Happy October! Have a great month!

“I wish that every day was Saturday and every month was October.”
― Charmaine J. Forde

“In the entire circle of the year there are no days so delightful as those of a fine October.” – Alexander Smith

Here we are with the 3rd update of the year!!!

Just for a bit of housekeeping, you can see my last updates here.

I haven’t really read as many backlist titles as in previous months as I’ve had a lot of arcs and new releases I wanted (or needed!) to read.

However……

I HIT MY TARGET!!!!!!! I’ve read 24 backlist books! And I’ll keep going!

Here are the backlist books I read in the last quarter:

22) Air Awakens by Elise Kova
23) Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
24) The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
25) Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

26) Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko
27) Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse
28) Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
29) It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey

Are you going this challenge? How are you getting on?

Title: Last of the Talons

Series: Talons #1

Author: Sophie Kim

After the destruction of her entire Talon gang, eighteen-year-old Shin Lina—the Reaper of Sunpo—is forced to become a living, breathing weapon for the kingdom’s most-feared crime lord. All that keeps her from turning on her ruthless master is the life of her beloved little sister hanging in the balance. But the order to steal a priceless tapestry from a Dokkaebi temple incites not only the wrath of a legendary immortal, but the beginning of an unwinnable game…

Suddenly Lina finds herself in the dreamlike realm of the Dokkaebi, her fate in the hands of its cruel and captivating emperor. But she can win her life—if she kills him first.

Now a terrible game of life and death has begun, and even Lina’s swift, precise blade is no match for the magnetic Haneul Rui. Lina will have to use every weapon in her arsenal if she wants to outplay this cunning king and save her sister…all before the final grain of sand leaks out of the hourglass.

Because one way or another, she’ll take Rui’s heart.

Even if it means giving up her own.

Shin Lina is an assassin, the Reaper of Sunpo, and has lost nearly everything and is owned by a despicable man. One day when she steals something sacred she gets more than she bargained for.

‘Death does not die, and neither will you, Shin Lina.’

Before I gush over the rest of the book let me just tell you I have a new bbf. Rui. He’s mine ladies and gents…..back off!!!!! I mean the man is an Emperor and he has a fondness for winter. It all just points to being mine!

I absolutely loved this book! It’s been a while since I’ve had this feeling about a book and it feels so good! The utter joy of reading each word, sentence and paragraph and never wanting it to end but still wanting to know what happens!

The writing, the story, the characters, the world of Gyrulcheon. Everything! In fact I’m actually lost for words! I do not know how to review this book to do it justice apart from to say that it deserves all the stars and now I’m off to stalk the author and to see what’s 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: Typographic Book Covers

For me, finding books with just typographic covers was really hard! But I’ve played hard and fast with the rules and also split it between typographic covers and also covers with typography that I like!!!

Typographic Book Covers

Family of Liars by E Lockhart
Galatea by Madeline Miller
Hexed by Julia Tuffs
Gemina by Jay Kristoff
Deviate by Jay Kristoff
The Dawn of the End by Kristen Ashley

Covers with typography that I like!!!

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
Glint by Raven Kennedy
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune
Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa

What books would you choose?

Title: Gideon The Ninth

Series: The Locked Tomb #1

Author: Tamsyn Muir

The Emperor needs necromancers.

The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman.

Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won’t set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon’s sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.

Of course, some things are better left dead.

As the blurb says….’The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.’

So off Harrow and Gideon go to Canaan House for the trials……

This was absolutely weird, dark and actually stark raving mad. And I loved it!

It took me a bit to get used to the writing style but once I was there, I was hooked and gobbled it down in a day and a bit!!!!

It was full of dry humour, the murder/mystery was amazing, the world building had me hooked but the characters were what did it for me.

All the characters, although at first were a bit of a blur as there were so many, were in the end completely fleshed out and I loved each one in their own way!

Love Gideon, Magnus, Palamedes, Camilla, Teacher and I even loved Harrow by the end! Just a side note – I pictured Silas as Joffrey from GoT all the way through!

That last half made my jaw hang open! I had no idea about any of those things that were revealed, didn’t for a minute! I really wonder where this is going to go.

‘We do bones’.

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.

Hi everyone, hope you’ve had a good week?

I binge watched House of Dragons this week and can confirm it’s just as icky as Game of Thrones but I am absolutely obsessed! I shouldn’t love Daemon and Rhaenyra together…..but I do (I might be a bit sick!!!)

Anyway……books!

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What I’ve Read

Frost by CN Crawford
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See my review here.

🎧 The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle Jensen
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See my review here

🎧 Hook, Line and Sinker by Tessa Bailey
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
See my review here

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New arrivals

I received the September Fairyloot and Illumicrate boxes but I won’t post them here yet in case anyone hasn’t received!

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You might have missed…..

Unboxing – Illumicrate: August 2022
Review – The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
Review – Tragic Bonds by J Bree

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What have you read lately?

Title: Tragic Bonds

Series: Bonds that Tie #5

Author: J Bree

Nothing will ever be the same again.

Our Bonded Group has been torn apart, and the monsters are now the prey.
But we’re not going to just wait around for our enemy to strike; the blood on his hands is unforgivable, and the god living inside of me wants her revenge paid in blood.

And a thousand souls.

We have been pushed to the limit, tested in ways that have devastating outcomes, and paid the ultimate price. Can we recover from such losses? Is the promise of a world without our enemy worth the sacrifices we’ve made?

Can we prove to everyone, and ourselves, that together our bonds are unbroken?

After the bombshell at the end of the last book, I needed this. Needed! The author must be wicked to leave us like she did!!!!!

In this book we see Oli growing, letting go, trusting and just being her…..

‘For the first time since I was fourteen, I can breathe without the crushing weight of my guilt and the what-ifs.’

‘Recovery is learning how to function around all of the scars and open wounds inside of us.’

It was as full of drama and action that the other books were and I’m not sure why, but I assumed this was the last book in the series! I was thinking yes it will all come together now and they’ll live hea.

But no!!!!

And now we’re left with another bombshell! That Bonded group can’t catch a break!

Title: The Wolf and the Woodsman

Author: Ava Reid

In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.

But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman—he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.

As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they’re on, and what they’re willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

Evike is taken from her pagan village by the Woodsman who think she is a Seer. There has been a deception however, she has no magic at all.

Along their journey back to the King, trouble brews and Evike, aka wolf girl, finds herself alone with Gaspar, Woodsman and Prince. And they find trouble at every corner!

Things I loved:
~ Enemies to lovers (my fave!),
~ Has a unique storyline,
~ It was quite dark and gory,
~ The drama and treachery,
~ The faith and mythology (the stories that were interspersed were fab).

I guess thats not really the ending I hoped for but it was an enjoyable read and would love to read more by this author.

August theme – Knowledge is Power!

WHAT A BOX! Illumicrate knocked it out the park with this!

Items inspired by The Atlas Six, Bunny, A Lesson in Vengeance , Babel and a fandom neutral item!

💛 Reading Journal designed by @by_madlendesign with artwork by @_saintdri
💛 Knowledge is Carnage Pencil Case inspired by The Atlas Six designed by @JanineLeCour
💛 Dark Academia Stamp Set designed by @moehrenkunstshop
💛 Writing Workshop Pin inspired by Bunny designed by @justelfit
💛 Babel Bookmark Set with artwork from @merwild

💛 FEATURED BOOK 💛

Babel by RF Kuang

Slipcase
Exclusive, redesigned naked hardcover
Digitally printed edges
Bound in author letter
Exclusive bonus content
Signed