On my world, it means hope.

The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox by Katrina Kwan

Genre: Adult, romantasy

I don't usually do this, but I've been STRUGGLING to get through this book and wanted somewhere to jot down my current thoughts, so here it is. (I'm currently 16% through the book.)

I was not impressed by Kwan's previous fantasy/romantasy novel, The Last Dragon of the East. But this book promised a journey through Chinese hell, and I'm always curious to see how Chinese hell is depicted in fantasy novels. That's still my one reason for trying to persist through this novel despite being very bored.

The first problem is that this book does a very poor job of establishing tension and making you want to follow the main characters. Yue has no goal except...surviving as a demon in a human world? Sonam's goal isn't even hinted at until a few chapters after his introduction. It made it very hard to care about these characters. I'm all for showing rather than telling and reducing infodumps, but not conveying information at all to the reader isn't the way to go.

The other main issue is that I guess I've watched too many C-dramas and read too many novels from China at this point, and it's painfully obvious when a diaspora author has done barely any research on ancient China. The worldbuilding is so flimsily rendered, as if the author has no idea what ancient China looks like. And I rolled my eyes hard at the sudden explanation that the demons in this book are like Western fae or Christian demons, magically bound to verbal contracts. Bruh, that is a totally alien concept for Chinese demons, and it felt so out of place. I'm not saying authors aren't allowed to come up with new ideas building on Chinese folklore, but there's a way to do it without treating Western worldbuilding as default, you know?

Anyway, guess I'll see whether this book improves as it goes on or not...

The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah

Genre: Adult, fantasy

Possible DNF around 34%; I'll see how much farther I get into it.

I enjoyed The Stardust Thief, even though it had some issues that normally don't work for me. The Ashfire King, I feel, magnifies those issues without the strengths of the first book to make up for them.

TST had a somewhat meandering plot, the kind of plot that often loses me quickly, but I could accept it in the first book in a series that was also establishing the characters and world. It's also a common trope in epic fantasy for multiple characters to start off separate and then meet up. TAK, however, breaks up our cast of main characters, and this is the part that's really losing me.

I don't want to say the characters are dull individually, but after seeing them separated, I do think they were more interesting in a group where they could play off each other. Without Qadir or Mazen, I find myself not that interested in what Loulie is doing. Without Loulie or his brothers, I find it hard to care about Mazen. Instead of spending more time with our core cast, the leads are split up and a whole host of new characters introduced instead.

Maybe people who are diehard epic fantasy fans won't have an issue with this. For me, these narrative choices slow down the pace until I'm tempted to drop the book for others that are competing for my attention. I found a Goodreads review that claimed the entire book felt like an unnecessary sidequest, and yeah, that's not playing into its favor for me.



Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer

Genre: Adult, romantasy

DNF 54%. I was actually enjoying this quite a bit until the relationship between Asher and Ky started to develop, and that really bums me out.

I haven't read this author before, but I know that she's written hetero romances previously. So it's frankly baffling to me that she decided to write a relationship between two men where the tension comes from one having to be the "submissive" bottom and the other being the "dominant" top. Not in a BDSM context, but just in the context of vanilla sex. I know this author wouldn't dare to say a woman is inherently "submissive" in a hetero relationship, so what gives?? It makes it feel like the M/M relationship in this book is written for the purpose of titillating a straight audience.

The way this book combines that with the way Asher’s trauma from his history of sexual abuse is described makes it particularly uncomfortable to me to read, too, since it's not like Asher is described as a survivor of sexual abuse who finds empowerment in being a sub. In fact, the implication is quite the opposite. While the portrayal of a male survivor of sexual assault isn't quite as abysmal as that of Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao (an admittedly extremely low bar), it's still...not the best. It still makes me feel like the backstory is there for, again, titillation, or maybe just the author believing a grimdark fantasy world needs rape and she'd rather have a male character be raped than the female lead. Yuck.

