Book Review | If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

“You can justify anything if you do it poetically enough.”

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Oliver Marks has just been released from prison, and is finally ready to tell Detective Colborne what really happened when his classmate was killed ten years ago. As young actors at an elite conservatory, Oliver and his classmates played the same roles – villain, hero, temptress – over and over again, both off stage and onstage. But when the casting changes, good-natured rivalry turns ugly, and the plays spill dangerously over into real life.

I had seen If We Were Villains around but I didn’t read it until my friend recommended and lent it to me. It’s not the type of book I read (anymore) and it was very stressful at times, but I was pulled in by the promise of Shakespearian theatre and very soon I was completely hooked.

What struck me most was the emotional complexity of these characters. Difficult backgrounds, trauma, insecurity and forced vulnerability, set in this tiny, isolated, cult-like academic world, then add the strong emotions of the Shakespearian stage and you have fireworks. The way tension builds and ebbs away (but never completely) only to return stronger is masterfully done.

I love how Shakespeare is interwoven in the story, more than just a few references, it’s the very fabric this world is built out of, and underscores some of the characters’ most pivotal moments. They really live Shakespeare. Someday I plan to reread this book again in conjunction with all those plays. Though you genuinely don’t need to to understand and enjoy the book, but it does give the story that much more depth.

A very well crafted book that you should definitely check out if you either like Shakespeare or murder mystery/thriller stories.

Content Warnings (CONTAINS SPOILERS): violence, abuse, blood, gore, death, suicide (off-page)

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Literary Magazine Review | Capsule Stories Winter 2023 Issue ‘Hibernation’

So a disclaimer: I have a piece in this magazine, and I got a free contributor copy so I may be a little biased for this review 😉 But trust me, it’s a good read.

Capsule Stories is a literary magazine with themed issues, often connected to the current season. They “have a penchant for pretty words, an affinity to the melancholy, and an undeniably time-ful aura.” And once again they’ve put together an issue that is just that. “Hibernation” is a beautiful collection of a variety of wintery pieces, from cozy cocooning to mourning and heartbreak, from important life-shaping memories to seemingly random moments plucked out of time and put into a poem. Definitely a great book to curl up with when it’s cold out and you want to dream till summer.

Among my personal favorites are:
[radljóst] by Katelyn Grimes
The Waiting Year by Danielle Weeks
Forecast on a January Evening by Erin Jamieson
Promise and Potential, 1881 by Valerie Hunter
My Father Takes Me for Donuts by Grace McGory
Cold House by Michael Colonnese
Nor’easter by Therese Gleason

If you want a copy, you can find links here . Oh, and before you go, read my own piece ‘Picking a Christmas Tree’ here ;).

Trigger Warnings: added for each individual piece on the title page

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Book Review | The Shield Road by Dewi Hargreaves

“A dream played on his mind. A dream full of fire and screams, which echoed long after waking.“

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The Shield Road is a collection of chronological fantasy short stories set in the same world, that follow different characters and accumulate into a larger narrative. A. thief, a princess, a warrior, a Bladekin, and others roam through this fantasy world trying to stop evil and survive the process.

I really enjoyed reading this. At first I wasn’t quite sure I would, but halfway through the first story I was hooked. Hargreaves really manages to set down a classic fantasy world that feels new and interesting but is also not so complicated in its world building that it crowds the story. The characters are interesting and unique, and never one-dimensional in their motives or desires. The stories themselves work well together, weaving this larger narrative without losing their own distinct voices so there’s a sense of variety. They’re also very well-written! I’m especially impressed by the dialogue. But most of all I enjoyed the world itself, and the magical creatures and things in it. A really enjoyable read you should definitely check out if you like fantasy!

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Literary Magazine Review | Capsule Stories Summer Issue ‘Starry Nights’

So a disclaimer: my piece is in this magazine, and I got a free contributor copy so I may be a little biased for this review! But trust me when I say, it’s such a good read.

Capsule Stories is a quarterly magazine that has themed issues every season, often vaguely connected to the current season. They “have a penchant for pretty words, an affinity to the melancholy, and an undeniably time-ful aura.” And that shows in the pieces they pick. The theme of their summer issue is ‘Starry Nights’, and is a wonderful collection of poems and stories about the nostalgic feeling of looking at the stars at night, of the places we grew up in, of leaving and staying, of the magic of meeting new people. An absolutely lovely, nostalgic, summery, dreamy collection of great writing.

Some pieces I especially loved are:
‘First Date Sonata’ by Emily Polson
‘In The Sweet By And By’ by Alice Rogers (excerpt)
‘Should We Stay Up Late On Independence Day’ by Matthew Miller
‘The Desecrated Wood’ by Mallory Pearson
‘Instead of Sleeping’ by Mallory Pearson
‘Sheltering California‘ by Emily L. Pate
‘The Speeds of Things’ by Tom Misuraca
‘Late Nights At Susan’s Roadhouse’ by Shira Haus
‘Est. 2005’ by Jaime Dill

If you want a copy, you can find links here . Oh, and before you go, read my own piece ‘Beach Night’ here ;).

Trigger Warnings: added for each individual piece on the title page

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A Little Update and Some Publications!

So I’ve been a little AWOL these past two months, a lot was happening in my day-to-day life and I just didn’t have it in me to write reviews. The little time that I had I wanted to spend on writing fiction, so that’s what I did!

I have four new pieces published!

‘Mae’ in Second Chance Lit, a little story about the carnival and fate.

‘Beach Night’ in Capsule Stories, a short piece about nostalgia and the future and the beach.

‘The River Washes’ in Not Deer Magazine, a light-horror piece about revenge.

‘Honeysuckle’ also in Not Deer Magazine, a light-horror piece about something deep in the woods and getting lost.

I’m really proud of all of them so if you’d want to give them a read that’d mean a lot 🙂

But I’m not forgetting about my book blog! I do miss talking about books, and although I haven’t been reading much, I’ve been reading some really cool things. Currently I’m reading The Martian and it’s just so unexpectedly good (I normally hate anything about space) and it deserves a big review. But I’ve noticed I just can’t write full, formal reviews every week, and I think I’m going to change the format of this blog a little.

The posts are going to be more like diary updates (but focused on books, of course), kind of like the ‘What I Read and Wrote Last Month’ posts I’ve been doing, but less structured – but with full reviews in between if I have a lot to say about something. And not every week anymore, but just whenever it takes my fancy. I also think I’m going to do more with my bookstagram soon.

I just need to make everything less perfect, less formal, less structured, so everything is less labor intensive. I’m a big of a perfectionist, but I just can’t do everything :’) But I miss talking about books, so I’ll be back.

xx Lotte

Book Review | The Gin O’Clock Club by Rosie Blake

“Now, though, work seems to have swallowed her up.“

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Teddy is worried about his granddaughter. Lottie rushes through life working, ticking off to-do lists, canceling plans with friends and snapping at her boyfriend. His late wife, Lily, would have known what to do, but it’s up to Teddy to talk some sense into Lottie. Together with his closest friends, The Gin O’Clock Club, he devices a plan to remind Lottie there’s more to life than being tired and overworked.

This was a really enjoyable read. I personally really identified with Lottie (not just because of the name) because I also have a tendency to work too hard and forget to just enjoy things. We really see her go through that process.

All of the characters were great, especially the secondary ones. The Gin O’Clock Club men could be so silly at times but they all clearly had their own troubles and pasts and inner lives. The book is also just very funny, especially because of these characters.

It was especially cool to read about a couple that doesn’t need to break up in order for the main character to undergo a major life change, because the bond is stronger than that. Usually breaking up or getting together is one of the big plots in books, but we shouldn’t forget that a lot of personal change can also happen within a relationship.

The only thing I missed a little was perhaps delving deeper into Lottie’s reasons for working so hard, the insecurities and traumas that make her overexert herself. Because these things are rarely really just a case of just realizing you have to stop, there’s often a deeper reasons. I also missed someone telling Lottie that she didn’t have to work so hard, that she was okay just was she was.

A very enjoyable, and very very funny story about finding your way back to enjoying life, full of amazing characters and laugh-out-loud scenes.

Trigger Warnings (CONTAINS SPOILERS): death, funeral, couple fighting

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Book Review | The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

“Just because something has always been done does not mean that it ought to be done.”

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The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are creeping closer to her door. Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic. Across the sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel. Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

This is one of the best fantasy I’ve ever read. This is Lord of the Rings level epic, but feminist. Women are real people in this book, not just damsels, not just fighters, not just a symbol for something else. Sometimes they’re good, sometimes they’re evil, sometimes they’re just a little selfish. Like humans are. All of the characters are just so interesting and complex. While we get the POV of only a few of them, all of these characters feel real, with rich inner lives, struggled, strengths, weaknesses.

