Two posts from me today! Both unboxings too! I wanted to post them before Blogmas starts!

November theme: DEATH AND FORTUNE!

The two often go in hand in hand; those who seek great fortune dance with death. And sometimes, fortune can come in the form of death.

Fandoms this month are The Scorpio Races, The Hobbit, Under the Whispering Door and She Who Became the Sun!

💛 Smaug Fabric Book Jacket – inspired by The Hobbit with artwork from @pauhami

💛 Nemesis Teacup and Saucer – Goddess of Retribution with artwork by @niallcgrant

💛 Moments You Remember Book Tin – designed by @jezhawk inspired by Scorpio Races

💛 She Who Became the Sun Metalmark – designed by @dalandan.ielle

💛 You Share Tea Ornament – designed by @rena.illustration based on Under the Whispering Door

💛 Monthly Pin designed by @stacey.mcevoy.caunt inspired by Little Thieves

But also 2 Illumicrate pens! PENS!!!! I love pens!

FEATURED BOOK

Little Thieves by Margaret Owen

Exclusive cover ✔
Full colour printing on hardback ✔
Stencilled and sprayed edges ✔
Signed bookplate ✔

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This was a Top 10 Tuesday (where I didn’t pick 10, only 6, have to be realistic!) So thought it would be fun to look back and see if I read them!

You can see my original post here.

So did I read them?!!!! (A tick means yes!!!)

Threadneedle by Cari Thomas ✔

Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness ✔

Aurora’s End by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman ✔

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff ✔

Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino – DNF

Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston ✔

I’d call that a resounding success!

Go me!!! 😂

AFTERLIGHT – November 2021

Am loving these Afterlight boxes!

Quarterly is just right for me (and easier on the old bank account too!!!) Plus it gives me that romance fix that I crave between YA reads!

This quarter’s box included:

💜 Moonlight Readers Club Mug with artwork by @heyatlascreative

💜 Autumnal Nights Sleep Mask with artwork by @stacey.mcevoy.caunt

BOOK OF THE QUARTER

All the Feels by Olivia McDade

Exclusive hardback ✔
Sprayed edges ✔
Digital signature ✔
Bound in author letter ✔

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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.

Theme – Characters I’d Love An Update On (Where are they now that the book is over?)

I thought this would be really easy to answer but one couple, well the only couple, dominated my head. You’ll see who….

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Manon and Dorian – Throne of Glass

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Elisabeth and Nathaniel – Sorcery of Thorns

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Lemon Fresh and Grimm – Lifelike

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Manon and Dorian – really need more from them!

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Josh and Hazel – Josh and Hazels Guide to Not Dating

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Manon and Dorian 😂😂😂

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Nik and Hanna – Gemina (Illuminae)

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Cress and Thorne – Lunar Chronicles

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Linus Baker – House in the Cerulean Sea

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Manon and Dorian – have I said them already?!

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Title: Empire of the Vampire

Series: Empire of the Vampire #1

Author: Jay Kristoff

From holy cup comes holy light;
The faithful hands sets world aright.
And in the Seven Martyrs’ sight,
Mere man shall end this endless night.

It has been twenty-seven long years since the last sunrise. For nearly three decades, vampires have waged war against humanity; building their eternal empire even as they tear down our own. Now, only a few tiny sparks of light endure in a sea of darkness.

Gabriel de León is a silversaint: a member of a holy brotherhood dedicated to defending realm and church from the creatures of the night. But even the Silver Order couldn’t stem the tide once daylight failed us, and now, only Gabriel remains.

Imprisoned by the very monsters he vowed to destroy, the last silversaint is forced to tell his story. A story of legendary battles and forbidden love, of faith lost and friendships won, of the Wars of the Blood and the Forever King and the quest for humanity’s last remaining hope:

The Holy Grail.

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‘You are Gabriel de Leon, Last of the Silversaints.’

27 hours and 10 minutes of Gabriel de Leon….and that’s not even his whole story! Of course I have the regulation 2 physical copies as well!!!

The author described this as bloodsmutty and  he was right. So right! It was fabulous, wonderous and all the words with ‘ous’ at the end!

I found this really hard to review as words escaped me so I’ll keep this short:

– The world building was immense,
– The story that was told was superb,
– The pacing was spot on,
– The characters were all on point,
– It was dark, brutal, heartbreaking but beautiful,
– I was so invested in this story,
– That last 20%….heart breaking and jaw dropping.

You need to read this book!!! 

I did ask myself this question a few times when reading this….what the heck as JK got against potatoes?!!!

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October theme was…..…BROKEN HEARTS!

How far would you go for a happily ever after? What would you do if you couldn’t get it? This theme is about the broken hearted… and what they would do to get their perfect ending.

Items inspired by Addie LaRue, Kingdom of the Wicked, Lore, We Set The Dark on Fire and the featured book of the month.

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🖤 Addie Trinket Dish illustrated by @arz28
🖤 Kingdom of the Wicked Blanket designed by @forensicsandflowers
🖤 Foiled Character Card Set with characters from OUaBH illustrated by @morgana0anagrom
🖤 Postcard designed by @kdpletters featuring a quote from We Set The Dark on Fire
🖤 Tarot cards: Tarasai and Dayo from Raybearer

(A Lore item is coming with the November box as it’s a delayed delivery)

BOOK OF THE MONTH

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Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber

✔Exclusive cover
✔2 colour stencilled edges
✔Artwork on dust jacket by @rosiethorns88
✔Embossing on hardcover by @rosiethorns88
✔Endpaper artwork by @aleikats
✔Exclusive bonus content
✔Signed!!!

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Anyone going to watch Wheel of Time?

I haven’t read the books but saw the trailer for this and it gave me chills!

I think Amazon Prime have 3 episodes that have released today and then each Friday one will release up until Christmas.

So I’m off to watch and, let’s face it, probably order the books too!!!!

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Title: The Rising

Series: The Rising #4

Author: Kristen Ashley

Once upon a time, in a parallel universe, there existed the continent of Triton. The land was filled with beauty, but it was also splintered by war. Out of the chaos grew a conspiracy to reawaken the Beast, a fearsome creature who wrought only tragedy and devastation. The only way to stop him was to fulfill an ancient prophecy: Triton’s four strongest warriors must wed its four most powerful witches, binding all nations together and finally bringing peace to the land.

This is the story of their unions: the quiet maiden Silence and the savage king Mars. The cold warrior Cassius and the fiery witch Elena. The steadfast soldier True and the banished beauty Farah. And the pirate king Aramus and the mysterious queen Ha-Lah. Their unions will not be easy, but each couple must succeed, for the fate of their world is at stake…

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‘Trust in us. Trust in our friends. Trust in love.’

The next installment and ‘he’ has risen. There is drama and hostilities everywhere our couples look……they certainly have one heck of a mess on their hands!

As with the other books, I couldn’t stop reading, was really gripped! I love this about this author! Anything pnr/fantasy she writes and I am totally sucked in!

The characters are amazing, the world created was fab and the sweet and hot moments rule!!

I loved the catch up at the end, seeing them all happy and going on with their lives and I’m also glad Faunaus was happy but maaaaan that was bittersweet!