Greetings, fellow readers! Here’s a quick-fire list of the recent books I’ve read (in a range of genres), with recommendations and honourable mentions.
Off To Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer
This book was so unexpectedly delightful. It’s about a guy who’s working on some computer code when he discovers the code detailing his entire existence—and that he can change things about himself with just a few keystrokes. This rapidly leads him into financial crime (Wouldn’t you insert a few extra thousand dollars into your bank account if you could?). To avoid arrest, he escapes to medieval King Arthur times, where he pretends to be a wizard with his coding powers and soon realises he’s not the first person to try this.
I’d say this is a mix of comedy and cosy fantasy, with fun twists about time travel and tons of nerdy references (especially to Lord of the Rings and the Once and Future King). It’s slightly older (2014) but I’d highly recommend this novel, especially to anyone who enjoys books like Ready Player One.
To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
Honestly, it has been so long since I’ve read an epic fantasy book that made me desperate to read the next in the series. Though the first few chapters started off slow for me, I soon found myself swept away in the story.
Imagine if a slightly older Harry Potter went to dragon school. You get to go to classes, hate and love teachers, learn about the complicated magic system and make both friends and enemies. The worldbuilding is a twist on North American indigenous culture and European colonialism. The dragon lore and magic system are unique and quite detailed. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and can’t wait for the second book’s release in the Fall.
A Witch’s Guide To Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley
This novel definitely errs on the side of cosy. Essentially, the main character is a failed witch who tries to summon flour into her kitchen and accidentally summons a handsome demon instead. This demon just so happens to have a newly acquired soul that makes him feel empathy (blegh), and the two inevitably fall in love (of course). Note to the reader, there are spicy scenes. I’m not a huge fan of spicy books, but for this cast of quirky characters, I was willing to overlook it.
Bookshops and Bonedust by Travis Baldree
While not as wonderful as his first book, “Legends and Lattes”, there was still a lot to be praised about Travis Baldree’s second cosy fantasy. It’s a prequel to the first, though you don’t have to read the other to understand this one.
Viv is a young, orcish warrior who gets injured when she and her mercenary party fight against an evil necromancer. The story begins with her recovering from her wounds in a small seaside town, where she soon meets a charming baker and helps a new friend restore a dilapidated bookshop. It has a sprinkle of necromancy throughout, but the main tale is about recovery, friendship, and learning humility. If you need a comfort book, this one should suit you just fine.
How To Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie
The story is as salacious as the title suggests. I loved and hated it. The main character grows up with her poor French mother in modern-day London. Her father is part of the 1%—extremely wealthy, stuck-up, and an absolute bastard of a man. He has a wife and family in his big, fancy mansion, and ignores the main character’s existence. When her mother dies of cancer, she decides the best way to enact revenge on her father is to kill every single member of his family one by one. She starts with his parents (her grandparents), then carries on to cousins, uncles, and brothers, slowly driving her father to paranoia.
This book is haunting and fascinating, as you’re deep in the psyche of a very dark person who doesn’t understand morals in the way normal people do. I can’t say whether I’d entirely recommend it or not. It’s either your thing or it isn’t. Love the title though!
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I’d qualify this as a beach read. If you like modern fiction spanning a character’s lifetime, or you’re interested in old Hollywood (50s – today), you might enjoy this book. Evelyn is a make-it-yourself star who rises to Hollywood fame by marrying various famous men and hiding her innermost identity. Her underlying story, though, is one of finding the personality behind her beauty and falling in love with an unexpected person. I won’t go into more detail than that because I don’t want to give spoilers!
The Power by Naomi Alderman
If you want a deeply gritty, gruesome feminist fiction novel, here it is. I have a hard time recommending this one. The basis of the book is: what if women suddenly had the power to instantly kill anyone they touched—but only when they wanted to?
This new ability quickly degrades society, where first the most vulnerable, mistreated women use it to kill the people who hurt them (usually men). They don’t stop there, though. The power twists society, mirroring the world to one where women are the top of every government and corporation, and men are treated as women are in our current society, often as second-class citizens. The purpose of the story is thought-provoking, but I had a hard time reading it. Trigger warnings of multiple detailed, horrific assaults, murder, violence and harassment.
The Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods
If you like elements of speculative fiction mixed with modern and historical stories, this might be for you. This book follows dual timelines, one with a woman in the 1920s running to the UK to escape an unwanted betrothal and starting her own bookshop; and the other following a modern-day woman who escapes a messy separation by moving in with an elderly rich lady as a live-in maid. The timelines touch on a bookstore that appears when the user needs it most to tell them a story of how these two lives connect.
To me, this book was slow. Really slow. Elements were enjoyable, but in the end, I probably wouldn’t recommend it unless you’re deeply fascinated with the UK’s/Europe’s treatment of single women in the 1920s-now.
Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors
Read this if you like modern fiction about complicated family relationships. Three sisters live separate lives after their fourth sister dies from an overdose caused by self-medicating for endometriosis.
I can see how this story could be interesting to anyone who has (or knows someone who has) struggled with drug addiction. The story centres around the theme of addiction quite a lot, in its many forms. In the end, the characters were well thought-out but the story just wasn’t my cup of tea.
The Lord of Misrule: Castle Blackwood by M.A. Knights
This quirky fantasy novel follows a cast of characters as a strange star appears over their town and murders start happening in the cover of darkness. The bumbling leader tries to sort out the problem (and deal with a voice in his head) while his daughter tries to become a hero herself.
There are many things to like about this story. For me, it ran a bit long and there were quite a few characters, so I found it hard to connect with them. However, I can see how a lot of readers would enjoy this, especially fans of D&D/TTRPGs.
Aberystwyth by Malcolm Pryce
I read this on recommendation. It’s about a detective living in Wales who tries to solve the case of a guy who shows up at his door dressed like a penguin. The style was a bit too old-timey white guy classic for me, though I don’t read mystery or detective novels, so that could be why it didn’t quite hit in the way it might for others.
But Seriously, Take This One Home…
Off To Be the Wizard by Scott Meyer. I loved it. It’s weird. It’s lighthearted. It’s goofy. Need I say more??
Thanks for reading! I’ll have more book reviews come end of summer.