I'm Immy. I suck at being a witch, but make up for it with mad style. What, you don't believe me? Ask my demon roommates. Yeah, the plushie-loving softie and the one set on world domination. I check in rental cars for supernatural customers leaving town, so I score whatever they ditch before they get on a plane home—and lemme tell you, they leave some weird stuff behind. Weird enough that sometimes it's a toss-up if it'll help pay the bills, or cause the next best thing to an apocalypse. I really don't wanna start an apocalypse, but c'mon, I gotta eat. What's a girl to do?
From the ADHD rep to the snark and wittiness of the protagonist, either this is just the author for me or SHE NEEDS TO BE DISCOVERED IMMEDIATELY. I believe the latter is true so I refuse to shut up about this author for the future, sorry.
Her humor is mine, and this is hard to find in a book. She's got demon roommates, one of which is a total sweetheart and afraid of dust that has an emotional support unicorn, and one that lives in the mirror in a "very scary" domain.
I won't say anything else as to prevent spoilers, but this book has it all.
It's clean but there's still romantic tension. There's a clear plot with a lot of creative world building and each side quest helps with character development AND the plot, which is so hard to do.
4,5 ⭐️ I really liked this book! Even though it was way longer than it probably would have been, if the original form hadn't been released a chapter at a time, I didn't find it tiring. I enjoyed all the characters and their journeys and all the different relationships. I'm looking forward to the next instalment! I think I might just go to Nia's website and read some more of her stuff!
After listening to Wreck of Witches earlier this year I was excited to pick up this series as well. And as it has the same narrator as Wreck of Witches, I went for the audio version of Sigils & Sushi. I loved this book, I wasn't quite sure what to expect at first, but I quickly got hooked. This book feels so fresh and original. It reads like urban fantasy, but also different than most urban fantasy books. Paranormal creatures are everywhere and the book is filled with them as well as magic. The world building was so well done and all the characters feel real and have their own personalities. I really like this author's writing style and both of her books so far landed on my favorites of 2023 list, I can't wait for more!
Sigils & Sushi follows the point of view of Immy, she's a witch with chaotic magic that doesn't always follow her wishes. She lives with 2 demon roommates. And she works at a car rental company, where she stumbles upon a dangerous looking artifact and takes it home and quickly she has a whole horde of tugs after her to steal the artifact. I really liked reading about Immy, she's such a vibrant and interesting character to read about and I loved following her story. The ADHD representation was really well done, I really liked how being an ADHD'er is an integral part of her personality and the way it's sprinkled throughout the book, with frequent scenes where it pops up, felt very realistic.
This book is also filled with amazing vibrant side characters. Every side character has their own personality and I could easily remember who is who. I like the narrator and how she conveys a different vibe for each side character and the way she voices them fits their personality, which is great. I really liked most side characters and how each interacted with Immy. I was especially fond of Bracchius and Cucumber was quite the fun character too and then there's Aster who was so fun so read about as well.
The plot is well done and the main plot line about the artifact continues throughout the book and gets resolved at the end, making the book have a clear ending, while still leaving enough room for more stories. I am glad to hear this will be a series and there will be more books. There are side plot lines throughout, as well as these fun little seemingly random scenes, many of which still tie back to the main plot or character related plot lines. The world building is done really well. It's like every possible paranormal creature exists and while there isn't a lot of detail about each of them, the way they got described and how the city accommodates all these creatures made the world come alive and I really liked the vibe of it.
I really like Amy Hall's narration for this book. She does the different voices really well and gives every character their own vibe to match their personality, which makes it even easier to tell everyone apart.
To summarize: I really enjoyed this book. It's well written with an engaging plot, awesome characters that each have their own personality and a vibrant magical world that really comes alive. I loved this book and quickly got hooked. It feels pretty fresh and original. I liked reading about Immy, she's such a fun and interesting characters to read about. I thought her ADHD was well written and felt very realistic. All the side characters have their own personality and vibe and the narrator enhanced this by how she did the different voices, which made it easy to remember who was who. The plot was engaging and kept my interest, there's some action as well as fun moments. The ending wrapped up the plot about the artifact while leaving enough room for more books. The world feels very vibrant and really comes alive with all the different paranormal creatures that live in the city and all the magic. I can't wait to read whatever this author writes next!
This is so far really quite funny but seemingly without an end in sight. The book is currently offered on Kindle Vella (10\22) at the moment. This means that short chapters are released at certain times. I find this annoying as I'd prefer to read on through to an end and with only needing to pay per book rather than per short chapter. That all aside, its quirky cute with some funny characters.
