Morren Aconite

I genuinely don’t understand when exactly I’d managed to read so many books this month, but here goes.

The Spellshop, Sarah Beth Durst

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘I absolutely do not know what I’m doing. I thought that was clear?’

I might still be a bit too excited, but I think everyone should read this book, like, right now.

It’s an extremely vibey cozy fantasy that has a surprisingly complex story. The characters are memorable, the details in this are precious (golden merhorses who love tomatoes??? bear-shaped tree spirits??? talking plants??? It’s fucking awesome), and there’s an adorable romance to top it all off. Think ‘Legends and Lattes’ but with higher stakes.

I loved it with all my heart, and I am grateful to have found this book when I was in dire need of it.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

Kiela has always had trouble dealing with people. Thankfully, as a librarian at the Great Library of Alyssium, she and her assistant, Caz—a magically sentient spider plant—have spent the last decade sequestered among the empire’s most precious spellbooks, preserving their magic for the city’s elite.

When a revolution begins and the library goes up in flames, she and Caz flee with all the spellbooks they can carry and head to a remote island Kiela never thought she’d see again: her childhood home. Taking refuge there, Kiela discovers, much to her dismay, a nosy—and very handsome—neighbor who can’t take a hint and keeps showing up day after day to make sure she’s fed and to help fix up her new home.

In need of income, Kiela identifies something that even the bakery in town doesn’t have: jam. With the help of an old recipe book her parents left her and a bit of illegal magic, her cottage garden is soon covered in ripe berries.

But magic can do more than make life a little sweeter, so Kiela risks the consequences of using unsanctioned spells and opens the island’s first-ever and much needed secret spellshop.

The Kamogawa Food Detectives, Hisashi Kashiwai

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Imagine coming home after a very long hard day, changing into something comfy, and eating your favorite dish as a treat for surviving the challenges you faced earlier. This is exactly how this book reads.

It’s a series of short stories connected through characters and location. The Kamogawa Diner, run by a father-daughter duo, is not only a great place to eat but the destination to seek when you want to find a specific dish. They’ll recreate it for you, even if you’ve only eaten it once, 50 years ago, and barely remember anything about the restaurant or the specifics of the dish.

It’s simple, heartwarming, and sweet. I’d recommend it to anyone who needs to relax.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

What’s the one dish you’d do anything to taste just one more time?

Down a quiet backstreet in Kyoto exists a very special restaurant. Run by Koishi Kamogawa and her father Nagare, the Kamogawa Diner serves up deliciously extravagant meals. But that’s not the main reason customers stop by . . .

The father-daughter duo are ‘food detectives’. Through ingenious investigations, they are able to recreate dishes from a person’s treasured memories – dishes that may well hold the keys to their forgotten past and future happiness. The restaurant of lost recipes provides a link to vanished moments, creating a present full of possibility.

Perfume & Pain, Anna Dorn

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘Perfume – like people, alcohol, my coping mechanisms – frequently turns on me.’

I love the way Anna Dorn writes. At this point, it doesn’t even matter what the book is about, I just like the prose. That is not to say the story here wasn’t great either.

It’s a character-driven novel that explores a controversial author’s struggle to be human, to stay afloat, and to keep it together. I enjoyed it immensely, and I am anticipating Dorn’s next novel.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

Having recently moved both herself and her formidable perfume bottle collection into a tiny bungalow in Los Angeles, mid-list author Astrid Dahl finds herself back in the Zoom writer’s group she cofounded, Sapphic Scribes, after an incident that leaves her and her career lightlycanceled. But she temporarily forgets all that by throwing herself into a few sexy distractions—like Ivy, a grad student who smells like metallic orchids and is researching 1950s lesbian pulp, or her new neighbor, Penelope, who smells like patchouli.

Penelope, a painter living off Urban Outfitters settlement money, immediately ingratiates herself in Astrid’s life, bonding with her best friends and family, just as Astrid and Ivy begin to date in person. Astrid feels judged and threatened by Penelope, a responsible older vegan, but also finds her irresistibly sexy.

