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 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.

Spin the Dawn, Elizabeth Lim

Book Title: Spin the Dawn

Author: Elizabeth Lim

Series: The Blood of Stars #1

Date Started: December 30th  2025

Date Completed: January 6th 2026

Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Adventure

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

I always love an Elizabeth Lim adventure. Her magical weaving of myth and folklore into thrilling stories was the perfect choice to start off the new year. Spin the Dawn took a bit of time to get into, but thoroughly enjoyable once the real stakes were introduced.

It's fun and lighthearted in the romance, but really creative in its epic fantasy. The plot devices are really satisfying and carefully placed throughout. It's a great example to demonstrate that just because the reader can sense where the story is going, it doesn't mean it's poorly written; it's just accessible and takes full advantage of the anticipation that dramatic irony builds in the reader.

I really respect the duology structure rather than squeezing out a mediocre middle book in a trilogy - it worked great for Six Crimson Cranes, and I have a feeling it'll work wonders for this story too. I'm struggling with what to say, as it's just a good time - I won't wait long to read the follow-up.

The Bride Stone, Sally Gardner

Book Title: The Bride Stone

Author: Sally Gardner

Date Started: December 22nd  2025

Date Completed: December 29th 2025

Genres: Historical, Romance, Mystery

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆ 

I read Sally Gardner books when I was a kid and loved her writing. I've been meaning to pick up another of her books for a long, long time. While The Bride Stone's contents definitely mark it for mature readers, it still has that spark of adventure I remember from all those years ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Gardner's historical settings are always so immersive; the accuracy of speech and society is always enough to feel real and like you're in the hands of someone who knows what they're talking about, but without giving you a history lesson and impeding on the story at its core.

I was pleasantly surprised when the story switched from period romance drama to murder mystery in the second half, throwing the characters and events we had grown to love into peril in a way we were just as anxious as Duval for the truth to be discovered. Ultimately, there was a bit more period romancing than I was expecting, but the way the story unfolded throughout left plenty of plot and intrigue to balance it out.

Owl King, Bex Hogan

Book Title: Owl King

Author: Bex Hogan

Series: Faery Realm #2

Date Started: December 17th  2025

Date Completed: December 21st 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Two Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Two Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

Around this time last year, I read two books next to each other with Nettle in the title. One was great (Nettle and Bone, turns out), the other was meh. I mistakenly thought this was the sequel to the first, but it was the latter. Oops.

I think overall, I found it unsatisfying as it felt like a children's book (but with a more mature world?). There is charm in the 1001 Nights structure (though it misses the opportunity to truly expand the worldbuilding within it), but the pacing is all over the place. I read Owl King in four sittings, and while the adventure isn't that expansive, an awful lot is going on that I had to remind myself of between readings. There's also a significant role by the first book's protagonist, Nettle, but frankly all of it was lost on me because I have no memory of the actual events of the first one.

My primary resistance to this book itself (rather than just being confused) was the romance and portrayal of abuse, especially as it's a novel intended for younger readers. The titular Owl King is the well-trodden tyrant who takes multiple wives after the last one mysteriously perishes - but worry not, our protagonist's sister will be forced to marry him and, wait for it, fix him of course! I'm being hyperbolic, but 'the magic was too strong' is an awfully convenient excuse for a supposedly reformed serial killer of women to revert to their old ways. However much the plotline may be 'tied up' by the end doesn't relieve the uncomfortable feeling that sat with me through most of the book.

I'm not sure when it happened but the 'save my sister' storyline needs to go into the YA cliche canon. It has very little room for anything other than repetition and seems to just excuse any life-threatening or impossible tasks completely out of its own stakes. I do appreciate the genre's evolution beyond true love's devotion, but I think we've hit another rut - or maybe we just need to be more creative with the concept? Either way, it's another one for the cliche list.

Katabasis, R.F. Kuang

Book Title: Katabasis

Author: R.F. Kuang

Date Started: September 13th 2025

Date Completed: October 20th 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

I found the start of Katabasis hard to get into; supposedly straight into the action, but there is so much it wants to tell us it takes 100 pages for the story to gain its footing. Once it does, though it meanders at times, it's undoubtedly Kuang's most innovative fantasy yet. I was getting strong Boy and the Heron and His Dark Materials and vibes - but Kuang is distinctive in where she takes it for the ending.

I'd be curious to see what someone with 0 Classics/Philosophy knowledge finds it; I know a handful of the references via my interest in mythical folklore and Ancient Greece, but I was mostly just nodding along in acceptance of my confusion. It led to an interesting conversation with my mum (who has a PhD in Political Science), but I came out of it ultimately none the wiser. Perhaps if you know none of it you can buy into the fantastical side a bit more.

