to write the unwriteable wrong

Re-Reads. HUH.

None so far.


I DNF'd

I did get v. close to bouncing from one of the books, but I finished it out of sheer curiosity.



Had an awesome time at first (but it all went downhill from there.)

* Bitterbound by A.Z. Louise (M/F romantasy) - Kin is a literal soulless assassin who is abt to complete her latest mission. Only for Verias, her target, to react with quiet acceptance. She starts a conversation with him, and then proposes a trade: she'll set him free and, in exchange, he'll help her find her soul and destroy it.

This book was promoted as a "slow burn, assassin x target romantasy". I was R-E-A-D-Y for Knife Waves and the people who love them!

On the positive side, I liked that Kin was 40 y.o. while Verias is in his mid-to-late 40s. Both are bisexual. Kin is Black and fat. The worldbuilding (and the worldbuilding ONLY) is quite robust. Especially w/r/t to the magic system.

However, I did have some serious issues with this novel. Behold my list of grievances:

1. This book should've been 100 pages shorter. It also needed a good developmental edit.

2. I also was not onboard with Kin and Verias' romance. Based on the promo, I was expecting a lot of tension between them as they travel to the place where Kin's soul is being held. After all, Kin WAS going to kill Verias and they're strangers.

Unfortch, the "slow burn" only lasted until the 15-20% mark. By which point, it's pretty clear they each find the other attractive. Kin also slides into protector!mode by Chapter 2, so any bit of potential push-and-pull between them disappeared into the ether. I do think they had good sexual chemistry. Their intimate scenes were good. The whole emotional side of things, though, was lacking.

3. Although I liked Kin as an MC, I did 🙄 at her characterization as an assassin. FTR, she's v. good and brutal at times. However, something that kept recurring throughout the story was that, whenever she needed to fight someone 1 on 1, she'd either let them go OR temporarily incapacitate them.

The moment I realized this was during a scene when she chokes a female assassin until the assassin passes out. Then a friend of Kin walks in and says "wow, you must be getting soft. Why didn't you kill her?". Kin in in the middle of replying to her friend when her friend takes a knife and kills the assassin. I was v. ???? as to why Kin didn't do that in the first place, IJS.

3.5 I was also uncomfortable with the fact that 2 out of the 3 soulless assassins shown were Black people (Kin and a nonbinary character named Merrit), with the 3rd one being a nameless white guy who shows up in 2 scenes total. Meanwhile all of the sorcerers are white.

See also the fact that Kin is Black and Verias is described as white.

AAAAND the over-reliance on mentions of Kin's hair to identify her as Black was odd. Most of the time, the book describes Kin's hair as long, curly, and dyed red. She never wears it in braids nor uses any kind of protective hairstyle. IIRC, she only mentions hair oil once. And, due to a temporary loss of magic during a specific scene, she is annoyed to see that her hair is now kinky.

IIRC, her skin tone was mentioned fewer times when compared to her hair. The ONLY reason why I noticed this was because the latter happened so often.

I'm also v. "that's not quite right" when it came to descriptions of her body. Readers are told she's fat and that's abt it. Oh, wait, there's a scene where Verias mentions Kin's curves. I... OKAY THEN!

What I mean to say is that there are ways to describe characters' races and bodies. This author did a bad job of both.

4. I'm not sure if the author intended this book to be the first in a series or a duology or what. Because there are a few things that get brought up in the last part of the book only to be left drifting into the ether.

SPOILERS FOR THE LAST THIRD OF THE NOVEL

* All throughout the book, there is an evil lord who wants to take over everything. Kin murders him (in the silliest way possible) near the end of the novel; the evil lord's adult children are also killed. This inspires the people to stage a really fast revolution and destroy the evil lord's armies. Which is fine.

HOWEVAH, this results in a bizarre power vacuum. Especially because there are ZERO mentions of who exactly the evil lord's armies have been fighting against? The socioeconomic system appears to be feudal in nature, but it's not quite defined at the same time. Then, things get even more absurd at the end of the book when the ppl want Kin to organize things/become a leader since she's the one who killed the evil lord. What?

FTR, she does decline the offer, but this does point out that no one else is worthy/around to take care of things. IDK.

* The place where the soulless assassins are created is blown up, and all but 2 of the sorcerers are killed. It so happens that those two sorcerers have survived because Kin didn't kill them when she had the chance and instead LET THEM GO. *sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh*

* Sometime during the last chapters, Kin finds out she has had the same ancient and powerful magic her parents have. BUT her mom deemed Kin to be too emotional/volatile to wield the magic and so she repressed her daughter's power. Does Kin manages to convince her mother to free her own magic? Maybe teach Kin how to use her powers? OR, perhaps, Kin tries to figure out a way to break the barriers on her own and/or with Verias' help?

NO. Neither thing happens. Instead, Kin and her mom have an argument abt it. . . and that's it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

* To top all of this off, there's a plague spreading everywhere. And things are so dire that the city the MCs are at is under lockdown. But both MCs have things to do, so they keep going places and returning to the city. I can't even . . . 🙃

In short, just as the book is winding down, the author is packing in a LOT of storylines that remained unsolved. IDEK what to tell y'all.

5. And then, there's the ending. 🤪


Kin begins the story bound to a nameless sorcerer who took her soul and stored it in the Vault of Souls. This was done as punishment for a crime she committed (attempting to steal a brooch that belonged to the evil lord dude.)

She ends the novel

BIG SPOILER AHOY!

bound to a NEW sorcerer who takes her soul. But it's TOTALLY COOL THIS TIME cuz the new sorcerer is Verias + they're both IN LURVE + he added an extra spell to keep her safe or whatever. Oh, and Verias is holding Kin's soul inside his body, right next to his own soul.

THIS IS A TERRIBLE ENDING! Kin angsts/worries A TON abt her soul. She's OBSESSED WITH GETTING RID OF IT FOR GOOD across 300+ pages ONLY TO END UP IN THE SAME SITUATION (BY HER OWN VOLITION, MIND YOU), BUT 💓LOVE💓, Y'ALL. 😬😬😬😬😬😬

IMO, the author chickened out. A much better/romantic ending would've been to fuse Kin and Verias' souls together. OR, hell, have Kin actually try to destroy her soul and either fail or succeed at it. IJS.

Although I did finished it, the more I read this novel, the more my general reaction was "I guess?"

I truly wish the author had gotten a good editor to rework this novel into something less messy and overstuffed. The ending was the opposite of awesome. A v. dissatisfying read. I doubt I'll ever read anything else by this author.

This book is not horrible enough to give it 1-star, but it's also not one I'd recommend to anyone. So I'm giving it a v. rare (for me) rounding up rating to 2 out of 5.



It was . . . fine?

* One Final Turn by Ashley Weaver (Historical mystery) - 5th and last book in the Electra McDonnell series. It's 1941 and Ellie goes to Lisbon, Portugal on the most important mission of her life.

The first half of the book was a true BORE. And I say that as someone who has not only read the previous books in this series, but also the entirety of the Amory Ames novels. Seeing Ellie reminiscing abt her past adventures was annoying. And then, whenever the book moved away from that, it'd be nothing but full descriptions of what she did and visited in Lisbon.

There was a lot (and I do mean A FUCKING LOT) of telling instead of showing. So, despite Ellie going here, there, and everywhere, the mood was incredibly passive. I got the feeling that everyone (Ellie, me, and the author) was waiting for something (anything!) to happen in order to get things going properly. FWIW, although I understand why the book had to be set outside of England, I do wish that the author had edited out a few of the pages abt Ellie's trip to Lisbon.

My one (1) quibble abt the finale had to do with the fact that the series ended way too early into WW2. Although I do firmly believe in the strong HFN finale to the series, I couldn't help but think abt the fact that all of the characters still had a few more years of the conflict to live thru. So that dimmed my yays a bit.


THANKFULLY, things got verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry interesting in the second half of the novel, heheh.

For starters, there was the romance between Ellie and Major Ramsey and the utterly delicious curveball that the novel threw in their direction.

THEN the story took off and I practically zoomed thru the rest of the book.

My fave character was Archie. Loved his personality. His friendship with Ellie was delightful AF.

IMO, the best part of this novel has to be the last 10 chapters. I gave this book a 2.7 out of 5.


Good vibes all around

* Clean Sweep by Ilona Andrews (Urban fantasy) - Dina owns a Victorian bed and breakfast in a small Texan town. She's got one guest, is a doggie parent to a cute Shih Tzu, and is an overall normal person. But there's more to Dina, her inn, her dog, and and the guest.

She butts heads with a new neighbor while investigating a dangerous creature terrorizing her neighborhood. Even though she really shouldn't get involved, Dina is not abt to let chaos reign... This is the first book in IA's Inkeeper Chronicles series.

Whenever I start a new IA book, I do so with high expectations. After reading 20 IA books, I know that my expectations will either be met or, more often, surpassed.

Did this novel have fantastic worldbuilding, a gripping plot, and excellent action scenes? YES. YES, IT DID! I also liked Dina: she's a protagonist you cheer for from page 1. Her dynamic with Sean was ridiculous, but that's to be expected in an IA book, hahah.

One thing I kept in mind was the Andrews' blueprint. The female MC will almost always be an attractive, cishet woman who's somewhere in her 20s. She'll have some degree of snarkiness. Her male love interest will always be a literal alpha dude (see Curran in the KD series and Connor in the first trilogy for the Hidden Legacy novels.) I've come to accept that and gently 🙄 because it's so rare for IA to step into something different.

A friend of mine mentioned something that I agree with: this novel is v., v. white. Every single human character is white. And I deffo :| at that. SOME characters of color (as well as some queer ones) would've been super, IJS.

I also have to say the last part with the actual!Big Bad got a bit convoluted. Finally, I kinda 😒 at Sean when, right before the final battle, he does something after using his wolf-y aura or whatever. A part of me was like "bruh, this could be considered assault, but you do you, I guess...". FWIW, I'm aware of the inevitability of him and Dina becoming a couple (especially since he's on the covers for books 4 and 5). But that doesn't mean I'm thrilled of how things began.

Aside from that, I did ended up LMAO a lot and found this to be quite the thrilling urban fantasy. So I gave this novel a 4.7 out of 5.


Current fic tally

Picked up 194 fics, DNF'd 90.


Some Thoughts

Readingwise, things were v. uneven. One novel was a disappointment, one was quite meh, and I was gaga over the last one. In any case, I seem to be way past the (now usual) summer reading slump. Huzzah for that!

Up Next...

Last time: "am halfway thru the third one (which is NOT set in space)--though IDK if I'll finish it, and ended up renewing the fourth book before it was due back to the library. I'm also in the middle of another book which is the last one in a series. 🤞🏾 for good reading ahead!"

The third book I'm talking abt is Bitterbound (which some folks had also talked abt as being a queer femdom romance. FTR, yes, the two MCs are bi, but that's it AND the femdom is so subtle I almost missed it). Meanwhile, the fourth book is a historical paranormal that's not cozy. I've renewed it for a second time.

Aside from that, I'm halfway thru the second book in the Innkeeper series and I'm trying to see which horror novels I'm gonna dive in. It's October after all. 😛

The Princess Gambit

A 2025 36-episode historical drama.

The story is set during an undetermined time in China's history. There is a main kingdom and two smaller ones. The empress of one of the smaller kingdom arranges a marriage between Princess Cheng Ping | Jiang Taohua (played by Meng Ziyi) and Mu Wuxia, the main kingdom's emperor's fourth son, (played by Biang Cheng.)

