colonizer romance? more like waste of all resources. To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang; book review

Title: To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods

Author: Molly X. Chang

Number of Pages: 368

Publishing Date: 16 April 2024

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

SYNOPSIS:

She has power over death. He has power over her. When two enemies strike a dangerous bargain, will they end a war . . . or ignite one?

Heroes die, cowards live. Daughter of a conquered world, Ruying hates the invaders who descended from the heavens long before she was born and defeated the magic of her people with technologies unlike anything her world had ever seen.

Blessed by Death, born with the ability to pull the life right out of mortal bodies, Ruying shouldn’t have to fear these foreign invaders, but she does. Especially because she wants to keep herself and her family safe.

When Ruying’s Gift is discovered by an enemy prince, he offers her an impossible deal: If she becomes his private assassin and eliminates his political rivals—whose deaths he swears would be for the good of both their worlds and would protect her people from further brutalization—her family will never starve or suffer harm again. But to accept this bargain, she must use the powers she has always feared, powers that will shave years off her own existence.

Can Ruying trust this prince, whose promises of a better world make her heart ache and whose smiles make her pulse beat faster? Are the evils of this agreement really in the service of a much greater good? Or will she betray her entire nation by protecting those she loves the most?

REVIEW:

Well what happened was that, i saw an East-Asian fantasy book in a pre-loved bookstore and i was like why not. I love books, I love fantasy books. I love East-Asian fantasy books.

‎i looked at the synopsis, oh wow a girl who has death powers, and has to work together with the enemy prince!! Sounds so good!! WRONG!! Every time I thought, it can't get any more bad than this, it got worse...

‎i can sum up the events of this book in less than 10 sentences:

‎1. Orphan girl with death powers, coming from a family of famous army generals has one twin with life powers who's a part of a resistance and one old but wise grandma.

‎2. Everyone in her kingdom has magical powers that are being affected by drug addiction caused by the Romans who are currently ruling her country from the sidelines(very directly tbh), the said Romans are also kidnapping her people to do experiments on them and she loathes them oh so much

‎3. Her childhood crush is now a traitor and helps her get drugs for her sister, and she hates him fo all of that (plot twist near the end: he was not a traitor), and her childhood best friend is now actively fighting alongside her army general dad.

‎4. She kills whoever the roman prince tells her to kill(I-am-protecting-my-family-and-i-don't-care-what-happens-to-the-rest-of-the-country, NO YOU'RE NOT), she also falls in love with the roman prince...

5. In the end she finds out her beloved colonizer prince’s secrets and starts to hate everything about him and his bloodline all over again.

 

‎oh look! i summed it all up in just 5 (long)sentences...

Details:

‎even though the book starts with Ruying telling us about the atrocities of Romans and ruins of her kingdom that they left behind in their wake, even though her own family(both dead and alive) has suffered in every possible way because of the Romans, even though the same Romans imprisoned and tortured her, even though the Roman prince threatened her into working as an assassin for him by using her sister and grandma life as bait(even though it’s been made very clear that her 2 and only family members will prefer to die over being at the mercy of a roman), she still in love with him... her reasons? He’s very pretty, he knows her language and culture very well while the other colonizers don't, he hugs and soothes her after making her kill innocent people(I'm frowning so hard my face hurts), he never raises his voice on her, he tells her that he doesn't want a genocide(just an occupation...) even though he has all the means and power to do exactly that in a blink of an eye(that's very there-was-very-pretty-girl-flirting-with-me-today-but-i told her-that-i-am-sorry-i-have-a-girlfriend), he's an orphan adopted by the Roman royal family’ and did I mention that she finds him very beautiful?

and that brings us to yet another point, the pretty privilege(?). I am living hand to mouth and I am so pretty, my sister is an opium addict and she’s so pretty, Baihu is a traitor and he’s so pretty, our princess is a prisoner of the roman royals and a pawn of her own family’s political game play and she’s so pretty, Antony is my country’s colonizer and he’s so pretty. And this was told to the reader multiple times how everyone who has anything negative linked to their character was oh so pretty. And? What do you want me to do with that information? It wasn’t necessary but well whatever; this brings me to yet another point.

The repetition, my arch nemesis. Everyone is pretty and it’s somehow important to mention it again and again, in some instances complete sentence were repeated word for word after few chapters, everything was a serpent… her hate for the Romans? Like a serpent. Her fear of opium and what the enemy might do to her family? Like a serpent. Someone’s voice? Like a serpent. Someone’s gaze? Like a serpent… she hates Antony with all her heart and she looks at his lips while he’s talking and keeps imaging if and when he’ll start kissing her(friendly reminder that he’s the colonizer/oppressor prince) we are given this type of information again and again…

