Fast-Paced Romantasy Based on Chinese Mythology

 

Image copied from NetGalley

The Scorpion and the Night Blossom very much reminded me of an epic fantasy version of The Hunger Games meets Demon Slayer. Main character Àn’yīng is determined to learn to be a practitioner of magic and fighting so that she can save her younger sister and mother. In order to master these skills she must win a series of trials. The reason Àn’yīng must battle to save her remaining family is because a hoard of demons has invaded the mortal realm and is killing off humans by feeding on their souls. One such demon killed Àn’yīng's father and partially fed off her mother, who is alive but in a catatonic state. If Àn’yīng can win the trials and be one of the few candidates to make it to the end of them, she can gain a pill of immortality that will help restore her mother's life energy. These aspects of the plot very much reminded me of Katniss and her motivations for going to the capitol to compete in her sister's place. In this novel, Àn’yīng is the hunter, protector who her father chose to train as a fighter before his death.

Unlike The Hunger Games, more than one candidate can win at these trials and in between each one, the candidates are not allowed to kill one another. All bets are off though, in the midst of the actual competitions themselves. However, the bloodshed isn't as gratuitous as what Katniss faced and the trials are interesting as they test a different aspect of a potential warrior with each one. For instance, virtues like strength, courage, and fortitude are each components looked for by the immortals who host the trials in the mortal warrior practitioners they award a chance at immortality. In this way, the story reminded me of the training Tanjiro, from Demon Slayer, must go through and the tests he must pass in order to join the Demon Slayer Corp. Though, Àn’yīng is much more distrustful and closed off than Tanjiro. One of her flaws at the start of the novel is that she is also bigoted against those who are half human and half something else. She experiences some important character growth though as she learns that the fear and racist stereotypes that she'd been raised to believe were not only wrong but are wildly cruel and unethical. A plot twist later on in the book also creates some very believable tension and conflict between her and another character as well.

In terms of what I liked about this book, I really enjoyed the worldbuilding and the story's overall pacing. The first chapter opens with Àn’yīng collecting a special type of flower to treat her mother with, to keep her alive a little longer. Unfortunately, Àn’yīng comes across a demon and has to fight it in order to collect the precious blossoms she needs. Right away we get to see how tough and clever Àn’yīng is and how skilled she is with her crescent blade daggers. I also like the mysteries that are introduced as story threads at the very beginning. We don't know why Àn’yīng's family was attacked not by just any demon, but one of the Higher Ones, the equivalent of demon nobility. We also don't know why her father decided to train her to be a fighter when the Kingdom of Night, the demon realm, decided to invade the Kingdom of Rivers, the mortal realm. The only reason that Àn’yīng can come up with is that she was four years older than her younger sister and so, the more logical choice. Though, Àn’yīng still questions why her father did not allow her younger sister to do some training with them both, too. The other mystery we are introduced to early on is the meaning behind Àn’yīng's name. She is named for a cherry blossom, but the tree outside her house is a plum tree. These mysteries and the perils Àn’yīng must face to even get to the Kingdom of Sky and the immortal realm, where the trials will be held, kept me reading and turning the page. As for the romance aspect, I found the enemies-to-lovers trope to be tension filled and believable from Àn’yīng's perspective. I wasn't really sure I understood Yù’chén, the love interest's, motivations throughout most of the story though.

That brings me to some of the things that could have been better about the book. First, even though Àn’yīng is introduced right away as a strong and fierce fighter who is clever enough to outsmart demons, she still seems to be in need of rescuing several times throughout the story. It is one thing to have her ally herself with some stronger and more well-trained candidates to get through the trials. But I didn't feel that the partnership between her and some of the secondary characters was always equal. It seemed that Àn’yīng often got more from her alliances than she contributed. I also agree with some others who have said that the character development for some of the secondary characters was a bit lacking. One in particular that ends up playing a pivotal role in the story for Àn’yīng is very underdeveloped in terms of their arc and their interactions with her. For this reason, I found it hard to be invested in them or Àn’yīng's connection to them even after we find out how they are linked to her in the story. I also found the ending to be a bit rushed and some of the clues that were imbedded in the story to hint at the twist at the end could have been fleshed out more to make it more impactful when Àn’yīng finally gets the answers she's been searching for since arriving at the Temple of Dawn in the immortal realm.

Overall, I gave this a 4 out of 5 star rating because I did like the main character of Àn’yīng. She is fierce, brave, and clever but also flawed and closed off to everyone but her sister at the start of the novel. I also thought the worldbuilding and the way the trials were developed that Àn’yīng and the others have to face and overcome were interesting and original. The pacing for most of the novel was quick and Àn’yīng had relatable and compelling motivations for competing in the trials and for wanting to win no matter the danger or the cost. I did like the love interest of Yù’chén, even though I didn't always understand his motivations for his actions throughout the book. I did find the tension between him and Àn’yīng to be believable and spicy. I am interested enough in the story to want to see how things might turn out for Àn’yīng and her family in the sequel. I want to thank NetGalley, Random House Children's and Delacorte Press for offering me a chance to read an eARC of this novel in exchange for this honest review. You will be able to purchase your own copy of this novel wherever books are sold March 4, 2025.

My next book review will be of Quincy's Curse by Keith Robinson, an author I had to good fortune of meeting in person at the ConNooga book/theatre/film/anime con this past February. The blurb and cover image for the book below are copied from Goodreads.

