Tag: #Loss

The Book of Perilous Dishes by Doini Risti (translated by James Christian Brown)

On By @f33lthesunIn AdultLeave a comment

Blurb

1798: A magical, dark adventure. Fourteen-year-old Pâtca, initiated in the occult arts, comes to Bucharest, to her uncle, Cuviosu Zăval, to retrieve the Book of Perilous Dishes. The recipes in this magical book can bring about damaging sincerity, forgetfulness, the gift of prediction, or hysterical laughter. She finds her uncle murdered and the book missing. All that Zăval has left her is a strange map she must decipher. Travelling from Romania to France and on to Germany to do so, Pâtca’s family’s true past and powers are revealed, as is her connection to the famous and sublime chef, Silica.

Review

As I read this story, it reminded me very much of folk tales, tales of magic, mystery, spells and intrigue with moralistic threads running through. As with traditional folk tales, this story carries with it warnings that things are not always as they seem, especially when you only have one viewpoint, the MC. People and events can be linked together without you/they realising how until much later, in some cases too late, and there are consequences (mostly unintentional) to actions taken or spells cast (or recipes made, in the case of this story).

When the cook gets hold of the perilous recipes and starts cooking and feeding the prince, he has no idea what mayhem and madness will ensue as he has not been taught about portions or scale, and in most cases he has no clue what the recipes are spells for. As such, it is often the population of the city, not just the prince, that is caught up in the consequences.

Based on historical events around the time of the French Revolution, the story, told from the point of view of Pâtca, a thirteen year old orphan raised by a witch, takes us on a wild ride as her grandmother is arrested and her great uncle murdered. She tries to find out who killed him as well as follow their advice and instructions to the best of her ability. This does not go to plan and she ends up being accused of her great uncle’s murder, suspecting many others, getting herself in trouble and trying to piece together what she knows, what she needs to do and who she can trust.

It did take me a couple of chapters to get my head round what was happening, mainly due to the dual timeline. The author always cut back to 30 years previously just as we were about to learn something of importance. This kept me on my toes and saying “just one more chapter” to myself.

With themes of folklore, heritage, the occult, herbal magic and cultural exploration, this is a murder mystery like no other.

As the story is told from 14 year old Pâtca’s point of view, much of her detective work is done with a tbsp of assumption, a pinch of knowledge, a tsp of information and a drop of life experience, making her version feel unreliable. This is brought together in the final chapter, when the missing pieces of the story are added in by one of the other characters.

Thanks to the publishers, Neem Tree Press, and @The_WriteReads for the eARC in exchange for this review.

Takeout Sushi by Christopher Green

On By @f33lthesunIn AdultLeave a comment

Blurb

Takeout Sushi is a collection of 17 illustrated short stories set mostly in contemporary Japan that explore feelings of belonging, displacement, and the strangeness of everyday human interaction.

In an innovative, fast-paced company, a man’s job comes under threat when a team of robots are brought in to replace the HR department. A husband’s search for shortcuts to his domestic tasks goes painfully wrong. Overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of Tokyo, a foreigner takes a weekend break and discovers something other than solitude in the mountains.

Marking Christopher Green’s debut adult fiction and inspired by his own experiences, these whimsical slice-of-life tales are full of heart and humour—perfect for fans of Convenience Store Woman and Before the Coffee Gets Cold

Review

This is a collection of short stories, most set in Japan, with a few set elsewhere.

There are a range of themes across the stories, with family relationships at the heart of many, as well as moral dilemmas that make the reader wonder if they would make the same decisions if it were them.

A couple of the stories left me thinking deeply about revenge. Not planned revenge but the feeling when something bad happens to someone and their significant other decides, on reflection, that they got what was coming to them after all, now they think about it. A sort of unintended consequence revenge.

Thanks to Neem Tree Press and @The_WriteReads for the eARC for this review.

Time-Marked Warlock by Shami Stovall

On By @f33lthesunIn Young Adult4 Comments

Blurb

Adair Finch is the most powerful warlock in the world, and one of the best private investigators for hire. He has dealt with corporate vampires, murderous werewolves, and even fae royalty. Everything was perfect until he lost one case—the case where he also lost his brother.

So Finch retired. From magic. From PI work. From everything.

