company, and he‘s about to face a monumental challenge—he‘s been hired to become a nanny for two little girls. Their widower father is about to get married, and he needs some help with his day-to-day.

Shenanigans ensue.

How is it that, with this author, I like her contemporary stories more than her fantasy ones? I don‘t read a lot of contemporary romances, and this isn‘t like me at all.

3.75/5

This one doesn‘t exactly start great. The MC gets sexually assaulted, then the things get worse from there 😕. This book may appeal to the readers who like their darlings to suffer & suffer before the happily ever after and the inevitable triumph, but for me it was almost too much.

I‘m seriously reconsidering continuing this series.

(Although, knowing me, I‘ll probably give it one more chance.)

Barely so-so.

2.75/3

First book in the Discworld series starring the personification of Death.

He hires an apprentice—the titular Mort—mainly because someone has to take care of business while Death goes on vacation. He wants to figure out what this thing they call “enjoying life” is about.

Death isn‘t benevolent here yet, but he‘s getting there, and character growth happens on all sides.

In this book, you start really feeling Pratchett‘s style.

4.25/5

Here we meet Granny Weatherwax—a grumpy old witch and a mistress of “headology”. She‘s taking care of Esk, a girl from a village called Bad Ass, who is heading to become the Discworld‘s first female mage.

The first Discworld book I‘ve ever read, thus buried deep under a pile of nostalgia. The confrontation with reality took off some of its imaginary charm, but not much. It‘s still funny, and Granny is already shaping up to be a star.

4.5/5

This is a very interesting book about anthropocentrism and, generally, our perspective on nature.

A rat was always a pest, right? Or a pidgeon, or a dirty raccoon in your trash, or an invasive python. But what about a cat, a deer, an elephant? Because cats have driven dozens of bird species to extinction, deers destroy crops, and it‘s not that uncommon for elephants to kill people.

What really makes a pest?

Spoiler alert: we do.

4/5

Another fated mates/shifter book, although the “mates” part was handled better than in Change of Heart, and there are no consent issues. Standalone, short, easy read—I like those qualities.

Also, the shifters are unusual: a bird who is the boss of his people, and a lonely, pacifist, vegetarian bear. The entire thing drips from smut, and there‘s not much of a story—which isn‘t necessarily a bad thing.

One of them guilty pleasure books.

3.25/5

Usually, I‘m not a huge fan of shifter romances. I‘m also not a fan of fated mates romances. Here, we have both.

I picked this up because I liked the series about the US Marshals by the same author, and I wanted to check out her other works. It‘s short, and it reads like a standalone—great.

It also reads like an early work, leagues below the Marshals series.

Still, it was fast & pretty fun, despite some cringy/uncomfortable moments.

3/5

So. I‘m rereading the Discworld series.

The beginning is not exactly where I‘d advise people to start. (Seriously, if you haven‘t read it already, start either with the books about the Witches, or about the City Watch.) The type of humor differs from Pratchett‘s later absurdist approach. Later, he critiques reality; here, he‘s having fun with parodying fantasy tropes.

Still, the first two books are definitely worth reading.

So. Much. Fun.

4/5

Miro and Ian got married a couple months ago, and the main conflict in the book is them figuring out their new situation and—as usual—the work-life balance.

I‘m still surprised at how much I like this series. It‘s set in the contemporary world, and there‘s no plot in the usual sense, and Cannibal-Not-Hannibal has made an appearance again.

But.

There‘s one more book in this series, but afterwards, I‘ll be checking the author‘s other works.

4/5

What a nostalgic read!

It‘s different from the rest of the Discworld series but still enjoyable. The Death isn‘t as benevolent, and the humor is simpler, more surface level, but the seeds of the greatness are already there.

Twoflower is a tourist from another continent, but he reminds me of the casual reader immersed in a fantastic world.

What would the fantastical inhabitants think of us, readers, if the realities were flipped?

3.75/5

A short story.

A man gets “stolen” by a literal “story monster” then—like a Sleeping Beauty—wakes to an unfamiliar world one hundred years later.

Reminiscent of the Annihilation lighthouse keeper, especially through the MC's connection with language. Prettily written. But it‘s too vague and metaphorically disconnected to truly enjoy.

A story flows somewhere under there, but the waters are muddy.

3/5

An enjoyable fantasy romance in the world I‘ve already grown to love

A widow in peril meets a magic sword—or a rugged warrior inhabiting the magic sword in question. A fight for her inheritance ensues. There are also sword-related shenanigans, the scary Wandering Hills that refuse to stay where they should, and resourceful clergymen who‘d rather not use that crossbow, kind sir, but if they must…

Fun banter, fun worldbuilding, fun all around

4/5

The magic of early sound cinema—except this time, it‘s the actual magic. Changelings, terrifying deals with scary fae, stolen names, sacrifices.

