Jerry Cooke

4.25⭐️ - As the race to save, or destroy, the library continues, the whole of reality itself appears to hang in the balance!

Three paths, three species, countless intertwined lives. This book follows Evar, Livira, and their friends and family as the three factions seek, respectively, to either save the library, destroy it, or to find a middle ground As reality seems to be cracking open at the seams and the blood of the library seeps out, dreams and nightmares find purchase on the world. With 'maybe' worlds and alternative possibilities being explored, everything hangs on one book to determine if they'll find a happy ending.

This was such a heart-wrenching book at times I struggle to fully describe it. There are so many twists and turns, so many timelines and parallel worlds, and although I just about kept track of all that was happening, it's really a book that you need to read yourself to truly appreciate how it evolved over the trilogy.

Beautiful, indescribable, and built upon many fascinating literary traditions, this really is a love letter to stories themselves.

4.25⭐️ - As the race to save, or destroy, the library continues, the whole of reality itself appears to hang in the balance!

Three paths, three species, countless intertwined lives. This book follows Evar, Livira, and their friends and family as the three factions seek, respectively, to either save the library, destroy it, or to find a middle ground As reality seems to be cracking open at the seams and the blood of the library seeps out, dreams and nightmares find purchase on the world. With 'maybe' worlds and alternative possibilities being explored, everything hangs on one book to determine if they'll find a happy ending.

This was such a heart-wrenching book at times I struggle to fully describe it. There are so many twists and turns, so many timelines and parallel worlds, and although I just about kept track of all that was happening, it's really a book that you need to read yourself to truly appreciate how it evolved over the trilogy.

Beautiful, indescribable, and built upon many fascinating literary traditions, this really is a love letter to stories themselves.

4.25⭐️ - A beautiful light in the darkness and a cosy supportive found family, truly moving and emotional!

Sera gave away almost all of her prodigious magical power to save her great-aunt and all she has left is the inn. The inn that she once poured magic into in order to make it a place that is safe for people who need it. Over time, the permanent residents of the inn grow and yet a part of Sera cannot accept that her magic is truly gone. So when a book drops in her lap (with the help of a cursed witch in the form of a fox and her young cousin) that could restore her power, she is willing to try anything to make it happen. Sadly, the book is in an archaic spell casting language she can't speak. Fortunately, the very man that can is about to show up on her doorstep. Together, they find that love just might be the strongest magic of all.

This was a truly beautiful story and I found myself crying on multiple occasions at the way Sangu Mandanna describes the empathy, love, and support shown between the characters. One of my favourite things about her writing, and this was try of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches as well, is the concept as magic as a semi-sentient thing that appreciates Sera's love of it. It's joyful, expansive, and spectacular, and I want so much more in this world.

4.75⭐️ - A moving and affirming story, revealing the difficult choices one must make when in a position of expectation.

When Danni Blythe starts as a scholarship student a the prestigious all-girls boarding school that's filled with the daughters of some of the most powerful people in Henland, all she hopes for is that she'll be able to leave her years of being bullied behind. Despite feeling as if she's on the lowest rung of the social ladder, she finds herself quickly included. When she literally falls another girls arms, the fact that it turns out to be those of the Crown Princess leads to a romance that's as complicated as it is heart warming.

I loved this story rather a lot and despite thinking from the first twenty pages or so that it might be a feel-good and possibly cheesy Princess Diaries kind of tale, it had a real depth of emotional feeling. In particular, the arcs of Rose's journey of dealing with grief and Danni's fear of being perceived were really transformative to read through. A thoroughly rich story and one that I'd definitely recommend.