jefferz's reviews
130 reviews

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? Yes

5.0

Frances White's debut novel Voyage of the Damned is an ambitiously plotted story that smoothly crosses over across a variety of different genres outside of its main fantasy classification. While definitively a fantasy novel due to its fantastical scale, magical powers and traditional fantasy-realm setting, the story is just as much a whodunit mystery thriller investigation tale (debatably even more than its fantasy-wrapping) as well as a lightly inspired queer romantasy (with asterisks around the romance). Comments summarizing Voyage of the Damned as an Agatha Christie novel dressed up in fantasy outfit is a decent comparison as it definitely gave me faint Murder on the Orient Express vibes, if the Orient Express was a grand and luxurious sailing vessel ala Death on the Nile. However, Voyage of the Damned’s ill-fated events also have compelling political ramifications to the growing body count and a wild last minute plot twist that can either make or break the reading experience depending on the reader’s suspension of disbelief. For me personally, it worked very well, and its ending managed to course-correct and explain nearly every potential plot hole or point of criticism I had while reading the novel. While White’s flavor of character narration occasionally skewed a bit too modern for my taste and the romantic elements often disrupted the overall tone and pacing, I’m more than willing to give them a pass for how solid the mystery thriller murder storyline was crafted and how well most of the other ideas were executed.

Per what’s unfortunately becoming more common in my reviews, let’s address a couple common points of criticism highlighted in many other reviews for this novel. One, the romance is bad and disappointing. While I cover this in more detail later in my review, Voyage of the Damned has a prominent romantasy-esque feel to it and is written in a similar tone to many books in the genre. However, this novel is clearly NOT intended to be a romance-forward fantasy story despite its presence and style. While Dee’s character narration and thirsty eye certainly have a romance flavor, it plays a supportive role in the story and is used primarily for Dee’s character growth and motivations. Second point, the fantasy peninsula kingdom of Concordia and magic system world-building is poor. This is a more complex point of criticism but my response to this is that the world-building is perfectly adequate and does everything it needs to do in order for its mystery thriller storyline and character motivations to work. Unlike traditional fantasy adventure epics, Voyage of the Damned could care less about the time or place of the story as well as the specifics to the Blesseds’ magical powers as these are not relevant to the events and investigation on the Dragon’s Dawn, the Emperor’s ship. What the novel does provide is detailed inter-province politics, the inequality between the upper and lower groups, and magic system details that directly contribute to the culprit’s actions and end goal. These two common points don’t sit well with me as they both seem to criticize the novel for subject areas and priorities it likely wasn’t intended to cover. Additionally, the world-building and continuity details are excellent but require the reader to actually finish the story. Disregard any reviews for this novel that are marked as DNF’s as the last 20% of the book is crucial at tying together all the loose plot threads and themes. On the spoiler-included version of this review on my reading blog, I have an entire section that summarizes my negative impressions felt mid-way through that were fixed or addressed by the end of the book.

With those points aside, Voyage of the Damned has a lot going on, but it’s constantly a refreshing and entertaining ride- erm voyage. While the Kingdom of Concordia is often mentioned, particularly the location and terrain of each province which directly tie in to each other’s political relations, the bulk of the story takes place on a grand, self-sailing, magical ship that makes for a fun and unique setting, not to mention an isolated location cut off from outside help. The ship’s timeless aesthetic has just the right amount of magical qualities that give the story its fantasy vibe while still being appropriately sized for multiple murder scenes. A map is provided for the ship’s various room locations but isn’t really needed due to the simplicity of the story’s plot, though the map of Concordia is very helpful. With magical elements involved, brief spurts of action, and a lot of strategic planning and investigating, there’s a lot to like that will satisfy a huge variety of readers. White’s writing style and tone is also very modern and highly accessible, no doubt explaining why it was popular and trending on booktok.

I briefly touched on this earlier, but one area Voyage of the Damned does particularly well is the way it seamlessly integrates its world-building with the story. With Concordia divided into twelve different provinces (thirteen if you count the area beyond the Bandage border) each represented by a Blessed heir, there’s a lot of material to convey on top of introducing and balancing its huge cast of characters. Remarkably, the story never gets bogged down with world-building and does a consistently great job of introducing relevant details when narratively appropriate. While the main character Ganymedes “Dee” isn’t necessarily ignorant of all of Concordia’s matters, his distaste for the role he is shoved into properly explains his limited knowledge of many traditions and blessed mechanics, allowing the reader to learn along the way with him. The details and clues are presented in a gradual manner, and White does a great job at carefully managing how much the reader is left in the dark at all times without feeling like she’s making up stuff on the fly (compare that to some of my recent reads like Quicksilver or Gideon the Ninth that are far less successful at this).

Though it takes some time to get there, Voyage of the Damned hits its stride once the beloved and powerful heir to the emperor is found dead, her body dramatically crashing down from the elegant ballroom’s ceiling. The murder mystery thriller storyline and investigation are easily the best and most impressive element of the novel for me. Unlike many other murder mysteries, the deaths have seemingly conflicting details/MO’s, and the story also immediately eliminates the possibility of an outside culprit early-on which only intensifies the stakes. One important thing to note is unlike a traditional mystery thriller, the focus isn’t so much as how the killer murdered each heir but why they were targeted. With every heir having some sort of magical power that may or may not be widely known, each new death ups the ante on the culprit’s motivation and goals, and not about the manner of death. As an experienced mystery thriller genre reader, I found this focus fascinating and a nice change of pace. Dee’s investigation is a slow burn that will reward patient readers when the culprit and timeline of events is revealed, along with a crazy plot twist. My suspicions about the culprit were mostly right as well as guessing the mechanism of how the big plot twist is achieved, but I was pleasantly surprised by twist itself and the ending.

Another positive area of the novel is its handling of the large cast of characters. Featuring twelve heirs of each province, White does a great job of making each one memorable and distinctive with varying personalities, backgrounds, but most importantly, aspirational goals and political motivations. Though, at the beginning of the book many of the provinces seem shallowly written (ie. the ermines being cold abrasive people of the tundra, the tortoises being scholastic brainiacs, the bunnerflies being kind of hippie monks), the inter-province politics relations quickly become far more developed as the story progresses. The way each province handles the treatment and honor of their representative Blessed is hugely varied and even some of the characters that have less screen time have well-written backstories. Additionally, the Voyage of the Damned has excellent Queer representation that hits every letter of LGBTQ+ and almost everyone is at least a little bit bi (the Agatha Christie comparison missed the opportunity of “And Then There were Gays”). Avoiding stereotypical portrayals and featuring a spectrum of different ethnicities (one character is wheelchair-bound and has a stylish head wrap), this is a great example of how to showcase a diverse cast of characters. A common shortcoming of survival, murder mystery stories is the difficulty of balancing so many characters and more importantly, getting the reader to care about each one for their inevitable deaths to have impact. White does a great job with that, somehow even achieving that with the emperor’s heir who is barely alive for three chapters before being found dead. Across the board all the characters are memorable and more often than not, quite likable. And coming in at almost 500 hundred pages, the novel doesn’t rush its story and has plenty of time for the reader to become familiar with its colorful cast.

Quirky, comedic, and entirely self-aware of how flamboyantly lackadaisy he is, Dee’s character makes for a unique and refreshing character voice that is very accessible, particularly for readers who normally would find the murder mystery premise grim or too tense to read. Masquerading his lack of self-worth under the guise of arrogance and humor, his character is well-balanced by an extensive and unfortunate backstory. There’s a notable recurring theme about his self-worth and his lack of wanting to live that comes full circle, both in connection with the Blessed heirs’ voyage, as well as the murder investigation.

The great expanse of blackness, chipping at my consciousness, stripping parts of Ganymedes away, until there was no difference between me and it. The utter nothingness of it. The sweet oblivion. I didn’t go into the water to drown. But when I was drowning, I was grateful. It was a gift. An opening and an ending. The end of living with this coral version of my mother, cutting me with her sharp edges. The end of the knowledge of what I was—not strong enough. Not worthy enough to bear the Goddess’s Blessing.

His history with Ravi, as well as his camaraderie turned something more with Wyatt are both well done (though there’s an important note on that, see the spoiler version of this review). And while I was less enthusiastic about his teamwork with Grasshopper, I understand what White was trying to do with her character despite it not necessarily appealing to me personally. Additionally for representation, though it’s handled a bit clunky (Dee being pudgy and round vaguely implied due to his obsession with eating good food might be off putting for the most sensitive readers), I found it very refreshing that the main character and potential love interest were far from being traditionally attractive, fit, or the ever popular and tiring “large, tall, broad with abs of days” type of character. Wyatt, in particular is notable as I can’t remember the last time I read a romance-leaning book where the love interest is skeletally skinny, physically frail, and far from the traditional romance novel character role (outside of stories where they’re supposed to be ill like The Fault in Our Stars). As a teenager who was perpetually skin and bones and had low self-esteem, this would've been amazing to read growing up and the recent increasing representation trends are always great to see.

While Voyage of the Damned handles the vast majority of its elements well, there were a few notable nitpicks that held it back from being a perfect hit for me. As mentioned above, the novel is written in a fairly modern contemporary style and Dee’s character voice is quite tongue-in-cheek snarky. While the character itself worked for me most of the time, there were many instances where Dee’s character narration and dialogue disrupted the momentum and intensity of the mystery thriller angle. Part of that may be by design to make the story more accessible, but I frequently found myself wishing Dee would crack less poorly timed jokes which started to get repetitive and tiring. A lot of 1-star reviews criticize Dee’s character narration as a deal-breaker and I can sympathize with it to a point, mainly because I know part of that off-putting impression is by purposeful design. This is meant to establish where the character is internally and how he uses humor as a defense mechanism, walling off everyone after certain notable events in his childhood occur. However, it is nonetheless excessive and clunky in places.

The other notable issue I had with the novel has to do with the romance element of the story. While I liked the intent and direction White was going with the romantic developments, the manner in which it is integrated more often than not came off as being cringy and out of place. Invoking an overly casual tone on-brand with many romantasy novels, Dee’s thirsty wandering eye narration would consistently break the story’s great thriller sections and cheapen the novel as a whole. Particularly in the middle of the story when Dee and Wyatt partner up and start to develop mutual feelings, the romance elements would veer into juvenile and cringy territory, at odds with the rest of the book’s quality. The most offensive example is notably at the end of the story when the fantasy side of the story is resolved, and the book’s traditional falling action section has Dee getting stripped naked and groped by a character who shall not be named for spoilers (on top of a freezing alpine mountain I might add) for utterly no reason except for trashy romantic fanservice. The scene is entirely clean and is considered a closed-door romance, but the decision to include it at that point in the book (or frankly at all) is downright baffling at best, off-putting and a poor lasting impression at worst. And that’s quite tragic as the rest of the book has so much ambition and class. Even worse, Dee’s entire childhood relationship and sort-of-not-really boyfriend history with Ravi is handled with such care and nuance. I read it and made a note “seriously, why? Just why Frances White? If you’re going to commit to this horrible decision, at least let them go all the way.” Even a terrible Michael Bay-style make out session as the credits roll would’ve been a classier way to go.

While there are some elements that weren’t quite my cup of tea, overwhelmingly Voyage of the Damned gets far more of them right. Great on its own if judged as a mystery thriller, as a crossover fantasy and romance novel featuring excellent representation, it's even more noteworthy considering how much can go wrong with such a busy premise. The fact that this is also Frances White’s debut novel and a fully self-contained standalone story as opposed to the more common fantasy series setup is incredibly impressive. Accessibly written, refreshingly creative, and most importantly well plotted, Voyage of the Damned is great and a rare booktok recommendation that I actually enjoyed!

