May 2026 Reading Round Up (Part 1)
May. 15th, 2026 07:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
metallic_sweetBooks I Finished
Molka by Monika Kim
This is an unsettling and occasionally disgusting horror novel centred around molka, hidden cameras used to secretly collect pornographic images of women without their consent. While this isn’t a new phenomenon, molka and secret camera use has become much more prevalent in the digital age, particularly in South Korea and Japan. This story centres around two characters: Dahye, a young office worker currently secretly dating a company heir, and Junyoung, an IT technician at her office. Junyoung’s office-wide network of molka give him a sense of power over others, and Dahye hopes her secret relationship will finally allow her to move away from her parents and childhood bedroom, which is also a timelocked shrine to her deceased older sister.
I really liked the pacing of this novel. There’s very little wasted space aside from the reveal regarding Dahye’s boyfriend taking a bit too long when it could be seen a mile away. There’s a firm element of claustrophobia arising from the limited POVs and the constant feeling of being watched by not just molka but by society and the characters engaging in self-surveilling themselves. I also loved the supernatural element to this, which bumped up the rating at least a full star for me. I really suggest this book as one the reader goes into with only basic knowledge as its twists and turns become much more exciting as it progresses.
I have mixed feelings about how the POVs were handled in this. Junyoung at times outshines Dahye, particularly in the first quarter of the book where Dahye is largely innocent of the larger forces at play. Unlike Kim’s first novel, which was a complex family drama, side characters are flat and function as archetypes of common people in South Korean society. This novel comes off as an extended modern parable that hits the majority of its points but occasionally misses the mark when they involve those basic side characters. Overall, this is one of the best horror books I’ve read this year, and I could easily see it made into a successful movie.
Rating: ★★★★☆
The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher
I received this as an ARC through a Goodreads giveaway (and this review is copied there). This is a solidly written, somewhat nostalgic in tone dark academia fantasy in the burgeoning magical school genre. The twist here is the main character, Briar Jones, is not magical nor a student at the school. They take a temporary manual labour position at the Temple School of Thaumaturgy during their gap year before starting normal university, partly to satisfy their childhood desire to attend Temple and also because they don’t particularly want to go to university. Briar is a relatable protagonist in a fairly unrelatable atmosphere, and the story centres upon the mysteries of Temple and Briar’s unresolved relationship with Sebastian Wolfe, commonly either called Seb or Bastian, their former childhood best friend and, in many ways except formality, soulmate.
Overall, this book’s strengths are in creating strong, interesting characters and the tension generated by Briar and Seb’s broken relationship. Briar, despite being technically a staff member at Temple, quickly becomes absorbed into a student group of misfits and outsiders, and they’re immediately horrified by the sadistic and abusive social life and initiation rituals of Temple. The best social commentary is on systemic bullying and abuse of power, both by status in larger society as well as with magic, here referred to as the Work. Things escalate quickly, and Briar is forced to examine their own morality and what they really want out of their time at Temple.
This book makes very liberal use of the tropes “adults are useless” and “power corrupts”, but it lacks bite on its social commentary due to no one older or younger than Briar and Co. having much character development, and the plethora of side characters feel largely irrelevant to the plot. Most of the book is spent at Temple, which is very isolated from the outside world, so the information we learn about the Work in wider society is spoonfed via dialogue to the reader. I also never bought into the idea that Briar, while they’re the same age as the final year Temple students, would be allowed to be so friendly with them as a temporary worker, attending house parties and turning up to work hungover and moody what felt like the majority of the time. I never felt very close to any of the other characters aside from Briar, Seb, and Westby, since everyone else felt distinctly like they’re meant to serve a plot purpose, particularly Hadley and Alistar. In a way, the “unmagical” part of the title is the best way to describe the overarching plot for better and for worse.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo
This is a lovely adventure of Cleric Chih and Almost Brilliant in a novella series rich in mythology and imagery. This story takes place very early in Chih’s career as they work at a restaurant to pay off a minor debt after they lost their purse during the lead up to Lutien’s annual festival at the start of the rainy season. As with other entries in this series, Chih works to collect stories and legends from the people she encounters and inevitably becomes embroiled in solving a minor crisis. Vo’s excellent prose breathes life into both the main story and the ones Chih collects.
