This was a fast paced survival story which I really enjoyed! I was expecting a little bit more of a thriller, but that only comes in at the end, most of this story is a fiercely waged war for survival during a storm and the growing mystery of why they were out in the storm.
I loved that Emmy showed flashes of intelligence despite the main characters annoyance with her best friends boyfriend obsession because too often it becomes the bff’s stupidity that drives the plot entirely and while it is partly that it also shows that Emmy isn’t just the vapid girl she appears to be in the beginning.
Megan is hands down one of my favourite main characters in a thriller/mystery/survival story I’ve read this year, she is so realistic and I was 100% onboard with her and her decisions throughout the whole book! I will say that the end totally shocked me tho, i was not expecting that!
World – 4/5 – it’s vivid and i was 100% in it all the time. Thrillers dont focus on the world but it did everything it needed to do.
Plot – 5/5 – THE PLOT REVEALS!
Characters – 4.5/5 – i liked or hated them in turn, and enjoyed Megan as a main character.
Romance – 3.5/5 – for me this was the least stand out part of this book, it’s not a romance driven plot but it does matter to the characters emotional reactions and complexities in the plot.
Romance Rating: Soft – kissing, little to no detail.
Violence Rating: Level 4.
Content Warnings: sea storm, lost at sea, survival, deaths of multiple characters.
Perfection. This is funny but also deep, this is complex but always understandable and fast paced, this is the dragons golden egg of fantasy and i adored it!
To begin with we have this really interesting set up where Evie is the assistant to the villain and the villain is essentially a corporation except his company goals are less revenue and more heads dangling from the ceiling in the foyer. It’s such a breath of fresh air to read a fantasy book that doesn’t center around being a hero, Evie is a willing assaceory to a villain but she is doing it because she needs the money which is such a good villain arc motivator. The question isnt asked directly in the book but i really do think that some amazing analysis could be done of this book connecting with the real world and the realties of supporting evil for money if you work in a big corporation despite doing it for good reasons. I really love how this book isnt just a boss/assistant romance set in a shifty fantasy steryotypical world this is thought through and actually works on a deeper level than just you know that the steryotypical pseudo European fantasy world looks like despite having relatively few settings outside the Villains office.
Evie herself is a ray of sunshine and i loved her. In a world of kick ass FMCs who sass back constantly and have the maturity of a unripe tomato she was so nice to read about because she was sensible and funny and interesting as a character beyond the plot. All of the characters (Kingsley included you little adorable frog prince!) were so interesting and easy to grasp i feel like i could fall right into their world.
The romance had me giggling and it was just so so good that I already have the second book that i cant wait to get started on!
World – 4.5/5 – this is not the heavy duty epic fantasy worldbuilding but i loved the world and atmosphere so much I cannot dock points because this is a five star read and I don’t always need to be able to write a disatation on economics of a fantasy world after reading it!
Characters – 5/5 – yes, yes yes! Even the office rulemaker has depth and i loved it.
Romance – 5/5 – trystan has joined the list of February’s literary valentines and he works so well with Evie their combo is *chefs kiss*
Plot – 5/5 – that cliff hanger? I’m sorry but when did i sign up to have the next week exclusively blocked off for aprentice and acomplicing a villain??
Romance Rating: Sweet – described kissing, make out scenes but goes no further than kissing on or off page.
Violence Rating: Level 4
Content Warnings: Evie does have a past of sexual harassment at work
It’s so interesting to see the devolopment of Rebecca Ross’s writing style, i can see traces of the lyrical fantastical worldbuilding in this book that is similar to Divine Rivals, but it is still written in a much more modern YA style that is common in fantasy. One of my favourite things about Divine Rivals was that it was written like it was written in the 1940s with the language and vibes despite being a fantasy war novel.
On its own it stands up as a fantasy novel but it doesnt have the spark of complete uniqueness that Divine Rivals did and i felt like I had read this story many times before in different fonts. I did enjoy the dual countries and the history behind that, this was one of the really strong points of this book that the worldbuilding was so strong but i felt like when we left the passion house we lost that timeless wonder and went into a very typical fantasy coming of age plot.
Over all it was a fun read and I really enjoyed the girls interactions with each other – it does pass the Bechdel test! – which was a highlight of this series for me because female friendship is something that often is not represented in fantasy ya because the focus is on the love interest or the war or their own power rather than friendship.
World – 4/5 – most solid part of this book and i enjoyed that the main character was a historian, it made her knowledge of politics realistic and interesting, she knew what the political landscape she was stepping into was which i appreciated .
Plot – 3/5 – it was very predictable, and followed all the genre conventions but it did work and at no point did it annoy me.
Romance – 1/5 – this did annoy me. This isnt a spoiler because we get this from the very first chapters but she is in love with her teacher. This is a student/teacher romance subplot which was so icky and i really didnt enjoy. He felt odd and shifty to me and i felt like the main character liked his intelligence and dedication as a teacher and that got mixed up in romantic feelings. I just. I hate age gap, i hate teacher x student and i really dont like it when the romance feels unneeded so this wasnt it for me I’m sorry.
Characters – 3/5 – none of the characters were groundbreaking, i felt a loose attachment to the main character and had an active hatred of one of the girls whom essentially had the mc self-sabotage an important conversation because she wanted to be favoured. I did understand that girl though and honestly her book would be really interesting, considering the different perspective between the main character who thinks they are awful at their subject and the girl who is watching them take their opportunities and be favoured over her.
Romance Rating: Soft – just kisses no description
Violence Rating: Level 3 – standard fantasy violence, a battle at the end, check out my blog post on Violence Ratings that is pinned for more specifics!
Content Warnings: student/teacher relationship, suggestion of possible rape to the mc’s mother, death of mother.
I wanted a fun light rom-com read and this was not it at all. If this had been the beginning of a revenge arc or a thriller then I would have kept reading but as a rom-com it was awful.
Let me begin with the three main issues
the romantic lead was the most toxic man to ever be put to a rom-com page
Her friends were awful and from the blurb i know it gets worse
The main character had a smoke wisp of a spine and i have no words for how annoying it was to read.
Jay is the biggest red flag of this book which made me DNF it because honestly if she dates him she’s going to end up on an episode of Dateline. The first time they meet he starts of by insulting her on what she is wearing while ogling her (which falls also into section two on the friends are the worst breakdown and then THREATENS TO DROP HER OFF A CLIFF IF SHE DOESNT ADMITT SHES AFRAID OF HEIGHTS! Wtf is wrong with this boy? She is terrified, and he holds her out over the edge of that cliff for several lines of dialogue – it’s not banter it’s the beginning of a trauma dump therapy session or it should be. This should be the end of it – right?
No, no, no this isnt even the start. He comes to the place she works at and antagonises her, admitting that he looked up her skirt when she was on the edge of the cliff and starts asking about her underwear (not the only time either and I dnf’d early from this car wreck). I think this was supposed to be banter, he’s a creep and she’s uncomfortable.
Then THEN! they end up on a blind date (again which needs to fall into section 2 as well) and he asks about the underwear again – seriously why is this supposed to be attractive, this is a first date you weirdo and you literally have been antagonising (and threatening to drop her of a cliff in a mini dress and stilettos). When she texts her friend the exit word – the phrase itself needs to be noted down as a horrible idea “i have a hairy possum” this text accidentally goes through to him (I HATE that accidental text thing, do all female main characters have three thumbs and no names on their phone screens?) and he takes it as a sexual innuendo (because of course he does) and teases her about it at which point I DNF’D and I’m running because I’m not going to stick around for this car wreck, i don’t have enough five stars under my belt to follow this one sink into the negative stars.
Then the friends. Oh boy where do i start? To begin with, they all treat her like she’s pathetic because she’s single and the other two girls in her friend group are paired of. However, her ‘best friend’ is dating the boy she has liked for years whom she KNEW the MC liked, and dated him behind her back. This wasn’t enough for a blow up, no, the mc just held her tongue and DROVE THEM TO A PARTY MONTHS LATER LIKE NOTHING HAD HAPPENED WHILE THEY MADE OUT IN THE BACK.
Of course, Khalei’s boyfriend Emmett is gorgeous and perfect and the one who is trying to include Catrina (our very unfortunate mc in this friend group who should be applying to a university in Australia to get away from these people but instead is staying in Carolina *silent scream of frustration before i close these very long parentheses brackets*). They are doing all these couple activities, and she’s the fifth wheel all the time (because she has had horrifically humiliating failures at dating and so doesn’t want to try again oh and did i mention she’s in love with the boy her darling pyschopath oblivious or perhaps sociopathic best friend is DATING.
To recap, her best friend (imagine the finger quotes here) is dating the boy she has liked for years and her best friend knows and is doing this anyway, they are rubbing her singleness publically in her face, saying she has to get a boyfriend that fits with the group so that they’re not sad and pathetic at prom because Khalei is running for prom queen and a prom queens friend cant be sad and single! (Insert a jab about her talking about colour theory too much because she’s an artist – dear god I’ve read about bullies that pulled their punches less than this, its like a dissertation in how to be spineless and be bullied by your friends), and Emi is playing these weird power games with the rest of them telling them the wrong things to wear so that they turn up at the said party in mini dresses instead of bikinis and not letting them know they are going CLIFF DIVING (sixty feet up!) when one of her friends cant swim and the other one is scared of heights like um what the ——?
The main character would have been relatable but she was such a victim and i need her to run not walk away. She had some spunk when she was fighting back against Pink Shorts but she was a complete floppy spine with her friends. I feel really sorry for her but I’m not staying to see her end up in an abusive relationship so no.
One review said they were DNF’ing because they’re a Christian I’m dnfing because I’m a feminist. My hopes are at the bottom of Jay’s cliff and I hate him so much.
This is a short story collection that includes some stories from the Scholomance and the Temenarie series. While you dont have to have read the Temenarie series to read its short stories (no spoilers there) the scolomance shorties do essentially spoil the huge ending of book two and the ending of book three (which I haven’t read yet but could have guessed). Either way, it’s full of so many stories that even if you skip the scolomance ones then you’ll still have a lot of Naomi Novik to luxuriate in.
Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This one was first and honestly not my favourite of the collection. It’s a fun short story set in the regency period with a female main lead who has a talisman that helps her survive when her ship is attacked by pirates because it turns her into a man. I enjoyed it at the time, but it wasn’t very memorable for me however its a good start to the collection because its a familiar premise with Noviks sharp wit and prose before she truely shows what she can do with some of the later ones which are some of the most original fantasy I’ve read in a long time!
After Hours I did skip this one once I realised there were spoilers for the third book in it but I’m planning on returning after I’ve read the golden enclaves book.
Vici ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Lots of people dont like this one from reviews but i loved it! It was mark Antony with dragons and the founding of the dragon corps. It was short sweet and had literally everything I like in it. My only complaint is that it was too short for me to really give it those full five stars because we only saw a few pages of this but it was so good!
Dragons & Decorum ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This is a pride and prejudice retelling with dragons set in the Temenarie world and I loved it! The wit of the dragons, the connection between Elizabeth and Darcy and the fact that Naomi Novik can so closely mirror the chemistry and cleverness of the first in a short story is amazing.
Commonplaces ⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was essentially fan fiction of a character from Sherlock and while it was interesting and engaging enough because i had not read the book that this one was based on I think i missed some of the callbacks that people who have read the book may have enjoyed.
Buried Deep ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This story was so sad. It was the retelling of Ariadne and the Minotaur but focusing on their brother sister relationship and the pain of having someone you love torn away from you. The pain of the characters truely came through and i could feel every time Ariadne stomped the pattern across her brothers labyrinth to remind him she was still here for him in my heart. It’s almost making me cry even now it was so beautiful and i wish that Naomi Novik would write more Greek myths.
Seven Years from Home ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was the one that for me felt like a novel. It was beautiful and complex featuring a soldier sent to colonise a nation but grows to learn that she in fact respects their way of life but she is still loyal to her Confederacy. The magic system in this book is so so strong I’m taken aback by it, the exploration of how you can seperate morality and reason and the way that such a short time somewhere can leave a lasting impression on you was so beautifully explored. Another one that almost made me cry by the end, it’s rare i read something as perfect as this.
The Long Way Around ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I hope she does like she hinted make this into a novel this is a sea journey that explores strange lands through the perspective of some of the best shipbuilders in the land. Tress was capable and logical and i loved her pragmatism against her brothers romantic and optimistic ways. We have a doomed romance between secondary characters in this, strange buildings and a possibility to change the course of their world’s shipping lanes. I cant wait to see if we are going to get more in this world!
Spinning Silver ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’ve read the book of this and i enjoyed it so the shorter version that was the original was fun to read! I loved the way that it delved into her economic sense. It’s so rare for a heroine to be smart and actually have some business sense in a YA book that i was in love from the beginning. I love cruel practical heroines and this one was perfection.
Lord Dunsany’s Teapot ⭐️⭐️⭐️ So so short but fun to read – despite being about a magical artifact in the world wars! Definitely worth a read it has some gorgeous imagery and hope and humanity to it!
I cant remember much about the rest of them, i think there were a few more but they weren’t long enough that I found them memorable personally. Still there were none that i disliked and would have rated lower than three stars which is super impressive considering some of them were literally only about twenty pages.
Romance and Violence Ratings are both very low for all, Seven years from home is the only one that had some described death and pain. Romance wise all the kisses are G rated and no description.
Pub Date: 21st of April 2026 Publisher: Bindery Books Genre: Fantasy, retelling, Age Category:
As I was reading this book, I was thinking that it almost was historical fiction in feel except set in a fantasy world. And I think that that is a really good way of describing the luxurious world but always realistic political landscape in this book – so many fantasy books ignore what you actually have to do to rule a country, and so I loved that this didn’t shy away from the fact that sometimes an arranged marriage is the only option for the countries future even if it isn’t the best for yours. Of course when I read the authors acknowledgments at the end which discussed how this was actually a fantasy retelling of the story of Rani Abbakka Chowta, an amazing queen whom like so many others has been diminished in history books but this I feel was a worthy tribute because honestly it has no faults. Every piece of language is beautiful and lyrical and all the emotions feel so real. I will admit to staying up late for this book and I’m so happy that I started November with this book because it’s a five star of five stars!
The “othering” of the colonisers is one of my favourite things I’ve read this year, just twisting the narrative to show a different perspective which is what all fantasy should do.
The arranged marriage relationship was so strong because the man she marries isnt her happily ever after but he isnt the worst human imaginable which are usually the two ways that the arranged marriage storyline goes so I LOVED that!
I can’t wait until this comes out because I need someone else to gush over all the little beautiful heartwrenching things in this book!
World – 5/5 – yess! I love Mantana and the birds so much, and the way that she interacts with them as a child and then as an adult. The world itself is so vibrant and seems to come off the page with food and smells and textures.
Plot – 5/5 – I loved it.
Characters – 4.5/5 – I’ve already talked about Mantana the green lion so let me talk about the others! They were all really individual strong characters which I loved but I wish that we had got a taste of Thevon and his childhood a bit more but I think that will come in the next book because the cliff hanger is a two hundred feet one!
Romance – 4/5 – we don’t get much at all, but its very promising so I cant wait!
Romance Rating: Sweet – kissing and making out are described and mentioned. We know that they sleep together but it is less than a paragraph in past tense and euphemistic on page.
Violence Rating: Level 4 – nothing unusual in fantasy but there are sustained bloody fights which go on for more than a chapter which I loved but might be a bit much for some people.
I am personally researching every name and possible option I can do for my name inside the Book of Remembrance but if anyone else is looking for ideas then I thought I’d offer all the possible Ancient Language words that you could encorporate inside your name from across the dictionary pages of the books.
These are the words we get from the first book:
Ancient Language
Aiedeail – the morning star
Arget – silver
Argetlam – silver hand (lore here, this is what Eragon’s hand is called because of his gedwey ignasisa that he received the first time he touched Saphira. Might be a good name for a dragonrider combination)
Breoal – family, house
Brisingr – Fire
Edoc’sil – unconquerable
Garjzla – light
Gedwey ignasisa – shining palm
Iet – my (informal)
Pomnuria – my (formal)
Seithr – witch
Shur’tugal – dragonrider
Wydra – fate
Yawe – a bond of trust
I’ve taken out any I don’t think are relevant to names and also phrases.
