Icarus – book tour + review

Author: K. Ancrum
Publication date: March 26, 2024
Genre: YA contemporary/romance
My rating: 4.5/5 stars

Icarus is a forger and an art thief. Helios is a boy under house arrest…and the son of the man Icarus steals from. These two lonely souls on the cusp of adulthood, both struggling to resist their oppressive fathers, are brought together in a star-crossed friendship-turned-romance in this dazzling novel, loosely a contemporary retelling of its mythological namesake. The story also features Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome representation, which is very close to my heart, as well as various queer identities, found family, and so much more. Read on for my full thoughts (and a splash of literary analysis–when you have a mythology retelling, how could you not?).

Ebony Gate – mini-review

Author: Julia Vee & Ken Bebelle
Publication date: July 11, 2023
Genre: urban fantasy
My rating: 3.5/5 stars

I read this one last year and am super late in getting to my proper review, so congratulations: you’re getting a mini-review in bullet format (curse my feeble memory!). I ended up switching from the print version of this book to the audio about halfway through, and that worked better for me–though whether that is a statement on my mental state at the time (I was a little stressed with bar prep and moving at the time, so audio was easier to focus on) or on the quality of the audio itself remains unclear. Regardless, read on for a summary, followed by my collected bullet-point thoughts on it!

Verity – mini-review

Author: Colleen Hoover
Publication date: December 7, 2018
Genre: thriller
My rating: 3/5 stars

The thing about reading a book super quickly is that, sometimes, you don’t have quite as much to say about it as you usually would. That’s how Verity was for me–it was a page-turner, but my resulting review thoughts are mostly vibes and small pet peeves. With that disclaimer, let’s get into it.

(Side note: I read this book almost a year ago. This review has been sitting in my Drafts folder for no good reason. Felt like I might as well actually post it now.)

Ace Books 4: Ace & Books – still more books with ace rep

Well, folks, another year has come to a close (yes, yes, that was three weeks ago), and you know what that means: time for a roundup of all the books with ace rep that I read in 2023! This past year, I read a whopping SEVENTEEN (17!!) books with characters on the asexual spectrum. As usual, they spanned quite a few genres (yay), and while mostly good, the rep quality also varied in a few (womp womp). I’ve provided notes on the type and quality of representation for each book. Where I’ve written a review of a book on the list, I have hyperlinked the title to that review.

Please, as always, remember that I am just one reviewer, and while I try to stay as objective as possible to make this article a useful resource, the ace spectrum encompasses a wide range of experiences. I am ace, but my take on the quality of any given piece of representation may differ from that of others in the community; much like our experiences, our opinions can and do vary.

With all that said, let’s get started!

P.S. If you’d like to see my lists from past years, here are the links to my roundups from 2020, 2021, and 2022!

Kaikeyi – review

Author: Vaishnavi Patel
Publication date: April 26, 2022
Genre: mythology retelling, historical fantasy
My rating: 4.75/5 stars

Motherhood and mythology are both quite complicated. Kaikeyi attempts to unpack the latter’s treatment of the former by reimagining the life of a figure from the Hindu epic Ramayana. And not just any figure, but one who, in the traditional epic, is portrayed as a villain; this story imagines a new possible context for her actions that make her far more sympathetic. This feminist historical fantasy was one of my favorite reads of 2023, and I highly recommend it. Read on for all my thoughts!

The Future – ARC review

Author: Naomi Alderman
Publication date: November 7, 2023
Genre: sci-fi thriller
My rating: 4.5/5 stars

They say you can’t prepare for the future (lowercase, general concept). Turns out, you also can’t prepare for The Future (capitalized, this book). This smart sci-fi thriller was a wild ride from start to finish, and every time I thought I knew where it was going, it unfolded another layer of complexity and deception. I posted a shorter version of this on my Instagram a while ago, but realized my blog post never made it into the real world. So…read on for my full thoughts!

Being Ace – review and story notes

Editor: Madeline Dyer
Publication date: October 10, 2023
Genre: young adult anthology
My rating: 4.5/5 stars

I first heard about this anthology before it even had a title; the editor, Madeline Dyer, mentioned it in an ace group on Facebook, and I’d been anxiously awaiting its publication since then. So, naturally, when I had an opportunity to review a copy of it from the publisher, I jumped at the chance. While my review on Instagram was posted a while ago, I wanted to put this longer review up as well, as it contains detailed notes on the specific type of representation in each story, as well as relevant trigger/content warnings and more detailed thoughts on each installment. This is a powerful anthology that I believe will be extremely validating to ace folks everywhere–read on for more of my thoughts.

The Great Texas Dragon Race – review

Author: Kacy Ritter
Publication date: August 1, 2023
Genre: middle grade fantasy
My rating: 4.25/5 stars

2023 is apparently the year of dragon books. From A Day of Fallen Night and Dragonfall to Fourth Wing and To Shape a Dragon’s Breath, there’s been no shortage of flying, fire-breathing fantasies hitting shelves. And now, there’s a new one hitting bookshelves near you, perfect for the middle-grade readers who feel neglected by the latest onslaught of adult dragon books. The Great Texas Dragon Race is an action-packed fantasy competition story sure to keep readers riveted. Read on for my further thoughts!

House of Roots and Ruin – book tour (ARC review, favorite quotes, and giveaway!)

Author: Erin A. Craig
Series: Sisters of the Salt (#2)
Publication date: July 25, 2023
Genre: YA fantasy thriller
My rating: 4.5/5 stars

This book is, in the best way possible, Spooky Girl Summer. Brimming with lush flowers (some benign, some poisonous, all meaningful), a heady first romance, twists and betrayals, and the gothic gloom and glamor of a noble family’s fantasy manor, this is a story that will keep you rooted in place (pun intended) and unable to stop turning the pages, particularly as it barrels toward an explosive finale. And though it is a sequel–or perhaps, more accurately, a companion novel–to House of Salt and Sorrows, it can just as easily be read on its own, as it takes place twelve years later and follows a different main character. (That said, if you read it on its own and decide to read book one later, you will have picked up some rather large plot spoilers. You’ve been warned.)

Now, read on for a full review, as well as some of my favorite quotes and a giveaway!

The Dead Romantics – audiobook mini-review

Author: Ashley Poston
Publication date: June 28, 2022
Genre: contemporary, romance, paranormal
Audiobook narrator: Eileen Stevens
My rating: 4.75/5 stars

A romance ghostwriter who doesn’t believe in love anymore, who can also literally see ghosts, who goes home for her father’s funeral and encounters the ghost of her new editor. The premise sounds wild, and yet The Dead Romantics fuses it into a beautiful reflection on grief, love, family, and the complex ways in which those three intersect. I’m aware that I’m writing this review in April, but this was my first book of the year back in January, and honestly, it was a perfect start to 2023. Read on for a mini-review with more comprehensive thoughts!