Search Results

Paper & Blood is a quirky, lighthearted fantasy featuring copious Scottish lingo, magical creatures in

A Restless Truth is the second in Freya Marske's queer fantasy mystery Last Binding trilogy that began Maud and each of her unlikely allies are fantastic characters.

I was captivated by Lim's fairy tale of a fantasy novel, particularly the vivid magical realism, Shiori's

ICYMI: My recent review of Natalie Haynes's entertaining A Thousand Ships brought to mind this wonderful title by Madeline Miller that I adored. To protect what she loves most, Circe must summon all her strength and choose, once and for all, whether she belongs with the gods she is born from or the mortals she has come to love. Circe, daughter of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, is an odd child. She's not striking and in fact, she's seemingly without power. But she grows into her glorious witchy wonder, and her abilities to transform her foes are revealed--along with her dangerous potential to threaten the gods. When Zeus, fearful of what she might be capable of, banishes her to a deserted island, Circe perfects her witchy powers, tames beasts, considers the world and her place in it, simmers and plans, and entertains well-known figures from mythology, including Icarus, the Minotaur, Medea, and Odysseus. We are sorry, we are sorry. Sorry you were caught, I said. Sorry that you thought I was weak, but you were wrong. Circe is a wonderfully faulted, curious, powerful witch. I was in for this book hook, line, and sinker. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I mentioned Circe in the Greedy Reading List Six Wonderfully Witchy Stories to Charm You, and I recently mentioned it again in my review of Natalie Haynes's A Thousand Ships, a woman-centered retelling of events surrounding the Trojan War.

Check out this Bossy Greedy Reading List for Six Fantastic Dystopian and Postapocalyptic Novels I loved

The first book in Marske's duology is full of Edwardian England detail, gay love, mystery, magic, wonderful dialogue and banter, and plenty of heart. I adored it. A Marvellous Light, the first in Freya Marske's Last Binding duology, starts with a devastating ending (the demise of a character, caused by nefarious magicians) and a less-than-promising beginning (Robin Blyth's first day in his civil service job, for which he doesn't feel remotely qualified nor interested). Robin is trying to keep the household afloat after the deaths of his parents, to support his bright, ambitious younger sister, and to date some handsome men along the way. He soon realizes that (a) magic exists (!), (b) he's mistakenly been assigned the job of liaison to a secret magical society, (c) his office has been ransacked and a curse has been placed on him, (d) his curmudgeonly, book-smart coworker Edwin may be the key to saving them all, and (e) maybe he's falling for Edwin just the tiniest bit, despite himself. Marske offers immersive Edwardian England detail in this adorable, captivating, magical, queer book. Robin and Edwin's love is romantic and sweet and heartbreaking and sexy; the mystery at the heart of the book seems only to be solvable by the biggest book nerd in existence; and the story's magical details are fascinating and odd. I was completely hooked by A Marvellous Light, and I tried to slow down my reading to make it last. The amount of heart in this book was exquisite. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? I didn't see a mention anywhere in the book of a sequel, and some aspects felt tantalizingly unresolved, so I was relieved to find out that another book is coming. The second and final book in Marske's duology, A Restless Truth, is scheduled for publication in November.

In The Awakening, the first book in Nora Roberts's Dragon Heart Legacy series, she set up a romantic fantasy Why not take this fantasy all the way, after all?).