Content Warnings

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Falling somewhere in the area between being creatively genius vs a festivity-induced fever dream, The Nightmare Before Kissmas is light-hearted and cute dramedy that hits all the right beats one would expect for a holiday romance novel. Personifying popular holidays as magically inclined individuals reminiscent of Rise of the Guardians paired with the familial expectations and burdens of royalty akin to Casy McQuiston’s Red White and Royal Blue, the Nightmare Before Kissmas is constantly a lot of fun and a feel-good escapism read. And while it’s frequently cheesy and often tap dances on the line between being endearing and cringy, the plot is solid, featuring surprisingly ambitious commentary on the materialism and purpose of holidays as well as holiday politics in this fantasy-leaning version of the world.

Despite initially being a bit of a box office bomb, the 2012 animated film Rise of the Guardians and its source material The Guardians of Childhood series by William Joyce have since become sleeper hits thanks to the creative and charming way they personified popular holidays as magical beings and culture associated with said holidays. The Nightmare Before Kissmas features a lot of similar concepts but utilizes them for an adult romantic dramedy as opposed to children’s fantasy adventure. And instead of a singular character, Sara Raasch’s Royals and Romance series extends the concept by having entire royal family represent each holiday that individually operate the festivities and image of their namesake occasion. With the royal families and heirs each having light magical powers that operate using “joy”, the aggregate feelings of people experienced across the world also serving as a currency and power source, there’s a lot of potential for great slapstick comedy (Coal telling his brother Kris to shut up by filling his mouth magically with poisonous holly) as well as quietly magical and sweet moments (Hex entertaining young kids under the table with reindeer-shaped ghosts in the snow banks). While the magic isn’t technically grounded enough to be considered magical realism, its light-hearted use and presence adds nice ambiance and color instead of being the primary focus of the story.

The holiday and magic alone are a lot of fun, but Raasch combines that with a romance storyline that utilizes many tried and true tropes for good measure. There’s opposites attract (particularly the usual dark and light contrast), there’s the off-limits romance, fake dating on multiple fronts, there’s something for almost every type of romance reader. Playing on the long-running common dichotomy and rivalry of Halloween and Christmas enthusiasts, the Nightmare Before Kissmas perfectly pairs the two holidays with Coal and Hex respectively. Also, Coal is a hilariously punny name that works both for his distaste of the current Christmas traditions like coal in a stocking, and as a short-hand for Ni“chol”as (ba dum dum). The two guys have great chemistry and banter, though really the dialogue and humor in general throughout the book is excellent. While there’s certainly some steamy explicit scenes, the Nightmare Before Kissmas keeps them entirely clean and healthy (perhaps to Hex’s detriment) with a lot of humor that just works really well. The side characters of Coal’s younger brother Kris and their childhood friend and princess of Easter Iris also nicely round out the core group of friends and their camaraderie feels real and natural. One of the novel’s strongest elements is its frequent use of their group phone text/chat that closes out quite a few of the book’s chapters. The terrible Christmas puns, the jokes, repeated dragging of Coal by Kris and Iris, it’s chef’s kiss. Additionally, despite obviously not being a real romantic option in what’s clearly M/M romance story (though worth noting most are bi…), Iris’s development and personality far surpasses her character’s usual limited filler role in these kinds of novels. Not only is she hilarious and her friendship with Coal well written, but she’s also a devious and effective wing woman on multiple occasions.

Besides fake dating/romance elements and the usual holiday hijinks, the Nightmare Before Kissmas also has an unexpectedly compelling overall story that both the book’s synopsis and marketing fail to highlight. Behind the glitz and sparkle of Christmas cheer, there’s underhanded and devious political scheming used to assert Christmas’s dominance amongst the winter seasons. At first glance, the story’s premise of forcing Coal to marry his childhood best friend to the detriment of his brother Kris and the competition of suitors with Hex sounds like a random hot mess, hence my review’s initial fever dream comparison. And Coal drunkenly making out with Prince of Halloween Hex only to later fall hard for him when he’s forcibly engaged to Iris sounds conveniently contrived on paper. However, remarkably all the Nightmare Before Kissmas’s seemingly random storylines all make perfect sense within the context of the book’s ambitious political narrative involving the power and influence struggle between holidays. The recurring theme of holidays gaining and fading from popularity over time is spot-on in addition to what each holiday means to people (ie. Easter and Christmas being celebrated by many who are decidedly not religious and Halloween becoming increasingly more popular worldwide). Within Christmas specifically, the story has some good commentary on Christmas’s recent shifts towards materialism and forced familial traditions for the sake of the holiday, rather than focusing on the joy and magical feeling it was originally intended to have. While the thematic commentary isn’t particularly insightful or unique to the novel (in particular, a recurring theme of happiness being built on the foundation of small moments of joy is a bit clumsy and too on the nose), the creative way they’re woven into the fake dating rivalry competition storyline is actually great! The novel’s story is one that could’ve easily worked and had mass reader appeal without the additional underlying intention and strong character growth, so I fully appreciate Raasch’s ambition for the story to be something more than just cute and sexy fluff. That said, for readers looking for a straightforward and cute romance, the political holiday plotting and scheming takes up a large percentage of the book’s overall page count compared to Coal’s actual romance with Hex. While I personally loved the balance between the two, the holiday storyline can and will slow down the read for those that are not interested in the holiday commentary.

Comical and full of great dialogue, Raasch’s writing style is heavily modern and quite on-brand for the contemporary romance genre. Normally I’m a bit mixed on comedy stories that use excessive pop culture references that will quickly become dated. However, the jokes and references in the Nightmare Before Kissmas work quite well. While a good number of the references like “50 Shades of Sleighs” skew heavily towards the millennial crowd and likely will fade over in the near future, there are enough references that will have some lasting relevancy like the meme of the original Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer movie’s script being misogynistic or It’s a Wonderful Life oddly being considered one of the greatest holiday movies despite being quite sad and serious (a holiday movie I’ve still yet to watch personally). While most of the book’s content is humorous or a bit thirsty, there are brief moments in between that are quite poignant and magical. Raasch’s portrayal of the holiday decor and scenery of the royal Christmas house/palace and North Pole Village has great visuals and while the prose clearly isn’t intended to be fully poetic or emotional, her writing style notably has more finesse and flair than the story and genre needs.

While generally solid across the board, if I had to nitpick something about the Nightmare Before Kissmas, it’s that the story’s ending and closing chapters leave quite a few plot threads unresolved and left in the air. While the Nightmare Before Kissmas’s resolution effectively covers Coal’s character growth and his foreshadowed assumption of the royal family’s oversight of Christmas, what actually happens to the management of the Christmas holiday in the end is vague and a possible alternative solution being far more complicated and nuanced than what this novel can effectively cover without substantially increasing its length (to be honest, I think this novel could’ve benefited from having another fifty pages or so). After how solidly plotted and compelling the negotiations around the behind-the-scenes holiday deal making are, that storyline just cuts off abruptly in favor of focusing on Coal and Hex’s relationship. And for how hyped the Christmas Eve ball and events leading up to Coal’s planned wedding are, I personally found the night itself and the events immediately following it to be a tad underwhelming and short. While Coal and Hex’s resolution is great, I would’ve liked to see a much more elaborate ending considering how good and extensive the other non-romance material was. Since a sequel novel had been announced not long after this novel was published, ordinarily I would’ve been fine with these plot threads left unresolved as breadcrumbs to encourage the reader to read the next entry in the series. However, having already read the synopsis and direction the sequel Go Luck Yourself appears to be heading, I have doubts if these plot threads will ever be properly resolved. Considering Go Luck Yourself’s main character is Coal’s brother Kris and has him involved with St. Patrick’s Day holiday, the story will at least address the cliffhanger the Nightmare Before Kissmas left with him and Iris. But we’ll see about the rest very soon as Go Luck Yourself is in my reading queue and moving up fast (I’ll be thrilled if Raasch proves me wrong when I read the sequel soon).

Delivering a lot of great humor and holiday-themed romance with a surprisingly great politics storyline, the Nightmare Before Kissmas is an excellent all-arounder that is sure to satisfy most romance readers one way or another. Raasch’s writing consistently delivers exactly what the novel is shooting for and has the right amount of ambition and lyrical flair to enhance the material without weighing down the light-hearted and cute tone. So far in 2025, I’ve read an unusually high percentage of queer romance or coming of age novels due to my limited KU subscription availability (queer fiction and romance is the most represented genre at the moment), but this is yet another highly rated M/M romance novel (4.5 rounded up) and an easy comfortable recommendation free of anything remotely triggering or unpleasant (unless one has unresolved Daddy issues…).

Content Warnings

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Necromancers, cavaliers, copious amounts of magic and challenges, oh my! Tamsyn Muir's debut novel and the start of her Locked Tomb series, on paper Gideon has everything going for it. While featuring many hallmark elements of fantasy epics such as an emperor with numerical houses/factions, pseudo magician + knight pairings, and an unknown challenge for representatives to ascend to the "Lyctor" status, Gideon the Ninth separates itself from the rest of its genre firstly by setting the series not in the traditional fantasy-realm past, but instead in an interstellar futuristic expanse. Secondly, this novel's reputation featuring "lesbian necromancers" proceeds itself and has that instant hook for booktok and social media recognition (though important to note, while having a wandering queer eye, this is not a romantasy novel). While technically being classified as fantasy and sci-fi, Gideon's second half functions more as a whodunnit survival thriller meshed with dark academia elements and is very compelling when Muir gets it just right. Unfortunately, despite the ambitious plotting and creative ideas found throughout the story, Gideon the Ninth is held back by a few but very notable flaws with its approach to storytelling as well as its confusingly vague and messy world-building. Additionally, while the story does feature lesbian necromancers, takes place in space (hence the sci-fi genre), and has a childhood nemesis relationship, they're rather weak elements within the greater scheme of things and may likely leave a lot of potential readers disappointed (particularly those looking for a queer fantasy/romance story).

Opening with style and action, right out of the gate Gideon the Ninth has a strong start. Gideon, an indentured servant to the Ninth House tasked with overseeing The Locked Tomb, is introduced to the reader right in the middle of her planned escape, only for her to be thwarted by Harrowhark Nonagesimus, the Reverend heir to the Ninth House and a powerful necromancer trained since birth. Starting with this initial confrontation and duel that perfectly represents the dual elements of its focal necromancer and cavalier pairings, Gideon the Ninth features strong action scenes full of various types of dark magic with flashy sword-based combat. Imaginative and unexpected, the action and magical combat chapters are a consistent highlight (the final battle consists of no less than 50 pages out of a 460-page book).

While the first few chapters are devoted to introducing the somber mood and cult-like behavior of the Ninth House, the main story starts when Gideon and Harrow are summoned to the expansive and labyrinth-like Canaan House located within the realm (or planet?) of the First House. With all houses two through nine being represented by a necromancer and cavalier pair each, the heirs to the Nine houses are tasked with the unknown and vague challenge at Canaan House to become the Emperor's Lyctors, with no instructions and by any means necessary. The first half of the story focuses on introducing all the houses' representatives, exploring Canaan House, and discovering odd experimental laboratories. However, once the story hits the half-way mark, the novel shifts into a dark academia-themed whodunnit murder mystery as characters are gradually offed one by one. The back half is where Muir's creativity with various types of magic is at its best, with each different House having their own style of both necromancy and swordplay. The necromancy-themed challenges are also fascinating in concept, though it's a bummer that so few of them are directly experienced by the reader via Gideon and Harrow, which in turn makes the reveal of their purpose less impactful than it could've been.

If any of the above sounds confusing, you're not alone. While the overall direction of the story and plot are great, one of my biggest criticisms of Gideon the Ninth is that it does a consistently poor job at giving the reader context and details to help figure out what in the world is going on. While there is a glossary of terms and notes that breakdown each character at the back of the book, these sections have information that hinges on spoilers and therefore can't effectively be used during an initial readthrough. Without that reference material, Gideon the Ninth's world, extensive terminology, and huge cast can be incredibly confusing for the reader to try and make sense of. Since the story is narrated from Gideon's point of view, a good portion of the unknown can be attributed to her unorthodox upbringing and complete unfamiliarity with the various Houses and Necromancer/Cavalier roles. Even if that's by purposeful design, it’s still a huge hurdle for many readers to overcome as nothing seems to make sense until nearly 250 pages in (that's a long time to be confused). There's little information about what the Ninth House even exists for, how it came to be, suddenly Gideon reveals they're in space and a vertical shaft that was drilled into a planet(?), and there's little explanation for how the magic and necromancy system works. Once the challenge at Canaan House begins, again there's no information about what they're doing there and almost 200 hundred pages are spent with Gideon basically wandering aimlessly killing time while Harrow is off doing something off-screen. While the lack of forthcoming information makes sense given the plot twists in the back half of the story, I can't help but feel like something should've been done to either make this section more interesting or to add a stronger hook for the reader. After the initially exciting first duel between Gideon and Harrow, the story falls into a slump and drags, feeling both unnecessarily long and overly convoluted. I considered DNF-ing multiple times during this section due to the slow pacing and Gideon's tiring character decisions (more on that shortly).

Fortunately, at the 50% mark the story finally picks up and the various plot threads start to form a picture (still a confusing picture but at least there's some kind of direction). This investigative thriller section is easily Gideon's strongest section and greatly improved my overall impression of the story. As the challenge progresses and other pairs start to disappear, the smaller cast and more focused narrative quickly gets stronger and far more manageable to follow, culminating in an explosive final battle. There are many creative plot twists in the back half of the story and while they are unexpected and creative, not all of them seem to fully land due to Gideon the Ninth's lack of strong world-building. Repeatedly it feels like plot twists are fully unexpected, not because the reader was misled or tricked, but because the reader is caught off guard by new magical mechanics thrown in randomly on the fly. Perhaps some of it may be attributed to my relative inexperience with necromancy-themed fantasy stories, however some of them left me scratching my head going "really now?". They make sense circumstantially on paper, but a notable lack of foreshadowing or narrative clues prevents the twists from feeling satisfying and earned. The epilogue, while fascinating from a story-standpoint, brings up more questions than it answers and essentially requires the reader to keep reading to figure out what's going on. What is the emperor and why is he considered almost like a god? What is going on in this interstellar world (that is barely shown in this novel outside of the Ninth's House dark planet and the First House's ocean-covered one) and what sort of conflict is the kingdom fighting against; the second and fourth houses are specifically catered towards combat but for what purpose? None of these questions are answered apart from the purpose of the challenge and how the heirs become Lyctors. I have almost no idea what's going on with the series' greater scope and nearly all the "why's" remain unanswered. Worse, I almost don’t care due to the thin and all over the place world-building is.

Much like Gideon the Ninth's plot, Tamsyn Muir's writing feels a bit inconsistent and unsure of what kind of story it wants to be. While generally well-written and having great action movements, there are unusually conflicting elements that point to this being a debut novel. The overall story is written much like a fantasy adventure but notably features many obscure vocabulary choices (reading this on an ereader with a built in dictionary was useful, and I have a fairly diverse readership vocabulary compared to the average casual reader). While they mostly work and achieve the desired effect of giving Gideon the Ninth the fantasy epic feel, they feel a bit out of place given that most of the story uses more straightforward and common word choices. There is noticeably no advanced vocabulary used during the battle scenes compared to the chapters directly before and after. The dialogue also ranges appropriately like the scholastic style like Palamedes of the Sixth House, more regal and official-like for those of the Second and Third Houses, etc. But then the novel breaks that immersion with Gideon saying modern slang like "That's what she said" or light pop-culture references that don't make sense with the story’s setting. This world also feels like it can't decide if it wants to be historical or futuristic, with Gideon possessing "dirty magazines" that either should've been ancient and falling apart and are out of place given the futuristic setting (where is got them since she spent her entire life in the chaste Ninth House is a pretty big plot hole). There's also a notable scene where Gideon doesn't know what a sink is and hasn’t had the luxury to experience water in excess, yet she is able to swim and tread water near the end of the book. A casual reader may not notice or could overlook these details but for me, they stood out clearly and are a representative example of Muir's unclear direction of Gideon the Ninth's world.

Outside of the plot and details, Gideon the Ninth's character work is also a bit of a mixed bag. Feisty, adrenaline-filled, and punch first ask questions later, Gideon's character has a lot of flair, attitude, and is a good example of abrasive characterization (I recently read and reviewed Callie Hart's Quicksilver whose main character Saeris is an example of how to do this poorly). On the representation front, Gideon is also clearly queer and despite this novel having zero romantic leans, has a wandering eye and thoughts that are refreshing to read. That said, Gideon's affinity for banter and humor didn't really work for me and often felt forced into the otherwise serious story (on top of the aforementioned out of place slang). Her narration in the first half of the novel also is quite repetitive, constantly being irritated at being lost (same here Gideon) or clashing with Harrow. Due to her rough and tough nature and her complete ignorance of all things relevant to the challenge, Gideon's character logic can be quite tiring to read, and she frequently makes obviously poor decisions based on the circumstances. Part of this is meant to act as a foil to Harrow's logical, detached, and cool ideology, but I can't help but feel its heavy-handed. Her character's lack of critical thinking or Muir's writing style also leads her narration to be surface-level and lacking important details or understanding (over describing to a fault). I constantly felt like underwhelmed by whatever Gideon was feeling and experiencing ("just get on with the story, it's obvious" was a constant sentiment), and annoyed by how clearly ignorant she was about everything. Part of that is by design but I felt like the narration was excessive and the story could've been far shorter if it trimmed Gideon's thoughts.

Harrow on the other hand is a fascinating character and one who is difficult to read and understand, in a good way. Revealed in the second half of the book, her backstory not only provides important context for the Ninth House's status but also great insight into her thoughts and feelings. While Gideon and Harrow make an interesting pair in the second half of the book (see the constant theme here), their hateful conflict and nemesis status before that also gets old and tiring quickly, mostly due to having no information about their childhood until near the end of the book. While the actual dialogue and banter is quite good, the conflict is also on-brand for the story, aka confusing. While the reader is given a clear idea of why Gideon hates Harrow, there's zero clues for the animosity in the reverse direction. Additionally, the expected and foreshadowed reconciliation feels rushed (I felt like I missed something during the quick 180), and the placement of Harrow explaining her perspective is at an awkward place. I feel like it comes in too late to justify the intense bond and pain the two women have during the final battle which makes the emotional moments feel unnecessarily overdramatic, and the context given for Harrow's childhood and the namesake "Locked Tomb" could've been far more impactful and useful earlier in the story. I frankly forgot about the Locked Tomb entirely up until an extended conversation between Gideon and the Eight House and Harrow's reveals.

Outside of Gideon and Harrow, the rest of the characters largely feel slightly underdeveloped and the cast far too large to manage, at least initially. Muir makes the bizarre choice to refer to all the other house members by their House Number or their actual name interchangeably and throws all fifteen of them at the reader all at once (a common mistake of newer writers). While I understand some variation is purposeful to show the different relationships or mannerisms of the different characters to each other, it would've been so straightforward if the first few chapters would've referred to them by both name and number until the reader can remember who is who (ie. Palamedes Sextus of the Sixth House). Instead, Gideon calls him Palamedes, Harrow calls him Sextus, the rest of the houses use a mixture of both, some refer to him as "the Warden", it's a mess all while the reader is also expected to keep track of what each numbered House is known for. Again, this would be fine if the reader already is familiar with the character, but this happens all the time with brand new characters. The character directory provided at the beginning of the book helps a lot, but the reader should not have to use it so extensively to keep track of who is who if the story is written in an effective manner. There's also a particular sparring chapter that throws five different houses at Gideon at the same time before the reader has any chance to figure out who is who. While there is a good variation of personalities and relationship dynamics between the different house representatives (Palamedes and Camilla of the Sixth House being my personal favorite and easily the most developed pair), most of them are quite basic archetypes and don't have enough focus or interest to be developed further. Ordinarily that wouldn't be a problem. However, with this novel utilizing the common survival challenge scenario where characters die during their training, the shallow character development prevents their deaths from having the emotional reaction likely intended. Gideon the Ninth also has unfortunate and obvious tendency of having Gideon heavily interact and get to know another House's pairing only for them to quickly be killed soon after, a dead giveaway (couldn't resist the pun) and easily preventable pitfall in whodunnit stories. I was willing to give the first one a free pass, but Muir kept doing it over and over with little variation.

Smoothly incorporating a murder mystery thriller genre into a dark academia-themed fantasy epic, Gideon the Ninth is full of great concepts and ideas that are refreshingly creative and impressive. The plot and the way all the seemingly loose clues come together at the end are highly ambitious and very respectable for a debut novel. Unfortunately, notable issues with the pacing, world-building, and reveal of narrative clues heavily affect the storytelling, I have a hard time confidently recommending Gideon the Ninth to all but the most patient and intelligent readers. But that's also a double-edged sword as the type of reader able to fully comprehend and appreciate Gideon the Ninth's is also likely to notice the conflicting details and thin world-building. That being said, though I had a fairly negative reading experience with Gideon the Ninth possibly due to my apathy and annoyance with Gideon's narration, it seems other readers that like Gideon feel otherwise so your mileage may vary. While I'm half-interested to see where the story goes, particularly since the next entry is focused on Harrow, I've heard that each of the three books so far have completely different tones and reviews of all three are certainly quite polarizing, some greatly favoring certain entries over others. Not quite sold on whether I'll be continuing this one given their length but we shall see.

Content Warnings

Lose You to Find Me by Erik J. Brown

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Erik J. Brown's sophomore YA novel following his heartwarming post-apocalyptic coming of age debut All That's Left In the World, on the surface Lose You to Find Me appears to be an entirely different kind of book considering the very different genre and relationship dynamics of its main characters. I previously reviewed and loved All That's Left In the World and while Lose You to Find Me wasn't originally on my to-be-read radar, I was intrigued and interested to see if Brown's excellent character work and relatable writing in a more straight-forward (get the pun) m/m coming of age story without the survival adventure angle would be as successful. To be honest, I went in with tempered expectations due to how negative some of the reviewers for this novel were, but I was relieved to find that yes, Erik J. Brown is a fantastic YA author who is far more well-rounded than I expected. Leaning more into the comedy aspect of what Brown himself dubs "Rom-Dramedy" while still having dramatic and occasionally romantic moments, this novel certainly has a different flavor and character narration voice from his first novel, along with different themes and focus. However, do not listen to the negative reviews for this book, the vast majority of them misunderstanding what this novel is about or being too hyper-fixated on purposefully designed characters flaws that are deemed "problematic" (when did the internet get so sensitive these days). Full of colorful characters, entertaining banter, relatable coming of age themes, and a perfectly crafted and paced plot, Lose You to Find Me is a wonderful all-arounder that hits all the right YA beats and kept me grinning the entire time.

Before getting into my actual review, there are two important points to highlight that address nearly every negative review I've seen so far for this novel. Firstly, despite many platforms like Goodreads tagging this novel as "Romance", it cannot be understated that Lose You to Find Me is NOT intended to be a standard romance novel. While there is certainly a lot of dating and romance involved, to be expected given the premise involves Tommy forced to train his schoolboy crush on the job, the romance is not the main focus and end goal. Whether it be due to marketing decisions or to match the cover art designs, this book should be tagged as a "Coming of Age" first. The main focus of the story is about Tommy figuring out his future aspirations cooking and baking, along with his friends, coworkers, and relationship woes in-between. The book comes off like Love Simon, Three Months, or Booksmart that focus on the characters young lives, rather than their specific romantic interest or relationship. Given that Tommy's romance isn't the main selling point, readers cannot expect Gabe’s character and presence to carry half the novel and their complicated relationship developments should not be expected to follow the usual romance check points and resolution (Gabe is supposed to be a flawed character by design for both narrative and character growth purposes). Secondly a minor spoiler, but this novel's story and premise does involve crushing on and mild cheating (nothing more than kissing) with someone in a relationship. If that topic is a deal-breaker regardless of how limited it is, I would recommend not reading this book. That being said, Lose You to Find Me is nowhere near what I consider a "home-wrecking" type of book. Unlike regular romance novels that use this element to generate conflict and misunderstandings or to add spice to the story, Erik J. Brown utilizes this element in a very classy and clean way (this is a YA novel, you shouldn't be expecting spice in here to begin with). Again, since this is a coming-of-age story, this is used entirely as a catalyst for character growth and thematic purpose. Reviews that criticize the story for being sketchy or sus clearly have never read an actual trashy or home-wrecking story for comparison. These two recurring points in so many reviews are actually crazy to me and the readers clearly missed the thematic takeaway messages or are delusional to think that everything in fictional stories needs to be morally just and perfect (again, coming of age story not romance story, the characters have to fail and learn from their mistakes, that’s why the story is so relatable for teenagers).

My intense frustration with ridiculous sensitive readers and their reviews aside, I was skeptical if I would like Lose You to Find Me as on paper, coming-of-age novels tend to tire me. Excessive teenage angst given the characters ages, immature characters with silly conflicts that could be solved by just having a proper conversation, obviously bad decisions made with dramatic repercussions, this old man is already tired. And to be sure, this novel certainly has a bit of teenage angst and a few drama-story lines per its genre that made me feel old and tired on occasion. However, the vast majority of the rest of the novel and Tommy's story I thought was skillfully balanced and plotted very effectively. Brown is very smart with the plotting and character logic, largely avoiding unnecessary angst and coming up with clever conflicts that minimally rely on basic miscommunication. Apart from smiling and chuckling to myself, I constantly found myself noticing all the common pitfalls or cliched drama tropes that Brown writes around to avoid or twists them in a new way to make them feel fresh.

Similar to Brown's first novel, the character work is also consistently strong here and Tommy is a really entertaining main character and narrator that feels completely different from both Andrew and Jamie before. And unlike his previous two protagonists in All That's Left in The World, Tommy and Gabe are much more flawed. However, that is not necessarily a bad thing, and in fact makes them far more relatable (if we're all being honest here, I'm sure most of us have tried to chase someone that wasn't emotionally or physically available, I sure have). These characters have times where they act petty, try and manipulate the situation in their favor, or take round-about approaches via friends because that’s what typical teenagers do.

These flaws also directly play into their complicated relationship that involves Tommy's childhood crush and obsession, as well as figuring out where they stand in their senior year before graduation. While Tommy is pinning for Gabe who may or may not be interested back (and potentially not available), he also has a recurring down-low hook-up with Brad, a hockey team classmate who's still in the closet. While Tommy and Gabe go through some of the expected moments of an awkward reunion, to being friends, to both being gay and out friends, to an interest beyond that, it's the back-half of the story and the direction that Brown takes their relationship and character growth that sets this novel apart, clearly showing its ambition and intent to be more than just a cute high-school romance-themed story. Not only that, while the romantic relationships featured are certainly not healthy and have red flags everywhere, they're done with full narrative purpose and serve as learning moments for the characters involved and for younger readers. And while certain couples are certainly quite "toxic" in theory, the writing and portrayal is still very clean and far from what I would even consider being trigger-worthy as Brown does a really great job displaying them in the most comfortable and gentle way. While it would've been very easy to have character suffer abuse, hard betrayal, or utter heartbreak, time and time again Brown surprised me at how the takeaway message can still be delivered without being excessive or narratively lazy. The story also consciously avoids the common trope of making gay characters miserable merely for being gay, outed, or being poorly received by family and comes up with more compelling material. In fact, similar to Heartstopper, Brown often plays off the reader’s worst worries and expectations, then takes a different and unexpectedly hopeful path.

Outside of the romance angle, the vast majority of Lose You to Find Me's narrative coming of age heft comes from themes involving the following life according to plan, finding oneself and what makes you happy, and the understanding that people and goals change and that's okay. Aside from the obvious difference between Tommy's idealized memory and image of Gabe as ten-year-old summer campers to Gabe as a grown-up teenager, the story also applies that same theme to Tommy's professional and collegiate pursuits as well as those of his best friend Ava. Along the way, it's also revealed that Tommy's love and interest for cooking and baking can also be attributed to his father who had once enrolling in, yet was unable to complete his dream of a culinary arts degree prior to his death. While Lose You to Find Me is quite humorous and light-hearted, Brown does not shy away from touching on more heartfelt topics such as Tommy's loss and memories of his father (a closing paragraph involving Thanksgiving turkey leftovers will definitely yank at the heartstrings). The major conflict and fight Tommy has with Ava is also directly related to the story's underlying themes, a classy approach compared to where most other stories would have them fight over Tommy's unhealthy chasing of Gabe or the "best friend giving advice that the main character doesn't want to hear" (in fact, Brown's take could be considered nearly the reverse of that). And while seemingly have everything made for him, Gabe’s luck is balanced out by his less than supportive family, rocky past relationships, and his struggle to also choose a life and direction that goes against the plan previously made for him.

Breaking the story down further to its premise, there are certain aspects of the story that are so unique for the genre yet feel so well-researched and experienced. Brown's author's notes explain that he had a similar high school job working at a senior living center, but the idea of having an aspiring high school chef serving and working in this kind of environment is so unusual, yet very refreshing and it fully works! I do quite a bit of regulatory work in senior care centers myself for my irl day job and I found the idea very entertaining, clever, and honestly quite accurately presented. The lack of raw/undercooked food items, OSHA requirements, attempting to meet every resident request (this is more of a hospice thing usually vs a senior living center but close enough), not to mention the staging and seating and resident events, it’s all represented and portrayed realistically! The work environment setting also allows for the novel to add a lot of silly/snarky senior citizen humor to the story (residents Al and Willa are national treasures) while also providing very brief conservative Republican fodder material played entirely for laughs (but tastefully of course per Brown's balanced and always presentable style). And although the story covers all the characters' high school summer break before the senior year through their graduation, the decision to place nearly all the story within Sunset Estates center is a really nice change of pace for the genre rather than covering the monotony and overdone high school material. Apart from brief school scenes involving the yearbook club and the hockey team, both included to give context to some of Tommy's friends/coworkers as well as his recurring hookup Brad, you can almost forget it’s a high school set story if not for the constant talks and worries about college and their futures.

Note: This review is written largely spoiler free, though aspects of the ending play an important factor in my review for this book. Check out the full version of this review with hidden spoiler tags on my reading blog TheBookGrind!

Besides the spoilers and satisfaction with the ending, I thought Lose You to Find Me was an excellent YA coming of age novel that seamlessly incorporates comedy, romance, and drama into a fun and wholesome package. While teen romcom/coming of age movies have kind of gone out of style in recent years, this novel felt a modern m/m take on those fun teen movies rather than most modern romance novels. While those that choose to read this novel specifically for the romance may find this lacking (the romance is not guaranteed or predictable like All That's Left in the World), those looking for a great YA read or coming of age story will find a lot to love and will likely be surprised by its clever ending. Brown is currently two for two with a pair of rare 5-star reviews from me, the man is an excellent YA author, and I can’t wait to read what he publishes next.

Content Warnings

Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto

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adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

An appropriate title for a unique and colorful twist on the familiar Ocean’s Eleven formula, Makana Yamamoto’s Hammajang Luck is a futuristic, high-tech, Hawaii-inspired queer romp that I never thought to want yet quite enjoyed. A scrappy breaking-and-entering story at its core featuring an entirely queer roster, Yamamoto’s debut is full of social and cultural representation. Incorporating very strong community and family values, local Pidgin English, and a familiar blend of cultures that can only be found in Hawaii, this unorthodox pairing with a cyberpunk space station aesthetic is unlike anything I’ve read before. Growing up and living most of my life in the islands, Hammajang Luck has that hidden element that only long-time locals can tap into and has my full Hawaii-resident stamp of approval. Yet underneath all the science fiction elements, queer reworking, and Hawaii cultural flavor, Hammajang Luck’s story is surprisingly simple, predictable, yet comforting. However, from a narrative perspective I often found myself wishing Hammajang’s story and cool concepts went further or more time was spent exploring the Kepler station’s intriguing world. That said, the flavors and decorative details around the story are so fun, they can almost sell the premise on their own.

When I first found this book on upcoming science fiction release lists, I thought my eyes and brain experienced a 404 error. Hawaii culture rocketed off to space with a queer friend to enemies to lovers romp involving a bioengineering heist and ransom. The premise alone seems all hammajang (sorry, couldn’t resist), yet despite how it sounds, it fully works! Hammajang Luck smartly relies on the familiar, tried and true heist storyline traditionally written for motley crews of straight cis men but twists it around in a uniquely modern way. The story consists of Angel negotiating Edie's early parole, one by one assembling their crew, securing the necessary assets for the break-in, and finally the heist itself. The overall story is surprisingly basic, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Once Angel recruits Edie, the plan is on, and the story is often quite fun and entertaining when it’s focused on the undercover action. The recruitment events and the actual heist are both page-turners yet feel also well researched and plotted. On top of the heist action, there’s an underlying tension between Edie and Angel over their complicated pasts and mutually shared intensity.

Now aside from the overall heist story, the most noteworthy aspect of Hammajang Luck is Yamamoto’s authentic representation and homage to their local Hawaii upbringing and culture. From Edie and Andie’s hanai family with Angel, to the food, to the impressively good Pidgin English, Hammajang Luck is a novel that could’ve only been written by a true Hawaii local. I’ve seen many authors try to and fail to capture the authentic feel of Hawaii, particularly writers that have often vacationed or moved to the islands later in life which just isn’t the same. While I often found myself wondering how a non-Hawaii reader would experience this novel due to how loud and proud it is with its roots (another reviewer wondering if Edie and Angel were cousins had me rolling, in Hawaii all close family friends are aunty and uncle), I personally found it highly entertaining. I found Yamamoto’s use of Pidgin English limited to only dialogue between the childhood friends + Malia to be a smart choice that gives the novel personality without being incoherent or too off-putting for those unfamiliar with it. Not only that, but I was also amused seeing certain, less common slang and phrases written for the first time vs only hearing it spoken (the spelling is an adventure at times lol!). Besides the obvious Pidgin English, I found the close family bond between Edie and Andie’s family to be well-done, and although the character motivations were quite typical, they fit the story and narrative well.

Another strong aspect is the visually intriguing Kepler station. While serving as a physical metaphor for the socio-economic stratification of its inhabitants, Kepler’s vertical levels referred to as “Wards” are full of color and cyberpunk goodness. While on one hand I’m not sure how realistically plausible the station and its simulated gravity, air supply, climate, and light source is seeing as Hammajang Luck mostly skirts around the logistical workings of the setting, its nonetheless a fantastic background to the story. With Edie and Andie’s apartment located in Ward 3 eternally bathed in a dusky twilight ambiance shadowed by looming towers and bridges overhead, there’s so many great opportunities for visuals. The scenery practically begs for this story to get a graphic novel adaptation, and I would’ve been happy simply reading about Edie running or parkouring around Hammajang Luck’s world. One of my biggest nitpicks of the novel is actually the limited exploration of Kepler’s wards or exploring how the station functions, not to mention the advanced bioengineering mods and technology in the cyberpunk world. There is a decent amount given to explain the core heist mechanics and goals, but there’s so much untapped bonus material that could’ve been included. While all these added details wouldn’t necessarily enhance the main story, not having more world-building almost seems like a missed opportunity considering how cool Yamamoto’s world and aesthetic is.

