This advertisement is for Infinity Alchemist, a dark academia fantasy about a quest that leads three young alchemists toward dangerous truth, legendary love, and extraordinary power from the bestselling and award-winning author of Felix Ever After, Kacen Callender.

The art featured in this image is by Chris Sack. 

WHAT’S IT ABOUT

Defy All Limits.

For Ash Woods, practicing alchemy is a crime. Only an elite few are legally permitted to study the science of magic—so when Ash is rejected by Lancaster College of Alchemic Science, he takes a job as the school’s groundskeeper instead, forced to learn alchemy in secret. When he’s discovered by the condescending and brilliant apprentice Ramsay Thorne, Ash is sure he's about to be arrested—but instead of calling the reds, Ramsay surprises Ash by making him an offer: Ramsay will keep Ash's secret if he helps her find the legendary Book of Source, a sacred text that gives its reader extraordinary power. As Ash and Ramsay work together and their feelings for each other grow, Ash discovers their mission is more dangerous than he imagined, pitting them against influential and powerful alchemists—Ash’s estranged father included. Ash’s journey takes him through the cities and wilds across New Anglia, forcing him to discover his own definition of true power and how far he and other alchemists will go to seize it.

A week from tomorrow, June 8 at 7 PM, I'm going to be at WORD Bookstore in Brooklyn, with Mark Oshiro and Terry J. Benton-Walker. We'll be celebrating the 20th anniversary of Tor Teen!

If I get to read for a few minutes, what part of PROMISES STRONGER THAN DARKNESS should i read?

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons

"'You're more likely to get eaten by an alligator than die in a plane crash, which is twenty-nine million to one, by the way.'"

Year Read: 2023

Rating: 3/5

About: When they were kids, five friends started a mysterious game called Meido. Only four of them survived. Now in high school, the remaining four are summoned by the ghost of their dead friend to complete the game by dawn or be trapped inside its uncanny Japanese underworlds forever. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Tor Teen. Trigger warnings: character death, body horror, gore, captivity, violence, fires, drowning, spiders, neglect.

Thoughts: This is such a great title, isn't it? I would have picked it up based on that alone, but the premise of a horror game really grabbed me. I forget sometimes how hit and miss that trope can be, and it's not my favorite here. The readers don't know the rules because the characters don't know the rules, so there's never any sense about what's working or not working in the "game" or when/why they're going to be punished for breaking the rules. Everything is sort of hastily (and sometimes wrongly) explained after the fact. The game structure ultimately ends up being a bit flimsy, and I feel a little bait and switched into reading what's more like a standard other-world dark fantasy novel.

And we know I struggle with fantasy. It was extra hard for me here because each time the characters "level up," I had to reinvest myself in an entirely new setting with new monsters and NPCs. The chapters are plenty long enough to do this, and Simmons excels at world-building and descriptions, but it didn't stop me from feeling bogged down in all the changes and details. I suspect this has far more to do with me not really being a fantasy person (not even horror fantasy, unfortunately) than anything the novel does wrong. The Japanese folklore elements are really interesting and creatively done, and that was probably my favorite aspect of the book.

The characters are enjoyable and distinct enough, if not terribly memorable. The book relies a lot on their past friendships to ground the group, but given that we're not present for that and they all hate each other now, it's not as effective as it could be. Then there's also the fact that the game makes them randomly start forgetting things, so they suddenly start acting like friends again. There's not a lot of consistent development among the five of them, aside from a couple shaky romantic subplots. I did like the build-up to one character reveal far more than I liked another. It works well the first time, and the second time I was just bothered that everything kept changing. Pick a plot point/setting/backstory and stick with it, please. I suspect most of this would come clear on a second read, but I'm not invested enough for that, nor to continue with the series.

Do you listen to podcasts?

I used to listen to them a lot when I was in college. I'd store up the episodes to play while I was driving to visit my partner. I'd listen on my walks across campus to class or to my car awards to go home when I stopped living on campus. The first one I ever listened to was Welcome to Night Vale. It was all over tumblr and, like when I got into Doctor Who, no one could tell me exactly what it was about. So I had to listen for myself.

My favorite genre of podcast is audio dramas. Fictional stories, but in podcast form. The Bright Sessions was one I found in college and fell in love with. You can imagine my surprise when I heard Lauren Shippen was writing books to go along with it. Each one follows a different MC from the podcast. The Infinite Noise follows Caleb and Adam as they navigate Caleb's empath ability; A Neon Darkness follows Damien as he reconciles with the truth of what he's done; and Some Faraway Place follows Rose as she discovers how to use her power and not get lost in other people's dreams.

It's been a while since I've talked about this series, but it holds a special place in my heart. It's a series about finding yourself and that it's okay to be different. There's a group of people out there that will love you for who you are.

Author to Author with Terry J. Benton-Walker (Blood Debts)

Blood Debts is a Black queer YA fantasy steeped in magic and the type of family feuds that would make Game of Thrones proud. Despite having opposite relationships with their generational legacy, Cris and Clem come together to solve a thirty years’ old mystery while the other powerful families have no limits on the things they’ll do to stop them from inheriting a throne upon which they belong. I…

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Review: The Luminaries by Susan Dennard

Series: The Luminaries #1Author: Susan DennardPublisher: Tor TeenReleased: November 1, 2022Received: Own Book Summary: Winnie Wednesday comes from a line of monster hunters. Like many of her kind, she lives in Hemlock Falls. Unlike most of her kind, Winnie’s direct family has been shunned. They bear the brunt of the guilt, as her father was declared a traitor (and worse). All Winnie ever…

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Heat Wave

TJ Klune

Publisher: Tor Genre: superhero, young adult Year: 2021

While I think the book started off strong, and by strong I mean embarrassingly horrifically took-me-four-days-to-get-past-chapter 1 teenage hormone riddled mess, the book definitely suffers from second-book syndrome. While I appreciate some of the directions this book goes in—Aaron has to reconcile his time on the police, Nick has powers that were pretty heavily implied in book 1—there were many directions that I didn't fully understand. I liked that all of the adults in the crew knew what was going on, but the fact that Seth reveals himself to the public is... a choice.

While I like the fact that this book plays with a lot of the superhero tropes, I wasn't a fan of how quickly they disregarded the "secret identity" part of the trope. Not because I'm a fan of the whole angsty "there's something going on I can't tell you about" trope, just for practicality's sake. The other thing I didn't like I'll talk about in a separate post, because it's the major spoiler at the end of the book.

While I very much appreciated the introduction of new extraordinaries, I felt this book lagged a lot compared to the first. The fight scenes weren't as interesting (I also felt like the author couldn't keep track of what had happened to the characters. There were a lot of chokings/head injuries that were completely "healed" 3 sentences later), I felt the stakes weren't as high, the villains not as compelling—the classic second book in a trilogy. Without the last reveal I'd give it 4 stars, but I'm really nervous about that which brought it down to 3.

storygraph | bookshop.org | local houston

★★★★ I CAN'T BELIEVE HE ACCIDENTALLY BLUETOOTHED SUPERHERO PORN TO HIS DAD'S CAR STARS

Review: The Luminaries by Susan Dennard

Review: The Luminaries by Susan Dennard

The LuminariesSusan DennardTor TeenPublished November 1, 2022 Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads About Luminaries From Susan Dennard, the New York Times bestselling author of the Witchlands series, comes a haunting and high-octane contemporary fantasy, about the magic it takes to face your fears in a nightmare-filled forest, and the mettle required to face the secrets hiding in the dark corners of…

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Have you see the incredible pin you get for preordering THE LUMINARIES by Susan Dennard? Preorder and submit your receipt here: https://bit.ly/PreorderLuminaries

Heat Wave - T.J. Klune (The Extraordinaries #3)

Nick, Seth, Gibby, and Jazz are back in action bringing justice, protection, and disaster energy to the people of Nova City. An unexpected hero returns to Nova City and crash lands into Nick's home, upturning his life, his family, and his understanding of what it means to be a hero in the explosive finale of the thrilling and hilarious Extraordinaries trilogy.

tw: knife violence, manipulation, police brutality, unsolicited nudes

We’re advertising a book for readers of dark fantasy: The Hunting Moon—the highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestseller, The Luminaries—by Susan Dennard.

WHAT IT’S ABOUT

Winnie Wednesday has gotten everything she thought she wanted. She passed the deadly hunter trials, her family has been welcomed back into the Luminaries, and overnight, she has become a local celebrity.

The Girl Who Jumped. The Girl Who Got Bitten.

Unfortunately, it all feels wrong. For one, nobody will believe her about the new nightmare called the Whisperer that's killing hunters each night. Everyone blames the werewolf, even though Winnie is certain the wolf is innocent.

On top of that, following her dad's convoluted clues about the Dianas, their magic, and what happened in Hemlock Falls four years ago is leaving her with more questions than answers.

Then to complicate it all, there is still only one person who can help her: Jay Friday, the boy with plenty of problems all his own.

As bodies and secrets pile up around town, Winnie finds herself questioning what it means to be a true Wednesday and a true Luminary—and also where her fierce-hearted loyalties might ultimately have to lie.

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tor Teen (1 Nov. 2022)Language ‏ : ‎ EnglishHardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pagesISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1250194040ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1250194046 Book Blurb Hemlock Falls isn’t like other towns. You won’t find it on a map, your phone won’t work here, and the forest outside town might just kill you. Winnie Wednesday wants nothing more than to join the Luminaries, the ancient order that protects Winnie’s…

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 Into the Light by Mark Oshiro

 Into the Light by Mark Oshiro. Tor Teen, 2023. 9781250812254  Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4 Format: Hardcover Genre: Realistic fiction What did you like about the book? Manny and his older sister Elena have been in the foster care system their entire lives, moved from home to home to home, never being allowed to stay for long enough to make friends. Finally, overnight –…

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ARC Review: BLOOD DEBTS by Terry J. Benton-Walker (2023)

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary FantasyYear Release: April 4, 2023Buy Links: Bookshop.org | Unabridged Books | Libro.fm ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 5 out of 5. Read a physical ARC from the publisherContent warning: mentions of a dead family member (father), gun violence, necromancy, gore, body horror, blood, depression, anxiety, intergenerational trauma, catfishing, homophobia, depictions and discussions of…

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Review: Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire

Series: Wayward Children #8Publisher: Tor.comReleased: January 10, 2023Received: NetGalley/Own Book Summary: Antoinette (Antsy) is familiar with loss. It all began when she lost her father – not literally, but he is still very much out of her grasp, so effectively, it’s the same thing. When her world continues to change, and not for the better, Antsy realizes it may be time to do something for…

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