Snippet: Awakenings, by Claudie Arseneault

Innkeep, hunter, blacksmith, nurse—Horace has apprenticed for every clan in the domed city of Trenaze, and they've all rejected em. Too hare-brained. Too talkative. Too slow. Ever the optimist, e has joined Trenaze's guards to be mentored. Horace has high hopes to earn eir place during eir trial at the Great Market. That is, until the glowing shards haunting the world break through the city's protective dome, fused together in a single, monstrous amalgam of Fragments.

“Your story is my story.”

Claudie Arseneault's Awakenings is a sweet novella set in a queernormative world, a cozy adventure that starts when the nonbinary aroace main character find themselves in a situation bigger than them and decide to leave their city and help a mysterious figure regain their memories. The two will cross paths with a merchant and his sentient wagon, and the three will set off for adventure. This book believably lays the groundwork for what promises to be a fun series of short works about finding oneselves and the importance of friendship.

✨ 3.5 stars

ARC Review: The Crack at the Heart of Everything, by Fiona Fenn

Orpheus can't believe it's come to this. After helping his childhood friend conquer the realm by raising an army of hell-beasts, the befuddled dark sorcerer finds himself banished when the price of his magic endangers the palace. Isolated and betrayed, the feared spellcaster isn't exactly thrilled when his irritating and handsome rival keeps stepping between him and certain doom.
Ill at ease in the barren wasteland his powers created, Orpheus slowly warms to the charismatic ex-general's relentless overtures. But as his feelings grow more intense, the former villain struggles with an inconvenient calling towards heroism. Will dabbling in good deeds get him killed or open the doors to happily ever after?

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fiona Fenn's The Crack at the Heart of Everything is a sweet standalone fantasy with a twist that recontestualizes everything we thought we knew about the story. We follow the main character Orpheus as he attempts to navigate a curse and come to terms with his evil deeds done in service of his queen, while contending with his newfound feelings for his cheerful companion and seeing the world outside for the first time.

It's a story about isolation, betrayal, and the love we can still find, no matter our circumstances. Orpheus is a compelling character, a man who only wants to do what's right, a traumatized person with self-harm tendencies. He cries often, but his tears aren't seen as a weakness, and his search for comfort is a strength. His companion slowly chips at the wall Orpheus has had to build, with his steadfulness and his great heart. This is not a romantasy, but the sweet romance grows organically, alongside with the main plot.

The worldbuilding is intriguing, snippets of the past revealing themselves slowly until the reader pieces together the truth. Some parts are still nebulous - one wonders at a few things - but the story still works. Despite the urgency and the trauma, there's also a strong cozy vibe.

The Crack at the Heart of Everything is a delightful debut.

✨ 4 stars

Review: The End Crowns All, by Bea Fitzgerald

Princess. Priestess. The most beautiful girl in Troy. Cassandra is used to being adored – and when her patron god, Apollo, offers her the power of prophecy, she sees an opportunity to rise even higher. But when she fails to uphold her end of the agreement, she discovers just how very far she has to fall. No one believes her visions. And they all seem to be of one girl – and the war she’s going to bring to Troy’s shores.
Helen fled Sparta in pursuit of love, but it’s soon clear Troy is a court like any other, with all its politics and backstabbing. And one princess seems particularly intent on driving her from the city before disaster can strike... But when war finally comes, it’s more than the army at their walls they must contend with. Cassandra and Helen might hold the key to reweaving fate itself – especially with the prophetic strands drawing them ever closer together. But how do you change your future when the gods themselves are dictating your demise?

"We should not tell stories of the heroes, but of the women who survived them."

Bea Fitzgerald's The End Crowns All is a lovely retelling of the Iliad, seen through the eyes of the women who suffered during the Trojan War, with a special focus on the two main characters, Cassandra and Helen. Their dual POV narration explores the events of the war and what came before, following closely enough the epic poem, until it starts veering towards a kinder, more hopeful ending. Cassandra, Helen, and the women of Troy reclaim their agency, taking matters into their hands and fighting against a future that isn't set in stone, no matter what prophecies say.

