Night Shift Dragons by Rachel Aaron
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Series: DFZ (Book 3 of 3)
Genre: Urban fantasy
Published: 5th May 2020 (Aaron/Bach, self-published)
Night Shift Dragons delivered a spectacular and hugely emotionally satisfying conclusion to Rachel Aaron’s follow-up urban fantasy series set in the insanely cool, quirky and vibrant free city of the DFZ.
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Or What You Will by Jo Walton
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
I received a copy of this book from the publisher (Tor) and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
“I have been a word on the tongue. I have been a word on the page. And I hope I will be again.”
Or What You Will blew me away from the very first page. The last time I got this excited over the first paragraphs of a book was when I read The Ten Thousand Doors of January, which ended up being my favorite book of 2019. My pulse actually sped up as I read, and I had to stop and go back and reread those first few paragraphs because they were just so gorgeous. I had read passages to my husband and frantically text my fellow Novel Notions besties about how excited I was before I even finished that first chapter. And I continued to deeply appreciate the writing all the way through, and highlighted and annotated an incredible number of passages. But after such a wonderful beginning, things went from beautiful literary fiction to an unexpected accounting of the art scene of Renaissance Florence. I mean, I have no problem at all with the topic but that shift came out of nowhere. I would say it was jarring if the air of the novel wasn’t so meandering. And then there were a ton of Shakespearean characters added into the mix, which was surprising. But the book never really came back to what I loved so much in those first few pages, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I was incredibly disappointed by that decision on Walton’s part. …
ARC received from the publisher, Tor Books, in exchange for an honest review.
The Last Emperox by John Scalzi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars.
Series: The Interdependency (Book 3 of 3)
Genre: Science fiction, space opera
Published: 14th April 2020 by Tor US & 16th April 2020 by Tor UK
The Last Emperox is a satisfying conclusion to one of the more entertaining and accessible space operas I’ve read.
ARC provided by the publishers—Tor Books & Head of Zeus—in exchange for an honest review.
Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Sun Chronicles (Book #1 of 3)
Genre: Sci-fi, Military Sci-fi, Space Opera
Pages: 528 pages (US hardback edition)
Published: 1st October 2020 by Head of Zeus (UK) & 7th July 2020 by Tor Books (US)
It’s quite outrageous that it took me this long to finally read Kate Elliott’s book for the very first time.
Review copy received from the publisher, Tor Books, in exchange for an honest review
The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars.
Series: The Interdependency (Book 2 of 3)
Genre: Science fiction, space opera
Published: 16th October 2018 by Tor US & 18th October 2018 by Tor UK
The Consuming Fire feels like a middle-book, but in a good way. Just as entertaining and accessible as the first, this sequel took the plotline of The Interdependency trilogy in an interesting direction.
ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.
The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Drowning Empire (Book #1 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Mystery
Pages: 448 pages (UK hardcover edition)
Published: 10th September 2020 by Orbit (UK) & 8th September 2020 by Orbit (US)
This will most likely be my favorite fantasy debut of 2020. …
Valentine by Elizabeth Wetmore
My rating: 6 of 5 stars
Valentine is absolutely gorgeous. The writing is so vivid and transporting that I felt like I indwelled each character during their prospective chapters. It’s also one of the most tragic, heartbreaking stories I’ve read in a very long time. My heart almost physically ached during my time reading this book. But most of all, Valentine is immensely powerful. It proclaims an almost rebellious resilience in the face of heinous adversity that is fiercely and unequivocally feminist, and I felt impacted by it at a soul-deep level.
“Mercy is hard in a place like this…”
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars.
Series: The Interdependency (Book 1 of 3)
Genre: Science fiction, space opera
Published: 21st March 2017 by Tor US & 23rd March 2017 by Tor UK
I think two words perfectly describe The Collapsing Empire – entertaining and accessible. This is science fiction for the masses that is fun and riveting.
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The Talisman by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’ve been reading a lot of King lately. Very rarely do I binge read a particular author. I feel the need to mix things up in my reading life or I find myself burned out and unable to appreciate a book I should love because I’ve consumed too much of the same thing in a row. I might love pizza, but I would find it far less palatable if I had to eat it for every meal. I feel the same way about my literary diet. So I’m a readerly butterfly, flitting from author to author and genre to genre as they grab my attention. However, this is my fourth King novel in a row, and it’s the fourth in a row I’ve thoroughly enjoyed. I think that’s because each of these four novels, whether King penned them alone or with the aid of a co-author as with this book, vary drastically from everything else I’ve read by him. And yet what makes them so incredible is the way they tie into each other and refer back to things King wrote before them and foreshadow books he would write after. …
ARC received from publisher, Orbit UK, in exchange for an honest review.
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: Great Cities (Book 1)
Genre: Urban fantasy, horror
Published: 24th March 2020 by Orbit US & 26th March 2020 by Orbit UK
The City We Became is a unique take on urban fantasy that reaffirms N.K. Jemisin as a brilliant author of imaginative and original fantasy fiction.
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