Another thing: The Ky/Asher relationship, at least where I left off, was reminding me of Captive Prince, and I mean that in a negative way. I know the whole point is that Ky is critical of the slave—I mean, “indenture”—system, but the scene felt a bit like having your cake and eating it, too. Like Asher was feeling attraction because Ky was acting like a “good master,” even if Ky was only being forced to act like his master. I don’t know, it gave me the ick.



The Hong Kong Widow by Kristen Loesch

Genre: Adult, historical, speculative

Not really a book for me. The premise, which seemed fascinating—trying to discover the truth behind a massacre at a remote Hong Kong mansion where six spirit mediums were invited to perform séances—sounded much more commercial than the book actually was. So it was a strange reading experience in that the events felt suited to a commercial novel (whether gothic, suspense, or thriller), while the execution of the book was very literary, and so the events largely lacked urgency. (The audiobook narrator's calm and even narration didn't really help in that regard.)

I also thought balancing three timelines was a bit too much. I ended up skipping the earliest timeline because I just felt like it dragged the pacing down too much. Maybe I'll try to return to it before my library hold is returned, but I don't know.

It's been DNF season this year, I swear. In addition to most new acquisitions just not sounding good, I've been DNF'ing so many new releases that I don't think the industry knows what a good story is anymore.


Of Flame and Fury by Mikayla Bridge

YA, fantasy

DNF 30%. It got off to a promising start, and the idea of a "fantasy F-One" story hooked me. But for a book pitched about phoenix racing, there is very little phoenix racing in the first third of the book, after the first chapter.

The characters just kind of…bored me. The title, dedication, and Iron Widow comp made me wonder if Kel was supposed to be a Wu Zetian-esque rage-filled female lead, but she came off as just a girl with a short temper. The enemies-to-lovers arc also bored me, because Kel and Coup (hate that name, by the way) seemed to hate each other mostly because of each other’s…personalities. Coup keeps saying Kel is self-righteous, which we never actually see on page. Kel hates Coup for pulling off risky maneuvers during races, which, fine, but she also seems to hate him because of his cocky personality. Their sniping got tiresome to read, really fast. There just isn’t enough of a compelling basis for their mutual dislike for the enemies-to-lovers arc to work at all.



Very Dangerous Things by Lauren Muñoz

YA, thriller

I loved the idea of a detective boarding school and a fake murder mystery turning real, but the pacing of this book was just so slow. The murder doesn't occur until about 20% of the way through the story, and the first 20% isn't used to set up the murder mystery, but rather just to show the main characters going about their daily lives. It felt kind of unnecessary. Especially since so much of the drama is centered on Dulce and Emi's friendship becoming tense because they both have feelings for Zane, which is not a conflict I enjoy reading about.

I get that Dulce has anxiety, but I'm getting kind of annoyed at how passive her character feels—it's Emi who has to pressure her into taking actions investigating the mystery, otherwise Dulce would be not doing anything. It's just not fun to read.



Immortal Consequences by IV Marie

YA, fantasy, dark academia

I'm 7% of the way through the book and already thinking "Is it too early to DNF?" I mean, if I were reading a physical or ebook copy, I would have DNF'ed already; it's only because I'm listening to the audiobook that I'm even considering continuing to see if it gets any better.

The first two chapters of this book were literally Infodump: The Novel. Basically nothing happens except the characters infodumping world details that still made no sense after all the explanations. Also, the Wren/August relationship is one of my least favorite MF relationships ever: cocky, eternally smirking boy constantly makes fun of uptight girl. I HATE that kind of relationship (especially knowing they're definitely going to end up in a romance later). I don't find it romantic, fun, or interesting to read in any way. I also found it so cringe the way at least two love interests (August and Olivier) keep referring to their eventual love interest by romantic endearments WHEN THEY AREN'T EVEN IN A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP YET AND CURRENTLY HAVE NO ROMANTIC CHEMISTRY. (August calls Wren "darling" and Olivier calls Emilio "my love".) SO CRINGE.

