What I’ve been reading lately
Sometimes it’s difficult to review a book as a whole blog post.
There’s not always enough to say, or things I do want to say are all spoilers. Maybe I have one single thing I need to get off my chest or a comparison to make, or I maybe I just want to tell people to ‘read it right now!!’ without giving much more context.
It’s a book person conundrum so I’m just going to give you a general wrap up of some of things recently that I have something I need to say about, okay? Okay? Okay.
I’m currently neck-deep in The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson and I’m truly living my best epic fantasy life. I’ve been picking up a book every month or so and I’m about halfway through book four, Rhythm of War. It’s probably the biggest series I’ve ever taken on: each book is over 1000 pages, and I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that long without thinking it needs a good edit, until Stormlight. They’re so rich with character, lore, world-building and everything you could want or need from a fantasy novel. I’ll end up reading the fifth and final book in the new year because I’m not yet ready to move on.
One of my biggest surprises in the last few months is Tusk Love by Thea Guanzon. I picked it up as a 99p Kindle deal and I figured I’d get to it eventually, but found it calling to me sooner than I expected. It’s a Critical Role novel (which I’ll be honest I had no idea about), and is about Gwen, a merchant’s daughter on a caravan journey to get married. When the caravan gets attacked by orcs, she’s rescued by Oskar, a handsome and grumpy half-orc, who accompanies her on the rest of her journey. It’s sweet and funny, sexy and just plain fun. I really, really loved it and it took me by surprise.
My last read was one that I’d secretly been excited about for months (as was Sarah), but I’m a little embarrassed about, so I’m going to get it out there quickly: it was Between Two Kings by Lindsay Straube. I know, I know. We read basilisk smut together and had a real good dissect of it afterwards. It’s the sequel to Kiss of the Basilisk (or Split or Swallow as it was called when I read it) and it’s deliciously awful romantasy about a girl who enters into a competition to win the price’s hand, taught how to please the prince by a basilisk. It’s terrible with questionable content and morals, but it’s so much fun and I’m fine with that.
The best book I’ve read in the last two months, hands down, is Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff. It’s a book that I bought as soon as it came out but one that I’ve been putting off because it’s a chunk and I was weirdly intimidated. I finally dove in and I fell in love with this bloody, violent, emotional and surprisingly heartbreaking vampire novel. Gabriel is the last Silversaint, an order of half-vampires pledged to fight the war against the monsters threatening humanity, tells his story to one of the monsters after they win the war. It’s spectacular and I can’t wait to dive into the rest of the trilogy now that the third and final book is now on shelves.
What have you read and loved recently?
