magic

Audiobook: Threshing Day

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by Rebecca Yarros
Read by a full cast
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: Fourth Wing, Iron Flame, Onyx Storm
Content: There is some violence, most of it off-screen, plus lots of swearing, including many f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

I told myself at the end of Onyx Storm I wasn’t going to read any more in the series. But, this came out, and I figured what the heck, why not?

This is a series of short stories about the threshing days of many of the main and minor characters. Not Violet, of course, but many of the others. Much like the rest of the series, it’s not great writing – I especially dislike the way the dragons talk to the humans – but it is fun. I enjoyed the narrations; every chapter/character has a different narrator, which worked well, I think, Some of the narrators got into it more than others (there was one that was particularly good with the dragon voice), but overall it was a fun way to spend six hours.

But I’m really not going to read any more of these.

Audiobook: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me

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by Ilona Andrews
Read by Kristen Sieh
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is a lot of violence, including some pretty grisly murders. There is also some swearing, including a few f-bombs. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

One day Maggie goes to bed in our world and wakes up in the world of Kier Toren, a city she knows from her favorite book series, one that she has read and obsessed over for years and years. She knows the ins and outs of this world, and (once she realizes that if she is killed, she resurrects, even if it’s painful) decides that she has a chance to change the outcome of the story, to save the world from the certain chaos and doom it had in the books. It’s a dangerous path, one that is certain to make enemies, but with the help of people – she can’t think of them as characters – she collects on the way; she is sure she can do this.

I found this one on Bookstagram and thought it sounded intriguing. I have always liked it when the thing is poking fun at the thing – in this case, books where the heroine falls into a story – while being the thing. And this book does it marvelously. It’s twisty – some caught me entirely by surprise – and it’s intense. It’s a delightful romp in all the best ways, and Sieh does a fantastic job with the narration. I realized about 2/3 of the way through that this has to be a series, and the epilogue set up the next book well. I’m actually invested in this story now, and I’m curious to see where it goes.

Sometimes Bookstagram gets it right.

The Someday Garden

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by Ashley Poston
First sentence: “There was once a house on the cliffs that grew the most beautiful flowers.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and on-page sex, plus talk of death. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Ten years ago, Sophie and her best friend, Harriet, visited the Lilymoor estate in Maine and made a plan to return. But life got in the way, and only Sophie has made it back. This time, though, it’s in the role of Head Gardener, helping the estate get ready for the bicentennial. She just wants to do this temporary job and go back to her life, but there’s something about this place. And then a magic door appears, and behind the door is an intriguing man… and maybe there’s more to Lilymoor than even Sophie thought,

I like Ashley Poston; I really do. However, this one just felt derivative. She’s already written this story (The Seven Year Slip, which is excellent), Sure, this is a different place with different characters, but it’s really not a different story. I was more interested in Juliette’s story. I wanted this to be sapphic. Or a straightforward tale of grief. I just didn’t want what I got. I did start this one on audio, and I stalled out, losing interest. But I had it in print already, and I didn’t want to bail – maybe it would get better? – so I finished it that way.

It didn’t get better, but it didn’t get worse either. It was just an overall meh. I really need Poston to do something completely different.

Audio book: The Hocus Pocus Handbook

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by Ann Aguirre
Read by Nikki Grey and Sebastian York
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some mild swearing (maybe an f-bomb, but I don’t think so) and some mild violence. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Thea Winter is a changeling in the Winter Faerie court. She’s always kept her head down, mostly, and stayed out of trouble. But all of a sudden, she’s roped into court politics, being forced into marrying someone from Summer, in hopes of stopping a war. However, that person has disappeared, and Thea and Winter’s Hound, Kerboros, are sent off to find the person and make good on Thea’s marriage. Which is inconvenient, since Thea is developing feelings for Kerboros and (honestly) doesn’t want to be married. As they search through the lands, and collect a wide array of friends and companions, their attraction grows. But what will happen when the Lord of Winter finds out.

First, the complaint I had all the way through: a book titled Hocus Pocus should not be about fae. It’s a bad title. And secondly: There is a magical handbook, one that Thea’s foster father made her, that is much too conveniently tied to the chapters. Every chapter started with a spell (or a description of an art piece, if it was Kerboros’ chapter), and it just dragged after a while. And then there was no chemistry between the characters. At. All. This would have been better as a friendship story, just a plain road trip story, something that didn’t lead with expectations of romance. Because, there was none. Oh, she told me there was, but I just didn’t feel it. At. All.

That said, I liked the narrators, I liked the side characters and I was interested enough to finish it. Just not to like it.

Audiobook: Eric

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by Terry Pratchett
Read by Colin Morgan, Peter Serafinowicz & Bill Nighy
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Others in the series: It’s in Discworld, and the fourth in the Unseen University series. But, like all of Discworld, you can read it out of order.
Content: It’s Sir Terry. There’s nothing objectionable. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Eric is your typical demon summoner, except that he’s 14 and not very good at it. He’s attempted to summon a demon to grant him three wishes, and all he got was Rincewind, who isn’t a very good wizard at the best of times. And, in attempting to grant Eric’s wishes, they unravel time and space back to the beginning. Before ending up in hell, of course.

There’s really not much to say about this, mostly because it’s Terry Pratchett. It’s funny, it’s sweet, the footnotes (read by Bill Nighy!) are hilarious, and it’s an utterly pleasant way to spend 4 hours on a road trip. Highly recommended, especially if you’re driving somewhere.

