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looseleafellie's reviews
251 reviews
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
dark
tense
After watching the Wicked movie in December, I decided to read the book -- and I’m pleased to report that I really liked it, though for different reasons than the musical/movie.
The book follows Elphaba, the eventual Wicked Witch of the West, from her birth all the way to her death at the hands of Dorothy. The tale is told through other people’s eyes for about half of the book before Elphaba finally gets to tell her own story.
Elphaba is the closest thing the book has to a hero, and though she isn’t fully good, she’s perhaps the most morally consistent character. A dark cynicism underpins most of the narrative, which is intentionally frustrating at times, but it paints a chilling picture of a world that has lost hope and descended into tyrrany because of it.
Compared to the movie/musical, the story deals more heavily with philosophy, religion, and politics, and takes place over a longer time period. It was intriguing to see the cultural forces at play in the world of Oz, and how Elphaba struggled against a world that both shunned her and offended her sense of justice.
Overall, if you like the idea of a dark, twisted fantasy novel that riffs on a familiar story to create something both brutal and contemplative, you might love the Wicked novel. But if you want something that won’t leave you feeling like someone has thrown a bucket of water on you and stomped on your chest with an enchanted shoe, watch the musical instead.
The book follows Elphaba, the eventual Wicked Witch of the West, from her birth all the way to her death at the hands of Dorothy. The tale is told through other people’s eyes for about half of the book before Elphaba finally gets to tell her own story.
Elphaba is the closest thing the book has to a hero, and though she isn’t fully good, she’s perhaps the most morally consistent character. A dark cynicism underpins most of the narrative, which is intentionally frustrating at times, but it paints a chilling picture of a world that has lost hope and descended into tyrrany because of it.
Compared to the movie/musical, the story deals more heavily with philosophy, religion, and politics, and takes place over a longer time period. It was intriguing to see the cultural forces at play in the world of Oz, and how Elphaba struggled against a world that both shunned her and offended her sense of justice.
Overall, if you like the idea of a dark, twisted fantasy novel that riffs on a familiar story to create something both brutal and contemplative, you might love the Wicked novel. But if you want something that won’t leave you feeling like someone has thrown a bucket of water on you and stomped on your chest with an enchanted shoe, watch the musical instead.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Racism, Violence, Religious bigotry, Murder, Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Genocide, Rape, Slavery, Suicide
Content warnings for the Wicked novel: Child abuse, murder, violence, ableism, racism, fascism, religious bigotry, animal cruelty, bullying, classism, adultery, substance abuse, prejudice against intersex people, and mentions of r-pe, g-nocide, suicide, and slavery.
Sexual content level: graphic, including a scene hinting at, uh, cross-species activity with a sentient animal.
A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon
In this book, Talasyn and Alaric are fresh off their political marriage. Talasyn secretly works to overthrow Alaric’s empire, and Alaric is secretly involved in his father’s schemes against Talasyn. But as their alliances tangle and their attraction to each other grows, they must cooperate to prevent an apocalyptic disaster.
Middle books in a trilogy often have pacing issues, but this book kept my attention with its political intrigue and action! The story’s setting, especially Nenavar, continued to captivate me. I also think the line-level writing in this book was even stronger than the first, which helped me sail through the pages!
As for the romance, Talasyn and Alaric’s relationship in this book comes with plenty of angst, conflict, and spice. I find them interesting not necessarily because I need them to be together, but because their feelings complicate the political situation. Don’t get me wrong, I find their growing care for each other charming, but I’m here for the MESS 😈
While the story ended with the characters solving one of their biggest problems, it set up the conflict in the next book extremely well. For most of A Monsoon Rising, Alaric and Talasyn had an aligned goal — but now, their goals are opposed, and I’m dying to see how that plays out in the finale!
Spice level: Graphic.
Content warnings: Violence, war, colonization, animal cruelty.
Middle books in a trilogy often have pacing issues, but this book kept my attention with its political intrigue and action! The story’s setting, especially Nenavar, continued to captivate me. I also think the line-level writing in this book was even stronger than the first, which helped me sail through the pages!
As for the romance, Talasyn and Alaric’s relationship in this book comes with plenty of angst, conflict, and spice. I find them interesting not necessarily because I need them to be together, but because their feelings complicate the political situation. Don’t get me wrong, I find their growing care for each other charming, but I’m here for the MESS 😈
While the story ended with the characters solving one of their biggest problems, it set up the conflict in the next book extremely well. For most of A Monsoon Rising, Alaric and Talasyn had an aligned goal — but now, their goals are opposed, and I’m dying to see how that plays out in the finale!
Spice level: Graphic.
