Book Review: Butterfly Effects (InCryptid, #15) by Seanan McGuire

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Butterfly Effects
Series: Incryptid, #15
Author: Seanan McGuire
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication date: March 10, 2026
Length: 432 pages
Genre: Urban fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

Seanan McGuire’s New York Times-bestselling and Hugo Award-nominated InCryptid series continues with the fifteenth book following the Price family, cryptozoologists who study and protect the creatures living in secret all around us.

Chaos, noun:
1. The inherent unpredictability in the behavior of a complex natural system.

Chaos theory, noun:
1. A branch of mathematical and physical theory that deals with the nature and consequences of chaos and chaotic systems.
2. The study of unpredictable systems.
3. See also “impossible math.”

Sarah Zellaby is a Johrlac, a member of a species of psychic ambush predators colloquially referred to as “cuckoos.” Eight years ago, she survived the difficult, painful process of becoming a cuckoo queen…although not without costs. In the wake of her transformation, the man she loved was entirely erased from his own mind, forcing her to reconstruct him from the memories of the people who knew and loved him.

Sarah has been struggling to come to terms with her actions ever since. But there’s no one else on the planet with the power to hold her accountable―until the Johrlac authorities show up. It’s time for her to stand trial for what she’s done, something which can only happen on Johrlar, home world of her species, where the population is controlled by a system of unyielding hiveminds and crime is punishable by erasure.

With Sarah’s life on the line, her family will need to find a way to cross dimensional borders and survive a hostile, telepathic world in order to get her back―before the Sarah they know ceases to exist.

But no matter what happens, actions have consequences… and Sarah Zellaby is about to learn that lesson the hard way.

Fifteen books in, the Incryptid series remains wildly inventive, with a stunningly huge array of characters and nonhuman species to keep track of. The Price-Healy family remains at the center of it all, but the details and mythology at this point are so complex that it feels next to impossible to talk about this book specifically in any sort of way that makes sense.

But I’ll try.

Butterfly Effects is the 3rd book in the series to focus on Sarah Zellaby as the main character, which is tricky. Despite appearances, Sarah is not human — she’s what’s known as a “cuckoo”, a descendent of a group of Johrlacs exiled generations earlier from their home dimension Johrlar. Johrlacs are telepathic, and cuckoos are considered ambush predators here on Earth. Through the power of their minds, they can take over anyone else’s thoughts and rewrite them — so a cuckoo child, for example, can convince a new family that they’re loved, that they belong, and that they’ve always belonged. And that’s among the least harmful examples. When a cuckoo wants to influence someone, the person being influenced has no defenses and won’t even know it’s happening.

The Price family has been studying and interacting with cryptids — non-humans — for generations, and is uniquely suited to providing Sarah with a home. Sarah is the adopted daughter of one of the family matriarchs, and has been raised to use her abilities responsibly. What’s more, Sarah was raised with love — she’s part of the family. But eight years before the events in Butterfly Effects, she evolved into a cuckoo “queen”, and her powers essentially exploded beyond her control, causing damage that she never intended. Now, years later, Sarah has been forcibly extracted back to Johrlar, supposedly to be held accountable for her actions… but more sinister motivations are at play.

When Sarah is taken, her family springs into action — including her cousin Antimony, Antimony’s boyfriend Sam, and her grandparents Alice and Thomas who — for… reasons — appear to be no older than their grandchildren. This team of fighters and sorcerers heads off on a rescue mission, but once on Johrlar, finds themselves in grave danger as well.

Like I said, it’s complicated. Fortunately, this book has Sarah share the narration, so while she’s the main POV character, there are sections where Antimony takes the lead. Honestly, it’s a relief. Not to be all speciesist… but Antimony’s human mind is a much less headache-inducing place to be than Sarah’s. Sarah thinks in math and equations, and her telepathy and worldview can be insanely twisty and hard to relate to.

I do love this series as a whole, but it’s so wide-ranging that it can be hard to keep track of. With books focusing on so many different characters, I constantly need a refresher on where we left off, where the major players are, and whose lives are dealing with which crises. (Books #13 and #14 were told from the perspective of the family’s ghost babysitter… to give you an idea of just how strange a series this is!)

Maybe it’s just because they were introduced first, but the core Price family siblings and their immediate families remain my favorites, and when they’re off-page for too long (or for entire books, except for brief drop-bys) I miss them. Butterfly Effects seems to provide a definitive wrap-up to most of Sarah’s ongoing issues (at least, for now), so I’m hoping the next books in the series will move back to focusing elsewhere within the family.

