Book Review: When the Light Returns by Joanna Ruth Meyer

Once upon a time, I saw a title of a book and it called to me. The way the words worked together, just two of them, something felt familiar about them, like they were something I once knew. I picked up the book and read the synopsis just as a gesture because I had already decided to buy the book and I knew immediately that my favorite fairytale was some inspiration for the story. I bought the book and spent the next day or so immersed in the story. From there it was simple, read everything I could find by this author. What was the book, you ask?

Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer.

I make it a point to search for my favorite authors to see if there is going to be a new release in the following year. When I found the book While the Dark Remains up for pre-orders, I immediately bought a copy. The world-building was exquisite, the characters were heartbreaking and it was overall a brilliant book. The only complaint I had was that I didn't like the FMC's close friends and their absolutely narrow way of judging things. Still, I was on the lookout for another Meyer release and was looking forward to the sequel, When the Light Returns. When I saw that it was available to review, my heart leapt into my throat and I jumped at the chance to read it. I finished this book in about a day. My eyes are filled with grit and I'm dragging more than a little because I stayed up until nearly sunrise to read this but I had to finish this book, I NEEDED to see how it would end. I have a list of people I would axe but I still loved this book. That's the effect reading this book had on me.

When the Light Returns follows Brynja and Ballast after having banished the dark after the events of book 1. But things are not going peacefully. Ballast has been trying to change things for the better after the damage wrought by his late father but the emperor and those working for him want Ballast to give up his claim to the throne and Brynja was the one who made him do it with her magic. Brynja is sent to Iljaria as a result, hoping to return to the home she once knew and report the findings of her mission to the queen herself. However, Queen Valrun has her own agenda that she is working towards that requires Brynja to be forced into helping her to gather the power of the First Ones for the queen's own use. New revelations bring Ballast to Iljaria as well, leaving the two to work together once again to try to save the world from a queen desperate for the power to destroy the world and remake it to her ideals.

The book's main storyline picks up about six months after the end of book 1. The first book had Brynja as a narrator and jumped between two timelines, showing Brynja as a child forced to be a pet acrobat to the king of Daeros and then present day Brynja with her new family heading back to Daeros to overthrow the abusive king. This book continues with Brynja as a narrator but also adds Ballast, as well as Saga, Vil, and the queen Valrun. The chapters again go back and forth in time, with Ballast's chapters also showing some scenes from the first book and the past from his point of view. The main series of events are with Brynja in Iljaria, with each changing view showing each character as they move towards coming together in Iljaria to stop the queen. Every reveal keeps the pages turning, keeps the rhythm moving, made me wish I could read faster because every event made my heart ache and my stomach twist. The only point of view I could have done without was Vil's, who has left a sour taste in my mouth since the first book. I did not enjoy Valrun's but I could understand why it was added in for the sake of the story. I did enjoy seeing things with Saga play out, seeing her struggle to understand her brother's actions and how to save her country. Every character has a part to play and seeing how they move towards each other and are related was riveting. I'm still reeling a bit from the reveal from Ballast's past. I did not see that one coming.

After all of the buildup of the first book with the world of the first ones and the gods and magic, this book spends the majority of its time in Iljaria where every person has magic of some sort and have been trained since childhood to use it. It was interesting to see what Brynja and Ballast could have had if they had been raised in Iljaria. It was also a real eye-opener to see the people that worked for the queen and what they were trying to accomplish. I thought Kallias was one of the worst villains I've seen in the book world for quite some time but Valrun really made me change my mind. The magic system and how she manipulated it made me determined to get through her passages quickly because I needed to see how the characters would be able to get the upper hand. I enjoyed seeing Ballast trying to learn about his magic in a class of children, showing the strict way the school worked and how Ballast was powerful and yet at the same time very behind in his studies of magic.

The magic system itself is expanded quite a bit for this story and it definitely worked as a benefit for this book. After book 1, I'll admit, I wasn't absolutely clear on every discipline of magic shown in the book and who the patron god for it actually was but this book helped with bringing each power into the forefront of the story and show the wielders of it and what they could do with their magic. Readers saw their losses and how they believed in the magic being what makes them superior to the rest of the world. At the same time, we were able to see the other side of the story with Saga learning to accept the magic that she thought had a hand in destroying her life and with Vil trying desperately to acquire power he felt was his to take because he deserved it. All views showed how Brynja and Ballast were a part of each world and yet still held separate and this was what made them best suited to make changes for the better for every country in turmoil in this story.

By the time this book was reaching the end, I was holding my breath and flipping pages as fast as I could tap my thumb. All of the developments were finally coming together and I could not wait to see exactly how Brynja and Ballast managed to defeat the villain and save the world. The resolution was perfect and it made me feel hope and peace at the way Meyer wrapped up her story. Every question I had was answered, each reveal felt earned in the story and the end felt like the right beats were hit, the best growth was accomplished for each character. I LOVED this book by the time I finished it this morning. I can't wait to see what Meyer publishes next.