Quincy Flack is cursed with terrible luck. After losing his parents and later his uncle and aunt in a series of freak accidents, it's no wonder he's reluctant to make friends.

For that reason, Megan Mugwood is a little worried about befriending him when he moves into the village of Ramshackle Bottom. But word has it that incredibly good fortune shines on him sometimes too. Indeed, it turns out that he found a bag of valuable treasure in the woods just a few months ago!

As luck would have it, Megan has chosen the worst possible time to be around him.

Image copied from Goodreads

In the cold winter months when the days are short and the nights are long, I often find myself drawn to books that offer romance and a cozy setting of some sort. In the midst of all the division and upheaval going on in the real world, disappearing into a cozy fantasy, for me, seems like the perfect escape. I was not at all disappointed in this latest cozy fantasy, The Spellshop, that I found by an author who is new to me, Sarah Beth Durst. Like the synopsis implies, this novel is a Hallmark version of a fantasy read and contains many of the same tropes, nosey, mostly well-meaning neighbors, a big city girl returning to small town life to start over, and a handsome and kind love interest. The spice level is also low similar to other cozy reads and also Hallmark movies.

All of this is incorporated into a story that also has a magical island as its story setting, flying cats, merhorses, and cloud bears to name a few magical and mythical creatures. The inhabitants of the town aren't all human either. From the moment main character Kiela escapes from the capital city after it falls into chaos from a bloody rebellion, we get to rediscover the magical island where she was born and the sweet cottage that still holds so many poignant reminders of her beloved parents along with Kiela. Many reviews of this book have mentioned that Kiela is an unlikeable main character. But to me she just seemed like an inordinately shy person who, as a librarian who lived and worked in the great magical library in the capitol city, did not have to develop social skills. Her being an only child with her parents as her only family in the capitol city, where they all settled when Kiela was very young, also played into her lack of social skills. Once they passed away, Kiela had no other motivation to leave the library. Instead, she is content to live and work there amongst the books she loves with her library assistant, a talking spider plant named Caz, as her only companion. (It must be said, I loved Caz her best friend!) Most introverts like Kiela could get a little rusty at interacting with others in a situation like that where they could easily retreat from the outside world. Add to that the fact that in leaving the city after the library is set ablaze by the rebellion, she makes off with several of the magical books she was a caretaker of, an act that if discovered by the magical police of the empire could cost her her life and Kiela's distrust of others is very plausible. Anyone in Kiela's position would be leery about who they could trust under those circumstances. All of this is to say that these things make Kiela complicated more than straight up unlikeable. 

I also loved her next-door neighbor, Larran. Part of this might have been because he is so helpful in a practical sense. The other reason might be because he raises merhorses. Handsome neighbor willing to build someone floor-to-ceiling bookshelves to repay a past kindness and who raises merhorses too, yes please. Negatives mentioned about this relationship were that some felt that Larran experiences insta-love for Kiela. Again, I would argue that their past history and Larran's crush that he has harbored all of these years might have more to do with his instant attraction to her than actual insta-love. I could buy into his interest in her under those circumstances. His past history, which I won't spoil here, could also make him more empathetic to her as a shy person who finds it hard to trust others as well. I will say that aside from the books and the magic that Kiela explores and learns to use for the betterment of the island, there isn't a whole lot that takes place for a few chapters there in the middle. That is a fair point in the cons list for this story. But that seems to be a part of the worldbuilding and plotline for the cozy fantasy genre in general. The conflict seems to be more internal for much of the book as the character learns to settle into their new place and new business and the external conflicts that come later are all usually neatly handled and wrapped up at the end with the help of the main character's newfound community and friends. I will say though that Kiela does a lot to help her found family in the book to warrant the aid given to her later in the story. Nevertheless, Kiela doesn't lack agency at the end. In fact, she is very clever at finding ways to save her friends, her books, and her new life in her own right. 

The Spellshop is a fun and light-hearted read, with a main character that is distrustful and prickly in the beginning, but who under her awkward exterior has a kind and generous heart. It does a very good job of weaving in some conflicts and perils that deal with hoarding resources by a few, issues with climate change, or in this case magical climate change, child abuse, and human environmental misdeeds that cause nature and animals to suffer. The fact that the magic used in this novel is nature based makes these perils an organic part of the plot and also adds some justification for a librarian stealing her books from an empire overthrown as a result of this resource hoarding in order to protect the knowledge contained in said books for future generations. All in all I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable read and a nice escape. If you love fantasy that also contains many Hallmark vibes in its plot, then you will likely love The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst.

Next month, my first book review will be of YA epic fantasy, The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao. Check out the blurb and book cover for it below, both copied from NetGalley.

In a world at war with demons, one girl will face the ultimate test when she is forced to enter into an ancient, deadly competition for the chance to save her mother's soul… before she loses her forever. From the New York Times bestselling author of Song of Silver, Flame Like Night comes the beginning of a dark and opulent fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Throne of Glass.

Nine years ago, the war between the Kingdom of Night and the Kingdom of Rivers tore Àn’yīng’s family apart, leaving her mother barely alive and a baby sister to fend for. Now the mortal realm is falling into eternal night, and mó—beautiful, ravenous demons—roam the land, feasting on the flesh of humans and drinking their souls.

