dragoninwinterfell's reviews
98 reviews

Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton

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adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Saoirse Sorkova, the protagonist of this novel, is rude, abrasive, hypocritical, murderous, and a liar. I absolutely love her. Saoirse is the most instantly engaging and charismatic characters I've found in a very long time. Gabi Burton gives her a strong and distinctive voice that gives the narrative a unique feel that drew me into the story immediately. 

While I really like that Saoirse had an unconventional found family, I do wish we had gotten more of them so that the reader could care about them and their wellbeing as much as our heroine did. As it stands, I cared more about the new relationships she developed in the book since we got comparatively more content for them. In particular, I loved the romance between Saoirse and Hayes. It was very much a grumpy/sunshine dynamic with the unique twist of the woman filling the grumpy role while the man was sunshine. 

I very much look forward to the sequel.
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Iron Widow is amazing and easily one of my favorite reads of the year. Zetian is exactly the kind of heroine I love to see. Despite enduring hardships including abuse and mutilation from her family who raised her to be submissive and self-sacrificing, Zetian is instead fierce, assertive, outspoken, and unrepentantly furious. Not to get too spoilers, but this is not one of those stories that caution against revenge and advocate the power of forgiveness. Zetian is angry about what has been done to her, to her older sister, and to countless other girls. Not only is she angry, the narrative frames her as right. I enjoyed following her through this beautifully written novel that blends together historical figures with futuristic technology. Along with the excellent character work, the unique world building including the magic system were excellent. I can't wait to check for the sequel.
Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Now we have the newly released Fair Rosaline by Natasha Solomons. I received an audiobook ARC of this through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this novel and Solomons’ reimagining of the play a great deal. There is a creepy, almost horror vibe to this book. Death imagery is everywhere as this already tragic story is given an even darker tone. The book opens with the death of Rosaline’s mother as a plague runs rampant in Verona. Once they are out of quarantine, Rosaline’s father announces that she will be sent to a nunnery, which was her mother’s wish for her. This leads Rosaline to sneak into a Montague party, disguised as a man where she meets and develops a mutual infatuation with Romeo. As the story continues, he sneaks into her room through the balcony and their relationship becomes physical, even as Rosaline slowly gains information on Romeo’s pattern of seducing young women and girls with Friar Laurence aiding him in manipulating and disposing of them.

My favorite aspect of this novel is the depiction of women living in Renaissance Italy. Often, people will imagine the past as even more oppressive and regressive than it was. Yes, women had far fewer opportunities than they do now. But that doesn’t mean that all women did nothing but cook and clean and bear children, or in the case of nuns, spend all day praying. There were job opportunities for women and nuns could pursue different fields of study, aiding their communities. Throughout the novel, Rosaline encounters quite a few different types of women and works with them in attempting to save Juliet. I wish period drama media had more nuanced depictions of women like this with women acting within the restrictions of their culture and trying to thrive as best they could.

I also appreciated how Juliet’s age was treated as an actual concern. Many times, people will handwave situations like this with “that’s how it was back then.” Well, that’s not entirely true. Yes, it was legal for girls to be married at young ages, but it was not common. Since one of the goals of marriage was the production of multiple healthy children, the bride being able to safely produce those healthy children was essential. So while there were outliers like Margaert Beaufort who became a widowed single mom by the age of 13, that was rare. Why? Because while Margert survived the birth of her son, other girls who were still growing might not. Besides, despite being married three times, Margaret had only that one child, suggesting that carrying and giving birth to that child at such a young age may have harmed her body to the point where she became unable to have more children. 

So Solomons is right to highlight the issues with Juliet’s age. Furthermore, Shakespeare himself highlighted the issue as well. For some reason, the bard chose to change Juliet’s age from almost 16 to 13. He also has Juliet’s father note how young she is when Paris attempts to arrange a marriage with her. This is significant because those lines don’t need to be included. But they were. While I’m not certain Shakespeare intended for Romeo to seem as predatory as Solomons depicts him, especially since Juliet’s father eventually agrees to marry her to Paris, it does seem as though this romance isn’t intended to be as glorified as it became.

So it was great seeing Juliet depicted in this novel as a girl who is still a child while also dealing with very adult concerns.

