SciFi/Fantasy/Romance Book Review: Witch You Would by Lia Amador

 

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on September 2, 2025 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

Witch You Would is the first fantasy romance - or Magical Rom-Com as the marketing material calls it - by Lia Amador (aka humorous Sci-Fi author Valerie Valdes). The novel features a world where magic is as ubiquitous as cooking - indeed, they work in very clear similar ways - to the point where a reality show has sprung up around it: Cast Judgment, in which spellcasters compete to prove they're the best and are worthy of both a cash prize and a year residency at a super fanciful magical arts center. Into this world we have our romantic duo: Penelope, a spell technician obsessed due to trauma with making sure every spell component is exactly right and who wants the residency so she can finally decipher the spells in her late Abuela's spellbook - and Gil, an adjunct professor of magical theory who's secretly the popular joke influencer Leandro Presto, who posts on the magical version of tik tok videos of him messing up spells and getting into trouble. And with Penelope and Gil have serious pen pal crushes with each other....but Penelope also hates the screwing up of Leandro, so when she gets paired up with Leandro on Cast Judgment.....boom, magical romance.

And it's a romance that's a lot of fun to read, with excellent romantic main characters, a solid enjoyable setting and a pace that tantalizes and eventually delivers as much as I hope for in a romance. The reality show setting is clearly modeled after cooking shows - which I enjoy, so no complaints there - and the comedic tones of the characters, setting, and dialogue work pretty damn well. And most importantly, the romantic sparks between Gil and Penelope are very real, with some very believable and enjoyable sex scenes and romantic ups and downs, and it all winds up being a very cute enjoyable package. Definitely will read this one's sequel.

More specifics after the jump:

Fantasy Novella Review: Yoke of Stars by R.B. Lemberg

 

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on July 16, 2024 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

Yoke of Stars is the latest story in R.B. Lemberg's Birdverse world, a world featuring queer characters (sometimes oppressed, sometimes not) and magic based upon "deepnames", whose power depend upon the number of syllables in those names and the number of them possessed by their holder - and whose various permutations can result in different powers and personalities.  It's a setting that has produced some remarkable works such as the novella The Four Profound Weaves - in which a pair of older protagonists try to assert their queerness in an anti-queernnorm world - and the short novel The Unbalancing - featuring a queer-friendly setting that dealt with a neurodivergent protagonist, issues of power, duty, romance and consent.  I'm oversimplifying both of those works in that one sentence description by the way, they're both very deep and really well written for their short lengths.  

Yoke of Stars is largely the stories of two people - Stone Orphan, a siltway (fish-like) woman cast out from her people's collective under the sea under the guidance of the Star of the Shoal and now an assassin under the Orphan Star; and Ulín, a woman with a love of languages who wanted only to learn more about them throughout the world...only to find herself controlled and destroyed by those who supposedly love her.  It's a really interesting story dealing with themes of language, translation, control, and freedom, and I'm still thinking about it as I write this review.  

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: That Devil, Ambition by Linsey Miller

 

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on June 3, 2025 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

That Devil, Ambition is the latest dark YA Fantasy novel by author Linsey Miller, author of the Mask of Shadows duology, as well as the stand alone novels Belle Revolte and What We Devour (to name just her YA Fantasy work). The novel is based upon an idea that I feel is becoming rather common/overplayed of late: teens going to a school - usually of magic - that is deadly to its students, whether that be through the acts of the teachers, the students themselves, or the school building and spirits hanging around there (see Naomi Novik's Scholomance among others). Miller's work is generally extremely dark and uses her dark fantasy settings to play with some really interesting themes, so I was very curious to see her take on this setting.

And That Devil, Ambition pays off by really interrogating the reasoning and concepts behind this setting, all through a plot that follows 3 students involved in the deadly honors class: Fabian - an ambitious former noble looking to redeem his family line, Credence - a math genius from a foreign country who is relying upon her to succeed, and Euphemia (Mia) - a seemingly aloof an absent minded genius who struggles with other people. As part of the Honors Class, they will only graduate if they manage to kill their professor, an immensely powerful summoned Devil - but they will be killed if they fail in an attempt or if they fail to kill him by the end of the year. The three of them, and their classmates, are all forced into this honors class by oppressive student debt and impossible circumstances, and the story uses this setup to tell a strong tale about power, corrupt institutions perpetrating that power and trying to maintain it over others, debt (student debt especially) and the way it crushes those who have it, and more. It's some really good stuff and I highly recommend this book as usual for Miller.

More after the Jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Proliferation by Erik A. Otto

 

Proliferation is a self-published epic post-apocalypse (Post-Apoc) Scifi novel by author Erik A. Otto. The novel is technically the second in a series (after a book called "Detonation", which I think is meant to explain some of this book's setting) but is meant to be entirely stand-alone, and the book is one of this year's Self-Published Sci-Fi Competition semifinalists (#SPSFC4). It's a book filled with ideas, as we see a series of AI-centered cities wake up with powerful weapons and issues over how they protect their residents, a major political power that seems to be an alliance between anti-technology cultists from the American west coast and a military dictatorship from what remains of Japan, and some technology-based cultists who are extremely antisocial in their ways among other things.

And yet, those ideas somehow more frustrate than anything else, as Proliferation lacks some of the core things such a book would need to actually be interesting. For one, the setting is so unexplained as to be frustrating, and the book's plot arcs seem to just reset and go nowhere repeatedly. For another, the characters are largely uninteresting and every faction we follow is just seemingly made up of assholes: why do we care about any of these people? What do they want in life? I have no idea for large parts. And then there's the fact that the book relies on certain tropes - like a character committing self-harm to mitigate some kind of unspecified disease - without any justification, and uses them really badly. In short, I cannot recommend Proliferation at all.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Self Harm, Suicide Attempts and Suicidal Ideation, Drinking. These ideas aren't really handled very well either, just to be clear.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: On Impulse by Heather Texle

On Impulse is a self published sci fi thriller by author Heather Texle and the first in her "Reliance Sinclair" series of novels (of which the second book comes out this July). The novel is a semifinalist in this year's Self Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC4) of which I am a Judge. It's a sort of classic type of novel - our heroine is a former (space) cop who is searching for answers as to the tragedy that got her essentially forced off the force - her partner turning on her - and who finds herself on the run from other cops when she stumbles onto the murder of her only friend. So in some ways it's the Fugitive, but in a Sci-Fi setting, albeit with some other influences as well.

Unfortunately, On Impulse really doesn't contain much to recommend it. It's not a bad novel, as it remains very readable (and quickly readable) as its protagonist gets into worse and worse situations due to impulsive decision making (see the Title) and eventually discovers the truth. But its characters are largely shallow and forgettable - especially its protagonist who kinda gets less development than some of the very shallow side characters - and it really doesn't say anything interesting. Nor is the setting or plot particularly intriguing, with the plot relying upon a bunch of pretty dumbfounding character choices to make it work.

More after the jump.