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C.G. @ Paper Fury

Best Books Read in 2022 (Yearly Recap!)

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2022 is nearly over, which means it’s time for my favourite thing.

Which is to say: book stats and charts and lists. 😌 I am a simple creature with simple loves, what can I say.

I always love looking back on my reads of the year and seeing how my habits have changed and what types of books I gravitated to. I will admit this wasn’t my best reading year in terms of quality. I just didn’t find many new favourites? 5-star reads were slim and I had a frustrating amount of 1-stars (who we won’t name, but it was a salty time). But the books I did fall in love with gave me all the ferally affection feels, and am excited to talk about them.

But you know what did work out for me this year? WRITING. 😩🙌🏻 I sold my first YA horror to Feiwel & Friends (Macmillan, USA). Skeleton Boys is coming out in 2024!! Still pretty surreal tbh. My first book deal (with Hachette UK) was in 2016 and the years and years of rejections on 4+ projects (that ended up trunked or discarded) were wearing holes through my heart. I was even rereading my recap from 2021 just now and wow I was so sad this time last year. 🥺 Christmas 2021 had me on the floor from the amount of rejections, and I was seriously considering setting aside writing for a while. I was that low. Then it sold in June to a dream publisher. Still cannot believe how lucky I am.

Also, I sold Skeleton Boys in June and then immediately began work on another horror (adult this time), and let’s just say a book deal is very motivating for one’s productivity. 🤣 I wrote an ambitious 130K book in 4 months. And I am planning to work my guts out in 2023 because this feels like my second chance in publishing (a chance I wasn’t sure I’d get) and I’m so determined keep my little author career going. Let’s do this. 🤨👌🏻

…SOME HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR

  • Obviously GETTING ANOTHER BOOK DEAL AFTER 6 YEARS OF TRYING.
  • Read 200 books despite it being quite hard to keep up this year.
  • Published The Kings of Nowhere myself on Patreon (after my old publisher wouldn’t take it). I was also rewriting it as I was posting it and may I just say that pressure was very stressful 😂 (though satisfyingly fun). This book is my whole heart and I didn’t think anyone would get to read it, but they can. And the love for it has been amazing.
  • Hit 100,000 followers on instagram and 9,400 followers on Tiktok.
  • Wrote 90,000-word YA contemporary and 130,000-word adult horror.
  • Outlined 3 wips (15-20K each outline).
  • Wrote pitches for 10+ new wips.
  • The Boy who Steals Houses got a special edition in German!
  • Worked on over 100+ tours with Melissa and MTMC.
  • Managed to keep creating content for Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, and put reviews up on this blog…which is a lot of work honestly so am proud.

and you can catch my old yearly recaps here → 2021. 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015.

Every year I tell myself I’m going to read “the books I own and get my tbr under control” and absolutely every year I do not. Beginning to suspect I don’t actually even try. But you know what? NEXT YEAR. That will be my year. 🤨🙌🏻 Watch out.

Next year I’m going to aim for 150 instead, but am proud I got to the 200 this year despite some months where I barely read more than 5 books. It was…not a consistent time. 😂

STAR RATINGS

Yeah we did…not have the best time lmao. I think one thing that bothered me in books this year was just the sheer lack of world building, and also some really selfish featuring characters. Personally preferences of course. I’m just not interested to read about selfish people being mean. 😂 But I’ve had a lot of 4-stars this December so taking that energy into 2023 I hope!!

 

 

GENRES READ

As always contemporary and fantasy are my two biggest genres consumed! If I combined all the fantasy subgenres it would win, but contemporary is definitely hold its own. Also horror is fast creeping (heheh) up as one of my favourite genres, and those are some of the reads that have stuck with me the most this year.

 

 

 

READING FORMAT

Last year I read 49 audiobooks and this year I only read 32 😩 so a bit sad, but also I struggled to find audios that kept me engaged. But I maintained roughly my usuals for paperbacks and ebooks, though read a few more hardcovers than usual.

 

 

Where Did I Get My Books?

YET AGAIN…library wins. I am trying not to wheeze to death over here because I swear it is my most senseless habit that I buy books and then only read library books.

But it’s also helpful to see that while I’m reading 200+ books per year, that would be very expensive if I was buying everything. So as you can see I’m very much not. 😂 I also was a rep for the book box so I didn’t have to buy those.

 

Age Category

This one is probably my most changed from last year! I read 27% adult books last year and this year it’s bumped up to 32%. I maintained an average of 9% for middle-grade reads, so it was YA that was slightly lower.

I do want to read more MG next year though, because I found some of my favourites there this year.

 

 

YEAR PUBLISHED

I’m actually surprised I read 91 books of 2022 releases, because I feel SO BEHIND on all the new books. My tbr is stacked with 2022-releases that I didn’t get to. Sir how. 🥹 I read so much and yet nothing apparently.

But I definitely gravitate toward newer books while the backlist dwindles.

Also this is pretty similar to what I read last year too, though last year I did read a few more new releases.

