ARC Review: Malinalli by Veronica Chapa

Title: Malinalli
Author: Veronica Chapa
Series: Standalone
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Publisher: Atria/Primero Sueno Press
Publication Date: March 11, 2025
Edition: Ebook
Source: NetGalley
Pre-Order: Amazon US | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop |

 

 

Synopsis:

   A real-life historical figure, the woman known as Malinalli, Malintzin, La Malinche, Doña Marina, and Malinalxochitl was the Nahua interpreter who helped Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés communicate with the native people of Mexico. When indigenous leaders observed her marching into their cities, they believed she was a goddess—blessed with the divine power to interpret the Spaniards’ intentions for their land. Later, historians and pop culture would deem her a traitor—the “Indian” girl who helped sell Mexico’s future to an invader.
   In this riveting, fantastical retelling, Malinalli is all of those things and more, but at heart, she’s a young girl, kidnapped into slavery by age twelve, and fighting to survive the devastation wrought by both the Spanish and Moctezuma’s greed and cruelty. Blessed with magical powers, and supported by a close-knit circle of priestesses, Mali vows to help defend her people’s legacy. In vivid, compelling prose, debut author Veronica Chapa spins an epic tale of magic, sisterhood, survival, and Mexican resilience. This is the first novel to reimagine and reinterpret Malinalli’s story with the empathy, humanity, and awe she’s always deserved.

An imaginative retelling of the triumphs and sorrows of one of the most controversial and misunderstood women in Mexico’s history and mythology, perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Gods of Jade and Shadow and Zoraida Córdova’s The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina.

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Bulk Review: Manga Pt. 6

 

 

I've read *so* much manga this year. Hopefully next year I will actually read the books I own. It's been fun reading manga, and I love using my library, but I do want to get at least some of the books I own read. 

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Bulk Review: Non-Fiction

I've been wanting to read more non-fiction for a while. But I don't always have the mental bandwidth to read non-fiction. I personally feel like that genre requires more thinking than fantasy as a genre. It's kind of like the difference between watching a movie over watching a documentary. I decided to do a bulk/mini review for some of these since I didn't have a lot to say about them individually, but I still wanted to share them on my blog. 

They're listed from more recently read to latest.

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Review: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Title: The Goblin Emperor
Author: Katherine Addison
Series: The Chronicles of Osreth #1
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Publication Date: June 22, 2021
Edition: Audiobook
Source: Library
Purchase: Amazon US | Apple Books | Barnes & Noble | BAM | Bookshop | Powell's | 

Synopsis:

   The youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an "accident," he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.
   Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.
   Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favor with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the specter of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor. All the while, he is alone, and trying to find even a single friend... and hoping for the possibility of romance, yet also vigilant against the unseen enemies that threaten him, lest he lose his throne – or his life.

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ARC Review : Traitor Son by Melissa Cave

Title: Traitor Son
Author: Melissa Cave
Series: Empire of the Stars #1
Genre: Adult Fantasy/Romance
Publisher: Owl and Bear, LLC
Publication Date: November 1, 2024
Edition: Digital
Source: NetGalley
Purchase: Amazon US 

 

 

Synopsis:

   In a land ravaged by war, a knight’s promise and a princess’s secret might raise a new dynasty…or topple an empire.
   At the end of a brutal war, Remin of Andelin promised his knights that he would build them a good place, far from the carnage of war and the poisonous intrigues of the Empire. But the only thing more difficult than winning a war is securing the peace.
   Welcome to the Andelin Valley, where the days are filled with the backbreaking labor of building a city and the nights bring monsters summoned in the waning days of the war. The Andelin devils dare even the sacred soil of the Empire, and it takes all of Remin’s military genius to keep his people alive. Yet even in the face of bandits, traitors, and implacable hatred of the Emperor, the greatest danger to Remin might be his new wife.
   Princess Ophele Agnephus. Daughter of the Stars, the Exile Princess, she is also the daughter of the Divine Emperor that executed Remin’s family. Raised in a distant prison and given in the place of her sister as Remin’s reward for victory, Ophele carries a secret that could topple the Empire: his family was innocent. But will she risk her life to reveal the depth of her family’s dishonor?
   As the summer bleeds on and the walls of their city rise, Remin finds himself drawn to Ophele, who shares so many of his dreams and sorrows. She could be everything: his love and his wife, the mother of his children, the foundation of a dynasty that will last forever. Or she could be the Emperor’s weapon, placed at his side to destroy everything he has left.
   A marriage built in the ashes of betrayal. A land built on the ruins of a century of war. And a people determined to rise, with shattered trust and an unquenchable hope…if Ophele can only make them believe it is possible. Traitor Son is the story of a people broken by tragedy, a hero torn between his duty and his dreams, and a young woman who must find the courage to take her place at his side, before their own devils tear them apart.

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