As soon as the princess and her entourage arrive at the main kingdom, weird stuff begins to happen. Including the convoy getting attacked by giant feral wolves (!!). Jiang Taohua manages to escape into the city only to get knocked on the head by someone.

AT THE SAME TIME, Shen Zaiye, the main emperor's Left Chancellor, (played by Liu Xueyi) is meeting someone in secret at a brothel. He drinks something he's poured himself and then faints.

They both wake up in one of the brothel's rooms with Jiang Taohua in her underdress and Shen Zaiye on top of her. As they begin to regain consciousness, who walks in but Mu Wuxia (Jiang Taohua's fiance) AND the crown prince Mu Wugou (played by Zhu Jian)!

So, because of all of that, the original engagement is dissolved.

However, Jiang Taohua is determined to stay put. Unbeknown to everyone else, she's actually a spy for her stepmother and was tasked to find some items for her empress. And as an "incentive", the empress not only threatens Jiang Taohua's younger brother's life, BUT also forces Jiang Taohua to take a special poison. This poison is dormant for most of the month until it's not and then she has to meet her handler in order to get a temporary antidote or, you know, DIE.

After some back and forth, Jiang Taohua comes up with the idea of marrying Shen Zaiye so that everyone saves face (but especially her.) Shen Zaiye is NOT into it since he has a Main Wife and 2 other concubines, etc. In the end, the emperor agrees and thus she joins his household as his 3rd concubine.

Jiang Taohua's arrival to her new home kicks off a WHOLE LOTTA DRAMARAMA!


I'll say that the premise was cool. I also found the majority of the cast to be quite standard actingwise. Tip of hat to Liu Lingzi as Meng Zhenzhen (Shen Zaiye's Main Wife.) At some point, I started to watch the show for her cuz her storyline was ridic good.

It's also a well-done drama in terms of cinematography. Lots of beautiful shots. Overall, I was FEELING IT up to a certain point.


Do I have any criticisms?

I do, indeed-y!

My issues begin around episode 16. Prior to that, I'd enjoyed the three mini-arcs. But then, things began to take a lot of weird turns that annoyed me.

SPOILERS for a specific storyline during episodes 16-19

My first problem had to to do with the CP. #Womp-womp Up to ep 15, the story was building them up into becoming a Power Couple. And, as y'all know by now, that's MY JAM.

However, during episode 16, the show drops a misunderstanding between Jiang Taohua and Shen Zaiye that keeps growing until their earlier alliance breaks. AND THEN, Jiang Taohua ends up with amnesia. *sigh* FTR, I don't mind amnesia plots, but the way it's handled in this story was NOT vibing with me.

My gut was telling me the drama was gonna piss me off. So I called it quits right around episode 19. Funnily enough, based on comments I read from ppl who finished the drama, everyone pretty much agreed that the series took a nosedive between eps. 17-19. Which I call the "transition episodes" between arc 1 and arc 2 of the drama.

I didn't like the villains in arc 2. To me, they were all roar and no bite.

Adding to my NO, PLEASE STOP feelings abt the villains, there is an extremely gross (yet weirdly surface level) exploration of a character who was SA as a child and the person who abused and groomed them. Once those two characters appeared, I got one of those "wait a minute cuz something isn't quite okay abt XYZ and ABC's dynamic" feeling whenever those two interacted. And then, when I read the spoilers as to what happened in the second half, I was like 🙅🏾‍♀️🙅🏾‍♀️🙅🏾‍♀️. FTR, NOTHING GRAPHIC happens onscreen, but it's still v. uncomfortable to witness the horrible dynamic between the abused character and their abuser.

Then, I was never convinced by the CP. 😕 I liked that both characters have complicated stories (she's a spy working against the emperor he's loyal to; he has a v. twisty background and a v.specific goal he's worked his whole life to achieve). And they're deffo a FREAK4FREAK couple, but it takes AGES for them to establish an actually romantic relationship. I have to admit that part of my I'M NOT SURE ABT THESE TWO comes from something that happens early in the drama…

MAJOR SPOILER FOR THE CP (which includes mentions of Intimate Partner Violence

So, Shen Zaiye is RUTHLESS. He will kill anyone (yes, including children--this isn't shown, only alluded to as something in the character's past) who stands in his way. And this is shown by the v. rough way he treats Jiang Taohua. By which I mean he LITERALLY TRIES TO KILL HER AT LEAST THREE (YES, 3 TIMES) within the first ten or so episodes. Including their first meeting back at the brothel (where he nearly strangles her death.)

Dude is the REDDEST OF ALL RED FLAGS OUT THERE, IJS.

After the third attempt, things begin to settle between them.

Usually, I'd have bounced by the second attempt, NGL. However, I was never actually worried for Jiang Taohua (the way I'd have been abt anyone else) because the show had given viewers enough of her backstory to feel reassured she'd make it to the end somehow. Had this been her first experience on the receiving end of violence, I'd have been more concerned. *Hands*

The other reason was me being v. curious as to how the show was gonna flip Shen Zaiye's characterization into one of a someone who is in lurve with a person considers an enemy/doesn't trust. And it happened! He most deffo fell first. Something that made sense because Jiang Taohua's situation was more urgent (the poison and her little brother being in danger) than Shen Zaiye's long goal.

IMO, the show takes a bit too long (and/or perhaps it's too subtle at first), but they do eventually manage to switch Shen Zaiye's flag from oxblood red to a light orange, LOLsob.

Speaking of the slow burn…

Based on what I've read (after admitting to myself that I wasn't going to sit thru approx. 14 more hours hatewatching this drama), it's not until ep. 30 or 31 (out of 36 eps total) that Jiang Taohua acknowledges that she's in love with Shen Zaiye.

They are meant to be a Power Couple and the show does a lot to set that relationship during the first 14 eps. But, instead of staying on track, the drama decides to hit the pause button around eps. 16-18 and then make everyone wait until the last 6 eps for the romance to get fully reactivated?

NAH, BRUH, I'M GOOD!

Another thing that doesn't help this situation is that there's not a lot of chemistry between the actors. Both are at the same level talentwise (which is fine) and are good looking. However, once the kissing scenes began, I could only go "I guess?" while wondering why was this the least swoon-worthy "romance" scenes I'd seen in a while. :|


What's the FMC's plot armor level?.

Medium.

By the time the story begins, it's stated that Jiang Taohua has endured a lot of psychological and physical abuse from the empress. And, throughout the story (or, at least up to ep. 19), bad things happen to her.


How does the show handle the inevitable "Oh noes, the emperor's in danger of losing his throne!" storyline?

It's a little complicated cuz it's abt the actual!succession line, I gotta 'fess up that I wasn't invested at all. *Hands*


Do I recommend it?

No, LOL.

There are some v. random turns that lead to plot holes, the story meanders a lot, the drama pulled back from the romance just as everything was ready to go, the CP chemistry was nonexistent, etc. What a disappointment.


Queerness level

It's at a low-medium level (though quite unsatisfying.)

OTOH, there are are 4 characters who could be read as queer couples.

One of the couples is HORRENDOUSLY TOXIC and

HUGE SPOILER

they're related by blood

The other couple is extremely wholesome, sweet. and fun. But then,

here's another SPOILER

that couple only lasts 3 episodes after which one of the character ends up getting murdered.

So I would NOT rec it watching it for the M/M ships (subtle as they might be.)


Le trailer

Watch on YouTube

IMO, this trailer is kinda misleading. The tone leans heavier into comedy than what is actually shown in the drama. Still, I share it cuz it does give a good idea of the dynamic between Jiang Taohua and Shen Zaiyen.