Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree

💜

Travis Baldree’s debut fantasy novel is not one to miss. I found this title through TikTok, from a fellow librarian I follow who couldn’t recommend it enough and I finally bit the bullet and ordered myself a copy. And let me just say, one of the best purchases I made. Ever.

I saw one person describe this as a cozy fantasy and I couldn’t agree more. It is everything one could want in a low-stakes, slice-of-life fantasy story. It hits all the buttons and then some.

The story follows Viv, a retired orc barbarian, tired of the adventurer life and looking to settle down and open a coffee shop in a little town that had never even heard of coffee. And while at first glance it looks like this will just be another coffee shop story with a fantasy background, it’s not. It is so much more.

Baldree gives us elements of found family, the importance of old friendships, and building new relationships. And oof the relationships. I loved the quality of characters Baldree gave us. There weren’t many characters which made you feel a little more attached to the few we had.

And as we follow them through the rest of the story and watch Viv build the life she always wanted for herself it also starts to give the ready an urge to build the life they want for themselves as well. If she can do it, why can’t we? She gave up everything she knew to start something she had only the basic knowledge of and on a hunch. It inspiring.

One of my favorite reads of the year so far.

5/3/22

*This review was previously posted on my google site.

Comments

The Honeys - Ryan La Sala

5/5 ⭐ TBR: 8/16/22 Dark academia meets summer camp, and the vibes are immaculate. This LGBTQIA+ inclusive horror will bring the monsters into the daylight and make the reader rethink everything they thought they knew about the horror genre. With the genderfluid Mars and the rest of the Hive, each with their own purpose, this is one community... cult, that you don’t want to mess with. This is such a divine summer read, and I so enjoyed it! Thank you to Scholastic for access to the arc in exchange for an honest review. 7/27/22 *This review was previously posted on my Google Site.

Payback's a Witch - Lana Harper

5/5 ⭐ Filled with a fantastical description, feisty characters, and a devious plan concocted by three spurned witches, this book is hard to put down. I am notorious for being picky when it comes to fantasy and romance stories, so finding one that was a combination of both that I loved was thrilling. Emmy Harlow has finally returned home in order to fulfill a centuries-long tradition in her family. I don't know if it was just me but I could feel the struggles Emmy was facing from page one. Harper managed to make her feel alive and genuine, which I am coming to find appeals to me when reading. Emmy fled her hometown nearly 10 years earlier and the wounds are still hurting. She's a little lost, a little pissed, and a little in love. Her homecoming is something she struggles with throughout most of the main story. The longing for a home but not knowing if it is the place she grew up in, the magical and wonderful Thistle Grove. Or if it is magicless, solitary Chicago to which she fl...

The Family Plot - Megan Collins

4/5 ⭐ A family brought up learning about everything through the lens of true crime. Murder, mayhem, and death are the Lighthouse family's close companions. I was looking forward to this book since reading the summary. I have a mild interest in true crime and was interested in seeing how this story would incorporate such a widely talked about topic. For some, true crime is overdone and saturates media. And if anything, I think Collins does a fantastic job of acknowledging that fact and takes on true crime in a new and unique fashion. We are immediately introduced to the main setting, Blackburn Island, home to a serial killer who was never caught and the home of the 4 Lighthouse children and their... peculiar parents. I thought that Collins did a good job with the characters introducing them one right after another without it feeling rushed or like we were missing something. If anything it felt as though we learned a lot about the family within just the first few chapters. Without ...

In The Solarium

Search This Blog