When it comes to characters, Edie and Angel are distinctive opposites attract in every possible way. One adrenaline-fueled, emotionally volatile, yet loyal and righteous, while the other is cool, calculated, and methodically detached. Apart from Edie’s non-binary identify and the two’s obvious history and chemistry, the rest of the cast is rounded out by sister Andie’s family members and the assembled heist team. Closely mirroring Hawaii’s unique blend of cultures and ethnicities, Hammajang Luck’s characters likewise are quite varied as well. Representing various Asian and Hawaii names across the board, the novel also has great representation hitting each letter of the LGBTQ+ community. It seems dismissive calling the story a queer science fiction Ocean’s Eleven, but it truly is an apt description, and I mean it in with a positive connotation.

While I loved the science fiction, Hawaii flavor and details on top of the fun heist action, I found myself often liking but not quite loving Hammajang Luck. Besides the already mentioned merely functional world-building, the overall story, characters and villains felt a bit too straightforward and at times, almost juvenile. While having a very colorful cast of characters with a wide variety of backgrounds, most of the characters outside of Edie and Angel aren’t really developed much due to the novel mainly focusing on the pair’s strained relationship and history. Additionally, while Edie and Angel have good yin and yang opposites attract dynamic, the underlying romance was never quite developed enough for me to be fully believable. While the story was interesting and well-paced during the hesit-related activities, I felt like the Edie/Angel drama and potential consequence reflections tended to drag. Running on a miscommunication for nearly the entire duration of the story, the sudden cracking sexual tension between the two of them and the sudden emotional release they have at the crux of the heist felt quite contrived to me. It fits the story and checks the expected romance box that was foreshadowed constantly, but it feels rushed, along with Angel doing a near 180 based on what the story needs at that exact moment. Whether their inevitable reconciliation was set up adequately is a whole other discussion.

The other area that feels underdeveloped is the lack of nuance and complexity of the villains and general character motivations. The villains largely come off as typical rich corporate executives looking to increase their power and wealth while taking advantage of the poor. While the method and goals of the villains have a compelling mechanism and futuristic technological angle to achieve their status and power, the overall tone and aspirations feel more akin to a one-dimensional YA novel material contrary, yet the limited explicit adult content suggests and older targeted reader group. There is a great theme of gentrification and the loss of the traditional local community in the novel that is a clear reference to what’s been happening in Hawaii for decades (particularly in Maui where Yamamoto was born and raised) and the social commentary involving convicted felons or those on a blacklist struggling to reestablish themselves clearly shows narrative ambition (though this is also underdeveloped due to lack of screen time and a very late plot twist reveal). Whether it be the rich corporate leader that Angel is plotting to steal from or Andie’s ex-partner/co-parent Tyler, the villains are heavily villainized individuals with clearly negative intentions. Angel’s cool collected and smart personality contrasted by Edie’s emotional and fiery drive is also quite heavy-handed as well as the constant narrative effort for Edie to demonize Angel’s actions. Edie’s repeated short-sighted assumptions and judgements of Angel’s cold actions are both repetitive and quite exasperating to read over time considering you can see from a mile away that there’s a bigger plan in play. And while I’m not necessarily calling Edie a dumb main character, their repeated assumptions and miscommunications with Angel over the same material certainly caused the novel to lose its spark for me whenever the story wasn’t in its full-on heist action mode.

Featuring an exciting setting and a unique blend of cultural representation and elements, Hammajang Luck is a whole lot of fun when the heist action is going on. Yet, for all its well-portrayed flavors and details included, the base storyline underneath the embellishments is quite straightforward and was just a little bit underwhelming for me due to a lack of narrative complexity or developed character logic/motivations. While it can certainly be taken as a negative drawback, it could also be a promising sign that I liked everything the novel gave me while still wanting more. While Edie and Angel’s story feels complete and does not need a direct sequel, I would love to see Yamamoto come up with future anthology stories or characters set in the same world (maybe a spin-off novel following one of the heist team members?). Either way, Hammajang Luck is a really fun and solid debut novel and one that will surely make any Hawaii locals or those familiar with the islands smile with aloha. Now dis braddah bettah go fo practice his Pidgeon English ‘for he lose ‘em and stay all kine confused wen Makana’s new book come out-

Content Warnings

Verity by Colleen Hoover

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

Like my reviews for other very well-known books and authors, I'm going to skip the usual introduction and pre-amble and get right into my impression and thoughts on Verity. Colleen Hoover is probably one of the most polarizing authors with such big-name recognition that I felt the need to try at least one of her books, picking Verity as the one that had the best match for my reading genre preference. Yet despite that, my feelings while reading Verity ranged from utter bafflement, to eye-rolling embarrassment, to irritation, and finally shock, but not in the way the novel hopes it to be. One of my earliest notes while reading this novel was "Verity reads like the literary equivalent to Stranger Danger, and I don't like this at all." Whether it was an early sign or not, the overall vibe of the novel just felt uncomfortably questionable which is something I very rarely experience, even extensively reading horror and serial-killer murder mystery works. I’ve read and watched a lot of dark series that explore the depths and shadows of the human mind so I had no problems with Verity's content on paper, but the tone and vibe felt all wrong. Paired with surprisingly poor writing quality and down-right disjointed character logic, my experience with Verity was definitely not a good one, but unlike other impassioned reviews, I'm going to attempt to discuss the book in a more level-headed manner.

While Colleen Hoover's books and her reputation have recently come under intense scrutiny, I tried to go into this read with an open mind as well as modest expectations since this is a psychological domestic thriller written by an established author mainly known for romance dramas. While the book has some unexpected developments and is a very quick read, the story felt like it kept ping-ponging between being underwhelming and repetitive, to being tonally off, resorting to shock value to keep the reader invested. The story alternates between Lowen (who I could never remember the name of the entire time reading, I laughed at another review that refers to her as Lemon) and Verity's unpublished memoir. The written memoir, to Hoover's credit, had a very distinctive character voices and style from Lowen’s perspective. The issue with that setup is although Lewon is the main FMC of the story, her narration and perspective is filled with internal thoughts and judgements that are monotonous, irrelevant, or completely obvious that stretches out what should've been a far shorter novel. Verity is written in the style that leaves nothing to the imagination and spells out every single thought process the reader is supposed to have in a highly opinionated manner, subtlety be damned. While her character is intended to be a withdrawn introvert (which in itself, is portrayed like a poor caricature at best), Hoover's execution instead comes off as being a whiny, yet bland and uninteresting social outcast. I constantly felt like the novel was overwritten and dragging when it was written from her point of view and I just wanted Verity to get to the point already. The kindle version is only 333 pages, yet Lowen doesn't even finish the initial job offer meeting more than fifty pages in. While I don't mind a slow-burn pace and appreciate stories that take their time with the details, I found myself wondering how so many pages were wasted on nothing of value except for Lowen's unnecessary and redundant narration. As the story progresses, Lowen's narration shifts from redundant, to preachy and judgmental; I'm not even going to bother mentioning the ironic pot calling the kettle black issue as countless other reviews have covered it in far more... colorful language.

One element that I found particularly noteworthy is the very distinctive difference in tone between Lowen and Verity's perspectives, a common weakness I often notice in split-perspective thriller novels. Verity's perspective had considerably more character (albeit, character that most readers will find unpleasant, completely by design), energy, and intrigue. For all the dark and terrible thoughts that are captured in Verity's unpublished memoir, they're still easily the most interesting aspect (more on that in a few). While it's not a spoiler since it's heavily foreshadowed in the synopsis, as Lowen unknowingly begins to immerse herself in Verity and Jeremy's lives, the mirroring and replacement storyline is written in a way that serves its narrative purpose while crucially keeping the two women distinctive and different.

While the story itself seemed good in theory, the actual execution left a lot to be desired due to the unlikable characters and poor development. While I've already touched on Lowen's unappealing blandness and Verity's contentious portrayal, more important should've been Jeremy and his son crew's character depth. Serving as Verity's husband and Lowen's eye candy, the story needs Jeremy to be appealing and desirable in order for its premise work. Unfortunately, like Lowen, I found Jeremy's character to be very bland and completely one-dimensional. Both Lowen and Verity's memoir repeatedly go on and on about how loving and attractive Jeremy is, how much he cares about his kids, how's he's so nice and deserves better, but it's all superficial and has no depth. Usually, the romantic interest archetype has some sort of attractive quirk, distinguishing quality, or at least witty banter to hook the reader's interest, but Jeremy has nothing apart from being good in bed and a responsible husband figure. Other than the social event that he meets Verity at in the past, the man has almost no personality and it's quite difficult to empathize with both women’s interests. Additionally, as Lowen reads further into Verity’s memoir, there's a sense of danger for Verity and Jeremy's lone surviving son Crew in a possibly unsafe environment. However, because his characterization is so generic, again that dangerous suspense angle doesn't really work well. For better or for worse, Verity is the only character that has any semblance of personality, one that's already meant to be polarizing.

The other biggest issue I had with Verity is Hoover's bizarre overreliance and obsession with sex. While there is a lot of adult content and imagination in Verity's memoir which made sense within the overall story, the constant references to sex in Lowen's perspective was constantly jarring and forced. While I initially found it to be cringe-inducing but also somewhat on-brand, appealing to Hoover’s fanbase and chicklit genre readers, the constant references to sex became increasingly disruptive and confusing. The story would randomly throw in a tangent about Lowen's past sex life, her judgement of her agent that she used to sleep with, wondering how good Verity and Jeremy's sex was in their bedroom, there's so much talk about sex and almost none of it fits the context surrounding it. I've read my fair share of trashy and steamy romance novels as well as romantasy novels with sporadic sex scenes or thirsty gazes, Hoover's implementation of bedroom content makes them seem almost classy, having at least some effort at transitions put in. And it would be one thing if the adult content was steamy or entertaining, but nearly all of it is just kind of awkward and embarrassing distractions that derail the story or make little sense with the character (talking about sex often does automatically make a book sexy or steamy). And aside from two actual sex scenes outside of Verity's memoir, nearly all of the sex talk is decidedly NOT smut and what is actually presented on paper is underwhelming, vague, and lacking in spice.

Do men really believe women are that obsessed with sex?

This is Hoover's own words near the novel's conclusion (also quite comical considering I am a cis man reader and reviewer negatively critiquing Verity’s adult content). There was certainly an intentional takeaway message about sex in Verity that could've been a great thematic moment, but Hoover's own writing and excessive sex-related thoughts in Lowen's perspective undermine that very statement. While I also went into Verity with a blank slate as to not let other reviewers influence my opinion, subsequent points highlighted certainly cast Verity (along with Hoover's other works) under a very different light. The lack of contraceptives explicitly written into the story, Verity's distaste for kids and failure to even consider medical a medical abortion, Lowen's abrupt 180 behavior between the first and second sex scene, I would be outright lying if I said something seems a little suspect. And while Verity does not have any outright sexual abuse or similar topics like some of Hoover's other more infamous novels, it does inadvertently have a form of domestic violence (even if the cause is potentially justified), parental abuse of children, not to mention the premise hinging around homewrecking and cheating. I personally do not mind if books incorporate these topics if they're utilized well for narrative purpose or for strong character development/reflection/introspection. However, there's none of that to be had here and all of these topics many readers would dub problematic are played for pure shock value and clickbait-style branding. While I was previously neutral on my opinion of Hoover's body of work and wouldn't pass judgement after reading only one novel, I can certainly understand the sentiment and reasoning of why many readers call out Hoover's writing for glorifying toxic relationships and profiting off controversial hype. Verity's twist-ending and Lowen’s last actions only further supports that statement.

