Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Title: Bride

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Publisher: Berkley 2024

Genre: Romantasy

Pages: 400

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Includes a Wedding; She Reads Romance - Arranged Marriage

Spice Rating: 5

Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast—again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange—again...

Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority, but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was….

Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances, and everything to do with the only thing she's ever cared about. And she is willing to do whatever it takes to get back what’s hers, even if it means a life alone in Were territory…alone with the wolf.

I picked up another Ali Hazelwood romance. Every time I have finished one of her previous books, I have enjoyed, but it’s hasn’t been something I recommend to all friends. Enjoyable, but nothing groundbreaking. I think I feel the same way about this one. I liked it. The plot and characters kept me interested and turning the pages, but I wasn’t raving about it at the end. I will admit that Hazelwood is great at writing sexual tension. All of her books contain a lot of tension. But, I’m not as excited about the after. Misery has a snarky side that I did really enjoy. And I eventually did buy a relationship between her and Lowe. It just took awhile for me to get there. So overall an enjoyable romantasy for my week.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett

Title: Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde #2)

Author: Heather Fawcett

Publisher: Del Rey 2024

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 342

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Published in 2024; Library Love

Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore—she just wrote the world’s first comprehensive of encylopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Folk on her adventures . . . and also from her fellow scholar and former rival, Wendell Bambleby.

Because Bambleby is more than infuriatingly charming. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother, and in search of a door back to his realm. So despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and danger.

And she also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by Bambleby’s mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambley’s realm, and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.

But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors, and of her own heart.

Another amazing story featuring the adventures of Emily and Wendell. We get to change the setting and explore new worlds and new creatures. I loved seeing how Emily’s story progresses as she learns to trust her instincts and stand up for herself. And we get to see her interact with new characters in Wendell’s search for his door. I absolutely adored the reappearance of Poe and the introduction of Snowbell. At times this is a quiet story. We get small moments between the characters. And then the plot really amps up and barrels ahead. I cannot wait until the next book in this series.

Emily Wilde

#1 Encyclopaedia of Faeries
#2 Map of the Otherlands
#3 Compendium of Lost Tales

star-rating-remains-the-most-important-part-of-a-review-cad0047.cad0047.png

Next up on the TBR pile:

A Fragile Enchantment by Allison Saft

Title: A Fragile Enchantment

Author: Allison Saft

Publisher: Wednesday Books 2024

Genre: YA Romantasy

Pages: 373

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - New Adult Romance; Library Love

Niamh Ó Conchobhair has never let herself long for more. The magic in her blood that lets her stitch emotions and memories into fabric is the same magic that will eventually kill her. Determined to spend the little time she has left guaranteeing a better life for her family, Niamh jumps at the chance to design the wardrobe for a royal wedding in the neighboring kingdom of Avaland.

But Avaland is far from the fairytale that she imagined. While young nobles attend candlelit balls and elegant garden parties, unrest brews amid the working class. The groom himself, Kit Carmine, is prickly, abrasive, and begrudgingly being dragged to the altar as a political pawn. But when Niamh and Kit grow closer, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more—until an anonymous gossip columnist starts buzzing about their chemistry, promising to leave them alone only if Niamh helps to uncover the royal family’s secrets. The rot at the heart of Avaland runs deep, but exposing it could risk a future she never let herself dream of, and a love she never thought possible..

I’m not exactly sure why I picked this one up to read. I had previously read another of Saft’s books and was pretty disappointed in it. In fact, my biggest complaint was that “We get a YA fantasy set in a fictional world but with parallels to the religious divides in our own world. All through the book I was confused as to why were were coding the different groups with fictionalized words and practices instead of just making a direct comparison.” This one isn’t about religious divides but instead nationalistic divides. Niamh is clearly from British controlled Ireland with Kit being of the British royal family. Infanta Rosa is clearly from Spain and a rival power to England. Instead of setting this in an alternate Europe, Saft “creates” a fictional magical world. But why? I was very disappointed in the unnecessary complications. Further more, I really disliked the romance. I wasn’t swoon, it was downright cringy. Everyone claims that Kit hates everyone but Niamh, but in my mind, he still really dislikes Niamh. We don’t ever really see a probably softer side of Kit. I wanted more for Niamh, but she is completely enamored with his terrible attitude and behavior. I really need to put Saft on my “no” list.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire

Title: Mislaid in Parts Half-Known(Wayward Children #9)

Author: Seanan McGuire

Publisher: Tordotcom 2024

Genre: Fantasy

Pages:146

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - No People on the Cover; Library Love

Antsy is the latest student to pass through the doors at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children.