Audio book: Kill All Wizards

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by Jedediah Berry
Read by Raphael Corkhill
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs, and a lot of fantasy violence. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

A barbarian – Gotchamus (not sure of that spelling, since I listened to it) – and a thief – Huxley – walked into a dining establishment, meeting up to do an exchange. What comes out of it, is the barbarian’s tale of loss and revenge, of how he came to lose his eye, and how he’s going to get his revenge on the wizards in this town. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but this is a short book, so there doesn’t need to be a lot.

What it has, though, is humor in spades. It got me early on when there was a whole bit about how the publisher should code the gory parts in red so people would know to skip them but then there would be people who would only read the gory parts, and no one wanted to encourage that behavior, and I was hooked. it’s a weird little place that Berry has created, but I adored the characters, I adored the tone fo the book, and Corkhill was superb as a narrator. It definitely can stand on its own, but if there’s going to be a series, I am 100% there for it.

So much fun.

The Dream Thieves: The Graphic Novel

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by Maggie Stiefvater
Illustrated by Sas Milledge
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: August 4, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher
Others in the series: The Raven Boys
Content: There is violence, drug use, and some swearing, including f-bombs. It will be in the Teen Graphic Novel section.

This follows the novel pretty closely; there are some scenes that are cut, some that are collapsed, but the highlights are there (I do miss my “furiously red tie” though). I think this one lends itself to graphic novel adaptation really well – there are a couple of serious antagonists and the plot is fairly straightforward. And the art, like before, is gorgeous. (Though I’m not sure Kavinsky looks like what I thought Kavinsky should look like.) I enjoyed this one more than I liked Raven Boys; it just felt more cohesive as a graphic novel (which does leave me a bit concerned for Blue Lilly and Raven King, though).

I really enjoyed it.

Haven and the Fallen Giants

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by Jen Xu and Kate Rhodes
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher
Release date: June 16, 2026
Content: There are some depictions of violence and some intense moments. It will be in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Haven has grown up outside the town of Raqmu in the desert. She’s never been unhappy with her life, even though she has to sneak into the town to get at the parts she needs to sell her wares. As she is scavaging, she finds an ancient relic – but the Guardians of the town are after her. The majority of the book is her running through the town’s festival evading the Guardians, but she isn’t alone: a town girl, Lin, helps her out. It sounds unintersting, but believe me: it’s not.

While I liked the plot – Xu and Rhodes deal with the class issues between the city-dwellers and the desert-dwellers – it was the art that took my breath away. I haven’t seen a graphic novel this beautiful since Amulet, and I don’t say that lightly. there’s a spread near the beginning, as a young Haven sees a Giant, that is absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait to see this in print. And while the book ended in a bit of a cliffhanger – it captivated me enough that I’m going to be invested in this series as it comes out.

It’s one of the best graphic novels I’ve seen in a long time.

Audiobook: Red City

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by Marie Lu
Read by André Santana, Eunice Wong, Natalie Naudus & Sid Sagar
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is a lot of violence, much of it graphic. There is also sexual assault, on-page sex, and lots of swearing, including many f-bombs. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Growing up the child of a strict single mother, Sam wanted more for her life. She is smart – she has a perfect memory – and she had a promising future. That is, until her mom was in an accidental fire at the restaurant she worked at. Then, Sam turned to the syndicates – the organizations that control the drug Sand, and the magic in this alternate reality. She learns to be an alchemist and falls deep into this dangerous world.

Ari, on the other hand, was brought to Angel City from his home in India, recruited because of the strength of his charisma, his soul, to be a part of Luminos, one of the syndicates. He’s taught and trained since he was 10 to be a bioalchemist, someone who can persuade pretty much anyone of anything.

Ari and Sam were friends growing up, unaware of their involvement in rival syndicates, until they re-meet as adults, on the opposite side of a brewing war.

I didn’t know what to expect going in, but I really enjoyed this one. I was talking to K about the book and describing how they used alchemy as the magic system, and she was like “Oh, like Full Metal Alchemist”? And yes, exactly like that. Except mashed with the Godfather, and you have a good sense of this. But I liked the characters, I appreciated the way Lu developed the world that she set the story in, and I didn’t even mind the ending – there is still an opening for another book (hopefully, only a duology) but the story of this one is wrapped up. I loved the audio version; the narrators were amazing, capturing the emotion of the book as well as the action. I probably would have liked reading this, but I really enjoyed it on audio. Perhaps I’m being overly generous to this because I was listening to it while reading Spark of the Everflame, and it was just refreshing to have good worldbuilding and a unique, fully developed magic system.

I’ll definitely be on the lookout for the sequel to this one.

Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter

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by Heather Fawcett
First sentence: “I paused on the threshold of the shop to stamp the frost from my boots.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: February 17. 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher
Content: There are some dangerous situations, including murders. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Agnes is a widow who has had one dream: to run a cat shelter for the feral cats of Montreal, Quebec. She and her husband operated the struggling shelter until his death, and she’s been attempting to keep it going. But after a magical disaster (two magicians were dueling in the street and her shop was in the crossfire), she’s been forced to find a new home for her store (and cats). It proves difficult until she stumbles on a really cheap place for rent. It’s perfect, until she realizes that it’s a front for possibly the most notorious magician in Montreal, and his dealings in magical artifacts. Things get even more complicated when his nemesis finds him, breaks through the wards, and attacks Agnes (and the cats!). How is she supposed to deal with this? Even better: how is she supposed to deal with his clutter?

This has the same tone and whimsy as the Emily Wilde books, and I did like it, just not as much as I adored Emily Wilde. Maybe it was the cats (so many cats!), or maybe it was that Agnes was a widow mourning the loss of her husband. I do like the human and magical being pull, and Agnes was feisty enough to keep me entertained. I guess it just wasn’t everything I was hoping it would be.

Still worth reading, though.