Rivers Solomon: The Deep

Hi everyone

The Deep was my first book by Rivers Solomon and I read this on my e-reader.

"Her people, the wajinru – water-dwelling descendants of pregnant African slave women thrown overboard by slavers – live idyllic lives in the deep. Their past, too traumatic to be remembered regularly, is forgotten by everyone, save one. Save the historian.
Yetu remembers for all the wajinru, and the memories – painful and wonderful, traumatic and terrible and miraculous, are destroying her. And so she flees to the surface, escaping the memories and the expectations and the responsibilities – and discovers a world the wajinru left behind long ago.
Yetu will learn more than she ever expected to about her own past – and about the future of her people. If they are all to survive, they’ll need to reclaim the memories, reclaim their identities – and own who they really are." 

This was a strange read, and I’m not sure how I feel about this book.

The premise was very intriguing and totally made me want to read this. The idea of the wajinru and their collective memory is fascinating and haunting. Both this and the gorgeous cover sucked me in. 

The Deep is not a plot-driven novel. Instead, it focuses on character growth, memory, and the weight of history and I really appreciated this storytelling. The back-and-forth structure felt right for the story. 
However, the dense, flowery prose often felt overwhelming rather than engrossing. I struggled to get through the book, even though it’s only 170 pages. I found myself putting it down frequently, not because I wasn’t interested, but because the writing style made it hard to stay immersed. It felt as though Solomon was trying too hard to write Great Literature. The pretentious and contrived tone of the writing pulled me out of the story more often than it drew me in. 

The big questions; whether the good of one person is more important than the whole and who we really are apart from our ancestors, are still lingering in my mind.

So, in conclusion, The Deep left me with conflicted feelings. I found the premise intriguing, the story both painful and beautiful, and the message deeply thought-provoking but I disliked the forced, flowery writing.
Have you read The Deep? Did you love the writing, or did you struggle with it like I did? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Jen Williams: The Poison Song

Hi everyone

The Poison Song is the third and final book in Jen Williams’ The Winnowing Flame Trilogy. I got my copy from Bol.com.

"All is confusion. The Jure'lia are weak, but the war is far from over.Ebora was once a glorious city, defended by legendary warriors and celebrated in song. Now refugees from every corner of Sarn seek shelter within its crumbling walls, and the enemy that has poisoned their land won't lie dormant for long.The deep-rooted connection that Tormalin, Noon and the scholar Vintage share with their Eboran war-beasts has kept them alive so far. But with Tor distracted, and his sister Hestillion hell-bent on bringing ruthless order to the next Jure'lia attack, the people of Sarn need all the help they can get.Noon is no stranger to playing with fire and knows just where to recruit a new - and powerful - army. But even she underestimates the epic quest that is to come. It is a journey wrought with pain and sacrifice - a reckoning that will change the face of Sarn forever."

What a conclusion this was.
Just like with my review of the second book, The Bitter Twins, this book was good, but not as good as the first book in the series, The Ninth Rain.

To me, the story has pacing and tension issues. The book starts out very, very slow. I loved the action scenes and the story, but the further I got into the series, the more I disliked Tor and his moping, complaining personality. Since the second book, almost all his scenes involve him drinking, sulking, moping around, and complaining about his life and the state of the world. And suddenly, he’s apparently the first one ever to come up with the idea to follow the Jure’lia when they go away? Like, really? There’s just too much drama. I enjoy Jen Williams’ writing, it’s easy to read and it flows very nicely but I really disliked the drama, especially from Tor and Noon.

I was glad we finally learned about Noon’s past, even though we kind of already knew. And I loved the warbeasts; they were all very different, with distinct personalities, and they evolved just as much as the human characters.
Hestillion’s arc was predictable, so even though I really liked her character, I was a bit disappointed by that. Chenlo was a great addition to the main cast; I loved her journey and how she changed. I also applaud Williams for the natural way Aldasair became much more self-assured. It could have easily become unbelievable and unrealistic, but instead, it felt natural.

I really loved the action scenes. They were chilling, full of tension, and not too dramatic.
And the ending was great. Not everyone survived, and I really think that’s the way it should be. It’s aggravating when a whole cast of characters comes out of a grand battle only mildly harmed.

All in all, The Poison Song has great ideas and is nicely written, but there’s too much drama for my taste.
Have you read The Poison Song? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you feel the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena 

Neil Gaiman: Norse Mythology

Hi everyone

Norse Mythology is a novel by Neil Gaiman, where he retells the stories of the Norse gods in his own unique way. I read this on my e-reader.

"Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction, presents a bravura rendition of the Norse gods and their world from their origin though their upheaval in Ragnarok. 
In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.
Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose, these gods emerge with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again."

I’ve always loved Greek mythology. As a teenager, I read countless books about Zeus, Hera, Hades, and the rest of the pantheon. I also enjoyed Roman mythology, but my knowledge of Norse mythology is sparse. Of course, I know the obvious gods and stories, but not much beyond that.
So, finding this book about Norse mythology by Neil Gaiman was a happy discovery. And happy it was indeed, because I really enjoyed it.

The book was easy to read and very accessible. The characters felt real, the writing was engaging, the pace was good, and it was a really well-balanced mix of action and descriptions. The way the stories were structured chronologically made it very easy to follow along with all the characters.

Obviously, the stories aren’t Gaiman’s original work; these are existing myths he wrote down in his own words, so there’s nothing new here. If you’ve read other works about Norse mythology, you won’t find anything new in this book. But for someone like me, who only knew the gods’ names and characteristics, this was a great introduction.

Have you read Norse Mythology? Can you recommend me other books on Norse mythology? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

James S. A. Corey: Memory's Legion

Hi everyone

Memory’s Legion is a collection of novellas set in The Expanse universe by James S. A. Corey.

"On Mars, a scientist experiments with a new engine that will one day become the drive that fuels humanity's journey into the stars.
On an asteroid station, a group of prisoners are oblivious to the catastrophe that awaits them.
On a future Earth beset by overpopulation, pollution, and poverty, a crime boss desperately seeks to find a way off planet.
On an alien world, a human family struggles to establish a colony and make a new home.
All these stories and more are featured in this unmissable collection of short fiction set in the hardscrabble world of The Expanse."

This was actually quite a boring collection.
It was wonderful to be back in the world of The Expanse, as I really enjoyed the vast majority of the books in the series, and these stories were a nice addition; but definitely not necessary or required reading. They gave some background to certain events or characters in the series, and I did like what happened in them.

However, the stories were really lacking any sort of tension. The writing felt rather flat and passive to me, and that’s why I had a hard time starting and continuing to read the book in the evening. It lacked the urgency and depth that make The Expanse so gripping. 

Memory’s Legion is a fun extra for fans of the series, but it doesn’t add much to the overall experience. 

Have you read Memory’s Legion? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you feel the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

 Happy reading!
Helena 

Bookhaul

Hi everyone

I bought a few new books over the last couple of days, and now that they’ve all arrived, I can finally show you what I got!

My new additions:

- Virginia Evans: The Correspondent

- Jackson Ford:  The Bone Raiders

- Kristin Hannah: The Nightingale

- James Islington: The Will of the Many

- Peter McLean: Priest of Bones 

Have you read any of these? Which one should I pick up first? Or do you have other recommendations based on these choices? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena 

Toshikazu Kawaguchi: Before the Coffee gets Cold

Hi everyone

Before the Coffee Gets Cold is the first book in the series of the same name by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. I got this book from Bol.com.

"In a small back alley in Tokyo, there is a café which has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. But this coffee shop offers its customers a unique experience: the chance to travel back in time.
In Before the Coffee Gets Cold, we meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the café’s time-travelling offer, in order to: confront the man who left them, receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by early onset Alzheimer's, to see their sister one last time, and to meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.
But the journey into the past does not come without risks: customers must sit in a particular seat, they cannot leave the café, and finally, they must return to the present before the coffee gets cold . . .
Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s beautiful, moving story explores the age-old question: what would you change if you could travel back in time? More importantly, who would you want to meet, maybe for one last time?"  

To be honest, it was very forgettable.

I hoped the book would be profoundly moving, charming, thoughtful, and lovely to read. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up to those expectations.
The stories all follow the same format, so after the second story, it felt very repetitive. Especially repeating the rules of time travel every single time was so unnecessary. It really felt like Toshikazu Kawaguchi thinks we’re all stupid.

