These Vicious Delights

 Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell (2021)

What is Winter's Orbit about?

On to the review...

Down Comes the Night is a YA gothic fantasy with a bisexual MC and an m/f enemies to lovers romance. I rated it 3/5 stars.

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What is it about?

A gorgeously gothic, deeply romantic YA debut fantasy about two enemies trapped inside a crumbling mansion, with no escape from the monsters within.

Honor your oath, destroy your country.

Wren Southerland is the most talented healer in the Queen’s Guard, but her reckless actions have repeatedly put her on thin ice with her superiors. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate to cure his servant from a mysterious disease, she seizes the chance to prove herself.

When she arrives at Colwick Hall, Wren realizes that nothing is what it seems. Particularly when she discovers her patient is actually Hal Cavendish, the sworn enemy of her kingdom.

As the snowy mountains make it impossible to leave the estate, Wren and Hal grow closer as they uncover a sinister plot that could destroy everything they hold dear. But choosing love could doom both their kingdoms.

Allison Saft’s Down Comes the Night is a snow-drenched, gothic, romantic fantasy that keeps you racing through the pages long into the night.

[Add it on Goodreads]

On to the review

My favorite novella on earth! Dark, gay, and spine-tingling. This story about monsters, violence, and vengeance is not for the faint of heart.

2. THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR

Basically Killing Eve... with time travel. Told through twisty narration (hey, they're time travelers; no wonder it's confusing) and epic love letters, this novella is worthy of its Hugo award

3. SILVER IN THE WOOD

Quiet, romantic, and perfect for autumn. Reads like a dreamy fairytale.

4. THE BLACK GOD'S DRUMS

Appropriate for all ages, this fun steampunk novella contains African-inspired mythology, alternate history, and anti-imperialist themes

5. THE DESCENT OF MONSTERS

While this is book 3 of the series, it can be read on its own. This badass silkpunk fantasy centers on an official who is desperate to solve the mysterious massacre in an isolated government facility, even if everyone else would rather brush it aside...

6. THE MURDERS OF MOLLY SOUTHBOURNE

Hey, fellow Vicious fans, this is for you! This novella is so twisted and gripping that you can binge read it in a day. At least, I did.

7. THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM

This one works better if you've read the Lovecraft story it's based on (I haven't). This cosmic horror story set in the 1920s grapples with race and social class.

8. THE BLOODY CHAMBER (and other stories)

Before there was edgy DeviantArt Disney fanart, before Tim Burton, there was Angela Carter. She took classic fairytales and turned them dark and feminine. Blood, sex, violence, you name it. Complete with amazing prose.

9. THE ORDER OF THE PURE MOON REFLECTED IN WATER

This might be a wuxia fantasy, but did you know that it's actually set in Malaysia? It's not really an action-packed fantasy; more like a tale that focuses on found family and identity.

10. A LITTLE LIGHT MISCHIEF

Just in case you're in the mood for a romance but can't handle a full length novel. This sweet little story features women falling in love and getting revenge on the men who wronged them.

11. CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN

A lot of translated fiction can fall into this category! This novella is hilarious, but it's also an excellent read for any adult woman facing pressures on career and marriage

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How about you? What's your favorite novella?

This October, Mish from Chasing Faerytales is hosting a series of blog posts titled Ghost Stories from Asia. True to its name, it celebrates Asian horror in all forms. Her upcoming articles include:

• interviews with Asian authors (Hanna Alkaf, Rin Chupeco, Katie Zhao!!) regarding their ghost stories
• rec lists for spooky Asian reads
• a list of spooky Filipino folk tales written by yours truly

Whenever someone says that the year is almost over, it triggers my anxiety. Whelp. They're not wrong though. So I might as well make this post so that the passage of time becomes a positive thing and not just an overwhelming thing. Hehe.

1. Any book you started earlier this year but still have to finish?

I'm the type of reader who DNFs very quickly, but if I own a physical copy then I'm more inclined to force myself to actually reach the end. Someday. Eventually. Hehe, anyway, I read one chapter of The Boatman's Daughter by Andy Davidson and set it aside, but I'd really like to finish it before 2020 ends. This was a birthday gift from a friend so I refuse to DNF.

Ever since her father was killed when she was just a child, Miranda Crabtree has kept her head down and her eyes up, ferrying contraband for a mad preacher and his declining band of followers to make ends meet and to protect an old witch and a secret child from harm.

But dark forces are at work in the bayou, And when the preacher makes an unthinkable demand, it sets Miranda on a desperate, dangerous path, forcing her to consider what she is willing to sacrifice to keep her loved ones safe.

2. Do you have an autumnal book to transition you to the end of the year?

I was shocked that I was actually able to stick to my October TBR, considering I'm such a huge mood reader. I think it's because my October books were all dark, atmospheric reads and that's what I basically consume all year round lol. But a distinct one is The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska which I absolutely adored (review coming soon!)

Every year on St. Walpurga's Eve, Caldella's Witch Queen lures a boy back to her palace. An innocent life to be sacrificed on the full moon to keep the island city from sinking.

Lina Kirk is convinced her brother is going to be taken this year. To save him, she enlists the help of Thomas Lin, the boy she secretly loves, and the only person to ever escape from the palace. But they draw the queen's attention, and Thomas is chosen as the sacrifice.

Queen Eva watched her sister die to save the boy she loved. Now as queen, she won't make the same mistake. She's willing to sacrifice anyone if it means saving herself and her city.