Rating on my Scale: 10 Stunning Stars! This duology was amazing for me. Every part of this book worked, each development and revelation made this incredible. I can't wait for my copy to arrive so it can go on my shelf of absolute favorite reads.

My thanks to Netgalley, 47North and Joanna Ruth Meyer for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: The Disaster Gay Detective Agency: A Novel by Lev A.C. Rosen

When I was given the chance to try an eARC of this book, The Disaster Gay Detective Agency by Lev A.C. Rosen, I leapt at the chance to sign up and hoped I'd get the chance to read it. I'd seen books by Rosen before but hadn't had the chance to read any of them yet. After reading this, I've already borrowed several others copies of Rosen's titles from my library. I definitely want to read more of Rosen's books. This book has so many wonderful things going for it that it is sure to find fans once it is released.

The Disaster Gay Detective Agency follows four queer friends determined to solve a mystery and a murder. The book starts with Brandon working the night shift at a hotel when a handsome guest, Jon, checks in. Jon invites Brandon up to his room and after a quick consult with his friends, Brandon decides to throw caution to the wind and take a leap head first into a chance at true love. Except Jon is gone by the time Brandon shows up for work the next day and he hasn't answered any of Brandon's texts. Jon leaves a bag and a phone in his room and Brandon takes the chance again to find Jon to return his things, making himself a kind of hero and saving the day for his new true love. Except when he arrives at the meeting site with his friend Ollie in tow, they witness a murder. Now the four of them, including Ian and Nicole, are trying to figure out what trouble Jon is mixed up in before someone decides to get rid of Brandon, Ollie, Ian and Nicole instead.

The best part of this book was the characters. I loved the four of these friends together. They've known each other since college and have managed to keep a standing brunch date and a group chat going for them to talk. They know everything about each other and are in constant contact so that there is always one of them available to help when another needs it. This kind of support system is so wholesome and wonderful to see in a book. I adored when these four were together as they really worked best when they were all in the same room.

That being said, I wanted to sit Brandon down and give him a lecture. This sweetheart was head over heels for a man he only just met and was determined to ignore EVERYTHING, I mean every RED FLAG wrong with Jon. Brandon was quick with the excuses, with the defense, with ANYTHING really, to prove that Jon was going to be his future and I just wanted more moments of clarity with him. There were times where he would start to face the truth but Brandon was just so stubborn, he'd dismiss it quickly to go back to trying to save Jon because obviously THAT was what Brandon was meant to do, save Jon so they could live in love together forever. It made me sigh and grumble a lot when we joined Brandon again in the book.

Now, the rest of the characters were amazing. I loved Ollie with his love for murder podcasts and his dog walking business. I thought Ollie was so sweet with the way he was quick to offer compliments and words of love for his friends. I wanted to scoop Ollie up and give him a hug and then also find them someone to talk to about what might have been depression with the tragic loss they'd experienced. I wanted the rest of the group to really sit down and have Ollie start to open up. Ollie's interest in murder mysteries really endeared him to me and I loved how the focus of solving the case made Ollie shine.

I thought Nicole was the level-headed one of the group. I loved her for her ambition and her need to take care of her friends. Her chapters showed a woman who had purpose and drive and was determined to make something of herself. I want Nicole to find the right vision for her life and to succeed in her profession and her love life. I enjoyed every chapter with Nicole and I think I identified with her mothering instinct the most. Nicole was focused on her job but she was quick to drop everything to take care of her friends and that kind of devotion is admirable.

Ian is the last of the group and they were fun and complicated at the same time. Ian had issues with a past relationship that they had let take up a lot of their time and I wanted Nicole to sit Ian down, as the most I guess responsible one of the group, and tell them to let their past go but I'm sure that is easier said than done. Ian's chapters were interesting and intriguing, even with Ian's point of wanting to stay angry at their ex. I thought their dreams, wanting to own their own club and be the headliner, share their life with their friends, were lovely and I wanted Ian to be happy.

Still, I did have some issues with the book. A lot of the main action started over from every character's perspective, showing the same conversations over and the same beats again, which made the book seem a repetitive. I found myself kind of skimming these sections because it was almost exactly the same, they just had little asides added in to color what had happened and then eventually we moved into something that we didn't see before and then the story moved on. It wasn't my favorite way to get the story moving.

Another issue I had was with a fifth narrative added in to the book that didn't have any identifiable means for these passages. When I read the first one, I thought it was an excerpt from a book Ian was reading and I had no idea why it was there. Eventually, after the second or third excerpt I realized what the passages were but it feels like something formatting might be able to help to distinguish it better. Maybe a page break and italics so readers know these pieces are linked and separate from the main narrative. Just something because it was just added in at the end of some chapters and they felt out of place as a result. 