When the school’s (literally irresistible) mean girl realizes that Antsy's talent for finding absolutely anything may extend to doors, Antsy is forced to flee in the company of a small group of friends, looking for a way back to the Shop Where the Lost Things Go to be sure that Vineta and Hudson are keeping their promise.

Along the way, they will travel from a world which hides painful memories that cut as sharply as its beauty, to a land that time wasn’t yet old enough to forget―and more than one student's life will change forever.

“People who’ve been hurt often think they have some sort of right tot go around hurting other people,” said Sumi. “They think trauma’s a toy to keep handing down forever. Bu the fact that someone hurt you and tied you up in knots doesn’t give you the right to it to anybody else.” Pg. 94

That quote right there sums up the entire series and literally had me in tears. Beautiful story about a collection of characters struggling to find their places in the world (or multiple worlds). This volume is most definitely directly continues the story in the previous volume. We get a concise story of Antsy finding her way back and helping other characters on the way. I felt something akin to catharsis when I reached the final page. One of the best feelings.

Wayward Children

Next up on the TBR pile:

Hunt on Dark Water by Katee Robert

Title: Hunt on Dark Waters (Crimson Sails #1)

Author: Katee Robert

Publisher: Berkley 2023

Genre: Romance

Pages: 320

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: She Reads Romance - Witch Romance; Library Love

Evelyn is a witch with a perfect storm of impulses: terrible taste in bed partners, sticky fingers, and a lust for danger. After she steals from her vampire ex and falls through a portal to another realm, she’s fished out of the waters by a band of seafarers and their telekinetic captain. She’s immediately given a choice—join their ship’s crew or die.

Bowen has no memory of his life before he became one of the Cŵn Annwn. He and his band of pirates are bound by vow to patrol through Threshold, the magical sea in between realms, keeping the portals to other worlds safe. When he rescues Evelyn, he doesn’t expect to be attracted to the unflappably brassy pickpocket. The longer he spends in her presence, the more he begins to question if his heart is the next thing she’ll steal.

But as tension heats up between Bowen and Evelyn, the danger at sea escalates as well. Because Evelyn has no intention of keeping her vows to the Cŵn Annwn, and if she betrays the crew, both she and Bowen will pay the ultimate price....

I finally picked up another one of Katee Robert’s series. And it wasn’t quite as good as the Dark Olympus series, but I did enjoy it. We get a portal jumping witch who finds herself involved in the Wild Hunt. But things are not quite as they seem and she becomes an agent of change as well as finding romance. Bowen and Evelyn aren’t my favorite couple but they grew on me as the book progressed. I was very intrigued by all the other characters and the background storyline. I do enjoy Robert’s storytelling and romance, so I imagine that I will be reading the rest of this series.

Crimson Sails

#1 Hunt on Dark Waters
#2 Blood on the Tide
#3 Pirates

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Butcher's Masquerade by Matt Dinniman

Title: The Butcher’s Masquerade (Dungeon Crawler Carl #5)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: Dandy House 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 726

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Apostrophe in the Title

Attention. Attention. The gates are down. The hunters are loose.
Run, Run, Run.

A lush jungle teeming with danger. Savage dinosaurs seeking blood. A fallen princess intent on vengeance. A mysterious, end-of-floor celebration for the top crawlers, dubbed “The Butcher’s Masquerade.”

The sixth floor. The Hunting Grounds.

As the remaining crawlers battle for their lives, a new, terrible threat looms. Outside tourists are finally allowed to enter the game, and they are here and ready to hunt. Among them is Vrah, a famed and veteran hunter, intent on collecting the biggest trophy of her career.

