Review: The Burning God

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This...can't be it. 

This can't be the end of R.F. Kuang's debut series. 

How can she possibly keep it only as this one trilogy after that ending? 

Review: Instant Karma

Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wow, ain't this a surprise...a Marissa Meyer book that I didn't love with all my heart the second I read it all? But then again, it's also extremely different from all her previous books, being a contemporary romance with only the barest hint of fantasy, and even then it's really just a faint tinge of fabulism at best. Though it's a pretty interesting premise, a girl who starts to think she's developed the ability to cast "instant karma" on anyone who deserves it, of which there are way too many in the (implied Northern California, since San Francisco is the nearest major city and there's a sea lion rescue she volunteers at) beach town she calls home. Interesting it is for sure, especially since it reminds me a tad bit of a certain middle-grade contemporary from this year: Lisa Moore Ramee's Something to Say, where Jenae starts to suspect she's developed a similar power herself and there's really nothing to say she hasn't. But honestly, I think Meyer didn't do as much with this concept as she should have - the story is surprisingly slow-moving, with little to nothing of consequence happening for long stretches of time, and I still feel like there isn't really an ending either. The book just...stops. I guess Meyer, after years of crafting long-running fantasy and sci-fi series, switched gears just a little too abruptly. But I'm sure this book will find its fans, as do all of Meyer's books.

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Review: A ​Sky Beyond the Storm

A ​Sky Beyond the Storm by Sabaa Tahir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sabaa Tahir's back with the fourth and final book of her Ember in the Ashes series, and after more than two years since its predecessor came out, it's a pretty long Endgame to the Infinity War that was Reaper. 

Some time has passed since that book ended on such a devastating note, with the promise of a truly apocalyptic war in the finale. Now, while Tahir takes a little time getting there - I mean, the book isn't really that much longer than its predecessors, only a shade over 500 pages this time - the book also runs a little slow in general in its first half, and even its first three-fifths. Maybe that comes from our three main POV characters being in unusually close proximity after spending a good chunk of Books 2 and 3 pretty far apart, spread out in such a way that the reader needs to keep flipping the pages just to stand a chance at seeing where they'll go next.

Review: Rhythm of War

Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How does Brandon Sanderson do it? Seriously...how? A decade into this series and already a total of over 4000 pages written over four books, at least 1.5 million words by now...and this on top of other projects of his? Wax and Wayne? Skyward and sequels? Even the Steelheart trilogy? Nah, but The Stormlight Archive is well and truly his magnum opus, and here, it's pretty clear that Sanderson is absolutely on top of his game. Weaving in beautifully complex and heart-tugging narratives of the horrors of war, the futility of war, the aggravation of being locked in an endless campaign that never ends...and of course, the frank looks at the effects of a wide variety of mental illnesses on our heroes. Especially Kaladin and his depression, and Shallan and her dissociative identity disorder. Not to mention all kinds of PTSD heaped on top of everything and everyone else. Blake was right, Chapter 80 was well and truly something else...but then Part Five comes along and kicks the story into one of its highest gears yet, including a moment that almost had me screaming my lungs out from sheer shock. And then, with the promise of capping off the first of Sanderson's planned two Stormlight arcs in the fifth book...well, let's just say we really, REALLY need to see him keep up on his god-tier talents. Though I also wouldn't be surprised if we had to wait four or even five years for it...but unlike most other fantasy authors, I absolutely trust Sanderson to deliver.

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Review: Lost Roads

Lost Roads by Jonathan Maberry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I admit, I'd almost forgotten that Jonathan Maberry was continuing the Rot and Ruin with a second series, but now, it's good to see that he's got a second book out with Gutsy Gomez, Benny Imura, and all our favorite zom-hunters - and yes, Joe Ledger, whose main series of (adult) sci-fi thrilllers, I remain perennially behind on. Just like Broken Lands before it, Lost Roads is terrifyingly fast-paced, blistering and bloody the whole way as we unravel even more of the secret origin of the zoms, and witness the rise of the Raggedy Man, naked except for his aged hospital scrubs and sounding seriously like something out of Mad Max. (That I'm reading this on the day that the Toecutter, and more recently Immortan Joe, passed away feels a bit oddly on the nose.) Though this book ends on a pretty solid note, it also stays open to the promise of further adventures for Gutsy, Benny, and all their friends and allies - and if Maberry gives us a third book in this series, I'd be a most happy camper indeed.

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Review: Somebody Told Me

Somebody Told Me by Mia Siegert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Major trigger warnings for this book: queerphobia in many forms (especially trans- and enbyphobia), sexual assault, pedophilia, suicide. 

Years after giving the world Jerkbait, Mia Siegert returns with a new #ownvoices novel, presenting us with a bigender protagonist: Aleks/Alexis, who uses either name depending on which gender they are at the moment. Sometimes that gender flips from day to day, sometimes in the middle of the day. Either way, though, Aleks/Alexis is plagued with a terrible inner monologue, dishing out painful needle-under-the-thumbnail insults and calling up as many painful memories as possible.