This month I got through five books (plus a bonus short story)! Not quite where I hoped to be, but not bad either.

Witch King by Martha Wells
Book 1 of The Rising World
Fantasy - physical novel; read with Taylor
5/5

Kaiisteron is a Prince of the Underearth - an immortal demon, capable of possessing and utilizing the bodies of the recently dead. When he wakes up in a tomb, no longer occupying his most recent body, it's clear something terrible has happened. He and his closest friend and companion Ziede, who has been similarly entombed, have been betrayed by someone they trusted; timed to take them out of the picture as important political decisions are being made. Further investigation reveals that Ziede's wife, Tahren, is also missing.
They need to find Tahren, and find out more about who betrayed them and why. This sends them back to one of the last places Kai ever wanted to go: the Hierarch courts where he was imprisoned and tortured generations before, where he joined the rebellion that reshaped the world.

My thoughts, only minor spoilers:

I read this book last year, and then wanted Taylor to read it, so it became our most recent co-read (also good timing, because I wanted to reread it before the next book comes out.) I loved it last year, still loved it on a re-read, and am enthusiastically awaiting Queen Demon coming out next week.
The book shifts between two timelines. Part of it is set in the past, starting with Kai's first incarnation, and up through his capture by the Hierarchs, and his joining an unlikely-to-succeed rebellion. Then there's the present timeline, starting with Kai and Ziede waking up in the tomb, and their quest to return to the Hierarch courts to find a Ziede's wife.
I enjoyed both timelines enough that I was never disappointed when we moved from one to another.
There are a lot of different groups in play, and the story very much starts in media res, so there is a lot of information that the reader initially lacks context for. I didn't find it too overwhelming or confusing on my first read, though I think some readers did, and the ways in which information was given and established worked for me, though it did require some extra attention. I enjoyed already having some of that context on a re-read, though, and found some aspects much easier to track on the second read.
I really like the characters, and the worldbuilding itself. It's fun that it's a fantasy that very much is not generic pseudo-european in nature, and is also somewhat post-apocalyptic. The Hierarch's war, where they conquered every nation they came to, isn't fully understood, but it is inescapable that there are entire cities and nations left abandoned, or with only the smallest of settlements cropping up in otherwise ruined once-massive cities.
It also always feels like there's a lot more complexity lurking just off-page; like the characters have complicated histories with each other that we're only beginning to grasp and such. It leaves me excited for more set within this world, and I hope the next book builds on it in interesting ways.

The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey
Book 1 of Carrion City, apparently (though I haven't seen any information about the next book; another review I saw mentioned it will be a duology, but no idea when that next one will be out.)
Horror (Subgenres: urban fantasy*, eldritch, demonic, body horror) (f/f) - ebook novel
3/5

*The content of the book is much more horror-focused and gorier than I think of when I think of urban fantasy, but the tone of the book and the conventions of "hidden supernatural world that only some people are aware of, while otherwise in a modern urban setting" feels very urban fantasy.

Julie's life is pretty much the definition of being down on her luck. Her freelance demon hunting is hit or miss at best; while she's extremely talented at what she does, her confrontational personality makes it even less likely to translate to being paid for her work. Her priority being drugs and alcohol doesn't help, and if it weren't for the endless forbearance of her questionably-human landlord, she'd probably be a lot worse off. And then things start to get complicated.
Her ex boyfriend and occasional employer, Tyler, has been following his unstoppable ambitions to rise through the ranks of a law firm, Thorne & Dirk. The firm contracts largely with extradimensional demonic entities, slowly bringing about their favored breed of apocalypse, which is now approaching.
Her once best-friend and crush, Sarah, turns up at her doorstep, running away from her abusive marriage.
In trying to sort out the rest of her life, a summoning that Julie attempts turns out to have been a setup - the ritual from an old book a forgery deliberately placed to entrap her. Turns out the "angel" she summoned is also trying to hasten Thorne & Dirk's apocalypse.

My thoughts, some spoilers:

My feelings on this one were mixed. I mostly enjoyed the feeling and the tone of the book. The horror mapped well onto that urban fantasy vibe, and the body horror was very horrific at times. (Sometimes extremely gross, haha.) I liked a lot of the secondary characters, and the different types of magic that it hinted at for them. Dead Air, who seems to be sort of a high priest to a techno-god pantheon, was neat. St. Joan, the semi-human, semi-immortal golden-age Hollywood starlet landlady, was fun. Having a guy I also hate named Tyler made the primary antagonist feel extra punchable to me.
Unfortunately, the book never quite seemed to gel as a whole for me. I enjoyed the parts of it that felt episodic, yet that style felt at-odds with the overarching plot, like it wasn't quite striking the right balance between the two.
Aspects of it also got a little repetitive. It does lean heavily on demonic and body horror, and specifically the horror of unending suffering (you're going to be tortured horrifically, and it's going to last an undetermined length of time that you will be forced to fully experience, or worse, you'll be unable to die and this is now truly your eternity because that's what the demons do.) I DO find that a horrific concept, and it was effective the first couple of times, but then it just... kept coming up. That was sort of the main point of all the different demons they faced, whether it was the threat hanging over the protagonists, the primary method of control and punishment used by the evil law firm and the demons they're working with, the fate of some of the bad guys, the tragic fate of some of the bystanders, etc. It just sort of lost its impact after a while, because that just seemed to be the end result for everyone. Awful, but practically inevitable for the setting.
(Similarly, and this is probably kind of the point, but man, what is the point of devoting your life to the service of these bring-about-the-apocalypse cults? Most of the people aren't even being given false promises; it's literally "we'll torture you now, and eventually we'll torture you forever. You probably won't get any appreciable power or wealth for now, even." Who signs up for that? I expected that at least the law firm cult stuff would be people who thought they had a shot at some sort of eternal power and reward, but almost everyone seems aware that they aren't going to make it. With few exceptions they aren't like, secretly thinking they have a shot at being one of the select few.)
Also repetitive: Julie and Sarah were sweet, and I was very happy for their relationship to happen, but it got a little overly will-they-won't-they. It stopped being slow-burn "just kiss, you idiots; everyone knows you like each other!" and more "ugh, do we have to do yet another 'blush and pretend like we aren't into each other 'like that' and deny it' round??" It's very much a B-plot to the horror, but felt dragged out.
The title is catchy, but no one, living or dead, ever even takes the subway on-page. :( 
I'm also not entirely sure the plot arc felt complete. There is apparently supposed to be another book, but this one sort of felt like it just... ended. Julie and Sarah are at a fairly good spot, and their conflict is wrapped up for the moment, but Tyler seems to be in the middle of a winning streak, it's clear that nothing is really resolved, and the apocalypse still looms. If this was supposed to be a standalone, I would find that very frustrating. As it is, I only know that there's supposed to be another book because when I entered it on LibraryThing it told me it was book 1. I did not see anything in the book itself indicating that there's supposed to be another, and haven't seen any indication of when the next book might be coming out.

I feel like I'd really enjoy the characters and world as like... case-fic, or a monster-of-the-week TV show. Julie as a protagonist of an episodic series, fighting horrible demonic body-horror entities would be extremely fun, imo. That was largely where I thought the strengths of the story were: the cold open where she's at the bachelorette party gone horribly wrong; going with her intern to get rid of a demon that Tyler expects will kill her; getting the rare book to summon the "angel." That format would let some of those interesting side characters get the occasional spotlight, the bigger plot arcs could marinate in the background, and the b-plots like Julie and Sarah's relationship could be stretched out a bit more naturally. It felt like it couldn't quite breathe as well as it wanted to as a novel.

Tidal Creatures by Seanan McGuire
Book 3 of Alchemical Journeys
Fantasy/urban fantasy - physical novel
4/5

Lunar gods, from the well-known (like Artemis) to the lesser remembered (like Aske), incarnate in our world via human hosts. As Lunars, they have a task: taking turns to go through gates that take them to the space over the Impossible City, where they serve as a living moon to cross the sky.
The Impossible City is a mystery, a place that serves as the psychic manifestation of every magical, ideal place: Shangri-La, Atlantis, etc. The city itself is the target of the world's alchemists, because anyone who controls the city will have the power to control reality itself.
When a minor Lunar deity is murdered on her route, the other Lunars need to find out what happened. Standing in their way are the alchemists who have learned that the Lunars might be a gateway into the Impossible City, and who have no problem with collateral damage.

