“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series for
“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series forever and ever. friends, this just really worked for me. maybe the best romance i’ve read all year. this is a story involving a lot of rich people in new york and an arranged marriage, which is a setting and set up i feel like all romance readers have read in bulk at this point, but this really felt different and felt like it was done a lot better. also, this story has a constant theme of jealousy, but the author didn’t need a love triangle or miscommunication for this, and that felt so good to read. and the first sex scene in this book? the best i’ve read in a long, long while. i read it twice it was so good hahaha!
but i really am a simple romance girl, and if a guy gave me dumplings from 34 different restaurants, so that i could find a new favorite, that would be it for me. But also, him giving her these star gazing dates? like, dante is just built a little different, i fear. i ate this romance up with a spoon and i am happily begging for seconds.
have any of you tried soy sauce on vanilla ice cream? i am going to - and then i will report back.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, blackmail, panic attacks, not great parents, abandonment, loss of a loved one in the past (grandpa), mention of heart attack in past, blood, assault, armed robbery, unwanted photos being taken without consent, stalking, and talk of trauma.
“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series forever and ever. friends, this just really worked for me. maybe the best romance i’ve read all year. this is a story involving a lot of rich people in new york and an arranged marriage, which is a setting and set up i feel like all romance readers have read in bulk at this point, but this really felt different and felt like it was done a lot better. also, this story has a constant theme of jealousy, but the author didn’t need a love triangle or miscommunication for this, and that felt so good to read. and the first sex scene in this book? the best i’ve read in a long, long while. i read it twice it was so good hahaha!
but i really am a simple romance girl, and if a guy gave me dumplings from 34 different restaurants, so that i could find a new favorite, that would be it for me. But also, him giving her these star gazing dates? like, dante is just built a little different, i fear. i ate this romance up with a spoon and i am happily begging for seconds.
have any of you tried soy sauce on vanilla ice cream? i am going to - and then i will report back.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, blackmail, panic attacks, not great parents, abandonment, loss of a loved one in the past (grandpa), mention of heart attack in past, blood, assault, armed robbery, unwanted photos being taken without consent, stalking, and talk of trauma.
“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series forever and ever. friends, this just really worked for me. maybe the best romance i’ve read all year. this is a story involving a lot of rich people in new york and an arranged marriage, which is a setting and set up i feel like all romance readers have read in bulk at this point, but this really felt different and felt like it was done a lot better. also, this story has a constant theme of jealousy, but the author didn’t need a love triangle or miscommunication for this, and that felt so good to read. and the first sex scene in this book? the best i’ve read in a long, long while. i read it twice it was so good hahaha!
but i really am a simple romance girl, and if a guy gave me dumplings from 34 different restaurants, so that i could find a new favorite, that would be it for me. But also, him giving her these star gazing dates? like, dante is just built a little different, i fear. i ate this romance up with a spoon and i am happily begging for seconds.
have any of you tried soy sauce on vanilla ice cream? i am going to - and then i will report back.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, blackmail, panic attacks, not great parents, abandonment, loss of a loved one in the past (grandpa), mention of heart attack in past, blood, assault, armed robbery, unwanted photos being taken without consent, stalking, and talk of trauma.
“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series forever and ever. friends, this just really worked for me. maybe the best romance i’ve read all year. this is a story involving a lot of rich people in new york and an arranged marriage, which is a setting and set up i feel like all romance readers have read in bulk at this point, but this really felt different and felt like it was done a lot better. also, this story has a constant theme of jealousy, but the author didn’t need a love triangle or miscommunication for this, and that felt so good to read. and the first sex scene in this book? the best i’ve read in a long, long while. i read it twice it was so good hahaha!
but i really am a simple romance girl, and if a guy gave me dumplings from 34 different restaurants, so that i could find a new favorite, that would be it for me. But also, him giving her these star gazing dates? like, dante is just built a little different, i fear. i ate this romance up with a spoon and i am happily begging for seconds.
have any of you tried soy sauce on vanilla ice cream? i am going to - and then i will report back.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, blackmail, panic attacks, not great parents, abandonment, loss of a loved one in the past (grandpa), mention of heart attack in past, blood, assault, armed robbery, unwanted photos being taken without consent, stalking, and talk of trauma.