And boy is the magic system and world-building creative - insanely so. I know to expect scales of epic proportion when it comes to the universes Kuang wills into being for us, but almost every time she builds on her wealth of knowledge, curiosity, intelligence and pure joy for creating these imaginary plains of existence. Katabasis especially made me appreciate the philosophical way she approaches storytelling: it's not really about creating a world to tell her story in, it's about repositioning your way of thinking so that you're open to the story she's ready to tell. It's ultimately why her novels are so universal, despite their authentic roots in Kuang's own studies, heritage and temperament: what she asks of the reader is to join her in looking at something from a different perspective, and discovering what it leads to together.

While the book is ultimately a character story (though Alice's agency for what happens to her is unreliable), I really enjoyed the exploration of corruption, discrimination and toxicity of gatekeeping education and imbalanced mentor-student relationships. It rang so universally true for imbalanced power structures, even though it focuses very specifically on academia, and made such an impact on the development of the characters without having to be the main plot. Alice is the person who toils, fails, suffers and grows - and the book doesn't flinch from that anchor - but it has an awful lot to say about the hypocrisy of what people expect her to grow into. And a final act that is satisfyingly resolute in its answer.

The One Hundred Nights of Hero, Isabel Greenberg

Book Title: The One Hundred Nights of Hero

 Author: Isabel Greenberg

Date Started: September 18th 2025

Date Completed: September 19th 2025

Genres: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Star

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆ 

Since reading this graphic novel for the first time in 2017, it has been amongst my favourite books of all time, forever. At a time when I was finding my voice as a storyteller and recognising the patterns and power hierarchies and magic in the world, it was entirely pivotal to my worldview and my own sense of justice and worth. For the longest time, I was adamant that I wanted to adapt it when I became a filmmaker.

You can understand my heartbreak, then, when it was announced that an adaptation was in fact being made, directed by Julia Jackson, starring Emma Corin, Maika Monroe, Nicholas Galitzine and more. That heartbreak didn't last very long though, because it was being made, and well by the looks of things. Having secured tickets to the BFI London Film Festival Closing Gala of the film thanks to a friend, and preparing for the premiere of my second short film, itself inspired by myth, I knew I needed to reread it. I was not disappointed.

The One Hundred Nights of Hero is a story about storytellers, about courage in the face of fascism, and about the preciousness of words and the agency to use them for good. You never know what world a book or film or any other form of art will be released into; these days, by the time people see the final thing, it's been a long time since it was created. But some works of art ring true - sometimes even more so - when they're released. It's what makes them wild, and why the audience are part of their creation.

The point of fairy tales is sometimes oversimplified or sometimes objectively miscategorised as stories teaching people moral tales. If you'd like to avoid a little academic context, skip these two paragraphs, because I wrote my dissertation on this stuff and I'll be damned if I'm not using it. Moral tales, generally, actually align with animal tales or fables - two of the six types of traditional oral storytelling genres. Mythology and legends, intrinsically tied to religion, explore concepts of right and wrong in their respective cultures.

But fairy tales and folklore (generally speaking) were special because they weren't made to instruct, but to cope. We largely believe fairy tales and folklore to have been created by the people, for the people, in times of upheaval and persecution, prejudice and against the unfathomable natural world. They weren't stories that told you what to do if you ever found yourself in a certain situation; they were stories that said, if this ever befalls you, you have survived and this is how you get up again. They are, at their core, about making knowledge and courage accessible to all. This is why the characters in fairy tales and folklore are largely unnamed and predominantly without identifying features in the way that legends and myths distinguish mortals and deities, and how animal tales and fables paint certain character traits as animalistic stereotypes.

So, then, this fairy tale of epic proportions, inspired by timeless classics like A Thousand and One Arabian Nights and the Twelve Dancing Princesses, is about storytellers telling stories in the face of fear and oppression. Okay, sure, simple enough, we've seen it all before, right? The market is undeniably now richer with narratives inspired by these ancient traditions, but in the eight years since I first read this book, I still haven't experienced something that came close to its gentleness, its defiance and its acknowledgement of pain that comes along with it all. Hero and Cherry, and their characters and ancestors, and even the men around them (good boys, just like Paris Paloma says) all suffer from the society and traditions they have been locked within, and pushing against it draws blood. It's scary. But the stories patch them together again. They teach us to get up again.

A Court of Wings and Ruin, Sarah J. Maas

Book Title: A Court of Wings and Ruin

Author: Sarah J. Maas

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses #3

Date Started: August 22nd  2025

Date Completed: September 13th 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Action

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

I'm gradually coming around to the ACOTAR series, after absolutely hating the first one - but it just doesn't compare to Throne of Glass for me. It's a lot of fun, I raced through the just-about-700 pages and didn't want to put it down, but ultimately I don't connect with the characters. Nesta is my favourite - and feels the more real, presents conflict but is grounded in a compelling narrative arc - and while I like the others, I don't feel close to them which brings the stakes down by quite a bit.

