“Magica Riot Full Bloom” Review

“Magica Riot Full Bloom (Maidensong Magica No. 2)” by Kara Buchanan

Claire Ryland has just about figured this whole magical girl band thing out. The people of Portland really love Magica Riot, so much that they’ve been asked to play a concert at the biggest venue in town! But when not one but two villains decide to make their presence known, Claire, Sara, Cass, Hana, and Nova have to figure out a new approach to their magic and their music…with some help from unexpected friends!

Review

This was an excellent sequel to the first book. I really enjoyed everything about it and it felt like exactly what I needed right now. It was as whimsical and joyful as the original book and I enjoyed the relationships that developed throughout the book. I liked how all of the characters interacted and the way each of them responded to the situations that were happening. I thought this book showed a lot of development for Claire and the others as a team.

Additional Reviews can be found on the StoryGraph page for “Magica Riot Full Bloom” and warnings can be found on the page for the book on the series website linked below.

Book Details

The cover of the book is mostly in dark orange with shades of lighter orange at the top left and bottom right. Two girls are laying down on the cover one from the bottom left side wearing a yellow sleeveless dress and has long purple hair. The other is upside down on the cover from the top right and is wearing a sleeveless purple dress and purple gloves that extend down past her elbows and she has purple hair the title is in the top left corner and the authors name at the bottom right.

Series Website
Magica Riot

Publisher / Date
Storm Maiden, November 2025
Genre
Fantasy
Page Count
400
Date Completed
December 18, 2025

“They Bloom at Night” Review

“They Bloom at Night” by Trang Thanh Tran

Ever since a hurricane devastated the small town of Mercy, Louisiana, a red algae bloom has taken over. Mutated wildlife lurks in the water that rises by the day, but Mercy has always been a place where monsters walk in plain sight. Especially at its heart: the Cove, where Noon’s life was upended long before the storm at a party her older boyfriend insisted on.

Now, Noon is stuck navigating the submerged town with her mom, who believes their family have been reincarnated as sea creatures. Alone with the pain of what happened that night at the cove, Noon buries the truth: she is not the right shape.

When Mercy’s predatory leader demands Noon and her mum capture the creature drowning residents, she reluctantly finds an ally in his deadly hunter of a daughter and friends old and new. As the next storm approaches, Noon must confront the past and decide if it’s time to answer the monster itching at her skin.

Review

I really enjoyed this book and getting to know the characters. Noon is great and I really like the relationships they have with their mother and their friends. I’ve gone back and forth on thinking the writing style was to vague in places but also realizing that it was likely intentional on the part of the author. As much as what has happened in Mercy is important it’s not entirely the main point of the story. Noon figuring out their identity is the more important part of the story and in a lot of ways what has happened has influenced how Noon figurings things out. I really liked the extended friend group that Noon has and the way that group helps with everything.

This interview with the author adds some more context and explanations to the story: Trang Thanh Tran explores identity and transformation in They Bloom at Night.

Additional reviews and warnings at the StoryGraph page for “They Bloom at Night”.

Book Details

The cover of They Bloom at Night depicts a young person under water with a few bubbles around them. They have black hair and are wearing a white shirt. There red streaks of algae floating around the right side of the cover. The authors name is at the top with the title at the bottom

Author’s Website
Trang Thanh Tran
Publisher / Date
Bloomsbury YA, March 2025
Genre
Fantasy, Horror, Young Adult
Page Count
262
Date Completed
Completed December 4, 2025

“The Ending Fire” Review

“The Ending Fire” (The Ending Fire Trilogy No. 3) by Saara El-Arifi

The Wardens’ Empire is falling. A vigilante known only as the “Truthsayer” is raising an army against the wardens. Sylah and Hassa must navigate the politics of this new world, all the while searching for Anoor.

Across the sea the Blood Forged prepare for war, requesting aid from other governments. Jond’s role as Major General sees him training their soldiers for combat, but it’s matters of the heart that prove to be the hardest battlefield.

The Zalaam celebrate the arrival of the Child of Fire, heralding the start of the final battle. Anoor’s doubts are eclipsed by the powers of her new god. Soon the Zalaam set off on their last voyage–one few expect to return from.

Review

I thought this was a good conclusion to the trilogy with a lot of things happening all at once. I really enjoyed the different point of views in the book and the way things developed for the characters. There were several things happening throughout the book to bring things to the final confrontation and I thought it was well done. I did like the ending and I felt like it was a good one for most of the characters involved. That said I was a little baffled by the ending for two of the characters and felt like it was a little too vague in the sense that we don’t fully know what happened to them.

Additional reviews and warnings can be found on the StoryGraph page for “The Ending Fire”.

Book Details

The cover is taken up by a white tile pattern that has a gold stripe through the bottom half and gold fire at the top right and bottom left corners. The title is written in the center the authors name at the bottom.

Author’s Website
Saara El-Arifi
Publisher / Date
Del Ray, September 2024
Genre
Fantasy
Page Count
464
Completion Date
September 26, 2025

“The Battle Drum” Review

“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.

Additional reviews and warnings can be found on the StoryGraph page for “The Battle Drum”.

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, 2025

“Magica Riot” Review

“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

“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