abookishtype's reviews
2452 reviews

Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Every now and then, I’ll read a work of historical fiction that so perfectly captures how different people were even a few generations ago that I’m reminded of L.P. Hartley’s line that “the past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” Shy Creatures, by Clare Chambers, is very much one of those books. This book contains so much unacknowledged psychological subtext that I might need therapy after reading it. Ironically, a good half of this book takes place at a psychiatric hospital...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. 

The Scarlet Throne by Amy Leow

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The throne of the goddess Rashmatun is surrounded by liars. It is also occupied by a liar, the Rakhti Binsa. In the world Amy Loew created in <i>The Scarlet Throne</i>, rakhtis are vessels for the gods of Aritsya. These children host the gods at set times during the day to hear petitions and prayers from petitioners. When they grow into puberty, the rakhtis retire into obscurity. Binsa is supposed to be the vessel for the goddess of wisdom, Rashmatun. Every day she dispenses her goddess’s wisdom. The truth is that all of Binsa’s limited magic and power comes from a demon she inherited from her terrifying (and thankfully dead) mother...

<I>Read the rest of my review at <a href="https://www.abookishtype.com/2024/10/11/the-scarlet-throne-by-amy-loew/">A Booksish Type</a>.</i>

The Ancients by John Larison

challenging inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

With more than seven billion people on this teeming planet, it’s hard to imagine the times when the earth’s population was much smaller. In the afterword of his new novel, The Ancients, John Larison writes that he took his inspiration from a period in our species’ history about 195,000 years ago. Rapid climate change pushed humanity to a small corner of what is now South Africa, where they weathered desertification until more favorable conditions returned. The handful of primary characters in this novel are pushed to and fro by rising sands and tides, declining schools of fish and herds of elk, and worse in a world that might be a future version of our own...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. 

The Formidable Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

Miss Leda Cassidy is a woman with a special set of skills, skills she has honed over a long time. These skills are not what one would normally expect of a gentile Irish lady who takes the odd job as a companion or tutor to the upper classes but, in Meihan Boey’s charming novel The Formidable Miss Cassidy, turn out to be surprisingly useful. We get to see Miss Cassidy’s skills on display in two supernatural adventures that blend European and Southeast Asian magic and myths, adventures that Miss Cassidy pulls off with an understated Victorian aplomb...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. 

The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H.G. Parry

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Clover Hill has set herself an impossible task. Once she learned that only magic could heal her brother–wounded in a catastrophic battle at Amiens–she determined that nothing would stop her from learning the spell that would save his life. The world of H.G. Parry’s electric new novel, The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door, is also struggling to heal from the devastation of World War I. Whatever happened at Amiens led the magicians of England, France, and Germany to close the doors to Faerie so that it could never happen again. Clover knows, however, that the only way to help her brother is to break those doors open again...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. 

This Cursed House by Del Sandeen

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Three hundred dollars a week is a lot of money in 1962. So much so, in fact, that it tempts Jemma Barker from the relative safety of Chicago to New Orleans, where Jim Crow is violently enforced. She should have known that the money was too good to be true. In Del Sandeen’s original and chilling novel, This Cursed House, Jemma quickly learns that three hundred dollars a week is far too little to compensate her for dealing with the Duchon family...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. 

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis

adventurous funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Gav is in an awkward and dangerous position at the beginning of Caitlin Rozakis’s highly entertaining novel, Dreadful. The lack of eyebrows and the magical detritus around him are the only clues to explain why Gav has no idea who he is or what he was doing. He only learns his name, the Dread Lord Gavrax, when one of his goblin servants says it. What is a dark wizard supposed to do with no memory, a kidnapped princess in his dungeon, heroes bearing down on his castle, and servants who believe he might immolate them at any moment?

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. 

The Launch Party by Lauren Forry

adventurous funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Hotel Artemis is the creation of some of the richest people on Earth: a luxury hotel on the moon that takes three days to reach and god knows how much money to book. The first guests, however, got their reservations for free after winning a global lottery. Billions would be beyond excited to be the first people to visit but as Detective Penelope Strand tries to put on a good face during the pre-visit PR events, she is a quivering ball of anxiety and fear. Unlike the rest of the cast of Lauren Forry’s fascinating new novel, The Launch Party, Penelope is going to the moon to help conquer her phobias. Unfortunately for her, she soon also has to deal with the first murder on the moon...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration. 

The Witches of El Paso by Luis Jaramillo

emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

At first, Marta has no idea that her family has a secret magical history. She always knew that her great-aunt, Nena, was a little strange. Nena would tell fortunes and work a little magic for her clients, to the chagrin of the rest of the family. But when Marta starts to see things that no one else—other than Nena can see—she struggles with the idea that she isn’t as normal as she thought. The Witches of El Paso, by Luis Jaramillo, is a wild ride into strange powers and the consequences of relying too much on magic to get one’s way...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration. 

Women's Hotel by Daniel M. Lavery

funny informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

In his author’s note before Women’s Hotel, Daniel M. Lavery discusses his fascination with women’s hotels. Women’s only residential hotels offered women a place to stay while they developed careers or found spouses. Some of these hotels, like the Barbizon, was home to famous writers, models, artists, and executives before they made it big. They offered a safe place at a reasonable price, though men were often barred from the higher floors and some hotels required references for new tenants. Legal and economic changes spelled the end of women-only residential hotels by the 1970s. I can understand how these hotels and their revolving tenants would intrigue a writer...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, for review consideration.