3.5 edging toward 4 stars? This was an amusing, entertaining read. Immy is a witch with magic control issues and two demon roommates. Struggling to make ends meet, she "acquires" various left behinds at her job in a car rental...money, food, paranormal artifacts she shouldn't be messing with! And this time that artifact has gotten her in a world of trouble. Trying to figure out what it is and who is the appropriate person to safely give it to....since the person who left it in the rental car is not answering her messages...Immy must navigate the craziness she has been dropped into and collects a menagerie of characters to help along the way. My main concern was the depth of some of the characters. Now it is Book#1 so development can take time and may progress across installments. However, for as big a part they played in Immy's life, I couldn't get a handle on her demon roommates, Kor and Bracchius. Are the demons without substance? Not solid creatures? When they "change forms", it still seems like they are made of smoke? I may have missed something, but that was my take on them and it was difficult to truly picture them in my mind. However, as I said, her screwball friends keep Immy and the reader on their toes and laughing. And the ending was interesting enough to want to see what other mischief this group could find.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
** This is one of my first fantasy books in this style. So my review feels slighted.** I enjoyed the story throughout the entire book. It is a simple story following a character on her journey. You meet lots of characters along the way and follow her different challenges.
I was interested and focused on the story for about 60% of the book. The first 20% I was trying to figure out all the characters and the world we live in. As I do not read a lot of high fantasy (I think I used that right. Most of my fantasies are vampires or dystopian) I felt like I really needed to focus to figure out what the world we were in was like. As well as it took me a minute to keep all of the characters separated and to figure out who they all were. Once I felt like I knew what was happening, the story really drew me in! The last 20% of the book, I honestly was just waiting for it to end… The audiobook was just much longer than I would have enjoyed for this style of book. I would have rather seen it around 300 pages/8-12 hours. But this is definitely a personal preference. The story never felt like it was just adding random things, I just felt like it was long.
The characters were quite cute and lovely throughout the entire story. They each have their own personalities, even the minor/side characters, which I absolutely loved.
Thank you to NetGalley Giveaways for this audiobook!!
Immy is a weak witch struggling to make ends meet despite her two demon roommates. When she finds a mysterious artifact at her job, her already chaotic life becomes more hectic as she finds herself evading stalkers and attackers intent on retrieving said artifact. Can Immy keep her ADHD in check long enough to find a safe and responsible owner for the strange artifact?
Sigils and Sushi is an amazingly fun romp with a main character with the attention span of a cracked out hamster. Immy has an amusing worldview and is extremely relatable and charming. Her limitations are real, and she has to utilize her friends, her wits, and her environment to address challenges. The world building is immersive, and the side characters are fully realized. My only complaint was that certain loose ends were not fully addressed at the end of the book, and given Immy's ADHD, are likely not going to be answered in further books.
Overall an excellent urban fantasy book that will have giggling to yourself regularly.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Boy, oh boy! Does Immy sure know how to get herself into all sorts of things, doesn't she?! This book was a cute and fun read that I very much enjoyed. I was lucky enough to win a signed version of this book in a giveaway, and I'm extremely glad I took the chance to enter it in the first place. When the book arrived, I was slightly surprised to see just how big it was in person, but after reading it, I can see exactly why it's the size that it is!
Immy is a chaos witch to the core, and the author, Nia Quinn, did a great job in capturing all of her quirky little details. I also enjoy the work she put in with the vast array of side characters (some of whom I wish we had gotten just a smidgen more of in this book *ahem* Fitz and Cynna). But I can see how this particular story has so much potential to see all of the characters grow individually and together in later stories, which is super exciting.
Another fun part of this book is the "random" nostalgia references to books, TV, and the culture/area Immy clearly grew up in. It made for a fun read, not knowing where things were going to land next; and I look forward to reading more from this author in the future!
I received a free e-copy of this book via Storygraph Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.
