Top 10 Tuesday – Series I’d Like to Start/Catch up on/Finish

There is so many books and never enough time to read them all especially when I also want to reread my favourite books so here are some that I really need to finish or start reading!

The Wolf of Oren Yaro trilogy – I loved the first book but I still haven’t gotten round to reading the rest

There Will Come a Darkness trilogy – I only need to read the last book but I just haven’t gotten round to it

A Curse So Dark And Lonely trilogy – Again, I just need to read the last book but I just haven’t picked it up

Jade City trilogy – Once again another book I adore but haven’t finished. Why am I like this?

A Magic Steeped in Poison – I was so excited to read this but I still haven’t even though I preordered it…oops

Redemptor – I loved Raybearer and even reread it to then read the sequel…but then I never did

Chain of Iron – In my head I’m telling myself I will read it closer the last book release date…I am a liar

The House With the Golden Door – I even met Elodie when the book released and I was so excited to read it but I still haven’t…I’m realising I have a problem

Mistborn trilogy – I read the first book a few years ago and absolutely loved it and then the size of the books intimidated me until I never picked them up

Heart of Iron – I love all of Ashley Poston’s books so I don’t even know why I haven’t picked this up yet even though I own the duology…I am a mess

Anyways this prompt has made me realise just how many sequels I need to read so I guess I should pick some of them up soon…I said like a liar

MidnighTS Book Tag – Part 1

So today I’m sharing my answers to the Midnights Book Tag created by Rameela! You can find her post here. Everyone is welcome to do the tag and remember to link Rameela’s post when you share!

Here are my answers:

Lavender Haze- a book you will always love and defend

The Daevabad trilogy – I will fight the whole damn world to protect Alizayd 

Maroon- a spicy book

Okay so I don’t really read spicy books but I did read and enjoy Love on the Brain which does have some spice!

Anti-Hero-unreliable narrator

Serapio from Black Sun because I want to trust him but can I really? His view is so limited because he did not grow up around his mother’s people so how can he truly know the truth of what is happening there as all he knows is what he has been told by his teachers who have their own agenda.

Snow of the Beach- an unexpected surprise

The Book Eaters is not my usual type of read but this story focuses on motherhood and I really loved it!

You’re on your own kid- a character that really needs a hug

Salama from As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow. Her and Kenan both deserve hugs because they have suffered and lost so much. 

Midnight rain- star-crossed lovers

Laila & Severin of course! Especially after finishing The Bronzed Beasts 

Question…?- grumpy x sunshine (or neurodivergent rep)

Alizayd & Nahri – my girl is always grumpy unless she’s conning someone or eating and Ali is somehow seeing the good even when everything is falling apart

Vigilante shit- favorite character out for revenge

Rin from The Poppy War – She will burn everything to the ground for her revenge

Bejeweled- strong character development

Rae from The Theft of Sunlight has some amazing development in the duology especially when it comes to accepting herself and letting herself love and be loved. 

Labyrinth- second chance romance

First Love, Take Two was amazing! The chemistry and tension was impeccable and there’s only one bed!

Karma- favorite full circle moments or parallels 

Nasir and Zafira are the perfect examples from their names having the same meaning to the parallels right from the first sentences from each of their point of views.

Sweet Nothing- favorite fluffy/cozy read

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is the epitome of cozy fantasy with an adorable romance and found family. 

Mastermind- perfect world building and storytelling

Let me introduce you all to Legendborn because that book has me in a chokehold. The story, the characters, the world building and pulling from history and just…it’s absolutely amazing!

I will share part 2 of her tag next week!

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean – Book Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book’s content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries.

Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairytales and cautionary stories.

But real life doesn’t always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds.

This isn’t the usual type of book I read so I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this but once I started reading I was hooked and was up late at night listening to the audiobook. 

This is a dark story and does not shy away from describing the gore and murders so do take that into account before reading.

The story revolves around the relationship of a mother and her young son so we get lots of discussions about motherhood and how the patriarchy has failed mothers in so many ways. I really loved seeing this in the book and its something I think we should see more of in books. 

Devon grows up believing in the fairytales she eats and is raised to believe she is a princess in her family and yet as she gets older she gets rebellious and others have to face the consequences of her actions so she learns to hide that part of herself. When she grows up she is married off to “the best match” essentially so she can give that family a child. 

Devon is given no options or choices and her opinions and wants do not matter. She is just there to have the baby for the benefit of the men. She doesn’t even get a choice in who to marry and once she’s had the baby she cannot raise them or have contact with them again. Despite Devin being taught this is the life of women she fights against it and is beaten, lied to and manipulated to get her to stay quiet and in her place. I truly felt for her and was really rooting for her to get the life she deserved with her kids. 

There are so many parallels in Devon’s story with the story of countless women in similar situations. They suffer and their children are used against them to ensure their obedience and even escaping doesn’t always mean they get to be free. Sometimes they have to leave their child behind like Devon did, and we see her guilt and worry about leaving her daughter to suffer the same fate she did. But she had to choose between her and her son and even that had its own issues. 

I loved seeing who Devon was as she grew up and who she became, who she had to become to protect her son. She is ruthless and has to make awful choices but everything she does is for her son. In this book all the characters are morally grey, though some more than others. The men treat women as objects they own and even those who claim to be different aren’t. Though I did like seeing that Devon is able to meet at least one man who truly tries to help her as much as she can and they become friends. 

There is also very little romance in this book which was really refreshing to read and the main focus being the mother son relationship. We need more books that show different types of love because they are just as important as romantic love. 

This was such an interesting read and I really enjoyed it though I do wish we had been given a little more than the ending we got because I want to know more! 

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong – ARC Review

Thank you to Hodderscape and Netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

It’s 1931 in Shanghai, and the stage is set for a new decade of intrigue.

Four years ago, Rosalind Lang was brought back from the brink of death, but the strange experiment that saved her also stopped her from sleeping and aging—and allows her to heal from any wound. In short, Rosalind cannot die. Now, desperate for redemption from her traitorous past, she uses her abilities as an assassin for her country.

Code name: Fortune.

But when the Japanese Imperial Army begins its invasion march, Rosalind’s mission pivots. A series of murders is causing unrest in Shanghai, and the Japanese are under suspicion. Rosalind’s new orders are to infiltrate foreign society and identify the culprits behind the terror plot before more of her people are killed.

To reduce suspicion, however, she must pose as the wife of another Nationalist spy, Orion Hong, and though Rosalind finds Orion’s cavalier attitude and playboy demeanour infuriating, she is willing to work with him for the greater good. But Orion has an agenda of his own, and Rosalind has secrets that she wants to keep buried. As they both attempt to unravel the conspiracy, the two spies soon find that there are deeper and more horrifying layers to this mystery than they ever imagined.

This book was incredible! I absolutely loved it. Chloe has once again destroyed me because how am I supposed to survive until the sequel?! 

This book has a lot more political intrigue but I loved it so much and seeing some of my favourite characters from These Violent Delights! I didn’t particularly like Rosalind in the duology but I ended up really loving her in this book. Orion however, stole my heart. I love him and I will protect him with my life.

We get several points of view in this book and I loved seeing things from the different sides and what each side is thinking. I loved getting all that insight and yet was taken by surprise when we got those revelations at the end. I really thought I knew what was happening but there were twists on twists that left me reeling!

The best way to hold up a false identity was to keep it as close to the truth as possible.

I really liked Rosalind’s character development in this book and how she views the events of what happened with Juliette and Roma, and how she influenced everything that happened. The events of the duology and her part in them impact the person she is now and why she decided to become a spy and yet she cannot tell anyone who she is because of the ending of Our Violent Ends. This causes her to become isolated and not let anyone in, she doesn’t form attachments or emotional bonds and when she meets Orion she really struggles with this. I loved seeing her slowly break down her walls a little at a time to start letting Orion in and letting him see the real her. How he shows her that she can trust him and depend on him and will have her back.

Orion is my new favourite character, he is a ray of sunshine and always ready to have a fun time but he also has his secrets and is hiding something from Rosalind but we just don’t know what. He quickly became my favourite character because of how charming and charismatic he is and I loved his banter with Rosalind so much. This boy fell hard and fast for her and I loved watching him be completely in love while she has no idea! The way he is protective of her and isn’t afraid to show how he feels, there were scenes that had me screaming! One of my absolute favourite scenes was the car chase scene and it now lives rent free in my head. Just chefs kisses, I loved it so much!

You cannot save the world. You can try to save one thing if you must, but it is enough if that one thing is yourself.

I also really enjoyed seeing Celia and the snippets we get of Orion’s family and also Alisa and how she is managing now. The whole cast of characters were so great and I cannot wait to see more of them in the sequel. 

This book had a lot of politics and intrigue and a murder mystery so there was a lot going on but I still felt the threads of the plot were all really great to read and fleshed out. When they all started coming together, I was on the edge of my seat and then those revelations left me shook! I cannot wait for the sequel and this has become a favourite read this year!

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna – ARC Review

Thank you to Hodderscape for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules…with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.

As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn’t the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for….

This book was so warm and comforting and such a wonderful read. I read the whole book in one night because I was completely hooked and I absolutely adored this charming story and the wonderful cast of characters. A story of finding your people and belonging and it was just so beautiful and heartwarming.

There is someone out there who will accept you as you are, who will allow you to just be Mika.

We meet Mika who is a young woman living on her own and has spent her whole life alone and now struggles to let people in and build emotional bonds and attachments because she thinks everyone will leave anyways. She answers an ad for a witch wanted, thinking that they can’t possibly know that she truly is a witch and this changes her whole life. 

I loved seeing Mika grow and learn to accept people into her life and be able to love deeply and be loved in return. Her story touches on how childhood trauma can impact your adult life but it is possible to work through that and choose a better life for yourself. I loved seeing her relationships with each of the children and how different they were and how each of them had a different reaction to Mika coming to live with them and teach them to control their magic. I also loved seeing her with the adults in charge of the care for the children and how they had built a close loving family and how starkly different it was for Mika growing up.

He was the purest alchemy, lead to gold.

Jamie is the book loving, nerdy, socially awkward love interest and I loved him so much! It was so refreshing to read a story where the man openly expresses his love and affection the way he does towards the family he has and especially the children under his care. He loves deeply and fiercely and will do everything in his power to protect those he loves. He doesn’t initially trust Mika but soon realises she wants nothing but the best for these children and he eventually learns to trust her and falls pretty hard for her. He is very grumpy at the beginning but secretly he is an absolute cinnamon roll and the quiet ways in which he cares for Mika and helps her see that she can be loved was just so beautiful to read.

She had never felt so welcomed and included, so much a part of something and she couldn’t rid herself of a lifelong fear that it was too good to be true.

The family dynamics and how each of the characters love and care for each other, and how Mika becomes part of their family and is accepted completely and entirely as she is was so wonderful to read. Being accepted and accepting all of yourself was a theme that ran through the story for most of the characters and showing the children a better life so they don’t have to suffer the way they did. I just loved it all so much!

If you love grumpy/sunshine, found family and a cosy, heartwarming story, I highly recommend picking up this book. I read this in one sitting and it’s a story that will stay with me for a long time.