Thursday Thriller Audio: Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano

Posted on January 19, 2023 7 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano

Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 3.5 of 5 stars

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Series: Book 3 of Finlay Donovan

Publisher: Macmillan Audio (January 31, 2023)

Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Narrator: Angela Dawe

I thought this series was insane before, but somewhere along the way, things took a turn for even more crazy and wildly over-the-top shenanigans. But to that I say, BRING IT ON! These books have gotten so incredibly entertaining that it’s hard to mind too much.

Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun is a continuation of our eponymous protagonist’s epic journey with writer’s block as she struggles to complete her overdue novel for her publisher while trying to raise two kids on her own. On top of that, she is now in debt to the Russian mob after they helped save her ex-husband, and as they like to remind her, she’s not off the hook just because mob boss Feliks Zhirov is in prison. After all, he’s still capable of pulling all the strings behind bars and knows exactly how Finlay can repay the favor owed to him.

Lately, a contract killer only known by their online handle “EasyClean” has been causing problems for Feliks, and the person may secretly even be a police officer. Given Finlay’s closeness to hot cop Nick and the fact that her sister is also on the force, she may be in the perfect position to squirrel out this mysterious assassin. Together with Vero, her nanny and partner-in-crime, they sign up for the police academy’s citizens program in the hopes of sleuthing out the identity of the contract killer. It’s also a win-win situation for Finlay who gets to tell her excited agent that it’s part of the research for her next book, not to mention being at the academy is probably the safest place she and Vero can be while hiding from the mob.

Or is it? What follows next is a hilarious and thrilling week of police training for our characters which include learning how to fire a gun, make an arrest, secure a crime scene, and more—all the while trying to figure out who the mysterious EasyClean might be. But although the plot is humorous, I wouldn’t go quite as far as calling it cozy. Finlay is under a tight deadline in more ways than one, and the consequences of disappointing Feliks would be dire. It also turns out that Vera has a secret and hasn’t been entirely honest with our protagonist about her past.

Then on the lighter side of things, we have the romance. For the last couple of books Finlay’s love life has been a mess, and not going lie, but it was something of a relief to see that the series has finally settled its focus on her and Nick. Let’s face it, the love triangle with Julian thrown into the mix (or even a love square if you count her ex-husband Steven?) would have gotten old and annoying rather quickly. Because these character threads are clearly ongoing and their relationships evolving, I would also recommend against reading these books as standalones because you will be missing a lot, but when they’re this much fun, why wouldn’t you want to start at the beginning?

That being said, I hope the next book will bring some closure to the current arc because I can see there being only so much craziness you can throw at the series before even the fun gets stale. In fact, it might even force the plot into becoming even more ridiculously far-fetched, more unbelievable and extreme, and we all know how too much of a good thing can be bad. Case in point, although I had a great time with Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun, out of the three books so far, admittedly this one also felt the weakest. While the police academy idea was a stroke of comic genius, it limited Finlay and Vera’s involvement and the potential of the plot by putting them into a holding pattern, in contrast to the previous books where the prevailing feeling was that everything was unexpected and that anything goes.

Still, at the end of the day, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun leaves readers with a satisfying conclusion, but there is still the greater mystery to be solved. I’m very eager to find out what happens next. Once again, much credit goes to narrator Angela Dawe for giving voice to our protagonist and making the audiobook a blast to listen to, and I would not hesitate to continue the series in audio.

More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of Finlay Donovan Is killing It (Book 1)
Review of Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead (Book 2)

Waiting on Wednesday 01/18/23

Posted on January 18, 2023 10 Comments

Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at Breaking the Spine but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at Wishful Endings now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!

Mogsy’s Pick

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence (May 9, 2023 by Ace)

“A boy has lived his whole life trapped within a vast library, older than empires and larger than cities.

A girl has spent hers in a tiny settlement out on the Dust where nightmares stalk and no one goes.

The world has never even noticed them. That’s about to change.

Their stories spiral around each other, across worlds and time. This is a tale of truth and lies and hearts, and the blurring of one into another. A journey on which knowledge erodes certainty, and on which, though the pen may be mightier than the sword, blood will be spilled and cities burned.”

Book Review: How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Posted on January 16, 2023 19 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Horror

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Berkley (January 17, 2022)

Length: 400 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Grady Hendrix has made a name for himself for writing horror novels that are slightly bizarre, a little off kilter. As he never shies away from the strange and unexpected, each of his books also tend to possess a unique gimmick or hook, as well as the quintessential ingredient of a thread of dark humor. His latest How to Sell a Haunted House is all of this and more, which is sure to delight his readers and win him new fans.

As the book opens, we are introduced to Louise Joyner, a 39-year-old single mom who has always prided herself on being hardworking, independent, and resourceful. But one night, her entire world unravels with a phone call from her younger brother Mark who informs her that both their parents had just died from a car accident. Filled with shock and grief, Louise reluctantly leaves her 5-year-old daughter Poppy behind with relatives in San Francisco in order to travel cross-country back to her childhood home in South Carolina. There’s much to be done, including helping Mark with the funeral preparations and deciding how to sell their parents’ old house.

But when she arrives, Louise is furious to find that Mark has already set in motion his own plans, many of them against the wishes of herself, other family members, and even those set forth in their parents Eric and Nancy’s will. An epic fight between brother and sister ensues, escalating when it turns out that Mark has been bequeathed almost the entirety of their parents’ estate. Mark, the spoiled and entitled baby of the family, who has always had the world handed to him because he was so helpless, while Louise is the responsible one who has had to work for everything she ever wanted! And now, all she’s left with is Nancy’s substantial “art collection” which spans decades of her mother’s creations, including her vast hoard of handmade dolls and puppets. None of it was fair, and Louise was not about to stand for any of it.

However, while feuding about what to do with the house, both Louise and Mark start noticing something off about the place, and it’s not just the weird sounds coming from the attic. The house is giving off a malicious energy, or so claims their eccentric cousin Mercy who believes it is haunted. And while Louise is tempted to dismiss this as utter nonsense, she also can’t deny that strange things keep happening, and somehow, a part of her just knows it has something to do with her mom’s puppets.

So, anyway, I hate dolls. I can’t stand their frozen blank faces and glassy eyes that just give me the creeps. When I was younger, I couldn’t sleep after the first time I watched the movie Child’s Play and to this day I will not abide any dolls in my house and my daughters understand that they’ll just have to make do without American Girl or Our Generation in their lives.

But now, puppets. In some ways, they’re worse. As anyone who’s ever seen a Punch and Judy style show can probably tell you, they are the stuff of nightmares. For the puppets in this book, my assumption was that most would have been from Louise’s mother’s time with the Christian Puppet Ministry and be no less disturbing with that hair-raising muppet look to them. Dial that creepiness up to eleven and that’s certainly how I pictured Pupkin, the favorite of all of Nancy Joyner’s puppets but who is also the source of so much vexation and sheer terror for our poor protagonist Louise. I’m not going to spoil anything, but suffice to say, if you carry as much antipathy for dolls and puppets as I do, you’ll have a jolly good scary time with this book.

But what I loved most about How to Sell a Haunted House is that it’s not just horror-filled fun and games. I enjoyed the deeper layers of story which offers commentary on the darker side of familial relations. If you think your family is dysfunctional, just wait until you meet Mark and Louise! And yet, while the Joyners’ situation might be a bit extreme, it’s also easy to see how certain aspects of their sibling rivalry can be relatable.

This book also reads so much like a movie, complete with a third act that brings everything together while going full-bore into horror thriller territory. Just when you think things can’t get any crazier, whoops, there’s more!

In sum, How to Sell a Haunted House is very much the horror novel you’d expect in a lot of ways, but also a little more substantial than just shocking violence and cheap frights (though you’ll get plenty of that as well). Once more Grady Hendrix delivered an insanely entertaining novel, and I had a lot of fun reading it.

Bookshelf Roundup 01/15/23: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads

Posted on January 15, 2023 12 Comments

Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I summarize what I’ve finished reading in the last week and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.

Received for Review

My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!

Big thanks to Subterranean Press for a couple of surprise ARCs. Great Work of Time by John Crowley is a reissue of the award winning novella which first appeared in the author’s collection Novelty published in 1989. Then there’s The Dispatcher: Travel by Bullet by John Scalzi which is the third book in the sequence. This one sort of came out of nowhere until I remembered that the book was originally released as an Audible original last year, and soon the print will be released in the spring.