The stories are all overly simple in both plot and writing style, and it’s obvious their sole purpose is to make us emotional. The characters are very stereotypical, one-dimensional, and old-fashioned.
From the very first story, I felt incredulous at these characters. The woman in the first story is a smart and highly respected manager who speaks multiple languages, but after her time-travel moment, she has the epiphany that she should wait for her boyfriend to come back and she’ll be happy. In another story, a woman gives up all her own hopes and dreams to make her parents happy. What? Mind you, this book was written in 2019 and is also set in that time. It was impossible to feel connected to the characters.

So yeah, interesting premise and lots of potential; but that’s it.

Have you read Before the Coffee Gets Cold? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena 

Richard Osman: The Thursday Murder Club

Hi everyone

The Thursday Murder Club is the first book in Richard Osman's series Thursday Murder Club. I read this on my e-reader. 

"In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.
But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club find themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.
Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it's too late?" 

This was such a fun, delightful, entertaining, uplifting, and lovely story.

Make no mistake: the focus of this book is not the murder mystery; it’s the characters. The mystery itself is nicely done, and I didn’t guess how it would end, but the characters are where Richard Osman truly shines. They are all so lovely, larger-than-life, hilarious, tragic at times, and utterly charming.
It’s not realistic; the characters can be a bit one-dimensional, and it’s definitely not a serious book. But I really enjoyed the typical English humor that runs through it.

I did feel like the chapters were too short (on average, about 3 pages). The frequent switching of POV sometimes made me feel disconnected from the story and it really cut the flow of the storytelling.

Despite that, The Thursday Murder Club was a joy to read. It’s lighthearted, witty, and full of heart so perfect for when you need a pick-me-up. I will definitely continue the series.

Have you read The Thursday Murder Club? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Robin Hobb: Blood of Dragons

Hi everyone

Blood of Dragons is the fourth and final book in The Rain Wild Chronicles by Robin Hobb. I got my copy from Bol.com.

"Dragons will fly over Kelsingra once more
Attacked by hunters, Tintaglia is dying of her wounds. If she perishes, her ancestral memories will die with her and the dragons in the ancient city of Kelsingra will lose the secret knowledge they need to survive.
The dragon keepers immerse themselves in the dangerously addictive memory-stone records of the city in the hope of recovering the lost Elderling magic that once allowed humans and dragons to co-exist.
But war is coming: war between dragons and those who would destroy them. "

In keeping with my experience with the other three books in The Rain Wild Chronicles, this book wasn’t great.

The focus is way too much on teenage romance to be truly enjoyable. This has been, and still is, my biggest gripe with the series, and it persists here. It was better in this book than in the previous ones; not every page with the keepers was about their love/sex lives, but it’s still too much. It was uninteresting, repetitive, and tedious to put it nicely. And it all ends utterly predictably. I’m so, so tired of this love triangle; Hobb took it way too far, and it should have ended in book two at the latest.

I really enjoyed being mad at the dragons for how superior they act. Aside from Tintaglia (I wouldn’t have minded her death were it not for her Elderlings) and Sintara, I liked reading from their POVs, getting to know them, and understanding them. Their arrogance and one-dimensionality made them frustrating but fascinating in a way.

I don’t have an issue with the pace of the story. Hobb’s writing is so good and engaging that I usually enjoy the slow pace of her novels. The whole series is lighter than her other works, which I enjoyed.
However, I was disappointed that we got a long buildup to the "war" only for it to happen off-page. It felt like a missed opportunity.
My second problem with the plot is the sudden addition of the Silver and its importance. This came out of nowhere; it was never mentioned as being important, and suddenly it’s as important as breathing? It felt forced and unearned.
Another minor gripe was Hest’s death. I love how he dies, but I don’t understand why it remains a mystery. How can no one know anything about it, including Davvie? 

The book (and the whole series) would have been so much better if Hobb hadn’t spent so much time and so many chapters writing about the keepers’ love lives. Instead, she could have focused on the worldbuilding, exploring Kelsingra better, and uncovering more of its mysteries and the surrounding country. Even Chalced was barely explored, and it would have been so much more interesting to dive deeper into its politics, culture, and conflicts. I love Robin Hobb’s worlds and usually, she's wonderful with worldbuilding, and I would love to read more about them, just without all the teenage drama.

Have you read Blood of Dragons? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you feel the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena 

Stephen Baxter & Alastair Reynolds: The Medusa Chronicles

Hi everyone

I just finished The Medusa Chronicles, a collaboration between Stephen Baxter and Alastair Reynolds. I read this on my e-reader.