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

Genre: Adult, fantasy

To be honest, I wasn't that interested in the premise of this book (I've already read The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System), but I borrowed the audiobook out of curiosity. However, this is one of the few cases that I'm quitting a book not because I don't like it, per se, but because of the audiobook narration. And it's not even because I think the audiobook narrator is bad or anything, but rather because I don't think she's a fit for this book. I think this book needed a narrator who is better at comedic narration. I kept dozing off because of how even and smooth the narrator's voice was, and that definitely should not be the case for a comedic book with funny dialogue.



Mystery Royale by Kaitlyn Cavalancia

Genre: YA, fantasy

I realized I had stopped paying attention to the audiobook around the 50% mark, so this is another DNF.

This is the third "Knives Out with sorcery" book I've tried to read, and of those three, it's definitely the one I liked the most. The magic gave me a lot of The Night Circus vibes, and I loved it.

Unfortunately, I had a few issues with this book. One was that I thought it should have been limited to two rather than three POVs; I feel like the addition of Addison's POV really slowed the pacing down and muddled it. I also felt like Lyric was a bit TOO much of an unlikable jerk, and when he finally started having feelings for Mullory, they felt like they came out of nowhere. But I do think the structural issues overall were what prevented me from being fully invested in this story.



Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang

Genre: Adult, horror

This book is a satire of the wellness industry, but in the course of satirizing the industry, it portrays the industry in an exaggerated, unrealistic way that made me quickly lose interest. I feel like an effective satire is rooted in enough realism so that the commentary hits harder, rather than making up how an industry works.

I went and read some reviews, and it sounds like this book goes into some WEIRD territory, and also uses trauma for shock value? So, no thanks.



Jade City by Fonda Lee

I have a weird relationship with this book. I've tried to read it at least 4 times, and I keep putting it down.

I think the biggest issue I have with it is that I find it hard to know where the plot is going at any given point. This time, when I read it, I knew the major event that happens a little after the halfway mark, so I found myself enjoying the first half much more and able to see how everything was connected. But afterward, I rapidly lost interest again. Like I know the gangs are going to war with each other, but what exactly is the end goal? You know neither of them is going to destroy the other because this is only the first book in a trilogy, so...?

I do think it's a problem that, while the construction and sequence of the scenes make sense once you already know where the plot is headed, they do a poor job of actually foreshadowing where the story is going if you don't already know. I've actually never encountered this in a book before.

The worldbuilding is very detailed, which is one of the strengths of the book. But a weakness of the book was that I felt like the Kaul siblings' relationships with each other didn't feel as fleshed out as I wanted. They feel bound to each other more out of duty than out of love, especially when it came to the relationship between Hilo and Lan, so the emotional beats didn't always land as hard as they should have.

I'm also not a fan of Fonda Lee's writing style, which is extremely heavy on telling over showing. I've learned that the only way I can read this story is via audiobook and not ebook or physical, simply because of the writing style.

Finally, I know Fonda Lee has disputed this, but I do feel like this story is extremely male gaze-y, which isn't negated by the characters of Shae, Ayt Mada, and the few female Green Bones. I'm someone who enjoys action movies, shonen anime, and video games, and I still feel like this story is quite testosterone-fueled.

As of today, I've read 51 books this year. This isn't a final tally, since I still have some library holds and the sequel to Iron Widow is releasing at the end of the month, but it's a good enough approximation.

It's felt like a bad reading year in terms of my enjoyment of the books I've read, but on the bright side, I read way more books than I did in 2023. Part of it, I think, is because I've started to read ARCs from NetGalley. While I only request books that I would've been interested in reading anyway, it's definitely helped me to be able to read/listen to some books right away, especially considering that my local library has significantly cut down on the audiobooks available through Libby and hoopla.

Here are my favorite books of 2024:

1. The Tainted Cup by Robert Bennett Jackson

Fantasy + murder mystery is a winning premise that is sorely underrated in traditional publishing, and I'm so thrilled to have found this series that finally scratches that itch.

2. The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang

A book that surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. It's paced a bit like a thriller, and I ended up flying through the pages while glued to the complex, messy love story between Emperor Ai and Dong Xian across multiple lifetimes.

3. Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Abike-Iyimide

What can I say? I love Faridah Abike-Iyimide's thrillers.

4. Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf

The other Red Tower book I was looking forward to, Five Broken Blades, ended up being one of my biggest disappointments of the year (I even gave away my copy). But I loved this book. Traditional publishing needs more books with mechs!

5. A Banh Mi For Two by Trinity Nguyen

A sweet sapphic romance with messages about family and diaspora feelings that tugged on my heartstrings.

6. Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Abike-Iyimide and Adiba Jaigirdar

I really enjoyed the sparkling banter, grumpy girl x sunshine boy relationship, and spotlight on a Muslim community in this romance!

7. The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso

Another surprisingly enjoyable read for me. I love time-loop/reality-bending shenanigans, and this book pulled that off with breakneck pacing, a fascinating world, and a well-done friends-to-enemies-to-lovers relationship.

8. The Blood Orchid by Kylie Lee Baker

I didn't enjoy The Scarlet Alchemist, but this sequel was phenomenal, and Kylie Lee Baker is definitely becoming one of my favorite authors.

9. Darkside by Michael Mammay

It's a Carl Butler anti-capitalist military thriller. What else can I say, other than I hope Michael Mammay gets to write as many of these as he wants?

10. Kestrel by Adrienne Lothy

Yet another surprise favorite, and this time a self-published one! This is everything I wish traditionally published romantasy/romantic sci-fi was: a well-done romance combined with a fantastic sci-fi plot.

11. Remnants of Filth by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

Volumes 3, 4, and 5 came out this year. There are two more volumes to go, so I know I can't give a final judgment, but I've really loved this story. Way more than The Husky and His White Cat Shizun, to be honest.

*

Looking back, it's interesting to see that many of my favorite reads of 2024 were complete surprises, while so many of my most anticipated books ended up being complete disappointments (like Five Broken Blades, Fathomfolk, The Last Dragon of the East, The Nightmare Before Kissmas). This might be why, when I look at my 2025 TBR list, I don't feel super hyped or excited about many of the books coming out—I'm just too used to being let down by books I thought sounded amazing.

For 2025's TBR, my list is, as usual, mostly made up of fantasy and mysteries/thrillers. Interestingly enough, I feel like a lot of dark academia books are coming out next year. Not sure why.

I have been having an absolutely terrible time with traditionally published Chinese fantasy (by Chinese authors) this year. The only ones I’ve enjoyed were The Emperor and the Endless Palace by Justinian Huang, and The Blood Orchid by Kylie Lee Baker. Every other one I’ve read has been a one- or two-star read. :(

As an example, I recently read The Last Dragon of the East by Katrina Kwan, which I was really looking forward to, but it was just so mediocre to me. (I know people argue that BIPOC authors should be allowed to write mediocre books, but at the same time, am I not allowed to be disappointed when mediocre books are published when so many talented authors of color are languishing because they're deemed "not relatable" or "not marketable enough"?)

One of the issues I had with the book was that the Chinese fantasy elements felt so superficial. Apart from the reincarnation/red thread of fate concept, if you took out the dragons, the teahouse, and the emperor, this could have easily been a generic Western fantasy. Hell, the book even features fae beasts and will-o-the-wisps already.

I've been ruminating a lot lately on the topic of what makes Chinese fantasy "culturally Chinese" and how much that matters. To be honest, it wasn't until I started reading danmei novels that I realized fantasy novels set in China by authors in China do feel very different from fantasy novels by diaspora authors, in terms of how (fantasy) China is depicted - the cultures, the traditions, the language.

I mean, the system of pronouns and honorifics in ancient China is extremely complicated, and while I don't expect a diaspora author to necessarily know when an ancient Chinese person would refer to themselves as 本官 or 小的 or (family name) 麿 (heck, I don't necessarily know either), I think it's worth trying to convey some of the speech patterns rather than just having everyone talk like a 21st-century English-speaking American. (Personally, I love writing Chinese fantasy characters introducing themselves like "My family name is X, my given name Y" to emulate "我姓 X，名 Y".)

I can really tell now when a Chinese diaspora author is aware of Chinese folklore and cultural nuances. I had that feeling while reading Justinian Huang, Joan He, and Judy I. Lin's novels.

But I'm also personally wrestling with the fact that I don't like ideas of cultural "purity" or gatekeeping diaspora authors from writing fantasy. And I have enjoyed Chinese fantasy novels by Sue Lynn Tan, RF Kuang, and Kylie Lee Baker that feature Western values and/or storytelling traditions in certain ways.

I think it comes down to, for me, feeling like a diaspora author has done some research on ancient China, instead of just taking some superficial elements and running with their imagination of what ancient China is like (because isn't that the exact same thing white people do?).

All this is, of course, not even getting to how traditional publishing is dominated by white people who are the arbiters of what should be published even when they have no knowledge of Chinese culture or storytelling. Sigh.

Well, 2024 was a dud as far as reading years go; I think I enjoyed less than a third of the books I read. :/ Here's hoping the books in 2025 will be better!

1. Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan: January 7, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) The description of this didn't catch my attention, but I loved Daughter of the Moon Goddess so I'll give it a try.

2. Mystery Royale by Kaitlyn Cavalancia: January 7, 2025

(YA, fantasy, mystery)

3. You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego: February 11, 2025

(Adult, thriller) An isolation thriller with a group of mystery writers, what's not to love?

4. Mondays Are Murder by Ravena Guron: February 13, 2025

(YA, thriller)

5. Oathbound by Tracy Deonn: March 4, 2025

(YA, fantasy) The third Legendborn Cycle book!!

6. The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amelie Wen Zhao: March 4, 2025

(YA, fantasy) Did I hate Song of Silver, Flame Like Night? Yes...but I'm curious enough about any Chinese fantasy that features demons that I'll at least take a look.

7. A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett: April 1, 2025

(Adult, fantasy, mystery) I really enjoyed The Tainted Cup and am excited for more in this series!!

8. Cold Eternity by SA Barnes: April 8, 2025

(Adult, sci-fi, horror)

9. The Ashfire King by Chelsea Abdullah: April 15, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) The sequel to The Stardust Thief!

10. The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson: April 15, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) This has been called epic fantasy, even though the summary makes it sound like a fantasy murder mystery...guess I'll give it a try.

11. Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker: April 29, 2025

(Adult, horror) I enjoyed this author's debut series, and the premise of this sounds so good.

12. The Sun Blessed Prince by Lindsey Byrd: May 6, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) I'm almost certain I read this story as a fanfic on AO3, so I'm super curious as to how the published version will turn out.

13. The Lost Queen by Aimee Phan: May 6, 2025

(YA, fantasy) Vietnamese contemporary fantasy? I'm intrigued!

14. The Art of Exile by Andrea Max: May 13, 2025

(YA, sci-fi, fantasy) Another dark academia book involving the descendants of Renaissance masters???

15. Cruel Is the Light by Sophie Clark: May 20, 2025

(YA, fantasy) I'm hoping this is Trinity Blood meets the enemies-to-lovers dynamic of Bonesmith.

16. A Song of Legends Lost by MH Ayinde: June 3, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) African epic fantasy with Final Fantasy inspiration?? YES.

17. Celestial Banquet by Roselle Lim: June 3, 2025

(YA, fantasy) A magical cooking competition for the Chinese gods? Say no more!

18. The God and the Gwisin by Sophie Kim: June 3, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) The sequel to The God and the Gumiho.

19. A Forgery of Fate by Elizabeth Lim: June 3, 2025

(YA, fantasy) I didn't enjoy Six Crimson Cranes, but the idea of Beauty and the Beast with an Asian dragon is sooo good.

20. With a Vengeance by Riley Sager: June 10, 2025

(Adult, thriller) I have a pretty rocky history with Riley Sager's thrillers (enjoyed Home Before Dark, found Lock Every Door readable, DNF'ed every other book), but this is giving major Murder on the Orient Express vibes so I have to at least give it a try.

21. The Blood Phoenix by Amber Chen: June 17, 2025

(YA, fantasy) I thought the first book was just okay, but I'm curious enough to see where the sequel goes.