Àn’yīng is no longer a helpless child, though. Armed with her crescent blades and trained in the ancient art of practitioning, she has decided to enter the Immortality Trials, which are open to any mortal who can survive the journey to the immortal realm. Those who complete the Trials are granted a pill of eternal life—the one thing Àn’yīng knows can heal her dying mother. But to attain the prize, she must survive the competition.

Death is common in the Trials. Yet oddly, Àn’yīng finds that someone is helping her stay alive. A rival contestant. Powerful and handsome, Yù’chén is as secretive about his past as he is about his motives for protecting Àn’yīng.

The longer she survives the Trials, the clearer it becomes that all is not right in the immortal realm. To save her mother and herself, Àn’yīng will need to figure out whether she can truly trust the stranger she’s falling for or if he’s the most dangerous player of all . . . for herself and for all the realms. 

Why Amari Peters is Even More Magical Than Percy Jackson

Image copied from Goodreads

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston is one of the best fantasy adventures I've read in a quite awhile. Reading it was the perfect way to kick off black history month. She's a heroine that I wish had been out when my kids were middle grade readers. Her story bears some resemblance to the well-known Percy Jackson series in that Amari is from a single parent home, she struggles to fit in, and she's discovers a world full of supernatural adventure while attending summer camp.

But that is where the similarities end. Unlike Percy, Amari has an older brother she's always idolized. Despite the large age gap between them, Quinton always loved his little sis and did everything he could to look out for her. He paved the way for her to attend the same exclusive private school he went to and graduated from, though Amari worked hard to make the good grades needed to be awarded the same scholarship as her brother. And even though he has been missing for six months with no trace, Quinton is still looking after her, having left her a nomination for attendance at the same summer camp he went to when he was twelve. But despite how much she looks up to him, Amari has also always felt overshadowed by Quinton and is convinced that she doesn't quite measure up to him. 

The fact that Amari is bullied at school and doesn't seem to be able to make friends with anyone at Jefferson Academy seem to just prove her right. When Quinton's disappearance gives Amari's bullies more ammunition to taunt her she finally fights back, shoving the ringleader of the mean girls picking on her, which costs Amari her scholarship. But summer vacation takes a turn for the better when a mysterious briefcase delivered to Amari from Quinton offers her a nomination to attend summer camp with The Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. From there we are swept up into a magical world of magic and adventure.

I could not put this book down from the first page. Amari leaps off the page as a real and relatable character right from the start as she explains why she's in the principal's office, yet again. The pacing of the story also never lets up, with short chapters full of some new challenge or new discovery for Amari that keep you wanting to turn the page to see what will happen next. Alston builds a truly imaginative and fun, yet dangerous world for Amari to discover once she accepts the summons of the briefcase, sure that if she goes to the Bureau it will help her figure out what happened to her brother. Upon opening the case, Amari is shown wonders she never imagined with the aid of a pair of magical sunglasses. Special eye drops the instructions in the briefcase tell her to dose herself with also help her to see past glamours and reveal that supernatural beings live all around her, even in her own housing project. The nosy, mean neighbor her mother has always gotten to "keep an eye" on Amari might actually be a green complexioned witch. One who disappears in a cloud of smoke when Amari questions her about it. On the car ride to her first day at summer camp, Amari spots werewolves, and a pair of glowing eyes in a dark alley. Once they arrive at the Vanderbilt Hotel where the camp is taking place, Amari is whisked, in a talking elevator, to a labyrinthine compound below the hotel. Her roommate she ends up with is a weredragon and Amari finds herself immediately in the spotlight because her brother Quinton was part of a famous duo of investigative agents for the Bureau. This doesn't give Amari an advantage, though. It leaves her with yet more to live up to and the nomination doesn't guarantee her a spot at the camp. Amari will still have to earn it by passing a series of challenges, which will be harder for her since she is one of the few kids nominated who hasn't grown up knowing that magic exists. Of course things take an even more perplexing turn for Amari when she discovers that her "gift" that most students have supernaturally enhanced the first day of camp is actually a power that is illegal. In fact, Amari is someone that shouldn't even exist according to the Bureau. A circumstance that causes most at the Bureau and those associated with it, to be suspicious and distrustful of Amari, making it even more of a challenge to secure her place among them. 

In spite of these setbacks, Amari is determined to prove that she isn't in danger of turning into the evildoer everyone is convinced she will and fights to become a junior agent so that she can do what no one else has--find Quinton. Amari Peters is an underdog that readers can easily root for and her story is a fast-paced, imaginative adventure to rival any of popular series that have come before. It also handles topics such as not judging someone on where they come from, how they look, or for being unique in someway in ways that young readers can easily identify and empathize with. I found Amari's story to be even more magical and fun to read than Percy's and I loved the Percy Jackson series. I highly recommend this series by B.B. Alston to anyone in the middle grade reader age group who loves fantasy adventures or for anyone young at heart who enjoyed Percy Jackson or similar fantasy series. 

As for the next review for February, I'll be discussing cozy fantasy, The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. Check out the book cover and blurb, copied from Goodreads, below.

The Spellshop is Sarah Beth Durst’s romantasy debut–a lush cottagecore tale full of stolen spellbooks, unexpected friendships, sweet jams, and even sweeter love.