Butterfly Effects took a while to draw me in. Eventually, I was hooked on the latest adventure and started feeling like I was reading a page-turner… but there were definitely moments where I felt like I was reading this one more out of obligation than enjoyment. Still, Seanan McGuire is a terrific storyteller, and overall, I’m sticking with the series, even though I didn’t connect with this particular book quite as much as with some of the earlier installments.

Once again, I’ll point out the obvious: This is not a book to start with! The Incryptid series is so complicated by now that it can only be appreciated by starting at the beginning — which I recommend! It’s a truly creative series with lots of entertainment value, interesting plot twists, and deeper emotional beats. And for those devoted to this world, there are countless spin-off/prequel stories available via the author’s Patreon and elsewhere, so you’ll never run out of Price-Healy family history to explore.

So, while book #15 wasn’t actually my favorite… I’ll certainly be back for #16, and can’t wait to find out whose story we’ll be getting next!

As with other books in the Incryptid series, this one includes a novella at the end, We Sing It Anyway. This story is really more of an epilogue to the main book, although with a different character in the lead role, who deals with the immediate aftermath of the events of Butterfly Effects. It’s a sweet conclusion, and provides both closure and healing to Sarah’s story’s impact on other family members.

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

**Save

Save

24Dec2025

Book Review: Through Gates of Garnet and Gold (Wayward Children, #11) by Seanan McGuire

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Through Gates of Garnet and Gold
Series: Wayward Children, #11
Author: Seanan McGuire
Publisher: Tor
Publication date: January 6, 2026
Length: 160 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

A fan-favorite character returns in this action-packed instalment of the Hugo Award-winning Wayward Children series.

After Nancy was cast out of the Halls of the Dead and forced to enroll at Eleanor West’s School for Wayward Children, she never believed she’d find her door again, and when she did, she didn’t look back. She disappeared from the school to resume her place in the Halls, never intending to return.

Years have passed. A darkness has descended on the Halls, and the living statues who populate them are dying at the hands of the already dead. The Lord and Lady who rule the land are helpless to stop the slaughter, forcing Nancy to leave the Halls again, this time on purpose, as she attempts to seek much-needed help from her former schoolmates.

But who would volunteer to quest in a world where the dead roam freely?

And why are the dead so intent on adding to their number?

In Through Gates of Garnet and Gold, the 11th book in Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, we go back to the beginning — sort of — by reconnecting with Nancy, the main character from the very first book, Every Heart a Doorway.

In the world of the Wayward Children, there are doors that lead to other worlds, and children who feel out of place are the ones who tend to find them. But each door comes with a simple warning: Be Sure. Those who are sure may find themselves a new home beyond their doors, a place where they finally fit.

Anyway, wanting isn’t the point. It’s the certainty. The absolute conviction that you’re willing to give up everything you know, everything you have, if you can just go somewhere that you’ll be understood.

When doubts or second thoughts creep in, that’s when children find themselves booted back to their home worlds, no more suited for life where they started from than they ever were. And that’s where Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children comes in, providing a refuge and a found family for children who’ve found and then lost their true homes… and in many cases, are simply biding their time until their door comes back to take them home again.

In Nancy’s case, certainty was never an issue. She’s sure. She knows she belongs in the Halls of the Dead, where the Lord and Lady cherish their living statues — people, like Nancy, who find the absolute stillness of this world a balm and a comfort. Nancy never wants to leave, until the silence and motionlessness of the halls are broken by a violent attack of the unquiet dead. Voracious spirits attack, devouring any life they can find. As the living statues are imperiled, the Lord and Lady send Nancy to seek help. To save her home, she agrees to leave it, and finds herself back at the Home for Wayward Children once again.

Rallying a small group of her friends, they return to save the day, but their quest isn’t as straightforward as they’d hoped. They must find the cause of this disturbance and put it right — but as they do so, Nancy learns more about this world she considers home, and more than she really wanted to know about its rulers and their care for their subjects.

I enjoyed this reunion with Nancy, who’s always been a favorite of mine. I’ve always loved the descriptions of her desire for stillness. It may sound crazy to you or me, but the writing in this series truly allows us inside Nancy’s mind, so we can understand what she needs even while knowing that it would be awful for most people.

Other familiar characters come along on the quest. I won’t divulge too many details, but I will point out that this book is not at all a good entry point into the series. You really do need to know what’s come before in order to grasp the significance of certain characters’ actions.

Somehow, Through Gates of Garnet and Gold didn’t quite deliver the brilliance of the last book (Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear) or others that I consider the best of the bunch. Perhaps that’s because this is a return to a world and characters we’ve already seen, rather than an introduction to some new fantastical world. The plot is interesting enough, but lacked a major punch. I was involved, but not on the edge of my seat.

The ending, while wrapping up this particular quest, opens the door (so to speak) to more questions and new developments. I hate the idea of having to wait a year for the next book!