But their prey is far from harmless, and this season they are fighting back.

I finally made it through this giant chunker of a book. And holy cow was it a ride! I cannot believe every thing that happened in these pages. Carl and Donut are put in more impossible situations that they then have to concoct ridiculous plans to get out of. I don’t want to spoil the events, but I will say that there are some real emotional moments in this one. I am going to take a short break before diving into the next book. As much as I love Carl and Donut, I need to process this one for awhile.

Dungeon Crawler Carl

Next up on the TBR pile:

Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband by Melissa Maybe

Title: Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband (Daughters of the Glen #1)

Author: Melissa Mayhue

Publisher: Pocket Books 2007

Genre: Romance

Pages: 356

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Unread Shelf; 52 Books - Hybrid Genre

Scotland, 1272. Connor MacKiernan, a descendant of the Fae Prince, is a warrior who lives only for honor and duty. Though he’s vowed never to marry, that’s exactly what he must do to save his sister. Enter a little Faerie magic, and the search for a bride is on.

Denver, 2007. Caitlyn Coryell is having a really bad day—she just discovered that her fiancé is cheating on her, marrying her only for her family’s money and influence. Imagine her surprise when she puts on an antique pendant and Connor suddenly appears in her bedroom, begging for her help. He offers an outrageous adventure: travel to his time, marry him for a short time, and return home.

But nothing goes as planned. Cate’s trapped in the 13th century, the wedding’s delayed, and someone’s trying to kill her. And in the middle of all this, she realizes that she’s falling in love with a man who can only be her husband for thirty nights. It will take more than the magic of the Fae to help them now. It will require the most powerful magic of all—the magic of true love.

This book has been sitting on my Unread Shelf for years so I finally picked it up. The book should probably have been left on the shelf. This is a poor imitation of Outlander with a weird time travel bent to the romance. I didn’t quite buy the whole time travel and Fey angle to the story. It' seemed a little too hooky. The romance itself was also pretty lackluster. I didn’t love Cate and Connor and didn’t really buy their relationship. My biggest complaint has to do with the gender dynamics. Connor plays the alpha crap and Cate decides that the way tot play the relationship is to use her feminine wiles. It’s cliched and super annoying. Not a fan. I perused the rest of the series and it looks like we are going to get the same types of relationships. I think I will not be continuing to read this series.

Daughters of the Glen

#1 Thirty Nights with a Highland Husband
#2 Highland Guardian
#3 Soul of a Highlander
#4 A Highlander of Her Own
#5 A Highlander’s Destiny
#6 A Highlander’s Homecoming
#7 Healing the Highlander
#8 Highlander’s Curse

Next up on the TBR pile:

Haunted Holiday by Kiersten White

Title: Haunted Holiday (The Sinister Summer #5)

Author: Kiersten White

Publisher: Delacorte Press 2024

Genre: Middle Grade Horror

Pages: 272

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - Revenge Story; Lifetime - Child Protagonist

Trapped in Aunt Saffronia’s spectral house, Theo and Alexander must work together to escape, stop their newfound nemesis Essa and her henchman Edgaren’t, save Wil and their friends, find their parents, and maybe, just maybe, get things back to normal.

Following the clues left behind, the twins find themselves at Siren’s Song Seaside Amusement Park. Old faces and new surprises await them in a park that was built to lure in visitors…and their secrets.

As they get closer to answers, the twins are left with the biggest question of all: Who is Essa really, and why is she so determined to find their parents?

And we come to the end of the Sinister Summer series! And it was utterly delightful! I loved this play on A Series of Unfortunate Events with references to classic horror stories. In this volume, everything and everybody finally comes together for a happy ending. We get to see the family reunited as they solve the last mystery of the summer. I especially loved the setting of the amusement park in this one. The kraken and robot battle at the end was the cherry on top of the sundae. Definitely a recommendation for most of my friends.

