JOMP Book Photo Challenge

Blood Over Bright Haven || M.L. Wang ★★★★★ Started: 01.02.2025 Finished: 08.02.2025 An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to achieve the impossible: to be the first woman ever admitted to the High Magistry. When she finally claws her way up the ranks to become a highmage, however, she finds that her challenges have just begun. Her new colleagues will stop at nothing to let her know she is unwelcome, beginning with giving her a janitor instead of a qualified lab assistant. What neither Sciona nor her peers realize is that her taciturn assistant was once more than a janitor; before he mopped floors for the mages, Thomil was a nomadic hunter from beyond Tiran’s magical barrier. Ten years have passed since he survived the perilous crossing that killed his family. But working for a highmage, he sees the opportunity to finally understand the forces that decimated his tribe, drove him from his homeland, and keep the Tiranish in power. Through their fractious relationship, mage and outsider uncover an ancient secret that could change the course of magic forever—if it doesn’t get them killed first. Sciona has defined her life by the pursuit of truth, but how much is one truth worth with the fate of civilization in the balance? Reading this line in the book description: “Magic has made the city of Tiran an industrial utopia, but magic has a cost—and the collectors have come calling.”, I thought the Bright Haven would come under an external threat that would have to be alleviated. What really happens is much more insidious, much more sinister, and much harder to combat, let alone overcome. The result is an exceptional standalone fantasy novel in the vein of R.F. Kuang's Babel.

Indigo || Chi-Ho Kwong, Chi-Kit Kwong ★★★☆☆ Started: 19.02.2025 Finished: 19.02.2025 Thank you to NetGalley, Mad Cave Studios and Nakama Press for providing me with an ARC and giving me the opportunity to share my honest review. "Indigo" follows the story of Ella Summer, a reporter at a magazine that chases urban legends and conspiracy theories; with the suspicious death of her university professor, Ella's life is suddenly turned upside down, as things she thought were outlandish turn out to be very real after all. If you're interested in conspiracy theories, this graphic novel is perfect for you. The story is very fast-paced and action-packed, occasionally bordering on being a bit confusing. There is some build-up towards the big reveal, however I think it would have been better if we had been kept in suspense a little while longer. Ultimately, the plot felt rushed, and it's because of that that I can't give "Indigo" a higher rating. That, and the fact that it leans quite heavily into a particularly outlandish conspiracy theory that I personally don't buy. On the flip side, the art is magnificent. The first few pages are in full color, and the artwork is simply dreamy, and the art style translates really well into the black-and-white pages of the story proper.

Hungerstone || Kat Dunn ★★☆☆☆ Started: 24.02.2025 Finished: 14.03.2025 Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for providing me with an ARC and giving me the opportunity to share my honest review. "Hungerstone" is, ostensibly, a very well-researched and painstakingly crafted novel, that unfortunately amounts to very little. Yes, the clothing and the cuisine described are era-appropriate, but they only make the novel tedious, at times even dull. By contrast, the characters seem to have been afforded less thought - the husband is a painfully one-dimensional caricature of a robber baron, the Carmilla of Dunn is nowhere near as eloquent as Le Fanu's, oftentimes she is simply rude to the point you can't understand how anyone could find her alluring, and the protagonist, Lenore, flounders through the pages, puppeteered, at different times, by her husband and then by Carmilla. She psychoanalyzes herself like a modern woman, unequivocally finding the roots of her problems in her traumatic childhood, and yet does nothing with that insight until Carmilla prods her into action. There is a lot of telling instead of showing, a lot of unambiguous hammering of the author's ideas that makes for a mostly unpleasant reading experience - the reader is not allowed to draw their own conclusions at any point, everything is conveniently spelled out on the page. In short, "Hungerstone", much like "Our Hideous Progeny", is a lukewarm (at best) retelling of a much more competent, enticing, exciting novel, interspersed with poorly planted 21st century feminism, that ends up being a mind-numbingly tedious experience. I can recognize the effort that went into this work, but just because something takes a lot of time and research, doesn't mean it's good.

compilation of all the beautiful illustrations by Howard Lyon in Tress of the Emerald Sea. for the audiobook girlies

Cursed Bread || Sophie Mackintosh ★★★★★ Started: 07.10.2024 Finished: 30.10.2024 One of my favourite reads from last year, Cursed Bread is a short, but stunningly well-written character study of the inhabitants of the small town of Pont-Saint-Esprit, the setting of a 1951 mass poisoning, suspected to be caused by pain maudit (cursed bread). Most notably, the novel follows Elodie, the baker's wife, and her unhealthy infatuation with the ambassador and his mysterious, alluring wife, Violet.

A Language of Dragons || S.F. Williamson ★★★★☆ Started: 23.04.2025 Finished: 05.05.2025 London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivian Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war. With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die. I'll come clean - I only got this book because of the stunning international edition with the blue cover and sprayed edges. Luckily, the content did not let me down either - the main plotline of cracking the secret dragon code / language was fascinating. The advertised enemies to lovers romance was, truthfully, barely enemies to lovers at all, but since that was never the main draw for me, I didn't mind this one bit. And though at times A Language of Dragons feels a little too ostensibly "Babel meets Fourth Wing", with heavy emphasis on the Babel influence, it was overall still a very enjoyable read.

More sketches from The Will of the Many! I loveeeee these two and I want to see more of them ofc.

halloween turtle 🎃

★★★★☆ “She gazes at Agamemnon and says, “I do not forget.” As far as post-Madeline Miller myth retellings go, this is fairly good. Sure, Helen is still a frail waif, but this novel isn't about her, per se, so I can't take much issue with that, not with how Clytemnestra is written - brutal, unforgetting, unforgiving. Testament to how much a story is set to gain if authors choose to give their mythical heroines a spine, truly. Much like in Daughters of Sparta, I would have loved for the story to cover her death, especially since I have a feeling Casati would do the scene justice, but nevertheless, Clytemnestra was a worthwhile experience.