4/5 STARSSYNOPSIS
The Wicked Deep meets A Curse So Dark and Lonely in this gripping, dark fairy-tale fantasy about two girls who must choose between saving themselves, each other, or their sinking island city. REVIEW Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! This was such a lovely book. I enjoyed the writing style, I liked the characters, I liked how no one was perfect and everyone had their dark side, or weaknesses. And I really like how it portrayed fear and what fear can make you do, whether it's fear for yourself or fear for other people. I am always here for sapphic stories, and I'm always here for witches, ESPECIALLY when those witches are tied so heavily with the ocean. I don't know why but magic and the sea go so perfectly well together that I just can't resist them, and this story, which takes place on the edge of the water, is no different. The magic system was also really interesting. I loved the way that it was described, and the way that it was vicious and unique and oh my gosh I loved the sea serpent so much. The plot itself was good too, I was eager from the start to know how the story was going to end, if they'd find a way to get around the sacrifice, if Eva would mirror her sister or Lina would step forward, and in the end it wasn't what I had expected (which is a good thing) but I'm not going to spoil that here, you'll have to find out for yourself! As for the romance, well. Let me tell you. I'm also a sucker for enemies to lovers which is basically the main trope of this book so I was living my best life. I would have liked a little more time to develop the relationship between Lina and Eva as the romance of it kind of hit a bit fast (One more thing i'm a sucker for: slow burn haha) but they had great chemistry and I had SUCH a crush on Eva so I'm not going to complain too much haha. Overall this book was really fun. I'm so happy to have read it, and I can't wait to have a physical copy too because that cover is gorgeous and I'm obsessed. I recommend this to anyone who is a fan of witchy books with f/f romance and a wonderful atmosphere.
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5/5 starsSYNOPSIS: A young pilot risks everything to save his best friend--the man he trusts most and might even love--only to learn that he's secretly the heir to a brutal galactic empire. Ettian Nassun's life was shattered when the merciless Umber Empire invaded. He's spent seven years putting himself back together under its rule, joining an Umber military academy and becoming the best pilot in his class. Even better, he's met Gal Veres--his exasperating and infuriatingly enticing roommate who's made the Academy feel like a new home. But when dozens of classmates spring an assassination plot on Gal, a devastating secret comes to light: Gal is the heir to the Umber Empire. Ettian barely manages to save his best friend and flee the compromised Academy unscathed, rattled both that Gal stands to inherit the empire that broke him and that there are still people willing to fight back against Umber rule. As they piece together a way to deliver Gal safely to his throne, Ettian finds himself torn in half by an impossible choice. Does he save the man who's won his heart and trust that Gal's goodness could transform the empire? Or does he throw his lot in with the brewing rebellion and fight to take back what's rightfully theirs? REVIEW: Bonds of Brass has been on my radar for a while now and as soon as I saw the cover and the synopsis I knew it was going to be one of my most anticipated reads of the year... which is why it was so frustrating when my order took so long to come that I ended up buying the audio version too only to have the book show up the next day haha. (The narration, by the way, is very well done in the audiobook version so if you're into listening to your books then definitely check that out). Once I'd finally managed to start the book I didn't appreciate the need to stop for essentials such as food and sleep. I mean, c'mon. This is a sci fi book with heavy Star Wars vibes, it has a potential friends to lovers relationship where bed sharing is not only a trope that is used with great delight, but also is less "there's only one bed," and more "there's two beds but I want to sleep close to you." So you can maybe see why sleep and food kind of went off the radar for me haha. Now, from an objective POV Bonds of Brass is incredibly well written. The characters are diverse and layered. The worldbuilding is well done and deep as sci fi world building kind of has to be in order to make a great background to the plot. Taking of which, the plot was great. It was twisty and turny and while I did guess the big twist it was still satisfying, and though it didn't play out in the way I had hoped it would, it still left me desperate for the second book. From a Lauren POV however it does do the thing at the end that I hate, which is introduce a huge cliffhanger. And, like, without getting into too much detail, you know as you have the cliffhangers that are like "well darn! Wonder what's gonna happen now!" and then the cliffhangers which have you shaking your first at the sky asking for revenge like "WHY GOD WHY?" well for me this was definitely the second. I can't give you any more context because to do so would be to ruin it a bit, and also because when you read and get to the end I want you to suffer like me haha. Basically, overall, Bonds of Brass was a delight. I had high expectations from the start and it managed to hit them, which isn't always the case with hyped up books. The one thing that I wasn't a fan of was the ending but that's because on a personal level I just hate cliffhangers, as much as I can appreciate why they're used. If I take a step back and try to be objective about it you'd find me rolling around on the floor, clutching the book and screeching for a day straight because hot DAMN did that ending smash it out of the park in a very exciting way that spells very good, very tense things for book two...
5/5I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, so thank you for that! This is one of the ARCs I've been most excited to receive. There aren’t many books that have delighted me like this before. Like, there have been books I’ve loved, books I’ve cherished, but books I’ve been honest to god, full on delighted by? In such a pure way that they make me want to hug the book close to my chest and roll around the floor in glee? It’s rare, friends. And to top it all off, would you take a look at that front cover? It’s colourful, intriguing... do I doubt the physics of such a house? Sure! Do I want to live in it anyway? You betcha! T.J. Klune is one of the best, most surprising writers I’ve had the pleasure to be wowed by. The sheer scope of topics he covers and excels at is genuinely astounding. I love a lot of his other novels, and so before I started this one I kind of expected to enjoy it but holy moly I think I ascended to a new level of being while I read this. The premise is this; Linus is basically a case worker who is in charge of visiting different orphanages which are home to a range of magical youths. He is very good at his job and so Extremely Upper Management give him the task of examining a very special orphanage... one that houses the anti christ! Dun dun DUN! What's a poor sweet case worker to do. The characters, each and every one of them, are memorable and unique, especially the children. I don’t want to go into too much detail here, I never really do when it comes to books like this, because I genuinely feel like experiencing the introductions to the characters and world page by page is the best way to devour books that are particularly character driven. Don’t get me wrong, the plot is good and enjoyable, not full of action or adrenaline but important and moving. But the characters in this book are so fantastically rendered! Talking of plot though; this book might be character driven but I loved the world building that was sprinkled throughout. I do kind of wish we got to see more of the world, since the book takes place on only two locations really, because a lot of what is hinted at is really, really intriguing. Really though that’s just an excuse to write a sequel and take everyone on a road trip amiright? ... oh my god. Please write a sequel and take everyone on a roadtrip. Please?? And! I haven’t even talked about the main relationship! It’s m/m and quite possibly the first m/m fantasy type book that i’ve read where the characters aren’t swimming with muscles, which makes a really nice change in all honesty. It's such a soft, sweet slow burn romance that more than anything, just made me smile. Please read this book. It’s so beautiful. I’ve ordered myself a hard back edition so that I can, as previously mentioned, hug it and roll around on the floor. It has more of an impact than just hugging my phone screen with the kindle app open haha.
5/5So first things first, I was provided an arc of this book by the publisher on NetGalley. Never say wishes don’t come true haha. Now, if I’m being honest the first thing that drew me to this book is the yellow front cover. Not only is yellow one of my favourite colours, it’s also severely underused in the cover art world and my bookcase is crying out for it, so I will definitely be purchasing a copy of this as well. I was also very nervous to read this book, because of the topic of conversion camps, but I'm so glad that I pushed past that. Surrender Your Sons is an absolute roller coaster of a book and while I usually try to avoid including spoilers in my reviews I just can’t do that here. This book made me feel SO MUCH that I need to discuss is at length, so please be aware there will be some minor spoilers but nothing plot breaking. When I was ¼ in it was maybe 3 stars. I found Connor to be frustrating, he’d go backwards and forwards between being obsessed with his current boyfriend and getting back to him, and then flirting with Marcos, one of the other campers, and so it kind of made any feelings he had for Ario seem a bit?? Fake?? I guess? The further in to the plot we got however, the higher the star rating rose. Connor and the rest of the campers are scared, they’re children. They’re in a place where they’re being told all sorts of lies about themselves. But oh my god are they resilient. From the ones who try their best to protect the younger kids, to the ones gathering evidence since they arrived in an attempt to bring Nightlight down, every single one of the campers was so, so strong. For Connor, Ario was the only queer person he was aware that he knew, and he provided a safe space despite the fact that he pressured Connor to come out before he was ready. And Ario was also pulling away, which made Connor paranoid and possessive. Marcos, on the other hand, was protective and attentive and we all know that trauma bonds people. While Ario’s parents were accepting, both Connor and Marcos had been sent to Nightlight by their family. They experienced the horror of it together, and if that isn’t shared trauma I don’t know what is. Surrender Your Sons is about generational queer trauma. It’s about the way that inflicting this kind of damage to even