Much of the conflict in this arises from the arrival of refugees from an ongoing war and local hostility towards foreigners. This part of the story was particularly compelling. While it takes place in a fairly short amount of words, it offers a lot of emotional impact through true to life details and surprisingly well-developed characters. Mixing family drama and poignant insights into the difficulties of being outsiders in an established society, Vo strikes an excellent balance between parable and on the nose social commentary.
The stories that Chih and Almost Brilliant collect are shorter than in some of the previous novellas and are tied to how similar yet different legends and tales can be across different geographies and social backgrounds. I didn’t find these to be as compelling as the main action but completely understood their function. Overall, this was yet another good standalone outing for this beloved pair, and it was really fun to see Chih earlier on in their career.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
This is a really enjoyable standalone novel that follows Mercy Chen, a middle-aged ghost talker who washed up in Victoria Harbor during WWII as a young woman with only her name cut into her arm and no memory of her life before. While this is marketed as a gothic tale, I would argue that this is a Chinese ghost story very much in the vein of that specific Chinese subgenre with gods, demons, and spirits all at play. Dean weaves the story of three women whose fates become entwined due to a mysterious and tragic drowning incident in the 1920s.
I have given this an extra half-star for its informed and compelling portrayal of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation in WWII as this is rarely accessible in English, let alone told from the complex Hong Kong perspective. It was of particular pleasure to read about the resistance efforts in Hong Kong through the lens of resistance fighters as I have rarely seen in an English language publication. Dean’s Hong Kong is lusciously detailed, making great use of iconic HK geography and landmarks, and is full of compelling, complex characters both human and supernatural.
Dean makes some interesting and occasionally confusing choices in narrative perspective to distinguish her narrating characters. This works for most of the book, but the final third has multiple sections where the perspectives rapidly shift between each other, creating a frenetic, confusing reading experience that detracts from the impact of the climax. I also have mixed feelings about how the second half of the book is essentially a generational family drama that I didn’t always feel invested in. Overall, I think this book does a great job with telling a compelling ghost story but doesn’t entirely stick the landing.
Rating: ★★★½☆
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride and This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman
The chaos and drama of this series continues! With these two installments, both gigantic in their word count, Dinniman goes all in on the galactic politics and powerplays between massive intergalactic companies and dysfunctional leadership. At the same time, the main story still focuses primarily on Carl and Donut, who both remain excellent protagonists in a madcap and increasingly chaotic LitRPG series. The cast of secondary characters is massive and, overall, rewarding to readers who have kept up with the series.
Dinniman really shines as a writer and storyteller in Bedlam Bride, which drills heavily down into Carl’s mentality and his background and broken family while pushing Donut into situations where she has to step to the fore and demonstrate actual leadership and her own brand of taking responsibility. This is a long time coming as Carl has had steady and consistent character growth, but Donut has occasionally faded into the background to make that happen. I personally really liked the card game mechanic of the floor and the new characters who were introduced felt like they were relevant to the story and brought a lot of new elements into play. This was one of the better paced and edited entries in the series, despite the increasing introduction of other POVs aside from Carl and Donut. I also loved the two "villains" of this book, both unhinged female characters who presented very different challenges for our heroes.
This Inevitable Ruin had a ton of build up to it, as it focuses on the Faction Wars and pulls many of the “outside the dungeon” universe players in. Unfortunately, I felt that this was one of the weaker entries in the series, since the vast majority of the storylines come to a head and have at least partial conclusions here. Many of these transitions and conclusions are satisfying, setting up the trajectory for what is likely the grand finale, likely taking place on the twelfth floor. I personally found the trench warfare segments to be more cliche than usual, particularly because of Carl’s mental commentary, but I am biased on this as a historian whose speciality is WWI. I did, however, absolutely love where this book focused heavily on Donut’s character growth, and I feel like she really grew into her own while strengthening her and Carl’s bond. I also absolutely loved Baroness Victory and look forward to seeing her in the future.
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride rating: ★★★★½
This Inevitable Ruin rating: ★★★½☆
Books I Didn’t Finish
Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter
I just could not get into this. On the surface, this has a lot going for it: witches, demons, dragons, secret identities, interesting side characters. In practice, this felt like a romantasy bingo board mishmash of ideas where no singular character or trope rises above the rest until much too late. Despite tons of action and intrigue from the get-go, I found this surprisingly boring, possibly because so much was going on that it all ended up feeling like nothing mattered. I let this go after struggling to about 100 pages in.