Also thank you to amazing folks at Berkley, I received a finished copy of How to Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix. I’ve already devoured this one and a review is planned for next week. It was pretty intense!

With thanks also to Gallery/Saga Press for sending me a finished copy of Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones. Very excited to start this follow-up to My Heart Is A Chainsaw very soon!

Just one audiobook in the digital haul this week. With thanks to Macmillan Audio for a listening copy of Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo. This is the sequel to Ninth House and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.

Reviews

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie (5 of 5 stars)

Roundup Highlights

What I’ve Been Reading

Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read!

Most Anticipated Releases of 2023: January to March

Posted on January 13, 2023 17 Comments

Weeee, I haven’t done one of these posts in a while! As we dive into another year, it’s time to look ahead to the Science Fiction and Fantasy reads I’m most excited about. I love making lists and I also find it helps me plan my reading schedule by focusing my attention on my review books and highly anticipated releases, so every quarter I’ll be putting together a post of my must-reads.

Believe it or not, this is me being very picky and I’ve already narrowed it down by a lot! While I’m under no illusions that I’ll be able to read them all, hopefully I can get to most of them, and also put some new books on people’s radars. I’ve gotten started on a few of these already, but how about you? What are you most excited for in early 2023?

January

January 1 – Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson

January 3 – The Villa by Rachel Hawkins, All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

January 10 – Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo

January 17 – Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson, What Lies in the Woods by Kate Alice Marshall, The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child, How to Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix

January 24 – Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

January 31 – Children of Memory by Adrian Tchaikovsky, Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano, The Drift by C.J. Tudor, The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz

February

February 7 – The Cradle of Ice by James Rollins, Wild Massive by Scotto Moore, Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones, The Spite House by Johnny Compton, Seven Faceless Saints by M.K. Lobb

February 14 – The Tyranny of Faith by Richard Swan, Hopeland by Ian McDonald

February 21 – Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder, Murder at Haven’s Rock by Kelley Armstrong, Sea Castle by Andrew Mayne, Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth, The Magician’s Daughter by H.G. Parry, Nocturne by Alyssa Wees

February 28 – The Angel Maker by Alex North, She Is A Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran, Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury

March

March 1 – Mothered by Zoje Stage

March 7 – Arca by G.R. Macallister, The Last Beekeeper by Julie Carrick Dalton, Conquer the Kingdom by Jennifer Estep, The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten, Weyward by Emilia Hart

March 14 – Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai, Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo

March 28 – Infinity Gate by M.R. Carey, Rubicon by J.S. Dewes, A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher, The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill by Rowena Miller, Loki’s Ring by Stina Leicht

Waiting on Wednesday 01/11/23

Posted on January 11, 2023 9 Comments

Mogsy’s Pick

The Only One Left by Riley Sager (June 20, 2023 by Dutton)

“Bestselling author Riley Sager returns with a Gothic chiller about a young caregiver assigned to work for a woman accused of a Lizzie Borden-like massacre decades earlier.

At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope

Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.

Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life

It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.

“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead

As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought.”

Book Review: Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

Posted on January 10, 2023 20 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie

Mogsy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Genre: Horror

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Redhooks (January 24, 2023)

Length: 464 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Episode Thirteen was my first book by Craig DiLouie, and maybe it’s because I’m a fan of epistolary novels or the fact that I have a strong penchant for found footage horror movies, but I loved it!

Our story begins by introducing readers to husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin who are the stars of Fade to Black, the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. Supported by a dedicated crew which includes cameraman Jake Wolfson, head tech guy Kevin Linscott, and actress Jessica Valenza, together they visit so-called haunted houses around the country to capture evidence of paranormal activities or to try to debunk them. Matt, a true believer ever since an eerie experience in his childhood, is keen on trying to prove to the world that ghosts exist, while Claire is like the Scully to his Mulder, using her science background to explain away the unexplainable. While on the surface they may seem like an odd couple, the truth is the two of them are deeply in love, and the audience also eats up their onscreen dynamic.