22. A Fiery Spirit by Kate Chenli: June 17, 2025

(YA, fantasy) I loved A Bright Heart so I'm excited for the sequel!

23. I Did Warn Her by Sian Gilbert: June 17, 2025

(Adult, thriller) I LOVED She Started It so I'm excited for another thriller by this author!

24. This Is Where We Die by Cindy RX He: July 1, 2025

(YA, mystery) The isolation thriller murder mysteries always get me!!

25. Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman: July 15, 2025

(Adult, thriller) God, I love the trope of a bunch of writers trapped on an island trying to solve an author's murder.

26. Love Is a War Song by Danica Nava: July 22, 2025

(Adult, romance) This romance sounds so good!

27. Very Dangerous Things by Lauren Muñoz: July 29, 2025

(YA, mystery) I didn't enjoy this author's debut, but a locked room mystery will always get me. :')

28. Immortal Consequences by IV Marie: July 29, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) Dark academia set in purgatory? I'm intrigued.

29. Her Soul For a Crown by Alysha Rameera: August 12, 2025

(Adult, fantasy, romance)

30. The Last Soul Among Wolves by Melissa Caruso: August 19, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) Loved the first book, excited for the sequel!!

31. The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood and Boyfriends by Jamie D’Amato: August 26, 2025

(YA, romance)

32. King Foretold by Jayci Lee: August 26, 2025

(Adult, fantasy, romance)

33. Demon Song by Kelsea Yu: September 30, 2025

(Adult, horror) The horror vibes in this author's debut were immaculate, AND Journey to the West themes?? Give it to me now!!

34. The Door on the Sea by Caskey Russell: October 7, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) Tlingit epic fantasy? I'm intrigued!

35. Red City by Marie Lu: October 14, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) My only prior experience with Marie Lu was The Young Elites, which I absolutely hated. But I guess I'm curious enough about her Adult debut to give it a try?

36. I'll Find You Where the Timeline Ends by Kylie Lee Baker: November 18, 2025

(YA, fantasy, sci-fi) KLB is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, so I'm happy to give this a try.

37. Dawn of the Firebird by Sarah Mughal Rana: December 9, 2025

(Adult, fantasy) This sounds really good!!

38. An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole: December 30, 2025

(Adult, dark academia)

I usually don't feel compelled to write my thoughts about books until I'm done, but maybe it's the combination of my nerves being on edge from querying and recent events in my personal life, or maybe this book is bothering me just that much.

I requested an ARC (advanced reader's copy) of Sorcery and Small Magics by Maiga Doocy (from Orbit Books, publishing this October) after reading the first two chapters in an online excerpt and enjoying them. Now I'm nearly 25% of the way through and feeling like this book has already become a slog.

I want to say for the record that I try not to request ARCs of books unless I really want to read them and really think (or hope) I'll enjoy them. I'm an aggressive DNF'er when it comes to books in general and hate being stuck with a book I'm not enjoying, so because I feel pressure to finish ARCs I receive, I try to only request books that I believe I'll enjoy enough to finish.

Before I received my ARC, I read an online review that said the book felt like fanfiction of The Untamed. That made me apprehensive, but I assumed that maybe the two romantic leads would follow the same trope. Tropes can't be copyrighted, after all. Even as a writer myself, I love writing opposites attract/the sunshine one falls for the reserved, grumpy one.

Unfortunately, the similarities are too close as to be distracting.

Leo Loveage, the narrating protagonist, is an alcohol-loving, free-spirited, prank-playing, rules-hating character who even practices forbidden magic. Like, come on, my guy.

At the same time, he's different from Wei Wuxian in one crucial aspect: rather than being clever and a genius, Leo is more the Walking Mess type of character. And this is a pretty crucial difference, because it makes him much, MUCH more annoying to read about.

