Monday Minis – January 20th: Underrated Reads From 2024
During 2024 I worked on trying to write at least a sentence or two on Goodreads for each book that I finished. I definitely want to continue that into this year, and hopefully try to expand to slightly longer reviews again! In the meantime, what I have now is perfect for sharing for these Monday Minis! So for today’s Monday Mini I wanted share some thoughts on a few of my underrated reads from 2024.
The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste Published by: Sourcebooks Fire on: April 30, 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Goodreads || Storygraph
In a country divided between humans and witchers, Venus Stoneheart hustles as a brewer making illegal love potions to support her family.
Love potions is a dangerous business. Brewing has painful, debilitating side effects, and getting caught means death or a prison sentence. But what Venus is most afraid of is the dark, sentient magic within her.
Then an enemy's iron bullet kills her mother, Venus’s life implodes. Keeping her reckless little sister Janus safe is now her responsibility. When the powerful Grand Witcher, the ruthless head of her coven, offers Venus the chance to punish her mother's killer, she has to pay a steep price for revenge. The cost? Brew poisonous potions to enslave D.C.'s most influential politicians.
As Venus crawls deeper into the corrupt underbelly of her city, the line between magic and power blurs, and it's hard to tell who to trust…Herself included.
I really really liked this one. The magic system and setup of witchers and humans was really interesting. I will say I wanted a bit more of the actual magic, and wanted to learn more about Venus’s deviant-ness? I didn’t really understand the “it” – but it was still really cool! It was also amazing to see all of the family dynamics – the good and the bad, and the complexity that naturally comes with familial relationships. There were so many different kinds of relationships and it was great to see. Also loved the political backdrop – our lives are inherently political and so it’s nice to see that displayed and not ignored. Especially since I read this right before the election (2024).
REP: Black main character, bisexual main character, nonbinary side character, (mostly Black and BIPOC cast of characters) [Black author]
The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia Published by: Tachyon Publications on: August 9, 2022
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads || Storygraph
In this intricate debut fantasy introducing a queernormative Persian-inspired world, a nonbinary refugee practitioner of blood magic discovers a strange disease that causes political rifts in their new homeland. Persian-American author Naseem Jamnia has crafted a gripping narrative with a moving, nuanced exploration of immigration, gender, healing, and family.
Firuz-e Jafari is fortunate enough to have immigrated to the Free Democratic City-State of Qilwa, fleeing the slaughter of other traditional Sassanian blood magic practitioners in their homeland. Despite the status of refugees in their new home, Firuz has a good job at a free healing clinic in Qilwa, working with Kofi, a kindly new employer, and mentoring Afsoneh, a troubled orphan refugee with powerful magic.
But Firuz and Kofi have discovered a terrible new disease which leaves mysterious bruises on its victims. The illness is spreading quickly through Qilwa, and there are dangerous accusations of ineptly performed blood magic. In order to survive, Firuz must break a deadly cycle of prejudice, untangle sociopolitical constraints, and find a fresh start for their both their blood and found family.
Powerful and fascinating, The Bruising of Qilwa is the newest arrival in the era of fantasy classics such as the Broken Earth Trilogy, The Four Profound Weaves, and Who Fears Death.
This was incredible. The entire cast was queer people of color, and we need more books like that!! And for people to actually read those books. Also maybe this is morbid of me but I just find blood magic systems really interesting haha. I would love to read more in this setting, and more from this author!
REP: nonbinary aroace main character, trans side character, other nonbinary side characters, all BIPOC cast [queer nonbinary Persian author]
Awakenings by Claudie Arseneault Series: The Chronicles of Nerezia #1
Published by: The Kraken Collective on: February 9, 2024
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads || Storygraph
Innkeep, hunter, blacksmith, nurse—Horace has apprenticed for every clan in the domed city of Trenaze, and they've all rejected em. Too hare-brained. Too talkative. Too slow. Ever the optimist, e has joined Trenaze's guards to be mentored. Horace has high hopes to earn eir place during eir trial at the Great Market. That is, until the glowing shards haunting the world break through the city's protective dome, fused together in a single, monstrous amalgam of Fragments.
Armed with a sword, a shield, and far too little training, Horace doubts eir ability to defend the market-goers. But eir last stand is interrupted by a mysterious elven figure who can dissipate the Fragments with a single, strange sentence: your story is my story.
From the moment it is uttered, Horace knows the sentences holds true for em, too—and when the elf collapses in the middle of the market, e carries them to safety, to recover away from the panicked crowd and inevitable questions from eir fellow guards. It could cost em eir apprenticeship—eir last chance to find eir place in eir home city—but Horace cannot resist the pull of this mystery elf and the call of a new friend.
Aliyah has but one desire: to leave Trenaze's safe boundaries and find the forest that haunts their dreams. After an afternoon of board games in their quiet, sharp-witted company, Horace is ready to follow, confronting Fragments and other dangers of the road to understand what happened that day, hear Aliyah's laugh again and finally feel like e belongs.
This is a great novella with an amazing queernorm world. It is the first in a series of novellas that are like various adventures of the characters while they are traveling. This one was a bit more of a set-up to introduce us to the characters, and to introduce the characters to each other. Also!! There is a magical traveling wagon!! Think Howl’s Moving Castle. I’ve read a few others in the series now, and they are all so fun and heartwarming.
