This was a rec from a friend and the first actual romance-and-not-fantasy gay book I read, and.... it's great! I absolutely devoured it, and, sure, its a silly premise. The US' first son and the prince of england fall in love!! Scandal! I was a bit aprehensive when first getting into it at how... tasteless it might get? But this book was surprisingly self aware, and indulges fully in it's premise, and in turns tells an actually pretty good love story! The author says in the aknowledgements that this evoked some form of escapism and joy to the readers, given our... current world climates (this book came out in 2021, and... yeah) and I can honestly say that this book was pretty successfull in that. It left me feeling more hopeful, maybe not towards the world in general but to myself at least.

Of the edwardian fantasy (or gas lamp fantasy? Im not sure) books I've read, this was one of the weaker ones. Interesting enough premise about a veteran doctor in a war hospital trying to both hide his magic, help people and solve a murder with the help of a charming and mysterious fellow. But it kinda.... doesn't really go anywhere? Sure things happen and mysteries are uncovered, but this book didn't really have a strong enough... anything, really, to stand on its own. The romance is fine but is mostly just there, and the conclusion didn't have much oomph either. It's pretty clearly a lead in to a series, but, given I didn't see anything special in this one and the other books don't have mlm protagonists... I think I'll skip em. I enjoyed this book but not enough to want more.

A good enough book about a shy nerd working in a museum, a mystery, and his eventual boyfriend. And the lovecraftian horrors they find, of course. A fun one with sex more graphic than I expected, but still enjoyable. I might pick up the rest of the series at a later date but for now Im sated on this one.

Another just fine one, to be honest. A pretty interesting setting, a town suspended by high beams above a desert, with scheming between its leaders and an assassin class to do their biddings. But thats pretty much the most interesting aspect of the book. The characters are ok, the romance is slight (though the MC is ace, and I really did like that a lot and how he was portrayed, even if it was not that big a deal), and the mystery... good enough but didn't really keep me guessing or too intrigued. I liked parts of this one, but, again, not enough to pick up the rest of the series given that they star different characters and lack the mlm aspect that appeals so much to me.

I picked this one up almost solely cause I found The Fire's Stone, which I read last year and is by the same author, so enjoyable. This one felt like one of her more ‘serious' novels in comparison, not that it has that much more serious tone, but that this one certainly felt more adult. Contemporary fantasy (contemporary here being the 00s) set in a TV studio, very fun characters and very enjoyable plot throughout. It took a little while to get actually really engaging, to be honest, but I still liked it a lot. Might pick up the rest of the series later.

I picked this one up cause I loved the previous book in the series, A Marvelous Light, so much. And honestly, the author has done it again. Loved this book a whooole lot, had loads of fun with it. A murder on a transatlantic ship in the Edwardian era, pretty interesting magic system, veeery fun characters. Sure this one had some graphic (to me) sex scenes, this time between women, but that didn't take away from anything else here. Can't wait for the last in the trilogy to come out, was very happy to see it seems to be slated for this year.

Aaaand said last book of the trilogy came out! And I read it! And it's again, very very good! I do have to say that it's probably my least favorite of the series though, the plot felt less intriguing in general, which, fair, it's the last book in a trilogy, there's less to be revealed. The book also holds the tradition of only the two romantic leads of the moment being POV characters, but there were a couple of moments where it felt that one of the other characters really should be taking the stage. It also has a bit less balance in the plot<->sex scene scenario, compared to the other two... Regardless of these faults, though, it was still a very enjoyable read! Just not as good as the previous books, even if it was a fulfilling end to the trilogy.

My first discworld book! I'd only read Good Omens from Terry before and... Well now I get why he was a famed author holy shit. I absolutely loved this, and will be reading other discworld books for sure! It's interesting thinking about how this book reads in comparison to the other books I've been reading, or at least most of them. The characters and story being told are important, sure, but this reads like the main purpose of the book is being an enjoyable read, if that makes sense? Its both dense and light, insofar as there're paragraphs dense with information, but its tonally handled in a very light manner, and lots of that information is there to color in the reading experience. I'm not sure if its cause I haven't read all that many comedic books (its been years since I read hitchhikers guide, for example) so maybe its a genre thing, but either way. Absoute joy to read.

Another romance, and this one was waaay too adolescent for me. The main characters are teens, so sure that makes sense and it did fit, but for most of the book I was more cringing at some of the interactions and the way the characters thought than finding it charming. Realistic? Sure in some ways. But not very enjoyable to read. I started skipping some paragraphs starting on the second half but in the end I did enjoy the book. There are some interesting and unexpected things that happenned, and the characters get more serious and less dismissive of stuff by the end, which was nice, but yeah not the best experience overall.