In the end, I liked this book. I wanted to LOVE it but Brandon's love story as the driving force of the case kind of frustrated me. The constant belief in this fated love was not great for me. Maybe if Brandon was not so focused on this love of a lifetime, I would have liked the story better. If he'd had more moments where he knew his love interest was flawed and then maybe had given him up and then worked on the case for the sake of understanding what they saw and solving the murder, I think the book would have been a lot stronger for me. Still, I WILL be reading more Rosen books soon and I hope to love those when I get to read them.

Rating on my scale: 6.5 Stars. The way this one ends feels like there is a potential for a sequel and if there is, I will be back to see more of this friend group. The cast of characters and the representation among them was diverse and strong and I loved them even if I didn't love the story I had to see them in. 

My thanks to Netgalley, Poisoned Pen Press and Lev A.C. Rosen for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: Behind Five Willows by June Hur

It has been an esteemed part of British literature for quite some time, that novel called Pride and Prejudice. Students have studied it for ages, me myself included. I remember having to read it my senior year of high school, the first of several reads for classes over the years, and I have to admit that I most sincerely, ardently dislike Jane Austen's book, Pride and Prejudice. I'll pause a moment here to collect myself because honestly, I've always felt kind of guilty for my general feeling of distaste for this book. Which is funny because I have enjoyed adaptations of the work over the years, be they film, television or literature in their presentation. Which brings me to Behind Five Willows. I own ALL of June Hur's works. I have loved every one of them for their story, their characters and the rich history woven into each of them. So when I caught wind of the fact that June Hur was releasing a book that claimed Pride and Prejudice as an inspiration, I told myself that if ANYONE would be able to get me to love a book with that in its background it would have to be June Hur. 

So it is with great confidence that I can declare YES, I did LOVE this book. Let's be plain about the facts, this book was sweetness and longing and it made me smile and even rejoice when the leads were together or even apart because then their thoughts were filled with each other and that is the exact kind of love story I was hoping to find in this book. I wanted something that would inspire me to read again and I finished this one in two nights, reading until my eyes were drooping because I didn't want to put the book down. If that's the kind of book that appeals to you, add this one to your shelves immediately.

Behind Five Willows follows two leads, Haewon and Lord Yu Seojun. Haewon has taken it upon herself to try her best to take care of her two sisters while at the same time working as an illegal book transcriber to make some extra money. Her job is dangerous because of government censoring and book banning which has led to many people having to read and trade books in secret. Haewon loves her work, especially when she has the chance to transcribe the works of Black Lotus, who Haewon has traded letters with for some time. When her older sister has the chance to fall in love with a wealthy young gentleman, Haewon is determined to be the support and encouragement her sister needs while the two begin courting. The problem is that the suitor's best friend, an uptight young man who seems to look down on Haewon, is the other chaperoning individual. Seojun has worked hard to keep his father happy and to care for his elder sister. He also enjoys reading and helps to get books for his sister in private. But Seojun also loves to write and he has to keep that a secret from his father, a government official, and his friends. With the continuing actions of the government in censoring books, Seojun is finding it difficult to find the peace he used to with his writing. He looks to the letters from his transcriber, Magpie, for encouragement in this time of strife. When he is tasked with chaperoning his best friend's new courtship, Seojun finds himself forced to spend time with a young woman that he finds frustrating, Haewon. But as time passes and the two are forced again and again to spend time together, Haewon and Seojun start to understand that their first impressions of each other were misleading and that there is more to know about each other than they first realized.

There is a lot to love about this book. One thing that I greatly admire is the fact that the book is told from both Haewon's and Seojun's perspectives. I know that the point of the story is that the two were two quick to judge the other but it helped to see it from both sides, to see how what one said affected the other and vice versa. I loved the chance to see into the home lives of each lead, to see how they were focused on family and how their love of books led them to the actions they take over the course of the novel. As the two of them were drawn together, I found myself smiling constantly at the awkward actions of Seojun or admiring the strength Haewon showed when she was with her family. The dual narrative was the perfect way to show the complete story and I loved the chance to see what shaped these characters and their present circumstances.

The setting was interesting and Hur shows the times with an expert hand. I had no idea about the edicts and policies that were enacted in this time period. Readers are not given a lot information in one go, just enough to understand what had been declared, and then we are given the chance to see how these things played out for the people they affected. We see how people had to go about finding books, how books were transcribed from the originals because they weren't allowed to be reprinted and then how government officials would search for sources they claimed were an attack on their way of life. It made every action that Haewon and Seojun took feel more important for the fact that they both tried so hard to find joy in books while leading respectable lives. I learned a lot from this book and now I am interested in reading more about both the time period and the writers that Hur mentioned specifically in her resources.

This is not an exact retelling but there is enough for me to recognize pieces of Pride and Prejudice while at the same time being able to appreciate how Hur turned things around for the sake of this story. Everything that I vaguely recall that irked me about Austen's work has been given a different take, enough that I can say YES, that is so much better, that works for me. Seojun had a tendency to be a little too focused on status but he was given a chance to recognize mistakes he made and to change for the better. Haewon was given the chance to learn that anyone could hide multiple truths behind a respectable facade and the opportunity to learn more about someone she dismissed once would prove to be the best decision she could ever make. I enjoyed how both leads were meant to learn not only about each other but were also able to come to better understandings with their family, how they fit together and change. In the end, this book made me find my complete collection of Jane Austen's works to try to read her book again. Maybe this time around it'll become a favorite.