The author so badly wants us to realize that Ruying only loves Antony how Juliette loved adam in shatter me. She wants you to say, oh Ruying fell in love with Antony because he treated her better compared to all the other men in her past, whether they be friends, romantic interests, or her own drug addict father, just how you justified Juliette falling in love with Adam only because he was the first man who was kind to her and helped her after a very long solitary confinement/imprisonment. But Molly X. Chang wants you to think that this is not a colonizer romance book, even though she used real history(Unit 371 incident), even though Ruying thinks that all of actions would’ve been justified if only she were a boy and somehow that would’ve made her actions heroic instead of treasonous, she also somehow forgot about all the torture Anthony has put her through just because he treated her nicely, how she was killing her own people on Antony’s orders  because he’s lesser of the two evils, and because she’s doing this for her family and she doesn’t care if the rest of the world gets wipped clean but then again she’s also saying that her sister is stupid for being a part of a resistance that will only make her sister a martyr who died in vain, and how she’s actually acting like his puppet because of the better of her people…??? by the end of the book Antony really has fallen in love with Ruying and he’s ready to fight wars for her all while running secret experiments on her people- oh, another point… maybe the SERIES is not a colonizer romance, but this BOOK surely is.

Surprise!!! Near the end of the book she suddenly hates Antony again… why? because she saw Antony’s secret scientists experimenting on her childhood best friend Taohua in their secret labs… because her beautiful and pretty princess in also imprisoned in the same labs… there is so much tell and no show in this book, the fmc is so annoying and so unlikable, the morally gray characters(Ruying and Antony) are not really morally gray but actually morally corrupt, a real life massacre/genocide is being used as a base for the romance plot(that the author’s still trying to deny even though it’s already printed on paper). I fell saddened for all the resources(natural and man-mad) that were used to bring this book to the world, I don’t care for whatever happens in the series next, this book was pure rage bait and I want no more of it.

Purpose has little to do with what, and everything to do with why: The Else Where Express. ARC review

Title: The Elsewhere Express

Author: Samantha Soto Yambao

Number of Pages: 432

Publishing Date: 20 January 2026

Genre: Magical Realism, Cozy Fantasy

SYNOPSIS:

You can’t buy a ticket for the Elsewhere Express. Appearing only to those whose lives are adrift, it’s a magical train seeming to carry very rare and special cargo: a sense of purpose, peace, and belonging.

Raya is one of those lost souls. She had dreamed of being a songwriter, but when her brother died, she gave up on her dream and started living his instead.

One day on the subway, as her thoughts wander, she’s swept off to the Elsewhere Express. There she meets Q, an intriguing artist who, like her, has lost his place in the world.

Together they find a train full of wonders, from a boarding car that’s also a meadow to a dining car where passengers can picnic on lily pads to a bar where jellyfish and whales swim through pink clouds.

Over the course of their long, strange night on the train, they also discover that it harbors secrets—and danger: A mysterious stranger has stowed away and brought with him a dark, malignant magic that threatens to destroy the train.

But in investigating the stowaway's identity, Raya also finds herself drawing closer to the ultimate question: What is her life's true purpose—and is it a destination the Elsewhere Express can take her to?

REVIEW:

Content warning: grief, death of a sibling, emotional trauma.

Samantha Soto did it again... this book feels like being wrapped in a blanket while quietly having an existential crisis. In a good way.

Raya was such an emotionally compelling protagonist because her grief feels real. She isn’t just mourning her brother; she’s mourning the version of herself she abandoned after losing him. Watching her slowly unpack that pain throughout the journey hit HARD. There’s this quiet ache running through the entire book that never really leaves, even during the softer magical moments.

Speaking of magic… this train is genuinely one of the most imaginative settings I’ve read in a while. Picnics on lily pads? Jellyfish and whale floating through a pink-cloud sky?? that's actually inside a lotus?? which is not a flower but a rice wine bar?? Samantha really said “what if wonder itself became architecture” and honestly, respect.

Q was also SUCH a good love interest. Soft, artistic, quietly broken men in fantasy stories continue to be my downfall apparently. The romance is gentle and understated, but it fits the story perfectly. It never overshadows Raya’s personal journey, which I appreciated a lot.

What really makes this book shine though is its message. It’s ultimately about how easy it is to lose yourself while trying to survive grief, expectations, or other people’s dreams for you. And while the story gets whimsical and surreal, the emotional core stays deeply human.

The pacing is very steady but there is so much to take in, in every single sentence that it took me months to finally complete this book... but it was worth it!!

It's whimsical, dreamy, and painfully tender all at once, a story about grief, purpose, and finding your way back to yourself when life knocks you completely off track. The premise alone had me immediately seated: a magical train that only appears to people who’ve lost their direction in life? Yeah, inject that directly into my veins.

Power, Sacrifice, and Sisterhood; Bones Of Jade, Flesh Like Ice. ARC review

Title: Bones Of Jade, Flesh Like Ice

Author: Gracie Marsden

Number of Pages: 304

Publishing Date: 10 November 2026

Genre: Historical Fantasy, Taiwanese mythology

SYNOPSIS:

A young woman makes a bargain with a shapeshifting demon who promises her power, if she will give up love—a painful price that sets her on a dark journey in this historical fantasy inspired by Taiwanese myth.

