Queenswood by Kathleen Schwab

July 16, 2026

Queenswood by Kathleen Schwab

Angus is the High Prince of the Faerie world, destined to become king. He is dismayed when a seer tells him he must find a bride among the mortals, since the fae bloodlines are so weak they are no longer able to produce heirs. Angus finds an acceptable bride in Rhiannon, a girl from a noble family destined to become a nun before he abducts her. But many of his courtiers and the fae are not accepting of his human queen and displeased with his choice, and they plot to take his throne.

This story isn't sure what it wants to be: is it historical fiction, a romantasy, a mythological epic? Adventure, fairy tale, coming of age story? There are also overtones of the Snow White story. I think the author tried to incorporate too many ideas into one book, when maybe she should have written one book about Angus and Rhiannon, and then a follow up book about Angus' struggles to hold onto his kingdom. The moral of the story is that the fae world is a dangerous place for both the fae and humans. Not terrible, but it certainly wandered around. Beautiful cover art. Will appeal to readers who are into atmospheric reads with heavy world building.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

City of Dreams by Don Winslow

May 5, 2025

City of Dreams by Don Winslow

After double-crossing the Moretti crime family in Rhode Island, Danny Ryan flees the east coast for California with his father, his toddler son, and the remnants of his Irish crew. He just wants a quiet life, to start over with his child. But federal agents contact him about doing them a favor; in return, they will help his problems from his old life go away. But then Danny learns that one of the film studios is making a movie based on the crime wars back in Providence, and he decides he wants in on the project.

The second book in the Danny Ryan trilogy, sequel to City on Fire, picks up exactly where the previous book leaves off. Loosely based on Vergil's Aeneid, which is the sequel to Homer's Iliad. Danny insists (a little too much) that he wants to go straight and live a quiet life, but just like the leopard, Danny can't change his spots: crime and bad decisions just seem to find him. All of the characters except Danny's son display some moral ambiguity - no one is all bad or all good. Furthermore, there is a pervading sense of tragedy that affects all the characters. Doesn't work as a stand-alone novel - you need to read the previous book to really understand what is going on here. I can't wait to get the final book in the trilogy, City in Ruins.

The Voyage Home by Pat Barker

February 9, 2025

The Voyage Home by Pat Barker

The wind has finally shifted and the Greek army is sailing for home, along with the enslaved Trojan women who are their war prizes. Agamemnon arrives home with his concubine, the Trojan princess Cassandra, thinking his life is going back to the way it was before he left ten years earlier. But Agamemnon murdered his oldest daughter Iphigeneia, and his wife Clytemnestra has been planning her revenge for ten years.

The last book in Barker's trilogy about the women of Troy, victims of the Trojan War who are enslaved and awarded to the victors as war prizes. I loved the whole trilogy and while I liked Ritsa's character and story, it was disappointing that there was barely a mention of Briseis who narrated the first two books. Will appeal to readers who enjoyed Madeline Miller's Circe or Costanza Casati's Clytemnestra.

Depiction of a palace in Ancient Greece

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

December 28, 2024

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker

After Achilles' death, his former war prize Briseis is now married to one of Achilles' lieutenants to protect her and Achilles' unborn child. Her husband is now lieutenant to Pyrrhus, son of Achilles. With the war over, the Greek army waits for a suitable wind to sail for home, only three days away, but they are stuck there waiting for the will of the gods to favor them.

The second book in Barker's Women of Troy trilogy begins inside the infamous Trojan Horse, in the voice of Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus is kind of a jerk, but you feel sorry for him as well - there is no way he can live up to his hero father's image. When you hear about the Trojan Horse, you don't think about a bunch of big hot sweaty men stuck inside for hours with no bathroom facilities and no ventilation (nasty). All of the main characters here are only names mentioned in the Ilian (Hecuba, Cassandra, Briseis) because they are women and therefore beneath notice. When someone in the camp commits a forbidden act, the Greek soldiers are sure it was one of the two Trojan men in the camp. There are hundreds of Trojan women, but they are totally discounted, the way royalty and aristocrats treat their servants, like they are part of the furniture. Looking forward to the third book in the trilogy. Recommended for readers of historical fiction and mythology.

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

December 23, 2024

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

Before the city of Troy fell, the invading Greek army destroyed the cities on the Trojan plain, killing the men and boys and taking the girls and women as slaves. The wife of a high ranking noble, Briseis was given to the warrior Achilles as a war prize. Achilles treats her kindly if indifferently, but his close friend and charioteer Patroclus becomes a friend to Briseis.

