August is the busiest of months at my day job, hence this set of reviews coming a bit later than intended. This month's books include middle-reader and YA tales, vampires, Jinn, witches, and one of my favorite literary detectives making a comeback.

Thanks as always to every publisher and author for sharing their ARCs with me! Follow the link above each book to get a copy for yourself, and be sure to leave a review of your own to support them!

A BITTER TASTE
by Josh Reynolds
Available Now

There are few feelings better than opening a new Daidoji Shin novel, and A Bitter Taste is no exception. Set in the world of Legend of the Five Rings, the series follows a seemingly lazy and empty-headed member of the courtly Crane Clan. But like every excellent gentleman detective, Shin has hidden depths, and spends his ample spare time turning his mind to puzzles and mysteries. In his fifth outing, the walls are closing in as his family is demanding he finally settle down and get married. He's convinced this is the direst thing that could happen to him... until he's accused of the murder of Kenzo, a Crane Clan auditor.

Now, Shin and his allies—including bodyguard Kasami, investigator and former fiancee Ko, and loyal gambler-turned-servant Kitano—must clear his name. Diving into this strange murder, however, unearths even more mysteries, many dating back across all the books so far. Shin may know he hasn't committed murder, but there's much more he doesn't know. And his discoveries will call into question every choice he's made and every associate he's trusted since his crime-solving adventures began.

A Bitter Taste is a concentration of everything that makes Daidoji Shin novels so good, from the Wodehousian dialogue and social antics to the multilayered mystery waiting to be unraveled. Long-time readers will have a lot to contend with, as the events of this book upend much we thought we knew, and not everyone will make it out alive. It's a novel as glib and dramatic as the white-haired sleuth himself. This is Reynolds at his best—which, as his work is always top tier, is saying something.

JOSEPHINE'S TEAR
by V.I. Davis
Available Now

In Sophie Devereaux's world, humanity's only protection from the threat of Dark Witches is vampires. In exchange for safety, humans offer the nobles of each vampire clan a vassal: a companion to feed from, who will be returned home after year's end. After her mother was killed, allegedly at the hands of Dark Witches, Sophie has stepped up to be a vassal herself. But it's not out of gratitude: in truth, her mother was killed by a vampire, and the key to ending the threat of both vampires and Dark Witches lies in a magic amulet somewhere in the manor she now calls home.

As Sophie navigates the world of vampires, she also learns more about her lord, Henry. This handsome, seemingly penitent vampire isn't like the others. As she contends with her feelings for Henry and discoveries about her mother's demise, she seeks out the amulet known as Josephine's Tear. But as the truths of this world become more evident, Sophie's path forward becomes more difficult. In the end, she may have to sacrifice someone she cares about—and perhaps her own humanity—to set things right.

The character work in Josephine's Tear is excellent, and this vampire romance sidesteps (and even calls out) a lot of the issues I personally have with paranormal romance in general. Lack of consent and the involvement of underage parties were both addressed and laid bare in the form of subplots involving the story's less savoury parties. That said, less care seems to be given to the crux of the story. Josephine's Tear itself is a macguffin, there's no denying; however, much of the meat of the story speeds by in a page or two. While it's clear that the focus of the book is the romance, it would be nice to see the seeds of that excellent fantasy adventure plot really bloom. Davis is an excellent new voice with a lot to bring to the genre, and seeing both her strengths balanced in further volumes would be a treat.

THE LAST WITCH IN EDINBURGH
by Marielle Thompson
Available Now

Nellie Duncan lives in an alternate Edinburgh in the 1800s—one where women are hanged as witches in the town square. Nellie doesn't fully believe in witches; but one night, as she's helping her drunken father keep watch for resurrectionists, she sees a woman brought back to life: one she'd only just watched hang.

This discovery leads her to Rae Women's Apothecary, where certain women of Edinburgh care for the locals and fight for the winter deity known as the Cailleach. Those who fully embrace their role as the Cailleach's daughters become "witches" of a sort: gifted with longevity and a second life. As Nellie finds a lover in Jean Rae and a place among these women, the Cailleach's jealous son fights back, seeding the ground with hate for any woman who might serve her. And decades later, when Nellie returns to the site of her defeat with her adopted daughter, she discovers she's not as alone as she thought. Not only that, but the battle against Angus and his withering summer heat must be fought with new tactics.

The Last Witch in Edinburgh brims with love of all sorts: romantic, familial, the love between friends, and the love between mentors. It also speaks a lot of often-forgotten truths about violence against women—notably, that women can be guilty of it, and that men are not born violent and hateful. In its latter half, it does occasionally suffer from the same issue as many modern books with a message: a seeming uncertainty about whether or not it's speaking the message clearly enough, leading to the dialogue to drive said message home occasionally being stilted and reading more like a college course than a narrative. That, however, is the only real downside of an otherwise engaging and heartfelt novel.

NOT NOTHING
by Gayle Foreman
Available August 27

Alex—more commonly referred to in the pages of Not Nothing as "the boy"—has done something terrible. At the age of 12, he has an impending court date, the threat of a reform home, and community service ahead of him. He's taken up work he can't stand at a retirement home, forced to work alongside a girl named Maya-Jade whom he instantly decides to dislike. Then, while delivering meals during a lockdown, he meets Josey: a 107-year-old man, blind and nonverbal. But something about Alex makes Josey break his silence.

Soon, the two begin to talk, with Josey telling the story of how he met his wife Olka and the two's trials during the Holocaust. Their time together inspires Alex to do more: befriending Maya-Jade and the other residents of Shady Glen, fighting for what's right, and telling the stories of the rest of the residents. But as Josey's story nears its end, the truth of Alex's crime comes out—to Josey, Maya-Jade, and everyone.

Not Nothing may dwell on dark topics, but it's ultimately a hopeful read. It posits that, no matter how little you've done before, or how badly you've acted, you are always in a position to change. To use Alex's most hated word, there is always an opportunity to become a better person. It's an important lesson, especially for young readers—we can always become the best version of ourselves, even when others have seen us at our worst.

DAUGHTER OF LIGHT AND DARK
by Ahlam Faris
Available August 30

Mina has been called many things in her time, not all of them kind. In a world where humans summon and enslave Jinn into rings, Mina has the uncommon ability to see and speak with them freely. So she knows what it means for a Jinn's freedom to be taken—not just for the Jinn themselves, but for the very fabric of reality. So, with the help of her Jinn protector Ashrush, she sets out to free the powerful spirits trapped inside a dozen gold rings. That includes the one belonging to her late mother.

On the first leg of this daunting task, Mina faces opposition from many fronts. Four of these rings belong to members of the Sultan's family, and Mina must engineer friendships in high places to even get close to them. Meanwhile, a cult is systematically killing off the Seers who commune with Jinn, and it would seem that Mina's friend Saif has some sort of connection to them. And there's something else: a dark power within Mina that has begun to emerge for. Could this have something to do with the name the Jinn use for her—the Daughter of Light and Dark?

Ahlam Faris's first book is enjoyable, with a good structure and an interesting narrative. It does suffer a bit from the common issues of a first book, especially a self-published first book: unchecked typos and occasional grammatical issues, plot points that could be better grounded with a second pass, and so on. But none of these factors counts against Faris's talent. She's brewed up an intriguing story in an equally intriguing setting, and I look forward to seeing her writing grow and evolve over time.