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: Genre Freebie
So I had no idea what to do for this, I feel like I’ve done a lot of stuff to do with genres, romance, YA etc etc so I’ve gone for….
Releases coming 2024 and 2025!
I know! Such a long way off!
Currently these are due to release then but obviously these could change! No covers here either as most didn’t have them!
📚 A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal 📚 The Crimson Moth by Kristen Ciccarelli 📚 Just Max by Aiden Thomas 📚 Scroll of Heaven by Shannon Lee and Fonda Lee 📚 Fateless by Julie Kagawa 📚 The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller 📚 The Prisoner’s Throne by Holly Black 📚 Stars and Smoke 2 by Marie Lu 📚 Monsters 3 by Vanessa Len 📚 Forging Silver into Stars 2 by Brigid Kemmerer
The Wild Hunt waits for none… not even the secrets waiting at the gates of Alfheimr.
Estrella’s story continues.
(Yes that’s the whole blurb!!!!!!)
‘Until chaos reigns.’
I loved the first book but I will admit I didn’t have the same love for this book up until about half way through. Estrella was irritating and I think a lot of the stuff that happened…..didn’t really need to be in here.
However. The 2nd half of the book was so good!
Caldris was so utterly 100% sure of his love for Estrella, it was bone deep love. I wasn’t so convinced of her love for him though!!!!
These are the standout things for me:
~ Lunar witch – sounds so wonderful doesn’t it! ~ Holt is my utter fave male! ~ Fenrir – I need one!
I have my theories on what Estrella is, will see in the next book! But that Mab is a nasty piece of work!
‘You are the only star in my sky. And you are the only light in my darkness.’
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?
Back to school for my son after the week holiday and it was not fun getting back up at the crack of dawn again!!! Also an office day which always ruins my week!!!!!
It was Pancake day too, aka Shrove Tuesday, here in the UK so we had some pancakes with lemon and sugar and some with nutella, delish!
What I’ve Read
What Hunts Inside The Shadows by Harper L Woods ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Catfish Rolling by Clara Kumagai ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧 Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧 The Maid by Nita Prose ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
New arrivals
Revelle by Lyssa Mia Smith
You might have missed…..
Review – Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare Review – The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden Review – Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson
Magic-realism blends with Japanese myth and legend in an original story about grief, memory, time and an earthquake that shook a nation.
There’s a catfish under the islands of Japan and when it rolls the land rises and falls.
Sora hates the catfish whose rolling caused an earthquake so powerful it cracked time itself. It destroyed her home and took her mother. Now Sora and her scientist father live close to the zones – the wild and abandoned places where time runs faster or slower than normal. Sora is sensitive to the shifts, and her father recruits her help in exploring these liminal spaces.
But it’s dangerous there – and as she strays further inside in search of her mother, she finds that time distorts, memories fracture and shadows, a glimmer of things not entirely human, linger. After Sora’s father goes missing, she has no choice but to venture into uncharted spaces within the time zones to find him, her mother and perhaps even the catfish itself…
This book is beautiful inside and out!
I don’t think I’ve ever read something as unique as this before and from a debut author, it is so amazing!
Set in Japan, an event happened where lots of people were lost and time now behaves weirdly in different areas. Years later, Sora and her Dad still live by the effected area, still quite overcome with loss and grief, one holding on to all those memories and one desperately trying not to.
It was full of Japanese mythology, it was emotional and thought provoking. The world building was absolutely fabulous and the elements of time and the zones were mind boggling and so fascinating!
Honestly the contents of this book is something that I will be thinking about for ages. You know, one of those reads where you can be immersed in something else and a part of the book pops in your head and it’s all you can think about, trying to puzzle it out!
Elisabeth Scrivener is finally settling into her new life with sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn. Now that their demon companion Silas has returned, so has scrutiny from nosy reporters hungry for gossip about the city’s most powerful sorcerer and the librarian who stole his heart. But something strange is afoot at Thorn Manor: the estate’s wards, which are meant to keep their home safe, are acting up and forcibly trapping the Manor’s occupants inside. Surely it must be a coincidence that this happened just as Nathaniel and Elisabeth started getting closer to one another…
With no access to the outside world, Elisabeth, Nathaniel, and Silas – along with their new maid Mercy – will have to work together to discover the source of the magic behind the malfunctioning wards before they’re due to host the city’s Midwinter Ball. Not an easy task when the house is filled with unexpected secrets, and all Elisabeth can think about is kissing Nathaniel in peace. But when it becomes clear that the house, influenced by the magic of Nathaniel’s ancestors, requires a price for its obedience, Elisabeth and Nathaniel will have to lean on their connection like never before to set things right.
I cannot tell you how happy I felt when this story was announced!
Back with Nathaniel, Elisabeth, Silas and Mercy and Thorn Manor has got some ideas of what should be happening!!!
I adored this. It was magical! The rooms. The ballroom. The clothes. The grimoires and above all Nathaniel and Elisabeth and highest of all, the lovely Silas.
This was perfect. And I know I’m terrible….but I’d love more!!!!! I know! How greedy of me!
‘Not every story has a happy ending. But most do, if you’re brave enough to keep reading to the end.’
The Bear and the Nightingale, Katherine Arden’s enchanting first novel, introduced readers to an irresistible heroine. Vasilisa has grown up at the edge of a Russian wilderness, where snowdrifts reach the eaves of her family’s wooden house and there is truth in the fairy tales told around the fire. Vasilisa’s gift for seeing what others do not won her the attention of Morozko—Frost, the winter demon from the stories—and together they saved her people from destruction. But Frost’s aid comes at a cost, and her people have condemned her as a witch.
