Bitter Medicine – A Review
Elle is a descendant of the Chinese god of medicine. Luc is a half-elven warrior. While she is working menial tasks and writing enchanted Chinese calligraphy for change, he is out capturing outlaw magical beings.
Elle uses her magic to help Luc on cases, but there is beginning to be something between them.
She is also doing all she can to protect her younger brother, but at what cost will that be to her? While there is action and adventure, the book has a significant romantic element.
Reading the book gave me a sense of calm and soothing feeling. There is a jumble of elements that pulls from Western faerie lore as well as Chinese legends. Much of the book gave vibes of a high-flying cdrama, with locales in the U.S., France, and Egypt.
It is a debut novel that packs in a lot in one volume, and asks what heroes are willing to give up for a good life?
Bitter Medicine
by Mia Tsai
Tachyon
2023
The Vanishing Half – A Review
Twin sisters Desiree and Stella go their separate ways after leaving their small town.
Mallard is located in Louisiana and is home to light-skinned black people. It is the 1960s. It is the civil rights era, and it is a time of social change. Stella makes the decision to pass as white. At first it is to get a job, then it becomes her whole life.Desiree goes to D.C. to find work and marries an accomplished Black man. They have a child together.
The story follows as the twins live separate lives while as adults and how one lie affects them and their children over the next 20-30 years. The story hits many interesting and complicated notes, offers a glimpse into an American family as the world is changing, and what it means for the subsequent generations.
Some of the characters could have had more interesting back stories. The book is a solid second novel, and I would like to go back to read the debut novel by the author, The Mothers.
The Vanishing Half
by Brit Bennett
Riverhead Books
2020
Nora Roberts’s Dark Witch – A Review
The Dark Witch guards her young family and home while her husband is away at battle. She is attacked and defeated. Centuries later her descendant Iona Sheehan hears the call and travels from the United States to Ireland where she unites with long lost cousins, and she begins her training to use her magic and to defeat the enemy that has returned.
The book is an enjoyable fantasy romance, where Iona is supposed to fight an ancient evil, but there seems to be more attention on making a new home with long lost relatives in the Irish countryside and finding the love of her life.
The book seems to have been easily put together with enough atmosphere and references to past political upheavals, but not enough for the reader to dwell on.
It is a romantic and cozy time to visit with Iona for the rest of the trilogy over a cup of tea.
Despite the intense start to the novel, much of the time is spent getting ready for the battle, which does not occur until the end, when the excitement is turned up again.
Dark Witch
by Nora Roberts
Berkley
2013
June TBR 2023
I am excited to start June with the TBR that I have selected for the month. I made some progress already with the books for the month. I feel more competitive with myself in a way I haven’t really felt all year. I have a hunger I have not felt in ages, and I think it is a good thing because I am feeling a sense of ambition I have not felt before. I am finally ready to tackle the second half of the year and I think it will be a grand time. Cheers to you and happy reading!
- Dark Witch
by Nora Roberts - On Sal Mal Lane
by Ru Freeman - Mango and Peppercorns: A Memoir of Food, an Unlikely Family, and the American Dream
by Tung Nguyen, Lyn Nguyen, Katherine Manning, Michelle Bernstein, Elisa Ung - The Tempest
by William Shakespeare - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
by C.S. Lewis - Bitter Medicine
Mia Tsai - Dial A For Aunties
by Jessie Q. Sutanto - Underground Railroad
by Colson Whitehead - Five Little Indians
by Michelle Good - The Paper Menagerie
by Ken Liu - The City of Brass
by S.A. Chakraborty - Anything Goes: A History of American Musical Theatre
by Ethan Mordden