Eleventh century Kangzhu. In a small village, far from the political conflicts of the royal dynasty, a too-young Yu’er is sold off to be married at the word of a jing, a shapeshifting-demon who prophesizes that her parents will thus gain wealth beyond their imagination. Her new husband Xiaozhu is, like her, barely more than a child himself—but he’s kind, and, over the years, Yu’er heals as they build a home together. They become allies, then friends, then lovers.

Until misfortune befalls them, once again at the hands of a demon. They’re left destitute and estranged. Reeling from loss, and determined to never leave her fate in another’s hands, Yu’er decides to strike her own bargain with a Jing: she will have all the agency and riches she desires. She just has to leave Xiaozhu and their home together, forever—a price that will cost her more than she then understands.

Yu’er’s choice sets off a saga that will lead her to the heart of the royal court and bring her more power than she ever dreamed of, but may kill her humanity along the way, in this sweeping tale of love, revenge, and redemption.

 

REVIEW:

"Until she met the woman's eyes. 冰肌玉骨, she thought to herself. Bones of jade, flesh like ice. That was the phrase in those old stories, used to describe someone so beautiful they seemed inhumane."

Vibes: mythological fantasy, tragic love story, demon bargains, court intrigue, morally gray heroine

Content warnings: child marriage, emotional abuse, miscarriage grief, manipulation, violence

 

This book feels like a legend whispered around a fire—beautiful, tragic, and slightly cursed.

Bones Of Jade, Flesh Like Ice is a sweeping historical fantasy inspired by Taiwanese mythology, this story does NOT play around when it comes to emotional devastation. It starts quietly, almost tenderly, before slowly unraveling into something darker, sharper, and hauntingly unforgettable, and it doesn't stop being that way until the very end.

Yu’er is such a compelling protagonist because she’s allowed to be messy, ambitious, angry, loving, selfish, and deeply human all at once. Watching her go from a powerless child bride to a woman willing to bargain away love itself for agency and survival? That arc genuinely hurt to read in the best way possible.

 

And Xiaozhu…

Their relationship was honestly my favorite part of the book because it develops so gently over time. They don’t fall into insta-love, they build trust and companionship first, which makes everything that happens later feel ten times more painful. The story really understands that sometimes the greatest tragedies come from people loving each other deeply but still making choices that destroy them.

The mythology and atmosphere are STUNNING too. The Jing feel eerie and unpredictable in a way that makes every interaction feel dangerous. There’s this constant sense that power always comes with rot underneath it. Every bargain costs something. Every gain leaves a scar.

I also loved how the book explores agency, not in a simplistic “girlboss empowerment” way, but in a painful, complicated way. In the who-have-i-become type of way. Yu’er wants freedom over her own life so badly that she’s willing to sacrifice pieces of herself to get it. And the book never fully absolves her for that, which made the story feel richer and more honest.

The writing itself is lush and atmospheric without becoming overly dense, and the emotional tension carries the entire story forward. I had to set aside my reading device during some graphic torture/violence scenes, but they had their own charm and gravity that still pulled me back in.

Poetry is magic, strong enough to kill, but women are forced to stay illiterate; The Poet Empress by She Tao [ARC+ALC review]

Title: The Poet Empress

Author: Shen Tao

Number of Pages: 400

Publishing Date: 20 January 2026

Genre: Fantasy 

Synopsis:

Debut author Shen Tao introduces readers to the lush, deadly world of The Poet Empress, a sweeping, epic and intimate fantasy perfect for fans of The Serpent and the Wings of Night, The Song of Achilles, and She Who Became the Sun.

In the waning years of the Azalea Dynasty, the emperor is dying, the land consumed by famine, and poetry magic has been lost to all except the most powerful.

Wei Yin is desperate. After the death of her sister, with her family and village on the brink of starvation, she will do anything to save those she loves.

Even offer herself as concubine to the cruel, dissolute heir of the blood-glutted Azalea House.

But in a twist of fate, the inner court stands on the knife-edge of civil war with Wei now at the center…as the prince’s chosen.

To survive, Wei must harden her heart, rely on her wit, and become dangerous herself, even if it means learning the art of poetry magic in secret, in a world where women are forbidden to read―and wielding the most powerful spell of all. A spell of death…and love.

 

Review:

my 2026 goal is to not give star rating when posting reviews on Instagram, but if I had to rate this book I'd give it 6 stars.

"A heart-spirit poem is not something any literomancer can write. It is one of most complex spells ever discovered. A killing spell, yes, but one that takes the form of a love poem. One so heartfelt it can only be written for someone whom the composer knows deeply."

A lush, brutal fantasy set in the dying Azalea Dynasty, where poetry is magic and women are barred from reading. Wei Yin, a desperate villager, becomes a concubine to a ruthless prince and must learn to wield forbidden verse to survive a palace on the brink of civil war. While reading this masterpiece, my heart kept breaking. sometimes in just small pieces, sometimes in big chunks. The last few chapters made me feel such a rush deep in my brain, my mind and heart shattered completely and than got stitched back together all over again...