But in order to keep their ratings up, both Matt and Claire know that Fade to Black is going to need something fresh. Fortunately, the team has just gotten a new lead on a fantastic location. Out in Virginia sits the Foundation House, notorious for its role in the disappearance of five paranormal research scientists back in the early 70s. Ever since then, strange happenings have been recorded at the house, and Matt believes with all his heart that it is haunted. Finally, this was his chance to put his show on the map! But his wife, on the other hand, is not so sure. True to form, she’s not convinced there’s anything wrong with Foundation House aside from its aging infrastructure, but on top of that, she is also starting to question her role on the show.

In fact, all the team members are struggling with some conflict in their lives, with their fates hanging on the success of episode thirteen. Upon their arrival at Foundation House though, it’s clear that they’ve hit the jackpot. The old mansion is everything Matt has ever dreamed of, filled to the brim with paranormal potential and opportunities for killer footage. But as the cameras start rolling, the old mansion delivers more than any of them could have bargained for.

First off, I love haunted house stories, and Episode Thirteen is a very good haunted house story. I always like it when the genre surprises me, and this novel does have a few unique offerings up its sleeve. Its format is perhaps the most obvious thing to come to mind, as the entire plot is presented to us via a series of documents like emails, texts, and other correspondence mixed in with transcripts of filmed footage, journal entries, news articles and more. Through this fascinating lens, even the most usual and common of genre trappings seem to take on a new and different flavor.

I’m also impressed with how much character development was managed through this unconventional approach to storytelling. Using creative methods to reveal everyone’s backstories, we find out how everyone got to be involved with Fade to Black and their motivations for wanting the show to succeed, beyond just doing it for the ratings. In some instances, the various characters’ goals align, while at other times they clash. Neither is everyone as honest as they should be in how they represent themselves to each other and to the reader. The longer they all stay at the house, the more it also starts messing with their minds.

At first, it was the little things—objects being moved, electrical fluctuations, and other anomalies. Soon though, the characters discover the house has a lot more in store, and its powers are beyond anything they can imagine. I wouldn’t say this book scared me, even though it had its moments. But mostly its strengths are in the story’s atmosphere and the fact that it came through so well despite the epistolary style. I also devoured this novel simply because the format was so addictive. Things moved at a quick pace and there were never any lulls, not to mention the plot was just so entertaining.

All told, Episode Thirteen was a fun and gripping read that’s sure to leave a lasting impression. Craig DiLouis masterfully builds an atmosphere of dread and unease throughout the book while also developing his characters into fully fleshed and relatable figures. I really can’t believe it’s taken me this long to finally read one of his books! If you are a horror fan and you love haunted house stories and don’t mind epistolary novels, I highly recommend picking this up.

2023 Audiobook Challenge

Posted on January 9, 2023 20 Comments

All right, new year, new audiobook challenge! Let’s do this! Caffeinated Reviewer and That’s What I’m Talking About are hosting this annual event again in 2023, and below you’ll see the challenge details as well as the different levels.

If you want to take part, make sure to check out the sign-up page for this year’s challenge, and also head on over to the Goodreads group. We hope you’ll join us!

Challenge Details

Runs January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023. You can join at any time.
The goal is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2023 than you did in 2022.
Books must be in audio format (CD, MP3, etc.)
ANY genres count.
Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads, Facebook, etc. I recommend creating a shelf on Goodreads titled 2023 Audiobook Challenge. You can keep track and link the shelf.
If you’re a blogger grab the button and do a quick post about the challenge to help spread the word. If you’re not a blogger you can help by posting on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Tweet about the challenge.
Updates plus a giveaway will be posted twice during the year. The first update will be July 2, 2023, and the last update will take place on December 30, 2023. You’ll have one week to link up and share your progress

Achievement Levels

What level will you choose?

Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5
Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10
Stenographer (can listen while multitasking) 10-15
Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20
Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30
My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30+
Marathoner (Look Ma No Hands) 50+
Over-Achiever (Power Listener) 75+
The 100 Club (Audiobook Addict) 100+

Last year I aimed for 50 audiobooks and fell 7 short. I should probably scale back this year, but screw that! Marathoner, here we come again!

What about you? Do you listen to audiobooks, and if so, will you try the challenge? Let me know your thoughts!

Bookshelf Roundup 01/08/23: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads

Posted on January 8, 2023 6 Comments

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Received for Review

My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!