The first in the series sets up a strong young Black heroine who bucks tradition as she explores her own heritage, flexes her newfound power, and digs into the story of her mother's mysterious death--while infiltrating a magical, centuries-old Arthurian secret society. “Two faults. My race and my gender. But they are not faults. They are strength. And I am more than this man can comprehend.” After sixteen-year-old Bree's mother dies in an accident, she escapes the painful memories of her childhood home and town in favor of a special program for gifted youth at UNC-Chapel Hill (Go Heeeels!). But her first night on campus, she witnesses the magical attack of a mythical creature on a student--then must evade a fellow student's attempts to wipe her memory of the event. The experience jogs a buried recollection: a wizard was present at the hospital after her mother's accident. Now Bree is determined to find the truth about what happened. Was her mother connected to all of these mysterious goings-on? Did her mother have some sort of abilities she never told Bree about? When Bree, who is Black, stumbles upon an all-white, powerful secret society, she ends up with more questions than answers. So she infiltrates the group, pretending to be interested in pledging--but the stakes are higher than she ever could have imagined. Bree is wonderfully bristly, with a loyal best friend, Alice, that I loved. Bree has to keep in her trusted longtime friend in the dark about her delving into magical worlds and secrets, and this leads to tensions between them. Her forged connections to those who knew her mother and knew of her mother were a story element I loved. Much of the book is about duty and being born into roles, and Bree frequently struggles against racial inequalities and assumptions. The novel frequently questions the importance society places upon birth into privilege or hardship, race, and other factors beyond an individual's control. In the face of restrictions and rules, Bree repeatedly challenges the world's limitations, forging her own path. I was reading Legendborn, with its Arthurian references, during the same period I was reading another (very different) young adult book with references to Arthur and his court, Silver in the Bone. Whereas Silver in the Bone was more playful, Legendborn felt more earnest. Bree spends much of the book researching and wondering, and I preferred when she was taking action. There's a lot of fairly chaste attraction with a heavy emphasis on romantic feelings. I found Bree's main love interest Nick a little overbearing after a time. Deonn seems to be setting up a clear love triangle for book two--duties and resulting romantic possibilities are dramatically shaken up by the end of the book. And war is coming. I felt a little disjointed by the many elements of the Shadowborn, Legendborn, multiple Merlins, shapeshifters, Scions, Roots, and the various embodiments of some of these. I wasn't sure the story was made stronger for me by the links to Arthurian legend at its heart--I found myself wishing Deonn had developed her own wholly independent network of magic, inheritance, bucking expectations, and pending danger for her strong young Black heroine who's figuring out her place in the world. I loved Bree's infiltration of the white, storied, generational power. The story's many correlations to slavery in the South are fascinating and chilling. And Bree dramatically shakes up the ritual-based, staid, formal foundations of the Legendborn by the story's end. I'm imagining that book two shows Bree coming into her own with her power, drawing strength from her heritage, and a major reckoning, and I am up for all of it. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Legendborn is the first in Tracy Deonn's young adult Legendborn Cycle series. I look forward to reading the second book in the series, Bloodmarked.

Riley has crafted a middle-grade fantasy book with humor, adventure, characters to root for, and heart In James Riley's middle-grade fantasy book Story Thieves, young introvert Bethany and impulsive Owen I was surprised by the heart and depth in this fantasy book. and their allies, and loved the twists and turns and realizations--as well as the resolutions and the fantastic

I listened to this romantic fantasy about a chosen one, a long-lost family, portals to a magical world But possibly the most fantastical aspect of the story is the ease with which she secures an agent and

I adored the romantic setup and seemingly ill-fated attraction in Saft's young adult fantasy-mystery, I loved the setup of Saft's romantic young adult fantasy novel Down Comes the Night. The great young adult fantasy elements are all in place here: magic, healing, a defiant main protagonist Saft is also the author of another romantic young adult fantasy novel, A Far Wilder Magic. I loved her character-building, her balance with the young romance, her fantastic, detailed setting,

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Down Comes the Night, a young adult fantasy story featuring magical 01 Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft I love the setup of Saft's romantic young adult fantasy novel

Rachel Hartman's young adult story follows irresistible, hardheaded, wonderfully faulted Tess as she breaks from rigid medieval gender roles in favor of adventure and discovery. It's captivating, sometimes weighty, and often playful, but never silly. She felt like she was seeing with two different eyes: an eye full of stars that still saw the romance, and a new eye, one she'd acquired while walking, an eye full of... It was full of fire, she decided. Her second eye saw the flesh of this story burned away, held the bones up to her own story, and saw the injustice. In Hartman's Tess of the Road, Tess doesn't fit the mold of an obedient, quiet young woman in her medieval kingdom of Goredd, where men rule the land and each household within it. Without airing out all of the family's dirty laundry, let's just say that this time Tess has really taken things too far for fine society, and she's not a young lady who can be subdued. So Tess's family decides to send her to a nunnery. But Tess has other plans. On the day she's scheduled to report for the beginning of her cloistered life, she cuts her hair, pulls on walking boots, and runs away, determined to craft a life for herself outside of the narrow parameters set upon her. Tess's long-held ability to get into trouble leads her on an adventure of a lifetime. Tess is irresistibly faulted and headstrong; she is full of wonder and desperate for adventure; she is pushing at the edge of the disappointingly limited possibilities for young women; and she finds herself increasingly frustrated, then furious, about the double standards, injustices, and power inequality between men and women. There are various complex serpent- and dragon-like creatures within the story, and the longtime, unorthodox friendship between Tess and a dragon-adjacent creature (called a quigutl) helps root the story. Yet the heart of this book is based upon timeless issues, a search for justice, and pushing traditional boundaries. There's a "woman dresses as a man to escape gender limitations" trope; the story emphasizes loyalty, duty, and bravery; and there's some dabbling in faith issues as well as feelings of disillusionment related to certain religious conventions. Tess experiences unexpected, touching, and never-cheesy romance. We witness some of Tess's sobering realizations about the dark truths in the world--as well as her sometimes overly simplified, bull-headed, endearing insistence on interjecting herself to try to help others...or advance her own interests. Hartman's 521-page story is immensely satisfying. Tess of the Road is playful yet never silly. The story zigzags in an appealing way through phases of Tess's young explorations. The tale is full of captivating discoveries of all kinds while also addressing deep issues about gender, power, and possibility. It addresses female empowerment within the frustrating constraints of the time, laying out some hopeful, plausible baby steps toward progress. I'm excited to read the sequel. Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book? Rachel Hartman is also the author of the Seraphina series. The second book in the Tess of the Road series, In the Serpent's Wake, was published last month. I can't wait to read this one!

I could have listed so many fantastic young adult titles here, but I picked these varied, wonderful six The story celebrates true friendship, loyalty, and fantastic, clever, clever ladies overcoming obstacles

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to Tochi Onyebuchi's dark, broody fantasy mystery, Harmattan 01 Harmattan Season by Tochi Onyebuchi In Tochi Onyebuchi's newest fantasy mystery novel, main protagonist Harmattan Season is a dark, broody, mysterious fantasy story that takes place in post-colonial West

I hope you'll also check out the books on my first Greedy Reading List of Six Fantastic Dystopian and The tone of Tamsyn Muir's Gideon the Ninth was unlike any fantasy novel I’ve read, and the friendships

The Books I'm Reading Now I guess this list is an Escape from Reality attempt, as I have three fantasy I'm listening to Ruby Dixon's sassy fantasy novel, Bull Moon Rising ; I'm reading M. L. Wang's recently published dark academia novel, Blood Over Bright Haven ; and I'm reading Frances White's fantasy The cover is arresting, and the sparkles and art are a nod to the novel's fantasy genre. Wang is also the author of The Sword of Kaigen and the YA fantasy series The Volta Academy Chronicles

The fantasy-science-fiction novel Moonbound spans time and splits into several stories, for me never In Robin Sloan's science-fiction-fantasy tale Moonbound , it's eleven thousand years in the future, and

I'm taking a short break from posting--and I hope to read some fantastic books to share with you when I've got these books going at the moment: recently published fantasy-historical fiction, the second in

I'm Reading Now I'm listening to Sarah Rees Brennan's darkly playful dive into life as a villain in a fantasy dying, and in a panic, she makes a magical deal in which she lives on...in the world of her favorite fantasy Sarah Rees Brennan is also the author of the fantastic character-driven young-adult fantasy In Other

North Carolina Love! I love reading novels with Southern, Appalachian, and specifically North Carolina settings. Here are six I've loved set in the Tar Heel State. Have you read any of these? If so, I'd love to hear what you thought. Do you have any favorite books set where you live? 01 When These Mountains Burn by David Joy Joy offers an often dark work of Southern literary fiction through which bubbles of hope emerge. Ray has outlived his beloved wife in the mountains of North Carolina. He has a precious old girl of a dog, a fascination with (and healthy fear of) coyotes, a love of reading, and a no-nonsense manner that makes clear he doesn't brook fools. He has almost resigned himself to the heartbreaking idea that his addict son is too lost to be saved. There's an undercover cop nearby who's trying to help take down a robust drug ring, and then there's Ray, who uses old-fashioned methods and his knowledge of mountain terrain to address injustices in a straightforward way. When These Mountains Burn isn't always easy to read, but it isn't over the top, and Joy's characters are fascinatingly faulted and keep you humming right along. I read this in 24 hours while wishing I were making it last longer. For my full review of When These Mountains Burn, click here. 02 Gods of Howl Mountain by Taylor Brown Taylor Brown's five-star, 1950s North Carolina-set novel offers mountain clans, whiskey runners, folk healers, family conflict, and dark, brooding woodland settings. I loved it. Rory Docherty has returned to rural North Carolina with a wooden leg and haunting memories of his time fighting in the Korean War. He's running whiskey to juke joints, brothels, and other seedy spots in his 1940 Ford, driving fast, avoiding federal agents, and living with his grandmother, a healer with strong opinions about Rory's love interest, a snake-handling preacher's daughter in the mill town nearby. Family secrets and conflicts come to a head as The Gods of Howl Mountain reaches a dark, brooding, beautiful crescendo. Brown’s descriptions are intensely arresting. He delves deeply and deftly, cutting to the quick and avoiding what in less skilled hands could have been caricatures of North Carolina mountain folk. I loved every bit of this story. Taylor is also the author of Pride of Eden, Fallen Land, a title I loved and included in the Greedy Reading List Six Great Historical Fiction Stories about the Civil War, and Wingwalkers. For my full review, check out The Gods of Howl Mountain. 03 When Ghosts Come Home by Wiley Cash I loved Cash's Eastern North Carolina setting, the character of Sheriff Winston Barnes, and the pulsing racial, class-based, and family conflicts explored in When Ghosts Come Home. Sheriff Winston Barnes knows he probably won't be reelected. He does things by the book and isn't flashy, while his aggressive opponent seems to amass more wealth and (dubious sources of) support each passing day. Meanwhile, Winston's wife is in cancer treatment and his daughter has just experienced a devastating loss and is drifting, unmoored. He's got a lot on his plate. But when a body and an abandoned airplane are found in his quiet, coastal North Carolina town, Winston must try to unravel the mystery of the events at hand. Rumors, long-simmering conflicts, clashing loyalties, and Barnes's personal tragedy all complicate the discovery of the truth. I was all in for the shocking events that occurred late in the book. Wiley Cash is also the author of A Land More Kind than Home, The Last Ballad, and This Dark Road to Mercy. Click here for my full review of When Ghosts Come Home. 04 The Caretaker by Ron Rash Ron Rash's Appalachian-set novel explores a small town shaken by upended expectations, the Korean War, and selfish rigidity that threatens to undo them all. Blackburn Gant is the sole caretaker of a hilltop cemetery in 1951 Blowing Rock, North Carolina. He lives a quiet life, which is partially dictated by his physical limitations since suffering through polio as a child. When his best (and only) friend Jacob is sent to serve overseas in the Korean War, Blackburn promises to look after Jacob's wife, Naomi. The two had eloped just months after meeting, which led to Jacob's being disowned by his wealthy family. Blackburn and Naomi grow close as they anxiously await word of Jacob's fate halfway around the world. When an important telegram arrives, they fear the worst. IA series of elaborate falsifications, outrageous subterfuge, and outright lies creates a tangled web for all involved--and the situation just begs for justice to be served to those blinded by selfish desire and rigid expectations. I loved the glimpses of rural life and of the specific place and time that Rash crafts so well. The writing is beautifully spare, and the ending is satisfying in multiple ways. For my full review, check out The Caretaker. 05 The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda Miranda uses the framework of a famous fictional rescue story to imagine the characters' turmoil and desperate coping mechanisms, crafting a fascinating look at the depths beneath their surfaces. Olivia (then called Arden) was a small child when she sleepwalked into a storm and was washed away. Three days later, she was recovered in a miraculous series of events that ended up with her rescue and removal from a storm drain. Now someone from her past has resurfaced, and he could reveal her carefully hidden secrets and ruin everything. When evidence of brutal violence emerges close to home, Olivia wonders if someone is protecting her or possibly seeking some kind of revenge--and if that someone might even be Olivia herself. I found the ending of the book gloriously terrifying. The last few pages felt a little disjointed from the story. But the familiar echoes of a story like "baby Jessica in the well," the media frenzy, and the public's emotional investment were a intriguing framework for Miranda's story. For my full review of this book, see The Girl from Widow Hills. 06 The Last Child by John Hart I loved John Hart's brusque, determined Clyde Hunt, the scrappy and unstoppable young Johnny Merrimon, the sinister underbelly of their rural North Carolina town, and basically everything about this intricate literary mystery-thriller. Hart knows how to masterfully build a story around unforgettable characters with layers they reluctantly reveal. I didn't expect the resolution Hart allows to unfold at the end. But I was in for whatever he was dishing up, and I was fascinated all along the way. The Last Child appears in the Greedy Reading List The Six Best Mysteries I Read Last Year. John Hart has also written many other books, including The Hush, the second in the Johnny Merrimon series, and the wonderfully written, often tough-to-read Redemption Road, as well as The Unwilling. Hart has written many other books, including The Hush, which is the second in the Johnny Merrimon series, and Redemption Road. Side note: I'm captivated by Hart's stories, but I admit that I had difficulty sitting through the horrific cruelties perpetuated by multiple characters in Redemption Road. I loved his imperfect, brave, relentlessly tough protagonists, and Hart is a gifted storyteller, but the rock-bottom depravity and evil underpinnings of much of Redemption Road story were upsetting and difficult to read.

