I've been obsessed with T. Kingfisher's horror since I read The Hollow Places, and I requested this one thinking it was a horror - it isn't but it is a great introduction to T. Kingfisher's fantasy and I'm already adding more to my wishlist for my birthday. This dark fairytale was a lot more heart-warming than I expected and I'm utterly in love with these characters.
I honestly requested this one based off the tagline, 'Only a monster can kill a hero'. I'm a sucker for villainous characters, as you can tell from my reviews of All of Us Villains and Beyond the Ruby Veil. This book wasn't what I expected, more good-guy-monster than monster-monster, but I had so much fun reading it. Once I got started I read the whole thing in one day, kept entertained enough to chase through each page, though unfortunately the ending didn't really land with me.
The hype around this book was real, and when I first started it I was nervous it wouldn't live up to it. But it did. It felt like Middlegame meets All of Us Villains, both of which I loved, and I really enjoyed this intriguing, character-driven dark academia fantasy - even if I did desperately want to punch of of the characters in the face.
I absolutely adored THE UNSPOKEN NAME when I first read it, and loved it even more on the reread. This was one of my most anticipated 2022 releases, so I was delighted when Tor sent me a finished copy to read and review. I started reading the audiobook, but ended up swapping to the physical copy because I felt the overwhelming urge to tab as I went - which I have only ever done for Harrow the Ninth before. That should tell you how much I loved this sequel.
I read Stephanie Burgis’ Harwood Spellbook Series before, and I loved them. They were super cozy romances, so when I was offered a review copy of Good Neighbors - all I had to hear was metal mage/necromancer and I knew I had to have it. I picked these up one night before bed and ended up reading the entire collection in one sitting, I just couldn’t look away.
I read The Ravens last year because I have a weakness for witchy stories - and the idea of a witchy story set in a sorority house had my attention. I liked The Ravens, though I did have a few problems with it, and unfortunately I liked The Monarchs slightly less as I was frustrated with a lot of the character arcs.
I ended up finishing this in one sitting and immediately ordering the sequels; The Hidden Witch and The Midwinter Witch. Which I then also read in one sitting. I added this one to my wishlist after reading The Girl from the Sea, so it's safe to say that I'm officially a Molly Knox Ostertag fangirl through and through. I do think that The Witch Boy was my favourite of the lot, but I do think they'll be comfort reads that I come back to a lot.
Throughout 2021, I buddy-read all of Melissa Caruso’s books with Alu (https://tome-reader.com/), and she has firmly established herself as a new insta-buy author - and possibly my favourite author of 2021.
I'm literally obsessed with this book. I don't know what else I can possibly say as an introduction but that this fulfilled all of my favourite tropes: monstrous characters, hate-to-love, betrayal, blood magic, death matches. Rating: 5 stars
This is a contender for my favourite book of the year. If you like horrible girls realising they might actually be a good person, this is the book for you. Rating: 5 stars
inkandplasma reviews 