Ricky Pine's Blog

Better in Black by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though Cassie Clare has been on a long hiatus from the greater Shadowhunter world, and emphasizing The Chronicles of Castellane far more, this collection of romantic short stories is a welcome trip back to her signature series. Couples from every Shadowhunter era are represented, although my faves are definitely the ones from TMI and TID. Particularly when Tessa is involved. And Clary. And Simon and Izzy. And th...

Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

By his own admission, Travis Baldree often has trouble writing the next book in this series, and this time it really showed more than before. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a welcome change to see Fern, that adorably foul mouthed rattkin, as the principal POV character this time around. She sure grew on me a lot in Bookshops & Bonedust, and clearly on Baldree himself too. But this book also takes the chance of b...

The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Marissa Meyer, after a few years pivoting away to contemporary YA, returns to her fantasy and fairytale retelling roots with a new standalone piece that’s très français, and unexpectedly dark on top of that. Inspired by the old tale of Bluebeard, this book follows a young witch with limited powers as she takes on a job from a guy said to be related to Monsieur le Bleu himself, and Monsieur is, how you say, maybe ...

Maieman: Paradox by D.L. Hannah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

D.L. Hannah is back with the start of a fourth series in her universe of interplanetary royal drama, now focusing on a new young king, Jonah, rising up to rule the world of Maieman. This new world is probably the closest we’ll be able to get to old Coldarius at this point in the timeline, particularly with its blue-forward aesthetic - especially the blue lemons and other fruit of a different color. (Giving me flash...

The Rebel and the Rose by Catherine Doyle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The très français sort of YA romantasy saga continues, and as with its predecessor, Catherine Doyle’s newest tale had a very long waitlist at the library for me. In the end, this one is not ending a duology, and thank God for that…but this book definitely feels like it caught a classic case of Sophomore Slump Syndrome. It’s lovely and French, but it’s also long in its lavishness and moves events forward w...

The Strength of the Few by James Islington
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

James Islington’s long awaited return to the world of the Hierarchy…well, more accurately, worlds, after that big time multiversal twist at the end of the first book. But yes, we’re now following Vis across three separate universes, his original Romanesque one plus two additional timelines modeled on Celtic (particularly Welsh and Irish) traditions, and one modeled on the ancient Egyptian underworld (I ...

The Whyte Python World Tour by Travis Kennedy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change…”
-The Scorpions

Though that Scorps song captures the optimism of the end of the Cold War very well, it’s nothing on the wacky, action-packed antics of this fictional account, ce...

Eternal Ruin by Tigest Girma
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Tigest Girma returns to the world of Uxlay in her Ethiopian vampiric dark academia trilogy for the second bloody - and just a tad bit spicy - round of fantasy politicking and power grabbing. Though it’s a long book, it doesn’t catch quite as much of a bad case of Sophomore Slump as you might think. Especially with the ongoing story thread of House Adane being in danger of losing their position in the hierarchy, which ...

King Sorrow by Joe Hill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Joe Hill's always been his father's son, but never does it feel more apparent than in this latest epic novel, his first in a decade, almost 900 pages of sprawling dark academia fueled by CIA-grade weed and other pharmaceuticals. Think Death Note meets Ninth House, but instead of a sole sociopath who happens to come across Death's book, or a troubled young woman swept into a secret society in the Ivies, we have a ragtag ban...

JanIus: Platirius vs JanIus by D.L. Hannah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It took a little longer than expected for me to finally get around to ordering this book after I moved to my new place…and when I did get it, this trilogy was officially completed with Hannah’s signature slow burn and then boom! Accelerated tension as all the twists of the previous books finally come to light for our heroes. And mercifully, this isn’t the end of the line for this universe, as this book a...