A Snake Among Swans is a tough novel for me to rate. With Godkiller, also written by Hannah Kaner, being one of my favorite fantasy novels ever, my expectations were high for a new world and cast of characters from the same author. Like Godkiller, A Snake Among Swans has a complex cast of characters with differing motives, an interesting enough magic system, and a high stakes political setting. […]
What a title, am I right? I knew I had to read Hopeless Necromantic. From the very first page, the novel kept surprising me. I had never considered the exact pitfalls of raising someone from the dead before, which in retrospect, seems remarkably shortsighted of me. Main character Sikras “Catseye” Nikabod, who is no stranger to horrified—er, unsatisfied—customers, has it all figured out, down to the fine print. No refunds […]
When I read the blurb for The Dragon Has Some Complaints, I immediately pictured the classic three-headed dragon meme, where each head has a wildly different personality. Whether or not that is where the inspiration for this novel comes from, this three-headed dragon—named Garrodigh—does have very distinct personalities. Each head is referred to by their position on the body of the dragon—Centerhead, Upperhead, and Bottomhead, and formerly, Lefty. Centerhead is […]
In my advanced age, I’ve come to prefer friends-to-lovers over enemies-to-lovers. I’ve found the latter to be a trope that’s nearly impossible to execute well, often rushing past the trust and transformation that make these romances truly satisfying. But every now and then, a truly—shall we say—irresistible premise comes along, and I wade back into the genre. The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy, with its slow-burn romance between […]
The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam tries very hard to make its demi-god main character, Rosie, likeable and relatable, but it falls woefully short with its six foot five beauty. Though Rosie is supposed to be every bit as fiery as her red hair and eyes, I just found her to be rather flat. I wanted to like her, I really did, but the biggest conflict in her life can […]