Audely Bensen Writes

The Kingston Cycle by C.L.Polk is a trilogy made up of Witchmark , Stormsong , and Soulstar . The series follows a set of siblings and their friends as they grapple with their family's past and the impact its had on their world. This series did a great job of dealing with the personal guilt of being complicit in systems of power that don't benefit everyone (although I almost couldn't finish Stormstong because Grace's particular brand of white-lady feminism was too well done, and sometimes it hurts to read the truth).  I was really impressed with the end of this series. The conclusion felt realistic given the scale of the problems. For a while I wasn't sure it would get there, given how accurately the book tackles the real structural issues of society today. Maybe that was just my pessimism speaking, though.  And finally: I loved that this series wasn't romantasy, nor romantic fantasy. It was Fantasy, and it was Romance, and followed the beats and expectations of...

I picked up A Dowry of Blood by S.T. Gibson while wandering the library. I wasn't sure what I was looking for, but as soon as I spotted this slim volume on the shelves I snatched it up. This book is so popular I half expected to have to fight for it before I managed to leave the library.  No one challenged me for it, and so I headed home to settle on the couch. For the first time, I understood what people mean when they call a prose voice "seductive." The language in this first-POV book drew me in and didn't let go until I was 200 pages in. And then I went back for more.  I loved the experience of reading this book. Even though I'd seen it branded as horror, I didn't feel afraid while reading it. Instead it left me full of thoughts on the nature of relationships and the self, and of how power manifests in the world. I had no idea what this book was about when I started reading other than "vampires," and I'm so glad I had the chance to read it.