Category: Reviews

Review – Tied to You, vol 2

Posted March 21, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Tied to You, vol 2

Tied to You

by WHAT, Chelliace

Genres: Fantasy, Manga, Romance
Pages: 320
Series: Tied to You #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

All’s Fair in Love and War

His heart torn from the bittersweet pain of unrequited love, Wooseo turns to Jigeon for solace…and the two of them kiss?! What starts as a natural physical affinity between Ring Partners quickly becomes a comfortable routine of intimacy, and Wooseo soon realizes he might be seeing Jigeon less and less as a “stand-in” for his best friend. But all is not well in paradise…Jiseok has caught on to his brother’s suspicious string pulling, dredging up complicated feelings and possessiveness. And he’s not the only one seeing green— a scorned lover from Jigeon’s past has resurfaced, and he’s dead set on severing his ex’s new Ring connection!

Partway through volume two of WHAT/Chelliace’s Tied to You, I decided that Jigeon’s behaviour is meant to be creepy and pushing out beyond the pale, which helped me decide how this was landing with me. It’s easier to be all-in on it when you’re sure it’s meant to be messy and not just romantic (though I think there is an amount of romanticisation of Jigeon’s behaviour).

The whole situation gets more complicated, with Jiseok seeming to be jealous of Jigeon and Wooseo’s growing closeness, and a friend of Jigeon’s joining in to help him pull strings. Wooseo’s unrequited love and his confusion are really well portrayed here — you can feel his pain, and the strength of the bond between him and Jiseok.

It’s an interesting exploration of obsession, of someone who wants someone else so badly they’ll manipulate them this way and that, even with the reassurance of a fated bond.

And of course there’s some drama with Jigeon’s ex, and the tantalising possibility that the rings can be removed…

I’ve already read volumes three and four as I write this, I got really into the series from this point. And the art remains really consistently beautiful.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Tags: , , , , , ,

Divider

Reviews – Opinionated Guides to London…

Posted March 20, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Here’s a rarity for me: two reviews in one post! Both of these books are from the Opinionated London Guides series from Hoxton Mini Press.

Cover of An Opinionated Guide to London MuseumsAn Opinionated Guide to London Museums, by Emmy Watts

Emmy Watts’ An Opinionated Guide to London Museums is a pretty well-designed little volume. There’s a map in the front with the numbers of the various museums on it, and each museum gets a page with a little description/commentary, and sometimes some extra images to pretty it up or further illustrate the kind of cluttered miscellany that you’ll find there.

It’s a little heavy on things that’re worth the visit for the architecture/art, which doesn’t interest me — but that’s the point of an opinionated guide, once you get the drift of the person’s opinions. For those looking for family-friendly (kid-friendly, it means) trips, this book also tends to note how good the museum is on that front.

I found one or two museums I didn’t know about that I want to visit, and was reminded of others, so I think it has served its purpose.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Cover of An Opinionated Guide to London BookshopsAn Opinionated Guide to London Bookshops, by Sonya Barber & James Manning

Like the other book in this series I’ve read, An Opinionated Guide to London Bookshops is a good travel guide if you’re interested in the topic — which it will surprise no one to hear I am. (If you are shocked, why are you here?) This one’s written by a couple, Sonya Barber and James Manning, and tends to note whether there are kid sections.

There’s a fair spread of political bookshops and bookshops for art and coffee table books, even one for cookbooks and another for all types of graphic novels and manga, but it feels weird that it’ll mention something as mainstream as Waterstones Piccadilly and not the Forbidden Planet International which is pretty good for SF/F stuff as well as comics. To judge from this book there are few genre specialist bookshops, and a quick search does seem to back that up, but in that light it seems especially weird to skip Forbidden Planet.

Also, I’m sorry, but organising by vague themes or by country is not a draw for me, yikes. By country the book is set in? By country the author comes from? What if the author’s a dual national? What if the book is set in several different countries? How do you find books by themes like “wanderlust”? It’s fine for browsing, but less so when you know what you want, including when you know you want some new SF/F or non-fiction and it’s all mingled together. I hate this trend.

Anyway, curmudgeon moment over. It’s a reasonably helpful volume, and of course constrained by what’s actually available in London, but man it seems weird if there are really no shops specialising in crime fiction or sci-fi (Forbidden Planet aside) in London?!

Like the museums guide, it has a map with the numbers on it, which helps in planning a trip.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

Tags: , ,

Divider

Review – Wain

Posted March 19, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Wain

Wain

by Rachel Plummer, Helene Boppert

Genres: Poetry
Pages: 126
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

Wain is a collection of LGBT themed children's poetry based on retellings of Scottish myths. The collection contains stories about kelpies, selkies, and the Loch Ness Monster, alongside perhaps lesser-known mythical people and creatures, such as wulvers, Ghillie Dhu, and the Cat Sìth. These poems immerse readers in an enriching, diverse and enchanting vision of contemporary life. The poems in this collection are fun, surprising, and full of a magical mix of myth and contemporary LGBT themes – it is a perfect read for children who are learning more about themselves, other people, and the world around them. Wain is fully illustrated, and suitable for readers of all ages.

Rachel Plummer’s Wain is a book of poems that reimagine various Scottish folktales and stories with LGBT twists: a selkie story is a trans story, a sea spirit flirts with a sea captain, etc. The poems are illustrated by Helene Boppert, in the same style as on the cover.

I definitely like the idea of the collection, though I found some of it a bit… obvious? Selkie story as trans narrative, for example. It’s not that it’s not fitting, or that I don’t think there should be trans selkie stories, so it’s hard to articulate just what I mean. Lacking in subtlety, perhaps? Though again, I don’t think subtlety is required. Several of the poems also had a kind of obviousness about them — a lack of layers and mystery, I suppose. I especially don’t get along with the ones that are just a bunch of sentences with full-stops, a collection of statements. I get that it is aimed at kids, but kids can handle subtlety.

That said, the art is lovely, and there were poems I liked. My favourite was ‘Green Lady’, in which a dead person has to choose a colour they want to take with them in death, which ends:

“Green as a sapling too soon torn
from its bank by a winter storm.
Green as the wide lawn’s wet grass.
Green as my dress —

the first I’d ever worn.”

That poem definitely worked for me!

So not a bad collection, and there’s definitely stuff to enjoy — especially, I suspect, for queer kids, the intended audience.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

Tags: , , , ,

Divider

Review – Nobody’s Baby

Posted March 18, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Review – Nobody’s Baby

Nobody's Baby

by Olivia Waite

Genres: Mystery, Science Fiction
Pages: 136
Series: Dorothy Gentleman #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Becky Chambers meets Miss Marple in the second entry of this cozy sci-fi mystery series, helmed by a formidable no-nonsense auntie of a detective...

Welcome to the HMS Fairweather, Her Majesty's most luxurious interstellar passenger liner! Room and board are included, new bodies are graciously provided upon request, and should you desire a rest between lifetimes, your mind shall be most carefully preserved in glass in the Library, shielded from every danger.

A wild baby appears! Dorothy Gentleman, ship detective, is put to the test once again when an infant is mysteriously left on her nephew's doorstep. Fertility is supposed to be on pause during the Fairweather’s journey across the stars—but humans have a way of breaking any rule you set them. Who produced this child, and why did they then abandon him? And as her nephew and his partner get more and more attached, how can Dorothy prevent her colleague and rival detective, Leloup, a stickler for law and order, from classifying the baby as a stowaway or a piece of luggage?

Told through Dorothy’s delightfully shrewd POV, this novella series is an ode to the cozy mystery taken to the stars with a fresh new sci-fi take. Perfect for fans of the plot-twisty narratives of Dorothy Sayers and Ann Leckie, this well-paced story will leave readers captivated and hungry for the next installment.

I think maybe I should’ve reread Olivia Waite’s Murder by Memory before reading the new book, Nobody’s Baby; I had the broad details still in mind, but — perhaps because I didn’t find it that compelling in the first place — Dorothy’s relationship with Violet and the ins-and-outs of their awkwardness with one another hadn’t really stuck in my mind. The strongest element in both books with the relationship between Dorothy and her nephew Ruthie (and by extension his husband), and that stood out here as well.

I love the way that this one shows us a bit more to Ruthie: impractical, yes, but he’s a good guy, and that shines through in the way he instantly takes to the concept of fatherhood. I liked that it’s so natural and perfect for him, and that his husband isn’t perfectly on board with it but willing to join in for Ruthie’s sake — and has his own fondness for the kid, without being as natural a parent. They just seem really nice.

We see a bit more of the ship and the procecures around the passengers, learning about skimmers (devices which people can use to project memories) and flickers (movies made out of people’s thoughts/memories), and a bit of the culture around that. Everything’s relevant to the mystery, which is pretty fun, though not entirely fair-play because the technology is invented, so… you can make anything up, there.

Overall, a fun addition to the series which fleshes the world out some more, and really lets Ruthie shine too. I’m curious if there’s going to be more development of Dorothy’s relationship with Violet, though.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Tags: , , , ,

Divider

Review – Stay for a Spell

Posted March 17, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Review – Stay for a Spell

Stay for a Spell

by Amy Coombe

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 384
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

A joyful, cosy fantasy romance for anyone who's ever wished they could live in a bookshop.

One curse, seven princes, and a bookshop that you’ll never want to leave…

Princess Tanadelle of the Widdenmar longs to build a life of her own making. During a royal visit to the cosy town of Little Pepperidge, Tandy’s dream comes true when she finds herself cursed to remain in a run-down bookshop until she finds her heart’s desire.

More than a little thrilled, she hires a new assistant, teenage goth Sasha, and settles into life among the stacks. Despite the infuriatingly handsome pirate, Bash, who keeps showing up at the shop with his good looks and his own curse to figure out, Tandy’s new life might just make her happy.

There are just seven, minor, problems. With her royal duties unfulfilled, the frantic King and Queen send the seven princes of the realms to bestow upon Tandy a kiss, each one hoping to break the curse.

After all, what more could a princess want, than a prince?

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I saw other people talking about being interested in Amy Coombe’s Stay for a Spell, and I couldn’t resist: a princess ends up trapped in a rickety old bookshop, cursed to remain until she achieves her heart’s desire? You had me at “bookshop”, even if books set in and around bookshops often forget about the reading part and just treat books as purely magical in and of themselves. Admittedly, there is a bit of that here — Tandy’s love of reading draws her to the bookshop, and leads her to sell particular books, but sometimes the reading part still gets lost amid the selling of books and the handling of books as physical objects.

The premise is very wish fulfillment-y, and I feel like there’s a fair bit of the world that isn’t fully thought out and is a fairly generic fantasy world, but I had a lot of fun all the same. The obvious way to break the curse on a princess would be a kiss from a prince, is what her parents figure, so they send along the various princes of the realms…  But things don’t work in the obvious way here all the time.

For a start, it’s not quite as heteronormative as it might sound: one of the princes who shows up, Calla, is female (and Tandy’s sister is also a prince) — the rank is “prince”, regardless of the gender of the person occupying it. There are two prominent queer kisses in the book, albeit neither of them is romantic: one of the male princes kisses the also-cursed pirate, Bash, while Calla kisses Tandy (and it’s arguably one of the best kisses in the story).

The princes are neither all wonderful people nor all slugs: they all stick around and all offer their help to Tandy, even when their kisses fail to cure her, and even when they’re a bit personally unbearable at times. I really liked that Driz turns out to be a pretty cool guy. Kinda ended up wishing they’d all get together, with Bash too; life would be interesting, to say the least.

