Av Thora Hjörleifsdottir

När jag först läste om Magma kände jag direkt att det var en bok jag ville läsa, en ung kvinnas utforskande av sex och kärlek, med skildring av den där mannen som verkar perfekt men där relationen i slutändan blir problematisk och förgiftad.

I små vinjetter följer vi Lilja och mannens relation, från mejl och chattkonversationer till en liten gemensam lägenhet. Från en ung tjej som är ute och reser, har semestersex och lever livet till depression och en konstant ångest över att inte vara nog, att inte räcka till eller få den bekräftelse man behöver från partnern. Det är tung läsning rent känslomässigt, för visst känns det som mer än en roman, det känns som många kvinnors verklighet.

Det är vackert skrivet och bitvis blir vinjetterna väldigt poetiska. En eloge till översättningen av Arvid Nordh!

Magma är en bok jag vill rekommendera till alla, även om det är utanför din vanliga genre. Jag vill sätta den i händerna på unga kvinnor (eller ja alla unga egentligen). Men samtidigt vill jag uppmärksamma att det finns en hel del innehåll som kan vara triggande för olika personer: självskadebeteende, självmordsförsök, sexuella övergrepp och depression med mera.

P. Djèli Clark is a master of worldbuilding.

I have not read a single work by him that hasn’t pulled me completely into the world and the mythology of that world.

This is his first full length novel, and I’m so happy to finally get to spend more time with these characters and in this time and space.

This takes place in Cairo, Egypt in 1912. But this is not the Cairo from our own history as Clark has introduced magic that changed the course of history. We follow Fatma el-Sha’arawi, who works for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Enteties and investigates disturbances between the mortal and the otherwordly.

This is a very intriguing mystery and a fun fantasy romp, but also explores issues of intersectionality within race, gender and queerness. There are alot of parallells to be drawn from this story, and the world itself is interesting as it explores the history of Egypt, and the colonisation by Britain. I loved that we also got a glimpse of how the intruction of magic affected the world as a whole, that different countries had different types of magical creatures based on their own mythology.

But enough about the world! I loooove Fatma as the main character! She is kickass, and I love that she is always in a nice suit 👌 Her relationship with her girlfriend Siti was also goals 😍 Also loved the introduction of a new partner for Fatma in Hadma and their grumpy mentor/ wide-eyed rookie vibe.

Basically I just loved everything about this and I’m going to continue pestering folk about picking up P. Djèli Clark, you won’t regret it!

Thank you to @netgalley and @tordotcompub for the e-arc!

This is the first book in the new series Dark Olympus from Katee Robert, and thank f*ck because I need to know more about this world!

I’m a big fan of books based on mythology and even though I hadn´t read anything by Katee Robert before I knew that she writes STEAMY books, so this just sounded like a match made in heaven. I mean, a retelling of Hades & Persephone in a sort of modern setting? Yes, thank you.

And the world is so interesting. We have 13 “gods” who rule the city of Olympus, these are either chosen or born into their roles. When one dies, another takes over the name. Persephone is the daughter of the current Demeter, making her a part of the court and the drama constantly going on.

When her mother promises her hand in marriage to Zeus however she panics and runs away. Zeus is rumored to have killed his previous wives, and she doesn’t want to become his next victim. She runs to the forbidden undercity, where she makes a deal with a man she thought was a myth, Hades himself.

Like I said, this world is so interesting, and I want to know more. I want to know about how the 13 gets chosen, about how the magic that creates the barrier between the different parts of the city works, about all of the characters that are only mentioned in this book. I loved all of the side characters in this, Hermes was just a joy! And was Dionysus possibly demi- or asexual? So intrigued…

And the two mains, they were just so perfect together. I did think that Hades could have been a bit more… morally grey? Like, he was almost too nice? I mean he’s HADES.

When it comes to the steamy bits, I mean they were STEAMY and on the kinky side. I feel like this was Hades “dark side”, and even there he could have been even more “dark”. But I really appreciated the consent and conversations happening around these parts of the book.

I really enjoyed this book overall, even if I wanted a bit more in some aspects. I’m really looking forward to more books in this world though!

