I participated in this challenge in a low key way in 2021. More information about this challenge can be found here.
Here is the 2021 r/Fantasy Bingo Card made by u/eriophora.
BINGO CARD
First Row Across:
✔️Five SFF Short Stories
I did this one hard mode. I read The Midnight Circus by Jane Yolen with an introduction by Theodora Goss.
Rating: 5 stars! A book with beautiful prose, some of the stories were extremely sad and heart breaking, but the exquisite writing style made me not able to put this short story collection down. The stories were original and heartfelt, I want to read more books by this author in the future. I recommend this anthology if you like fairy tales with a modern, original twist. This author and Theodora Goss are especially talented for fantasy with mythical themes.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
✔️Set in Asia
I read Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) by Fonda Lee
Rating: 2 stars.
This book reminds me of The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi where the world was interesting and there were loads of action but I had difficulty caring enough to go on reading even though.
I can’t explain why really… I continued this book but I won’t continue the series.
✔️First Person POV
I read The Black Witch (The Black Witch Chronicles #1) by Laurie Forest.
Rating: 3 stars.
Fantasy with a very interesting world and powerful themes.
*Spoiler alert: The only thing I didn’t like is how slow the plot moves for the main character, the story feels stretched with so many side characters storylines. I do care about the side characters but each of them gets a subplot full of new questions of their own and it becomes too much altogether.
*End of Spoiler
Even though, I’ll continue this series.
Second Row Across:
✔️Book Club OR Readalong Book
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Rating: 4 stars. I liked the dialect, the characters (especially Mami) and the plot. It was a fast, original read and I could not put it down.
✔️New to You Author
I haven’t heard anything about this author before deciding to pick up this book, so I think this qualifies for hard mode.
I was pleasantly surprised with Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice. Rating: 4,5 stars. This was a very beautiful book that I wanted to take my time and hear slowly. I wish it had been longer. I’ll keep an eye for more books by this great author.
✔️Gothic Fantasy
The Witch of Willow Hall by Hester Fox
Rating: 4 stars.
Very atmospheric, and with gothic elements quite present in the plot. I liked all the characters,
spoiler alert
even if all of them were really unnerving either by being toxic, quite messed up or way too passive/slow to act and very emotional and dramatic at the same time. end of spoiler
I could not put it down.
✔️Backlist Book
The Well of Ascension (The Mistborn Saga #2) by Brandon Sanderson
Rating: 4 stars.
I liked this book but I think that some great concepts had to be more fleshed out. Most of the creatures are very much only monsters with details so disgusting that you don’t want to hear much about them.
I missed the fleshing out that the non-human sentient beings have in Stormlight and that make them beings with a culture and objectives of their own, not only monsters to be killed because they are bent on wrathful destruction all the time. The whole idea of “non-human creatures are evil and we have to kill them all so we survive” is not the best kind of story. It might work in a middle grade book, but I expect more from Sanderson after Stormlight, therefore this doesn’t get five stars.
Zane was also a very promising character but he doesn’t get the fleshing out he deserved so the reader would understand better what was happening to him and what of that was connected to the Cosmere, you can mostly draw your own conclusions and wonder about the story behind it. An idea would be a Novella about Zane’s journey to the extremely powerful Mistborn he became, he would be the perfect unreliable narrator.
A very entertaining book, but the Stormlight series, with its fleshed out characters, non-human sentient beings, and world is still my favorite.
Third Row Across:
✔️Mystery Plot
Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Rating: 5 stars!
This hidden gem is not talked and hyped enough, the story is full of edge-of-your-seat tension, many layered characters and the best writing ever.
I could not put this down!
✔️Comfort Read
Diamonds and Daggers (Vampire Knitting Club #11) by Nancy Warren.
Rating: 4 stars. Again a very entertaining mystery with paranormal fantasy elements. This whole series was my main comfort read in 2021.
✔️Published in 2021
ReDawn (Skyward #2.2) by Brandon Sanderson, Janci Patterson
Rating: 5 stars!
This packs a punch! I don’t want to say much because Novellas are so easy to spoil but all Skyward Flight Novellas are a wonderful addition to the series.
Fourth Row Across:
✔️Latinx or Latin American Author
My chosen book has only 571 ratings at the moment which it’s a pity since this series does deserve more eyes on it.
Prime Deceptions (Chilling Effect #2) by Valerie Valdes
Rating: 5 stars!
With a plot that goes, happens and explodes and funny, relatable characters, this was a very entertaining sequel. The Spanish expressions are as extremely funny to hear on the Audiobook as they were to read on the book. And it even has a Portuguese dialogue, we always need more of that. I need more books in this series too! Thankfully the next book in the series will come out now in 2022.
✔️Genre Mashup
The Boundless (The Deathless Trilogy #3) by Peter Newman. Rating: 5 stars!
I would say that this series is fantasy with horror elements. This third and final book was awesome and beautifully epic in so many ways. The characters are rarely done in such relatable ways and I really liked how this story wrapped up. One of the best fantasy series I ever read!
Fifth Row Across:
✔️Trans or Nonbinary Character
The Vela (The Vela #1) by Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon, S.L. Huang.
Rating: 5 stars! This serial has four things I really liked:
1) Great writers collaborating in a cohesive and well done narrative,
2) Well done, many layered, characters,
3) A surprising and fast paced plot that never gets boring and
4) Food for thought of extreme, utmost importance. Many of the questions this story asks could be translated to our current world situation and how we handle world problems like refugees and climate change.
This serial packs a punch. I liked how it made me think about a lot of important things and I recommend it to anyone who wants to get out of their comfort zone while reading a very entertaining science fiction story with fast paced action. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
✔️Debut Author
Machinehood by S.B. Divya
Rating: 3 stars.
This had a very good premise and ideas but the narrative style wasn’t unfortunately for me. I would recommend this to people who like science fiction technological thrillers and are OK with a narrative in Michael Crichton’s style.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I will again be participating in a low key way in next year’s challenge.
My Reader's Journey 