August and September were two months I can only describe as liminal spaces. Long story short, we moved into one apartment, and then transferred to another apartment. I didn’t feel like doing an August recap without having settled in. So here we are. I’ve also been busy otherwise.
I did several author interviews (and there are so many more to come):
ARCs
- The All-Consuming World by Cassandra Khaw (2021, adult, science fiction, queer)
- Cloned and cyborg mercenaries on one last heist
- Lots of feelings around mortality and youth
- Excellent exploration of the path out of an abusive relationship
- Butcherbird by Cassie Hart (2021, adult, horror, indigenous)
- Family tragedy, creepy birds, himbo boyfriend oh my!
- Spooky af from start to finish
- Generational curses
- The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling (2021, adult, horror, gothic)
- Gross in a way only old-timey medical procedures can be
- Perfect for fans of Crimson Peak
- Ghosts and magic
- No Gods, No Monsters (The Convergence Saga #1) by Cadwell Turnbull (2021, adult, urban fantasy, literary)
- What are the monsters afraid of?
- A banger of an urban fantasy
- Impressive navigation of several POVs
- Plague Birds by Jason Sanford (2021, adult, science fantasy)
- Deadly AI and futuristic world-building that feels like magic
- Main character trying her best to stay true to herself
- All the feels
- Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo (2021, adult, horror, queer)
- Grief and hauntings and deadly academia in the South
- Hot and sexy while also spooky
- Andrew Blur is having a wild time
- The Wolf Among the Wild Hunt by Merc Fenn Wolfmore (2021, adult, light novel, dark fantasy)
- Half-wolf, half-man kills the wrong nun and has to join the Wild Hunt
- Metal af
- Rad world-building with its own mythology
Audiobooks
- Audition by by Ryū Murakami, Ralph McCarthy (Translator) (2009, adult, horror, contemporary)
- A man holds an audition with the ulterior motive of finding a wife
- The man is not the problem
- Reflective and ultimately terrifying
- Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage (2018, adult, horror)
- A child-are-scary style horror that is also told from the child’s point of view
- Horrifying
- No one is a winner here
- Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original “Psycho” by Harold Schechter (1998, adult, non-fiction, true crime)
- Ed Gein’s story is grosser than you expect it to be
- Empathetically handled
- The town of Plainfield, Wisconsin is as much of a character in the story as
- Psycho USA: Famous American Killers You Never Heard Of by Harold Schechter (2012, adult, non-fiction, true crime)
- Crash course on every horrible murderer who isn’t part of the true crime lexicon
- A little advanced for me
- Organizationally impressive as far as the history goes
- Small Spaces, Dead Voices, and Dark Waters by Katherine Arden (2018-2021, middle grade, horror)
- Middle grade horror with urban legends and immersive spooky atmosphere
- Binge-worthy with excellent scares
- Wonderful character development among the leads
- Good Girl, Bad Blood (A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder #2) by Holly Jackson (2021, young adult, thriller)
- Pip returns to detective work when a family friend goes missing
- Excellent use of multi-media
- Very well-plotted and predictable in a satisfying way
- The Girls Are All So Nice Here by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn (2021, adult, thriller)
- Woman goes back to a college reunion as the reader learns via flashbacks of the terrible things she did
- One hell of an anti-bullying PSA
- Listened to it in one sitting
- In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick (2001, adult, non-fiction, history, maritime disasters)
- The literal inspiration behind Moby Dick
- I learned more about butchering whales than I wanted to
- Riveting and absolutely wild
- The Jasmine Throne (Burning Kingdoms #1) by Tasha Suri (2021, adult, fantasy, queer)
- An imprisoned princess and a secretly-magical maid servant team up to take down a dictator
- Incredible world-building and aching slow-burn
- Consequences upon reveals upon twists
- Little Heaven by Nick Cutter (2017, adult, horror)
- Bounty hunters infiltrate a cult on behalf of a co-conspirator
- Gross, but goes on for a little bit too long, especially with regards to the plot
Manga
- Kasane Vol. 1-4 by Daruma Matsuura (2017, seinen, horror, contemporary)
- The girls are kissing and there is nothing romantic about it
- Another wild anti-bullying PSA
- Beauty isn’t everything, but it feels like it
- Made in Abyss Vol 6-9 by Akihito Tsukushi (2019-2021, seinen, dark fantasy)
- The kids made it past the point of no return
- Continues to be upsetting with new characters and exploring what value is
- Epic fight scenes
- Magical Girl Apocalypse Vol 1-3 by Kentaro Sato (2014-2015, shonen, horror)
- Magical girl zombie things attack Tokyo and wreak a whole bunch of hyperviolent mayhem
- Too edgy for its own good (and for me)
- Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Vol 1-4 by coolkyousinnjya (2016-2017, seinen, fantasy, slice-of-life, comedy)
- A girl accidentally binds a dragon as her maid
- Adorable with plenty of useless lesbians
- Mostly soft, implications of greater plot
- Monster and the Beast Vol 1-3 by renji (2019-2021, shonen, boy’s love, fantasy)
- Perfect for monster fuckers
- A middle-aged guy and an inhuman monster develop a relationship
- Impressive and immersive world-building
Until next month,
Jo
Jo Writes Fantasy 