More SPFBO finalists! This one had an audiobook for me to listen to while I did chores and what have you, so I opted for that option. This one is looong. The audiobook is 32 hours long, to put that in perspective. Violence & Vigilance is book one of Turesia Untamed, an epic fantasy series featuring an eternal vendetta, scars of grief and loss, untethered rage, and hope against all odds.

Moving right along!! Today's finalist review is for The Honorable Con by Michele C. Shaw! Ailyanna was one good con away from her ticket East and escape from the looming war, and instead she’s locked in the palace dungeon staring at a lifetime sentence. You scam one prince and suddenly you’re the captain of the constable’s personal obsession. While Captain Kresta would love for Ailyanna to rot in that cell forever, she cannot ignore the reality.

*squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee* y'all. Y'all, they gave me a review copy of the book. The book I've been squeeing about since April, lol. So, obviously thank you to Del Rey via NetGalley for this review copy. You’re too pretty to die. Astarion Ancunin was supposed to be a magistrate, not a vampire spawn. He was supposed to serve the law, not the vicious vampire lord Cazador Szarr.

This is Esme and I's finalist in this year's SPFBO! I have historically bounced off a lot of Fletcher's work, not because it isn't well written or enjoyable, but because it is often super, super dark. I've been known to like some grimdark here and there but like... real dark, y'all. Esme got super excited about this one though and described it as 'as close to a cozy mystery that grimdark can get' - and I had to see what that was about, so when I started getting ready to read her semis, I started here...

I'm just flying through these finalists!* Today I'm diving into my review for No More Levels - which surprised me a lot! LitRPG and I have a complicated relationship, and so I don't always go into them with the highest of expectations (not that they aren't written well or have their audience or anything, but I bounce off a lot more than I love, unfortunately).

Time to jump into these finalists in this year's SPFBO! I'm starting with The Hallows, because I have read Tinsley's work and enjoyed it so I figured that it was a good starting point. I do enjoy the idea of a noir tale with battle nuns too, so here we go! The Hallow serum was once sacred to the Auld Bloods.

Tor reached out with this one and I couldn't help myself but jump on it because Jo Walton... but also honestly this fantastic cover! So thanks to the author as well as Tor via NetGalley for the review copy! The Serenissima is built from mist and belief, a mythical shadow sister to Venice and crossroads of the nine worlds. When a laborer called Tiry has a dream that Serenissima will have a doge, and that they will marry the sea, he tells it to a fortune teller named Khadsha.

I had 'Request the next Ana and Din mystery' on my to-do list when an email asking if I'd like to read it came in. Uh, yes please. I love this series! So thanks to the author, as well as Del Rey via NetGalley for the review copy. In the canton of Sapirdad, two of the Empire’s most powerful families are moments away from going to war with each other, their hundreds of retainers gathered with swords drawn.

I haven't read any of Katherine Arden's work, but I have heard nothing but good things, so when this one and its beautiful cover slid across my requests, I couldn't help but jump at it! So thank you to the author, as well as Del Rey via NetGalley for the review copy! Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death.

Random House was all like 'Hey, would you like to read this MtG book written by Seanan McGuire?' Uh, yes?! Yes I would. So thank you to the author, as well as Random House Worlds via NetGalley for the review copy! Eula Blue was supposed to be a mage. That was before the war came—before the fight for the Multiverse devastated Eula’s home, and with it her hopes for a magical education.

KJ Charles is another author that I will absolutely read anything by. She could write a nonfiction book about a subject I am not at all interested in and I would be all over it. Thanks to the author as well as Bramble via NetGalley for the review copy! It is 1821 and Nicolas-Marc, Comte de Valois de La Motte is making a splash in London Society.

I really enjoyed my time with The Bone Witches, so when this one was offered to me and I read the synopsis it sounded right up my alley! Thanks to the author, as well as St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for the review copy! Judeth Cole has always had certain uncanny abilities. But when she arrived at Solidago, her grandfather’s estate by the sea, she was forced to keep them secret.

Y'all. I can't stop won't stop with T. Kingfisher whether she is doing horror, or romance, or a little of both maybe, or fairy tale retellings, or whatever. Thank you to the author, as well as Tor via NetGalley for the review copy. Sonia Wilson is a talented scientific illustrator—but she is only able to follow her dream because of her father’s reputation as a renowned scientist.

Is there a better way to enter Pride month than reading a super gay murder mystery? (Trick question - there is clearly no better way.) Thanks to the author, as well as Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley for the review copy. Mikey Hartford IV has coasted through his twenties in a distracted blur of yachts and sex and partying. But when his father discovers his latest million-dollar impulse buy and changes the terms of his trust, the party's finally over.

I love a good book of short stories, and when this one was offered to me as having a Sixth World short story in it, I was in. I'm running behind on reviews, which always seems to happen when the SPFBO comes around, but dammit, I am catching up! Thanks to the author as well as Saga Press via NetGalley for the review copy…

Done done done! It is time for me to cut the rest of my batch and announce my second semifinalist! Let's begin! A Fallen Hero by Sara A. Noë Full Review This was definitely a unique take on ghost stories, to be sure. It reads a bit like an offshoot of the unwilling test subject or breeding program trope, where we don't see these kids so much as the prisoners in their day to day habitat, but much more so the aftermath of having lived that way on them.

Getting pretty close to the bottom of this stack! Anaís Dí Sona has trained her entire life for one role—protector of the Kingdom of Dúndíor—but the darkness of her past and the suffocating grip of her royal father threaten to crack her will in a way no battle could match. When she’s given the task to uncover the secrets of an ancient legend, Anaís must choose between carrying out her sworn duty—or acknowledging a secret that could alter the course of her kingdom’s history forever.

Y'all, it is time for me to start cutting, unfortunately. Not my most favorite thing to do... so I'll finish that up with a Semifinalist. Let's get started: Cut #1 - Synworld Chronicles by Rai Bowen This one had a premise that sounded really interesting and I was hoping to fall right in but unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this one.

Nearing the end of my pile of SPFBO books! Today I'm reviewing Taking Flight. To become an airship pilot, Sira must survive her final exam—and the pirates determined to kill her. Everyone assumed Sira was going to ace the practical exam. Top of her class at the Academy, she’s proven she can fly an airship. What she can’t seem to do is make it home.

Moving right along with my pile of books! Today I'm reviewing The Moonlight Lies! Fourteen-year-old Cassiopeia Brown has never belonged. Ridiculed, detested, and powerless, she’s an outcast even among her own kind — a goblin cursed with fiery red hair. So when the prophesied hero refuses to face the coming Moonfall — a magical cataclysm that will destroy the world — Cassie decides she’ll stop it herself, even if it means stealing his identity.

Getting closer to the bottom of my reading pile for this year!! Today, I'm reviewing The Raven's Revenge by K. J. Wagner. A dead man tells a single tale. A drowned man tells none. A bloody civil war has left elves as the inferior race in the country of Curliffe. Hot-tempered elf Slate Raven takes to piracy in rebellion against the new norm, his sister Cal beside him on board their ship, The Raven’s Revenge.

Moving along with my SPFBO books - it's time for the longest of my slushy pile! Fourteen-year-old Sid Sol knows nothing about his origins but believes himself destined for better things than living in an isolated cabin with a giant and a girl whose strange appearance causes the locals to shun them. His fellow orphan, sixteen-year-old Lingli Tabaan, only wants a home where she will be safe from those convinced she's from the otherworld.

This one was offered to me and it sounded interesting. Love a spooky haunted house story every now and then! So thanks to the author, as well as St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for the review copy! Single mother Elodie’s life has become a fairy tale. She’s met Bren, equal parts Golden-retriever-devoted and sinfully handsome. He’s whisked her and her autistic son, Jude, to the crumbling family house he’s renovating.

Today's SPFBO review is brought to you by Hoopla! As audioholics Esme and I both were dismayed about, our entire slush pile this year only had one audiobook in it, and as it was more of a YA story on its exterior, it fell much more to my side of things than hers. Well, I found it on hoopla (this is a feature of a lot of public libraries that has an absolute ton of audiobooks in it, for those not aware) and so, thank you public libraries!

Surprise! I bet you thought Esme would get in the first review. Well... okay, you would be right because she does have one reviewed already, but it was before the contest started so HAHA here I am. Much like Esme and her D20, I chose my first book with a D10, since decisions are hard and I am not good at them.

This one was offered to me as a cyberpunk adventure that takes place in Hawaii, which I thought sounded super interesting and unique so I jumped on the chance to read it. Thanks to the author as well as Amplify Publishing Group via NetGalley for the review copy. Humankind rose from the carcass of a dead world. Lifetimes later, billions of people live in superstructures constructed atop the only habitable lands left, the Hawaiian Islands.

This one was recommended to me as being very like Gideon the Ninth, which I was all over. So, thank you to the author and Saga Press via NetGalley for the review copy! The Devoted Lands was once home to many gods: Salt, Stone, Storm, Green, Shadow. Now, after centuries of devastating wars, only Tempestra-Innara, the Eternal Flame, remains. Conscripted as a child, Lys, potentiate of the Dawn Cloister, is outwardly a loyal servant to her goddess.

This one popped up on my radar because one of my favorite authors wrote it and I didn't notice. >.> Look, I had cancer at the time and was a bit preoccupied. I GOT THERE THOUGH. Lord Nicholas Monterris, the last remaining heir of a crumbling ducal house, must marry to save his family from complete decline. His father chooses Lady Leaf Serral, eldest daughter of his greatest rival, at which point Nic is sure it can’t get any worse.

Having really enjoyed C.L. Clark's other work, when I saw this one on NetGalley, I jumped at it. Thanks to the author as well as Tor via NetGalley for the review copy! Warring clans. Burning hearts. Deadly fate. The clans of the fens enjoy a tenuous peace, and it is all thanks to Agnir, ward and hostage. For as long as she can remember she has lived among the enemy, learning their ways, growing strong alongside their children.

Hooboy, I've been waiting for this one. The End of Touraine and Luca's stories. When it popped up in my feed, it was an easy decision to grab this review copy. Thanks to the author as well as Orbit via NetGalley for the review copy. Luca is the new queen of Balladaire. Her empire is already splintering in her hands. Her uncle wasn’t the only traitor in the court, and the Withering will decimate her people if she can’t unearth Balladaire’s magic.

ALT: a cat is laying on a bed with its head on its paws and looking at the camera .

YouTube video by Queen Coke Francis

KJ Charles is one of my favorite authors and so I can't help but throw myself at the request button every time I see her name on NetGalley. So, thanks to her, and to Poisoned Pen Press for the review copy! When Zeb Wyckham is summoned to a wealthy relative's remote Gothic manor, he is horrified to find all the people he least wants to see in the world: his estranged brother, his sneering cousin, and his bitter ex-lover Gideon Grey.

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