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Book Review: A Liar’s Twisted Tongue (The Fated Blood Trilogy #1) by Caroline Cusanelli

Cover art for A Liar's Twisted Tongue (The Fated Blood Trilogy #1)

 

A Liar’s Twisted Tongue (The Fated Blood Trilogy #1) by Caroline Cusanelli

Caroline Cusanelli, 2025

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 979-8990027831

Available: Hardcover, paperback, audiobook, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

Desdemona’s community is barely surviving under the noses of the brutal Nepenthes. One day, Desdemona’s mother hands her a protection necklace and pushes her through a portal as the monstrous Arcanes descend on their home. The portal opens onto the grounds of Visnatus Academy, a school for the elites of Ilyria, Folkara, Eunaris, Draevia, and Nepthara, all of whom have different magical powers. Desdemona has a letter identifying her as the secret child of a famous Folk general that gains her probationary admission to the academy, but she just wants to go home to her mom.

 

Despite the letter, I wasn’t convinced that Desdemona, thrown headfirst into a disorienting situation she could not possibly understand, could have survived the brutal Visnatus Academy for even a few minutes without being caught out, or that she would immediately find allies despite her behavior and attitude. She’d need My Fair Lady levels of training, and she barely has a believable cover story.

 

Meanwhile, Lucian, crown prince of Ilyria, has had an unpleasant surprise: his marriage has been arranged with Princess Calista of Folkara, while his sister Lilac will be marrying Prince Kai, Calista’s brother. Lucian is resigned to doing whatever his abusive mother, Queen Isa, tells him to, as she has the magical ability to drain his life force, but misery over their impending marriages inspires him to throw a party in the woods. There,  he is drawn into Desdemona’s attempt to open a portal back to her mom. While she is traveling in the portal, Lucian has a vision of them in the Void, an empty dimension where the powerful, monstrous Arcanes are trapped. Desdemona is able to communicate with her mother through the vision, and Lucian decides he needs her power to take his revenge on the Arcanes, who murdered his real parents, leaving him at Isa’s mercy. Desdemona’s power is over fire, and she doesn’t know how to control it (leading to some terrifying situations). Lucian, whose power allows him to manipulate and influence other people, offers to teach her if she will help him.

 

Romantasy leans heavily on tropes, but in any credible love story the reader should be able to figure out why the romantic leads like each other. That just isn’t present here. Desdemona is consistently hostile, rude, manipulative, and ungrateful. Lucian is arrogant, reckless, manipulative, and sometimes cruel. Both are dealing with trauma and repressed memories, acting in survivor mode, but not with empathy toward each other. While they occasionally have a tender moment, the memorable scenes are the ones that cross between violence and  their magnetic attraction to each other. This was offered to me as a “dark academia romantasy” It certainly has the atmosphere expected of an ominous boarding school for elite students found in dark academia, but leans harder into the outside fantasy world than into academic obsession, and is more focused on the dynamics of the leads with each other.

 

Romantasy fans who like morally gray characters  with heightened emotions will enjoy the intricate world-building, the high stakes, and the developing relationship between the two main characters. The end held some intriguing surprises, and readers who like this can look forward to a sequel.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Posted on October 8, 2025 by , Reply

Book Review: How to Succeed in Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy

 

How to Succeed in Witchcraft by Aislinn Brophy

G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readees, 2022

ISBN-13: 978-0593354520

Available: Hadcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook

Buy:  Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

Shay is one of the few students of color at T.K. Anderson Prep. In a world where only licensed magic users can get top jobs, she is a striver. She has a higher level of magical strength than anyone else in her class,  and the second highest GPA. Her rival, with a slightly higher GPA and slightly lower magic level, is Ana.

 

At a meeting about the application process for a scholarship the school offers for a student to attend the University of Wilmington, which offers magic licensing, theater teacher Mr. B, who heads the scholarship committee, suggests to Shay that if she wants the scholarship she should participate in the school play, which is intentionally “diverse”. Shay is a terrible actor, but discovers she has been assigned the lead role of Valeria. Ana, also a student of color, is cast as her sister, Gabriela.

 

As the year goes by, Shay stumbles into friendship with Ana, and then into a (closeted) romance. Mr. B. continues to single Shay out for special attention and private rehearsals, violating her physical space (she does not like to be touched: based on this and other behaviors I think she is coded as autistic). She is uncomfortable, but none of the other kids seem to be bothered by Mr. B. When Shay is accidentally outed, he is cold to her, turning his attention to Ana, until Shay convinces him she isn’t a lesbian, so she can keep his attention and win the scholarship.

 

One night Shay’s dad’s car dies while he is on his way to pick her up from school, leaving her on campus alone. While she is walking the school grounds, she sees Mr. B. and student choreographer Brittany kissing. Brittany is sharing her magic with him, which makes him stronger, but leaves her open to manipulation. Shay decides she has to tell, even if it means losing the scholarship, and does so in such a public way that the administration is forced to act.

 

There’s a lot of subtext on privilege, systemic racism and classism, college admissions, the impossibility of the American dream, and the way sexual and emotional abusers take advantage and get away with it. Mr. B is a truly predatory character and Shay’s eventual confrontation with him is terrifying, At the same time, this is a really sweet rivals to lovers sapphic romance with some great world-building. It’s not truly horror, but it is a wonderful, witchy read that should be relatable to teens.

 

 

Posted on November 15, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson

The Forest Demands Its Due by Kosoko Jackson

Quill Tree Books, 2023

ISBN-13: ‎978-0063260795

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD

Buy:  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

I have enjoyed Kosoko Jackson’s previous YA books, the dystopian Survive the Dome and the time travel novel Yesterday is History, both with Black queer boys as protagonists. The Forest Demands Its Due once again changes genre, to a combination of dark academia and folk horror.

 

Douglas Jones was arrested for arson and manslaughter when a lawyer offered her services pro bono if he would agree to attend an elite boarding school in an isolated area of Vermont. The school is bordered by a forest that students are warned away from as there have been many who disappeared into them never to be seen again.

 

As the only Black queer boy attending Regent School, Douglas is a target for bullies. He also hears loud, disturbing voices he can’t  turn off that he is certain come from the forest. Just the first few pages and Jackson had me deep in his story.

 

Early in the book a bully drags Douglas into the forest and is killed. Everett Everley, a member of the Everley family charged with protecting students, bargains with the Emissary, a vengeful creature of the god of the forest, to save himself and Douglas. Douglas learns that whenever there is a suspicious death the headmaster “erases” the existence of the person from everyone’s memories, so no one is aware of how many students and teachers have been lost to the forest.

 

There is a curse on the forest, nearby town of Winslow, and the five founding families of the town preventing them from leaving because they participated in the burning of Henry, the forest god’s lover, generations ago. His grief and anger have caused the death and anguish of many students and locals.  Everett and the headmaster are both descendants of the founding families. Everett helps Douglas investigate the history of Winslow, the school, and the forest, and after some awkward misunderstandings they start to develop a romantic relationship. The headmaster convinces Douglas to enter the forest  in hopes that he can find the gate to the forest god’s retreat and break the curse. Everett goes with Douglas to protect him. The forest is nightmarish, twisty and changeable and they easily get lost, then attacked by Emissaries and their grotesque servants, called Perversions. When they find the gate, Douglas goes through to try to convince the god to let go of his grief and anger and release the forest and town from their curse. As the god dies, he transfers his powers to Douglas, tying him to the forest and freeing Everett.

 

This was a very emotional story with a lot of darkness and trauma. The two boys have had very heavy responsibilities set on their shoulders and see and experience things no one should have to. They witness the aftermath of a suicide and there is a fair amount of gore and body horror (the Perversions are a grotesque combination of human and animal parts) Jackson’s writing is descriptive and atmospheric, although it’s a little slow in places, and he has created an immersive experience of the dark fantastic.

 

Jackson frequently addresses the injustice and inequality of institutions such as the legal system and education, and that is evident here. I love that he puts power for change in the hands of someone marginalized, who has only ever felt powerless. Recommended.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on October 3, 2023 by , Reply
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