Fans of the Wayward Children series will absolutely want to check out Through Gates of Garnet and Gold. It’s an engaging entry into a series that always offers surprises and delights. I wouldn’t say it’s the best of the series… but it’s still very, very good.

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible — Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

18Dec2025

Book Review: Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Snake-Eater
Author: T. Kingfisher
Publisher: 47North
Publication date: November 11, 2025
Length: 267 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award–winning author T. Kingfisher comes an enthralling contemporary fantasy seeped in horror about a woman trying to escape her past by moving to the remote US desert—only to find herself beholden to the wrath of a vengeful god.

With only a few dollars to her name and her beloved dog Copper by her side, Selena flees her past in the city to claim her late aunt’s house in the desert town of Quartz Creek. The scorpions and spiders are better than what she left behind.

Because in Quartz Creek, there’s a strange beauty to everything, from the landscape to new friends, and more blue sky than Selena’s ever seen. But something lurks beneath the surface. Like the desert gods and spirits lingering outside Selena’s house at night, keeping watch. Mostly benevolent, says her neighbor Grandma Billy. That doesn’t ease the prickly sense that one of them watches too closely and wants something from Selena she can’t begin to imagine. And when Selena’s search for answers leads her to journal entries that her aunt left behind, she discovers a sinister truth about her new home: It’s the haunting grounds of an ancient god known simply as “Snake-Eater,” who her late aunt made a promise to that remains unfulfilled.

Snake-Eater has taken a liking to Selena, an obsession of sorts that turns sinister. And now that Selena is the new owner of his home, he’s hell-bent on collecting everything he’s owed.

With Snake-Eater, author T. Kingfisher journeys into the realm of folk horror and fantasy, presenting one woman’s struggle to reclaim her life in a desert setting full of spirits and gods… and a bunch of terrific human (and canine) characters too.

Selena arrives in the remote desert town of Quartz Creek with just a few dollars to her name, accompanied by her very good dog Copper. She’s come in search of her aunt Amelia, but discovers upon arrival that Amelia has died the year before. The local postmaster/mayor/police officer Jenny encourages Selena to at least spend the night before deciding to leave — and since Selena can’t afford the return train ticket, and Amelia’s house is sitting empty, she agrees.

But the longer Selena stays in this odd little town in the middle of nowhere, the more settled she becomes. She insists she hasn’t decided to stay — but meanwhile, she becomes close with her nearest neighbor, Grandma Billy, learns to tend Amelia’s garden, attends the community potlucks at Father Aguirre’s church, and figures out how to earn a few bucks here and there, enough to buy Copper’s dog food. And meanwhile, the locals are warm and welcoming, and seem to want Selena to stay,

Selena leaves behind a relationship with a man who gaslit her into believing herself incapable of social interactions. Through insidious comments and continual undermining, Walter had Selena convinced that she was bad with people and could only interact by using carefully memorized scripts. As she settles into life in Quartz Creek, she comes to realize how deeply the gaslighting affected her, and painfully starts to unlearn what she’d come to believe about herself.

Quartz Creek has its own set of oddities and mysteries, especially the locals’ seemingly casual acceptance of the existence of gods and spirits. Even the Catholic priest acknowledges that places can have powerful non-human “people” who affect the lives of those who live there, for good or bad. Selena is startled by the strange figure she sees in her garden, and even more alarmed to hear Grandma Billy casually inform him that it’s a god of the squash plants. Selena is inclined to think that this must be a sign of Grandma Billy declining with age — but no; all the other folks of Quartz Creek back up Grandma Billy’s version. Gods live among them, just as humans and dogs and a stray peacock do.

Selena’s life is complicated by Snake-Eater, a god of roadrunners who appears to have transferred his obsession with Amelia to her niece Selena. And when Selena objects to the god’s attention, he gets very nasty indeed. She and her closest allies, Grandma Billy and Father Aguirre, must venture into the desert to free her from Snake-Eater if she’s to have any hope of living a good life in her newfound community.

What a great story! I adored the desert vibe. The author evokes the heat, the dirt, the plant and animal life, and makes all of this feel real and gritty. It’s easy to see why Selena would want to stay in this harsh but beautiful environment. The community itself is delightful. The people of Quartz Creek are an odd bunch, but they’re committed to their town and one another, and have figured out how to make it work. What’s more, there’s a beautiful sense of love and acceptance. Many of these people have unusual histories, but it doesn’t matter: The community comes together, again and again, and their connection makes them strong.

Selena’s story is so sad to start with. She’s a smart, likable woman whose partner undermined her to such a degree that when we first meet her, we’re tempted to believe the lie that she’s socially awkward and inept as well. Why does she practice scripts in her head? Why can’t she just talk to people? But as we see, Walter’s emotional abuse takes the form of seemingly supportive “help”, shredding Selena’s confidence through comments meant to keep her dependent on him. As Selena spends time in Quartz Creek, she’s able to slowly overcome the doubts that had been trained into her, and learn to trust herself and her new relationships. It’s a joy to see.

