woodslesbian's reviews
70 reviews

Overall, while this book had its stronger moments, I found it a little disappointing and felt that it didn't maintain the mystery of its premise enough to really leave me thinking or wondering about it at all. Both the characters and the atmosphere felt a little underdeveloped, and the events of the text themselves felt a bit repetitive after awhile. I still enjoyed the premise itself and some of the gory bits, but I left the book feeling a little frustrated about the direction it went.

To start with positives, I did enjoy the incorporation of rock-climbing into this book, as I have a tiny bit of experience with it myself. Kiefer's writing absolutely shines in the scenes where Dylan is climbing, with thrilling descriptions, adrenaline, and clear stakes on what happens if she falls. Another bit I enjoyed is some of the descriptions of the more gory scenes, especially the opening chapter. I thought beginning with an outside description of the main characters' mutilated bodies worked really well as a hook, creating mystery around how they wound up like this and a sense of doom over the entire journey. There were also aspects of the setting that I really enjoyed, especially as things got more and more supernatural.

Still, there were several things that kept me from really enjoying this book. To start non-spoilery, I just felt like the characters were very shallow, especially Luke and Clay. Even though the author kept stating their goals over and over, they didn't feel like real people with real lives and aspirations that were cut off early, and that made it hard to spend so much time with them throughout the book. I was only vaguely rooting for Dylan at the end, especially because of the beginning. I also felt like, especially past the halfway point, there was just a lot of repetition in description and plot events. Literally all four main characters trip on a root while running in the woods at LEAST once, and that just gets boring after awhile! In terms of the writing itself, it was absolutely serviceable and again really shone through in some places, but there were plenty of others where I felt like the sort of quirky, very metaphor-heavy style could've been toned down to make the scary scenes feel more serious and impactful. For something that's just a tiny bit spoilery but is also introduced very early on, the horror of this book is less of survival horror and instead shifts to a sense that the landscape itself is hungry and actively luring in the characters, which can be very hit or miss depending on what you want from the book. Personally, I actually really love sentient, malicious landscapes and was excited to see that element introduced! However, the way this element was actually handled was really disappointing to me.

Having this literally hostile place that hungers for blood and then just doing pioneer ghosts instead is SO disappointing to me personally!!!! Instead of using weird and mysterious aspects of the landscape, the nature, the rock itself, it's just ghosts, and you can get ghosts anywhere!!! This was just such a personal letdown and I felt like it was the least interesting thing to do with this particular premise. The kills that weren't achieved via ghosts were just "guy gets manipulated by the landscape, goes crazy, and chases woman through the woods until she trips on a vine" with two separate guys, which again felt repetitive and uninteresting. This descent into madness wasn't slow or compelling enough for me to especially buy it, either. I also felt like the use of ghosts and over-description towards the end of the book really killed the central mystery for me--the opening chapter did make me want to find out what happened, sure, but I also felt like a lot of the good horror of this setup is actually in not knowing all the details. In particular, having Dylan's death seem mysterious for a couple of pages, and even hinting that her Livestream continue, creates a fantastic sense of mystery! Except, whoops, it's confirmed that she's dead and rotting beneath the landscape, which is just, again, way less interesting. This might sound really harsh, and admittedly I think some of my disappointment with this book is on me and my preferences towards leaving things unexplained as well as hostile landscapes, but overall I just didn't get the tension, adrenaline, and mystery from this book that I wanted, and I felt really frustrated by the end.

Overall, This Wretched Valley was a bit of a letdown for me, and I just wasn't as invested and scared as I really, really wanted to be. There were absolutely some strong moments, and I feel like Jenny Kiefer is absolutely a strong writer who came up with a really interesting premise, and I would be interested in picking up her work in the future even if this book wasn't a hit for me. It just didn't deliver on the sort of horror I really enjoy and didn't have the depth 

While I was drawn into this book for its unique and gripping premise, enjoyed aspects of the magic system, and felt that there were a couple of really cool scenes, overall it fell flat for me and just felt underdeveloped. To start with what I did enjoy, again, I really think this book's greatest strength is its premise in and of itself--the threat of the ever-rising dark tide is both visually evocative and creates a lot of good tension, and this city build up out of the sea feels unique and magical! I also liked the use of witches themselves within the text--they always felt mysterious and dangerous, even as we became more familiar with them as readers. I also really enjoyed every scene in which Lina danced, those moments felt vivid and enchanting and really impactful for her character.

