Got another book bingo. So time for another set of reviews. We’ve got a bunch of really good stories here… plus one I hated. But talking about books I didn’t like is sort of fun. Anyway, can’t waste too much time on an intro; I still have six squares to fill and I’m running out of 2025.

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Challenge: Locas Award for Best Horror Winner

Book: What Moves the Dead – T. Kingfisher

Rating: 5/5

I was lucky enough to pick up an autographed copy of this book last year. I had never heard anything about this story, had not read the Poe story it was based off of (The Fall of the House of Usher), and wasn’t particularly looking for a new story. But I have so far loved everything by T. Kingfisher (who you may know by her irl name, Ursula Vernon) so there was no way I wasn’t going to buy an autographed book by her. Anyway, I have finally gotten around to reading What Moves the Dead, and all I can say is hell yes, I am so glad I picked up this book.

his is a retelling of a Poe short story, and also an expansion, though it is still a quick read. The unnamed protagonist has become Alex Easton, a non-binary war veteran, and Mrs Potter, an amateur mycologist, has been introduced. Having the extra time to invest in the characters and the build up makes what was one of Poe’s creepiest tales even more terrifying.

I’m more familiar with Kingfisher’s fantasy rather than her horror, but was so happy to see that she excels here too. he descriptions of the hares and Maddy were creepy and haunting. Despite that, Kingfisher’s humor also shines through.

After reading What Moves the Dead, I had to go check out The Fall of the House of Usher. I’m glad I went into What Moves the Dead completely blind, but I don’t think having read House of Usher would ruin the experience. Kingfisher adds so much to the original work that there’s not really much that gets spoilt by reading House of Usher first. I am so impressed with What Moves the Dead both as a story, and as a retelling.

Challenge: Told by a Villain POV

Book: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes – Suzanne Collins

Rating: 4/5

This was my first time interacting with the Hunger Games franchise in years, and this book, despite possibly being the weakest in the series, is still a very good welcome back. I’m going to assume most readers are somewhat familiar with the series, but if not the TL;DR is that a dystopian society controls the population by making kids fight in a death game, and it is amazing.

I feel Ballad was more raw and brutal than the original trilogy. It is set 64 years before the start of The Hunger Games, and focuses on the 10th Hunger Games, and things are very different this early on. The tributes aren’t treated like celebrities. They are locked in the monkey enclosure at the zoo, starved, and those that lash out are killed and have their bodies dragged around the city. The Capital is also not as decadent as it is by the time of the 74th Hunger Games, with damage from the war still visible, and the citizens still having fresh memories of the bombings, starvation, and other horrors they went through during the war. This book does a great job of showing us how Panam and the Hunger Games became what we saw in the original trilogy.

We also see how the series villain President Snow comes to be. This story is told from his POV, and we see all his struggles, watch him chase his goals, and also see how much he has bought into the lie that he is superior and deserves better. Snow gets so many opportunities to grow, adjust his beliefs, and learn to value other people. But those just aren’t the choices he ends up making. For most of the book, Snow’s success is tied up with District 12 tribute Lucy Gray’s fate, so even though he is a piece of shit, you root for him because you want Lucy Gray to win. (Shoutout to Youtuber Ian Gubeli for summing up so well how Collins makes us so invested in Snow’s journey because of Lucy Gray. I’d been struggling to understand how I felt about well, the way I connected with Snow, but watching his video made it click.)

This book and the movie get slammed a bit for the second part of the story that takes place in District 12 after the games end. I didn’t hate that end part; it did a good job of expanding the world, of showing Snow’s decent into villain territory, and it had some iconic scenes. But it feels off pacing wise, and with Snow going from what Lucy Gray needs to survive to her biggest threat, it gets harder to connect with him. That last bit is okay though, because this is a story about how going along with the dehumanization efforts of an oppressive regime does in fact strip away your own humanity. I think it’s right that such a story is uncomfortable, and that it leaves readers not getting everything they want.

Challenge: Has Dragons

Book: Onyx Storm – Rebecca Yarros

Rating: 1/5

I know there are some issues with this series, but despite that, I loved Fourth Wing. It was a page turner with cool dragon magic, an underdog protagonist, and some good smut. Iron Flame had some weird pacing, and the smut was starting to feel samey, but it was still a page turner that expanded the world. Now though, we get to book three, Onyx Storm, and the wheels have fallen completely off. If I didn’t want to do a book bingo review of this story, there is no way I would have finished this 500 page slog.