just a handful of people can resonate outwards like a small rock thrown into a river creates larger ripples. From the younger members of the group, to 17 year old Connor, to some of the camp workers themselves who were returning campers so caught up in the lie and the Reverend’s power that they came back to work for him. And underlying all that is the story of Ricky, an older gay man who Connor had served meals on wheels to before Ricky passed away. Generations of trauma squeezed into one book. It packs a hell of a punch, lemme tell you. I read it in a day. If it had stretched over into day two I would have had to sleep not knowing what happened to the group. I would have had to go to work and sneak tense 15 min reads into my breaks and lunch. This was not a situation I was prepared to deal with and so I stayed up until 1am or so, with a belting headache, intermittently screaming at a group chat about how intense it all was. By the time I was at the last few pages I was exhausted mentally, physically and emotionally but oh my god was it worth it. This book was a masterpiece of character growth and complexity. It had so many twists and turns in it that I almost got car sick without going anywhere. Some chapters were very hard to read, and I cried several times but I also laughed. And after that teaser of an ending if we don’t get a sequel where 5 years down the line Connor is leading an elite team of ex campers to track down Miss Manners I will cry (I doubt we will actually get that, but if you think i'm not going to run fake scenarios through my head of this exact thing then you are WRONG). I recommend this wholeheartedly. But please do go into it with open eyes. Due to the nature of the plot there is discussion of suicide and self harm, of murder and religion and hate crime. It isn’t a book for the faint-hearted, but if you’re willing to give it a chance it’ll wow you. "I have no idea what I did," I said. "But, holy hell, I did a damn good job of it." - The Scapegracers
5/5 starsI received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Very minor spoilers within. This book is everything I would have killed to read when I was a teenager. It’s very girl power, very witchy and very queer and I loved every second of it. I can’t wait for the second book in all honesty, I think it’s gonna be killer… perhaps quite literally. I love books with mean girl type characters who genuinely care for each other and look out for other girls. I love it even more when they’re Witches. The Craft film was my jam, although admittedly that didn’t quite end as fairytale found family as I would have liked. This book gave such craft vibes I devoured it, and to make it even better the found family/girl friendships were solid and supportive at the end. Our main character actually reads as a teenager, which I think we miss out on sometimes in YA fantasy books. Sideways is a lesbian witch who loves her power, who wants to be seen as powerful and show off to her peers. She wants friends. She wants a place to belong, she goes to parties, she charges for spells. The other main characters, our three other coven members and the love interest Madeline, were all equally real and fleshed out. Yates, Daisy and Jing were a beautiful diverse collision of different personalities. We don't really know a whole lot about Madeline, other than that she's a bit mysterious which... ok ok you got my attention. I'm weak for a mysterious girl. I also loved Mr Scratch. Hands down one of the most fun and interesting takes on witch mythology I’ve seen. The plot was slightly predictable, but not necessarily in a bad way, and one part of the ending did manage to surprise me which was nice. More than anything though, this book is FUN. Between the Halloween parties and the spell casting and the intrigue of the Witchfinders and the spell books, it all wraps into a very enjoyable book. The only thing I wasn’t really a fan of was how inconsistent some parts where. I don’t know if it’s just me or not but quite often there wasn’t really a separation between scenes, and some things that happened (such as Sideways showing up bloody and upset to her parents) weren’t really appropriately handled. I think the reaction from her dads should have been more worried and intense than it was, rather than just letting her not tell them anything about what happened and run off again with the same people she was with when she got hurt in the first place. Especially when her dads seem to care so much about her and her well being, it just didn’t sit quite right in the flow of the story. Overall though, a strong read. AND there's a beautiful piece of cover art, as the cherry on top of the cake of characters you care about and a plot that's intriguing. I can't wait to see where this goes, how the Madeline/Sideways angle pans out, and how the Witchfinders are handled. I want to see more different covens, I want to know more about the spell books, more about the wider background of the witch community. I want to see Chett get destroyed. That last one is perhaps the most important. That's the choice. I love him, with all that, because of all that. On purpose. I love him on purpose. - red, white and royal blue