The way things play out felt a bit… conventional, I suppose? Compared to the stuff I hadn’t expected, like Bash’s kiss from Driz, and Calla’s kiss with Tandy. It feels very wish fulfillment-y, since Tandy gets to just stop being a working princess and lay aside her duties to stay in the shop with Bash. Still, there are things that still defy expectation (Bash’s curse isn’t broken), and I did ultimately like how Tandy and Bash (inevitably) got together, and thought there was pretty good chemistry there.

You do discover at the end that there’s a bit of an insta-love trope, which I’d sort of suspected and sort of hoped was subverted in some way… but Tandy herself mostly experience instant attraction, along with some annoyance, so it’s not too irritating.

Overall, I’ve said a lot about this compared to normal because it genuinely surprised me at times, and was a delight. I wonder if there’ll be any other romances in this world? Maybe kissing Bash awakened something in Driz…?

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Tags: , , , ,

Divider

Review – DPS Only!

Posted March 17, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – DPS Only!

DPS Only!

by Velinxi

Genres: Graphic Novels
Pages: 426
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Vicky Tan is a meek school girl with social anxiety who always introduces herself as an attachment to her confident, genius brother, Virgil, who has made a name for himself as one of the most popular competitors and streamers for the world famous "Xenith Orion" game.

Despite having aspirations of her own to compete and stream, Vic fears that she will open herself to the hate, doubt, harassment significant women gamers receive every day. She instead opts to stay in the background, acting as her brother’s assistant and manager. However, when opportunity arises in the form of a local competition, Vicky knows she can't stay away. Donning a disguise, she enters the esports scene under the moniker, "Aegis."

I grabbed DPS Only! on Comics Plus when I realised that it was written/drawn by Velinxi (Xiao Tong Kong), the artist who illustrated the English-language version of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System. No surprises then that I liked the art and character designs a lot. The colours were great, too.

The story’s a bit of a coming-of-age thing, essentially: Vicky’s brother Virgil is a pro-gamer, competing in esports leagues, and he’s used the money to formally adopt her and get her away from their parents. She loves him, but he’s overprotective and sometimes infantalising, and he doesn’t really seem to see her. He has no idea, for instance, that she plays too…

It’s inevitable that the story ends with the two of them going toe-to-toe, but it takes a while to get there, exploring Vicky’s growing confidence, her growing interest in revealing herself after an initial reluctance to compete. I enjoyed that her team includes an older guy — games can bring such different age groups together, and some very disparate people, and I love how supportive Eric is with his slightly different perspective.

There was an obvious ending to this story, and I’m glad it didn’t fully go there, on reflection. Vicky’s still got a long way to go. But she’s on her way, and now Virgil has her back, properly. It’s lovely.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Tags: , , , ,

Divider

Review – Repast: The Story of Food

Posted March 14, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Repast: The Story of Food

Repast: The Story of Food

by Jenny Linford

Genres: Food, History, Non-fiction
Pages: 256
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

Our insatiable appetite for creativity in the kitchen--or around the open fire--is reflected in the fascinating objects explored in this book. Written by food writer Jenny Linford in collaboration with the British Museum, Repast focuses on artifacts in the museum's collection--from ancient clay cooking vessels to exquisite gold cups--spanning multiple continents and dating from prehistory to the modern day.

Taking a broadly chronological approach to the subject, the book is arranged into thirteen thematic chapters, starting with explorations of hunting and gathering and ending with the history of eating out; along the way, agriculture, alcohol, and cooking--among other subjects--are also investigated. Interspersed among the many remarkable objects examined in each chapter is a series of in-depth essays on such topics as tea (the world's most consumed drink after water), pork (one of the world's most consumed meats), and wheat (the source of 20 percent of the world's human calorie consumption), revealing the many social, cultural, and religious aspects of food.

Through a feast of words and images, Repast presents the irresistible, international story of food, drink, and the culinary arts.

Jenny Linford’s Repast: The Story of Food tries to tell the story of (human) foods through exhibits from the British Museum. It mostly highlights major food groups (like rice, maize, bread), methods of gathering food (like fishing and hunting) or techniques for preparing for food (like fermentation, baking, etc), and… overall it comes across as fairly run of the mill. The book doesn’t even begin to engage with why certain foodstuffs spread, for instance, or with the provenance of the items held by the British Museum, and comes across as pretty milquetoast — especially having recently read The Hungry Empire (which itself wasn’t THAT fiery).

There are some interesting pieces included from an array of cultures, but without somewhat more robust commentary, it’s sadly a bit disappointing. You might say that this stuff is out of scope for the story, but I don’t think so: food history, like fashion history, can tell you a lot about a time and place, and there’s so much to be told in terms of trade and fashion in food if you choose the right exhibits, and add a bit of discussion.

A pretty book, but disappointing.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

Tags: , , , ,

Divider

Review – Altar

Posted March 13, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – Altar

Altar

by Desree

Genres: Poetry
Pages: 72
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

The debut poetry collection from award-winning writer and spoken word artist, Desree, Altar explores multifaceted dimensions of sacrifice, challenging its heroism and examining its ties to servility. The poems in Altar urge their protagonists to play neither lion nor lamb, but to live and flourish on their own terms. Each page glimmers with vivid, often devastating vignettes: we witness the resilience of youth, the strength of the Black female body, the complexity of chosen and unchosen family, the sweeping effects of gentrification.Through reflections on Black British identity, queer joy, place and belonging, faith and consent, Desree invites the reader on a journey of reclamation, while her wry wit and disarming tenderness hold us through the necessary storms that mark the way.

I wasn’t sure what I’d think of Desree’s Altar; I’ve not been very interested in spoken word poetry, historically, and I read that Desree’s a spoken word artist, so I wasn’t sure how well her work lends itself to print. The answer in this volume is ‘just fine’, though the ebook version didn’t do the formatting any favours.

I didn’t entirely click with it all, but there were some poems and images that did grab me, like the recurring theme of the rose in her mouth, and this stanza:

“i knew bodies
built in the image of a fireplace
were only useful if there
was something burning
inside them. i learnt
safety means between flames“

Not entirely for me, this collection, but I did enjoy giving it a shot. And I do wonder still if some of the poems might not after all be better aloud, even if they did work fine in print.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

Tags: , , ,

Divider

Review – The Double Turn

Posted March 12, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – The Double Turn

The Double Turn

by E.C.R. Lorac, Carol Carnac

Genres: Crime, Mystery
Pages: 220
Series: British Library Crime Classics
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

At Firenze, the reclusive artist Adrian Delafield’s Florentine enclave in St John’s Wood, the whispers of an impending tragedy are growing louder. The tension between the fanatical zealot of a housekeeper Miss Trimming and Delafield’s sister Virgilia is just shy of fever pitch, when a cold morning at the house finds Trimming and Adrian sprawled at either end of the staircase – upstairs, an injury; downstairs, death.

The windows and doors were all locked from the inside, and yet Inspector Julian Rivers, trained to see the malice behind deadly accident, suspects that a murderer had a hand in the fell deed. But if this is true, Rivers is faced with both the inexplicable puzzle of motive, and the task of untangling an impossible crime in Carnac’s compelling and twisting 1956 mystery exploring the demands of kinship, art-world secrets and religious mania.

Carol Carnac, AKA E.C.R. Lorac, is one of my favourite finds through the British Library Crime Classics series. I reliably enjoy her sense of place and ability to create characters I really root for, though I generally prefer her work under the name E.C.R. Lorac — I think because all of those I’ve read have starred Macdonald, and he’s such a humane sort of detective that it makes everything just a little comfier. I’m less fond of the detectives in The Double Turn, Lancing and Rivers: I’ve no reason to believe they’re meant to be any less decent than Macdonald, but they just don’t get the same fondness from me. I didn’t quite understand their frustration with one of the (innocent) characters, for example.

