may and june reads.

Aurora Rising, by Jay Kristoff and Amy Kaufman
I loved this book so much that as soon as I was done I put it right on my "to buy" list.  This is a story featuring a group cast, and if you want to know what they are like, imagine if the kids from The Breakfast Club were also the Guardians of the Galaxy.  It's a great space fantasy with plenty of mystery, fun group dynamics, and characters who are so easy and fun to root for.  I am VERY exciting about shipping a certain couple in the series, and I can't wait for next year's installment.

Radiance, by Grace Draven
I found this to be a very boring, yet very sweet romance that was a fast read.  The couple consists of one human and another who is very obviously not.  By reasons of politics they become betrothed to each other, and the funniest thing about this is that they are physically repulsed by the appearance of the other.  It is kind of the most hilarious conflict to give a couple, and it's also very sweet to watch how they come to care for each other.  My absolutely favorite thing about this book was the part wherein the not-human man describes the grotesqueness of human eyeballs, which I also find freakish and so I could laugh along to the disgusted reaction to them.

We Are Blood and Thunder, by Kesia Lupo
This story was morbidly grotesque, which I suppose is to be expected when one of the main characters has spent their entire life thus far as one who prepares dead bodies for the crypts.  I liked the story okay, but I felt annoyed every time it shifted to Constance's perspective.  I preferred Lena as a character and might have liked a story told entirely from her point of view.

Sky in the Deep, by Adrienne Young
I loved this story very much, I read it in 24 hours.  I expected to enjoy this book, but I didn't not expect to physically ache with emotion as I read it.  I was constantly tearing up throughout with the feelings of loss and betrayal the main character, Eelyn, experienced.  Eelyn has such a great journey in this story, both physically and emotionally, and nothing felt forced or contrived.  My only criticism was with the character Fiske.  He felt a little too one-note for me and even just one scene of him  showing literally any emotion outside his norm would have made me like him more.

The Bird King, by G. Willow Wilson
There were so many lovely passages in this book, my Kindle Clippings doc was out of control with all of my highlights.  I really loved the depth of Fatima and Hassan's friendship and all of their complications and tender moments.  However, throughout the reading of this book I also constantly felt myself thinking I think I could probably stop reading this book right now and not be bothered about it for the rest of my life.  I enjoyed this book enough but also feel a little indifferent about the story as a whole.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely, by Brigid Kemmerer
When I looked into this book to find out what it was about, I saw "Beauty and the Beast retelling" and I was sold.  And although I liked that Harper had opportunities to prove to her brother what she is capable of, I kept thinking throughout the whole book that I was wrong about who my favorite character was.  It was neither main character (Harper and Rhen), each participant in the supposed couple of the story, but Grey, the seemingly minor character who sometimes mediated between Harper and Rhen.  Constantly throughout the story I found myself thinking Okay but what about Grey?  I want to read a story about Grey.  WHY IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER GREY?  And then the ending happened, and because I like to keep things as spoiler-free as possible here I won't say what happens.  But let's just say I'm eager to read next year's follow-up.  Because Grey.

Strange the Dreamer, by Laini Taylor
Muse of Nightmares, by Laini Taylor
Oof, you guys.  I'm not sure I've read something so heartbreaking and maddening in a long time.  Strange the Dreamer was a really lovely story, and Lazlo is such a great character to follow.  I'd follow him anywhere to read about what he does in a place and with the people.  And the story is so great and harrowing and GREAT.  But the ending was so devastating and maybe not wholly unsurprising but I kept telling myself "no, it couldn't possibly be" and then it was and I was so mad about it.  I still am.
So I went into Muse of Nightmares mad, and I wanted my anger to be dealt with and taken away so I could get back to the loveliness and greatness.  But I also didn't want everything to be undone just for the sake of my anger, I wanted it done right.  And guys, it didn't happen.  Which is not to say it couldn't, because the author ended the book with a THE END and then a damn question mark after it.  But this may very well be it.  Even though I'm still a little mad on behalf of all of these characters who have had so much taken away from them through no fault of their own, I can't actually say I hated these books.  I hated what happened to these precious babies (FORKIN' SKATHIS I hope he's burning in Hell right now), but not the story.  The story was good, and the precious babies are good, and dang it, I just want only good things to happen to them.  And I want to read about those things canceling out all the bad things.
I did have an issue of the technical variety with this series, and that was the third person omniscient point of view.  I'm by no means against this POV, and even though the perspective is omniscient, it still usually tells the story through the eyes and mind of one character at a time.  I found that Taylor would switch between characters without warning or transition, often multiple times and through multiple characters in a single chapter.  I found all of this jarring and it really took me out of the story when it did.

To Best the Boys, by Mary Weber
This was a quick, standalone adventure with a good female lead with great allies.  There are also sooooo many micro-aggressions that Rhen, as a young woman, experiences and it was truly infuriating to be confronted with all of the bullshit I've allowed to be said to my face without any pushback.  But of course, this makes Rhen all the easier to root for, especially as she goes up against all the men who have ignored, underestimated, or shamed her.  She is the heroine that basically no one in her city deserves, but we are lucky to read her story,

Nocturna, by Maya Motayne
I was ready to come back to a book with magic, and this was a good one!  I loved Finn the best, and I would follow her to the ends of the earth to find out what she does with her life.  Her and Alfie's relationship and how it evolves from rivals to reluctant allies to friends was really great and very satisfying to read.  The villain was evil, and the dark army was so terrifying so it all made for an intense conflict.  My only issue was that I never actually saw Alfie teetering on that line between light and dark.  I mostly saw him as a purely good person who on one or two occasions did something dumb because his emotions for a loved one was driving him.  None of it seemed truly inexcusable or evil.  But other than that I liked this book a lot and will eagerly await the sequel.

The Tiger at Midnight, by Swati Teerdhala
If you like cat-and-mouse stories, look no further.  Even though it's not really, this book first and foremost seemed like a romance to me because the meeting of Kunal and Esha is literally the very first thing that happens and both characters are struck enough by the other that impressions are made. This isn't a bad thing, but that was my thinking as I made my way through the book.  I had a couple of issues, one being that certain revelations didn't seem earned.  If little bits had been subtly placed throughout the story before the reveals came, I would have been fine, but the ones we got nearly came out of nowhere.  The other was that Kunal's personal revelation that the people he works for are corrupt seemed totally inconsequential because it seemed like it should have been obvious even to him.  Ill-received revelations aside, by the 60% mark I was into the story and I will definitely be reading the next book when it comes out.

The City of Brass, by S.A. Chakraborty
Okay, the world-building in this book happened slowly for me, and I found myself confused and overwhelmed at times.  But things became much clearer as I progressed, and I felt fine by the end.  (I was just a little stressed in the beginning that I felt like I wasn't understanding things right away.)  But right away I really loved the characters Nahri and Ali, and I especially liked reading about their complexities and weaknesses and how they faced the decisions they were presented with throughout the book.  They are awesome, well-developed characters and I am extremely eager to read about them in the next book, which I am on a wait list for.

An Enchantment of Ravens, by Margaret Rogerson
I wanted to read this book because the author had a book come out this month that I am interested in, and I wanted to get a feel for her work.  And, I thought this book was just ok.  The romance was pretty meh for me, it didn't grip me or anything.  I also wasn't crazy about the fairy world or like, any of the characters who came from it.  But, the story was short, and it's a standalone, so it's over and done with.  I still intend to read her new book and am still excited about it, so I'm not necessarily giving up on this author yet.