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

Like a Hallmark rom-com full of mythical creatures and fueled by cinnamon rolls and magic, The Spellshop will heal your heart and feed your soul.

Sci-Fi, Romance, and Starting Over

 

Image copied from NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley, Hyperion Press, and Emily Jane for allowing me to read a free eGalley of this novel in exchange for this honest review.

Here Beside the Rising Tide by Emily Jane Is an interesting mix of genres and themes. It reads sort of like a season of Stranger Things if Nancy became a romantic suspense novelist instead of a reporter and was stuck on one of the small barrier islands along the southeastern seaboard with a sea monster while having a middle-life crisis. There is a lot going on in this novel, and it is definitely unique in all that is tries to accomplish.

At first, it started off really strong for me as a reader. I was excited to see how things unfolded. The novel opens with Jenni as a ten-year-old, enjoying life on Pearl Island where she lives with her single mom. Reading about her childhood at the start of her summer vacation was nostalgic for me as Jane paints a very rich and fully developed world with her depiction of Jenni's island life. It put me squarely in this setting and had me reminiscing about family vacations on similar islands to Pearl Island along the coastline of the Carolinas or Georgia. We know from the first, as well, that things will suddenly change once Jenni meets and befriends Timmy Caruso who is on Pearl Island on vacation with his family. It isn't a spoiler to say that things do take a turn for Jenni when her new best friend disappears. From there we jump ahead to Jenn, now a successful writer, facing the end of her marriage and the possible loss of custody to her children. In response to this, she decides to return to her childhood home and spend the summer there with her kids to try and reconnect with them and also to escape the dumpster fire she feels her life has become. Shortly after her arrival, a boy shows up in the ocean at night near her vacation rental. The boy claims to be Jenn's long-lost best friend Timmy Caruso. The kicker is that Timmy is still the same exact age he was when he disappeared. He's even wearing the same swim trunks, goggles, and flippers that Timmy was when he vanished.

There are many things that this novel does well. The way the author vividly paints the setting of this island at the beginning of the novel and later when Jenn returns makes it easy to visualize this place through the character's eyes. It was also fun to read some excerpts of Jenn's popular romantic suspense series throughout the story as Jenn comes to terms with so many things in her life that she's tried to avoid, such as the loss of her mother, her waning interest in the character that has made her a bestselling author, and her dissolution of her marriage and in some regards her relationship with her kids. The introduction of the strange sea life that Jenn encounters on Pearl Island as a child and later with her kids as an adult is also well portrayed. We aren't sure at first how benevolent some of these alien sea creatures are or how they are tied to the scarier sea creature that has shown up in the depths near this island. There are also some really beautiful moments where the author portrays Jenn's almost existential struggles and ties them to the reappearance of Jenn's best friend Timmy, still as a ten-year-old boy, and these sci-fi sea creatures. As with this quote here:

"...as a woman on a beach, feet in the sand, sun on her face, hair blown back by the ocean breeze while the weird squids sloshed along the shore, ....; as the future of a girl with a best friend and a pair of shovels and the dream of a hole in the sand, big enough to sit in for a picnic lunch. It didn't matter that the ocean would wash the hole away. She could find herself down there, the small pearl of her deepest small self. Smooth around the edges, like a piece of sea glass. Not new, but still bright."

As the story unfolds, Jenn's grief is inextricably tied to the disaster of the sea monster that wants to destroy the world, and Jane portrays this with some lovely and heartbreaking prose such as in this moment when Jenn discusses the loss of her mother with someone who knew her:

"Not close. But I knew Maureen. She was lovely. I'm so sorry--"

"Thanks. Me too."

"And so young. I--I guess you never know what will happen. You try your best and have hope, but sometimes, no matter what you do--"

"The unstoppable beast shows up."

All that being said, I found the midpoint of the story, once Jenn returns to the island, to drag on. She spends much of the novel from that point, continuing to avoid her problems while also obsessing over them and questioning everything she's doing. And while this was marketed in part as a romance, I didn't see much romance developing throughout most of the story until almost the very end. I feel like there were many missed opportunities for character development for both the adult Jenn and for her love interest Dax. For instance, one of the things that becomes clear is that she has buried her grief at losing her mother and has never really processed that. As a reader, I was expecting to have more of this happen with Jenn as she decides what to do with her mother's empty home. But we only really see her breakdown and acknowledge how much she misses her mom in one brief scene and then near the end of the novel. So, that thread isn't given the full development it could have been. As for Jenn's relationship with Dax, he's described by her mainly as the hot contractor that she calls on for help whenever she doesn't know who else to turn to. In most of the book he is the equivalent of eye candy who is a last resort source of aid and not much more. They sort of develop a friendship, I suppose, but it's a surface element more than an actual romantic plot point. I also think the pacing of the story would have been better if it had been a shorter novel. So, while I did enjoy the beginning and found the ending to be a satisfying conclusion, I struggled to get through most of the story in between. For that reason, I only rated this one a 3 out of 5 stars. After reading the reviews of others, I had really hoped to enjoy this more.

Still, if you like novels that have crossover elements, in this case sci-fi, light romance, and starting over, components, then you might give Here Beside the Rising Tide by Emily Jane a try.