"Following an accident that almost cost him his life, Howard Falcon was not so much saved as he was converted, through the use of prosthetics, into something faster, stronger and smarter ...but also slightly less human and more machine than he was. And with this change came an opportunity - that of piloting a mission into Jupiter's atmosphere, and ultimately of making first contact with the life forms he discovers there. Picking up the threads of humanity versus artificial intelligences and machines, and of encounters with the alien, this collaborative novel between two superb writers is a sequel to Howard Falcon's adventures."

This was boring as hell.

The premise of this book intrigued me, but it went nowhere. The book should have been called The Falcon Chronicles because the Medusa got next to no screen time. It’s all about Falcon, and he is one boring, uninteresting, and one-dimensional character.

The book skips a lot of time, and you’d hope it would be to get to the interesting parts; but nope. It’s all tedious and boring, with no tension in the story anywhere. The story and the writing are so bland and uninspiring. A few promising characters or subplots get introduced, only to just fizzle out and not go anywhere.
And don’t get me started on the philosophy; it really felt like the authors were trying so hard to be intellectual.

The only reason I kept reading is because I love reading about discovering new worlds, species, and cultures. There were a few parts I really enjoyed, but unfortunately, they were few and far between.

Have you read The Medusa Chronicles? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you feel the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Wrap Up: June 2026

Hi everyone

June has flown by, and as we start a new month, I like to look back on the books I read the previous month. June brought sunshine, and a real heatwave here, so no reading outside for me! Instead, I snuggled up indoors with some great stories (and a few that didn’t quite hit the mark).

Here's what I read, with links to the reviews. 

• Harriet Muncaster: Isabella Maan onder de zee 
• Stephen Aryan: The Warrior 
• Ilona Andrews: Magic Slays
• Richard Swan: The Justice of Kings
• Bill Watterson: The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
• Harriet Muncaster: Isabella Maan gaat kamperen 
• Katherine Arden: The Warm Hands of Ghosts
• Emma Donoghue: Akin
• Anne McCaffrey: Dragonflight

What books did you read in June? Did you discover any new favorites, or revisit old ones? I would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations!

Happy reading!
Helena 

Anne McCaffrey: Dragonflight

Hi everyone

I’ve seen Dragonflight, or more accurately, the entire Pern series by Anne McCaffrey, mentioned a lot in reviews on Goodreads and Bluesky, so I really wanted to read it too. 
I read this on my e-reader.

"How can one girl save an entire world?
To the nobles who live in Benden Weyr, Lessa is nothing but a ragged kitchen girl. For most of her life she has survived by serving those who betrayed her father and took over his lands. Now the time has come for Lessa to shed her disguise-and take back her stolen birthright.
But everything changes when she meets a Queen dragon. The bond they share will be deep and last forever. It will protect them when, for the first time in centuries, Lessa's world is threatened by Thread, an evil substance that falls like rain and destroys everything it touches. Dragons and their Riders once protected the planet from Thread and the blood-red star, but there are very few of them left these days. Only the gigantic, golden Queen can breed new dragons. And the Queen is fading... dying...
Now brave Lessa must risk her life, and the life of her beloved dragon, to save her beautiful world... " 

I did not enjoy this.

Nothing interesting happens, and the few things that do happen are written in such a boring way that it couldn’t keep my attention. I was so easily distracted.
The writing really isn’t very good. The characters lack characterization, the fantastical elements are underdeveloped, the dialogue is abominable, and the plot skips months at a time with no suspense or drive.

The "Threads" were an absolutely ridiculous and unrealistic threat. And the fact that everyone forgets about them, as well as the "importance" of the dragons and the dragonriders, made me think that this world isn’t worth saving, to be honest.

The romance drove me insane. The weird sexual attraction between Lessa and F’lar was just awful and gave off disturbing vibes. What an awful thing to add to the story! The whole book felt very chauvinistic.

All in all, not an enjoyable read and I won't be continuing the Pern series.

Happy reading!
Helena

Emma Donoghue: Akin

Hi everyone

I finished my fourth novel by Emma Donoghue; Akin. I read this on my e-reader. 

"Noah is only days away from his first trip back to Nice since he was a child when a social worker calls looking for a temporary home for Michael, his eleven-year-old great-nephew. Though he has never met the boy, he gets talked into taking him along to France.
This odd couple, suffering from jet lag and culture shock, argue about everything from steak haché to screen time, and the trip is looking like a disaster. But as Michael's sharp eye and ease with tech help Noah unearth troubling details about their family’s past, both come to grasp the risks that loved ones take for one another, and find they are more akin than they knew.
Written with all the tenderness and psychological intensity that made Room a huge bestseller, Akin is a funny, heart-wrenching tale of an old man and a young boy who unpick their painful stories and embark on writing a new one together."

This was also a mixed reading experience for me.

The setup of Noah fostering Michael is really ridiculous. Things might be different in America, but here in Belgium? I really can’t see this happening the way it did in the novel. In just a couple of days, 80-year-old Noah meets Michael, is approved to foster him, meets the mother in prison, and is allowed to travel to another continent with him; AND all tickets and reservations just work out. Absurd.

The way Noah talks is so cringe. He’s like a walking tourist guide in a country he realistically shouldn’t remember a thing about because he left when he was four. Who has so many detailed memories from their toddler years? No one. And then, for someone who’s so clever and knows so many utterly boring things, he’s not very smart when it comes to solving the mystery. Instead, it’s eleven-year-old Michael who doesn’t read like an eleven-year-old. I can’t imagine an American boy of that age not knowing you shouldn’t joke about gun violence in public. Both characters felt very unrealistic.
And the constant "teaching" was so boring to read! It felt like I was reading a textbook.

I enjoyed the mystery in this novel. It was too easily solved, and I guessed long before the end, but it was a good way of opening up a conversation about the Second World War. I very much liked the discussion about collaborators and the resistance, and Le Réseau Marcel; something we actually learned about in school.

Akin had some interesting moments, but the unrealistic setup and flat characters made it hard to fully enjoy. Still, the historical mystery was a highlight for me.

Have you read Akin? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you feel the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena

Katherine Arden: The Warm Hands of Ghosts

Hi everyone 

The Warm Hands of Ghosts is the second book I’ve read by Katherine Arden. I read this on my e-reader.

"January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, she receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about haunted trenches, and a strange hotelier whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could Freddie have escaped the battlefield, only to fall prey to something—or someone—else?
November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped in an overturned pillbox with a wounded enemy soldier, a German by the name of Hans Winter. Against all odds, the two men form an alliance and succeed in clawing their way out. Unable to bear the thought of returning to the killing fields, especially on opposite sides, they take refuge with a mysterious man who seems to have the power to make the hellscape of the trenches disappear.
As shells rain down on Flanders, and ghosts move among those yet living, Laura’s and Freddie’s deepest traumas are reawakened. Now they must decide whether their world is worth salvaging—or better left behind entirely."

This book really went half and half for me.

Similarly to my experience with The Bear and the Nightingale, I never felt a real curiosity or need to keep reading; it was easy to put aside and do something else. However, Laura’s POV was the half that worked for me, while Freddie’s didn’t.
Laura was an amazing main character. She has professional pride, compassion, and a genuine caring for others, and she felt realistic. I could easily imagine her as a real person in a very trying time. She just gets on with it, and I love a non-dramatic female heroine.

I loved the setting. Reading about my own country (Belgium), places I’ve been to, grave sites and battle sites I’ve visited, and a time in our history that left a huge mark on the world was incredibly immersive. I loved how Katherine Arden doesn’t paint the soldiers as heroes but as real people; scared, mad, vulnerable, and sometimes cowardly. She wrote those scenes amazingly well, and I felt like I was right there beside them. It’s a very atmospheric book, and the historical elements like the nursing practices were true to the time, which I greatly appreciated.

While the setting was amazing, I really didn’t like the plot. It felt very underdeveloped. I think this whole novel would have worked better as a historical novel, so without the ghosts and supernatural elements. It was exactly these elements, mostly in Freddie’s chapters, that I disliked the most. And once Freddie left the battlefield, and thus the supernatural elements were introduced, his chapters became utterly boring and quite pointless.

The ending was overly sweet. There was no need for both Laura and Freddie to end up in a relationship. It felt too fairy-tale-like and unnecessary. The story itself wasn’t focused on romance, which is exactly why it felt so out of place at the end.

The Warm Hands of Ghosts had so much potential, but the supernatural elements and underdeveloped plot held it back. Still, Laura’s character and the historical setting made it worth the read.

Have you read The Warm Hands of Ghosts? Did you enjoy it more than I did, or did you feel the same way? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena