Mel – BWG FAVORITE READS OF 2022

This blew me away in more ways than one, and delivered on everything. We have found family, bad ass gods, a ruthless female assassin, riveting plot, and Black characters galore!

I love how C.M. Lockhart seamlessly tied the lore of the world and gods into the overall story without making the book feel bogged down. There was never a dull moment and I will be first in line when book 2 releases.

This was a book that I simply could not put down!  was wholly invested in this world and the huge cast of characters Rebecca Crunden created. There were high stakes, fleshed out characters, and a sinister plot. Although this was a chunky book with long chapters, it honestly flew by so quickly. I loved how accessible the writing was and how large the world felt. Rebecca Crunden was able to give us just enough of the world to feel immersed without beating us over the head with info dumping. Would love to posssibly see a companion novel to this book, with cameos of these characters, even?

This was such a delightfully good time! I absolutely love Dave dobson’s humor in this book. I found myself laughing out loud during multiple scenes. I love our dynamic duo, Boogs and Marten. They were the best of bros and their was fun to witness. The plot wasn’t complex and it was very straight to the point. You know exactly who to root for and who your villians are, but to be honest I didn’t mind the simplicity at all because it was just a fun hilarious journey. if you’re looking for a fun, fast paced fantasy mystery, this is definitely gonna be right up your alley.

This was a way different type of fantasy than I am used to, but i quite enjoyed it. I loved the concept of art being used as a magic system and the rules and constructs Jami Fairleigh built around that.  The found family trope was *chef’s kiss*, and I couldn’t help but fall in love with character we met. This definitely had some slice of life moments that really gave me a feel for the world and fleshed out the characters for me. There was also this interesting discussion sprinkled thoughout about how money, politics, greed, religion, and power can corrupt people in different ways. A slower character based fantasy that really had me immersed.

This book had everything I want in my fantasy – amazingly well written characters, a ragtag found found family(who don’t really like each other to be honest), shape shifting magical beings, skyships, and dragons. I am obsessed. It’s almost like this book was specifically catered to me. There was never any dragging moments and I really loved seeing the different dynamics of our characters and how they each had their own personal things going on while still trying to band together to defeat Aciel. I was simultaneously sucker punched and torn apart by the time I reached the end of this book. Holy cheeseballs was this good!