When Lina offers herself to the queen in exchange for Thomas's freedom, the two girls await the full moon together. But Lina is not at all what Eva expected, and the queen is nothing like Lina envisioned. Against their will, they find themselves falling for each other. As water floods Caldella's streets and the dark tide demands its sacrifice, they must choose who to save: themselves, each other, or the island city relying on them both.

3. Any more anticipated new releases?

So many! I've put myself on a temporary book buying ban but I'm making an exception for the following:

Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald

A dark, queer YA fantasy that's perfect for fans of the Three Dark Crowns series and Wicked Saints. After Emanuela Ragno kills the one person in Occhia who can create water, she must find a way to save her city from dying of thirst.

Cunning and unapologetic, Emanuela Ragno is a socialite who plays by her own rules. In her most ambitious move yet, she’s about to marry Alessandro Morandi, her childhood best friend and the heir to the wealthiest house in Occhia. Emanuela doesn’t care that she and her groom are both gay, because she doesn’t want a love match. She wants power, and through Ale, she’ll have it all.

But Emanuela has a secret that could shatter her plans. In her city of Occhia, the only source of water is the watercrea, a mysterious being who uses magic to make water from blood. When their first bruise-like omen appears on their skin, all Occhians must surrender themselves to the watercrea to be drained of life. Everyone throughout history has obeyed this law for the greater good. Everyone except Emanuela. She’s kept the tiny omen on her hip out of sight for years.

When the watercrea exposes Emanuela during her wedding ceremony and takes her to be sacrificed, Emanuela fights back…and kills her. Before everyone in Occhia dies of thirst, Emanuela and Ale must travel through the mysterious, blood-red veil that surrounds their city to uncover the source of the watercrea’s power and save their people—no matter what it takes.

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

Our story begins in 1902, at The Brookhants School for Girls. Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous bestselling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it The Plain Bad Heroine Society. They meet in secret in a nearby apple orchard, the setting of their wildest happiness and, ultimately, of their macabre deaths. This is where their bodies are later discovered with a copy of Mary’s book splayed beside them, the victims of a swarm of stinging, angry yellow jackets. Less than five years later, The Brookhants School for Girls closes its doors forever—but not before three more people mysteriously die on the property, each in a most troubling way.

Over a century later, the now abandoned and crumbling Brookhants is back in the news when wunderkind writer, Merritt Emmons, publishes a breakout book celebrating the queer, feminist history surrounding the “haunted and cursed” Gilded-Age institution. Her bestselling book inspires a controversial horror film adaptation starring celebrity actor and lesbian it girl Harper Harper playing the ill-fated heroine Flo, opposite B-list actress and former child star Audrey Wells as Clara. But as Brookhants opens its gates once again, and our three modern heroines arrive on set to begin filming, past and present become grimly entangled—or perhaps just grimly exploited—and soon it’s impossible to tell where the curse leaves off and Hollywood begins.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost-even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems…

4. Three books you want to read before the end of the year?

*Looks at my humongous backlist* *nervous laughter* Uhhh...

• I want to finish The Folk of the Air trilogy by Holly Black. I hope to read The Wicked King before October ends.

• Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand. Feminism, horror, and sapphic romance. All I could want in a book.

Who are the Sawkill Girls?

Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.

Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.

Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires.

Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now.

• Rise of the Red Hand by Olivia Chadha. Is it cheating if it's an ARC? Hehe. I'm a huge fan of cyberpunk but I admit that the genre can get stale. This is a South Asian cyberpunk novel that tackles climate change and government conspiracies. If this doesn't blow me away, then I don't know what will.

The South Asian Province is split in two. Uplanders lead luxurious lives inside a climate-controlled biodome, dependent on technology and gene therapy to keep them healthy and youthful forever. Outside, the poor and forgotten scrape by with discarded black-market robotics, a society of poverty-stricken cyborgs struggling to survive in slums threatened by rising sea levels, unbreathable air, and deadly superbugs.

Ashiva works for the Red Hand, an underground network of revolutionaries fighting the government, which is run by a merciless computer algorithm that dictates every citizen’s fate. She’s a smuggler with the best robotic arm and cybernetic enhancements the slums can offer, and her cargo includes the most vulnerable of the city’s abandoned children.

When Ashiva crosses paths with the brilliant hacker Riz-Ali, a privileged Uplander who finds himself embroiled in the Red Hand’s dangerous activities, they uncover a horrifying conspiracy that the government will do anything to bury. From armed guardians kidnapping children to massive robots flattening the slums, to a pandemic that threatens to sweep through the city like wildfire, Ashiva and Riz-Ali will have to put aside their differences in order to fight the system and save the communities they love from destruction.

5. Is there a book you think that will still shock you and be your new favorite of the year?

Hmm. I read some really, really fantastic books this year that ended up becoming my favorites of all time so I don't think so. Will probably make a wrap-up post about them sometime in December. Buuut I have high hopes for the new releases that I mentioned above!

6. Have you already started making reading plans for 2021?

Haha not really. I already have my list of anticipated 2021 releases but that's it. However, this year I began my book purchase journal where I basically list down every physical book that I've bought. The results are... incriminating... *sweats* But now that I'm more aware of my bad habits, I've set more rules for myself.

Book buying priorities:

1. A book that I've already read and loved, and I know I will want to re-read it

2. A book by a BIPOC or LGBT author

3. A new release that I'm very excited for, or maybe by an author I already love

This way, I'm more conscious about my purchases and can support more diverse creators.

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How about you all? How are your reading plans for the rest of 2020?