All in exchange for the most everlasting, shiniest form of immortality.

Enter a young queer girl of Asian descent who doesn‘t want to be cast as a maid.

She plays a monster instead.

A tad disjointed, but has a lot of atmosphere.

3.75/5

A sf audiobook I've found on the podcast/audiobook site realm.fm

Co-authored by: Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon, SL Huang, Yoon Ha Lee

The story doesn't exactly wrap up (there's a second season written by a different set of authors) but I really enjoyed this first part. Kept me on the edge of my seat, and both the plot and the characters were well-written.

I'm kind of afraid the second season will be a disappointment, but let's hope...

3.75/5

A short and interesting take on fungi—not pretty mushrooms, this time, but more of a micro view. Molds, yeasts, mycelium. Still, written by a fascinated specialist, and surprisingly interesting.

Terrifying, at times, and disgusting at others, but interesting.

Something for the fans of Entangled Life.

Ecosystems are so fascinating.

3.5/5

The so-called “myth busting”. A set of trivia, most of which I already knew.

Not annoyingly written, thankfully. An evening spent pleasantly with an audiobook while doing something else. Not something I had to focus on, relaxing. Light reading, with some meat on its bones, even if it‘s spread rather thin.

I think an average high schooler would‘ve benefited way more than I did.

2.75/5

Repeats some info from Around the World in 80 Trees, and is less often as brilliantly surprising as that book

Maybe because there‘s so many plants in the world, and the author had to choose the representatives that were—by necessity of the format—more common?

Still, the writing is superbly descriptive, and—if you keep an image search close at hand—you‘re in for a colorful journey. The human-plant connections are also thoroughly explored

4.5/5

A book for people with a strong stomach.

I can‘t even bring up examples of interesting info, because—disgusting.

Okay, fine.

Some tame ones.

Apparently, there‘s a parasite “library”

Snails are older than dinosaurs

Whales can have tapeworms some 30 meters long…

As I said, eugh.

But also—interesting.

So.

3.5/5

The nonfiction of the meaty kind

Not about dumbed down, black-and-white, mythologized truths.

Ancient humans are far more complex, it says. Our ideas about history are modern mythologies, gross simplifications, or outright lies. Thinking that millions of us—over a period of millenniums—could fit neatly into one box of a cohesive story is ridiculous.

Our society is neither a pinnacle of human achievement, nor a dead end.

Makes you think

4/5

Prohibition-era Seattle, but with magic. A heist plot—slash—revenge. A cold female grifter who may decide to kill two birds with one stone: con her mark and help another woman get her justice when she‘s at it.

Speakeasies, corrupt government officials, drugs, shapeshifters, and magic abilities of different sorts.

(And yay, mentions of scary fae! We looove beautiful but scary fae)

A short and light—but astonishingly dense—little thing.

4/5

Apparently, the history of human environmental engineering is made of trying to fix—and only making worse—what the previous generations have broken.

Important stuff you rarely think about.

(Read only if you‘re not afraid of depression. Makes you lose hope in humanity)

(God, are we selfish)

There‘s a tiny glimmer of hope at the end (similar in nature to the one in Flush by Bryn Nelson—only in Flush it‘s done with more humor)

4/5

Awkward—most of the time, not in a good way.

A supposedly demisexual man who falls in love at the first sight.

The MCs behaving as assholes towards each other, then doing a one-eighty for no reason.

The awkward, surface-level, plot-holey worldbuilding.

(At least there was some decent banter and a few fun moments.)

Can‘t recommend, but if I‘m desperate for another short, uninvolved read, maybe I‘ll still give the next volume a try.

2.75/5

Reforging generational trauma into remembering and respect for one‘s own history.

The characters ride on the edge of being unlikable. It‘s done skillfully, though, so the reader emphasizes rather than gets annoyed. The story has three layers—the dark and fairytale-like past, the allegoric plot of a puppet show, and the modern-day present.

I loved how carefully constructed it was, although the jumping between layers was a bit distracting.

4/5

An #anthology of short fairytale-like vignettes, revolving around the theme of cunning (but cute) foxes.

It proves that flash fiction can form valid, interesting stories.

A light, refreshing read, with some #lgbtq rep. I‘m reading another book by this author right now, but—while I like it—I‘m not in the mood for it much. This was a pleasant break.

Something different.

Nice.