The world feels vivid and oppressive, famine‑ravaged villages, a glittering but cutthroat court, and a magic system where poetry is power. The poetic descriptions pull you right into the heat and tension, making the setting feel alive.

Wei is a compelling mix of vulnerability and fierce determination. Watching her go from starving outcast to a dangerous poet is satisfying and heart‑wrenching, echoing how my own emotions were torn and then mended as I followed her journey.

"It is true, he has suffered, but if everyone who suffered became monsters, the world would be overrun with them."

The novel explores gender oppression(not limited to just women), the cost of power, and the way art can be both weapon and salvation. I have often seen people read a book that discusses male SA, and they complete ignore that part. It was so good to see not only this topic being talked about in the book but also to see that the book community did not ignore that point this time. This book's dark, but it gives a strong voice to those silenced by society, resonating with the way the story shattered and rebuilt my own emotional landscape.

a world where magic is only passed down to the first daughter, men in a pickle: The Library Of Flowers by L.C. Chu. ARC REVIEW

Title: The Library Of Flowers

Author: L.C. Chu

Number of Pages: 400

Publishing Date: 02 June 2026

Genre: Contemporary, Magical Realism

Formats Available: Hardcover, Paperback

Synopsis:

Rooted in memory and steeped in magic, The Library of Flowers is a radiant exploration of family, identity, and the expectations we inherit, perfect for anyone who has ever carried the weight of a legacy—and dared to make it their own.

For centuries, the Hua women have held sway over the courts of emperors and billionaires with their magical perfumes able to stir hearts and ensure fortunes. And in every fifth generation, an eldest daughter is born with the rarest gift of all: the ability to summon true love.

As a long-awaited fifth daughter, Lucy was supposed to be the miracle her exacting mother had been waiting for. But when her magic failed, Lucy fled Vancouver, her legacy, and the expectations that had nearly broken her. Now, years later, she runs a tiny perfume shop tucked away in Toronto's Kensington Market—crafting beautiful, perfectly ordinary scents and keeping her extraordinary past firmly behind her. That is, until a death in the family brings her home...and saddles her with an unwelcome inheritance: the centuries-old Hua family register, brimming with secrets, formulas, and forgotten truths.

As Lucy unravels the stories of the women who came before her, including the mother whose complicated heart she never could understand, she must confront the tangled threads of love, power, and identity...and ask herself whether her magic was ever truly gone, or simply waiting for her to decide for herself what it means to be a daughter of the House of Hua.

Review:

Okay, this book? Straight-up swallowed me whole like a jasmine-scented fever dream. The Library of Flowers is one of those stories that feels like stepping into a memory you’ve never lived, soft, magical, and just a little bit dangerous.

The girl who was supposed to inherit her family’s legendary gift, the ability to summon true love every five generations. Except… her magic never shows. And honestly? That flop era hits hard. Lucy does what any of us would do: dips. Leaves the legacy, the pressure, the expectations, her home, her family and opens a tiny perfume shop just to breathe again.

But when a death in the family drags her back home, everything explodes. Secrets, history, power, grief, all wrapped up in centuries of women whose magic shaped emperors and moguls, who were mostly loathed by the men in their households just because they were the one's with the power and not the men. Lucy inherits the ancient Hua family register, which is basically the spell book of her entire bloodline… and also a roadmap to the truths no one ever wanted her to know or better i say the truths she never wanted to admit to.

And listen… I kinda hated Lucy for a good chunk of this book because she lives way too much inside her own head, honestly for most of her life, but I also couldn’t fully hate her because, like… same girl, same. She’s messy in a way that feels uncomfortably familiar.

For the other characters in this book they were all also very real and raw, like i'd like to make some tea for Lucy's mum and tell her that she did well, i'd like to hug Ana and tell her that she's very capable and very brave. The sister in law will get a firm "girl you better get your shit together, or else it'll be a great potential wasted" handshake.

For the men in the book, I’d give Rafe and Lucy's brother, the "i know you once added oil to the flames and i will keep an eye on you in the future too, but i forgive you for now because at the end of the day you're human too" stare. And a big F you to all the shit husbands oh the Hua women, Lucy's dad especially. Anyways!!!

The atmosphere? Absolutely intoxicating. Chu writes scent like it’s emotion,  perfumes melting memories, magic threaded through every gesture, women shaping the world through fragrance. It’s lush, aching, and gorgeously intimate.

What I loved most, though, is that beneath all the magic, it’s really a story about legacy and the bond between every generation of women, the heavy kind, the painful kind, the “who am I if I’m not what my family wanted me to be?” kind. Lucy’s journey hits like a quiet heartbreak: raw, relatable, and way too real for a book about enchanted perfumes.

If you love generational tales, slow-burn magical realism, complicated mother-daughter dynamics, and vibes that feel like smoke curling in warm lamplight, add this to your 2026 TBR immediately.

