Title: The Iron Sword

Series: The Iron Fey, Evenfall #2

Author: Julie Kagawa

As Evenfall nears, the stakes grow ever higher for those in Faery…

Banished from the Winter Court for daring to fall in love, Prince Ash achieved the impossible and journeyed to the End of the World to earn a soul and keep his vow to always stand beside Queen Meghan of the Iron Fey.

Now he faces even more incomprehensible odds. Their son, King Keirran of the Forgotten, is missing. Something more ancient than the courts of Faery and more evil than anything Ash has faced in a millennium is rising as Evenfall approaches. And if Ash and his allies cannot stop it, the chaos that has begun to divide the world will shatter it for eternity.

‘A shadow had fallen over Faery, the echo of a new prophecy hovering over it like a storm. The end has begun. Evenfall is coming. Faery and every living creature that exists under the sun are doomed.’

Me wanting to read this was a no brainer because of 1 word……Ash. (My love for him is strong!!)

Kierran is missing and something big is brewing so the crew set off to find him, Ash, Meghan, Grim, Nyx and Puck.

What follows are a series of adventures, a lot of meetings and action, creepy, dark monsters and a new foe, The Nightmare King.

Although I loved being back in this world, I did find the plot a bit slow in places but I loved seeing Meghan and Ash, Kierran, Puck and Nyx….I love them and they are close to my heart.

Another thing I loved was how this book captured a part of what SM is doing to society in a small way in real life: ‘Welcome to the internet, manufactured outrage is all the rage these days.’

I especially loved the idea of Evenfall, why didn’t I think of this before? But I won’t say anymore about that here as I don’t want to give anything away!

The ending was superb, can’t wait to see what happens next!

Top Ten Tuesday is featured by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Topic – Books with Character Names In the Titles

So books with characters names in the book title, a nice little mix of genres too!

❤ Until Talon by Aurora Rose Reynolds

❤ Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston

❤ Lev and Vik by Belle Aurora

❤ War by Laura Thalassa

❤ Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

❤ Cash’s Fight by Jamie Begley

❤ Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren

❤ Vicious by LJ Shen

❤ Raze by Tillie Cole

Happy February!

‘Though, February is short, it is filled with lots of love and sweet surprises.’ —Charmaine J Forde

‘In the coldest February, as in every other month in every other year, the best thing to hold on to in this world is each other.’ — Linda Ellerbee

Title: City of Brass

Series: The Daevabad Trilogy

Author: SA Chakraborty

Nahri has never believed in magic. Certainly, she has power; on the streets of 18th century Cairo, she’s a con woman of unsurpassed talent. But she knows better than anyone that the trade she uses to get by—palm readings, zars, healings—are all tricks, sleights of hand, learned skills; a means to the delightful end of swindling Ottoman nobles.

But when Nahri accidentally summons an equally sly, darkly mysterious djinn warrior to her side during one of her cons, she’s forced to accept that the magical world she thought only existed in childhood stories is real. For the warrior tells her a new tale: across hot, windswept sands teeming with creatures of fire, and rivers where the mythical marid sleep; past ruins of once-magnificent human metropolises, and mountains where the circling hawks are not what they seem, lies Daevabad, the legendary city of brass, a city to which Nahri is irrevocably bound.

In that city, behind gilded brass walls laced with enchantments, behind the six gates of the six djinn tribes, old resentments are simmering. And when Nahri decides to enter this world, she learns that true power is fierce and brutal. That magic cannot shield her from the dangerous web of court politics. That even the cleverest of schemes can have deadly consequences.

After all, there is a reason they say be careful what you wish for…

Nahri is on her own in Cairo and is basically a con artist, but she also has a real ability to sense illness in people. In one of her cons she accidentally summons a djinn, Dara, who tells her who she really is and takes her to Daevabad.

Along the same timeline, we also meet Ali who is the son of the King who doesn’t like how his father’s regime treats Shafits, half djinn, half human people. (I hope I have all the spellings right as I listened to it!)

As I said above, I listened to this book and, at first, I wasn’t sure it was the right format for this story for me. I was a bit confused at points with all the different magical groups, political issues but then it all sort of slotted into place, not sure if it was me or not! 

But as soon as Nahri arrived at the Palace, I was hooked to every word! I love Dara is all I have to say!!!

Onto book 2 for me!

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted by Caffeinated Reviewer It’s a chance to share news, a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received.

Here we are with my 2nd update of 2022! Doesn’t January feel like a month with 85 days in it?!!! It felt like it was dragging all month!

There’s not much to report here really, nothing has happened apart from run of the mill work and school!

My reading year has got off to a great start with 13 books read in total for January. I’ve been like a reading machine because that’s more than I normally read!

On the blog, I had a spurt of reviews to catch up on so they’ve been posted in the last week and a bit (sorry for the amount!) and I have a few that I’ll post in February.

What I’ve Read

Defending Elysium and Evershore by Brandon Sanderson
See my reviews here

Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim
A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Daughters of Nri by Reni K Amayo

My reviews for the above will be published soon!

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Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco
This is a reread so you can read my original review that I’ve updated here where I go on about my love for Thomas and basically hate for Audrey Rose!!!!

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I also gorged a series!

Broken Bonds, Savage Bonds and Blood Bonds by J Bree

See my reviews here, here and here.

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Bookish Arrivals

The Witcher (with that horrible sticker!)
The Extraordinaires by TJ Klune

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In case you missed it…..

Review – Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Review – Wolfsong by TJ Klune
Review – Gleam by Raven Kennedy
Reviews – The Dark Artifices by Cassandra Clare
Reviews – Cytonic, Evershore, Defending Elysium by Brandon Sanderson
Review – Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan
Review – City of Brass by SA Chakraborty

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Coming up next week…..

Review – The Iron Sword by Julie Kagawa
Review – Daughters of Nri by Reni K Amayo
Features – Romancing the Rascal, Radiant, Rad and Rake
Review – The Marvellous Light by Freya Marske
Review – Spin the Dawn by Elizabeth Lim

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What have you read lately?

Title: Gleam

Series: Plated Prisoner #3

Author: Raven Kennedy

King Midas made me the woman I am today. Notorious. Unattainable. His.

The thing about being confined is that you believe it’s to keep the bad out… Until you realize it’s about keeping you in.

I’m now in a strange kingdom surrounded by liars, with no allies of my own, but I won’t sit idly by and let myself wither. No, there’s something that’s bloomed from the pit of my repression. Something dark. Something angry.

But the last thing I expected was for my anger to call out to him. King Ravinger.

He’s sinister and powerful and entirely too seductive. I’ve learned my lesson with trusting manipulative kings, so why does my chest constrict every time he’s near? I need to tread carefully, or I’m at risk of losing much more than just my freedom.

Regret and revenge war inside of me, and I need to figure out a plan fast before I get tangled up in the schemes of kings and queens.

Because I won’t be caught in a cage again. No, this time, It’ll be me setting the trap… I just hope my heart comes out of this unscathed.

‘I probably look like the same gilded saddle, the same gold-touched favored. But if you look closer, you might see the gleam in my eye.’

Wowee!! <— I’m not sure I’ve ever used that word before!

So same as book 2, I devoured this in a day!

We have new scenery, new players who are just lustful for power as Midas and secrets and lies are revealed aplenty!

There are 2 things that shone out in this book for me. One was Auren’s character growth! It was immense and I was totally here for that!

The second was Rip and Auren together. They make my heart sing like a little birdie at dawn!

One thing I didn’t get from this story was I really wanted to know more about Rip. Where he came from, how he got to where he is…..all of it!!

I can’t believe I have to wait for May for the next book!

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Title: Queen of Air and Darkness

Series: The Dark Artifices #3

Author: Cassandra Clare

What if damnation is the price of true love?

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark path into a future they could never have imagined. Caught in a race against time, Emma and Julian must save the world of Shadowhunters before the deadly power of the parabatai curse destroys them and everyone they love.

‘Some lights were never meant to burn for long.’

That line gutted me. I’m still absolutely gutted.

We have a family in total grief. And grief makes you do things you would never normally do.

Julian and Emma find themselves changed and have a trip to Fairie, the world we know and somewhere else. (Yes, I’m being cryptic!!)

Kit and Ty find themselves in a very weird situation of their own making and maybe find a bit more of themselves.

But I was totally here for Mark, Keiran and Cristina. 100% here for them! I love them more than Emma and Julian who really, I was a bit meh about!!!!

And of course, there’s a battle of good and evil but who will triumph and what will be lost?

Well of course you’ll need to read to find out but I can tell you this story was long one, it was a great read and I was hooked.

All the old faves are here (would’ve been perfect of Will had popped up!!!) and after that ending  I can’t wait to see what comes next!

Evershore (Skyward Flight #3)

Defending Elysium

Author: Brandon Sanderson

Evershore – see the blurb here.

Back with the Skyward Flight and this time from Jorgen’s point of view.

Jorgen has lost a lot in a short time, he’s ready to fall apart but he can’t, answers and solutions are needed and he’s the right guy for the job!

There’s loads of action, was emosh and a total journey for him and the Kitsen (I adore them!!)

I also adore Arturo and Alanik. I need more! They need their own novella!

Need that last book now, countdown begins!

Defending Elysium – see the blurb here.

I felt like I needed to read this to complete my knowledge of this world and the author says himself that he felt it was time to talk about Jason and his story, and how it related to Spensa and her story. And to be honest, I can’t get enough of the world!

Although short, this story gives us insight to the beginnings of Jason Write. Of an interesting fact about Jason but I won’t spill that here and it’s probably not what you think.

I’m not sure but from what I learned in Cytonic to what was here, I can piece a bit more together.

‘The Phone Company had arrived.’

Top Ten Tuesday is featured by That Artsy Reader Girl It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Topic = New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2021

Discovering new authors is one of the reasons I love getting book boxes. They introduce me to books and authors that I might not have read!

Here’s a selection I discovered in 2021:

❤ Cassandra Clare
❤ TJ Klune
❤ Susan Ee
❤ Katherine Arden
❤ Zoey Draven
❤ Destiny Soria
❤ Elizabeth Lim
❤ Xiran Jay Zhao
❤ Cari Thomas
❤ Deborah Harkness