My next review for the beginning of February will be a middle grade contemporary fantasy, Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston. I'm really excited about this one as I'm hoping it will make for a good mentor text for my current work-in-progress, which is an upper middle grade urban fantasy. Check out the cover and blurb, both copied from Goodreads, below.

Quinton Peters was the golden boy of the Rosewood low-income housing projects, receiving full scholarship offers to two different Ivy League schools. When he mysteriously goes missing, his little sister, 13-year-old Amari Peters, can’t understand why it’s not a bigger deal. Why isn’t his story all over the news? And why do the police automatically assume he was into something illegal?

Then Amari discovers a ticking briefcase in her brother’s old closet. A briefcase meant for her eyes only. There was far more to Quinton, it seems, than she ever knew. He’s left her a nomination for a summer tryout at the secretive Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Amari is certain the answer to finding out what happened to him lies somewhere inside, if only she can get her head around the idea of mermaids, dwarves, yetis and magicians all being real things, something she has to instantly confront when she is given a weredragon as a roommate.

Amari must compete against some of the nation’s wealthiest kids—who’ve known about the supernatural world their whole lives and are able to easily answer questions like which two Great Beasts reside in the Atlantic Ocean and how old is Merlin? Just getting around the Bureau is a lesson alone for Amari with signs like ‘Department of Hidden Places this way, or is it?’ If that all wasn’t enough, every Bureau trainee has a talent enhanced to supernatural levels to help them do their jobs – but Amari is given an illegal ability. As if she needed something else to make her stand out.

With an evil magican threatening the whole supernatural world, and her own classmates thinking she is an enemy, Amari has never felt more alone. But if she doesn’t pass the three tryouts, she may never find out what happened to Quinton.

Rereading an Old Favorite

 So, before getting into my first book review of the year, I just want to say that I am planning to keep things for this year pretty much the same as last year in terms of how I handle my reviews. I am hoping to keep my reviews a mix between upcoming releases I read off NetGalley and physical books off my TBR pile that I'm continuously working through. Also, I believe that I mentioned in my last book review that I'd be discussing this book second and my NetGalley read first. But I've decided to switch my review order around as Here Beside the Rising Tide by Emily Jane doesn't come out until the end of this month and I like to keep my reviews close to when the books are going to be released as much as possible. I also plan to only review books from NetGalley this year that I really enjoyed. Last year, I reviewed all my NetGalley reads on here and while I enjoyed the majority of them, I think I could have skipped reviewing a couple. Anyhow, enough about that. Let's get into my review of A Vision of Light by Judith Merkle Riley.

Image copied from Goodreads

I can't honestly remember how old I was the first time I read this book. But I want to say it was around my senior year of high school or my freshman year of college. Considering it had been out a few years when I discovered it at the local public library that sounds about right. What I do remember clearly is that I loved it! I also remember the ending taking me by surprise as I did not see things for Margaret, the main character, and Brother Gregory ending the way they did. Of course, at the time when I originally read this book I'm not sure if the other two books in the series had been published yet. If they had been, I probably would have known to expect the resolution for this one. All that being said, how did this book that I read so long ago end up on my current physical TBR pile? Well, a friend of mine, who I'm also friends with on Goodreads, mentioned Judith Merkle Riley on that site a few years after she passed away, relating how much she loved her books. That brought up some real nostalgia for me, because I remembered reading all of Riley's published fiction. I immediately went to my library's webpage and searched to see which books, if any, of hers they might have. To my surprise they had all of her later novels but did not have this one, which is the first in the only series Riley wrote and published before her untimely death. That prompted me to ask for the series for Christmas a year or so ago and this December I finally revisited A Vision of Light.

It was the perfect time of year to reread it, too. The story begins on the Feast of the Epiphany and ends right after New Years. But what is this book about and how did it stand up to my early memories of it? Well, let me tell you. It is a work of historical fiction set in fourteenth century England when as the blurb says, "wealthy, young, twice married" Margaret of Ashbury is spurred on by what she calls "The Voice" to hire a scribe to help her write her memoirs. For a contemporary reader that may not sound all that intriguing. But in 1355 England the idea of a woman writing a book is scandalous and verges on being heretical. This becomes very obvious when Margaret is turned down by every scribe she seeks out and laughed at, as well, by some. But Margaret is nothing if not savvy and when she encounters Brother Gregory, she finds the perfect way to entice him to work for her, through his nearly starved stomach. In this way, Riley takes a familiar turn of phrase and makes it into a sardonic and humorous plot device that sets us off on our adventure with Margaret and Brother Gregory. 

Soon after he begins to transcribe for her, we and Brother Gregory, are swept up in the unexpectedly astonishing and suspenseful events of Margaret's life. From her first arranged marriage to a cruel and much older man, to her survival of the Black Plague that leads her to a career path into midwifery, I was captivated once again by the story of this remarkable and resourceful woman. I was also struck by how humorous this novel is from the very beginning. When the Voice tells Margaret that she must write a book about her life, she argues with it, even though it is implied this is a heavenly entity talking to her. She even tries to ignore it for a time, unsuccessfully of course. It is such a human response to being ordered by a higher power to do something. Anyone familiar with the Christian Bible could relate, as it is full of similar tales where someone is told they need to do something or to carry out some task and they either try to turn it down outright or they try to avoid it by some other means, Jonah and the Whale, anyone. This response from the very first page sets up Margaret as a very relatable and three-dimensional character for me. Then her manipulation of Gregory into helping her by feeding him and offering him a warm and comfortable place to work is just so, so clever. All of this is just the tip of the iceberg though in terms of the sardonic wit and humor present throughout the story. This added to the very engaging plot of Margaret's adventures and the mystical aspects of the story, namely her miraculous vision of heavenly light that in turn gifts her with the ability to heal others, makes this book a one of a kind read that I once again thoroughly enjoyed and could read again and again. I plan to definitely continue the series as I cannot honestly say I read the last one that wraps of this trilogy. For anyone interested, the other two books in the series are In Pursuit of the Green Lion and The Water Devil.

