February Reading Roundup

In my efforts to post more consistently this year, I’ve decided to do a reading roundup at the end of each month to rate the books I’ve read that month and share a few notes about each, and then I’ll do a longer book review of my favorite read. My reading habits are all over the place and I am a chronic re-reader of my old favorites, so fair warning: not all the books I’m going to post in these roundups will be new releases (or even from the past decade). I’m drawn to older writing in general versus the modern writing trends. My fave authors are Patricia McKillip, Anne McCaffrey, and Juliet Marillier, after all. Don’t get me wrong, there are some more contemporary books I adore (and for the record, Juliet Marillier is still alive and writing, nor are any of these books really what I would consider ‘old’ compared to, ya know, the stuff I had to read for my PhD).

Anyway, I normally read 5-10 books per month, sometimes more if I get on a binge with a lengthy series or a specific author...but also sometimes less if I’m wrapped up in my own works, which was the case for February. Thus, I only made it through four books this month (six, actually, if you count the two that I beta read for other writers, but I can’t post about those since they aren’t published yet). When I do have those months where I’m just up until 3am reading every night instead of sleeping like I should be, I’ll probably not devote as many comments to each—maybe just a few key words, a star rating. When it’s a spicy book, I’m also not going to count peppers, just indicate if it’s open or closed door. Spice is too subjective, and what constitutes a jalapeño for me might be someone else’s scorpion (and vice versa).

Without further ado—and yes, I know there was a lot of ado already, but I am restarting my blog essentially from scratch—I’m going to go through this month’s reads in order of increasing preference (best for last).

Valerie Valdes, Chilling Effect: 4.5 stars. Big note up front: I messed up the star count when I was making the graphic for this one...so ignore it. I can't count. I was a language major for a reason. Anyway, I was looking forward to this book because I haven’t read much sci-fi this past year, and I love me some sci-fi. I came across this book while vetting agents to query, and I really hope she says yes (but let's be real, stats are not in my favor). I enjoyed the book immensely, but I tend to be more of a hard, science-forward or military sci-fi girlie. Think The Expanse and Battlestar Galactica (the reboot lol, though the original is fun). So this one was a bit on the lighter side in that regard, at least in terms of science explanations, and leaned into the comical/humorous rather than the super-serious tone I usually go for in sci-fis. A lot of the science was hand-waved in a "relic of an ancient civilization, no one knows how it works" way (which, to be fair, both BSG & The Expanse also did, so perhaps that's not a fair criticism). All in all, I thought it would make a good intro-to-sci-fi book for those who don’t share my preference for “dazzle me with scientific explanations for how you surpassed lightspeed limits and the intricate politics of this interstellar society” books, but still want to dip their toes into some epic space opera.

It took me about ten or so chapters to really get into it, but once I did, I was hooked. So anyway, it was a really fun read, but I thought it could have benefited from some deeper world-building science-wise (but that's just me). Biggest disappointment for me was that I was promised psychic space cats, and while they were there, they weren’t necessarily an integral part of the narrative. I absolutely love the relationship between Eva & Vakar though, and I do voyerustically wish we had a little alien spice going on, but this was definitely closed door. When I read non-romantasy, I sometimes forget that we don't always get to spy on the action lol.

Danielle L. Jensen, A Fate Inked in Blood: 4.5 stars. Open door. It took me a minute to get into this book, not because it was boring, but because I didn’t particularly connect with the FMC (Freya) right away. She annoyed me at first. It was pretty standard romantasy fair—which I do love, don’t get me wrong—but it fell victim to a lot of what is starting to make all these books feel the same these days. And that is a gross generalization, because there absolutely is still some variety in the game, but I’ve noticed that most of the romantasy books I’ve read the past few years are following the same pattern. I don’t mean the HFN/HEA required by the romance genre (I have zero issue with that; it is literally a genre convention for a reason), but I am a little tired of the emphasis on stakes and moving the plot forward at the expense of character + world development, and especially the assumption that the only “strong” FMC is a stabby FMC. As a female veteran...there are many more kinds of ways to be strong than just knowing how and being willing to use a sword.

By emphasis on stakes—and that was my biggest complaint with this book—was that Jensen beats us over the head with it every chapter. It felt like every other page, Freya was lamenting how her brother and mother were held hostage to ensure her good behavior. I heard ya the first time. I did not require so many reminders of the “stakes.” As a querying author now, I get why it is that way. I’ve read article after article about how there have to be “clear and compelling stakes,” and the protagonist’s motives must be readily apparent from page one...and this book delivers on both. But it seems a bit heavy-handed to me, almost as if Jensen is proving a point about the lack of subtlety expected with stakes+motive. If she is—good for her. Carry on.

I realize I have done nothing but complain about this book, which isn’t fair because I did genuinely enjoy it once I got into it. Speculative history elements always appeal to me, and the Norse society depicted here wasn’t too far off the mark (although it was actually more patriarchal in some ways; women could easily declare themselves divorced in front of witnesses, for example, and the shame fell on the man—not the woman). As a history buff who devoted an entire chapter of her doctoral dissertation to Warrior-Queens of the Viking Age, I wasn’t repelled. Freya also grew on me over the course of the book, and while the lust-at-first-sight developing into desperate-love-I-can’t-live-without felt a bit abrupt to me, I get it. I’d probably fall for Bjorn right away, too. Yum. He earned his spot on the book boyfriend list for sure.

Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood: 4.5 stars. Open door. I’ve been meaning to check out some of Anne Bishop’s work for a while now, pretty much ever since I heard she was a major inspiration for Sarah J. Maas. But then, of course, I kept forgetting because I have a billion things going on at all times. So anyway, I finally got around to picking up the first book in the Black Jewels Trilogy, and was not expecting the trigger warnings at the beginning. I went into this book more or less blind. I’m glad there were the trigger warnings, however, because otherwise I would have struggled more. There’s a lot of references to SA, and the way they’re presented reminded me a lot of The Mists of Avalon (to include involving minors)—not necessarily in a good way, although that book and the movie were absolutely formative for me. But the enduring legacy, I think, will be more problematic than not. I’m not going to talk too much more about this book otherwise. It was beautifully written and a compelling read, and I will probably finish the series, or at least the original trilogy. That said, I’m not sure I’d recommend it necessarily unless you don’t mind reading about darker themes. But I also now 100% know exactly where Rhysand came from, because Daemon is definitely his prototype.

Shelly Parker-Chan, She Who Became the Sun: 5 stars. This was my only 5-star read this month, and it was my favorite book so far of the year. I’ll be devoting a lengthier review for this one so I can do it justice, so I won’t go into too much now except to say there was no way I would pass up a book with Mongols, monks, ghosts, and speculative history. Highly recommend (just make sure you’re willing to pay attention while reading, because oooooh boy do things get complicated).