whimsydearest

A Snake Among Swans  by  Hannah Kaner  is a dark fantasy retelling of The Wild Swans that teems with rage and political intrigue. I mean it when I say it’s dark; it puts the grim in Brothers Grimm. The author has also mentioned House of the Dragon as an inspiration, and I can definitely see it. This is a ruthless fantasy with sharp teeth and claws that hook into you and don’t let go. There are morally grey characters, a succession war between family, and tons of scheming and backstabbing. Be forewarned though, there’s a lot of moving chess pieces on the board. The story immediately throws a ton of different empires, nations, and clans at the reader from the first few pages. Thankfully there’s a map and dramatis personae, and once I got a hang of the various factions, I became utterly engrossed in the story. The ending was heart-wrenching, and I’m interested to see what sort of terrible choices characters will make in the sequel. Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Voyager,...

The Demon Star by Jesse Aragon is riveting sci-fi fantasy that completely blew me away. It reminded me of why I fell in love with epic fantasy in the first place. It has immersive, well-wrought worldbuilding and a compelling cast of characters who you can’t help but root for. There’s a guilt-ridden priest grappling with his faith, a crippled boy trying to harness the powers of an ancient demon, and his estranged mother who is desperate to protect him. Together they join forces in order to stop tyrannical gods from harvesting human sacrifices from their planet. This book checked off so many boxes for me! It’s got telepathic priests, messed up familial relationships, plenty of action, and, to top it all off, it doesn’t shy away from body horror. Some scenes were so visceral they left me squirming in my seat. Overall, this was a stellar debut that sets Aragon on the map of authors to look out for. Thank you, NetGalley and DAW, for providing me with an ARC.

The Eye of Leviathan by M.A. Carrick delivers an interesting spin on faeries that I haven’t seen before. Set in an alternate Spanish Golden Age, fae are trying to avoid prosecution from the Spanish Inquisition. Discovered faeries are stripped of their wings since they are a “blasphemy” against angels. The author also takes the Spanish Age of Exploration and expands it onto the Spaniards trying to conquer all of the faerie realms as well. I thought this was a clever blend of fantasy, religion, and history. Moreover, Estevan is a really fascinating MC. He’s an ancient fae trapped in the body of a human child, watching the world he knew drastically change around him. He’s forced to watch his own kin get persecuted as he tries to maintain his human disguise. I really got a sense of his confliction and turmoil. Him I actually I cared about. On the other hand, I found I wasn’t as invested in the mortal girl's storyline. The Hungry Girl is infuriatingly naïve, and the fae she’s living wi...

I’ve watched Cindy’s channel for years. I adore her hilarious reviews, so I'm sad to say that her debut novel fell short of my expectations. The Secret World of Briar Rose alternatives between two main timelines. We follow Amelia, the Sleeping Beauty-esque princess who is cursed to fall into an eternal slumber on her eighteenth birthday. On the other hand, there’s Corin, one hundred years in the future. She’s a jaded thief who falls into the princess’ dreams in search of her missing sister. I ultimately think the book is so preoccupied with creating fantastical dreamscapes that the character writing, plot, and everything else falls to the wayside. For instance, Amelia and Malicine’s dynamics were like a watered-down version of the Maleficent movie without feeling earned. I also wish the worldbuilding had been fleshed out more—like there’s no sense of culture or customs to Gyldan. The time period is also vaguely ambiguous. It’s odd to have a quasi-medieval castle setting and then ...

Between the Rival Courts by Victoria Mier delivers an Arthurian retelling that teems with court intrigue, yearning, and characters who are doomed by the narrative. This book paints a nuanced portrait of Mordred. He’s a changeling knight who’s caught trying to straddle both the Fey Court and the Court of Camelot. All in the meanwhile, he’s also trying to prevent his own prophesized destiny: that he’ll end the age of mankind. He’s (understandably) emo about it. So often he’s portrayed as a villain, so it’s refreshing to get a more complex interpretation of him. It was also a delight to read the on page tension between him and Nyneve. She’s a fiery, crafty FMC, and the dynamics of their love/hate relationship was fantastic! Overall, this book is filled achingly beautiful prose and compelling characters who’ll tug at your heart strings. I highly recommend this book for fans of Arthurian legends and Welsh mythology. Now I’m bracing myself for the angst to come in the sequel. Thank you, Beh...

Kang Siying is a ganshi priestess who earns her living by reanimating the dead and guiding them to their proper burial place. However, when she takes a job to retrieve a fallen solider from a battlefield, she becomes enmeshed in deadly plots she never imagined. I’m a sucker for any book with fighting skeletons, and I loved how Deathly Fates by Tesia Tsai gives us a non-Western interpretation of necromancy. The story deftly incorporates Chinese folklore, including jiangshi , which are a type of possessed corpse. Also, for better or worse, this is a fast-paced read. The story immediately grips you from its prologue. However, I feel like some huge plot reveals came too soon. Characters are blabbing secrets left and right and certain plot twists can be seen from a mile off. This spoiled the story's sense of mystery and dulled the emotional punch that some of the revelations could have had. That—along with the flatness of its main villain—are probably my biggest gripes. Thank you, Netg...

In  The Fox and the Devil  by Kiersten White, Van Helsing's daughter, Anneke, hunts down her father's murderer across Europe. Theoretically, a sapphic cat and mouse game sounds great! However, this one really dropped the ball for me. It turned out astonishingly dull for a murder mystery. I felt like there was a lack of tension, and I wish there was a stronger sense of danger toward the Anneke’s group. I would’ve also liked to have seen more of a push and pull between the two leads. Also, this might partly boil down to personal preference, but the writing style drove me up the wall. It’s told mostly in the first person present tense, which is a tense that is better suited for a contemporary thriller than a historical fantasy that’s supposed to be set during the Victorian period. Moreover, the author has a habit of favoring short, choppy sentences. You can take a look at this line of dialogue here: “No he didn’t. It was her. This woman. This Diavola. She killed him, and I found ...