Despite all the negative and polarizing drawbacks already discussed, some of it would be excusable if the writing was solid or possessed a bit of finesse. Unfortunately, Hoover's writing was anything but quality and further contributed to the underwhelming, unpleasant experience. While not inherently the worst thing I've read (contrary to other angry reviews), the writing style is simplistic at best, unintentionally funny and silly at worst. Perhaps I'm showing my age, but the style reminded me of mid 2010's long-form Tumblr-era storytelling, full of the same controversial tropes and possessing a very juvenile, fan-fiction type of tone (though to be fair to fanfiction, some stories are very well-written and developed). This is most noticeable when it comes to the character logic, numerous plot holes, and details that don’t make sense.

Lowen's impression of her agent flip-flopped constantly over the first 50 pages, the funniest being her offense that Corey did not ask her how she was after her mom passed away despite her avoiding social interaction and finding intrusions into her personal space annoying. She then complained about how Corey wants nothing from her except her money received for representing her (as her agent, that is his primary interest and job), not caring about her or helping her (even though he offered to connect her with a financial advisor and other resources that she promptly refused), and judged him for only wanting her for sex, despite her continuing to sleep with him for the exact same reason until she found out about his girlfriend. When Verity is writing and drafting ideas, she states that she wrote her notes on napkins, water-proof paper in the shower (what water-proof paper is and why she has it in the shower can be a whole other discussion on its own), and wrote possible character names in sharpie on her son's diaper while out and about. Why Verity has a sharpie available but doesn't have, say a smartphone with a notes or voice recorder app is beyond me (this is not historical fiction novel and takes place in the present per pop culture references). And plot twists involving Verity's lack of mental cognition make no sense and ping-pong between being Verity being fully comatose at times (her bed mechanically moving to relieve pressure points), to being physical in-tact but mentally impaired at other moments. Despite being mentally gone, her body can function enough to chew and eat but not enough to move her head on her own? Having had a relative that was mentally disabled due to drugs, leaving her in a child-like state and having another relative left in a paralyzed disabled state, this is NOT how either of these medical conditions work (a far better example of a partially impaired or mute focal character is Riley Sager’s The Only One Left). Furthermore, plot twists involving Verity's state towards the end of the novel have zero plausibility and are downright ridiculous from a medical or scientific standpoint. I originally thought Jeremy was drugging her to induce her comatose-like condition which would've made considerably more sense than what Hoover came up with. On top of that, the ending has so many plot holes, gaps in character logic (particularly those involving Verity and the open-ended miscommunication resolution with Jeremy) and unresolved details, there is so much going on and none of it is positive.

It goes without saying that I did not enjoy Verity at all. From overall weak writing, to questionable material played merely for entertaining shock value, to the numerous plot holes and poor character logic, I genuinely struggle to understand how so many readers love and rate this book so highly. I can see this potentially being an interesting introduction to thriller novels for readers new to the genre, the only way I can see a reader being able to overlook the story's numerous shortcomings, but the way the controversial material is executed makes it an even more off-putting recommendation to support. I honestly struggled with the rating for Verity as objectively I had it somewhere around a 2-3.5-star rating due to its compelling premise and ideas. However, when I reflect on how much I disliked reading this novel from start to finish and having read other books that incorporate these dark elements far more tastefully and effectively (see Matt Haig's The Possession of Mr. Cave for an intense yet thought-provoking novel about child abuse), I cannot rate Verity higher than 1.5 stars. The fact that Verity was also the best shot I had at enjoying one of Colleen Hoover's novels only proves that I'm far from the type of reader her books are written for and am once again at odds with booktok and influencers.

Content Warnings

All That's Left in the World by Erik J. Brown

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"If the world was ending you'd come over, right? You'd come over and you'd stay the night..." because you broke your leg in a bear trap-

Never has my heart felt so warmed by a post-apocalyptic survival road trip adventure, but Erik J. Brown's debut novel All That's Left In the World did that and so much more. A YA survival story of two lonely teenage boys finding a home in each other after most of the world died all around them, the book's characters, tone, pacing and plotting feels pitch-perfect and is an incredibly well-crafted novel. A lot of other reviewers had previously mentioned how wholesome and cute it is, which had me raising an eyebrow given the genre and premise (I sometimes find post-apocalyptic stories slow and repetitive), but it really is such a hopeful and heartfelt book that far surpassed all of my expectations. Providing much needed queer representation is a sub-genre of science fiction that lacked clear standouts while avoiding being too graphic, harsh or scary, All That's Left In the World is an outstanding and well-rounded book that's sure to satisfy a wide variety of readers, even adults as well despite its YA classification and target readers.

Originally drafted pre-Covid and published in 2022 just after the height of the pandemic, you would think All That's Left in the World would fallback on America's response and experience, or worse, relive those dark moments in literary form. Fortunately, Brown largely avoids that, though the story has a few trace mentions of the Covid pandemic which places this story a few years after, followed by Brown's fictional flu strain and apocalypse. Despite it not being specifically refenced as such, off-handed references suggest that All That's Left in the World's pandemic is a type of avian flu, which funnily enough is incredibly relevant in 2025 despite not being a lethal to humans at this time. While the novel has dystopian elements and a few chapters of notable action, the bulk of the story is almost entirely a character-focused one of Andrew and Jamie's relationship. Initially meeting after months of isolation and having experienced their friends and families dying all around them with no hope in sight, the story is about them finding salvation and something to live for in each other when all else seems hopeless. Set-up as a strangers to lovers YA romance story, that simplistic description shortcuts its more nuanced strangers, to friends, to inseparable comrades, to found family, and then finally to something more. All That's Left in the World isn't about the romance or a happily ever after at the end of the day, but about the trust, journey, and character growth covered to eventually get there.

But then I look at him; I hear his laugh, I see his smile, and the darkness melts away. Then I do have hope--even just for a little while--because I know that there is something in this world I can fight for. Something I will fight for if I have to. We're going to be okay,' I repeated to him.

While the story has excellent pacing and a solid plot, most of it would have little value if not for how well-written Andrew and Jamie's characters are. While being comical opposites on the surface and each having their own personal demons, the connection both characters have on a deeper level is very well-done in the story. Isolation and losing loved ones is the norm for post-apocalyptic stories, but with both boys being only 16yrs old and their loved ones dying slowly and painfully as opposed to the similar but more dramatic/sudden zombie apocalypse premise, the mental toll is far greater and more subdued. Right from the get-go I loved the characters platonic chemistry and despite the obvious foreshadowing and synopsis hinting at a future romantic angle, it's just teenage boys being boys (albeit, ones that are emotionally more matured than the norm). From Andrew's disgust at Jamie's favorite movie being the Avengers Endgame (such a straight boy choice) and lack of classic movie knowledge, to Andrew's ignorance of jazz music, the tone is consistently comedic and light-hearted for the first half of the story, and it's almost impossible not to find their banter and solace in each other comforting.

There’s still something about Andrew that feels familiar, like we’ve been friends since we were kids. Because that’s what we are now. Friends. At least I hope we are, considering I’m in a looted Home Depot looking for a gift for him. That’s not the main reason I’m here—it’s getting warmer and I wanted to find seeds to plant in the backyard—but thought I’d look around while I was here.

While there are post-apocalyptic themed threats and dangers, the first half of the story mostly feels like a coming of age dramedy read with very light romantic undertones. Something I thought the book did great was its gentle easing of the reader through the story, almost self-aware that the grim premise could be too dark or difficult for sensitive readers to get through. While there is an overall story involved, almost of all of the content is focused on getting to know Andrew and Jamie and their developing trust and friendship, effectively presented via a split perspective setup of alternating chapters. The story uses the miscommunication trope often, but Brown executes the disconnects very skillfully and fully aware of how long these unspoken issues should run for their narrative purpose. Additionally, when the characters have mistaken impressions of each other, they're always framed with their friend's best interest at heart and as a mechanism for them to trust and open up to each other on a deeper level, rather than the often frustrating and taxing way many other romance novels use miscommunication to stir up drama or manufacture contrived conflicts. Andrew and Jamie's miscommunication is always simply just two thoughtful yet caring softies more than happy to sacrifice their own well-being for each other, unknowingly against the other's wishes (how can you be mad at that, it's endearing).

Once their companionship is well-established, the book's second half adds more action and the more traditional post-apocalyptic elements one would expect for the genre. While there are certainly life-threatening dangers and tense moments, All That's Left in the World smartly plays them at just the right intensity not for shock value, but again to bring Andrew and Jamie closer. While a completely different genre and likely skewing for a slightly older readership, All That's Left in the World gave me the same feeling and experience of when I was first reading Alice Oseman's Heartstopper series where although they don't shy away from darker themes or moments, there's a certain comfort and hope knowing that somehow things will work out alright. This novel also took a very similar approach when a situation or misjudgment by Andrew/Jamie occurs where typical media have conditioned us to expect worst, the story instead takes a pleasantly surprising turn to avoid it. The same can be said about the survival threats which can be tense, but takes the an effective path of least resistance. That's not to say that Brown is softening the blows or watering down the story, but he smartly calculates the narrative payoff vs the reader's comfort level (that said, I'm also someone who reads a lot of dark and intense books so my standards and tolerance are higher than the average reader of this novel).

While definitely having a modern writing style and narration voice for both Andrew and Jamie, I really liked Brown's writing throughout the story that has hallmarks traits of current popular books without relying too heavily on trending features. There isn't a single tiktok reference anywhere in this story, but there are pop culture references like Andrew imagining Tom Holland coming to the rescue or Jamie's love of Marvel movies. Though the refences will obviously age over time, they're those that will have relevance for quite some time and are mainstream enough to not cause adult readers to roll their eyes nor for non-queer allies to miss the reference. The narration and character voice for both characters feels authentic and real, both for the their ages and personalities, complete with all the awkward confusion of teenage years. And although the road trip adventure and journey is good, packing some unexpected plot twists, the book and Brown are at their best in the quiet moments where the two of them are simply resting, doing nothing in particular except talking to each other. Andrew and Jamie could be watching weeds grow on a cracked sidewalk for pages and I wouldn't mind thanks to the strong character work and narration.

This might just be me, but YA novels tend to fall into two camps of either making me feel tired and old due to having overdramatic and "life-shattering" teenage angst, or making me feel wistful and almost, nostalgic, with a dose of melancholy missing those younger years. All That's Left In the World fell completely in the latter group for me as there's not an ounce of unnecessary angst and every conflict or plot element is used to strengthen the relationship between Andrew and Jamie. Brown's portrayal of Andrew's clear out and semi-proud(?) gay identity and Jamie's confused I-don't-know-what-this-is-but-I-care-so-much-about-him discovery is not only great and healthy representation (labels are omitted as they don't matter to the story), but also such a refreshingly sweet, clean and comforting effort (toxic masculinity doesn't exist here except in a villain). I loved how Brown nails the teenage feelings and thoughts that are often jumbled yet honest; the age where you might not know why you like or love someone, but would not hesitate to die for those feelings. This is the type of book or story that I would've loved to have read years ago, yet despite being in my early 30's, I still found its story heartfelt and its hopeful optimism wonderfully presented.

