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Sword And Pen by Rachel Caine (Ft. Epic Giveaway, Excerpt, & My Feels About This Finale!)

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It’s time to celebrate the finale of the Great Library series!

And to capitalise on the pun opportunity I have been given — it was great. 😂🤭Ok I’m good now, I’m fine…

But truly this series is exquisitely incredible, thrilling and heart-wrenching and full of violent Ravenclaws (which, quite frankly, is amazing to read about). I don’t often stick with long series because I have the attention span of a gnat. But I’ve craved every book since Ink & Bone released back in 2015!

Today I’m part of the blog tour for Sword and Pen.

It’s really sad to say goodbye 😫But it was also a stunning ending.

Keep reading for some immensely epic giveaways + my review + and an excerpt from Thomas!

 

(And huge thank you to Berkley Pub and Rachel Caine for having me as part of the tour!)

➢ Catch up on my reviews of the first 4 books:

Goodreads | Booktopia | Book Depository | Amazon

With the future of the Great Library in doubt, the unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone must decide if it’s worth saving in this thrilling adventure in the New York Times bestselling series.
The corrupt leadership of the Great Library has fallen. But with the Archivist plotting his return to power, and the Library under siege from outside empires and kingdoms, its future is uncertain. Jess Brightwell and his friends must come together as never before, to forge a new future for the Great Library . . . or see everything it stood for crumble.

Rachel Caine is the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of more than fifty novels in a diverse range of genres and categories. She’s been honored with multiple awards from RT Booklovers Association and the Texas Library Association, and was honored with two spots on the 2012 “Most Favorite Books of UK Schoolchildren” list. In 2006, she created the Morganville Vampires series in young adult, and premiered the TLA-listed novel Prince of Shadows in 2015, and the new Great Library series with Ink and Bone in 2016. Rachel and her husband R. Cat Conrad live and work in Fort Worth, Texas.

Twitter | Instagram | Website | Facebook

Open for an excerpt

Open For excerpt from THOMAS

“No, not like that,” Thomas said, and elbowed the Artifex Magnus aside. He was sweating, stripped of his jacket, and he hardly recognized that he’d just shoved a member of the Great Library’s Curia out of the way until it was far too late. “Sorry,” he mumbled, but not with any real regret. “We have little time.”

“Yes, I know that, son,” Artifex Greta Jones said. She was American, which was a curiosity in and of itself—a round, pleasant woman with more than enough talent at engineering for nearly any task set before her. A rich, slow accent like melting butter. “Easy now. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”

There was no time to be polite, or easy. Thomas knew he could do better. That wasn’t modest, but it was true. He quickly unscrewed the bolts holding the gigantic crystal in place and gently lowered it to the worktable nearby. Everything looked fine, but he could read from the power consumption curve that it was not fine at all. “It’s not performing as expected,” he said as he unbolted the platinum casing that held the crystal. “The power cycle should have been longer, and recovery shorter. There’s something—”

As soon as the casing was off, he saw it, and his heart sank. Something had been off in the measurements, just the tiniest bit, and the distribution of stress must have thrown the calculations off and caused vibration. Vibration had caused a flaw.

The crystal was useless. The crack within it was tiny, a flaw that would have been meaningless for any other purpose … but not this one. It could be recut and the flaw eliminated, but he’d custom-built the casing for this stone to exacting specifications.

And they didn’t have time to machine new parts and cut a new crystal now.

The Artifex looked at the crystal, and he could tell she saw what he did. “It’ll crack straight through the next time we use it,” she said. “You were right. I’m sorry I doubted you. We could recut it, but that will reduce power …”

“It will,” he confirmed. “I’ll have to have the jewelers cut another crystal while I make a different kind of casing. One that can adjust to different crystal dimensions, in case we must change it more frequently. Put this one back, reduce the power output, and pray that they don’t force us to use it again more than once before the replacement is ready.” The Lighthouse ray was, in effect, a giant bluff, a gamble that he and the Artifex had decided was worth the risk. Now more than ever it had become more threat than reality.

Sword And Pen was stressfully brilliant, powerful and absolutely destroying.

I actually had to take a moment to breathe after I finished because, like Jess, I spent most of the book gasping and dying between paragraphs that were obviously designed to spear me right through the feels. This books was so so intense and it delivered everything I needed in a finale. Including making me not know if a single character I liked would get through. I was tHAT stressed!! I was so stressed!!!!

things I did while reading:
(a) pressed the entire ARC to my face and scream/cried at Santi calling Jess his and Wolfe’s son
(b) panicked about Jess’ life expectancy
(c) said I hated it and loved it in a single breath
(d) took too many photos for my bookstagram
(e) died and came back as a library haunting ghost of appreciation

Last books are always hard to review because I don’t want to give spoilers! 👀

But this totally delivered with a tight-action-packed plot, that was full of war and battles, super high stakes, and valiant sacrifices. It also had tons of stupid teenagers thinking they’re invincible (I love them) and Wolfe getting grey hairs because his kids are irresponsible about their health (I love him). It had so so so many satisfying plot twists. I was just beaming by the end.

It managed to be painful on the feels, heartbreaking at times, and also intensely right and satisfying. That’s a hard balance to pull off in a finale, and I applaud the entire series for constantly delivering to my super high expectations.

A little run down about what the characters were up to…

  • Jess gets himself seriously seriously hurt and I definitely ached for him through the entire book. His ptsd and depression spiral is gut-wrenching. I love him so much ahhh.
  • Wolfe and Santi didn’t have a lot of chapters in this one but I loved every scene they were in. Their devotion to each other is incredible; gay dads of the century. We stan. 😭🙌🏻I also love that Santi gave up hoping people would be sensible and just started pairing everyone off so at least the hot-heads had someone to temper them down.
  • Thomas is off solving lots of puzzles; also being a super weapons genius while being the softest bean ever.
  • Dario is such a snake I love him. Tbh he bad more chemistry with Jess than Morgan/Jess did but ok.
  • Khalila no spoilers but AHHHH SHE IS A QUEEN AND I LOVE HER. She really just proves herself in this one and I adored her arc.
  • Glain has always been like the smallest part of the squad but she is badass and I do like her.
  • Morgan was super powerful and kinda scary with it, but I did appreciate her whole storyline for this finale.

 

Spoilers About The Finale

(seriously DON’T click until after you’ve read it!)

open for finale SPOILERS
I very very much thought it was setting up Jess to DIE. I was freaking out.😭😂 I always feel like a journey is pointless if the protagonist doesn’t make it sooooo…I was worried. But my son, my love, Jess got through. His emotional pain and ruination over Brendan dying in his arms really followed him through this book and I broke with him. Grief = exceptionally written. 

I just wish there’d been like a “5 years later” epilogue showing us what everyone is up to!!!

→  Also Wolfe and Santi being at his hospital bed at the end, threatening to murder his dad, saying TEHY WERE HIS NEW DADS??? 10/10 best moment of the book. My HEARTTTTT.

