September was a slow reading month for me, which isn't too surprising. Since I started reading more in 2021, I've noticed that my reading does tend to slow down during fall/the holidays compared to how much I read in spring and summer. Admittedly, that slow-down usually happens in October or later (I read 17 books in September 2021 and 14 books in September 2022) but still.
I read 6 books this month. Let's get started.
Like a Charm by Elle McNicoll
Expected Publication Date: October 10th, 2023
Read: September 2nd - 3rd
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Like a Charm is about a neurodivergent girl who discovers that she has magical powers and must stop the schemes of some evil sirens who are trying to stir up trouble in her town. Now that several weeks have passed, I feel like I've forgotten everything about this book. I did enjoy it while reading and would recommend it to those looking for middle grade fantasy with neurodivergent main characters, but I can't say that it made an enormous impact.
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
Publication Date: September 19th, 2023
Read: September 4th - 5th
Rating: 4/5 stars
A Study in Drowning is the story of a girl going to the house of her favorite author, who has recently died, and having to confront his legacy, his lies, and her own trauma and sense of worthlessness. It does certain things very well and is a bit wishy-washy on other things. I recommend it.
Or, everyone else on my feed was reading A Study in Drowning, so I gave into peer pressure and read A Study in Drowning. I liked it! With some caveats, of course, but I liked it. I want to write a more lengthy review at some point. Suffice to say, I have issues with the worldbuilding, but not the same issues I'm seeing other people mention a lot (I was fine with the amount the sleepers were utilized). I was also surprised to see people say that they didn't think there was enough academia in the book for it to be dark academia, because I actually liked the amount of literary discussion the two leads have. But I'm not typically a dark academia girly, so maybe I just don't know what the expectations are.
The new cover is beautiful, but I love how cheesy the original cover is.
The Book of Ile-Rien: The Element of Fire by Martha Wells
Expected Publication Date: February 27th, 2024
Read: September 10th - 11th
Rating: 4/5 stars
The Element of Fire is a political intrigue story centering around what happens when an unstable court is invaded by a fae army being aided by a treacherous sorcerer. It focuses on Thomas, the captain of the queen's guard, and Kade, a half-fae sorceress who has returned to confront her past.
I enjoyed this book, but I thought it was interesting how different it feels from Martha Wells' later books. Even City of Bones, which is only her second novel, feels more quintessentially "Martha Wells" to me than this book does. Maybe that's because this is her debut. It's just interesting to me. I'm not sure I can quantify what I mean when I say that this books feels unlike her other books, either. It just feels a little different. I think it's a strong and interesting debut with a lot to recommend it, though. If you like political intrigue fantasy, I recommend trying this one. Some of the court dynamics reminded me of Curse of Chalion, specifically, although I don't know how similar the two books actually are.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Read: September 15th - 20th
Rating: 5 stars
I'm sure I don't need to explain the premise of this one. I was really hankering for a reread (and a rewatch of the 1995 miniseries, which is my personal favorite adaptation), and this book delivered, just as it always does. While rereading, I feel like I noticed how funny Bingley actually is. I think he's often flattened in adaptations into simply A Guy Who Loves Jane. I'd love to see him actually get to make some jokes, because he does in the book!
Cursebreakers by Madeline Nakamura
Publication Date: September 12th, 2023
Read: September 14th - 22nd
Rating: 4/5 stars
This book is about a professor with bipolar disorder who begins investigating a conspiracy that is causing people to turn up in magical comas. Along the way, he allies with a really weird soldier and risks alienating his tenuous support system.
Also, something about the set up of mages vs. military in the book really set off my "Could this be inspired by Dragon Age?" sensors. I have no proof whether it was or not, but the cover artist did say that the Dragon Age tarot card art style was an inspiration for the cover of the book, so I feel like there's something there.
I enjoyed this book. I picked it up partly because it was blurbed by Katherine Addison - she doesn't do many blurbs, so I was intrigued. I definitely would recommend this to fans of her Cemeteries of Amalo books starring Thara Celehar. The vibe of a sad gay man trying to solve crime and a sad (yet chaotic) gay man trying to untangle a conspiracy are similar enough for a fair overlap in audience, I think.
This book did lose me a little in how the climactic action ultimately played out, but overall I enjoyed it and would recommend to Thara Celehar fans or fans of academia in fantasy (although the academia isn't a huge focus, arguably).
The Book of Ile-Rien: The Death of the Necromancer by Martha Wells
Expected Publication Date: February 27th, 2024
Read: September 24th - 30th
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
While executing a heist that is one of the last steps in his long-running revenge plan, Nicholas Valiarde discovers some weird stuff that turns out to be evidence of a necromantic conspiracy. This seems bad. The conspirators might know that he's the man behind the persona of Donatien, master thief. This is definitely bad. Story ensues.
I definitely need to write a proper review of this, but for now let me just say that I think this is my favorite thing I read all month. Actually, it might be my new favorite Martha Wells fantasy book. That's right, it may edge out City of Bones for first place.
I don't want to make any statements that are too grand - I believe in letting a book grow on me before I evaluate its true place in my favorites. But I really liked this book. Something about reading it reminded me of how it felt to read Six of Crows for the first time. I would definitely recommend this to fans of Six of Crows, actually. I liked the world, I really liked the characters (and was invested in new characters as they were introduced), and the conspiracy/mystery they were investigating was really intriguing. I'm almost sad that this is being re-published in a bind-up with The Element of Fire, because I want a copy of this book that's just this book, so I can stare at it lovingly and give it the occasional fond pat.
I really liked this book. I want everyone to read it.
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