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94. Briarheart by Mercedes Lackey. 3. Other than the first chapter, this riff on Sleeping Beauty doesn't actually have much to do with Sleeping Beauty. Mildly diverting, but squanders the premise.
95. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. 5. Absolutely charming romance featuring sundered best friends/travel buddies reconnecting on the worst trip to Palm Springs imaginable.
96. Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 3. I adored the first two; while the twist in the premise this time is clever, it drags on far too long. This and the next were apparently originally one book and then were split; I think it might have been better for this to be shorter and part of whatever comes next.
97. Beach Read by Emily Henry. 5. Henry plays a lot of insider baseball - this is another romance featuring writers. But I'm a writer, and a total sucker for it. (I think non-writers will still like it.) Fluffy romance author and serious literature author swap genres on a bet. Hilarious but poignant.
98. The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik 5. Novik delivers gorgeously on the promises of the first two books, which started as Evil Hogwarts and became something much deeper and stranger.
99. Ithaca by Claire North. 5. Penelope, before Odysseus makes it home. I've never particularly cared for Hera before, and now I love her. Penelope's always been one of my favorites, and North does not disappoint.
100. A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall. 4. Pulling off a trans Regency romance in which the main plot hinges on something other than trans-ness takes guts and cleverness. Hall makes this work believably, and lovably.
101. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. 4. It takes an excellent writer to go deep in the head of someone we know is going to be evil and make them sympathetic. This Hunger Games prequel mostly works well, although there are some bits (especially near the end) that feel a little clumsy.
102. Coffee Boy by Austin Chant. 3.5. The tension between Kieran and his crush Seth is pretty cute, but I'm not as comfortable with the office politics of ending up dating your boss, which isn't particularly dealt with.
103. The Opposite of Drowning by Racheline Maltese and Erin McRae. 4. I always want the hints of magical realism to be just a hair more magic, but I still love this pairing of the curmudgeonly editor and the ex-society girl consultant.
104. Sugar and Spice by Eli Wray. 2.5. Short romance with NB characters, which was nice. Not really for me, though - this was low-stakes to the point that I had trouble getting particularly invested. If you're up for really, really low stakes (we're talking "does my college crush like me back?" where the answer is immediately "yes" with no complications), you might like better.
105. Wrapped by Rebekah Weatherspoon. 3. Pastry chef Shae is getting over a bitter divorce when she re-meets a man from her past. Sweet, but the pacing felt a little off.
106. The Ultimate Pi Day Party by Jackie Lau. 3.5. Another baker + tech bro combo! Fun, though - good chemistry, satisfying complicated family dynamics. Climax requires making a truly boneheaded decision, but I can kind of see how it could happen.
107. Baker Thief by Claudie Arseneault. 2.5. Clever premise involving a genderfluid baker/thief who struggles a bit with multiple gender identities getting tied to different aspects of life while solving a fantasy mystery. But writing gets bogged down a bit, and the fact the author's name is one letter off the protagonist's is a good indicator of the degree of author self-insertion...
108. Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg. 4. I love the "taming the intelligent house" trope, so I was totally onboard. Kind of would have liked the intelligent house to be even more involved in the climax, but that's a quibble.
109. Gallant by V.E.Schwab. 4. Very Coraline-esque, but sufficiently original and suitably spooky for Halloween. Clever use of images/diary entries that recontextualize themselves over the work.
110. The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. 3.5. Clever materials-based magic system. Odd structure for the book, though; the protagonist spends half the book wandering through her mentor's memories.
111. The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. 4. Nicely raised stakes, plus a great twist in protagonist's abilities at the end.
112. The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. 2.5. Unfortunately, the main plot (stop the unfortunately psychotic only important character of color!) is the least interesting thing. I would have liked less logistics on Ceony's powers or details of her romance, and more dealing with the implications that she has world-changing powers or even dealing with her being stuck in her mentor's childhood bullying victim's house.
95. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry. 5. Absolutely charming romance featuring sundered best friends/travel buddies reconnecting on the worst trip to Palm Springs imaginable.
96. Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 3. I adored the first two; while the twist in the premise this time is clever, it drags on far too long. This and the next were apparently originally one book and then were split; I think it might have been better for this to be shorter and part of whatever comes next.
97. Beach Read by Emily Henry. 5. Henry plays a lot of insider baseball - this is another romance featuring writers. But I'm a writer, and a total sucker for it. (I think non-writers will still like it.) Fluffy romance author and serious literature author swap genres on a bet. Hilarious but poignant.
98. The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik 5. Novik delivers gorgeously on the promises of the first two books, which started as Evil Hogwarts and became something much deeper and stranger.
99. Ithaca by Claire North. 5. Penelope, before Odysseus makes it home. I've never particularly cared for Hera before, and now I love her. Penelope's always been one of my favorites, and North does not disappoint.
100. A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall. 4. Pulling off a trans Regency romance in which the main plot hinges on something other than trans-ness takes guts and cleverness. Hall makes this work believably, and lovably.
101. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins. 4. It takes an excellent writer to go deep in the head of someone we know is going to be evil and make them sympathetic. This Hunger Games prequel mostly works well, although there are some bits (especially near the end) that feel a little clumsy.
102. Coffee Boy by Austin Chant. 3.5. The tension between Kieran and his crush Seth is pretty cute, but I'm not as comfortable with the office politics of ending up dating your boss, which isn't particularly dealt with.
103. The Opposite of Drowning by Racheline Maltese and Erin McRae. 4. I always want the hints of magical realism to be just a hair more magic, but I still love this pairing of the curmudgeonly editor and the ex-society girl consultant.
104. Sugar and Spice by Eli Wray. 2.5. Short romance with NB characters, which was nice. Not really for me, though - this was low-stakes to the point that I had trouble getting particularly invested. If you're up for really, really low stakes (we're talking "does my college crush like me back?" where the answer is immediately "yes" with no complications), you might like better.
105. Wrapped by Rebekah Weatherspoon. 3. Pastry chef Shae is getting over a bitter divorce when she re-meets a man from her past. Sweet, but the pacing felt a little off.
106. The Ultimate Pi Day Party by Jackie Lau. 3.5. Another baker + tech bro combo! Fun, though - good chemistry, satisfying complicated family dynamics. Climax requires making a truly boneheaded decision, but I can kind of see how it could happen.
107. Baker Thief by Claudie Arseneault. 2.5. Clever premise involving a genderfluid baker/thief who struggles a bit with multiple gender identities getting tied to different aspects of life while solving a fantasy mystery. But writing gets bogged down a bit, and the fact the author's name is one letter off the protagonist's is a good indicator of the degree of author self-insertion...
108. Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg. 4. I love the "taming the intelligent house" trope, so I was totally onboard. Kind of would have liked the intelligent house to be even more involved in the climax, but that's a quibble.
109. Gallant by V.E.Schwab. 4. Very Coraline-esque, but sufficiently original and suitably spooky for Halloween. Clever use of images/diary entries that recontextualize themselves over the work.
110. The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. 3.5. Clever materials-based magic system. Odd structure for the book, though; the protagonist spends half the book wandering through her mentor's memories.
111. The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. 4. Nicely raised stakes, plus a great twist in protagonist's abilities at the end.
112. The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg. 2.5. Unfortunately, the main plot (stop the unfortunately psychotic only important character of color!) is the least interesting thing. I would have liked less logistics on Ceony's powers or details of her romance, and more dealing with the implications that she has world-changing powers or even dealing with her being stuck in her mentor's childhood bullying victim's house.
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Date: 2022-11-07 03:13 pm (UTC)From:Adding Ithaca to my reading list! I have never heard of Emily Henry, may check her out as well. I enjoy these summaries. :)