Three other titles suggested to me as promising adult and young adult science fiction, fantasy, and dystopian Carey (which I mentioned in the Greedy Reading List Six Fantastic Dystopian and Postapocalyptic Novels For other science fiction and fantasy books I've read and reviewed, please check out the titles at this

In Kuang's dark academia fantasy novel Katabasis , Alice Law is a postgraduate student in a ruthlessly This is a clever, strange, dark, and often darkly funny fantasy. This is the type of romantic fantasy I adore. Tale of Two Cities  offered a compelling story of redemption and self-sacrifice with a significant fantasy In this historical fiction-fantasy, characters from Dickens's tale are plunged into a dark, powerful

postwar San Francisco; I'm listening to The Knight and the Moth , the first in Rachel Gillig's rich fantasy So far this is a richly built fantasy world with a minor romance aspect; it's a balance I'm really liking

Brown's debut fantasy novel offers a swirl of magical books, a makeshift team of world-savers, plenty In Gareth Brown's debut fantasy novel The Book of Doors, main protagonist Cassie Andrews works in a New like the sound of this book, you may want to check out other Bossy reviews of time-travel books or fantasy

Kingfisher novel, the fantasy story and retelling of the Grimm Brothers' Goose Girl , A Sorceress Comes Naomi Novik is the author of richly wrought fantasy novels featuring main protagonists I love: Uprooted Novik has also written the Temeraire series of nine fantastic books about dragons, their riders, their

He's a fantastic character I loved. This great book by C.A. also want to read Carey's The Boy on the Bridge, which is a standalone book in the same series, is fantastic

their father's death, Intermezzo ; and I'm listening to the first in Rachel Aaron's Tear Down Heaven fantasy Beautiful World, Where Are You . 03 Hell for Hire (Tear Down Heaven #1) by Rachel Aaron I love a playful fantasy

the six books I most loved reading this past month: a heartbreaking, lovely, epistolary Western; a fantasy story with war at the forefront and fantasy in the background; a collection of three short stories by vulnerable celebrity memoir; the latest loooong installment in a favorite mystery series; and a cozy fantasy and the gutsy characters facing wartime struggles and challenges, but I was surprised that the book's fantasy I really liked this, but I was surprised by how light it felt on fantasy elements.

art-focused historical fiction mystery in two timelines; I'm reading The Tainted Cup , a fascinating fantasy-science-fiction fiction-feeling story, a Sherlock Holmes and Watson-type investigatory relationship, and fascinating otherworldly fantasy

Murderland ; I'm also listening to the first in Antonia Hodgson's smart, charming, intricately plotted fantasy There is a romantic element, but this is, happily for me, a richly built fantasy and not a romantasy.

In this historical fiction-fantasy, characters from Dickens's tale are plunged into a dark, powerful I read the first in that series, The Magicians , for but me it was short on magic and fantastical elements

My Extensive Love for Naomi Novik's Fiction Naomi Novik is the author of richly wrought fantasy novels Novik has also written the Temeraire series of nine fantastic books about dragons, their riders, their

Anglish conquerers' constricting rules about its raising and training; and I'm listening to a cozy fantasy But in this cozy fantasy story, Viv has discovered the wonder of coffee and has determined to make a

The focus on the power of books is fantastic. the power of menopausal women and the poignant strength of friendship; supplies satisfying revenge fantasies

fake-marriage, tropical-island-set rom-com The Paradise Problem ; I'm listening to Moonbound , Robin Sloan's fantasy-science-fiction Six More Great Light Fiction Stories . 02 Moonbound by Robin Sloan In Robin Sloan's science-fiction-fantasy

She realizes that the revenge fantasies that have been instilled in her since birth--along with a distrust Glory examines deep matters in a fascinating chain of events, reflections, unexpected do-overs, and fantastic

01 Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik Naomi Novik is the author of fantasy novels featuring battles within the books' alternate history, and the human protagonists are wonderfully faulted and fantastic

Reading Now I'm reading Lynn Painter's rom-com Betting on You; I'm listening to Gareth Brown's debut fantasy Number, and other books I haven't yet read. 02 The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown In Gareth Brown's debut fantasy

This month my favorite reads were a historical-fiction fantasy set during the Spanish Inquisition; an adventure-fantasy inspired by a Chinese legend; literary fiction tracing life in a British boarding school and beyond; a Norse-inspired fantasy saga; a fun young adult, queer, medieval adventure romance I love a mix of historical fiction and fantasy, and while this novel isn't as layered and complex or

The Revenge Fantasies...and Revenge Enacted Whether it's about righting wrongs, saving face, renegade the power of menopausal women and the poignant strength of friendship; supplies satisfying revenge fantasies heroines unite against the book's sometimes caricature-like, purely evil bad guys by using their new-found fantastical The revenge-fantasy element is particularly satisfying. Echo Wife. 06 The Harpy by Megan Hunter This slim, intriguing book packs a punch, featuring revenge fantasies

The romantic aspect is less essential than the fantasy elements, which I appreciated. characters' energy is spent on pining and obsessing, where dramatic declarations overshadow a novel's fantasy The Knight and the Moth  is built on a spare yet satisfying fantasy world with a limited number of characters

Elaborate mythology swirls around the mysterious author of the blockbuster fantasy series The Falling Goldhero, and fans dream up fantastical stories about the writer and his life.

spreading happiness; I'm reading the third in Naomi Novik's dark, wonderful Scholomance series, the fantasy Novik is also the author of many other wonderful fantasy novels featuring main protagonists I love. 03

He's a fantastic character I loved. This great book by C.A. also want to read Carey's The Boy on the Bridge, which is a standalone book in the same series, is fantastic #postapocalyptic, #dystopian, #fantasyscifi, #series, #fourstarbookreview 04 The Dog Stars ​ Hig somehow #dystopian, #fantasyscifi, #fourstarbookreview 06 The Boy on the Bridge ​ Months into their save-the-world #postapocalyptic, #dystopian, #fantasyscifi, #series, #fourstarbookreview What are your favorite post-apocalyptic

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Nocturne, Alyssa Wees's fantasy novel about a prima ballerina in 01 Nocturne by Alyssa Wees In Alyssa Wees's slim (it's 240 pages) fantasy novel Nocturne, set in the

The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Sara Holland's upcoming fantasy novel Break Wide the Sea ; I'm

One of my criticisms of the currently popular romantic fantasy Fourth Wing is that I wanted more more

Mad is quickly developing revenge fantasies involving her dad, but a cross-country road trip in close

the power of menopausal women and the poignant strength of friendship; supplies satisfying revenge fantasies heroines unite against the book's sometimes caricature-like, purely evil bad guys by using their new-found fantastical The revenge-fantasy element is particularly satisfying.