Book Review: All Hail Chaos By Sarah Rees Brennan

 I enjoyed this novel via Audiobook from Hachette Audio and Orbit! 

I grabbed this from Net Galley in part because Narrators Moira Quirk and Shane East. I knew they would make the fantasy elements come to life.  It was most surely not because of the cover, which, has a charm to it, but not a charm I was affected by. 

This is book 2 in a series, and I think if you're interested, reading book one is a good idea.  Rae is unwell- literally, but she's found a way to slide into her favorite unfinished fantasy novel. This is the dream of so many readers! In book two, her sister, - who is literally not unwell- notes that the story she remembered is not the same, but she has no idea that it's Rae who's affecting the changes and not her memory. There's a definite Fourth Wall vibe to the book that I was there for! 

   Rae's all in the world of Time of Iron- she believes it may create a cure for her disease. While most readers would jump into a hero role, Rae's solidly embraced the villain. All Hail Chaos begins right where the first book left off, and Rae is left surprised that the plot she remembers is not the plot she is living. 

This novel is tagged as a "Meta-Novel" and it lives up to this with references, and commentary to popular literary tropes, other fiction, and reader behaviors. It's funny, and tender and touching.  I felt like the representation of someone facing a serious illness was spot on, and that his book is worth reading if just for that. 

  The book does seem to fall prey to many second in a series books- lots of snappy lines, twists and some jaw dropping reveals, but not very much movement of the plot. 

That said, I had a good time with this read. The narration helped me move swiftly through the chapters. It might be one for the fantasy reader in your life- which might be you! 

First Published :  5/12/2026

Pages: 480

Available as an Audio Book :  YES

Trigger Warnings: Disease, violence, killing/death, body corruption, body horror. (this is not a full list, read responsibly)

Book Review: The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean

  I requested this one on Net Galley  mostly on the strength of the cover.  I mean... look... look at this cover! 

Lucky for me, the audiobook was available  and I sunk into  the world, with the narrator Natalie Nadus disappearing in my mind, replaced by the sounds and smells of Post War Kowloon!  I love her narration because it really is transportative. After a few minutes, I am entirely immersed in the world, and forget I'm just sitting with headphones in rush hour commuting. 

  It's advertised as 'Gothic"  but I'm not sure that Gothic really applies that well to this one. While there's a lot of ghostly happenings and some horrible occurrences, I didn't have that creeping feeling of building and growing fear with this novel that I have gotten with other recent "Gothic" reads- WolfWorm (T. Kingfisher) or Japanese Gothic (Kylie lee Baker). It's got something different, a more shimmering quality than creeping dread. 

I'm going to call this the most Book Club Book I've read all year.

What makes it PERFECT for book clubs?  Well, it has a little bit of all the things that will appeal to a broad base of readers. 

Without Spoilers, Dean takes readers through a time pre- and post WWII Hong Kong and some outlying islands. This part of the narrative is meticulously researched and feels very accurate. Over top this is generously layered a dose of the supernatural- where ghosts flit in and out and can only be managed by exorcists and ghost talkers. The ghosts aren't just made entirely out of Dean's imagination, however, they are created and steeped in cultural beliefs about ghosts, and how to treat and interact with them over time. 

So all rolled into one we have historical fiction, a bit of a war drama, some messy family relations, the supernatural, and fiction that highlights cultural ideas and beliefs over time.  If that isn't a perfect book for the Book club to dive into, I don't know what is.  It's only missing a strong romance, and honestly, for the majority of book clubs, strong romances aren't the best for discussion.  (Unless of course it's the Stabby and Smoochy book club because we are all about ROMANCE) 

 I had not read Sunyi Dean before, and I think I'm going to have to pick up the backlist! 

First Published :  5/5/2026

Pages: 320

Available as an Audio Book :  YES

Trigger Warnings: Abuse, trauma, mental health, violence, ghosts, violent ghosts, War, drowning, brief mention of suicide, death, body horror (this is not a full list, read responsibly)

Book Review Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton 5/5 stars

  This book was PERFECTION! 

Johnny Compton delivers a fresh, tight, creepy, freaky, spooky novel that involves vampires, Gods, demons and angels- all within a contemporary setting without allowing any sinking in to the maudlin, stereotypical situations that we sometimes find in horror fiction. This felt, entirely new, and yet somehow very connected to the classic horror that fans of the genre love. 

 In Summary- Sarita's a woman who's always had a guardian angel. She's not entirely comfortable with that fact, but she's certainly shaped her young life around the angel's protection. When this angel kills someone she cares about, she starts to question, and unravel what's really going on, and... readers, what's really going on isn't exactly angelic. Telling too much more might "spoil" the novel, so I'm going to stop right there. 

