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ardentlyelle's reviews
271 reviews
An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
An Education in Malice is a delicious adaptation of the classic Carmilla, starring Laura and the titular Carmilla as academic rivals at an all-girls college. Laura is a first-year student at Saint Perpetua’s College, ready to experience a different world than her southern home, and all the firsts that come along with it. She’s immediately captivated by Carmilla, as well as the poetry teacher the girls share. Evelyn De Lafontaine is as beautiful as she is mysterious and has a whole world to introduce the girls to.
This book is perfect for fans of dark academia, which I definitely am. I recommend checking content warnings before diving in, as it can be quite heavy handed, but I don’t feel it's ever at a disservice to the story.
I love the characterization of Carmilla and Laura, and the cast of characters that help flesh out the world around them. I wanted to be attending school with them, inserting myself into the friend groups and classes and glamor of it all.
I do wish there had been more focus on the development of Carmilla and Laura’s romantic relationship, because I loved the two of them so much, but as the book is not a romance, it’s hard to actually complain about the ‘lack’ of romantic content.
I loved this book so much, I can’t wait to buy a physical copy to share with all of my friends and fellow readers.
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for the eARC!
Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the eARC in exchange for a review!
Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine was an absolute trip, and I enjoyed every minute of it. Pitched as The Last of Us meets Bird Box, this book is full of twists and turns and straight up scares. Horror is one of my favorite genres, and rarely do I actually feel the same sense of dread so thoroughly as the characters, but this one got me.
Riley has isolated herself completely in a post-apocalyptic world that punishes even casual acquaintances, with eye contact now a trigger that sets people into violent, murderous rages. The first contact she has had in a very long time is Ellis, another young woman who has recently moved into Riley’s mostly abandoned neighborhood.
Riley doesn’t trust Ellis, but she also doesn’t trust herself most of the time - the result of both being paranoia sinking deeper under Riley’s skin. Getting to know Ellis comes with it’s own consequences, but maybe it’s not all bad?
It feels impossible to talk about my favorite parts of this book without giving it all away, but it feels equally impossible to spoil anything. I was constantly being surprised by this novel, thinking I knew where it was going and being delightfully shocked when I was wrong. It’s a quicker read, under 200 pages, and I think the length only adds to the quick pacing and growing sense of dread that comes with getting further and further into the story.
I am very very excited to do a deep dive into everything else Sunny Moraine has ever written, and let it consume me completely.
The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook books for the eARC in exchange for a review!
Marigold Clause doesn’t want to get married and settle down, but that future was becoming her only prospect as Marigold got older. When Marigold is presented with her true family history, one that shows her that the magic she has always believed in is real, she has hope for the first time since getting her heart broken four years earlier. She is set to inherit the title of Honey Witch from her grandmother, a role Marigold’s own mother turned down because of the curse that comes along with it - no one can fall in love with the Honey Witch. This doesn’t deter Marigold, though, and she takes up the mantle of protecting her grandmother’s homeland with her head high.
It is not easy being the Honey Witch, and the book doesn’t shy away from its depictions of loneliness, and all the ways it affects people at different points in their lives. More than once I had to pause in my reading because I resonated so much with everything that Marigold was feeling. Considering that I am not a newly minted witch self-isolating on a magical island, it’s the best testament to the author’s writing that I can offer.
I loved all of the characters we got to meet in this story, but especially Lottie, whose refusal to believe in magic for deeply personal and heartbreaking reasons made Marigold’s determination to prove her wrong all the stronger. No character felt one dimensional, even if they had very little on-page action, and I was deeply invested in the resolution of the main conflict - I finished the last 60% of the novel in about 4 hours, just sitting on my couch consuming it.
My one real qualm with the story hardly counts even to me; the epilogue was too perfect. I am not usually one to enjoy an ambiguous ending, but I also don’t need everything to be tied off with a pretty bow. I would have preferred something a little less flowery, but I was still enormously touched by the way Marigold’s story wrapped up, so I can’t be too mad.
I loved this book so much I plan to purchase a copy to loan out to friends. If you’re looking for a captivating, sapphic fantasy to read, this is it.
Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis is a book about family, chosen and blood and the strength of each. It’s about greed and the way it changes people. It’s about ghosts and fairy tales and the people who tell those stories. It’s about sisters, and love, and all the ways that love can look and feel and be.
The story is told in first person, and while I typically prefer more escapism in my fiction, the insight we get into Sylvie and Florence because of this point of view is integral to the story. The first half of the novel is told from the older sister’s perspective, and the second half from the younger. While there is some overlap, the author does a great job at not making us sit through the same dialogue again - there is a whole second story happening that we get access to when the POV switches.
I found myself more compelled by the queer sister’s story, of the two, but that has less to do with the writing and more with my personal preferences in books. Both sisters were captivating, and by the time I was 60% through the book, it consumed my every thought, and I didn’t want to put it down.
The relationship between the sisters is one of the best I’ve read. The miscommunication and inability to see past their own experiences, a trope so often used to spice up a romance novel, makes Sylvie and Charlotte feel like real people. They are fleshed-out and flawed, they are passionate and angry, they love each other so much and they are so, so hurt by each other. It’s family, and it’s real.
The ending destroyed me, as all good endings do. I loved this book beginning to end, and I hope this review helps other readers to find it and love it, too.
Content warnings: Family death, domestic abuse, suicide, homophobia. Nothing particularly graphic, although the domestic abuse has brief heavy moments.
Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, and Child death