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Horror Thriller but make it a real-estate Hunger Game... Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino; ARC REVIEW

Title: Best Offer Wins

Author: Marisa Kashino

Number of Pages: 304

Publishing Date: 25 November 2025

Genre: Horror· Thriller· Fiction· Mystery· Mystery Thriller· Contemporary· Suspense· Adult· Psychological Thriller

Formats Available: Hardcover, Audiobook

Synopsis:

An insanely competitive housing market. A desperate buyer on the edge. In Marisa Kashino’s darkly humorous debut novel, Best Offer Wins, the white picket fence becomes the ultimate symbol of success—and obsession. How far would you go for the house of your dreams?

Eighteen months and 11 lost bidding wars into house-hunting in the overheated Washington, DC suburbs, 37-year-old publicist Margo Miyake gets a tip about the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, slated to come up for sale in one month. Desperate to escape the cramped apartment she shares with her husband Ian — and in turn, get their marriage, plan to have a baby, and whole life back on track — Margo becomes obsessed with buying the house before it’s publicly listed and the masses descend (with unbeatable, all-cash offers in hand).

A little stalking? Harmless. A bit of trespassing? Necessary. As Margo infiltrates the homeowners’ lives, her tactics grow increasingly unhinged—but just when she thinks she’s won them over, she hits a snag in her plan. Undeterred, Margo will prove again and again that there’s no boundary she won’t cross to seize the dream life she’s been chasing. The An insanely competitive housing market. A desperate buyer on the edge. In Marisa Kashino’s darkly humorous debut novel, Best Offer Wins, the white picket fence becomes the ultimate symbol of success—and obsession. How far would you go for the house of your dreams?

Review: 

🎶Think what that money could bring

I would by everything🎶

But Margo just wants one thing, a house! Okay so… this book straight up grabbed me by the throat and whispered “the housing market is a horror novel actually.” And honestly? It’s not wrong.

We follow Margo Miyake, a 37-year-old publicist who’s DONE with apartment life and is ready to jump into her suburban-dream-home era. Except the universe clearly hates her because she’s lost ELEVEN bids already. So when she finds a house before it hits the market, she becomes just a tad obsessed. And by “a tad,” I mean this woman goes full morally-grey, ethically-questionable Olympic athlete in Desperation & Chaos Gymnastics.

This book is SO smart.

It’s messy, it’s uncomfortable, it’s painfully real, and it’s kinda hilarious in that “haha… wait this is actually terrifying” way. Marisa Kashino takes the absolute madness of modern real-estate culture — the competition, the pressure, the emotional spiral — and turns it into a domestic thriller that feels both absurd and way too possible.

Oh and btw, I also had an advance listener’s copy, which was honestly just icing on the cake. I swear listening to the audiobook is half the reason I’m this obsessed, because the narrator absolutely nailed Margo’s spiraling, hysterical, dramatic descent. She captured the fmc’s chaotic energy so perfectly that it felt like watching someone crumble in real time. Literal chef’s kiss.

The first half got me giggling at the absurdity, but the second half???? The tension goes feral. Watching Margo’s decisions get darker, pettier, and more unhinged had me clutching my imaginary pearls like “girl… be serious.” But also “girl don’t stop I need to know how bad this gets.”

If you love morally grey narrators, domestic tension, slow-burn unraveling, and satire so sharp it could cut glass. That's it!

Best Offer Wins is the kind of book you finish and immediately stare at your own walls like, “I could never survive the real-estate Hunger Games."

search for sisterhood and connection through multiple timelines and parallel universes, I'll Find You Where The Timeline Ends by Kylie Lee Baker; an arc review

Title: I'll Find You Where The Timeline Ends

Author: Kylie Lee Baker

Number of Pages: 304

Publishing Date: 18 November 2025

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Young-Adult, Coming of age, Magical Realism, Romance, Asian Representation

Synopsis:

A teen descendant of a Japanese dragon god must team up with a cute rogue agent to subvert a corrupt time travel organization and find out the truth of what happened to her missing sister in acclaimed author Kylie Lee Baker's magical new YA romance, I'll Find You Where the Timeline Ends.
When you’re ready, come find me. I will keep you safe. -Hana
Descended from a Japanese dragon god, Yang Mina was born with the power to travel through time, and has spent her life training to take her place in the Descendants, a secret organization whose purpose is to protect the timeline. Then Mina’s world is uprooted when she moves to Seoul and finds a note from her sister–a sister who no one remembers, as if she had been erased. The only people who could have made her sister vanish so completely are part of the very agency that she’s been working so hard to join. So now Mina has a new mission, infiltrate the agency as quickly as possible to find her lost sister.
And, as if things weren’t complicated enough, a strikingly handsome rogue agent has determined that Mina is the only person who can help him put an end to the Descendants' corruption. Placed in an impossible situation, Mina must decide how much she’s willing to risk to find the truth.

