Sandy

Classic poetry is not for me i feel, also i don't know who selected these poems but they were so random. If you are going select poems for a collection I figure there should be a theme to tie them all together and if there was a theme I didn't see it. Maybe it went over my head. Anyway big thank-you to LibriVox for the audio recordings of this collection and big thanks to Leanord Wilson for taking the time to do the recordings.

This series is my kind of romance novel. Royalty love interest, but in this case the love interest doesn't know he's nobility at first. I could really relate to the main character's insecurities and lack of self worth and her inability to take a compliment. And its was great to see her grow throughout the novel and learn and accept that she is a bad ass who does get shit down and that its just harder for her to do because she's wired differently. The male love interest was interesting, he is a modern day blacksmith who is crochetty on the outside but has really soft mushy corners. I didn't LOVE him, i think i needed him to be a little more squishy on the outside but overall this was a quick and enjoyable read that felt like it ended abruptly.

I am not a fan a horror so I am not the target audience of the book but I loved the author's other book Gods of Jade and Shadow and wanted to one support her work and two I loved the premise of a Gothic horror set in 1950s Mexico where the main character is a young socialite. Just to let you know this book is nothing like Gods of Jade and Shadow (i didn't expect it to be knowing the author likes to write very different types of stand-alones but just letting you know in case you have different expectations they are not the same at all!)

I thought this book was going to be the spooky/scary type of horror considering it takes place in an old dilapidated house set in the mountain and far removed from the small town but it was the more grotesque and weird kind of horror.

The book builds slowly setting the scene and introducing the characters making things feel as if they are just normal enough but you can tell things aren't quite right but its not enough to cause a fuss or to heed the strange superstitions of the locals. This is how our poor main character despite her intelligence gets steadily sunk in and then when she knows things aren't right its too late for her to do anything.

The writing was excellent, the characters all stood out uniquely from each other. I loved the pattern that ran throughout the book that despite women being forced into situations because of their circumstances they still managed to have a kind of agency and strength. I also enjoyed that all though this has the trappings of a “trashy” old style horror novel it also explores topics of colonialism, racism, white supremacy, eugenics and misogyny.

Content Warning for: sexual assault, child death, incest, cannibalism, domestic abuse

This was a comedy with some very funny stories and there were even a few more serious topics centering depression, thoughts of suicide and I'm not sure the term perhaps compulsive thoughts? It was a quick read and had me smiling and doing some introspective thinking. Not bad.

An enjoyable short mystery with a little bit of magic. I love the concept of a school to help kids that went off through magical portals and came back.

Oh the nostalgia I feel for this series. I had forgotten how much I loved Melissa's writing, this was a great addition to the Wicked Lovely series and if you loved the books from the original series than you will enjoy this one. The reveal in this book omg.

I loved the world building and was interested in the many characters in story and look forward to learning more about the mythology and the stories of the other gods in this world.
I didn't LOVE it, I like my fantasy stories to have more action and intense moments, but since I am so used to reading fantasies based on European folklore/mythology this was a refreshing change of pace. I hope in the next two books in the trilogy we see more of the one hundred thousand kingdoms.

I can't believe we had to wait until the final chapter in the final book to find out that Holly likes girls.

I loved this book and I need to read the next ones in the series.

This was very cute and funny story. I say its appropriate for all ages, while learning about Huda's personal journey in discovering love (romantic and self) you also get to learn about many aspects of Islamic culture.

I learned:
When a hijab is normally worn and when it isn't
The rules for gender relations.
What is an arranged marriage and that arranged does not equal forced.
Forced marriages are not allowed in Islam
The rules/steps for courtship (so many Jane Austen parallels)
The different parts of a Muslim wedding

Things I already knew:
How funny Huda's comics are (go follow “yesimhotinthis” on instagram)
how geeky her and her husband are

It's a quick read being a graphic memoir, I read it one sitting and longed for more details. It would make a cute coffee table book for guests to read (if I had a coffee table).

It wasn't until I reached 70% of the way through this short story collection that i stopped being disappointed with the collection as a hold because aside from 1 really good story and a few decent ones I thought most of the stories were pretty meh. And then i hit the 70% mark and read many good stories in a row and thought oh here they are! I have read many many authors who's work I had not experienced before that I will definitely be checking out now like River Solomon, S. L. Huang, and Karin Tidbeck to name a few.