→ Morgan’s death was super sad, but it also felt well handled and right. And tbh she was never my favourite and I never felt she and Jess fit perfectly. So she’s in a bodyless dimension being free and I’m just like! Ok!

→  And YES that Khalila got to be the Archivist. SO deserved. Best and most satisfying ending.

I also love how the book balanced destruction, violence, and hope.

Ultimately, the series is about fighting for what you believe, for making sure no one person has the ability to dictate the spread of knowledge through the world. The book is about knowledge being power…about found-family being the truest part of your heart…and about freedom. It got so so dark in this book. But it gave us those slivers of light that we needed to cling onto.

It was perfect. Freaking perfect. I’m NOT over it and will be melting inside for at least 600 years.

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And click here to enter an exclusive giveaway just for my followers!

| what do you think? |

have you read this series or is it on your TBR?? tell me which cover is your favourite too!! (mine is Paper & Fire because I love orange so much)

 

Queen Of Air And Darkness by Cassandra Clare || I Just Lost My Heartbeat…WOW

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My opinion on this is basically one long extended screeeeam.

This was absolutely, earth shatteringly perfect. Am I obsessed with The Dark Artifices?? Ah, yes. Yes I am. And I’ve been through several Shadowhunter finales, but I still get nervous! I had fierce plans for my ships here and I was all tied up in anxious knots about it the characters, the plot…the stakes…

But, look. It was perfect. Just perfect.

(And it’s ridiculously hard to write a review when your brain is a catastrophe of emotions!!!!!!)

 

You can see my reviews for Lady Midnight and Lord of Shadows here!

 

This is a NO SPOILER REVIEW for Queen of Air and Darkness, but there WILL be spoilers from first two books!

 

(And for once this isn’t a book from a publisher! Just so you know haha.)

 

➸ I had so much emotions for these ships.

I had my expectations and my wishes…and they were met. Ok sure I also had some cool theories that didn’t happen (GUESS IT’S TIME FOR FANFIC) but otherwise I just adore how Cassandra Clare scares the absolute skin off us wondering if our ships will be ok and then (1) makes it satisfying, but (2) never easy or perfect by the end. I love her romances, loooove them.

I know it’s common to roll eyes and say, “It’s the end of the world and they’re caring about kissing? unrealistic.” But, hear me out: it makes sense. At one point Cristina told Emma she had romance problems, and Emma fully yelled, “THANK THE HEAVENS. LET’S TALK ABOUT THAT INSTEAD OF DEATH!!!!” And I get that. You put a crowd of super stressed teens in a super stressful situation, where there’s a 900% chance they’re gonna die or end the world — so yes they do some kissing too. And cuddling. There is a lot of cuddling here. It’s a distraction and a reminder of what you’re fighting for.

Also, more (((SPOILER))) ship thoughts ➸

SPOILERS
I was so freaking relieved that Kieran x Mark x Cristina all sailed. Like it was SET UP SO WELL, but I was terrified it wouldn’t pull through for the poly rep. But here we are. I am a tree sap of appreciation. But at the same time I was a little disappointed because I wanted Kieran to marry Cristina and Mark and they all live as faerie kings/queens. Just…let me have that wish, ok. Anyway, it didn’t happen. They get to hang out in a cottage on the weekends. I felt that was just…unnecessary?

“Faerie kings don’t take human consorts…” COUGH WHATEVER. I have literally never read a fae book where they didn’t. But you go make unnecessary disappointment. ¯\_(ツ)_/ÂŻ

As for Julian x Emma…I was actually banking on Emma to die LOL. I’m SO SORRY. But I figured one of them would have to and Julian would suffer more if he lived so…(yes??? I have literally no soul I’m so sorry). Instead they turned into giant nephilim and were brought back to safety by Tavvy saying he loved them or whatever. Super adorable. I confess I rooted for K x M x C more lmao. I DID love Julian x Emma getting to be together at the end!!!!

 

 

➸ How my heart beats for my Blackthorns.

My Blackthorn kids are so stressed and wrecked in this book. They tear away from each other because they’re hurting so bad…and I loved that arc. How they realised they couldn’t be divided to heal. Helen getting to be there was AMAZING. She is a gift! And her wife, Aline, totally yells at everyone when they make Helen cry so A+ for Aline.

✧ Julian just went and SNAPPED, SON, DAYUM. He makes stupid decisions because he hurts so bad.
✧ Mark continues to be so pure, so soft and wholesome. (He makes donut sandwiches and he’s so pleased with himself while arranging the plates.)
✧ Dru has more of a part too which I loved. She so desperately wants to fit in with Ty/Kit and I love how Kit makes an effort to let her.
✧ Ty…honestly, I would’ve liked to see more reaction from him? He dealt with the death in his own way, but very emotionless and I’m worried that fits into the stereotype that autistic people don’t show emotions well. Just ONCE, I wanted him to blow up and cry, ok. But anyway. I still love Ty and he is amazing jfdkslad.
✧ Tavvy continues to be adorable and useless, bless him.

 

 

➸ Other character thoughts?

✧ Kieran is my absolute FAVE, I can’t even with how much I love him. He’s so intense and dramatic and he just melts for his loves and I adore that. Also fab hair.
✧ Cristina is a true hero, so unflappable unless one of her boys kisses her and then she just screams internally for 200 years.
✧ Perfect Diego is…less perfect! Well done. I don’t really care about him and Jaime, but eh, they exist.
✧ ZARA COULD GO DIE THANKS.
✧ Manuel could’ve used a bit more motive but ugh hate him.
✧ Ash???? WHAT IS GOING ON WITH ASH???????? MORE INFO NEEDED?????? (I take it he’s being set up for another series?)

 

 

➸ Was it too long???

Here’s the thing: I loved every freaking page as well as acknowledge the book was genuinely uncomfortable to hold. It took me forever to finish it. I wanted to, but it physically hurt to hold a 900 page book. (Yes I realise there are eBooks but I’d bought the paperback already?) It could’ve been two books.Two would’ve been great.

 

 

➸ The plot is so intense and exhausting…in a good way!

So much happened…it was a stressful whirlwind. I won’t give spoilers on the details, but least to say they went to a LOT of places and it was NOT dull. It was unexpected and clever and thrilling. And, even though it was so highly intensely emotional, it still squeezed in some famous Shadowhunter snark. Yas.

It balanced the soft moments (coffees and cuddles and coloured pencil smudges and beach kisses) with the hardcore action (fighting in Faerie, breaking immortal blades, using impossible black magic, heartwrenching traumaaaaa).

There are so many threads, so many details! It’s incredible how it references other series and sets up for more. It is just Clever™.

 

 

➸ Emotions? We gotcha emotions and we shall crunch them.

I laughed. I cried. I was a mess. (Also so so anxious the entire time?! ANXIETY LAUGHTER, LOOK AT ME GO.) I still live for the one-liners though, but I loved that this one talked about much darker topics: like grief and loss and moving on. And the character arcs were just brilliant. These kids grew up so much in three books and I love it.

 

I think the thing to take away from this review is: WOW I LOVED THIS BOOK. It ruined me and rebuilt me and it was such a beautiful collision of love and grief and hate and revenge. It was a stark reminder of the state the world is in today (that feel when fantasy is not so fantasy). And it gave us MAXIMUM BLACKTHORN TIME which is perfect. Plot twsts, cunning schemes, love and destruction. I shall scream for a very very long time and not be back for many days.

 

 

➸ also coming out this year that I can’t wait for…

  

tell me your favourite Cassandra Clare series?! and where you satisfied with the ending of QOAAD? who is your favourite character? Pls flail with me I’m desperate.

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi || Book Tour + Giveaway…Also My New Favourite Contemporary!?

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You know what this book is?! Absolutely EXCELLENT.

I’m so excited to be on the blog tour! I’m literally bursting out of my small socks with happiness, because this book was just that good and has already sneaked onto my list of 2019-favourites and also taken over my whole heart.

You can see the full tour schedule here and also there will be a giveaway at the end of this post! (I desperately need everyone to read this book omg.)

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for having me on the blog tour!

For Penny Lee high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she somehow managed to land a boyfriend, he doesn’t actually know anything about her. When Penny heads to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer, it’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.
Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.
When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to see each other.

Goodreads | Simon & Schuster | Book Depository | Booktopia

Mary H.K. Choi is a Korean-American author, editor, television and print journalist. She is the author of young adult novel Emergency Contact (2018). She is the culture correspondent on Vice News Tonight on HBO and was previously a columnist at Wired and Allure magazines as well as a freelance writer. She attended a large public high school in a suburb of San Antonio, then college at the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in Textile and Apparel.

Twitter | Website | Instagram

 

I am absolutely wholly and messily in love with this book.

It totally caught my heart and I turned into an invertible bucket of soapy emotions. I just??? loved everything about it. The anxiety rep was SO GOOD. Not to mention I am half in love with Penny and Sam and by the end I just wanted to tuck this book to my chest and hold it forever.

I knew I’d like it…but noooo. I LOVED it.

➸ It’s a story of college and the awkwardness of growing up and anxiety.

I really like books about upper-teens, early-20s, because there’s so much to unpack with those first feels of being out of home and discovering who you are as a person when no one else knows you. Both Sam and Penny have messy relationships with their parents and both are stuck. Penny feels like a veritable blob that no one cares about or finds interesting and she’s scared to be open or get close to people (with good reason but…spoilers shh). Sam is crushingly in love with his ex who does NOT love him back and he’s got about $17 bucks to his name and can’t even pay for college. He literally lives in the coffee shop where he works and he’s spiralling into an anxious depressed heap.

 

➸ I found them both SO relatable.

They both narrate and maybe I liked Sam’s chapters a little more. He is a soft boy™ and he bakes (HE BAKES!!!) and if his hair is fluffy, he’s feeling the softest (I was WAITING for his hair to get fluffy for Penny afjdkslad). Penny wants to be, to actually exist, after a life of non-existing. She’s Korean-American and tired of casual racism and being the tagalong friend. They meet because of a mutual friend, but then Sam basically has a panic attack AND FAINTS OF HEAT EXHAUSTION and Penny scrapes him off the ground and they become “emergency contacts”. Aka they text. All the time.

IT IS SO ADORABLE. I DIE. Their relationship was SO well built up that I rooted for them as friends, and then…just kiss, you little onions. Just kiss.

 

➸ I loved all the diversity in the book too!

From the #ownvoices Korean-American representation (there is an EXCELLENT dialogue in Penny’s writing class about writing diversity that was just…so important) to the anxiety rep (they both struggle with it for different reasons and it was wholly relatable to me). It also was about being poor and had body-acceptance messages. AND IT HAD A+ BAKED GOODS REP. What we all deserve.

 

➸ Basically what I want from a book? MAKE ME FEEL.

And I felt all the things for these two afjdksald. The book is basically: “NOBODY has their shit together, it’s ok to lean on your friends.” And I love that??? There is no “their love cures them!” but instead it’s about how you do. not. have. to. be. alone when you’re going through stuff. It is full of little everyday emergencies and twisty complex feelings and the slowest gentlest romance that was just so frikkin’ sweet, my heart melted. It made me care about Sam and Penny. 10/10 would do anything for them.

 

 

Australian only!

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what’s a book that surprised you by how much you loved it?? and have you read Emergency Contact yet?!

The Wicked King (#2) by Holly Black || So Cruelly Perfect I’ve Lost My Mind

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Well I’ve already found my favourite book of 2019…how can anything surpass The Wicked King?! It was cruelly brilliant.

My first reaction on finishing was basically just: WHY DON’T YOU JUST PICK UP MY LIMP CARCASS AND TOSS IT 50FT INTO THE SEA TOO. The story is excellent in the most beautiful, clever, and perfectly poisonous way. I am reeling and also want to s c r e a m myself into the next dimension because

I
need
book
3

afjdksald I’ve lost my mind. I am not used to being so suffocatingly in love with a series that I can think of nothing else ahhhh.

This is a SPOILER FREE review for The Wicked King…however it may contain spoilers for the first book, The Cruel Prince! Proceed with caution. (And also read my The Cruel Prince review!)

➸ Again I put forth the fact that these are the MOST Slytherin books.

They are about mind games and plot twists. They are about characters outwitting and undermining each other, and not just Jude. We have Madoc playing his own games. And Cardan starts to stop being a veritable flopped over fern and grows into his sullen mouth and power as the high king. Then add in the other courts who have agendas and wishes (aka this book features Orlagh, the queen of the sea, who is making her move against the throne and playing her own murder games). And I just !!! when you think you know who is plotting against who — there is a dECOY FOR THE DECOY and plot twist within a twist. I can’t even.

I am thRIVING on this.

➸ Cardan and Jude? I am dead. fUlly fully dead.

Their relationship is complicated and definitely toxic, but they know it. And it makes for a very interesting dynamic. I mean — from the moment Cardan sleight-of-hand steals Jude’s ring and then wears it, I KNOW HE IS FLIRTING WITH HER. They are both manipulated and overlooked teenagers, they are kids drowning in a pretty world with no footholds. So they understand each other, but they hate each other…do they? The question of: “IS HE WORKING WITH HER, PROTECTING HER, OR MANIPULATING HER” is gonna kill me. I swear. But seriously, the murder-flirting, the kisses, the twists with their relationship….omg. These two are vicious and entrancing. Hate-to-love (?? is it love??) at its finest.

 

➸ Also the stakes grow staggeringly higher.

Wherein Jude learns that claiming power is much easier than keeping it. She seriously needs a nap though! It’s 5 months after The Cruel Prince and this gIRL HAS NOT SLEPT. I really ached for her, because she’s so along playing this game of control and crowns and magic and schemes. (Jude needs a soft pretzel and a nap, fite me if you disagree.) I love her character to pieces. Her anxiety and vulnerability is perfectly balanced with the craving of power and control.