Well-written, paced, with as balanced and as warm of a tone you can get with a post-apocalyptic premise, All That's Left In the World is a standout queer YA novel that's an excellent read for teenage and up readers. Featuring great main characters that are impossible to dislike and a friendship that grows slowly and naturally, this is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a comforting queer/LGBTQ+ novel, or even just readers looking for an sweet friends to true partners story. Despite the world having already died and suffered in this book, the story is one that is full of hope, warmth, and is impossible to put down (I finished this in two days). And while a sequel has since been released in 2024, this novel can fully be read as a standalone, self-contained and satisfying story. I really enjoyed this one and if the synopsis at all interests you, definitely give it a try!

Content Warnings

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

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mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Combining internet creepypasta x reddit culture with conspiracy theory discussions invoking the Mandela effect, while wrapped up with a premise involving former child stars reuniting under devious circumstances, Mister Magic’s ideas and concepts are nothing short of ingenious. A unique, suspenseful thriller with dashes of horror and paranormal activity, Mister Magic is wildly creative while simultaneously feeling like a personal literary work. Heavily hinged around the theme of lost childhood and the misdirection of parental guidance, there are moments where Kiersten White hits hard with relatable and edgy personal jabs at adulthood that are impressive. Unfortunately for me, those sporadic bursts of genius and excitement are surrounded by a slow and messy narrative that is never quite able to deliver on its hook and ideas on paper. Its ending also devolves into a rushed and convoluted mess.

Working at a camping retreat with no cell phone and largely removed from society for the last 30 yrs, former child star Val is unexpectedly reunited with her former co-stars following the death of her father who once grounded and rescued her from a traumatic childhood she cannot remember. Encompassing elements of many popular kids tv shows, Mister Magic’s concept and mysterious disappearance from existence is a genius idea akin to Barney the Dinosaur in a twisted alternate reality. From the reddit thread snapshots, to creepypasta references, to the Teletubbies Tinky Winky gay agenda, to the Mandela effect in every sense except being named, Mister Magic is completely a millennial-inspired novel. The way White captures the online conspiracy internet culture is spot-on and given the age of the characters, this is clearly a novel with a specific reader demographic in mind.

The story reintroduces all of Val’s former co-stars and friends via a reunion inspired podcast special, each of which having led anything but perfect lives following their childhood appearances on Mister Magic. Although this novel was originally published in July 2023, it somehow feels even more relevant today following recent child star documentaries like Quiet on the Set. The novel incorporates quite a few different themes, but the one that I feel is most successful is the reflection on lost childhood and how memories can be shaped or distorted by time and feelings experienced then. While no one can actually reference or re-watch the show decades later, all of the characters, as well as online threads, can still recall what they felt back when they were on or watching the show. Each of the former child stars reveal and reflect upon their adult and family lives following the show, and these personal stories and conflicts were easily the most compelling part of the book for me.

Well, find your own magic, I suppose. The magic way to give your kids the perfect childhood that will turn them into better adults than you could ever have been. The magic way to undo whatever damage your parents did to you, to keep your kids happy and safe and protected forever. Maybe that’s why you’re still obsessed with the show, why we came here like moths to a flame.

Unfortunately, while the former child star and adult family life is an important thematic element in Mister Magic, most of the rest of the story isn’t as exciting to read. Despite having both thriller and paranormal horror aspects in the story, somehow neither of them really felt like a strong enough hook for me and the entire read felt labored and low. While reading and writing this review, my main notes feel almost contradictory. The story felt slow-moving, yet undeveloped, and somehow also rushed in terms of the paranormal mystery reveal. The character drama initially felt forced and disjointed, relying on the mysterious premise to keep the reader’s attention. Yet once the reunion starts and the podcast interviews begin, the horror elements start to lose their excitement and become repetitive. It’s not often this happens, but I’m not entirely sure what I wanted this novel to do for me to enjoy it more. All I know is that I wasn’t really a fan of what I read, and it seems that I’m not alone in that opinion. I think the issue is that Val’s backstory and arrival at the reunion takes over a third of the novel’s 270 page count and after spending so much time talking about how eerie the show is, the actual reunion special is a bit underwhelming after all the hype.

Outside of the reunion aspect and friends reflecting on their years following Mister Magic, the rest of the story felt progressively more out there with less and less explanation of what’s going on. Now I completely understand that the back half of Mister Magic is largely metaphorical, with the namesake persona, show experience, and the key disappearance revealed in the author's notes to be a personification of indoctrinated religion craziness (specifically the Mormon church), I don’t have any issues with the idea and concepts. The problem is the story quite literally takes on a fever dream-like experience and new paranormal elements are thrown in left and right on the fly with no rhyme or reason; they’re intriguing and unsettling but very random. Once the core mystery is revealed and Val begins to unlock her lost memories, there’s a particular scene where Val’s co-star Jenny straight-up monologues what’s happening around them and what this paranormal entity entails. Not only did I find it unintentionally funny due to how crudely the details were unveiled, but also by how out there it is with very few prior clues or non-existent foreshadowing to indicate the direction the story was heading. Aspects of cult behavior, closed community, and religious discovery, while interesting on their own, are implemented very unexpectedly. The ending, while dramatic, feels like White skipped an entire chunk of the story, leaving out important transitional details such as the background to the show’s creation and the implications of the disappearance. With such an unnatural and clunky progression, the ending comes off as a hot mess. I could’ve easily seen the last forty pages stretched out to at least a hundred if it meant more cohesive details and world-building for all of the last-minute plot developments.

What unfortunately makes the ending feel even more unsatisfying is the inconsistent character development and stereotypical behavior traits exhibited by each co-star. Yes, the story makes a point to highlight that each character had a distinguishing role during their time on Mister Magic, but the character depth just kind of stops there. Additionally, a lot of the character backgrounds involves them reminiscing on past events or Val’s long-lost feelings of “this feels familiar” or “this feels right”. The problem with this approach is that the reader has no direct introduction or familiarity to the show/characters back then due to Val’s amnesia, so almost all of the character development is taking Val’s word for it repetitively rather than it being shown through the story organically. While Isaac, Javi and Marcus have quite simple backgrounds (Marcus’s in particular being the most stereotypical), Jenny’s character had so much potential that felt mishandled. Themes of being a wife/mom of servitude, obedience, throwing away one’s life, while all great material to work with, doesn’t have the impact it should due to her character’s portrayal and reactions being all over the place. Her character’s role in the show as the forgettable but everyone’s friend filler character is an intriguing exploration of deteriorating self-worth, but the story instead uses her as scapegoat for constant unhinged outbursts. The ending on the other hand is genius in theory and I loved what it was trying to do. Unfortunately, the ambitious ending heavily relies on the reader’s interest in the characters’ relationships with each other and their families, and there isn’t enough setup or character writing for its emotional resolution to land.

On paper, Mister Magic should’ve been a standout crossover suspenseful thriller with edgy social commentary on rural religious groups and childhood experiences. The concept of a childhood favorite tv show mysteriously disappearing and the unlikely reunion of its disturbed cast is such a great premise for millennial/young adult readers. Unfortunately, the details are everything (or in this case, the details are non-existent) and the lackluster reading experience shows how crucial it is for thrillers to pace their development and character dynamics throughout the book, rather than relying just on ambiance and tone; Mister Magic is also a thriller that’s rather sedated and a crossover horror novel that’s not particularly spooky or unsettling. If judged on ideas alone, Mister Magic would be a fantastic read but sadly this one I can really only recommend to readers looking for a unique and out there fever dream of a read.

Content Warnings

Not That Ridiculous by Isabel Murray

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funny lighthearted 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? No

4.0

Book no.3 in Isabel Murray's Not That series, Not That Ridiculous delivers more or less the same light-heart and fun blend of comedic romance, spicy scenes, and a nice dose of character development and drama. I don't know why, but I was not expecting a 3rd entry in the series considering it had been almost two years since Not That Impossible was published which felt like a perfect ending and companion novel to Not That Complicated. Yet Murray is able to somehow work a 3rd romantic couple out of the past books' already limited side characters and base this novel around one of the most prominent Cotswolds locations previously featured. While I read and reviewed both Not That Complicated and Not That Impossible, each having their own specific strengths and weaknesses, Not That Ridiculous is definitely the most balanced of the three and will certainly satisfy fans of the previous novels (especially those that preferred the first over the second). Featuring an entertaining story and narration courtesy of Chipping Fairford's resident caffeinated "grouch" Charlie Galloway paired off with Kevin Wallis, the famed general handyman that discovered the original dead bodies in Ray's house, Not That Ridiculous is funny, silly, spicy yet also quite polished. Despite having a few minor nitpicks with the the focus and pacing of the story, I enjoyed this a lot and breezed through it in two days.

Before getting into Not That Ridiculous specifically, I feel the need to add an upfront disclaimer to my review. Based on other reviews and scoring for Murray's previous two Not That novels, I feel like I'm definitely in the minority for enjoying and preferring Not That Impossible more than Not That Complicated due to the former's more ambitious character development, atypical pairing/chemistry, and having found Liam highly entertaining from his first appearance in the first book. While having stronger comedic shenanigans, I felt Not That Complicated was a bit slapstick-heavy, verging on cringe-y at times, and Ray/Adam lacked Jasper's strong character story and complex history with Liam. In many ways, Not That Ridiculous feels like a happy medium between the two, though part of me suspects this one was crafted as a direct response to the negative reviews of the 2nd entry, one I don't agree with. If I'm being honest, I was surprised Murray was able to make this 3rd novel work considering the original timeline of events felt already well-covered between the past two perspectives, and with Jasper and Liam paired off, there really wasn't any other characters left to explore. I never would've imagined Charlie would work as a main protagonist considering he had such little presence in the first two books (his sister Amalie being the more notable coffee shop barista), let alone pairing him with Kevin Wallis who had more appearances but didn't leave much of an impression for me (let alone being remotely interested in another man). Yet despite the unexpected combination, it works!

Unlike the previous two novels that covered roughly the same events from different perspectives, Not That Ridiculous instead is set four years after the previous two entries. A lot has changed in those years, namely the past couples are now married, Kevin is now a strong 24yr old young man, and Charlie is the financially-strapped and at capacity sole owner of the The Chipped Cup, the coffee shop frequently visited by all of the previous main characters. I'm a huge latte and coffee shop enthusiast so I obviously appreciated the story's focus on the coffee shop, espresso drinks, vintage gaggia machines and Kevin's fascination for latte art, but I thought the general business owner storyline plus the time jump was a refreshing change of pace. And after all the invasive residential destroying that was done in the first two books, it was also a fun idea focusing on the restoration process via Kevin's occupation. Taking a page from Jasper's character-focused story yet also keeping the spicy romcom hook front and center, Not That Ridiculous's story flows really well and avoids the tonal extremes of its predecessors. I also felt like Murray's writing style just keeps getting better and better with each novel, and while the jokes and punchlines can still be purposefully comically goofy, they feel smarter and rely less on pop culture references or slang that will certainly age quickly (Not That Complicated in particular). Being set after the earlier stories also allows this novel to serve dual purposes of not only developing Charlie and Kevin's relationship, but also serving as an extended epilogue for the other characters that are interwoven effectively into this story. While Charlie and Kevin's romance was cute, I was almost more invested in Jasper considering where his novel left off and seeing Ray and Adam very settled compared to their whirlwind relationship.