Really all of Judith Merkle Riley's novels are very good if you enjoy historical fiction that often incorporates some aspect of mysticism into the story. Her other novels are stand alone books and cover a range of eras from 14th century England with Margaret, to the Tudor period with a different character, to 16th and 17th century France during the reigns of Catherine de Medici and the Sun King, Louis the XIV, respectively. I will say though that her Margaret of Ashbury series is the most lighthearted of her books. The others can get quite dark, though they are no less interesting. If you enjoy strong female heroines who are set in intriguing historical periods and plots that have some paranormal aspects mixed in, I highly recommend this book and Judith Merkle Riley's other novels. 

Up next on this blog in book reviews is Here Beside the Rising Tide by Emily Jane. I have not read any of her books before, and this one sounds like an interesting mix of mystery, romance, and sci-fi. Check out the book cover and blurb for it below both copied off NetGalley.

 

 

From the author of On Earth as It Is on Television...

At age ten, Jenni Farrow and her new best friend, Timmy Caruso, enjoy a glorious summer on Pearl Island filled with fireworks, beach days, and carnival rides (not to mention that strange sea creature they rescue from a tide pool). Then, one late summer day, Timmy disappears.

Thirty years later, Jenni—now Jenn Lanaro, bestselling author of the Philipia Bay action-romance series—is desperate to escape the fatigue of her career and her soon-to-be-ex-husband. With her Pokémon-obsessed kids in tow, Jenn rents a summer house on Pearl Island. But shortly after she arrives, a boy emerges from the nighttime sea. His name, he says, is Timmy Caruso. He’s ten years old. He’s on a mission to save the world, and he needs her help.

In the days that follow, as Jenn grapples with work deadlines, spirited children, and her burgeoning interest in a very sexy contractor, alarming and mysterious events unfold along the coast. And when a terror appears in the deeper waters, Jenn begins to wonder if, just maybe, Timmy is onto something.

This second book by the author of On Earth as It Is on Television continues her voice-driven, genre-bending multiverse of fiction that is just flat-out fun.

First Love Language Is an Exploration into Many Firsts

 

Image copied from NetGalley

First Love Language by Stefany Valentine is a refreshing YA contemporary romance that explores so much more than love. In fact, it explores many firsts from first love to firsts in terms of one's birth country, language and identity. The premise for the story is also very timely for the Gen Z readers it is marketed to. Love language represents many things for these young adult readers and it is a very important thing for them in terms of communicating how they care for those important to them whether they be friends, sweethearts or their family. I have often heard my children refer to someone's form of expressing themselves as their love language. I think it was very on point and clever for Valentine to develop her romance for her main character, Catie, around this concept. It also provides a vehicle in the plot for us as readers to engage with Catie's dad even though he has passed away before the story begins. He gifted Catie, before he died, with a book that he'd annotated called The Five Love Languages. It was a book he referred to both while he was dating Catie's mom and later as his daughter and stepdaughter grew up.

In addition to this romantic element the novel also gives a first-person account of what it is like to be a biracially adopted child struggling to find your identity after losing touch with your culture from your birth country. At the beginning of the story, we learn that Catie has lost her white dad from cancer and is faced with moving to Salt Lake City, Utah from San Diego the summer before her senior year with her stepmom, Andrea, and stepsister, Mavis. The upheaval brings to the fore the missed opportunities she had to question her dad before he died about why he and her Taiwanese birth mom divorced and why he brought Catie to the U.S. afterwards, causing her to lose touch with her birth mom. Not only that, but the move means living with her stepmom's very conservative Mormon sister and her family. But things begin to look up for Catie when she finds a summer job at a successful Korean spa and beauty salon. Her first day on the job, Catie lies to a customer about having a boyfriend to stop him from hitting on her, and Catie's co-worker, Toby, concocts a plan to have Catie coach him on dating if in return he'll help her re-learn Mandarin, Catie's original language. Using the book on Love Languages that her dad gave her, Catie begins putting together a series of practice dates for her and Toby to go on. From there their friendship soon starts to blossom and Catie's quest of self-discovery, on so many levels, begins.

Of the many things I loved about this novel, one is the humor involved around Catie and her practice dates with Toby. She becomes a surprisingly glib liar about her knowledge of dating and relationships. The most amusing part is that she is no more experienced on either than Toby. With each date, their friendship deepens and their connection slowly blossoms into first love. The ideas centered around expressing love through the different languages such as acts of service, gift giving, among others is very sweet, making for a quiet and tender romance. In relearning her first language, Catie also learns to open up to Toby about things she hasn't ever felt she could discuss with her adoptive family since losing her dad. Even before her dad got sick, Catie had trouble finding the courage to ask him so many of the questions about what happened between him and her birth mom, about why her birth mom agreed to give her up. We also see firsthand the racial bigotry and negative stereotyping that Catie has endured growing up in the U.S. that are sometimes intentional and sometimes not, but still annoying and painful. 

