Category: Reviews

Review – Cinder House

Posted August 1, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 7 Comments

Review – Cinder House

Cinder House

by Freya Marske

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 144
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

Sparks fly and lovers dance in this gorgeous, yearning Cinderella retelling from bestselling author Freya Marske—a queer Gothic romance perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and T. Kingfisher.

Ella is a haunting.

Murdered at sixteen, her ghost is furiously trapped in her father's house, invisible to everyone except her stepmother and stepsisters.

Even when she discovers how to untether herself from her prison, there are limits. She cannot be seen or heard by the living people who surround her. Her family must never learn she is able to leave. And at the stroke of every midnight, she finds herself back on the staircase where she died.

Until she forges a wary friendship with a fairy charm-seller, and makes a bargain for three nights of almost-living freedom. Freedom that means she can finally be seen. Danced with. Touched.

You think you know Ella's story: the ball, the magical shoes, the handsome prince.

You're halfway right, and all-the-way wrong.

Rediscover a classic fairy tale in this debut novella from "the queen of romantic fantasy" (Polygon).

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 found Freya Marske’s Cinder House a little slower to get started than I’d expected from a novella: it felt like more than half the book was setup (though important things did happen!) and then the ending had to happen at an absolute gallop. A little more time in the second half for a good head of longing to build up would have really helped the ending, though I’m trying not to say too much about that.

The bones of the story are Cinderella, but it’s also much more than that, with quite a bit of worldbuilding woven in. The politics of the world were a bit difficult to grasp from the vantage point we have, which honestly makes sense since, well, Ella’s a house. Kind of. Interestingly, from the buildup I guessed two possible endings, and in the end they were both sort of right (and both sort of wrong).

I did enjoy the world-building, and the way the story works out — the way Ella’s sisters torture her into compliance was very well thought out and described, for instance, it’s all very thoughtful — it just felt like the pacing was a touch off.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

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Review – A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation, vol 9

Posted July 31, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation, vol 9

A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation

by Misaki, Momochi, Sando, Lamp Magonote

Genres: Fantasy, Manga
Pages: 160
Series: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #9
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

When Lizel mysteriously finds himself in a city that bears odd similarities to his own but clearly isn't, he quickly comes to terms with the unlikely truth: this is an entirely different world. Even so, laid-back Lizel isn't the type to panic. He immediately sets out to learn more about this strange place, and to help him do so, hires a seasoned adventurer named Gil as his tour guide and protector.

Until he's able to find a way home, Lizel figures this is a perfect opportunity to explore a new way of life adventuring as part of a guild. After all, he's sure he'll go home eventually... might as well enjoy the otherworldly vacation for now!

Volume 9 of A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation felt maybe a tad disjointed, because we’re lacking information about events until a flashback/explanation later, and this happens twice (once about how Lizel plans to defend the people, and then also about the promise he makes Gil make).

That said, it’s a great conclusion to this little arc of the attack on Marcade, and we see a lot of Lizel’s scheming. And it’s to be hoped that in the next volume, Gil and Eleven give him whatfor about it, for goodness’ sake.

There are some really fun moments between the trio, though most of the focus is on Lizel’s cleverness and his efforts to thwart Variant Ruler. The elves kind of come out of nowhere, and I felt kinda like I’d missed something, but they were technically somewhat foreshadowed…

Not my favourite volume in some ways, but I enjoyed it as always.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – The Buried City

Posted July 30, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Buried City

The Buried City: Unearthing the Real Pompeii

by Gabriel Zuchtriegel

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

This is Pompeii, as you've never seen it before.

In this revelatory history, Gabriel Zuchtriegel shares the new secrets of Pompeii. Over the last few years, a vast stretch of the city has been excavated for the first time. Now, drawing on these astonishing discoveries, The Buried City reveals the untold human stories that are at last emerging.

Pompeii is a world frozen in time. There are unmade beds, dishes left drying, tools abandoned by workmen, bodies embracing with love and fear. And alongside the remnants of everyday life, there are captivating works of art: lifelike portraits, exquisite frescos and mosaics, and the extraordinary sculpture of a sleeping boy, curled up under a blanket that's too small.

The Buried City reconstructs the catastrophe that destroyed Pompeii on 24 August 79 CE, but it also offers a behind-the-scenes tour of the city as it was before: who lived here, what mattered to them, and what happened in their final hours. It offers us a vivid sense of Pompeii's continuing relevance, and proves that ancient history is much closer to us than we think.