   I am always a bit hesitant about male authors writing books with female protagonists/main characters. In the first few charters, I did wonder a bit if this was going to be a problem. Sarita is not that fully developed, and that initially bothered me. As I became fully engaged in the story that Compton was telling, I realized that Sarita, herself, was never really the main attraction- she was just a person swept into this drama between devils, angels, Gods and vampires, destined to play a part, but not personally committed to it-until she had to be, which was much further along.  So in this case- I did not find any issue with how he portrayed Sarita, or actually any of the women in the book.  Big bonus points for this author! She did come through this, like an amazing final girl in the end, which put a smile on my face. 

Compton's portrayal of vampires- in all their gruesome glory was also  enjoyable.  This may be because I've been reading a bunch of very cute-sy Vampire rom-coms that kind of make a joke out of them- having to ask permission to enter homes, disliking garlic in cooking, wearing shades all the time etc. Not Compton's Vamps. These creatures are true night crawlers who aren't at all interested in love or permissions. It's all power and lust, especially blood lust for them. The fear they invoke reminds me of the sick dread one experiences reading parts of Dracula. 

Photo by Carol Highsmith - 

• Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

I kept imagining this as the opening to a certain mountain featured in the novel, though this certainly isn't how it's portrayed- I couldn't help myself. 

 To round this all out, Compton pulls in some local (real, historical places in Texas) areas and some global myths to round out and amp up the creepy factor- there's a unique melding of some Texan stories with old Russian creatures that is just somehow satisfying. 

      Let me know if you pick this up! This one is not one for my local book club, but it should be one for horror readers. I'm racing over to my library right now to find his other, earlier novel - The Spite house. 

Book Review: All the Water in the World By Eiren Caffall 4.25/5 stars

 All the Water in the World is a new novel (published January 2025) that I immediately put on hold at the library. It fit so well into my water theme! It fits well in March- women's month- as the author Eiren Caffall is a woman. AND, the main character is also female AND - the narrator for the audiobook is fantastic Eunice Wong! so... how did I feel about this? 

Well, I really liked this book a lot! I would not have picked it up- but for the water theme, and I am glad I did. (the benefit of having a theme right here..) In Short we have:

-Original plot/narrative

-Coming of age

-Climate fiction  "Cli-fi" if you will

-Great narration   

No Spoiler summary: . 

Nonie is a young girl who has lived most of her life on top of the NY museum of natural History because water has flooded most ground making it less livable and not always safe. She's an unusual child, one that readers may or may not recognize themselves in, depending on the reader.  After a particularly bad flooding, Nonie and her family make a journey north to find drier ground. As one might imagine, the journey is adventure and peril in equal measure, and it's also a bit of a coming of age for Nonie as she must face loss, make decisions, and learns that some things that look safe are really just menace in disguise. 

What happens for Nonie and her family? Well, that would be the spoiler part. 

 This book was inspired by museum curators in Iraq and Leningrad during times of war, who worked to preserve history for future generations.  Interestingly, this really isn't the main focus of the book and I appreciated how the author took that inspiration and then moved into a different, but related direction. Curators preserved items of significance in hopes that future generations would be able to enjoy and learn from them and that the items would remains touchpoints for community.  While Nonie isn't dragging the blue whale up the coast, she's learning and deciding about different ways people can act in times of disaster, and which way might create the most success for everyone involved. 

When I started reading, I was intrigued as the entire setting of the book was quirky and odd, but I wasn't truly invested I kept reminding myself I was just reading for the water theme, but then, suddenly, at about 35-40% in to the book, I couldn't put it down! And to be honest, it was moving a bit slow up to that point, so while the build up and end was great in hindsight, in the midpoint, I wasn't so sure.  I was sneaking in bits of the audio at the oddest times, making sure things were going like I wanted them to for Nonie. ( but oh they didn't always go the way I hoped!)  I enjoyed a tour of the New York area of the future and while the author is not NY based, she had a good grasp of the areas, and I love love loved that!  The plotting was really very good, and the build-up  and crescendo was great- especially as this is a debut novel for Caffall. I have to admit there was a moment when I felt certain that things would not end very well, but the author skillfully brings us to a gentle conclusion that's hopeful but realistic - something we need in our current times. 