When Astrid receives an unexpected call from her agent with the news that actress and influencer Kat Gold wants to adapt her previous novel for TV, Astrid finally has a chance to resurrect her waning career. But the pressure causes Astrid’s worst vice to rear its head—the Patricia Highsmith, a blend of Adderall, alcohol, and cigarettes—and results in blackouts and a disturbing series of events.

Death Valley, Melissa Broder

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘I’d rather not ask for the miracle than ask and not receive.’

This is a wild trip of a novel. An author who’s dealing with a lot of difficulties like the seemingly impending death of her father, goes to the California desert to ‘research’ her new book. She is then drawn on a transformative journey inside a giant cactus, which makes her face all the harsh truths she’s been working so hard to avoid.

The book deals with a lot of heavy subjects, the writing is beautiful (as it always is with Melissa Broder), and an engaging read, albeit sometimes it hits a bit too close to home.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

In Melissa Broder’s astonishingly profound new novel, a woman arrives alone at a Best Western seeking respite from an emptiness that plagues her. She has fled to the California high desert to escape a cloud of sorrow—for both her father in the ICU and a husband whose illness is worsening. What the motel provides, however, is not peace but a path discovered on a nearby hike.

Out along the sun-scorched trail, the narrator encounters a towering cactus whose size and shape mean it should not exist in California. Yet the cactus is there, with a gash through its side that beckons like a familiar door. So she enters it. What awaits her inside this mystical succulent sets her on a journey at once desolate and rich, hilarious, and poignant.

Navola, Paolo Bacigalupi

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I picked this up because of the cover, I stayed because of the prose. It’s beautifully written, though the only ‘fantasy’ in here is the dragon’s eye, and it reads more like a politics-centered historical novel set in a made-up city.

I would’ve given it three stars, but the ending was so epically brutal that it deserves a star of its own.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

In Navola, a bustling city-state dominated by a handful of influential families, business is power, and power is everything. For generations, the di Regulai family—merchant bankers with a vast empire—has nurtured tendrils that stretch to the farthest reaches of the known world. And though they claim not to be political, their staggering wealth has bought cities and toppled kingdoms. Soon, Davico di Regulai will be expected to take the reins of power from his father and demonstrate his mastery of the games of Navolese knowing who to trust and who to doubt, and how to read what lies hidden behind a smile. But in Navola, strange and ancient undercurrents lurk behind the gilt and grandeur—like the fossilized dragon eye in the family’s possession, a potent symbol of their raw power and a talisman that seems to be summoning Davico to act.

As tensions rise and the events unfold, Davico will be tested to his limits. His fate depends on the eldritch dragon relic and on what lies buried in the heart of his adopted sister, Celia di Balcosi, whose own family was destroyed by Nalova’s twisted politics. With echoes of Renaissance Italy, The Godfather , and Game of Thrones , Navola is a stunning feat of world-building and a mesmerizing depiction of drive and will.

The Prisoner’s Throne, Holly Black

(The Stolen Heir Duology #2)

⭐️⭐️⭐️

It was… fine. I am pretty sure I was not in the right mood for this story, but I sort of wanted to get this duology over with.

This one isn’t as interesting as the previous books in the series, in my opinion. However, I found Oak to be a clever and fun protagonist. It was good to get more of his perspective, and, ultimately, this book wraps up everything quite well.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

Prince Oak is paying for his betrayal. Imprisoned in the icy north and bound to the will of a monstrous new queen, he must rely on charm and calculation to survive. With High King Cardan and High Queen Jude willing to use any means necessary to retrieve their stolen heir, Oak will have to decide whether to attempt regaining the trust of the girl he’s always loved or to remain loyal to Elfhame and hand over the means to end her reign—even if it means ending Wren, too.


 
With a new war looming on the horizon and treachery lurking in every corner, neither Oak’s guile nor his wit will be enough to keep everyone he loves alive. It’s just a question of whom he will doom.