5/5 STARS Where do I even start? How do I sum up everything I feel for this book in one single review? I cannot write down the noises of joy I made throughout reading it. I can't draw either of the two times i actually hugged it. A ramble of a review will have to do. Coming from someone who lives in England, who has only ever visited the US and never lived there, the political climate over the past few years has been like watching a car crash over and over again and not being able to do a damn thing to change it. But then, as awful as the political situation makes me feel it must be even worse to have to live under it as an american, although i think we can all agree that England isn't exactly having a good time right about now either lmao dear lord we're all in trouble. Anyway, when my friend recommended this book to me, I was instantly attached to the idea of it. I bought it a couple of hours after we talked about it and it arrived on a Thursday. Today is Friday, so it took me literally 24 hours to read. I've never been more thankful for having the day off work haha. I knew from the start I was going to like it, because how could I not? A love story between a prince of England and the first son? LGBT representation, political tension, strong kick ass female characters (who i now have many many crushes on god bless) including a female president? Sign me tf up. What I couldn't anticipate though was how the book made me feel. How raw it felt in places, how sweet, how painful, how beautifully written. Unlike this review, which is a mess because i literally just finished reading it and my head is a complete mess assdfghhjkk. What I'm trying to say is this book is a god damned blessing. I want everyone to read it. I want every lgbt person especially, and every woman or girl, to read it. I'm bisexual and a girl and so thirsty for representation on both of those aspects so I can promise you, if you're anything like me you'll adore this just as much as i do. I don't want to go into too many plot details, because watching the story and the characters unfold was part of the charm, and i don't want to wax on and on about the same thing, so I'll end this review here, with this; we should have a better world than we do, i'm sad for america and i'm sad for the world, i'm sad for what could have been, should have been. This book, though a little bittersweet in its fiction, gave me back a bit of the hope i've lost in recent years. It was chicken soup for the soul. I have become the Grand Tour horror story - The gentleman's guide to vice and virtue
5/5 STARS ** spoiler alert ** I am so enchanted by this book. I am SO. ENCHANTED. BY THIS BOOK. I listened to the audible version of this and I recommend that you do too. The reader, Christian Coulson, added a whole other realness to the story and had a really great way of speaking the character of Henry Montague. Henry Montague is one of the best characters i've had the pleasure to come across. He is an entitled little shit who has a long journey ahead of him, both physically, because he's about to set off on his tour, and mentally/emotionally because he's got one hell of a ride ahead of him and it changes him for the better. I absolutely loved Monty. I loved his sense of humour, his voice, and more than anything I loved that he grew as a person over the arc of the book. His sister was an absolute delight too. Felicity is such a well rounded, well written character who plays the part of "little sister" perfectly, not putting up with any of Monty's nonsense and making sure to tell him off whenever needed. And don't even get me started on Percy, who must have the patience of a saint to put up with Monty half the time. He is such a pure hearted character every time Monty acted like an ass in Percy's vicinity I wanted to throw my hands up in the air and screech. The plot of the novel spans several countries and brings us into contact with a whole host of secondary characters, all of which were interesting and well written. The plot itself is never boring, from the tense interaction between Monty and his worthless father, the highway men and the hunt for a cure to all illness and the developing relationship between Percy and Monty, every moment of this novel either had me laughing, wincing or tense, in all the right ways. I'm usually not a fan of historical fiction, and I can't say how historically accurate the book was as a whole, but I CAN say that it is one of the best books I've read. I 100% recommend it. Humanity was cruel, and if you were prepared to try to find a bottom to that cruelty, you had best be prepared for a long, long fall. - into the drowning deep
5/5 STARS |
Published: 26th Feb 2019 Reviewed: 4th Aug 2019 A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens. The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction—but assassins are getting closer to her door. |
5/5 STARS
I NEED A FOLLOW UP BOOK PLEASE!!!!!! Although the majority of the plot points were exceedingly well wrapped up I need to know more about how everything else worked out!!!! I would take anything! Anything! The girls go fishing! I'm here for it! Give me 10k words omg anything.
