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This has been a series on my reading list for awhile and it comes up repeatedly in suggestions for good fantasy novels so it was one I felt I had to read. As someone who has previously enjoyed the Harry Potter series it was also easy to draw some parallels here and a sense of intrigue. A darker, deadlier Hogwarts? Sign me up!

I went into this novel very enthusiastic and wanting to enjoy it, which is why I'm almost surprised I can find myself only giving this opening book of the series three stars; three and a half tops.

That isn't to say this was a bad book, though. There were many elements that I did enjoy, such as:

👍 The Scholomance: I think the world building in terms of the school were some of the best parts of this book. The Scholomance is unique in the sense that it's entirely autonomous and seems to have a mind and will of its own at times. The setting was brilliantly described and left me with a sense of wonder. I was particularly fascinated with how the library and book acquisition worked, and how you actually had to work to keep books "happy" otherwise they might leave.

👍 Deadly mythical creatures: The maleficaria or "mals" that were described in the book were both interesting and terrifying. I feel a whole bestiary could be composed of the various types of mals in the book, each with their own quirks and backstory of creation. I love me some scary monsters, and this book delivered. I hope there's more in the later books and we're able to learn more about them!

👍 Intriguing magic system: The magic system and how magic is used feels like it has a decent amount of depth here. One must be careful of rationing one's mana and can't just free-cast spells willy-nilly. Learning spells also relies on getting the right books or trading for them, meaning that both mana and spells themselves are an important resource with which to trade and barter. The distinction between good "mana" and malevolent "malia" as spellcasting resources was also interesting, both coming with their own drawbacks. I can tell the author put a fair amount of thought into the magic system here.

👍 Politics and status: The book centers around "enclaves" of powerful wizards and how some kids are part of the privileged set of "enclave kids" and others, like our main protagonist El, are not. This fundamental idea is the basis for how relationships and alliances are formed within The Scholomance and I found the politicking surrounding this an interesting plot device. It provides some interesting and logical motivations for people doing some fairly unsavory stuff that make sense in the world that's been created, even if you disagree morally. I enjoy aspects of stories that add some moral greyness.

Now, while there were some things I really enjoyed there's a reason that I was only able to give this book a three star rating and not more. Here's the things I enjoyed less:

👎 Exposition: There were SO many "info dumps" in this book. This is one of my main issues with the book, actually. This novel was lacking the magic and enchantment you FELT when learning about Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, etc. because in the HP franchise you were taken on an adventure around these places through a lot of descriptive demonstration about what was happening around the characters. In The Scholomance, most of the information was imparted in long stream-of-consciousness-like prose from El's thoughts. It wasn't the most interesting way to learn about the world and it felt like a slog to get through in parts, even though the material was interesting. It would have been way more interesting showing us how the world worked through story.

👎 Character work: As a result of our perspective as a reader being fixed inside the head of Galadriel, and there being such an emphasis on the aforementioned info dumps about how the school worked, we actually learned very little about the other characters in the story. We obviously learned about El and a little about Orion Lake, but the cast of other characters felt like a bunch of interchangable names to me for the longest time. It was genuinely hard for me to remember any of the other characters because really the only thing we did know about them was their name and maybe their standing on the social hierarchical ladder and that was all. We were given very little room to learn about characters and their quirks organically through the story, because most of it was just expositions. I'm hoping for better character work in the other books in the series, where we can get a deeper sense of their personalities now that the ground rules have been set in the first book.

👎 The Scholomance: So, I'm aware I listed the school setting itself as a positive. But the way it worked also had negative aspects to it. I think the lack of faculty and staff here was a unique twist on the "magic school" setting, but I think more was lost than gained from the lack of teachers, staff, and structured lessons. The dynamic between pupils and teachers adds a level of depth to these types of stories and could have played very well into this story about different enclave factions, privileged treatment, etc.

👎 Plot holes: Kinda willing to largely give this a pass since it's the first book in a trilogy and I'm making the assumption that things become clearer in the future books, but I left the first story with so many questions about why some are they way they are.

👎 Inaccurate British school writing: As someone that went to High School in the UK, I could tell right away that the author was from the US attempting to write about British school culture. There were just so many tiny references throughout that wouldn't really have made sense in a British school, none more glaringly than when the concept of the school's "valedictorian" was brought up. That's just not a thing in UK schools. I also got the impression she was trying to make El speak like she grew up in the UK in how she phrased certain things too, but ultimately it just made the prose confusing as it was clearly inauthentic to anyone that actually grew up in Britain.

Despite the things I disliked about this I will be reading book two in the series, The Last Graduate. This novel left me with enough interest to want to continue the story and the cliffhanger at the end was incredibly juicy! I'm hoping some of the negative things improve as the series progresses.

This was my first read by Naomi Novik and I'm on the fence as to whether I enjoy her as an author off the back of this. I'm unfamiliar with her previous work, but I did struggle with the writing style here and it was mostly the concept of the story that has me interested in reading on rather than how it was written. We'll see how I feel after book two.

Wow. This book was a journey, and not one I expected to take when picking it up. I was looking for a horror book for some cheap scares approaching Halloween and the title of "Ghost Tamer" stood out to me. It sounded just what I was seeking, but it was so, so much more than what I expected in the absolute best way possible.

This is no standard, formulaic horror. This blends in so many other genres seamlessly, including elements of fantasy magic, aspects of occultism, paranormal phenomena and investigation, mystery, action, suspense, and even a little comedy and romance to top it all off. You'd think hitting all these different notes over the course of a novel might detract from it or dilute it somewhat and only manage to accomplish many things in a mediocre way. Let me tell you, that was NOT the case at all with this book. This was a masterfully written, genre-blending novel that will have you feeling all sorts of emotions, from laughing along in one moment to feeling utterly heartbroken in the next, and sometimes a mix of the two at once somehow!

The character work in this novel was excellent. I felt fully invested in our main character Raely's plight, who just couldn't catch a break. The supporting cast from the living world, the spirit realm, and some somewhere in between (Lovonia!), were also well written and enjoyable to get to know.

Ghosts are usually presented in "horror" books as something to be afraid of, and there was definitely aspects of that here no doubt. But the twist of Raely discovering that friendly ghosts also exist that were able to help her made this book all the more intriguing and amazing. The aptly-named "Casper" was one of my favorite characters and his relationship with Raely really made this book come alive (pun intended). I can't say too much more than that without spoilers, but some of the revelations as the story unravels were deeply emotional and made me feel things I never expected to feel when reading ghost stories.

This is a fast-paced, quick read that you'll not want to put down. It had me excited for the next chapter at each juncture and I can't recommend this enough to anyone who'd find its premise even mildly interesting. Read this, you'll not regret investing yourself into Raely's world!

Meredith R. Lyons is an author who has instantly put herself into my "must read" category with this debut novel. Amazing.

Crooked Kingdom is the second book in the Six of Crows duology, and continues to follow the adventures of the characters we've grown so familiar with from the first book, essentially picking up where the first book left off and giving us the aftermath of the heist. A whole host of unanswered questions remain as to the fate of the crew, and Crooked Kingdom does not disappoint in giving us what we want from a sequel.

My love for this book and the duology as a collective can't be understated. It's so incredibly well written and rich in world building and character depth, which only seems to deepen and unravel with each chapter. The book, although a fairly long read, didn't fail to keep my attention and always kept me eager and excited for my next reading session when I could delve deeper into the world and learn more about the crew's adventure.

It's seriously impressive to me just how well written Kaz and all of the other members of the crew were. The author does an amazing job of pouring such depth into each of her characters. You can tell she really put her heart and soul into the backstories of each one and their identities, and this effort rewards the reader as you savor each interaction between them and are able to understand and appreciate why certain characters are the way they are as a result of their backstories and history.

