ambersedai's reviews
64 reviews

I want to thank Andrew Watson for sending me an eARC in an exchange for an honest, unbiased review. 

Harbinger of Justice, the first book of The Shadowbinders Trilogy is nothing short of amazing. The story is set in Yontar, in the desert. We follow the story of Nya, who cares for her sick mother. Nya gets arrested, and her mother may die unless Nya joins a secret project that promises her freedom, if she survives. We also follow Rai, a mercenary, who has a dark shadow. Rai is on a quest to figure out the nature of the creature living in his shadow. Along the way, Rai collides with old friends and new enemies, stumbling into an ancient mystery that could mean the end of the world. All the while, a darkness stirs and rebellion threatens, helmed by a man who promises justice will reign. 

I enjoyed this story so much. There are multiple point-of-views, which is my favorite to get to know what each character’s personalities are like, what they’re thinking, what drives them. The world building was incredible, descriptions of the desert made me feel fully immersed into the story. The dark shadow magic was really cool, it still left mystery to learn more about it in book two. The pacing was a bit slow at times, but it still kept me interested. Made-up desert creatures, Egyptian mythology, bandits, dark shadow magic, endearing morally grey characters that aren’t without empathy even through the traumas they faced, and an animal companion, what’s not to love ? The ending was awesome, love a good cliff hanger. Harbinger of Justice really has opened my eyes to desert fantasy books. The only desert setting I’ve read in fantasy before is the Aiel Waste in The Wheel of Time series, but it wasn’t the sole setting of the book. Desert settings seem to be underrated in my opinion. Anyway, I’m really looking forward to book two to learn more about the lore and characters.

“𝕎𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕦𝕤. 𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕦𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕤 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕤 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕗𝕦𝕖𝕝. 𝔸𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕕𝕠 𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕖’𝕣𝕖 𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖, 𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝕡𝕦𝕣𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕖, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜 𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕 𝕚𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕙𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕥𝕖 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕦𝕟𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕕𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤.”

“ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕝 𝕞𝕒𝕘𝕚𝕔 𝕚𝕤 𝕕𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕒𝕨. 𝔸𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕤𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕦𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕦𝕤 𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣.”

Firstly I want to say thank you to the author, Garrett Godsey for being so kind to send me an ARC for an honest review.

The Rivener is such an impressive debut novel. I found myself a lot of the time thinking, there’s no way Godsey is an indie author! His writing seems so effortless, yet simple & beautiful at the same time.

We meet Kid who’s a ‘street rat,’ that delivers packages for a syndicate called the White Lotus. Set in San Francisco, present-day, Kid lives his days trying to stay out of trouble, although it seems to find him everywhere he goes. On an ordinary day, delivering a package for the White Lotus, his life changes in an epic mind-bending, supernatural way. Kid also meets a girl named Alice, who’s also an orphan, raised in The Young School, molded into what’s called a ‘traveler.’ They shortly discover they must battle the shadows within themselves to save not just The Real world, but also The Dream. Along the way there are many people & creatures that try to stop them. 

This story is extremely thought provoking. While it is easy to read, a metaphysical outlook isn’t lacking here that’s for sure. Godsey did an excellent job at writing a fast paced story with a solid plot & intriguing characters. I would’ve rated The Rivener 5 stars, but for me at times I wanted more depth from the characters individually. Overall it kept me wanting more. Hopefully there’s a second novel in the works? With the ending as epic and cool as it was, I’m positive there will be more to come. I absolutely loved how authentic the characters reactions were to the situations they faced. The villain was one of the scariest I’ve read about in a while, although saying that I’ve not really read too many horror novels before, so The Rivener has really broadened my horizons when it comes to the horror genre. Godsey also includes mythology in his story, which was very reminiscent to me of Assassins Creed with Gods/Goddesses, as well as animus and totems. The world building is there, but it’s not over the top for those that find descriptions overwhelming. It never feels info-dumpy and flows really well. This is a story about redemption, love, hope, free will, fighting your demons. It has mature content, so if you’re interested in reading The Rivener make sure you read the foreward at the beginning. As a whole I was shocked that I loved the characters as much as I did, I even cried at a few scenes. I want to keep this as spoiler-free as possible so I’ll leave this with an intriguing can’t wait for what happens next. 

If you like The Sandman, Neuromancer (The Matrix), or The Thing, then you’ll love The Rivener. 

“𝕀’𝕝𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦, 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕣𝕖.”

Back in December, GJ Stoutimore reached out to me asking if I was interested in being gifted his new debut novel in exchange for an honest review. I was intrigued by the synopsis so of course, I said yes! 

I haven’t read many Asian style dark fantasy stories, let alone Asian fiction in general and I’m so impressed. Think of cyberpunk meets samurai vibes with a bit of magic and supernatural thrown in. 
Murder Baby is so beautifully written, haunting and poetic. It has plenty of trauma, so if you’re interested in reading it, please read the trigger warning at the beginning! 