Dear lord this BOOK! It’s massive, an actual tomb that could damage someone if you hit them with it, and from start to finish it ensnared me with its rich world and realistic characters and AND!!! The diversity!!!! The women in this book!!! I wanna marry them all!!!!!!!! I’ll be their loving wife as long as they’ll have me!!!!!!!! like legit the definition of "i would let that woman step on me" im so gay for them ALL.
I can’t even make my brain write a full review because I need to process??? But this was SO GOOD!!! The kind of epic fantasy we deserve!!!
I've made it my personal mission to spread the word of this book as far as i can. I'm THIS close to taking it, like a bible, door to door. It has everything I could ever want in a book and I cannot get over the fact that it exists and I own it and it's beautiful??
Dear lord this BOOK! It’s massive, an actual tomb that could damage someone if you hit them with it, and from start to finish it ensnared me with its rich world and realistic characters and AND!!! The diversity!!!! The women in this book!!! I wanna marry them all!!!!!!!! I’ll be their loving wife as long as they’ll have me!!!!!!!! like legit the definition of "i would let that woman step on me" im so gay for them ALL.
I can’t even make my brain write a full review because I need to process??? But this was SO GOOD!!! The kind of epic fantasy we deserve!!!
I've made it my personal mission to spread the word of this book as far as i can. I'm THIS close to taking it, like a bible, door to door. It has everything I could ever want in a book and I cannot get over the fact that it exists and I own it and it's beautiful??
Published: 9th August 2018 Reviewed: 9th Dec 2019 Lord Thornby has been trapped on his father’s isolated Yorkshire estate for a year. There are no bars or chains; he simply can’t leave. His sanity is starting to fray. When industrial magician John Blake arrives to investigate a case of witchcraft, he finds the peculiar, arrogant Thornby as alarming as he is attractive. John soon finds himself caught up in a dark fairytale, where all the rules of magic—and love—are changed. |
5/5 STARS
I absolutely devoured this book. I listened to the audio book version on 1.5 speed most of the way through and even popped into 1.75 and 2 speed because I needed to know what happened so badly. I had my suspicions and they were proved correct and it was so beautiful and lovely and ugh I’m so happy I picked this one up. I’ve been on a sci fi fantasy lgbt book binge these past couple of weeks and I ran out of that type of audio books to listen to at work so I took a chance on this one even though I don’t read much historical fiction and UGH THE BEST CHOICE I HAVE MADE RECENTLY!!!
I loved the way that the house was written, I loved the characters, the mythology woven into the story, the magic system, the intense romance that rose between our leading men, and the emotion that saturated the entire journey beginning to end. I spent my entire day listening to this at work, then when I got home I was actually annoyed because it meant I had to stop while I ate dinner with my family. Everyone was so well done and so well written! I’m genuinely sad it’s over now, I would have loved to be able to jump straight into a sequel haha.
Now begins my mission to find another book to top it, as soon as possible, a feat I think I’ll struggle with since I’ve worked my way through so many of the published audiobooks of the same type! I don’t want to spoil anything too much in this review but honestly give it a chance if you think it sounds intriguing.
I loved the way that the house was written, I loved the characters, the mythology woven into the story, the magic system, the intense romance that rose between our leading men, and the emotion that saturated the entire journey beginning to end. I spent my entire day listening to this at work, then when I got home I was actually annoyed because it meant I had to stop while I ate dinner with my family. Everyone was so well done and so well written! I’m genuinely sad it’s over now, I would have loved to be able to jump straight into a sequel haha.
Now begins my mission to find another book to top it, as soon as possible, a feat I think I’ll struggle with since I’ve worked my way through so many of the published audiobooks of the same type! I don’t want to spoil anything too much in this review but honestly give it a chance if you think it sounds intriguing.
Reviewer
26. Capricorn. INFP. Hufflepuff.
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