The plot itself was another strong point of this novel. The author really keeps you on your toes when reading through as the plot twists and turns delightfully, keeping things exciting and unpredictable throughout. Trying to second-guess Kaz Brekker's schemes went about as well for me as it does for most others in Kerch!

Fair warning: this book will certainly make you feel things! Ultimately each of the crew have fairly complex and traumatic pasts that make up who they are, and throughout the story these characters have to wrestle with their own individual traumas and challenges, manifesting for some in physical limitations and pretty much for all in their mental states. There's a lot of heavy and heart-wrenching stuff here as a result of that, and I certainly felt it as a reader. It was also rewarding as a reader to experience some of the characters taking steps to heal from these experiences, or finding other ways to overcome their limitations.

Another part of this whole series that I enjoyed was the diversity of the crew, and how the plot-lines explored bigotry in various ways. Not only bigotry, but in some cases perpetrators of such being able to heal from their indoctrinated views when allowed to make their own discoveries in life outside of their echo chambers and views they once held as sacred. Some of the budding romances here were adorable, and also a major heartstrings-puller as things fully unfolded. Matthias and Nina's arc is certainly very memorable.

I think my only criticism here would actually be the age the characters are portrayed as. I think when reading through this story, I had mentally aged the characters up by 10 years from the stated ages in the book as I found it to be more fitting. Ultimately I feel the author/publishers wanted the characters portrayed as younger to capitalize on the YA marketing hype, but it feels more right from a story perspective if you imagine them to be a little older, in my opinion.

Ultimately if you love epic quests undertaken by groups of flawed, but lovable, rogues, some fantasy elements and a tale of learning to adapt and overcome your fears and shortcomings, or turning those perceived shortcomings into advantages, this is a series you'll love. It's not understated when I saw this is one of my favorite fantasy series. I shall be moving on to watching the Netflix series set in the same universe and featuring some of the same characters from the Six of Crows duology called Shadow and Bone.

"No mourners."

Six of Crows is an epic tale following the journey of 6 bandits looking to pull off the heist of their lives, with plenty of twists, turns, and some unexpected romance along the way!

This was my first foray into the universe created by this author which began with earlier novels. As such, I was a little trepidatious about not being able to fully enjoy Six of Crows due to not being aware of the lore and backstories that came before it. Thankfully, however, I didn't find that to be a barrier at all. This novel more than stands on its own in that regard with no previous knowledge of the universe being required, although I'm sure a more full knowledge of the universe may have made reading Six of Crows even more enjoyable for those who have.

Six of Crows takes us on a gritty adventure to the seedy underbelly of Ketterdam, where we meet a motley, rag-tag bunch of criminals who all find themselves aligned despite coming from very different backgrounds. One of the major strengths of Six of Crows is the depth of these characters, whose backstories are slowly revealed to the reader at appropriate intervals during the story. The interweaving of each characters' personal journeys and history is seamless alongside the main plot; the author strikes a masterful balance of introducing backstory for each character at very timely moments that help the reader understand precisely where characters are coming from and their motivations.

The plot twists and twists-on-top-of-twists are deliciously executed that will have you as a reader guessing and second guessing where the story is going. One thing is for sure though: The cunning of Kaz Brekker is never to be underestimated!

This book will have you feeling all the things and ultimately take you on an excitingly deep journey into this world filled with a lot of moral ambiguity, characters wrestling with their own emotions, struggles with past trauma, and feelings. There'll be joy, triumph, setbacks, and tears with some epic magic along the way too! There's also some awesome female badasses who were very easy for me to root for as well.

This was a top drawer fantasy novel for me, and I'll immediately be reading the second book in this series: Crooked Kingdom.

"No mourners. No funerals."

