Fiction Book Reviews – Made of Stardust and Stubbornness

“The Final Strife” Review

Posted on March 31, 2025 by Jen

“The Final Strife (The Ending Fire Trilogy No. 1)” by Saara El-Arifi

The Empire rules by blood

Red is the blood of the elite, of magic, of control.

Blue is the blood of the poor, of workers, of the resistance.

Clear is the blood of the servants, of the crushed, of the invisible.

The Aktibar – a set of trials held every ten years to find the next Ember rulers of the Empire – is about to begin.

All can join but not just anyone can win; it requires great skill and ingenuity to become the future wardens of Strength, Knowledge, Truth and Duty.

Sylah was destined to win the trials and be crowned Warden of Strength. Stolen by blue-blooded rebels she was raised with a Duster’s heart; forged as a weapon to bring down from within the red-blooded Embers’ regime of cruelty. But when her adopted family were brutally murdered those dreams of a better future turned to dust.

However, the flame of hope may yet be rekindled because Sylah wasn’t made to sparkle, she was born to burn.

Review

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were really interesting and I enjoyed getting to know them. The word building was great – I really liked how everything started to come together as the story progressed and the characters learned more. There were a lot of twists and turns in this book and not everything was as it seemed. I liked the way the different relationships grew and developed during the course of the book. Though it doesn’t end on a cliffhanger it does set up the threads of the next book, which I’m looking forward to reading soon.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “The Final Strife”.

Book Details

Author’s Website: Saara El-Arifi
Publisher / Date: HarperVoyager, June 2022
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 478 pages
Completion Date: March 30, 2025

“The Tensorate Series” Review

Posted on March 27, 2025March 27, 2025 by Jen

“The Tensorate Series” by Neon Yang

Across four novellas, Neon Yang established themself as a fantasist in bold defiance of the limitations of their genre. Available now in a single volume, these four novellas trace the generational decline of an empire and unfurl a world that is rich and strange beyond anything you’ve dreamed.

In the Tensorate Series you will find: rebellious nonbinary scions of empire, sky-spanning nagas with experimental souls, revolutionary engineers bent on bringing power to the people, pugilist monks, packs of loyal raptors, and much, much more.

The Tensorate Series omnibus contains The Black Tides of Heaven, The Red Threads of Fortune, The Descent of Monsters, and To Ascend to Godhood

Review

This was such an interesting series! The format of the third and fourth novellas are very different from the first two but I enjoyed reading all of them. I loved learning about the world and the characters. There were a few times I wished things had been explained a bit more, but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the series. If the author were to ever write more in this world I would definitly read it.

1) The Black Tides of Heaven: Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, who rules the empire are introduced. They were sold to the Grand Monastery as infants as payment for a debt. As they grow to adulthood Mokoya develops visions of the future while Akeha grows more discontent with their situation. Soon after reaching adulthood Akeha leaves to find their own destiny.

I really liked the way this one played out as the children grow up and explore their world. The relationship between the twins is great. Given how things played out I thought it made sense for Akeha to need to leave to figure things out. While the ending did feel a little abrupt it did make sense for the story being told and resolved a lot of what Akeha had been looking for.

2) The Red Threads of Fortune : Set a few years after the events of the previous story, Mokoya’s daughter was killed in an accident causing her to leave her old life behind. Currently Mokoya to hunts deadly creatures in the outer reaches of the kingdom. During one such hunt she meets Rider, but all is not as it seems.

I enjoyed reading this story – I thought a lot of things made sense with the way Mokoya was acting even though her actions weren’t always great. In this story we do learn a bit more about how the “magic” of the world works as well as Mokoya’s prophecies which I enjoyed. Again I liked the relationships between all the characters. The ending felt a bit more resolved in this one at least as far Mokoya’s story. The overall issues of the world are still there in the background but were never really the main point which is fine.

3) The Descent of Monsters: Set sometime after the second novella this one is told entirely in the form of letters between people investigating something terrible that has happened at an institute for experimental methods, and the journal entries of one of the investigators. There is a subplot involving Rider (from the previous book) and their own missing twin.

This one was interesting. The format isn’t usually my cup of tea but I ended up liking it a lot because it all flowed really well. The focus is on the main investigator for the case but he end ups meeting up with the rest of the characters from the previous plots. Still all told in journal entries we find out what happened and how the case was solved. Some might feel the ending doesn’t answer a few questions but I thought it gave enough hints to suggest where things were going.

4) To Ascend to Godhood: Set sometime farther into the future when the Protector has died. Lady Han tells her story of how she met the Protector while at a tavern in the aftermath. There are bits before and after the prequel story that give some hints at what has gone on, and what will happen next.