Content warnings: Violence, war, colonization, animal cruelty.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang
5.0
My favorite short story of all time is Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang, which was the basis for the 2016 film Arrival. Because of this, I was eager to read Chiang’s short story collections, and I am pleased to report that Stories of Your Life and Others has solidified him as one of my all time favorite authors!
While the title story is still my favorite, I loved delving into the other tales in this book. Some of my runner-up favorites were Understand, Tower of Babylon, and Hell Is the Absence of God.
Chiang is a master of science fiction, blending unique ideas, scientific precision, and gut-wrenching emotion. His ideas are bonkers and inventive, but he always keeps control over the rules of the worlds he creates, making them seem more real.
Overall, I think Chiang’s work is a must-read for any sci-fi fan, and I am eager to read his other short story collection, Exhalation, next!
While the title story is still my favorite, I loved delving into the other tales in this book. Some of my runner-up favorites were Understand, Tower of Babylon, and Hell Is the Absence of God.
Chiang is a master of science fiction, blending unique ideas, scientific precision, and gut-wrenching emotion. His ideas are bonkers and inventive, but he always keeps control over the rules of the worlds he creates, making them seem more real.
Overall, I think Chiang’s work is a must-read for any sci-fi fan, and I am eager to read his other short story collection, Exhalation, next!
Brewed with Love by Shelly Page
5.0
Brewed with Love follows a teen witch, Sage, who is determined to save her family’s apothecary from being smothered by the competition. Annoyingly, she also has to deal with her new coworker, her first crush and former best friend Ximena. When someone breaks into the apothecary and steals some important potions, Sage and Ximena must investigate … and maybe fall for each other along the way!
This book blends cozy fantasy, an intriguing mystery, and a super cute romance into a warm magical delight! I am picky about romantasy, because I often find that the romance smothers the opportunity for good worldbuilding, but the genres in this book melt seamlessly into each other. I have a special soft spot for books about small businesses, so that was also a plus.
Sage was a realistically flawed main character that I couldn't help rooting for all the same. I loved seeing her work out her issues with Ximena as they both realized they're perfect for each other! I also loved getting to know the other residents of the small town of Blackclaw and trying to guess who stole Sage's potion. EVERYONE had a suspicious motive or something to hide, which made things all the more exciting!
While mostly focused on entertainment, the story also neatly folds in themes of protecting the environment, combating prejudice, and supporting small businesses. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a magical cozy story perfect for reading snuggled under a fluffy blanket during winter -- or any time!
Content warnings: Prejudice (toward a fantasy creature), mentions of chronic illness and parent death.
This book blends cozy fantasy, an intriguing mystery, and a super cute romance into a warm magical delight! I am picky about romantasy, because I often find that the romance smothers the opportunity for good worldbuilding, but the genres in this book melt seamlessly into each other. I have a special soft spot for books about small businesses, so that was also a plus.
Sage was a realistically flawed main character that I couldn't help rooting for all the same. I loved seeing her work out her issues with Ximena as they both realized they're perfect for each other! I also loved getting to know the other residents of the small town of Blackclaw and trying to guess who stole Sage's potion. EVERYONE had a suspicious motive or something to hide, which made things all the more exciting!
While mostly focused on entertainment, the story also neatly folds in themes of protecting the environment, combating prejudice, and supporting small businesses. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a magical cozy story perfect for reading snuggled under a fluffy blanket during winter -- or any time!
Content warnings: Prejudice (toward a fantasy creature), mentions of chronic illness and parent death.
Content Warnings
Minor: Chronic illness, Death of parent
Palestine +100 by Basma Ghalayini
In my opinion, sci-fi is one of the best vehicles for exploring questions of politics, society, and philosophy through a slightly unfamiliar lens. Palestine +100, an anthology of twelve science fiction short stories published in 2019, exemplifies the strengths of this genre.
Twelve Palestinian writers were given the prompt to write a story imagining Palestine in the year 2048, 100 years after the Nakba. The futures they imagine deal with alternate dimensions, virtual reality, cyborgs, the 2048 Olympic Games, and ghosts of the past haunting the future.
This is the first time I’ve read an anthology that gave the writers all a specific prompt, and it was fascinating to see what each writer did with it! My favorite story was the first one, Song of the Birds by Saleem Haddad (largely because it contains a sci-fi trope I have a soft spot for), but the rest of the stories drew my interest in their own unique ways.
The publisher, Comma Press, has other sci-fi anthologies in the series — Egypt +100, Kurdistan +100, and Iraq +100, with Iran +100 coming next year — and I’m interested to check those out as well!