The Sinister Summer

Next up on the TBR pile:

Confetti Realms

Title: Confetti Realms

Author: Nadia Shammas, Karnessa

Publisher: Maverick 2023

Genre: YA Graphic Novel

Pages: 196

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Library Love

Follow the story of four New Jersey teens who, after breaking into a cemetery on Halloween, get transported to a strange and fantastical world by a mysterious automaton named Tom. When Tom sends them on a quest to gain him entry to a party at the end of the world, our unlikely (and mostly unwilling) heroes will have to navigate murderous frogs, an insect orchestra, and the cracks in their own friendships.

Found this slim graphic novel on a library list for Fairy Tale books. I grabbed it and sped through in an afternoon. This is a beautiful little story about finding your joy and accepting who you are. We get four friends (well, almost friends) who are navigating identity and community. They get thrown into another world which heightens all their feelings. I loved the magical take on finding yourself. And some the side character are utterly delightful.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman

Title: The Gate of the Feral Gods (Dungeon Crawler Carl #4)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: Dandy House 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 632

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

New Achievement! Total, Utter Failure.

You failed a quest less than five minutes after you received it. Now that’s talent.

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps.

It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked.

Here's the thing. It's never easy. Carl and his team can't go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can't-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted?

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon.

Yet another amazing Carl book in which I gasped out loud no fewer than 10 times. The level got a little convoluted in itself, but the characters shine through to really make this book. It was lovely to see more scenes involving other crawlers and the larger storyline at play. We get some epic action scenes and some great adversaries. Denise, the feral goose, was absolutely amazing! Hands-down my favorite boss in the series. Once we got to the last two hours of the book, I couldn’t put it down. Shit hit the fan and I had to keep reading to find out how Carl and Donut were going to survive this one! Cannot wait to read to the next one in the series.

Dungeon Crawler Carl

#1 Dungeon Crawler Carl
#2 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
#3 The Dungeon' Anarchist’s Cookbook
#4 The Gate of the Feral Gods
#5 The Butcher’s Masquerade
#6 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Next up on the TBR pile:

Strands of Bronze and Gold by Jane Nickerson

Title: Strands of Bronze and Gold

Author: Jane Nickerson

Publisher: Random House 2013

Genre: YA Fantasy

Pages: 352

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fairy Tales - Bluebeard; Library Love

When seventeen-year-old Sophia Petheram’s beloved father dies, she receives an unexpected letter. An invitation—on fine ivory paper, in bold black handwriting—from the mysterious Monsieur Bernard de Cressac, her godfather. With no money and fewer options, Sophie accepts, leaving her humble childhood home for the astonishingly lavish Wyndriven Abbey, in the heart of Mississippi.

Sophie has always longed for a comfortable life, and she finds herself both attracted to and shocked by the charm and easy manners of her overgenerous guardian. But as she begins to piece together the mystery of his past, it’s as if, thread by thread, a silken net is tightening around her. And as she gathers stories and catches whispers of his former wives—all with hair as red as her own—in the forgotten corners of the abbey, Sophie knows she’s trapped in the passion and danger of de Cressac’s intoxicating world.

Glowing strands of romance, mystery, and suspense are woven into this breathtaking debut—a thrilling retelling of the “Bluebeard” fairy tale.

Last year I read a great Bluebeard retelling (T. Kingfisher’s The Seventh Bride), so I had to go looking for another one. I found a ton of short stories in collections, but I wanted a full length story. I finally found this book and snapped it from the library. Overall, I thought this was really good. Sophia sufficiently grows and changes throughout the novel. Enough so that I could actually appreciate her has a character. From there, we get some great side characters with enough of their agency to make full people instead of tools for Sophia’s story. In fact the only characters that I didn’t love were Sophia’s family. But I get ultimately she has to be left all alone to face her fears and take her agency back. I loved the slow reveal of the mystery and the past, but I do wish that it happened slightly faster and more time was spent with Sophia wrestling with what to do with the information. Ultimately, this was a good readable entertaining retelling of the Bluebeard story.

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

Title: The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook (Dungeon Crawler Carl #3)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: Dandy House 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 534

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Welcome to the Gun Show!

The top ten list is populated. The sponsorship program is open. The difficulty is ramping up. The first three floors were nothing compared to what Carl and Donut now face.

