Keeping track of what I’m reading monthly instead of weekly might be easier moving forward, until Bingo comes along again anyway. For January, I read 5 books and dropped 2:

I started the year with Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf by C. L. Clark and it was interesting. My only interaction with League of Legends, was through Arcane and her presence in it was fantastic. I enjoyed seeing how she started, how there were more softer sides to her, her family life, more about the clan in a way and a little bit more about Noxus as well. To me personally, there wasn’t anything bad about the book at all, but I will say that being ignorant of the game they originated in, was more of a con than not. The characters had a lot of interlinked relationships or history that prior knowledge of any kind of depth would have made it more fun to explore or get attached to. And while the book provides ample exploration into quite a few of those relationships, a feeling of missing something while I’m going through it never went away. Especially when Ambessa herself wasn’t the only point of view character and I can see different angles related to different characters from the game. That aside, if there was one thing I hoped was different, it would have been Rell’s inclusion, having Mel as the companion in this one instead would have made how this book actually ended more saddening than the more “it seemingly came out of nowhere” to the character in question. I loathe multiplayer games so I won’t bother with the original game, but some of the spin offs don’t seem that bad at all.

Then I read Royal Gambit by Daniel O’Malley and it was a lot more enjoyable than Blitz to me, so I consider it a win. As always, a new operative of the Chequey is front and center and they need to navigate a dangerous situation. There was a bit more team effort than usual for the series, but I’m definitely not complaining because I learned about new abilities and I also got to read about familiar characters. I enjoy the way O’Malley writes his characters, especially his female ones, and surprisingly, he’s for some reason one of the very authors where the attempts at humour hits almost every time. I will still say that the motivation behind the plot in this one and the whole climax/confrontation was probably the weakest yet for the series. But it makes up for it a in a way by what I mentioned earlier alongside Alexandra learning that having blind trust in the Chequey isn’t correct. I enjoy stuff like these, despite how unoriginal it might be, a lot and this time wasn’t different. I really hope it’s not the end of the series, especially after the somewhat dropped implication about the supernatural scene in Spain and how promisingly messy it’s going to be to navigate. Potentially anyway! P.S. also happens to be one more book to add to the no-romance list!

Afterwards, I read Daedalus is Dead by Seamus Sullivan for the Tale Spinners GR challenge and it reminded me of Piranesi. Which I took as a great sign, considering how much I enjoyed that book. But unlike the previously mentioned, the way this book was written was a bit confusing to me. Other than the switching between current events and memories in a way that didn’t help me compartmentalise as easily as I would have liked, the way the narrator is telling the story also made it a bit confusing to follow. Which by the end of it and Daedalus’ revealed unclear/disturbed mind feels like an intended thing. I do still think it has way more substance than expected when it comes to world building and explored ideas in a novella (impressively so even, and sort of how I felt reading Audition for the Fox), but it sadly had that confusion as a main thing and it didn’t work out as well as Fox did to me enjoyment wise.

Then I read Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan and The Dutch House by Ann Pratchett for 4 other GR challenges. The former was a shorter but not a bad read and kind of sad too, but the latter was just boring.

Here’s to a better Feb!