This is a book you want to read with your undivided attention. The characters, world building, magic system is excellent, I want more. There’s queer representation and I love that. To be honest in the beginning I didn’t really see myself becoming too attached to the characters, but I really started to feel for them in such emotional moments and scenes shortly after a few paragraphs in. So many different cultures wrapped into one story. So many twists and turns throughout the story, it kept me on the edge of my seat. The ending was pretty incredible. I cannot wait to see what’s in store next as The Knights of Sadira is a 4 book series. Overall I’m so glad I took a chance and broadened my horizons by reading this book. It’s such a powerful story. Murder Baby has officially made itself into one of my favorite books. 😌

I wish this was an anime, tv show, or even a video game!! It’s THAT good 😊

What AN ending to an amazing series. I’m not ready at all to say farewell to the characters of the Wheel of Time. This book made me cry so much. I’ve never been so enamoured with a series in a long time. The story is so intricately written and the Pattern is one of the coolest concepts, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever read before. Because the story was so detailed I really felt like I was totally immersed in it and part of the Pattern. I felt as though I knew the characters. The foreshadowing in many of the beginning books finally becomes worth it in A Memory of Light. I constantly thought about this damn series day and night. It’s definitely become one of my favorite series of all time. I don’t know when I’ll re-read this series, but I know I definitely will eventually because now that everything makes sense I’ll want to go and catch things I missed.

If you’re thinking about reading the series, just do it 😊

4.5 ✨ 
This book is a bit slower in pacing than The Gathering Storm, but its still so good. The amount of information in 931 pages is insane. So much happened that by the end of the book it feels like multiple stories in a good way. So many emotional scenes yet again. But without revealing too much, I love the Finn. Things really are coming full circle. The character’s development has been absolutely amazing throughout this series! Still so many mysteries to be solved. A lot of twists and turns throughout Towers of Midnight, some I caught from early on, but others I didnt see coming! Jumping right into the FINAL wheel of time book nowww.

Wowwowweewowow. The Gathering Storm is definitely one of the best books throughout the series. I can definitely see the difference between Brandon Sandersons prose and Jordans, but it’s not a bad thing. I really loved this book so much. In every chapter it seems like something major happened. Probably the fastest paced book throughout the series. Definitely tied up a lot of loose ends. Ahh this book made me laugh and cry and man the authors didn’t hold back on the darkness. Totes emotional. All the things happen. Revelations. 😅 Ready for Towers of Midnight. It’s time to roll the dice 😉

4.5 ⭐️ really. Wowwww. Things are starting to finally be revealed from the very first books. Such a great read honestly. I’m blown away by the ending honestly. Like I thought Lord of Chaos had the best ending so far but Knife of Dreams is now up there. Be interesting to see what happens next. I still have so many questions! Some epic dark scenes in this one. Can’t wait for it to hopefully get a bit darker. 🫠 I can tell this series is going to ruin me.

Wow, so obviously I’ve read this after Crossroads or Twilight (Book 10). I loved that New Spring was set 20 years before Eye of the World and mainly focuses on Moiraine as an Accepted and works her way to become Aes Sedai. We get to see a complete different side of Moiraine, someone who’s only human who struggled with her temper. Which you don’t really see all that much in the series. It dives into Moiraine and Siuans relationship which is only insinuated in the main story. Not to mention it gives even more detail in how the Tower operates, different Aes Sedai factions, secrets. Lan and Moiraines first meeting which we knew a bit about from The Great Hunt. (Book 2). It explains a bit more of Borderland (Malkier) culture. This is basically the beginning of them recognizing Black Ajah does exists, and Siuan and Moiraine accidentally heard Gitara Sedai’s Foretelling about the Dragon Reborn. So Siuan and Moiraine are determined to find it. I also recommend reading this after book 10 because if you read it too early it can potentially spoil your first impression of a certain character. Also if you read it that late you’ll end up knowing who a few of the Black Ajah are, so it’s a lot more fun!

So maybe I’m extremely biased but I loved Crossroads of Twilight. I get why a lot of people wouldn’t like it because “it’s too slow” for them and not enough “going on.” But I disagree, the world building from books 7-10 is really wonderful. It’s nice to just get lost in the world of the Wheel for a bit because it’s coming to an end shortly for me. Crossroads of Twilight was full of political intrigue and mystery, I mean what’s not to like about that? It ties up quite a bit of loose ends from characters we saw a few books ago. More lore behind ter’angreals, the Dark Ones creatures and how the White Tower really operates. Instead of having an epic battle like usual at the end of the book, it’s left on a cliff hanger which left me wanting to jump right into book 11, but I’m taking a detour and going in publication order and I’ll be reading New Spring next which is the prequel. Which I’m quite excited to read seeing as it’s about Moiraine, Cadsuane and Siuan some of my favorite characters.

Winter’s Heart was really good. I like the slow burn and catching up with some of the main characters side quests. I don’t need epic battles constantly in a series to be intrigued. In Winters Heart we learn a bit more of the Seanchan and their customs. They’ve been a bit mysterious since The Great Hunt! We also visit new lands and learn about various other cultures and customs. A bit more lore behind the One Power and ter’angreals. The ending is pretty epic & thought provoking. Not letting this “slog” taint me. But Cadsuane though 😍😍😍