This is the second r/fantasy bingo card, the one I loudly declared in March that I would not be completing. To learn more about our bingo and the full description of the categories, check out the main reddit post. 

I was going to do the pretty pictures like my first bingo card, but fell very behind, so here is my card just in one pic. Planning to post my 3rd card, the BLM Book Bingo one, tomorrow.

Translated from Original Language Ghost in the Shell Masamune Shirow – Yup, I still don’t like cyberpunk, not even in graphic form. Review to come

Setting Featuring Snow, Ice or Cold Lirael Garth Nix – I loved Sabriel but was not that into the sequel, I just didn’t like the main character as much and Sabriel had this thing where the stakes kept getting higher and higher, and then Lirael goes back to being small and personal for a good chunk, which wasn’t what I was expecting or in the mood for. Review

Optimistic The House in the Cerulean Sea (h) T. J. Klune. OMG YES! I loved this book! It’s warm and fuzzy and feel good and sweet. An almost-contemporary fantasy about a social worker sent to investigate an orphanage for magical children and how he gets to know them and himself. Review

Featuring Necromancy The Unspoken Name A. K. Larkwood – Queer necromancers are on trend and I’m loving it (as long as they’re not Gideon the Ninth). I really enjoyed this one, it’s an epic fantasy with some portals and flying ships, the structure is really weird and it’s a very quick read. Review

Ace / Aro Dread Nation Justina Ireland – Another book I loved and read as fast as I could. It also helped me through one of my shittiest moments on 2020. It’s about teenage girls fighting zombies just after the American Civil War. It’s quick, fun and engaging and I loved the main character. Review

Featuring a Ghost Reaper Man Terry Pratchett – my reread for this card. DEATH is my favorite Discworld character and reading this was like meeting up with an old friend. Who’s very sweet about trying to act human. Review

Featuring Exploration Maya and the Rising Dark Rena Barron – I thought this was a great middle-grade book, I loved the Orisha and the portal fantasy aspect. But, I was not the intended audience, and I kept wishing to spend more time with the adult characters than the kids. Review to come

Climate Fiction The Fifth Season N.K. Jemisin – another case of love at first sight. I was a bit worried about the 2nd person narration but I needn’t have been, turns out it works great for me. I loved the world, the characters and figuring out all their connections. Review

Colo(u)r in the Title A Blade so Black LL McKinney – a modern-day Alice in Wonderland retelling only Alice is more like a nightmare-slaying Buffy. Lots of fun and I liked how all the wonderland characteristics were reinterpreted, gonna continue the series to see where it goes. Review

Any r/Fantasy Book Club / Read Along Book Greenhollow Duology (h) Emily Tesh – Really enjoyed these two novellas, the romance is charming but can we talk about Mrs Silver? The badass no-nonsense middle-aged mum here to sort out your life and your monsters. Review of Silver in the Wood

Self-Published Novel Demon Haunted Ashe Armstrong – this badass, often gory, monster hunting sequel was a lot more Awwww than a book with that many monster brains on the walls had a right to be. The orc family was just plain lovely. Review

Novel with Chapter Epigraphs City of Stairs Robert Jackson Bennett – I dunno why I put of starting this for so long, but I loved it, the world is great and I hear my favorite character is a big deal in book 2 so really excited for it. Review

Novel Published in 2020 Riot Baby Tochi Onyebuchi – I wasn’t expecting to like this one very much because it deals with real-life awful stuff, and I tend to avoid that if I can. I ended up loving the book though. It’s very gripping, it’s told through a series of vignettes that build a sort of very strong fury and then the ending works so well. Review

Set in a School or University Catfishing on Catnet (h) Naomi Kritzer – I thought this would be fluffy fun with a cat-loving AI, and it was, but it also got increasingly more tense and dangerous. There’s a strong group of friends that only know each other from online chats and come through and help each other a lot, that was really cool to read about especially this very online year. Review

Book About Books Turning Darkness Into Light Marie Brennan – this is an epistolary novel set a good many years after the Lady Trent books, featuring her granddaughter. It was really nice being back in that world and seeing how it’d evolved and where it was going. Review

A Book that Made You Laugh Network Effect Martha Wells – one of my anticipated reads of the year and it paid off, was great seeing Murderbot and the crew in a full length novel. Review

Five Short Stories:

• Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women on Ratnabar Island Nibedita Sen
• Do Not Look Back, My Lion Alix E. Harrow
• A Catalog of Storms Fran Wilde
• As the Last I May Know S. L. Huang
• And Now His Lordship is Laughing Shiv Ramdas

I reviewed them all in this post

Big Dumb Object Planetfall Emma Newman – this was thoughtful and mental-health focussed, which made it hard to get through, but in a good way, maybe a too close to home way. Review

Feminist Novel A Song Below Water (h) Bethany C. Morrow – a very contemporary YA novel, featuring the Black Lives Matter movement and sirens (and other mythical creatures). Really enjoyed it, the main characters are two found sisters so it was great seeing their relationship. Review

Canadian Author Spirit Caller 4-6 (h) Krista D.Ball – Really sad I finished this series and there is no more, it’s so fun and sweet and comfy, while still dealing with some heavy stuff. But it was also great seeing it all work out. Review

Novel with a Number in the Title The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August Claire North – my second Claire North novel and I am a fan. Such a fun and easy read, though I did get a little timey whimey confused I really enjoyed the characters and it being set mostly in Europe. Review

Romantic Fantasy / Paranormal Romance The Magpie Lord K.J. Charles – this romance was a lot more steamy than I’m comfortable listening to on speakers at home. It was fun binge read at a time when I really needed one. Review

Magical Pet Arrows of the Queen (h) Mercedes Lackey – the mods introduced me to Valdemar this year and I am in love. They’re fun reads that had me crying tears of joy and goodness and I can’t wait to dive back into the series. Review

Graphic Novel or Audiobook The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant Drew Hayes – Audiobook – More a collection of short stories than a novel, lighthearted and fun, it was ok but I wasn’t that into it. Review

Featuring Politics Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders Aliette de Bodard – my first time reading Bodard and I’m super excited to read more. This is a mid-series novella about a married couple solving crime and trying to not commit crime while dealing with family. It was charming and so funny. Review