Read this book if you like a sweet, slow burn love story and if you're already a June Hur fan, this book does not disappoint. This is officially one of my best of 2026 reads and I plan to go back and read some of my other June Hur books again, starting with A Crane Among Wolves. If you have not had the chance to read a book by June Hur, this is the PERFECT book to start that journey.

Rating on my scale: 10 swoony stars. I look at this book and just smile and sigh because it was sweet but it is over and all I can do is either read this story again or just read all of June Hur's books again, which let's be honest, I'm going to do both of these things in the very near future.

My thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and June Hur for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Audiobook Review: Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher

The first book I remember reading by T. Kingfisher was What Moves the Dead, followed quickly by Nettle & Bone. After that, it was buying every book I could afford on digital. I even managed to get a 2nd printing special edition of the book The Halcyon Fairy Book. Basically, I see a T. Kingfisher book upcoming release and I order it, no questions asked. Well, maybe I ask if there will be some kind of special edition, now that I think about it. For Wolf Worm, I ordered my copy LAST year only for THIS year to find out there will be this amazing looking edition from a subscription book service I adore. So I ordered the super fancy edition and informed my Dad that I would be giving him a copy of T. Kingfisher's next release for Father's Day. When he understood that it was a Kingfisher book, his eyes got big and he gave me a big smile. Because yes, I have managed to get him to read T. Kingfisher books and he has loved them so far. I'll be happy to tell him this latest gothic tale had enough creepies to make my skin crawl, literally.

Wolf Worm follows Sonia Wilson as she arrives for a new job in North Carolina to work as a scientific illustrator. She has been working at a girls school as their watercolor instructor and has jumped at the chance to help Dr. Halder with illustrating his collection of insects for a book he working on. The job comes with a place in Dr. Halder's house out in the woods and when Sonia arrives, she hears stories about a devil in the woods from her driver. The more Sonia learns about her new job, the more she wonders about the person who used to do the work she did, whose illustrations are extraordinary work in their own right. Sonia also starts to notice that the animals are acting out of character, bringing to mind the warnings she has heard about "blood thiefs" in the woods. As things start to get more eerie, Sonia starts to realize that Dr. Halder has moved on from the simple studies of insects to starting experiments to help him understand more about the insects he has dedicated his life to, experiments that could destroy Sonia too if she isn't able to figure out what Halder has done and how to stop him.

Sonia was a character that again felt familiar thanks to the inner thoughts of anxiety that Kingfisher has shared with the audience. Sonia was constantly having moments of spiraling fears followed by a stern talking to that made her feel real with her thought process. This was a woman who had learned to cope with her fears and developed methods to deal with the impact of her negative thoughts and I LOVE when a character feels like someone who has real struggles. Sonia's every move, her every thought, felt real, felt familiar, felt like a woman that was in many ways just like me. I loved the way Kingfisher added in a use of diagnosing colors for Sonia to deal with the world. Sonia works as an illustrator and there were many moments of her looking at things or people and explaining the color of the paints she would use to recreate the image in her paintings. It was both a coping mechanism and a way to understand the inner workings of Sonia's mind. It was a beautiful way to fill in the colors that make up Sonia for the readers.

I loved the Kents, the housekeeper and her husband who work for Halder at his home. I loved Mrs. Kent's no nonsense attitude and I loved the stories Mr. Kent told Sonia as she was settling in and I loved the way this couple was together, a united front that took Sonia under their wings and helped her to settle in. Halder on the other hand was just murky enough to keep me on my toes. I had half the story figured out from the synopsis alone and with the way Halder was written, I could see certain things coming and was not surprised by the things he did. As discoveries were made and revealed to him, he acted the way I expected him to, which made me eager to see what would come of everything by the end of the book. That being said though, there was a twist to this book that I truly NEVER saw coming, I had absolutely no inkling this was a possibility, even with the information sprinkled in through the chapters. My skin was already crawling, I was checking all surfaces over for bugs, I was shaking my hair out and then THAT happened and I thought, okay then, moving on, but with the blanket over my hair to make sure nothing lands on me in the dark.

The work on this production was in a word, perfect. First of all, when I heard Mary Robinette Kowal state her name, I immediately rewound the audio and listened again because while I vaguely remembered that Kowal was an audiobook narrator, I had not listened to one of her works as a narrator. I also can't forget to mention that I have several of Kowal's own books in my library, specifically the Lady Astronaut series and my personal favorite, Ghost Talkers. After that I was immediately enthralled by the performance because Kowal is just that good. Every character had their own voice, a cadence, an accent and even a pitch that made it easy for me to understand who each character was without getting lost once. I felt like I was listening to an ensemble cast instead of just ONE narrator giving a flawless performance. The pacing was perfect and the delivery was clear. Kowal was able to convey the emotions of every character with easy inflections, from Sonia's anxiety to Mrs. Kent's calculating observations and even Halder's menacing moments. I will be listening to more audiobooks performed by Kowal, it was just a truly brilliant performance and I'm still in awe of it.

The production of the audiobook itself was perfect as well. All of the audio was even, the transitions between chapters and the editing, the sound, the volume, everything was exquisitely done. I've sometimes been able to pick up on when audio has been looped together but with this book, I MIGHT have heard ONE change but it was literally blink and you miss it, I didn't even bother to make a note of the location because it was so slight I can't even be sure I heard anything. Macmillan Audio, you have outdone yourselves with this work, it is superbly done, I bow down to everyone involved in the creation of this audiobook. Seriously, job EXTREMELY well done. I've made a note that if an audiobook comes from Macmillan Audio, I should try to get a copy to listen to because the work they do is just amazing, you forget you are listening to a book and just kept swept away by the words. I've only come to the world of audiobooks in the last year or so but I'm so grateful to have found audiobooks, especially when they are done as well as THIS BOOK was done.

Rating on my Scale: 10 Stars for T. Kingfisher. I can't wait to get my copy of the hardcover to put on my shelves and I hope to get a copy of the audiobook as well in the future. Listening to books while doing everything during the day is quickly becoming my go-to for everyday tasks.

My thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio and T. Kingfisher for the audiobook of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: Devious Prey by Scott Reintgen

At the start of this book, I was ready for the adventure. The way it opened hooked my attention and the characters were interesting. I really, REALLY, liked this book. This is the first book I've tried from Scott Reintgen and I have plans to try reading more of his books. That being said, I'm still wondering about some things. Is this going to be a series? Will there be more books set in this world? Inquiring minds need to know.

Devious Prey starts with the death of an airship's windmaster, who helps control the course the ship takes as it travels. With the death, the airship is overtaken in a storm and crash lands on an island that according to the maps, should not be there. The survivors of the crew and passengers try to come to terms with their crash and what they need to do to survive until rescue arrives, except that a dragoness is also on the island with them. The dragoness was in the hold of the ship and escaped during the crash. Now it has decided to hunt the survivors to ensure its freedom. The only hope the survivors have lie with a young woman, Pearl, who helped smuggle the dragoness onto the ship and a young man, Marken, with a military escort on his way to answer for dangerous crimes. The pair of them have to learn to trust each other with the truths about their pasts in the hopes of having a future.

The story starts off fast, with everyone on the ship on their way to the next destination. Pearl and Marken are both in the midst of the turmoil on the ship. Marken is a chained up wizard who is unable to use his power to help save the ship from the crash. Pearl is on edge because of what she and her aunt have hidden in the hold of the ship. When the windmaster starts struggling, Pearl tries her best to step in and help when no one else makes a move. This is where the deviation between the characters start to take place. Pearl doesn't know what she is doing but she tries to help anyways and she is just a kid compared to the captain, the crew members and some of the passengers. Marken wants to help with the safety of the ship now that they are at the mercy of the storm but at the same time believes he can take control of the ship so he can get away from the warden and the guards who are in charge of his capture.

I liked Pearl and Marken, they stood out from the rest of the cast of characters with their actions. I did like Marken more than Pearl though because Marken had more of a tendency to be transparent with his thoughts compared to Pearl. I could understand Pearl's motivations but only to a certain extent. However, the rest of the cast just seem to be there. I've just finished this book and I can only recall a handful of character names because they all only did so much with the story. I know the name of Pearl's aunt, who was partnered with Pearl in the smuggling business. I know the name of some of Marken's guards and a couple of the crew. That's the extent of it though. There was even a joke in the book where Pearl was unable to remember some of the crew member's names and I thought, yeah, that's the long and the short of it.

I thought the ideas behind the dragoness was one of the most interesting parts of the story. The reasons for why they were smuggling the dragoness and what it's purpose was now that it was on the island were very interesting. The powers the dragoness had were also very unique. That being said, readers don't get to see enough of her threat to the survivors as she spends a lot of her time in hiding to "study" her prey. I wanted to know more about the dragoness and what she knew of herself and where there were others like her. For such an interesting threat, she did not spend enough time on the page.

Which brings me to the rest of the threats on the island. Marken's guards are military and determined to be in charge but they are making foolish decisions. The crew is led by a young woman and her sister who don't like the guards but we don't get much more information than that about their motivations, what led them to be on the ship, what role they had when they still worked on the airship or even how is it that the rest of the crew is so quick to defer to them in this quest for survival. In the end, because of the lack of information about the other survivors, the story felt a little cut and dry. The threats are there but they are dealt with quickly and then the story moves on. I think the best way to describe it is there was almost a lack of tension. Events happen and then the story just continues on.

Also, there were little asides about characters that felt like they'd lead to interesting developments but nothing happened with these things. Pearl's aunt needs medication but it was lost in the crash and she called Pearl by a different name. I think it was supposed to be linked to health issues that the aunt and Pearl's mother both have but I wanted to know more about what this was concerning and it gets lost in the background of the story. Was it actually a serious head injury making her mix things up, like Pearl thought, or was it the lack of medicine? It seemed to be meant to add to the concerns that Pearl had to contend with but the story moves on without more focus on it. I guess it wasn't THAT important but it's still rumbling around in my head so there you go. Then there was Marken who is at odds with the warden who has captured him and there are conversations that make it sound like the warden has more information about Marken than he should be able to know and AGAIN, it's left to the side. The book had a few of these things that seemed to be meant to create more problems for the leads but as intriguing as they are, there's no resolution to these things. It left me feeling a little bereft as a result. I also wanted to understand the magic system better. How do they find the people who have magic to train them? What kind of importance do they have to the country? What responsibilities do they have? How many of them are there, how do they govern themselves? And so on with my questions, you see what I mean.

The resolution was very imaginative with how the survivors manage to deal with the dragoness. That's a big plus for this book and the reason why I'm interested in finding Reintgen's other books. Still, as much as I liked this book, I was expecting more with everything after the big opening with the storm and then the crash. As a result, I LIKED this book but I didn't end up loving it as much as I hoped I would.

Rating on my scale: 7.5 Stars. This is a great adventure story and as I was reading it, the book kept my attention riveted. At the same time, I feel like there was room for more to make me truly care about how this group was going to survive. Very respectable and I hope to read more from Reintgen in the future.

My thanks to Netgalley, Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and Scott Reintgen for the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

Book Review: Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity

My thanks to Netgalley, Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore and Heba Al-Wasity for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I'm sitting here after finishing this book with only one thought on my mind: Where is book 2!?

This was an exceptional debut. The worldbuilding, the characters, the ideas and the plot, everything worked together to suck me into this book and I found myself cursing because I couldn't read fast enough and also dreading the moment the book ended. This is everything that I wanted to see in a gothic fantasy and it was absolutely brilliant. I can't get that last scene out of my head, that final line was just perfect. I want more already. I want to buy this for the readers in my family and then smile when they get to that last line because the more of us that have to sit and wait for the next book, the better. The moment I get my copy, this book is living on my shelf of absolute favorites. I see myself reading this again and again in the future.

Weavingshaw follows Leena Al-Sayer, who woke up three years ago with the ability to see the dead. She has done everything she can to keep this secret safe. When her beloved brother Rami ends up ill, Leena knows the only choice she has is to sell her secret in order to get the medicine needed to keep her brother from dying. She goes to the Saint of Silence, a merchant that takes the confessions and secrets of the public, and makes a deal. She must find the ghost of Percival Avon, the last lord of Weavingshaw, or stay working for the Saint of Silence for the rest of her life, telling him the things that his customers won't admit by seeing any ghosts that follow them. When Leena finally gets to Weavingshaw, Leena finds a land that feels cursed. She works with the Saint of Silence, fighting the growing connection between them, all the while trying to understand what the ghosts are trying to tell her about Weavingshaw and Lord Avon. Leena also want to understand why this is so important to the Saint of Silence. As threats start to come at them from all sides, Leena starts to realize that the secrets buried at Weavingshaw are better left alone with the dead that keep them.

Oh Leena, my dear sweet Leena, I love this girl so very much. This is a girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders. She's determined to keep her impulsive brother safe, she's determined to find a way to save her father who was imprisoned years earlier. She's a young woman who feels on the fringe in her country, considered not a part of the country she lives in and yet not able to return to her home country either. She has done her best to make the most of her situation and has done everything to figure out how to keep herself safe from the ghosts that follow her day and night. I wanted everything for this girl, she deserves the world. Her brother Rami, as much as I wanted to love him for Leena's sake, at the same time I felt so exasperated by his choices. Every time Leena worried for him, I was in the same boat, wishing he'd be more careful for his sister's sake if not his own. As for the Saint of Silence, I watched this guy like a hawk, taking in the little sneak peeks about his better character because there has to be something to root for with this kind of character. At the start of the book, I wanted to wring this guy's neck but I was confident that Al-Wasity was going to surprise me and I was not disappointed by the development of the Saint of Silence. The slow reveals about the motivations behind the Saint's actions and the secrets about his past made for a character that I wanted to swoop in and take care of along with Leena. This pair together kept my attention riveted to every page.

The worldbuilding was brilliant. I wanted to know more about everything, about the history of the country, how the gentry works and I got so many answers about it all. I'm hoping the final copy has some kind of map, that would be the cherry on top for this release. I thought the development with Leena's ability and how she fits into this world was well-done. Her interests and beliefs and her family kept my attention and I feel like I know so much about this world and yes, I do have questions that I hope will get answers in the next book. That's the sign of a good writer, able to hook the reader with what is given and keep them wanting to come back for more. This book was long and yet I still want to keep reading, I want that next release already, it is my hope that it'll be released some time next year to put me out of my misery. 