Twelve Palestinian writers were given the prompt to write a story imagining Palestine in the year 2048, 100 years after the Nakba. The futures they imagine deal with alternate dimensions, virtual reality, cyborgs, the 2048 Olympic Games, and ghosts of the past haunting the future.
This is the first time I’ve read an anthology that gave the writers all a specific prompt, and it was fascinating to see what each writer did with it! My favorite story was the first one, Song of the Birds by Saleem Haddad (largely because it contains a sci-fi trope I have a soft spot for), but the rest of the stories drew my interest in their own unique ways.
The publisher, Comma Press, has other sci-fi anthologies in the series — Egypt +100, Kurdistan +100, and Iraq +100, with Iran +100 coming next year — and I’m interested to check those out as well!
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
adventurous
dark
The Hurricane Wars is a romantic fantasy with a world inspired by Southeast Asia. Talasyn, a young woman who secretly wields light magic, must marry Alaric, the prince of a shadowy enemy empire, to stop an apocalypse. But as Talasyn navigates complex politics and plots to defeat the empire in the end, a new confounding variable comes into play: she might be falling for her fiancé.
The Hurricane Wars began as Reylo fanfic (Rey and Kylo Ren from Star Wars), but the world in the published book is nothing like Star Wars. The descriptions made me feel like I was visiting Nenavar right along with the characters! The good guys get into a dire position surprisingly early in the story, and I was propelled along by my desire to learn how the hell they’re going to get out of this.
I wasn’t sure at first if I would be on board with Talasyn and Alaric’s romance, but by the end, I enjoyed their banter and grumpy x grumpy dynamic. Of course, the elephant in the room is that Alaric is the ruler of the empire that Talasyn wants to defeat — and while they had some heated conversations about that in The Hurricane Wars, I’m interested to see how the sequels will further tackle their opposing goals. (Worth noting I’m not a Reylo fan myself, but fanfic Reylo is kind of solid, not gonna lie.)
I’m glad I waited to read this until the sequel came out, because after that ending, I was dying to discover what happens next! I’m just starting A Monsoon Rising, and I’m excited to see where this installment takes the characters and the fate of the world.
Spice level: graphic (one scene)
Content warnings: War, imperialism, grief, imprisonment, death (including mentions of parent death), and mentions of genocide.
The Hurricane Wars began as Reylo fanfic (Rey and Kylo Ren from Star Wars), but the world in the published book is nothing like Star Wars. The descriptions made me feel like I was visiting Nenavar right along with the characters! The good guys get into a dire position surprisingly early in the story, and I was propelled along by my desire to learn how the hell they’re going to get out of this.
I wasn’t sure at first if I would be on board with Talasyn and Alaric’s romance, but by the end, I enjoyed their banter and grumpy x grumpy dynamic. Of course, the elephant in the room is that Alaric is the ruler of the empire that Talasyn wants to defeat — and while they had some heated conversations about that in The Hurricane Wars, I’m interested to see how the sequels will further tackle their opposing goals. (Worth noting I’m not a Reylo fan myself, but fanfic Reylo is kind of solid, not gonna lie.)
I’m glad I waited to read this until the sequel came out, because after that ending, I was dying to discover what happens next! I’m just starting A Monsoon Rising, and I’m excited to see where this installment takes the characters and the fate of the world.
Spice level: graphic (one scene)
Content warnings: War, imperialism, grief, imprisonment, death (including mentions of parent death), and mentions of genocide.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Colonisation, War
Moderate: Death
Minor: Genocide, Death of parent
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
dark
funny
fast-paced
5.0
This story concerns a fictional island called Nollop, named after its famous citizen Nevin Nollop who invented the phrase “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” They even have a statue of Nollop with the phrase written on it. But when letters start falling off the monument, the tyrannical island council decides to outlaw the use of every letter that falls. Now, it’s up to the residents of the island to fight back as their speech becomes more restricted letter by letter.
As an enjoyer of both the English language and dystopian books, this story was a darkly fun read! I enjoyed getting to know the islanders and cheering for their fight against the frustratingly, irrationally evil island council. Under the satire, there’s a chilling message about restricting speech as a method of control.
This is quite a short book, but that meant I had more time to muse over the wording choices and note the ways the islanders overcame the increasing restrictions on their language. Overall, I would recommend this to language lovers and anyone who has ever wanted to both laugh and cry at an evil government.
Content warnings: Authoritarianism, alcoholism, religious bigotry (with a fictional religion), imprisonment, deportation, death, attempted suicide.
As an enjoyer of both the English language and dystopian books, this story was a darkly fun read! I enjoyed getting to know the islanders and cheering for their fight against the frustratingly, irrationally evil island council. Under the satire, there’s a chilling message about restricting speech as a method of control.
This is quite a short book, but that meant I had more time to muse over the wording choices and note the ways the islanders overcame the increasing restrictions on their language. Overall, I would recommend this to language lovers and anyone who has ever wanted to both laugh and cry at an evil government.
Content warnings: Authoritarianism, alcoholism, religious bigotry (with a fictional religion), imprisonment, deportation, death, attempted suicide.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Deportation
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Suicide attempt
The Will of the Many by James Islington
adventurous
tense
5.0
Most of the books I read quickly are quite short. So imagine my surprise when I discovered The Will of the Many by James Islington — a chonky tome indeed, but I gobbled it up in short order!
In a Roman-inspired world, the powerful thrive by draining Will from lower classes. Vis, the orphaned prince of a conquered kingdom, keeps his head down and hides his identity for his safety. Having never undergone the procedure to give or take Will, he yearns to be free of the empire.
When a senator takes an interest in Vis’s inability to be affected by Will, they strike a deal: Vis will be adopted as the Senator’s son and attend an elite academy, and if he does well, he can graduate and take a posting far away from the center of empire. In return, Vis will unravel the academy’s secrets and report back to the Senator. But as Vis uncovers the truth, he realizes he — and the world — are in more danger than he suspected.
This book contains loads of things I love in fantasy novels: mysteries, an academy, competitions, political intrigue, and twists galore! Every chapter brought a new challenge, reveal, or complication. I also loved the complex themes of power, complicity, and rebellion.
Vis admittedly has a case of Main Character Syndrome, but I was enthralled by his adventures. I never doubted his intelligence and skill would help him see things through, but I was fascinated to see how he would overcome seemingly impossible challenges.
The ending of this book was WILD, and left me gasping for the sequel! Annoyingly, there is no release date yet, so I must simply huff and puff as I try to wait patiently. And convince everyone else to read the first book too!
Spice level: None.
Content warnings: Imperialism, mass murder, blood/gore, torture, indentured servitude, suicide, grief, bullying, animal harm, mentions of misogyny and homophobia.
In a Roman-inspired world, the powerful thrive by draining Will from lower classes. Vis, the orphaned prince of a conquered kingdom, keeps his head down and hides his identity for his safety. Having never undergone the procedure to give or take Will, he yearns to be free of the empire.
When a senator takes an interest in Vis’s inability to be affected by Will, they strike a deal: Vis will be adopted as the Senator’s son and attend an elite academy, and if he does well, he can graduate and take a posting far away from the center of empire. In return, Vis will unravel the academy’s secrets and report back to the Senator. But as Vis uncovers the truth, he realizes he — and the world — are in more danger than he suspected.
This book contains loads of things I love in fantasy novels: mysteries, an academy, competitions, political intrigue, and twists galore! Every chapter brought a new challenge, reveal, or complication. I also loved the complex themes of power, complicity, and rebellion.
Vis admittedly has a case of Main Character Syndrome, but I was enthralled by his adventures. I never doubted his intelligence and skill would help him see things through, but I was fascinated to see how he would overcome seemingly impossible challenges.
The ending of this book was WILD, and left me gasping for the sequel! Annoyingly, there is no release date yet, so I must simply huff and puff as I try to wait patiently. And convince everyone else to read the first book too!
Spice level: None.
Content warnings: Imperialism, mass murder, blood/gore, torture, indentured servitude, suicide, grief, bullying, animal harm, mentions of misogyny and homophobia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Genocide, Grief
Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny
Fledgling by S.K. Ali
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
YA dystopian novels are SO BACK, and a recent addition to this genre is Fledgling by S.K. Ali. As a fan of the YA dystopian novels from the 2010s, I was excited to see what this book had to offer, and I’m pleased to report I loved it!
This book is about a divided world, where the citizens of the floating island of Upper Earth live in high-tech luxury and the citizens of Lower Earth scrape by to survive. A marriage between an Upper Earth princess and a Lower Earth prince promises to unite the world in peace, but this promised peace isn’t what it seems …
The first half of Fledgling is heavy on backstory and intricate worldbuilding. That sort of thing usually makes the pacing drag for me, but I actually devoured the book all the way through because I was so interested in learning more about the world, the cool sinister sci-fi tech, and the characters’ origins!
This book has a LOT of viewpoint characters, all with different perspectives on their world. At first I was concerned that the number of characters would get overwhelming, but I loved meeting them all in the end, and I don’t think the story would have been as effective with a smaller cast.
Because this is the first book in a duology, the story is still unfolding, and some of the characters’ perspectives have yet to be explored fully. While I mostly felt in tune with the motivations of the main cast of characters, some of the side characters have unreliable or conflicting narratives, and I DESPERATELY need the sequel to find out WHAT THE HECK SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ARE UP TO!
Ultimately, Fledgling is a story about narrative — who gets to write the official record books of history, and how the world looks from different people’s perspectives. It’s a timely exploration of colonialism, misinformation, and the importance of record-keeping and truth-telling to overcome oppression. I will be thinking about this novel for a long time, and I eagerly look forward to the sequel!
Content warnings for Fledgling: Murder, torture, abuse, violence, colonization, brainwashing, misogyny, gender-based violence, and mentions of human trafficking, child abuse, and rape.
This book is about a divided world, where the citizens of the floating island of Upper Earth live in high-tech luxury and the citizens of Lower Earth scrape by to survive. A marriage between an Upper Earth princess and a Lower Earth prince promises to unite the world in peace, but this promised peace isn’t what it seems …
The first half of Fledgling is heavy on backstory and intricate worldbuilding. That sort of thing usually makes the pacing drag for me, but I actually devoured the book all the way through because I was so interested in learning more about the world, the cool sinister sci-fi tech, and the characters’ origins!
This book has a LOT of viewpoint characters, all with different perspectives on their world. At first I was concerned that the number of characters would get overwhelming, but I loved meeting them all in the end, and I don’t think the story would have been as effective with a smaller cast.
Because this is the first book in a duology, the story is still unfolding, and some of the characters’ perspectives have yet to be explored fully. While I mostly felt in tune with the motivations of the main cast of characters, some of the side characters have unreliable or conflicting narratives, and I DESPERATELY need the sequel to find out WHAT THE HECK SOME OF THESE PEOPLE ARE UP TO!
Ultimately, Fledgling is a story about narrative — who gets to write the official record books of history, and how the world looks from different people’s perspectives. It’s a timely exploration of colonialism, misinformation, and the importance of record-keeping and truth-telling to overcome oppression. I will be thinking about this novel for a long time, and I eagerly look forward to the sequel!
Content warnings for Fledgling: Murder, torture, abuse, violence, colonization, brainwashing, misogyny, gender-based violence, and mentions of human trafficking, child abuse, and rape.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Murder, Colonisation
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault
Bride by Ali Hazelwood
I’ve read a few Ali Hazelwood books, but Bride is my favorite. Unlike Hazelwood’s contemporary romance novels, this is a paranormal romance, feat. vampires, werewolves, and … a sprinkling of Omegaverse? (If you don’t know what omegaverse is, Google it 😅)
Bride is about a vampire called Misery who marries a werewolf pack alpha to defuse tensions between their species. But Misery has her own agenda to find her missing friend, who she thinks has been kidnapped by werewolves — and as she investigates the disappearance, she unravels a political conspiracy that could result in all-out war. And she might be falling for her new werewolf husband.
Ali Hazelwood books often have quirky, lighthearted narration, and I think it worked well in this story because the concept is inherently goofy. I mean, it’s about a vampire hacker called Misery. Once I got used to the premise and tone, it was a fun time!
The mystery and politics kept my interest, even if the supernatural elements weren’t ultimately all that important. The omegaverse-adjacent stuff was also not that important, which is just as well because I think it would have weirded me out if it was more prominent (not to yuck anyone’s yum, I just don’t think it would be my thing).
If you want to get into Ali Hazelwood books and haven’t tried this one yet, I would definitely give it a go, especially for something light and goofy! I also think it’s good for fantasy readers who want to try romance but find it hard to stay invested in a fully contemporary story.
Bride is about a vampire called Misery who marries a werewolf pack alpha to defuse tensions between their species. But Misery has her own agenda to find her missing friend, who she thinks has been kidnapped by werewolves — and as she investigates the disappearance, she unravels a political conspiracy that could result in all-out war. And she might be falling for her new werewolf husband.
Ali Hazelwood books often have quirky, lighthearted narration, and I think it worked well in this story because the concept is inherently goofy. I mean, it’s about a vampire hacker called Misery. Once I got used to the premise and tone, it was a fun time!
The mystery and politics kept my interest, even if the supernatural elements weren’t ultimately all that important. The omegaverse-adjacent stuff was also not that important, which is just as well because I think it would have weirded me out if it was more prominent (not to yuck anyone’s yum, I just don’t think it would be my thing).
If you want to get into Ali Hazelwood books and haven’t tried this one yet, I would definitely give it a go, especially for something light and goofy! I also think it’s good for fantasy readers who want to try romance but find it hard to stay invested in a fully contemporary story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Kidnapping
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, War