#bittern speaks

Kobo Storygraph

Short answer: yeeeees?

In fantasy Venice, charming courtesan Fiore meets Enzo, a duke with a troubled past. The two fall quickly in love - but can they learn to trust each other?

I went into this expecting a romance novel, and it definitely starts out that way. But after about the halfway point it abandons the romance novel structure in favour of pure hurt/comfort. The level of injury our boys acquire is astonishing; their ability to avoid serious infection in a setting that where people rely on vinegar as a disinfectant equally impressive (though there is a reference to 'mould juice' at one point so who knows, maybe fantasy Alexander Fleming is out there somewhere).

If you love hurt/comfort and smut, I imagine this novel would give you all the gooey and delicious feelings. Alas, while I do enjoy a bit of hurt/comfort, the constant cycle of injury -> convalescence -> sex got a bit repetitive for me. Especially since that was kind of... all the plot? Nothwell hints at a wider world - and Enzo's family are very much involved in the city's politics. But the narrative remains narrowly focused on Fiore and Enzo's personal relationship (and injuries). Characters outside our main duo are pretty flat and don't get much development, and the climax, which really could have been an opportunity to link Fiore and Enzo into the wider world, remained focused on purely personal stakes.

Overall, I enjoyed this book - particularly the first half. Fiore and Enzo were fun characters and their dynamic worked well and gave me some squishy feelings. I particularly enjoyed Enzo's past as a medical student, and how that worked with Fiore having a fear of chirurgeons. I'm normally pretty squeamish about medical things, but enjoyed how Nothwell constructs the historical-fantastic details. It was fun - but at 175,000 words, it just didn't have quite enough substance to carry it through for me.

I've built up quite a backlog of queer books that I've read but haven't reviewed, so to get through them I'm doing some mini reviews rather than full ones!

Make You Mine This Christmas - Lizzie Huxley-Jones Did I enjoy it? Yes! Was it good? It was definitely a romcom. Do I recommend it? If you want a silly Christmas romcom, yes!

An ill-advised snog at a party and a cascade of misunderstandings lead to the down-on-her-luck Haf being invited to spend Christmas with Christopher, as his fake girlfriend. The only problem? Haf’s huge developing crush on Christopher's sister, Kit.

I read this book while mildly depressed over Christmas and honestly it was exactly what I needed. Fun, frothy escapism. Haf gets to stay in the kind of beautiful country house we all dream of spending Christmas in. She has to - has to! - go to a fancy party and wear a beautiful dress (made for her by one of the family friends, of course). There’s a baby reindeer at one point. The shenanigans stretch belief at points and the relationship development between Haf and Kit was a little weak at times, but I’ll forgive it because I was having a good time.

Also it’s set in the UK and I always have a soft spot for that!

The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Caruso Did I enjoy it? On balance, yes Was it good? It had compelling ideas but the execution was somewhat weak Do I recommend it? Maybe

New mother Kembral Thorne has snatched a few hours off to attend a ball. Alas, her hopes of a simple night off are dashed by a tightening web of intrigue, a series of murders, and a mysterious clock that resets the party every hour even as they spiral down through the city’s echoes. Kembral is pulled back into her role as investigator as she tries to save the ballroom, with only her wits and her old flame/rival Rika Nonesuch to help her…

Normally, I am a fan of books that start in media res. This might be the exception that proves the rule. Caruso has created what seems like a fascinating world, with guilds and magic and complicated politics. And I love the echoes - layered reflections of the city that get stranger the further down you go. But we don’t actually get to see all that much of it. The story follows the action relentlessly, only sparing the bare minimum of sentences to provide absolutely necessary context. For me, the refusal to dwell in the world made it harder to care about the world, and the characters. I found myself wishing that the story would just take a breath now and then, rather than running from one thing to the next.

I’ll probably read the sequel when it comes out, but I might wait for a sale to be on.

Chain-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Did I enjoy it? Absolutely not Was it good? Yes Do I recommend it? Absolutely

Storygraph

Short answer: Yes!

Slightly longer answer: but it had some problems

A fun fantasy heist that didn't quite hang together, the story follows Anahrod. We meet her in the jungle, where she's been surviving for the last 17 years after escaping execution for a crime she didn't commit. A band of adventurers find her and bring her back home with the goal of committing an audacious theft from the dragon who had her sentenced in the first place.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was fun, the worldbuilding was interesting and the characters were engaging and interesting. I would recommend it if you, like me, spent your formative years longing to be a dragonrider and are interested in a really interesting subversion of the premise, where dragons are tyrants more than friends to their riders.

But it wouldn't be me if I didn't critique, and my main one is this: while The Sky On Fire has all the ingredients for a great ride, it doesn't quite hang together. The author loves throwing in twists and turns and exciting new things to happen - but sometimes the thread of the narrative gets lost in the rush. The queer norm world felt a bit heavy handed, with the incredibly horny worldbuilding detail that everyone advertises their kinks to the world with special kink rings in an otherwise remarkably unhorny novel. oh

Probably not going to do a full review but I just finished What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher and I'm pleased to report that it is queer and it is good to read.

LOVE the Wayfarers series! I think they're some of the few books i've read that feel genuinely cosy while still having real substance to them. I like that Chambers isn't afraid to let really bad things happen (Record of a Spaceborn Few hit me hard), but I feel you can trust that it's going to be ultimately a story about community.

I read books with queer representation and write short reviews with my honest opinions. I'm much more interested in whether a book is fun and enjoyable to read than whether it has deep artistic merit, but I got tired of coming across an exciting list of new queer books - only to find out that most of them are just. Not well written.

So I'm here to start my own list, according to the kinds of books I like to read. I focus on books that are:

Indie and self-published

Sci-fi and fantasy romance

Adult

Broadly speaking, I'm looking for books that are a bit off the beaten path: you don't need me to tell you that Gideon the Ninth is worth reading! You'll mostly see sci-fi and fantasy adult novels, because that's what I enjoy reading, but the occasional historical or YA might sneak on.

An explanation and library of my tags can be found underneath the cut.