soupçon/ˈsuːpsɒn,ˈsuːpsɒ̃/ noun
1. a very small quantity of something; a slight trace, as of a particular taste or flavorSunday Soupçons is where I scribble mini-reviews for books I don’t have the brainspace/eloquence/smarts to write about in depth – or if I just don’t have anything interesting to say beyond I LIKED IT AND YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO!
Two recent reads I really enjoyed!
Wiz Duos - Book 3 by Ruthanna Emrys, Andrew Knighton
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Contemporary Fantasy
Representation: Queer Jewish MC, queer cast; gay MC, secondary character of Arabic descent
PoV: First-person, present-tense
ISBN: 1917950225
Goodreads
Two novellas in one book
The Sheltering Flame by Ruthanna Emrys
Three old friends fleeing from their lives in academia take on a unique restoration project in the hills of New England, only to find that the stewardship of their crumbling new property comes with a magical obligation. When a desperate teenager turns up on their doorstep claiming sanctuary, it brings them into direct conflict with an ancient power of the land – one who rules over its debtors without mercy. The Hearth’s new keepers have 24 hours to save their new friend, fulfill their unexpected obligations, and claim the future they didn’t know they wanted.
Walking a Wounded Land by Andrew Knighton
Ghosts linger amid the fields and streets of England, waiting to be summoned by those who can walk their paths. Paul is one of the walkers, returned home to follow in a friend's last footsteps and learn how he died. But the land is a place of conflict, caught between connection and control. To find peace, Paul will have to confront his own past and other people's power, in a poignant tale of grief, justice, and walking your own path.
I bought this book for Ruthanna Emrys’ story – I will show up for anything and everything she writes! – which, as expected, knocked my socks off. But I am delighted to be able to reassure you that Andrew Knighton’s story also turned out to be awesome, and the two stories make such a wonderful pair together!
Emrys’ story follows a friend/found-family group who have made the excellent decision to move in together. Things get magical quickly, because it turns out that their new house is, historically, a kind of provider-of-sanctuary for the magical community – all of which they learn when a teenager shows up on their doorstep asking for that sanctuary. To my delight, this is something they don’t hesitate to provide, in large part because they’re part of the queer community and used to unrelated adults having to step up to help minors abandoned by their families. It’s their anarchist, hard-left ideals/philosophy that guide them through the ensuing shenanigans, that help them figure out what kind of duties they’re willing to accept, what kind of enemies they’re willing to take on, and how to do go about doing both of those things. The prose is silken, gilded, absolutely GORGEOUS, and Emrys is big on making magic both wondrous and strange. I was endlessly delighted by this story, every detail seemed like it had been written just for me – the cleverly twisty ways Emrys thinks, EEE! Perfection, no notes, I loved every second of it.
The second story is also excellent, and superficially very different: the main character can do magic by walking, walking purposefully and meaningfully, especially over paths others have used, and when he learns an old friend has died, he decides to walk the paths to see if he can find out why. He’s accompanied by another old friend, a most excellent artist companion who I would not have been upset to see starring. I had a much harder time getting a grip on the magic in this one, but it was very much about – place, about human connection, and how our origin places shape us and how we shape them back. Winding through the story is a resistance to the idea that the old needs to be bulldozed in favour of the new, but I appreciated the nuance that was injected by a few other perspectives, pointing out that no, we shouldn’t destroy the old, but we do need to update it sometimes, that coming into a community and railing against the new development is kind of a dick move when the people living there do need a source of new jobs or some other boost to the local economy. It’s a bit more complicated than the anti-development side likes to admit. And like Emrys’ story, there’s some anarchist themes, the idea that land can’t belong to a single person or family or corporation, or at least shouldn’t; the need for people to take care of each other. I liked it a little less than the first story, but it’s objectively excellent and gave me tons to think about.
I loved how well these stories contrasted, but also went so well together. At first glance, the first story is about the Hearth, this magical house, provider of sanctuary, and the second story is all about the outdoors, so they kind of look like opposites. But they’re both about community, about the hand reaching out to you from a stranger, from the past; they’re both about seeking ways to help, to combat narcissism and greed; they’re both about the struggle of how to help that plagues so many would-be activists – and they’re both, I think, about focussing on the local, the what’s-in-front-of-you, the people-in-front-of-you, which I think was done really beautifully in both stories, in beautifully different ways. And both stories feature magic that is – quiet, not so cinematic, magic that’s personal and intimate, but that can still be incredibly powerful.
