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Book Review: THE WORKS OF VERMIN by Hiron Ennes

| Jessica Crawford

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes is a 432 page standalone novel published by Tor Books in 2025.

Genre:

Fantasy

Blurb

He was sent to kill a pest. Instead, he found a monster.

Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard, a metropolis carved into the stump of an ancient tree. In its canopy, the pampered elite warp minds with toxic perfume; in its roots, gangs of exterminators hunt a colossal worm with an appetite for beauty.

In this complex, chaotic city, Guy Moulène has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. For her sake, he’ll take on any job, no matter how vile.

As an exterminator, Guy hunts the uncanny creatures that crawl up from the river. These vermin are all strange, and often dangerous. His latest quarry is different: a centipede the size of a dragon with a deadly venom and a ravenous taste for artwork. As it digests Tiliard from the sewers to the opera houses, its toxin reshapes the future of the city. No sane person would hunt it, if they had the choice.

Guy doesn’t have a choice.

Opening Line

Tiliard, known as the Deathbed of Tulips, straddles the river gorge like a half-submerged stump.

My Thoughts

The past is only ever populated by strangers, Guy had told her once, referencing some pompous corpse or another.

Holy moly, this book! A great story that was a taxing process to tunnel my way through.

This author’s previous novel, Leech, is an absolute favorite of mine. There are things I really like about this one here, but boy were there challenges, too. Mostly I just had a very difficult time picturing the things the author describes (e.g. do they live in the roots or on the roots, and if the stump is half-submerged then aren’t the roots underwater?) Primarily it was the setting itself that I struggled to get a handle on, but the details of the toxins and perfumes and everything were just a lot. Many times I found myself rereading lines to make sure I was actually understanding what they were trying to say.

Somewhere around two-thirds into the book I had a major “Aha!” moment, but I hesitate to call this a twist or a big reveal because I honestly can’t say for sure if it was something that was already supposed to have been clear and I just failed to pick up on it.

BUT, all that being said, it’s a fantastic (if extremely complex) world the author has built here, and the story was very good. The characters were pretty wonderful (the undercity exterminator willing to do anything to keep his little sister from a life of working off debt, the perfumer who makes the perception-altering and subtly mind-controlling scents worn by the Grand Marshal Revenant, all those contaminated by the toxin used to literally reshape the city and its people during the last coup–all splendid!) I would call this grimdark fantasy and not horror, although there are most definitely body horror elements. There’s LGBTQIA+ representation, and some truly great lines amidst the pulchritudinous prose.

He is the best Grand Marshal the city has ever seen. He is exactly as a Grand Marshal should be: dashing, competent, tough, ruthless or bloodless depending on necessity. He expresses the tenets of Revivalism in the sculpture of his own body, in his elegant and irresistible strategies. Bullets seem to pass right by him. Poison seems not to sicken him. He is so successful, so well-suited for life, that when in his fifth year of office he writes a solemn note and ingests enough tranquilizer to kill a team of horses, he only wakes up the next morning slightly better rested than usual.

My overall experience with this book was definitely a good one, but my troubles wrapping my head around the particulars drops it to 4.25 stars for me.

Book Review: WHAT STALKS THE DEEP by T. Kingfisher

| Jessica Crawford

What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher is a 179 page novella, the third in the Sworn Soldier series, published by Tor Nightfire in 2025.

Genre

Horror

The Blurb

The next installment in the New York Times bestselling Sworn Soldier series, featuring Alex Easton investigating the dark, mysterious depths of a coal mine in America.

Alex Easton does not want to visit America.

They particularly do not want to visit an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia with a reputation for being haunted.

But when their old friend Dr. Denton summons them to help find his lost cousin—who went missing in that very mine—well, sometimes a sworn soldier has to do what a sworn soldier has to do…

Opening Line

So this is America.

My Thoughts

“That is horrifying and I want to go home,” I said, although I pronounced it, “Ah, I see.”

Another absolutely delightful entry in the Sworn Soldier series!

