Adventure, romance, and a delightfully dynamic female lead headline this delicious series conclusion.
A Druid doctor wallowing in grief finds his second chance at love threatened by centuries-old creatures with ancient magic.
This conclusion to Gateley’s Mythic Bones duology finds the Druid doctor Ronan desperately seeking relief from the pain of losing his true love, Phoebe, six months prior. Therapy and alcohol can only do so much, and soon Ronan finds himself impetuously throwing his magic compass in the lake in a fit of malaise—only to discover Phoebe suddenly standing there, returned from the dead. Their joyful reunion is short-lived, however, since they must soon grapple with the inevitable return of Malphas and Leviathan—a pair of 250-year-old Wraiths whose appetites for death know no bounds. (“Despite the obvious cliché of their chosen moniker, they’d called themselves the Hounds of Hell for a reason: Malphas was the bark, and Leviathan was the bite.”) With help from their magical allies in the Order, Ronan and Phoebe come to realize that she’s somehow intrinsically linked to the Hounds; only as Phoebe’s health begins deteriorating does the horrifying truth come to light. Gateley’s novel boasts a smooth narrative voice, engaging dialogue, and a cast of well-rounded characters. Ronan and Phoebe’s romance still acts as the emotional anchor of the narrative’s events, and Phoebe’s struggles to come into her own power (both magical and emotional) are particularly compelling. Embedded within the novel’s magic-filled universe are deeper themes of self-empowerment and mental health; the text includes multiple mentions of therapy, such as Ronan’s sessions in the wake of Phoebe’s death. The author’s delicate handling of these sensitive topics lends the story an uplifting note, even as it tackles darker topics like violence, gender inequality, and power imbalances. The result is a dark, twisty, and utterly satisfying conclusion to this fantastical two-book series.
Adventure, romance, and a delightfully dynamic female lead headline this delicious series conclusion.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Absolutely superb.
Leaders of Britain’s abolitionist movement join forces with a veteran of the Haitian revolution to push back Napoleon’s deadly forces in Parry’s second Shadow Histories novel.
Napoléon Bonaparte isn’t a particularly talented magician, but his potential as a general and conqueror attracts the attention of the same mysterious figure who manipulated Robespierre to set off the Reign of Terror in A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians (2020). When Bonaparte summons a kraken to serve the French navy and later finds a dragon hidden in the sands of Egypt, it’s only a matter of time before France and Europe fall at his feet. William Pitt, meanwhile, is growing weaker by the day as he works to keep a deadly and dangerous magical secret from his enemies. William Wilberforce continues to fight for abolition but is stymied at every turn. Fina uses her magic to help Toussaint Louverture keep hold of Saint-Domingue, but she eventually makes the journey to London and meets Pitt and Wilberforce. With a first-rate blend of political drama and magic battle–action, Parry manages to inject tension and stakes into a historical drama where average readers will know at least the broad strokes of the ending. Effortlessly switching from France to England to Egypt to Saint-Domingue, Parry folds in show-stopping new characters like Kate Dove, a commoner weather mage dead-set on avenging her brother’s death by kraken, and Lady Hester Stanhope, who would become one of the most famous explorers of the 19th century. When the three main characters, Fina, Pitt, and Wilberforce, finally face off with the stranger, the resulting conflict brings the series’ meditations on idealism, the fight for human rights, and the necessary limits of institutional power to a head.
Absolutely superb.Pub Date: July 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-45915-0
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Redhook/Orbit
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A queer and fantastical romance that enchants in more ways than one.
Fairy mischief descends on Regency England once again.
The Caesar family occupies a delicate position in 1815 London. They are welcome at most society functions because Lady Mary is the daughter of an earl, but they're kept at arm’s length because her husband is a Senegalese freeman, leaving the family's three children at odds as they enter adulthood. The eldest son, Mr. Caesar, knows he ought to find a career and settle down, but he has no interest in doing so—he's a dandy, plus he's only attracted to men. For the most part, he keeps to the sidelines, until he punches a major in the teeth for insulting the older of his two sisters, Miss Caesar. Not long after, Miss Caesar makes a deal with a fairy that turns her into "the Beauty Incomparable," making the Caesars the center of conversation across London. All this sudden excitement brings Mr. Caesar into repeated contact with Captain Orestes James, a Black man who lives his life much more authentically alongside a steadfast group of soldiers called the Irregulars—which causes Mr. Caesar to imagine other possibilities for his life. And who recounts this complex and quirky story for our mortal enjoyment? Just as in Hall’s Mortal Follies (2023), it’s none other than Robin Goodfellow, still in exile from the court of Oberon and grumpy as ever at having to write up yet another story of foolish mortal behavior in order to make ends meet. (And while this volume stands alone fairly well, it will be best enjoyed after having read the first). His deliciously cruel and flippant voice once again provides a clever framework for the story’s balance of levity and gravity. As “the vagaries of mortal physicality mean little” to Robin, the story is fairly closed-door by Hall’s standards, but there are sparks of chemistry between Mr. Caesar and Captain James. And though the romance often takes a back seat to the grander plot, thanks to piles of rich detail, mythological references, and interactions with the Other Court, readers may not even notice.
A queer and fantastical romance that enchants in more ways than one.Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9780593497586
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Del Rey
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
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