Mini-Reviews! The Whale Tattoo, Birthright: Recall, The Yellow Suitcase, Between Bloode & Stone

I received all of these books from NetGalley at no cost!

the whale tattoo by jon ransom

This is a really weird book about and being a teenager and trying to grow up and being gay and about how maybe you are cursed forever, possibly by a whale. It’s magical realism and feels dreamlike to read. Big themes of water, grief, love, the pull of the deep. 4.25 stars. Waterstones link.

Birthright: Recall by Dale Thomas Vaughn

Interesting characters, flat worldbuilding. There’s a nonbinary character who uses they/them pronouns and it’s just never made into a Deal which is super cool, especially in a science-fiction novel. Also the cover is very cool. 3.25 stars. Storygraph link here.

The Yellow Suitcase by L.W. Clark

This is a really slow read, which I liked; it felt very 1995 to me (caveat that I do not remember that era of time). I’m not sure if it is because it’s a period piece, but the main character is kind of misogynistic and the male characters are mostly assholes. I wasn’t super impressed by it. Two stars. Bookshop link here. Storygraph link here.

Between Bloode and Stone by Marie Harte

This feels like high fantasy in a contemporary setting, or like high fantasy dumped into a contemporary setting. A really interesting thing in this book is that only males are vampires! There’s also kind of a makeshift team and maybe someday it could be a found family, which I am all about. I read the audio version of this, and I thought the narrator was great! Four stars. Bookshop link here. Storygraph link here.