Tag: books

Top Ten Tuesday – Books I have Never Reviewed

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the Broke and Bookish and now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl where bloggers are given a prompt that is usually a list of ten bookish things.

This weeks prompt was –

Books I Never Reviewed (Share the titles of books you never reviewed on your blog/tiktok/insta/etc. and if you liked them or not!)

Okay so this was actually a really easy prompt to start (and a really hard one to finish I could keep going forever) because I have just started and there are sooooo many books that I haven’t reviewed yet. I am going to tweak the prompt a little to SERIES that I haven’t yet reviewed or finished reviewing.

  • Song of the Lioness by Tamora Pierce – I love Tamora Pierce’s world so much and I am much due a reread of her series!
  • The Twelfth Keeper series by Belle Malory – the final book is out! It came out late January and my fyp didn’t think to tell me this until I randomly looked it up (i have been waiting for this book for at least three years) and its out! So reviews are coming for the whole series and the new book Until the Sun Rises!
  • All of KM Shea’s Magiford series and the individual trilogies – this is sweet clean paranormal fantasy with a new couple every trilogy (I have my favourites but honestly they are all five star couples).
  • Three Dark Thrones Series by Kendare Blake –  (and the prequal! Which is on my TBR as well as a complete reread of this epically dark fantasy).
  • Kirenmala and the Kingdom Beyond by Sayantani DasGupta – Indian mythology, vibrant worlds and a really cute demon prince this should have been reviewed by me before but I am 100% digging it out later for a reread.
  • Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger – I have only reviewed the first! I have read the rest before but now I am going to go back and revisit them (I can barely remember all the complexities of the plot!) and this time review them too!
  • Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard – only reviewed the first one which is a travesty because this series is honestly in my top reads of all time and I am always thinking about it so I should have!
  • Eragon by Christopher Paolini – I haven’t reviewed any of these books but I really am going to because he was the author that got me into fantasy and dragons and without this series I would not have so many cluttered shelves of epic fantasy! I also got the illustrated edition that I need to show of so a review for this is definitely coming.
  • Elven Alliance by Tara Grayce – currently on my third read of the entire series and there is a new book coming out so I need to catch up on all my reviews for then!
  • Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas – again only reviewed the first book but I am going to buy the series in paperback for my third reread (I originally read them on Borrowbox) and then reviews upon reviews and book lists are coming.
  • Galdoni by Cheree Alsop – this whole trilogy is just gorgeous (and she has written another sci-fi book that I also loved!). We have winged gladiators, a sweet romance and a beautiful exploration of the best and worst of humanity, even if the protagonists are regularly told they are less than human. Reviews are coming!

This is more than 10 now so I am going to stop now but this post really reminded me of all the reviews and books I want to share with all of you so its now a 2025 goal to review all of the books on this list!

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February Booklist: My Fictional Valentines

This is for all the people out there who want a fictional valentine! Here are my top five couples from various books and my favourite most romantic quotes from each one from various books! I’m always looking for more recommendations, so do send me yours. I have tried to do one from each genre I review so have a look down!

Fantasy Valentine

Powerless, Paedyn and Kai are just *chef’s kiss*. It seems they are in every booklist and post I create but it is because they are truly one of the booktok books that exceeded all the hype it was given. Picking their quotes was like eating one sweet but here they are!

Quotes:

“Remind me to make you smile like that again, when you arent dying and i have all the time in the world to memorise it.” – Kai

Paedyn: “I could get used to you being a gentlemen, Azer.”

Kai: “and i could get used to being one for you, Gray”

Pae: “I didnt realise you had watched me so closely.”

Kai: “Watched? Darling I never stopped.”

Dystopian Valentine

See this is really tricky to pick! I love dystopian so much, Red Queen and others like it are constantly being added to my shelves and their romances all deserve to be on this list (although Mare and Cal are especially adorable). In the end I decided Kennedy and Phoenix (twelfth keeper) took the prize (despite the age gap which I try really hard to ignore).

Quotes:

Phoenix: “I dont bite”

Kennedy: “No you just burn”

Phoenix: “true”

Special (kinda cheating a little because it isnt from the first book but i had to include”

Kennedy: “If my soul has a compass, it always points to Phoenix. Wherever he goes, I follow.”