This is NOT a 'Romantasy'  and thank goodness for that, it was such a relief to read a book that didn't have a recycled plot. So if you enjoy literary fiction, and are looking for a book that's engaging with the issues of the day and interpersonal dynamics, I highly recommend picking this up.  It is dubbed as a thriller, and I didn't really find it to be thriller-y at all, so if you want a thriller, this probably is not the book for you. There is a gentleness in the writing that is maybe at odds with the topic, but at the same time, for me, just sort of fit the narrative especially coming from a child's POV.  I do recommend the audiobook because Eunice Wong is an excellent narrator, she brings the story to life, no matter what the topic. 

This book does have some mixed reviews, and I suspect people were expecting something more "action-packed" for me the perspective of Nonie was fabulous- and really captured my experiences of being that age (though thankfully I was not living on top of a museum canoeing through the Hudson in dirty foul water)  I hope you'll give this book a try, and let me know your thoughts.  This is one I am definitely suggesting for the book club! 

STATS

First Published 2025

Pages: 304

Available as an Audio Book : YES

Trigger Warnings:  Medical situations, Storms, child death, death, gun violence, parent death, racism,   

(this is not a full list, read responsibly)

New Book Tuesday! But make it Water!

 In 2025, I'm reading about water! It is life sustaining, can absorb quite a lot of heat, and can dramatically, or imperceptibly shape an environment, so - there's a lot there to unpack. 

  New books from major publishers typically come out on Tuesdays! (Here's a good look at why and how that isn't for every new book.) 

        

So, lets talk about a book coming out TODAY! that features water, that I'm a little bit excited about! 

Kell Woods is an Australian author, and Upon a Starlit Tide is releasing in North America TODAY! 

This is a re-telling of 'The Little Mermaid' and 'Cinderella' fairy tales set in eighteenth century Brittany, It is one of the options for my Online SciFi/Fantasy book club that I belong to and so I am quite interested in seeing how this goes.  Typically, I am not a huge fan of re-tellings, but this one is promised to be a wholly different tale of Love , Power and Betrayal.  I mean, clearly it won't be wholly different, or it might be marketed as a tale of Love, Power and Betrayal, without the fairy tale association.  

The Brittany setting is unique, and I admit, I don't know much about that region and it's history, but I found this blog entry that filled in a lot about the times that Upon a Starlit Tide is set in! 

Will you be picking up Upon a Starlit Tide? 

Have you read Kell Woods other book? Let me know your thoughts? and recommendations?  Got any books coming out that you're excited for? I'd love to chat about them! 

Book Review: Scythe and Sparrow by Brynne Weaver 5/5 stars

 I have been highly anticipating the release of Scythe and Sparrow- the conclusion to the Ruinous Love Trilogy by Brynne Weaver. 

 I was not disappointed by Scythe and Sparrow!  If anything, I am now more entranced by the entire series! This is not great literature, and it doesn't promise that- it's fun. It's raucous, bawdy, audacious, unhinged, and delightful fun. 

A couple of years back I was at a B&N and asked the nice lady at the desk about Butcher and Blackbird - a new book I'd heard about via the Tik Toks... I was desperate to read it-  I mean, He's a serial killer... She's a serial killer.. They meet, sparks fly, eyeballs also fly... what could go wrong? 

  The nice lady looked at me, told me she hadn't heard of "Brian Weaver" but that it appeared the book would be on shelves in a few months. I felt smugly ahead of the times. 

  I imagine if I were to go into the same B&N today that the nice lady would be well aware of this series, and definitely not mistake Brynne for a "Brian" because we are now 3 books into a NYT and USA today best selling series. 

   And while I liked Butcher and Blackbird, and Leather and Lark A lot - for some reason I LOVED Scythe and Sparrow so much more. 

This is probably because I knew all the main characters and having Lark, Sloane and Rose all hang out together knowing all the back story was.. delightful. 

  So I am sure there were glaring plot holes, but I didn't notice them at all.  Weaver made things I personally scoff at, hilarious.  I mean, 20 yr old me liked the idea of tarot, runes and astrology, not 20 yr old me has experience that these are not things that are helpful for me. 

   We follow Rose- who's been with the circus for about a decade, she's been travelling from town to town reading tarot, performing on a motorcycle, and helping women escape from violence. Recently she's been trying to take her help up a notch, instead of just providing the means for escape, she's been trying to eliminate the problem.  Thing is... she might not be that good at that job.  Not being very good at that particular job leads to her injury, and voila- enter the handsome, fitness obsessed Fion Kane. He's a doctor, and the youngest of the Kane brothers. And he's not looking for a relationship at all. Of course not.  But relationships and love find us in the strangest places, possibly on the end of a cocktail toothpick, or maybe due to an errant, but very persistent land mammal?  

