January Reviews

Happy New Year! It's officially 2022 and I'm ready to read a lot of books again!

2022 was off to a fantastic start book-wise, and three of the four I read this month I adored, so I'm going to say it's starting a pretty good trend for the year. With that in mind, let's just right in!

Under The Whispering Door by TJ Klune

Oh my god this book. I've been wanting to read it for forever because I love everything Klune writes, so when I finally got a copy of it this month I read it immediately. And holy shit, it was so good.

Wallace Price is dead. He doesn't believe it until a reaper comes to collect him from his own funeral, taking him to a tea shop where a ferryman named Hugo has to help him come to terms with death in order to move on. But Wallace isn't ready to give up just yet, and before long the time he spends with Hugo and his little group of merry misfits has changed him beyond anything he could have ever expected. And so when Wallace is given a week to to cross over, he sets about fixing all the things he couldn't in life, living more than he ever had when he was actually alive.

This book is all about grief and death, done in a way that also includes accidental bikinis and weird smelling tea and moments where I was laughing and then crying and then laughing again. I wish I'd read this book sooner, because I could've used it back in May. Klune is funny and witty and so, so good and wrapping his fist around my heart. I started this book and said there's no way I'll cry, it's good but I don't know. Then I finished the last few chapters actively sobbing.

The characters are brilliant. Klune really knows how to create an ensemble cast, and this one is no different. Hugo is brilliant and human and wonderful, and Wallace learns to not be an asshole without losing himself. Mei and Nelson are hilarious, helping both Hugo and Wallace throughout the course of the story. They all struggle with their own issues and are actively growing, even as they help Wallace learn to be better. It reminds me a lot of the main theme of The Good Place; it's never too late to be better. Humanity, if given the choice and the chance to be good, to help and to love, will do so. And I love the idea that death is not the end of things. It's a waystation to something bigger, an opportunity to find peace.

And the lore! Gosh, the Manager and the Husks and the door, the way the whole thing is set up with time and cabled hooks and unexpecting. I was delighted by everything, even when it made me sad or anxious. The Manager is a brilliant concept, and their appearance on the page cannot be expected, no matter what sort of buildup there is. And what they do in the end is just chef kiss. I already mentioned that I cried, and for once there will be no mention of any kind of spoiler. It was worth it, is all I can say.

Similar to: The Good Place tv show, and I think I've said it before, but Klune is really in a league of his own with writing, there aren't a lot of writers or stories that can match his vibe or tone.

Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo

This book took my forever to get and no time at all to finish. It's over five hundred pages of absolute heartbreak and victory, and by god did it give me feelings.

This is the seventh book in the Grisha world, so there's a lot to cover when it comes to a summary, but this story mostly follows Nina, still undercover in Fjerda, facing down her past and her future loves, Nikolai, the king of Ravka, fighting for his life and his throne, and Zoya, stormwitch and Squaller, trying to save her country and it's charming king. The three of them have stories steeped in war and subterfuge, loss and victory, and it was as thrilling a rise as anything Bardugo writes. I am excited to see what other stories she tells.

The book ran the gamut of emotions. I was actively crying in places, then gasping in delight at others. It's a rollercoaster, and I mean that even if it's cliché to say. I felt EVERYTHING reading this book. Bardugo's dialogue is clever, especially when it comes to Nikolai, and her worldbuilding is absolutely next level. JK R*owling WISHES she was on Bardugo's level, especially since Bardugo is giving us stellar representation, both culturally and in other regards (Nina Zenik: BICON).

I don't think I realized how much I missed the Grishaverse until I picked up this book again. I may have to reread Six of Crows soon, but I think this put everyone in such a good place that I'd be satisfied with nothing more. That's a lie, I would read so many more books about any of the side characters in this series.

For such a long book, this is going to be a short review. There are A LOT of spoiler opportunities with a book like this, so trying to be as vague as possible I will say I am very proud of myself for guessing one of the final plot twists, I think it was as happy an ending as we could have possibly gotten from a world with so much war, and there is always a way to find more hope.

Similar to: everything Bardugo writes is really in it's own class in regards to plot, worldbuilding, political intrigue, and magic, really and truly

Witch King by H.E. Edgmon

I picked up this book a the recommendation of the internet, and while I appreciate the story it told and the obvious effort the author put into both the book and their own mental health, I just. Didn't vibe with the book.