Historical (like victorican feel but with magic) Fantasy Valentine

Fierce Heart by Tara Grayce – this is actually on kindle unlimited so if you have that then it can be downloaded in time for Valentines! This is a elf/human arranged marriage slowburn and I’ve read the entire series twice over and the romance is just so cute. Really hard to find a super romantic quote because it is a slowburn over the series and they are more demonstrative in their romantic interest like learning about each others culture and language.

Quotes:

Farrendel – “Your smile. No one else was smiling. They were looking at each other as enemies. but you smiled, as if we were people you were happy to meet.”

 Warrior/Assassin/Fighter Valentine

The one is from The Throne of Glass series, the prequel which is called the Assassins Blade. I adore Caeleana and Sam, and honestly, they are the epitome of a good rivals to lovers/assassin to assassin trope and jostle for the position of my favourite book couple EVER.

Favourite Quote

“She would tuck Sam into her heart, a bright light for her to take out whenever things were darkest.”

Urban Fantasy Valentine

The Lies of Vampires and Slayers by K.M Shea

Jade and Connor. 100% percent. They just win hands down. He is a vampire so one of my favourite things is all his teasing nicknames for her like “afternoon tea” and “emergency rations”. they are so comfortable together and these ever changing fond nicknames are just adorable. Its also a slowburn so no direct quotes from this one but it is so worth the read and it is a completed trilogy! It is also on kindle unlimited!

Happy Valentines!

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The Storytellers Tale by Judith Bouilloc

Thanks to Net Gallery + Rivka for this e-ARC copy! As always all thoughts and opinions stated are my own.

13+B

I went into this expecting a sweet romance but this book was honestly amazing. I loved it from start to finish, it was quick paced but we also had lots of details and plenty of different characters. It was attually translated from French, and I was concerned that maybe some of the text might not run as smooth but there were no stumbling blocks!

Our main character, Illiad (can I just say how much I love that name?) is honestly the perfect mc for this book. She almost floats through the world, gathering words and books along the way. She is self confident, she knows her own power and I loved that. So many books have heroines learning about their power but Illiad already knows her power and it is just what she chooses to do with it!

The world of being a snatchwords (someone who can read words and they come to life in illusions) set against a truly historical (but with flying deer!) fantasy set in France with lots of true classics mentioned was just so good. I – the world is incredible so complex but then so graspable from page one because we understand the societal undercurrents of power.

It almost reads as a ‘if the French Revolution hadn’t be necessary’ narrative which I loved exploring and this is definitely an unexpected find – that should be all over Bookstagram, it is gorgeous – and it is just gorgeous.

I have said gorgeous several times now so I’ll go to the star ratings

World – 10000/5 – deceptively simple but we have so many different elements that I can rethink over and redefine and wonder what might happen in the story from another persons perspective if it continued. Also Babel? Libaries? Magic surrounding libraries? You know I have to read it.

Characters – 4/5 – I really enjoyed them, especially Virginia – Illiads sister/lawyer/activist. She avoided all the pit falls of a powerful older sister archetype and just glowed throughout the story.

Romance – 4/5 – Soft Romance (definition on the link through). When Advil was first introduced I thought he was going to become the stereotype of the grumpy x sunshine trope but he had more layers than I was expecting and seemed to actually care for the world around him in a way that is often missing from this character type. Their romance was warm but it also had all the tense moments and a flying deer and an arranged marriage and a previous engagement (Illiad’s) so gorgeous.

Plot – 4/5 – it was entertaining, it moved quickly and I wasn’t bored for a second. I do wish that it had a little bit more development of the aftermath of the ending but it is a fantasy romance so the romance deserved the limelight a little bit too!

Content Warnings: SA (someone kisses the mc without her permission) that is what the B is for, a few mentions of suicide/poison/manipulation. Also a bit of ableism, the mc has lost vision in his right eye and several people think he is unattractive (including the FMC in the beginning) I wasn’t sure if this was because of his injury or dislike of his reputation but thought it would be worth a mention if that would be triggering for you. She does see him naked accidentally but it isnt sexual so i just thought i would put that in.

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Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the Broke and Bookish and now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl where bloggers are given a prompt that is usually a list of ten bookish things.

This weeks prompt was –

Love Freebie…. Top Ten Romance Tropes!

Rivals to Lovers – Celaena Sardothian and Sam Cortland are honestly one of the most beautiful couples I have ever read – just EVERYTHING about their relationship is swoonworthy. So Rivals-to-Lovers has to go to their romance in Assassins Blade.