Thank you so much to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for the e-arc!

This book releases June 1st 2021!

Thank you to Entangled Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC! All of my thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book had a premise that I enjoy from time to time, that of the accidental pregnancy and the trials that follow the decision to keep the baby. This one did this trope a bit differently though, instead of one baby on the way, the hero managed to impregnate two women a couple of months apart (some faulty condoms, so not really through being careless). Even though one of the women never really was a threat to the growing relationship between the two main characters (she had met and fallen in love with someone else), of course the strain of having two babies on the way causes some tension in the main couples relationship.

Despite the somewhat “fresh” take on this trope, this book was a bit of a meh read for me. I didn’t really grow attached to the characters, and the story didn’t stand out in any other way for me. 

If you enjoy this trope you may want to pick it up for the twist to the story.

SYNOPSIS: “Creeper, a scrappy young teen, is done living on the streets of New Orleans. Instead, she wants to soar, and her sights are set on securing passage aboard the smuggler airship Midnight Robber. Her ticket: earning Captain Ann-Marie’s trust using a secret about a kidnapped Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.

But Creeper keeps another secret close to heart–Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, who speaks inside her head and grants her divine powers. And Oya has her own priorities concerning Creeper and Ann-Marie…”

 

P. Djèlí Clark is a master of the short fantasy novel. He always gives you just enough of the world so that the story makes sense, but not a lot of unnecessary descriptions. The Black God’s Drums takes you to New Orleans, but in an alternate history where the results of the Civil War were quite different. (I have a horrible memory and can’t remember the details, and as a Swede I also don’t know all of the historical facts concerning the American Civil War, please don’t hate me). The characters were also great and the pacing brilliant. As this is a short book I don’t want to say to much, but please give P. Djèlí Clark a chance, I don’t think that you’ll regret it.

A big Thank you to Macmillan/Tor Teen and Netgalley for this ARC! All of my thoughts and opinions are my own.

Danielle L. Jensen is one of my favourite authors, because I know that everytime I pick up one of her books I’ll get to experience a thrilling adventure, a swooney romance and an interesting new world.

And did Dark Skies deliver all of that? – YES, absolutely!

Dark Skies is the second book in the Dark Shores series, but since the first and the second books take place during the same time frame, and follow different characters, you can read either of them first. I had read Dark Shores beforehand, and during that read I really wanted to know what happended to Lydia, one of the main characters in this book, as she was introduced in Dark shores. I’m so glad to have finally have found out what happened to her after she left the story in Dark Shores.

Lydia as a character is a scholar and loves to learn and to read, her adoptive father is a high ranking member in their society, but his failing health will eventually mean that she is without protection in a world where women have little power. As she discovers a plot by the most powerful man in The Celendor Empire, her life is put in danger and she has to flee.

Across the world there is Killian, a disgraced commander who is marked by the god of war. But his failings brought with it the invasion of the Corrupters forces. 

This book is full of political intrigue, brewing war, slowburn romance, a magicsystem based on different gods “marks” and wonderful world building. I loved how Lydia as a character evolved, found her own strengths and became a force to be reckoned with. 

Overall I really loved this and can’t wait for the next installment, 4,5 stars!

Ok, how cute was this book? Answer: VERY! Quick synopsis: Jordyn has flown to Los Angeles for a big job interview, but has a few days to kill. In a bookstore she meets Mike, who is cute and seems to love romance novels as much as she does (I KNOW!, a hero who loved romance novels? 😍). They hit it off immediately, and spend the rest of the day together.

This book basically has the perfect meet cute, and the references to different romance novels are on point. This is a short book, and takes place during just a couple of days, so there is a bit of love at first sight vibe going on. I’m usually more ok with that if it’s in a shorter book, but you be the judge for yourself. I highly recommend this as a short, fun and sweet read (there is even a bit of steam!), perfect for when you don’t have much time! (Or just whenever..)

Oh, just remembered that I wanted to mention the inclusivity in this short read! In a book with very few characters, there was mention of a nonbinary character (although small), with the proper pronouns!

I will definitely check out more things from Lucy Eden in the future!

A big Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca and Netgalley for this ARC! All of my thoughts and opinions are my own.

In this book we follow Luc O’Donnell, the child of two rock stars. The father he hasn’t met for most of his life is making a comeback, which puts Luc in the public eye and when he gets photographed looking a bit worse for wear, his job is put in jeopardy. He needs to find a fake boyfriend that can make him look respectable, and that’s where Oliver Blackwood comes into the picture. Oliver is the epitome of the perfect nice (fake) boyfriend with his job as a barrister, and the two of them couldn’t be more different. But soon enough the fake dating doesn’t feel very fake any more…

Ok, first off I loved this book! It was really f*cking funny and the chemistry between the two leads was amazeballs. The playful and cute way these two interacted was soo good! I loved how some serious topics were broached, and how they were handled. This book also kind of reminded me a bit of Bridget Jones’s Diary (the film, not the book!), in a good way! The pairing of the character who is a bit of a mess (Luc) with the uptight barrister (Oliver), some scenes and characters were also upper-class and some of the humour was derived from this and Luc’s friend group, where all things that reminded me of that film. I also love when characters who seem perfect have flaws, that’s what makes them human (and I’m not going to go into this more, because spoilers!). I kind of wish it would have gone a bit steamier, but I don’t really mind it as I loved so many other things about this book!

This book is definitely a five star read for me!

Tack så mycket till whipmedia och Lovisa Wistrand för recensionsexemplar!

I boken följer vi Netraya, en ung kvinna som dött alldeles för tidigt och som gör motstånd när hon ska föras till sin dödsvärld. Istället hamnar hon i en främmande värld där hon och dödsdansen Imorfes ständigt möter nya faror. Kommer de ta sig därifrån? Eller vill de ens ta sig därifrån?

Om det är något Wistrand är oerhört skicklig på så är det att skapa världar. Världen i Netraya är både unik och genomtänkt, och även om det finns en lista på begrepp och deras innebörd var det inte ofta jag behövde kolla upp saker då de smälte in sömlöst i berättelsen och språket. De bidrog även till känslan att det var en ny främmande värld jag som läsare steg in i. Karaktärerna växer och utvecklas genom berättelsen och det tog inte lång tid förrän jag som läsare blev fäst vid dem.

Netraya som karaktär var härlig att följa från naiv och något självisk (inte utan anledning) till en stark och modig kvinna som skulle göra vad som helst för de hon bryr sig om.

Berättelsen är actionfylld, men det tar ett tag innan handlingen kommer igång ”på riktigt”. Detta är inget jag ser som negativt, då det ger läsaren tid att lära känna världen och en inblick i huvudkaraktären Netrayas liv. Jag måste säga att detta är den första fantasy boken jag läst med dinosaurier, och jag blev inte besviken! Jag älskade hur dessa varelser porträtterades, och jag vill ha en egen Agrippa! 🦖

Netraya rekommenderas varmt till dig som gillar actionfylld fantasy, med unika miljöer och dinosaurier! 🦕🦖🦕🦖

A big Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca, Amanda Bouchet and Netgalley for this ARC! All of my thoughts and opinions are my own.

Nightchaser is one of my favourite sci-fi novels, and I’ve been so excited to read the sequel Starbreaker – when I got accepted for an arc I could not wait to read it!

Starbreaker picks up soon after the events of the first book, the relationship between Tess and Shade is still a bit strained, and Tess still have a hard time completely trusting him. The team has been tasked with a mission from the rebel leaders: to break into Starbase 12 and free renowned scientist Reena Ahern.

This story was pretty much nonstop action, with some lovely intimate moments in between. there were some interesting reveals and some new fun characters introduced. I really loved Shade in this one, he was very respectful of Tess’s feelings and knew when to back off, at the same time he does have some “alpha” tendencies which are so fun in the right circumstances. Tess was badass as always and I really love her as a character. Some new characters I loved were Sanaa Mwende and Frank. I really liked where the story went in this one and I’m so excited for the next installation.

If you are looking for an awesome sci-fi series with badass characters, lots of action and some romance – this one is pure perfection!