 

Diversity

As always, this is my hardest one to track because I haven’t found a satisfying way to do it yet. Someday I’ll fix my spreadsheet to be more detailed. But for now this is roughly what we ended up with. I definitely want to read more books by authors of colour next year (more indigenous authors too) and as always I crave more disability rep. Good disability rep, if I may be so bold as to plead for it. I did read a lot of queer books, and I do appreciate how many more identities are getting featured in books now. But would trade a soul (someone else’s) for more asexual rep.

This year I’m dividing up my top reads by genre; and as always I’m only talking about the books I loved (though I might forget some but forgive me and my holely memory.)

EPIC FANTASY

Slim pickings this year, but these four definitely took hold of my heart. Bone Weaver ruined me, by the way. I was listening to the audiobook and got stabbed in the chest and had to pause it for like a week to recover. A Strange And Stubborn Endurance was like a queer slice-of-life fantasy with politics and a dash of mystery, which was nice. Admittedly The House Of Always is my first book in the series that I didn’t rate 5-stars (le sigh) but I still enjoyed my favourites. And A Magic Steeped In Poison was captivating!

 

MODERN FANTASY

The Atlas Six & The Atlas Paradox are my #1 favourites of the year. The absolutely delight I find in pretentious clever horrible little magicians who are going to break the world simply because they can while also having various gay crises is [chef’s kiss] just my thing. Our Crooked Hearts was gorgeously written, the prose alone is divine (though the cover is no my favourite). The Boy With A Bird In His Chest is rather allegorical for hiding your queer self and it’s incredibly moving.

 

 

HORROR

Aka my new favourite genre and you can obviously see I couldn’t narrow down the favourite list very much because these were all so, so good. Some were lighter horror, some a bit cosy, others absolutely disgustingly disturbing. 10/10, am delighted.

THRILLER

These are all so, so fantastic. Special shout out to The Butterfly Assassin (written by a friend) which was brilliance, and The Final Gambit (an excellent finale, though am also glad there’s more Hawthorne brother books coming). And Tripping Arcadia was poisonous and gothic and I very much liked. Wicked Little Deeds was also a surprise favourite!? Cover does not do it justice; it’s so addictive.

 

CONTEMPORARY

So, so many good ones here (most of them queer tbh) and The Stars And The Blackness Between Them and Dark Room Etiquette are both still haunting me. Also The Greatest Thing will fix any Heartstopper hangovers, and Sasha Masha was a delightful little queer-questioning story.

 

HISTORICAL FICTION / FANTASY

I don’t read a lot of historical, but these were definitely amazing (also realise I stan the historical cover styles these days). A Marvellous Light was so fun and perfectly captured the jock/nerd romance with Edwardian style magic.

 

SCI-FI & DYSTOPIAN

Another of my lesser read genres, but these are all so so good?! A Psalm For The Wild-Build is the actual cosiest story, and Iron Widow was a heart-stopping violently explosive story that I adored. Bitter was the perfect prequel, and I’m still thinking about it tbh. The Darkness Outside Us had an unforgettable, jaw-dropping twist.

 

MIDDLE GRADE STORIES

I do want to know why MG books just want to make you cry but HI, these three do, and they broke my heart and I love them incredibly so. Highly recommend all of these and also a box of tissues.

 

REREADS

I only reread 7 books so that was pretty bad. But just did not have time?! I felt the White Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland this whole year, I swear, just forever out of time. Anyway these are comfort favourites, some with a bit of murder (as is usual for comfort reads) and I very much loved them all…except maybe I liked We Were Liars a little less 6+ years later lmao.

 

SHOULD HAVE READ THIS YEAR…BUT DIDN’T

I looked back at my list from last year for this category and…I ended up reading only 3 of tose. 💀 I so so did not have it together this year. Anywho, that is in the past now 😪 I am a changed person, as of the last 2 seconds. 

So these books (!!) I did not get to in 2022 when I really should have. But I will (for sure this time) get to them in 2023.

 

HIGHLY ANTICIPATED UPCOMING 2023 RELEASES

Am so so excited for these and already have 5 of them preordered. Hopefully will actually read them all in 2023 for once. (Although taking a second to stress about rising book prices…especially for adult fiction. It’s very 💀 The library is eternally my friend.)

 

 

Happy new year, everyone!! I’d love to hear about your favourite reads of the year in the comments. And what other things happened in your 2022?

 

 

The First Thing About You by Chaz Hayden – Slice-Of-Life Contemporary About A Teen With Muscular Dystrophy

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As soon as I heard about this book, I was so keen to read it.

It’s a checklist of things I love in contemporary books, including witty writing and stellar banter, complex and layered characters who have hearts of gold as well as their own demons to fight, and incredible disability rep by a disabled author. It was also thoroughly unputdownable (pretend like this is a word) and I read it in one day. Just felt so good to be really invested in a great book. Perfect way to spend my Sunday. 💛

The story follows 15-year-old Harris as he starts at a new high school with a lowkey plan to reinvent himself and finally make some friends. I also loved that it was by a 15yo because we so rarely get that POV in YA these days. Harris was instantly loveable. I love his wit and quips, I love that he didn’t hate his disability while at the same time he was frustrated at what he couldn’t do. He has spinal muscular atrophy and needs help with pretty much everything so he required a full time aid at school (a little less awkward than having his mum along, aka executive assistant). The book is also about him meeting Miranda, a young and cool and beautiful aid, who is both amazing and…questionable. There’s a lot of their (working) relationship that is a bit iffy and more than a few yikes moments. While at the same time you have to love their camaraderie and the difference she made in Harris’s life.

