I'm going to skip my synopsis for this book since I feel like the more I read in this series the more potential there is for me to spoil previous books by explaining the setup for this book.

What I am going to say about this book is that it focuses heavily on Emily's brother Navin and his role in the story as well as really getting into the realities of the political conflict and what war really means while still being a middle grade graphic novel. The story doesn't hide the realities of the political conflict and brush the danger under the rug which I really appreciate.

I'm still really interested in this story and I'm looking forward to continuing on and finishing the last three books in the series.

It's been a while since I picked up Legends & Lattes and I haven't had a chance to pick up Brigands & Breadknives yet, but if I say that this book didn't make me want to fall back into the world, I would be lying.

Bookshops & Bonedust follows Viv, our friendly orc who has just recently joined up with her mercenary band. When Viv gets a little too overeager hunting down a necromancer, she winds up injured and left behind in the town of Murk to heal up. Rather than sit around and do nothing, Viv winds up striking up a friendship with Fern, the owner of a nearby book shop. While Murk is generally a pretty quiet town, Viv soon realizes that it isn't as boring as she might think and her mercenary experience might actually be important.

I picked this up not remembering much from Legends & Lattes and really just wanting something cozy and bookish to dive into. And this completely delivered. It really felt like a hug to my inner bookworm and still had a darker side to the story that I really enjoyed. The story really focuses on the character relationships and builds them from the ground up, something that really felt authentic.

These characters have my heart and I'm so hopeful I can pick up the rest of these books soon. I'd highly recommend the audiobook if you enjoy listening to your reads.

I picked this up because of @Sydsydbookworrom’s review on Instagram and I’m really glad I did because this was a really good time.

Strange Beasts follows Samantha Harker, the daughter of Jonathan Harker who slew Dracula. Sam works for the Royal Society for the Study of Abnormal Phenomena as a librarian, but she harbors a secret stemming from her family’s past. When she hears about a strange case happening in Paris, she decides this is the perfect opportunity to dive into the world of investigating rather than staying as a researcher. What she doesn’t expect is to be partnered with Dr. Helena Moriarty, daughter of Professor Moriarty and bearer of a troubled past and too many secrets to name.

This book started off with a bang and really immersed me in the world. It’s technically historical fantasy, but the worldbuilding really immersed me in the story more than the historical setting took me out of the story. The story takes characters as spinoffs from classic literature and sets them on their own paths solving mysteries and I really loved that element.

Overall, there was just so much I enjoyed from this book and I’m so grateful to Netgalley and the publisher that I received an ARC of the second book in the series.

After the events of book 4, Emily and co have to deal with the fallout. Max has the mother stone which allows him to create new stones and new Stonekeepers.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this book was that it allowed us to get some more backstory about Max and his character motivations. There’s so much that we learn that really fleshes out how these characters are responding to similar things in similar ways on both sides of the conflict and that makes this series so much more impactful for me

Did it take me quite a while to pick this up after I initially read book 1 in this series? Yes. Did I learn after reading it that there’s supposed to be a book 3 in the series as well? Also yes.

The Shadow Casket doesn’t pick up right after the end of The Ember Blade. Instead, it’s been a bit and we’re following the rebellion after the initial hype has worn off. The rebellion isn’t a pretty thing. It’s messy and weary and everyone is just doing their best to survive while also trying to win against the Krodans.

This book felt really character driven. The way these characters have grown since the first book really stood out to me and I really enjoyed seeing how their character traits flipped and changed from where they started.

I really appreciated how this book changed from book 1 and I’m really looking forward to reading book 3 once it is announced and released.

I picked this series up initially because a middle grade graphic novel series has to be a palate cleanser, right? Well, as I’m discovering, I’m completely wrong about that.

By the time we get to volume 4 in this series, Emily and her friends and family have reached Cielis and met Max, a Stonekeeper around Emily’s age who takes her to the academy where trials are ongoing to determine who will join the council. While Emily is in the midst of these trials, her friends wind up exploring the city where they soon realize that something sinister is going on below the surface.

I think this has been my favorite volume in the series so far. The plot is really progressing at this point and the worldbuilding keeps expanding and wowing me at every turn of the page.

I really enjoyed the vibes in the first book in this series and, while they were still present in this book, the storyline as a whole ended up feeling a little weaker for me than book 1.

Despite everything that happened for Harry Dresden in book 1 in the series Storm Front, Fool Moon picks up with Harry in a really similar situation: down on his luck and running out of money. Once again Lt. Karrin Murphy of the Chicago P.D. finds herself with some mysterious and magical murders to deal with and she pulls Harry in to help her investigate what appear to be vicious maulings that might very well be connected to the timing: every month around the full moon. Harry knows what this means- and that it spells quite a bit of danger.

The flaws in Harry's character that I talked about in my review for Storm Front didn't feel quite as present to me in this book, but I'm also not sure how much of it was just me getting used to Harry's character and point of view. Despite that, there was just something about the plotline that left me feeling a little disconnected from the book, but I also went into it having heard that this was one of the weaker books in the series and didn't take away too much from my enjoyment of the story.

Overall, this book felt similar to book 1 for me, but I've heard book 3 is where the series really takes off so I'm looking forward to picking it up soon!

I gave this book a star rating immediately, but I needed some time to process all my thoughts and be able to describe them coherently before I could actually write a review.

This is How You Lose the Time War follows two time traveling agents, each on a different side of the time war, known as Red and Blue. While they've observed each other for a while, they haven't ever interacted until Red finds a message Blue has left for her and they strike up a correspondence.

It sounds like a relatively simple premise: we follow both Red and Blue as they continue through the time war and we see their messages back and forth. But the emotions that come through so clearly in the beautiful writing style this book has? They're absolutely incredible. This book is rather short compared to the majority of the books I read, but the length means that this book had no time to lose in pulling me in and leaving me so deeply attached to these characters. I went through a whole spectrum of emotions reading this book and that really doesn't typically happen.

The writing style itself is also incredibly lyrical. I read Amal El-Mohtar's book The River Has Roots earlier this year and loved the lyrical fairytale style writing it has, and it's really similar to the writing style in this book. It just really added to the emotion in the story for me and, while I know it might not work for everyone, it really worked well for me.

This book felt like a middle book for sure, but it also felt like it marked a transition in the overall plot and story arc of the series and I’m loving it.

Picking up where book two left off, Emily and co have been living life and preparing to leave to find the lost city of Cielis. While they embark on their journey, the elf prince Trellis is left to face his own path separate from his father- a path that intersects with Emily’s.

This book felt like it was mostly a travel book, but not in a bad way. It just felt like little happened aside from going from one place to another and, as much as I’m enjoying just being in this world and this art style, I found myself wanting more in terms of plot, so I’m hopeful book 4 delivers.