My thoughts:

This book was a fun read.
Roger and Dodger (the protagonists from the first book) were back as more prominent characters, after being mostly incidental to book 2. It was nice to run into them (and my girl, Erin! And Smita!)
I feel like the book itself is difficult to describe, because a lot of it hinges on the events and worldbuilding from previous books. This book itself did a good job of reminding me of the things I needed to know, though. A few times, I was worried that I was going to feel lost because it's been a while since I read Middlegame, but then the information I was specifically struggling to recall would be talked about, so that was kind of nice. (It's a struggle to balance "trust readers to remember shit" and "...but don't require them to reread multiple books as homework every time a new one in the series comes out.")
I like the various incarnate lunar gods, and all the ways in which they're similar and different to each other, fulfilling the same role, but also being unique characters.
The alchemists as a whole manage to continue to be awful, ha.
It felt like a lot of the plot came crowded at the end of the book, like I recall looking at it like "how are we going to wrap this up when I've got less than a quarter of the book left..." but it ended up feeling fine to me. It didn't feel rushed or like it skipped over things I needed to know.
The resolution of the sort-of-mystery plot didn't feel like a surprise; it seemed pretty much a given from the start, but it wasn't really trying to be a surprise, I don't think. Enjoyed it, will look forward to book 4 next year.

Duma Key by Stephen King
Horror (subgenres: haunting, demonic, curses... though none entirely played straight) - physical novel; read with Alex
4/5

Edgar Freemantle's life is derailed after a construction site accident leaves him with a lost arm, even more physical damage, and traumatic brain injury. After his marriage also falls apart, he moves out to Duma Key, a small island in Florida, wanting to take a break from his "old life" and maybe figure out whether he has the potential for a life moving forward. On Duma Key, in a rented house that's often been the temporary residence of famed artists, he discovers his own unexpected artistic talent. He also befriends his neighbor (also his landlady), the elderly Elizabeth Eastlake, and her assistant and caregiver Wireman. Edgar's paintings seem to impact reality itself, and start to reveal some terrible secrets that have long been buried on Duma.

My thoughts, some spoilers:

This is a LONG book, haha. Not shocking for King, but 769 pages is a lot of pages. Alex and I have been reading this since early May. It is broken up into such short internal segments that it was always easy to pick back up, though.
It's a bit of a slow burn as far as the horror is concerned: there are certainly hints of it even from the start, but it takes a while for the horror part of the plot to really take off. I found this effective, because it does make the "deal with the devil" aspect a little more impactful. Initially, Edgar isn't experiencing much in the way of a downside to his power, and is getting an awful lot of benefit, so it makes total sense for him to want to continue exploring and strengthening it. While it wouldn't have been the parlance at the time, he gets to fuck around a bunch before he has to find out, haha. (And this same pattern gets mentioned overtly toward the end, when they're looking at how these events played out for a previous victim; that eventually the "sugar candy"—the initial love-bombing temptation of what this power can provide—is no more, and the horror sets in.)
A bit tangential, and it is personal preference, but I did find it occasionally frustrating when the narrative would use... not even foreshadowing so much as self-spoilers, almost like it wanted to remind you that the horror would be coming. It's not that it doesn't make sense in context; the narrative is Edgar recounting the whole series of events, so he knows what's going to happen, and of course he feels strongly about what he wishes he had known or could have done differently. But as a reader, I find it a tension killer when the book tells me what's about to occur. Saying "I wonder, would she have stubbed out her cigarette so quickly if she knew it would be the last she'd ever have? She would be dead by the following morning." or "I wish I had given her an extra hug; I never saw her alive again." or something similar doesn't ramp up my expectations or dread, it just tells me how it's going to play out, and specifically not to have hope when the characters are trying to save someone.
The other thing that sort of lost me was the description of Edgar's paintings, ha. In context in the book, he is being hailed as a new master, an untrained talent that is producing surrealist masterpieces that are taking the local art scene—and maybe far beyond the 'local scene'—by storm... But I had to suspend my disbelief fairly seriously to buy into what was being described as truly being that amazing.
Overall, I did enjoy it! I enjoy the specific sort of mystery, where clues are revealed in old newspaper articles and letters and photographs. That shit is my jam, and it was fun to follow what happened to Elizabeth in the distant past and what was happening to Edgar now.