Still, I felt like this book overall felt like it was tackling too many different concepts while leaving some core aspects underdeveloped. While the premise of the dark tide itself was really interesting, the text also brought in elements of the myth of Tam Lin, and this whole conflict between the island and the anti-witch mainland, which all felt interesting enough to stand on their own and didn't necessarily mesh together well. Because there were so many different elements at play, each one felt a little shallow. My biggest issue is that the romance itself felt underdeveloped, especially compared to how much the blurb for The Dark Tide really emphasizes this aspect. I really needed literally twice as many scenes between Lina and Eva to be convinced of their romance, especially to the point that

Eva risking her entire island and repeating the same mistake as her sister for Lina's sake would make sense.

Again, like many of my criticisms of this book, it really felt like we just hit the surface of this romance, but the pace of the book moved too fast for me to really get as deep into it as I wanted, especially for the strong narrative impact it was meant to have. Finally, I just wish that Lina and Eva both had more agency and were really the driving forces of their own story, instead of the men around them. I loved the opening scene of the book where Lina literally locks her brother in a room to keep him safe and found that a really good moment for her character, but, whoops, he escapes! From there, it really felt like she was chasing after him and Thomas especially more than anything else. In Eva's case, it was really frustrating that

so much of the climax of her arc wasn't even about her making her own choices so much as her just desperately responding to the betrayal of her right-hand man (I literally don't even remember his name, he didn't even leave an impact on me besides being so obviously suspicious right from the beginning).

Neither of the girls, despite being the protagonists, felt like the primary drivers of the story and Lina especially felt like all of her motivations were based on the men around her rather than her own goals and wants, and I felt like the book's themes were weaker for it. Ultimately, while this book had a really interesting premise and some strong moments, I really felt like it needed a stronger focus, a slower pace, and overall just a little bit more development to give that premise its full potential. 

Very early on in An Education in Malice, I had to pause and acknowledge that this was a Carmilla retelling in character names only, which is fine! The novel stands fine as an individual work and is interested in exploring its own themes rather than thoroughly engaging with the original text, but I was a bit disappointed as a big fan of the classic. Compared to A Dowry of Blood, where Dracula's brides in the original are more underdeveloped, mysterious characters so expanding upon them feels more like filling in a gap, this felt more like a complete reworking of Laura and Carmilla. Again, I don't think this is to the text's detriment necessarily, I just had to rework my expectations early on in the novel and thought it would be worth mentioning in the review so people know what they're in for.

In terms of An Education in Malice on its own, I really expected to love this book, enough that I preordered it--I love horror, vampires, sapphic fiction and a good spooky atmosphere! This was really set up to be a win for me, so I was a little disappointed that the novel fell a little short of these expectations. There were aspects of it that I really enjoyed, to be sure; the atmosphere throughout is both cozy and dark, with tons of beautiful descriptions of the New England setting. I also loved Laura as a character, struggling with her own desire and grappling with the social situations around her. Her relationship with Carmilla was electric and well-developed as well. Without spoilers, I also loved the cameo from A Dowry of Blood and the entire section where that character appears, it absolutely delivered on what I want from vampire media and worked well to develop the characters!

Still, this book had the potential to make me absolutely obsessed and foaming at the mouth--I really cannot overstate how much I am thinking about vampires and especially gay vampires literally all the time in my daily life--and it fell flat. I think this novel lacked a strong focus and wound up balancing a few too many elements for such a short length, from Carmilla and Laura's romance to Carmilla's unhealthy mentorship with De Lafontaine, and the mystery at the center of the school itself. Because all of these different plotlines were going on, each individual one felt a little underdeveloped and like we were jumping from one to the other--which is especially unfortunate because the relationship between Carmilla and De Lafontaine is so interesting. On a similar note, I actually wish this novel was a bit darker over all, especially when it came to that relationship. I think a big part of what made me enjoy A Dowry of Blood so much was really digging into this toxic relationship and all of its flaws, which only strengthened the characters' reactions to it and the conclusion of the book. Here, I felt like I didn't quite get as deep into Carmilla's dependence on De Lafontaine and how it's affecting her as I wanted to, or for that matter how Laura really navigates seeing someone she cares about in this relationship. I think this relationship lacked consequences for me--for this sort of exploration of an unhealthy dynamic, I want to really have to grapple with how it changes the characters and get a sense of the long healing process ahead of them, and I just didn't get that. The lack of depth to this central student-teacher relationship made the emotional elements of the story, again, really fall flat for me, especially compared to A Dowry of Blood. I wouldn't even necessarily need for the relationship to be more explicit or romantic or anything, I think that the unhealthy dynamic could've been pushed more even without that element, but that this wasn't really achieved. 