Enemies to Lovers – Powerless, Kai Azer, Paedyn Gray. Everything about their relationship redeemed Enemies to Lovers for me, they are just such a swoony couple and I was supporting them from page one (that meeting scene….how could I not?)

Friends to Lovers – Changeling by Molly Harper (she is also best friends with his sister so we get the friends older brother trope in there too!)

He falls first and harder – Graceling, Kristen Cashore (tho Kat falls pretty hard for Po too!).

Flirty sparring – I think this again has to go to Powerless (I had to try really hard not to add sharing a bed non romantically and comforting them from nightmares because all of these are in the perfection that is Powerless).

Arranged Marriage – Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson – this was tricky, I love arranged marriage theoretically but it is rarely done well (if you have any recs I’d love them.) Arranged Marriage is a huge trope in it but not romantically.

Royalty/Aristocrat – I think that Jessica Day George’s couple from Dragonskin Slippers (review coming!) Luka and Creel might just have to take this one, the book is slightly younger than many of my other recs (still a 12+ because of violence etc) but it is 100% worth a read and it does hold up even as an older reader.

Slow Burn Romance – This was tricky because slow burn can mean over the book, the series or whatever but I think it goes to Connor and Jade from KM Shea’s Magiford subseries! It is the only book I haven’t written a full review on yet but I promise its coming!

Academia Romance –  Deadly Education, slow burn, subplot romance, dark but stunningly intricate and deadly.

Do you have any recs with these or other tropes??

Happy Reading!

Lottie

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The Runaway Offering by Alythia Connor

14+B

Thanks to Book Sirens and Alythia Connor for this ARC read and as always all opinions are my own.
Genre: YA Fantasy
Age Category:  YA

This book follows a main character who is relearning everything she previously thought about the world and her place within it. Raised in an isolated village guarded by armed horsemen to keep out ‘sinners’ from interacting with the village folk Akedia has only ever been offered one perspective. That perspective seems to have been accepted by everyone around her without question – the human sacrifices which are beheaded become demigods. It is an honour. Right?

I found it really interesting how Akedia absorbed everything around her before making a decision about the truth at the end, but even then it was complex. The danger of a cultish religion and how much power isolation and twisted knowledge can have on people was explored thoroughly.

However I really struggled with the romance. Tamu her love interest kidnapped her and was forcing her to do ‘three favours’ which he refused to disclose or die by his magic. Akedia seems to quickly forget that she is essentially in a hostage situation and her feelings go from disgust to attraction very quickly.

That said there were several positives about this book and I would read another book by this author in the future.

Characters – 3/5 – they work, I liked Morra a lot, she would be a 5 star character on her own, the way she brought up morality vs the law was just beautiful especially considering the naiivity of the main character.

World – 3/5 – its good, we see several different locations in a dessert vaguely Eastern world and it never made me trip up on any of the details.

Plot – 4/5 – the premise is incredibly solid and I picked it up because I knew I would enjoy the plot however it did dip a little in the middle – the scenes with Tamu’s family were a nice break from the terror of fleeing the altar as a sacrifice but it sidelined from the plot a little bit.

Romance – 2/5 – Soft Romance – I’ve already said in the review that this is something I struggled with but I would still recommend this book just be aware that the romantic relationship is has toxic foundations.

Content Warnings: Sexual Assault (it is on the page, non graphic and stopped but still something to be aware of. It was quite sudden and random without being brought up again in the plot), Religious Abuse (non graphic, they are beheading people in the name of ‘religion’ and teaching them that it is right but it isnt graphic we just get told the mc can hear the axe).

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January Reading Recap!

Happy 2025 Damsels! The first month has gone (slowly) but I have read some great reads fresh to my hoard from the Christmas presents! From sweet dystopian romance to high fantasy to booktok mystery-thrillers there is something for every reader!

These books have been all over the booksta for years but I somehow havent read them until now! I picked them up early in the month and devoured them in two days. I would 100% recommend and I have full reviews for 1, 2 and 3 for more details and content warnings. If you are looking for mystery thriller, a smart lead that doesn’t make you want to shake some sense into them and a really complex plot then GGGTM is everything!

This is a really fast paced read, full of Greek gods and trials in a gorgeous ancient Greek mythology inspired world. With revenge fueled participation in trials that are designed to be an amusing and violent gods entertainment and a unlimited wish at the end for anything but immortality and a little bit of romance its a great read. My full review is here

Stunning twist on the traditional damsel and dragon tale – this is YA fantasy at its best and Elodie is one of the most realistic heroines i have read in a while. This is going straight onto the best reads of 2025 – link to review here

I loved this from start to finish – super hero satire and a feminist take on the outdated ‘love interest’ trope? I was completely sold and read it in less than 48 hours it was just gorgeous. Full review here but let me heavily encourage you that this should go straight on your TBR it is a breath of fresh air all readers need!

These are gorgeous books set in a fantasy world with lots of magic centered around tea and its ceremonies. With a sweet romantic subplot, an self-exiled princess learning about the realities of the oppression refugees in her kingdom are facing and a gorgeous tea dragon in the second you NEED to read this series. Its just gorgeous.

Books I read that are coming soon!

Meet Me at Midnight by Brianna Bourne

Nightweavers by RM Gray

Heir of Storms by Lauryn Murray

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Dragon Recs

This is the first of my new series of recommendations based on the animals they have in them! We all love our furry, scaly and feathered friends in our reads and I’m starting off with dragons.

There are so many different types of dragons. We have the classic evil one who eats maidens and must be defeated by the knight. We have the greedy gold hoarding ones. We have intelligent dragons and animalistic dragons and dragons with magical powers. We have dragonriders, dragon trainers and dragon fighters. But I digress.

Our first dragon rec is quite a famous one but it is honestly one of the books that really got me into the fantasy genre and Saphira is just perfect dragon vibes throughout the series.

The Dragon book is, of course, Eragon by Christopher Paolini!

From this beautiful illustrated edition to the beaten up paperbacks I read over and over Eragon never fails a reread!

Happy Reading

Lottie

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Sasha vs the Whole Wide World (and dragons) by Rachel Taylor Thompson

Thanks to Net Galley for this e-ARC read and all opinions are my own!
Pub Date: Apr 01 2025
Publisher: Rachel Taylor Thompson
Genre: Alternate Reality, Heist, Urban Fantasy
Age Category: YA

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme that originated at Breaking the Spine but has now linked up with Waiting for Wednesday at Wishful Endings. It is always a fun chance to display books that are going to be joining our bookshelves very soon in 2025!

13+

This was so good!

I went into this expecting a fun frolic and it didn’t just deliver it gave me everything I wanted and DRAGONS. I know it was in the title, but I had expected a few dragons, not a glorious world full of different varieties. We have seadragons, truedragons, even beedragons!

Sasha was driven character from the beginning, and we are swept into her delightfully morally askew world as she witnesses a seadragon die and steals it’s Semis. The Semis is something huge in her world –  the last time it happened there was a huge man hunt and several deaths but as far as Sasha is concerned there was also millions.

Throughout Sasha had a really fun narrative voice to read, rampant with ‘Clemisms’, sayings her (just a little crooked) family have raised her on which support all of her decisions in the beginning. It was really lovely to see her motives change and grow over the course. At the beginning of each chapter she keeps track of her finances (such a lovely way of reminding about her motives and how money is such a huge thing because of the lack of it in her life) but it also reminds us of the ticking clock behind her – the whole country is out for her, the whole world’s governments are looking for her and the Semis and she only has a few grand with which to avoid them with. oh and that’s all that’s left of her collage money too!

Plot – 5/5 – it was fast but we also got all the details that my little worldbuilding heart needs so just perfect!

Romance – 4.5/5 – Soft Romance – I just love a good dreamscape scene, when both lower their boundaries and just talk without the pressures of the real world and this had several glorious examples of how well this can be done! Ari was adorable too – and how sweet he was with the dogs! (did I mention that there are three dogs named after the Bronte sisters along for the heist???)

Characters – 4/5 – I loved Sasha, she was such a good character and I love that Rachel Thompson didn’t make her family too likeable (they had flaws but still came out to support Sasha in their own non law abiding way)

World – 5/5 – DRAGONS! I have mentioned the dragons but they were glorious so I will mention it again! The rest of the world was really well defined too – Sasha crosses huge swathes of land but every place she goes to has its own feel even through she never goes to any huge landmarks.

Content Warnings: some sexual harassment to the mc, but she gets out of the situation quickly so only 1/5. Threat.

Such a fun read and 100% worth it this needs to go on your TBR for 2025!

Happy Reading!

Lottie

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Waiting on Wednesday: Shades and Shadows

Thanks to Net Galley and Amazon KDP for this e-ARC read and as always all opinions are my own.
Pub Date 20 Feb 2025 
Publisher: Own Voices
Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Age Category: 13+
 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme that originated at Breaking the Spine but has now linked up with Waiting for Wednesday at Wishful Endings. It is always a fun chance to display books that are going to be joining our bookshelves very soon in 2025!