The Iron Tangle. An impossibly-complicated subway system built out of the world's subterranean railway systems, all combined and then tied together into a knot. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations are less than safe, and the exit is always just a few stops away.

But there is hope. For the first time, the crawlers are all working together. The loot is better than ever. And the secret to unraveling it all may be hidden in the pages of a seemingly-useless book. Welcome, crawlers. Welcome to the fourth floor of the dungeon.

Oh yes! Another crazy adventure starring Carl and Donut! This time, the floor is all about a messed-up train system complete with multiple lines, different mobs, and a larger mystery of the construction itself. I loved seeing how our character navigated this one and finally figured out that they need to make more connections amongst the other crawlers. Brandy the fire demon was a lovely addition to their encounters. And I always love the appearance of mimics (not when actually playing Dungeons & Dragons, I hate them then). But the best part of this book was the acquisition of the title object. I cannot wait to see how Carl uses the information within on future levels. As always, the audiobook is the only way to go for this book!

Dungeon Crawler Carl

#1 Dungeon Crawler Carl
#2 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
#3 The Dungeon' Anarchist’s Cookbooks
#4 The Gate of the Feral Gods
#5 The Butcher’s Masquerade
#6 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Next up on the TBR pile:

Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

Title: Carl’s Doomsday Scenario (Dungeon Crawler Carl #2)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: Dandy House 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 364

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

"The training levels have concluded. Now the games may truly begin."

The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can't get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive.

They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.

Carl still has no pants.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it's anything but a game..

I think that I am officially obsessed with this series now. I can’t wait until I can sneak in another hour or two of listening to the adventures of Carl and Donut. The audio is fantastic, full of energy and personality. For this book, the game really begins with the Third Floor. We get to meet some new characters, perhaps new allies, and new enemies. The circus portions were delightfully creepy. I loved the Lovecraftian take on the horrors of the Over City. The reveal of the titular Doomsday Scenario was a great addition to leave you wondering about the next adventure. I cannot wait to see what happens on the Fourth Floor!

Dungeon Crawler Carl

#1 Dungeon Crawler Carl
#2 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
#3 The Dungeon' Anarchist’s Cookbooks
#4 The Gate of the Feral Gods
#5 The Butcher’s Masquerade
#6 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Title: The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight #1)

Author: Katherine Arden

Publisher: Del Rey 2017

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 319

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: COYER; In Case You Missed It - 2017

Winter lasts most of the year at the edge of the Russian wilderness, and in the long nights, Vasilisa and her siblings love to gather by the fire to listen to their nurse’s fairy tales. Above all, Vasya loves the story of Frost, the blue-eyed winter demon. Wise Russians fear him, for he claims unwary souls, and they honor the spirits that protect their homes from evil.

Then Vasya’s widowed father brings home a new wife from Moscow. Fiercely devout, Vasya’s stepmother forbids her family from honoring their household spirits, but Vasya fears what this may bring. And indeed, misfortune begins to stalk the village.

But Vasya’s stepmother only grows harsher, determined to remake the village to her liking and to groom her rebellious stepdaughter for marriage or a convent. As the village’s defenses weaken and evil from the forest creeps nearer, Vasilisa must call upon dangerous gifts she has long concealed—to protect her family from a threat sprung to life from her nurse’s most frightening tales.

Plodding. That’s the one word that comes to mind in attempting a review of this book. I just couldn’t seem to stay engaged in the story or the characters. Most of the characters are highly unlikeable. It doesn’t help that we really don’t get to see much of them except of glimpses through Vasya. The main character isn’t even that interesting. Most of the story is things happening to her, not her doing things. And for that, I was just not that interested in the story at all. I do like a good Russian folk tale redone, but this one was too slow and not engaging enough to make me want to read the rest of the series.

Winternight

#1 The Bear and the Nightingale
#2 The Girl in the Tower
#3 The Winter of the Witch

Next up on the TBR pile:

Timekeeper by Tara Sim

Title: Timekeeper

Author: Tara Sim

Publisher: Sky Pony Press 2016

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 414

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Lifetime - Teenage Characters

“I was in an accident. I got out. I'm safe now.” An alternate Victorian world controlled by clock towers, where a damaged clock can fracture time—and a destroyed one can stop it completely.

A prodigy mechanic who can repair not only clockwork, but time itself, determined to rescue his father from a Stopped town.

A series of mysterious bombings that could jeopardize all of England.

A boy who would give anything to relive his past, and one who would give anything to live at all.

A romance that will shake the very foundations of time.

The first book in a dazzling new steampunk-fantasy trilogy, Timekeeper introduces a magical world of mythology and innovation that readers will never want to leave.

My mom has been wanting me to read this book for almost a year. I finally put it on my short list TBR and enjoyed it. This has a very melancholy feel to it mixed in with the fantasy and steampunk elements. I wouldn’t say that the melancholy lessened my enjoyment, but I was expecting something a bit more upbeat and glittering. Once I settled into the story, I really fell for Danny and his attempt at finding a better life for himself. Once we realize exactly who Colton is, the story kicks in and I was very interested to see where the story went. This was an intriguing story about time and love.

Timekeeper

#1 Timekeeper
#2 Chainbreaker
#3 Firestarter

Next up on the TBR pile:

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

Title: Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl #1)

Author: Matt Dinniman

Publisher: 2021

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 446

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 52 Book Club - More Than 40 Chapters

The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend's cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth - from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds - collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you're in, you can't get out. And what's worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it's game over. In this game, it's not about your strength or your dexterity. It's about your followers, your views. Your clout. It's about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can't just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that "it" factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That's the only way to truly survive in this game - with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it's anything but a game.

J has been trying to get me to start reading this series for a few months now. I just wasn’t really in the mood for an RPG style narration until now. Once I started, I really couldn’t put this one down. Carl and Princess Doughnut are great protagonists that you can’t help but root for. As they stumble their way through Levels 1 and 2 of the dungeon causing chaos in their wake, I was on pins and needles desperate to see what was around the next corner. I really felt like we were in a video game encountering obstacles and bosses, figuring out puzzles, and attempting to survive just one more hour. Meeting other crawlers added the human element in a decidedly non-human environment. I can’t wait to read (or listen, the audio performance is great) the next book in the series.

Dungeon Crawler Carl

#1 Dungeon Crawler Carl
#2 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
#3 The Dungeon' Anarchist’s Cookbooks
#4 The Gate of the Feral Gods
#5 The Butcher’s Masquerade
#6 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

Next up on the TBR pile:

Under the Smokestrewn Sky by A. Deborah Baker

Title: Under the Smokestrewn Sky (The Up and Under #4)

Author: A. Deborah Baker

Publisher: Tordotcom 2023

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 195

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Since stumbling from their world into the Up and Under, Avery and Zib have walked the improbable road across forests, seas and skies, finding friends in the unlikeliest of places and enemies great in number, as they make their way toward the Impossible City in the hope of finding their way home.

But the final part of their journey is filled with danger and demise. Not everyone will make it through unscathed. Not everyone will make it through alive.

We finally come to the end of Avery and Zib’s adventures in The Up and Under. Overall, I really enjoyed this series so much. There’s a bit of Alice in Wonderland in there, a bit of The Wizard of Oz, and so much wit and introspection from Seanan McGuire. Adding Jack to the mix in the last book really completed the group for the last adventure. The reveal involving the Crow Girl was just about the most perfect way to continue the story and bring the threads together. I appreciate the fact that we get a definite end to the storyline. Seeing the characters find their places was the perfect way to conclude. I’ll be excited to see what McGuire writes next.

The Up and Under

#1 Over the Woodward Wall
#2 Along the Saltwise Sea
#3 Into the Windwracked Wilds
#4 Under the Smokestrewn Sky

Next up on the TBR pile:

The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson

Title: The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe

Author: Kij Johnson

Publisher: Tor Dot Com 2016

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 166

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Professor Vellitt Boe teaches at the prestigious Ulthar Women’s College. When one of her most gifted students elopes with a dreamer from the waking world, Vellitt must retrieve her.

Such a strange retelling of a Lovecraft story. Another great read for my Nerdy Bookish Friends book club. I took this book very slow, savoring each section as I followed Boe into the unknown in pursuit of her student. The story unfolds like a dream itself, challenging the reader to determine what is real and what is fiction. Slowly, we meet more horrors in the dreaming world until Boe reaches the gate to the waking world. I’m excited to talk with all my book club friends about this book on Sunday.

Next up on the TBR pile:

Magical Midlife Madness by KF Breene

Title: Magical Midlife Madness (Leveling Up #1)

Author: KF Breene

Publisher: Hazy Dawn Press 2020

Genre: Fantasy; Romance

Pages: 374

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

"Happily Ever After" wasn't supposed to come with a do-over option. But when my husband of twenty years packs up and heads for greener pastures and my son leaves for college, that's exactly what my life becomes.

Do-over.

This time, though, I plan to do things differently. Age is just a number, after all, and at forty I'm ready to carve my own path.

Eager for a fresh start, I make a somewhat unorthodox decision and move to a tiny town in the Sierra foothills. I'll be taking care of a centuries old house that called to me when I was a kid. It's just temporary, I tell myself. It'll just be for a while.

That is, until I learn what the house really is, something I never could've imagined.

Thankfully forty isn't too old to start an adventure, because that's exactly what I do. A very dangerous adventure that will change my life forever. I have a chance to start again, and this time, I make the rules.

I picked this one up under the impression that this was a romance with an older protagonist. I would not categorize this as a romance. The focus of this book is not a romantic relationship, but a woman finding her way after a divorce. I would categorize this as a fantasy women’s lit book. If I reframe my perspective of the book, I really enjoyed it as it stands. Our main character is a delightfully feisty woman who gives no fucks about people’s thoughts on her life. She slowly finds her place in a very strange small town and eventually her own power. The writing is quirky and fun and the action, when it comes, is fast and furious. I’m interested in where this story is going to go in the series.

Leveling Up

#1 Magical Midlife Madness
#2 Magical Midlife Dating
#3 Magical Midlife Invasion
#4 Magical Midlife Love
#5 Magical Midlife Meeting
#6 Magical Midlife Challenge
#7 Magical Midlife Alliance
#8 Magical Midlife Battle

Next up on the TBR pile:

The City of Dreaming Books by Walter Moers

Title: The City of Dreaming Books

Author: Walter Moers

Publisher: Overlook 2007

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 464

Rating: 5/5 stars

Reading Challenges:

Optimus Yarnspinner’s search for an author’s identity takes him to Bookholm―the so-called City of Dreaming Books. On entering its streets, our hero feels as if he has opened the door of a gigantic second-hand bookshop. His nostrils are assailed by clouds of book dust, the stimulating scent of ancient leather, and the tang of printer’s ink.

Soon, though, Yarnspinner falls into the clutches of the city’s evil genius, Pfistomel Smyke, who treacherously maroons him in the labyrinthine catacombs underneath the city, where reading books can be genuinely dangerous . . .

In The City of Dreaming Books, Walter Moers transports us to a magical world where reading is a remarkable adventure. Only those intrepid souls who are prepared to join Yarnspinner on his perilous journey should read this book. We wish the rest of you a long, safe, unutterably dull, and boring life!

I don’t quite know how to explain this book and why I enjoyed it. It’s a weird meandering trip through a strange land that reveres books and authors above all else. We follow Optimus Yarnspinner as he falls into a treacherous situation full of shady and shadowy characters. We stumble around in the dark catacombs under Bookholm and begin to uncover its secrets. This book is very descriptive and meandering in its plot. There are portions where not much happens. But I was still intrigued in following Yarnspinner through the dark hoping he can find his way out again. I literally gasped out loud a few times when the twists were revealed. Utterly delightful. I can’t wait to discuss this with my Nerdy Bookish Friends. One final note: this book is meant to be read with your eyes, Moers includes a variety of illustrations that add to the fantastical nature of the book. Without those illustrations, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much as I have. You must read it on paper or as an ebook.

Next up on the TBR pile: