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Feel free to comment here and let us know how your reading went this month, if you had trouble completing this month's task, if you enjoyed the book you read and whether you'd recommend it.

I don't normally read fantasy so I was kinda dreading this month, tbh, but I wound up reading two trilogies. I heartily enjoyed N.J. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy, though the last book was a good step down in terms of quality, imo.

I also read the Farseer trilogy by Robin Hobb based on recommendations by a few folks in the main thread for May. I loved the first book, felt like the second book was a little irritating character-wise, and found the third book to be at least 200 pages too long. Overall, though, I enjoyed this series as well and I plan to continue reading it over time. I think next month I'll take a little break and read some shorter, easier books!

So far I've read
Ice Wolves by Amie Kaufman
and Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi.

They are both middle-grade fantasy books and I really enjoyed both. I think Aru Shah was better written, so I would recommend that before Ice Wolves. Ice Wolves was still super cute though, I mean wolves and dragons!!!

I read The Cruel Prince by Holly Black and it was a fun read. It was fun to go back to YA fantasy for a little bit and it was a good ride even if it was not mindblowing.

I'm happy I chose a more simple read because this month was insane in regards to work and I don't think I would have gotten through this month's challenge otherwise.

I meant to read books by two different authors, but I ended up reading the first four books of the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, so that balances out. I like historical fiction, and it isn't as messy as it could be? Dragons >> people. The fourth book ends on a cliffhanger so I'm ready to take a breather!

I read The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon and I definitely recommend it. The female protagonist has a secret power and attracts the attention of a prince, who also has a secret power.



I also read A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. It honestly felt like Twilight but set in England with characters who pass for 10 years older. You would think it would be more mature, but it's the same ~perfect woman is quirky and captures the attention of a scary vampire with a shady past~ There's a ridiculous scene with vampires, witches, and daemons doing yoga together that was just...extra. Because I am a masochist, I also read the second one, Shadow of Night. That one was even worse. There was no discernible plot, and the author spent the majority of it dropping names of famous history figures that the vampire is friends with.


Fantasy is actually my favorite genre, so if anyone needs help with any recommendations, let me know!

I trend more towards science fiction and horror, so I was a bit apprehensive going into this month. But, I found some good ones and some that I still need to read!

I read 3 books this month for the challenge:

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter - 3 stars - ehhhh. It was okay, nothing groundbreaking and I found the writing pretty tedious and one-note. I didn't really connect with the characters either, but it wasn't bad. I could see how people would like it, but it wasn't for me.

The Abyss Surrounds Us - 5 stars - super fun YA lesbian pirate fantasy, as soon as I finished it I bought copies of it and the sequel. Really looking forward to reading the second book!

Circe - 4 stars - crazy wild ride, definitely reignited my (casual) interest in Greek mythology. Some pacing and writing issues, but overall very enjoyable.

I ended up reading Ginn Hale’s The Rifter series, which was a very classic style portal fantasy series with a central gay male romance. It was split up into 10 novellas/3 omnibus volumes but really it should have been one very long, 1000k fantasy doorstopper novel LOL (if only publishers would EVER accept that as a submission). I really loved it, the fantasy worldbuilding and plot was well done, I loved the characters and the romance and liked that it didn’t feel fetishistic. (I also appreciated that Hale is lgbtq+ and married to a woman. I know there’s still some complexity re: women writing gay romance but I feel like it makes a difference when she actually knows and understands these experiences on some level)

I also finished the last two of the six Penric and Desdemona novellas by Lois McMaster Bujold, as audiobooks. I’m SO sad they’re over, oh my god, I adore them, they have been wonderful comfort reads. I highly recommend any of the novels in her World of the Five Gods universe �� the two Chalion novels are incredible too, really thoughtful fantasy with some unique fantasy protagonists.

I just made it! I read A Darker Shade of Magic and enjoyed it for the most part. My one issue is the underlying incestuous chemistry the author is portraying with Kell and Rhy, I haven't checked yet, but I just know there's a million fanfics of them together ala Thor/Loki teas.

I couldn't get through A Wizard of Earthsea. It's really disappointing because I rarely give up on books and I really wanted to support the author. I will try another one of her works though in the future.

I read Akata Witch and it was alright. Definitely interesting but I felt like it was a bit too similar to Harry Potter. Like there were too many things that were basically just African versions of things JK Rowling wrote like The Knight Bus and Quidditch.

It was a fun book for what it was though, young adult. A great story but just too young for me. I rated it 4/5.

Super late to this but I just finished Cuckoo Song. It was REALLY good.

I am late but I finally read a book that fits this challenge. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik, which is a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. It was faaaaantastic!

I'm going back through the wrap-up threads to double check what months I missed.

I honestly read so many fantasy books by women this whole year! I already commented with a couple but I think my favorite was Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede!!!

While I have a lot of books on my TBR shelf that fit this theme, it still took me quite a while to get around to it.

I'm counting The Astonishing Color of After for this theme. I really enjoyed the book, especially when the protagonist was with her family compared to with her friend.