Fantasy & Romance
Book Reviews
March 2025
Rating: 5.0 ★
Genre: High Fantasy, Science Fiction, Magic
Review/Filtered Thoughts: Wow. Honestly, M.L. Wang did not skip a single beat in this.
On the surface, Blood Over Bright Haven is a story about a female mage fighting tooth and nail for an opportunity to prove herself in a field that has been chronically exclusive to men. But underneath that, it’s a powerful critique of the exploitation of resources, misogyny, racism and many more issues that are all too familiar in our own world.
The fantasy aspects and the magic system where people essentially “code” spells on a typewriter were great, but it was the characters and their relationships that stood out to me. M.L. Wang is a master of depicting human complexities and the parts of ourselves that we hide from.
Unfiltered Thoughts: Hurts so good.
“Truth over delusion. Growth over comfort.“
“The question isn’t: How do I stop feeling this way? That’s stupid. I can’t. The question is: What can I do with this feeling?“
“I’m starting to understand how ridiculous it is to demand civility when the world is so disgustingly uncivil.“
Rating: 3.0 ★
Genre: High Fantasy, LGBTQIA+
Review/Filtered Thoughts: This is possibly the most confusing book I’ve ever read. Points for creativity, but I seriously could not make sense of what was happening. It’s written as if you’re listening to a grandmother tell a story, but then also you’re sitting in an audience watching a play on stage, and then also you get the first person POV but not just for the main character, you get it for all the characters and also sometimes inanimate objects…
I’m clearly too stupid to appreciate this book for what it is, but I will say that the prose is magnificent and the sheer creativity of the story, landscape and characters was truly something special.
Unfiltered Thoughts: Something about a smelly tortoise, an old lady and then someone explodes, I think.
“The stories are everywhere, you cannot avoid them. Every day you tell a story to yourself; the details of your day become a part of your myth. It is reordered. It is made sense of.“
“And the longer I live, the more it surprises me, and saddens me, how wise the young must become to live in this world.“
“Some days you are so alone, you think you will collapse into a hard and dense rock. You tell him that you wish things were different. That you feel as though you have a sack over your shoulder, heavy and dragging, but you have no idea what’s inside the sack, or who gave it to you. It’s just there. It’s just yours. And you regret so many things. You’ve hurt people, you’ve embarrassed them, you’ve embarrassed yourself.“
Rating: 5.0 ★
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Comedy
Review/Filtered Thoughts: You Deserve Each Other follows a couple that has fallen out of love with each other during the lead-up to their wedding. But as much as they’re both unhappy, whoever calls it quits will bear the brunt of the cancelled wedding costs. What ensues is a series of the most petty pranks in order to force the other person to pull the plug first.
This book genuinely had me cackling with laughter, and I cannot describe the sheer joy of reading about the most deranged (but also harmless) characters. Fair warning: I can see that this kind of genre could be quite polarising. You either vibe with the humour or you don’t. But it really struck a chord with me.
If you want something minorly devious but also rather tender at some parts, I would highly recommend this!
Unfiltered Thoughts: 368 pages of iconic tomfoolery.
“‘Don’t let me die here. I want to be somewhere warm when I go.’
‘Yeah, better ease into those warmer temperatures. It’ll get a lot hotter once you arrive at your destination.’“
“It’s adorable how he assumes I’m in here making myself pretty instead of smearing a pentagram on the floor in my own blood and casting hexes on him.“
“This is how I’ll die: slightly unwilling but ultimately lazy.“
Rating: 3.5 ★
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult
Review/Filtered Thoughts: This was fun. I may not be sprinting to read the sequel, but I can definitely see myself finishing the series.
The King Arthur theme was very nicely done, and I’m interested in where the story is headed. Although, given all the rave reviews I had seen, I was a bit underwhelmed. That’s partly my fault for having very high expectations, but I’m hoping for a little more in the next books. Maybe it’s one of those series that just needs to marinade for a beat.
Unfiltered Thoughts: Maybe a little heavy-handed on the golden boy vs scowly boy trope?
“Who’s the literary nerd? The quoter or the one who recognizes the quote?“
“And when your people die, you have to listen to strangers speak your nightmare into existence.“