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Mad Sisters of Esi review & release!

Myung and Laleh are keepers of the whale of babel. They roam within its cosmic chambers, speak folktales of themselves, and pray to an enigmatic figure they know only as 'Great Wisa'. To Laleh, this is everything. For Myung, it is not enough.

When Myung flees the whale, she stumbles into a new universe where shapeshifting islands and ancient maps hold sway. There, she sets off on an adventure that is both tragic and transformative, for her and Laleh. For at the heart of her quest lies a mystery that has confounded scholars for centuries: the truth about the mad sisters of Esi.

Fables, dreams and myths come together in this masterful work of fantasy by acclaimed author Tashan Mehta, sweeping across three landscapes, and featuring a museum of collective memory and a festival of madness. At its core, it asks: In the devastating chaos of this world, where all is in flux and the truth ever-changing, what will you choose to hold on to?

Bookshop.org

Barnes & Noble

4/5 stars Recommended if you like: fantasy, lyrical writing, mirrored plotlines

Big thanks to HarperCollins, Netgalley, and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

While the narrative style is quite different, it reminds me a bit of the style in The Spear Cuts Through Water . Both focus heavily on lyricism and involve non-traditional (in the West, at least) narrative styles. The end result is a winding story that weaves between scenes and characters in an artful way. That being said, the book is quite cerebral in terms of tone, narration, and theme, so it can be hard to follow at times.

This story follows two plotlines, one with Myung + Laleh and another with Wisa + Magali. These stories are, in a way, mirrors of each other. Two sisters, one content with where they are and another who yearns for more. In both the sisters are close and any separation results in a strong desire to be together again. But Myung + Laleh are the only two people each other knows, they live in the whale of babel, while Wisa + Magali live on the island of Esi, famed for its festival of madness once every century.

The plot takes a while to get going, and kind of meanders for a bit once things kick of with Myung's adventure. We get to see Laleh and Myung when they're young, and then we get to see what life is like for them independently. Much of their 'youth' involves visiting the various worlds available to them in the whale and exploring the foliage and animals, language seemingly popping into existence as needed. Once Myung finally reaches the island of Ojda, a fabled ever-changing island where Magali is said to have spent the last of her days, we're introduced to a new character, Blajine. Even with a third character in the mix, the writing stays largely focused on the surroundings, so much of the first portion of the book is very descriptive about the characters' surroundings and the mental effects this has on the characters (especially on Ojda).

With Blajine in the mix, we start to see this push-pull tension, where Myung is desperate to get answers and Blajine knows she must cast Myung away from the island. Despite both of their 'quests' the two women are drawn to each other, so that their initial interactions are a cat-and-mouse game where both are the cat and both are the mouse.

Laleh, somehow, is viewing this in a dream, so we also get some of her thoughts and reactions to things. The island of Ojda also has ghosts of Blajine's ancestors, so we get some color commentary from them as well.

Once the second half of the story kicks in, the plot really picks up. Two sisters who grew up alone in a cosmic whale don't really have a lot to say, but two sisters who grew up on the island of Esi do, and that's where the second half of the story focuses. The ghost of Magali weaves her and Wisa's tale for the ghosts + Laleh, Blajine, and Myung. This story-within-a-story is vibrant and full of life and emotion, and really is the core of the book.

Magali grew up an only child raised by her grandfather, the golden child of her village on Esi, a community who shunned the magical 'craft' of the rest of the island, and guarded carefully against madness. Wisa is the younger girl Magali's grandfather adopts one day. While Magali is the golden child, Wisa is the one who runs through the forest and talks to the rivers and insects and birds. She's a wild thing, odd in the village, but so full of exuberance and honesty that she doesn't seem to care. I enjoyed seeing Magali and Wisa's relationship develop. The two become quite close to one another and end up exploring in ways that open the senses and mind. Jinn, a boy from town and Magali's ex-best-friend, also joins them and they become a trio. Magali is fiercely protective of her sister and would do anything to ensure she's safe and happy.

The story of Magali, Wisa, and Jinn is probably my favorite part of the book. It has a much more concrete plot, so it provides a bit of a brain break, and it's so full of color and thought and excitement it's hard to not want to know what comes next. That being said, we know from the start that the ending is tragic, or at least semi-tragic, Magali is a ghost, after all, and Ojda exists as a beacon for Wisa. So we know from the get-go that the two were separated and never reunited, at least in life. There is, after all, the afterlife to contend with.

While the story is about two pairs of sisters, mirrored stories, as I said above, it's also about memory and truth and remembrance. What's true in a cosmic whale that opens into an untold number of universes? On an island that descends into madness for one week every century? On an island that is ever-changing and with a painted sun? What is truth to the person who has their own narrative? To the person who can talk to the lizards and the trees just as well as to people? What is remembrance when anyone can reach the cosmic museum of memory, but every person's path is different? When not all memories are recorded?

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I last read...

River of Teeth by Sarah Gailey

what I wanted: to get around to finally reading this after having heard about it on tumblr so long ago

what I got: wild west adventures except with hippos and swamps instead of deserts and horses

what I thought: There's lost of twists in this one (which I liked) and the characters have complexity as well. I do wish things were slightly more fleshed out, though. I rate this 3 out of 5 playing cards.

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It'll be soon actually, probably within the next month or so. A manga series called Good Night PunPun. Hubby is reading it and is not sure whether to get the next volume, so asked if I would be willing to read and help him decide.

Weekly Bookish Question #452 (August 3rd - August 9th, 2025)

When was the last time you read a book for someone else? (as an act of love, not because they forced you to) What was the book and why did you read it for that person?

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Phenomenal news. Just what the people ordered.

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Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.

Anton Chekhov

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April Book Reviews: Advocate by Daniel Ford

Book three of an ongoing series. In Advocate, Aelis is suddenly recalled back to the city to serve as legal Advocate for her warden mentor, who has been unjustly accused of murdering a fellow wizard. Can Arlis juggle an investigation leading into increasingly high places with placating her demanding aristocratic family and also finding a cure for the curse that afflicts her lover Maurenia?

The fun of the Warden books is they feature a highly specific character causing problems in a pulp swords and sorcery setting. Aelis is the instantly recognizable type of the overacheiving and self-centered postgrad suddenly hitting the real world. She's completely insufferable (affectionate). While the undead ankle shenanigans of book 2 were perhaps peak Aelis, she's on fine form here rampaging through the Lyceum burning bridges, from her ex lover to her commander to every single guard she encounters. And in fact, her mentor comments that he picked her because she'd be incredibly annoying investigating and would not stop. A bad quality for a friend but an excellent one for maximum drama and excitement.

The plot itself is an engaging mix of murder mystery and wizard intrigue, although Aelis' preferred investigation style is more causing problems until something gets stirred up than detective. As the plot moves from the rural enclave of Lone Pine to a cosmopolitan city, the worldbuilding gets a little more room to breathe. I enjoyed learning about more kinds of wizardry than Aelis' necromancy, as well as gnome subculture and wizard politics.

An engaging DnD flavored fantasy with a memorable main character. But do be warned that it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. Ford is obviously planning to write a sequel.

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Snake-Eater

By T. Kingfisher.

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Have you used your local library’s services within the last year? Whether that be visiting in person or using online resources, like Libby.

- Yes

- No

- I don’t have a local library

- I mainly use my university’s library services instead of my local library’s

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The Seep by Chana Porter

Trina FastHorse Goldberg-Oneka is a fifty-year-old trans woman whose life is irreversibly altered in the wake of a gentle—but nonetheless world-changing—invasion by an alien entity called The Seep. Through The Seep, everything is connected. Capitalism falls, hierarchies and barriers are broken down; if something can be imagined, it is possible.

Trina and her wife, Deeba, live blissfully under The Seep’s utopian influence—until Deeba begins to imagine what it might be like to be reborn as a baby, which will give her the chance at an even better life. Using Seeptech to make this dream a reality, Deeba moves on to a new existence, leaving Trina devastated.

Heartbroken and deep into an alcoholic binge, Trina follows a lost boy she encounters, embarking on an unexpected quest. In her attempt to save him from The Seep, she will confront not only one of its most avid devotees, but the terrifying void that Deeba has left behind. A strange new elegy of love and loss, The Seep explores grief, alienation, and the ache of moving on.

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Remnants, for June’s Patreon poll!

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as a librarian, i can't encourage you enough to check out stuff you don't think you'll get around to reading

like other institutions, at the end of the day we have to use numbers to justify our existence and inform our financial decisions

check out that novel by that author you like even if you know there's no time to finish it. check out a movie you like even if you can't watch it. check out a sewing machine even if you don't have time for a project. we don't check if you finish anything, and it all adds up.

support your local library by checking out things you don't need

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July Reading Wrap-Up!!

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“They bind our feet and ankles, tear off our clothes and douse us with alcohol. Amy’s crying and shaking like a new lamb, and I want to reach out to her but Stevens’ knife is held to my throat, his face so close I can small his disgusting breath. He uncurls his fingers to show me the stones before shoving them in my mouth, breaking my teeth. I gag on blood and broken molars.”

With an opening paragraph like this how could I not devour this book.

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So I've been thinking about a discussion over on the Discworld reddit recently

Basically someone was like 'Discworld has become my go to cosy read'

And someone was like 'Disword isn't cosy it's actually very satirical and can be quite scathing and not escapist fluff'

But to me I would also class Discworld a cosy/comforting read.

And I think the fact the series does go to some pretty dark places is part of why I find it comforting, because Discworld doesn't shy away from the fact that bad things happen and you have to just get on with it and the fact it's full of characters who are often kind of fed up with everything but still go and do the Right Thing anyway even if it's hard and I actually find that more comforting than if it was like 'Oh nothing bad ever happens' setting.

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when i say “sad boy/girl hours” i mean i’m thinking about alia atreides at sixteen fucking years old saying,

“i wish i could burn this thing out of me…but i’m sister to an emperor who is worshipped as a god. people fear me. i never wanted to be feared. i don’t want to be part of history; i just want to be loved. and love.”

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"Book Collector with Six Cats (one hidden)" by Edward Gorey

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JOMP BPC || June 15 || Favorite Book Dad: Terciel from Garth Nix's Abhorsen Series