Review:

“time travel but with family emotional damage” This book follows Yang Mina, a dragon descendant with the power to slip through timelines, on a personal secret mission to uncover why her sister Hana has been erased from existence, while also completing task assigned to her by the a secret association. And trust me, once the story gets going, it does not let go.
🐞What I loved most? The blend of mythology, time-bending chaos, and that slow-burn “we really shouldn’t be doing this, but there's no other way” chemistry between Mina and Yejun. Their dynamic adds just the right amount of tension, banter and sweet chaos while everything around them is collapsing, reforming, and collapsing again. 
The world-building is wild in the best way, dragon ancestors, parallel timelines, secret organizations, butterfly effects(so silly yet sooooo good) but the heart of the story is Mina’s grief, her loyalty, her need of attention, love, and time from her parents, and the brutal emotional cost of trying to fix the unfixable.
And the Seoul settings? Gorgeous. The family themes? Gut-wrenching. The cheesecake? Mouth watering. The unraveling of corruption inside the Descendants organization? Messy in a deliciously addictive way.
🐞A few things that i did not like were, Mina being very self-centered in different parts of the book, her not questioning anything at all when her mentor totally ignored her complain about a rouge agent, and the fact that we didn't get to see the boss getting some kind of severe punishment.
🐞If you love YA fantasy with high stakes, high emotion, soft heart achingly cute love story, and that signature Kylie Lee Baker “I’m going to wreck you but tenderly” energy, pick this up now!!

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mafia rom-coms are so back, a look at Kath Richards debut series: A Love Most Fatal + A Love Most Brutal book review

Title: Morelli Family(series) [A Love Most Fatal, A Love Most Brutal]

Author: Kath Richards

Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Mafia Romance, Dark Romance

Format Available: paperback(ALMF), audio-book(ALM), paperback(ALMB), audio-book(ALMB)

Review:

• A Love Most Fatal

This book is what happens when you take a mafia romance and flip the entire script. Vanessa Morelli isn’t your typical mob princess, she’s the boss. The woman running both her family’s construction empire and their criminal operations, all while being told she needs to settle down and produce an heir. Enter Nate: a math teacher with zero business being anywhere near her world… and yet, he somehow fits.

What I loved: the power dynamics are completely reversed, but it never feels gimmicky. Vanessa’s strength doesn’t come from being ruthless, it’s from being human, and watching her balance control with vulnerability? Yeah, I ate that up. Nate isn’t the usual macho savior either; he’s calm, grounded, and absolutely smitten in the quietest, most devastating ways.

Now I’ll be honest, the book started off strong (like, immediate intrigue and tension levels at 100), but somewhere around the middle, the pacing dipped a bit and I lost that initial spark. Thankfully, the second half swooped in like a dramatic plot twist and pulled everything back together. The emotional payoff? Totally worth sticking around for.

And listen… when I found out who was actually behind all the things going wrong in Ness and Nate's lives? I literally sat there, staring at my wall, with my mouth wide open for five full minutes trying to process. Like, jaw on the floor, brain buffering, heart in shambles, felt like throwing up. Did not see that coming at all.

The writing? Addictively smooth. The tension? Immaculate. The slow-burn chemistry? It’s giving danger, desire, and a little bit of doom.

It’s the perfect balance of dark and sunshine, it’s emotional, and it somehow makes you root for love even when every sign screams don’t.

• A Love Most Brutal

Kath Richards really said “mafia romance but make it actually fun.” A Love Most Brutal gave me chaos, banter, longing, and a marriage of convenience that turned into something way more intense than either of them signed up for. Mary Morelli might just be my new favorite FMC, she’s fierce, loyal, and unapologetically sharp around the edges, the kind of woman who doesn’t need saving. Maxim, on the other hand, is a broody crime boss with a soft spot a mile wide for her… which, let’s be honest, I ate that up. Ngl, I loved this book way more than book one, not that book one wasn't good or anything, but because Mary and Maxim's story was slowly building up since book one, and all of that was totally worth it.

The book started off strong with all the tension and clever dialogue. The action in the book was once again, awesome just like book one. Kath really knows how to twist the knife.

If you’re into mafia stories with powerhouse women, complicated family loyalty, betrayal and action with a slow-burn love that sneaks up on you when you least expect it, this one’s for you.

A diaspora espionage novel: Oxford Soju Club by Jinwoo Park

 

Title: Oxford Soju Club

Author: Jinwoo Park

Number of Pages: 244

Publishing Date: 30 September 2025

Available format: paperback

Genre: Asian Literature, Espionage, Asian Diaspora 

Synopsis:

When North Korean spymaster Doha Kim is mysteriously killed in Oxford, his protégé, Yohan Kim, chases the only breadcrumb given to him in Doha’s last breath: “Soju Club, Dr. Ryu.” In the meantime, a Korean American CIA agent , Yunah Choi, races to salvage her investigation of the North Korean spy cell in the aftermath of the assassination. At the centre of it all is the Soju Club, the only Korean restaurant in Oxford, owned by Jihoon Lim, an immigrant from Seoul in search of a new life after suffering a tragedy. As different factions move in with their own agendas, their fates become entangled, resulting in a bitter struggle that will determine whose truth will triumph.

Oxford Soju Club weaves a tale of how immigrants in the Korean diaspora are forced to create identities to survive, and how in the end, they must shed those masks and seek their true selves.