This series is the ‘Enemies to Lovers’ trope between the two leads, Violet and Xaden. The problem is, they became lovers at the end of the first book, so that aspect of the story is resolved. Or at least, it should be, but this book is working on taking them back to enemies to start again. They don’t really experiment too much in the bedroom, but Yarros is trying to spice it up with new twists, like making Xaden Violet’s teacher, and making it so that there’s a possibility that he might hurt her during intercourse, which does not help things. So the relationship is stagnant, and so is the plot. Iron Flame ends with a cliffhanger that threatens to change everything about Violet and Xaden’s relationship and the plot. By the end of Onyx Flame, the only thing that has changed is that what happened at the end of Iron Flame is now public knowledge. And also a change with Violet’s dragons. So basically Onyx Storm is 500 pages of ABSOLUTE NOTHING.

I’ve read somewhere this series was originally intended as a trilogy but got expanded because it made so much money. I’m not sure if that’s true or not, but it sure does feel that way. It is now expected to be a five book series, and I think the problem is that nothing about this series has the stamina to go for five books. The lovers got together at the end of book one, and attempts to drag out the romantic tension for four more books are going badly. Violet mastered her magical powers in book two, so further attempts to power her up just seem forced, and take away from the struggles she had as a small disabled woman in book one. Yarros also lacks the fantasy writing skills to keep this type of plot and world engaging for five books.

One example of bad writing that sums up most of my problems with this book occurs at the end of one chapter, which ends with one of Violet’s friends getting stabbed – apparently fatally – by a cook. I just remember thinking “ain’t no way a dragonrider and main character goes down to a random cook” and then the next chapter starts, we get Violet’s dramatic reaction to her friend’s death… but then he pulls he knife out from his hidden armor and takes out the cook. It was such a contrived, unrealistic attempt to make a cliffhanger, and the book is full of such cheap attempts to generate suspense because there is just nothing in this plot that is able to generate organic cliffhangers. The book has no natural suspense, so Yarros has to force it, and it falls flat.

I’m going to pretend that Fourth Wing was just a standalone and not bother with this series anymore.

Challenge: King Arthur (Retelling, Inspired, or Original)

Book: Spear – Nicola Griffith

Rating: 3.5/5

This is a genderflipped re-imagining of the story of Sir Percival, a knight of the round table who in some myths, is a sort of demi-god. I don’t actually have much experience with King Arthur lore, and I knew basically nothing about Percival going into this story. Because of that, I’ll have to take the word of others who say this is a good take on the legend, and review it as it’s own story.

The first thing that struck me about this story, is it feels like I am being told an ancient legend. The tone and narration style is just perfect for this type of story. I listened to this as an audiobook, so maybe that made everything even better, but I can see this story reading like an epic in any medium. Griffith nails the legend style so well that I didn’t mind things that would otherwise be a turn off for me, such as Peretur being overpowered. Of course, it helps that her uncanny strength does become a source of concern as she learns more about magic and the god-like creatures of this world.

This ends up being a beautiful, atmospheric story with a strong female lead, queer romance, and that sense of wonder that comes from old Celtic/European myths retold well. I didn’t find it to be an addictive page turner, but it was a very nice story, paced well for a novella.

Challenge: Non Marvel or DC Superheroes

Book: Dreadnaught – April Daniels

Rating: 5/5

This is a YA own-voices story about Danny, a young transgender girl who receives the powers of the world’s greatest superhero, Dreadnaught. These powers also give her her ‘idealized body’, which in this case means she is instantly physically transitioned. Reading about her being forced to come out, whilst discovering her powers and looking for the big bad who killed Dreadnaught was amazing.

his book was almost impossible to put down. The combination of the hero learning plotline and Danny’s personal struggles with coming out and dealing with her transphobic parents and asshole friend was so compelling. Seeing Danny struggle with all her self-doubt despite having super-powers felt so relatable too.

This book is part of the Nemesis Trilogy, though so far only two books have been released. If I wasn’t so eager to go fill out more bingo squares, I would have dived straight into the sequel, Sovereign. Dreadnaught wraps up it’s story nicely, whilst setting up the next antagonist and making us want to see more of Danny’s personal journey.

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And that’s it for this lot of book bingo reviews. Now I gotta go get reading so I can bring you the next lot. Happy reading everyone.

~ Jayde