Seems like enemies-to-lovers is all the rage for most romances these days, and while it has never been a favorite of mine, I do want to read more of this trope to see if the problem I have is a me thing, or if the enemies-to-lovers’ books I have read simply haven’t done it for me. I’m sad to say that this book doesn’t get me closer to those answers. But, oddly, my issues with this steamy, sapphic enemies-to-lovers’ fantasy romance wasn’t the trope itself, but the world building. Set in a semi-urban fantasy, you have a kingdom torn in two (literally) where magic is determined by if a certain sentient house likes you enough to gift you magic. There’s a magic house for everything, and if you are gifted said magic, you’ll be given a tattoo so everyone knows you have Assassin guild magic, or mechanic magic, or rune magic, or herbal magic, or well, pretty much anything I guess because the world building never gets that defined. Everything felt a bit vague, and hurried, sacrificed mainly so we could be told more just how much our rivals turned enemies want to fight, and f*ck each other.

The premise of this paranormal, urban fantasy romance sounds super cute, even if, admittedly, I wasn’t going to read this book. You see, I wanted to mainly read book 2 in this little series of “semi” stand alone romances, but then I found out how big of a role the main couple in book 2 play in “A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon”, and here we are. Mariel is a very powerful nature witch. This fact is never, ever hidden. Yet some how nature witches aren’t considered powerful? Or just not flashy enough to be deemed that impressive so Mariel struggles to gain her families approval. She struggles so much that she accidentally summons a demon when she means to summon flour, and now he can’t leave until he makes a deal for her soul. Queue the romcom hijinks with all the forced proximity, sunshine and grumpy love interests, and sort of enemies to lovers. Honestly there are so many tropes in this romance that it felt like the author was going through a check list at times, but that wouldn’t have bothered me if the FMC hadn’t done something to make me knock a whole star off this rating.

First and foremost, I would say that “A Song Below Water” fits more comfortably in the magical realism realm of fantasy, rather than urban fantasy, and here’s why. In this version of America (and Portland where the story takes place) mythical creatures like sirens, elokos, sprites, and mermaids are real and their existence is not questioned. Tavia is a siren, and her best friend/sister is not, but is sent to live with Tavia for her own protection. They have a gargoyle that sits on their roof and people don’t really care outside of the creature being rare and therefore a bit of a novelty, even though Tavia’s dad really wishes it wouldn’t come around. Because Tavia’s father is terrified of his daughter and doesn’t want the added attention to their home. He’s not scared for her, not anymore, but of her. But the story doesn’t focus a ton on that aspect of the relationship outside of Tavia’s extreme pain and isolation centered around her feeling like her family hates her and wishes she was anything other than a siren. There’s a lot of trauma this book addresses, both familial and racial, but the racial aspects take front and center, as they should, but it leaves the family aspect a bit unresolved. For “A Song Below Water” is not about Black sirens, but about being Black while being a siren.

“Knight in Paper Armor” is a dark dystopian novel set in the near future, where corporate greed and racism have completely taken over and divided up America (and I assume other countries but they’re never really talked about). We follow Billy, a young Jewish boy with incredible physic powers; able to take away the physical and emotional pain of those he touches, as well as mind controlling them if his darker tendencies get pushed too far. When Billy is finally allowed to leave the facility where he’s being tested on to attend school like a “normal” teen, he meets our female main character, Natalia. Natalia is an immigrant from Guatemala, a fact she has to hide, pretending to be from Mexico instead—though she faces a lot of bigotry for that, too. Billy and Natalia deal with extreme racism from practically the start, their world is brutal in every sense of the word, and the author is not shy about sharing their experiences in great detail. The topics covered in this sci-fi fantasy dystopian are important and very much apply to the world we live in today, but I do not think this book is appropriate for the audience it’s intended for….

I know I say this a lot, but I LOVED the idea of this book. Put the Olympian gods smack dab in New York during the height of prohibition and make them the biggest criminal organization selling booze and running brothels? Uh, yes please! I have recently been on a mafia and organized crime kick so I figured this was the perfect time to finally settle in and read this book, especially since I do love me some Greek mythology. But the story I got wasn’t the one I was expecting, and not in a good way either? Kind of, even now I’m still a bit conflicted.