I forgot I never did my May/June reading round up!! Lots of 4-and-5-star reads in here: if you're looking for some fun and weird fantasy I highly recommend checking out The Works of Vermin and The Red Winter. Then of course KJ Charles coming in clutch once again with another fun historical romance with How to Fake It in Society. But yeah, a great couple of months, I think Red Winter and Vermin are going to have to go in my general repertoire of recommendations.



NOVELS

The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri (★★★★☆) [goodreads]

In a fantasy Britain literally held together by the repetition of stories, reincarnations of the Knight and the Witch are bound to fall in love and kill each other over and over. When incarnates start dying before their time, witch Simran sets out to rewrite her story and break the cycle.

I thought the world building was the most interesting part of this--multiple time periods exist at once and the physical island is maintained by the stories associated with the area. The monarchy enforces the cycles of specific stories, destroying tales that don't fit its idea of the "right" Britain. Obviously there's lots of metaphors for colonialism and imperialism in here. For example, Simran and her family are from "Elsewhere" (India specifically for them), and coming to England from Elsewhere causes people to lose their memories of their homes, languages, stories, etc.

Simran and Vina were interesting characters, I enjoyed their banter and development but the relationship wasn't anything fantastic imo. Liked it but didn't love it, so it kind of took a backseat to the setting and plot to me. I also felt like the book could have been shorter, or maybe the timeskip that happens in the last third of the book should have happened earlier? Hard to say what could have been changed to fix the feeling of it dragging at times to me, because I was never actually bored.

But overall as someone who enjoys stories about stories, mythology, Arthuriana, reincarnation, breaking cycles, and anti-imperialist themes in general, this was definitely a book worth reading.

Princeweaver by Elian J. Morgan (★★★★☆) [goodreads]

Apothecary Meilyr is a weaver, a user of forbidden magic supposedly stamped out by the occupying kingdom. Despite his best efforts to remain hidden, he ends up in a faux marriage with prince Osian to save his brother. To make matters worse, someone is killing nobles using the same magic that flows through his blood--and Meilyr is the prime suspect.

Again I pick up a book thinking it's a standalone and it's not!! Princeweaver ends in a major cliffhanger and damn it do I want to know what's going to happen in book 2. The romance is a mild slowburn, lots of pining and magical blood bonds and squashing down feelings. I love an arranged marriage trope with political intrigue, so no complaints there. The worldbuilding is based on Welsh folklore and occupation by the English, which is the main source of conflict in the overarching plot. People who want something revolutionary will probably not be satisfied by book 1, but who knows what will happen in the future books.

I do agree with some of the reviews here that it could've used some more active investigating in the murder mystery, which would've moved the plot along better I think; mostly the characters are carried along from murder to murder without much say in the matter. I loved the magic we saw here so I'm curious to see what else is explored in the sequels.

How to Fake It in Society by K.J. Charles (★★★★★) [goodreads]

Titus Pilcrow, a paint maker on the verge of losing his shop, suddenly finds himself married to a wealthy woman hoping to disinherit her nephew on her deathbed and now possesses a great fortune. Nicolas, Comte de La Motte and son of the woman infamous for the Affair of the Diamond Necklace with Marie Antoinette, hopes to restore his mother's reputation--if only he had the funds...

Back to a Regency romance with Charles, huzzah. This might be my favorite of her recent releases. The characters were a delight, I liked both Titus and Nico and the development of their relationship. And I'm always a fan of a conman/hidden identity romances. Charles's writing really gives you a sense that she knows a lot about the period, the dialogue never feels too modern, and her prose is on point. I would definitely recommend this particular book to someone who was looking to get into Charles's work for the first time!

The Red Winter by Cameron Sullivan (★★★★★) [goodreads]

Arcane practitioner Sebastian Grave and his indwelling demon Sarmodel once hunted the Beast of Gévaudan through the 18th century French countryside. Twenty years later, they are recalled to the hunt by Sebastian's ex-lover, for the Beast has returned and dark secrets are coming to light...

I read this 500-page behemoth in a week, which is how you know I really enjoyed it. There's magic and demons and werewolves and angels and a lot of people getting eaten by all the aforementioned creatures.