I wish I could’ve told him that inclusivity was not making someone feel uncomfortable for the enrichment of others.

I know the tagline is that it’s a love story, but it’s also super focused on all types of relationships. Friendship, parent relationships, sibling relationships…I totally loved this?! It shows us the good and bad and awkward and wonderful of Harris’s family life (his mum truly is amazing) and the struggle of making friends (and keeping them) and his budding relationship with Nory…who he struggles to know if she is actually into him or not. Mixed signals galooore here. I loved the deep dive into all these relationships dynamics. Which brings me to ANOTHER thing (of many 😌 I know) that I loved…

The book really talks deeply about the multifaceted nature of humans. Harris is really obsessed with colour theories, what your favourite colour says about you, etc. He uses it to judge/define people he’s just met because he’s so used to the instant, snap-judgements of people who see him in a wheelchair. The book handled this theme so exellently, how it showed us all these different characters who really were never surface-level simple. Harris makes his own crappy decisions as well — and has a good bit of growth throughout the book. He’s a 15-year-old kid just trying to figure life out. And yup, this book does a great job of capturing the Pains Of Being Fifteen.

Also absolutely loved the poignant and crisp disability advocacy throughout the book. The pointing out how thoughtlessly abled people act about accessibility. The everyday fights to be treated as a full human. The joy but also pain that comes with a disabled life. This is also not a book about self-hate, it doesn’t feel like it’s for an abled audience — it just exists, free and loud.  As an autistic person, I crave more good disability rep and seeing disabled authors actually get the space they deserve in publishing. More of this please. 🙌🏻

An explosively colourful story full of complex characters and amazing banter that read like a slice-of-life from a teen with muscular spinal dystrophy. Totally recommend!

Thanks to Walker Books AUS for the review copy!

Title: The First Thing About You
Author: Chaz Hayden
Date Published: 7th of September, 2022
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Walker Books
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks
Add it on Goodreads
A high school student with spinal muscular atrophy is determined to reinvent himself.
When fifteen-year-old Harris moves with his family from California (home of beautiful-but-inaccessible beaches) to New Jersey (home of some much-hyped pizza and bagels), he’s determined to be known as more than just the kid in the powered wheelchair. Armed with his favorite getting-to-know-you question (“What’s your favorite color?”), he’ll weed out the incompatible people—the greens and the purples, people who are too close to his own blue to make for good friends—and surround himself with outgoing yellows, adventurous oranges, and even thrilling reds. But first things first: he needs to find a new nurse, stat, so that his mom doesn’t have to keep accompanying him to school.
Enter Miranda, a young nursing student who graduated from Harris’s new high school. Beautiful, confident, and the perfect blend of orange and red, Miranda sees Harris for who he really is—funny, smart, and totally worthy of the affections of Nory Fischer, the cute girl who’s in most of his classes. With Miranda at his side, Harris soon befriends geeky Zander (yellow) and even makes headway with Nory (who stubbornly refuses to reveal her favorite color). But Miranda is fighting her own demons, and Harris starts to wonder if she truly has his best interests at heart.

[Blog Tour] Secrets Of Isoria by Cristina Macari — Magic Schools & Family Secrets!

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Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for Secrets Of Isoria by Cristina Macari!

This story is full of magical schools for sorcerers, complex family secrets, heroes and villains, and a girl packed who is just trying to find her place in the world but she’s packed with so, so much power. Orion just wants to know who she is…but never expected the answer to be “sorcerer” and thus follows a whirlwind of an adventure.

It’s full of a lot of classic YA fantasy tropes that so many people know and love. 👌🏻 Including the magic schools, the secret magical worlds hidden away from “normal humans” and modern technology, the training to fight monsters and dark lords, the bit of “rivals to lovers” romance trope. Orion got to 16 before she realised there was a whole other world out there — and she’s understandably mad at her mother for hiding this, for robbing her of a chance to belong. There’s a lot of themes of fitting in and finding your place and just knowing yourself, which would definitely be relatable to a lot of YA audiences. Orion, of course, is super powerful and blasts through training and learning about her powers. She befriends some of the other young magicians, but the most complex relationship is between her and her mentor’s apprentice, Alec. He’s your moody, clever, and powerful sorcerer with lots of secrets, and he and Orion are like flint and fire when they’re together until they pause their wars to team up a bit.

There’s also a mystery element, with Orion trying to solve the riddles left behind after her grandmother’s death. Cue secret rooms and clues and magic and twisty alliances!

Perfect for fans of Shadowhunters and Divergent, where a young and powerful sorcerer is enveloped in a magical world and must discover who to trust, and who to fear.

Also check out my instagram for the giveaway!! Thanks to MTMC Tours & the author for the copy of the book.