Rabbit Hole, Kate Brody

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I was disappointed because the narrative was extremely slow. There is little in terms of action, and a lot of dwelling on the MC’s mental state throughout the investigation. It is not necessarily bad, just not what the book description leads you to expect.

Anyway, I still (sort of) enjoyed reading this, though I found Mikey’s character way more intriguing than the actual mystery.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

Ten years ago, Theodora “Teddy” Angstrom’s older sister, Angie, went missing. Her case remains unsolved. Now Teddy’s father, Mark, has killed himself. Unbeknownst to Mark’s family, he had been active in a Reddit community fixated on Angie, and Teddy can’t help but fall down the same rabbit hole.

Teddy’s investigation quickly gets her in hot water with her gun-nut boyfriend, her long-lost half brother, and her colleagues at the prestigious high school where she teaches English. Further complicating matters is Teddy’s growing obsession with Mickey, a charming amateur sleuth who is eerily keen on helping her solve the case.

Bewitched by Mickey, Teddy begins to lose her moral compass. As she struggles to reconcile new information with old memories, her erratic behavior reaches a fever pitch, but she won’t stop until she finds Angie—or destroys herself in the process.

Mood Swings, Frankie Barnet

⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘Wasn’t there a name for the syndrome when people had such lofty and impossible dreams that it amounted to the same thing as having none at all?’

A fever dream of a novel. I’d say it can be labeled as ‘sad girl fiction’ (which I dearly love), but there’s also a wild dystopian premise at its core – one day, all the animals went rabid, and now there isn’t a single animal left on the planet. The book is a very interesting piece of modern literature, and I’ll keep an eye on future releases by this author.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

Everyone knows something’s off, but nobody can agree on just what it is. Maybe it’s the weather; maybe everyone’s just so damn sensitive these days. Or maybe it’s because the animals of the world have finally had enough, besieging towns and cities and terrorizing their human residents.

Jenlena and her best friend Daphne are two humanities grads in their early 20s, trying to find their way in a society that has just eradicated all animals for the safety of humanity. In the post-fauna world, Jenlena transforms from an aspiring poet to a gig worker, capitalizing on other people’s grief by selling house plants that have come to replace pets and cosplaying as dogs for pay. Meanwhile Daphne, a once-promising student, flounders in a deep depression, smoking weed and ditching work to hang out with her once famous, now canceled boyfriend. When Jenlena meets the California billionaire Roderick Maeve, and the two become romantically entangled, she is exposed to a new understanding of wealth, power, and the gender economy—just as the world hurtles toward its alleged salvation.

Marked with Frankie Barnet’s poignant intelligence and sly sense of humor, Mood Swings is a stand-out debut novel that imagines with pitch-perfect absurdity what comes after life as we know it.

Hey, Zoey, Sarah Crossan

⭐️⭐️⭐️

An underwhelming execution of a great premise. A woman finds an expensive AI sex doll in her husband’s garage. This pushes her to reconsider not only her marriage but her whole life. Maybe my problem with this was that I expected something along the lines of ‘Annie Bot’ or ‘Made for Love’, and got a slow unraveling of the MC instead. I’d still recommend to check this out if you like relatably devastating stories of women gradually losing their shit.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

43-year-old Dolores O’Shea is logical, organized, and prepared to handle whatever comes her way. She keeps up with her job and housework, takes care of her mentally declining mother, and remains close with her old friends and her younger sister who’s moved to New York. Though her marriage with David, an anesthesiologist, isn’t what is used to be, nothing can quite prepare her for Zoey, the $8,000 AI sex doll that David has secretly purchased and stuffed away in the garage. At first, Zoey sparks an uncharacteristically strong violence in Dolores, whose entire life is suddenly cast in doubt.
But then, Dolores and Zoey start to talk…and what surfaces runs deeper than Dolores could have ever expected, with consequences for all of the relationships in her life, especially her relationship to herself. Provocative, brilliant, and tender, Hey, Zoey is an electrifying new novel about the painful truths of modern-day connection and the complicated and unexpected forms that love can take in a lifetime.

Love Letters to a Serial Killer, Tasha Coryell

⭐️⭐️

I was so excited for this book to come out, and so upset when I read it.

The first thing I want to make clear: it is a good story if you want an insight into the mind of ‘serial killer groupies’. I think the phenomenon of women flocking to men accused of atrocious crimes is explored really well here.

BUT the pitfall and necessity of that positive is that the MC is absolutely fucking insufferable. While I love unlikable, sometimes even awful MCs, this one is painfully pathetic, and I could not stand being in her head. It was hard to get through the book when the story progressed at a turtle’s speed, and the MC was someone whose company I hated.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

Recently ghosted and sick of watching her friends fade into the suburbs, thirty-something Hannah finds community in a true-crime forum that’s on a mission to solve the murders of four women in Atlanta. After William, a handsome lawyer, is arrested for the killings, Hannah begins writing him letters. It’s the perfect outlet for her pent-up frustration and rage. The exercise empowers her, and even feels healthy at first.

Until William writes back.

Hannah’s interest in the case goes from curiosity to obsession, leaving space for nothing else as her life implodes around her. After she loses her job, she heads to Georgia to attend the trial and befriends other true-crime junkies like herself. When a fifth woman is discovered murdered, the jury has no choice but to find William not guilty, and Hannah is the first person he calls upon his release. The two of them quickly fall into a routine of domestic bliss.

Well, as blissful as one can feel while secretly investigating their partner for serial murder…

Breaking the Dark, Lisa Jewell

⭐️⭐️

Oooohhh, boy, am I pissed at this book. I started it super excited to read a story about Jessica Jones, one of my favorite flawed superheroes of all time and was instantly invested. Creepy twins that are suddenly behaving like robots? Jessica going to a tiny village in the UK to investigate? Hell, yes!

Up to about halfway through, I was loving it. Fast-paced, atmospheric, intriguing. And then the mystery started losing steam, ending up in a far-fetched and convoluted revelation. To make matters worse, I was infuriated by Jessica’s character arc. The way the book ends made me want to throw my phone out the window.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I’ve always loved Jessica Jones as a character because she was cool and smart, but horrendously damaged. Yet she was always trying her best to help others. The way she was portrayed in the series actually made sense – it was nuanced, insightful, and realistic.

Here, Jessica is on the path to ‘a better future’, and the way the author decided to go about it is… to make her pregnant. Yes. Just that. Apparently saving a couple of cHiLdReN iN dAnGeR and realizing there’s one growing inside of you as well is enough to power through years of trauma and substance abuse. There’s now a baby with superpowers on the way, Jessica and Luke are a power couple ready to raise their progeny, and the children have been saved. Yay! Everything is solved! Rejoice!

Honestly, fuck this ending.

Annotation (from Goodreads)

Meet Jessica Jones: Retired super hero, private investigator, loner. She tried her best to be a shiny spandex crimefighter, but that life only led to unspeakable trauma. Now she avoids that world altogether and works on surviving day-to-day in Hell’s Kitchen, New York.

The morning a distraught mother comes into her office, Jessica would prefer to nurse her hangover and try to forget last night’s poor choices. But something about Amber Randall’s story strikes a chord with her. Amber is adamant that something happened to her teenage twins while they were visiting their father in the UK. The twins don’t act like themselves, and they now have flawless skin, have lost their distinctive tics and habits, and keep talking about a girl named Belle. Amber insists her children have been replaced by something horrible, something “perfect.”

Traveling to a small village in the British countryside, Jessica meets the mysterious Belle, who lives a curiously isolated life in an old farmhouse with a strange woman who claims to be her guardian. Can this unworldly teenager really be responsible for the Randall twins’ new personas? Why does the strange little village of Barton Wallop seem to harbor dark energies and mysteries in its tight-knit community?

A mother’s intuition is never wrong. And Jessica knows that nothing in life is perfect—not these kids, not her on-again, off-again relationship with Luke Cage, and certainly not Jessica herself. But even as she tries to buy into the idea that better days are ahead, Jessica Jones has seen all too clearly that behind every promise of perfection trails a dark, dangerous shadow.