You can forgive Wei Wuxian's antics because his cleverness makes him fun to follow and makes it more understandable as to why he's constantly bending rules. Even though he antagonizes Lan Wangji, he has the energy of a rambunctious, mischievous, but ultimately harmless puppy who nevertheless wants to befriend Lan Wangji (at least in the C-drama). Leo Loveage, on the other hand, constantly antagonizes Sebastian Grimm for no reason other than he likes to cause trouble and annoy him. I don't know how old he's supposed to be, but given that this is an adult novel, it makes him seem immature rather than endearing. Combined with the fact that Leo is consistently terrible with magic and seems determined not to find a solution for that in order to spite his family, it quickly becomes grating to be in his head.

I don't easily find characters annoying. I also generally like Walking Disaster-type characters, characters who are presented as being messed up, who drink too much, and whose lives are out of control, usually due to past/family trauma. But I think it's the fact that Leo has no goal or desires and can't stop himself from making his life worse that bugs the hell out of me.

The other part that bothers me is that the magic system feels eerily like the author took cultivation from The Untamed and slapped a European coat of paint on it. The system of scriving spells onto paper sounds a lot like paper talismans, and the absolute dead giveaway was the fact that these sorcerers are also taught swordplay. Combining swordsmanship with magic has always been a very Asian, if not Chinese, fantasy tradition.

Why does this bug me? Because Chinese cultivation fantasy is not exactly well represented in American publishing. Very few, if any, Chinese fantasy novels published in the US actually draw from the Chinese fantasy tradition of cultivation---which to me is an indictment of what Chinese fantasy novels US publishers deem "worthy" of publication. So yeah, it bugs me more than a little that slapping a pseudo-European coat of paint on Chinese traditions is deemed palatable while actual Chinese fantasies drawing from that same tradition are not.

So far, 2024 has not been that much better of a reading year than 2023 was...


Into the Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru

Genre: YA, science fiction, heist

I swear, heist books are cursed for me. The only one I've enjoyed was The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi; every other one has let me down.

When I heard the pitch for this book—a sci-fi retelling of Treasure Island involving a heist in a drowned casino—I thought it was awesome. But I'm not that familiar with Treasure Island (the closest I've come is watching Disney's Treasure Planet), and I suspect this book was a faithful retelling, pacing-wise, because I found the beginning of the book a bit...slow. I also didn't like how much Jin and Thara clashed? Their relationship seemed to be a constant up and down.

I DNF'ed about 40% of the way through because I just wasn't feeling motivated to continue. I may pick up the book again later to give it another try.


A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat

Genre: YA, horror

I'm a sucker for a haunted house book. I found this book kind of slow until I think 25% of the way through, and then I got completely hooked.

And then...I ended up abandoning the story in one of the final chapters. I'm not someone who loves "cozy" comfort reads, but the level of violence at the climax stressed me out so much that I jumped ship.


Darker By Four by June CL Tan

Genre: YA, fantasy

The author's debut novel was a 3-star read for me, and this book had a cool premise. Chinese urban fantasy involving cultivation, Exorcists, and the Ten Courts of Hell? Sign me up! Plus, the audiobook narrator is one of my absolute favorite narrators.

So imagine my surprise when I was aggravated enough to DNF this book at the 20% mark.

The recurring theme in a bunch of 2024 releases so far, for me, is that they are absolutely TERRIBLE at getting the reader invested in the protagonist(s) within the first few chapters. Coupled with the inciting incident not making much sense, I just didn't care enough to keep reading.


Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan

Genre: Adult, fantasy

Another book I wanted to love and tried really hard to finish, but even on audio with one of my favorite narrators, I think this might be a DNF around the 2/3 mark.

I went into this book apprehensive because it got a lot of mixed advance reviews. I definitely agree with those reviews that this book had a lot of problems—but I think my biggest problem was the character of Cordelia. Not only did I despise her character (I don't know if this was the author's intention, but she came off as a "race traitor," e.g. willing to make things worse for other fathomfolk for the sake of her own selfish desires), but it was also stressful to put up with her POV chapters, knowing she was scheming to make things worse for the other POV characters. Other reviewers have complained about how impulsive Nami was, but for me, Cordelia was the worst part of this book, and I think I could have pushed through if her chapters hadn't been there.

