The Sonnet Lover by Carol Goodman

Mmm. Ok, I guess.

Really, this rather disappointed me. I like Goodman's literary mysteries, very much. And the literary side didn't - the story of the female Italian Renaissance sonnet writer that slowly emerged through scraps and clues. But the accompanying modern mystery was obvious and dull, and as for the romantic plot... the romantic interest never made his presence felt - he barely registered even as a part of the scenery.

The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley

A YA I picked up because I liked the premise, and it didn't disappoint. That premise is a world based on certain elements of European folk tales: selkies, goblin-like Folk who kill chickens and spoil milk. These Folk are seriously nasty, too.

The world reminded me of the one in Cecilia Dart-Thornton's Bitterbynde Trilogy, which I found an intensely frustrating read. The writing style was odd and rather stilted, and the plot and characters went haywire in the last book. But the worldbuilding I thought was fantastic.

Benighted by Kit Whitfield

A very good and surprising werewolf novel, though I may find it surprising mostly because I don't generally read werewolf novels. I've tended to dismiss them as erotica for people with odd fantasy lives since glancing over some by Laurell K. Hamilton and the like.

This was more an extended meditation on prejudice, on how it warps. The main character was a normal non-lycanthropic human, a tiny, despised minority in her world. By the end, I think I identified more with the lycanthropes.