My partner bought me a Christmas themed book to read for December, called “He Sees You When You’re Sleeping” by Alta Hensley. If you were a fan of “Lights Out” by Navessa Allen, then there is a really good chance that you will enjoy this book, and the sequel that goes with it “He Knows When You’re Awake”. It was a nice way to bring 2025 to an end, especially for this Christmas season!
As always, some spoilers are present, so continue on at your own risk!
“He Sees You When Your Sleeping” follows Chloe, an online jewellery influencer with a major case of the “scrooge” for the Christmas holidays, which is fair enough considering her parents died in the same accident she survived on Christmas a couple of years previously. However, she has a dark side that is only ever revealed on a site called “Dark Secrets” where she explores her darkest sexual fantasies with her subscribers, but if anyone found out she would lose her job, her reputation and her livelihood. Then there’s the stalker love interest, Jack, a firefighter who helped save Chloe in the accident and has kept a very close eye on her ever since, but naturally she doesn’t remember him. Jack manages to keep his distance until he was passing by one morning to see Chloe trying to pick up her elderly neighbour from the slippery pathway, this was his chance to get to know her and he took it, but that didn’t stop his stalking escapades.
It was these escapades that led his discovery of Chloe’s alter ego online, he instantly became a subscriber and Chloe found herself falling in love with who she thought were two completely different people, and it was tearing her up inside! It wouldn’t be a dark romance without another stalker whose intentions are far less noble and absolutely freak poor little Chloe out. Of course, Chloe finds out the whole truth about Jack eventually and I have to say, she had a rather healthy and way more believable reaction to it than other authors have penned for these rather important revelations in these dark romances.
As far as the story goes, I found the development of the plot pretty good although it seemed eerily similar to “Lights out”. It held the same notes of stalking, invasion of privacy and the need to protect the subject of the stalking as well as explore dark sexual fantasies with them. The real differences, however, is what makes this book good. The stalker has dark fantasies but has never acted on them, while the stalkee explores their fantasies online via an alter ego, and then you have a believable development of a romantic connection that spans both the lighter half of Chloe and her darker alter ego, not to mention the much more believable reaction to her finding out the truth about Jack. Oh, and the true panic when her two worlds begin crashing together and the threat of her employer finding out about her not so perfect identity online.
I’m sure everyone will be happy to know that there is a HEA set up for the end, which is preferable in these dark fantasies, especially since this is a Christmas themed book! Not to mention the steamy scenes that we all know is why we read these books in the first place!
It was a fun read and a definite change of pace for the holiday season!
Anyways, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Don’t get into too much trouble before 2026!
I have literally just finished “Princess of Blood“, the sequel to “Servant of Earth” by Sarah Hawley, and oh my goodness it did not disappoint! It was as well written and jaw dropping as the first book, I still cannot sit still!
As always, some spoilers ahead so continue reading at your own risk!
“Servant of Earth” ended with such a dramatic turn of events, with Kenna being blessed with fae immortality and the magic of Blood House by the shards, which made her Princess of Blood House. She was then forced into a very dangerous set of politics in which she is the deciding vote of who the next ruler in her not-so-merry band of allies is going to be. However, choosing the next ruler is never so easy. Kenna’s allies are faced with another fae, Imogen, who is already claiming to be Queen and is playing the long game, being constantly ten steps ahead of them.
Kenna is being wooed by fire and void house, each trying to prove why they are the better choice to rule Mistei, as well as trying to run her brand new house that seems to be growing in numbers everyday. This sequel revolves around political intrigue, Kenna’s growth as a princess and protector of those unable to protect themselves, and her growing relations with the different houses including multiple assassination attempts. By this point, Kenna’s character as a woman needing to do the right thing by everyone, especially those who can’t do it for themselves, is strongly emphasised and is a key component of this sequel. That being said, her character also develops other unexpected qualities that really show her growth not only as a protector but as a princess with a people to protect.
Not only do we get an enticing story that keeps you on the edge of your seat, but Sarah Hawley paints such a vivid world that you can see every detail in your mind. From the lavish parties that the false queen throws to win over the people to her side, to the secret passages that Kenna traverses to gather hidden information and the physical interactions displayed during dances, training sessions and other more romantic situations. Not to mention to the incredible complexity of some of the characters in this book, your feelings for a character can change in an instant with any number of the revelations that Sarah Hawley throws into the story. Especially in the development of some particularly hot and heavy relationships, Sarah Hawley is definitely a talented writer of sexual tension!
But before you decide to pick up this series, it is ongoing and the third book has not yet been announced. Also, Sarah Hawley seems to have a habit of leaving things on a bit of a cliff hanger which just makes you ravenous for more of Kenna’s story! That being said, I do highly recommend this series even though it is going to cause some mayhem amongst readers!
I often get asked by students what books I would recommend to them to read, and I always stop myself because the books I read now I would definitely not suggest to them. So, I have to think back to when I was their age and honestly I feel like it’s getting harder and harder to remember that far back, even though many people tell me that it wasn’t that long ago!
I may not be anywhere near middle-aged, but when you’ve read so many books it’s hard to keep track of them! That’s why I started logging my reads, that has made remembering so much easier! I strongly recommend storygraph and TBR – Bookshelf. If you love the stats that go with your reading for the year, storygraph is for you, and the free version works perfectly well! If you’re someone who loves the aesthetic of a book log, then TBR – Bookshelf is a good one. You can change the colour themes and it presents your read books in a digital bookshelf, and again the free version works great!
But I digress, the books I remember most from my high school years are:
Hush, Hush series by Becca Fitzpatrick
Lockwood and Co. by Jonathan Stroud
Legacy Series by Cayla Kluver
The Night World Vol. 1 by L.J. Smith
Glass Series by Maria V. Snyder
Study Series 1 – 3 by Maria. V. Snyder
The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins
Firebird Series by Claudia Gray
The Infernal Devices Series by Cassandra Clare
The History Keepers: The Storm Begins by Damian Dibben
Wolf Springs Chronicles by Debbie Viguié and Nancy Holder
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Ghost House by Alexandra Adornetto
You can see where my adult taste in books came from! Although, my current taste has evolved to include a broader range of genres (and some definite explicit details), but that will have to be saved for another post. Let’s kick off the summaries!
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
The Hush, Hush book series by Becca Fitzpatrick was the first complete series that my mum had bought me, and I think it was the fastest I had ever read a series and I still have it! It was especially memorable because I had to wait for the final book to be released when I had finished and I was so upset about it, a frustration I experience all the time now! It was a story about a teenaged girl, Nora, who becomes fascinated by a new boy, Patch, at school who suddenly appears everywhere she goes, she attempts an investigation into his past which amuses Patch, especially when she finds nothing. You find out later on that Patch is a fallen angel who wishes to be human and the only way to rid himself of his angelic identity is to kill a particular person, Nora, but the angels throw a spanner in the works and tell him that he can be reinstated to his full angelic being if he saves the soul he is suppose to kill instead. There’s a bit of mystery, a bit of teenage angst but nothing explicit which is perfect for a teenage audience, and then of course the blossoming of a romantic relationship. Nora and Patch’s story coninue on for a total of four books:
Hush, Hush
Crescendo
Silence
Finale
Rest assured, the series ends with a happily ever after, but not after some heart break and losses so be prepared!
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
The Lockwood & Co series by Jonathan Stroud was my first step into paranormal based books, and I loved the first book! The Screaming Staircase was the first book, introducing the primary characters who were a part of Lockwood & Co: Anthony Lockwood, Lucy Carlyle and George Karim. While there are three characters that the storyline revolves around, the story is told by Lucy Carlyle, a young psychic detective who’s abilities are far beyond what anyone can imagine. Lockwood & Co is a paranormal agency started by Anthony Lockwood, who investigate paranormal phenomenon and extinguish it. Lucy was the last to join and actively tries to cover up how powerful her gift of sight and clairvoyance is, unfortunately they encounter a haunted artifact that forces Lucy to reveal her abilities to the rest of the team. The series focuses mainly on various paranormal mysteries that get linked up to the growing strength of Lucy’s abilities, eventually culminating into the biggest challenge that the team will every face in the final instalment of the series. You get an education in the different types of ghosts, how they are made through brutal deaths and the role that their artifacts play in their existence. There’s mysteries, modern day deaths and the development, as well as the breakdown, of various relationships throughout the series. The series has a total of five books:
The Screaming Staircase
The Whispering Skull
The Hollow Boy
The Creeping Shadow
The Empty Grave
Out of the whole series, The Screaming Staircase is still my favourite. If your teen is looking to dip their toe into the paranormal genre, I do recommend this as an introduction.
Legacy by Cayla Kluver
Legacy is a part of a trilogy by Cayla Kluver, and was a bit of a different read to what I would have normally read at the time, but I absolutely loved the storyline and the growth of the main characters. I also still have my copy of this series. The series follows a young princess, Alera, who is the eldest of two daughters and has the responsibility to marry the next King. A suitor has been chosen for her by her father, but Alera is struggling with the sudden reality of her duties as the high princess of her kingdom, especially since she has this need to do things that are considered to be unbecoming a princess, such as climbing boulders to help her little sister and breaking into locked rooms that she has no business being in. Unfortunately, her antics and that of her younger sister and best friend lead her to discover the so-called spy sent into their kingdom by their enemy. They quickly realise that the “spy” is in fact the missing brother of her best friend who was abducted as a baby by the enemy kingdom, as part of some kind of prophecy to win the war. Alera is quickly drawn to him, and the Captain of the Guard decides to use that connection to convince Alera to be a spy and find out as much information as she can about the boy and the enemy’s plans in the war. This quickly leads to the development a forbidden love and Alera is faced with making the choice between fulfiling her duties or following her heart. The trilogy follows this difficulty with the inclusion of kidnapping, magical torture, blackmail, romance and survival. That being said, there is nothing explicit in this story, it is all heavily implied.
The titles of the trilogy are:
Legacy
Allegiance
Sacrifice
The Night World by L.J. Smith
The Night World series by L.J. Smith is a currently nine book series, although I only read the first three in school as they were the only ones I could get my hands on at the time. Each book follows a different set of characters but they are all linked to each other, following the return of the soul mate principle. The romantic relationship in the first three books were between a mortal human and a supernatural creature, the first book The Secret Vampire followed a mortal girl dying of cancer and her vampire best friend who tries to turn her to save her from dying with the help of her brother. The second book, Sisters of Darkness, follow the relationship between a vampire and a mortal girl as well as a witch and a mortal boy, with the inclusion of a few more witches and a rogue werewolf. The third book, Spellbinder, follows the love triangle of two witch sisters and a mortal boy, but there is no harem or polygamy of any kind, the story resulting in a singular relationship. There is nothing explicit or sexual in these books, following a naturally developed new teen romance that is 100% appropriate for pre-teens and teens.
The series has the following book titles currently published:
The Secret Vampire
Daughters of Darkness
Spellbinder
Dark Angel
The Chosen
Soulmate
Huntress
Black Dawn
Witchlight
Goodreads suggests that there are still two upcoming titles, to wrap up the series:
Strange Fate: Mystic
Strange Fate: Apocolypse
Whether or not these titles will be published, I cannot say, but might be an idea to keep an eye out for them just in case you get hooked!
Storm Glass by Maria V. Snyder
The Glass series was the first set of books by Maria . Snyder that I had ever read, and I loved them! Full of budding romances, tension, mystery, magic and adventure, I absolutely fell in love with this author. The storyline follows a young girl named Opal, she comes from a family of glass makers, but she has the unique ability to trap threads of magic inside her glass sculptures, providing magic users with the ability to communicate across log distances with her products. Unfortunately, that is the only magical ability she has, which makes her an outcast amongst the magic users. She is called to attempt to remake specific glass orbs for the storm dancers to trap large and destructive storms, their glass maker was killed before passing the secret on and Opal has to try and figure out how to make the orbs before the largest storms come in from the coast, and before the killers come after her.
The trilogy follows Opal’s magical development as well as her relationships and her growth as a person, especially as she tries to work out where she stands within this magical society. There is nothing explicit in the story, however, there is some description of non-bloody torture, and references to sexual assault as Opal’s sister was abducted, assaulted and killed in a previous series (which I will discuss next). While there is nothing explicit in this series, there are introductory references to these dark realities, and Opal is faced with the possibility of an assault in the second and third book although this does not come to fruition. This series is probably best saved for older teens, but this is up to the parent’s discretion, I admittedly read this around the age of 14 years old but I don’t think my parents knew what the content of the book was going to be about.
The series titles are:
Storm Glass
Sea Glass
Spy Glass
Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder
The Study series is actually set before the Glass series, and meet Opal for the first time in the second book of the series. This series follows a young woman named Yelena, who has been arrested and put on death row for murder. When she’s removed from her cell, she is convinced that it is her time to die, when she is offered a deal by the Commander’s Assassin, Valek. Her sentence is suspended if she agrees to become the new poison taster for the Commander, if she survives any posion attempts to continues living a comfortable life. Is she doesn’t survive, well her death sentence is concluded. Yelena agrees, she is trained to identify various poisons and convinces some soldiers to train her in self-defense since she keeps getting attacked in the Cammander’s complex, despite Valek’s attempts to keep her safe. We find out later on that Yelena is an orphan and she killed the son of the man who took her in, because they had spent years torturing her and when she couldn’t give them what they wanted his son sexually assaulted her. While it’s not hugely explicit, it is a bit more descriptive than what the Glass series was and continues to be throughout the whole Study series, so that is something to be wary of.
There’s mystery, murder, torture, ritualistic killings, romance, growth of friendships and challenging decisions to be made. Again, a really good read, but it did emphasise the darker parts of humanity a bit more than the Glass series.
The series includes:
Poison Study
Magic Study
Fire Study
Shadow Study
Night Study
Dawn Study
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Peak Hunger Games era was when I was in high school, the book series came out and then I had to scramble to make sure that I had read the books before I watched the movies, I remember the stress well!
Anyways, for those of you who don’t already know, The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the working part of society are separated into twelve districts, and are wuled over by upper society known as the Capitol. Some decades before, there was a rebellion against the Capitol which the districts has loss, this resulted in the complete destruction of District 13 and the development of the Hunger Games which were held every year. Each district would randomly select a boy and a girl between the ages of around ten and seventeen years old, they would comete in the games and fight to be the last child surviving. These games were made to remind the districts of the results of the rebellion and that it is a blessing that they were not destroyed like District 13, but also that they will never be free of the Capitol’s control.
The series follows a teen girl named Katniss, who volunteers as that year’s female tribute in place of her younger sister who was randomly selected. This one act became a symbol of rebellion against the Capitol, which is the underlying theme of the whole series. Katniss spends three books surviving alongside the male tribute, Peta, and eventually enciting the biggest rebellion the Capitol has ever seen since the destruction of District 13. There is murder, loss, survival, romance, tension and fights for freedom. There is nothing explicit in this book, but death is seen and described, as well as instances of torture and drug use, although not in great detail.
The main series included:
The Hunger Games
Catching Fire
Mockingjay
Recently, Suzanne Collins has released two more books that provide more background information to the main series:
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
Sunrise on the Reaping
I personally haven’t read them, I tried to read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes but I feel like it’s still written more for a teen audience rather than adult, so it didn’t hold my interest. If your child is looking for something with a survival adventure feel to it, this series is one to go for.
A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray
This is a trilogy that has more of a sci-fi fantasy sort of feel to it, A Thousand Pieces of You is a series focused on a young woman named Marguerite Caine. Her parents are world renowned scientists, focused on the theory of multiple dimensions and the possibility of travelling between them, while their passion is clear, Marguerite’s passion is for art, which her parents are very supportive of. On the eve of her father’s death, Marguerite finds out that her father’s greatest invention was stolen, possibly by one of his most trusted students, Paul. With this knowledge, Marguerite jumps through dimensions trying to track down Paul and retrieve her father’s lifes work, but not all is what it seems.
This trilogy follows betrayal, mystery, adventure, alternate realities, finding of self and the development of love. It was a rollercoaster ride of a read, but I loved every minute of it! There are mentions of drug use, gangs, minor violence and consentual sexual encounters but there is nothing explicit in the descriptions of these scenes. As always, this is up to parent discretion.
The trilogy includes:
A Thousand Pieces of You
Ten Thousand Skies Above You
A Million Worlds with You
Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
The Infernal Devices series is what got me into Cassandra Clare’s world of Shadow Hunters, even though her Mortal Instruments series was published well before that. The Infernal Devices is one the prequel series to Mortal Instruments that provides a fair bit of context for some of the events in the Mortal Intruments sere. This series follows a young woman named Tessa Gray, who was abducted by two strange elderly women and forced her to unlock her magical ability – to shape shift into any person or creature. While shape shifters were not a unique creature in this world, Tessa very different, she could retain the memories of any person or creature she shifted into, which is what the women were interested in. Tessa is later saved by a young shadow hunter, William Herondale, and she is taken to the local Shadow Hunter’s Institute, where they work to find her missing brother and how Tessa actually came into existence. This series explores the mystery of how Tessa came to be, why these dark creatures want her, and her struggle to love two people.
While there are battles, described injuries and death, there no explicit descriptions and while Tessa struggles with her love for two people, there is no polygamy and sexual encounters are not explicitly described.
This was a great read set in Victorian London, I was totally captivated by the story and characters, and I have reread the series several times since being a teenager.
This specific series is a trilogy, including the following titles:
Clockwork Angel
Clockwork Prince
Clockwork Princess
However, it is a part of a much larger series, if you are not committed to reading the whole series, that is totally ok! This triolgy can be read as a stand-alone, but if you are interested in the other books, they are as follows:
The Last Hours (set in the same period as the Infernal Devices series)
Chain of Gold
Chain of Iron
Chain of Thorns
The Mortal Instruments (set in the modern day and the start of the Shadowhunters era)
City of Bones
City of Ashes
City of Glass
City of Fallen Angels
City of Lost Souls
City of Heavenly Fire
The Dark Artifices (continues on from the Mortal Instruments series)
Lady Midnight
Lord of Shadows
Queen of Air and Darkness
Other continued stories from the Shadowhunter world
The Bane Chronicles
Stories from the Shadowhunter Academy
The Shadowhunters Codex
The Red Scrolls of Magic
The Lost Book fo the White
Ghosts of the Shadow Market
There are also a few more books to be published in the future.
The Storm Begins by Damian Dibben
This was a part of a series called The History Keepers, I only read the first book but I’m pretty sure that three were published. The story focuses on a young boy named Jake, who’s parents have gone missing and he’s trying to find out what happened to them. He finds out that his parents are a part of a secret organisation called the History Keepers, who have developed a way to travel back through time in order to ensure that the recorded events stay that way, even the most horrible events that most people wish had never happened. There is another organisation, however, who wish to change history to their advantage and they are the ones who have taken Jake’s parents. Jake finds the History Keepers and gets help from the other children, but they very quickly find out that the enemy organisation were not entirely after Jake’s parents, but someone else entirely.
There’s plenty of adventure, no explicit violence and a great mystery to go with it. If your child has an interest in history, while I wouldn’t use this as a historical resource, it certainly has some historical facts to fill out the story.
The titles in the series are:
The Storm Begins
Circus Maximus
Night Ship to China
Unleashed by Debbie Viguié and Nancy Holder
Unleashed is the first book of the Wolf Springs Chronicles, which is a trilogy. It is a story focused on the changing life of a young teen named Katelyn McBride, who was forced to move to Wolf Springs after a tragic accident that killed her mother and left Katelyn on her own. Her only remaining relative was her Grandfather, Ed, who lived in Wolf Springs. He took custody of her and enrolled her in the local highschool, teaching her how to drive his truck (ute for the Aussies reading this!) so she could easily travel from his isolated home in the woods into town. Grieving the loss of her mother and her future in gymnastics, Katelyn gets caught up in the local lore about werewolves and the recent deaths of teen girls who appeared to be attacked by some kind of wild animal. Katelyn is warned by her Grandfather and her new found friend, Trick, to always be home before dark and if she isn’t able to leave town before then, to find a place to stay until morning. Naturally, Katelyn gets so distraught over some teen drama that she leaves a party at night and decides to drive home but ends up with a flat tire. While she tries to change it, she’s attacked but a giant wolf but manages to fight it off and gets back in the car. She tells her grandfather that she was attacked by a medium sized dog in town, so he takes her to get stitches and some shots. Katelyn later finds out that she was possibly attacked by a rogue werewolf and seeks help from the daughter of one of the oldest local families, the Fenners, who she later finds out is the head of the local pack. Katelyn was in fact bitten and turned by a rogue werewolf and is adopted into the pack, she learns to navigate wolf politics, her place in the pack, her newly developed abilities, romantic connections, feuding packs, and the one thing that all werewolves are afarid of, the Hell Hound.
While there is the exploration of romantic relationships, nothing evolves beyond kissing and sexual tension, so it is not explicit at all. That being said, they are werewolves and the story follows the traditional acceptance of nudity when the humans turn into their wolf forms but there are no explicit details in regards to this. There are deaths and battles between packs, but again, there is nothing overly explicit.
The titles of the trilogy includes:
Unleashed
Hotblooded
Savage
I absolutely loved this trilogy, and have read it repeatedly since I first got it.
Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
Anna Dressed in Blood is a part of a duology by Kendare Blake, it is a paranormal mystery focused on a teen boy named Cas. He is the son of witch and a ghost hunter, who moves around a lot so Cas doesn’t get the chance to develop any meaningful relationships, that is until they move to Thunder Bay. Cas has chosen to follow in his father’s footsteps, especially since a ghost killed his father some years previously, so every place they move to, Cas hunts and kills the ghosts who occupy the area until they move along. His mother has accepted this, although she worries about him.
Cas comes across the legend about Anna, the ghost of a young girl who was brutally murdered on the night of her prom and now haunts the house she lived in, killing whoever enters it. This story doesn’t just revolve around Cas being a hunter, it focuses on him developing genuine friendships, exploring the mystery behind Anna’s murder which had a lot more to it than people realised, and Cas facing the idea that perhaps not all ghosts are cold blooded killers.
This does lead into a sequel, which I never read because I was so happy with how the first one ended that I didn’t want to ruin it, especially since it follows on with Cas and Anna dealing with the aftermath of the first book.
The titles for the duology are:
Anna Dressed in Blood
Girl of Nightmares
There is nothing explicit in the book, although it does describe Anna’s murder in some detail and it also includes the performing of dark magic.
I have read this book several times to the point that I ruined my original copy from repeated reading! I now own it on kindle.
Ghost House by Alexandra Adornetto
Ghost House is also a part of a duology, it is another paranormal story following a teen girl named Chloe Kennedy, who travels and stays with her Grandmother on her estate in the south of England after her mother’s sudden passing. This time of grief is especially difficult when Chloe realises that her ability to see ghosts has returned, after losing her ghostly sight as a little girl she is suddenly being haunted by all ghosts who still walk the earth, and her Grandmother’s estate is full of them.
Chloe comes across a 157 year old young man named Alexander Reade, as they get to know each other and Chloe’s ability becomes stronger, she encounters the vengeful spirit of Alexander’s past love, Isobel, and she is far less friendly. This story follows Chloe as she learns to navigate her abilities, seeing into Alexander’s and Isobel’s pasts, trying to solve the mystery of what made them stay as ghosts, her relationships with the people around her and dealing with her own grief. There is nothing explicit in this story, however there is mentions of nudity and sexual activity although there are no specific details. There are also some descriptions of injuries and implied murders throughout the story.
The sequel to Ghost House focuses on Chloe’s journey once she has returned home from England, attending school just to find out that there is a whole new ghostly mystery for her to solve. I haven’t personally read the sequel, but from what I’ve come across, it is just as good as the first with many more twists and turns!
The titles of the duology are:
Ghost House
Haunted
This brings an end to my posting, it became much longer than I expected it to be! If you are looking for books for your teen, these are a bit older but are books that are not as explicit in some details as some of the newer books tend to be, which make these great introductory reads!
After a bit of a reader’s slump, I’ve finished “The Detective” by Matthew Reilly. It was his most recent publication that my partner had bought for me as I had read a number of his other books, ranging from his series involving main characters Jack “Huntsman” West Jr and Shane “Scarecrow” Schofield, and his stand alone books such as “The Great China Zoo”, “The Contest” and “The Tournament”.
The thing that drew me to Matthew Reilly’s books were how he incorporated aspects of modern and ancient history as well as cultural stories and legends into modern day storylines (with the exception of books such as “The Tournament” and “Mr Einstein’s Secretary” – which I am yet to read), some bordering on the absolute mythic and science fiction fantasy, and yet still so captivating. He is an author with an amazing skill in spinning a modern day adventure and mystery, usually with some kind of government conspiracy involved, with insanely action packed scenes that have some kind of link to different aspects of history. “The Detective” is no exception, although it’s a bit of a different storyline than what I would usually expect from Matthew Reilly.
As always, spoilers ahead, continue at your own risk!
The main protagonist of “The Detective” is the detective himself, Sam Speedman. A short, scrawny white guy with thick glasses and strong case of Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1/2. Usually, I cringe a little when an author tries to portray a neurodivergent character, having ASD run in my family and worked with students with varying degrees of ASD, I usually find authors missing the mark. That being said, Matthew Reilly absolutely hit the nail on the head with Sam Speedman, from his OCD, his misunderstanding of social interactions and yet still having a strong sense of empathy despite not being able to display his own emotions in way that other people deem normal. I absolutely loved reading Sam as a character, and could definitely relate him to people I know with high-functioning ASD.
Sam is a Private Detective with different degrees in law and criminal psychology, which he used to try to get into the FBI but failed their personality test due to his ASD (which in reality is so common) so he instead got his license to become a Private Detective and started his own business, quite successfully. Despite having difficulties socially, people love his loyalty, devotion and need to achieve justice for those who can’t get it through the regular authorities. So, he has a group of waitresses at hooters who wait on him hand and foot, and plenty of connections through his business who are always more than willing to help him out when he asks. Which is what lands him in the biggest problem of the book, his missing persons case LaToya Marten. Having failed to solve the case seven years previously, Sam receives a notification for a data search he had set up years earlier (through his highly illegal but hand hacking skills that he had taught himself through his wide range of reading), that indicated that LaToya was in fact still alive. He dives back into the case, reawakening the other patterns and anomalies that he had uncovered at the start of the case: four African American female prostitutes missing every twenty-five years or so, and the missing or dead detectives who were assigned their cases.
Very quickly, Sam almost becomes one of those missing or dead detectives alongside our secondary protagonist FBI Agent Audrey Mills. They uncover a conspiracy that spans across 150 years, linking the modern day mystery to historical events in true Matthew Reilly style. There’s death, torture, cover ups, slavery, kidnapping, if I listed any more details I would give away the story!
The story hooked me so much I started and finished the book in around four to five hours. I loved Sam as a neurodivergent character and as a detective, I grew to like Audrey but admittedly I loved Sam’s loyal friends more. I especially loved seeing Sam’s development socially and romantically, this mirrors the struggles that many neurodivergent people experience everyday, especially those who are high-functioning. Anyone looking for a mystery with a fair bit of action, I strongly recommend “The Detective” by Matthew Reilly.
“Servant of Earth” by Sarah Hawley was recommended to me by a friend after my reading of “Games that Gods Play” by Abigail Owen. It was pitched to me as a Hunger Games style story but human/fae, similar to that of “Games that Gods Play”. Now, I read the “Hunger Games” series when I was in high school and I loved every traumatising moment of it, I also recently read “Games that Gods Play” and while I was a little unsure at first I did also enjoy that, but I have to say that “Servant of Earth” absolutely knocked out both of them!
First things first, there are potential spoilers so continue at your own risk!
Set in a medieval style world, our protagonist is a young human female named Kenna. She has lived in poverty her entire life, her father abandoned her, her mother died of illness, and she is considered to be a half-feral creature by all of the local human except for one, Anya, who is practically a sister to her. Every few years, the humans gather together on the border of the fae lands and send sacrifices to the fae, four women forced into the boggy swamp in an attempt to appease the fae. Most believe the stories that they will be welcomed by the fae and given amazing lives, whereas some are very sceptical, including Kenna. Anya and three others are chosen to be sent into the bog and accept their fates, but Kenna knew the harsh truth of the bog and wanted to save her friend. So she ventures in after them in an attempt to lead them to safety, instead they all die at the hands of the nasties (dark fae) and Kenna somehow makes it to the fae world.
Kenna is faced with the even harsher reality of the fae world, she is forced to become a maidservant to the heir of Earth House, one of five houses that make up the fae kingdom of Mistei ruled by a tyrant king, Osric. Kenna is forced to assist her princess in completing the six trials that, when successful, allows an adult fae to gain their full magic and immortality. While trying to stay alive, appease her mistress and moving through her grief, Kenna always seems to find herself in precarious positions that lead her being in very close proximity to danger, death and some very sexy fae princes. Kenna’s character is very forthright, she has a very strong backbone, which is something her princess lacks. Kenna helps the princess through all of the trials, technically participating in them herself, which paves the way for the end of the book.
Naturally, Kenna develops a romantic and sexual relationship with a fae prince who seems to be very curious about her and her human emotions. While he comes across as attractive and having good intentions, there is just something about him that is off. Whereas you have the darker fae prince who clearly has an element of darkness about him, there is something about his character that makes you develop a soft spot for him. Sarah Hawley definitely has a talent for writing characters with a crazy level of depth, you can’t help but feel all these emotions for her characters. She also has an amazing ability to make you feel like you are there with the characters, the way she describes the scenes and the actions taking place, is just mind blowing.
Sarah Hawley is also a Queen of twists and turns, she lays the groundwork so beautifully that you know something is going to happen but you are still so amazed by how it happened. For example, Kenna is betrayed and forced to face the fae magic that decides whether or not the fae participating in the trials are worthy of the rewards. Her princess is stripped of her magic, but Kenna is given such a gift that she is able to turn her back on her lying lover, get her revenge on the tyrant king, and save someone she thought was dead. Most of all, she is given her freedom and a home that she had never even dared to dream about.
This book was amazing, and Sarah Hawley is an absolute artist when it comes to telling a story. I highly recommend this book, and I cannot wait to read the already released sequel “Princess of Blood”.
I have finally finished the last instalment of the Fire and Flesh series by Jennifer L. Armentrout, “Born of Blood and Ash”. I’m not going to lie, out of all the books in both this series and the Blood and Ash series, this one was the hardest for me to read. I started it in November 2024, and I am sad to say that it did not grab me the same way the other books did and I hit a slump HARD.
First off, if you continue to read this but have not read this book for yourself, there are some spoilers in this post. You have been warned!
What I love about JLA’s books in this series is that the next book pretty much picks up exactly where the last one finishes, with the exception of a couple, but the point is that not much time has passed between each book. So, this one carries on from the last book which ended with Sera being free of Kolis and blasting his so badly that he went into stasis and Ash is saved from his imprisonment. Now, based on the other books, you would expect that they don’t spend too much time celebrating their regained freedom and that Sera is in fact the true Queen of the gods as Ash had ascended her despite the extreme risk of destroying the realms, but go straight into defence and attack modes, preparing for the inevitable battle with Kolis once Sera had awakened from her ascension.
This did not happen. Yes Sera awakens, yes she is viewed (by most) as the true Primal of Life and Queen of the realms, yes she and Ash get it on (a lot) through the book, but there is one singular theme that carries on throughout the whole book that I did not expect. Sera’s trauma from her imprisonment by Kolis.
Now, admittedly it’s been a while since I read the last book and I couldn’t remember all of the finer details of what happened to Sera during her imprisonment, so I couldn’t fully wrap my head around why JLA would focus so much on it rather than the fighting and becoming the true Primal of Life. There have been so many books where the character who had suffered trauma finds a way to move past it and redirect focus back to the main storyline and action, and I suppose that was what I was expecting. I did not expect Sera’s trauma to be the main storyline rather than her fight against Kolis, and so I suppose I got a bit frustrated with it. That being said, I eventually started making some progress and that was when the finer details of her imprisonment were recapped, and then Sera’s trauma response began to make more sense. While I loved SJM’s recovery story for Nesta in A Court of Silver Flames, and how she recovered from her own trauma and making amends for what she did as a response to that trauma, JLA’s storytelling of Sera’s trauma response and recovery not only covered her imprisonment, but her entire life, and it was completely relatable and just so… real.
Anyone who has experienced abuse and/or assault, or knows someone who has, knows that there are many different ways that a person can respond to that trauma. Sera resorted to telling herself that it could have been worse, that others had suffered worse, that so much more could have been taken from her than what had been. She moves through this denial right up until Ash explodes and she suffers a panic attack, twice, which resulted in her turning into her notam (animal form) and she ran. Seeking freedom from the trauma, and to escape from the fact that she had to face it in order for Ash to help her. Anyone who has been in a remotely similar situation knows what it means to seek escape from it, but the truth is that you never really can.
This book not only addressed how Kolis ended up locked away, how Sera was forgotten as the True Primal of Life, how Poppy ended up in the situation she’s in and it even covers Sotoria’s story. It goes through the motions of what it means to be in a situation where you are trapped, helpless and the aftermath of finally escaping that prison, only to be trapped in another within your own mind. JLA highlighted the fear and anxiety that comes from such a trauma, as well as the strength and the courage it takes to try and move your life on from it. It’s not easy, it’s terrifying and suffocating, and doesn’t just go away. It takes never-ending strength and determination to face the reality of it everyday and still try to find the goodness in life, even if some days it seems impossible.
The end of the book is a bitter-sweet one, Sera and Ash find their happiness while knowing that the future still faces the last of prophecy. They prepare the best they can for the future war that is no longer avoidable (we know this), but still continue to find and hold on to the happiness in their lives. While I struggled with this book at first, in the end it really struck a chord with me, and I found myself truly invested in Sera’s healing as a traumatised woman rather than the protagonist of the story.
I sincerely hope that anyone who has experienced something similar to Sera (and all other characters in this series that suffered similar fates), also continues to find that happiness in their lives. If you’re not up to that part yet, please keep fighting to find it, you deserve it because you truly did not deserve the trauma that plagues you.
I had moved on the third book in the Thursday Murder Club series, “The Bullet that Missed” and I was not disappointed!
With every book, you learn more about our mystery solving pensioners, the previous book “The Man Who Died Twice” looked into Elizabeth, Joyce and Ibrahim. This one revealed more about Ron, Joyce (again), their wonderful side characters Chris, Donna and Bogdan, and you also learn a bit more about Stephen (Elizabeth’s husband).
Just a quick heads up, some spoilers ahead!
The gang are looking into the ten year old murder of a young journalist, mainly because Joyce wanted to meet a news presenter that she’s a fan of and he happened to know the poor young lady who was killed. But this is not the only mystery that gets investigated, very early on, Elizabeth and poor Stephen get abducted by a man who was, in a way, connected to the mystery in the previous book. He had done his homework on Elizabeth, and had requested that she kill the man who managed the money laundering for the criminals in the previous book. Elizabeth happens to have a history with the target (from her MI-6 days) and refuses, stating that she has had a wonderful life will happily have it end here, Stephen God bless him agrees with her. Then the real gut wrenching poor of the story happens, the man (whom they refer to as the Viking) states that he will kill Joyce if she doesn’t do it. Poor Joyce!
So, Elizabeth sets a plan in motion to save the man from her spy days and Joyce from being murdered. While this is happening, the rest of the gang including Chris and Donna are working on solving the journalists murder, the biggest challenge being that her body was never found. The chief suspect was already in prison for fraud, which is where Ibrahim comes in. He enlists the help of Connie Johnson, one of our criminals from the previous book, who is also in jail, who agrees to gather information from the suspect if Ibrahim becomes her therapist. Oh, and she plans to kill Ron and Bogdan when she gets out of jail. Something that Ibrahim is trying to dissuade her of in their therapy sessions.
Eventually, things begin to come to a head. Elizabeth fakes the death of the man she’s supposed to kill and hides him in Joyce’s flat at Cooper’s Chase. He also agrees to help them in their investigation and begins contemplating moving into Cooper’s Chase for the company, despite his criminal affiliations. However, the Viking realises that the death was faked and goes after Joyce while she is alone. Dear, sweet little Joyce talks him into putting the gun down, taking a seat and having a tea. He even helps her with her cryptocurrency investment, as he launders money through crypto, just before he passes out from the sleeping pills that Joyce drugged his tea with. We are reminded yet again that Joyce is one dangerous little old lady!
Eventually, the Viking admits that he doesn’t want to kill anyone but is expected to keep up appearances, and refuses to give them his real name. That mystery was solved by our wonderful Stephen, with the assistance of Bogdan, who called in a favour with an old friend who could track antique books anywhere. Stephen eventually managed to recall these unique and expensive editions from his abduction, but mistakenly thought it was an old friend who had them. It’s during this book that we find out just how far Stephen’s dementia has progressed, and I won’t lie, my heart was breaking for him and Elizabeth towards the end of the book. You also find out that the makeup artist Ron is dating has quite a fire to her and would gladly shoot some bullets into the Viking if he ever even thought of killing Ron or his friends ever again. Ron has his hands full with that awesome lady!
In the end, the gang had managed to enlist the help of two money launderers, a news reader, a make up artist, a current prisoner, their friendly detectives, and eventually the Chief of Police and tv presenter. By the end, you find out the killer was someone you totally did not expect it to be, one murder wasn’t even a murder, and another didn’t actually happen! Oh, and Joyce has decided to start writing crime novels, the main character being a detective named after her late husband. This surprises Elizabeth, especially when she finds Joyce quizzing a forensic specialist at a crime scene about decomposing bodies that Joyce has decided would be hacked up by a chainsaw. I think everyone involved should be glad that Joyce had found her calling as a nurse, and not as a serial killer.
So, all-in-all, another wonderful story from Richard Osman about my favourite pensioners. Every book gets better and better, and don’t even get me started on the twists! You don’t see them coming.
I have just finished “I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-com” by Kimberley Lemming, and… words escape me. I am actually struggling to string a coherent sentence together for this post, but I will definitely try!
Let’s start with the title, it has comedy written all over it and don’t even get me started on the pink T-Rex on the cover. I had absolutely no idea what to expect from this novel, but it definitely not what I had read. It starts normal enough, our FMC is Dory, a Wildlife Biologist working to achieve her Phd when the unfortunate happens: she’s attacked by a lion while photographing meerkat matricide and trying to work out how to get away from the hotshot Harvard lawyer that her mother had matched her up with.
Queue the alien abduction! Dory wakes up alive after being killed by the lion, surrounded by owl-like creatures, naturally her instinct is to scream and try to escape a space ship in the middle of space. She comes across other women asleep in tubes, but only manages to get herself into an escape pod with the same lion that killed her on planet earth. Oh, and at some point she became able to communicate with all aliens and animals by kissing them, so when the lion licks her face she ended up with a talking animal companion who was as keen to escape as she was. Since neither of them can drive an alien space pod, they crash on a nearby planet that is inhabited by mutated dinosaurs and another alien race that resemble satyrs, oh, and they all happen to be only males. Anyone worked out where this is going yet? Even if you think you have, just bear with me.
After nearly being eaten by a mosasaurus, Dory and her lion, who she named Totto, are saved by a Satyr type creature named Sol who is only able to communicate with them after Dory kisses him for saving them. They survive the night, Dory is weirdly attracted to the alien who has not seen a female since the destruction of his home planet ten years ago, after which they were suddenly dumped on this planet, while Sol is interested but then freaks out about Dory’s feet thinking that she has hoof rot. In the morning, Dory and Totto wander off due to Totto’s need to eat, he tries to teach Dory how to hunt during which she inadvertently gets hung upside down in a trap. Then the second Satyr is revealed, Lok, who instantly falls for Dory and that was before she even kisses him. Sol comes charging in, stating that Lok was from an opposing clan, they fight it out until an owl alien crashes their pod trying to retrieve Dory. All three get shot by a dart, which acts as an aphrodisiac and creates a mating bond between them. It’s at this point the true nature of the planet is revealed, any guesses?
It’s a mating program! The boys planet was crashed into by an owl aliens fuel carrier which poisoned their planet and killed their whole population, the fuel company was tasked with repairing the devastation to the species. So, they grabbed some Satyrs, not realising that they were all males, and landed them on a conservation planet that was designed to vaguely resemble their own. Then, a program was initiated to find a species that, with the appropriate modifications, could reproduce with these creatures, which brings us to the abducted human females. They took only females who had suffered an immediate death, healed and modified their reproductive system, then brought them back to life and dropped them off on the planet to begin breeding. They put animals, plants and houses from planet earth to make them feel more comfortable, unfortunately they got all of their information from museums with dinosaur bones and a romance novel with a one-bed trope.
Dory gives in to her urges as does Lok and Sol, which just gets weird because they have tails with suction capabilities on the end of them as well as ridges on their tongues and manhood. I say again, things get weird, especially with the owl alien observing them for ‘research’. So, Dory decides to march her way to the main research centre and punch the guy in charge in the face, her new mates follow her. Eventually, they all get separated, there’s an ensuing battle that has carried on from the boys previous planet which has resulted in the King wanting to kill Lok, using dirty tactics but there’s no possible way he could win on his own. Oh, and he manages to get a female bonded to him who was definitely not ok with it and tries to shoot him multiple times. Those two are perfect for each other, just saying.
Anyways, things work out, Sol and Lok are saved as is Dory, even Totto finds himself a mate in a female sabre tooth tiger. Dory even manages to punch the boss owl in the face, and has sex with Lok and Sol, again, on the alien’s desk after Totto dragged the unconscious alien out of the room. Meanwhile, the King and his human mate were dragged off to couples counselling which resulted in a whole level of the research centre being blown up.
So much more happens in this book, but I just can’t bring myself to explore all of it here. If you enjoy a good laugh and an extreme version of a rom-com with aliens and a talking lion, go for it!
“Darkly” by Marisha Pessl I started reading as a change of pace after taking in manga after manga. As the cover suggests, it’s a darker YA novel revolving around a young female protagonist and a secretive internship that she gains for two weeks in London. It’s dark, it’s mysterious and it does keep you thinking about the story afterwards.
Arcadia “Dia” Gannon is our main protagonist, portrayed as a young woman out of her time, dressing differently to other young women her age and practically running her mother’s antique shop along with the store’s only other two employees who live in the local assisted living centre. Dia is relied on by everyone involved, her life taken over by her mother’s shop full of all sorts of things from the victorian age, her mother’s overwhleming desire to be in a relationship and spending money on more antiques that they cannot afford. Dia is presented with the opportunity to apply for an internship with a foundation in London who focuses on preserving the memory of legendary Game Board Creator Louisiana Vede, whose games known as “Darkly’s” are well sought after due to their eccentric and dark natures that at times led to psychological damage of the players and on occasion their deaths. Dia’s application is submitted by one of the store’s various cats and much to her surprise she is one of seven interns from around the world accepted into the internship as long as they signed a dense contract that spanned hundreds of pages which would result in their silence at the end of the internship.
Dia goes on the internship much to the shock and hysteria of her mother, and quickly realises that the internship is not what she and the other interns were told it would be. They get isolated at the very island where the Darkley’s were created by Louisiana Vede herself, and have been tasked to locate, play and win the missing Darkly “Valkyrie” , the theft of which led to the untimely death of Louisiana Vede. Dia is faced with a mystery decades old, a Darkly boardgame that has somehow been brought to life and led to the disappearance of it’s first winner. She is faced with lies told by the foundation itself, her fellow interns and even Louisiana herself, as well as the possibility that this internship could very well result in her death.
This novel had it all in the story: theft, death, the mysterious childhood of a mysterious gamemaker, playing to win and a missing child (more than one). While I enjoyed the story, I admittedly felt that the characters of the interns could of have been explored more, as well as the potential love interests – there was so much more I wanted to know about them! Also, despite the adrenaline pumping resolution to the Darkly Game “Valkyrie” (which was very well written by the way), I also felt the overall ending of the novel was a little anti-climatic, but then perhaps that was the point? I am still thinking about the ending now, and how it had to have been referred to throughout the story. Were there some easter eggs that I had missed? Surely there’s more to it than that? It can’t just end there! Thinking about it, I can see why I would think so things considering the “gag-order” put on the interns by the foundation, that is perhaps why I feel the way I do about the end of the novel.
Green Mage Writings 