#stephanie burgis

[jonathanpongratz]

Book Review: The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart (Tales from the Chocolate Heart #1)

  Hello chocoholics and chocolatiers! It’s time for another book review. This time I chose to read The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart (Tales from the Chocolate Heart #1) by Stephanie Burgis. I needed some cozy fantasy for my grad school assignment, and this one definitely fit the bill. I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate? Let’s get this review started!     Blurb Aventurine is a brave young dragon…

[nzbookwyrm]

August 2024

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Lap Dragons. 'Nuff Said.

Ok, so: My immunocompromised ass got Covid in April (if you're medically able, wear masks y'all. Covid SUCKS and I only managed to avoid the hospital because I have enough experience and privilege to get what I need from the medical system relatively fast and painlessly. Don't spread Covid and try not to get it. Be safe, y'all), and when I was feeling ok-ish enough that laying in bed pretending to be a rock got way too boring, I picked up this book because I assumed it would be an easy, candy-floss read.

Which it was.

But that's not ALL it was. Let's talk Scales and Sensibility.

I was unexpectedly invested and thoroughly DELIGHTED by this book. It's essentially a standard regency romance novel but with the addition of lap dragons.

Ok, technically they're shoulder dragons, but the vibe is extremely lap kitty, and honestly in this house we STAN Sir Jessamyn.

Elinor is separated from her sisters and goes to live with her dickhead Uncle, arguably clinically depressed Aunt, and Queen Brat of a Cousin after the death of her parents, and her goal of being the "model poor relation" goes straight to hell within about the first five pages of the novel. Refusing to let poor Sir Jessamyn be abused by Cousin Penelope, Elinor basically kidnaps him, bails, and gets hit by a carriage before she makes it properly into town. This ends up being a meet cute with Mr. Benedict (seriously, regency romance novels really like having Benedicts in them) Hawkins. That's more or less all the plot you're going to get from me on this one, because I encourage you to read this delightful book.

In terms of other important things about the book, I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style. It tended toward light, fluffy, and endearing, but didn't shy away from a littled added heaviness when that was warranted, and the writing mirroring the tone so well is a skill that is rarer than you might think in genre fiction (*side eyes Brando Sando and his "invisible prose"*), but it just makes an already fun read feel stronger and more immersive.

Character-wise, Burgis created a stellar cast of clearly differentiated, personality-filled characters who I literally could not help but be deeply invested in by like, the end of chapter one. It can be easy in romance novels to let characters be more or less cardboard cutouts without much in the way of actual personality. This book DOES NOT have that problem. Elinor, Sir Jessamyn, Benedict, Penelope, and everyone else has vibrant personality that practically leaps off the page.

Finally, we have the dragons. The big dragons in this universe were, sadly, apparently hunted to extinction, leaving just the little dragons who can be trained up to sit on ladies' shoulders as a literal accessory. Sir Jessamyn is not cut out for this life, and Elinor is not a fan of turning living beings into literal fashion accessories. This is not unpacked terribly deeply in a systemic way, but as a synecdoche for assumed wider social and moral issues in the world, Sir Jessamyn serves quite well to sketch the broader picture by implication. This was such a fun idea to propose and immediately deconstruct, and I really enjoyed the draogny aspects of this novel.

If you're missing your fantasy regency romance fix this week, I cannot recommend a better solution that Stephanie Burgis's Scales and Sensibility. There is likely more to be said about this book as an homage to or gentle spoof of Austen's Sense and Sensibility, but as I have not actually read Sense and Sensibility, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere on book internet for that content. I'm perfectly happy for now to enjoy Scales and Sensibilty on its own merits.

[terapsina]

Book asks: 12, 23, 26

Ask Game

12. which book will you read next?

My to-be-read list is quite extensive so I haven't settled on my next book but it's probably going to be one of these three.

It kinda depends on what my mood's going to be after I finish the middle grade audiobook I'm currently listening to.