Molka by Monika Kim
This is an unsettling and occasionally disgusting horror novel centred around molka, hidden cameras used to secretly collect pornographic images of women without their consent. While this isn’t a new phenomenon, molka and secret camera use has become much more prevalent in the digital age, particularly in South Korea and Japan. This story centres around two characters: Dahye, a young office worker currently secretly dating a company heir, and Junyoung, an IT technician at her office. Junyoung’s office-wide network of molka give him a sense of power over others, and Dahye hopes her secret relationship will finally allow her to move away from her parents and childhood bedroom, which is also a timelocked shrine to her deceased older sister.
I really liked the pacing of this novel. There’s very little wasted space aside from the reveal regarding Dahye’s boyfriend taking a bit too long when it could be seen a mile away. There’s a firm element of claustrophobia arising from the limited POVs and the constant feeling of being watched by not just molka but by society and the characters engaging in self-surveilling themselves. I also loved the supernatural element to this, which bumped up the rating at least a full star for me. I really suggest this book as one the reader goes into with only basic knowledge as its twists and turns become much more exciting as it progresses.
I have mixed feelings about how the POVs were handled in this. Junyoung at times outshines Dahye, particularly in the first quarter of the book where Dahye is largely innocent of the larger forces at play. Unlike Kim’s first novel, which was a complex family drama, side characters are flat and function as archetypes of common people in South Korean society. This novel comes off as an extended modern parable that hits the majority of its points but occasionally misses the mark when they involve those basic side characters. Overall, this is one of the best horror books I’ve read this year, and I could easily see it made into a successful movie.
Rating: ★★★★☆
The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher
I received this as an ARC through a Goodreads giveaway (and this review is copied there). This is a solidly written, somewhat nostalgic in tone dark academia fantasy in the burgeoning magical school genre. The twist here is the main character, Briar Jones, is not magical nor a student at the school. They take a temporary manual labour position at the Temple School of Thaumaturgy during their gap year before starting normal university, partly to satisfy their childhood desire to attend Temple and also because they don’t particularly want to go to university. Briar is a relatable protagonist in a fairly unrelatable atmosphere, and the story centres upon the mysteries of Temple and Briar’s unresolved relationship with Sebastian Wolfe, commonly either called Seb or Bastian, their former childhood best friend and, in many ways except formality, soulmate.
Overall, this book’s strengths are in creating strong, interesting characters and the tension generated by Briar and Seb’s broken relationship. Briar, despite being technically a staff member at Temple, quickly becomes absorbed into a student group of misfits and outsiders, and they’re immediately horrified by the sadistic and abusive social life and initiation rituals of Temple. The best social commentary is on systemic bullying and abuse of power, both by status in larger society as well as with magic, here referred to as the Work. Things escalate quickly, and Briar is forced to examine their own morality and what they really want out of their time at Temple.
This book makes very liberal use of the tropes “adults are useless” and “power corrupts”, but it lacks bite on its social commentary due to no one older or younger than Briar and Co. having much character development, and the plethora of side characters feel largely irrelevant to the plot. Most of the book is spent at Temple, which is very isolated from the outside world, so the information we learn about the Work in wider society is spoonfed via dialogue to the reader. I also never bought into the idea that Briar, while they’re the same age as the final year Temple students, would be allowed to be so friendly with them as a temporary worker, attending house parties and turning up to work hungover and moody what felt like the majority of the time. I never felt very close to any of the other characters aside from Briar, Seb, and Westby, since everyone else felt distinctly like they’re meant to serve a plot purpose, particularly Hadley and Alistar. In a way, the “unmagical” part of the title is the best way to describe the overarching plot for better and for worse.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo
Seventh novella in The Singing Hills Cycle
This is a lovely adventure of Cleric Chih and Almost Brilliant in a novella series rich in mythology and imagery. This story takes place very early in Chih’s career as they work at a restaurant to pay off a minor debt after they lost their purse during the lead up to Lutien’s annual festival at the start of the rainy season. As with other entries in this series, Chih works to collect stories and legends from the people she encounters and inevitably becomes embroiled in solving a minor crisis. Vo’s excellent prose breathes life into both the main story and the ones Chih collects.
Much of the conflict in this arises from the arrival of refugees from an ongoing war and local hostility towards foreigners. This part of the story was particularly compelling. While it takes place in a fairly short amount of words, it offers a lot of emotional impact through true to life details and surprisingly well-developed characters. Mixing family drama and poignant insights into the difficulties of being outsiders in an established society, Vo strikes an excellent balance between parable and on the nose social commentary.
The stories that Chih and Almost Brilliant collect are shorter than in some of the previous novellas and are tied to how similar yet different legends and tales can be across different geographies and social backgrounds. I didn’t find these to be as compelling as the main action but completely understood their function. Overall, this was yet another good standalone outing for this beloved pair, and it was really fun to see Chih earlier on in their career.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean
This is a really enjoyable standalone novel that follows Mercy Chen, a middle-aged ghost talker who washed up in Victoria Harbor during WWII as a young woman with only her name cut into her arm and no memory of her life before. While this is marketed as a gothic tale, I would argue that this is a Chinese ghost story very much in the vein of that specific Chinese subgenre with gods, demons, and spirits all at play. Dean weaves the story of three women whose fates become entwined due to a mysterious and tragic drowning incident in the 1920s.
I have given this an extra half-star for its informed and compelling portrayal of Hong Kong during the Japanese occupation in WWII as this is rarely accessible in English, let alone told from the complex Hong Kong perspective. It was of particular pleasure to read about the resistance efforts in Hong Kong through the lens of resistance fighters as I have rarely seen in an English language publication. Dean’s Hong Kong is lusciously detailed, making great use of iconic HK geography and landmarks, and is full of compelling, complex characters both human and supernatural.
Dean makes some interesting and occasionally confusing choices in narrative perspective to distinguish her narrating characters. This works for most of the book, but the final third has multiple sections where the perspectives rapidly shift between each other, creating a frenetic, confusing reading experience that detracts from the impact of the climax. I also have mixed feelings about how the second half of the book is essentially a generational family drama that I didn’t always feel invested in. Overall, I think this book does a great job with telling a compelling ghost story but doesn’t entirely stick the landing.
Rating: ★★★½☆
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride and This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman
Sixth and seventh book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series
The chaos and drama of this series continues! With these two installments, both gigantic in their word count, Dinniman goes all in on the galactic politics and powerplays between massive intergalactic companies and dysfunctional leadership. At the same time, the main story still focuses primarily on Carl and Donut, who both remain excellent protagonists in a madcap and increasingly chaotic LitRPG series. The cast of secondary characters is massive and, overall, rewarding to readers who have kept up with the series.
Dinniman really shines as a writer and storyteller in Bedlam Bride, which drills heavily down into Carl’s mentality and his background and broken family while pushing Donut into situations where she has to step to the fore and demonstrate actual leadership and her own brand of taking responsibility. This is a long time coming as Carl has had steady and consistent character growth, but Donut has occasionally faded into the background to make that happen. I personally really liked the card game mechanic of the floor and the new characters who were introduced felt like they were relevant to the story and brought a lot of new elements into play. This was one of the better paced and edited entries in the series, despite the increasing introduction of other POVs aside from Carl and Donut. I also loved the two "villains" of this book, both unhinged female characters who presented very different challenges for our heroes.
This Inevitable Ruin had a ton of build up to it, as it focuses on the Faction Wars and pulls many of the “outside the dungeon” universe players in. Unfortunately, I felt that this was one of the weaker entries in the series, since the vast majority of the storylines come to a head and have at least partial conclusions here. Many of these transitions and conclusions are satisfying, setting up the trajectory for what is likely the grand finale, likely taking place on the twelfth floor. I personally found the trench warfare segments to be more cliche than usual, particularly because of Carl’s mental commentary, but I am biased on this as a historian whose speciality is WWI. I did, however, absolutely love where this book focused heavily on Donut’s character growth, and I feel like she really grew into her own while strengthening her and Carl’s bond. I also absolutely loved Baroness Victory and look forward to seeing her in the future.
The Eye of the Bedlam Bride rating: ★★★★½
This Inevitable Ruin rating: ★★★½☆
Books I Didn’t Finish
Blood Bound by Ellis Hunter
First book in the Cursed Covenant trilogy
I just could not get into this. On the surface, this has a lot going for it: witches, demons, dragons, secret identities, interesting side characters. In practice, this felt like a romantasy bingo board mishmash of ideas where no singular character or trope rises above the rest until much too late. Despite tons of action and intrigue from the get-go, I found this surprisingly boring, possibly because so much was going on that it all ended up feeling like nothing mattered. I let this go after struggling to about 100 pages in.
