Review: The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune

Title: The Bones Beneath My Skin

Author: TJ Klune


BLURB

In the spring of 1995, Nate Cartwright has lost everything: his parents are dead, his older brother wants nothing to do with him, and he’s been fired from his job as a journalist in Washington DC. With nothing left to lose, he returns to his family’s summer cabin outside the small mountain town of Roseland, Oregon to try and find some sense of direction. The cabin should be empty. It’s not. Inside is a man named Alex. And with him is an extraordinary little girl who calls herself Artemis Darth Vader. Artemis, who isn’t exactly as she appears.

Soon it becomes clear that Nate must make a choice: let himself drown in the memories of his past, or fight for a future he never thought possible. Because the girl is special. And forces are descending upon them who want nothing more than to control her.


Artemis Darth Vader is EVERYTHING!

Everything I tell you!

This review is going to be so hard to write without spoilers, so I’m going to be vague…and probably a bit gushy!

Nate’s life has imploded, so he high tails it off to his parent’s cabin to get some perspective. There, he finds a man called Alex and a little girl called Artemis Darth Vader, who have basically broken into his cabin……

This book, this story, was everything. It had everything, a crooked government project, a cult, the hardened protector, small town vibes, found family and love. And Artemis.  Totally loveable Art.

It was weird, it was adorable and it was EVERYTHING (I might have said that before!)

Oh, and I did see mention of Green Creek, woohoo!


Sound like something you’d like?

TTT – 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To

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: 2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To

Well, this might shame me (and I’m not even sure these were all released in 2024!!!)

Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan
Blood and Steel by Helen Scheuerer
The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le
Sound the Gong by Joan He
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

Dragonfall by LR Lam
Beautiful Carnage by Caroline Peckham
Powerless by Lauren Roberts
Butcher and Blackbird by Brynne Asher
The Sunshine Court by Nora Sakavic

What are yours?

The Sunday Post!

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.

I hope you had a great week!

Well, it’s been a week. Getting over my flu (or whatever it was) and then on Wednesday, my Uncle died. It wasn’t expected so was a bit of a shock. He was one of my son’s favourite people so breaking the news to him wasn’t easy 😕


Iron and Embers by Helen Scheuerer
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Look out for my review soon!


Review – Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian
Feature – Five Star Friday
Calendar – Hello February!


Review – Iron and Embers by Helen Scheuerer
Review – The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune
Review – Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

What have you read lately?

Five Star Friday!

I was thinking about what new post ideas I could do and thought of 5 Star Friday – basically, I’ll showcase a book I rated 5 stars so hopefully, people will see it and give it a whirl!

And here’s my first! A massive 5 stars!

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.

Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

Review: Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian

Title: Modern Divination

Series: Spells for Life and Death #1

Author: Isabel Agajanian

Aurelia Schwartz has spent twenty-three years maintaining the equilibrium between her carefully curated human life and the magical one that she endures in secret. With a devoted best friend and top marks at a prestigious university, she has everything one could possibly want neatly within her grasp.

Except, her gift of green magic has begun to fade, and if that wasn’t enough to upset the balance of her life, a fateful run-in with another power-hungry witch with a penchant for stolen magic has threatened to bring it all to ruin.

Cast into an unexpected alliance with her dreadfully arrogant classmate, Aurelia goes into hiding among a peculiar family of witches, where she discovers that the secret to their safety requires breaking rules she has followed all her life:
Make no promises,
Tell no one what you are,
and
Never stay the night.

Teddy is life!

I won’t just leave it at that, I’d better explain myself, well I’ll try!

Aureila is a witch hiding in plain sight and, when one of her closest witchy friends gets offed, she is taken in and helped by her arch nemesis, Theodore Ingram.

And this is where our story starts.
~ Academic Rivals
~ Rivals to lovers
~ Character driven plot
~ Flawed characters
~ Cozy, unearthly, atmospheric setting.

It felt like it took a long time to get to the ending, maybe too long?

I must admit, I’m not a slow burn type of gal but this slow burn was DELISH (yes, capitals to really emphasise!!)

And now…..Theodore Ingram aka Teddy – my actual heart!

‘You’d be surprised by all the things that scare me.
Like what?
You. You terrify me. And torture me a bit too.’

But the ending. That letter. There is more, yes?!

TTT – New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024

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 2024

Jane Washington (Ironside Academy)
T Kingfisher (Wizards Guide to Defensive Baking)
Ciel Pierlot (Hunters Gambit)
Sarah Beth Durst (The Spellshop)
Lyra Selene (A Feather So Black)
Lana Ferguson (The Fake Mate) 
Kaydence Snow (Variant Lost)
Allison Saft (Dark and Drowning Tide)
Jasmine Mas (Blood of Hercules)
Sophie Jordan (Fire in the Sky)

Who were yours?

The Sunday Post! The lurgy…and an update!

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.

I hope you had a great week!

I have been the most unwell this week that I’ve been for years! I think I’ve had the flu or maybe a flu like virus and it put me in bed for 3 days. I still feel a bit rubbish but nothing like it was!

I finished 1 book (before I got ill) and it was a great one!

I’ve also updated my ‘Sunday Post’ template a bit – let me know what you think!


The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Look out for my review soon!


Feature – Stacking the Shelves
Unboxing – Fairyloot Romantasy: November 2024


Review – Modern Divination by Isabel Agajanian
Feature – Five Star Friday


Water Moon by Samantha Sotto Yambao
Cruel is the Light by Sophie Clark

What have you read lately?

Fairyloot Romantasy: November 2024 – Hearts Ablaze

Fairyloot Romantasy – November 2024

Hearts Ablaze

I’ve got some Fairyloot boxes to catch up on!

Perfect for readers who love:

🌹Arranged marriage
🐉Dragons and Witches
🏛Political intrigue

Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan

🖤 An EXCLUSIVE REDESIGNED COVER by @bluelyboo
🖤  A REVERSIBLE DUST JACKET featuring a colour variation of the trade cover
🖤  A FULL COLOUR DESIGN on the hardback with foil by @bluelyboo
🖤  FOILED CHARACTER ART ON THE ENDPAPERS by @lulybot (different front and back)
🖤  A DIGITALLY SPRAYED EDGE by @bluelyboo with a solid top and bottom edge
🖤  SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR with a bound in author letter.