magic

Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch

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Started: 1/30/23
Finished: 3/31/24

I read the first book in this series in 2021 and liked it okay. I switched to the audiobooks for the rest of the series, and either they got MUCH much better or I just love the narrator THAT much. He really is incredible, and now I do love the series, but I am strictly on audiobook forever for these.

Yay magic, yay police procedurals, yay interesting characters and completely wacky side quests. I’ve read all 14 books and novellas. There’s more coming, and I’m waiting very impatiently.

Furyborn, Kingsbane, and Lightbringer by Claire Legrand

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Started: 10/22/23
Finished: 12/15/23

YA trilogy with interesting (although often very confusing) magic, high-strung heroes, a completely insane and evil villain, and an occasionally baffling time-travel plot. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

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Started: 9/29/23
Finished: 10/10/23

Pretty good story, pretty good narrator (for the audiobook, I mean), and the main character pretty much acted her age, which was a nice change. I mean, she still outsmarted lots of people and saved the day, but in a tolerable way. Magic and dangerous grimoires! And libraries!

Babel by R.F. Kuang

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Started: 9/2/23
Finished: 9/15/23

I didn’t realize until just now that the full title of this book is “Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution”. Sounds about right. It’s an alternate history with lots to say about racism and exoticism and conspiracy. Interesting magic stuff, sometimes a bit slow, and while I don’t really want a sequel, I do want to know what happens after.

I read The Poppy War (same author’s first book, maybe?) a few years ago, and I didn’t like it at all. This is much different, much better, and makes it much more likely that I’ll read Yellowface (also acclaimed).

A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate, and The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

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Started: 8/10/23
Finished: 8/28/23

I read the first one two years ago, but the second and third books weren’t out yet, so I felt I should re-read this once I got my hands on the second and third books. I really enjoyed this series, but it’s pretty brutal. The kids are dealing with constant danger, their parents are mostly pretty awful, and the magic system is pretty weird. But I love the characters, and I love the author, and I’m glad I read these.

The Iron Princess by Barbara Hambly

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Started: 8/3/23
Gave up: 8/10/23

Gave this one up after a week of getting bogged down in unlikeable characters and muddy plots. How does the magic work? I don’t know, I don’t care. The wizard is a bad guy? A good guy? He used to be a bad guy, but it was for good reasons and he has repented? I’m not sure, and I don’t care. The main character is a princess (or something) and she has a double life and has to sneak in and out of her castle when she wants to lead the resistance? Meh.

A Court of Mist and Fury, A Court of Wings and Ruin, A Court of Frost and Starlight, and A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

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Started: 2/21/23
Finished: 5/19/23

These are the rest of the ACOTAR books (so far). I’m lumping them together because I can’t remember what happens in which books. These got SO much better after the first one – the story is better, the writing is better, and I just want to spend more time with the characters. I’m looking forward to the next one, and I probably will reread them.

House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

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Started: 1/26/23
Finished: 2/10/23

And THEN I started her third series. The writing was IMMEDIATELY so much better, even though the mix of tech and magic was a little hard to get into in the beginning. But someone dies 50 pages in and I CRIED because I was already that invested, so I declare this series good.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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Started: 1/16/23
Finished: 1/18/23

Yes, I started this series. The writing was okay, but this was clearly a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I like fairy tale retellings. The hero seemed pretty great, except when he didn’t, and the answer to the “riddle” was so obvious I thought I couldn’t possibly have it right. But also I didn’t care that much. I finished it to see what the hype was about. It was okay.

Just Like Magic by Sarah Hogle

Started: 11/25/22
Finished: 11/27/22

I don’t usually read holiday books, and I don’t read a lot of romance novels, and I certainly don’t read a lot of holiday romances, but I loved this book. The main character is pretty awful at the beginning, but the book takes a ludicrous turn FAST, and it’s funny, and I swear I cried TWICE before it was over. Super light read, super ridiculous plot, oversimplified resolution, and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more.

The Atlas Paradox by Olivie Blake

Started: 11/16/22
Finished: 11/25/22

Sequel to The Atlas Six, which I enjoyed so much I got on the waiting list for this one immediately. Turns out there will be at least one more (there’d better be), and this one suffers a little bit from 2nd volume syndrome. It has a thing to do, but it takes overlong to get there, and there are a lot of scenes of characters figuring something out without actually telling the reader what they’re figuring out. I can’t tell if whatever the thing is (or things are – this happens more than once) is supposed to be obscure and I’ll find out later, or if I’m just being dense and I should have understood what the character was saying.

But I enjoyed it! And I’m looking forward to the next book.

The Charmed List by Julie Abe

Started: 10/5/22
Gave up: 10/8/22

I read a Buzzfeed article about cozy fantasy books for the fall, and this sounded promising. Magic hidden in plain sight in Palo Alto, cute little romance. And sure, those things happen. But the characters are in high school, and I just cannot. I literally said, “Ugh, teenagers,” when I put this one down for good.

The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood

Started: 8/28/22
Finished: 9/5/22

Sequel to The Unspoken Name, which I really enjoyed. I liked this second book so much I emailed the author to thank her. And I learned there will be a third! (That wasn’t guaranteed, or even necessary, based on how it ended, but I’m happy to hear it.) There’s a time jump I found jarring at first, but pretty quickly I loved that the characters got to grow up. I think that just means I’m old, but still!

Book of Night by Holly Black

Started: 8/12/22
Finished: 8/17/22

I really enjoyed a trilogy by Holly Black (about fairies, the not friendly kind) and just could not finish a book of hers about vampires, so I wasn’t sure what I was getting into with this one. I think she enjoys writing main characters that are hard to like, which is fine, but also the magic in this was weird. It’s to do with shadows, but how and what exactly is mostly unclear (on purpose), and I just can’t tell you if I liked it. I had no trouble finishing it, though, so that may be a clue.