   I was able to snag the audio and I really did enjoy both narrators this time around. It took me a while to get into the style - with dual narrators kind of sliding in-between chapters providing little sound effects here and there, but in the end, I enjoyed it, though maybe... maybe some of the schmexy scenes were maybe too much for this lady. 

  I find Weaver's humor hilarious, and the romance was heart breaking - though I think in the end you'll find your heart stitched right back up and in the right place. 

If you are looking for a romantic escape with some humor and (a lot of nonconventional) spice, this series is going to be one you'd like to pick up! This is not a series for everyone, and I can promise it will not change your life. BUT if it is for you, I can assume you'll be laughing and crying and ugly sobbing through Scythe and Sparrow. It definitely took me away from reality for at least 10 hours! 

No spoilers in this review, but, if you've read it,  please let me know in the comments your favorite part!!!!  If you got the audio, what did you think? 

 

Book Review: Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto 4.5/5 stars

  I FINALLY  got the audiobook copy of Hammajang Luck from the library!

 Honestly, I am a wee bit salty about this one, because I requested it on NetGalley  as an ARC, but got no response from the publisher.  Usually, I get acceptance or rejection pretty fast, but in this case it just sat there in requests until I finally withdrew the request.  I may have requested it too close to the release date, but still.... I really wanted to read it, so thankfully the library came through. Whoo Hoo Libraries! 

The cover is... well, I LOVE it. 

This is a heist novel with a side plot of "relationship" it features  a F/NB relationship; lesbian main character; trans main character; BIPOC main character; lesbian side characters; trans side characters; and BIPOC side characters. Although set it space, it pays homage to Hawai'ian life with use of  traditional Pidgin (mix of Hawai'ian, English, Japanese, Portuguese, and Cantonese- and some other languages), and introduces some concepts of family that are somewhat unique to the Hawai'ian Islands. I did find myself forgetting all the time that it wasn't set in Honolulu. So if you are looking for hard Sci-Fi world building- this likely isn't your novel.  

We follow Edie as they are unexpectedly released from space prison, by a person for whom she definitely has mixed feelings about. Edie is determined to not end up in prison again, but like many people released from prison, the cards are not in their favor. 

Edie is soon involved in a complex, sophisticated heist involving a team of players who are all testing and gauging the trustworthiness of the team. They are the best of the best, and it's a pleasure to read as they progress through all the steps of the heist.  Edie has to choose, almost every step of the way, between trusting someone who has not been the most trustworthy in the past,  or setting an entirely new path that seems to be also a bit of a "bad" choice. As I was reading I was consumed by the lack of options offered- so much like real life, even in this decidedly not real setting and situation!   I was on the edge of my seat as things went wrong and the team had to improvise! 

  I do not think I personally would make the choices made by Edie, and that really was something that I, as a reader, am not entirely used to, and it made me a little uncomfortable overall with the book- which I liked. I was challenged to think through things I hadn't and examine some family/friend relationships that I've had that were also challenging. I'm still kind of mulling all of that over. So, of course, that's a good book. 

    This is a great book  for discussion as there's a lot to talk about, not only does it highlight a cast of queer characters, but it also takes subtle jabs at capitalism, the US (I assume) Prison system, and even medical research as it is performed today. So, for the right book club this could be a winner.

I read this audio book in 4 days!  This is record for me, I just kept checking in on what was going to happen next!  So, for me, the book was highly readable, and easy to make my way through.    Jolene Kim did the narration, and I thought it was perfect.  I really enjoyed the way she voiced all of the Hawai'ian Creole, as I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten the cadence of the language as well if I had been reading it off a page.  It enhanced my enjoyment of the entire book.

Is Hammajang Luck on your To-Be-Read list, or have you already finished it?  Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

Book Review Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor 5/5 stars

 I'm a big fan of Nnedi Okorafor's writing  and when I saw Death of the Author up at Net Galley, I immediately requested to read it.  I was not disappointed! 

      Initially, judging from the cover, I was expecting a some sort of magical tale older than time, but this is not really that book, or maybe it is, just not in a sense of a fairy tale or legend

   The plot - without too many spoilers:  Zelu, our main character is a disabled Nigerian-American writer who after a series of hard knocks, writes a novel that become wildly successful.  This success, of course drastically changes her relationships and threatens to change her life forever. This is told basically as a story within a story and it is an amazing look at the publishing process, family life, and Chicago. Some have wondered if this work is a bit auto-biographical, but I'd argue that most novels of this sort are a bit auto-biographical and it probably isn't good to attach that label to a work by an author, unless the author herself attached the label. 