Wyatt ran away from home a long time ago, ran away from a betrothal he didn't want, a people that hated him, a deadly mistake, and who he wasn't meant to be. And now, when he's finally settled into a world and a mindset he's much more comfortable in, his fiancé emerges from the faery kingdom, telling Wyatt he not only needs to return, but must still marry Emyr and rule beside him. Wyatt, trans and angry, with a witch magic he doesn't know how to control, reluctantly returns, just in time for a near civil war and a political and personal reckoning he didn't think he'd ever see.

From just the general description alone, I thought I would love this book. It's contemporary magic, queer, arranged marriage--what else can a reader ask for? And while it was certainly creative and colorful and riotously, gloriously queer, I just had a hard time getting through it. The worldbuilding was interesting, a secret fairy world built on the back of the human one after being banished from their own realm, integrating magic and spells with technology. And the fae designs were super unique, I think I just couldn't get into it. There was an almost over-description of outfits and fae stylings, most of which felt very reminiscent of the early 2000s, which is fine, very colorful, just also generally a style I think is garish. And that's fine! I always say that when I don't really enjoy a book, it's probably something to do with my perception of it, not the story or author themselves. Someone out there is going to read this book and fall in love with it or feel saved by it, I just happen to very much not be that person.

I feel like most of my review would be a critique of this book rather than praise of it, and I don't like putting that sort of thing out onto the internet, so I'll just keep it short and sweet and say it was certainly an adventure.

Similar to The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black, maybe? I don't know, I have to get better about categorizing books, I'll work on that for this year

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian

Okay, I love regency stories, but I have a hard time with regency romance novels (or at least the ones I've read). This one though, I had such a good time. Turns out if you make a regency romance queer it's even better. Throw in reluctant not quite enemies to friends to lovers, crossing class boundaries, and a dash of highway robbery and you've got a great book!

Kit Webb is retired; a highway man before he lost his partner and crippled his leg, Kit now spends his days running a coffeeshop and dreaming of the life he used to live. Percy is dealing with a blackmailer against his father the Duke, and in order to save himself and a friend, he must find a way to steal a book from his father that once belonged to his mother. Percy is a gentleman, and with some help he discovers Kit and asks him to help liberate the book from his father, and while Kit initially refuses, he reluctantly agrees to teach Percy everything he needs to know about highway robbery. But soon their careful planning turns into something more dangerous, both for the job and for their hearts.

This book was fun! I genuinely had a wonderful time with it. Percy and Kit are both very different but equally roguish narrators. Kit has a rather sad history and a blunt, somewhat pessimistic outlook, while Percy has lived a life of luxury but cold distance from his parents, learning at an early age never to trust the people around him. The two of them should be a disaster, and in the beginning they are. But after a lot of time spent arguing, then bantering, then flirting, all in the midst of planning a highway robbery and dealing with friends vanishing and reappearing, they start to work, a partnership in all senses of the word. And their pace toward falling in love felt steady and not too rushed. They both had a lot of baggage to overcome, and what started as just attraction easily fell into true fondness.

The other characters were fun as well. Betty and Marian both played their parts of reliable female side characters, sneaking around and very obviously doing their own important things while Percy and Kit sort of fumbled their way around their feelings and their plotting. And the other characters that appearing along the way helped build the mystery, which I was very proud of myself for figuring out (the clues were fairly obvious, I probably shouldn't feel too proud).

The story itself was pretty windy, drawing towards the highway robbery with a nice meandering trip through a handful of side adventures. They were all great for building character though, and I love a good side quest. Honestly, I would read more from this author, it was a quick, fun read.

Similar to: I guess the other regency romances I've read? But not really, this one was better (I will forever be angry about the first Bridgerton book and how poorly Daphne treated Simon, but whatever)

And that's it! Feels like a pretty strong start to 2022, and I'm so excited about all the other books I have lined up for this year.

Keep writing, friends!

Sam

Literary recommendation: The House In The Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

Media recommendation: you know I'm Star Wars trash now, so The Book of Boba Fett has been a while ride