This is a horror story, but not in your typical setting. This one takes place 300 feet under the ocean as a dive team is sent to explore the wreck of the SS Arcadia that sank in the 1920s. We experience the story in two timelines: one in the days leading up to the ship's sinking, and in the present when the dive team goes to explore the wreckage on the seabed.

I didn't really expect to be learning about the intricacies of deep sea diving from a horror book, but I want to commend the author in doing an excellent job of explaining some of the protocols and challenges when diving (and surfacing) in such a place. I found this insight to be fascinating as someone unfamiliar with the subject and appreciated the author's research into it to add realism.

As someone that generally consumes horror in more typical haunted house style stories, this book stood out to me as unique due to its setting. This is what caused it to catch my eye and make me enthusiastic to read it. I was expecting claustrophobia and suspense that the setting lends itself to and I wasn't disappointed. From Below delivers both in spades.

So, why I do I rate the book a high-three-but-not-quite-four stars? For me, there were a couple of factors that made it a good read but kept it from being great. The strongest of these factors, in my opinion, was the length of the book. Now, I'm not opposed to a long read if I felt the literary real estate was well used, but here some of the present day, middle chapters centering around the dives and exploration of the wreck did drag on a little. I felt there was a lot of repetition and descriptions of navigation within the ship and scenery (and specifically, silt and sediments) which began to go from suspenseful to trite pretty quickly. I feel the book could have used a stronger attention to editing in places; realistically it could probably have been 150 to 200 pages shorter, or that space could have been used to flesh out some of the characters, backstories or explanations, and reasoning for what was going on. With the story essentially being extremely limited to a singular setting due to its premise, it was important it didn't overstay its welcome but in parts I feel it did just that sadly. The increasingly contrived reasons for the crew to end up back in the ship was just too much by the end also.

The other issue I had was the ultimate nature of the antagonists in the present day timeline. I don't want to delve too much into that due to being mindful of spoilers, but it pretty much just stuck to the same trope and nothing more. Not really my favorite sub-genre of horror, but I recognize this is highly personal preference. I was sort of hoping for a twist or unique spin on the concept, but left disappointed. Once the nature of the antagonists were revealed, it shaved off a little of the intrigue, horror, and mystery for me and because that reveal happened fairly early on, it caused the parts that were meant to be scary to get repetitive with limited scope for surprise or evolution in the plot beyond that point barring some creativity to add uniqueness that ultimately, unfortunately, didn't come.

With that said, I particularly enjoyed the past timeline chapters documenting the ship's increasing descent into the state that ultimately led to its sinking. These chapters were very well written and as a reader I got the increasing sense of foreboding doom with every past timeline chapter that came up. I feel the book could have been improved if this timeline was perhaps featured more prominently and fleshed out.

The end was okay, but just that: okay. I feel there was room perhaps for a few more twists and turns, but the conclusion fell a little flat for me. It wasn't terrible, but I was hoping for a little more revelation by the end or perhaps a surprise which ultimately didn't come.

With those things said, this wasn't a bad book by any means and I don't regret reading it. If you're into slower horror stories that linger in claustrophobic scenes that are vividly described and don't mind undead horror elements you'll enjoy this, and have nightmare material to dwell on for a good while! The unique setting was creative and Coates is an excellent and descriptive writer whose writing style I largely enjoy. This isn't the first Darcy Coates horror I've read and certainly won't be my last, but I did prefer her previous work that I read: The Haunting of Ashburn House, which was a more traditional horror setting.

This was my first reading of an Loreth Anne White novel and I’m delighted to say I’ve absolutely found another top tier thriller author to add to my reading list. The characters, the plot, and the twists and turns were all sublimely interwoven to create a truly entertaining page-turner that I couldn’t put down once I’d started getting into it.

One aspect of the novel that I felt was particularly on point was the pertinent social commentary accompanying the plot, highlighting areas that really make you ask yourself a lot of questions about society as a whole. From the faux nature of social media narratives to deeply disturbing inequalities in how certain elements of society are able to escape justice and pay to make certain “inconveniences” disappear with the right amount of money and connections, this book will really make you think and truly is a reflection on reality, unfortunately, in some aspects.