In The Girl in the Tower, Vasilisa faces an impossible choice. Driven from her home by frightened villagers, she has only two options left: marriage or the convent. She cannot bring herself to accept either fate and instead chooses adventure, dressing herself as a boy and setting off astride her magnificent stallion Solovey.
But after she prevails in a skirmish with bandits, everything changes. The Grand Prince of Moscow anoints her a hero for her exploits, and she is reunited with her beloved sister and brother, who are now part of the Grand Prince’s inner circle. She dares not reveal to the court that she is a girl, for if her deception were discovered it would have terrible consequences for herself and her family. Before she can untangle herself from Moscow’s intrigues—and as Frost provides counsel that may or may not be trustworthy—she will also confront an even graver threat lying in wait for all of Moscow itself.
Back in the world of Vasilisa and Morozko….and I couldn’t be happier!
This book was so magical, it captured my heart, it was everything! I loved everything!
So we know Vasilisa leaves her village with Solovey and wants to be free, she doesn’t want marriage or a convent, the only options available for a maiden in those times. So what’s a girl to do?! Well become a boy and cause chaos!!!!!
Vasilsa is such a strong character (even though she annoyed me turning down Morozko’s proposal!) Plus in this book we get more of Vasilisa’s siblings, Sasha and Olga. I love their family dynamic!
I read this book with my heart in my throat, there was so much action and adventure but it was Solovey that captured my heart the most! I love him!
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: Favorite Heroines
Manon Blackbeak (Throne of Glass) No list of mine would be complete without her! I mean who else could pull off iron teeth and nails and still be beautiful?!
Geraldine Gruss (Zodiac Academy) She is the cats pjs and is the glue that holds the Vega’s together!
Gideon (Locked Tomb) She needs no introduction. She just is!
Jude (Cruel Prince) I mean….she schemes, she plots and she tamed Cardan!
Dora (Half a Soul) I just love her. All of her!
Cress (Lunar Chronicles) Defeated evil, cut her beautiful hair, got her first kiss and got her man!
Alex Stern (Ninth House) Strong, resilient, sees ghosts and I’m hoping, gets Darlington!
Bryce (Crescent City) Her brother is Ruhn Danan and her bf is the Umbra Mortis, Hunt Athalar. Say no more.
Viv the orc barbarian (Legends and Lattes) Looks can be deceiving and I loved everything about her!
Mika Moon (Secret Society of Irregular Witches) Just living her best life…..the embodiment of witchcore and she appreciates Jamie’s forearms, as do I!!!
Cordelia Carstairs has lost everything that matters to her. In only a few short weeks, she has seen her father murdered, her plans to become parabatai with her best friend, Lucie, destroyed, and her marriage to James Herondale crumble before her eyes. Even worse, she is now bound to an ancient demon, Lilith, stripping her of her power as a Shadowhunter.
After fleeing to Paris with Matthew Fairchild, Cordelia hopes to forget her sorrows in the city’s glittering nightlife. But reality intrudes when shocking news comes from home: Tatiana Blackthorn has escaped the Adamant Citadel, and London is under new threat by the Prince of Hell, Belial.
Cordelia returns to a London riven by chaos and dissent. The long-kept secret that Belial is James and Lucie’s grandfather has been revealed by an unexpected enemy, and the Herondales find themselves under suspicion of dealings with demons. Cordelia longs to protect James but is torn between a love for James she has long believed hopeless, and the possibility of a new life with Matthew. Nor can her friends help—ripped apart by their own secrets, they seem destined to face what is coming alone.
For time is short, and Belial’s plan is about to crash into the Shadowhunters of London like a deadly wave, one that will separate Cordelia, Lucie, and the Merry Thieves from help of any kind. Left alone in a shadowy London, they must face Belial’s deadly army. If Cordelia and her friends are going to save their city—and their families—they will have to muster their courage, swallow their pride, and trust one another again. For if they fail, they may lose everything—even their souls.
‘Once you had lost everything, she reasoned, there was no reason not to embrace whatever small happinesses you could.’
This book was huge! 845 pages of Shadowhunter goodness!
The end. It’s the end. I don’t want it to end! The thought of never reading about my Will again makes me so sad!
So lets get into it. I must admit the first half was a slog, the only light and gasp moment part was a Paris bit!!!! However once I hit around 50%, I was hooked!
The angst, omg the angst! There was miscommunication everywhere and I was on the edge of my seat shouting ‘tell them’!!!!
Whilst I love James, Cordelia and Matthew for their own reasons, I don’t really care for love triangles but:
Lucie and Jesse, Thomas and Alistair, Anna and Ari, I lived for them!!!!!
The book was filled was quotes and illustrations that were utterly superb. I highlighted so many that really resonated with me! Also, I’ll say no more apart from at 67% my heart was torn out!
I love being immersed into the Shadowhunter world, I am addicted and I never want it to end so I’m probably going to do a complete reread of all of them later on in the year!
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’m on a mission to read a chunk of my tbr shelf this year. I am hoping for 60 books off it and so far I’ve read 7 🤣 Requesting arcs is not helping me here!!!!
However I didn’t feel like picking up an actual book this week so I read not one but 2 graphic novels! They were the first ones I’ve ever read! Audiobooks also saved my week!
What I’ve Read
Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Heartstopper volume 1 by Alice Osman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧 Percy Jackson and the Titans Curse by Rick Riordan ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🎧 Little Thieves by Margaret Owen ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
New arrivals
The Davenports by Krystal Marquis The Raven Spell by Luanne G Smith
You might have missed…..
Review – The Thorns Remain by JJA Harwood Review – Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
CJRTB Books 