Other themes that are explored in this novel are ones about reconciling one's religious upbringing with one's own identity if you are not white or straight. In Catie's case, her dad and stepmom were both raised in the Mormon faith, but stepped back from the faith when Mavis, Catie's stepsister, identified as being pan sexual as a young teen. Being with Catie's aunt and uncle, who are both strict Mormons, is a hard adjustment for both Catie and Mavis for different reasons and the author does not shy away from portraying how hurtful and confusing it can be to be told that God only accepts those who fit a very narrow and restrictive mold for Christianity. In the midst of being forced to attend church with her stepmom's family, in return for being able to move in with them, a door opens for Catie, though, and she does find unexpected support and acceptance from a woman of the church who works in the genealogy office. There she helps Catie search for answers to what became of her birth mom and for how Catie can reconnect with her Taiwanese roots.

The journey of love and self-discovery and acceptance that Catie, Toby and even secondary characters Mavis and cousin Rayleigh go on is rich and includes a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. However, the way the story ends is both realistic and satisfying. Catie not only learns to importance of accepting herself, she also learns the importance of facing up to the truth when her false claims about being a love expert are exposed. But as this is a romance at it's heart, nothing stands in the way of true love in the end. Nevertheless, I think that the many themes explored in this book make it so much richer than that. I think many YA readers who might have similar things they are coming to terms with will find themselves represented here, whether it be searching for answers as an adopted child, dealing with cultural bias as an Asian American, or facing bigotry and intolerance for identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community. In her author's note at the end, Valentine admits that this book was loosely based on her own experiences as a biracial adoptee and that her hope is that anyone reading this book will feel seen in some way in it. If you love contemporary YA romance and can appreciate one that is quiet and sweet while also complex and heartfelt in terms of other things it explores, I highly recommend First Love Language which comes out for publication in mid-January of 2025.

I cannot believe that this is the last book review post for 2024. I hope you have found this a good source of reading material throughout the year. I plan to continue posting more reviews in 2025 and invite you to continue exploring new works coming out in the new year with me along with some older published gems. For January, I will be reviewing an adult romance, Here Beside the Rising Tide by Emily Jane from NetGalley and I will be reviewing an old favorite that is a work of historical fiction from Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light. Below are book covers and blurbs of both copied from NetGalley and Goodreads, respectively.

A romance author takes a trip to her childhood beach home, but her summer is upended by the startling return of a deceased childhood friend, newfound love, and . . . sea monsters?

At age ten, Jenni Farrow and her new best friend, Timmy Caruso, enjoy a glorious summer on Pearl Island filled with fireworks, beach days, and carnival rides (not to mention that strange sea creature they rescue from a tide pool). Then, one late summer day, Timmy disappears.

Thirty years later, Jenni—now Jenn Lanaro, bestselling author of the Philipia Bay action-romance series—is desperate to escape the fatigue of her career and her soon-to-be-ex-husband. With her Pokémon-obsessed kids in tow, Jenn rents a summer house on Pearl Island. But shortly after she arrives, a boy emerges from the nighttime sea. His name, he says, is Timmy Caruso. He’s ten years old. He’s on a mission to save the world, and he needs her help.

In the days that follow, as Jenn grapples with work deadlines, spirited children, and her burgeoning interest in a very sexy contractor, alarming and mysterious events unfold along the coast. And when a terror appears in the deeper waters, Jenn begins to wonder if, just maybe, Timmy is onto something.

This second book by the author of On Earth as It Is on Television continues her voice-driven, genre-bending multiverse of fiction that is just flat-out fun.

Set in England during the fourteenth century, A Vision of Light introduces Margaret of Ashbury, an unforgettable heroine who resembles a contemporary woman in spirit and thoughts. Young, wealthy, twice married, Margaret has a modest enough ambition: she wishes to write a book. But this is 1355, and the notion of a woman wanting to record her experiences and thoughts is not just arrogant, it's possibly heretical.

Three clerics contemptuously decline to be Margaret's scribe, and it is only starvation that persuades Brother Gregory, a renegade Carthusian friar with a mysterious past, to take on the unseemly task of chronicling her life. As she narrates her life story to Brother Gregory, we discover a woman of unusual resourcefulness who has survived the Black Plague, invented the forceps, and been accused—but acquitted—of witchcraft. But most astonishing, Margaret has experienced a Mystic Union—a vision of light that illuminates her soul and endows her with a miraculous gift of healing. To every person she encounters in her life, she becomes special—to her traditional parents, to the band of traveling players who adopt her, to the bishop's court that tries her for heresy, and ultimately to the rich merchant who saves her and whom she marries.

With exceptional narrative power, Judith Merkle Riley has recreated in full and rich detail a period that has fascinated her since her adolescence. Although her professional career has taken her into other byways, it has never lessened her long and intense interest in the fourteenth century. At the world-renowned Huntington Library in California, where she did much of her research for the book, Judith Merkle Riley uncovered remarkable primary-source documents. When she felt she knew the fourteenth century as well as a twentieth-century woman could, she set her pen to paper. The result is a remarkable novel that challenges all of our notions about women's roles in the medieval era. Anything but ordinary, Margaret of Ashbury is a heroine for all time.

