Fantasy | Lost in a Good Book

Beneath the Sugar Sky (#3) by Seanan McGuire

04 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy, Fiction, Novella Tags: Audiobook, fantasy, fiction, four stars, michelle dockrey, novella, seanan mcguire, Wayward Children

Published: 9 January 2018 (print)/9 January 2018 (audio)
Publisher: tor.com/Macmillan Audio
Pages: 174/4 hrs and 11 mins
Narrator: Michelle Dockrey
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

When Rini lands with a literal splash in the pond behind Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, the last thing she expects to find is that her mother, Sumi, died years before Rini was even conceived. But Rini can’t let Reality get in the way of her quest – not when she has an entire world to save! (Much more common than one would suppose.) If she can’t find a way to restore her mother, Rini will have more than a world to save: she will never have been born in the first place. And in a world without magic, she doesn’t have long before Reality notices her existence and washes her away. Good thing the student body is well-acquainted with quests…

A tale of friendship, baking, and derring-do. Warning: May contain nuts.

I love how we get introduced to characters in book one, and then as the series progresses we get their own individual stories, but scattered in between the original story arc keeps going as well. It is incredibly clever, and all the while revealing more about the rules of the worlds and the understanding of the system.

With the second book devoted to Jack and Jill’s story I was curious to see if the next book would pick another character we’d met and show their origins but I was delightfully surprised. We are back in the school as Rini literally lands at their door on a mission to save her mother, a character who died in book one.

This is why McGuire’s books are so fantastic, her rules on Logic and Nonsense, not to mention life and death are fascinating and primed for storytelling when put in the right hands. The nonsensical world works well with the nonsensical mission. Rini is as wild as her mother and the random nature of events only support the irregular world she’s come from.

I was delighted we got to revisit Nancy, especially in her own element, and it was great seeing characters deal with different land so unlike their own or their desired places. Given the world of Confection is a sugary light-hearted delight, there isn’t a lot of darkness or heavy themes, even with Rini’s possible demise. That isn’t to say there aren’t some wonderful things explored like understanding other people’s experiences and tolerance, but it is a much lighter story. Coming from Down Among the Sticks and Bones having something so sugary and nonsensical was probably the best call, and it is certainly a great reminder of the variety of doors and alignments people can be.

What makes these books so fantastic is they are relatively short reads but McGuire packs so much amazing story into so few pages. It’s truly a gift to be able have such real and complicated characters with such an involved plot and world while still keeping the page count short.

You can purchase Beneath the Sugar Sky via the following

Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

27 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy, LGBTQIA, Wayward Children Tags: Audiobook, fantasy, five stars, lgbt, LGBTQIA, seanan mcguire, Wayward Children

Published: 24 March 2015 (print)/ 13 June 2017 (audio)
Publisher: Macmillan Australia/Macmillan Audio
Pages: 187/4 hrs and 4 mins
Narrator: Seanan McGuire
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.

This is the story of what happened first…

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.

Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you’ve got.

They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted.

They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.

I adored Jack and Jill in book one so seeing them have their own origin book was delightful. This dark story is probably a smidge horror, a bit gothic. Elements of stories like Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein, and those from Poe are evident, the dark science and magic combination and testing the realm of possibility. I was surprised I loved it so much given the slight gross moments and how much I hate horror, but the writing is captivating and you’re drawn in by the moors and the politics of those who live there.

From the discovery of their door and their journey into the strange land I loved every second of this book. I adored the eerie feel this story envelops you in right away. The moors are dangerous and fascinating places and seeing the twins find their place among the monsters was wonderful. I loved the darkness and the way McGuire doesn’t make it a bad thing, it’s good to have morbidity in a story, especially with how she’s established the types of people and where their true selves lie in the first book.

The best part is we know where Jack and Jill end up, we know they leave their land. So between devouring their story and seeing them blossom on the moors, you’re also keen to see how they could possibly ever leave a land so perfectly suited to them. Seeing Jack become her true self was divine and I loved their escape from their parents and how they were being moulded into what each parent wanted.

Having the knowledge of book one behind you, it is a bittersweet read too knowing what happens and seeing signs and the strain it places on the sisters, especially given how long they got to be in their world. If it’s a bit too dark you probably could skip it, but it’s a beautiful exploration of the way the doors work and an example of the various worlds that I can’t imagine ever not experiencing it, even with the tiny horror factor. It’s also a gorgeous story of falling in love and what it means to be alive and discovering the beauty of the world.

You can purchase Down Among the Sticks and Bones via the following

Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Long Lost Review: Cress (#3) by Marissa Meyer

13 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

by Amy in 4 Stars, Fantasy, Long Lost Reviews, Young Adult Tags: #llr, four stars, long lost review, Long Lost Reviews, marissa meyer, the lunar chronicles

Long Lost Reviews is a monthly meme created by Ally over at Ally’s Appraisals which is posted on the second Thursday of every month. The aim is to start tackling your review backlog. Whether it’s an in-depth analysis of how it affected your life, one sentence stating that you only remember the ending, or that you have no recollection of reading the book at all.

Published: 4th February 2014
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Pages: 552
Format: Paperback
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

In this third book in the Lunar Chronicles, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army.

Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl imprisoned on a satellite since childhood who’s only ever had her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker. Unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice.

When a daring rescue of Cress goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a higher price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing prevent her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only hope the world has.

I’ve been trying to get reviews out for this series for years and my stubborn perfectionism needs me to put them out in order. The issue is, if I haven’t taken notes, I am now years past when I read it and I only have a fraction of plot floating around my head.

I loved this series and I love how Meyer gives us different fairy tale retellings in a whole new landscape but creatively ties them together in a way that is true both to their original stories and this beautifully complicate new world she has created.

I liked the shift from a tower to a satellite and it ties beautifully in the technological era that the rest of the series has been working with. It also continues the story we already know from Cinder and Scarlett, the kingdom is still in danger and the Lunar Queen still means trouble. But in between that, we get to meet Cress, a wonderful girl trapped on a satellite and left alone among the stars.

I enjoyed Cress’ character, each of this band of misfits has a different personality and their own strengths which I love. Now that they are coming together to save the world it’s good seeing these unique skills come together.

The continuation of Cinder and Scarlett’s stories is excellent, I love that they play roles in the bigger story and aren’t forgotten entirely once their book has finished. There isn’t a full equal sharing of the story, Cress still gets her own book, but as they’re all working towards their goal Meyer weaves in the others and their storylines prompt action.

There is a strong romance element for everyone to swoon over in each book and Cress is no different. Each of our heroes is matched up to their own true love which gives you some cute moments away from the dire peril. It plays into the fairy tale element so while it can feel predictable, it is a nice one where the tropes of the originals are still in play. Plus Meyer is once again giving us fun play on words with names and circumstances to delight us as Thorne and Cress come together.

I can’t remember much besides vague plot points but I did give it four stars and I remember really loving it. So based off vibes it was a great book and a great next step in the series to the epic conclusion.

You can purchase Cress via the following

QBD | Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery | Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible

Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman

15 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

by Amy in 3 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy Tags: Adjoa Andoh, Allan Corduner, clare corbett, Jane Collingwood, John Sessions, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Katherine Kingsley, Lara Pulver, Michael Maloney, moira quirk, Niamh Walsh, Peter Forbes, Sean Baker, three stars

Published: 23 October 2014 (print)/22 September 2015 (audio)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc/Harper Audio
Pages: 72/1 hrs and 5 mins
Narrator: Jane Collingwood, Clare Corbett, Allan Corduner, Katherine Kingsley, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Lara Pulver, Niamh Walsh, Adjoa Andoh, Peter Forbes, John Sessions, Michael Maloney, Sean Baker
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fairytale
★ ★ ★ ★ – 4 Stars

On the eve of her wedding, a young queen sets out to rescue a princess from an enchantment. She casts aside her fine wedding clothes, takes her chain mail and her sword and follows her brave dwarf retainers into the tunnels under the mountain towards the sleeping kingdom. This queen will decide her own future – and the princess who needs rescuing is not quite what she seems. Twisting together the familiar and the new, this perfectly delicious, captivating and darkly funny tale shows its creators at the peak of their talents.

I love the style of fairytale retellings where they are still trying to be fairytales. They aren’t modern, they aren’t new genres. Instead we get retellings that are like an existing fairytale. There’s the rule of three as well as characters who are wise and profound but also people who are miscreants and tricksters. Gaiman keeps the dark creativity of Grimm’s original tales and there is a bold and deep fairytale tone throughout.

I wasn’t expecting this to be anything other than Gaiman’s take on Sleeping Beauty but there is a mix of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty references in this retelling as the characters are clearly from these stories. They are recognisable but not tired tropes and Gaiman has a great new approach to them that turns expectations on their head in a really clever way.

The Queen (Snow White) and her dwarfs are in a neighbouring kingdom to one that fell prey to a sleeping spell seventy years prior. I love the implication that the fairytales all exist in the same universe (why not given the overlapping themes and magic in many of them?). As the sleeping sickness starts to spread it’s up to the queen to seek out and stop it before it impacts others in the realm.

It is a relatively quick read but it has a lasting impact like all fairytales want to do. I did this as an audiobook which probably was part of the experience. Oral storytelling works so well with fairytales and the dark twist on how fairytales are meant to be adds another layer. I know the book has amazing illustrations by Chris Riddell but the audio isn’t lacking a bit of magic either. Having so many narrators makes it a little like a radio play but it doesn’t feel like a radio play either. It’s a compelling story with each character given their own voice which brings it to life.

You can purchase Sleeper and the Spindle via the following

QBD | | Blackwell’s

Dymocks | Wordery

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust

Mort (#4) by Terry Pratchett

01 Oct 2024 Leave a comment

by Amy in 5 Stars, Audiobook, Fantasy Tags: Audiobook, bill nighy, discworld, five stars, peter serafinowiez, sian clifford, terry pratchett

Published: 12 November 1987 (print)/2nd October 2022 (audio)
Publisher: Corgi Books/Penguin Audio
Pages: 272/7 hrs and 57 mins
Narrator: Sian Clifford, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy
Format: Audiobook
Genre: Fantasy
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars

Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job.

Death is the Grim Reaper of the Discworld, a black-robed skeleton with a scythe who ushers souls into the next world. He is also fond of cats and endlessly baffled by humanity. Soon Death is yearning to experience what humanity really has to offer, but to do that, he’ll need to hire some help.

It’s an offer Mort can’t refuse. As Death’s apprentice he’ll have free board, use of the company horse—and being dead isn’t compulsory. It’s a dream job—until Mort falls in love with Death’s daughter, Ysabell, and discovers that your boss can be a killer on your love life…

I was apprehensive after finishing the first three books in the series. Two were ok and one was marginally better. I thought I was going to have to tackle a few dodgy books before Pratchett truly shines in the later books but Mort smashed those expectations. This book is amazing and it only got better and better as it went along. I love Mort, I love Death, I love everything about this book: the set up, Mort’s life, and the life of those around him. Essentially Death decides to take a holiday and Mort gradually finds a new vocation. It’s brilliant.

This is my fifth Discworld book, four read chronologically publication wise (I know you don’t have to, and I’m not being a rigid rule follower or anything, it’s more the completionist in me who always has to read things in order). The fifth being Hogfather which I read as my first Discworld at Uni and fell in love with Death. When I realised this was one of Death’s novels I knew it was going to be amazing. The only difference is I keep comparing this Death to the Death in Hogfather and they are different Death’s so it’s a fun mind confusion.

There is so much to love in Mort. The subtle but apt social commentary – timeless, naturally. Especially the ways you can see variations of our own world reflected in the mirrored, slightly askew, and distorted world in the book. Like Equal Rites, Pratchett is a master at sliding these in amongst the most absurd things, knocks you over with his insight before returning to the bizarre.

I am probably biased because I fell in love with Death years ago so I may have liked this book regardless, but Pratchett tells such a brilliant story that it’s hard not to admire everything about it and cherish all the characters involved.

Mort is a great character, and even knowing what I know from Hogfather it didn’t impact my enjoyment or ruin any surprises at all. Hogfather is too far in the future and has a compelling plot all on its own to worry about delving into Death’s family tree and past.

The mysticism of Discworld is on show as the magic moves around and affects people. Being Death’s apprentice is a job that is both mundane and fantastic and seeing Mort learn what’s involved reveals more about the world and those in it.

There is a cast of characters as narrators this time around for the audiobook. Sian Clifford, Peter Serafinowicz, and Billy Nighy all lend their voices to this story. It doesn’t feel like a radio play, there’s no extra sound effects or anything, but it was fun hearing different characters have different voices for a change.

You can purchase Mort via the following

QBD | Dymocks

Wordery| Blackwell’s | Fishpond

Amazon | Amazon Aust | Audible