Leo R. Skoble

Fucking amazing fantasy storytelling. Made me inspired to emulate parts of her style in my own writing. Trans main character for the win. Incredible world building that makes the world feel lived in beyond the scope of the one city it takes place in. Reveals hit at just the right pace and knock you off your feet. Bittersweet and heartbreaking in the best way Somehow all the summaries online kind of spoil it? 10/10 LMSS: 8 - somehow even despite the clear explanation of how th

As the edges of the papers singed and fell to their fate, the ink on the pages written into alchemical and runic patterns gave out a hiss when the fire touched it. Uvior watched them burn, glad they were screaming. He shook his head. No, he felt sorry for the ink and the parchment, being forced to depict such evil things. The papers whistled a terrible, haunting tune as they perished. A high-pitched whine that matched the tone of the tinnitus after an explosion, or a tea kett

Spoiler-free, as always. (Everything I say that may sound like a spoiler is in the book's marketing) Genres: Fantasy/romance The romance is between the king and his bodyguard/knight (called a paladin) who have romantic history from before the paladin started his training and the king was a prince. They fell out of touch, and you can really feel that longing and wistfulness in the paladin's inner thoughts One of the smaller reasons I have a hard time reading romances is if I d

*It is not necessary to read Reforged, Reborn, and Reclaimed in order (that order), but there are references to other locations and names that can only been understood after reading the rest of the trilogy. I read them in what is technically the order 3, 1, 2, but that did not diminish my experience while reading them* Onto the review! Spoiler-free, as always Genres: Fantasy/romance/mystery I am not exaggerating when I say that this book changed my life. Two very important as

In most of my book reviews, I give the book two ratings. A general 1-10 rating, and what I'm calling the "Leo's Magic System Scale" (LMSS for short (is that stupid? eh, who cares)) Unlike a typical 1-10 scale, this scale doesn't necessarily reflect how much I enjoyed the portrayal of magic in the book. You can infer what my preferences are based on where I have ranked each level, but this scale isn't so much a scale as it is a list I can use as shorthand for describing a magi