As always, T. Kingfisher spins a compelling story full of memorable characters, entertaining set-pieces, and fabulous writing. Snake-Eater is yet another terrific read from an author who never disappoints. Highly recommended.

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible — Bookshop.org
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

18Nov2025

Top Ten Tuesday: Science fiction and fantasy that will stand the test of time

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Modern Books You Think Will Be Classics In The Future.

I could digress into a whole discussion of what constitutes a classic… but I’ll spare everyone! My feeling is that “classics” are very much in the eye of the beholder. That said, I’m interpreting this week’s prompt in terms of staying power. What book from the past 20 – 30 years (or so) are likely to continue being read and appreciated in the future, and for many years to come?

I’ve decided to focus on science fiction and fantasy for this week’s list. Here are 10 books that I believe will continue to amaze and delight for many, many years!

(Note: After finalizing this list, I realized I’d done a version of this topic in 2022! At least I’m consistent… three of these books were on that list too, which didn’t only focus on sci-fi/fantasy)

Old Man’s War (series) by John Scalzi
The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins
Wayward Children (series) by Seanan McGuire
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
A Discovery of Witches (series) by Deborah Harkness
The Expanse (series) by James S. A. Corey
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
His Dark Materials (series) by Philip Pullman
The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Do you have any favorite sci-fi/fantasy books that you can see as future classics?

If you wrote a TTT post, please share your link!

Save

29Oct2025

Book Review: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Everlasting
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Publisher: Tor
Publication date: October 28, 2025
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

From Alix E. Harrow, the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, comes a moving and genre-defying quest about the lady-knight whose legend built a nation, and the cowardly historian sent back through time to make sure she plays her part–even if it breaks his heart.

Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters―but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.

Centuries later, Owen Mallory―failed soldier, struggling scholar―falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives―and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.

But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend―if they want to tell a different story–they’ll have to rewrite history itself.

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow is a beautifully written, slow-burn heartbreaker, with time twists that are truly mind-boggling. After finishing the book a few days ago, I’m still trying to put all the pieces together, but I’m also just basking in the overall feel of the story.

The story of Dominion had many villains over the years, shifting along with the borders of her empire, and many storytellers. But it only ever had one hero, and her name was Una Everlasting.

The country of Dominion has a long, bloody history of war and conquest. Generations of soldiers return home damaged mentally and physically, if they return home at all. Historian Owen Mallory is one of these, suffering recurring trauma and carrying scars from his time at the front. Now, he devotes his time to research the foundational national mythology of Dominion — the story of Sir Una Everlasting, the greatest knight the country has ever known.

“In order to have a future worth fighting for, you must have a past worth remembering.”

Everyone knows the story of Una, a young orphan who found greatness after pulling a legendary sword from a tree, then pledging herself to find for her queen and country. Hers is a tale of strength, courage, and devotion. From her battles to her seemingly impossible quests to her tragic death, the tale of Sir Una Everlasting has motivated and inspired the people of Dominion for centuries.

When a mysterious book arrives on Owen’s desk, it seems to hold the answers to his obsessive research: It’s impossible… but it appears to be the story of Una, written in her own time. Such a thing has never been found before, or even rumored to exist. The arrival of the book plunges Owen into a journey through time, as he ends up transported back into Una’s lifetime — where he discovers that there is more to the story than he ever could have imagined.

The intricate storytelling is best experienced without too much information in advance, as seeing it unfold is part of the book’s power. I went into The Everlasting knowing nothing more than what was in the book’s cover blurbs… and found myself both shocked and entranced as the story unfolded.

The Everlasting conveys several powerful themes; among the most fascinating is the power of shared legends to shape history. Countries experience a sense of shared pride in their foundational stories. But what happens when those stories have holes in them, or when the glorious past is perhaps not so glorious after all? The Everlasting shows the power of these stories to motivate, but also to be used to manipulate. In the hands of corrupt, power-seeking leaders, tales of sacrifice and nobility can be the excuse needed to conquer, kill, and engage in endless wars.

The Everlasting is also a love story, which isn’t obvious at the beginning. There’s a slow awakening, a sense of devotion and yearning that builds over time, and ultimately, a gorgeous connection that’s a meeting of hearts, souls, and bodies. And yet, a sense of tragedy hangs over the love story. By the time the love between the characters fully blossoms, we already know that there can be no happy endings for these two.

I love you by then, or would soon, or always had.

In terms of the reading experience, I found the opening chapters a bit slow, but once the book arrives and Owen gets drawn into Una’s story, it’s un-put-down-able. A few oddities make the reading experience challenging but worthwhile: Large chunks of the story are written in the second person, but in places, the person telling the story changes. I had to stop at several points to remind myself of who was narrating a particular section and who the “you” was.

The main challenging aspect is the time factor. Time loops in all sorts of interesting ways, and the weaving and changing of history becomes more and more complicated as the story progresses. I couldn’t always quite make the “how” of it all make sense… but I also couldn’t look away. The puzzle pieces do fit, but at some point, I stopped trying to apply logic to certain elements and just let myself be swept away by the lush, gorgeous writing.

I highly recommend The Everlasting. It’s a remarkable piece of writing, with powerful messages about power, propaganda, and corruption, told through the vehicle of an achingly beautiful love story. This is a story that will stick with me for a long time to come.

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

23Oct2025

Novella review: Cinder House by Freya Marske

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Cinder House
Author: Freya Marske
Publisher: Tor
Publication date: October 7, 2025
Length: 144 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Library
Rating:

Sparks fly and lovers dance in this gorgeous, yearning Cinderella retelling from bestselling author Freya Marske—a queer Gothic romance perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and T. Kingfisher.

Ella is a haunting.

Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father’s house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters.

Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died.

Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched.

You think you know Ella’s story: the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince.

You’re halfway right, and all-the-way wrong.

Rediscover a classic fairy tale in this debut novella from “the queen of romantic fantasy” (Polygon).

Cinder House by Freya Marske is a magical, memorable novella-length retelling of Cinderella, and it includes a haunting unlike any I’ve read before.

Cinder House starts by killing the main character:

Ella’s father died of the poison in their tea. Ella drank less and so might have lived, and not turned ghost at all, if the house hadn’t shrieked for its master’s murder in the moment she stood, dizzied and weak, at the top of the stairs.

Ella is dead… but that’s not the end of her story. As she comes back to consciousness, she finds herself tethered to her home, visible to those who live there — her stepmother Patrice, and her two stepsisters, Danica and Greta. None of them care about Ella in the slightest, but they do come to realize that she’s convenient.

Ella is not just an airy, incorporeal ghost floating around a particular place. Instead, she truly becomes the spirit of the house — she feels the house, as if it’s an extension of her own body.

How does a house, lacking flesh, feel fury? With the fire in its hearth and in the wide black stove.

She’s aware of the mice in the walls, the water in the pipes, the heat in the stove… but she’s also aware of anything wrong or out of place, and she can interact physically with anything that belongs to the house. She has an obsessive need to clean anything messy, to mend anything broken. For Ella’s stepfamily, it’s handy to have a ghost around to do their bidding, and it’s even economical! They’re able to dismiss the servants, and have Ella at their beck and call. Worst of all for Ella, when her sadistic youngest stepsister realizes that Ella feels what the house feels, she’s able to use pain — like sawing away pieces of woodworking or breaking windows — to coerce Ella into obedience.

Ella is trapped, until she discovers a trick for leaving the house — but no matter how far she wanders, she snaps right back to the staircase where she died at the stroke of midnight. Years pass, until finally, events in the world outside the house affect Ella and her family.

The Prince invites all the young unmarried women of the kingdom to a ball, during which he’ll choose a bride. Of course, most people suspect that there’s already a betrothal being arranged for political purposes, but that doesn’t stop the eligible women of the kingdom from dressing up and hoping for attention — including Ella’s stepsisters.

As the story progresses, we see Ella find a magical means for attending the ball too, thanks to her friendship with a fairy she meets in the marketplace. There are conditions, of course, and nothing goes quite according to plan — but she does meet the prince, and discovers that he’s dealing with magical complications of his own… and that the two of them may be able to help one another in ways that no one else can.

Cinder House is such an inventive retelling! I loved the details around what Ella feels and goes through as a house ghost, and the encounters with the prince, and the details of his curse, are fascinating too. The plot is tightly woven, yet never feels rushed, and the overall tone is full of magical, fantastical elements that create an atmosphere of surprise and delight.

The ending does get surprisingly… well… kinky, in a certain way, but it’s not terribly explicit (and definitely is not your typical fairy tale ending!)

Overall, I thought Cinder House was great! I’m so glad I saw so many positive reviews and decided to check it out for myself. Cinder House is a terrific example of what a novella can be: It tells a full story, provides characters to care about, and wraps up a compelling plot with just enough storytelling.

I’d never read anything by Freya Marske before, but now I’m eager to explore more of her books. I know people love the Last Binding series — adding to my TBR!

