Fantasy & Romance
Book Reviews
November 2024
The Butcher of the Forest
by
Premee Mohamed
Rating: 4.0 ★
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Novella
Mini Review: Picture a woman who is forced by her king to rescue two children from a forest. Great, now make it a forest of nightmares that brutally kills anyone who steps foot into it. That’s the vibe of The Butcher of the Forest.
It’s gory, action-packed, wonderfully weird and for once, the heroine isn’t a 16-year-old girl. Who would’ve thunk that a character in their 40s could still be gripping?! Groundbreaking, I know.
Honestly, I wish all novellas had this level of finesse. A fantastic choice if you want a super quick horror adventure and a must-read if you like The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi.
“Things that she had considered long dead, and completely done with, were coming back to life, and just as with the dead guardians, it was a terrible and deliberate cruelty.”
Royal Assassin
by
Robin Hobb
Rating: 4.5 ★
Genre: Epic Fantasy, Fiction
Mini Review: Sorcery. Actual witchcraft. Making me care about a character so much. I can’t even fully describe why I’m so invested in Fitz’s journey but this character truly has his claws in me.
This isn’t the most fast-paced or action-packed book I’ve ever read but that’s not what it’s trying to be anyway. I think I’m just consistently impressed with how perfectly balanced The Farseer Trilogy books are. The fantasy landscape keeps getting better, the story progresses at just the right pace to remain engaging while never skimping on the details and the character arc is so smooth.
I am loving how the story is progressing. Although I’ll admit, this book wasn’t quite as punchy as I was hoping for. But with this being the second book in the trilogy, I have faith that the last book will capitalise on all the build-up.
“There is a place where all time is now, and the choices are simple and always your own. Wolves have no kings.”
“The man who must brag for himself knows that no one else will.”
The Ex Vows
by
Jessica Joyce
Rating: 4.5 ★
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Mini Review: This is how you write romance! It’s difficult to describe what makes a romance click for me because, in all honesty, this book is structurally forgettable.
It has the same skeleton as plenty of other romances I’ve read this year. But very few of those managed to turn the skeleton into a living, breathing thing. Somehow, Jessica Joyce managed to balance the nuance enough for it to be something genuinely special.
It was funny enough for me to actually laugh out loud, it 100% made me cry and by the end of it, I was a whole 2% less cynical about the entire world.
“Each brick was a time he’d fucked up or I had, a time when either one of us could’ve said what was on our mind and said nothing instead. It was endless tiny transgressions that didn’t ruin us in the moment but added to the wall we built. On this night in December five years ago, I see how tall it is. How unclimbable.”
“It’s a gift to know someone when you’re in love with them, and a curse when you’re out of it.”
Anathema
by
Keri Lake
Rating: 4.5 ★
Genre: Dark Romantasy, Horror
Mini Review: If you like dark plots, gothic settings, tragic backstories and a touch of horror, this is for you.
Keri Lake staggers the fantasy and romance elements in this so that the beginning is heavily focused on the separate characters and the world-building, while the romance is reserved for right at the very end. That might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I personally thought it was perfection. It meant that I had the opportunity to become more invested in the fantasy world and the characters individually first, before being “distracted” by the more fast-paced romance side of the equation.
By the end, I was thoroughly intrigued by the fantasy and genuinely hungry for more. I will definitely be picking up the sequel when it’s released.
“We are quite vicious to our younger selves, aren’t we?”
“I’d learned at too early an age that the sound of a girl’s scream drew nothing more than apathy.”