Overall, while I think this story has its strength, I don't think it achieved the depth, nuance, or compelling characterization that I really wanted from it, especially because I know how rich Gibson's writing can be.

Despite not being familiar with the original Water Margin tale, I really enjoyed this retelling! I was moved by the coming-together of all these ragtag bandits, often outcast on the basis of gender (or simply for committing very gnarly crimes) and their fight to protect their home. As a primary protagonist, Lin Chong is strong, interesting, and flawed, and I'm personally biased towards women in fiction who struggle with rule-following and casting off the flawed beliefs that have been instilled in them. My favorite character, however, is probably Lu Da, for her kindness, boisterous personality, and love of violence--I felt like she was a really refreshing character and helped keep the tone of the book light. I think I would've liked a little bit more focus on the bonds between the water bandits themselves, but even still, I was rooting for them the whole way through. The magic system also helped to draw me in; I found the concept of the god's teeth/fangs super interesting, and I liked the way they interacted with the action and combat elements of the story! The magical elements meshed very nicely with this historical setting and really helped keep everything exciting and tense. Another of my favorite parts of this work were the fight scenes themselves--Huang definitely doesn't skimp on the violence or the brutality of these fights, and while I could see that being off-putting for some, I really enjoyed it and felt like it made the climax of the book all the more intense.

There were places in the Water Outlaws that felt a little bit slow or where my attention lagged, especially around the middle. This is a pretty dense book. Still, once I was in the last ~150 pages or so, I really couldn't put the book down without getting to the end! I was so invested in the climax and really drawn into the story, despite any slower moments beforehand. 

This is an absolutely beautifully written, emotionally moving, thoroughly researched history book examining the lives of young black people migrating to the cities in the early 1900s. This text both sheds light on a group of people often forgotten by history and weaves a deeply compelling, intimate narrative about their lives and experiences. The text pays special attention to the way that desire and methods of intimacy that were often condemned at the time--common law marriages, young women's sexual needs, same-sex relationships, etc. were not just beautiful and captivating, but were a necessary tool for pushing back against a racist and classist society that placed rigid expectations on these young people. While told in a largely narrative style and inventing dialogue without direct records to achieve this goal, Wayward Lives indicated direct quotes with italics and has an extensive sources section as well. This was an incredibly valuable read that I very much recommend!

Overall, I enjoyed this book and it's message, as well as the chilling setting and the growth of the characters. There was one particular image used/reveal surrounding that imagery at the end that made me feel physically sick and was so effective and bone-chilling. Still, while the actual events of the first half of the book unfold relatively slowly, there were places where I would've liked the pacing to really slow down and dig into the atmosphere. This was especially true in the really horrific, spooky moments--I feel like slowing down to really sink into the setting and the gothic atmosphere could've made the scary moments even more unsettling, especially as the book as a whole was somewhat less descriptive than I expected.

I think I found this book so lackluster specifically because it has so many things I love, like dragons, queer romance, heists—so I was especially disappointed when I had to keep pushing myself to read it. This book isn’t bad by any means, it just really didn’t hook me in to the characters, romance, or even the overall plot, and really lacked tension for me. I can’t even say why a lot of these elements didn’t necessarily land—the writing was solid and there was some interesting worldbuilding. I think my biggest gripe with this book is that it’s supposedly adult fantasy but ABSOLUTELY reads like YA fantasy. This is true both in the complexity of the prose and *especially* in terms of “show don’t tell”. The text was constantly spelling out character’s major issues and feelings and flaws as though I wasn’t right there reading it and couldn’t figure it out for myself! Admittedly that’s sort of just a pet-peeve of mine, but I really expected more complexity from an adult fantasy book like this. Also, the romance just never hooked me, which sucks because I love dragons and monster-romance stuff so much—I was just never really convinced of the character’s feelings or tension. I did, however, appreciate the thoughtfulness of the worldbuilding and how carefully queernormative it was. ALSO

the big fight Everen and Arcady had where Everen thinks they planned everything from the start felt SO contrived!!!! I was not convinced.