I thought this was an interesting way to finish up the series – and as an individual story I really did enjoy learning about Lady Han’s history with the Protector. It’s the shortest novella in the collection and while it’s a rambling story about the past, it fits in with the rest of the novellas as part of the larger world.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “The Tensorate Series”

Book Details

The book cover has many different patterns and designs on the cover set against a black background with red hues at the top right. There plants at the at the bottom spaced around the curls of a dragons tail and water spouts around the tail and balls of fire. There are yellow symbols that have dragons drawn inside them. The title is written across the top with the authors name above the title.

Author’s Website: Neon Yang
Publisher / Date: Tor.com, September 2021; The individual novellas were originally published from 2017 to 2019
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Page Count: 480 (across 4 novellas give or take a few pages)
Completion Date: March 26, 2025

“Compound Fracture” Review

Posted on March 22, 2025March 27, 2025 by Jen

“Compound Fracture” by Andrew Joseph White

On the night Miles Abernathy—sixteen-year-old socialist and proud West Virginian—comes out as trans to his parents, he sneaks off to a party, carrying evidence that may finally turn the tide of the blood feud plaguing Twist Creek: Photos that prove the county’s Sheriff Davies was responsible for the so-called “accident” that injured his dad, killed others, and crushed their grassroots efforts to unseat him.

The feud began a hundred years ago when Miles’s great-great-grandfather, Saint Abernathy, incited a miners’ rebellion that ended with a public execution at the hands of law enforcement. Now, Miles becomes the feud’s latest victim as the sheriff’s son and his friends sniff out the evidence, follow him through the woods, and beat him nearly to death.

In the hospital, the ghost of a soot-covered man hovers over Miles’s bedside while Sheriff Davies threatens Miles into silence. But when Miles accidentally kills one of the boys who hurt him, he learns of other folks in Twist Creek who want out from under the sheriff’s heel. To free their families from this cycle of cruelty, they’re willing to put everything on the line—is Miles

Review

Another great book by Andrew Joseph White! Since it set in modern times (shortly after President Trump’s first election) without a large fantasy element it’s a little different than his other books. Some of the plot seemed a bit far fetched on how things would go down. However the setting is small town Appalachia so maybe it works more than I think it would. I really enjoyed reading Miles’ story and finding more about what had happened to the family and who the ghost that appears to Miles ends up being. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. I really liked the way in this story Miles actually had a family that cared about him and other community members who were supportive against the threat of the Sheriff. I really liked the ending of the book as well and the hopefulness of what could come next for the town.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Compound Fracture”

Book Details

Author’s Website: Andrew Joseph White
Publisher / Date: Peachtree Teen, September 2024
Genre: Young Adult, Thriller
Page Count: 371
Completion Date: March 21, 2025

“Model Home” Review

Posted on February 8, 2025March 26, 2025 by Jen

“Model Home” by Rivers Solomon

The three Maxwell siblings keep their distance from the lily-white gated enclave outside Dallas where they grew up. When their family moved there, they were the only Black family in the neighborhood. The neighbors acted nice enough, but right away bad things, scary things—the strange and the unexplainable—began to happen in their house. Maybe it was some cosmic trial, a demonic rite of passage into the upper-middle class. Whatever it was, the Maxwells, steered by their formidable mother, stayed put, unwilling to abandon their home, terrors and trauma be damned.

As adults, the siblings could finally get away from the horrors of home, leaving their parents all alone in the house. But when news of their parents’ death arrives, Ezri is forced to return to Texas with their sisters, Eve and Emanuelle, to reckon with their family’s past and present, and to find out what happened while they were away. It was not a “natural” death for their parents . . . but was it supernatural?

Rivers Solomon turns the haunted-house story on its head, unearthing the dark legacies of segregation and racism in the suburban American South. Unbridled, raw, and daring, Model Home is the story of secret histories uncovered, and of a queer family battling for their right to live, grieve, and heal amid the terrors of contemporary American life.

Review

I can always count on Rivers Solomon to write something deeply disturbing and powerful while exploring various themes and this book, with the central themes of trauma, memory, racism/segregation, and parenting, was no different. There are a lot of different layers to what was actually going on due to Ezri’s (along with their siblings’) memories not being completely reliable. It’s clear their ongoing trauma has caused all of their memories are muddled and mixed up with what they believe happened and what actually happened. The truth does come out in the end and it’s even worse than you might expect.

The writing style might take some getting used to as it’s somewhat stream of conscious deeply in Ezri’s head but I think it works once you get used to it. The ending is a bit abrupt and there are unanswered questions but it makes sense for the story. That said there is also the sense that the unresolved issues that still need to be worked out, between the siblings, will be more than they were before.

I will be re-reading Rivers Solomon’s other books to add reviews to my blog. I’ve enjoyed all of them!

Warnings and additional reviews can be found on the StoryGraph page for “Model Home” by Rivers Solomon

Book Details

Author’s Website
: Rivers Solomon
Publisher / Date: MCD, October 2024
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Page Count: 286
Completion Date: February 7, 2025

“Màgòdiz” by Gabe Calderón

Posted on January 26, 2025March 26, 2025 by Jen

“Màgòdiz” by Gabe Calderón

Everything that was green and good is gone, scorched away by a war that no one living remembers. The small surviving human population scavenges to get by; they cannot read or write and lack the tools or knowledge to rebuild. The only ones with any power are the mindless Enforcers, controlled by the Madjideye, a faceless, formless spiritual entity that has infiltrated the world to subjugate the human population.