“If I loved you as much as he claims to love you, nothing would’ve stopped me from keeping you.”
oh we love a seven deadly sins inspired series forever and ever. friends, this just really worked for me. maybe the best romance i’ve read all year. this is a story involving a lot of rich people in new york and an arranged marriage, which is a setting and set up i feel like all romance readers have read in bulk at this point, but this really felt different and felt like it was done a lot better. also, this story has a constant theme of jealousy, but the author didn’t need a love triangle or miscommunication for this, and that felt so good to read. and the first sex scene in this book? the best i’ve read in a long, long while. i read it twice it was so good hahaha!
but i really am a simple romance girl, and if a guy gave me dumplings from 34 different restaurants, so that i could find a new favorite, that would be it for me. But also, him giving her these star gazing dates? like, dante is just built a little different, i fear. i ate this romance up with a spoon and i am happily begging for seconds.
have any of you tried soy sauce on vanilla ice cream? i am going to - and then i will report back.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, blackmail, panic attacks, not great parents, abandonment, loss of a loved one in the past (grandpa), mention of heart attack in past, blood, assault, armed robbery, unwanted photos being taken without consent, stalking, and talk of trauma.
“We’re meant to bring our stories together, to speak and listen and know that the stories are real and they matter.”
oh, this was so beautiful. if you're a content creator, this is truly a must read. so heartfelt, so profound, so emotional, and just truly so so so beautiful. this follows an artist visiting the home of one of her favorite artists on christmas eve. she sees a dragon, decides to create a new painting because of it, and her life (and perspective) quickly changes.
it is a brave act to put yourself out there, and it is even braver to continuously keep putting yourself out there again and again and again. from poems to paintings to book reviewing here on goodreads. humans can be so passionate, especially when inspiration is involved, and extra when we are trying to make connections to make the world and everything beautiful in it feel less lonely.
online spaces can be hard and scary, but they can also be so very rewarding. especially when you find people who find the similar magic of your heart. if you're reading this, please know i am so very proud of you, always, and all the magic you allow yourself to see and hear and feel.
trigger and content warnings: depression, anxiety, one sentence mention of loss of a loved one in past, online harassment and bullying.
"I need you to remember that I'm king Il's daughter. Even if everyone else in the kingdom forgets."
in this fifth volume, we see yona and her crew searching for a third dragon. with white and blue at her side, they believe the green dragon will be at the port town. but upon arriving, yona starts to see the world that her father ruled differently. how people and towns were/are suffering under his power and choices to do nothing, and this is this first installment we really get to see yona thinking about the leader she would like to be.
i loved the blue dragon and the power of names, i love hak and yona and every conversation they have, and i just really still love ao with my whole heart. this wasn't my favorite installment, which feels extra wrong to say because this one has some pretty cool pirates, but i am still so happy i decided to start this series in 2023 and i can't wait to keep continuing on!
trigger and content warnings: sickness, assault, unwanted touching with threat of more, human trafficking, slavery, violence.
i feel like… if more people knew that this book is sapphic then more people would pick it up. maybe people don’t want to say that because it has sapphi feel like… if more people knew that this book is sapphic then more people would pick it up. maybe people don’t want to say that because it has sapphics doing bad things, but there are sapphics doing good things too… so i don’t know. but i was truly bamboozled (in the best way) when i opened this up and realized! and how much of a discussion on comphet, and how that can make figuring out your sexuality harder to figure out/accept, were held within these pages!
but this is a mystery thriller about a (you guessed it) writing retreat, where four people are invited each year to write a story alongside a famous author who has quite the following. yet this year, there are going to be five attendees, one being our main character and one being her ex best friend. the retreat is held at a very isolated victorian mansion in the winter, and our aspiring writers have no connection to the outside world. But when one of the other attendees go missing, the mystery really begins.
everything i typed above is the reason i picked this up, and truly i had such a good time with this. i never wanted to put it down, i loved the setting, and i was really enthralled by our main character and her mind. But this is really a discussion on how society makes women competitive with each other in all aspects of life, but especially with achievements. how the world makes women feel like there isn’t enough room for multiples, you have to be singularly the best. And then when you add everything i said in the first paragraph, about sexuality and trying to figure that out in a world that automatically makes this inhospitable environment… this was a really thought provoking book and i really was very impressed by this debut. I think this is my favorite thriller of the year, and i really recommend it.
trigger + content warnings: anxiety, panic attacks, blood, intrusive thoughts, mention of child abuse in past, ptsd, child abandonment + neglect in past, a few mentions of the holocaust and n*zis, domestic abuse in past, brief homophobia in past, talk of suicide, mention of cancer, mention of loss of a loved one, gun violence, gaslighting, manipulation, missing person, unwanted + unknowing filming happening, captivity, talk of aids, racism, sexism, drugging, mention of bullying and harassment in past, and dubious consent in a sexual encounter
for december 2023, i really was trying to embrace my holiday book era! and lovelight farms was my favorite of them all. but i do want to preface this for december 2023, i really was trying to embrace my holiday book era! and lovelight farms was my favorite of them all. but i do want to preface this with the fact that this doesn’t really feel like a winter holiday book, but more of a autumn holiday book! but i still really just fell in love with this story, these people, and this small cozy town.
in this story, we follow stella who has recently purchased a farm and lives in the cottage on the property! she is really struggling financially, and decides to enter a competition held by a very famous social media person, but while she is applying she says that she is in a relationship and they both are renovating this old farm. so when she is picked for the final portion of the contest, where the host will visit the destinations, stella recruits her best friend, luka, to pretend to be her boyfriend.
this was truly the best friends to lovers i have ever read. it was so believable, so beautiful, and was truly a joy to read. Both of these characters always showing up and being there for each other during some of their darkest parts of life to some of the brightest joys of life was just so endearing to read. to see them prioritize their relationship platonically through the years was just very sweet, and i know these are fictional characters, but oh my gosh do i wish them just lifetimes of happiness together.
i really enjoyed this one and i can’t wait to continue on with this series and fall more in love with this community.
trigger + content warnings: storylines surround financial debt, loss of a parent in past, talk of cancer in past, talk of hospital settings in past, childhood abandonment in past, anxiety, grief, panic attacks, ptsd, a harry potter mention, a lot of alcohol consumption, mention of infidelity (not mcs)
i have loved a lot of tessa bailey in my life, but i think this is probably my least favorite. look, when i saw the mcs were named beat and melody i ri have loved a lot of tessa bailey in my life, but i think this is probably my least favorite. look, when i saw the mcs were named beat and melody i really should have taken that as a sign to just dnf quietly, but i actually did like the set up and i was intrigued to where the story would go.
basically, our mcs are connected by their mothers, who used to be in a popular band together. they met once when they were both around 15 and really liked each other, and now, 15 years later, when they are both 30, they are coming together once again because of a reality tv show that wants their moms to get back together at rockefeller center on christmas.
i just… hated all the parents in this book. even the ones that were deemed “the good parents” were still doing really shitty things and lying to their kids. i feel like that ultimately is what ruined the story for me, but also…. i just didn’t really like beat… which i feel bad saying, because i know he was going through some stuff, but his inner and outer monologues were always just so intense and over the top, it really hurt the romance for me.
overall, i only like melody, i didn’t like the romance, i didn’t like the lying/withholding information plots, and even though we got a december countdown - this book didn’t have christmas vibes.
trigger + content warnings: blackmail. anxiety, parental abandonment, emotional abusive parents, paparazzi / media invading spaces, hurtful and abusive media coverage, ptsd, talk of body image, a scene with a cult, a scene with police + a police station, a lot of talk of pregnancy
i didn’t love this book as much as Part of Your World , but i still really fell so hard for both of these characters. ther1.) Part of Your World ★★★★★
i didn’t love this book as much as Part of Your World , but i still really fell so hard for both of these characters. there was just a little too much miscommunication for me upon closing this, but again… i have so many more positive things to say than negative. i highly recommend, but please use caution if you feel yourself dealing with a little more health anxiety than normal (hi, it’s me).
i just really enjoy seeing these people, in their 30s, find love, find happiness, find healing. And the discussion of having healthy pregnancies in your 30s as well! all of these things are so normal, but i feel like society makes them never showcased or celebrated or even normalized, so reading this series is a little bit of a breath of fresh air, truly. (it feels wild saying that, but it’s true)
this book very much also focuses on a character who has a lot of anxiety - and that is also normalized and constantly focused on talking and learning things can exacerbate his anxiety and symptoms, and things that he can use as preventative methods. again, very normal things, but this book just makes them feel extra normal and extra seen, and i just appreciate it so very much (and i know so many other readers do as well)!
trigger + content warnings: hospital settings, a lot of mentions of losing patients, surgery prep discussions, kidney failure, anxiety, ptsd, panic attacks, depression, infidelity in the past, parental abandonment in past, suicide mention in past, mention of loss of a parent in past (one sentence), brief mention of miscarriage in past. (spoiler for plot point in the book) - (view spoiler)[unplanned pregnancy. (hide spoiler)]
“You don’t have to take up a sword. Survival is bravery, too.”
this is an dark academia story, set in a historical but different world than our own
“You don’t have to take up a sword. Survival is bravery, too.”
this is an dark academia story, set in a historical but different world than our own, where two regional factions (north and south) are at war with one another, and two students who are from different sides (and who attend the same university) are tasked with different academic missions at a very remote sea side manor that is falling into the sea. this is also a story about storytelling and finding safety and comfort and escapism in words and tales and myths. even if this story at the heart of this is about a fae king who will stop at nothing to take and take and take what his entitled self views as his.
this is very atmospheric and the writing is so very good. i loved the themes of this story and the emphasis on power in regards to reclaiming your life and agency and voice after really horrible things happen to you. and how there is so much power in knowing you aren’t alone, and that there is power in giving a voice to not only yourself but the others who were silenced before you, and the power of just knowing that people believe you.
but sadly, i just didn’t love the actual story of this one, even though it had so much that i did love. it felt very long and tedious to read, and it was so very predictable in every way. i don’t want to call this book boring, because it just seems wrong with all the aspects that i enjoyed, but i really had to force myself to pick this one up each night for some reason. maybe i just had too high of hopes for it and it really hindered my reading experience? ultimately, i just couldn’t connect with this story or the characters, even if i really respect the themes of this book and the care the author put into this story. but i also know this book will be very powerful to a lot of readers, so please know that i still recommend this and very much implore you to look at other reviews!
i just want to also note - the last line of this book is very powerful. i think it’s been a long while since the last sentence of a book made me pause the way this one did (and then the last acknowledgement being to zelda… was everything). very powerful, and i hope everyone reading this can feel lighter and safer and drown all their demons, too.
trigger + content warnings: predatory behavior, abuse of power, power imbalances, grooming, gaslighting, mentions of sexual assault, unwanted touching, sexism + misogyny, panic attacks, ptsd, nightmares, mention of war, spider mention, death, blood mentions, mention of loss of parent in past, car accident in past, abandonment, grief, incorrect medical diagonis, bad parenting, mention of parent abusing alcohol, a lot of talk of medication, a lot of smoking, blood mentions, mention of a dead animal, torture descriptions in past, talk of child death/sacrifice in past in a myth/story, and drowning
i really wanted to read my first ashley winstead because so many of my friends have absolutely loved in my ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
i really wanted to read my first ashley winstead because so many of my friends have absolutely loved in my dreams i hold a knife, but i really think i did myself a disservice making this the one i picked up. i don't want to be overly negative, because i do think this book is important for some people who grew up with abuse under the guise of religion, and they were able to find escapism and safety and happiness in literature, like twilight. and i just really don’t want to downplay the importance of that safe place for kids and teens, especially when you can just tell this story feels very personal to the author.
but i think this was just so completely different than what i was anticipating, that it felt like a really big disappointment to me. this felt like a literary romance with some suspenseful elements, not a mystery thriller in the slightest. you will truly know from the first 10% of this book what is going to happen, and the rest is just a lot of twilight comparisons. now, i will also give this book credit because it made me rewatch twilight, and i did miss that blue filter more than i realized. i will also say i liked the very end, which i know will be an unpopular opinion, but it was a definite risk i do not think many authors would take, and i respect that. i will still for sure read in my dreams i hold a knife and report back!
trigger + content warnings: death, murder, violence, blood, cults, religious abuse, talk of suicide, gun violence, animal injury + death, talk of animal sacrifice, extreme child abuse in past, child captivity in past, talk of domestic abuse in past, mention of bullying in past, power imbalances, sexual assault (attempted rape), depression, panic attacks, hospital setting, talk of forced abortion, ableism (always in a negative light), implied pedophilia, implied human trafficking, trauma, grief, death of a mother during child birth in past, alcoholism mentions, drugs, misogyny, fire, snakes
i have a very big soft spot for all the characters in this story, and i truly will read anything about kate daniels forever and ever because she realli have a very big soft spot for all the characters in this story, and i truly will read anything about kate daniels forever and ever because she really is such a big reason why i love urban fantasy and paranormal romance so much still in 2023. In this somewhat spinoff, we get to see her as a mom, in a new city, and claiming a new town that needs a little more protection currently and for what is to come. ee get to see the state of the pack now that curran and kate have left, we get to see kate find out some new information involving her daughter, julie, and this really is starting to set up for what is to come.
but in this installment we see them try to help a little house that is trapped in the forest that is part of their property. i personally really enjoyed this one because it ended up having fae as a part of the mystery. the reason i ultimately gave this three stars, despite all this nostalgia praise, is because i don’t know how i feel about conlan being only eight years old and having to do the things he has to do. i understand this is very much a dystopian version of our world, and he is part shapeshifter, but it still makes me feel bad while reading. but i still will carry on with whatever ilona andrews gives us next!
trigger + content warnings: mention of loss of pet in past, death, murder, human sacrifice, mention of cancer, blood, battle, gore, talk of loss of family in past, slavery, animal cruelty, animal death, spore depictions, brief mention of sexual assault and rape in past, self harm to get blood for magic, abuse mentions (both children and the elderly)
“I’d give everyone the me they wanted, needed, craved, and in exchange they’d care about me.”
i actually feel like the first half of this was five
“I’d give everyone the me they wanted, needed, craved, and in exchange they’d care about me.”
i actually feel like the first half of this was five stars for me, but sadly the ending just got a little away from me. but I do think Ali Hazelwood is an author that just really works for me, and will continue to work for me, because i really just enjoy her settings and characters and she so easily makes me feel so much for them. i also feel like you can just tell that she really puts her whole heart into so much of the content she is putting into her stories, and i just really love seeing and feeling that a lot.
in this book, elsie has type 1 diabetes and is in desperate need to get a job with insurance that will allow her to get the insulin she needs to live, and her being an adjunct professor does not give her that. nor does her job of being a fake girlfriend for people who need a plus-one at social functions. but maybe if she can finally get a job with good insurance as a full time researcher at MIT. that is, until the head of the physics institute recognizes her because she has been fake dating his brother.
i know that is quite the set up, but this book really does have a lot of good in it that really worked for me. Some aroace rep, talk of power imbalances in stem spaces, an amazing best friend and her amazing hedgehog, themes of how the past can shape us but we can always choose to be better and do better, and how sometimes it can feel easier to be the person you know someone wants you to be, and how it can be so very scary to let people in and show them the real you. i really loved the romance in this, and the sex in this, and had a goofy grin on my face while reading. Oh! and an adam and olive cameo .
content warnings from the author: Chronic Illness (Type 1 diabetes), Financial insecurity and lack of health insurance, Sexism, Gaslighting by a mentor within an academic setting, Death of a parent by illness (off page, in the past), Explicit and graphic sexual content, Cursing and vulgar language
other trigger + content warnings i found while reading: seizure mention in past, abusive parents, abusive relationship in past, child health issues, insulin scare in past, glycemic attacks, insect + spider mentions, a joke about bed bugs, vomit, allergic reaction mention with epipen used, ration medication, lack of total consent in past / sexual assault in past, anxiety, and something happens that kind of makes someone come out - i don't want to say forced to come out - and the mc apologizes and acknowledges this - but i could potentially see this triggering to some readers so use caution.
oh friends, this is truly a new all time favorite romance book
this book starts out with a very unexpected meet cute, in a small stars hollow like townoh friends, this is truly a new all time favorite romance book
this book starts out with a very unexpected meet cute, in a small stars hollow like town, when one of our main characters tows the car of our other main character. they get to know each other a little bit in the local pub and decide to spend the night together when they quickly realize how much they both like eachother even though it feels like they come from different worlds, rather than just different towns.
oh, and this man, daniel? HE IS AN INNKEEPER! He owns the local inn! If you have been reading my reviews for years, you will know… this such a niche box for me and this man was checking it and more! our other main character, alexis, is a er doctor who is trying to follow in her family’s very large footsteps at a hospital that they opened the doors of many generations ago. but one of the main things i really loved about this story was that she quickly sees how this small town doesn’t have adequate medical resources for her - from mental health help, to preventive care help, to being able to deliver babies, to emergency and much more - everything they have to go to the town over. And this is a very big problem that is pretty close to my heart as well, and it just meant a lot to me that a romance author made it a focal point of her book. alongside another very important discussion of domestic abuse and how that can take many forms, from physical to mental to emotional to everything in between, and how none of those are lesser or less scary and difficult to navigate to safety. this book also includes some really good resources for help in the back, too.
i also just loved how this book focuses on how surrounding yourself with kind and caring people makes you want to be more kind and caring. both platonic and romantic love is so important and just finding people who you truly want to constantly make your world better with really is what life is all about. but yeah, friends, i just loved this one with my entire heart. it was a very unexpected favorite, and i really will recommend it forever.
trigger + content warnings: this book really talks about domestic abuse and how that can take many emotional and physical forms, talk of lack of medical care in a community, talk of serious health issues, talk of mental health and not being able to get medication, brief mention of heart attack in past, abusive parents, parental abandonment, mentions of loss of grandparents in past, a scene of an emergency childbirth, blood, mention of loss of patients in medical career (one sentence of loss of child patient), one sentence funeral mention, minor car accident, one sentence mention of sex trafficking, mention of cheating in past (not mcs), panic attack, depression depiction, and i wouldn’t necessarily say hospital setting but this book very much talks about the medical field and being an er doctor so please use caution.
“You may feel lost. Don’t expect gratitude. Just help them.”
this is one of my brother’s favorite ongoing series, and with the way social media has
“You may feel lost. Don’t expect gratitude. Just help them.”
this is one of my brother’s favorite ongoing series, and with the way social media has been reacting to the current chapter, i knew i could no longer ignore this story! and i really had a good time with this first volume, and i really, really, really instantly fell in love with Itadori Yuji.
this is a story about cursed objects, demons, a mysterious school in tokyo, and one boy just wanting to help as many people as he can. i truly really enjoyed this one and i really loved how curses in this world are manifestations of people’s hurt and pain and sadness (because sometimes that really feels true in our world too). this did get a little spooky at times, so use caution if you need to, but i absolutely cannot wait to read more - especially with that cliffhanger ending!
trigger + content warnings: sickness, brief hospital setting, talk of death, death, loss of a loved one (grandfather), grief, violence, gore, fighting, possession, brief cannibalism, harm to an animal - maybe death to an animal (divine dog), insect imagery (spiders + ticks)
oh, this was an unexpected, yet so heartfelt, story about love and grief and time and immortality. this story starts with four friends, in a ten year oh, this was an unexpected, yet so heartfelt, story about love and grief and time and immortality. this story starts with four friends, in a ten year adventuring party, coming back home from finally defeating the demon king. yet the reader quickly finds out that this beginning that feels like an ending is really just the start, because our main character, frieren, is an elven mage with a much longer lifespan than her human and dwarf companions. she leaves to follow her love for magic and discovery, only to return back 50 years later and realizes how precious connections in life are. and in this first volume we get to see her take on an apprentice and rediscover the paths she took with her old adventuring party many years ago.
this was just really unexpectedly beautiful. i shed many tears flipping through these 170 pages that really celebrated life and love and the importance of honoring and remembering. this story is really gentle and soft while still being something that will be felt so universally hard with all humans. and the art is also so very beautiful and just sets a really perfect tone for the story that this art is telling. i loved this completely and wholeheartedly and i really recommend this one.
trigger + content warnings: loss of loved ones, grief, themes with battle
“My blood. My books. My knowledge. Anything. It is yours.”
i might be stretching a bit, but this felt like a lilith origin story mixed with beauty and the beast reimagining... and i loved it. and because of consuming way too many lilith stories, i am so excited to see how these characters are incorporated into the rest of this series. and i really loved lilith in this story, and how she was older, and neurodivergent, and a scientist, and how big her heart was.
this story is all about her trying to find a cure for a sickness that has taken her town, and soon her sister, because her father spited a god. But on the outskirts of town lives a vampire all by himself, and maybe his blood could help lilith find a cure before it is too late. and they make a deal that will cost her six perfect roses in return for vials of his blood each transaction.
i really loved this, i loved both characters, the empathy, the healing, the discoveries of medicine and gods and each other. This is truly so very close to a five star for me. and the way the author was really able to give a fully fleshed out tale, with so much heart and empathy, that is completely different in every way to the introduction of this world in the first book, in under 200 pages, it is just so impressive. i highly recommend this one.
trigger + content warnings: loss of a parent, death in child birth mention, plague, death, blood, drawing blood, needles, animal testing mentions, robbing involving physical assault, threat of sexual assault, grief, sibling illness, gore, violence, battle / fighting, mention of war, panic attacks
i really couldn't stop reading this, and the book has really impacted with me. it feels wrong to say i loved this, but i did. this is a very dark and i really couldn't stop reading this, and the book has really impacted with me. it feels wrong to say i loved this, but i did. this is a very dark and bleak story, but it is also filled with connection and hope. once in a lifetime story, without question, and i can't wait to read the next book in this series. but please use caution and look up tw/cw (or just know... every tw/cw you can imagine is in this book)
this fourth installment really tugged on my whole heart ;___; i love the blue dragon so much already. in this vol➽ vol. 1 ★★★★ ➽ vol. 2 ★★★ ➽ vol. 3 ★★★
this fourth installment really tugged on my whole heart ;___; i love the blue dragon so much already. in this volume, yona, hak, gija, and yun are travelling to find another dragon. they find a small group of people, living in a cave, where maybe the blue dragon resides. we get to see the backstory, and powers, of him and... ahhh, it was very emotional for me. oh, and i am now also in love with a pet squirrel! i also really loved seeing yona just want to take some agency back for herself, as well. all of her friendships are really so beautiful and so supportive and i love being able to read her story. i truly love these all of these characters so much, and i can't wait to continue on with this series, and meet two more dragons!
trigger and content warnings: a few mentions of bugs, threat of robbing, violence, death, attempted kidnapping, mention of suicide, child abandonment, captivity.
“One day love became not an offering of safety, but a reminder of everything cruel and dangerous in the world.”
human girl adopted and raised by a
“One day love became not an offering of safety, but a reminder of everything cruel and dangerous in the world.”
human girl adopted and raised by a king of vampires, enters a cutthroat magical tournament which honors the goddess of vampires, who will grant the winner any one wish of their asking, also with a romance brewing in the backdrop which is making each new trail more and more difficult and confusing. oh friends, i ate this up with a spoon and i am here typing this mini review and begging my postman to deliver the novella and second book of this series immediately!
for the twilight girls, the hunger games girls, the girls who love enemies to lovers with a different hidden enemies to lovers within. the girls who love complicated father daughter relationships (the “never you” truly broke me into a million pieces) !! i really had a good time with this one, and carissa broadbent really knows how to write an endearing main character that you can’t help but put your entire heart into rooting for. the hype is totally warranted for this fantasy romance, in my opinion.
trigger + content warnings: loss of family/loss of loved ones throughout this book, blood, parental abuse, murder, gore, self harm to get blood, nightmares, ptsd, grief, self harm mention in past, vomit, violence, anxiety, war, torture, battle, sexual assault in past, insinuation of rape in past, forced starvation (vampires with blood), animal death, slavery, captivity, fire, ableist terms for disabilities
“It never occurred to her to doubt her welcome. Such was the gift of a child raised with love.”
this is a hard one to rate, but i think i have sett
“It never occurred to her to doubt her welcome. Such was the gift of a child raised with love.”
this is a hard one to rate, but i think i have settled on the highest of 3 stars! but three stars feels extra wild because the mc of this is probably my favorite character that t kingfisher has ever created! this is a sleeping beauty reimagining that really makes the reader think about what humans can perceive as good and/or evil on first glance. it also has heavy themes of nurture versus nature and how important it is for children to grow up with love and safety. but there was just something about the evil one being a child* in this story that made me uncomfortable, and upon finishing it just really made me not want to give out a higher rating, despite loving so many other aspects of this novella. (*i know there is more to this, but i am trying to be vague for this mini review!)
toading, the main character, is truly wonderful. and I loved seeing her watch generation after generation pass while protecting this tower, until one day a prince comes that makes her want to do things a little differently. i loved seeing her growing up among the fae, with a family and community who loved her unapologetically with everything they had. and i loved the writing of this and how beautifully kingfisher was able to blend past and present narratives together. i know this review is a little all over the place, but i still recommend this one and i can’t wait to continue reading everything from this author.
trigger + content warnings: blood, plague, death, kidnapping, captivity, brief mention of child birth, death of a child, self harm for magic / testing magic, mention of animal cruelty, physical abuse (slap), suicide mention, violence, extreme isolation
“I rarely share this part of my life with others, but I want to tell it to you now. A piece of armor, because I trust you. A glint of falling steel
“I rarely share this part of my life with others, but I want to tell it to you now. A piece of armor, because I trust you. A glint of falling steel, because I feel safe with you.”
i really wanted to read this one, because so many of you were recommending it to me! and i ended up reading this in two sittings, because i could not put it down. the writing is beyond beautiful and i feel the story is paced in a way that just makes it so compulsively readable! to write a book about beautiful writing you have to be able to write beautifully and rebecca ross truly delivered on that front. there is a good portion of this book where we see the two main characters writing letters back and forth to each other on their typewriters and some of the things Iris and Roman would write really would make me weep. i loved the first half of this book completely, and i really loved the middle with attie and marisol, but the reason i am giving this four stars is because the more we got to see this magical war of soldiers fighting for gods, the more i wanted to know about the actual war going on, and i still feel so clueless about so much. i feel like the next book will help fill in a lot of the things we didn’t get from this one (oh my god, that ending), but i did close this book maybe not as in love as i was opening it! but i still had a good time with this book, and I really think Iris is a favorite character of 2023 for me.
trigger + content warnings: war, war zones, battle, bombings, death, injury, medical treatments, needle mention, blood, gore, violence, anxiety, panic attacks, ptsd, alcoholism, vomit, loss of a loved one, loss of a parent, loss of a sibling, loss of a loved one in past, drowning, grief, depression, abandonment, insomnia mention
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