3.5/5

I recommend this book for worldbuilders

It‘s descriptively written—that‘s its strength, but where it truly shines is the choice of subjects and links between informations

Technology, food, business, medicine, culture—who would‘ve thought trees were so interesting? We‘re only familiar with a tiny fraction of their biodiversity, uses and history

Venice, Stradivarius, Siemens, root canal treatment—without trees, none of these would‘ve existed

5/5

I wanted something fun and fast, but God, was this one a slog.

Most of the narration is the first person, and the narrator is unreliable (which is great) and cringingly unlikable (which is not). I like reading about bad people—unless they‘re basic bastards.

Were we supposed to sympathize...?

(I so did not)

And the creepy instalove. Oh my gawd, the instalove 🤮

(The MC‘s credibility we‘ll not talk about)

Why can‘t I just DNF books???

1.5/5

Volume three, and I finally figured out the plot thing. It oscillates around the relationship—the work-life balance and compromises, this time. All the “outside” things are just events that happen.

It works surprisingly well.

Unfortunately, the villain I disliked in the previous book is back for a brief visit. This time, he‘s definitely not Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter—he‘ll tell you so himself.

3.75/5

This sf novella was a bit ridiculous. We have a blase socialite/private detective named Marrow (and hers is hardly the most ridiculous name in the book). She—not especially skillfully—investigates the death of her brother. Androids, weird drugs, and orgies. (Almost) a futuristic noir

Aiming for dark

There‘s a drunken feeling to the entire thing

A pick because of the worldbuilding and because it tickled my funny bone in a non-obvious way

4/5

The conventional plot structure again didn‘t exist in this gay action-romance—which, again, didn‘t bother me one bit. What bothered me was the villain copy-pasted off Hannibal Lecter (sans his cooking obsession and his name because that would‘ve been TOO OBVIOUS…) If not for that (and one nasty torture scene) I would‘ve given it solid four stars.

It still was an enjoyable read (mostly). I liked the dynamic between the lead and his partner.

3.5/5

A lone woman traveling the Universe and trading trinkets for life stories. Sci-fi divagation on the nature and the evolution of the soul. Love beyond death.

A novella that is surprisingly involved for its vast scope. I liked Amahle‘s POV and the descriptions of the various worlds she visited or experienced second-hand living through the life stories she‘s collected.

4/5

Another of Kingfisher‘s books weaved around the themes of nature. Vultures and bugs and roses this time—I really liked those parts.

The narration was a tad chirpy for a horror in the beginning (even for Kingfisher), and I had trouble getting into it. But it grew on me, especially the MC‘s relationship with her mother and the parts where she desperately denies what‘s happening and seeks every rational explanation possible.

3.5/5

Another look at the Japanese fairytale about marrying a crane, this time set in contemporary Great Britain.

Pretty, but it failed to capture me. For long stretches, I couldn‘t wait for it to be over. Part of it was two cheating subplots (my personal pet peeve: I hate cheating in books). The other issue was that—for some unfathomable reason—the plot took away from the characters…?

And it was all about characters. Or—it was supposed to be.

3/5

Supernatural Viking massacre summoned via song during a music festival.

Gore doesn‘t make a horror. You need at least a whiff of atmosphere. You also must make the reader care about the characters. And, most of all, you need writing that shows the horror instead of telling the reared “oh, look, look, this is sooo scarry.”

(Honestly, my brain had turned off by the end. I didn‘t even know who everyone was.)

Very cool idea. Crap execution.

2/5

It doesn't follow a typical plot structure and meanders a lot in the beginning, but somehow it works. Even the first person POV, which I rarely like. A lot of people get shot. There are chases and jumping off balconies. And developing romance. Which, once it gets going, also works ♥️

4/5

A broad book on a narrow topic.

Food. Obsession. Nefarious egg collectors. Extinction. Egg rush & great fortunes. Feminism. Racism. History. Religion. Art. Clown egg register. Vaccines. Cancer. Eggs in space. "Henopausal", sex-changing chickens.

Mostly memoir, though.

Overall, pretty neat.

3.5/5

This was… unexpectedly hilarious? (I'm sure in more ways than intended by the author since the most funny to me were the parts which I think were supposed to be scary 😅)

The ending was a little disappointing, though—throughout the entire thing, I so fervently hoped for a gruesome death for Manfred. We've got one man spectacularly squished to death by a giant helmet—why not continue in this awesome vein? Manfred so deserved it…

3.5/5

A feminist, dystopian, sf retelling of Antigone.

A very cool idea. Execution—a tad disappointing.

Too many POVs for this tiny thing to carry—that's what watered down its emotional punch. Also, the lack of the knowledge of the Antigone's story could decrease the enjoyment by half, or—alternatively—knowing the original well could do it a similar disservice, as it follows the original plot closely.

3/5