A’tugwewinu is the last survivor of the Andwanikadjigan. On the run from the Madjideye with her lover, Bel, a descendant of the Warrior Nation, they seek to share what the world has forgotten: stories. In Pasakamate, both Shkitagen, the firekeeper of his generation, and his life’s heart, Nitawesi, whose hands mend bones and cure sickness, attempt to find a home where they can raise children in peace without fear of slavers or rising waters. In Zhong yang, Riordan wheels around just fine, leading xir gang of misfits in hopes of surviving until until the next meal. However, Elite Enforcer H-09761 (Yun Seo, who was abducted as a child, then tortured and brainwashed into servitude) is determined to arrest Riordan for theft of resources and will stop at nothing to bring xir to the Madjideye. In a ruined world, six people collide, discovering family and foes, navigating friendship and love, and reclaiming the sacredness of the gifts they carry.

With themes of resistance, of ceremony as the conduit between realms, of transcending gender, Màgòdiz is a powerful and visionary reclamation that Two-Spirit people always have and always will be vital to the cultural and spiritual legacy of their communities.

Review

This was a really interesting and complex book with great characters. I really liked how everything developed and the way the characters ended up working together. I enjoyed the complicated ending and the fact that it ends with hope for a better future. The world building was interesting though I did feel like things could have been explained in a bit more detail. However that may have been intentional since a lot of information had been lost and what was left was very personal, including cultural stories that aren’t for outsiders. That said I really enjoyed the oral story telling aspect of the book and the various stories that were told throughout. I also liked the gender and disability representation in the book as well and the way both aspects just existed as part of the story.

The book does get fairly graphic in places both with regard to the violence the characters experience and the bleakness of the dystopian future. There are also a couple sex scenes near the end of the book that are somewhat graphic as well.

Warnings and additional reviews can be found on the StoryGraph page for “Màgòdiz”.

Book Details

Author’s Website: Gabe Calderón
Publisher / Date: Arsenal Pulp Press, November 2022
Genre: Science Fiction
Page Count: 284
Completion Date: January 22, 2025

“Everything for Everyone” Review

Posted on January 19, 2025March 26, 2025 by Jen

“Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072”
by M. E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi

By the middle of the twenty-first century, war, famine, economic collapse, and climate catastrophe had toppled the world’s governments. In the 2050s, the insurrections reached the nerve center of global capitalism—New York City. This book, a collection of interviews with the people who made the revolution, was published to mark the twentieth anniversary of the New York Commune, a radically new social order forged in the ashes of capitalist collapse.

Here is the insurrection in the words of the people who made it, a cast as diverse as the city itself. Nurses, sex workers, antifascist militants, and survivors of all stripes recall the collapse of life as they knew it and the emergence of a collective alternative. Their stories, delivered in deeply human fashion, together outline how ordinary people’s efforts to survive in the face of crisis contain the seeds of a new world.

Review

This was a very interesting book about how things could be. It’s written as if it’s a non-fiction book of interviews with various people who survived all the uprisings and disasters and now live in what’s left of New York. The authors (who are academics) are written as themselves doing the interviews with fictional interviewees. It’s vitally important to read the introduction to this book as it explains the future setting and who the various people are. I think a lot of people are tempted to skip introductions to non-fiction books, but this one does the work of explaining what actually happened between now and the future setting.

I think there’s a lot of good world building within the book, and while there is a lot of telling instead of showing I think it makes sense given the chosen format. That said I do think there are very obvious gaps in explaining everything. We get a general sense that things are better now for everyone but only on a surface level. We don’t really know for sure how things have been resolved – is racism still a thing? Sexism? Etc.

In addition, while disabled people are mentioned don’t really get a sense of how things are for disabled people in general in this future. While many of the interviewees have mental trauma and mental health issues there wasn’t anyone with a physical or sensory or cognitive disability. I would have liked it better if at least one interviewee had been disabled themselves instead of just mention of specific individuals with disabilities.

In general though I do believe the book works as an idea of how things could be and depicts a hopeful future after a series of disasters even if I wasn’t entirely convinced that everything is for everyone in this future.

Warnings and additional reviews can be found on the StoryGraph page for “Everything for Everyone”

Book Details

The cover of Everything for Everyone depicts a map of a flooded future New York City showing what's left of the boroughs and the water ways around them over the land is a series of lines crossing every which way. The title is in the top left corner with the authors names.

Authors’ Websites: M. E. O’Brien and Eman Abdelhadi
Publisher / Date: Common Nations / August 2022
Genre: Science Fiction
Page Count: 256
Completion Date: January 19, 2025