 

Review:

First time reading an espionage novel, kinda nervous

This book isn’t just about betrayal, hidden identities, and secret codes, it's a book that proves that the biggest missions are the ones inside yourself.

We’ve got three main players tangled in secrets:

Yohan Kim, a North Korean spy hiding in Oxford under an alias;

‎Yunah Choi, a Korean-American CIA agent trying to unravel the web of lies after her mentor’s murder

‎And Jihoon Lim, an immigrant restaurateur whose life was meant to be quiet, but the Soju Club restaurant drags him into intersections of identity, grief, and danger.

 

‎What hits me hardest: it’s not just about who kills who or who is double agenting. It’s about those masks we wear — assimilation, loyalty, sacrifice, heritage — and what it costs when you’re forced to shift them depending on who’s watching.

The setting is gorgeous in its tension: Oxford’s cobbled alleys, secret meetings in a Korean restaurant (Soju Club), spies in daylight pretending everything is normal. It’s both moody and alive. Yes, there are twisty spy bits, some betrayals, some heartbreaks. But what really stuck with me were the quieter moments — Jihoon cooking his mother’s recipes, Yunah fighting to not be “othered,” Yohan trying to carry both loyalty to his homeland and the weight of his mentor’s dying request. And honestly? I deeply loved how Doha and Dr. Ryu’s quiet, steady affection for Yohan gave the story some of its most tender layers. In a book built on suspicion and secrecy, their warmth toward him felt like flickers of light in the dark.

On top of all that, Jinwoo Park’s writing is poetic and beautiful, but also sharp enough to cut right into your heart. One of my many favorite moments came when a character, standing so close to death, has a conversation about how the people we love most can slowly disappear from our memories. That reflection gutted me — tender, haunting, and so true it’s almost unbearable.

My only caveat:

because there are multiple POVs + flashbacks, the timeline shifts can get confusing. Sometimes I had to pause and think, “Wait, who's this again?” But I think that messiness mirrors the characters’ inner confusion, so it kind of works.

Final Verdict:

‎If you love spy thrillers with heart, identity crises, diaspora nuances, and characters who aren’t just cogs in a system but people battling to be seen, Oxford Soju Club is for you. High tension, and even higher emotional stakes.

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Between Love, Loss, and Survival: Emma Pei Yin’s When Sleeping Women Wake, book review + Q&A with the author

 

Book:  When Sleeping Women Wake

Author: Emma Pei Yin

Pages: 336

Available format: hardcover

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✨

Genre: Asian Lit, War, Women's Fiction, Historical Fiction

disclaimer: you'll find a special Q&A with the author at the end of the review (feel free to skip over to that if you want)

Synopsis:

In this remarkable and harrowing debut novel, three extraordinary women—a mother, her daughter, and their maid—are each forced on a journey to survival during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War II.

1941. Following the Japanese invasion of Shanghai, the wealthy Tang family has settled in Hong Kong, believing it to be protected under British occupation. As the First Wife of the family, Mingzhu leads a glamorous, if at times lonely, existence—mothering the son of her husband’s concubine, overseeing her daughter Qiang’s education, and directing their household of servants, including her long-time confidante, Biyu.

But when the Japanese invade Hong Kong, the three women’s paths wildly diverge. Although Mingzhu’s affinity for languages spares her from physical labor, she finds herself coerced to either work for the enemy or face certain death. Qiang and Biyu scrape through days of factory work and meager food supplies, constantly on the run from newly unfolding dangers until an encounter with the East River Column Resistance fighters separates them. The longer these women become embroiled in the brutal occupation that engulfs the region, the more determined they are to resist—but can they support the resistance and still find their way back to each other?

At once monumental and intimate, When Sleeping Women Wake powerfully explores how ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things, and the unwavering hope that love can carry us through even the darkest of times.

Review:

Emma Pei Yin’s When Sleeping Women Wake is the kind of historical fiction that seeps under your skin and refuses to let go. Set against the brutal backdrop of Japanese-occupied China during WWII, this novel doesn’t just recount history—it makes you feel it, breathe it, and grieve it.

What struck me the most is how the book doesn’t rely on a single perspective. Instead, it weaves together the voices of three unforgettable women—Mingzhu, Biyu, and Qiang—each caught in the impossible crossfires of war, yet each battling completely different inner wars of their own. Mingzhu’s struggle between love and loyalty, Biyu’s tug-of-war between freedom and duty, and Qiang’s fight between tradition and individuality made the narrative layered, raw, and painfully human. I loved how distinct their dilemmas were, yet they tied together seamlessly in showing the multifaceted ways women bore the burdens of war.

Another thing that hit me hard—and honestly made me tear up—was how Emma Pei Yin doesn’t just focus on the children orphaned by war and occupation, but also on the parents who lost their babies. That double lens of grief feels so rare in historical fiction, and it makes the heartbreak all the more complete. It’s not just about what war takes away, but who it leaves behind to keep living with that loss.

