Reviews – Page 22 – Marked for Plot

Shoestring Theory

This is probably one of the maddest and rant-filled reviews I’ve written. Shoestring Theory had such potential to be a book I loved, and was headed in that direction. Having just finished the book, however, I can’t help but feel that a great book was sabotaged in the name of big reveals and a desire to capitalize on the cozy trend (to be clear, I love a cozy book, but I would not consider this a successful one). If you’re someone whom big fucking plot holes aren’t an issue, then I can heartily recommend this as a great read. I’m oftentimes that person myself, and I frequently read other people’s reviews for books I love thinking ‘that’s a great critique, but it worked for me’. I will highlight some of the things I liked about this book, but it’s going to be a lot of me venting about the direction it went.

The Premise:
Cyril is the Grand Mage of his country, and husband to King Eufrates. He’s also hiding in exile from his tyrannical husband, the land cloaked in a plague. After his dear familiar, a cat named Shoestring, dies, Cyril rewinds time to try and save the life of Princess Tigris, kill his husband before he can destroy the world, and generally fix everything that went wrong with his life. When he discovers that his Eufrates was brought back as well, through the magical bond Cyril formed on their wedding day, things get much more complicated

Read if Looking For: big twists, toxic ex-husbands, bossy older sisters, quick pacing, good dialogue, tidy endings

Avoid if Looking For: intelligent or competent characters, logically consistent situations, healthy relationship dynamics

Red Dot

Sometimes, a single determined soul can hype a book so much that you reluctantly put it on your TBR. Usually, I end up never reading these books if they don’t keep popping up in various places. My reading list will already take 4 years to get through if I don’t add anything to it or read any sequels. In Red Dot’s case, the cover didn’t do it any favors. It isn’t particularly enticing (though in hindsight, I actually think it captures the book perfectly). For some reason, this was the month that Red Dot came off the bookshelf, and I found myself lost in the life of an artist with severe imposter syndrome. This is definitely a contender for my favorite book of the year so far, and I will proudly be the 24th person to rate this book on goodreads. It’s a hidden gem that I would love to see gain some new readers; it sucked me in and didn’t let go.

Read if Looking For: character-driven sci fi, utopian-adjacent climate change futures, accurate gay sex scenes

Avoid if Looking For: action focused stories, believable romance arcs, pessimistic views of the future

The Premise:
Mardy is an artist in a vaguely utopian future. Humanity banded together to help heal from the climate crisis, universal basic income is standard, and people eagerly volunteer their time for the good of the earth. Mardy’s main medium is machine tooling: manipulating metal and animatronics that are both functional and artistic. However, he’s constantly beaten by his rival Smith, and he’s wondering if he really has a future in art. Cue a chance meeting with Smith’s mysterious twin brother Wes, and slowly pieces start to slot into place for his next big step. Layered on top of all this is the single snag in the idyllic (if overheated) world: artificial intelligence is essential to the survival of the earth. Naming them, acknowledging their personhood, or encouraging independent decision making is a crime, out of fear they will abandon their duties keeping the world from tottering into destruction. Mardy disagrees and hopes his art is subversive enough to start making people rethink their beliefs.

The Magpie Lord (A Charm of Magpies #1)

This 2013 novel has been a recurring title that’s popped up in recommendation threads ever since I started looking intentionally for gay protagonists. I’ve read quite a few of Charles’ other works, primarily historical fiction romance instead of historical fantasy romance, and I think readers who enjoyed those will get a lot out of this book (and similarly, fans here should read later books; I generally think she’s improved as an author as time has gone on). The Magpie Lord is a romantasy from before the romantasy boom, and it doesn’t follow the same conventions as what’s being published now. While I’ve got some quibbles with this book, I’ll definitely be picking up the sequels sometime soon!

The Premise:
Lucien Vaudrey has lived in exile for decades, working as a smuggler and merchant in China. When his father and brother die from suicide however, he’s summoned home to accept his inheritance. When he realizes he’s living under the same curse that caused the death of his family, he summons a local magician Stephen Day to help him solve the problem. It turns out that something far more sinister is going on, and they travel to the countryside to unravel the mystery of Vaudrey’s family, and those seeking to exploit it. It doesn’t hurt that Stephen Day is quite attractive, either.

Read if Looking For: quick romance reads, assertive/submissive dynamics, sassy butlers, historical British settings

Avoid if Looking For: fleshed out mysteries, supernatural elements beyond magicians, queernormative worlds, slow burn romances

The Sunbearer Duology

As a middle and high school English teacher, I get a lot of book recommendations from kids. YA and Middle Great books are fantastic, though I don’t tend to read very many of them. When some books – especially the books my LGBTQ+ students are recommending – get student momentum behind them though, I’ll give them a try. Sunbearer Trials was pitched as a mashup of Percy Jackson and The Hunger Games with a trans lead, which was a pretty convincing pitch. Add in that Aiden Thomas wrote one of my favorite paranormal romances in Cemetary Boys, and I was happy to throw a few audiobook holds at the library. In the end, I don’t think this duology is as tightly written as Percy Jackson, Hunger Games, or Cemetary Boys, but it has a lot of heart and will land well for its target audience.

Read if Looking For: quality Trans-Masc representation, teenage angst, Aztec Mythology references, tournament arcs

Avoid if you’re Looking For: nuanced worldbuilding or themes, YA books that diverge from genre conventions

Heart of Stone

Vampire love stories are a dime a dozen. And while vampires can capture my attention, it’s pretty rare. I was part of the Twilight generation, and have gone full circle from ‘binge read all four’ to ‘these suck’ to ‘actually for YA they’re fine, and the first movie is delightful with a glass of wine’. Some other stories that lean more into the horror or gothic history of vampires, such as The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, left me extremely impressed. Heart of Stone, however, is a pretty straightforward vampiric romance, and thus not something I was enthused to pick up. Enough people had praised it, however, that I decided to give it a shot. It was a pleasant surprise, and one of the better fantasy romances I’ve read, if nothing else than because it wasn’t trying to be like every other fantasy romance out there.

The Premise
Henry is a vampire. Every few decades he moves, starting a new life, a new set of hobbies, and bringing some household staff who are ‘in the know’ with him. Theophilus is his new secretary, terse and introverted, frighteningly competent, unwilling to give any indication of his personal ideas and ideals. Both are gay, yearning for connection, and generally unwilling to speak about that part of their lives because London in the mid 1700s isn’t a great place for gay men. The book chronicles the growth of relationship into friends, and then into something more.

Read if you Like: contemplative and slow books, romances without hamfisted setups, extended conversations that exist without the need to push plot forwards

Avoid if you Dislike: characters who refuse to talk about their feelings, magic age gap romances, low spice books

Masks of the Miscam (Noss Saga #2)

I was so excited when I saw that Wolf of Withervale was a finalist for the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off! I left that book feeling a lot of joy at finding an old-school epic fantasy that leaned into queer identities and culture. It had its flaws (which largely continue in book 2) but I’m really enjoying this doorstopper series filled with ancient artifacts, massive armies, and a lot of gigantic animals. I was disappointed, but perhaps not surprised, at the lukewarm response it got compared to other finalists, and thrilled that this series is getting more eyes on it . This review won’t avoid spoilers for book 1, and you can see my review for that book here.

The Premise:
This book starts with Withervale burning. Lago & Company need to escape with two armies hunting them and start finding other mask users to help them chart their course. This book takes them to a few domes, but the majority of the time is spent in the dome of felines, which gets the most cultural worldbuilding of anywhere so far. This book will also asnwer some key questions about the history of Noss, trace progress of the Red Stag (and several other characters who aren’t present with Lago on his journey) and generally speaking expand the scope of the worldbuilding. This book sees another romantic subplot, but unlike in book 1, it doesn’t overwhelm the story in such an abrupt tonal shift, and instead fits more neatly into the epic fantasy structure the rest of the book follows.

Read if Looking For: 90s style Epic Fantasy but Queer, Indulgent Worldbuilding, Tropes Played Straight

Avoid if You Don’t Like: Infodumps, Self-Insert Main Characters, Explicit Sex Scenes

Falconsaga

Falconsaga made it on my reading list as one of the rare books about queer men written by a queer man that I’ve found so far published this year. While I thought the representation did a great job of presenting gay men as humans independent of their romantic and sexual identities, I generally found the book to be on the disappointing side, especially after a few Urban Fantasy books that really blew me away. However, for those looking for something that dives into Icelandic folklore, I think it would be a great fit. I’m also very much in the minority so far based on other reviews, so take my opinions with a grain of salt.

Read if Looking For: prophecies, tragic backstories, sinister family members, Icelandic myth, grounded gay representation

Avoid if Looking For: tightly plotted books, subtle foreshadowing, page-turners, critical takes on magical age-gap relationships

A Strange & Stubborn Endurance (Tithenai Chronicles #1)

A recent friend of mine works at a local romance-focused bookstore. When I asked about great gay romantasy books, this was one of the first titles to come to her mind. And while I don’t think this touches on some of my all time favorites, there’s a lot of good things happening in A Strange and Stubborn Endurance that you don’t find in many other romance/fantasy hybrids. I’m curious to see what the sequel brings to the table, as it felt fairly resolved in book 1, but I’m definitely going to read it.

The Premise
Velasin is an unimportant child of a minor(ish) noble, and never expected to play any sort of significant role in his country’s politics. However, when he ends up engaged to a noblewoman from a neighboring country in an attempt to broker peace, he doesn’t know what to do. Homosexuality is taboo in his country, so he can’t even protest his father. When the ambassador who arrives to collect him sees Velasin being raped by his ex-partner, she mistakenly assumes a consensual act, and shifts Velasin’s betrothal to a nobleman: Caethari, the athletic scion of a noble house with little interest in ruling. However, their betrothal, marriage, and falling in love (in that order) is marred by a serious of brutal attacks that seek to either kill one of them, or to wreck the marriage (and the new alliance) before it can ever start.

Read if Looking For: Romantasy, traditional romance tropes and plotlines, serious considerations of sexual assault, wholesome leads

Avoid if Looking For: lots of magic, political intrigue, characters that aren’t pure good/evil

Three Meant to Be (Branches of Past and Future #1)

Magic school stories are a dime a dozen, and I do love stories of meddling kids and incompetent teachers. However, when Three Meant to Be was pitched to me as a Magic school story from the perspective of a teacher (and a gay teacher no less) it was an easy add to my tbr. I don’t think it totally scratched that itch in particular, but it was a damned fun book to read, and I’m excited for the direction it seems to be headed.

As an aside, happy teacher appreciation week to anyone working in schools! The work we do is important, essential, and tough. Keep on trucking.

The Premise:
Dorian is a high school teacher. Specifically, he teaches aspiring witches how to use their magic safely and effectively. He’s a telepath with a rocky ex-boyfriend with current benefits situation with the most famous enchanter in Chicago, a pair of absolutely adorable cats, and a lot of bottled up grief. When he sees a vision of one of his new students being brutally murdered however, he swears to do whatever it will take to save his charge.

Read If You’re Looking For: a twist on classic magic school stories, quick pacing, grumpy leads who smoke too many cigarettes, loveable casts

Avoid if Looking For: deeply realistic portrayals of teacher life, nonhuman characters, epic and dramatic twists

Silver in the Wood (Greenhollow Duology #1)

Silver in the Wood has been sitting on my bookshelf for a long time. Too long, to be honest. It has a sterling (and I think, well earned) reputation as an excellent novella featuring a gay lead, can be read in 1-2 sittings, and has immaculate vibes. It’s not a perfect book, but it was incredibly satisfying for the length of time I spent with it. Also, some of the best cover art I’ve seen in a good long while.

Elevator Pitch
Tobias is a woodsman. Or rather, he is a man of the woods, and has been for 400 years. He’s got some magic, but not as much as his Dryad friends, and mostly just tries to keep things quiet. Silver has purchased the woods and a bit more, and quickly sets to asking Tobias (and everyone else) far too many questions about local history. He particularly enjoys spending time with Tobias, but the weight of history presses down on Tobias, keeping him from accepting Silver’s overtures. In Greenhollow though, summer is dangerous, especially for pretty young men who are new to town.

Read if You’re Looking For: stories invoking folklore, redemption, bossy mothers, romantic subplots

Avoid if You’re Looking For: flirting with chemistry, tightly plotted books, satisfying explanations