So what have you been reading?

After only reading this comic when someone shares it on social media I knew I would enjoy this and boy was I right. I wasn’t planning on tearing through it in one read but it was impossible to stop. Now I need to get the rest of the comics. I didn’t feel at all left out since this isn’t the first collection. Most of these comics are self-contained and self-explanatory. Brain is being logical and heart lets his emotions take control. A fun and entertaining read and I now need to pick up more of them.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

My library was offering several short stories as audio books so I gave it a try.

I read a lot of Seanan’s McGuire’s stuff and I wasn’t disappointed in this at all. It is a standalone story and give a good sense of what makes a great writer. The story covers a teen girl whose mother is a real mermaid with the carnival she travels with. As the story unfolds you find out that this is the only life she has ever known and everyone is family. But they have returned to a town they haven’t been to in 17 years and some people have a long memory. A good buildup and a bittersweet ending to this story.

No spoilers on this one. This book starts out with a karaoke bachelorette party and things are going great but this is a Toby book and that will not last. Amandine shows up and demands that Toby do her detective thing and find her older half-sister that she doesn’t know and has been missing for over 100 years. Things that have been hinted about for in previous books are stated outright in this one. There is a prophecy that has been hinted at in the series that is mentioned in this one. Toby’s mother will never win any awards as mother of the year and even with her saving Toby’s life in previous books you have to wonder even more about her in what she says and does in this book.
As much as I like Toby I think I like the Seawitch even more. Luidaeg has gotten the short end of the stick thanks to geas placed on her. She does what she can within the framework that she is bound to and she tries very hard in this book to do it.
I really need to do a reread especially on everything that Amandine shows up in. And for the reader there is a bit of a reminder of past books in this one. Actions from previous books always seem to shape the future stories in this series and that is a good thing.

There is a novella at the end told from the viewpoint of April O’ Leary and Toby does make and appearance in it. All I will say is reread A Local Habitation to remind yourself of things that happened to get the best out of this story. I do admit that I really like the extra stories at the end of the books lately and that they are a different viewpoint character in the series is just the cherry on top.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Set a few months after the previous book our heroine is having a bit a crisis. There hasn’t been any demon activity for her to fight and Aveda/Annie have to face the fact that for the last decade she hasn’t been the best friend she should have to Evie her childhood best friend/ assistant/ and now superhero partner. The book has Annie doing things to try and make amends for being a jerk to her friends for a long time and to be a better person. When Evie gets engaged Annie sees this as her ticket to make it be the best wedding for her friend. Things don’t always work out and there are some hurt feelings but in the end the bad guy that pops up during the wedding planning gets taken care of and the wedding turns out to be great.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

I first started this thinking it was the end of the trilogy only to find out that it is now five books and I am fine with that. I couldn’t see how they would get to a good ending by the end of this book and warning it does end on a cliffhanger.
You find out more about Burners and they are not all the same just as it is with the Library. Jess and Morgan develop more of their relationship and Morgan finds out more about her powers. I don’t want to give much away about what happens in Philadelphia but hard choices are made and people will have to live with their decisions. A good read and I always enjoy the bits of backstory and history of the world that is inserted in to give more color to this universe.

Digital review copy from the publisher through NetGalley

The books in this series build on one another but there is quite a bit of info repeated for a new reader of the series not to be lost on the what and why of the story. Events that happened in the first book shaped Holly one of the two main characters this book focus on. The other one is Viper, a vampire that his creation made him different than other vampires. Because of how Holly was turned, Viper has been working with her training even if most of it has been long distance. The two of them are oil and water in the beginning but he does help her with developing her power set and finding out who has put a bounty out on her capture.

Overall a good story and ties into the first book which makes for a good overall story arc in the long run. One of the things I like the most about this writer. She creates interesting settings and has good use of a large cast of characters that are featured in different books. Can’t wait for the next one.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

I’m not a follower of this comic but I have seen several over the years that friends have shared over social media. There are running gags about breaking the fourth wall that are amusing and certainly self-depreciating to the creator. This comic is read for the jokes and not for any amazing graphics but it is well worth the read.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

This one starts out with Ivy and Harley on vacation in the Caribbean but doesn’t last for more than in issue. The main meat of the plot in this one is the Joker has come to be with Harley and she is not happy about it in the least. I liked this one a bit better than the previous collection. Harley is a complicated character and her motivations in the ongoing storyline show it.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

This is set in the same universe as Every Heart a Doorway and you will recognize the main characters but you don’t need to know anything about that book to enjoy this one. Jacqueline and Jillian are twins that have parents that expect certain things from them and don’t seem to care that those choices may not be what the girls either need or want. When they are five, the one person that loved them and wanted the best for them was sent away during the night the girls came to realize that they couldn’t trust adults. As they grew apart helped along by the different goals each parent had for them a door opened in the room they were never allowed to go into anymore, their grandmother’s room and the one person who loved them with all her heart.

The girls go in the door and live for years following two separate but entwined destinies in a small village on the moor of a land with a different moon in the sky. Choices are made by both the girls that are shaped in part by how they were raised and paths they decided to take while they live in the village.

After finishing this I really want to go back and reread Every Heart a Doorway so I can see the twins again.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Netgalley

Set after the main line Fables stories have ended several fables are still here and working for an agency trying to protect the world from the new magic. Connor Wolf is now grown and after a quick cameo by his parents he goes to work for the new agency. Sent out with the team on a mission on his first day with no team training he uses his initiative when things don’t go to plan. The good news is this works and they uncover the group that is stealing the objects and what they want them for.

After reading the first arc and a one-shot story added in this volume it left me cold. Yes, there was interesting stuff seeded into the plot that you know will come out later on down the story line but for the most part I don’t feel that motivated to read any more of them. Maybe I’ll change my mind if other people I know are reading it and loving it I might give it another shot.

Review copy provided by the publisher through Edelweiss

/>