Category: Fantasy

Recent Reads: Love Overrules the Lawyer by Kerry Evelyn

Posted on by Pam

My review:  ???

Love Overrules the Lawyer by Kerry Evelyn is a romantic fantasy, set in Cat’s Paw Cove, which you might remember from my review of Meows and Mistletoe.

This book takes place on an island off the coast of Cat’s Paw Cove, where magical beings exist, which you can only see if you were either born there, or if you drink a special potion.

Rachel and Javier were childhood friends, until Rachel confessed her feelings for him, and he bolted.  They are given a second chance when Rachel returns to town, and works for the same company as Javier.  This is his chance to win her back, and the magical properties of the area are sure to lend a hand.

If you enjoy fantasy romance books, then you’ll probably enjoy this.  It’s a fun romp, which means it’s easy to read but a good pacing.

You can follow Kerry Evelyn on her website. 

You can visit Cats Paw Cove on Facebook, and they have their own website.

Love Overrules the Lawyer came out on 11th February 2020 , and you can buy it from Amazon.

I was given this book in return of an unbiased review, and so my thanks to NetGalley and to the authors collective.

I’ve reviewed quite a lot of fantasy books on here, so please have a look, and you can see cosy mysteries as well!

Recent Reads: The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde is set in a world similar to our own, except there was an event fifty five years ago when a small number of rabbits anthropomorphised. Now there are a couple more (1.2 million or so) rabbits of human size that live in the UK.

Peter Knox is a rabbit spotter who works for the government, and lives in a small village into which a rabbit family moves.  This causes uproar in the village, especially amongst those who support the United Kingdom Against Rabbit Population party.

Jasper Fforde is a hilarious, insightful author with comments made about his fantastic UK which have bearing on Brexit and Black Lives Matter.

I’ve read and enjoyed lots of Jasper Fforde’s books, from his Thursday Next series set in a world of books, to Shades of Grey, where people can see one shade of colour, and the shade that you can see shows your class, to Early Riser, where people sleep through the winter, except for a few individuals.  If you enjoy satire and surrealist humour (think Eddie Izzard – I’ve added a sketch of his that always stands out in my mind below), then you will enjoy this book!

 

The Constant Rabbit came out on 2nd July, and here are links to Amazon and Waterstones.  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

You can follow Jasper Fforde on his website,   Instagramor twitter.

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Hodder & Stoughton (the publishers) for this book.

Recent Reads: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

Posted on by Pam

My review: ?????

A Court of Thorns and Roses is the first in a series set in a world where humans and faerie exist, but not together.  There is a wall separating them, which was built after the humans fought off their faerie enslavers 500 years before.

Feyre  had taught herself to hunt in order to be able to provide for her two older sisters and her father.  She kills a wolf whilst out hunting one day, just as it was looking to kill a deer that Feyre had been hunting.  

Feyre has to deal with the consequences of her actions, which lands her on a faerie’s estate.

Thrilling and sexy is a description I’ve read for this book, and I’d have to agree.

I enjoyed this book enough that the version I had from NetGalley hadwordsthatjoinedtogether which made it hard to get into the story. And so I bought this book, and the next two on Kindle.  

My friend Barry won’t read this, but Barry, this is the kind of book you tease me about.  And I’m unrepentant.

This edition of A Court of Thorns and Roses was published on 3rd June 2020.  It’s available on Amazon and Waterstones.   I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

You can follow Sarah J Maas on her website or on Instagram.

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Bloomsbury Books (the publishers) for this book.

Recent Reads: Asperfell by Jamie Thomas

Posted on by Pam

My review: ?????

Asperfell by Jamie Thomas is a fantasy novel, set in another world, where people can have different types of magic.  Some of these are more feared than others, like blood magic.  All is fine until the Crown Prince kills the King with his magic, and he is banished through the gate (a magic portal) to Asperfell from where no one has returned.

Briony is our protagonist, and starts the story as a young girl, with her father as an advisor to the King.  She witnesses the Crown Prince being sent through the gate, and is sent away to the country when the Crown Prince’s younger brother inherits the throne, and magic users start to be hunted.

I very much enjoyed this book.  It explored the world, both the world and Asperfell. It showed us different types of magic, which I enjoyed seeing how they would affect the world around them. 

The story moves at a good pace, and I wanted to find out what would happen next.  This is the first book in a trilogy, so don’t expect a complete ending!

 

Asperfell was published on 18th February 2020, and is available on Amazon.   I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

You can follow Jamie Thomas on Twitter, or through herwebsite.

If you’re interested in fantasy books, then here’s a link to others I’ve reviewed!

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Uproar books (the publishers) for this book.

Recent Reads: Meows and Mistletoe

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

Meows and Mistletoe is a holiday anthology, all set in Cats Paw Cove.  It’s by a collection of authors, they are all in a cosy crime or cosy mystery style, and in this case, they are all Christmas themed.

Cats Paw Cove is a place where fantastical things can happen, so these are fantasy books, and I do enjoy cosy fantasy mysteries!  There are cats who know a lot, and in some cases, talk, there is the island where you can see fairies and so on, and there is a bit of time travel.

Because there are a collection of authors, these are all different characters, none of whom go between stories as far as I remember! 

I enjoyed the trip to Cats Paw Cove.  I hadn’t encountered this place before, and I haven’t heard of authors doing this before, but it’s such an interesting idea that many authors build up their own little town, and set stories in amongst it.  

You can visit Cats Paw Cove on Facebook, and they have their own website.

Meows and Mistletoe came out on 1 November 2019, and you can buy it from Amazon and Waterstones.

I was given this book in return of an unbiased review, and so my thanks to NetGalley and to the authors collective.

I’ve reviewed quite a lot of fantasy books on here, so please have a look, and you can see cosy mysteries as well!

Recent Reads: The Ghost of Christmas Past by Angie Fox (Southern Spirits 8.5)

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

Verity and her boyfriend Ellis are in love, the only down side being his family, or more particularly, his mother.  It doesn’t help that Verity was engaged to Ellis’ brother, Beau, and broke it off due to Beau’s  can’t keep it in his pants behaviour, and then Virginia, Beau and Ellis’ mother saddled Verity with the bill.

Virginia doesn’t think Verity is good enough for Ellis, but then, Virginia doesn’t think any one does anything well enough to her mind, and this has been a growing problem for Verity, and  this Christmas Eve is the night that Verity snaps.

This novella is a take on A Christmas Carol, and it was one that I enjoyed!  The characters are explained to you so that you don’t have to have read previous books to understand the situation, and it helps to remind you if you can’t remember what happened in a previous book!

The Ghost of Christmas Past  was published on 29th November 2019,  and is available to buy on Amazon  and on Waterstones.  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

This is book 8.5 in the Southern Ghost Hunter series, and I’ve reviewed number 7,  Pecan Pies and Dead Guys and number 8, The Mint Julep Murders.


Angie Fox also has another series of books called Accidental Demon Slayer, which has 11 books in the series! She also has a Facebook pageand a reader group.

If you’re interested in cosy crime books, then other than the previous book in this series, I’d suggest The Liar in the Library by Simon Brett ???.

 
I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Moose Island Books and Author Collective 20  (the publishers) for this book.
Check out my

GoodReads profile

to see more reviews!

Recent Reads: The Hairy Hand by Robin Bennett

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

This is a YA fantasy book, with a young boy of 11 called Septimus as our hero.  He lives with his two horrible parents, who tell him one day that his Uncle has died (whom he has never heard of before), and has left him something which he needs to go and collect.

It’s a long journey, and one he is to do on his own.  That’s the type of parents he has.

I found this book to be quite different.  Instead of telling the story of his journey to his Uncle’s and back again, it tells us about people.

I really liked this as a twist.  His adventure is his family, not the journey he undertakes.

The Hairy Hand was published on 19th January 2019,  and is available to buy on Amazon  and on Waterstones.  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

I couldn’t find a website or any social media for Robin Bennett, so I’m afraid no link for that today!

If you’re interested in YA fantasy books, then here’s some others I’ve reviewed:
We hunt the night by Hafsah Faizal ????
Brotherhood of Shades by Dawn Finch ???


I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Monster Books (the publishers) for this book.
Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

Recent Reads: Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????

Darkdawn is the third, and final book in the Nevernight series, featuring Mia, a orphan who swears vengeance on those that killed her father and had her mother thrown in a jail that would kill her.

At this point, I need to say this book is also grimdark fantasy.  What is grimdark?  It’s dark, disturbing and in a dystopian setting.  Joe Abercrombie writes it, J R R Tolkien did, and according to Wikipedia, so does George R R Martin, and I can see that now.  