 I also designed some bookmarks with quotes from Secrets of Isoria!! Hope you enjoy them. 😍✨

Title: Secrets Of Isoria (Secrets of Isoria #1)
Author: Cristina Macari
Publication Date: December 13th, 2021
Genres: YA Contemporary Fantasy, Paranormal
Purchase a copy: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Blackwell’s
Add on Goodreads!
Uncovering the past can save the future.
Sixteen-year-old Orion Candor has always felt like an outsider. Concealing her weird, unexplained abilities hasn’t been easy, and a near-death experience turns her world upside down. She learns she has elemental powers and must train at an elite academy in Isoria, a hidden country for sorcerers. But dark forces begin to test Orion in ways she couldn’t have imagined.
Fear and treachery haunt Isoria’s streets as the country’s most malicious sorcerer, Cyril Obsidian, craves domination. But Orion discovers her late grandmother hid clues leading to a relic that can turn the tide of evil. Determined to solve the mysteries of her past, Orion finds herself on the run from Cyril and entangled in a spy ring with questionable motives—the same spy ring her grandmother once belonged to.
In a world that thrives on deception, Orion must choose her allies carefully. One wrong move and she could lose Isoria’s last chance at freedom—along with her life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Cristina Macari is the author of the young adult contemporary fantasy series, Secrets of Isoria. She grew up in New Jersey and is the proud child of Italian immigrants. She holds a B.S. in History and double minored in Creative Writing and International Business at the Ramapo College of New Jersey. She has always loved the idea of magic hiding in our modern world and gets lost in creating in-depth worlds filled with secrets and danger. She hopes that she can help readers escape the everyday with her writing while entertaining and finding themselves and those they care about in her books. Just like her character, she hopes readers will discover they too have a place in this world. When she’s not writing or reading, she can be found horseback riding, spending time in nature, gaming, weightlifting, doing yoga, or playing piano. Website | Instagram | Twitter

MTMC TOURS Schedule

December 12
@paperfury – Bookstagram & Book Blog
@dreaminginpages – Bookstagram

December 13
@bookspired – Bookstagram & BookTok
@monikasbookblog – Bookstagram

December 14
@thereaderandthechef – Bookstagram & Book Blog
@itbeganwiththestars – Bookstagram & BookTok

December 15
@gwendalyn_books_ – Bookstagram & Book Blog
@bookishqueenreads – Bookstagram

December 16
@amordeluna0 – Bookstagram & BookTok
@over.on.my.bookshelf – Bookstagram

December 17
@afaerytalee – Bookstagram & BookTok
@myrelationshipwith – Bookstagram

December 18
@dovireads – Bookstagram & BookTok
@purely_bookish – Bookstagram

December 19
@pavlinamich – Bookstagram & Book Blog
@mels_booksandhooks – Bookstagram

December 20
@rozanne_visagie – Bookstagram & BookTok
@dbookishprincess – Bookstagram

December 7
@heathen_booker – Bookstagram & Book Blog
@mulberryreads – Bookstagram

Gleanings (Arc of a Scythe #3.5) by Neal Shusterman – Short Story Collection

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We’re back in Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe world for a short story compilation!

Time for a fresh addition to the Scythe series with short stories that range from exciting, emotional, cute and eye-opening. There are 13 tales here, and each follows a different POV, some from characters we know and love from the original trilogy and others from new perspectives of people just existing in the world. Some origin stories come to life (especially for Goddard and Scythe Marie Curie) and it pulls other characters from the shadows to tell us what happened with them (like Citra’s little brother, Ben). None of the stories are about Citra/Rowan but they do make cameos and are referenced.

Admittedly, it’s been a while since I read the trilogy so I didn’t remember a lot, and maybe didn’t recognised some reoccurring names. But I think anyone who’s a big fan of the series will definitely enjoy the references and cameos. Some of the stories are also co-authored, so that was pretty cool to see the collaborations.

Highlights from some of the stories:

A Martian Minute — This one was chilling and interesting in turn, giving us the backstory of Scythe Goddard. Also it’s set on Mars as well, which was super interesting. Definitely a complex story with dark turns and highlights more of the scythes’ corruptions.

Meet Cute And Die — This one was fun fluff, but it probably my favourite! It’s just about two random people who get into an accident together that renders them both mostly deadish. They get put back together and sort of shyly agree to go out for lunch. It was a fun meet cute. 😂 And I loved where it went. Also brought up the interesting (aka kind of terrifying) result of this style world that “killing” people (since they come back to life) doesn’t have as much weight. How it becomes an…option…when someone pisses you off. 💀😂

Anastasia’s Shadow — This one was sad/happy…?! I don’t even know. Many emotions. It’s about Ben, Citra’s little brother, who of course grows up and then is manipulated into training to be a Scythe against his wishes. Just the emotional abuse and isolation he goes through and the fear to even fall in love. He is also queer! And the ending did bring a spark of hope, I felt.

Never Work With Animals — Also a notable one, about a corrupt scythe and the dog who ends up getting one over him. I was Team The Dog the whole way tbh and that scythe so got what he deserved.

