Okay so we got off to a rocky start in 2022. Let's see if we can get back into the swing of things in May. Over the course of the month I read 7 books.
1.
Baptism of Fire by Andrzej Sapkowski - I can't say too too much about this, as it is the third book in the Witcher series. With the popularity of the show (which I've seen exactly three episodes of), and the game that I recently picked up and have so far only put maybe half an hour into, I thought I'd jump back into the books. This one was pretty good, but again we had a few moments of confusion. Most of this book follows Geralt and Dandelion as they gather this small team of folk as they are heading to collect Ciri from where they think she may be. I enjoyed the writing style and some of Geralt's quips that you don't get to hear much of in the show. I'm definitely looking forward to picking up
Tower of Swallows in June.
2.
The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec - This one shot to the top of my TBR when my close friend announced she was going to do a virtual discussion about Lokean worship and the worship of the Jotun. I enjoyed the story. We follow Angrboda after she escapes being burned at the stake. Again. She has few memories of anything that happened prior to her waking after the burning. She flees into a deep wood to hide and recover. That's where she meets Loki. He spends a lot of time with her and eventually they fall in love and bear three children. As she raises the children she has a prophetic vision, and tries her best to keep the fate she saw from occurring. I loved it. I was familiar with some of the stories of her children and definitely of Loki. Was not as aware of her own story. I liked the way Ms. Gornichec told it. I rated this book a 4/5 stars. Unlike the Aesir, Angrboda never tried to force Loki to be anything other than who he was. She let him be his chaotic self and do what he pleased, regardless of how she felt about it. I felt for her when she learned all that there was and knew what she needed to do.
3.
Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda & Valynne E. Maetani - This one left a lot to be desired in the end. This young high-school age girl, Kira Fujikawa, can see the yokai "hiding" in the human world. Most of them are harmless, some are quite dangerous, and a few actually work to protect people. One evening, her family's shrine is attacked by the dangerous yokai which sends her on this mission. The title is a tad misleading. At first I thought it meant there would be seven challenges or tasks she had to accomplish, then we learn she has to gather seven shinigami in order to defeat this demon king. What bothered me was the clear deus ex machina of her many-greats-grandmother helping her create a weapon that she used (with
very little training) to fight this centuries-old demon. 3/5. I'd not likely read it again. The time line was kind of all over the place. She'd say something about weeks passing, when to the reader it was only three or four days at most. Maybe I'll try other books by these authors to see if they are for me.
4.
Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee - I already owned
The Dragon Pearl by this author (which I have yet to read) and when I saw they had some books on Kindle for relatively cheap, I thought I'd try it. This book follows a young non-binary person, Gyen Jebi, through a few months of their life. It was certainly interesting. The setting is the fictional version of Korea known as Hwaguk, where another empire has invaded and taken over. Jebi wants nothing more than to be a painter, but because of their sister, they end up working for the foreign government on a project. It is kind of all over the place after that. We get information in discordant chunks. I didn't much care for this book either, but then I think I'd accidentally turned myself off from Asian-inspired young adult novels by that point. Ah well. I'm hoping
The Dragon Pearl is a better read. I gave this one a 3/5 as well and am probably not going to re-read it at all.
5.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan - 5/5 stars, definitely. I loved this book. We follow Xingyin, daughter of Chang'e. All she wants to do is help her mother escape from the punishment that she feels is entirely unfair. Even though as far as everyone else knows, Xingyin doesn't exist. She claws her way to the top after fleeing the moon in a rush and works as hard as she can to get her mother freed. I probably could've done without the love triangle, but this is a Harper Voyager book so I'm not actually surprised it was included. I adored the way Xingyin never let anything fully stop her on her quest to save her mother. She proved herself not just to the celestial kingdom, but to the Demon Realm, the Four Seas, and almost everyone involved. I'm very much looking forward to the sequel,
Heart of the Sun Warrior, which is due out in November.
6.
Master of One by Jaida Jones and Dani Bennett - I had no idea what I was getting into with this one other than we were following a thief who finds a Fae. Rags is captured while trying to steal something from someone, and as a result is sent to the local jail. From there he is given the task of finding this lost Fae treasure. What he finds, however, is not a treasure, but just a lost Fae. We then follow as Rags and Shining Talon (the lost Fae) go on this mission to find more pieces of this thing that Talon was meant to guard until the right people are found. I loved the different POVs and just how different they were from one another in their tones. My favorite is Rags and how colorful he could be with his descriptions of people and places. I will say, I did guess a few of the "masters" (out of order) as they were introduced to us but still found it impressive the way it was done. Another 5/5.
7.
I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai - I don't often read memoirs, but my roommate read this one for the Orilium readathon and suggested that I read it. I'm glad I did. I always forget just how recently all of this happened with Malala and her family. It is definitely a heart-wrenching story. How could people be so against the education of young girls that they would try to murder people for standing up for it? I highly recommend everyone read this and learn more about the life of one of the pioneers in the campaign for education for all.