I've read some spoilers about things that happen to certain characters later on, and I just don't think I have enough interest to finish this.


*


As I'm typing out my thoughts, I realize that I don't like "stressful" reads.

Again, not that I'm someone who likes "cozy" reads, either. I like conflict. I guess my definition of a "stressful" read is a story that foreshadows that bad things will happen to the main character(s), because that causes a feeling of dread for me.

I like books in which characters had bad things happen to them in the past and then struggle for revenge/catharsis. I like books about characters coping with how trauma has shaped them and figuring out how to move forward. I don't like rooting for the characters to succeed only to see them receive disabling injuries/lose it all during the story.

Switching gears a bit—I mentioned above that I feel like a lot of new releases are doing a terrible job of making me invested in the protagonist(s) from the get-go. I'm normally not a mood reader or someone whose enjoyment of books is impacted by external factors, but it's gotten to the point where I AM starting to wonder if the problem is *me*, because it can't be that most books coming out this year have the exact same problem, can it???

I generally try to read the beginnings of books on Amazon to see if the writing style will be a turn-off, and Amazon previews can go online up to a month before the book's release. And even for unreleased books whose previews I've read, I STILL find the opening chapters atrocious at getting me to care about the protagonist(s).

What makes me care about the protagonist? First and foremost—a distinctive personality. Where this goes wrong for me is when authors immediately try to give the protagonist "witty banter" or a "badass attitude" in order to convey their personality. This doesn't work because too many authors have used these elements as shorthands for a personality, so they've effectively become generic, ironically.

Make me care about the protagonist by showing me something unexpected about them, and by giving them an air of mystery.

A sword for hire who is all "IDGAF about making people suffer as long as I get paid"? Boring. Seen that done a hundred times.

A sword for hire who's all "I'm out of money, but I can't bring myself to wring the fee out of the person who just swindled me"? Unexpected. Now I'm intrigued about why the character is like this.

I've seen it said that all books need conflict. I would disagree with that and say instead: all books need tension.

2023 had a lot of action movie duds. Those movies were definitely full of conflict, yet for the ones that I watched and wasn't in love with, they lacked tension.

What is tension? I define it as the reader's guess/expectation that something will happen. Or, in the words of Dan Brown (probably paraphrased), it's posing a question and then promising that if the reader keeps reading, they'll get the answer. Romance novels are often criticized by people who don't read the genre for being formulaic, but the tension in romance comes from knowing the main couple will get together, but not exactly how they will. It's why they're so compulsively readable for fans of the genre. Crucially, tension involves uncertainty. If a story is completely predictable, there is no tension.

Recently, I read A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal, and ended up feeling bored out of my skull after roughly the 20% mark. It's a heist book—it was definitely full of conflict. But I didn't feel any sense of tension. Like, sure, the main characters have to pull off this heist or else they'll lose their beloved teahouse. But we know that failure isn't really an option because otherwise why are we reading this book, so...?

I find that action-packed books with tension often achieve that tension by introducing a conflict underlying the main action plot. Either a character-based conflict, or multiple conflicts in a single action setpiece. For example, in Voyage of the Damned by Frances White, protagonist Dee isn't just investigating the murders to get justice for his loved one and because he and his friends might become the next targets—he's also trying to hide the fact that he's the only powerless person on the cruise ship. Or, in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, when Ethan Hunt and co. attempt to steal the nuclear codes at the Burj Khalifa, they're not just stealing the codes because they can't let them fall into the wrong hands; they're also gambling on not having their identities uncovered, which would ruin their whole mission.

It's taken me a while to be able to articulate my problems with A Tempest of Tea, and I think it boils down to a few things: (1) The characters never fail in their goals, so even when they encounter obstacles, there isn't much tension that something bad could happen to them. (In Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, by contrast, we see the main characters lose the nuclear codes multiple times, which really heightens the stakes.) And (2) none of the twists were foreshadowed ahead of time, so while they should have been sources of tension throughout most of the book, they weren't.

And that's why I ended up bored out of my skull while reading the book.