Again, this book wasn’t bad or unpleasant or anything, I just really had to fight my way through it even though it’s only ~300 pages and I was never really invested. It’s definitely the right read for plenty of people, I’m just disappointed it wasn’t the right one for me because, again, dragons. 

This book was probably going to be at least a 4 star if it wasn't for the last chapter. While it's not for everyone, the very slow, detailed pace of Hild is something I really enjoy in historical fiction! I loved getting such a strong sense of how people lived in this time, with lots of description of how they raised animals, or wove, or made buttercream, and this detail created a rich world for realistic characters. I also adored the focus on nature--Hild's scientific mind and her love of the world around her was delightful to read, and I loved seeing how she applied this knowledge and her cleverness to survive as a seer for her king! It's definitely a slow, dense book without tons of action, so may not be the right fit for everyone. But despite how much I absolutely loved Hild as a character and getting to dive into her world, the primary romance of this book just ruined it for me. Without spoiling anything just yet, I absolutely hated it. I had certain expectations (admittedly just based on my own assumptions) based on the LGBT+ tag itself as well as one other factor, so then getting to the final chapter just... ruined my enjoyment of this one. I was initially very excited for Menewood, but I don't even think I'll pick it up now, which really sucks because I love Hild and was rooting for her!!! I hate to give this book such a low rating, but, again, the romance subplot was atrocious.

To spoil exactly why:

I cannot BELIEVE that I read all 500 pages of this book only for Hild to marry and then sleep with her half-brother. Like come ON!!!!! It's clearly meant to be taboo even within the world of the book and just feels so nasty because of it, especially when it seems like it's meant to feel genuinely romantic and like the right move for Hild. It really ruined what could've been such a touching sibling relationship, or even just a fantastic, deep friendship between a woman and a man, but no. As I was reading this I remembered that Hild was a real historical figure, so I thought, "okay, maybe she really did marry her half-brother and the author is just trying to understand how that may have happened?" but guess what. The author's note mentions that there's no record of Hild ever marrying, having kids, or even HAVING A HALF BROTHER in the first place!!!! So this was just thrown in there??? For some reason??? Also to be clear it's not like I was rooting for Hild's relationship with her slave, certainly not romantically, but at least there she clearly rethinks her relationship with her and actively takes steps to improve their standing with each other. Just. I was so optimistic about this book and now I'm just so mad at it. I know a lot of people have issues with it being kind of slow or not enough action but that wouldn't have bothered me at all if not for the literal unnecessary incest??? Well. That sucks!

I enjoyed this book and all it's weirdness. The writing style is both very beautifully and extremely visceral and bodily. There's tons of detail about bodily waste and sexuality and girlhood and doghood. This is a bit of a weird one, and it's very much focused on vibes and emotions and atmosphere rather than a clear-cut plot. I personally loved the examination of these really intense girlhood friendships, as well as storytelling and ancestry. This book was full of striking imagery and mythos, with such a deep look into the lives of these women. It took me a little bit to get into the very rich, descriptive style of writing, but once I was into it, I was so drawn into the various stories weaving together. There were a few places that I felt a bit bogged down in the detail, but it didn't dampen my reading experience too much overall. 

This book was such a delight! It was an absolute fun romp that doesn't take itself too seriously, with two very compelling romances. This definitely isn't a super dense fantasy or historical fiction at all, if you're looking for something slower or more detail oriented, you may be disappointed. This book's main priority is to be fun and entertaining, and while I do usually enjoy a more dense fantasy, I loved the characters enough to just go along for the ride and really enjoyed it! Tbh there's a riverdale reference on, like, page 7 which really sets the tone of the book. 

I laughed out loud while reading this and giggled and kicked my feet, and I enjoyed getting a peek into Arthuriana, which I'm not personally very familiar with, and YA as a whole tends to be very hit-or-miss for me which made this a pleasant surprise. I thought the character development worked well too, it didn't feel forced or stilted. Again, I had a great time with this book--I feel like it's just a matter of having expectations and knowing what you do or don't want from a fantasy setting. I'll definitely be picking up Lex Croucher's other releases!