If I feel like a light, fun adventure with a woman who was the brightest magician of her age until she lost her magic (and was the only woman accepted in the Victorian(ish)-time magic university) but now has opened a school for female magicians? Then the second book in The Harwood Spellbook series.

(also depends if I'm feeling like audiobook or not, the narrator in the first book was excellent so I'm planning to read the second book by listening too).

If however I want something heavier and completely new then Elatsoe looks like it's a very interesting read. A queer fantasy book focusing on a main character from a Lipan Apache family who can raise the ghosts of dead animals? Sign me up.

But yeah, I feel like that one will require more mental and emotional space in me, so I'll need to be in the right frame of mind.

And finally, if I feel like checking out the newest Brandon Sanderson book (which I've heard is getting excellent reviews). I'll read Yumi and the Nightmare Painter.

23. what book to movie adaptation do you love?

The Martian by Andy Weir. Great book, great movie. Had a lot of fun with both.

-

Matilda by Roald Dahl. I've got a special place in my heart for that book because it's actually the first book I ever read. And the movie was everything that kid!me wanted it to be (including the ending, I'm still glad they changed Matilda's ending to not losing her power).

-

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. And its absolutely perfect 2005 adaptation (though this is a bit of a cheat as I watched the movie first, but as it inspired me to immediately go read the book I'm going to count it).

26. do you use libby? (or other)

No. It's unfortunately unavailable in my country.

I do subscribe to Scribd, but I know that's not the same.

[autumn2may]

Today our judges review Stephanie Burgis' Scales and Sensibility for this year's Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) finals! 🐉

Background image by Ivana Djudic.

[wearethekat]

January Book Reviews: Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis

This is a novella that I've been vaguely trying to get my hands on for a while (I loved Stephanie Burgis when I was a kid). So it was very fun to find it at my new library system (whee!). Cassandra Harwood was the first woman magician in Angland-- until she lost her magic three months ago. Now she's attending a houseparty infested with elves AND the fiance she just dumped for his own good. Trouble, of course, ensues.

I had mixed feelings about this one. Some of the worldbuilding wasn't well thought out. For instance, the book is set in a mostly gender-swapped England, where politics is women's work and only men can be magicians. But I don't think the implication that this would have were fully thought out. I think an England with these changes would be far, far more unfamiliar than the one Burgis depicts. I also didn't always find the protagonist Cassandra sympathetic. She flings herself into arguments with the absolute confidence of someone who's always been loved unconditionally.

Fun, but there are a fair number of books that have managed the regency-with-magic setting better.

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Moontangled | Author: Stephanie Burgis | Publisher: Five Fathoms Press (2020)

[emiline-northeto]

I had a lovely time this week getting into an October mood rereading Good Neighbors: The Full Collection, by Stephanie Burgis. It's a charming and delightful closed-door romance (four connected stories) between a metal-working magic user and a necromancer and there's a lot of found family and found community. The main romance is f/m, and there are side queer romances. One of the things I really like about these stories is there is a lot of kindness and goodness in them, and people banding together against cruelty and evil.

Now onto a reread of "Dangerous Flames", which is another story in the same universe, with an f/f romance.

(Stephanie Burgis originally published the four stories separately, and one of the individual stories is called "Good Neighbors", so if you want to read all four, excluding "Dangerous Flames" which isn't in the full collection version as it was published later and focuses on secondary characters, make sure your get Good Neighbors: The Full Collection and not just "Good Neighbors").

[libraryleopard]

Adult historical fantasy romance novella

After losing her magic, Britain’s first female magician is forced to navigate tense elf-human politics and her relationship with her ex-fiancé while snowed in at an estate 

Cozy winter read with some charming romance and light but interesting world-building

British Indian love interest; Black British side character; lesbian side characters

[lunaslittlelibrary]

Scales and Sensibility (Regency Dragons, #1) by Stephanie Burgis

"It’s like a warm hug. With dragons. It is the perfect book for curling up on the sofa and forgetting the world." #ScalesandSensibility by @stephanieburgis

Sensible, practical Elinor Tregarth really did plan to be the model poor relation when she moved into her aunt and uncle’s house. She certainly never meant to kidnap her awful cousin Penelope’s pet dragon. She never expected to fall in love with the shameless – but surprisingly sweet – fortune hunter who came to court Penelope, either. And she never dreamed that she would have to enter into an…

[pendragyn]

Kobo sure knows how to grab my attention lol dragons and Seanan and Joy, oh my!