I still enjoyed The Double Turn as a mystery, though; I’m not sure if it was fair play, as the solution eventually partly hinged on a small detail that I can’t remember being mentioned previously (though there were other clues that could lead you in the right sort of direction, and there was a major one I didn’t pay enough attention to). I did realise that it was likely to end up being a character I didn’t want to be implicated, because Lorac’s so good at that, at creating people with massive flaws who nonetheless also have admirable qualities… but that’s more of a meta-clue.

In the end, it left me feeling a bit sad, to be honest. The way it ends doesn’t feel entirely like justice or everything being set to rights, because you can’t undo the harm done, and the victim wasn’t likeable but was in some ways admirable, and either way obviously didn’t deserve to be murdered in that way — and there was collateral damage too. It’s just… ugh.

All in all, not a favourite of Lorac’s; plenty of worthy aspects, but not my personal cup of tea.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

Tags: , , , , , ,

Divider

Review – The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish, vol 4

Posted March 11, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish, vol 4

The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish

by Xue Shan Fei Hu

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novels, Romance
Pages: 443
Series: The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish #4
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

STILL WATERS RUN DEEP

With their union blessed by the emperor and four baby heirs in tow, Prince Jing is well on his way to clinching the position of crown prince. But Li Yu can’t pat himself on the back for a job well done just yet! Prince Jing’s crafty brother still lurks in the shadows plotting against him.

As Li Yu dives deeper into the sixth prince’s schemes, he uncovers a dastardly conspiracy that ripples from Prince Jing’s childhood, forming a tsunami poised to plunge the imperial palace (and its allies) into total chaos! Li Yu will have to use all the fishy tricks at his disposal if he wants to keep his new family safe!

The fourth volume of The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish brings the whole thing to an end and wraps it up neatly with a bow, but dang, there’s a lot that happens in this volume still. After all, Prince Jing isn’t the crown prince yet, Li Yu still wants to have another baby, and there are those mysterious secrets that the fish-scamming system keeps showing him.

In general, I loved it. The babies are adorable, Li Yu and Mu Tianchi’s bond has become really strong (if sometimes in need of a tad more communication), and the political plot all works out and some of the secrets start to make sense.

I did want to address one thing, though: in this volume, the disabled tyrant is cured, in fact. Mu Tianchi’s mutism isn’t genetic, but has been caused by a low-dose poison he was given at birth. Once the poison is discovered and cured, he begins to be able to speak. You could argue that this is plot-necessary because otherwise he couldn’t become the emperor (at least not without becoming a tyrant), and also that Chinese culture isn’t in quite the same place about stuff like disability — but it’s still worth knowing, and worth knowing as well that there’s a brief mention of Li Yu telling the children that Mu Tianchi isn’t “different”, he’s “just sick”, implying it would be bad if he was disabled.

In the series as a whole, Li Yu never looks down on Mu Tianchi for being mute, and Mu Tianchi is always very capable — it’s just that it’s unacceptable for the emperor’s heir to be unable to speak. That said, that scene where Li Yu tries to explain away disability so as not to make the children think their dad is “different” suggests the author might treat permanent disability quite differently. So tread with care: there are some not-great attitudes toward disability swimming around the edges of the story and occasionally casting some shadows.

There are a few things that don’t entirely add up, plot-wise — e.g. the babies’ paternity was already confirmed on birth: Mu Tianchi offered his own blood for it rather than disturb Li Yu for his, I remember that scene clearly. Was that never communicated to the emperor? Not that he ever seems to genuinely doubt the children’s paternity anyway, but that whole bit is never mentioned as a reason why.

…But mostly I just loved it, really. It’s very sweet.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Tags: , , , , , ,

Divider