There are many more stories to discover and enjoy! Check Gleanings out if you’ve been following along Arc of a Scythe and want to see more of the world and the interesting, complex characters.

Thanks to Walker Books AUS for the review copy!

Title: Gleanings (Arc of a Scythe #3.5)
Author: Neal Shusterman
Date Published: November 16th, 2022
Genre: YA Sci Fi, Dystopian
Publisher: Walker Books
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks
Add it on Goodreads
The New York Times bestselling Arc of the Scythe series continues with thrilling stories that span the timeline. Storylines continue. Origin stories are revealed. And new Scythes emerge!
There are still countless tales of the Scythedom to tell. Centuries passed between the Thunderhead cradling humanity and Scythe Goddard trying to turn it upside down. For years humans lived in a world without hunger, disease, or death with Scythes as the living instruments of population control.
Neal Shusterman—along with collaborators David Yoon, Jarrod Shusterman, Sofía Lapuente, Michael H. Payne, Michelle Knowlden, and Joelle Shusterman—returns to the world throughout the timeline of the Arc of a Scythe series. Discover secrets and histories of characters you’ve followed for three volumes and meet new heroes, new foes, and some figures in between.
Gleanings shows just how expansive, terrifying, and thrilling the world that began with the Printz Honor–winning Scythe truly is.

The Boy Who Steals Houses is now available on Kindle Unlimited!

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The Boy Who Steals Houses is now available on Kindle Unlimited!

This is exclusively available to Kindle Unlimited in the UK, I believe 👀👌🏻 But it’s also literally only $3 on Amazon USA too if you have been hanging out to try my book! And honestly so proud (and grateful) that it still has a 4.5 star rating. 🥺💛 Three years out and my son is still going strong.

And once you’ve read TBWSH, it is an excellent time to head over to my Patreon and read the sequel!

The Kings Of Nowhere (book 2) is fully up on Patreon now so you can read the whole thing. There’s also a new short story up every month, and I’m totally open for requests. So you can tell me which characters you want to hear more from! I’m also working on book 3 now (The House For Lost Things) and tentatively planning a March/April release. And I’m giving away a Sam & Avery art print to everyone who’s subscribed to my Patreon in December!! All info is here. And you can see the cute art below!!

Art by @kyerta_

I’m honestly obsessed with this commission and love them so much. 😭💛 So you definitely don’t want to miss out on this!

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao – Bitingly Brilliant YA Sci Fi

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Iron Widow was such an excellent read.

Compelling, action packed, female antihero, blisteringly well delivered themes — it did everything right. I also had the pleasure of listening to the audio a few months ago before this review copy surprised me in the mail, but I hadn’t reviewed the story. So it’s high time! This one is definitely going on my Top Ten Of 2022 list. However due to experience this via audio, please be patient with my spelling!! 😂😭 Everything is phonetic in my head (though I’ve tried to look names/words up).

Zetian was amazing. She was absolutely feral and unhinged and I loved that for her. This took the corruption arc and went for it with its whole chest, but more than that: it did it right. By the end I totally feel like Zetian had snapped but at the same time, pfft, I was 100% rooting for her. We support womens rights and womens wrongs here. Something I usually am wary of with #girlboss characters is how their focus is only inward, but it wasn’t the case here. Zetian had such a fervent focus on the other abused and discarded girls forced to face worse fates even than she. She did not bring any “not like the other girls” vibes, and was in fact convinced her high-spirit pressure wasn’t a fluke…other girls were like her and being crushed so the boys could always prevail. Her fight, her willingness to make herself think passed “limitations”, the way she endured and reclaimed her autonomy and her mind and her love for herself — all so well delievered on page.

It’s violently and ferociously feministic. And I also loved how Zetian isn’t just fighting for the other girls: she’s discovering the boys who are abused and suffer too, like Li Shimin.

It’s also refreshingly queer and features a polyamory romance, which is so rare in YA (is it anywhere?!). Finally we get a true triangle 😂 It discusses gender and I appreciated how Zetian frequently mentioned how she didn’t vibe with the concept of gender. Did I mention I love her. I do wish Shimin x Yizhi had more space to develop, especially their feelings toward each other, but fingers crossed that’s coming in the sequel.

It has lots of fight scenes and big magic robots that you control with your chi. I thoroughly enjoyed the concept. At first it felt like straight up fantasy to me, but then the END HITS and wow. I see where it’s going and it’s brilliant and horrible, and I’m craving the sequel like nothing else. It also serves up some hunger games vibes were Zetian and Li Shimin realise they need to win public favour in order to help stay alive, and that sense of self that is sacrificed as they mould themselves for the cameras contrasted with the reclaiming of autonomy that goes down as they gain momentum. Loved that.It is overall quite dark too, and doesn’t hold back from realistically discussing abuse and torture and rape and murder.

it’s a vicious book with a lot to say and the best part is: it says it loud and it says it excellently. Throw in a good dash of bloody vengeance and you have a YA that is thoroughly worth the hype.

Thanks to One World Publications for the review copy!