But perhaps one of my absolute favorite things about this book is that it not only tells but also shows, with haunting clarity, that there are innocent people on both sides of a war. Pei Yin carefully unravels how ethnicity should never be the sole reason for hatred, disgust, or blanket judgment. The novel reminds us that generalization is never the solution—it only perpetuates cycles of pain and prejudice. In that sense, When Sleeping Women Wake feels like both a historical reckoning and a timely lesson for our present day.

And if I’m being honest, part of why this book feels so close to me is because I see bits of myself in all three women. Mingzhu’s yearning for a pure, soft love, Biyu’s longing for freedom and the chance to discover who she is when she’s not tied to anyone else, and Qiang’s fierce disdain for marriage coupled with her search for individuality and camaraderie—each of those threads resonated in a deeply personal way. But most of all, what connected them, and what I related to most, was their shared hunger to be seen not just as women but as whole, separate human beings. Human beings who are just as capable, resilient, and worthy as any man.

This is one of those books that makes you ache, makes you reflect, and makes you want to hold onto the humanity in others even tighter. It’s beautifully devastating, and it’s going to stay with me for a long, long time.

Q/A

Before we begin, I would like to say a big thank you to Emma for taking some time out and answering all my questions while she's busy with the Asia tour right now. Love you Emma!!!

Q. First of all, congratulations for introducing your fist literary child to the word!! As a debut author, what advice would you give to other writers—especially women of color—trying to break into publishing?

Never be afraid to ask questions and especially to ask for what you want.

Q. What was the first spark that inspired you to write When Sleeping Women Wake—was it history, a character, or something more personal?

The seeds of the novel was planted long before I realised I wanted to write the book. It began when I used to spend mid-autumn festival and lunar new year in Hong Kong with my family. During those days, my grandfather would tell me stories of the Japanese occupation in Hong Kong.

Q. The novel follows three women with very different circumstances. How did you develop Mingzhu, Qiang, and Biyu into such distinct yet interconnected voices?

Mingzhu is a character that has been with me for over a decade. Every character has traits and personalities derived from women I know in my everyday life. Like my grandmother, my aunt and my mum.

Q. Why did you choose the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong as the backdrop for your debut novel?

It was a means to reconnect to my own family history and to discover new truths I had not yet learned.

Q. Many war novels center men at the frontlines, but your book places women at the heart of survival and resistance. Was this a conscious decision to reclaim women’s narratives in history?

Absolutely. I also cannot fathom ever writing a book where all the main characters are men. Women's voices are constantly erased or rewritten by men - and it's down to us to keep talking and sharing stories so that these voices don't get lost.

Q. Which of the three women do you personally feel closest to, and why?

For me, it would Qiang. I am most like her. In the way we both stand up to what we want and are never afraid to ask questions. I feel that many of Qiang's hopes are my own. Of course, I wasn't always like this.

Q. You weave in themes of loyalty, morality, and survival—sometimes with no “right” choice available. How did you approach writing those morally gray decisions?

The entire world is grey. Everything we do leans left or right and will always be seen as right or wrong depending on who is looking in. Life is messy. There's no benefit in writing characters any other way. It would be a lie.

Q. What kind of research went into building the historical detail? Did you draw on family stories, archives, or oral histories? Any books you read specifically for writing this beauty?

The research took many years. This book took over a decade to finalize and I think one of the biggest challenges to unearthing women's voices in history is that there's so very few accounts recorded. I found so much on the experiences of white people during the occupation and what happened to them. I definitely drew on family stories but also made sure to read as many history books as I could while researching archives online. One book I always recommend is The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang.

Q. Was there a scene that was especially difficult for you to write emotionally?

Most scenes were difficult to write because we're exploring themes of race, class and gender. These are all topical issues we still face today and so writing becomes an act of mirroring real life situations or experiences. It's never easy.

Q. On the flip side, was there a scene that gave you joy or a sense of catharsis while writing?

The very last sentence on the very last page.

Q. You’re also an editor and mentor for other writers. How did that editorial eye help (or complicate!) the process of finishing your own debut?

It didn't help at all. I can't edit my own work to save my life. I'm too close to the story and so I always seek the help of another editor.

Q. The title When Sleeping Women Wake is so striking and fitting for the book and the characters. How did you land on it, and what does it mean to you?

It's always been one of my favourite proverbs growing up and the title didn't come to me until quite late into the writing process. To me, it means that women are capable and strong and that nothing can get our way, even if sometimes we forget our strength.

Q. If your novel had a soundtrack, what three songs would definitely make the playlist?

I have made a playlist on Spotify! The first 3 on there were on constant repeat while I was writing and editing the book.

(you can find Emma's playlist here)

Q. A fun question before I ask the last one, if you could have tea with any of your characters, who would it be, and what’s the first thing you’d ask them?

It would be Qiang and I would ask: What's next for you? What life do you want to live?

Q. What's next for Emma Pei Yin as a writer? And what do you hope readers carry with them after finishing When Sleeping Women Wake?

I don't expect too much from readers other than the hope they go away from the book with a small sense of hope. I'm currently working on my next novel and can't wait to share it with you and the rest of the world.