Cassandra and Helen steadily grow closer as their inital emnity, caused by the fact that Cassandra sees the downfall of Troy, turns into an alliance and then affection blooms between them. The book features such an in-depth, lovely, careful rendition of asexuality, and especially sapphic asexuality, and it's a joy to read how Cassandra comes to terms with her orientation, and finds love in the unlikeliest place. It's lovely, too, to see romantic love equated to all other kinds - friendship, familial - and not treated as the most important kind of love. Cassandra finds a partner, yes, but she also finds companionship, and people who care about her for who she is.

The conditions of women at the times is thoroughly explored, from forced marriage to kidnapping and the consequences of war. I adored how the grim epilogue of the Iliad is tamed and conquered, giving new meaning to the saying "history is written by the victors." The exploration of the changes one can make to the threads of fate makes for a compelling story, and the complexity of Apollo's curses, and the way Cassandra and Helen try to navigate each change, adds conflict in a believable way.

The book deals very well with treaths of sexual violence, not one to sugarcoat it despite the younger audience. It's marketed as a YA, and it shows especially in the kind of language used and the simple narration, but it's readable by an adult audience. Apollo is every bit the villain of the story, wanting to own and terrorize Cassandra for the crime of spurning him, but Aphrodite is a close second, her threats to Helen bone-chilling.

The End Crowns All is a remarkable retelling.

✨ 4 stars

Review: The Switchboard, by Christina K. Glover

Mortal mage Henley Yu has enough to worry about between the storms caused by broken magic and his strained relationship with his father. He’s trying to keep his head above water, but when he finds a stranger hiding in his kitchen cabinets he’s forced to reconsider his priorities. Chief Operator Kittinger has overseen the flow of magic for centuries, but he’s no fighter. Betrayed by his protectors in their quest to gain control of the magic, he’s running for his life when he makes Henley his accomplice. Kit might lose his new ally if Henley finds out that Kit’s secrets go deeper than the magic itself.
Together they’ll venture into the Between, where magic connects worlds, to fight an army of officers ready to finish what they started when Kit fled the scene. For Kit, failure means death. For Henley, it means losing the memory of the only person who gives him purpose. Henley won’t let anyone interfere before he finds out what that means for their future together.

"Death waits for us behind and before; I choose forward."

Christina K. Glover's The Switchboard is a fast-paced urban fantasy that doesn't hold the reader's hand and plunges straight into action, depicting an alternate modern Earth where mages pull their power from a highly bureaucratic dimension without even knowing they're doing it. The two main characters, a mage and an operator, find themselves unexpected allies when a threat to the stability of that dimension promises to wipe out magic forever.

The magic system is the strongest aspect of the novel, an intriguing system based on giving up memories in order to power one's spells. The dimension, with all its differences from modern-day Earth, is described vividly, and the mechanics of the transfer of power are explained with attention to detail. Some aspects fall flat, like the actual lore of the world and the sudden deus ex machina that doesn't feel like it was properly foreshadowed. With the premise and rules as they were explained, and a heart-breaking scene towards the end, the resolution feels like a cop-out.

The characters are painted vividly; the supporting cast shines, and the two main characters at the heart of the novel are intriguing and multi-faceted. Their relationship grows organically despite the break-neck speed of the narration, which spans just a few days from the moment they meet for the first time. The way things end certainly keeps one interested in the sequel.

The Switchboard is a solid first installment of a series.