[moonhuit]

you were like the sun—everyone orbited around you. how could i bring myself to look away? —stephanie burgis (spellcloaked)

[howlsmovinglibrary]

holiday book round-up

(a wrap up of everything I read when I was away!)

wylding hall by elizabeth hand. (4*)

Daisy Jones and the Six, but make it fey and spooky. This was the best novel I read whilst away. The remaining members of an acid folk band try their best to recollect and reconstruct the events that led up to their lead singer's mysterious disappearance, in the grand manor known as Wylding Hall. what happened to Julian Blake, and who was the mysterious girl he vanished with?

small miracles by olivia atwater. (3*)

this is one book the good omens girlies might consider getting into, given recent... stuff and things. the concept (a tense alliance over party lines, governed by the fate of a single soul) has a lot of overlap, only with a lot more women involved.

I am *not* a good omens girlie, so it took me a while to get into this book as much as Atwater's fairy stuff. but as always, she writes incredibly compelling character and romance dynamics. i shipped the main pairing so hard by the end.

a marriage of undead inconvenience by stephanie burgis. (2.5*)

I thought this novella would be written specifically for me (an arranged marriage between a headstrong lady academic and a sarcastic posh vampire... iykyk). But unfortunately, I think it was too short to get to fully enjoy it's own premise. I found the academic rivalry subplot more compelling than the romance, I guess bc that's an easy dynamic to set up in a short space of time.

the biting, though. Stephanie gets it.

where the dark stands still by a.b. poranek. (2.75*)

This book combines a lot of the good things of Howl's Moving Castle, Uprooted, and Shadow and Bone. If you like any of the above, you will probably enjoy this! But it does not - in my opinion - surpass any of them.

It was a fun read, with some stand out sentences, and also some extremely derivative ones, that kind of meant everything flattened out overall. And, alas: I'm always wary of third person present-tense, in the hands of edgelords.

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Jane Austen's romantic leads don't have anything on a bookish scientist who is approaching his romance with the same care and verve that he approaches his research. Cornelius Aubrey really stood up and said with his whole chest, "You have everyone else's back. Let me get yours."

Please excuse me while I swoon a little.

[sapphicreadsdb]

Hi do you by chance have any sapphic fantasy recs? preferably adult fantasy but YA is fine too

sure! tho this could will get quite long... no links, sorry!, bc it was kicking up a fuss with those for some reason

+ = ya

pennyblade by j.l. worrad

lady hotspur by tessa gratton

sofi and the bone song by adrienne tooley (+)

she who became the sun by shelley parker chan

the scapegracers by h.a. clarke (+)

the third daughter by adrienne tooley (+)

the daughters of izdihar by hadeer elsbai

the malevolent seven by sebastien de castell

blackheart knights by laure eve

the warden by daniel m. ford

the unbroken by c.l. clark

dark earth by rebecca stott

witch king by martha wells

scorpica by g.r. macallister

the mirror empire by kameron hurley

now she is witch by kirsty logan

silverglass by j.f. rivkin

the woman who loved the moon and other stories by elizabeth a. lynn

...(this answer is how i discover there's a character limit per block so. doing this in chunks.)

fire logic by laurie j. marks

a restless truth by freya marske

when angels left the old country by sacha lamb (+)

the traitor baru cormorant by seth dickinson

an archive of brightness by kelsey socha

the bladed faith by david dalglish

the winged histories by sofia samatar

dragonoak by sam farren

the forever sea by joshua phillip johnson

into the broken lands by tanya huff

the jasmine throne by tasha suri

daughter of redwinter by ed mcdonald

the last magician by lisa maxwell (+)

the fire opal mechanism by fran wilde

...