13+

I really enjoyed the world on this one! It felt like a combination of paranormal/urban fantasy and the more biblical demons/angels urban fantasy. It launches us into a complex world that we only see parts of through the perspective of the mc, who isn’t particularly focused on the world. Her focus is rescuing her dad which means that the world and all the details have been woven in on a ‘ari needs to know’ basis which keeps the pace rapid throughout the different worlds.

However despite the worldbuilding details I struggled to interacted fully with the main character. While several of the supporting characters brought their own interesting stories to brush against Ari’s, I felt like Ari reflected the world around her instead of being her own distinct identity.

Despite this it is a rapidly paced paranormal read that has an excellent world and a series I will continue!

World – 4/5 – the world was solidly developed and I would enjoy to see it taken further (maybe Ari visiting hell??) in the next book.

Characters – 3.5/5 – I enjoyed some characters like Ceph and Lena but struggled to connect fully with the main character like I said above (this might just be me not quite fitting with the book tho so give it a try!) One of the prominent races shown in the book are angels, but they aren’t the biblical angels, they seem to follow a different harsher kind of rules and yet some race expectations like being able to fall from heaven do exist. The Darklands have a biblical feel, but religion is never mentioned in it.

Romance – 3.5/5 – Soft Romance – the love interest seems stereotypical in some ways in the beginning, but then he does separates from the mass of paranormal love interests with his own personal quirks through still fulfilling paranormal genre expectations.

Plot – 3.5/5 – the plot seemed relatively simple at the beginning, and it maintained that ease of understanding and reading throughout despite a few plot twists.

Content Warnings: some fantasy violence. I really struggled putting an age recommendation on this book – it almost felt like slightly middle grade and YA? I would say it rests on the border in some areas and then more YA in others but 13+ seemed a good age rating to settle on.

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Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by the Broke and Bookish and now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl where bloggers are given a prompt that is usually a list of ten bookish things.

This weeks prompt was –

2024 Releases I Was Excited to Read but Still Haven’t Gotten To (will you be prioritizing these this year?)

1 – Reckless by Lauren Roberts – I will absolutely be prioritising this read 100% (I only got it at Christmas but it is already being pushed higher and higher on my TBR and I’m definitely going to have a read of that so I can have a complete trilogy read through when Fearless comes out!

 2 – Powerful by Lauren Roberts – yes another one of Lauren Roberts’s books! I haven’t bought this one yet but when I do it is going straight to the top of my TBR (even if the ending is going to devastate me – why do the supporting characters always have to die??)

3 – A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizel – vampires, illegal underworlds and heists! As soon as I saw the synopsis for this book I knew I had to read it.

4 – Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Hawthorne – this came out last year but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet! I always love a second series in the same world with old and new characters so I am definitely going to give this one a try!

5 – Burning Crowns by Catherine Doyle – I cannot believe I haven’t read this one yet! It sounds like just the fantasy read that I look for and it most certainly is a priority to read in 2025.

6 – Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber – it is on my bookshelf and I am looking forward to reading it! I have so many books on my TBR right now that it is slightly lower than some others (so it might be a few months before I read it!) but it is definitely in my top fifty books I 100% want to read in 2025.

7 – Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine – this sounds like just the murder/thriller I’d enjoy. I love murders that are being looked back on from the future (it was one of my favourite things about a good girls guide to murder) it just gives so much space for finding out the secrets of the past and how they lead to the formation of the present.

8 – Chaos and Flame and Blood and Fury by Tessa Gratton –  the second book came out and I cant wait to read the first – its all the kind of things I love in my fantasy, houses, competiting fractions, long lost inheritance.

9 – The Medici Heist by Caitlin Schneiderhan – historical details and a heist including Michelangelo in one of the most beautiful cities in the world? how could I not put this on my catchup list?

10 – Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli – romantasy, witches and a world that sounds just like my kind of thing? I cant believe that this one has gone through 2024 without me reading it!

Extra – Fate Breaker by Victoria Aveyard! This came out in February and I couldnt read it instantly because i hadnt read the others! Red Queen had me completely head over heels with her writing style and I’m still partly in a book hangover from the ending! I am going to read this book 10000% in 2025.

Happy Reading!

Lottie

 



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