 

➸ We already know Holly Black is a writing QUEEN.

Her descriptions have me falling head-over-heels in love with the faerie world. Yes, hopeless mortal here *waves languidly* I don’t even care. I just love the descriptions, the faerie culture, how she weaves in other courts and their games and japes and terrors.

…am I going to stop gushing soon??? I DON’T KNOW, AM I?!? I freaking adored this book. I knew I would but like holy wow it sets the bar so high for 2019.

 

But what I like best is that (a) it’s surprising and maddening and addictive, (b) it takes you on an adventure that is like dancing on silver knife blades, (c) it gives you a sliver of what you want and then snatches it away, and (d) THAT CLIFFHANGER. THAT ENDING. JUDE. CARDAN. I LOVE THEM AND MY WHOLE SELF HURTS.

 

it is a story of murder, betrayal, mind-games, lust and love and entrancing kisses, and friendships you want to trust but oh oh can you possibly trust anything or anyone??

 

thank you allen and unwin for the review-copy! THE WICKED KING (Folk Of The Air #2) by Holly Black came out January 2019

You must be strong enough to strike and strike and strike again without tiring.
The first lesson is to make yourself strong.
After the jaw-dropping revelation that Oak is the heir to Faerie, Jude must keep her younger brother safe. To do so, she has bound the wicked king, Cardan, to her, and made herself the power behind the throne. Navigating the constantly shifting political alliances of Faerie would be difficult enough if Cardan were easy to control. But he does everything in his power to humiliate and undermine her even as his fascination with her remains undiminished.
When it becomes all too clear that someone close to Jude means to betray her, threatening her own life and the lives of everyone she loves, Jude must uncover the traitor and fight her own complicated feelings for Cardan to maintain control as a mortal in a Faerie world.

Goodreads | Book Depository | Allen & Unwin | review of book 1, The Cruel Prince

 

➸ similar titles to try…

    

are you keeping up with the Cruel Prince series?! (have you read any other Holly Black books? THEY ARE ALL GREAT) and did you like the first or second book better? tell me all your Wicked King thoughts!

Muse of Nightmares (#2) by Laini Taylor || So Much Exquisite Magical Wonder! I Am Obsessed

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You know that moment you read a book so exquisitely excellent you forget how to breathe?!

That would be me @ the Strange The Dreamer duology. I can’t even with how much I’m utterly obsessed with them! They exist to capture and devour your entire soul, your imagination, and spark in you such a sense of wonder. The scope of the worlds are so huge! The writing sheer magnificence. And the characters?!? I AM IN LOVE.

My creative well feels so full right now and my brain is just a continual line of !!!!!!!!!!!!! because how else can you summarise this series?!?

But ok this is a sequel (and a conclusion) but I promise NO SPOILERS. Or else they’ll be hidden! And you should definitely read my thoughts on book 1 (Strange The Dreamer) too!

Muse of Nightmares takes off only minutes after Strange the Dreamer ends.

Who needs to pause for breathe. No, you don’t. You get tossed back in with your heart in your mouth, watching everything unravel. May I just say the pacing was perfect?! This duology isn’t a “break neck speed action adventure” and for that I love it. Oh there are plenty of action scenes at the end. But it balances them with so much thoughts and feeling, explorations of ACTUAL OTHER DIMENSIONS AND UNIVERSES, and delicately crafted characters who just feel so so real.

It is gorgeous and balances the mysteries vs the highly emotional scenes vs the kissing vs the murder.

The characters are the LIGHT of my entire life.

My favourite thing is how the characters leap off the page and are so complex in such a short amount of time?! And they’re never solely “good” vs “bad”. There are very few villains here (except for really the worst of the Mesarthim gods, the rapists and torturers) but so many are: antagonists. And I can understand them. I feel for them. My heart BREAKS for them. But at the same time I want them to sToP.

QUICK OVERVIEW OF MY CHILDREN

★ LAZLO AND SARAI: Lazlo doesn’t feature quite as much in this one, as we’re more in Sarai’s head. I missed him a little? But there were so many perspectives to cover and he definitely wasn’t shunted aside in the story. I LOVE HIM SO. And Sarai…she is just so precious and valiant and good. Usually “good” characters annoy the heck out of me, but I love love love how Sarai wanted to change her ability of nightmares —> to basically being a psychologist who could get in your head and help you work through your breakdown. #Nice.
★ RUBY, SPARROW AND FERAL: They are such blueskinned powerful gods and goddesses…but also pure dorky teens. Lmao. I love them. Feral is clueless. Ruby is a bundle of raging hormones. Sparrow is soft and slightly dark. BLESS.
★ MINYA: I freaking love her ok. Everything she does is to protect the others. I can’t even. I love love love how she’s written. You could hate her, but then…I just couldn’t.  She’s literally broken up and crippled with suffocating hate because shE COULDN’T SAVE ALL THE BABIES. My heart breaks for her.
★ THYRON NERO: He has almost the most perfect character arc in the history of ever. I’M SCREAMING. I actually am a little wroth that we didn’t get more Thyron time, ok?! He is a clueless Slytherin and maybe a heart of gold under his ambitious snarls. He and Calixte, Ruza and Tzara all develop a friendship (AND SAVE BOOKS TOGETHER) and bless them.
★ ERIL-FANE: I love this tortured damaged soul. I think he’s such a good representation of PTSD and I just ache for him but am also so proud of what he achieves!!
★ SUHEYLA: An actual queeeeeeen I love her so much and how she feeds everyone and wants to move past the hate.

 

CHARACTER SPOILER SECTION

Click For Spoiler Thoughts On The Characters!

★ omg Minya losing a tooth at the end!! she’s going to grow up!! And Suheyla is totally going to mother her ajdfslkad I know it.
★ That time Thyon tripped and fell into a rainbow flag.
★ Seriously, Calixte and Thyon being our Gay Represents GAVE ME 100 YEARS TO MY LIFE, I SWEAR.
★ I mean Thyon went from “I like bacon and not women” to “…omg Ruza…” in like 2 days bless him. This is what happens when we get the nerd out of his workshop.
★ Ruza going from “Lmao Thyon is a pristine napkin you couldn’t even wipe your mouth on!” to Ruza going “Thyon is a napkin I will immediately need to wipe my mouth on.”
★ Ruby fully doing a dramatic faint over seeing cake for the first time in 15 years.
★ Every time Minya got caught in a nightmare cycle of trying to save the babies. Omg she loved the babies because The Ellens despised them. MINYA LOVES SO INTENSELY IT NEARLY KILLS HER.
★ I’m actually devastated that Sarai NEVER GETS TO EAT CAKE PROPERLY AGAIN. Worst part of being dead.
★ That time Lazlo tried to be badass and terrifying with his new power and…couldn’t.
★  That time LAZLO PROTECTED MINYA, HIS BABY SISTER.
★  How they took Suheyla on the trip at the end because she could cook cakes for them anD ALSO MOTHER THEM ALL.

We get answers to all the questions!

Okay not ALL. one thing I loved about this book is how it didn’t just expand the world — it blew it out of the freaking DIMENSION. This universe is so huge! (It references Karou in Daughter of Smoke and Bone too!) And it goes on indefinitely! I closed Muse of Nightmares knowing there was so so much more to this world, this universe, these adventures!! THIS MAGIC.

So book 1 is riddled with foreshadowing and it ties in so well here…we get to find out where the seraphim came from, who the blue-skinned gods are, why they were breeding babies, what else the gods can even do, what this means for Weep…

…oh and I KNOW WHAT WEEP’S TRUE NAME IS.


I also just adore the magic and how fervently and beautifully it’s crafted. Seriously the descriptions are lush and the world building is perfectly and extraordinarily magic. Is there writing I love as much as this?! I am besotted and cannot be made to stop.

One thing I always worry about with finales is: “Will this break me or be satisfying?”

And I’m proud that MUSE OF NIGHTMARES did both these things. It is satisfying, but it doesn’t shut doors. It is heartbreaking, but it doesn’t leave me disappointed. IT IS PERFECT IS WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY.

HOW IS IT SO PERFECT.

IT IS PERFECT.

WOW.

Thank you to Hachette Australia for the ARC! Muse of Nightmares (Strange The Dreamer #2) by Laini Taylor was published October 2018.

In the wake of tragedy, neither Lazlo nor Sarai are who they were before. One a god, the other a ghost, they struggle to grasp the new boundaries of their selves as dark-minded Minya holds them hostage, intent on vengeance against Weep.
Lazlo faces an unthinkable choice–save the woman he loves, or everyone else?–while Sarai feels more helpless than ever. But is she? Sometimes, only the direst need can teach us our own depths, and Sarai, the muse of nightmares, has not yet discovered what she’s capable of.
As humans and godspawn reel in the aftermath of the citadel’s near fall, a new foe shatters their fragile hopes, and the mysteries of the Mesarthim are resurrected: Where did the gods come from, and why? What was done with thousands of children born in the citadel nursery? And most important of all, as forgotten doors are opened and new worlds revealed: Must heroes always slay monsters, or is it possible to save them instead?
Love and hate, revenge and redemption, destruction and salvation all clash in this gorgeous sequel to the New York Timesbestseller, Strange the Dreamer.

Goodreads  Strange The Dreamer Review  Publisher  Booktopia  Book Depository

   

tell me a series that totally blew your MIND?! and do you prefer duologies vs trilogies?? have you read anything by Laini Taylor?? (you must! you must!)

Keeper Of the Bees (#2) by Meg Kassel || Monster Boys And Soft Girls…New Favourite!

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I expected to enjoy Keeper Of The Bees, but noooo — I am utterly in love with this book.

I just read Blackbird of the Gallows, which is the first in this series, and wildly liked it. It’s unique and dark and the characters are ones you’d casually go from “hey I like them” to “well wow son I’d die for them” all in the space of a few chapters. So good. And then waltzes in this companion book.

This is the book for those of us who fall in love with villains. It’s about mental illness and how people perceive it. It’s about monsters and murder. It’s about the sweetest and softest love between teens scared to hurt each other.

IT IS DARK. AND SOFT™ TOO. And I am living for that combination.

Do you need to read Blackbird Of The Gallows first?

I think so! This is technically a companion story, so it DOES make sense and stand on it’s own. But there’s one chapter that references the ending of BOTG so it’d essentially spoil it if you read that first. This is all different characters, though, it’s just in the same world.


Hello again to our Harbingers and Beekeepers and DISASTER KIDS.

So in Blackbird Of The Gallows, we feel sorry for the Beekeepers, but they were also total villains. Here? Get ready to have your heart mANGLED by the cursed Beekeeper, Dresden, who is grumpy and tragic and bitter…and utterly adorable. He is just so perpetually wounded and an absolute precious bucket and secretly so soft and sweet inside.

He wants to pROTECT. He wants to be free of his curse. He’s a monster and he’s aware of it and I love how respectful his relationship with Essie was through it all. Like yes he’s an immortal, but it was never creepy thank goodness. Also he LOVED HER AND RESPECTED HER FOR WHO SHE WAS, illness and all.

My heart.

 

Essie is the kind of protagonist you will want protect forever.

She literally just breathes and I’m like, “IF ANYTHING HAPPENS TO HER, I WILL BITE EVERYONE.” She’s sweet and precious (reminds me of Luna Lovegood)! Yes I like badass heroines, but I also love vulnerable ones. She has an illness that reads lik paranoid schizophrenia, but it has paranormal strands so the doctors can’t diagnose or treat her properly. But basically she sees things, hallucinates, and it really tramples her life.

I really appreciate the conversations that went down about mental health! The “bad” characters scorned it, obviously, and treated Essie horribly. But Essie didn’t spend the book hating herself! Her aunt loved her FOR HER. There was no “meet a boy and your problems are over” (LOL, THIS IS A CURSED BEEKEEPER. HER PROBLEMS GOT WORSE WHEN HE ARRIVED). I just appreciate that it didn’t trot out the “You have to be CURED to have a good life” messages. It also took time to unpack how people see those with mental illness as suspicious and monstrous because they don’t bother to understand you.

The romance was super cute!

We have Dresden all, “I AM A TRAGIC MONSTER” and then we have Essie like “I CAN’T TELL IF YOU’RE EVEN REAL” and they are both so cuuuuuute. She doesn’t care that his face is always changing. They love each other for who they are not who they were. It’s super slow burn too and fajdsklad I ship this.


And again…LOVE this world of harbingers and tragedy!

Scootch over vampires and werewolves, we have HARBINGERS OF DEATH and Strawmen and chaos-inciting Beekeepers whose mouths and lungs are full of bees. The lore is interesting and backstory is explored. And I’m so captivated!

Also harbinger crows vs beekeeper chaos boys are NOT supposed to be friends, buuuut we have Michael who forcefully befriends Dresden and they are tHE BEST.


☆ Aunt Bel is an absolute GEM and fought for Essie’s rights and treatment the whole time.
☆ The harbingers are still here and they don’t play as big a part but they’re fantastic!
☆ When Michael shifts he tells Dresden (FIERCE AND SCARY CREEPY BEEKEEPER) to pick up his clothes. Dresden even folds them. I can’t even.
☆ it basically gave us villains and then UNMADE their villainy.
☆ but it also gave us unredeemable human villains who are despicable
☆ there are fabulous and fierce friendships
☆ interesting and complex women with great relationships
☆ it’s fast-paced but also has a slower dreamy quality to it
☆ GORGEOUS WRITING THAT I LOVE
☆ the cover is absolutely divine and I wish to just absorb it forever
☆ there’s a bit o’ a murder mystery in this one
☆ I actually want 9389 more books in this world

I am of the opinion that this one is total beautiful perfection. It’s heartfelt and emotional and I love how it unmakes those who should be monstrous and shows the real monsters of this world. About two pages in I realised I’d do anythign for Dresden and Essie so like, here little green book of goodness, let me give you all the stars.

THANK YOU TO ENTANGLED TEEN FOR THE REVIEW-COPY. Keeper Of The Bees (#2) by Meg Kassel is published Sept 4th 2018!

★★★★★

KEEPER OF THE BEES is a tale of two teens who are both beautiful and beastly, and whose pasts are entangled in surprising and heartbreaking ways.
Dresden is cursed. His chest houses a hive of bees that he can’t stop from stinging people with psychosis-inducing venom. His face is a shifting montage of all the people who have died because of those stings. And he has been this way for centuries—since he was eighteen and magic flowed through his homeland, corrupting its people.
He follows harbingers of death, so at least his curse only affects those about to die anyway. But when he arrives in a Midwest town marked for death, he encounters Essie, a seventeen-year-old girl who suffers from debilitating delusions and hallucinations. His bees want to sting her on sight. But Essie doesn’t see a monster when she looks at Dresden.
Essie is fascinated and delighted by his changing features. Risking his own life, he holds back his bees and spares her. What starts out as a simple act of mercy ends up unraveling Dresden’s solitary life and Essie’s tormented one. Their impossible romance might even be powerful enough to unravel a centuries-old curse.

Goodreads  Book Depository  Amazon  Publisher  Author’s Website  Review of Book 1

 

  

tell me a book you recently read that you didn’t expect to be totally obsessed with?! and have i convinced you to try this author’s works yet?!? (I’M IN LOVE HERE)

Bright We Burn (#3) by Kiersten White || Absolute Stabby Finale PERFECTION

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Bright We Burn was brutal and bloody and so perfectly and epically satisfying.

Which are words I’M CRYING AS I TYPE because finales scare me so badly. What if they let me down?!?!? But the finale to the And I Darken trilogy managed to stab me in the heart (like five times) and still give me everything I hoped it would. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Everything is perfect, but you better believe I am screaming into the void for the next 2-3 months because I’m slightly traumatised. Definitely labelling this a Favourite Trilogy.

You can catch my reviews of And I Darken (#1) and Now I Rise (#2)!

Also this review has NO SPOILERS!

☆ The pacing and plot were absolute perfection.
It’s a little smaller than the other books, but I quite liked how it all panned out. The middle is SO INTENSE…I absolutely faceplanted myself into the pages and the world was dead to me until I’d finished. There are wars and betrayals, kidnapping plots and horror, and there are the softest quietest moments that just make my heart so so full. Some of my favourite chapters were simply two precious characters getting to hold hands. My entire self was just: !!!!!! You know an author has tortured your soul half to death when you start crying because AWW LOOK THEY GET TO HOLD HANDS AND NO ONE’S DEAD YET.

I’m fine I’m fine. [sobbing]

☆ Like all the books, the storyline is spectacularly dark.
I love dark books. I love it when books don’t “pretend” to be dark, but actually absolutely are. Lada is badass and terrifying and SHE FOLLOWS THROUGH WITH HER THREATS. The battles are grim, the aftermaths are horrifying. It’s just so well written and portrayed and I appreciate books that are realistic and don’t sugarcoat war. Like Lada is technically “unlikeable”, yet I love her. Radu makes some awful betrayals, but I love him.

 

☆ So obviously: perfect characters ARE PERFECT.
Radu and Lada are my favourite messy, broken, and ruthless Book Siblings. They are softness and muRDER. I love them ok just so so much. Also their character arcs are incredible and it’s amazing how much Radu grew in this one! He’s always been the soft squish, and he doesn’t lose that — but he stops doubting and hating himself. And Lada is vulnerable between ripping out people’s throats (YES WITH HER TEETH, I CAN’T EVEN LADA, YOU HAVE NO CHILL). When Radu realises kindness is sometimes the bravest choice of all??? I cry.

Radu is soft and he is allowed to be soft.

Lada is harsh and she is allowed to be harsh.

I am so so happy with this.

SPOILERS
My heart is also SO FULL and I’m so freaking happy!! I was so scared this would have a tragic and awful ending for Radu. But no. He gets to be with Cyprian!! I swear I DIED when Radu walked in to find Nazira but then it was Cyprian. AND RADU JUST LOST IT AND KISSED HIM. I wanted this stupid boy to find love (nOT Mehmed) and I wanted it so so bad and I was so scared it would just end in a billion buckets of blood. But RADU GOT HIS BOY.❤❤❤I CAN’T EVEN.❤❤❤

 

Also shout out to:

  • Nazira: sweetest and loving schemer who will rearrange THE WORLD so you can be happy. And she loves Radu so deeply and platonically, while being incredibly in love with her wife, Fatima. 10/10 would die for them all.
  • Nikolai: who put up with Lada and kept joking even when everyone was aBOUT TO DIE.
  • Lada’s nurse: for every time she had to do Lada’s hair, she deserves and actual medal of war

☆ It made me laugh and wail.
Which is talent. I love the writing style, even though it’s not the typical YA way I’m used to. It’s different and refreshing. It covers a long period of time, but the voice is so spot on. I actually have not been this obsessed with a book pretty much all year (barring a few others!) so this just made my dEAD HEART BEAT AGAIN. THANK YOU.

 

☆ The ending was satisfying!! Which is JUST want I ask for.
It’s not this perfect cheery ending hahaa (HELLO OF COURSE NOT) and it will rip out your heart and eat it. But it was right. I’m so pleased…also bleeding on the floor but whatever. Even the love triangle ended perfectly ahhh.

Bloody, brutal, and unforgiving — this series is totally unique and incredible and full of soul. It weaves heartfelt messages in amongst wars and bloodlust, loss and betrayals. It has an incredible cast of complex characters that I just love love love. With all their flaws! And their nastiness or weakness!! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. LOVE EVERYTHING. I SHOULD GO SIT DOWN WOW.

THANK YOU TO PENGUIN AUSTRALIA FOR THE REVIEW-COPY. Bright We Burn (And I Darken #3) by Keirsten White was published July 2018!

Haunted by the sacrifices he made in Constantinople, Radu is called back to the new capital. Mehmed is building an empire, becoming the sultan his people need. But Mehmed has a secret: as emperor, he is more powerful than ever . . . and desperately lonely. Does this mean Radu can finally have more with Mehmed . . . and would he even want it?
Lada’s rule of absolute justice has created a Wallachia free of crime. But Lada won’t rest until everyone knows that her country’s borders are inviolable. Determined to send a message of defiance, she has the bodies of Mehmed’s peace envoy delivered to him, leaving Radu and Mehmed with no choice. If Lada is allowed to continue, only death will prosper. They must go to war against the girl prince.
But Mehmed knows that he loves her. He understands her. She must lose to him so he can keep her safe. Radu alone fears that they are underestimating his sister’s indomitable will. Only by destroying everything that came before–including her relationships–can Lada truly build the country she wants.
Claim the throne. Demand the crown. Rule the world.