Purchase links: Amaz o n – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

19Oct2025

Book Review: Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: Blind Date with a Werewolf
Author: Patricia Briggs
Publisher: Ace
Publication date: October 21, 2025
Length: 288 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley
Rating:

When the deadly werewolf Asil is gifted five blind dates by some anonymous “friends,” his reclusive life will never be the same, in this enthralling novel in stories from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Mercy Thompson series.

Includes two all-new stories as well as three previously published stories.

Dear Asil:

We are worried about you. A werewolf alone is a sad thing, especially at Christmastime. So we have a challenge for five dates in three weeks. We have taken the work out of it and connected you with five people from online dating sites. You should also know that we have informed the whole pack and instigated a betting pool. Have fun!

Sincerely,
Your Concerned Friends

For fans of the Mercy Thompson and Alpha & Omega series by Patricia Briggs, this new book — a novel composed of five connected stories — is a real treat. For someone who hasn’t read those series, this book might be more of a challenge, but still lots of fun.

Asil Moreno, known among werewolves as the Moor, is a centuries-old werewolf known for his power, violence, and instability. Only his Alpha, the ruler of all werewolves in North America, is dominant enough to keep Asil under control. Asil is deadly, but beautiful, and he knows it. He also has very little interest in other people, and certainly no interest in romance, not since the death of his mate many, many years earlier.

But Asil’s friends think he needs a boost — and, we suspect, also are looking to have a little fun at his expense. Through anonymous emails, they challenge him to go on a series of blind dates that they’ll arrange for him. Asil is not enthusiastic in the slightest, but there’s a pack bet that he won’t succeed in completing the five dates of the challenge, and Asil is not one to ever back down.

Let’s just say that the dates don’t go exactly as planned. Each supposedly romantic set-up turns into a mission involving lots more danger and blood than candlelight and roses. In each case, it’s extremely entertaining to see Asil present himself as a respectable, desirable date… only to have each encounter go entirely sideways.

Blind Date with a Werewolf includes three stories previously published in other anthologies, plus two stories that are original to this book. Taken as a whole, they make a highly enjoyable reading experience, with a great story arc, lots of amusing character moments, and plenty of high stakes and action sequences.

It’ll be interesting to see whether the events of Blind Date with a Werewolf carry over into the greater universe of Patricia Briggs’s series. (The next new book will be #7 in the Alpha & Omega series, tentatively scheduled for release sometime in 2026).

As I mentioned, Blind Date with a Werewolf is perfect for fans of the related series. I do think it could be read on its own even without familiarity with its greater fictional universe, although I think some of the intricacies about pack dynamics and werewolf nature might be harder to unravel.

In any case, this really is a very fun book, and I tore through it in about a day and a half. Asil’s adventures are funny, fast-paced, and have just enough danger in them to keep us readers on the edge of our seats. Of course, now I’m dying for more of this world… I may need to dive back in and do a reread of the Alpha & Omega books, at the very least.

Purchase links: Amaz o n – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

17Oct2025

Book Review: The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Keeper of Magical Things
Author: Julie Leong
Publisher: Ace
Publication date: October 14, 2025
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley

An almost-mage discovers friendship—and maybe something more—in the unlikeliest of places in this delightfully charming novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Teller of Small Fortunes.

Certainty Bulrush wants to be useful—to the Guild of Mages that took her in as a novice, to the little brother who depends on her, and to anyone else she can help. Unfortunately, her tepid magic hasn’t proven much use to anyone. When Certainty has the chance to earn her magehood via a seemingly straightforward assignment, she takes it. Nevermind that she’ll have to work with Mage Aurelia, the brilliant, unfairly attractive overachiever who’s managed to alienate everyone around her.

The two must transport minorly magical artifacts somewhere safe: Shpelling, the dullest, least magical village around. There, they must fix up an old warehouse, separate the gossipy teapots from the kind-of-flaming swords, corral an unruly little catdragon who has tagged along, and above all: avoid complications. The Guild’s uneasy relationship with citizens is at a tipping point, and the last thing needed is a magical incident.

Still, as mage and novice come to know Shpelling’s residents—and each other—they realize the Guild’s hoarded magic might do more good being shared. Friendships blossom while Certainty and Aurelia work to make Shpelling the haven it could be. But magic is fickle—add attraction and it might spell trouble.

Julie Leong, author of last year’s cozy fantasy hit The Teller of Small Fortunes, is back with another dose of sweet, cozy, comfortable magic — complete with cute cats, a quaint but dilapidated small town, and even pasta!

Certainty (what a name!) has been a Novice — a Mage in training — for six years now, and while no one perhaps says it out loud, this does not bode well for her chances of success. Certainty’s magic is considered very minor: She can touch objects, feel their magic, and convince them to do small things. This makes her helpful for household tasks like getting stains out of laundry, but her spellcasting is otherwise useless. Approaching her mid-twenties, Certainty is not feeling hopeful about her future prospects, but she’s also not willing to give up on her dreams just yet: If she can finally become a full-fledge Mage, she’ll have enough of a salary to pay for the apprenticeship her young brother yearns for.

An unfortunate magical accident at Guild headquarters (home of the kingdom’s Mages) reveals that there are simply too many magical objects stored there. Certainty is suddenly assigned a mission: She’ll need to take the excess objects — all containing only minor or used-up magic — to a remote village, inventory them, and store them there, out of harm’s way. A more experienced Mage is assigned to oversee the work. Mage Aurelia is about Certainty’s age, but is everything she is not: Beautiful, scholarly, powerfully gifted, and from a wealthy, influential family. This mission seems far beneath Aurelia’s gifts, but since it’s an assignment directly from the High Mage, she has no choice but to accept.

As Certainty and Aurelia set out for the village of Shpelling, their dynamic is at first frosty. Aurelia comes across as cold and snobby; Certainty is awkward and eager to prove herself. As they work together, however, they come to realize that they do share common ground, and eventually develop an easy camaraderie. Meanwhile, the town of Shpelling has definitely seen better days… but once Certainty has an idea about how to use the magical artifacts to help the villagers (something not actually allowed), things start looking up.

The Keeper of Magical Things has the coziest of cozy vibes. There are sweet descriptions of cute cats, delicious pasta, quirky moments of fixing up an old barn, and all sorts of mundane-but-sweet tasks and projects, with silliness in the background (like a teapot that chatters nonstop whenever being heated) and lovely moments with the villagers to keep scenes lively.

Certainty and Aurelia are a mismatched pair at first, so it’s extra fun to see the growing trust, friendship, and then attraction between the two. When conflict comes into their lives late in the book, threatening to destroy their magical futures as well as their trust and connection, it’s quite moving to see how they get out of the dismal situation through mutual support and affection.

The Keeper of Magical Things is a gentle story, where even the less positive events are relatively benign. It’s a quick, enchanting read, with engaging main characters and lots of quirky townsfolk to liven up any scene. If you’re looking for a light, fun read, this is a great choice!

Purchase links: Amaz o n – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

12Oct2025

Novella review: The Summer War by Naomi Novik

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: The Summer War
Author: Naomi Novik
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication date: September 16, 2025
Length: 131 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Library
Rating:

In this poignant, heartfelt novella from the New York Times bestselling author of Spinning Silver and the Scholomance Trilogy, a young witch who has inadvertently cursed her brother to live a life without love must find a way to undo her spell.

Celia discovered her talent for magic on the day her beloved oldest brother Argent left home. Furious at him for abandoning her in a war-torn land, she lashed out, not realizing her childish, angry words would suddenly become imbued with the power of prophecy, dooming him to a life without love.

While Argent wanders the world, forced to seek only fame and glory instead of the love and belonging he truly desires, Celia attempts to undo the curse she placed on him. Yet even as she grows from a girl to a woman, she cannot find the solution—until she learns the truth about the centuries-old war between her own people and the summerlings, the immortal beings who hold a relentless grudge against their mortal neighbors.

Now, with the aid of her unwanted middle brother, Celia may be able to both undo her eldest brother’s curse and heal the lands so long torn apart by the Summer War.

In this fairy tale novella, a younger sister’s hurt feelings lead her to cast a terrible curse. At age twelve, Celia’s beloved oldest brother informs the family that’s he’s leaving for good. In her fury, she wishes upon him a life without love… and realizes too late that her sorceress powers have awakened, turning her childish wish into a spell with power.

As she grows up, Celia becomes a pawn in her father’s schemes within their kingdom, threatening the hard-won peace that ended the hundred-year Summer War between the mortals and the summerlings. When a betrayal leaves her in the hands of the kingdom’s enemy, the love between Celia and her brothers may be the only thing that can save her and her people.

The Summer War is at its best when we see the world around Celia, her experiences within her family, and the ways in which love and expectations can have lasting consequences. The writing can be truly lovely, casting a magical spell of sorts as we follow the story of revenge and magical consequences and betrayals.

I especially liked learning about the dynamics between Celia and her brothers, but felt less interested in the history of the Summer War. When the plot takes us into the Summer Lands, there’s an added edge of enchantment and danger, and the stakes become very high for Celia and everyone she cares about — and her actions can determine whether the peace between the kingdoms will be shattered once again.

The ending didn’t feel especially clear to me. The dramatic events are compelling, yet I didn’t quite see how the curse was broken, and we don’t really get to see Celia’s sorcery in action. The resolution seems muddled, but perhaps this is due to the novella length. The Summer War feels like a story that could have used a bit more breathing space. Maybe a fuller-length novel could have expanded the action and helped it make better sense. As a novella, it all seems a bit too condensed.