The cover copy on the inside flap of the dust cover suggests that Gabriel Zuchtriegel’s The Buried City is about amazing new finds at Pompeii, but that’s not really a good description of the book (though it does discuss some recent finds). It feels more like a manifesto for seeing Pompeii differently, for seeing it not just as a source of treasure, nor a tourist site for income, but a piece of heritage that everyone has a stake in, and everyone deserves the chance to learn about.

It takes a while to unfold to anything like that, though, because it’s also partly autobiographical, Zuchtriegel’s musings on what makes him who he is as an archaeologist, what drove him to the point that he became the director general at Pompeii. All of that led him to his excitement on unveiling the life of slaves in Pompeii, his attitude toward his work there, his involvement of young people in actually putting on drama in Pompeii — something which was revelatory for them and for the team involved.

It’s a fascinating book about archaeology in general, not just Pompeii; I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for being about Pompeii, but more as a view of a career and an attitude that culminated in a change of focus at Pompeii. And it really does ramble, sometimes.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – The Governess Gambit

Posted July 29, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Governess Gambit

The Governess Gambit

by Erica Ridley

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 148
Series: The Wild Wynchesters #0.5
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Meet the Wild Wynchesters: This fun-loving, caper-committing family of tight-knit siblings can’t help but find love and adventure!

Years ago, Chloe Wynchester and five other uniquely talented orphans were adopted by a wealthy baron with a secret mission: The motley Wynchester family fights for justice from the margins of high society. And the handsome, clever duke Chloe has long admired proves to be her worst enemy…

An unscrupulous boarding school is exploiting orphans in a secret workhouse. Baron Vanderbean plots a daring rescue. When illness befalls him, Chloe must take the reins. But how can a lifelong wallflower lead the charge to save the children?

This is another review that I wrote back when I read the book, which somehow never got posted here! 

The Governess Gambit is full of setup for the first book of this series, The Duke Heist — which I haven’t read yet — but also, for anyone who knows the Wynchesters from their other adventures (in my case the second book, The Perks of Loving a Wallflower) a tension and inevitability that you just don’t want to be real. I think it’s best experienced that way, actually: Bean might be dead in the main series, but nonetheless the love they felt for him is clear, and knowing that already is what shapes the tension of this book.

It’s also fun seeing everything from a slightly different perspective, since this book follows Chloe, and it did whet my appetite for The Duke Heist as well.

Still eager to see more of the other Wynchesters! Especially Jacob and Graham, as I feel like we see their point of view least of all so far. Though maybe The Duke Heist will change that!

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – What Stalks the Deep

Posted July 28, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Review – What Stalks the Deep

What Stalks the Deep

by T. Kingfisher

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction
Pages: 192
Series: Sworn Soldier #3
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Alex Easton does not want to visit America.

They particularly do not want to visit an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia with a reputation for being haunted.

But when their old friend Dr. Denton summons them to help find his lost cousin—who went missing in that very mine—well, sometimes a sworn soldier has to do what a sworn soldier has to do...

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.

Sometimes I think people’s reactions to the three stories so far in T. Kingfisher’s Sworn Soldier series are very telling about what frightens them. My favourite — the one I think is best — is the first one, because it plays on all my fears about contagion. The second book didn’t fill me with as much enthusiasm, and this one hit a different note: if you’ve read it, on the Ingold-to-Denton scale, I’m definitely on the Ingold end in terms of my reaction.

In other words, this one is barely horror to me and doesn’t scare me at all. I do appreciate it more than the second book (which, to be clear, I did also enjoy), but it was the finding of kin in Ingold, his fascination with what’s happening and with the mines, that was the key here. Which is fine, because I’m not necessarily interested in being scared, but I think it does add an edge and make things memorable. For me, the tensest thing about the book was actually Alex’s claustrophobia.

We do also see the aftermath of the first book for Denton — it’s good to link back up with him, and to understand how it affected him too. Differently, somewhat, but deeply, to the point where the best comfort he can imagine is summoning Alex to join him when weird shit starts going down again.

I continue to love the world-building about sworn soldiers, though there wasn’t that much of it in this one.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – The Apothecary Diaries (LN), vol 3

Posted July 26, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Apothecary Diaries (LN), vol 3

The Apothecary Diaries

by Natsu Hyuuga, Touko Shino

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novels
Pages: 344
Series: The Apothecary Diaries (LN) #3
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

Maomao must help keep Consort Gyokuyou safe during her pregnancy. An imperial consort being with child is supposed to be a matter of the utmost secrecy, but this is the rear palace, where maneuvering and backstabbing are as commonplace as banter and tea parties. Threats seem to lurk around every corner — but it’s not just the rear palace keeping busy. Jinshi finds himself struggling to entertain a most unusual request from a pair of visiting ambassadors. Later, he’s invited to an important gathering in a faraway place — but who knows what dangers might be waiting for him?

I found volume three of Natsu Hyuuga’s The Apothecary Diaries (the light novel version) dragged a little bit, if I’m honest. It felt like there was quite a bit of filler, and it was harder to tell if there was an underlying linkage between the stories, even when they revealed more of the court and characters (and ultimately… with most of these chapters, there wasn’t a strong link to bring it all together).

It’s hard to tell since there are so many volumes, of course; maybe some of the details of these stories will become important later — and it is fun to see a bit more of the court and characters like Xiaolan and Suirei. But for me the potentially plot-forwarding bit didn’t come soon enough to really keep my interest in this volume.

Also, the “frog” scene was excruciating. Come on, Maomao, what good is all that doing?!

So I’m sure I’ll read more of The Apothecary Diaries, probably both the light novel and the manga; I love Maomao and her way of thinking. Buuut… I probably won’t go onto volume four right away this time.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

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Review – A Side Character’s Love Story, vol 15

Posted July 25, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – A Side Character’s Love Story, vol 15

A Side Character's Love Story

by Akane Tamura

Genres: Manga, Romance
Pages: 161
Series: A Side Character's Love Story #15
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

Nobuko and Hiroki have graduated college, and their relationship is now long distance. One an office worker in Ehime, the other a graduate student in Hiroshima, their lives are very different and their schedules no longer match up. The stress of it all leads to one anxiety after another, but if they don't want their relationship to falter, they must learn to face it head on.

Volume 15 of A Side Character’s Love Story is a bit less pure cuteness than some of the others, bringing a serious note. Nobuko is building her adult life in Ehime, making friends and spreading her wings, and back in Hiroshima, Hiroki’s having trouble adjusting to that — to Nobuko hanging out with people he doesn’t know, meeting people, etc.

He’s not even wrong, because Tai is of course trying to flirt with and “steal” Nobuko. That said, she’s having none of it, and it’s really high time for them to have one of their discussions about how they feel and get Hiroki out of his funk.

There’s also a fair amount going on with the new side characters, with both Aoike and Asuka getting “screen” time for their relationship woes, more so than was usual for the side characters from earlier volumes, like Fumi-chan.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

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Review – A Case of Life and Limb

Posted July 24, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – A Case of Life and Limb

A Case of Life and Limb

by Sally Smith

Genres: Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Pages: 336
Series: The Trials of Gabriel Ward #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Winter, 1901. The Inner Temple is even quieter than usual under a blanket of snow and Gabriel Ward KC is hard at work on a thorny libel case. All is calm, all is bright - until the mummified hand arrives in the post...

While the hand's recipient, Temple Treasurer Sir William Waring, is rightfully shaken, Gabriel is filled with curiosity. Who would want to send such a thing? And why? But as more parcels arrive - one with fatal consequences - Gabriel realises that it is not Sir William who is the target, but the Temple itself.

Someone is holding a grudge that has already led to at least one death. Now it's up to Gabriel, and Constable Wright of the City of London Police, to find out who, before an old death leads to a new murder.

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 loved Sally Smith’s first Gabriel Ward book, so I was very eager to dig into A Case of Life and Limb. I enjoyed it just as much, though the wintery vibes are a bit at odds with the weather, and enjoyed once more the kindness and decency of Gabriel, the way his conscience nags at him so that he seeks out true justice — and the way the real world outside of his work is beginning to tug at his attention, through his friendship with Wright and his unexpected detective work.

I did find that this sequel did have a few surprises: I didn’t expect a particular character to die, I didn’t expect one of Gabriel’s trials to be quite so sad, and I saw a certain issue coming somewhat but I almost expected it to be a red herring — I’m trying not to say too much, in order to avoid spoilers, but suffice it to say that sadness touches the story more than I’d expected. There’s also some period-typical homophobia (not approved of by Gabriel).

I did feel that a particular event didn’t linger quite so much on Gabriel as I’d expected, but then he is a rather dry character and not really moved to great grief.

All in all, I probably prefer the first book as a fun reading experience, but I did really enjoy this too, and in some ways it surprised me, well-versed in reading crime as I am. And you’ve got to love the introduction of Delphinium, and Gabriel’s surprising affection for her.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – Heavenly Bodies

Posted July 23, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Heavenly Bodies

Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs

by Paul Koudounaris

Genres: History, Non-fiction
Pages: 189
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

In 1578 news came of the discovery in Rome of a labyrinth of underground tombs, which were thought to hold the remains of thousands of early Christian martyrs. Skeletons of these supposed saints were subsequently sent to Catholic churches and religious houses in German-speaking Europe to replace holy relics that had been destroyed in the wake of the Protestant Reformation. The skeletons, known as "the catacomb saints," were carefully reassembled, richly dressed in fantastic costumes, wigs, crowns, jewels, and armor, and posed in elaborate displays inside churches and shrines as reminders to the faithful of the heavenly treasures that awaited them after death.

Paul Koudounaris gained unprecedented access to religious institutions to reveal these fascinating historical artifacts. Hidden for over a century as Western attitudes toward both the worship of holy relics and death itself changed, some of these ornamented skeletons appear in publication here for the first time.

Paul Koudounaris’ Heavenly Bodies is a really amazing book discussing the “catacomb saints”, whose skeletons were found in catacombs in Rome. To be accurate, the skeletons called the “catacomb saints” came from Roman cemeteries that contained largely early Christians, although some Jewish and other non-Christian Roman people were buried there too, those that preferred inhumation. The book discusses their provenance in some detail, and how the ones sent to European churches as “saints” were chosen, based on markers that were considered to suggest they were martyrs.

Obviously, as a modern reader who isn’t part of similar traditions, it all seems so weird — the exhumation and “translation” of these “martyrs”, the random selection, and then of course, the decoration that was heaped upon them, wound around their bones and sewn into their clothes and stitched over their eyes and noses and mouths. The book is fully illustrated by colour photographs of various surviving examples, and it’s both macabre and gorgeous.

I’m not sure how many images are in the book, but it’s a lot. The text is fascinating too, delving into what these “saints” meant to people, touching on some of the people who decorated them and the methods they used, and discussing what’s happened to many of them now.

It’s a somewhat embarrassing chapter in Catholic history to many modern Catholics, but even as it seems pretty odd to me now, I can still imagine the faith and love people had for these relics, so lovingly decorated. Sometimes it was to show off, sometimes it was to pull in crowds, of course — but it was also an act of faith. I did my best to remember that while looking at these images.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – The Perks of Loving a Wallflower

Posted July 22, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Perks of Loving a Wallflower

The Perks of Loving a Wallflower

by Erica Ridley

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance
Pages: 368
Series: The Wild Wynchesters #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

As a master of disguise, Thomasina Wynchester can be a polite young lady — or a bawdy old man. She’ll do whatever it takes to solve the cases her family takes on. But when Tommy’s beautiful new client turns out to be the highborn lady she’s secretly smitten with, more than her mission is at stake...

Bluestocking Miss Philippa York doesn’t believe in love. Her heart didn’t pitter-patter when she was betrothed to a duke, nor did it break when he married someone else. All Philippa desires is to decode a centuries-old manuscript to keep a modern-day villain from claiming credit for work that wasn’t his. She hates that she needs a man’s help to do it — so she’s delighted to discover the clever, charming baron at her side is in fact a woman. But as she and Tommy grow closer and the stakes of their discovery higher, more than just their hearts are at risk.

This is an older review which it turns out I never posted! So I’ve unearthed it from the archives for you all.

This was my first book by Erica Ridley, and on the strength of it I definitely want to read more. Tommy (not quite a girl, not quite a boy, just Tommy) and Philippa (a bluestocking who is eager to get a husband, if only to please her parents) are a lovely pair, and the Wynchester family and their hijinks are a delight. I clearly need to read the first book to find out about all the things referenced in this one, and to hope for more of Jacob and his menagerie.

I enjoyed the inclusion of both Tommy’s ambivalent approach to gender and Philippa’s slow realisation of her interest in Tommy. It’s not entirely clear whether Philippa is attracted to women in general (and just hadn’t realised it yet) or purely to Tommy, but I think you could read it either way. I lean toward believing she’s demisexual, particularly since some of her described feelings fit quite well with someone on the asexual spectrum.

It’s not just a love story, though: they also have a shared mission, to declare Philippa’s friend Damaris the creator of a cypher used by the armed forces to encode messages, as opposed to her uncle who has stolen her work. That has a satisfying end, despite the censure Philippa then faces.

Now romances for Graham and Jacob, please? And all the other Wynchesters, to be fair…

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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