Book Review: When Among Crows

When Among Crows 

by Veronica Roth
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is not what I was expecting from Veronica Roth. While I knew it wasn’t a young adult romance from the start that didn’t stop me from expecting a certain type of story knowing the Divergent series. Let me be clear, I was very, very wrong to make this assumption. This is a bloody, (for some) disturbing, grimdark fantasy.

When Among Crows is unique, enthralling, and an overall excellent use of just over 150 pages of writing. Each character is fleshed out just enough to understand, and I am left wanting so much more from them all. I loved the use of the Polish folklore creatures, some of which were new to me. The description and set-up of Baba Yaga was well done, and I really hope there are more novellas to come as I can see where this all may lead us to in the end. I did wish that each POV swap was easier to identify. I always appreciate the character name at the beginning of a section or chapter so I don’t have to figure out whose brain I’m in. That said, if you listen to the audiobook the narrator changes and they both do an incredible job of telling this story. I’m not always a big audiobook fan but this one really worked for me.

If you need a slice of pain, regret, grief, guilt, with a little bit of affection throw in, then definitely check this one out. I will be anxiously awaiting the next instalment and hoping it has the same grittiness that Roth brought to this one.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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Book Review: Into the Goblin Market

Into the Goblin Market 

by Vikki VanSickle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Not only is this a gorgeous book, but it’s also a very good story. The perfect reminder, or maybe first time learning for children not to trust fairies! I love how the goblins and fairies are clear stand-ins for strangers or people who have deals that are too good to be true. 

The lyrical flow of this story, the gothic illustrations, and overall mood drew me in immediately. I wanted to buy this for all the little ones in my life, but it is 5+ age book I think. I put it in the same classification as Little Red Wolf (another favourite) in that the story is a touch dark and so better for an older child. 

This is the kind of book I would write an inscription in and hope that the child might keep for their life as it’s a great reminder to stay loyal and true to what is most important. It’s also just so beautiful in a dark melancholy way. The perfect book to go back to as an adult in troubling times, or just for a reminder of what to value.
One of my favourite books of 2025.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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Book Review: Grim Vol 3

Grim, Vol. 3: Lust for Life 

by Stephanie Phillips
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I flipped through this one in no time. It felt like it took only 5 minutes to read this volume because it was fast paced, interesting, intriguing, and action packed. I absolutely loved it.
From each characters personal manifestations of Hell, to the manifestation of Annabel and her ultimate request. 

Be sure to read volumes 1 & 2 first so you have the foundation for this third volume that sets us up for an ultimate fight in the next set of comics. 

Stephanie Phillips and Flaviano really understand the meaning and weariness of gothic stories. The added variant covers by Zu Orzu are just the icing on the cake. I love that each cover was set in-between the comics in this volume so we could really feel what the cover was meant to say at that moment in the story (instead of a quick flip through set at the back of the book). 

I’ve collected almost all of the covers for this series as it’s gone along and I adore them all; but this set of Orzu covers is incredible. Do not skim past the artwork in this one. Savour it, and relish in its gothic feel and monstrous manifestations of each characters Hell, and the River Styx!

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Book Review: Olivetti

Olivetti 

by Allie Millington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a way to tell a story! I’m not often a fan of contemporary, family stories. However when a typewriter is one of the cast telling the story then it’s unique enough to get my attention. I read this in the same room as a 1940s Remington accounting typewriter and my Grandmother’s Sears Blue travel typewriter. So I suppose one could say my husband and I have a thing for them (lol). However the fact that it’s a typewriter in this story is partially because it works to tell the story of antiquated technology (that parallels getting old) but also that it provides a way to have the typewriter both know things and speak them back. Very, very clever.
I didn’t know where this story was going; but once it got there (about 75% of the way in) I wanted to groan… typically this would have become a ‘written to make you cry’ sort of The Notebook style story. Instead it stays cute and sweet without becoming overly sappy.

Trigger warning: (spoiler below)



I do want to advise that the nasty, unrelenting disease Cancer plays a large role in this story. It’s set-up in such a way that you don’t know until more than halfway through and I wouldn’t want anyone to get into this who might have trouble with the direction of the story.
Overall it’s brilliantly done, the comparisons, and overall analogies here are poignant and well thought out. Kudos to Allie Millington for writing a story that didn’t make me want to gag on its sweetness; but still tells a story of a family fighting to stay together, and alive.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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Graphic Novel Review: The Dark One

Dark One, Book 1 

by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Trust Brandon Sanderson to come with a concept that, even when illustrated, has characters, settings, and magic that is both convoluted and confusing at times; yet also engaging, elaborate, and elevated above (almost) any other graphic novel I’ve ever read. And I’ve certainly read my fair share of fantasy, horror, and science fiction graphic novels. With a cast of characters that span across timelines and worlds, real attention has to be given to not only what is being said, but what is drawn on the page and, thus, not being said through this first volume in the series.

Be forewarned, volume 1 ends on a cliffhanger. There are (at least) two more volumes to come; but nothing is said about publication timelines as of yet. Given Sanderson is heavily in the midst of a million projects (or so it seems) and has just released book five of ten in his penultimate Cosmere series, it seems fool hardy to hope for another instalment of The Dark One anytime soon. Therefore I suggest readers go into this one knowing that you may be just starting to unravel what is happening, and getting into the characters when everything comes to a twisting halt.
That’s not to say this isn’t worth a read, because it is. It’s merely the heads up that this is epic, elaborate fantasy. At this point I suppose we should all expect nothing less from the current reigning (and writing) master of epic fantasy.

I LOVED seeing some of Jackson Lanzig’s (co-writer) hidden references throughout. Something I’ve seen in all of Lanzig’s writing. The nod to Nirvana, when one characters says “all right now, entertain me”, was my favourite pop culture reference amongst a slew of tiny nods to rock music and known fantasy lore. I just can’t get enough of anything Lanzig has worked on; especially since meeting him at a local con. He is easily one of the most engaging guys out there in comic book writing. A super fun, really nice guy with a big outgoing personality, something not often seen in a writer.

I definitely look forward to volume 2, whenever that may be, continuing this story. In the meantime I’ll be sure to keep on watching anything and everything Sanderson does, in any format, as he has been establishing himself as this century’s Tolkien. The Dark One is just one more piece of what I believe will be a long lasting legacy of fantasy stories that people will never forget.

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Book Review: Signal to Noise

Signal to Noise 

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is not really a fantasy or magical book. It has some magic in it which is a catalyst for some events, but otherwise largely a non-factor. There is no real discussion about how the magic works, rules for the magic, or any actual system of setup. For me, because I’m not a big fan of teen contemporary books I found this disappointing. It’s well written, interesting characters, and engaging enough (as Silvia Moreno-Garcia always is), but a bit too much teen angst for me. Call me pathetic that even at 41 years old I still have anxiety when I read teen books that are set in our world and focus on common family or friend dynamics wrong gone; but it was not a great time in my life and so I just don’t have any desire to revisit those feelings, in myself or vis other characters. I do hope some other readers, especially younger ones find something in this to learn about themselves. I’m just no longer that person.

I will (of course) continue to read what Moreno-Garcia publishes even though Signal to Noise didn’t do it for me. Not only because she’s a fellow Canadian, but because Mexican Gothic is brilliant and it wasn’t the writing here that was the problem for me, more the marketing making this sound more magical than it is.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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Book Review: The Luminous Dead

The Luminous Dead 

by Caitlin Starling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow! What a creepy, suffocating, psychological disturbance this novel is! Caitlin Starling brings it big in her debut novel in a way I’ve never read before. If this were a movie I’d never be able to watch it as it would be too scary (like The Descent, which I’ve never seen). With only two characters, and a host of ghostly characters we enter a cave with a menacing, tunnelling beast, water in all kinds of places, rock waiting to squash or trap, and fungi that just might make you wonder if you’re seeing things? But what if you aren’t?!

Honestly had a hard time putting this down as I needed to know how it ended even when it was at its scariest. It is perhaps worth noting I am terrified of water; be it in large ocean expanses or small exposed places. Seriously I don’t even take baths because I hate soaking in or being near water (showers are the best!). So I may have had a more visceral reaction to this novel than some. Even without this factor the dread, ghostly images, creepy fungus, and constant rumbling of a tunnelling beast would have easily been enough to keep me on edge and terrified, at least for our main gal, if not in general.

I will be making my horror buff of a husband read this to find out what he thinks. If you enjoyed Drowning into the Deep by Mira Grant then The Luminous Dead is likely for you. While the ‘monster’ is more psychological here it is no less constrained to the space it can inhabit, subject to the futuristic technology of the cave suit, and the alien planet is as current pulling as the deep dark of the Marianas Trench.

Do not miss out on this novel if you need a good survival at all odds story, find ghosts and lies (maybe even betrayal?) behind each cavern you enter, and ultimately need to know what it takes for someone to be so far past their tipping point they can no longer function as a human being. Add in a mission with no monetary value and suddenly we have factors that don’t add up until the final pages. Starling takes the reader on a crazy journey through her caverns (thank goodness for the map at the front of the book that I referred to constantly) and never stops to emerge for air, sunlight, or sanity.

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