The Storm Crow is a thoughtful YA fantasy about a world where magical elemental Crows hold the key to power. Princess Thia of Rhodaire has trained all her life to be a Crow rider, but her plans are derailed with the kingdom of Illucia conquers her nation, kills all the Crows and destroys all remaining eggs. Thia’s older sister Caliza, who has become queen at their mother’s death, is forced to agree to a marriage between Thia and Prince Ericen of Illucia in order to protect their people. Thia heads to Illucia with her bodyguard and friend Kiva, and, more importantly, with a Crow egg she found hidden in rubble. A Crow can tip the balance of power in Rhodaire’s favour, if only Thia can figure out how to hatch the egg and stay safe in an enemy kingdom.

First, I love how Josephson really delves into how the trauma of Illucia’s attack has impacted Thia. Thia develops a deep depression (and to Josephson’s credit, Thia actually says this outright: “I’m depressed”) that keeps her secluded from the rest of her kingdom for months. She also experiences long-term PTSD with respect to fire, because of the attack. And again, I like that this affects Thia without ever devolving into treating her like an object of pity. (There’s a rather dramatic scene involving fire, but more importantly, there’s also the subtle verbal jabs about her decision whether or not to wear gloves.)

The pacing is somewhat slow, especially considering this is a duology and not a much longer series. Part of this is that Josephson keeps us firmly in Thia’s point of view, so while the author peppers hints throughout that other characters are doing important secretive things in the background, we spend most of our time with Thia waiting for some clue to hatch the Crow egg.

I also wish there was more clarity about the Crows themselves, given their importance to the plot. The author included an appendix with the types of Crows and another appendix with all the kingdoms (including a princess that was believed to be dead but will likely feature prominently in the next book), but included little of that information in the story itself. So when characters discussed the oddity of a Storm Crow exhibiting Earth Crow powers, the significance was lost to me, because I didn’t understand what the different types of Crows were in the first place, where their powers came from, or why it all matters.

I do like that the love triangle seems to favour the unconventional choice (similar to The Hunger Games, where Katniss chooses Peeta over Gale), but I do wish there was more chemistry between the characters.

Given the book description, I was also somewhat disappointed that Caliza didn’t play a larger role in this story. I love stories about sisters, and that part of the blurb really interested me. But more than that, while I was interested in how Thia could possibly hatch the egg and launch a rebellion, I’m also really interested in how an inexperienced queen learns to play the game in order to keep her kingdom safe.

Still, overall, The Storm Crow is a good read. I like the subtle ways in which characters tried to gain or show their power, I like that the heroine is heroic while struggling with depression, and the idea of elemental Crows promises for a kickass and thrilling uprising ahead.

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Thanks to Raincoast Books for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Perfect Fit is a super cute and feel good story about a group of residents in a small town who organize a Christmas pantomime to raise funds to save their beloved theatre. I had expected this to be a romantic comedy, but it’s more a small town comedy than anything else. I love the large and colourful cast of characters — the theatre grand dame who has aged out of leading roles, the grumpy old men best friends who discover their love for the stage, the famous actor who agrees to a cameo on the condition that his beautiful but talentless girlfriend gets a leading role, and the newly discovered acting talent. I also really love the small town feel, and the various relationship threads that connected all the characters with each other.

I’m not too familiar with the tradition of the Christmas pantomime, and admit that some of the humour went over my head. But overall, it was easy enough to catch on, and I love the sheer silliness of the entire spectacle.

Most of the romantic part of the plot — between Becky the costume shop owner who launches the pantomime in the first place, co-writes it and ends up starring in it, and Marcus her co-writer and an actor in a comic relief part —  happens near the end. There are hints of their attraction throughout, but not a lot of heat. There is also a love triangle subplot involving Becky’s fiance, but there’s little heat with either men. We mostly see Becky and Marcus falling in love through cute moments where they’re rehearsing a scene and a moment where their characters’ eyes meet renders them speechless. Their realization of their true feelings for each other is cute, and the climactic Big Romantic Gesture delightfully silly and cheesy, as befits the true pantomime spirit.

Still, the true star of this novel isn’t the romance so much as the pantomime production itself. It was a sheer delight to spend time with the residents in this town, and to see all the hilarious twists on their way to opening night.

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Thank you to Mirror Books for an egalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

After a meet-cute over a fender bender on their way to plan their best friends’ wedding, maid of honour Kristen Petersen and best man Josh Copeland can’t deny the sparks between them. Unfortunately, Josh wants to have lots of kids (he broke up with his last girlfriend because she didn’t want any) and while Kristen does as well, she biologically can’t have any. She has endometriosis, which makes it hard for her to get pregnant, and she is also weeks away from a surgery that’ll free her from pain but will also render her infertility absolute. Since it’s important to Josh to have biological children (he has no interest in adopting or fostering), Kristen realizes they can’t be together and keeps them firmly in the friends-with-benefits zone.

The Friend Zone is a rom com that tackles some heavy issues. I sympathized with Kristen, and I love how the author delves into the ways that endometriosis has impacted Kristen all of her life. Even when she was in school with Sloan, her best friend and the bride, she sometimes had to forego certain trips and activities because of period pain. The author also talked about how Kristen worked around her condition in previous relationships, so that her boyfriends wouldn’t have to sacrifice their own sexual pleasures while she was dealing with pain. So often, when a character has a disability or a chronic condition, it’s mentioned and then set aside whenever convenient for plot, so I really like that the reality of Kristen’s condition was ever-present throughout, without ever devolving into a pity-fest. It’s simply part of her everyday reality, and leads her to some major decisions over her own long-term happiness. Even when I don’t necessarily agree with some of her choices, I understand where she’s coming from, and Jimenez does a great job of putting us in her shoes.

The hero Josh was sweet, and I like how respectful he is throughout of Kristen’s decisions. Even though he wants to take their relationship to the next level and, not knowing of her condition, doesn’t quite understand why they’re stuck at the friends-with-benefits level, he doesn’t push her to change her mind. Instead, he talks things over with her, and actually listens to what she has to say.

The one thing that I didn’t like about him is how he kept pegging Kristen as “a unicorn” amongst women because she’s low-key, no-drama “cool girl.” It was fine the first time, but he mentioned it so often I’m starting to feel he has a low opinion of women in general, which is such a turn off. To that point, I’m not a fan of the “not like other women” trope in general, so while I understand that the author wanted to show that even snarky, sarcastic women can find love (and I appreciate that she spelled this out in her Author’s Note), I’m very much meh over the stereotypes it propagates about “most women.”

I also wasn’t a huge fan that Kristen’s “cool girl” persona was partly due to her liking beer and chips rather than posh stuff like red wine. This is more a personal preference than anything, but meh on the reverse snobbery. The other thing is that we learn that the main characters love hunting, and that too is a major personal turn off for me.

I’m also not fully sure how I feel about the ending. The romance was fairly lighthearted overall and I loved the friendships that Kristen had with Sloan and Josh had with Brandon, but there was a twist at the 75% mark that dampened the vibe considerably and changed the tone completely for the rest of the story. It was handled well, and it’s certainly the author’s right to take the story wherever she wanted, but it did detract from my enjoyment and I ultimately felt it was unnecessary.

Beyond that, there was another twist late in the book that had a bit of a happier tone. It struck me as a bit fairy tale-ish and I think that, given the characters’ journeys, the happily-ever-after would have been more powerful without it. But I like that Jimenez addresses this directly in the Author’s Note. She clarifies that it’s based on lived experience with a friend, and also that it wasn’t actually central to the happy ending of the characters’ arcs.

Overall, The Friend Zone is a sweet and emotional book that deals with some real issues. I like that Jimenez delves into a medical condition that’s an unfortunate reality for many women, and incorporates it into a romance.

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Thank you to Forever Romance for an egalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.