The writing was clear and concise, able to give descriptions without feeling like the book was being bogged down by information. The majority of the chapters followed Leena but there were occasional chapters from Rami and from the Saint which were able to round out the story, giving the readers more chances to see the different sides of this world. The depth of the feelings, the slow reveals, the discovery of every facet of this book were exceptionally written and honestly, I will be following Heba Al-Wasity for every book release from now on. I want to talk more about the plot of this book, about the search for Lord Avon, but the clues deserve to be discovered by every reader who wants to experience this book because that is what this book is, an experience. I loved every page of this book, the insights that closed every chapter were so poetic that once I get my copy, I plan on marking each and every one of my favorite quotes. Al-Wasity has a way way with words that weaves a spell on the reader and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Rating on my Scale: 10 Stars. Seriously, sincerely, read this book. If Gothic fantasy and mystery are your genres, this is the book you need to read. This is the kind of book that kept me up reading into the small hours of the night because I needed to know what happened next and only the best books keep me up all night to read.

Book Review: Rialto by Kate Milford

Let's start with a story.

When I was a kid, I lived in the corner house on a crossroads of an old neighborhood. Diagonally from me, behind the house, one street west, was a Mom & Pop grocery store. One street east and two and a half blocks north was my Grandma's house. If I walked into the middle of the street and looked due east I could see my elementary school, the same school my Dad and his brother and sisters attended when they were kids. But the most important location was three streets east and two and a half blocks south.

The library.

When I was a kid, I remember my Dad started having part of the summer off and he'd plan day trips to the library. We'd have breakfast, get our bags ready for our books and set off. I remember we would choose a different route sometimes, skip a turn and go longer down a street, things like that, but we would always end up walking through a street that felt like tunnel of trees and it would be one more left and the library was on our right. We'd get water at the fountain and my Dad would leave us in the kid's section, saying to choose some good books, come find him when we were ready and then we would go home for lunch. It would be somewhere between three or four hours to sit in the library, searching the shelves and choosing the best spot to settle in and read. I'd pull books off the shelves, trying to find something, changing my mind every trip about what I wanted to read. I'd read everything by Mary Downing Hahn, Betty Ren Wright, Lynn Reid Banks, James Howe, Bruce Coville. Wandering around, I remembering finding a biography on Louisa May Alcott that I'd never seen before and I'd found several shelves consisting of every Oz book by Baum that the library had collected for decades.

Some books were new, others were so old they creaked when they opened and laid splayed out without my having to hold the book, the smell of old paper lingering for hours after I put the book away, the pages so yellowed they were almost brown. I made it a point to try anything I found but back in the 90s, it wasn't easy for me to find the right book I was really looking for, something with the right balance of real world situations and a little bit magic and mystery. I was too anxious to try asking at the public library for help finding a book and my school librarian had too many kids to focus on. Eventually I moved on, finding great mysteries to read, science fiction and fantasy and horror while reading the assigned books for school. But, ever since then, I have wandered into the middle grade section of various bookstores, still looking for that right book, that book that childhood me was searching for so long to find. That's what I was doing, maybe a dozen years ago now, when a particular title caught my eye.

The Boneshaker by Kate Milford.

I picked it up, a paperback, and noticed The Broken Lands, a hardcover, right next to it. I stared at the artwork, my eyes moving this way and that, seeing things here and there that would make sense once you'd read the book but I didn't know that then. All I knew is that the artwork called to me, the synopsis hooked my attention. I took them home and started to read and it was then that I felt that I'd done it. I'd found a book that I would have ADORED when I was a kid. My whole personality would have been that book. I would have carried it around everywhere, reading it so many times, memorizing passages just from the act of reading it time and time again. I've bought and read every Kate Milford book since. I'm planning to read them to my kids when they're older. Because some of that need to find brilliant middle grade books is to make sure my kids don't have trouble finding books that appeal to them. These are the books I wish I'd found, so now I have them to hand to my kids when they want to try them and I can't wait to give them Kate Milford's books. Milford writes kids that feel real, that have trials to overcome and a world that they have to look at just a little bit differently to solve the mystery. The kids are treated with respect, never looked down on, or dismissed. The adults in these books pay attention to the kids, they listen, they try to learn. All together, each book has been lovely, and brilliant, and astounding. I LOVE Kate Milford books so when I saw that there was a new book, Rialto, ready to be published, my heart leapt into my throat. I had to read this book, end of story, and you want to know the best part?

It was magnificent.

Rialto starts with following Ivy and Dahlia Vicar, on their way to Rialto, Missouri for a family vacation to visit friends. The sisters are currently a little at odds with each other. Dahlia is dealing with anxiety and is looking forward to a new destination to try for their trip, which comes with an abandoned amusement park that their Mom is interested in researching for a book. Ivy is trying to understand how to be the big sister that Dahlia needs while longing for the times when they were younger and the traditions that they had in the past. Once they arrive in Rialto, it is obvious that things are going to be very different for their vacation. The town looks like it was swallowed by a forest and stories say that the town woke up one morning to find that the trees had grown up around them overnight. While driving through the town Dahlia spots a giraffe with antlers and after meeting Remy and his family, who own the house they will be staying in, she sees a leopard with wings through the window. Remy and his family inherited the house from their Aunt Jess, who has left bequests for Remy to give to her friends now that she has gone. Remy decides to ask Ivy and Dahlia to help with the bequests and the trio start to realize that there is a mystery to solve about the town that goes back to when Rialto was still open to visitors. In order to solve the mystery, they must believe in the magic that seems to be in the town that was swallowed by a forest and has strange creatures roaming its streets.

There is so much in this book, so many things that make it yet another brilliant Milford book and yet more at the same time. Greenglass House has held the title of favorite Kate Milford book for quite some time but Rialto might have just knocked it from its place of honor. Ivy felt so familiar to me as a kid who loved to solve riddles and mysteries and her trying to understand her sibling who has started to change in ways that are difficult for Ivy to accept. As soon as it was revealed that Dahlia had anxiety and was seeing a therapist, I was completely invested in these girls and their story. I loved the things that Milford added for Dahlia, the fact that she had methods to deal with her anxiety when she was out in public, the fact that she needed to retreat to her room and have time on her own to deal with the way the day unfolded and how it affected her sense of well-being. I loved that Ivy had a hard time accepting this new normal, how she wanted to cling to the way things were and how she needed her parents to help her with understanding how to be what Dahlia needed.

I also LOVED the fact that Mr. Vicar had his own social issues that made him able to understand Dahlia and how the fact that he had his own issues meant that Mrs. Vicar knew what to do to help both of them or when to give them space. This was a family unit that was in tune with each other. It was believable that these parents made an effort to understand and help their kids and that Ivy and Dahlia never doubted the support they would get from their parents. When Dahlia started to see the amazing things hiding in Rialto, I was excited to see how quickly her logic had her reasoning the existence of magic and how she made the decision to believe that there was something more to the town. It made sense that Dahlia would be the character to get the ball rolling for the magic of the book and I loved how Ivy, in trying to support her sister, was brought along for the ride and evolved as well.

On the other side of the characters is Remy, his parents and everyone else in town. These are the characters that know the ins and outs of Rialto, they've grown up in the town and some of them know everything about the town. Remy is the perfect character to bring Ivy and Dahlia into the world of Rialto. He knows SOME of the truth but he knows things in the sense of stories that have been handed down, the legends that make up the place. He knows some things, he's seen the animals that Dahlia has seen, but at the same time he's been kept at a distance in the town because he's not a resident. His belief in the sisters to be the best companions for him and his quest endeared him to me. I loved how quickly he became Ivy's number one supporter in asking her for help with the clues and knowing how she could solve the mystery. Remy's parents were also supportive and I liked how they defended the kids as they worked on the mystery. There's a scene with Bailey, Remy's dad, and some of the residents of the town where he backed up the circumstances up to that point and how the kids were involved that just made me want to stand up and applaud. He had no doubt in his son and his son's new friends and he was in their corner and I loved every parent in this book, seriously, the reveals about the town and how these adults helped the kids just made me want to be just like those parents. I'm too old to say I want to be Ivy and Dahlia when I grow up but I'll settle for being any combination of the four parents in this book.

The mystery was engrossing from the start. The idea that this town had been swallowed up by a forest and that no one was able to enter the Rialto amusement park again was so intriguing, I wanted to know everything about it. Which is good because Milford does not skimp on the world development, on the stories that surround the town and the people that are in this place. I've tried to think if there was anything I had questions about once the book was done but I honestly believe that anything and everything I questioned or wanted to know was revealed and answered over the course of the book. It's a sign of great writing and a great story when I can get to the end of the book and feel like the whole thing was complete. If there is ever a story that can branch of from something in this book though, I will try my hardest to be first in line to read it. The mystery itself deserves to be discovered by the readers that try this book so I won't delve further into it. Once the reveals are made, I was a self-declared number one fan of this book. I'm older, so I had my suspicions about the reveals that ended up being right but it still felt perfect with everything the book gives to the reader.

I have loved every Kate Milford book I have read. I have a signed copy of The Left-Handed Fate and a numbered and signed copy of Bluecrowne. I have waited years for another Kate Milford book and I will continue to look for a new book every year until we readers are given another book. I am a fan for life of Kate Milford's books and I hope that more readers find their way to these novels. I'm counting down the days until my kids are old enough to sit and listen and imagine while I read them these books.

Rating on my scale: 10 STARS!! This is one of the best books I've read in recent years. I know when I sit down with a Kate Milford book, I will be enthralled and Rialto did not disappoint. Read this book if you like mysteries with magic and characters that can change and make changes and defeat evils and triumph.

My thanks to Netgalley, HarperCollins Children's Books and Kate Milford the eARC of this book in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.