The book goes deeper than this, though, with the multi-narrational elements. You get to see the effects of trauma play out on both sides of the fence of inequality, and while generally critical of the patriarchal society that enables certain ways of thinking and behavior by men, the author also isn’t afraid to show how women, too, can be caught up in the web and act as enablers or attempt to cover things up that are inconvenient for the sake of their own families or reputations, even at the expense of other women’s well-being. A bold narrative that unfortunately reflects accurately on how things sometimes play out outside of the world of fiction.

I found the manner in which the story was told to be excellent as well. We get fragments of the story from multiple characters’ points of view, in a non-sequential manner that leaves you, the reader, to piece everything together. The multi-timeframe narrative where we get some pieces before and some pieces after the incident mixed together adds to that jigsaw puzzle feeling and allows you as a reader to build up the scenes in your head and piece things together. This was enjoyable, as you quickly realize what seems like a relatively straightforward event has layers and layers of complexity that you’re treated to as you slowly unpeel the onion.

The other aspect I felt was strong in this novel was the character work. I wouldn’t particularly say there were any overtly likeable characters involved in this story, but that was entirely understandable in the narrative that played out. Everyone’s a shade of gray to some extent, and that mirrors reality and is very in-keeping with the themes used in the storytelling here.

Overall the pacing was good, the plot was enjoyable and there’s a lot of complexity there that really makes you think and reflect on how the world can be. It can be emotionally heavy and deal with some very disturbing topics, such as rape, sexual abuse and gaslighting, but I found a certain sense of contentment with how it all came together in the end.

Thoroughly recommended and a must-read for any fans of murder mysteries and crime psychological thrillers.

If you've been enjoying the Kingdom of Runes series up to this point, book 4 in the series isn't going to disappoint. It gives us precisely what we've all been wanting and what has been building up over the course of the previous installments, and so much more!

Kingdom of Runes just keeps getting better with each book, taking us deeper and deeper into the characters' backstories, expanding the world and showing us the development of the relationships between characters along the way. Light Singer was easily yet another five star installment, with the delightful promise of an epic crescendo that should come with the fifth book: Dark Bringer.

Back to Light Singer though, and we finally get an installment that's almost entirely dedicated to exploring the relationship between Haven and Stolas, featuring all of the Stolas we've been craving for in the past books. You'll get plenty of pay-off from Light Singer if you've been rooting for the Goddess-Born and Shade Lord this whole time, and the romance doesn't disappoint.

That focus on their relationship is underpinned by the very solid main storyline, which is of course Archeron's betrayal and the ever-looming threat of the Shadeling. We get to see plenty of political jockeying, as Haven and the freshly re-established Shadoria seek to consolidate alliances for the battles they know are to come.

This book and series has all of the perfect components for an epic fantasy tale, and the exciting part is there's still the grand finale yet to come, which this book sets us up for nicely.

If there is one thing I would criticize about this book, though, it's probably the fact it is a tad lean on main story progression. A lot of the build up and set up certainly make things more intriguing, but in terms of how far we actually moved it wasn't all that much from where we left off in book three. Still, we got plenty of progression between Haven and Stolas and that certainly wasn't a bad thing and well worth dedicating a whole book to!

The book ends on a nasty little cliffhanger with some things left unresolved from within the book. Grey seems to like this style, but personally I feel we could have got a little ways further by the ending. We're all already well hooked on the series by now; I'm not sure cliffhangers are necessary at this point to get us to read the final installment!

It goes without saying that I am thoroughly looking forward to the conclusion of this series and cannot wait until it comes out! This series has solidified Audrey Grey as one of my favorite fantasy authors, and seeing her writing improve along with the series and her own style emerging from the shadows of the authors she personally has been inspired by has given me great pleasure as a reader too!