Overall, I enjoyed The Summer War and I’m glad I read it, even though I was left feeling like a bit more storytelling was needed to tie all the pieces together.

Purchase links: Amaz o n – Audible audiobook – Bookshop.org – Libro.fm
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.

2Oct2025

Book Review: A Pirate’s Life for Tea (Tomes & Tea, #2) by Rebecca Thorne

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Title: A Pirate’s Life for Tea
Series: Tomes & Tea, #2
Author: Rebecca Thorne
Publisher: Bramble
Publication date: February 23, 2023
Length: 444 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Purchased
Rating:

“You asked for this, Rain. Let’s go capture a pirate.”

While searching for stolen dragon eggs, newly engaged couple Kianthe and Reyna find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a swashbuckling love story.

On one side is Serina, a failed farmer turned river pirate. Her booty? Wheat, grains, and the occasional jar of imported tea leaves. It’s quite the embarrassment to Diarn Arlon, the powerful lord of the Nacean River, and he’ll conscript anyone to bring her to justice. Especially Kianthe, the elemental mage who just crashed his party, and her somewhat-scary fiancée.

Begrudgingly, the couple joins forces with Bobbie, one of Arlon’s constables–who happens to be Serina’s childhood friend. Bobbie is determined to capture the pirate before anyone else, but it would be a lot easier if Serina didn’t absolutely loathe her now.

As Kianthe and Reyna watch this relation-shipwreck from afar, it quickly becomes apparent that these disaster lesbians need all the help they can get. Luckily, matchmaking is Reyna’s favorite past time. The dragon eggs may have to wait.

When does cozy cross over into boring? I’m not exactly sure, but A Pirate’s Life for Tea definitely approaches the line.

While I enjoyed the first book in this series, Can’t Spell Treason without Tea, in which a Queensguard (highly skilled swordswoman sworn to protect a terrible Queen) and the Arcandor (a.k.a., the Mage of Ages, the most powerful mage in the land) fall in love and run off together to open a teahouse/bookshop… this second book lacks a lot of the charm, and spends entirely too much time moseying up and down a river.

Here, our heroes Reyna and Kianthe (the Queensguard and Arcandor, respectively) are off on an adventure, trying to chase down missing dragon eggs that they’ve sworn to find and return to the dragons (who otherwise threaten to burn down their newly adopted home town). Following clues that lead to the wealthy lands bordering the Nacean River, they discover a corrupt ruler, a pirate trying to mete out justice single-handedly, and a constable whose duty it is to stop the pirate… but whose heart is standing in the way.

The story follows Serina and Bobbie’s adventures up and down the river onboard various stolen ships, with a motley crew of deckhands and would-be pirates to aid and abet their schemes. Meanwhile, Reyna and Kianthe become involved, realizing that the pirates’ enemy is also the person most likely to have clues to the whereabouts of the missing eggs, if not the eggs themselves

There are plenty of action sequences — ship to ship combat, shipwrecks and raging rapids, exploding magical traps — and yet the storyline itself feels strangely stagnant. The action set-pieces are offset by the cozier elements of the book as a whole, including wine tastings, crocheting, dancing, and plenty of lovey-dovey flirting (as well as Kianthe’s never-ending puns, which are, I admit, kind of cute). The cozy side of things may be sweet, but it has a tendency to grind the action to a halt. The up-and-down pacing makes the whole book feel like a slog after a while.

Beyond that, the main problem for me is that I couldn’t quite bring myself to care about the pirate storyline, and Bobbie and Serina didn’t capture my imagination as a couple. They spend far too much time agonizing over their differences, and while we’re told that they’ve always deep-down loved one another despite their current antagonism, I didn’t feel their chemistry at all.

Reyna and Kianthe are often great together, but their story here feels lacking as well, perhaps because the entire book takes place away from their town and bookshop — which makes the story as a whole feel untethered. A lot of the first book’s charm revolves around seeing them settle into their new chosen home and build a life together; here, they’re off on an adventure, but it’s not nearly as engaging as I expected it to be.

I’ll be honest: I had a hard time staying interested in this book, and even considered walking away. Ultimately, I stuck with it, largely because I own the paperback edition of this book and wanted to see it through.

I’m feeling very ambivalent about continuing with the series… but since I also own #3 (yes, I bought all three on a whim on a bookstore visit earlier in the year), I’m guessing I’ll read it eventually. And honestly, the synopsis for #3 makes it sound like it’ll be an improvement!

Up next:

Purchase links: Amazon – Audible – Bookshop.org – Libro.f m
Disclaimer: When you make a purchase through one of these affiliate links, I may earn a small commission, at no additional cost to you.