Category: Fiction Book Reviews

“The Battle Drum” Review

Posted on by Jen

“The Battle Drum” (The Ending Fire Trilogy No. 2) by Saara El-Arifi

Anoor is the first blue-blooded ruler of the Wardens’ Empire. But when she is accused of a murder she didn’t commit, her reign is thrown into turmoil. She must solve the mystery and clear her name without the support of her beloved, Sylah.

Hassa’s web of secrets grows ever thicker as she finds herself on a trail of crimes in the city. Her searching uncovers the extent of the atrocities of the empire’s past and present. Now, she must guard both her heart and her land.

Sylah braves new lands to find a solution for the hurricane that threatens to destroy her home. But in finding answers, she must make a decision, does she sacrifice her old life in order to raise up her sword once more?

The three women find their answers, but they’re not the answers they wanted. The drumbeat of change thrums throughout the world.

Review

I thought this was a good sequel to the first book. I enjoyed learning more about the characters and seeing how they were working to find their answers. Naturally being the middle book of a trilogy it was mostly information gathering and building on prior knowledge before the conclusion. Some things were more frustrating than others but I enjoyed it.

Book Details

The cover is taken up by a white with blue tinge tial pattern that has a blue strip through the bottom half and a blue design at the top The tile is written in the center the authors name at the bottom

Author’s Website
Saara El-Arifi
Publisher / Date
Del Ray, May 2023
Genre
Fantasy
Page Count
544
Completion Date
August 21

“Ravenous State” Review

Posted on by Jen

“Ravenous State” (The Gifted of Brennex No. 3) by Jo Miles

Libbi Wilder is the good daughter. While her older siblings have traveled the galaxy having adventures, she’s stayed home to run the family store. Someone has to, after all.

Then a stranger shows up at the store, and people Libbi’s age—the Losts—start going missing. Libbi and her best friend Mixin set out to investigate, but so do her siblings, who swoop in to save the day without being asked, reigniting old resentments. Libbi knows she’ll always be the baby of the family, but if she can solve the disappearances, maybe she can finally win her siblings’ respect.

Except the truth behind the kidnappings is worse than she feared. With the long-held secret of their gifts now exposed, Libbi will have to rally the Losts—and harder still, work with her brother and sister—to save them from falling under Ravel Corporation’s control in this gripping conclusion to the Gifted of Brennex trilogy.

Review

This one was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed seeing all three of the siblings together. Libby is bit annoying at first, but a lot of her assumptions make sense, and it wasn’t like she was completely wrong either. I liked the way things worked out and that Libby was actually able to resolve a lot of her issues while helping to make sure things with Ravel and the Lost were resolved as well. The one thing Libby was always right about is that while her siblings were doing good work away from Brennex, there was still work that needed to be done on Brennex to help the Lost.

Ultimately I liked the way all of the characters had a part to play in this story and that in the end the siblings were able to resolve things and continue to do what they do best. I also liked the ending for Libby as well as she does realize exactly where she belongs. Something she’d struggled with figuring out because of the assumptions she’d previously had. I felt like this was a good ending for the trilogy with things mostly resolved but room for more – because the as always work is never done.

I also liked the way the author used the idea that disabled children are often seen as worthy of taking care of while disabled adults are seen as a burden who need extra money and resources that are taken away from others. The way things were playing out with the gifted of Brennex as they grew older and took more resources was the same way and it gets mentioned often. This is an area where Libby was right to be concerned and it made sense she would resent that her siblings had seemingly abandoned everyone.

Additional reviews and warnings can be found on the StoryGraph page for “Ravenous State”.

Book Details

The cover is yellow with what looks like an desert landscape at the bottom of the cover with multiple domed buildings and a transport bridge between them. In the background there is the black profile of a head over the sky looking towards the right. There is a space ship flying up and to the left with a trail of white light coming from the bottom.

Author’s Website
Jo Miles
Publisher / Date
Self Published, February 2024
Genre
Science Fiction
Page Count
490
Completion Date
August 10, 2025

“Dissonant State” Review

Posted on by Jen

“Dissonant State” (The Gifted of Brennex No. 2) by Jo Miles

Kay Wilder despises Ravel Corporation, whose occupation of her home planet left Kay with a useful but debilitating ability to hear others’ emotions. Unlike her brother Jasper, an activist who fights corporate injustice, Kay has always stayed as far away from the corporate states as possible.

Until now. Because Ravel has kidnapped her brother, and the only way Kay can help him is to go undercover working for the enemy. Assigned to help Ravel acquire a new member planet, Kay has to lie about what Ravel did to her home. It’s harder and lonelier than Kay could have imagined, until she finds an unexpected ally: a sentient ship who hates working for Ravel as much as she does, who will risk discovery and destruction to help their first and only friend. But the risks are far greater than Kay’s and Ship’s safety. Every day Kay works for Ravel takes them one step closer to completing the acquisition. To save Jasper, she may have to let another world suffer her home’s fate—and betray the cause her brother has risked his life for.

Review

I really enjoyed this one. Apprently the author originally wrote a version of this one first which explains a few things about the first book. There’s a characer who is much better developed in this book than the first one and not just because of the natural character development that would have happened anyway. Granted in this book he is more front and center than in the first one. Anyway I really liked Kay and friendship she develops with the ship. I don’t want to spoil the name of the ship, as it’s an important plot point, but I really liked the name they picked and the way that scene played out. A few things got a little tedious as Kay had to deal with working for Ravel to find her brother, but I liked the way things worked out in the end. Kay and the ship both learn things as does the original character I mentioned. It was good to see Jasper and Havoc again in the later parts of the book and I liked seeing the way they all interact. I really like the way the author has set up the plot threads of the books and the lead to the final book is clear.