So great. Gave me a book hangover. Protagonist was hilarious. Necromancers in space. Locked room murder mystery. If I can string more words together I'll update later with better review.

Lovely illustrations and a glimpse into a world I knew nothing about. This is a cute little story about a pair of siblings that live on the Tapajos river where the community moves every rainy season to higher ground. Unfortunately in the haste of moving the family forgets their tortoise and the kids secretly go back to their deserted home to rescue Titi!

3.5
Great writing, I cringed and tensed up when I was supposed to.
If this was set in the 1950s (because that's what it felt like and not the 90s) then I would say it felt very realistic like I could picture this actually happening and the characters acting they way they did, if I suspended my disbelief that vampires existed. This had a lot more serious topics then I expected, it brought issues of class, race, sexual assault, child abuse and domestic abuse. There was even gas lighting.
The women were there for each other when it came to “normal” matters like arranging care for an elderly parent but when it came to the supernatural aspect of the book it took much longer then I liked for everyone to ban together. Based off the title of the book and the premise I thought there was going to be more of group of friends taking on this evil entity but that really didn't happen until the end of the book and it was mostly the main character having to handle things on her own.

This morning I traded extra sleep to finish The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, this is an Adult fantasy and the author's debut! Set in the imaginary world of the Nikara empire that is based on historical China (which era I am not too sure as there are no guns or motorized vehicles but many scenes and events in the book are pulled from historical accounts of World War 2). This book was excellent, it had a morally gray and ambitious female main character, it never went where I expected it to go, and it presented these hard decisions that the main character had to make and it seemed no matter the choice it was never going to be the right one.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because it is an excellent read it had me hooked from the beginning and did not let me go. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars is because it is brutally heart wrenching. I most likely will not re-read this book and I definitely need a lighter and fluffier read because this it not a book you read to escape hard times. It's called The Poppy War it's about war and the author does not gloss over the horror that comes with such a conflict.

Trigger warnings for: self-harm, rape and sexual assault, child abuse, torture
Content advisory for: drug abuse, violence of all kinds

Recommended for fans of:
high fantasy
Asian inspired fantasy
war books
morally grey characters (heroes who aren't 100% good people)
a heroine's journey

In the final book in the trilogy I was more interested in the characters and the world than I was in the plot which is normal with me, but in the case with this book I just felt like the story dragged and I was rushing through it to finish the book. I am satisfied with the ending.

This world building in this book is so complex and rich. I never thought I'd be much of a fan of political intrigue but here i am lapping it up along with the magic and myths of djinn and other magical beings.

This was such a great book -insert crying emoji- i don't know how to properly express my love for this story but it was sooo gooood. Our heroine Cassiopeia accidentally releases a Mayan god of death named Hun-Kame from a prison and embarks on a quest with him across Mexico and California so he can win back his throne and its set in the 1920s! She's stubborn and craving adventure and escape from her boring life where she cleans and and does her mean grandfather's and male cousins bidding, he's a newly awaken angry immortal engaging with the human world more than he has ever done before and is on a quest with a young woman who isn't afraid to give him attitude. There is adventure, humor, Mayan mythology, Mexican history, magic and a slow burn romance.

A fun, sexy, and sweet romance with lots of heart

This is one of the best romances I have read in a long time. This book had me swooning, awwing, laughing and tearing me up. I felt so deeply for the heroine's journey and was cheering her on the whole way, the romance between Esme and Khai is sweet. This book made my heart happy and I will definitely be reading the author's other works.

It was a quick easy read with the same humor I enjoyed in “Where'd you go Bernadette?” but I didn't enjoy this book as much as that one.

This was a great end to a fun series. I hope Ms Carriger publishes more novellas of the girls all grown up because I would love to read them.

Different, entertaining, and smart

This book was a unique premise that moved along at a quick pace. It was both smart, deep and entertaining.

Cute, sexy, and nerdy. Loved it!

This was cute, sweet and full of so many geeky references.

Decent story

I enjoyed the world of Onyx and Ivory. I thought there were some interesting ideas as well as some familiar but favourite tropes. I never really got invested in the main characters enough to care about their story. I would have preferred to see more of Signe and Dal.