Title: Iron Widow (#1)
Author: Xiran Jay Zhao
Date Published: September 8th, 2022
Genre: YA Fantasy, Sci Fi
Publisher: One World Books
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks
Add it on Goodreads
The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.
When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​
To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

The Secret Wild by Alex Evelyn – Magical Botanical MG Adventure

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The Secret Wild is a green explosion of botanical whimsy and it was such a lovely read!

I have such a soft spot for books about wild, sentient plants and vines taking over the world and this just fulfilled every need. 🍃 Fern is a curious, smart, and fearless main character and so loveable. Plus she befriends a hybrid plant that gave me total Groot vibes and together they discover a plot from an eco-terrorist who is trying to make jungles take over London and destroy everything. The book had really themes about nature vs people and how we don’t need violently extreme measures to make a difference to the planet. And the whole story is just infused with love for plants and exploring and nature that it will bring smiles to old and young readers alike.

Fern is around ten-years-old so this is also the perfect read for the younger end of middle-grade. It’s not too action packed and while the stakes are high, it’s not a super stressful read. It’s also packed full of relatable themes: like how hard it is to make friends (especially if you’re out of practise) and how to be true to yourself but also make compromises.

The book kicks off with Fern living with her botanist parents who travel the world hunting for plants to study. But while Fern is a thoughtful and clever little girl, her curiosity is utterly wild, and she can’t control her impulses to explore — which gets her in dangerous situations. Her dad is dismissive of her not knowing enough Latin and her mother pretty much says nothing (lol) so Fern is sent to live with her uncle in London. Uncle Ned was lovely and quite funny, always preoccupied by his writing and chatting about his characters as if they’re real (relatable 😂) but he is also kind of neglectful of Fern. She ends up basically exploring London on her own. Though on the plane trip over she steals a little super-hybrid plant from a travelling botanist: and it turns out she can speak to the plant and it understands her. She names the plant Special. It’s definitely a stand-in for all the neglectful adults in Fern’s life. My heart ached for her. (Though I have to be honest…it’s my least favourite trope when parents are super absent/neglectful by choice and yet never apologise. I would’ve liked some consequences for the parents at the end.)

Fern meets Woody while in London, and I loved how they were such opposites. Fern hates wearing shoes and is obsessed with plants and wants to explore and climb things. Woody likes only puzzles, hates the outdoors, and pretty much is horrified by Fern’s messiness. (Woody did seem coded as autistic but the label isn’t mentioned.) Their friendship is slow to build but lovely.

There’s a bit of mystery solving, as Fern tries to keep Special fed and well, plus find out who the Guerrilla Gardener is. And there’s plenty of empowerment for STEM girls and curious girls and wild girls.

A tale of lonely kids finding solace in friendship and nature; and a total love letter to botany. It’s just this little girl and her little groot-like buddy against an overgrown London and some possibly man-eating plants.

Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy!

Title: The Secret Wild
Author: Alex Evelyn
Date Published: 1st December 2022
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Publisher: Walker Books
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks
Add it on Goodreads
A fantastical, botanical adventure about friendship, bravery – and finding home in a new place.
Fern has spent her whole life in the rainforest, and loves nothing more than climbing, exploring and talking to the trees. When she suddenly has to leave all that behind and move to London, with only an eccentric uncle for company, Fern feels entirely uprooted.
But when she meets a little plant that can understand her every word, it seems that things are looking up! That is until strange things start happening in the city: giant lily pads on the Thames, monkey vines on the London Eye, and now her new friend is starting to wilt…
Can they solve this growing mystery together – before it’s too late?

[Blog Tour] A Lust For Blood by K.C. Smith – Jekyll and Hyde Retelling & Female Antiheroes

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Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for A Lust For Blood by K.C. Smith!

This is a  genderbent reimagining of the Jekyll and Hyde with strong Witcher vibes, set in a fantasy world with a spooky haunted forest and impossible curses and trickster demons and world-shattering plot twists. It’s a fantasy romance, focusing on two perspectives told by our main characters: Oriana and Garren. They’re both tenacious and driven people who have lead hard lives filled with intimate and bloody pain, and they complimented each other excellently.

Oriana is fighting with her dark side: where under the blood red moon she turns into a monster that will rip out hearts and throats with no remorse. Garren is a demon hunter, driven to the career by personal tragedy, and his attention is caught by this town trapped near the Phantom Wood and haunted by a malicious demon. He meets Oriana when she’s, you know, not being a blood-curdling monster and is very enamoured with her…which of course is going to cause infinite problems later when he discovers the truth. It promises a collision of passions and hidden identities right from the get-go which landed both captivatingly and intriguingly.

It also has a lot of themes about inner peace and fighting your demons, but also about finding peace for yourself. I also am always here for books with spooky woods so that was entirely fun. I also found the writing really easy to fly through.

“I don’t think I could ever be lost from you, not truly, for I know you will always be there to find me.”

It is a love story full of monsters and demons, twisted woods and wicked hearts, with all the female antihero content you could ask for.

Also check out my instagram for the giveaway!! Thanks to MTMC Tours & the author for the copy of the book.

Title: A Lust For Blood (Realm of Curses #1)
Author: K.C. Smith
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Genres: Adult Fantasy
Purchase a copy: Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound | Blackwell’s
Add on Goodreads!
There is no escape when the monster is you.
When Oriana awakens in a field of blood and bodies, she is devastated to realize the patchwork of death was caused by her own hand. A curse lingers in the air, and there is only one option to save herself from further bloodshed. Oriana uses her magic to create an enchanted forest imprisoning the monster responsible for the massacre–herself.
Garren has built a career around slaying demons. When he learns of a centuries old creature locked away in the strange Phantom Wood, the opportunity is too great. He will stop at nothing to destroy the demon filth that lurks in those shadows if only to satisfy his own haunting memories.
Oriana soon finds herself caught in a cat and mouse game, fighting to keep her identity secret. As the two grow closer, secrets unravel. But could they each be the answer the other has been searching for?
The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde meets the Witcher in this debut Adult Dark Fantasy novel by K.C. Smith.

@cgdrews BOOK TOUR | thanks to @mtmctours for the copy! visit my blog or IG for more about the book #booktok #kcsmith #alustforblood #bookish #books #romantasybooks #fantasybooks #booklover ♬ DARKSIDE – Neoni

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and bred in Maryland, Katelyn has always had a great love for all things magical and fantasy. Her love of the genre began in elementary school through reading The Magic Treehouse books by Mary Pope Osborne. Her obsession only grew stronger as she ventured into high school and was given many Young Adult Fantasy books by her older brother. Her strength during grade school was always in math, but she enjoyed writing short stories in her free time throughout middle and high school. Once she began college, her interest in writing a full novel took root and writing kept her sane as she worked her way through obtaining an Accounting Degree. The following years would find Katelyn continuing to write, but never fully completing a novel until many years after college in 2021. Her debut novel, A Lust for Blood, is set to release November 1, 2022 from Phantom House Press. When not writing, Katelyn can be found rock climbing, spending time with her husband and their chihuahua, and traveling the world! Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook

MTMC TOURS Schedule

November 28
@paperfury – Bookstagram & Book Blog
November 29
@alliesrecentreads – Bookstagram
November 30
@thereaderandthechef – Bookstagram & Book Blog
December 1
@gcreads04 – Bookstagram
December 2
@sarahndipity_books – Bookstagram & BookTok
December 3
@charliesbookrecs – Bookstagram
December 4
@pavlinamich – Bookstagram & Book Blog
December 5
@bookish.apothecary – Bookstagram
December 6
@yourbookishfriendcom – Bookstagram & Book Blog
December 7
@bookworm_panda – Bookstagram

Nowhere Girl by Magali Le Huche – Beautiful Graphic Novel Memoir

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This is a lovely memoir graphic novel about growing up and fear and escapism.

I really enjoyed reading this one! It has beautiful art and was easily relatable and beautifully told. It’s set in Paris (translated to English now!) and follows the life of 12-year-old Magali as she has a nervous breakdown over school and tests when she’s twelve years old. Things are just very hard for her; the perfectionism, the irate teachers, the crushing test score demands. When Magali realises she absolutely cannot cope, she quits going to school and begins working from home. Though this also ushers in a really lonely and isolated time of her life. Her anxiety twists higher and higher and I really appreciated how it showed what life was like for her. Also knowing this is autobiographical was especially 💔. I’m sure so many kids face this: the cracking under extreme school pressure and the subsequent fall out.

Magali’s refuge is obsessing over music and she discovers the Beatles and absolutely falls in love. I loved these pages in the book so much because they were just livid explosions of colour — such a perfect peek into Magali’s rich inner world.

It’s a quick read and very personable and lovely. Perfect for middle-grade readers to teens.

I only struggled with the choice of text for the speech bubbles as it was super light/cursive and my eyes are too tired these days 🤣 Just wish they went for a more accessible font.

If you’re a fan of graphic novels, mental health representation, Parisian books, and music — this one is for you! I’d definitely like to read more from this author.

Thanks to Walker Books for the review copy!

Title: Nowhere Girl
Author: Magali Le Huche
Date Published: 1st December 2022
Genre: MG Graphic Novel / Memoir
Publisher: Walker Books
Purchase: Book Depository, Dymocks
Add it on Goodreads
The story of a young Parisian girl lost in the gulf between childhood and adulthood, navigating depression… and discovering the Beatles.
This is the story of a girl growing up in the 1990s – a middle-schooler who finds herself lost in the gulf between childhood and adolescence, developing paralyzing fears of failure, school, other people, and her own changing body. Along the way, she becomes obsessed with the Beatles… which might be just what she needs to find her way back to being okay. Yeah yeah yeah!

[Blog Tour] Lady Night #2 by Rita A. Rubin – Q&A With The Author!

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Welcome to my MTMC Tours stop for Lady Night by Rita A. Rubin!

Time to dive back into the world from the Chronicles of the Guardians! I read Amulet Of Wishes earlier this year, and it’s a fun fantasy romp with loveable characters and shapeshifting dragons and found family. This is a great series if you like fantasy on the lighter side with lots of focus on the characters. I did like how Lady Midnight also expands on the world-building we peeked at in Amulet of Wishes. Here there be more monsters. 👀👌🏻 The guardians have a lot to guard the world from as it turns out.

“Being strong doesn’t mean being unaffected. It doesn’t mean that you have to be made of stone. It means surviving and learning how to keep going after all the bad things have happened.”

While book 1 had our loveable trio together, book 2 splits them up a bit more — with Derek and Arabelle on a Guardian mission that takes them back to Derek’s childhood hometown (which is fraught with traumatic memories for him) to solve a murder vs Prince Jared (and now Will!) who is off to investigate an escape of a dark and dangerous prison. There’s more softly budding romance too as the teens work out their feelings for each other. And I always love any scene with Darus in it, our fave young chaotic queer adoptive dad!! The stakes are also growing ever higher in this book for everyone…

There are mysteries to solve, old villains reappearing, heartaches to work through, dark magic unleashed, and epic fight scenes to read. A fun fantasy adventure!

Thanks to MTMC Tours & Rita A. Rubin for the ebook. Read on m for my Q&A with Rita, plus an INTL giveaway.

Title: Lady Night (Chronicles of the Guardians #2)
Author: Rita A. Rubin
Publication Date: November 1st, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Purchase a copy: Amazon | Book Depository| Blackwell’s | Barnes & Noble  | Indiebound
Add on Goodreads
Derek Draco is finally learning to put the past behind him and enjoy life with his friends and as a Guardian. But when news of a string of recent murders reaches them, Derek finds himself having to return to the place he had hoped to never set foot in again—Windfell. The town where his parents died.
Meanwhile, Jared, the Prince of Aloseria and Derek’s best friend, finds himself helping to uncover a sinister plot brewing in the shadows. It soon becomes clear that not only could the fate of their world be under threat, but that dark plans may lie in wait for his friend.

Hi Rita! I’m so glad we get to chat about the next instalment of your amazing fantasy series. Tell us, what was it like drafting this sequel?

It was definitely a much quicker process than with Amulet of Wishes since this time, I went into it with an outline. But it was also more challenging in some ways. Lady Night’s storyline has a bit more complexity to it compared to Amulet of Wishes. In Lady Night we’re getting to see more of the world that was introduced in the first book and the groundwork’s being set for the storyline that will carry over into the next two books.

I’m so glad we got to see more of your world in this one! Do you already know how the series will end? Has anything surprised you while drafting so far?

I do know how I want the series to end, yes. Although I may not know all of the exact details just yet. I’m drafting book 3 at the moment and there’s been quite a few things that have caught me off guard about it. Such as how emotional it’s made me feel in certain moments.

Will we meet any fun new characters in Lady Night?

Indeed you will! I hope you’ll find characters like Will, Rosalie and Edgar as enjoyable to read as I did to write.

I loved Will immediately!! When do you usually write and what is your writing space like?

I’m a bit of a night owl when it comes to writing lately. And I don’t really have a designated writing space, but I can most commonly be found sitting on my bed when I do.

Honestly same for the writing space 😌👌🏻 Do you have any other projects in the works that we can beg for a teaser about? 👀👀

I sure do. I’ve got a Witcher-inspired, sapphic fantasy titled A Ballad for Slayers and Monsters, that’s still in brain storming stages. And I’m also in the middle of drafting a slice-of-life fantasy novella, about Jayce, the former unwilling servant of a dark lord, who just wants to live a mundane life. And maybe fall in love with a certain handsome knight.

Already so excited about those projects ahh 😍💛 And lastly! If you could hang out with one of your characters for a day, who would you choose?

This is a tough one. I’m going to have to say Darus because I’m sure he’d make a day spent with him a lot of fun.

Thanks so much for chatting with me today, Rita. And congrats on your latest release!


Enter the Rafflecopter below where one reader will win a paperback copy of Amulet of Wishes (book 1) or Lady Night (book 2). Ends on November 19th, 2022. Winner will be announced in the Rafflecopter & contacted via email.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Australian born, Rita was raised on the farms outside of Melbourne and grew up surrounded by wide open spaces, tractors and lettuce aplenty. For as long as she can remember, Rita has always loved to make up stories. Her first literary work was an Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfiction when she was 11. Now Rita spends a lot of her writing time working on her YA fantasy series, Chronicles of the Guardians. Apart from writing and reading, Rita’s interests include drawing, video games and pop culture. She is also the proud owner of a fat house cat named Bella, a spoilt dog named Sadie and Angel the goldfish. Website | Instagram | Goodreads | Twitter

MTMC TOURS Schedule

November 7
Book Blog – The Reader and The Chef

November 8
Bookstagram – @anabellasbooks
Book Blog – Bibliophile Devil

November 9
Book Blog – PaperFury
Bookstagram – @alara_reads
November 10
Bookstagram – @hercrazybooksta
BookTok – @mateskeys

November 11
Bookstagram – @rainbowbookdragon15
Book Blog – Bookish Adventures of P

November 12
Bookstagram – @mtmctours

November 13
Bookstagram – @_thelostlibrary_
Bookstagram – @thebookwebb