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Death in the Spires by KJ Charles
1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finally uncovering the truth.
Jem begins to track down the people who were there the night Toby died – a close circle of friends once known as the ‘Seven Wonders’ for their charm and talent – only to find them as tormented and broken as himself. All of them knew and loved Toby at Oxford. Could one of them really be his killer?
As Jem grows closer to uncovering what happened that night, his pursuer grows bolder, making increasingly terrifying attempts to silence him for good. Will exposing Toby’s killer put to rest the shadows that have darkened Jem’s life for so long? Or will the gruesome truth only put him in more danger?
Some secrets are better left buried…
Why you should read it: Oh this is absolutely glorious. I don't think I can coherently express how impressed I am that this book manages to simultaneously be so full of heart while also conveying all the fucked up toxic social dynamics of a brilliant murder mystery. The POV character is compelling and stubborn and painfully sincere, and his need to find out what really happened is a palpable force all through the story. The way the mystery is paced, the gradual revealing of first the events leading up to the murder, and then the untangling of how much was really going on beneath hose events... Fucking hell. It's just. SO GOOD. And the finale was so satisfying I'm still sitting here stunned. Goddamn beautiful.
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In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.
When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.
Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?
Why you should read it: Melancholy and hopeful and warm and sweet and sad and lovely and just fundamentally GOOD. Honestly, I don't have a lot of coherent things to say about this book. I loved it. It kicked my ass (emotionally speaking) in the best possible way. I recommend it very fiercely.
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Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.
Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago.
Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind.
When the United States invades Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer, striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Néstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros. But the shock of their reunion—and Nena’s rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago—is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh.
And unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn.
Why you should read it: This book is an excellent horror story and romance all wrapped up together, and I enjoyed it enormously. I ached for both Nena and Néstor, as children stumbling into danger they couldn't possibly have anticipated, as adults navigating all the hurt and consequences of what happened while facing that same danger again tenfold. The violence of a tumultuous historical setting works painfully well to frame the supernatural horrors of the narrative, and was vividly depicted besides. Not an easy read, but a terrific one.
Death in the Spires by KJ Charles
1905. A decade after the grisly murder of Oxford student Toby Feynsham, the case remains hauntingly unsolved. For Jeremy Kite, the crime not only stole his best friend, it destroyed his whole life. When an anonymous letter lands on his desk, accusing him of having killed Toby, Jem becomes obsessed with finally uncovering the truth.
Jem begins to track down the people who were there the night Toby died – a close circle of friends once known as the ‘Seven Wonders’ for their charm and talent – only to find them as tormented and broken as himself. All of them knew and loved Toby at Oxford. Could one of them really be his killer?
As Jem grows closer to uncovering what happened that night, his pursuer grows bolder, making increasingly terrifying attempts to silence him for good. Will exposing Toby’s killer put to rest the shadows that have darkened Jem’s life for so long? Or will the gruesome truth only put him in more danger?
Some secrets are better left buried…
Why you should read it: Oh this is absolutely glorious. I don't think I can coherently express how impressed I am that this book manages to simultaneously be so full of heart while also conveying all the fucked up toxic social dynamics of a brilliant murder mystery. The POV character is compelling and stubborn and painfully sincere, and his need to find out what really happened is a palpable force all through the story. The way the mystery is paced, the gradual revealing of first the events leading up to the murder, and then the untangling of how much was really going on beneath hose events... Fucking hell. It's just. SO GOOD. And the finale was so satisfying I'm still sitting here stunned. Goddamn beautiful.
- — - — - — - — -
In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune
In a strange little home built into the branches of a grove of trees, live three robots—fatherly inventor android Giovanni Lawson, a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, and a small vacuum desperate for love and attention. Victor Lawson, a human, lives there too. They’re a family, hidden and safe.
The day Vic salvages and repairs an unfamiliar android labelled “HAP,” he learns of a shared dark past between Hap and Gio–a past spent hunting humans.
When Hap unwittingly alerts robots from Gio’s former life to their whereabouts, the family is no longer hidden and safe. Gio is captured and taken back to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams. So together, the rest of Vic’s assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.
Along the way to save Gio, amid conflicted feelings of betrayal and affection for Hap, Vic must decide for himself: Can he accept love with strings attached?
Why you should read it: Melancholy and hopeful and warm and sweet and sad and lovely and just fundamentally GOOD. Honestly, I don't have a lot of coherent things to say about this book. I loved it. It kicked my ass (emotionally speaking) in the best possible way. I recommend it very fiercely.
- — - — - — - — -
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
As the daughter of a rancher in 1840s Mexico, Nena knows a thing or two about monsters—her home has long been threatened by tensions with Anglo settlers from the north. But something more sinister lurks near the ranch at night, something that drains men of their blood and leaves them for dead.
Something that once attacked Nena nine years ago.
Believing Nena dead, Néstor has been on the run from his grief ever since, moving from ranch to ranch working as a vaquero. But no amount of drink can dispel the night terrors of sharp teeth; no woman can erase his childhood sweetheart from his mind.
When the United States invades Mexico in 1846, the two are brought abruptly together on the road to war: Nena as a curandera, a healer, striving to prove her worth to her father so that he does not marry her off to a stranger, and Néstor as a member of the auxiliary cavalry of ranchers and vaqueros. But the shock of their reunion—and Nena’s rage at Néstor for seemingly abandoning her long ago—is quickly overshadowed by the appearance of a nightmare made flesh.
And unless Nena and Néstor work through their past and face the future together, neither will survive to see the dawn.
Why you should read it: This book is an excellent horror story and romance all wrapped up together, and I enjoyed it enormously. I ached for both Nena and Néstor, as children stumbling into danger they couldn't possibly have anticipated, as adults navigating all the hurt and consequences of what happened while facing that same danger again tenfold. The violence of a tumultuous historical setting works painfully well to frame the supernatural horrors of the narrative, and was vividly depicted besides. Not an easy read, but a terrific one.
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