tonyaf's reviews
378 reviews

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved Weyward by Emilia Hart. I chose that book as my very first Book of the Month pick, and it went on to become my favorite book of 2023. So, I have been eagerly awaiting The Sirens since it was first announced!

The Sirens is told from multiple points of view, telling the story of two sets of women in various timelines. Lucy and Jess live in modern-day Australia. In that storyline, we get the current-day storyline set in 2019 with some flashbacks to the 1990s. In Mary and Eliza's chapters, we see them aboard a crowded convict ship sailing from Ireland to Australia in the early 1800s and are also given backstory from their earlier lives.

Their stories are moving and often heavy. Like Weyward, this is a book about healing, the dangers women face from men, and the resilience of women. There are also mysteries, family secrets, and exploration of some truly horrific parts of Australian history.

I loved the focus on truth throughout the story. There's an emphasis on how not telling the truth can cause damage in personal relationships. There is also a focus on how not accepting that bad things have happened - either in the present or historically - causes harm.

And yes, sometimes, people look away from inconvenient facts [...] Most people just want an easy life. It's unsettling when someone starts pulling apart the stories we've stitched together, the things we tell ourselves for comfort.

Emilia Hart's books are not in the genres I read the most, but her stories, steeped in history, always draw me in. I love her writing and her strong feminist messages and will continue to look forward to all of her future books.

Content Warnings

Direct Descendant by Tanya Huff

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

Direct Descendant is told in dual POVs. Cassidy is the first point-of-view we get. She's a resident of Lake Argen and someone with close ties to the town's ancient dark force. Early one morning, she witnesses someone make a ritual sacrifice and knows that something big must be coming for her strange, reclusive town.

Our second POV is Melanie, who is visiting Lake Argen to investigate the recent disappearance of a wealthy woman's grandson. That missing grandson was the ritual sacrifice that Cassidy witnessed, by the way, so things are complicated.

Further complicating this dynamic is that Cassidy and Melanie are both completely smitten with each other at first sight.

The humor in this book is great; I genuinely laughed out loud at a few lines! There is plenty of sillyness and funny references, but there's also some smart and pointed progressive humor. Melanie, in particular, has very strong opinions about the current harmful push of anti-trans policies.

While the book is being pitched as "cozy horror," it is light on horror, in my opinion. If you go in hoping for scares, you might end up disappointed; if you want something funny, dark, fantastical, and romantic, you may really like it. I'd recommend this most to fans who've enjoyed other books that blend cozy sci-fi/fantasy with light horror and gore, like Someone You Can Build A Nest In by John Wiswell.

I really enjoyed Direct Descendant. It is smartly hilarious, with quirky characters in a fast-paced plot. Plus, there's an incredibly sweet and emotional Sapphic romance between the two main characters. I love books that defy genre labels, and this one blends a lot of my favorites together in a way that really worked for me.

Content Warnings

My Faevorite Enemy: MM Short Story Romance by Gaia Tate

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

4.0

I read My Accidental Valentine by Gaia Tate last month and really liked it. Since then, I've wanted to read more of this author's short stories.

My Faevorite Enemy is about Finn, who is forced to work with Fae Prince Adaemos, who taunted him when the two were teenagers. The two are tasked by their fathers to plan the yearly Christmas Eve party together.

This is a quick read (less than 100 pages) with interesting characters (including supporting characters) and a spicy romance. While it is set in the week leading up to Christmas, it isn't excessively Christmas-y. It can easily be enjoyed at any time of the year.

Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

I refuse to accept that this may be the last book in this series because I will always want more (and there's room for more books with the ending).

There are some really great moments in this. Emily/Wendell were as delightful as ever. I also loved seeing so many of my favorites from previous books. There are some great new characters, too.

As a dog lover, Shadow's storyline in this made me cry so hard. The happy tears were flowing!

A Gentleman's Gentleman by TJ Alexander

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

Within a few pages of reading A Gentleman's Gentleman, I knew I had picked up something really special.

A Gentleman's Gentleman is about Christopher, a reclusive trans man living in Regency-era England. According to the directions of his father's will, he is expected to find a wife if he wants to keep his title and sprawling estate. When the lonely and eccentric Lord hires James, a new valet, to help him manage the upcoming Season, the two men are set on a course that profoundly changes their lives.

All the characters in this, both main and supporting, are fantastic. Christopher is unbelievably delightful: so funny and charming. He is dealing with a lot of loss, loneliness, guilt, and stress. Still, he's enduring and doing his best despite his hardships. James is a little mysterious to us at first. He's a proper gentleman who takes his job and etiquette very seriously, but there are enough glimpses of his personality to make him instantly likable. There is also a cast of memorable side characters that I really enjoyed.

The romance between Christopher and James is a true and very satisfying slow burn. Christopher's upcoming marriage and other plots sometimes take center stage, so their relationship is allowed to build slowly and organically.

Christopher's need for a wife is the most active plot, but side-plots arise that add a lot of heart and emotion to the story. All the various threads are balanced well, and everything comes together beautifully in ways that surprised and delighted me.

I'd been looking forward to reading this book for months, and it was completely worth the wait. I highly recommend this for all fans of queer books, especially those that need more joyous and hopeful trans stories. This is a perfect comfort read with a beautiful and inspiring message.

The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid

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emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

I'd never read Rachel Reid when I requested this from Netgalley. I've heard good things about her Game Changers series, but I haven't gotten a chance to read them yet. The Shots You Take convinced me to add those to my TBR!

The Shots You Take is a second-chance romance about Riley and Adam, two ex-best friends and hockey teammates whose friendship (and not-so-casual sexual relationship) ended disastrously over a decade ago. They haven't seen each other since. When reunited by a loss, they finally begin to address their ongoing feelings.

The story is told in dual timelines: present-day is set in 2024, and the past is set over several years in the early 2000s. The present storyline is filled with pining, grief, anger, and healing. The past timeline is messy, steamy, and doomed.

As I've said before, I love the second-chance romance trope. Books that do this trope well always have some of the best character and relationship growth. I love it when a romance really explores what makes two characters want to be together and how their relationship will be better this time. Rachel Reid did this well in this book. Riley and Adam, in their 20s, couldn't make their relationship work, but the more mature versions of themselves know their feelings and are brave enough to fight for their relationship.

This is a romance book that you can easily devour in a weekend. It makes you ache and cry but then rewards you with a mature relationship that feels earned.

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The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful 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

This is one of my new favorites by TJ Klune. This has some of the same themes and humor I expect from his novels, but it's also a lot more action-packed and emotional.

This follows Nate, who has recently lost his estranged parents in a pretty horrific manner. He's also recently lost his job as a journalist. He decides to visit his family's remote cabin to decompress and decide what to do next. Once there, he meets Alex and Art, who set him on an entirely new path.

The characters in this are great. Nate is a great narrator, with his journalistic drive for answers. Alex is the brooding, silent type who is also a fierce protector. Artemis Darth Vader is funny and very loveable. If you loved the kids in The House in the Cerulean Sea, I think you'll love Art just as much.

The romance is an age-gap slow burn with spice. There's even a dash of enemies-to-lovers since Nate and Alex don't exactly start with the friendliest meet-cute. I loved them together!

This is more adult than Klune's most famous books. It feels more comparable to his "Green Creek" series (there's even a fun reference to the werewolf series). It's also more adventurous, with plenty of drama, danger, and action sequences.

This book was originally self-published in 2018. According to the author's note at the end, Klune published this independently after his former publisher decided it was "too weird." I'm so glad Tor gave this book new life. It's made me want to delve further into Klune's backlist and hope that his other older books are republished soon. If they're all as good as this one, I need to read them!

Content Warnings

The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greene

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I've been reading a lot of books in the same genre recently and I desperately needed a change. I stopped by my local library and knew I had to check this out when I saw that it has a lot of my favorite thriller tropes (mixed media, alternating timelines, a podcast element...).

This was so engrossing that I seriously could not put it down. I nearly read it all in one sitting! It is dark and offers some interesting commentary on true crime, how institutions end up helping abusive men, and how society treats vulnerable women. It is twisty and kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire book.

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The Prince's Heart by Ben Chalfin

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emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

The story opens with Darien, a lonely prince who wishes to find someone who loves him for who he is and not his title. His brother tries setting him up with men hoping to help him find "the one" but most seem more interested in marrying into the royal family than who Darien is as a person. This changes when he meets Tag, the son of his mother's friend who has just arrived at the palace for an extended stay.

The story is set in a light fantasy world with no magic so it reads more like a historical romance than a romantasy. Soeria is queer normative but outside of that and some history of the kingdom and its neighbors, we're not told much else about the world it is set in.

The romance at the center of the story is very sweet. I wouldn't describe them as a slow burn, as the official description does. In fact, I think they are better described as love at first sight. There is some time spent with Darien wondering if his feelings are reciprocated but there's no substantial yearning or angst that you'd expect from a slow burn. Some problems arise after the start of their relationship that put their bond to the test but the two get together early in the book.

The characters are likable but most feel a little flat. Even Darien, our sole point-of-view, isn't as developed as I wanted him to be. The book had so many supporting characters that all of the characters ended up suffering a little. There's one fairly major character whose only personality trait is that she likes knives and fashion. Darien also reads as much younger than he actually is to me. He's said to be 25 but his inner thoughts and behavior seem too immature for that age. If he'd been written as an 18-year-old, his story could have been a more impactful and believable "coming of age" tale.

The plot takes some time to really start moving but once it does it's an interesting mystery with high stakes and some big, surprising moments.

The Prince's Heart is a story about duty vs love. It's a sweet love story but I think it could have benefited from more editing. The author has a lot of potential but this needed more in-depth and mature character exploration to be fully successful for me. Still, it's a fun and fast read with interesting political intrigue and a cute romance.

Content Warnings

Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan

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funny lighthearted fast-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

3.75

Before we reach his door, he says, "I hope you don't mind whimsy."
In truth, I'd never given whimsy much thought before.

I got this as a gift about a decade ago and forgot about it until I found it while reorganizing my books recently. I decided to go ahead and finally read it.

This is a short YA romance set in a contemporary high school where hatred and persecution due to sexuality don't exist. In this near utopia, Paul meets Noah, and the two fall for each other and start dating. After a complication with an ex-boyfriend causes difficulties in their relationship, Paul must work to earn back Noah's love and trust.

It's not just a romance though. Paul's best friend, Joni, is in a new relationship which is causing strain on their long-running friendship. Meanwhile, his friend Tony is dealing with very religious parents. Paul and Tony's friendship is easily one of the sweetest parts of the book.

Boy Meets Boy is campy, fun, and heartfelt. Parts of it are dated (Infinite Darlene deserves better) but I understand why this was such a groundbreaking and important book when it was released. Hopefully, one day all queer kids will be as free to be themselves as Paul and Noah are.

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tonyaf's reviews 378 reviews

tonyaf's reviews
378 reviews