​Camille is a Belle, which means she has a form of magic that allows her to manipulate the beauty of others. She has been on the run since the ascension of a new queen who intends to subjugate all the Belles, so that Orlean's punishing system of beauty remains as intact as ever.

I hadn't read the first book and I think my enjoyment suffered because of that (the same box of bargain books is to blame!), mainly because I hadn't built up any connection to the characters. The world itself is fascinating. I would love some teacup dragons! But I wasn't particularly invested in the story, since the stakes seemed low and Camille never really encountered what I would consider true danger on her path to revolution. Maybe I've read too many YA fantasy novels like this lately. I don't know. I don't think I'll seek out the first book.

Sophie feels out of place and invisible beside Bianca, the glamorous roommate that she adores. When Sophie takes the fall for Bianca's small seditious action, their bond will change as much as the planet around them. Humans came to a world they never understood and if they never try to change that, they will face extinction.

Hmm. This had a great premise and I enjoyed the world-building - heck, I was delighted to see a queer neurodiverse main character. But that's all there was to it. I'm not even sure what the plot was after finishing it, though "finishing" is a relative term - there is no ending. The book fails to finish and I see the author does not intend to continue the story unless it's made into a TV show! Wow. Just wow. What a slap in the face. I could go on and on about the problems with this book, but I have better things to do with my time.

In a future that was conceived in the 1960s, Mars is colonised and inhabited by flawed individuals who all seem balanced on the edge of insanity. A Union leader's desire to use an autistic boy to access time in unusual ways (primarily to make money) may not end in the way that he hopes.

Hmm. This was my first Philip K. Dick novel. I was impressed with the writing and how Austen-esque Dick's observations were. His characters are very much people of the time this book was written in, explored, expanded and explained. The way everything came together at the end was just masterful. But, not surprisingly, the outdated views on certain issues (sexism, racism, ableism, etc) hampered my enjoyment of the book. And Dick clearly didn't understand enough about autism or schizophrenia to be writing about them (although that might be because that's what was understood at the time).

​Ben Reich wants a merger, but it seems he'll have to murder his rival instead. But murder is not so simple when the police are "peepers", telepaths capable of plucking motive and truth from your mind. Reich thinks he has a way around this. He isn't ready for Lincoln Powell, however.

This was a fascinating read, mostly because the world that Bester created is established quickly and sucks you in just as fast. I enjoyed the cat-and-mouse antics between Reich and Powell - it was fun and well-paced. But things got a bit too weird for me in the end and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the treatment of female characters (yes, I realise this was written in a different time, but it is hard to ignore something like that). Still, it's easy to see why this was the first winner of the Hugo Award.

I received an ARC of this book, but only after I'd already preordered it so I'm not sure what disclaimer to put here! I'm definitely going ahead with the preorder though.

This anthology collects romantic fantasy stories involving characters that are at least one of the promised "warlords, witches and wolves". There are magical lands to discover and pockets of our own world to revisit with new eyes.

I was a little daunted by the size of this anthology (14 hours to go, or so the Kindle informed me at the start), but each novella is just the right size for someone who's about to fall into bed. Unsurprisingly, the authors I already like were behind he novellas I enjoyed the most. My favourite novellas, however, would be Daniel de Lorne's (I always enjoy an exploration of the power dynamics in a relationship) and Claire Boston's (Mongolian fantasy!).

Less enjoyable were the novellas that stopped before reaching a conclusion. I think a novella should have a fully realised story - prequels and spin-offs are fine, but cutting the story off is less preferable to me.

All in all, a fine collection that lets you dip your toes into the work of various authors. I found at least one new author that I'd like to investigate further.