Diavola by Jennifer Thorne
Horror (subgenres: haunting, family, psychological, curses) - ebook novel
4/5

Always the black sheep of the family, Anna Pace isn't exactly thrilled to embark on a major family vacation, even somewhere as beautiful as the Tuscan countryside. Still, she meets up with everyone: her parents, her older sister, her brother-in-law, and her two nieces, plus her twin brother and his new boyfriend. As expected, it doesn't take long for family drama to rear its head: old grudges, current complaints, and the constant clashes of personality, priorities, and expectations.
That would be miserable enough, but it quickly becomes clear that there is something deeply wrong with the Tuscan villa they've rented... a malevolent presence in the home. It seems clear that the locals expect such things from the villa, and Anna finds out there is a dark history to the place. Yet even as things within the villa escalate—past slamming doors and spoiled food, to unexplainable actions and missing time—the rest of the family seems to refuse to believe that anything truly strange is going on.

My thoughts, minor spoilers:

This book felt like a horror movie, and one that I feel like I've seen before. (Family goes on an idyllic vacation, except everyone has major drama and seems to low-key loathe and resent each other, and then the paranormal shit starts up too.) Even so, this was a good entry into the subgenre!
The Pace family is awful, haha. While most of my personal family relationships are pretty good, the types of petty dramas being blown up, the way things are blamed on others, the demands being levied, the commitment to understanding things in the worst possible light... oof, it certainly feels like only slight magnification of very real, very miserable family dynamics. This kind of crossed the line a bit into the "oh, this is second-hand miserable to read about" at times, though. Which isn't a bad thing; it certainly put the horrible in horror, lol, but it was definitely sometimes a bit vicariously upsetting. 
The historic aspects of what the ghost was and where she came from really appealed to me. I'm not an expert on Italian language or history, or art history, but all those aspects that got twined together into the story all felt convincing to me! It was enjoyable.
I really liked Anna's ultimate resolution, even if she Went Through It to get there. It felt fitting and earned, to me.

Bonus short story (not counting short stories as books read, unless they're a whole anthology, but it is something I read!):

"Swelter" by Jules Kelley
F/F Romance - ebook short story
4.5/5

Grace heads back to her southern hometown in Georgia to surprise her brother at his wedding. His best friend Maya (also serving as the best man in his wedding) goes to pick Grace up and facilitate the surprise. Grace has had a crush on Maya for a long time... and the feeling might be mutual, even though Maya has always held herself apart, considering her best friend's sister to be off-limits.

My extremely brief thoughts:

This was cute and hot! Not much to say, really. It is a very quick read, but a nice get-together hook up!
There's a sequel short story about the same characters that appears to be set around Halloween, so I'll probably go ahead and read that sometime in October.

I also did DNF a book:

A Queen Rises by Lola Andrews

This is the one that I was kind of waffling on last month. It was supposed to be my brain candy ebook side-read, and I found myself not looking forward to it at all. :/ I felt bad, because this was a book I won in a giveaway from the author's newsletter (though this was years ago), and she seemed very nice and earnest about her work. I wanted to like it! It definitely had some good aspects, but felt like it needed a stronger editing round, because even several hours and about a fifth of the way in, it felt like I was waiting for the plot to kick off. The length was also part of what decided me: this was a very long book, and pushing through another 500 pages was a daunting prospect.
I may try to return to this one at some point, or see if something more recent from the author appeals.

I am currently reading four books:
- The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (or I will be reading this one as of tonight)
- Dracula by Bram Stoker, keeping up with it in serial format via Dracula Daily and Re: Dracula
- Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes, my current co-read with Alex (a reread for me)
- Overgrowth by Mira Grant, my current co-read with Taylor (a reread for me)

I also did a thing I'd told myself I wouldn't do until the end of the year: I adjusted my TBR list. Only minorly! I shifted my non-ebook-horror books down a couple positions to make room for my much-anticipated new releases. (Silver and Lead and Queen Demon.) This way, they aren't in addition to the stuff on my list, but have instead been incorporated into the list. I'm hoping that gives me a fighting chance to hit that third stretch goal of completing my horror ebooks by the end of the year. I still might not quite get there, but I'm still hoping to try!