Rant & Rave- The Witch of Fire and Shadows by Bri Mooney

Hello everyone! Over the past week I've managed to read three new books- What We Devour by Linsey Miller, The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman, and The Witch of Fire and Shadows by Bri Mooney. Today's main focus will be The Witch of Fire and Shadows, the first of the Burning Bloodlines Series, which I was very excited to read early. I'll also do a brief synopsis of my thoughts on What We Devour and The Ivory Key. Starting with What We Devour by Linsey Miller- I enjoyed this book. I'm not normally a mood reader, but I was looking for something dark and this really hit the spot. The lore in the book is excellent, and the puzzle is engaging. The one issue I had with this book was that, at some parts, it felt like you didn't know enough of the lore to make predictions until one of the characters thought of an idea and explained the lore behind it. This wouldn't have been such a big deal to me if the book hadn't been advertized as a puzzle to solve. Overall, I'd say that this book is excellent if you're in the mood for something dark, but isn't ideal if you're looking to solve a mystery. The Ivory Key by Akshaya Raman was unexpectedly great. Owlcrate books are nearly always good, so I should have set my expectations accordingly, but I was expecting to draw a lot of parallels to Sisters of the Snake. I didn't particularly enjoy Sisters of the Snake. In fact, it was probably my least favorite Owlcrate book so far. My point being, I set my expectations too low. I underestimated how much I would enjoy the archaeology and puzzle side of the book. The politics did seem a little shallow. I don't think it really effected my enjoyment of the book, but if you are someone that enjoys the politics of fantasy kingdoms, it might bother you. I will definitely be reading the next part of the duology when it comes out. So on to our main feature, The Witch of Fire and Shadows by Bri Mooney. This book follows the next elder of a well-known coven, Maeve. She has an affinity for the fire element, though she can control all of the elements on her best days. Until the council of the supernatural deems her ready to be an elder, though, she maintains a fairly normal life. In the novel, witches have exposed themselves to mortals and been, for the most part, accepted by society. Other supernaturals, like vampires and fae, remain mostly hidden. At the beginning of the book, Maueve is fairly happy with her life, although a string of missing witches forces her to have a bodyguard, Aspen, with her at all times. Her boyfriend, Thane, has been pretty jealous of the time she spends with Aspen. However, as the book progresses, she realizes this is the least of her problems. Throughout the book she is attacked, falls in with the wrong crowd, and makes deals she couldn't hope to fulfill. Despite her great power, she finds herself in the middle of a supernatural fight she doesn't even want to be a part of. A quote directly from the description: "TWOFAS is a tale of elemental magic, supernatural courts, and unfolding secrets." So let's rant: My biggest issue with this book is that the pacing felt off. The book was short (under 200 pages). A lot happened in those 200 pages, but it seemed like the majority of the time was spent doing day-to-day interactions. Then, all of a sudden, it would be action-packed for 10 pages, then back to day-to-day. The action-packed sections were heavy in physical action, Maeve's confusion, and learning new things about the courts, while the day-to-day didn't live up to the action sections and seemed boring in comparison. In my opinion, the distribution of new information should occur more during the day-to-day interactions to spice them up, or the day-to-day sections should be cut down considerably. My second issue with the book was that the personalities for each character were exposed primarily from dialogue. This makes sense for characters Maeve is just meeting, because the book is in first person (although even their actions seem to influence Mauve's opinion less than their words do). However, some of the characters are people she's known for years or spent tons of time with. These people could be described using memories or day-to-day encounters where they react instead of just giving a verbal response. And let's rave: I think the most well-done parts of the book were the sections where the main character is mentally compromised (from poison, alcohol, suggestion, stress, etc.). They were described well in the sense that we could see and feel what Maeve was seeing and feeling, but Mooney didn't over explain things. Some authors tend to overexplain during these scenes, and that takes away from the confusion and fear that the main character is suffering from. I want to feel confused and a little fearful with the main character during these scenes, but when I know exactly what is going on and why, the confusion is lost and it becomes more difficult to connect with the character. Another strong part of the book was that there was a good balance between sections of metaphor or intangible feelings and sections of observation. By this, I am referring to the difference between seeing someone watching you and sensing someone watching you, for example. One is concrete and exact using your senses, while the other is more energetic or metaphorical in nature. Mooney does an excellent job of describing each experience from the more pertinent of the two perspectives, as opposed to doing both or using the "wrong" one. Plus, once she chooses a style, she doesnt change it up until a natural switching point. Finally, I'm not sure how much research into witchcraft was conducted, but the book seemed to be at least mildly influenced by real witchcraft practices. Of course, in a fantasy book some liberties are going to be taken, but I don't think it ever crossed a line or became offensive to witches, the coven structure, or witchcraft practices. Overall, I really enjoyed The Witch of Fire and Shadow. I think it is a good example of contemporary fantasy, and the start to an interesting story centered on supernatural courts (which I can't wait to learn more about in the next book). I owe a special thank you to Bri Mooney for sending me the book early so I could share my thoughts with all of you. It will be released February 1st, 2022, for anyone interested in reading it themselves. As always, thanks for reading, feel free to let me know what you think of the book or my analysis in the comments, and reach out if you want to receive email notifications for this blog! Until next time! Dana

Rant & Rave- A Study in Steam by Stephanie K. Clemens AND An Ode to the Odd and the Old by Simon Howard