Additional Reviews and Warnings can be found on the StoryGraph page for “Dissonant State”

Book Details

The cover is red with what looks like an desert landscape at the bottom of the cover with a few buildings around, with a moon and a star filled sky above it. In the background there is the black profile of a head over the sky looking towards the right. There is a space ship flying up and to the left with a trail of white light coming from the bottom.

Author’s Website
Jo Miles
Publisher / Date
Self Published, November 2023
Genre
Science Fiction
Page Count
361
Completion Date
August 8, 2025

“Magica Riot” Review

Posted on by Jen

“Magica Riot (Maidensong Magica No. 1)” by Kara Buchanan

Claire always wanted to be a girl. She never dreamed she’d be a magical girl.

The last night of Claire Ryland’s old life was pretty normal, aside from the alley fight with interdimensional monsters. Fortunately, the drummer of her favorite local band transformed into a magical girl and saved her.

Then Claire became a magical girl as well. Things got a little complicated after that.

Now Claire is juggling two new lives: living as a girl and as a member of Portland’s super-secret supernatural defense squad, the hard-rocking magical girls known as Magica Riot!

Review

Much more light hearted than my usual read but also a lot of fun to read. I really enjoyed all the characters, especially Claire and her coming out stories (as Trans and as a Superhero). It’s a very whimsical and joyful story with influences from Anime and Cartoon media though it also reminded me a lot of the original Power Rangers show which I used to watch. It would be interesting to see this book done as an Anime show. There are a couple plot points that might seem a bit overly light hearted with regard to events in the story but it made sense for the type of book that it was. Overall, I felt like it did exactly what it set to do – tell a light hearted fun story about being able to be who you are while saving the world. There’s a sequel in the works and I’m looking forward to it!

Additional reviews and warnings can be found on the StoryGraph Page for “Magica Riot”

Book Details

The Magica Riot cover is a purple sky with purple and pink clouds and a bridge in the background. In the center of the cover is a cartoon image of a girl in mid jump to attack. She has purple hair and a dark purple shirt over a white shirt and a dark purple skirt with dark purple boots.

Series Website
Magica Riot
Publisher / Date
Storm Maiden, November 2024
Genre
Fantasy
Page Count
227
Completion Date
August 2, 2025

“The House of Frank” Review

Posted on by Jen

“House of Frank” by Kay Synclaire

Powerless witch Saika is ready to enact her sister’s final request: to plant her remains at the famed Ash Gardens. When Saika arrives at the always-stormy sanctuary, she is welcomed by its owner, an enormous, knit-cardiganed mythical beast named Frank, who offers her a role as one of the estate’s caretakers.

Overcome with grief, Saika accepts, desperate to put off her final farewell to her sister. But the work requires a witch with intrinsic power, and Saika’s been disconnected from her magic since her sister’s death two years prior. Saika gets by at the sanctuary using a fragment of a fallen star to cast enchantments – while hiding the embarrassing truth about herself.

As Saika works harder in avoidance of her pain, she learns more about Frank, the decaying house at Ash Gardens, and the lives of the motley staff, including bickering twin cherubs, a mute ghost, a cantankerous elf, and an irritating half witch, among others. Over time, she rediscovers what it means to love and be wholly loved and how to allow her joy and grief to coexist. Warm and inventive, House of Frank is a stirring portrait of the ache of loss and the healing embrace of love.

Review

This was a really good book about grief and found family. I really enjoyed reading it. The world building and the characters were all interesting. There admittedly were a couple places where I got annoyed with the main character for taking so long to tell the full story but it made sense why she didn’t. I thought the ending was great and I liked the way things were resolved. All of the characters are carrying their one grief and needed to work through it. Without spoiling too much it felt like things had to play out the way it did in order for everyone, not just Saika, to move on and grow as individuals and together as a family.

Warnings and additional reviews can be found on the StoryGraph page for “House of Frank”.

Book Details

The cover of the house of Frank depicts a skinny multi-story house with a red front door in the middle of a field with a glass arboretum in the back of it under a night sky with a shooting star over it. The title of the book looks like it is on the ground in front of the house with the author's name in front of it.

Author’s Website
Kay Synclaire (Instagram)
Publisher / Date
Ezeekat Press, Bindery Books, October 2024
Genre
Fantasy
Page Count
352
Completion Date
July 18, 2025

“The Deep” Review

Posted on by Jen

“The Deep” by Rivers Solomon with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes

Yetu holds the memories for her people—water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slave owners—who live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one—the historian. This demanding role has been bestowed on Yetu.

Yetu remembers for everyone, and the memories, painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so, she flees to the surface, escaping the memories, the expectations, and the responsibilities—and discovers a world her people left behind long ago. Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past—and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identity—and own who they really are.

Inspired by a song produced by the rap group Clipping for the This American Life episode “We Are In The Future,” The Deep is vividly original and uniquely affecting.

Review

I really enjoyed this story. Despite being short there is a lot going on and takes some careful reading. I really liked the way everything was described and the way Yetu figures out what she needs to do. I enjoyed reading the different parts of the story that were in the past and how they related to the present time. Especially how it involved the person Yetu meets during the course of the story. The resolution of all the various problems Yetu had handling the memories worked out well and I’m glad she was able to be happy with everything. The history is terrible and tragic but the future is hopeful.

Warnings and additional reviews can be found on the StoryGraph page for “The Deep”.

Book Details

The Deep book cover depicts a dark skinned mermaid faced away floating in the water vertically with her long hair flowing around her head. There are several whales in the water around her as well. The title is at the top of the cover and the authors names at the bottom.

Author’s Website
Rivers Solomon
Publisher / Date
Gallery/Saga Press, November 2019
Genre
Science Fiction, Alternate History
Page Count
176
Completion Date
July 15, 2025