What I disliked about the book is how Rosaline still returns Romeo’s feelings by the time he meets Juliet. I understand that he is being set up as the overarching villain of the story, becoming easily infatuated with women only to use them and discard them once someone else catches his attention. But a key part of the play is that Rosaline has rejected Romeo and he begins the story by stalking her to her uncle’s home where he finds Juliet. This could have easily been resolved by having Rosaline accept the mountain of evidence for Romeo’s lies and manipulations before the party and breaking things off with him. That way, he could continue to pursue her against her wishes, as he does in the play, only to transition his obsession from her to Juliet.

Overall, I really loved this book and gave it four and a half stars. The gritty realism of it and nuanced depictions of women really drew me in. 
And Don't Look Back by Rebecca Barrow

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mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.0

And Don't Look Back was something of a disappointment for me. I loved the characters and the build-up, but the answers to the mysteries weren't very compelling. They certainly didn't explain the extreme lengths the main character's mother went to to keep them on the run without giving her. The only reason the female lead wasn't told everything was because there wouldn't have been a book if she had been. That's a sign that the plotting wasn't particularly strong.
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis

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emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Davenports is the novel I have been wishing for for years. This features historically accurate black excellence, frothy period drama escapism, positive and supportive relationships between women, and truly feminist writing that shows a range of female experiences, rather than just putting one on a pedestal while trashing others. My only disappointment is that this was written for a young adult age range rather than adult, which would have allowed for less over-explaining and more digging into the complexities of the struggles and difficult choices the four heroines faced. 

The novel is an ensemble piece set in 1910 Chicago that transitions between the POVs of Olivia and Helen Davenport, their longtime friend Ruby, and their ambitious maid Amy-Rose. Each young woman is completely unique from the other. Olivia initially fits within the expectations of her wealthy family and is ready to do her duty by marrying well, before being drawn into the growing Civil Rights Movement and falling for the wrong man. Helen wants to work in her family's business rather than pursue a life as a society wife, though she's also drawn to a different type of wrong man. Her family pressures Ruby to get John Davenport to marry her to help their standing and their chances of getting her father elected as the first black mayor, only to be drawn to someone else. Amy-Rose works hard and saves money in the hopes of opening her own beauty salon, while dealing with bias' against women in business as well as the growing attraction between her and John. Each of these characters has a story that could be worth their own novel.  I love the way Krystal Marquis balanced and entwined the stories and romances of each of the main characters, allowing each to shine. 

If it isn't obvious, I loved The Davenports and can't wait for the sequel.
I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love it when women are allowed to be depicted with righteous fury, ambition, and pride in themselves. Jamison Shea more than delivers in this novel with her heroine, Laure Mesny. Laure is a talented ballerina determined to rise to the top of her field. But being perfect isn't enough as she has to combat sabotage from her competitors, nepotism that uplifts mediocre dancers who are well connected, and racism -- shown in both macro and micro aggressions  -- as she is one of only a couple Black dancers attempting to rise in the company. As Laure forces herself to endure and overachieve, she is lured into binding herself to a eldritch god who exchange for power. What follows is a dark, bloody ride full of mystery, twists, and sacrifice. I listened yo the audiobook and it was hard to turn off.

The reason this wasn’t a 5 star read for me is due to the weaker relationship development. So much effort was put into developing Laure as a complicated protagonist and rightly so. I just wish the same level of care was put into developing her most important relationships, which were so essential to her motivation and the main conflict. 

Regardless, I had a great time with this novel and I look forward to the sequel.
The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

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emotional lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is one of my favorite Austen continuations. The way Hadlow stays true to Austen's voice and themes while still giving Mary Bennet a unique and engaging story is incredible. 
Our Shadows Have Claws: 15 Latin American Monster Stories by Amparo Ortiz, Yamile Saied Méndez

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This is such an excellent anthology with a wide variety of voices and unique stories. 
Mirror Girls by Kelly McWilliams

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This would have been a solid five had this book been longer, which would have provided more space for relationship development. Otherwise, the story, characters, and magical setting were fascinating. I immediately adored both of the dual protagonists, Charlie and Magnolia, and was invested in their unique situations. 
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Lilith by Nikki Marmery

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adventurous informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0