REP: aroace main characters, nonbinary main characters, queernorm world with other queer characters (aroace author)
Like Real People Do by E.L. Massey Series: Breakaway #1
Published by: NineStar Press on: August 23, 2022
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Goodreads || Storygraph
Nineteen-year-old hockey phenom Alexander Price is the youngest-ever captain in the NHL. With a polarizing social media presence and a predilection for dirty play, he typifies the stereotype of young, out-of-control athlete. But away from the cameras, Alex is a kid with an anxiety disorder and the expectations of an expansion franchise on his shoulders. And maybe he tries too hard to fit the part of asshole playboy, but it’s better than the alternative; in his line of work, gay is the punchline of an insult, not something he can be.
Eighteen-year-old vlogger Elijah Rodriguez is a freshman in college recovering from an injury that derailed his Olympic figure-skating dreams. Mixed-race, disabled, and out of the closet since he was fourteen, Eli is unapologetically himself. He has no qualms about voicing his disapproval of celebrity jocks who make homophobic jokes on Twitter and park their flashy cars in the handicapped spaces outside of ice rinks.
After an antagonistic introduction, Alex and Eli’s inexplicable friendship both baffles and charms the internet. But navigating relationships is hard enough for normal teenagers. It’s a lot harder when the world—much of it disapproving—is watching you fall in love with your best friend.
Am I a hockey romance person now? Maybe a queer hockey romance person haha. This one was so cute and wonderfully diverse. The whole cast of characters is amazing. It made me smile while reading, and we all need more of that.
REP: mixed race (Black and Dominican) gay main character with epilepsy, (closeted) gay main character with anxiety and OCD, gay side characters, bisexual side character
Blood Price by Nicole Evans Series: Prices Asked and Paid #1
Published by: Nicole Evans Publishing on: October 1, 2024
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads || Storygraph
The law of the gods is those who kill must pay for it in blood.
In the land of Armadin, where nine clans exist in a fragile peace, Ashilde is one of the few chosen to pay the blood price. Through it, she becomes a warrior, capable of killing to protect her clan—alongside her hunters, who provide the essential animal sacrifice, lest they become the next clan to suffer the gods’ wrath.
When an attack wipes out their few remaining hunters, Ashilde must find a way to protect her clan and still appease the gods, despite her shaken faith. But when her monthly bleeding stops, she can no longer kill. Cast out by the gods’ decree, she’s given a single task: travel to the gods' realm, atoning for the failures of the clan and herself alike. If she dies, another will be sent in her place, until the demanded atonement is fulfilled or her clan is wiped out. Entirely.
Bound by a promise to protect her people above all else, Ashilde embarks on a quest driven for answers. Aided only by a pair of animals and a small child she meets along the way, Ashilde must battle the elements, her pursuers and her own mind to reach the gods’ realm.
To save her people, Ashilde’s journey forces her to answer the ultimate is she willing to pay the price asked of her, now that she can no longer pay in blood?
This was so unique, badass, and engaging. The characters were very well fleshed out, the premise felt original, and I love that the author didn’t shy away from the darkness of the world. Which maybe is a weird thing to say, as it is her world that she created lol but I don’t know, sometimes authors make “gritty” or dark worlds and then don’t actually show that. so I appreciate it when it’s done right. Also very cool to have a main character with an already established partner!! I don’t see that very often. I loved this journey and will be eagerly following along with Ashilde’s further adventures (I assume there will be more as the ending was conclusive but left room for more for sure).
NOTE: The author is a friend of mine, and I received an ARC for review. This has not impacted my review/thoughts in any way. Check out her blog Thoughts Stained With Ink!
REP: queer side characters (f/f), trans man side character
Bound Feet by Kelsea Yu Published by: Cemetery Gates Media on: September 27, 2022
Genres: Horror
Goodreads || Storygraph
On the night of the Hungry Ghost Moon, when spirits can briefly return to the living world, Jodi Wu and her best friend sneak into Portland’s Chinese Garden and Ghost Museum. Kneeling before the pond where Jodi’s toddler drowned one year before, they leave food offerings and burn joss paper—and Jodi prays that Ella’s ghost will return for the night.
To distract Jodi from her grief, the two friends tell each other ghost stories as they explore the museum. They stop at the main display, a centuries-old pair of lotus slippers belonging to a woman whose toes were broken and bound during childhood. While reading the woman’s story, Jodi hears her daughter’s voice.
As Jodi desperately searches the garden, it becomes apparent that Ella isn’t the only ghost they’ve awakened. Something ancient with a slow, shuffling step lurks in the shadows…
I don’t usually read horror (I’m a big baby) but Kelsea is one of my good friends, so I knew I’d have to give this a try. And wowowow it blew me away. It was raw and real and just, so well done. Novella length is sometimes hard to do, but the story/plot was perfectly paced and perfect for novella length. It was scary in the sense of like, it felt real?? There were also some twists that shook me so bad!! I highly recommend this for horror fans. Even if you don’t usually read horror I think this one is a good bite sized read to try it out! Take it from me, a certified baby.
Trigger/content warnings (from the author’s website): child death (prior to story), child harm, violence, grieving dead child, supernatural possession, implied sexual assault (off-page)
REP: Taiwanese main character, Chinese side character [Taiwanese Chinese author]
Have you read any of these, or will you be putting them on your TBR? And what were some of your underrated reads from 2024?
I almost bought The Bruising of Qilwa at a used bookstore, but held off, naturally because I have too many books, lol. But I’m glad to see you liked it so much, so I’ll continue to keep it on my radar.
I feel like most of the books I read are very much rated rather than underrated, haha. I definitely want to get to Bound Feet (finally) this year! I’m going to do it for one of the Shimmering Worlds prompts 😄
I’m also really curious about the Claudie Arseneault series!
I really ought to try and comment on all of the books that I list on GoodReads. I have got a bit better but I often forget to update GR and then add a bunch of books all together so they just get a rating.