If you haven’t read any of the Nevernight series, starting with Nevernight, and the second is Godsgrave, then please stop reading now, because spoilers ahead!

…..

Ah good, now that they’ve gone, we can get down to it!  Darkdawn is obviously another bloody book, after all, grimdark!  Mia assassinated Cardinal Duomo, stabbed Consul Scaeva, grabbed her brother Jonnen, and bolted.  Her vengeance taken, and her brother returned to her, so all is good, right?

Jay Kristoff* has written a great ending to this story, and one that I didn’t feel like there were any loose ends.  I enjoyed the tone of the book, the author’s voice, the characters, the magic and the world.  It was all really good!

And I would be more than happy to visit there again!

I felt like I needed to learn Photoshop in order to take a photo of this book, as I wanted to make the shadows from the book swirl, and creep, and maybe put a cat in there.  Instead I just tried to make the shadow darker.  That’ll have to be enough!

Darkdawn was published on 5th September 2019,  and is available to buy on Amazon  and on Waterstones, complete with signed editions!  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

You can follow Jay Kristoff on Twitter, or through his website.

If you’re interested in grimdark fantasy, then check out Joe Abercrombie, starting with The Blade Itself, or George R R Martin with A Game of Thrones, or maybe J R R Tolkien with The Fellowship of the Ring!


I borrowed this book from the library, so thanks to the library service for having such great books!
Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

*Who loves his footnotes, and makes fun of writing them constantly.

Recent Reads: The Poppy Wars and The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang

Posted on by Pam

My review: ????


As so rarely happens, I found The Poppy War on Kindle Daily Deals on Amazon, and bought it, and then a couple of days later, I found out the second book was on NetGalley, and then I knew it was meant to be!

The Poppy War is set in a world where some people can channel gods, which is very useful in fighting wars!  These people are known as shamens, and the Empress is one of the most famous shamens still alive.

Rin is a teenager from Rooster Province when she decides that she doesn’t want to marry the man her guardians have found for her, that might also help their business, and instead she studies for the exceedingly hard exams to get into Sinegard, which is the most elite military school.

There have been two Poppy Wars before, and whilst the the Empire is peaceful now, there is the threat of war from the Federation of Mugen.  









The Dragon Republic is set when Rin has become a very powerful shamen, who channels the Phoenix god, who wants everything to burn.  She’s addicted to opium, and feels like she has no control over her powers, or the whispers of the god.  

They are at war, and Rin’s powers have proven themselves useful to the cause.  But Rin is now joining the Dragon Warlord, and wants to turn the Empire into a Republic, and kill the Empress who betrayed her country.

These are fantasy books, with characters addicted to drugs, who are trying to find their way through horrific acts, to find some kind of life. They are quite long books, each over 500 pages long, but they are telling a good story, and one that I want to know the end of!

The Poppy War was published on 1st May 2019,  and is available to buy on Amazon  and on Waterstones.  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

The Dragon Republic was published on 8th August 2019,  and is available to buy on Amazon  and on Waterstones.  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

You can follow R.F Kuang on Twitter, or through her website.

If you’re interested in fantasy books with the same feel, then here’s some others I’ve reviewed:

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to HarperCollins (the publishers) for this book.
Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!

Recent Reads: The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O’Neill

Posted on by Pam

My review: ?????

The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O’Neill is a lovely graphic novel about Rinn, who is non-binary, trying to find her place in the world.  There are tea dragons (little dragons that live in the village, and everyone cares for them), and a large dragon, who can change into human form, but has been asleep a little longer than he planned.

The Tea Dragon Festival was great for it’s inclusivity.  There were characters speaking in American Sign Language only, some with both ASL and voice, and some just some.  This, along with the main character, Rinn being non-binary means it’s going to be a very out of the ordinary book, which will make some children (and adults!) feel noticed.

This is the second in the Tea Dragon series, but you don’t feel like you’re missing out on information when reading it.

The art in this book is lovely!  It’s such a beautiful, relaxing read that I would recommend it to everyone!

The Tea Dragon Festival is to be published on 17th September 2019,  and is available to buy on Amazon  and on Waterstones.  I’ve found a link to where you can search for local bookshops, including independent!

You can follow Katie O’Neill on Twitter, or through her website.


I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, so my thanks to NetGalley and to Oni Press (the publishers) for this book.
Check out my GoodReads profile to see more reviews!