So... does all of this change lead to a forever life change?  A rendering with family and friends? Well... you'll need to read to find out.  Along the way you'll be thinking about AI,  robots, Nollywood, and a host of things that will likely tickle your brain in that spot that just wants new, new, new ideas!

Death of the Author is quite a provocative title as Okorafor has noted that she doesn't ascribe to the Death of the Author theory put forth in Roland Barthes essay from 1967 which argues persuasively (but for me not very successfully) that the meaning of a written work shouldn't be determined by the author's intent but rather by the reader, or the reader's experience of the work. 

  I fully believe that the author's intent, and the reader's experience fully shape a work or writing, how could one really try to separate the two?  Don't you agree? 

  Who should pick up this book?  Students of literature, for certain. Readers of Speculative fiction and Science fiction as well.  People looking to diversify their reading list- sure! 

This is probably not a book for someone looking to read a simple story with one general plot line. 

I am so grateful to Net Galley and William Morrow for the chance to read and review this fantastic novel. 

 Are you also a fan of Okorafor?  What's your favorite? Will this book be making it's way to your TBR?  Let me know in the comments! 

STATS

First Published 2025

Pages: 448

Available as an Audio Book : YES

Trigger Warnings:  sexism, culture erasure (whitewashing), abelism, attempted genocide,Gore, Death, suicidal thoughts 

(this is not a full list, read responsibly)  

Book Review Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Xhao

   I've just finished the much awaited sequel to Iron Widow, Heavenly Tyrant, and honestly my head is still spinning. 

  Like the cover?  you can see more from this amazing artist  HERE 

  

This book has gotten quite a lot of mixed reviews.  Readers think it is too political.  Readers dislike Zhao's writing style.  Readers dislike the power dynamics displayed in the book.  Readers believed it too long. Readers are concerned it is too sexual for YA readers.  Other readers think it didn't have enough sexy times. Some readers loved the female rage, and others, felt it was contrived. Reader's felt the portrayal of some things was not realistic, and others thought it was TOO realistic.  

      I find myself in the middle of the road.  I liked it,  but did not exactly... love it. 

I like Zhao- as a personality.  I've never met them so I can't say I like them personally, but I do like that she is bold, and not afraid to upset the apple cart in publishing and in life.  I really always want to support this, and so maybe I have a bit of a rose tint to my glasses as I read her books.  The prose can be a bit jarring, but... I have read much much much worse. 

    In summary this is the second book in a series in which our main character Zetian has come into power in Huaxia. She has to share this power, however, with an Emperor man who is, oh only about 200 years older than her. He likes her a lot, except when he doesn't.  He's interesting, and maddening in equal measure. Zetian learns fast about the difficulties of maintaining power and order, and that even when intentions are noble and pure, the execution of these intentions can be... messy.  Zhao draws on history using several notable challenges within revolutions and rebellions across the ages- to illustrate the difficulty in moving forward for a more just world.  I was struck at the many examples that wove their way into the book, and I was a little bit sad, as I saw multiple reviews- which indicated that most of the readers had no idea these were most definitely examples from already past revolutionary governments.  Does that matter?  Well no, but at the same time, I'd like (especially YA readers) to realize that these wild edicts aren't just fantasy but mostly things that actually occurred over the history of humanity.  Just so no one gets an idea that "it would only happen in a book".   I asked a few people if they were familiar with some policies discussed in the book that I for certain identified with other prior governments around the globe, and many adults were like - No way did that happen... when it so clearly "yes way" did happen.  At the end, we are left on a bit of a gentle Cliff Hanger wondering what may become of Zetian and her merry band of people. 

    This was a chonker and I was very very glad to get to the last page.  Zetian is kind of ... not the most likeable character at all and the story line felt all over the place to me, but to the author's credit, it does come together nicely there at the end. This book overall wasn't bad.  It just wasn't stunning either.   What was good about this book?  This is A PERFECT BOOK for discussion of Politics, body autonomy, feminism, independence, power, and justice.  It emphasizes all the way through that these concepts are fluid, environment dependent and not at all black and white.  I liked the messiness of it, no one character was all good or all bad, which kept me on my toes a bit, and of course reflects our world so well. 

   Will I go in for book 3? Probably. 

Will I prioritize it above other reads?  Probably not. 

Have you read Iron Widow or Heavenly Tyrant? What were your thoughts?  Was it a 5 star for you or a half a star?  Let me know in the comments! 

STATS

First Published 2024 

Pages: 544

Available as an Audio Book : YES

Trigger Warnings:  Surgery, pregnancy, miscarriage, war violence, Executions, family death, loss of partner, body horror, abuse,  child abuse, assault, mention of pornography, suicide, 

(this is not a full list, read responsibly)