What I admire most is the world building. There’s such a rich world between these pages, such a wide world, too. It’s not just one kingdom, but almost a whole planet, every wind direction has a part in this story. There’s also a deep and rich history, full of legend and myths and facts and religions. The cultures of every country are so well thought-out, the cities and villages and towns so realistic that I can see them, feel them, smell them. They’re so clearly a product of its people, while also clearly influencing the people. All so rich and unique.

The writing was also absolutely beautiful. So often I had to just stop and stare at a sentence for a while because it was so beautifully crafted, so precisely done. “And when the dead lay at her feet, she looked up, tasting iron, hands glowing in wetness.” Hands glowing in wetness, what a detailed and gruesome image Shannon manages to conjure up. The text is rich and full of detail, but nothing ever feels over saturated. This makes the the book slow, but personally I love that. It’s not an action heavy fantasy, but it’s full of beautiful world-building and and meticulously written, slow burning plot.

I don’t think I can express enough how much I enjoyed reading this and how much I admire the craft that went into this book. In my eyes, it’s perfect on every level.

Trigger Warnings (CONTAINS SPOILERS): alcoholism, blood and gore, violence, death, torture, war, murder, plague, infertility, miscarriage, suicide ideation

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What I Read and Wrote in March

April! Finally Spring! We had a couple of really warm days last week and while slightly disturbing it really also gave me a taste for summer. Can’t wait for the summer months. Anyway, here is what I’ve been reading.

Literary Magazine Review | Capsule Stories Spring Issue ‘In Bloom’

So a disclaimer: my poem is in this magazine, and I got a free contributor copy so I am a little biased, but I thought I’d write a post anyway because I’ve read through all the other pieces, and they’re just so good.

Capsule Stories is a quarterly magazine that has themed issues every season, often vaguely connected to the current season. They “have a penchant for pretty words, an affinity to the melancholy, and an undeniably time-ful aura.” And that shows in the pieces they pick.

A mix of poetry and fiction, this issue is filled with stories of hope and of grief, dying and blooming, the bitter-sweetness of the new spring and a survived winter. What struck me most is the rich variety in styles and types of subjects, while still all fitting within the theme. Also the great quality of every single piece!

Some pieces I especially loved are:
I Told You It Takes Me Hours to Water My Houseplants by AJ Buckle
I Pray and I Deceive by Hila Messer
A Coffin Is Not a Cocoon by E. E. Rhodes
Crickets in the Bathroom by Eli Vandell
Elegy in Spring by L. Kardon

If you want a copy, you can find links here and also find it on Waterstones. Oh, and before you go, read my own poem ‘this spring’ here ;). I’ll have another piece out in the next issue, so watch this space!

Trigger Warnings: added for each individual piece on the title page

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Book Review | Among the Beasts & Briars by Ashley Poston

“I always thought that gardeners’ daughters couldn’t thrive where our roots didn’t grow. But maybe we were like dandelion tuffs.”

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Cerys is safe in the kingdom of Aloriya. There are no droughts, no famines, no diseases. The country prospers because of the magic in the royal family’s blood and the crown their ancestor got from the Lady of the Wilds before she disappeard. But there is still the nevereending threat of the woods, which are forbidden. Cerys knows the dangers all too well, as she narrowly escaped once with only a small curse, and lost her mother to it. Now she is a gardener’s daughter, a safe, predictable life. But when the king dies, the wood smells weakness.

I had a lot of hope for this (sort of) Sleeping Beauty retelling but honestly I’m a little disappointed. I couldn’t connect to the story and I felt the plot was blotchy in places. It felt a lot of the time as if the author was trying to do this profound metaphor, but never quite got there. Like the MC had to have this big revelation but there was never any for her to feel that way. It’s also a very action heavy story, but the timing often felt off, especially with the ending where we suddenly skip ahead without ever really getting a truly satisfying conclusion to the story.

Why do I still give it three stars then? Because there isn’t inherently anything wrong with it. I just have a feeling it could have been better. It is an exciting story with pretty cool monsters and characters. The characters’ motivations weren’t always clear to me, they often felt like plot-devices rather than people, but it would work well as an action-film.

I did really enjoy the dynamic between Cerys and Fox, it was a really cool friendship they were building and I laughed out loud several times and their conversations. Honestly that was really the best part of the whole book to me.

If you like fast-paced stories that don’t go too deep and have a cool friendship/romance, then you will enjoy this book probably more than I did.

Trigger Warnings (CONTAINS SPOILERS): gore, zombies (sort of), death

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