✨ 3.5 stars

Review: The Phoenix Keeper, by S.A. MacLean

As head phoenix keeper at a world-renowned zoo for magical creatures, Aila's childhood dream of conserving critically endangered firebirds seems closer than ever. There's just one glaring caveat: her zoo's breeding program hasn't functioned for a decade. When a tragic phoenix heist sabotages the flagship initiative at a neighbouring zoo, Aila must prove her derelict facilities are fit to take the reins. But saving an entire species from extinction requires more than stellar animal handling skills. Carnivorous water horses, tempestuous thunderhawks, mischievous dragons... Aila has no problem wrangling beasts. Inspiring zoo patrons? That's another story. Mustering the courage to ask for help from the hotshot griffin keeper at the zoo's most popular exhibit? Virtually impossible.
Especially when the hotshot griffin keeper in question just so happens to be her arch-rival from college: Luciana, an annoyingly brooding and even more annoyingly insufferable know-it-all with the grace of a goblin and the face of a goddess who's convinced that Aila's beloved phoenix would serve their cause better as an active performer rather than as a passive conservation exhibit.

"Let her prove she could be worth something."

S.A. MacLean's The Phoenix Keeper is a cozy fantasy novel about bisexual zoekeeper Aila and her struggle with anxiety and with the zoo program that's trying to save a Phoenix species from extinction. It's a low-stakes story, sweet and slow-paced, taking its time to describe the daily life at the zoo and the steps taken to bring the program back to life, while chronicling her journey to become a more functional person. It's marketed as a sapphic romantasy, but while the romance is lovely, it's not focussed on and it's more of a subplot.

The tension between Aila and her love interest crackles as Aila has to first navigate a blooming relationship with another zookeeper, a man who on the surface looks perfect for her. But looks can be deceiving, and when Aila lets herself see people for who they truly are, she might reach a different conclusion than she thought.

Throughout the book, she's helped by her best friend, whose friendship has to overcome a few hurdles. Aila is a self-centered protagonist, trapped inside her anxiety that makes her not quite so insightful, but as she slowly comes out of her shell, she becomes more mindful. Her love interest is a more well-rounded character than her, showing hidden depths behind a cool demeanor.

The worldbuilding isn't too elaborate, but it works. The world looks mostly like our own, with the notable exception of magical fauna that's preserved in zoos. The book excels in describing these habitats and enclosures with a lush and colorful prose, showing a zookeper's life with the joy and enthusiasm of a child's visit, building on that nostalgia to really pluck at the heartstrings.

The Phoenix Keeper is a quiet story of self-realization.

✨ 3.5 stars

Snippet: Under the Dragon Moon, by Mawce Hanlin

Mael Nguyen doesn’t believe in fate, but he does believe in magic. His entire life revolves around the study of the arcane—spells and rituals, potions and illusions. As far as Mael is concerned, all he needs is a book in one hand and magic in the other. Anything outside of his bookshop, hidden away in the streets of New Orleans, isn’t worth his attention. But when a strange human stumbles into his life and hires him for a job, bringing along his blinding smile and curious magic, Mael finds that Fate is just as dangerous as Magic.
Leo Greyson refuses to believe in fate, but he desperately wishes to believe in magic. As a small time rockstar, full time radio host, Leo has never been one to shy away from experience and adventure. He’s always lived his life on the edge—always moving, never standing still. But when his twin sister is murdered, and he gains custody of her strangely magical daughter, that constant motion comes to a screeching halt. Instead, he is launched into an entirely new world hidden right beneath his nose, and Leo finds himself wondering if Fate really does exist, and if she’s led him right where he needs to be.

“He kissed like a hurricane.”

Mawce Hanlin's Under the Dragon Moon is a sweet romantasy with great character work and a mysterious background plot that promises to take center stage in the next installments of the series. In this first book the focus is on a magical mystery and on the establishment of the main characters’ relationship, motivations, past, and their relationship with friends and family, other than laying the foundation of a pretty complex worldbuilding, with sidhe, Courts, pacts, dragons, and a magic that builds on magical patrons. The politics and lore of this scintillating debut of an urban fantasy are pretty layered, and the prose is fantastic: lyrical at times, at times funny, always very respectful of the many triggering aspects, and littered with references to pop culture. There are quite a few explicit sex scenes.

✨ 4 stars

Review: The Lowest Healer and the Highest Mage, by Hiyodori

In a country where mages have all the power and healers supposedly only exist to support them, Clematis—a talented healer—is despised for her past attempts to defy the mageocracy. In her early thirties, she’s already on year seven of a life sentence for treason. But when the most powerful mage in the nation suddenly loses all her magic, the government wants unconventional Clematis to help get it back.
The mage is a tall, distant woman called Wist, and Clematis knows her all too well. They used to be classmates. Best friends. Perhaps more. Wist is also the person who reported Clematis for leaking state secrets. She’s the reason Clematis spent the last seven years in prison. Clematis wants revenge for her betrayal, but she wants freedom even more. She’s got thirty days to recover Wist’s magic: miss the deadline, and she’ll be shunted back to prison for the rest of her life. Yet attempting to resurrect Wist’s lost magic will force her to face the real reason why Wist betrayed her—and to face her unresolved, unspoken feelings for the mage who stabbed her in the back and walked away.

"I never forgot the sound of you calling for me. Not for a second."

Hiyodori's The Lowest Healer and the Highest Mage is a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid that combines a compelling protagonist and sole POV character with a surprising plot that keeps you on your toes as it slowly unveils the background of the characters and their history. Clematis and Wist navigate the consequences of an old betrayal that put them at odds with each other, while trying to solve a problem that might prove to be fatal for their world.

Clematis is a delight, caustic and angry and incredibly competent. Her old friend Wist is remote and mysterious and she has secrets which will change everything Clematis thinks she knows. Their relationship, in the present and the snippets of the past, is a compelling one, and so is the way they learn to trust each other again. The supporting cast does its job, with two very fleshed-out and interesting characters in the form of a friend Clematis made more recently, and a Healer that Wist trusts to treat her.

The snippets of world-building paint a vivid picture, albeit a fragmented one, that I hope to see explored more in the other books of the series. The contrast and politics of the usage and abuse of magic, with Healers as glorified batteries for Mages that, at least in the nation where the characters live, have no system in place to check their treatment of Healers, makes for an interesting conflict.

The Lowest Healer and the Highest Mage is a captivating novella.

✨ 4 stars

ARC Review: The Saint of Heartbreak, by Morgan Dante

After his betrayal with a kiss, Judas Iscariot dies in despair and goes to Hell. When Christ saves other souls during the Harrowing of Hell, he leaves Judas behind—but not alone in the ninth circle, where the most detestable traitors go. Callous, resigned, and abandoned by God long ago, the Devil sees Judas as a pathetic wretch, but he soon finds a kindred spirit. As the centuries pass, they struggle to find even a sliver of happiness in Hell. Doomed by the narrative, will they find happiness, or will their story continue to be a tragedy?

My thanks to the author for providing an ARC copy.

Morgan Dante's The Saint of Heartbreak is a story some might find blasphemous, but at its core, it's a story about finding companionship in the direst circumstances, and finding forgiveness within oneself. The first chapters, depicting events from the New Testament, set quickly the scene, introducing the reader to Judas through the eyes of Yeshua; the rest of the book is from Lucifer's POV, and it does get the reader to sympathise with the Devil. Morgan Dante's Hell is not Dante's Inferno, but a gentler place than one might expect - while being very clearly a place of eternal torment.

The relationship between Judas and Lucifer grows organically, from a tentative fascination to a kind of friendship; transactional sex becomes tender as all veils fall and their souls are laid bare. The choise to never have Judas' POV is interesting, because we only see him through someone else's eyes: he's tormented by what he's done, by his betrayal, by the loss of Yeshua, and he often seeks way to punish himself, but slowly finds a way to forgive himself. And Lucifer, in turn, grows to make peace with his past.

This book wouldn't work without the presence of Lucifer's fantastic supporting cast. Hell isn't explored thoroughly, but rather painted with a few vignettes, exploring other circles, other damned, and the Dukes of Hell. Lilith in particular makes for an incredible secondary character. Even a few Angels make an appearance, and the little snippets of the Fall are harrowing, showing the casual cruelty of the so-called good side.

