bookishpriest's reviews
214 reviews

This is a fun, short read about Edison Rooker, a young man looking for community and hoping to find it among the sorcerers in his city. Alas, he has been tested many times and is told he is not magical. A relationship with a willing sorcerer and a bit of illegal inventiveness on his part gets Rook caught up all sorts of controversy with the local magical authorities. It also sets him on a path to some romance with Sun, another sorcerer's apprentice.

In short, this is a good book. The writing is engaging, the plot pacing is consistent and enjoyable, the characters are interesting and lovable (even the difficult ones). There is also an honesty about the people in this book and their idiosyncracies that I found refreshing and helpful in getting to know them. The plot and characters were not mind-blowing and didn't represent anything especially new or innovative to me, but it was a good book that did what it meant to do.

There is plenty of LGBTQ+ representation in Spell Bound and, thankfully, it is not used solely in service to the plot or for representation's sake. The characters feel genuine, warts and all.

The romance subplot was cute, meaningful, and enjoyable to track. I am often wary of romance becuase it frequently feels wedged into the larger story as though it were a requirement somehow. This is not the case here and F. T. Lukens has done an excellent job weaving the developing romance into the larger web of relationships and plot.

I found the volume differential in the two narrators difficult to manage much of the time. This is not a comment on Neo Cihi or Kevin R. Free, both of whom do very fine jobs of the narration, but rather poor work on Simon & Schuster Audio's part for producing such unbalanced tracks.

Jesus, Love, and Tacos is a recent entry, published in October 2022, into a genre that I call "theology by memoir". The author has a theological idea to present and they do it in digestible pieces surrounded with lots of personal anecodotes that are meant to illustrate the theology.

Throughout the book, I would estimate the ratio of anecdotes to theological discussion is about 2.5:1. There is a lot of Stephens's life in this book, centring the experience of a white American mother in a heterosexual marriage, attending a non-denominational church, while living in a large city in the South. The heavy reliance on these anecdotes means that much of the conversation in Jesus, Love, and Tacos was, for me, relatable only in the abstract. I share precious few of Stephens's life circumstances or experiences and found many of the intended illustrative stories to be unhelpful.

Jesus, Love, and Tacos is a book that I wanted to like but struggled with and would have a hard time recommending to most people in my circles. I think this is, for the most part, a case of divergent contexts, experience, and needs, rather than a true failing on the part of either this book or its author. 

A longer review is available at bookishpriest.com

Blood Debts is a fun read that combines family feuds, mystery, magic, teen drama, and sets it all against the backdrop of New Orleans.

The story is well-told and a lot of fun to follow. Race, class, and complicated histories are touched on and there's LGBTQ+ representation too.

I didn't think Blood Debts did anything especially new or mind-blowing, but it did a great job of telling its story in a fun way. Great for some mildly spooky summer reading. 

The Alchemy of Moonlight by David Ferraro is a great homage to the gothic horror genre that includes some m/m romance in a love triangle and a genuinely creepy atmosphere.

Emile is a young man about to come of age and receive his substantial inheritance when his aunt discovers that he is gay. She threatens to institutionalize him if he does not marry a woman and produce an heir, something Emile cannot reconcile himself or the potential bride to. 

Emile flees his home and seeks to remain hidden from society until he comes of age and can claim his inheritance on his own terms. He is quickly embroiled in a love triangle with two older, dashing men. As he tries to sort out his heart, Emile stumbles across hints of some truly creepy goings-on around his new home. The plot gets thicker and thicker as he investigates.

The Alchemy of Moonlight creates a great atmosphere with plenty of creepy moments. There is a genuine feeling of dread and, though many of the tropes are familiar and predictable, they are enjoyable just the same. The writing and pacing are good and I found myself looking forward to coming back for the next instalment. I was also impressed with how Ferraro manages to convey the depth of tension and feeling in the love triangle in ways that keep the book firmly in YA-acceptable territory.

The audiobook narration is well done and makes for a pleasant listen.

The book isn't perfect, however. The characters felt a bit flat. Emile exercised very little agency until the last pages of the book, disappointing for a main character with a good setup. There were a few plot points that felt too convenient and the ending of the book was more seamless than I thought realistic, given everything else going on.

Overall, this was a good read and a nice nod to the gothic horror genre.

The premise of the book is great. Other than one chapter - Boxes - it completely fails to deliver. The writing is often clumsy and most of the book is an exercise in telling over showing.

The narrator is reflecting on his past, so there may be an element of intentional unreliability, but so much of what is described seems wildly implausible. Children behaving as though they're significantly older than they are; adults completely and collectively missing what's going on even when the kids tell them; plot holes you could drive a truck through.

Disappointing. Give this one a miss.