Two things I love about participating in awards is finding new books, and having an excuse to read books that have been on my TBR for a while. It’s been a bit longer than a month since the judging phase for the Indie Ink Awards began; this year we could pick the books we would be judging, which has given me the opportunity to do both of those things. You can check all their finalists for this year.
Here are the books I’ve read and scored so far (with the categories I judged them for), together with my current and future reads for the contest.
About Indie Ink Awards:
Books by marginalized authors, self-published books, and books by small presses often get overlooked. The Indie Ink Awards is a unique event that brings together the writing community to celebrate books that have made an impact on us. This is our way of highlighting the future we want to see in books–by uplifting those that shine.
All awards are segmented into two categories: Best-In and the Writing The Future We Need awards. The “Best In” awards should exemplify the chosen category. We are looking for exceptional inclusion and diversity in works nominated for “Writing the Future We Need” awards.
A Necromancer Called Gam Gam, by Adam Holcombe
Categories: Best Light Read, Best Mentor Character
This is not just a wholesome story of a necromancer old lady, it’s also an exploration on grief and found family. It’s beautiful and moving.
The Reanimator’s Heart, by Kara Jorgensen
Categories: Best audio narration, Neurodivergent Representation by a Neurodivergent author
It was fun and cozy, although I found the second part less entertaining as the interactions between characters became repetitive.
The Dryad’s Crown, by David Hopkins
Categories: Prettiest book interior, Side Character MVP
Do you ever wish you could read classic fantasy without all the problematic stuff? This epic novel has that same feeling, with a fae MC and set in a world where everyone’s queer until proven otherwise. The audiobook version of this one is great.
Future reads
I’m currently reading The Wings of Ashtaroth and the intricacy of its world is evident from the 1% mark (mind you, this one is almost 1.5k pages long).
The Wings of Ashtaroth, by Steve Hugh Westenra
Categories: Trans or Nonbinary Representation
A Rival Most Vial, by R.K. Ashwick
Categories: LGBTQ+ Representation, Neurodivergent Representation by a Neurodivergent author
Veil Us In Gold, by Shepard Distasio
Categories: Trans or Nonbinary Representation
Last year I took part as a judge in the first Indie Ink Awards where I read and scored six books. If you want to check my assignments and reviews for those, you can check my post from last year. You can also see all last year’s winners.
Tiny Elf Arcanist 
Leave a comment