As usual, Alex Easton finds themself enmeshed in the investigation of truly creepy happenings. This time, they’ve traveled to America at the request for help from their old friend, Denton. The doctor’s cousin has gone missing while exploring an old abandoned mine, where he wrote about hearing strange sounds and seeing the ominous glow of a red light deep underground, a light that winked out when he tried to approach it to investigate. Can Alex, Angus, Denton, and a couple of fresh faces find out what happened to the missing man before yet another nightmarish being finds them?

This third novella in the series is still creepy, hilarious, heartwarming in equal measure. You don’t necessarily have to read them in order to enjoy them, but this installment does reference things that happened in the first book, including spoilers. The Big Bad in this one relates to something relatively obscure I had been thinking about recently, which only further cements for me the conviction that Kingfisher writes these books specifically for me. I love them so much!

“Most of your muscles have to have your bones to anchor them and push against. Imagine…oh…trying to punch someone with your tongue…”

There was a pause while we gave this particularly vivid mental image the credit it deserved. I opened my mouth to mention a young lady of my acquaintance in Paris, but caught a glimpse of Denton’s expression and closed it again.

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Book Review: THOSE FATAL FLOWERS by Shannon Ives

| Jessica Crawford

Those Fatal Flowers by Shannon Ives is a 384 page standalone novel from Dell of Ballantine Books with a publish date of January 21, 2025.

Genre/Subgenres:

Mythology Retelling, Historical Fiction, Romance

Opening Line:

The night before Ceres’ palace becomes a tomb, it’s halls are filled with music.

Synopsis:

Greco-Roman mythology and the mystery of the vanished Roanoke colony collide in this epic adventure filled with sapphic longing and female rage—a debut novel for fans of Madeline Miller, Jennifer Saint, and Natalie Haynes.Before, Scopuli. 

It has been centuries since Thelia made the mistake that cost her the woman she loved. As the handmaidens charged with protecting Proserpina, the goddess of spring, Thelia and her sisters are banished to the island of Scopuli, cursed to live as sirens—winged half-woman, half-bird creatures. In luring men to their death, they hope to gain favor from the gods who could free them. But then ships stop coming and Thelia fears a fate worse than the underworld. Just as time begins to run out, a voice emerges, Proserpina’s voice; and what she asks of Thelia will spark a daring and dangerous quest for freedom.

Now, Roanoke. 

Thelia can’t bear to reflect on her last moments in Scopuli, where she left behind her sisters. After weeks drifting at sea, Thelia’s renewed human body is close to death. Luckily, an unfamiliar island appears on the horizon—Roanoke. Posing as a princess arriving on a sailboat filled with riches, Thelia infiltrates the small English colony. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that this place is dangerous, especially for women. As she grows closer to a beautiful settler who mysteriously resembles her former love, Thelia formulates a plan to save her sisters and enact revenge on the violent men she’s come to hate. But is she willing to go back to Scopuli and face the decisions of her past? And will Proserpina forgive her for all that she’s done?Told in alternating timelines, Those Fatal Flowers is a powerful, passionate, and wildly cathartic love letter to femininity and the monstrous power within us all.

My Thoughts:

What happens when you mix a mystery from America’s history with mythology, feminist rage, and romance?

This book right here.

It presents an interesting case: what if sirens from Greco-Roman mythology were responsible for the disappearance of the inhabitants of the lost colony of Roanoke? The author explains that her aim with this story was to explore the effects of loss and guilt on the psyche while also examining structural violence. It does a fair job in this endeavor, while also including a sapphic love story.

Our main character is Thelia, one of three sisters who acted as handmaidens to Proserpina (Persephone), and who were transformed into winged creatures to assist in the search for their charge when she was abducted by Dis (Hades). When they fail to find and rescue the goddess, they are imprisoned on an island as punishment. There, they lure sailors with their singing. (This book alternately refers to them as harpies and sirens, but I think the singing and luring part indicates they were just sirens, not harpies?)

