The Unicorn Hunters, Katherine Arden

Book Title: The Unicorn Hunters

Author: Katherine Arden

Date Started: May 4th  2026

Date Completed: May 20th 2026

Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

The Unicorn Hunters, in line with everything else Katherine Arden has ever written, is enchanting, adventurous and, most importantly, masses of fun. I loved how Arden's writing style leant into the medieval tone, feeling noticably distinct from her other work, but still had that shining spark of fairytale magic she injects into her stories.

I adore Arden's skill and palpable adoration for exploring real history, places and politics through the lens of fantasy. By changing just a few threads - Anne of Brittany is older when her father dies, and she is thrust onto the throne, the unicorns of lore are in fact real - a new tapestry so vivid is woven, something so cathartic and ambitious with escapism that it glitters.

This novel has the ultimate feel-good cast of characters, and I almost want a dozen prequels/sequels just for them; the endlessly savvy and exhausted queen, her scrappy headstrong younger sister, the protective but respectful illegitimate older brother (and his not-so-secret affair with one of her handmaidenes - more Margaret, please), the resourceful and streetwise urchin saved from the jaws of death, the valiant childhood friend turned forbidden love - and a cat called Butter who can walk between worlds, because of course.

My one note was that it felt like something was holding it back the whole way through, and that left the finale from truly resonating. Something somewhere was messing with the momentum and keeping it from five stars, but it was undeniably an addicting and magical read.

A Soul Full of Shadows, Derek Landy

 

Book Title: A Soul Full of Shadows

Author: Derek Landy

Series: Skulduggery Pleasant #18

Date Started: April 4th  2026

Date Completed: May 4th 2026

Genres: Fantasy, Action, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Comedy

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

Regardless of where you find yourself in the Skulduggery saga, Derek has yet to disappoint in the new chapter he's added. With more than 20 full-length novels at this point, still every book is a truly original story, always with new ideas and fresh humour to make me laugh out loud (and that never happens). Nothing is redundant in a Skulduggery story, everything comes back around, and everything comes to an end. And, of course, this wasn't the real end.

I struggle these days with the sheer scale of people, places, magic systems and (now) timelines in the Skulduggery Pleasant world. It's somewhat inevitable, 18 main books and several spin-offs down the line, and luckily the hijinks and thrills don't suffer too much from it. I did find the first half of A Soul Full of Shadows a bit of a drag with predominantly talking and lots and lots of set-up, but the second half was a pure joyride and made up for it.

The sequel series/set of trilogies is not what the original 9-book/3-part trilogy series used to be; they've evolved significantly. Some parts I like, some parts I'm not as keen on - but I don't think I'll ever stop coming back for more, so I'm here for whatever road Derek wants to send a burning Bentley down. It would be nice if Tanith got to have something nice for more than 100 pages, though.

The Silence of Bones, June Hur

 Book Title: The Silence of Bones

Author: June Hur

Date Started: March 1oth 2026

Date Completed: March 14th 2026

Genres: Historical, Mystery

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

What a debut. I received A Crane Among Wolves a while ago for review, having wanted to read something of Hur's for a long time. While I can feel how her writing has progressed since this book, I was so impressed by how thrilling and how well articulated, yet complex, this first novel was. So much fun and truly gripping - and it becomes even more so as you go on.

The historical Korean details are part of why I love Hur's stories, and while I did find the start of this novel a little overbearing with explaining various customs and terms, by the halfway mark the writing has settled into feeling like worldbuilding rather than explanations, leaving some things ambiguous and just part of the world. It's a joy to be able to recognise the extra details (or even look it up if I wasn't familiar), but the story is allowed to come first.

I adored how Seol's story was given time to completion even after the murder mystery closes. The strength of her character is in moments like this, where she may not be the strongest or the cleverest, but she absolutely always has agency. Overall, I loved the lack of a romantic subplot and how much tension, how much feeling there still was in each relationship.

And, finally, I have so much respect for how the audience is allowed to put the clues together and Hur doesn't feel the need to go, 'psyche, I fooled you' for her own ego. Threads start to pull together for the reader just as quickly as for Seol, and so each new piece of evidence is thrilling not because it's a shocker but because it adds understanding to the pattern being woven for the reader. The best mysteries are when everyone can feel like they're the detective.

The Fox Wife, Yangsze Choo

 Book Title: The Fox Wife

Author: Yangsze Choo

Date Started: February 8th  2026

Date Completed: February 15th 2026

Genres: Magical Realism, Contemporary

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Star

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

I thoroughly enjoyed this book once I got into it. Both accompanying narrators, a detective and a woman who is also a fox, are compelling in their own ways, spinning closer and closer to one another as the serendipitous threads of fate pull the stitching of the story taut. The mystery and overlapping lives were so satisfying the whole way through, small details gathering meaning long before their meaning is unearthed.

I loved Choo's ability to balance her tones of sincerity, comedy and lightheartedness with gut-wrenching tragedy; anger with joy, wistfulness with ferocity. These characters are fascinatingly flawed, spiteful, curious, overconfident, daring; their mythos all the more enthralling as these whispered creatures become real and, despite the stories, mostly causing mayhem unintentionally. The one stumble was when our protagonist found her goal achieved, but we just sort of rushed on - understandably, knowing the full pilot, but it did feel unfinished and easily let go by Snow.

I want ten prequels about Snow, Kuro and Shiro's adventures - or, having read the closing notes, for Choo to indeed fill an entire novel with footnotes of anecdotes, mythology and side stories in the tradition of Chinese marginalia. I want more time with these characters, more roadtrips across ancient and historical Asia, more mysteries uncovered, chaos wreaked and ridiculous hijinks.

Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon, Mizuki Tsujimura

 Book Title: Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon

 Author: Mizuki Tsujimura

Series: Lost Soul #1

Date Started: January 28th  2026

Date Completed: February 8th 2026

Genres: Magical Realism, Contemporary

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

What a unique idea for magical realism; an elusive contact who, if you manage to track them down or happen to be passed their details by a family member, can give you one night under a full moon to meet someone dead. You don't have to know them, you don't have to pay anything, but you and they only get one chance to see it through. My favourite part is that it was brought to life in such a believable way, with no greater purpose, no magic system supporting it. It doesn't try to be epic or universal, but just something a handful of people try to do for others.

I was really hoping this novel would move from each short story into an exploration of the common element: the teenage go-between who fulfils the living's request. And I'm so happy it did. I do wish it had framed both the start as well as the end to make the final revelation land a bit more. If I'd been thinking about it throughout the book, it would've been such a pay-off at the end.

I'm often not a fan of the episodic nature of these types of novels, but each character's story was special and different enough to avoid feeling repetitive or disjointed, and ultimately everything came together at the end to create a satisfying completion to a central character's arc. It's hard to distinguish a lot of these books that fall in the thoughtful magical realism category, but Mizuki Tsujimura has impressed twice for me so far.

A Court of Frost and Starlight, Sarah J. Maas

Book Title: A Court of Frost and Starlight

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #3.5

Date Started: January 18th  2026

Date Completed: January 28th 2026

Genres: Fantasy, Romance

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

A Court of Frost and Starlight is a very novella-esque bridge between novels without a real story, which is a bit sad given Maas has crafted some fantastic short stories with ARCs and consequence for Throne of Glass. It's not a bad idea to set up where the cast find themselves after the first trilogy, getting ready to move into the next, but this book felt mainly motivated to prove one thing: that Feyre and Rhys are the most perfect people to ever exist, apparently.

Yes, okay, we get it. Feyre and Rhys are the most considerate, charitable millionaires ever. Yes, they went through war and now they can only see those families who lost loved ones, how lucky they are (yes, how lucky). Ah, shopping, a luxury they hate but do frequently, as long as we know how guilty they are about it. I exaggerate and there's nothing wrong in principle with these character elements, it's just laid on so thick so many times in this short book, which you probably could see coming when you realise it's a Christmas-themed short story where the most conflict comes from what to get each other as presents.

ACOTAR honestly has never hit me like TOG does. I think it tries to be darker and sexier, but roots that in very surface-level motivations and emotions, which (yes) definitely leads to the steamier scenes sooner, but also feels like it doesn't build up such a complex system of relationships. The war felt much smaller than TOG, even though I'm pretty sure we spend a lot more time on the battlefield. For me, I crave that other sense of epic, mythic sagas where characters both champion and impede each other with their own quests above intimate friendship groups leading the way into battle. There's nothing wrong with the latter, it's just not as moving for me.

I am, however, excited at the prospect of Nesta and some of the other side characters coming to prominence for the next book. Ultimately, they began as foil and conflicts for Feyre and Rhys, but have grown with the series, so to me feel more fleshed out as characters with all the bad as well as the good and charitable. I suppose, following on from why I think I connect with TOG more than this series, I find the way Maas writes messy and defensive compelling.

Unravel the Dusk, Elizabeth Lim

Book Title: Unravel the Dusk

 Author: Elizabeth Lim

Series: The Blood of Stars #2

Date Started: January 8th  2026

Date Completed: January 18th 2026

Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Adventure

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

I quickly followed up with this second book of the Blood of Stars duology, having read the first only a few weeks ago. I love a good Elizabeth Lim adventure, and while I think Unravel the Dusk was trying to do a few too many things at once, it was as always an enjoyable ride.

The threads present in the first book that were clearly going somewhere came to fruition in this second book, which was really satisfying. Side characters completed arcs, as well as the protagonist and her closest allies. The very gentle nods to the mythology of Six Crimson Cranes was also well balanced as a reference without feeling forced.

Ultimately, there were a few too many directions pulling the plot - and Maia's plans - to a speedy conclusion. The build up of the first book set the scene very well for this grand conclusion, but the closer-to-home emotional narrative struggled. Maia, having achieved the impossible multiple times, with her head still attached to her body, would commit to a decision or plan, but be swayed a chapter later for what felt like the sake of romance-fueled angst - her so called breaker of fate plot device didn't come as clearly to a head as expected.

I don't mind a happy ending, but you don't have to bait a sad one that heavily for it to feel earned; we were all behind Maia after what she accomplished in Spin the Dawn. I wish the follow up had been a bit less about her creating her own conflict and pushing everyone away and instead grappling with the tidal wave of chaos already happening in the war-torn country around her - that, yes, she definitely played a part in exacerbating. She could have atoned and grown through her mistakes with her feet on the ground rather than floating around a mess of ruminating.

With all that said, my preferences misdirected, I did of course still enjoy Unravel the Dusk. Lim paints fantastical portraits of worlds and magic and the people within it in such an engaging and vibrant way. I really liked how these books were two halves of the same story, rather than just reiterating the same narrative and character arcs over multiple books. Maia reaches the end of a journey in Spin the Dawn - the resolution is offered for that individual book - and she begins another here. But it was one that was inevitable after the first, she has baggage behind her now, and she has to learn something new once again.