Dwarf Language
Ingietum – metal workers, smiths. (Could be used as a surname!)
Knurl – stone, rock.
Knurla – dwarf
Otho – faith
Sheilven – cowards
Urgal Language
Ushnark – father
You could combine a mixture of these – here are a few of the ideas I’m considering!
your real name + mums name and then daughter. Eg: Eleanor Fernsdaughter.
A title + your name. Eg: Dragonrider Anna Carthright.
Just your name (good for bragging rights)
Trying to Eragonify your name yourself! While only the dragonrider tier will actually get their names as alaegaeian names if you really want to delve deep into the linguistics of the realm then why not make your name something closer to a Spine dweller?
If you have ever read another blogpost of mine you know that I am a diehard Eragon stan and have been since I was nine. I have reread the series over and over and may or may not have a signed copy of the witch and the worm which is my very prized possession and so when I saw that Wraithmarked was doing a kickstarter for new Eragon content of course I had to take the opportunity to intertwine myself even deeper into Alaegasia.
The Book of Remembrance allows you to put your own name (or one of an OC or DnD character) into the lists of the dead from seven of the major battles that happen over the course of Alaegaeia’s history. And I am a little stuck on which name to pick because of course I want my own name, but then I also want something more Alaegaeian as well.
As any one would do I went on Reddit and began researching on sub threads what people were doing and the collective genius has offered up some of my favourite ideas.
your real name + mums name and then daughter. Eg: Eleanor Fernsdaughter.
A title + your name. Eg: Dragonrider Anna Carthright.
Just your name (good for bragging rights)
Trying to Eragonify your name yourself! While only the dragonrider tier will actually get their names as alaegaeian names if you really want to delve deep into the linguistics of the realm then why not make your name something closer to a Spine dweller?
NB: must be under 50 characters, but this gives you LOTS of space so you can still play with it!
Here are the links to Reddit if you want to read some ideas yourself!
I absolutely devoured this and I cannot wait for the novella to come out on the 25th!
We get so much more of Lia’s story, and also Cassies own life with her mother. Now on the track of her mothers attacker, Cassie and the rest of the Naturals are in a town with a cult on its borders and a poison museum, oh and did I mention that this was the home of a serial killer? And that Cassie has realised she had forgotten the life she lived there with her mother.
Yes yes yes.
World – 5/5 – this is dark and psychological, and I love it so much!
Plot – 5/5 – I knew what was going to happen, or I thought it did, but it still surprised me! I loved that there were multiple mysteries within the book.
Characters – 5/5 – wow.
Romance – 5/5 – I love Dean and Cassie, we only get little tiny moments of them but they are so good together.
Violence Rating: Level 5
Romance Rating: Soft
Content Warnings: Rape (in past, resulted in a child), dead animals, murder, serial killers, drugs, torture, child abuse.
The Naturals are back in Vegas! I absolutely devoured the third book in this series, we had both Sloanes backstory and an epic complex twisted mystery which I adored. One of my favourite things was how we can see Cassie beginning to understand the people around her more, both Sloane and Lia and her lies.
Against the backdrop of Vegas and luxury, the serial killer roaming the casinos is especially dangerous and elusive, and when all the suspects are expert bluffers then the FBI are stuck at every turn.
One of my favourite things is Sloane and the way we get to see more into her loneliness created by her Natural power and her abusive neglectful family. Her open vunerabilty and non-explicit but very very obvious autism have solidified her as one of my favourite characters which is a tough spot to claim in a super complex cast that I absolutely adore.
Let’s dive into the star ratings!
World – 4/5 – I love it as always but I wish we had got more of Vegas, a lot of it was inside their apartment.
Romance – 5/5 – oh so so good!
Character – 5/5 – yes yes yes!
Plot – 5/5 – I am speechless. Speechless. Best plot twists yet!
Violence Rating: Level 5
Romance Rating: Soft
Content Warnings: abuse, child abuse, neglect, serial killerism, murder, gambling.
Damsel in Delight 