Hello Lovely Readers! I'm back, yet again, with multiple books under my belt. The list includes Dreams Lie Beneath by Rebecca Ross (Owlcrate), Five Dark Fates by Kendare Blake (the final book in the Three Dark Crowns series), The Alchemists' Council by Cynthea Masson, A Study in Steam by Stephanie K. Clemens and An Ode to the Odd and the Old by Simon Howard. It was a productive month- I might even be missing a few. Per usual, I will give a brief paragraph on my thoughts for the books I chose for myself, and a more detailed Rant & Rave for A Study in Steam by Stephanie K. Clemens. For An Ode to the Odd and the Old by Simon Howard, I will give some more detailed thoughts as well, but the nature of the book (primarily poetry) calls for a different type of evaluation. So let's get to it! I absolutely loved the concept of Dreams Lie Beneath. Some of you that know me personally are probably aware- I have created many a Dungeons & Dragons character with the concept of inflicting psychological damage via nightmares, so the concept of a world where nightmares literally come to life is incredible. That being said, I wish this book had gone deeper into the nightmare concept, and potentially gotten darker. I wanted to see a dark fantasy here, and that just didn't happen. I thought the romance was good, if a bit predictable. It didn't ruin the book for me like romances sometimes do. Regardless, the mysteries of the book were both interesting and well-paced, and the plot was enticing. Despite the minor disappointment, this book definitely still makes my top fifty, but probably falls just short of top ten. The conclusion to the Three Dark Crowns series was unpredictable in some ways and exactly what I expected in other ways. Yet again, Blake makes the reader question their own feelings about the characters, which I loved. I have mixed feelings about the conclusion because, while I like a lot of the characters and I'm glad things turned out the way they did, I think the ending could have been better if it wasn't a "happy" ending. I don't consider this a spoiler because there are so many ways this book could have turned out (happy or otherwise) that even with that knowledge it doesn't give anything away. I didn't particularly enjoy The Alchemists' Council. I had high hopes after reading the description, but the book fell short for me. The characters weren't very relatable, and Masson made it difficult to choose what I wanted to see happen in the book. As you learned about the strict nature of the council dimension, it left you confused about what you could even hope for. It almost felt like playing a game with someone that changes the rules as the game progresses. The plot itself also left a little to be desired, but I won't get into spoilers. A Study in Steam is about Pippa, a young steam engineering student. She is one of the first four women accepted to Grantabridge University, but it seems the world is not ready for women at University. Her studies are fraught with sabatoge, and even murder. Of course, the ever-curious Pippa decides to investigate the murder of her professor, quickly discovering that it is likely related to another murder. Both victims were strong supporters of inviting women and commoners to university, a giant social change that could heavily impact the wealthy elites. Wealthy elites, it seems, that have decided to blame her for the murder of her professor. Can Pippa solve the mystery and clear her name before it's too late? Let's rant: This is one of those books where the romance takes away from the book, in my opinion. The progression of the romance is well-written and the steamy parts are good. My issue is the fact that Clemens chose the most vanilla character to be the love interest (not literally- he's actually black, so at least there is some representation there). I liked that she chose someone that's supportive and appreciates Pippa's independance, but that's really the only character trait she gves him, other than being handsome. Now, as an avid fantasy reader, I'm a little spoiled when it comes to dramatic relationships and love interests, but even in a more mundane setting like Brythion, I expect at least a decent personality description. I found myself hoping that he was secretly one of the bad guys. I suppose it's still possible, but we'll see. This might just be my experience with books, but the culprit behind the murders (and likely the sabatoge) seemed pretty predictable. I don't want to give anything away, so I'll steer clear of any plot, but I really hope that in the next books, a more substancial villain (or group of villians) appears. And let's rave: Clemens does a really good job writing all of the ladies of WACK as unique individuals with wide-ranging interests and talents. I liked that their friendship was dynamic, and their contributions to the group and each other weren't solely based on their talent. They all contributed to group ideas, and contributions weren't limited to the "one thing" they were knowledgable about. I'm really excited to see where they go from here-the sky is the limit! I'm also interested to see what happens with the working class additions to the group, and the group's new ideas for salons. I liked how the book was left open to a series, but still felt like the characters accomplished what needed to be done to bring a neat, clean end to this novel. On to An Ode to the Odd and the Old... An Ode to the Odd and the Old is a book of primarily poetry. There is also a short story and a chapter of Simon Howard's upcoming novel included. The themes I noticed throughout the book were aging/time, grief, family, and war. My personal favorite poems were Lost, Monster, and Old Tom. My favorite haiku, written by Howard's wife about their beloved dog, was entitled Jenna. Old Tom is about an aged neighborhood tomcat, his life filled with knowledge of the village, lovers, and streetfights. Despite the clear implications that the tomcat is old, and close to death, the poem ends with a hopeful note about meeting Bast and finding peace in the afterlife. Monster is a much darker poem than Old Tom. It reminded me of Beauty and the Beast, but instead of a happy ending the monster is rejected, perhaps deservedly so. It even says "not the hero of one's story." The poem is short, but powerful. Lost is also a dark poem. It seemed, at least to me, like the writer of the poem was either in limbo or in immense grief. The line "landscape of naught but longing" could bolster either interpretation. Regardless of the interpretation, the poem is disheartening in a way that is, perhaps not relatable, but understandable. Jenna is everything I hope for when reminiscing about my own past dogs. It invites the joyful memories back in, but also honors their death with a gothic beauty. I can't believe she fit all that into 17 syllables! I owe a special thank you to both Stephanie K. Clemens, who sent me an advance copy of her book (release date: February 22nd, 2022), and Simon Howard, who sent me a copy to review. Both books were a joy to read, despite their sometimes less then joyful themes. As always, let me know what you thought of the books or my reviews in the comments! Thanks for checking in! Dana