Aimee

3.5 stars rounded up. A charming fairytale with just enough darkness for me. Really enjoyed the way the forest was described and the characters were a lot of fun.

Full review closer to pub. date but this was an absolute joy!

What a mess lol this cover slaps tho

Ignite the Sun has such a cool concept and world, the idea of the sun being a legend and the world shrouded in darkness was so intriguing to me. However, while the concept was really interesting I felt the world building and characters weren't explored enough. The story seemed to begin at breakneck speed and I had no time to get to know the world, or the characters. I just felt like I couldn't care about the characters the way I wanted to. This continued throughout the story, particularly with Siria, her entire arc felt somewhat shallow.

The mythology and descriptions of the world however, were great. Hanna Howard is great at showing me a picture with her writing and I did feel like I was really experiencing the locations in the book.

Overall, I think this book had a lot of potentia but it didn't quite have the payoff I wanted. I would be interested in reading more of her work though.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this title!

The Vanished Queen follows various characters in the waning rule of an evil king. Anza joins the resistance after her father has been executed, Esvar is the second son of the king, fighting to get his brother on the throne and overcome the similarities he sees between himself and his father.

This book is beautifully written, I was engrossed almost immediately. I felt it excelled at introducing me to these characters and the world. All the characters have very visible flaws that they struggle with, and this is portrayed really nicely. Where this story excells is absolutely the characters, and especially the women. This story felt like a love letter to womens resilience in a world that treats them as objects and pawns. Anza and her discovery of the disappeared queens journal show us two different female struggles and I thought it was very well done.

All the characters developed well throughout the book, and by the end I felt as though I really understood their motivations and feelings. In a nice bit of representation, Anza appears to be bisexual and speaks of her previous lovers, male and female at various points throughout the book.

I felt the story flowed quite well, with the exception of some dragging at around 25-30%. It is definitely more of a slow burn story, there's a lot of set up and political intrigue before there is any kind of big climax. To me this all led to a satisfying conclusion but I can see it being frustrating to other readers. Overall, this book was an a real gem for me, and it'll stick with me for a long time.

This book is certainly dark and I would mark it with trigger warnings for: sexual assault, forced abortion, domestic abuse and suicidal thoughts.

Thank you to netgalley for this book.

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect, as I had never read any Leigh Bardugo before.

I really enjoyed the setting and magic in this book. I did feel the exposition dragged on a little bit, but once the story started flowing it felt like it never really stopped. Alex is an excellent protagonist, she's tough as nails and has been through a lot but she's still likable and I enjoyed seeing her point of view on Yale and all the magic rich kid nonsense going on there. Darlington felt like a good POV to have alongside Alex and I look forward to seeing where his story goes.

For the most part, the writing felt sharp and the twists and turns toward the end felt pretty satisfying to me.

This story was really good! The writing style gave off a dreamlike feel and it was unnerving and creepy throughout.

I've enjoyed all the Dragon Age novels and I'm a big fan of the series as a whole so it's no surprise I enjoyed this, but it still blew me away!

We finally get to see more of Thedas in these short stories and it's so nice to get a feel for some of the areas we have only been told about so far.

There are a lot of hints and teases of what could be coming in DA4 here, including major and minor plot points, potential companions, old companions and of course the next big bad.

I enjoyed all of the short stories but my favourites were The Horror of Hormak, Callback and The Wigmaker Job. I was surprised by the return to a more dark fantasy in a lot of these stories as well. There's some lovecraftian elements, and a fair few body horror moments.

I've enjoyed both The Witcher videogames and the new netflix show, and these books have been on my TBR for years. As much as I enjoyed the overall ideas for this collection of short stories, overall I didn't like the book much. At times the writing felt rushed and almost frantic, especially during conversations, this could have been because of the translation I suppose. Geralt feels like a husk of a character in this book, he doesn't have much to say and we're not really introduced to many of his motivations. The way women (and young girls) were characterised or described in these stories was pretty suss as well.

This had a lot of heart and was a really sweet and funny read! It was easy to love the characters, and i loved the art style. Highly recommend as a fast and fun read!

This is an excellent book for those dealing with the suicide of a loved one, or even for those to wish to understand the feelings of someone in that situation. I will give a brief warning that this book is probably best read when you feel ready, it can be quite hard hitting and graphic at times.

I decided to read this book about 6 months after my brothers suicide, and seeing the stories of so many people experiencing similar feelings to my own, even ones that feel out of place, was reassuring. The book looks at dealing with the suicide of a loved one from many different aspects: financial, the public aspect of some suicides, family dynamic afterward, guilt and shame, suicidal feelings of those left behind. I found this extensive coverage to be really helpful to me, and felt I understood what I was in for and my own grief better after having read it.

Really amazing world building and introduction of characters, as usual for Sanderson. Despite not really having a defined central plot for a majority of this book I loved every second of it. The way Sanderson ties things together is really impressive, I'm looking forward to reading the next book!

This was super relatable as someone who did skating as a kid, I identified with so many situations and feelings from this graphic novel. I would say it's more focused on the difficulties of growing up than the story of a skater but having that background made it more enjoyable for me. The art is really nice and I think this is a good first long form work by Tillie Walden.

This isn't a graphic novel that has a lot happening and it's not exciting but it was a beautiful read. Art is great and it really reminded me of growing up. I think it conveys more of a mood then a storyline.

Beautiful art, beautiful colours and a lovely start to a story! I loved this.

I definitely didn't enjoy this book as much of Otsuichi's other works. Some stories were big misses with me but there were a few great ones like the sandbox story and the final one. Definitely worth a read but I did feel there were more misses than hits.

This book is DARK and can be pretty graphic but I really enjoyed it. The twists and surprises can be a little cheap sometimes but i still found myself compelled to keep going and find out what was going to happen. Otsuichi really excels at maintaining the mood of this genre.

This book was an absolute mess. I've enjoyed these books as fun supernatural romance novels with good characterization. However, with the newest book all of that has been thrown out the window.The story feels non existent and it flows horribly. Charlaine Harris needs to finish this series already because at this point its a torture to read.

Just not my cuppa

The Midnight Bargain is a fun fantasy, historical romance novel that follows the struggle of our main character Beatrice Clayborn trying to avoid a marriage that will force her to give up her magic for a large chunk of her life. The world building and magic here was really enjoyable and I loved the idea of the plot, though I do think the first couple of chapters really try to hit you over the head with just how unfair this world is, while that's true it did seem a little hamfisted for me.

I enjoyed the dynamic between Ysbeta and Beatrice and definitely found myself rooting for them. The romance was the bigger miss for me in this book, it felt a little too insta love for my personal tastes and I think I would have enjoyed the book more if there was no romance.

Overall, this was a fun book to read and the writing style was really nice. I just wish it had gone a little deeper into the world.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC! All opinions are my own.

I got this book at a second hand store while I was going through a Chinese history kick. Boy am I glad I picked it up. It's a window into the lives of three incredible women of different generations, growing up and living in China. I could not put it down. It's incredibly sad, but also uplifting at the same time. I would recommend this to all my friends, if any of them had a desire to read non fiction!

I ordered this book on a whim and was pleasantly surprised by it. It's an entertaining and fairly well written version of the story of Arthas and to a lesser extent Sylvannas. The book doesn't drag on and it looks to expand on the things we already know about Arthas' change. It would be a very good read for those who play World of Warcraft, are interested in the lore within, but have never played the classic RTS games.

Just wasn't the vibe

R slurs, boring