Some interesting new arrivals this week! With thanks to Minotaur Books for a finished copy of The Devil You Know by P.J. Tracy, the third book of the Detective Margaret Nolan series which I’ve heard some great things about. Also thank you to Simon & Schuster/Aladdin Books for a review copy of City Spies: City of the Dead by James Ponti, the fourth book of the series. My daughter and I really enjoyed the previous book, which could be read as a standalone (and I assume this one can too) so I’m looking forward to checking it out. And with thanks to Grand Central Publishing for a review copy of The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It’s part of the Aloysius Pendergast series and I cannot wait to read another book by these authors again!

In the digital haul, with thanks to Simon & Schuster Audio for listening copies of Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson and VAMPS: Fresh Blood by Nicole Arend. I was also excited to receive an ALC of Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano, with thanks to Macmillan Audio. And finally, my copy of Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson hit my inbox earlier this week. I backed the Kickstarter and the backer perks are now starting to roll in! I can’t wait to start this!

Reviews

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett (5 of 5 stars)
All The Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford (4 of 5 stars)

Roundup Highlights:

What I’ve Been Reading

Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read!

YA Weekend: The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford

Posted on January 7, 2023 9 Comments

I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.

The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Inkyard Press (December 6, 2022)

Length: 400 pages

Author Information: Website | Twitter

At first I didn’t know what I was expecting when I picked up The Poison Season, but I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I would. This light fantasy romance with touches of a fairy tale takes place in a remote forest where a small island rests in the middle of a poisonous lake. No one really knows how the waters became poisoned, but it will kill anything that tries to cross it.

But the lake also protects those who live on the island, called Endla. Born and raised there, Leelo has spent her entire life hearing stories of how dangerous outsiders are and how they would destroy her home if they had a chance. The Endlans have developed a culture around song, using the magic in their singing to communicate with the creatures of the forest as well as to manipulate human minds. With these powers, they also make sacrifices to the island and guard it from intrusion from outsiders.

But the risks do not come only from without. Endlans are so protective of their secrets that they will even banish their own people if they do not show an aptitude for magic by their twelfth birthday. Unfortunately, Leelo’s own younger brother is deemed unmagical and is set to be exiled, causing her and their mother no small amount of grief. In her sorrow, Leelo goes to be alone by the lake and spies a young man on the other shore. In spite of him being an outsider, she waves to him.

Jaren is from the nearby village, who never believed in magic before he and his family moved here, but very quickly he is realizing there is more to Endla than meets the eye. One day, while escaping from an unnaturally vicious wolf, Jaren tries to cross the lake to the island in an act of desperation to get away, and almost drowns. He is saved by a pale-haired girl, whom he recognizes as the one who waved to him. But what he doesn’t realize is that by saving him, Leelo has put them both in danger. For it was her duty as a watcher to kill any outsider she should encounter, and if she is to be found harboring Jaren, the consequences for her could be deadly.

I loved that The Poison Season never tries to be more than it is, a trait which is actually quite refreshing in a YA novel. The gist of the premise is simple, and the scope of the world-building small yet fascinating and satisfying. The entire story takes place around the poison lake, and the lore surrounding it has the vibe of a dark fairy tale.

This spare approach also means more time and attention given to developing the characters. Leelo is a protagonist the reader can sympathize and connect with—headstrong and determined, but still deemed too softhearted by her aunt and cousin who see weakness in Leelo’s refusal to sacrifice animals or even in her love for her soon-to-be-banished brother. Right away, readers gather that Endlans are a hard people. They do what must be done in order to survive and protect their way of life from outsiders. Of course, that Leelo has a more contemplative side and does not fall in line unquestioningly kind of makes her a bit of an outsider herself.

It made the resulting romance between her and Jaren much more convincing and natural. Theirs was a love story that I found sweet and captivating. Just as the main plot was a slowburn, so was the romance arc. The dual POVs of Leelo and Jaren gave readers a look into both sides of the relationship to see how their feelings developed mutually. Overall, I thought it was a well-written romance that had genuine chemistry.

Bottom line, this was an uncomplicated but enjoyable novel about magic and romance that had the alluring quality of a fairy tale. I can count on one hand the number of Young Adult books I read in 2022, but I’m glad that The Poison Season was one of them.