Bree Blackstone, a twelve-year-old witch, doesn’t know or care about any of that except Finch’s reputation. In the middle of the night, she bangs on Finch’s door. Her mother has been murdered, and now the assassin is after Bree as well.

Reluctantly, Finch agrees to help, only to discover something sinister has been brewing in town while he ignored the world… He’ll need to dust off all his old skills and magic before it’s too late.

Review

I signed up for this as soon as I read the blurb, and I was not disappointed.

Wow. Totally blown away with how fast paced this is. I read it in two sittings as I needed to know what would happen.

Finch’s character is complicated and has a past we slowly find out about during the day, as he helps Bree escape an assassin and bring them to justice. He has a lot to deal with, having withdrawn from living a full life after he lost his brother. Helping Bree brings him some dilemmas that he is not always sure how to deal with, as well as having to contend with kind hearted Bree wanting to help everyone along the way, despite her grief. You have to read it to find out why this is a recurring issue for him.

Luckily he has a certain magic power that can get them out of tight fixes when things go wrong (sorry, no spoilers)…but what is the cost to him, having bargained for it? Time is against them…or is it?

Trickster demons, exploding witch’s brews and an out of practice magician…what’s not to love? Highly recommend.

Thanks to @The_WriteReads and the author for an eARC for the purposes of this review.

Red Runs the Witch’s Thread by Victoria Williamson

On By @f33lthesunIn Adult, SupernaturalLeave a comment

Blurb

Paisley, Scotland, 1697. Thirty-five people accused of witchcraft. Seven condemned to death. Six strangled and burned at the stake. All accused by eleven-year-old Christian Shaw.

Bargarran House, 1722. Christian Shaw returns home, spending every waking hour perfecting the thread bleaching process that will revive her family’s fortune. If only she can make it white enough, perhaps her past sins will be purified too.
But dark forces are at work. As the twenty-fifth anniversary of the witch burnings approaches, ravens circle Bargarran House, their wild cries stirring memories and triggering visions.

As Christian’s mind begins to unravel, her states of delusion threaten the safety of all those who cross her path. In the end she must make a terrible choice: her mind or her soul? Poverty and madness, or a devil’s bargain for the bleaching process that will make her the most successful businesswoman Paisley has ever seen?

Her fate hangs by a thread. Which will she choose?

Review

Victoria Williamson uses the dual timeline effectively, giving us an insight into why adult Christian Shaw is haunted by what happened to her as a child and why seven people were tried and burnt for witchcraft on her testimony. It also shows us the reason for her single minded pursuit of the whitest thread she can produce, which she is certain will ultimately save her family’s struggling business.

As the story unfolds we are gripped by her childhood memories of key events and people, which are unreliable at best, as her 11 year old mind tries to make sense of what she has witnessed and her adult mind works through what she thinks happened, as she seems to have blocked a lot of it out.

What did she really see and do? Why? Can there be another explanation?

Williamson’s writing notches up the tension, imagery and chillingness of the narrative, bringing clarity to the unhinged nature of Christian’s emotions and mental state.

Thanks to silver Thistle Press for the ARC for the purpose of this review on The Write Reads blog tour.

The Djinn’s Apple by Djamila Morani, translated by Sawad Hussain

On By @f33lthesunIn Young AdultLeave a comment

Blurb

Historical fiction meets crime fiction in The Djinn’s Apple, an award-winning YA murder mystery set in the Abbasid period—the golden age of Baghdad.

A ruthless murder. A magical herb. A mysterious manuscript.

When Nardeen’s home is stormed by angry men frantically in search of something—or someone—she is the only one who manages to escape. And after the rest of her family is left behind and murdered, Nardeen sets out on an unyielding mission to bring her family’s killers to justice, regardless of the cost…

Full of mystery and mayhem, The Djinn’s Apple is perfect for fans of Arabian Nights, City of Brass, and The Wrath and the Dawn.

Review

Set in 9th century Baghdad, the story follows Nardeen, first as she escapes the political, violent murder of her family and then as a teenager mentored by an eminent doctor. Both her father and her mentor see her potential in what is culturally a male dominated field, which grates with most others.

The story is a well told, and superbly translated, blend of politics, medicine and magic, with Nardeen trying to find answers to her why her family were massacred and look forward to growing into adulthood. She is taken in by her mentor and only after a message from someone else does she question his motives. It is difficult for her to view him as anything other than a trusted mentor until she uncovers more about the politics and reasons behind her family’s murder and his duplicitous behaviour.

I have not read anything set in this time period before and enjoyed finding out more.

The themes of political turmoil, trust, feminism, grief and family secrets are well handled and will promote a lot of discussion and debate.

Thanks to Neem Tree Press and The Write Reads for an ARC for the purposes of this blog tour review.

Birth of the Storm by Valerie Storm

On By @f33lthesunIn Fantasy, Young AdultLeave a comment
Cover by Ginka Jack (@Ginkahederling)

Blurb

A bolt of lightning. And a dream of vengeance.

For wolf-demon Kari, these define her every waking moment. Her parents are dead, slaughtered by human hands, forcing their only daughter to masquerade among their killers to save her own skin. Now she dwells among them, hiding her lightning-based abilities and plotting a terrible revenge, believing her schemes are all she’s good for now. But when she discovers unexpected solace among a group of humans who look past her monstrous nature, Kari finds herself questioning everything. Her mission. Her dreams. Even the hatred festering in her heart.

Is it possible for a creature like Kari to find happiness in a world that despises her?

Or will the spectres of her past force her down the path of vengeance in the end?

Review

As I started reading this I did not expect it to affect me as much as it did. It is to the author’s credit that I was pulled into Kari’s world and didn’t want to leave.

Valerie Storm has created an imaginative, dangerous world in which Kari has so much thrown at her from such a young age. This book does not shy away from violence and death, those Kari builds relationships with put in danger because of the power Kari was born with, despite her trying to keep it hidden, and those who are hunting her.

I had to keep reminding myself that Kari was a teenager to explain some of her reactions but she copes extremely well given her limited knowledge of her gift, the way most people treat her and the trauma of loss and separation she suffers. Her feelings of isolation, indecision and need for revenge drive her.

This is not a cosy fantasy story, it is hard hitting and powerful, better for it. It also ends on a twist and cliffhanger like no other.

I thought I was going to have to wait for the next book in the series so was very happy to realise that this was published in 2022 so others in the series are already out. Off to buy them.

Thank you to @The_WriteReads and Shadow Spark Publishing for the review copy.

I am resharing this blog to celebrate the release of the latest and final book in the series.

The Demon Storm series follows Kari Kasente, the wolf demon destined to destroy the world. While battling an innately crueler self, a Shadow Witch intent on controlling her, and a series of other enemies, Kari must learn to trust herself and those around her. Only then can she find her light and save the world.

The final book in the series, Fate of the Storm was released on May 13, 2025.

About the Author

Valerie Storm was raised in Tucson, Arizona. Growing up, she fell in love with everything fantasy. When she wasn’t playing video games, she was writing. By age ten, she began to write her own stories as a way to escape reality. When these stories became a full-length series, she considered the path to sharing with other children & children-at/heart looking for a place to call home.

She can be found on Twitter @Valerie_Storm

Secrets of the Snakestone by Piu DasGupta

On By @f33lthesunIn Upper KS2+Leave a comment
Cover art by Helen Crawford-White

Blurb

Meet Zélie Dutta. She has beaten her own father five times at chess (the last time he cheated). She has crushed the head of a poisonous cobra with her naked heel AND she can lick her elbow.

There’s nothing that she can’t handle… or at least that’s what she thinks. But when her father goes missing and a sinister secret society seems to be to blame, she’s forced to look for help in the most unlikely of places…

Swept up in a slew of crimes that stretch from the jungles of Calcutta to the sewers of Paris, Zélie and her new friend Jules begin a desperate hunt for the magical Snakestone at the heart of the conspiracy. Can they solve the ancient riddles and mysteries concealed in the miles of murky tunnels that twist beneath the ancient city above?

Review

It has a book map (said in the same voice as “It has pockets.”).

I thoroughly enjoyed joining Zélie and Jules on their adventures and derring do. Although Jules is more reluctant than Zélie to place himself in danger, he is a good friend and wants to help. He tries to warn her that not everyone should be taken at their word but she ignores his pleas, which puts her in mortal danger more than once. I particularly enjoyed the internal, motivational speeches Zélie gives herself when in need of a bit of extra bravery.

Set in the underbelly of Paris near the end of the 19th century and based on a colonial tale of a healing stone (with severe small print warnings), the story involves family separation and loss, subterfuge, circus acts, a secret society up to no good and a cast of diverse and often dastardly characters.

The main themes are friendship, trust, making the right choice, greed and power.

Thank you to the author for pointing out the absolute truth about pockets (severe lack of) in women’s clothes and the huge issue of back and front fastenings on clothing…how many items of men’s clothing need contortionist skills to fasten them? Exactly!

Thanks to NetGalley and Nosy Crow for the eARC in exchange for this review. The book will be published on March 14th 2024.

The Siren, the Song and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

On By @f33lthesunIn #YA, FantasyLeave a comment
Cover by Victo Ngai (@victongai)

Blurb

A diverse resistance force fights to topple an empire in this vibrant fantasy about freedom, identity and decolonization.

By sinking a fleet of Imperial Warships, the Pirate Supreme and their resistance fighters have struck a massive blow against the Emperor. Now allies from across the empire are readying themselves, hoping against hope to bring about the end of the conquerors’ rule and the rebirth of the Sea. But trust and truth are hard to come by in this complex world of mermaids, spies, warriors, and aristocrats. Who will Genevieve – lavishly dressed but washed up, half dead, on the Wariuta island shore – turn out to be? Is warrior Koa’s kindness towards her admirable, or is his sister Kaia’s sharp suspicion wiser? And back in the capital, will pirate-spy Alfie really betray the Imperials who have shown him affection, especially when a duplicitous senator reveals xe would like nothing better?

Meanwhile, the Sea is losing more and more of herself as her daughters continue to be brutally hunted, and the Empire continues to expand through profits made from their blood. The threads of time, a web of schemes, shifting loyalties, and blossoming identities converge in this story of unlikely young allies trying to forge a new and better world.

Review

I only realise after reading this that it is the second book set in this world, however I was able to read it without having read the first. Not giving anything away by saying I will be reading the first one, The Mermaid, the Witch and the Sea.

The author’s world building is excellent, as are the characters she has created and developed. They are well formed and deep. I think the use of chapters giving us multi viewpoints throughout helps us to bond with them. I particularly loved that the sea had her own chapters, which provided a link between a lot of the others.

The big themes of identity (individual and group), freedom, decolonisation, war and resistance are covered well and the friction between wanting freedom but having to inflict violence to achieve it is palpable, especially in Koa, one of the suppressed nation’s warriors.

If you enjoyed series like Utterly Dark by Philip Reeve or Orphans of the Tide by Struan Murray you will enjoy this. Note that this is definitely Young Adult, not for KS2 like those mentioned.

Thank to NetGalley and Walker for the eARC in exchange for this review. It will be published on 1st February 2024.

Clytemnestra’s Bind by Susan C. Wilson

On By @f33lthesunIn Grown Up Novel1 Comment

Blurb

Queen Clytemnestra’s world shatters when Agamemnon, a rival to the throne of Mycenae, storms her palace, destroys her family and claims not only the throne but Clytemnestra herself.

Tormented by her loss, she vows to do all she can to protect the children born from her unhappy marriage to Agamemnon. But when her husband casts his ruthless gaze towards the wealthy citadel of Troy, his ambitions threaten, once more, to destroy the family Clytemnestra loves.

From one of Greek mythology’s most reviled characters—a woman who challenged the absolute power of men—comes this fiery tale of power, family rivalry and a mother’s burning love.

Review

Going into this, the only retelling of the Greek myths I had read recently was Jessie Burton’s Medusa (which I reviewed here) so was unsure how I would find it. From my memory of Greek myths read as a child, I knew of Clytemnestra as Agamemnon’s wife and murderer, so was expecting that to be the story. However…

Susan C. Wilson takes us right back to just before Clytemnestra even meets Agamemnon, before he claims her as his wife and Queen, having been on a murderous rampage against her family to reclaim the throne he says is rightfully his. This enables us, through Clytemnestra’s eyes, to discover what brought her to the point of murdering her husband.

Clytemnestra, bizarrely for this era, decides not to seek vengeance for her murdered family, but to be his wife and put up with his vile attitudes, behaviour, ego, and general misogyny.

This part of her story is told by Clytemnestra herself, and the main focus is on her and the children, her love for them and her aim to protect them from their father. Only time would tell if this was the right thing to do or whether they would suffer because of her choices.

The children grew up with differing relationships with both Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, the latter’s mysogyny meaning Orestes (son) was favoured heavily from birth, the older girls, Iphigenia and Electra, being dismissed offhand. Despite Clytemnestra’s best efforts, Electra, a daddy’s girl, suffered the most from his dismissive attitude. Orestes and Electra shock their mother when they take their father’s side on a heartbreaking event later in the story.

All the way through this story, my thoughts were on how much danger women were in at all times, in those days. Just to survive, never mind thrive.

“She might be a poor farm wife and I a queen, but our similarities weren’t lost on me. We were pieces on a gaming board to be claimed, manoeuvred, and discarded by men. Rich or poor, famous or obscure, men made the rules that ordered our lives, and they broke them. She and I were women.

Clytemnestra puts her children first, above herself, and tries to instill “appropriate” female behaviour and attitudes in her daughters, mainly to protect them from their father’s wrath. Electra is having none of it, cannot understand why she cannot dress like her brother, go hunting and be trained in fighting skills as he is. Clytemnestra is blamed by Agamemnon for not bringing her up properly, Electra seeing her as a failure for not standing up to him over her upbringing.

Another theme I kept thinking about is that history is written by the winners. Throughout this book, different versions of the same events are told by people from different sides, or with a different viewpoint, having been involved in some way. Agamemnon’s victory over Clytemnestra’s family was joyous for him, heartbreaking for her. The same event, different viewpoints…both the truth… to the teller.

Agamemnon tells many stories in which he is the righteous winner (obviously) but pretty soon, Clytemnestra learns to mistrust everything he says and also wonder about the things he doesn’t say. It also means she mistrusts what anyone tells her, seeking verification from others.

There are so many familial links in the Greek timeline, so much to keep track of and I was glad of the family tree at the start as I needed to refer to it a fair bit. Even so, the power grabs made by all sides at different times resulted in many incestuous relationships, one of them being the last straw for Clytemnestra, making her decide the time had come to end Agamemnon.

Despite knowing more about what comes next, I will still be intrigued to read the next book in this series, as it is so well written.

Thanks to Neem Tree Press and @The_WriteReads for the ARC in order to take part in this blog tour.

The Nameless by Stuart White

On By @f33lthesunIn #Dystopian, #SciFi, #YALeave a comment

Having read and enjoyed Stuart’s MG novel, Ghosts of Mars, earlier this year, I was intrigued to read his latest YA dystopian novel.

Blurb

IN A NAMELESS WORLD, ONE HERO RISES BY DISCOVERING THEIR IDENTITY.

In a dystopian world dominated by genetic perfection and numbered gene pools, sixteen-year-old E820907, known as Seven, yearns for an identity beyond his assigned number.

To escape a life as a Nameless Exile, and become a citizen of the Realm, he must pass a loyalty test to prove his allegiance to the totalitarian Autokratōr.

With the world’s fate hanging in the balance, Seven’s journey sparks rebellion, hope, and the reclamation of individuality.

But as the truth unfolds, Seven faces a difficult choice between revenge and love.

Review

Stuart White has created a disconcertingly possible future world, where a dictator demands obedience and service. Children are trained and placed in the area of their strength (military, science, environment) to further the realm. Those who do not meet the standard are discarded from the walled city and left to their own devices and at the mercy of the other Nameless groups out there, some of which have turned brutally cruel, without an identity.

This obviously leads to rebellion, spies, treason and war.

Seven sits the tests … but will he ever find out who he is, who his parents are, why his foster mum protects him and refuses to answer his questions? Full of self doubt, fear and infinite questions that he frustratingly rarely gets full answers to, his journey takes him to places he never imagined, meeting people he didn’t even know existed, making him decide where his loyalties lie, despite knowing very little about the sides he is choosing between.

He also struggles with his purpose. Is it to protect his friends or lead a group who resent him? Will his impetuous decision making put him and others in even more danger? Will his training help or hinder him?

I recommend reading to find out the answers to all these questions. The author leaves us with some of the story resolved but waiting in expectation for Book 2 to take Seven’s journey on further. As a reader, this made me sympathise with Seven, not getting all the answers to my questions straight away! I look forward to accompanying him on his next chapter.

Trigger warning: this book is not for the faint hearted, it is bloody and involves torture.

Thanks to @StuartWhiteWM and @The_WriteReads for the eARC.