After centuries have gone by, Thelia learns there may be a way to lift the curse she and her sisters are under, but it requires the sacrifice of many treacherous men…something the English colony of Roanoke in the Americas has more then a few of.

I liked the unique premise of the story and the bits detailing the lives of Thelia and her sister sirens on the island of Scopuli, and the writing on the sentence level was good.

On the other hand, I questioned the reliability of the behavior and speech of the Puritans depicted here. The men and women of Raleigh drank an awful lot of alcohol in this book, and said things like, “Fun little secret for you, my lady” before revealing some bit of gossip. I’m no scholar of history, but these things didn’t seem right to me. And I just wasn’t much feeling the romance — it was a bit of instalove on Thelia’s side (although in part because the object of her affections apparently looks so much like her long lost love that for a time she is trying to determine if it might actually BE her); and also, when on a timed mission for redemption, shouldn’t a centuries old divinity be able to keep it in her skirts?

All the hate for anything male really bothered me, BUT this does get addressed later on in the book, as Thelia finally learns that “monsters are made, not born”.

So while this book wasn’t a home run for me, it was decent and presents some intriguing concepts. If I were allowed half or even quarter star ratings, I’d say this was a 3.25 or 3.5 read for me.

Thank you the NetGalley and Dell/Penguin Random House for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

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Book Review: HOUSE OF FRANK by Kay Synclaire

| Jessica Crawford

House of Frank by Kay Synclaire is a standalone novel coming October 15th from Bindery Books.

Genre:

Cozy Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQIA+

Opening Line:

“Sing for me,” you whisper. “Please.”

My Thoughts:

3.5 stars for this is a cozy fantasy story with grieving as a major theme throughout, and an LGBTQIA+ romance.

Saika is a music witch mourning the death of her sister. Fiona made her promise to see that her ashes were planted at the arboretum at Ash Gardens, where they will grow into something beautiful. Even after she arrives at Ash Gardens, Saika finds she is not yet ready to part with her sister’s ashes, and she winds up staying on and helping out around the place. She gets to know the others employed there, including cherubs, an elf, a half-gargoyle, and a one-of-a-kind beast. It turns out they are all suffering their own losses, and develop relationships that allow them to help one another navigate through their grief.

This was nice story of love, loss, friendship, and healing. The range of characters was nice, although you only get to know a few of them beyond surface level. I wasn’t really feeling the romance between our two lovebirds, personally–their interactions with one another were more irritating than anything, in my opinion, but it made for a sweet story. This is a slower-paced character driven tale, and though it takes place in a fantasy world, we are only shown this one specific part of it at Ash Gardens (with one day trip into the city). Potential readers should also know the narration often veers into second person, as Saika addressing her departed sister. It’s not like the entire book is written in second person point of view, but some people may be turned off even by a portion of it being so.

Now if I may grumble a little bit – when Saika reads that a dragon laying eggs means it’s trying to start a family and explains this to others, and their response is, “I had no idea!’…what exactly was their understanding of how eggs work?! Also, this is another case of me being taken by surprise by the occasional F-word sprinkled throughout–cursing in books doesn’t bother me (as long as it’s not excessive), but was surprising in what otherwise seemed like such a wholesome story.

But overall this was a decent cozy, emotional yet hopeful read.

Thank you to Bindery Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

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Book Review: WHAT FEASTS AT NIGHT (SWORN SOLDIER #2) by T. Kingfisher

| Jessica Crawford

“Blessed Virgin,” I whispered, even though I couldn’t even hear myself. “Why must you keep sending me innocent monsters?”

Another atmospheric, creepy, entertaining and delightful novella in the Sworn Soldier universe.

Sworn soldier Alex Easton has invited mycologist Eugenia Potter to stay at their father’s old hunting lodge in Gallacia to study the local mushrooms. They arrive to find the lodge in disarray, as it turns out the caretaker has recently died, although folk from the local village are hesitant to say what killed him – natural causes, or supernatural ones? What is superstition and folklore, and what is a very real threat? The story also touches on subjects such as war and PTSD.

Soldier’s heart doesn’t know the difference between terrible things. Fungus or cannon fire, it’s all just the war.

As always, Kingfisher’s writing made me laugh out loud at times, while also being perfectly spooky and evocative.

Miss Potter gave him a much warmer smile over her shoulder than I’d ever seen her give to anything that didn’t have spores.

This is Gothic writing at its finest, with a healthy sprinkling of Eastern European folktales, humor, and admirable messages. You love to see it!

“May we always have the choice to err on the side of mercy,” I said, lifting my wine.

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Book Review: THE TAINTED CUP by Robert Jackson Bennett

| Jessica Crawford
Shadow of the Leviathan #1

This engaging and original story is the first in a new fantasy series by the author of The Founders trilogy.

Buckle in and prepare yourself for some hefty worldbuilding, but part of what was admirable about this book was the fresh and unique setting. The Empire of Khanum is arranged like a succession of spoked wheels, with the the wealthiest citizens living in the center, the farthest from the outer ring’s sea walls. This is because every wet season, leviathans surface from the deep and try to breach the walls, destroying everything in their path. Branches of the military are dedicated to shoring up and defending the wall from the monstrous titans.

Some people who serve the empire are given grafts or suffusions, altering their abilities in specific ways. Our main character, Din, is an engraver; he has been cerebrally altered to have a perfect eidetic memory of everything he sees and hears. He carries little vials of different scents with him to use as cues to associate with particular memories. With this ability, he acts as the eyes and ears of the exceedingly eccentric, and brilliant, Ana, the investigator to whom he is newly apprenticed apprenticed.

“He’s new,” said Ana, “and big, and I think he lost his sense of humor in some tragic accident. But he helped me solve the Blas issue quick enough.” Then, simply, “He is good.”

The bulk of this novel focuses on a murder investigation Ana and Din undertake, one that winds up with far-reaching political implications. But there’s also a lot about the uncertainties of living in a world that is routinely under threat, not only by the titans of the sea, but also contagion, worms, and a host of other worries. It addresses the nature of civilization, and the question of whether people exist to serve their Empire, or vice versa.

One of the highlights of this book is the relationship and banter between Ana and Din (and a few other characters introduced during their investigative proceedings), which are charming and often downright hilarious. Ana is irreverent, Din is sincere.

“Just wish to comment, ma’am,” I said, “that, ah, I’ve no idea at all what’s going on anymore.”

And as if all of that wasn’t enough to secure a place for this book in my esteem, is also included great representation: of disability and neurodiversity, plus the minor romance included was queer.

“…if I hadn’t been the person that I was, then the alterations would not have been a success. It was my choice. I changed and became, I self-assembled. Just as you have done.”

I highly recommend this refreshing and entertaining tale of a murder mystery that unfolds in a new and interesting fantasy world, and I can’t wait to read about what Ana and Din get mixed up in next.

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Book Review: LEECH by Hiron Ennes

| Jessica Crawford

Leech by Hiron Ennes is Gothic horror set in a post-apocalyptic future. After climate disaster and the backfiring of man-made technology drove people underground, they finally resurfaced when it was safe(ish) and rebuilt, reclaiming some of the knowledge that was lost through records that were spared.

The main character is actually a gestalt intelligence formed by a parasite that takes control of the human hosts it infects. It hoards the world’s recovered medical knowledge for job security, in order to stay relevant and needed by humanity, and to maintain its evolutionary niche.

While working as a doctor for the draconian baron in the frozen wilds of the North (stalked by beings with unknown origins, but plenty of mythological possible origin stories), they discover a new (probably ancient but newly resurfaced) parasite that threatens everything.

The world-building here is truly impressive!

Of course the baron lives in a crumbling chateau and his family is comprised of a strange cast of characters (and ghosts?). Consent and bodily autonomy are big players in the story that unfolds.

Not for the faint of heart, this tale is creative, creepy, and really quite wonderful! I can’t wait to see what this author does next.

Between this book, Mexican Gothic, and What Moves the Dead, I’ve learned that apparently parasite horror is my jam!

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