Dante's writing is, as usual, exquisite. There's a few odd turns of phrase, but generally speaking, the vibes are always immaculate with this author.

The Saint of Hearbreak is an unexpected treasure.

✨ 4 stars

Review: The Weavers of Alamaxa, by Hadeer Elsbai

The Daughters of Izdihar—a group of women fighting for the vote and against the patriarchal rule of Parliament—have finally made strides in having their voices heard...only to find them drowned out by the cannons of the fundamentalist Ziranis. As long as Alamaxa continues to allow for the elemental magic of the weavers—and insist on allowing an academy to teach such things—the Zirani will stop at nothing to end what they perceive is a threat to not only their way of life, but the entire world.
Two such weavers, Nehal and Giorgina, had come together despite their differences to grow both their political and weaving power. But after the attack, Nehal wakes up in a Zirani prison, and Giorgina is on the run in her besieged city. If they can reunite again, they can rally Alamaxa to fight off the encroaching Zirani threat. Yet with so much in their way—including a contingent of Zirani insurgents with their own ideas about rebellion—this will be no easy task. And the last time a weaver fought back, the whole world was shattered.

"Safe in the knowledge that she was powerful."

Hadeer Helsbai's The Weavers of Alamaxa is the hectic conclusion to the duology started with The Daughters of Izdihar. The novel picks up where the first book ended, and from there doesn't stop a moment, careening towards an ending that ties up all the loose threads but feels unearned because we didn't have time to really delve into the changing situations. Events take place at a fast pace, and the new characters and setting suffer from it. The first conflict of the novel gets resolved in the blink of an eye, in order to put all pieces on the board and proceed with a war that becomes too rushed as well.

A trilogy would have allowed this series to breathe; we could have spent the whole of the second novel at the Zirani court and in Zirani, to learn more about their people and have time to get interested in those characters. Instead, the rushed resolution means we care little for them when disaster strikes. The core characters from the first volume are of course exempt from this, and a tragic event is treated with the grace and attention it deserves. But the focus on the war means that all the things that made the first book so memorable - the political struggle and the battle for bodily and political authonomy - take the backseat.

The two POVs' journey, on the other hand, is well-executed: Nehal softens her edges as she learns the struggles of the poor, and she has a few memorable scenes; Giorgina undegoes a metamorphosis, going from a meek character to one who fights for what's right. Malak of course continues to stun with her political acumen and her strength, the remaining Daughters of Izdihar make their appearance, and Nico handles himself well; the Zirani monarchs, while underdeveloped, make for interesting villains. The worldbuilding suffers from the fast pace, but new information about the world gives a new perspective.

The Weavers of Alamaxa is a book that could have been more.

✨ 3.5 stars

Snippet: Empire of the Feast, by Bendi Barrett

We awaken with Riverson, 32nd ruler of the Stag Empire, as he attempts to govern without the memories of his previous lives. To survive the ever-sharpening gears of war, he will need to mend the political schisms threatening to tear his empire apart while maintaining the erotic rituals holding off the eldritch horror known only as the Rapacious.

“We will eat the stars and drench the darkness in ecstasy.”

Bendi Berrett's Empire of the Feast is a sci-fi novella with a touch of magic, compact and luxurious. In less than a hundred pages, the author paints the delicate balance of an intergalactic empire held together against an eldritch foe only thanks to the power surges created by a never-ending orgy. Despite the particular subject, the book isn't too explicit, and follows the efforts of the newly resurrected Emperor attempting to regain his footing and stop a coup, having been brought back memoryless and with a different gender. This delightfully queer page-turner of a novella packs a complex journey that resolves in less than a day; it only stumbles in the Epilogue, where it tries to tie too neat a bow to the detriment of a perfect roller-coaster.

✨ 4 stars