The story of the Trojan War is usually told by the men who were the victors: Odysseus, Achilles, Agamemmon, Menelaus. Rarely are the voices of the losing side heard, and almost never the women. This is the first book in Barker's trilogy about the women and girls who were the real victims, forced into slavery or prostitution by the conquering Greeks. Highly recommended for readers of historical fiction and mythology. Also recommended are The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati.

Ruins believed to be part of ancient Troy

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

October 18, 2024

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Achilles, hero of Troy, was the son of King Pelleus and the goddess Thetis. At his birth, there was a prophecy that he would be the greatest of the Greek warriors, the best of the Greeks. As a boy, he meets Patroclus, an exiled prince who comes to live at Achilles' father's court. They grow up together and are educated together by the centaur Chiron. When war with Troy breaks out, they travel together to Troy, where Achilles fulfills the prophecy that he is the greatest Greek warrior, but comes to realize that Patroclus is the best of the Greeks.

A retelling of Homer's Iliad, the story of Achilles and the Trojan War, told from the viewpoint of Achilles' companion Patroclus. It's unknown if they were lovers or just besties, but Miller portrays them as both. I really enjoyed the author's previous book Circe, but I think I loved this one more. If you enjoy retellings of mythology or fairy tales, try Costanza Casati's novel Clytemnestra or A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes - the "heroes" don't come off so well in those versions as they did in the Iliad. Recommended for readers who enjoy Greek mythology or fantasy fiction.

Patroclus and Achilles in bronze

Daughters of Olympus by Hannah Lynn

September 4, 2024

Daughters of Olympus by Hannah Lynn

Demeter, goddess of the harvest was one of the 12 Olympians, a daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. After her brother Zeus raped her, she gave birth to Core, later known as Persephone. After the death of her human lover and the loss of her other children, Demeter lived for her daughter until Core was stolen by Hades, god of the underworld.

A retelling of the myth of Persephone and Demeter. The first part is from Demeter's POV, and the second part is from Persephone's POV. Slow moving narrative with a lot of description of the settings. Will appeal to readers who enjoy reinterpretations of myths and fairy tales, such as Madeleine Miller's Circe.

Many thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

Persephone with her mother Demeter

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

August 19, 2023

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

David lives with his father, his new stepmother, and his new half-brother. He is a lonely child, desperately missing his dead mother and feeling unwanted by the rest of the family. He loses himself in books, mainly fairy tales, until one night, he wanders into the garden following the sound of his mother's voice, and is swallowed by a tree. The tree turns out to be a portal to another world that David calls Elsewhere. There are familiar fairy tale figures but they appear and act differently than they did in the stories he read. David wants to go home more than anything, but first he has to find the king, who has a book that may hold the answer on how to get there.

Grimm's Fairy Tales (the original gruesome ones) meets the Wizard of Oz. David is on a quest where he meets people who help him and others who try to hinder him. He feels his mother's death is somehow his fault, even though she died after a long illness that sounds like cancer. At the same time, he feels abandoned, and that if he would just disappear, his father could have a new life with his new family.

I read this book when it first came out and decided to re-read it before I get the sequel (The Land of Lost Things). While there is a lot going on here about the psychology of fairy tales and mythology, you can also read the book just for the enjoyment of David's story. The sequel is coming out in the fall of 2023.

A fairy tale cottage

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

January 18, 2023

Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati

In Greek mythology, Clytemnestra, princess of Sparta, queen of Mycenae, is a wicked woman who took a lover and then murdered her husband Agamemnon when he came home from the Trojan war. But in this novel about Clytemnestra's life, there were much deeper reasons and Agamemnon richly deserved to be murdered. As the saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold.

The writer of the Odyssey and the Iliad deliberately portrayed Clytemnestra and her sister Helen as wicked women. Clytemnestra murdered her husband and Helen ran off with a Trojan prince, and that's pretty much all most people know about them. It's time that their stories were told. Clytemnestra had good reasons for her actions, as did Helen (before she was Helen of Troy, she was Helen of Sparta). All those Greek heroes don't come off as so heroic here. Even the great Odysseus, considered to be the best and smartest of the Greek kings, does some pretty shameful things. Fans of Madeline Miller's Circe or Natalie Haynes' A Thousand Ships will enjoy this re-telling of the life of a mis-represented queen. Highly recommended.

(My father loved Greek mythology - damn, he would have hated all three of these books for crushing his beliefs about the ancient Greeks!)

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in return for a review.

Image of Clytemnestra with her lover Aegisthus, murdering Agamemnon, from a piece of Greek pottery

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

January 14, 2023

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

On a spring morning, little wooden boxes show up at every door in the world, even non-traditional doors such as Bedouin tent flaps and next to homeless people sleeping outdoors. Every adult over the age of 21 receives a box with their name on it. Inside the box is a string that measures the length of each person's life. Nina, a magazine editor, gets a long string while her girlfriend Maura's string is barely half the length of Nina's, yet they stay together. Nina's parents and her sister Amie opt to not open their boxes, preferring to live in blissful ignorance. Ben, an architect, gets a short string and his girlfriend of two years breaks up with him almost immediately. Hank is an emergency room doctor who receives a short string and decides to resign from the hospital and use his remaining time as best he can. Political figures, governments, and religions all weigh in on the importance, meaning, and origin of the strings. What do the strings really mean? How will they change society and impact the future? Written by several narrators with differing viewpoints.

Normally when I see a book with one of those celebrity book club stickers on the cover, I go the other way or don't expect much, in this case the "Read with Jenna" TV book club. I decided to read this book since it was recommended to me by a friend. It's an interesting take on a futuristic/dystopian society combined with the mythology of the Fates and also the story of Pandora. After people begin receiving the strings, the societal response is similar to the varied responses to COVID-19 and the vaccines: some extreme, some violent, some benign, some believing it's a hoax, some looking to profit. Highly recommended.

"Que sera, sera (Whatever will be, will be)" - song by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, sung by Doris Day

The Fates — Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos — were divinities in Greek mythology who presided over human life. Clotho spun the thread, Lachesis measure it out, and Atropos cut it off. They represented birth, life and death.

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

August 31, 2021

The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo

Set in 1930's Malaysia, 11 year old Ren is on a desperate quest. He was apprenticed to a magician, and when the magician was on his deathbed, he begged Ren to go and find his missing finger that was cut off years ago. If Ren is unable to locate the finger, the magician's soul will wander the earth for eternity. He has 49 days to complete his task.

In his travels, Ren meets Ji Lin, an apprentice seamstress and dancehall girl. While being a seamstress is much more respectable, Ji Lin works as a dancehall girl to pay her mother's mahjong debts. She is drawn into the missing finger's magical sphere, and together the two young people search for the finger to fulfill the quest.

Very enjoyable fantasy with an interesting angle. There was a romance aspect that was unnecessary and didn't add anything to the plot or character development, but otherwise, this is a great historical fantasy that incorporates Chinese mythology and folklore.

Chinese mythology about the afterlife

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

August 24, 2021

A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes

Most of us know the story of the Trojan War from the works of Homer (the Odyssey and the Iliad). But if you read Homer, you'd think there were only two women in all of Greece and Troy: Helen (who caused it all by running off with Paris, prince of Troy, instead of sitting her ass at home with her husband) and Penelope, Odysseus' long-suffering wife. 

This is the story of the Trojan War from the perspective of the women: the wives, the daughters, the queens, the goddesses. Their lives were altered forever by the long and tragic war. A Thousand Ships re-tells the war, what led up to it and the thoughtless acts of men that affected women forever.

An example: when Agamemnon, ruler of the Greeks, realizes that things aren't going so well, he sends a message to his wife, Clytemnestra, back home. He tells her that he has found a wonderful husband for their youngest daughter, Iphigenia, and that Mom should send the girl with her handmaids and her wedding finery, and that the couple will be married before they land at Troy. He has Iphigenia's women dress her for her wedding. He leads her to an altar where all his men are gathered, and proceeds to slit his sweet, young daughter's throat as a human sacrifice so that the war goes his way. When Agamemnon comes home victorious, his wife or possibly her lover kills him. I would have, too.

Now, when Homer tells this story, he glosses over the human sacrifice of an innocent girl by her asshole father. He focuses on the part where Agamemnon comes home and is relaxing in his bath, and his wife murders him for revenge (and also because he deserves it).

Is it any wonder that women read and write romance novels? Men are so disappointing in real life, that we have to create better men in fantasy and fiction.

Okay, I'm done ranting. This was one of the best books that I read in 2021. My friend Bonnie recommended it. Loved it.

Depiction of Troy and the horse that most people think of

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

July 5, 2019

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Casiopea Tun and her mother live with her horrible maternal grandfather and his family, treated as servants even though Casiopea’s mother was once her father’s favorite daughter.  Casiopea longs for a different life, away from her awful relatives, but when she opens a locked chest and lets out what was inside, she gets more than she bargained for.  She embarks on a quest across Mexico with the Lord of Death as he seeks revenge on his fellow supernaturals, while Casiopea strives to figure out her heart's desire.

Really good!  This is a quest story that blends mythology, folklore, and a splash of Cinderella, set during the Jazz Age in Mexico.  Anyone who enjoyed Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik should enjoy this novel.