the black coast by mike brooks

high times in the low parliament by kelly robson

foundryside by robert jackson bennett

the enterprise of death by jesse bullington

mamo by sas milledge (+)

from dust, a flame by rebecca podos (+)

uncommon charm by emily bergslien & kat weaver

wild and wicked things by francesca may

the unspoken name by a.k. larkwood

brother red by adrian selby

the final strife by saara el-arifi

way of the argosi by sebastien de castell (+)

the bone shard daughter by andrea stewart

ghost wood song by erica waters (+)

into the crooked place by alexandra christo (+)

ashes of the sun by django wexler

the midnight girls by alicia jasinska (+)

the midnight lie by marie rutkoski (+)

the never tilting world by rin chupeco (+)

water horse by melissa scott

...

a master of djinn by p. djeli clark

the good luck girls by charlotte nicole davis (+)

among thieves by m.j. kuhn

black water sister by zen cho

the velocity of revolution by marshall ryan maresca

sweet & bitter magic by adrienne tooley (+)

the dark tide by alicia jasinska (+)

the library of the unwritten by a.j. hackwith

a dark and hollow star by ashley shuttleworth (+)

the chosen and the beautiful by nghi vo

the councillor by e.j. beaton

these feathered flames by alexandra overy (+)

the factory witches of lowell by c.s. malerich

fireheart tiger by aliette de bodard

...

city of lies by sam hawke

bestiary by k-ming chang

the raven and the reindeer by t. kingfisher

the winter duke by claire eliza bartlett (+)

master of poisons by andrea hairston

the empress of salt and fortune by nghi vo

night flowers shirking from the light of the sun by li xing

down comes the night by allison saft (+)

wench by maxine kaplan (+)

girls made of snow and glass by melissa bashardoust (+)

girls of paper and fire by natasha ngan (+)

the impossible contract by k.a. doore

burning roses by s.l. huang

the house of shattered wings by aliette de bodard

not for use in navigation by iona datt sharma

weak heart by ban gilmartin

girl, serpent, thorn by melissa bashardoust (+)

the devil's blade by mark alder

...

we set the dark on fire by tehlor kay mejia (+)

the true queen by zen cho

moontangled by stephanie burgis

a portable shelter by kirsty logan

sing the four quarters by tanya huff

all the bad apples by moira fowley doyle (+)

the drowning eyes by emily foster

the priory of the orange tree by samantha shannon

miranda in milan by katharine duckett

the afterward by e.k. johnston (+)

thorn by anna burke

penhallow amid passing things by iona datt sharma

in the vanishers' palace by aliette de bodard

summer of salt by katrina leno (+)

the gracekeepers by kirsty logan

out of the blue by sophie cameron (+)

black wolves by kate elliott

the circle by sara b. elfgren & mats strandberg (+)

unspoken by sarah rees brennan (+)

thistlefoot by gennarose nethercott

passing strange by ellen klages

(and breathe)

[alizalayne]

books of year ‘23, but only the ones that weren’t rereads and that I had something to say about. Text is written out below the cut. Please recommend books to me!!

Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis

when i saw this being recommended to me on scribd i sent it to my friends along with the word YESSSSSSSSS about 80 times. This has palpable Diana Wynne Jones insanity which is very exciting to me. The romantic lead is so boring but he’s not important; what’s important is the main character’s batshit physical transformation and its consequences. This book also triggered a personal ephiphany that i’d been setting myself up for for years, which is a little bit happenstance but I’m glad it happened while listening to this as an audiobook on a hike.