When I saw that the Goblin Emperor had a sequel and said sequel focused on a secondary gay character I was. So happy. And, luckily, with reason! This book is great, I don't think its as great as the goblin emperor, but still amazing. The world the author's built is so compelling, so detailed, it's a delight to dive in again. On the surface, this book looks like a regular-ish murder mystery, but it's more of a story where a murder mystery happens to feature, having very little to do with the second half and with the resolution coming more at the last possible second, so in that aspect it did leave me wanting, but in all the book was so filling that I honestly didn't even miss that gratifying mystery resolution much

Direct sequel to the above book, and its much of the same in terms of being very very very good, having some mysteries that are not really the point, and having a great setting. Lots of introspection by the main character this time, which I did enjoy quite a bit. ...Not much more to say other than just as good as the previous one, reccommend just as much.

I don't have much to say about this one. It's... mediocre, but not in the sense that its bad, in the sense that it's kinda bland? There are good moments here and there, but nothing really gripped me, and the romance fell completely flat, especially for the weird ending that was given to the characters. A fun enough read, if not memorable or special, though you can see that the author put a lot of love and effort in.

I'm very very torn on these books. I absolutely devoured them, reading all three in a little more than a week, and I did really really enjoy them! The first book especially I did adore, and the ‘harry potter spoof' vibes from it are impecable! But unfortunately that was kinda one of the best things the series had for itself, and after the first two thirds of the first book its mostly dropped. Sure theres a lot of discussion on what comes next for a chosen one, which was really interesting! ...but there's no proper resolution, and that's kinda the problem. With the second book especially, everyones a bit too much of a downer, even if I do enjoy the characters a good deal. The lead's romance in the third book I adored, and there was a lot of stuff there that resonated a lot with me but... I don't know, there wasn't a real conclusion, the book just... stopped. Which might be part of the point, tbh, but then theres a half assed epilogue that tells you nothing and for no reason is set a year later and its half a page and it kinda made me mad. Another thing is that the magic system for this universe is great! Its so interesting, has so much potential, BUT as with a lot in these books, it features strongly in the first book then it's more a set dressing with which nothing is done in the sequels. ...either way, I think these books are worth it, pretty entertaining and fun, even if they kinda start unraveling. Carry On is amazing, Wayward Son is alright and Any way the wind Blows is a mixed bag, but at least there's the main romance that, to me at least, kept going strong.

My first Le Guin book! And honestly I can't quite say ‘I get it now' like I did with Thief of Time and Terry Pratchett, but at the same time I can? Cause on the surface the writing style, long paragraphs with little dialogue, doesn't really appeal to me? But it did draw me in by the end, with methodical and.... well constructed storytelling I guess. A lot happens and very little happens at the same time, and its all very broad and decisively told, with characters that aren't the point but at the same time are... I don't really know what to say, really. I liked it well enough, it really feels like staring into another world, never knowing everything but just enough to keep interested. Lets see if I like the sequels too I guess.

In her description at the end of the book, Megan Derr says she's been accused of fluff and nonsense, and, yeah, that tracks. This book is predictable as can be, not outstanding in any way, but it did make me feel pretty good, and the romance was good enough that once it got going I devoured the rest! I think I liked this more than lots of other ‘just ok' books I've read, so honestly? Here's to fluff and nonsense.

It hurts a bit to say it but..... this book's bad. Not really awful or offensive in any way, but bad and a bit bland, which is really too bad cause there's definite potential here, and somewhere somehow this could've been a pretty good cozy murder mystery book! But alas. I think the worst part, really, is that it's not that well written. It's cohesive enough, but there were more than a few times where it got confusing especially when time passed in the story and it didn't really tell the reader that, which left me questioning what happenned when and when was now, which, for a mystery book, hurt the experience a good bit. It kinda felt like there wasn't a real editing pass, which um... given the aknowledgements, there was. The mystery itself too was flimsy at best, with the protagonists never really making assumptions, more just getting names of people to question, moving down that list, getting more people to question, and eventually one of those people just straight up tells them who the killer is. The motive for the main character involving himself in the investigation wasn't convincing either, since the police involve themselves from the get go, with no apparent issues on their part, and the protag didn't really feel like he needed to get the mystery solved ASAP. But he tells us that he does, for some reason or another. The characters are fine, the plot's (mostly) ok, and in the end it's an entertaining enough read (even if I think I finished it more to be able to say I did than for pleasure), though it doesn't feel like there's nothing really going for it, which is a shame, since it does feel like a passion project.