While not nearly as charming as Jasper, I also loved Charlie's character and enjoyed the duality between his grumpy and tired exterior with his sweeter and wholesome internal feelings. Professionally competent, responsible, and constantly overloaded (honestly what a mood), I appreciated how frank and direct his dialogue and character logic was, especially his "I don't have the time or energy for miscommunication so this is how it is" (compare that to Ray/Adam). In general, his relationship with Kevin felt closer to Ray and Adam's in terms of dynamics vs the Jasper and Liam's rockier and edgier relationship. However unlike either of the other two pairings, Charlie and Kevin's relationship doesn't waste time with the usual will-they won't-they, instead hitting it right off from the get-go and immediately getting into steamy situations quickly (a direct contrast to one the common complaints others made about Not That Impossible that I don't agree with). Instead, this novel focuses on Charlie's confusion trying to understand why Kevin is interested in him as a seemingly straight gym bro or more importantly, why he's obsessed with trying to fix Charlie's fixer-upper abode. Also, as a reader who is in his early 30's (which is not THAT old I might add), Charlie's lack of dating, relationship history, and inexperience with sex is relatable and nice switch-up for the series compared to Ray's flamboyant demeaner and worlds away from Jasper's storylines. As a direct result, the banter between a gay guy inexperienced with sex and a typically straight guy who is confident based on his extensive research watching gay porn is absolutely hilarious. It sounds silly on paper but Murray makes it comedy gold:

“Cute coffee shop barista twink gets railed,” Kevin said.
Well, that was a needle-scratch moment. What the hell?
“Hot coffee shop twink gets a triple shot,” he continued. “Handyman with XXXL tool nails twink to floor. Handyman surprises twink with his XXXL power tool.”

Owing to their rather limited appearances in the past two novels, one aspect I found interesting was how both Charlie and Kevin were mostly blank slates in terms of character narratives and personalities compared to Jasper and Liam's portrayals prior to their novel. From what I remember, Charlie was merely an aloof and grouchy barista who seemed to have had a vague interest in Jasper at some point during his journalism days while Kevin was a masculine, not the sharpest tool in the shed laborer (also the only male character featured in this series to not have expressed any sort of interest or attraction to guys previously compared to the breadcrumbs left for Liam and Charlie). At times I did question the plausibility of all the various buddy buddy relationships that seemed at odds with how they were portrayed previously, particularly Charlie and Jasper who didn't seem anywhere near that close in Not That Impossible as well as Kevin who seemed didn't seem to be hugely familiar with any of the other guys before. Murray makes it work, but if you read the novels back to back it slightly stretches what's believable and can feel a bit forced in.

While I found Not That Ridiculous to be a really fun and light-hearted read, the one nitpick I had was that the narrative content felt unevenly concentrated in the last third of the book. While not having nearly as ambitious character growth and storylines as Not That Impossible, I felt like a lot the real meat of the story came in relatively late. While I have nothing against books that feature falling in love (and into each other's bed repeatedly 😉) fast, the character storylines involving Charlie's unhappiness in life, feelings of abandonment by Amalie, his resistance to opening up to others and avoiding his problems all felt rushed and crammed in at the last minute. Additionally while Kevin's straight boy > I love Charlie progression was cute and his occupation was quite interesting, his character felt less developed compared to past love interests Adam and Liam. Additionally, the book often foreshadowed some sort of character growth moment where Kevin would confront his questionable boss Craig or go solo based on how unhappy Kevin is with his job arrangement (or even just channeling a fraction of Charlie's business ownership, professional independence), but what I actually got was a bit of a letdown. And while the strained relationship and conflict between Charlie and Kevin made narrative sense, I never really understood why Kevin came to his decision and worry about the situation and would have liked to explore the source of the miscommunication or his concerns more. Frankly, I would've liked their whole separation arc to be longer in general, not only for greater character growth potential, but also for more interactions with Adam and Ray which I really enjoyed. The story also never really explores Kevin's bi/pan/demi(?) awakening which also would be interesting content and material to cover. With the way the book was setup and structured, there simply was not enough time and pages left compared to the first two thirds which, despite being entertaining and full of steamy sex scenes, felt like a lot of padded out fluff; cute and fun fluff, but fluff nonetheless. Perhaps this is me being picky and wanting more from this novel than what was it was written for, but while good as is, it's awfully close to being great.

Like the previous novels in the series, I enjoyed Not That Ridiculous and read through it very quickly. Returning to a romance-heavy focus, this is a really fun, quick read and a great choice for readers looking for a hilarious light-hearted yet spicy M/M read. For readers that have been keeping up with the series, this one is like the best of both worlds of the past books. And most importantly, Not That Ridiculous finally addresses the source and possible culprit of the mysteriously bizarre costumed dead bodies mystery that stretches across all three novels. And with the possible culprit revealed and Murray exhausting just about every eligible male character in Chipping Fairford, this is likely the end to the series that is tied up in a rather satisfying way. Looking back, it's funny thinking how invested I became reading Murray's novels after picking up Not That Complicated on a blind automated algorithm Kindle suggestion, especially since I considered that first novel cute but very casual and low-stakes. While obviously not intending to be the most dramatic or moving material out there, Murray's series has been a lot of fun and it's been a great time reading along with it! That being said, I also wouldn't be terribly surprised if Murray somehow manages to twist either Kevin's handyman boss Craig or The Inquirer's publisher Ralph that Jasper submitted his journalism articles to into a fourth romantic interest, despite how terrible these two would be in a M/M pairing in theory. That being said, they are both old and therefore would be on-brand for this series' age-gap formula so... yeah, we are not manifesting that-

Content Warnings

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Normally I start reviews with a brief recap and overall impressions before getting into my general thoughts and impressions, but you have to be living under a rock to be unfamiliar with Rebecca Yarros's Empyrean series' first novel Fourth Wing. Also, quite a few of my book friends have been dying for me to read this series and to hear my thoughts on it. Having heard very mixed receptions and reviews for the series (Iron Flame in particular being the most polarizing) and being a fairly inexperienced romantasy reader, I went in preparing myself to be disappointed. While I did find myself agreeing with many of the common criticisms highlighted in other far more detailed reviews for the book, I was actually pleasantly surprised by the ambition and generally great plotting of the story (apart from when the story goes a bit astray at the two thirds mark).

If there's one thing that's consistent in Fourth Wing, its the entertainment value and accessibility of the story for all sorts of readers, romance and fantasy alike. An early note I had written down said "Sure I can critique and nitpick the book and call out its lack of details and world-building, but does it really matter when the book is so entertaining?". Incorporating elements from popular YA novels such as Divergent, Eragon, even some loose magic inspirations like Harry Potter (okay maybe that one's a stretch), Fourth Wing grabs the reader's attention from the get-go with its 24/7 survival game setup where any challenge or confrontation with fellow cadets could result in death. Yes the life or death premise is rather overdramatic and there are aspects of it that frankly don't really make logistical sense in terms of limited manpower, resources or quelling of a past rebellion, but it sure is a lot of fun!

For most of its nearly 700 page run, Fourth Wing perfectly balances its surprisingly ambitious fantasy epic with its spicy, opposites attract romance. From Violet's inception at Basgiath War College, her cadet challenges, and dragon pairing event referred to the Threshing, Fourth Wing is quite compelling when it focuses on her training arc that smoothly incorporates her romantic interests and lingering gaze well. Yes, the story has a habit of conveniently info-dumping periodically via Violet reciting world-building facts as an anxiety-soothing technique and yes, its magic system and dragon lore is vague and convoluted, but I was so into it that it that I could look the other way. Up until around the 60% mark, I was thoroughly impressed and debated giving Fourth Wing an unexpected 5-star rating.

Unfortunately, from that point onward until the final 1st year challenge that occurs at the 90% mark, things start to unravel and stagnate. Once Violet participates in the Threshing and a notable incident at her life occurs soon after, the story starts to drag and the life-or-death page-turning momentum starts to feel a bit silly and overblown. While I was reading this section, I originally felt that the story's sharp pivot into its very romance-heavy 3rd act was a misstep and Yarros ran out of material to work with. However, after taking some time to reflect on the overall story and plot, I believe what happened is that the fantasy action side of the story peaked too early. With the fantasy training arc already hit a narrative high, the romance element was just heating up (literally) and was likely intended to carry the rest of the story. While I felt the romance and chemistry were good, I felt that Fourth Wing's fantasy story was actually far stronger narrative material while the romance story, while solid, was not exceptional enough to do such heavy-lifting. Additionally, I felt like this section was simultaneously wasting time as Violet's flying and training classes were handled vaguely and fast-forwarded, akin to background filler between romance scenes. This lack of evenly-paced world-building was particularly noticeable when the book's ending sequence plot twists come through and the final battle commences. While I enjoyed the ending and thought the plot twists were excellent, the last hundred pages or so felt like it was trying to cram in way too many new details required to make the surprises and confrontation work. The inter-country(?) relations, settlements, and folklore definitely could've been foreshadowed or expanded upon far earlier during all the romantic shenanigans (there’s some there but enough) and is likely one of the main reasons why many hardcore fantasy readers find Fourth Wing's world-building to be weak and thinly constructed. The content and world exists on paper, but the execution makes all the difference.

As far as characters go, I quite enjoyed the FMC Violet, the dark and dangerous Xaden, and their fellow Fourth Wing squad members. Although romance novels seem to be required to always have such small female main characters compared to the huge, broad, chiseled love interests which usually makes me roll my eyes, Fourth Wing at least commits to it and give it purpose. Violet's small stature and frail body serves as a major physical roadblock to being a flying soldier and dragon rider and actually fits the story well outside of steamy scenes that obviously make sure of the size gap. While some other readers negatively critiqued how Violet seemingly cheats her way through her training arc, I actually thought Violet's solutions (and by extension Yarros's plotting) were clever and refreshing compared to the frequent "chosen one powerful one" trope overdone in fantasy. While it can be seen as contrived or laughably silly, I also liked how Yarros used certain dragon interaction mechanics as an unorthodox style of forced proximity to segue into Fourth Wing's spicy scenes and romance.

Admittedly I did find that the other squad members, friends and side characters had thin personalities and character development (which causes occasional character deaths to be far less impactful or dramatic than the novel clearly intends them to be), but they're good enough to serve their purpose as fodder expendable material. The intentional contrast between Dain and Xaden, while good on paper, also has the subtlety of a car crash and lacks nuance that could've made Violet's conflicting feelings and loyalty far more tense and compelling. Whether it be a purposeful decision or not considering its female-leaning readership, but the side male characters seem to have far more "screen time" and development compared to the female side characters; including Violet's best friend Rhiannon who is often present yet isn't developed very well and doesn't contribute much to the actual story. 2nd year Imogen also has just as many appearances as Liam yet not even half the amount of effort and time spent with Liam is afforded to Imogen, whose unclear motives could’ve made great story material. That being said, despite being stereotyped for being a "for the romantasy girlie" kind of read and a clear preference for its male characters, Fourth Wing still has surprisingly great crossover appeal, mostly thanks to most guys finding Dragons go brrrr~ always fun to read.

Although I'm sure some of my friends would've found it amusing to see me tear this book apart or to shockingly love it to pieces, overall I fell somewhere in-between. While I loved the first 60% of the book, its underwhelming section after brought down my initially high impression to a solid, yet there's room to improve opinion (4.5 rating rounded down to 4 for platforms using whole-star ratings). However, I still found Fourth Wing to be a very impressive fantasy outing for an author primarily known for exclusively writing romance and crossover contemporary drama, and it pretty much met my expectations of what a good romantasy read should be (I previously read Callie Hart's Quicksilver prior to Fourth Wing which was a far more baffling and confusing outing). And despite the back half of the book not really being my cup of tea, I really liked the direction Fourth Wing was heading with its plot twist ending, and I’m optimistic that the 2nd book will hopefully expand and pace the world-building better now that the partial squad is basically in a new world/territory (yes I'm well aware of the Iron Flame hate club, I'm going in with an open mind). While I'm still not entirely sure if the romantasy genre is for me, against all expectations I liked Fourth Wing! (it's also been a long-running meme that I had a libby waitlist hold for this book for over a year and half that I kept postponing, only to eventually cancel the hold and read it on Kindle Unlimited via my recent jump to a new Kindle ereader from Boox, what a wild ride)

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jefferz's reviews 130 reviews

jefferz's reviews
130 reviews