May Reviews

Samantha Gross
May 31, 2021
6 min read

I did some traveling this month, so not much reading got done, but I'm not mad about it, because the books I did read this month were very fun!

Let's get right to it!

In Deeper Waters by F. T. Lukens

I've had my eye on this book for a while, mostly because the idea of gay pirates is always (ALWAYS) appealing to me. It wasn't quite what I expected, but I did really enjoy it!

Tal, youngest son of the queen of Harth, has just started his coming of age tour. Hidden away for most of his life because of his magic, this is his chance to see the kingdom his family rules. Then Tal meets Athlen, who is charming and mysterious, and heaps of trouble. Tal loses and then manages to find Athlen again, just in time to be kidnapped by people who seem intent on ruining his family's hard-won peace. If Tal can survive, he can warn his family and maybe save his kingdom. But he needs Athlen's help, and, more than anything, he needs the one thing that has terrified him and his family since it's appearance: Tal is going to need to embrace who he really is, magic and all.

High fantasy can sometimes be hard to read, I say, after reading a little smattering of gay fantasy books. I'm not sure why, because I love mermaids and pirates and kingdoms and all that, but fantasy just...takes longer for me to read, I guess, and not just because it tends to be a long genre. But this book was a fairly quick read, and I really did have a good time with it.

There's a lot happening, both worldbuilding and plot-wise, since Tal has several journeys he takes over the course of the book He starts his tour, is kidnapped and rescued, assumed dead, then has to travel back home to solve a political nightmare that could ruin his kingdom. All with the help of a kind of shifting but really very charming merman. That's a lot to cover in only three hundred pages. But Lukens keeps the plot moving and the action interesting, even when I thought things were winging down they were still only getting started.

This book had a lot of heart. Both Athlen and Tal were coming into their own and learning what it was to love after being hurt. Tal spent so much of his life hiding who he was out of fear, and then had to embrace himself and his history in order to move on. He had the support of his family, who were all a riot, and that made all the difference. Tal was strong, and his family saw that, not as a burden or a threat, but as who Tal was, and loved him for it.

We didn't spend a lot of time with all Tal's siblings, but Kest was probably my favorite. Was it because he could turn into a bird and had a semi-secret but not really thing going with the lady captain of the guard? Who's to say. But the others were great too, and their interactions with Tal made it very apparent that Lukens either has at least one sibling or is raising multiple children. I love accurate sibling dynamics. I also love a complicated magical history and generational trauma being torn away to make room for a future where people don't have to hide.

There were aspects of this that felt kind of similar to The Little Mermaid, and I don't mean the Disney version. Athlen walked on human legs and swam with a tail after making a deal with a sea witch, and it had consequences he didn't think would ever come to fruition. I would have loved to see more of that, but that's probably the small child in me who loves mermaids and wants more always.

Overall this was a very fun read, and it will probably put me in the mood for more gay pirate fantasy books.

Similar to Our Bloody Pearl by D. N. Bryn and Out of the Blue by Sophie Cameron

What Big Teeth by Rose Szabo

I can honestly say this book wasn't at all what I expected and continued to haunt and enthrall me the entire time I read it.

Eleanor has been at boarding school for eight years and hardly remembers the family she was sent away from. But after an incident at school, she's sent back to a world she no longer understands, one of teeth and danger and magic. Eleanor never felt like she fit in with her family, but they're all she has left, and when an evil of her own summoning arrives, Eleanor must decide what part of her family she wants to keep, including all their wild and violent parts.

I will admit that for the majority of this book I had no idea what was happening. Like, not a clue. And that was okay! I wanted to keep reading for answers, and even when didn't always get them I was intrigued enough to keep going.

The lore in this book? Wild. I want more and also still want to know what the fuck is happening. What is Eleanor? What is her mom? How are the genetics of this strange things distributed and what are they? And we never really find out! Ah! What a time this was, trying to solve mini mysteries all the while the big looming one is terrifying the pages.

The dynamics in this book were so fascinating. I love books about families because the relationships between siblings and parents and cousins and everyone is so different depending on the person, and I love seeing how those types of things play out. Luma and Rhys were so different from Eleanor, but the family similarities were there too, even with all her time spent away. And Arthur and his terribly complex and messy relationship with the Zarrins? I gobbled those chapters up. Everything from Eleanor's grandmother Persephone was an instant 'gotta keep reading don't care how late it is right now.'

Eleanor is such an interesting character. She's honest and lonely and regretful and wants nothing more than to find a place to belong. She takes charge easily and is eager to prove herself, but her insecurity and envy are ultimately her downfall.

The writing in this book was gorgeous and heavy. Every sentence mattered and had so many layers and levels. Szabo did a fantastic job crafting a beautifully written story with a very strange and wild plot. I almost don't know how to describe it, but it was a fun and creepy time.

Similar to Wilder Girls by Rory Power

Mister Impossible by Maggie Stiefvater

Since this book is the second in a series, I'll probably keep it short, since spoilers. It's also part of a follow up trilogy to another series, so all the spoilers, honestly. But the original series is one of my favorites ever (I even have a tattoo based on it), and this new line is holding up. It does help that my favorite characters are the ones getting a ton of page time.

Ronan and Hennessy have followed Bryde on his quest to save the ley lines and other dreamers from the moderators. But things are getting more wild and violent, and changing the world is having further consequences then even they could dream about. Jordan, Declan, and Matthew are delving further into the realm of sweetmetals and dreams desperate to stay awake, trying to keep up with where their dreamers have gone. The moderators are getting closer, and as things get more and more twisted, it becomes harder to tell who's doing the right thing.

The TWISTS in this book, OH MY GOD. I had no idea where anything was going in each story line, so I was really just along for the ride. And what a ride it was. I was terrified and joyous and angry and anxious. The second book in trilogies tend to be the hardest ones, because it's where things get very intense and relationships tend to fall apart and it's all to build up for the final book, both telling it's own story and maintaining the overall arc. But this book delivered, and I'm almost mad about it, because now I have to wait another year or two for the next book *upside down smiling emoji*.

Stiefvater's language is always some of my favorite to read. The way she words things conveys certain feelings perfectly, and she has such a mastery over her characters' dialogue. Interactions, both with external dialogue and internal monologues, are always so fantastic, and she builds such intense feelings and bonds that I want to crawl inside of them. Probably the only thing I even remotely disliked about the book was the title, but that had it's place in the book and I can't really complain about that.

There's a big twist in the last chapter that just sent my heart racings. I can honestly say I don't know what the characters are going to do, only that I hope it ends happily for all of them. I would also really appreciate keeping the couples together, since I fell in love with Ronan and Adam in the original series and absolutely adore Declan and Jordan now.

So, I will be sitting here patiently waiting for the next book, please and thank you, Maggie.

Similar to The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater