I was doing pretty well keeping up with reviews last year, until I wasn’t. That was around autumn and I kept falling further and further behind. I closed the year with 17 unreviewed books, and I’d rather not carry them all into the new year, so here are just some quick thoughts on each, to get them off my mind. (the other two were Jan 1st and 2nd)

1. Thorn (Dauntless Path #1) by Intisar Khanani I liked it a lot, it was really cool, one of those dark fairytales that actually had me pretty stressed with all the bad shit happening. The MC was treated just awfully by her family and there was a lot of bad to worse. It’s a retelling of The Goose Girl, which I’m not familiar with, so I am curious to see the original now to see what the reinterpretation played with. I thought it did a good and interesting job of looking at class issues in a fairytale kingdom.
2. The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson Loved it, one of the books I wasn’t so sure of at the start, but ended up winning me over completely. It had such an interesting take on parallel worlds, and I liked the unexpected Mad Max vibes. Unexpected is a good word for this book, it has a lot of twists and turns that I enjoyed. Also a lot of sapphic yearning and pinning.
3. The Labyrinth’s Archivist by Day Al-Mohamed A mod book club pick that my friend had been trying to get us to read for ages. I’m glad I finally did, it was right up my alley. The world was so vivid and interesting, with lots of magical races and a huge library. I liked the murder mystery and the dynamic between the MC and her ex, which kinda reminded me of Master of Djinn. The MC and author are blind, and I thought it was great to see this representation in fantasy and the way it was shown.
4. Familiars and Foes by Helen Vivienne Fletcher This was a quick cozy novella, set in New Zealand, featuring not one but two very good service dogs! Also ghosts and an old crush, sweet and was a great quick comfort read for me.
5. A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny Read a chapter a day for mod book club in October and it was so much! The main character (a talking dog!) ended up feeling like an old friend, and I loved untangling the mystery with him and the rest of the book club. Also, I like how it had plenty of horror elements but managed to keep a fun tone.
6. Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Saga (Publication Order) #9) by Lois McMaster Bujold Another really fun entry in the Vorkosigan saga for me. Lots of great Miles shenanigans, I just love his ability to bullshit his way through life. Was neat seeing another planet in this universe.
7. The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle A spooky Lovecraftian …retelling? Is it retelling if it’s showing the other perspective? Anyhow, I liked it a lot, even though I couldn’t remember if I’d read the original, and tried to read it now but couldn’t get past the racism. It’s got a really heavy atmosphere and lots of stuff getting nastier and nastier.
8. Paladin of Souls (World of the Five Gods (Publication) #2) by Lois McMaster Bujold Another Bujold on this list. I love the World of the Five Gods and this entry was no exception. I was expecting to miss Cazaril, but Ista was such a cool protagonist that I fell in love with her. Less action focussed than Chalion maybe, but if you dig older protagonists definitely give it a go.
9. The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics (Feminine Pursuits #1) by Olivia Waite The only non-spec fic on this list, a lovely f/f historical romance, with a middle-aged woman. Major flaw in failing to mention Émilie du Châtelet when talking about French philosophers but otherwise neat. I enjoyed the romance, and the way it handled both sciences and arts as legitimate and worthwhile for women. Part of my October comfort read spree.
10. Paladin’s Grace (The Saint of Steel #1) by T. Kingfisher Kicking myself for not having read this with book club! I loved it, it’s my new obsession and I wish I’d had more people to talk to about it. And I went straight to book 2 which is very rare for me. The main characters, a paladin and a perfumer, are such loveable dorks, both constantly going “oh they can’t possibly like me”. All the characters are great tbh, and there’s some good mystery too. They’re also kinda delightfully adult, in a way I rarely see, there’s sex and violence, but with the good and the bad, the serious and the funny and especially the awkward.
11. Paladin’s Strength (The Saint of Steel #2) by T. Kingfisher While I was sad we weren’t following the same characters, anyone, I quickly fell in love with Istvan and Clara, a lay sister worshipping Saint Ursa. They’re both really tall and big, and it was lots of fun how that played into what they did and their awkwardness. I love them both and just want them to be happy. I liked that the story continued from book one, while also adding a new mystery in this book. And I thought the main mystery turned out very strong. This book had me obsessed and I’m glad the next one isn’t out on audio yet so I can do something other than listening to this series this week. It’s so damn absorbing, fun and wholesome, and some much yearning.
12. Ophie’s Ghosts by Justina Ireland Another 2021 middle-grade release that’s made its way onto my favorites list. Ophie’s a sweet MC who wants to be helpful, even though she’s stuck working when she’d rather be in a school. She’s also lonely and looking for a friend, so much that even a less alive one is something. I enjoyed the gothic vibes of a big empty house filled with ghosts and memories, and puzzling out the murder mystery.
13. Conjure Women by Afia Atakora I was kinda skeptical about this because it has some mixed reviews, ended up loving it. It’s sort of a rural southern gothic, with the MC being trapped in a small settlement with haints and secrets and a troubled past. I liked the focus on the mother and daughter and what they had to do to survive, especially the power struggles with those threatened by them. It’s told in past and present, but I found that much easier to follow than I usually in audio.
14. Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson I thought this had a very interesting and non-traditional structure. There were at least 3 points early on that felt like they could’ve been the ending of a story and it was very hard for me to tell where things were going. I really liked how well and personal we got to know the 3 main characters, and I was glad of the PoV switches because I wasn’t soo keen on the first one, but loved the other two. Another book that really grew on me as it went.
15. Cradle of Sea and Soil (Islandborn #1) by Bernie Anés Paz This book has a great world and a lot of cool aspects, but all put together something just didn’t flow great for me. I still liked it, but it felt kinda slow. I think possibly because I found the veteran mom a much more interesting character than the eager to prove himself kid, though he got most of the focus. The setting is definitely the strongest point, it’s very different from western-inspired fantasy, and I liked all the details we got to see. Also having it in a huge forest with danger spreading all over the place was fun.
16. Love After the End: An Anthology of Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Speculative Fiction by Joshua Whitehead I’m not very big on short stories, but I loved every one of this anthology, and I think it’s probably the quickest I’ve ever read a short storybook. The stories felt like some very fresh perspectives on utopias and distopias. I think the main difference from what I’m used to was the relationship with the earth in an apocalyptic setting. A lot of them also had a strong focus on storytelling which I enjoyed.
17. The Undertakers (Murder and Magic #2) by Nicole Glover Great sequel, I was so glad to be back to this series. I’m just Hetty’s biggest fan at this point. Like the first one, I really enjoyed the mystery, detangling everything, and finding all the connections. Was also fun seeing how Hetty and Benji’s relationship had changed and how they’re trying to make a living as undertakers now. I liked getting to know the wider cast better.
18. Catch Lili Too (Gamin Immortals #1) by Sophie Whittemore This is a found-family urban fantasy, that’s got some unusual creatures, and a neat mystery, but it didn’t quite work for me. I think it was cause there’s such a big focus on the found family aspect, and it just felt kinda rushed, and unearned. Lili’s a bit of a grump and quite reluctant, so I didn’t quite buy how quickly the cast won her over. I did like the ragtag bunch of misfits though, and how queer and accepting they were.
19. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia  This book is so very gothic. It was honestly too much for me, so stressful, so much tension, so dreary and oppressive and intensely uncomfortable, I could not deal. It took me forever to read because it was creeping me out too much. It felt like an honest relief when shit went horribly bad and disgusting but at least the shoe dropped and I knew what we were dealing with. All of this to say I think it’s a very good gothic book, that it’s probably not my best genre. I did end up liking the last part of it a lot and found the characters interesting.