Maas is renowned for the grandeur of her worlds and their places, cultures and politics. But A Court of Wings and Ruin reminded me how great she is at writing battles, in a way that allows the plot to flow through and heighten the excitement. There's just enough action to feel epic, enough chaos to intimidate, but not so bogged down in the movements and strategy that the story is sacrificed.

It firmly feels that this was originally written as a trilogy that then expanded, and while I was a little disapponted at the lack of character deaths and long-standing loss for the world, I really enjoyed the way Maas satisfyingly wrapped up the story, but left the door open just enough for another - which it evidently went on to do and perhaps will continue to.

Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros

Book Title: Fourth Wing

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Series: The Empyrean #1

Date Started: June 18th  2025

Date Completed: June 29th 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Action

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

This book takes a leisurely, indulgent journey to get to the heart of its story - but when it gets there, it undeniably kicks ass. It is addictive, exciting and glorious escapism, but it wasn't until the last 100 pages that I totally jumped on board.

I have notes from the middle of the book complaining about the sacrifice of story for a couple of hundred pages of smut and angst, and there was a point where it felt like we weren't going to move beyond sexy dragon training for this first instalment. I can't lie and say it wasn't fun - the whole thing was hard to put down - but I really wanted more. The book did eventually deliver, and it's cleverly set up that I'm itching for more.

As a side note, I appreciate that the characters are set up so deliberately in the world order, but Violet really is the perfect example of nepotism in action. Yarros doesn't seem to want to draw critical attention to the fact that she'd be dead 20 times if it weren't for tiny actions of favouritism that really let her skip some ladder rungs (I don't mean the saddle or her medical support, I'll get to that). None of this means Violet doesn't work hard - she absolutely does, and has to carry the expectations of her name - but in the current climate, I think it's a useful example of the status quo's normalisation of nepotism.

With that said, it made my heart happy to see the story adapt to Violet's personal abilities and challenges, particularly in its clear point that there's no shame in using mobility aids or your body having different needs. It is nebulous, so I don't know if identifying it as a disability is right or not, but it struck me nevertheless. I would really love it to be more explicitly represented in future books, especially in this of story and genre.

I'm excited to pick up the next one now that the world building, the politics, the relationships and the real threat are set up in prime position. It would've been nice to get a bit more of it in this first book, but I recognise the care that's gone into establishing how we feel about the actions and emotions of Violet and her peers - I'm sure Yarros will make it hurt sooner rather than later.

I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith

Book Title: I Capture the Castle

Author: Dodo Smith

Date Started: June 8th  2025

Date Completed: June 18th 2025

Genres: Historical, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

I love the film version of I Capture the Castle, and have had the novel on my shelf for a decade and a half. There are some moments that have always stuck with me (the Midsummer rights, the writing study in the ruined castle, Cassandra and Stephen in the woods and then beside the Thames), but it was a pleasure to rediscover the whole story in its own right.

A British classic, it is beautiful and melancholic and fanciful and quaint. I certainly haven't read many contemporary 1930s/40s stories that aren't WWII focused. I wasn't aware of the history of the book before reading (Dodie Smith and her husband, a conscientious objector, left Britain during the war for California) but it makes sense in its nostalgic nature, reflecting on the everyday lives of people making connections with others unlike themselves, and the messes we make even with the best of intentions. It is a timeless representation of girlhood, both in its moments of exact shared experience as well as the wild imaginings of adventure.

More so than the film, the book is such a collection of character portraits. Despite being told in first person by Cassandra, who spends varying amounts of times with different people, it struck me how full each character was in their own rite, and the ways that that impacted Cassandra's life. She's not a passive protagonist, but is navigating the decisions of those around her as much as her own - and it's so interesting to learn more and more about these people from their actions that we might not have expected.

I'm so used to first person narrators (especially young women) being intentionally headstrong or sickly sweet or just seeming to care so much about what the reader thinks of them - notably, the reader over the characters they're existing beside. Cassandra is so inexcusably herself and strikingly kind and intelligent and growing as she learns that's not always enough.

A Forgery of Fate, Elizabeth Lim

Book Title: A Forgery of Fate

Author: Elizabeth Lim

Date Started: March 18th  2025

Date Completed: May 4th 2025

Genres: Romance, Adventure, Fantasy

Quality Rating: Three Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Three Star

Final Rating: Three Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆ 

Lim's novels are always enjoyable and grand enough to feel different from the crowd. Unfortunately, A Forgery of Fate falls into too many cliches to be truly satisfying. You could have a full set of cards for YA romance bingo by the end, and it's a well-executed demonstration of each.

Usually, I don't get on with underwater settings in books; it tends to overcomplicate even basic scenes and become a distraction. But this book simplified it enough while also playing with the setting that it worked. I enjoy how Lim uses fairy tales very loosely and then lets herself build whatever elements she likes into something new; the water and dragon elements took the classic Beauty and the Beast narrative and made it far more epic and fresh.

There are some vaguely uncomfortable elements of the romance, but more generally, I just found the book a bit uninspiring. I'm a fan of Lim's writing and I'm sure will continue to enjoy it - this one just wasn't my favourite of hers.

The Dark Mirror, Samantha Shannon

Book Title: The Dark Mirror

Author: Samantha Shannon

Series: The Bone Season #5

Date Started: February 26th  2025

Date Completed: March 2nd 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Adventure, Action, Dystopian

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Stars

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here. I was so ready to dive back into Paige's adventures that it took mere pages for me to be addicted again. I devoured chapters at a time and read the whole thing in 4 days despite its length. My inner mythology and archaeology nerd was spurred on even faster, and I lapped up the references and inspiration from Rome, Venice and beyond.

I appreciated the reminders of previous events threaded into the text. I would often criticise info-dumping, but it's constructive here; it's been a staggering five years since I read The Mask Falling. And for those who haven't reread the stories in the 'author's preferred texts,' don't worry. Shannon does direct readers to her website for a very short list of amendments, but it's been so long that I honestly wouldn't have batted an eye at the changes regardless.

There is a lot of talking in this book which, while enjoyable, made it feel less high stakes than what I remember of the previous books. An awful lot happens, but an awful lot of it happens off the page and outside of our protagonist's presence. That's just how it works when you have a first-person narrator, and I continue to be impressed at how the complex political and magical worlds are mostly kept accessible to the reader via the prose and Paige's inner circle's view.

I couldn't write this review without acknowledging something that I think went over my head when I was younger and reading the first books: Shannon's sense of place. She recreates real cities I've never been to as if they're outside my window and paints the places I know well with so much vibrancy it's like discovering them again for the first time. Her storytelling hinges so much on this staggering sense of reality and an instinctive desire to explore it - which Shannon allows us to in Paige's wanderings, her curiosity to seek out hidden sides of the city, and her evergrowing talent of inadvertently destroying any building she walks past. The heavy use of dialogue mentioned above almost doesn't matter; you can taste the air Paige is walking in, and that's powerful.

I'm hoping that the last two books in the series come out in closer succession to this one, as The Bone Seasion series thrives on momentum. The escalating conflict is reaching a crescendo in real time with these characters, and to throw us in in something close to real time too will make the fever pitch of whatever finale we're approaching unforgettable.

Sisters of Fire and Fury, Laura Bates

Book Title: Sisters of Fire and Fury

Author: Laura Bates

Series: Sisters of Sword and Shadow #2

Date Started: January 18th  2025

Date Completed: January 27th 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Historical, Adventure, Action, Romance

Quality Rating: Five Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Five Star

Final Rating: Five Stars

Review:

My kind of romance, my kind of thriller, my kind of everything really. Heart-pounding action, heartwarming love, and heart-burning fury. When I realised it was the last few pages, I didn't want it to end.

I enjoyed the first book, but I feel like I understood the second book more. It's so well done, so much fun but so political and real - the balance is so well crafted. I remember reading an interview with Derek Landy (author of the Skulduggery Pleasant series, and one of the most influential writers of my childhood) where he was talking about action and violence involving young characters. He spoke about how important it was to him to show that action is exciting but getting hurt, well, hurts. It's scary even with a weapon in your hand, and no one is invincible. There's a handful of moments in Sisters of Fire and Fury where I was reminded of that and impressed by how Laura Bates doesn't glorify the fantasy of female knights - glorious as it is - because they are hurt, they are scared. They are protecting not conquering.

I speak a lot about adaptations around retellings and between mediums, and if I ever had to teach a class on it, I think this would have to be one of the examples. The first book was very loose with its inspiration, while this one meets it head on, but with so much love for the original myths of King Arthur. Instead of strictly rewriting it or giving it a click-bait 'twist, the story is instead allowed to grow with new opportunities that the original myth never saw. It's modernised through the acknowledgement of how our morality system and culture has evolved, and by seeing where that new perspective leads us.

The themes in these books feel so true, so close, even if the rest is beautiful medieval fantasy. I'm grateful to have these books as a 20-something. I hope they're devoured by younger.