fiction

The Lost Story

/ Brienna / Leave a comment
Image: The Lost Story Book cover featuring an illustration of a large tree with a door in the trunk.

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer is a fantasy adventure novel. What if there was a magical realm ruled by a queen and her attending valkyries? What if lost boys and girls aren’t really lost?

Inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia, this also reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. Why? Because not everything in Wonderland is wonderful.

While I enjoyed the novel, it has some issues preventing it from being a 4 or 5 star read.

The novel feels like a mishmash of a lighthearted, YA fantasy rom-com and a more serious adult novel touching on grief and abuse.

Additionally, I felt the world-building for Shanandoah could have been better. We learn most of the good bits only second and third-hand, in retellings and stories, and not through the direct action of the plot.

And finally, the novel includes a fairy godmother-like storyteller who inserts themselves between chapters. I didn’t care for this, and I felt it mostly pulled you out of the (already) disjointed story.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own.

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins

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The Dead Cat Tail Assassins book cover

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark is a fantasy novella about a group of undead assassins. And no, they aren’t cats. And no tails, either! The premise? In exchange for your memories and servitude (as an assassin), you can live (as a zombie) forever.

This is a quick read. While I wanted to love it, I just didn’t. I found it a bit boring and lackluster. The ideas are great, but the execution is missing something.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own.

A Song to Drown Rivers

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Book Cover: A Song to Drown Rivers

Ann Liang’s A Song to Drown Rivers is an emotional exploration of sacrifice and revenge.

Xishi is an unparalleled beauty who lives in a remote Yue village, terrorized by nightmares of her younger sister’s murder at the hands of Wu soldiers.

Enter Fanli, a famous military advisor to the Yue King. Fanli is searching for a beautiful girl to send as a bride to the Wu King, someone who can be trained as a spy and work to undermine the Wu kingdom.

Enlisting Xishi for this mission, Fanli trains her in deception, cunning, and intrigue. Xishi learns to use her beauty as both a weapon and as armor.

As Xishi climbs ranks with the Wu court and captures the attention of the Wu King, she finds it harder and harder to maintain her hatred. Yet, ultimately, she knows what she must do and the price she must pay for failure.

How much must Xishi sacrifice? For her family, her kingdom, and to avenge her sister? Who is the true enemy within this complicated web of lies?

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I loved the character development, the pacing, and the rise and fall of emotions. If this doesn’t leave you teary-eyed, you may have a heart of stone.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own. Links in this review are affiliate links, and I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

Real Americans

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Real Americans by Rachel Khong is a multi-generational novel that centers on American identity and the theme of nature vs. nurture.

Book Cover: Real Americans by Rachel Khong.

The novel starts with Lily Chen and tells the meet cute story of how she meets and falls in love with Matthew. I found this part of the novel the most enjoyable.

Unfortunately, we then jump forward in time and follow Nick Chen as he struggles with feelings of not belonging. As we follow Nick, desperately seeking his place in the world, we meet May, Nick’s grandmother, and Lily’s estranged mother.

This introduces another time shift. Here, we learn how May and Charles fled from Mao’s Communist China and ended up in America.

Going back in time loses momentum in the story. Also, at this point, I don’t really care about the story or the characters. I just want it to be over.

Others may enjoy this more than I did. It’s not a bad book, but it’s not one that I loved either.

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for an advance copy in exchange for sharing my opinions. All opinions in this review are my own. Links in this review are affiliate links, and I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases.