Monday Minis

I finally managed to provide you with some Monday Mini fodder again. All slightly whimsical, legend/folk tale inspired fantasy, but with very different approaches and styles today. I hope you find something that intrigues you among this selection. Many thanks to the respective publishers for providing me with eARCs via NetGalley, all opinions are entirely my own.

A Mirror Mended is the second novella in Alix E. Harrow’s Fractured Fairytales series. It follows on from A Spindle Splintered, though is set a few years in the future from that first book. Unfortunately, the things that didn’t click for me with the first novella seemed to be coming out in even stronger force in this second installment. Zinnia is now spending most of her time helping fairy tale characters trapped in their stories to escape tropes, to the detriment of her relationships with the people close to her. This felt far too short for the content that Harrow tried to discuss within the confines of the novella, leaving topics addressed but not properly discussed to their conclusion, with unsatisfying resolutions, relationships that read very superficial even if that clearly wasn’t the intention. I kept longing for more space, for more depth. While I adore Harrow’s full-length work and her short fiction, these novellas are her weakest writing to date and left me wanting more.

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones is a Welsh-inspired, mythology-based YA fantasy. It tells a heist story as a framing device to retell a part of Welsh mythology that gives an origin story to the landscape – which is absolute catnip to me, having studied similar narratives in my past life as an academic. I devoured this fantasy, and found much to love. Mer, the main character, is openly bisexual – there is a femme ex love interest and a masc current love interest on page – and it is simply accepted in this medieval-ish society. Such heart-eyes, such love from my side. It isn’t the type of highly researched fantasy like Spear, this is more on the lighthearted and entertaining side, but it is exactly what I needed this weekend. The characters were great – Mer, Ifanna, the thief who betrayed her in the past, Mer’s mentor who she was never quite sure how she felt towards him and Fane, the love interest with fae connections. A great YA.

Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah is another YA fantasy. This one inspired by the author’s South Asian background, featuring a large-scale race in which the elite compete for glory. Koral, the main character, is very much not part of this elite, but circumstances have her sneak her way into the competition and stand against those who have been training their entire lives for this. In some ways, this is reminiscent of a better, more timely version of The Hunger Games – in a good way. I found this an enjoyable read, though I thought that perhaps the ending was a bit too convenient in the last couple of pages. I don’t think this is a standout read of 2022 for me, but it is a solid YA fantasy debut I recommend picking up if you like the sound of it.