Absolutely ADORED this book, these two stories together. Genuinely, this is one of the most beautiful things I’ve read this year, and I want to recommend it to EVERYBODY. I’m so looking forward to jumping into the rest of the Wiz Duo series, which I will absolutely be doing now!
Alphas on the Rocks by Jem Zero
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Disabled gay MC, bisexual trans MC, M/M, secondary nonbinary character
PoV: Third-person, present-tense; dual PoVs
ISBN: B0F5P9MMX7
Goodreads
Ever since a hook-up infected Avery Smith with the werevirus, turning him into a were-ursine imbued with alpha magic, he’s been on the run. No established pack leader wants a rival in their territory, but he can’t start his own pack because few are willing to entrust their safety to a small-statured trans man. Lacking options, Avery joins a work farm where packless werecreatures labor in exchange for room and board. Then another potential hook-up lands him in the arms of the most dangerous man he could pick:
A shifter.
As an alpha, taking over his family-led cougar shifter pack is Sascha Madison’s birthright, but lifelong chronic illness has compromised his standing. Getting caught with a werecreature will ruin his slim chances of inheriting the pack, and could result in him being disowned by his father.
Despite everything that could go wrong, Sascha and Avery connect, discovering much more than casual relief. The rare flicker of belonging is threatened by the bitter conflict between their species. Shifters believe the monstrous transformations forced by the werevirus make a mockery of their existence, and the recent explosion of infections has put all packs on high alert.
While Avery endures harassment at the farm, Sascha struggles to protect him without revealing their intimate connection. When a predatory supervisor forces Sascha’s hand, Avery has to flee yet again… This time, with Sascha by his side.
Too quickly, they’re caught. Sascha’s father gives them an ultimatum: Separate permanently, or Avery dies. But there’s more to being a leader than oppressive dominance, and Sascha and Avery are determined to shatter the walls separating their species and find a pack that will accept them both.
***
Alphas on the Rocks is a 77,000 word M/M paranormal romance between a trans man and a cis man. It features forbidden lovers on the run, mating magic, an awful dating app, and has multiple open-door intimate scenes. Happy ending guaranteed.
This was compulsively readable – I flew through it in four or five hours. Even more impressive, I was up early because I’d been woken by my fibro, so not only was it so immersive I read it super quickly – I read it super quickly while in stupid amounts of pain! And I’m sorry, but any book that can hold my attention through a fibro flare deserves ALL THE POINTS!
Writing-wise, Alphas on the Rocks is pretty typical of what you’d expect from a Paranormal Romance; very readable, minimal sensory description, not all that complicated vocab or sentence-structure wise. Very popcorn-y! (This is a compliment, to be clear.) What elevates it to something special is the decision to showcase two marginalised characters; Sascha is disabled, chronically ill with a fantasy condition that, among other things, makes it risky for him to transform into his cougar-shape; and Avery is both trans and a were-creature – and in this setting the latter a) might as well be considered another fantasy disability, and b) means he’s considered sub-human.
The worldbuilding isn’t very detailed and the villains aren’t very nuanced, but so what – they don’t need to be, because the focus is on the protagonists and the difficulties they face as individuals and as a couple. The worldbuilding and villains are both really just – reasons to dive into the characters’ emotions, pressures to nudge them together. There are some tropes readers of shapeshifter romances will not be surprised to see. And because the book doesn’t try to disguise that, because it so completely commits to what it wants to be, I had no issue with any of it.
There’s also an attention to practical/realistic detail that I really liked – broken phones not charging, leaving characters unable to get a hold of each other when they need help; or not being able to take the car and disappear because your dad’s the one whose name is on the legal papers. Things like that. I love that kind of attention to detail, it grounds the story so well, helps make it all feel very real despite all the shapeshifting. In a sort of similar vein, the author doesn’t make the mistake of idealising the magical aspects: the were-creature transformations, in particular, are extremely gnarly and not fun for poor Avery. Some shapeshifters and were-creatures have bonus magical powers, but neither of the protagonists do. It’s a careful balance that works really well, imo.
TL;DR: I will happily pick up the sequel, when we get it!
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