Goodreads  Publisher  Book Depository

  

tell me a series finale that totally met your expectations and was completely satisfying?! and have you read the And I Darken series?? what did you think? do you like Lada or Radu better?!

Legendary (Caraval #2) by Stephanie Garber || So Freaking Gorgeous My Eyeballs Are In Love

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Do you know what is an absolutely magical delicious delight? LEGENDARY.

There is no hope for me btw, I am completely in love with this series. The world! The magic! The twisty plots! The characters! I’m standing right behind Tella as she scoffs “I’m not in love with anything” and then hurls my whole heart and soul into the game. Same, Tell, same.

It just captured me so much, was so gorgeously written, and I feel like I’ve just run wildly through Caraval myself. My affections ARE YOURS, little book. I will just flail gently until book 3 comes out. Also you can catch my review of the first book, Caraval, here!

 

Also BEHOLD THIS ARC. Which literally has my name on it, from the fantastic people at Date A Book. 

 

☆ Full disclaimer…everything was PERFECT and I’m just here to flail.
Wildly. With no regrets. And I loved Caraval, but dare I say Legendary was even better?!?

 

☆ I was really happy that it also features another game of Caraval.
Different town. Different rules. Different (and so so much higher) stakes. And it’s all still so intoxicatingly mysterious and twisty. This book is so gorgeously Slytherin. NO ONE is ever straightforward. It’s all double-crossing the double crossed and outwitting someone who’s already playing tricks on you. Who’s lying? Who’s who they say they are??? WE DON’T GET TO KNOW. I freaking love this.

 

☆ It’s narrated by Tella this time!
Tella is so unapologetically herself, and it’s amazing. Her personality is like: “will stab u but also love pretty shiny things.” And I mean. I’m in love. (Also I found Scarlett unfortunately whiny with a damsel complex, so like Tella just improved my life 10000%.) Tella kisses boys and wears luscious dresses and plays mind games and is clever.  I also loved how Tella is caught between playing games and actually fiercely caring about things. The whole book she’s like: “I dO NOT LOVE” while, you know, furiously loving so so many people.

 

☆ The sisters!! Can we !! flail over the !! sisters!!
Family is such a huge theme for these books! Scarlett would do anything for Tella and Tella would do anything for Scarlett. And half the plot hinges on Tella looking for their long-lost mother. Plus Tell and Scarlett are domestic abuse survivors and they support each other and listen now that they’re out. They also DO NOT JUDGE each other’s choices. It is so so good and wholesome and THANK YOU.

☆ The boys were all beautiful and almost definitely evil.
This is the right way to write devious and dark boys…skip the alpha and abusive relationships rubbish and move onto tricksters and otherworldly powers and manipulation of magic and kingdoms and the world. Livin’ for all the Slytherins here, I tell you. I loved Dante, who works for Caraval, and who Tell fights with 500% of the time (SHIP IT). He was awful and intriguing all at once. And we also have Jacks — Tella’s fake-fiance-during-the-game. He ate a lot of apples and was so pale he was nearly blue and also turned out to be practically an otherworldly demon. Sometimes these things happen in your love life, ok.

 

☆ THE MAGIC!!
There are cursed cards, Fates trying to be set free, and of course — who is Legend?! And how is he so powerful? PS. I finally knooooooow and I’m so freaking happy. I love how the magic is complex and gorgeous. Also take a moment for how amazing the writing is. I just want to eat the whole book. The descriptions and imagination are on a whole new level of incredibleness.

☆ The ending has me craving more like nothing else.
It’s both satisfying and torturous. I’m slightly suffocating with the need to find out what happens next. The plot was perfection here and it answered many many questions…and then left us with more PLUS a wicked lead in to what’s going to be a stunning finale.

 

So yes I’m besotted with Legendary, LOOK AT ME GO. This is an enthralling read of magic and puzzles, entrancing plots and characters of cleverness and passion. I’m in love with the lush writing, the gowns of flowers, and the bedazzling and rich scenery. The whole story has thoroughly caught my heart!

THANK YOU HACHETTE AUSTRALIA FOR THE ARC! Legendary (Caraval #2) by Stephanie Graber came out May 2018.

★★★★★

A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.
After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister Scarlett from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.
The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister’s. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice. But now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever.

goodreads  review of Caraval  Book Depository  Booktopia AUS

  

is there a series where you liked the second book MORE than the first?! and have you read Caraval or Legendary??? thoughts?? (also which edition covers do you like better?! they’re both SO pretty omg)

To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo || Sirens And Princes Of Salt And Sass!

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Everything about To Kill a Kingdom was a salty swashbuckling GLORY and I loved it!

I’m alllll here for pirates and sirens and (dark) Little Mermaid retellings, and this definitely delivered. Plus it was super funny and if there’s something my dark little heart beats faster for: it’s people who sass each other to death so lovingly.

 

(Also I get to raise my hand with the smallest claim to fame that I used to be a beta-reader for Allie’s older works, back when she was a book blogger too! So I already knew I’d freaking love this and her writing is just a pure joy to read ahhh!)

✓ The characters just stole the seawater with their fantasticness.
It’s dual narrated by Elian and Lira. Elian is an anti-prince (like “here is a crown but I don’t want it) and Lira is a siren (like “here is a prince what if I ate him”). He’s hunting her and she’s hunting him, which is obviously the recipe for a perfect romance. And what a romance it was! Enemies-to-lovers at its finest! Not rushed or awkward and focused on character development instead of steamy scenes (which suited me just fine). I loved watching them grow from distrust to —> distant admiration. Then to “accidentally” “saving” each other’s lives. Of cooooourse, Lira. I BELIEVE YOU when you say you don’t care about Elian. #Such #Belief

I also loved them just as individual characters! Lira is a murderous siren and antiheroine, but also has a soft streak. She takes care of her little-murderous-cousin, but she also enjoys the thrill of killing princes. But she totally won my heart too, just by being so complex and compelling. And Elian?! He was the sass pirate of your HEART. I swear. That boy. He was smooth and sassy and absolutely allergic to the idea of being king. Bless him.

✓ The writing makes you truly fall in love with the sea too!
Which is ironic, given that the sea was super deadly but oh well. I love it. I love the descriptions! I could actually see the gorgeous settings, taste the salty sea, and absolutely lose myself in the world. There’s plenty of sailing too! Although the “pirate” title was a bit adorable, because they’re more roguish chivalrious do-gooders (by killing sirens to save people) instead of ACTUAL bloody pirates. But that’s okay, Elian, sweetie, you call yourself a pirate and I’ll support you.

 

✓ The world building gets a Very Much Yes™.
We go on an incredible adventure with Elian and Lira aboard their ship, the Saad. And it’s not dull for even a second. A+ pacing! And we see so many different places in this world! Kingdoms and mountains and palaces! It was incredibly well written. We skipped tedious info dumps and yet managed to have this complex, diverse world you could get lost in. Plus the settings were excitingly unique?! Kingdoms of frost and blue-lipped kings, and queendoms of love with cursed queens sitting on heart thrones. My opinion is YES.

 

✓ There’s sassy banter too!
This part I truly adored! I love characters who snark at each other. Elian has a sassy retort for anyone with oxygen, and Lira says “I’ll kill you” all the time and everyone thinks she’s joking. BUT YET: SHE’S NOT. I loved the secondary characters’ too! Madrid and Kye’s continual banter was fantastic in the background too!

+ Was it dark?
It was very bloody, although not gory, and there’s plenty of hearts being pulled out of chests and super creepy sea monsters. I really liked that it was on the dark side (I’M PLEASED…um and also normal?? I promise?? don’t be scared of me now) and gave us high stakes and terrible consequences for failure. The sea witch was SUPER CREEPY. Love it.


To Kill A Kingdom was full of sea and salt and ruination and I loved every page. It was perfectly written, with gorgeous prose that just leap off the page to DEVOUR YOU (yay the siren life). And what a fantastic combination of pirates and princes, sirens and curses, and a journey that will rip your heart out of your chest. Literally and figuratively.

Thank you Hot Key Books for the review-copy! To Kill A Kingdom by Alexandra Christo was published May 2018!

★★★★★

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.
The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

Goodreads  Buy  Book Depository  Publisher

 

  

 

what’s a fairy tale retelling you’d like to see a super-dark-version of in YA!?? do you like pirate stories? and is this one on your TBR? (because it should be!)

Pacifica by Kristen Simmons || Dystopian Pirates That’ll Steal Your Heart

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Pacifica is pretty much the best pirate and dystopian book I’ve read!

I don’t even know what to excitedly shout about first, okay?! I absolutely adored this one. I actually didn’t realise it was dystopian (because I don’t even know where my brain is; if you see it, let me know) so then I was worried I wouldn’t like it because I’ve been anti-dystopian for ages. But this? THIS WAS PERFECT.

My emotions are all —> !!!!!

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT

  • badass epic conniving pirates
  • one of the best most wholesome friendships ever
  • shipping (relationships) on shipping (sea)
  • a dystopian with influences from the Japanese internment camps in WWII
  • PAIN AND BEAUTY

+ It’s an extremely personal story for the author, and the love just shows on every page! It’s very much #OwnVoices and author has a note in the front (you can catch her twitter thread on it here) on how she based it on what her grandmother went through in WWII, losing everything after being imprisoned in a Japanese interment camp. Reading about Kristen Simmons’ grandmother’s life and refusal to give up and just general epicness was so amazing. I’m really grateful she wrote this book. Just the emotion and power?!? It’s so important!

 

+ The friendships stole the show for me. 10/10. AGH I LOVE IT. It’s all characters first in this book, which made me so invested so fast. They were complex and dimensional and were equal parts pushed by the story and pushers of the story. Hold onto  your sailing hats while I gush:

  • ROSS: He’s the president’s son and privileged and clueless to what is REALLY happening in their wreck of a world. But he’s like so sweet. He is SO PURE and he is so loyal and loving towards his best friend, Adam. Basically Ross is amazing.
  • ADAM: He’s the vice-president’s son and used to be one of the very poor and discriminated against “lower” people. But  his family has risen up and is in a place of power, buuut he still gets discriminated against. He’s very neat and pleasant, but totally knows how bad the world is. I LOVE ADAM. I love his and Ross’ unsinkable friendship.
  • MARIN: She is the epic pirate oF ALL OUR DREAMS. (Basically if Lila Bard x Kell from A Darker Shade of Magic had a daughter; it would be Marin.) She’s conniving and tricky, but her absolute dream is to just be loved and have a family. SHE’S SO BADASS BUT SWEET. The combination stole my heart. Also she built her own boat and has a secretly dark pirate past…I freaking adore Marin.


+ Plus it’s just nice to have a book about friendship! Obviously there still is romance (hello this is YA) and Ross and Marin are the cutest shippy ship as well. But Ross/Adam were so pure and wholesome. (The only negative is that whenever people insinuated that Ross had romantic feelings for Adam, he reacted with disgust. Part of me hates the erasure of friendship too, so I get it! But it’s so  so unnecessary to be disgusted at queerness…c’mon.)

 


+ The world building was the light of my lighthouse heart. How on earth is  this  book  so good  at everything? We don’t know. We just accept and revere. But complex world? ✓ Complex characters?✓✓ Amazing plot? ✓✓✓ It’s a frikkin’ standalone and DOES IT ALL. The world it’s set in is basically where everything is trash and falling apart and gross. The rich in power are trying to send the poor people off to this “utopia island” but…does it even exist? Marin says no. The president says yes. EVERYONE MIGHT DIE WHO CAN TELL. I could totally see the whole world, with the islands of trash, and the broken down slums, and the contrasted virtual palace of the rich. Incredible.

 


+ The plot was full of twists and fights and riots and running. There was even a shocking plot twist that had me whispering, “MARIN. YOU DIDN’T TELL US AHHHH.” Pacing = amazing. It it was so compelling, with the riots and kidnappings, the boating and eating radioactive fish (that seems…bad for you but teenagers…what can you do) and the vicious pirates and violence.

 

+ Did I mention the prospect of you sailing into a horizon full of feelings? That will happen. I had at least nine and that’s madness for me because I only have three emotions usually.

Pacifica is a pirate dystopian tale of trash and beauty and friendship and it will absolutely take over your heart. The characters are precious and the storyline is enthralling. A+ FOR IT ALL. I LOVE IT.

THANK YOU TO TOR TEEN FOR THE REVIEW-COPY. Pacifica by Kristen Simmons was published 6th of March 2018.

★★★★★

Marin is cosario royalty, a pirate like her father and his father before him. Sailing the ocean to chase adventure is in her blood. But these days no one cares that the island town her people call home is named after her grandfather. They have a new leader, one who promises an end to their hunger – and one who thinks that girls are meant for the kitchen or the brothel. Marin knows she’s meant for more than that, and with the sudden influx of weapons on the island, and rumors of a pending deal with the enemy oil nation in her wake, she knows a big score to gain the council’s favor is the only way to save her people, and herself.
Ross lives a life of privilege. As the president’s son he wants for nothing, but he longs for a life of adventure. On a dare, he convinces his best friend Adam to sneak out to the Docks, the site of local race riots between the poor Shorlings and the upper class. But when Adam is arrested along with the other Shorlings, and not even the president is willing to find him, Ross finds himself taking matters into his own hands. He journeys back into the Docks, ready to make deals with anyone, even a beautiful pirate, if it means Adam’s safe return.
When Marin and Ross meet in dangerous Shoreling territory he sees a way to get his friend back and she sees her ticket home. The ransom a president’s son would command could feed her people for years and restore her family’s legacy. But somewhere in the middle of the ocean, Marin must decide if her heart can handle handing over the only person who has ever seen her as more than a pirate.

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have you ever picked up a book and realised it wasn’t the genre you thought  it was?? and do you like pirates? are you reading Pacifica? (yOU SHOULD)