___

Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura

I’ve read a few books with a similar tone and goals but most of them do not feel as sincere, or they get preachy in a way this does not. I am a massive sucker for narratives about going and coming back to magical worlds (pre-isekai boom), like coville’s unicorn chronicles or barker’s abarat. they’re the most effective to me when they do what this is doing: telling an empathetic human story. One thing I really appreciate about this book as a mental illness narrative for younger people is its willingness to tackle the idea that someone’s terrified inner voice can be incorrect, or it can reflect reality accurately— some people do have a reason to be excessively scared. I think there’s a tendency when tackling this concept, especially for child readers, to tell them that their anxieties are silly and illogical, that of course no one is trying to hurt them. But that’s not always true. I appreciate that this story is able to question the main character’s assumptions about other people’s evil intentions while not questioning that her feeling of fear is real, while simultaneously acknowledging that similar pain is felt by kids going through abuse. I think I would have preferred a smaller cast or a longer book with more exploration of the other kids.

___

Earthlings: A Novel by Sayaka Murata

another very empathetic mental illness book, but much more disturbing. the main character’s worldview is alluring because the narrative paints reality in such a bleak way. If it didn’t force a sense of perspective on you, it could be a document that starts a cult. It’s very accurate to some experiences that I have had and things i have heard people say while in dangerous situations that involve religious behavior.

It’s very difficult to challenge the type of thinking this explores because each brick that builds a wall between someone’s mind and the rest of reality can seem like a reasonable brick. but when you look at the whole wall you can’t understand how such small and normal things as bricks could seal someone up inside and swallow them. This does a good job of showing you its challenge without being cruel. I’m glad I read it.

___

What Once Was Mine: A Twisted Tale by Elizabeth J. Braswell

official goth retelling of disney’s tangled, I had to see what was going on in there but it was pretty boring, worth the $0 price of library admission for rapunzel having evil moon hair that fucking kills you

___

Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker

NO EXPLANATION FOR WHY THE TODDLERS STARTED TO CRAVE BLOOD. WAS HOPING DRACULA WAS BURIED UNDER THE PRESCHOOL BUT NOBODY LETS ME HAVE ANYTHING AROUND HERE

___

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

I’d never read this before. Soooooo fun

fucking GET HIMMMMMM GIRLLLLL YESSSSSSSS!!!!! KILL!!!!!!!!!!!!

___

Declamation on the Nobility and Preeminence of the Female Sex by Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, edited by Albert Rabil Jr. 2007 edition

I cannot recommend this text enough if you are insane like me in pain like me (english literature major). Imagine that you are the princess of Austria and you’re bored of mummifying your husband’s heart and you decide to buy the man who would become arguably the world’s most famous wizard. this happened in real life. And what he decided to do was kiss her ass with his entire mouth. To that end, he wrote a torturously funny ted talk about how god made women better than men. Here are some reasons: women don’t drown in water because they’re fatter than men, but when women DO drown they do it face down so no one will see their boobs. Menstrual blood cures epilepsy and depression and can extinguish fires (????). all eagles are female (?????) and god created women last so he had tons of practice by then. This is the holy grail of bitchy footnotes. So many of these are just “he made this up”. It’s so fun!! And it’s helpful to remember that people have always been making shit up.

___

honorable mention: I read through the letters of Saint Hildegard of Bingen and I have to recommend this to everyone alive. I think she was in lesbian love so hard that that’s why she she wrote that shitty letter to the pope. but what do i know. she is also about 80% of the reason we know anything of what medieval medical knowledge was among women in europe. She also documented a ton of natural science.

___

The Crone Wars by Lydia M. Hawke

Now i have to admit i didn’t read all these. I did read the first one but this author’s priorities just don’t really align with mine, since these are ultimately straight romance novels. However, I wanted to show how long the series goes and what the titles are because I think they’re really fun. It was very cool to see what YA sensibilities look like with a 60 year old protagonist. This main character really reminded me of Usagi from Sailor Moon, which as a massive freak about sailor moon is not something I give out lightly, and I kept imagining events from this book as drawn by Riyoko Ikeda. After spending a little time with it, the manga panels just sort of happened in my mind and i recommend the experience. I do still want to draw some scenes from it sometime.