ARC provided by the publisher—Titan Books—in exchange for an honest review.
Cover art by Julia Lloyd
Talonsister by Jen Williams
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Talon Duology(Book #1 of 2)
Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy
Pages: 560 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: 12th September 2023 by Titan Books
Talonsister is a slow-burn low-stakes novel that rewards its reader with an explosive high-stakes ending. …
The Copper Promise by Jen Williams
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Series: The Copper Cat (Book #1 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy, High fantasy
Pages: 544 pages (UK paperback edition)
Published: 13th February 2014 by Headline (UK) & 5th July 2016 by Angry Robot (US)
The Copper Promise should’ve been classified as a collection instead of a full novel. …
Hi everyone, Petrik from Novel Notions here. Today is an exciting day, because I’m bringing you an interview with Jen Williams, the author of The Copper Cat trilogy and The Winnowing Flame trilogy. Although I haven’t read the author’s first series, I’ve read and reviewed The Winnowing Flame trilogy last year. It was one of the best trilogy I’ve read so far, and I’ll certainly be reading The Copper Cat this year as I wait for the author’s newest book to come out.
You can check out my review of The Winnowing Flame trilogy on the blog, and I hope it will convince you to order it if you haven’t already done so. Now, without further ado, here is my interview with Jen Williams. …
The featured image above was specifically designed by Felix Ortiz for Novel Notions’ Top 20 List.
Hello everyone! This is the first time I’m listing my top reads for the year 2019. Initially, I wanted to opt for Top 10 but having read 100 books and rated a lot between 4.5 and 5 stars, I felt that I would struggle to limit it to ten. The parameters for my list are as follows:
With exception of #1, none of these are ranked. I’ve merely listed them in the chronological order of when I’ve read them this year. I’ve also included my favourite classic read of the year as we’ve started the Novel Notions Classic Club in July. All of these have been reviewed by me on Novel Notions and Goodreads.
The featured image above was specifically designed by Felix Ortiz for Novel Notions’ Top 20 Lists.
Ok, I’ll admit it, I’m cheating… my Best Books of 2019 post is a little different from the rest of the Novel Notions team.
It’s felt like a bit of a strange reading year for me, with a lot of study, non-fiction, and comfort rereads. My number is sitting at 164 so far, with a whole load getting that very respectable 4 star rating. However, there have only been a small amount that have truly floored me, that have deserved the 4.5 or the big, shiny 5 star rating. These are the kind of books that stay in your memory forever, that you recommend EVERYWHERE and as often as possible. They’re the ones where it’s almost impossible to stop your eyes from flicking forward to see what’s coming next because you’re so excited to get there. When I made that feeling the criteria for my list, it made things immediately clear. I don’t have 20, I have 10. They were all published this year and I loved them all. I hope you consider giving them a go too…
The featured image above was specifically designed by Felix Ortiz for Novel Notions’ Top 20 Lists. Check out his portfolio, he’s brilliant.
Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2019)
Here we are, we’re reaching the end of 2019 very soon! This year, I’ve read and reviewed 115 books (96 traditionally published books + 19 indie books.)
It’s lower than the previous two years, but I must say that it’s been another incredible reading year for me. Putting the high amount of 4.5 and 5 stars books I’ve rated this year into consideration, I will be applying four rules into this list; doing this will help me give appreciation to more authors, and I’ll be able to include both new and older books (many of them still need attention) rather than having only a few authors/books hoarding the list every year.
All the books listed below received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here are the top 20 books I’ve read in 2019! (Full reviews of these books can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.)
The featured image above was specifically designed by Felix Ortiz for Novel Notions’ Top 10 List. (More info on this at the end of the post.)
Between January 1st, 2019 and June 30th, 2019, I’ve read and reviewed 61 books (33.6k pages). So far, it’s been an incredible reading year. There will be three rules I set in this list in order for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. The rules are:
Do note that although this time there’s a rank to this list, I highly recommend every book listed below because I loved all of them immensely and they received a rating of 4.5 (rounded up on Goodreads) or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here we go! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page.)
The Poison Song by Jen Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Poison Song was truly an outstanding conclusion; someone needs to find an antidote to cure the severely underrated state of this series ASAP.
After twelve books in a row, I’m gratified that I finally finished a new book that I can rate 5 stars easily. Here we are, the third and last book in The Winnowing Flame Trilogy. Now that I’ve finished binge reading this trilogy within a week, I can safely say that Jen Williams seriously deserves a much larger readership. C’mon, this last book was a bloody amazing read; it’s easily one of the best concluding volumes I’ve ever read. Even though this is the last of the series, there was still new content—such as Noon’s past, the Fell-witch’s background, the winnowfire’s origins—for the readers to learn about. It has all come down to this installment; the past two books and the first half of The Poison Song were preparations for the heart-hammering second half of this book. I honestly don’t think I’ve read many fantasy series that are as cleverly crafted and imaginative as The Winnowing Flame Trilogy. Williams made sure that each installment has its own main conflicts to resolve and, at the same time, she was able to stealthily build solid foundations for the searing conclusion of this series. The plotlines, the characters and their motivations, have been fully established and Williams was able to utilize them properly to deliver a glorious and unforgettable book; I found myself completely enthralled by William’s storytelling ability.
“What you brought back, darling, was the truth. Which is rarely comfortable and never painless, but often, ultimately, worth knowing.”
The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I think it’s insane that Jen Williams still doesn’t have a US publisher.
The Bitter Twins is the second book in The Winnowing Flame Trilogy. I enjoyed the first book, The Ninth Rain, very much, and although admittedly I loved the first book more, The Bitter Twins didn’t disappoint in delivering another great installment with high focus on characterizations, discovery, explorations, and revelations. The story picks up immediately from where The Ninth Rain left off. I’ve mentioned that in the first book it took me 25% to find myself fully engaged with the book, this one—unfortunately—took me even longer because the pacing felt even slower. The first half of the book was mostly setup sections as Williams introduced new characters and establish their distinctive voices. This new setup was necessary in order to expand the scope of the world and to have more variety of casts to the series, and the first half pays off wonderfully in the second half. Connections, family, and bonds were some of the many important themes that can be found in this installment. …
The Ninth Rain by Jen Williams
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
The Ninth Rain won the Best Fantasy Novel trophy in British Fantasy Awards 2018; this is a totally well-deserved victory.
On Goodreads, you’ll see that I put my co-blogger’s name as the one who recommended this book to me; do know that for the past two years, there were actually many readers who have told/asked me to read and review not only The Winnowing Flame Trilogy, but also William’s debut series: The Copper Cat trilogy. I’ll get to reading The Copper Cat eventually, but for now I’m so into this series, and let me just say that from the experience of finishing this book alone, I already know I’ll be reading any book that Williams published. This book is approximately 550 pages long and I finished it within two days; it’s been months since I felt this compelled to read a high fantasy novel at this pace. …