YA Fantasy, Dark and Grimm

 

Image copied from Goodreads

So, before starting off with the book review can I just say that this cover gives teen romance fantasy vibes that remind me of the old 80s romance book covers. The artwork and colors are gorgeous though and I think the artist captured the romantic lead, Axel, very well based on his description in the story. Just saying. 

Anyhow, on to the review! 

What did I think of The Forest Grimm? Well, I really enjoyed it! From the first line I was drawn into the story. Who wouldn't be intrigued when the book begins with:

Tell me again, Grandmére, the story of how I die.

From there we learn the Clara and her family live in a village that has a magical book that can grant each villager one wish. The village was gifted this book by the magical forest that borders it. We also learn that Clara's grandmother is able to read someone's future with a special tarot deck and that it foretells an early death for Clara in the magical forest. Years later we discover that things have taken a turn for the worse for Grimm's Hollow. Someone used their one wish in a nefarious way and the forest retaliated by cursing the entire village and taking away the Book of Fortunes. Not only that, but since then several villagers have disappeared after venturing into the Forest Grimm to either find their magical book and break the curse, or to seek those who have gone into the forest and become one of the Lost. 

Sadly, the first to become one of the Lost after the curse was Clara's mother. Since then, she's been determined to find her. A task that has been made nearly impossible by the forest, who repels any villager who tries to enter it, sometimes in a deadly way. But clever heroine that she is, Clara figures out a way to circumvent the forest's magic. Her quest begins from there to save her mother, accompanied by her best friend, Axel. It seems Axel's fiancé Ella is also one of the Lost. She was seen entering the forest in her wedding gown and veil on the eve of their wedding day and has been missing for over a year. 

The setting of this whole novel is rich, dark and yes, magical. Once Clara and Axel enter the forest, even with their protection that Clara has devised for them, we don't know what to expect. The Forest Grimm is ancient and full of life and vegetation, something neither Axel or Clara has seen in their drought riddled village in a long time. But it is not welcoming to those under its curse and finds ways to still put Clara and her companions in peril at every turn. It also becomes obvious early on why no one can navigate their way through it and return home again. It's very hard to know where you are heading when trees and landmarks can literally change overnight. 

As promised in the book blurb they also encounter fairy tale characters. But oh, are these characters different from what you might expect. They are subversions of the original tropes, but in a way that completely fits with the original versions of any Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Let's face it, those stories were full of devious and monstrous beings who were often out to kill and murder any unwary traveler or hero that came across their path. The way that Kathryn Purdie accounts for the madness of these fairy tale beings fits in so well with the overall plot of the story as well. When the rules of gifted magic are broken, these are the consequences and as always, in order for a curse to be lifted a price must be paid. 

I found main character, Clara, very easy to empathize with and her love interest, Axel, was funny, kind and brave. I liked Clara's best friend, Henni, as well, though she seemed a little less fully developed to me. I also liked that Clara has a disability we don't often see portrayed in stories. But she perseveres in spite of it. The friends-to-lovers trope is also one I often enjoy and it was done very well in this case. 

The main reason I gave this a 4/5 stars though was that there were a few plot points throughout that I didn't quite feel were ever fully explained. For instance, how did the people who ventured into the forest and become lost not get instantly repelled like so many other villagers have who've tried to enter the forest? In one part of the story one of the characters they encounter implies that she's able to live there because she and the forest have made their peace. But it is never fully explained how this came about and why this seems to lead to the characters in question then being able to tap into and control some of the forest's magic for themselves. How is this possible and why? These were questions I didn't feel I got clear answers to. However, this did not deter me from enjoying the story overall. 

If you enjoy dark fantasy with some strong horror elements to it, you will likely enjoy The Forest Grimm. But be warned, entering the forest is definitely not for the faint of heart and you do so at your own peril.

As for what's up next, I am switching gears in a couple of weeks. After reading and reviewing two dark fantasy novels in a row, I will be switching to contemporary YA dramedy for my next review of Stefany Valentine's debut novel, First Love Language. It is a NetGalley read and is set to come out in mid-January of 2025. Check out the cover and blurb, both copied from NetGalley below.

For fans of Frankly in Love and Tokyo Ever After comes a romantic dramedy about finding love and reconnecting with your culture in the most surprising ways.

Taiwanese American Catie Carlson has never fit in with her white family. As much as she loves her stepmom and stepsister, she yearns to understand more about her culture and find her biological mother. 

So Catie is shocked when an opportunity comes knocking on her door: Her summer spa coworker, Toby, says he’ll teach her Mandarin. In exchange, she needs to teach him how to date so he can finally work up the courage to ask out his crush. The only problem is that Catie doesn’t actually have any dating experience. But she can fake it.

With her late father’s copy of The Five Love Languages and all his annotated notes, Catie becomes the perfect dating coach. Or so she thinks. As she gets dangerously close to Toby and to finding out what really happened to her biological mom, she realizes that learning the language of love might be tougher than she thought.

Stefany Valentine’s debut novel is both a fresh, fun romance as well as a profound, luminous story about grief, family, transracial adoption, and what it means to truly follow your heart.