May 2023 Book Haul

May was not as prolific a reading month as April, but I did manage to finish a couple of books that have plenty to love about them, depending on your personal preference! Fair warning: I am including a video game on this list because I fully believe that story can be channeled and shared through any artistic medium. With that in mind, off we go!

A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

A hunter and an alchemist grapple with their heritage, history, faith, and culture as they join the hunt to kill the world's last demiurge.

I loved the worldbuilding of this story, and I enjoyed the characters most of the time. I wish the stakes would have centered more on the lore behind the incredible mythos of the world and less on complicated teen romance, but I definitely see how other readers may prefer the story as it is!

The Wizard's Butler by Nathan Lowell

An average man buttles for a wizard who must break a curse or lose his pixie-haven mansion.

This book was a hot topic of discussion on the Cozy Fixtion subreddit and my hopes were high going in. It includes magical realism that feels very accurate to how I experience everyday life while working with magic and spiritual energies like the fae, but the pacing of the book made me care less and less about the stakes as the story drew on.

Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Now, we all know this is going to be biased because I have always been obsessed with the Legend of Zelda franchise (Yes, I do have cosplay), but this game is such a great example of the full potential of story in video games and player immersion. You can play the game your way, at your pace, solve puzzles your way, interpret the story your way, literally all the things.

This, as it were, makes the bookshelf, or in this case, has a forever place in the card slot of my Collector's Edition Zelda Switch console.

All this being said I am continuing to read books alongside my adventure in Hyrule, so I will return with more book reviews and recommendations next month!