Of the nine books I read in July, I really liked three of them and didn't hate any. That's pretty good, right?
- Sunshine by Robin McKinley. Magical humans, conflicted vampires, delicious pastry - I loved this award-winning fantasy.
- Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica. Since I had mostly liked Local Woman Missing, I thought I'd try another one by Kubica. Didn't like this thriller as much but it was okay. (Spoiler: they're not really the nicest.)
- The Butcher's Daughter by Corinne Leigh Clark and David Demchuk. The "hitherto untold story of Mrs. Lovett," from Sweeney Todd. I thought this was great fun, grim and dire and funny and bloody.
- Phaedra by Laura Shepperson. There sure do seem to be a lot of new novels retelling/re-interpreting Greek myths these days. I used to be obsessed with Greek mythology growing up so I am enjoying revisiting the stories this way. This novel is a much more woman-positive retelling of Phaedra's story than most.
- William by Mason Coile. This novella is part of my local library's summer reading program so I just picked it up on a whim. Psychological horror + robots. Not my favorite but it wasn't long.
- Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher. This is the third one that I just loved, a fantasy/fairy tale about the third daughter who must complete impossible tasks to save her older sister from an evil husband. What it really is about, however, is found family.
- Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher. Another fairy tale, this time a hero-swapped version of Sleeping Beauty.
- The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo. A historical fantasy, set in Madrid during the Spanish Inquisition, this one focuses on Luzia, a Jewish servant who has to hide both her faith and her magic. Most online reviews describe this one as a "slow burn," and I would agree with that; it took me a while to get into it but I was down for the ride by the end.
- Survivor by Tabitha King. (Yes, TK is Stephen King's wife.) After an automobile accident, Kissy Mellors's life is changed irrevocably. This one felt like it could have used some ruthless editing. There's no real plot to speak of, just meandering along through the protagonists' lives; Kissy (oh god I hate that name) makes terrible, inexplicable decisions about men and has lots of fairly explicit s3x (which is fine, but just be warned); and the very ending seems abrupt and from a totally different book. Meh.
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