I LOVED this book! The characters, the world-building, the plot... everything about it was just fabulous. The main character, Immy, is so fun and very relatable. I loved the whole, diverse, cast of characters but my favourite would have to be Bracchius (and Sparkles). He's just the sweetest little demon ever! And Kor is a super fun contrast. Aster, the tiniest vampire, was also a highlight. The idea of this world, with humans and supernatural beings living side by side is fantastic. I loved the blend of magic and technology and all the pop culture references were very fun. It's very fast-paced and the author's writing style is so easy to read. The chapters are pretty short, and I found myself reading loads in one go. The book had just the right amount of slice-of-life, jeopardy and humour. I really enjoyed this book, and would love to read more from this author :)
This story was a riot. The main character Immy's inner monologues were a riot and what she has to deal with just made me laugh. Poor Immy actually does the right thing at the beginning of the story and leaves a message for the person who left something in their rental car. But this seems to open up a lot of crazy as things goes sideways and Immy has to stay alive and figure things out. I laughed through most of it. Enjoyed the story and all the characters introduced. Plus enjoyed the world building and the random odd stuff referenced and twisted to fit this wild world. Just entertaining and had to see what would happen next, the surprises that came along and whatever else would surprise me.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I read the first 20 or so chapters as a kindle Vella book last year (?) and though I had enjoyed it, books have not translated well from Vella to a full edition in the past for me. This time, I was really happy to be wrong. This was edited well, the ending wasn’t awkward and set up well for a second book. It didn’t meander or ramble, and the pace was well set for the course of the story. The plot of finding who is involved with the “abandoned” artifact was unspooled well- there was enough time to introduce all the characters, and find fun before getting into the main plot. I can now say I’m happily looking forward to the second book.
This world is immersive and at the same time wonderfully weird and recognizable.
It's urban fantasy at it's best, where creatures of fantasy and modern techniques are fused and exist together.
But one of the things I, personally, appreciated a lot was the sayings that are tuned to the books world, kudos to the writer for making me chuckle a lot at the stranger than usual exclamations.
There is always something happening, but it's not always big action scenes, though those are certainly in there as well, it's bonding with roommates and old and new friends as well, in sometimes strange situations.
Follow witch Immy and her kind of chaotic friends around for an adventure I was chuckling about for long after I finished the book.
Fun urban fantasy with lots of mishaps, friend adventures and lots of cute cuddly (some of them) demons and a unicorn toy. You get your money’s worth, as this is a big book. I realised at the end reading the authors words that this had been written as a series of chapter posts, brought together in a book. Which explained to me, while fun, why there seemed to be lots of extra fluff not really needed for the story that in other circumstances would probably have been edited out. I look forward to the next chapter. Thank you to Nia Quinn, Robot Dinosaur Press (I love this publisher’s name, totally suits this books vibe) and BookSirens for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.
Quirky, disaster prone characters are quite common in urban fantasy these days; nonetheless, Immy is sufficiently unique, endearing, sympathetic, and fun to read. She and the supporting cast were well developed, as was the world building for the book’s alternate Pacific Northwest. The plot was simple but engaging, but really the highlight of the book was Immy’s interactions with people as she navigates the tough situation she gets herself into. In particular her relationships with her roommates are both sweet and amusing. Altogether, a fun and satisfying read.
Note: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
This is not a serious book, but she's a serious writer. In a world where magic is common, common things are way different. And Nia show it in a huge amount of details and descriptions of an impresive world building structure. Astonishingly imaginative, there are so many descriptions that sometimes you lose track with the main story. It's funny and she don't use the easy way of solving the story. I apreciate it. Colateral stories are funny too, but take almost half the book. Hopefully following stories won't need so much detail around the character life.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
First, this is a unique storyline, and the characters make it an engrossing and enjoyable read.
Second, this book is well-written - both technically and craft-wise. I don't think I was distracted by a single error, be it missing punctuation, incorrect verb tenses, or misspelled words. On top of that, the plot is interesting, the characters well-developed (and funny), and the world building is fantastic.
This would be great for fans of Kim McDougall's Valkyrie Beastiary series and/or Heather Harris's Glimmer Series.
To the author: I will happily read any further Immy stories you create!!!
This is not a serious book, but she's a serious writer. In a world where magic is common, common things are way different. And Nia show it in a huge amount of details and descriptions of an impresive world building structure. Astonishingly imaginative, there are so many descriptions that sometimes you lose track with the main story. It's funny and she don't use the easy way of solving the story. I apreciate it. Colateral stories are funny too, but take almost half the book. Hopefully following stories won't need so much detail around the character life.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A delightfully funny story about a young witch with unmanageable magic and a very eclectic group of friends. Their world is wide open with all manner of creatures; humans with some power, witches, demons, pegasus(pegasi?), vampires and so many more. Immy’s demon roommates are incredibly powerful and provide unlimited humor, which actually applies to her group of friends also. I highly recommend this book and would eagerly devour any more of Immy’s adventures.
I received an advance copy of this book and voluntarily left a review.
Lots of fun, well written and interesting characters. Piles of crazy magic and held my interest throughout Definitely would recommend for a good, clever read.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily
I discovered this in Kindle Vella 1st and love the crossover with the other book Banshees and Boba. I liked the characters and all the different details about each. I can't wait to read more!