The highlight to me was the relationship between Sebastian and Sarmodel--give me a fucked up codependent demon relationship any day. The worldbuilding and humor are a lot of fun, I liked the mashup of mythologies and Pratchett-esque footnotes. Personally I think the Sebastian/Antoine romance was the weakest part of the novel; it wasn't bad, but there's so much going on everywhere that they never quite delve deep enough into the relationship. My biggest nitpick is that the book does suffer a little from Written By A Man Syndrome (see: Livia, for example) but I suppose it could be worse.

Overall I definitely recommend this book and I can't wait to read more about Sebastian and the gang.

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes (★★★★★) [goodreads]

Enter Tiliard, a decadent city growing from the stump of an ancient tree plagued with vermin of all sorts. Guy is an exterminator up to his eyeballs in debt, determined to keep his sister safe. When he's sent on a job to hunt down a giant, venomous centipede, the city--and Guy's life--is changed for good.

What a fascinating book. As beautiful as it is grotesque, both the prose and the world of Tiliard are so intricately crafted that even the things that don't make sense feel incredibly real. The absurd worldbuilding is conveyed with such confident mundanity that neither the reader nor the prose think twice about the fact it's not normal for actors to kill each other on stage or former chancellors to be taxidermized and displayed. Art is used as political maneuvering, toxic contamination constantly threatens folks in a world where aesthetics are vaunted, and a class divide looms between the elite above and those trapped by poverty in the undercity. There's bugs and murder and body horror and mind-manipulating perfumes and a wild turn of events near the end that had me feeling like the Charlie Day Conspiracy Meme as I finally connected the dots.

There's a lot going on in this book, and it keeps you on your toes the whole way. The dense prose and slightly confusing start are fully worth wading through, as by the end you'll want to go back to the beginning and watch everything fall into place all over again.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Forgive-Me-Not by Mari Costa (★★★★☆) [goodreads]

When princess Aisling is kidnapped the night before her 18th birthday, she learns the truth about herself: she's a changeling who replaced the true princess at birth. Original princess Forget-Me-Not steals the changeling back, hoping to escape a contract with an Unseelie fae.

This is a cute f/f "enemies to lovers" fantasy graphic novel. Enemies to lovers in quotes because they're mad at each other for two days and it's mostly bickering, you know how it is. But I enjoyed both characters and their developing relationship, and the art is really nice. Would definitely recommend!

DPS Only! by Xiao Tong Kong/Velinxi (★★★☆☆) [goodreads]

3.5 stars. Teenage Vicky's older brother is an e-sports star, but she has a secret: she plays the same game too. When the opportunity arises to enter a competitive tournament, Vicky hides her identity and teams up with her ex-best friend and an internet cafe owner to prove she has what it takes to compete.

I enjoyed this well enough and thought the art was really nice. Vicky's arc is predictable but still a fun read, and I liked her relationship with Eric and Opal. That trio was the highlight of the book along with the art.

My biggest nitpick is with Virgil: he's too much of a dick. Vicky won't stand up for herself because he steamrolls over her at every turn, yet she's still worried about upsetting him? Girl he's already upset and already acts like he doesn't like you, what do you have to lose. I feel like if he'd been a little more likeable and actually showed he cared about her despite how rude he was most of the time, rather than only having his internal monologue say he cared, it would be more believable that Vicky had a hard time asserting herself with him. Their reconciliation at the end felt a bit hasty as well.

Les Normaux, Vol. 2 by Janine Janssen & S. Al Sabado (★★★☆☆) [goodreads]

Volume 2 of a webcomic about a wizard and vampire in supernatural Paris. Despite being nearly 300 pages it doesn't feel like much happened in this one until the very end. Those who enjoyed the first volume will likely continue to enjoy this one as Sébastien and Elia work through their growing feelings for each other. The art remains cute and colorful, though a lot of the scenes with the vampires--which are heavy on the blacks and dark blues--are a little hard to see (a common problem I've had with printed webcomics).

The Reaper and The Waiting by January Sun (★★★★☆) [goodreads]

A beautifully illustrated graphic novel based in Chinese folklore about a Reaper tasked with collecting souls to send to the afterlife and a spirit who knew him in a previous life. This was a short read and a fairly simple story, but it featured lots of my favorite things like tragedy and memory loss and reincarnation and an amusing animal sidekick. The artwork was lovely, especially for the full-page spreads.

Lore Olympus: Volume Ten by Rachel Smythe (★★★★☆) [goodreads]

Damn can you believe it's finally almost over. Hades and Persephone get married, Kronos is still kicking around, and Persephone deals with an unusual change to her powers. At this point I'm just here to see how things end.