theaphantasiabookworm's reviews
256 reviews

The Prince of Prohibition by Marilyn Marks

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I was sent an arc of The Prince of Prohibition in exchange for my honest review. These are my honest thoughts and opinions. You can find more on my blog. The review contains minor spoilers.

First and foremost, I was thoroughly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading The Prince of Prohibition. When I went into this, I thought I was just reading some fun little frivolous romantasy about the fae. Boy was I wrong. I think what surprised me most though, was how damn funny I found this book. I repeatedly laughed out loud.

I loved the characters Marks dreamt up. While our main character, Adeline, may not be my favorite lead character in a series, she’s not the worst either. Adeline has lived a very traumatic and sheltered life. I understood her, but I didn’t love her. I like my female characters strong and full of life. It’s not that Adeline isn’t well-written, she’s just not written for me. That being said, Adeline went through a lot of personal growth throughout The Prince of Prohibition, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of it in the future.

The rest of the characters? Hot damn, loved them all to bits.

I want to be friends with Violet and Lillian.

The plot was delightful, and clever. Our dear glamour touched Adeline finds herself in the company of the Band of Banished and chaos ensues. Some of that chaos just so happens to be a heist. A heist that involves a dragon! A heist that involves a dragon, in the twenties. Maybe it’s a common occurrence, but it was a first for me and I liked it. I liked it a lot.

One of my favorite details was the Knights of Templar and I hope that we see more of that thread in book two. Again, this may be a common theme in period pieces about the fae. But it was a first for me, and I thought it was a clever detail.

As it turns out, the journey our characters were on, was not the end.

The bad guys were not the bad guys. Well, they were, but there was more to it. And I was there for it. I want to know more about Jack and Violet and how exactly we got to where we ended in the last chapter of The Prince of Prohibition. Marks seamlessly answered current questions, while opening the door to others. I’m interested in the history of our characters, not just their future.

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

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dark mysterious medium-paced

5.0

The Bone Orchard by Sara A. Mueller

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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? It's complicated

5.0

The Bone Orchard took me a bit to get into but by fuck once I did it was one fucked up peculiar ride.
You can check out my thoughts <a href="https://theaphantasiabookworm.wordpress.com/2023/02/13/the-bone-orchard/">here</a>

Sundial by Catriona Ward

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced