Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao – This one didn’t grab me, and a month later I’m struggling to remember it well. It has an interesting setting at least. Reminded me a little of Brandon Sanderson’s Yumi and the Nightmare Painter only more authentic. I would recommend it to people who are interested. It’s a quick read.

The City of Brass by S. A. (Shannon) Chakraborty – I really want to like S. A./Shannon Chakraborty’s work. I really do. But I just couldn’t with this one. It was so boring you guys. I think I’m going to dip on the rest of this series too. Sorry.

Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent – Back in January I said Serpent & the Wings of Night was really boring. Daughter of No Worlds is instead really annoying (what is it with both Shannon Chakraborty and Carissa Broadbent having one book that’s really boring and one book that’s really annoying?) Like Serpent, it was super basic romantasy, only this time, Tisaanah made my temperature rise where What’s-Her-Face from Serpent (her name is Oraya, I had to look that up) was a non-entity. Never picking up another Carissa Broadbent ever again. You couldn’t pay me to.

The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao – Definitely better than Water Moon, and not just because it’s about a train (I love stories set on trains). I found the leads in Water Moon kind of forgettable, but Raya and Q are a lot more special. I liked their stories. I also really liked the format of the book being framed as the Elsewhere Express’ itinerary and FAQ’s. It’s comparable to other books I’ve mentioned or reviewed before like The Midnight Library, Maybe in Another Life, and Cassandra in Reverse, but it’s the best of those four. Definitely recommended.

Children of Strife by Adrian Tchaikovsky – Okay, the Children of Time series has really outstayed its welcome by now. Props on me for reading this book so soon after it came out though (I’m not the best at keeping up with new releases). If Book 5 is gonna happen, I probably won’t read it. I’m worried I’m getting Adrian Tchaikovsky’d out, and I still have his The Final Architecture series sitting on my shelf.

Gifted and Talented by Olivie Blake – I DNF’d this one so fast you guys. Kind of a controversial opinion, but I’ve never seen the show Succession and frankly I have no interest in ever seeing it. I just don’t have a very high tolerance for unsympathetic people yelling at each other. Gifted and Talented gave the same vibes, but it’s not even enjoyable for the good performances like Succession was. I could tell it was just going to be people yelling at each other. Also, I don’t think I’ve ever hated a third-person narrator before. But the snarky commentary from the third-person narrator made me want to throw this book at the wall. I read and did not like The Atlas Six, so I imagine my time reading Olivie Blake is over.

Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell – Not really a fan. It was a little dry, and I didn’t find the romance very compelling. Reminded me a bit of A Memory Called Empire, a book I was also very meh on.

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout – Kinda like Serpent, this romantasy is going into my memory hole. I won’t even remember I read this one in a year’s time. Reminded me a little of Hannah Whitten’s For the Wolf, although I actually remember stuff about that book.

In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan – This’ll get me out of my slump. Our fourth Lady Trent adventure takes us to the deserts of her country. As a minor complaint, we don’t actually get to the eponymous Labyrinth of Drakes until the last few chapters, but that’s a minor nitpick. Like the first three books, this one was a smash hit.

Sunset, Water City by Chris McKinney – This final entry to the Water City trilogy changes the setting from a noir to a post-apocalypse, and changes narrators from our nameless detective of the first two novels to his nineteen year old daughter Ascalon. I’m sure someone with more love of post-apocalyptic fiction would get more out of this one. That said, I think it was stronger than Eventide. I still think this series deserves more love.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (yes, it’s taken me this long to read it, I know it went viral, like, three years ago) – This is a short little book, and honestly, I’d have read it even if it were three times as long. Although, as it is, it doesn’t overstay its welcome, but debatably, it understays its welcome. I found the format refreshing and the time travel exciting and not difficult to follow. I see why this one’s such a darling.

The Faith of Beasts by James S. A. Corey – I’m sorry, I just don’t vibe with The Captive’s War series the way I do with The Expanse. Even the humans feel like aliens in this series. And Faith in particular has a lot of Middle Book Syndrome. I don’t loathe it or anything, but I’m still pretty disappointed by this series. At least it’s only going to be a trilogy – if this were going to be nine books like The Expanse I’d drop it here, but as is, I’ll probably read Book 3 in 2028 or whenever.

This Will Be Fun by E. B. Asher – I found the whole of this one to be more than the sum of its parts. It spends way too long just introducing the characters and their relationships. The quest doesn’t come in until, like, the halfway point. The plot twist at the end kinda comes out of nowhere and debatably invalidates the main trio’s arcs. I also hate that they keep using the term “Claretrice”, the portmanteau couple name for Clare and Beatrice, it’s so cringe. And yet, I still enjoyed my time with it. I found the three leads charismatic, especially Elowen. I found myself rooting for them in spite of the sometimes messy plot. I’m not sure I would recommend this one per se, but I enjoyed it. I might even pick up This Will Be Interesting, although I’m worried that one might be worse.