Stacking the Shelves: The More Blood & Ash Fan Art Edition

"Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

I wasn't supposed to get any books this week, or technically the next few weeks, but I went on a spontaneous trip to visit my little sister this weekend. She lives in the city that hosts the used bookstore I frequented in college, which I also still have trade credit at. Plus, I sold some books there to make a bit of extra cash; therefore, I couldn't just leave the building empty-handed. Right?

With my trade credit, I got some mass market paperbacks. I bought Rogue and Alpha by Rachel Vincent and Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning. I want to get into urban fantasy more, so these are some popular ones I'm going to eventually try. As for the fan art, it is, to no one's surprise, of From Blood and Ash characters. These and my Dominique Wesson prints are probably tied for my favorite fan art pieces. I can't stop staring at them. Plus, the artist sent me two free stickers!

What books have you bought/received lately?

My First Unhaul of 2021

Every six months or so, I get rid of books I don't necessarily want on my shelves anymore. Most of these books are ones I've read, enjoyed, but didn't really feel like keeping. A portion is also some unread books I simply know I won't get around to anytime soon.

Half of these books are already gone. I either got rid of them at my family's yard sale last fall or sold them at my local used bookstore. The ones that I'm still stuck with are in the process of being sold, but it's so very hard to sell books over Facebook nowadays. No one in my area reads anymore and I am not paying for shipping for these babies. I may end up donating the leftovers to my local library or something. We'll see.

 Read but don't want to keep: Let the Sky Fall series, These Broken Stars trilogy, the Steelheart trilogy, The Taking by Kimberly Derting, The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, Partials (book one) by Dan Wells, Bright Star by Erin Swan,

Haven't read but probably won't anytime soon: The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia, Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry, Magnolia by Kristi Cook, The Supervillain and Me, Dark of the West, The Sun is Also a Star, Partials series books 2 and 3, Cursed, Seeker, Girls Made of Snow and Glass, Landline, King of Ashes, Death's Bargain books 1 and 2

May or may not get rid of: LOTR (I recently rewatched the films, and I may end up keeping the editions I have for now) and A Dark Shade of Magic series (every time I try to get rid of this series, something holds me back, even though I'm not a big Schwab fan and didn't love book one)

Read but don't want to keep (cont.): The Bitter Kingdom, The Pledge trilogy, The Star-Touched Queen, Buffy Vol. 1 and 2, the Beautiful Disaster series, the Matched series, the Harry Potter coloring book

Haven't read but probably won't anytime soon (cont.): Heartless, The Love Interest

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Alright, there’s my 2021 book unhaul. As I said, some of the books are still boxed up in my room, but I’ll get them out of here eventually.

Have you gotten rid of any books lately? If so, which ones?

Stacking the Shelves: The January FairyLoot Edition

"Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

I've been stuck inside for two weeks now. I mean, I walk outside, and I've been to the post office once. And technically I could drive my parents' vehicles around if I wanted to (mine's too short to drive in heavy snow), but for the most part, I don't want to go anywhere in this nasty snowy mess. Ick. Plus, I've been working from home, so there's no real point in getting out if I don't have to, right? I could spend all that extra driving time reading. 😉

This week, I received three books in the mail. All of which were purchased by yours truly. A Dark and Hollow Star was a preorder from Semicolon, the bookstore, that I thought wasn't supposed to release until the 23rd, but I got it early. I also bought ACOWAR after finally finishing ACOMAF. I purchased ACOWAR on Mercari, as I wanted the original cover, not the new ugly cover. I spent like $36 for it. Yuck. And then the seller had the nerve to send it in a thin plastic bag! Not even a box! For an out-of-print edition! Thankfully there wasn't any major damage to the book beyond a few corner dings, but yeesh.

Oh, and then I ordered ACOSF off Amazon for like $13. I had a coupon. Also, I haven't read ACOSF yet, but I am a believer in Nesta/Cassian supremacy. And, while I want spinoffs for every character (including Tamlin and Eris who I think have darker pasts and reasons for choices that aren't yet shared), this relationship will probably be my favorite of the entire series.



Now we come to the January FairyLoot box, which, true to FairyLoot's theme so far, arrived an entire month late. Honestly, I don't know why I expect FairyLoot boxes to ever be on time these days. As for the contents of this box, I was underwhelmed. I could've done without every single non-book item besides the tarot cards, which are of The Wrath and the Dawn characters. My faves! The book is pretty with the gold snake spine, but the sprayed edges are such an ugly gold and the cover gives me mixed feelings when compared to the original. Overall, I think I'll be going for the book-only option whenever FairyLoot finally gets around to offering one. One hundred years from now. Ugh...

What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf

Bring Me Their Hearts

Sara Wolf

Publication Date: June 5, 2018

Hardcover, 370 pages, Entangled Teen

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Goodreads

Zera is a Heartless – the immortal, unageing soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, Zera longs for freedom from the woods they hide in. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly.

Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a Prince’s heart in exchange for her own, with one addendum; if she’s discovered infiltrating the court, Nightsinger will destroy her heart rather than see her tortured by the witch-hating nobles.

Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him – every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his darkly handsome side. No one can challenge him – until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, carefree, and out for his blood. The Prince’s honor has him quickly aiming for her throat.

So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all. Winner takes the loser’s heart.

Literally.

My Review

I've had this book on my to-read shelf for a very long time, and I only just recently decided to pick it up. And overall, I'm very glad I did. This is a fun, quirky YA fantasy story with a cute romance following a character who reminds me a lot of other spunky female characters like Buffy and the '90s Sabrina.

Zera, the protagonist, has a very sarcastic voice, which sometimes was super refreshing, but at other times could get slightly annoying. With that in mind, the narration style could sometimes be a bit much, though once you get used to it, you barely notice the strange phrasings and sentence structures. Zera herself is a Heartless, which is essentially a witch's undead slave. The other central character in the story is Lucien, the crown prince. He's almost the typical brooding hero type, but I feel like there's more to him than meets the eye. Plus, he's very charmed by Zera's quirks, and seems to fall pretty hard for her throughout the book. Also, Lucien's family history is fascinating, and I like how protective he is of his people.

The typical fantasy YA romance trope is kind of flipped on its head in this debut. Instead of the boy being the dangerous person/creature, the girl is the monster. It's unique and creative. A girl monster enslaved to witches sent to enslave a prince to those same witches? I like it. And the other creatures throughout the story are also quite unique. Kudes to the author for not just adding the same werewolves, fairies, or elves to build onto her world.

As for the plot, it was mostly just about Zera capturing the attention of Lucien. His and Zera's relationship wasn't forced, but I think more time between the two of them before the end of this first installment would have made me as a reader feel more connected to their plights. However, I did enjoy what was happening enough to want to pick up the sequel, which I'm currently reading. Oh, and while there is a bad guy in this book, he's rather stereotypical so far, unfortunately.

All in all, Bring Me Their Hearts is a nice addition to the growing list of YA fantasy books out there. I think readers of Sarah J. Maas and Kerri Maniscalco will find this series fun, but not as complex or life-consuming. It's simply a good time.

Stacking the Shelves: The Pretty In Pink Edition

"Stacking the Shelves" is a weekly haul meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews and Reading Reality. It allows book buyers to share their accumulation of books with the online book-loving community.

Sorry, I haven't been posting lately. I have no excuse other than I wasn't in the mood to write blog posts. However, I have been reading. Quite a bit. I've also been buying way too much. It's only February, and I've already purchased 17 books, which is bad considering I have a 75-book buying limit for 2021. Yikes.

As for what came in the mail in the past two weeks, I have two goodies. The first is Wings of Ebony by J. Elle, which has such a pretty pink and gold cover. Seriously, it's gorgeous. I ordered this from Semicolon online. I try to make a purchase there and with my local independent book store every few months. I also ordered another From Blood and Ash print of Poppy and Hawke. This one is by Dominique Wesson (again) and is absolutely stunning. I'm addicted to her fan art, and my wallet is very aware of it.

What books have you bought/received lately?

January Wrap-Up & February TBR

The first month of 2021 is over, and boy was it something. Now that at least some semblance of normality is back in the United States, there's only the one major pandemic obstacle left. *sigh* It's never going to end, is it? But, at least my job interview went well. I think....

In this wrap-up, I’ll list the books I read, the books I reviewed, the books I bought/received, and my TBR for next month. Now, let’s get this bookish party started!

Books Read in January

Winter's Orbit: 3.5 stars (my review)
Cemetery Boys: 4 stars (my review)
The City of Brass: 4.5 stars (my review; reread)
The Kingdom of Copper: 4 stars
The Empire of Gold: 4 stars
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue: 3 stars (not pictured)

I read six books in January. One was an ebook and the rest were physical copies. Addie Larue was the last book I read in the month for my high school reunion book club, and it was also the only ebook I finished in January. I read Winter's Orbit via an ARC I received from Tor, and The Cemetery Boys was a book I got for Christmas. The big accomplishment here, though, is how I read all three books in the Daevabad trilogy this month, with The City of Brass being a re-read of course. I'm so happy I finished this series. While I didn't love the sequels as much as I adored the first book, the world is still so awesome and the characters so lovable that I couldn't give them any less than four stars each, despite many of the characters making terrible choices. Hopefully, I'll have reviews up for books two and three soon.

Books Bought/Received in January

I actually didn't buy a lot of books this month. Err... I take that back. I didn't buy a lot of books that were delivered this month. I ended up preordering the From Blood and Ash JLA box from The Bookish Box, which was like $150. Plus, my January FairyLoot box hasn't arrived yet (or even been shipped yet). Oh, I also bought a ton of FBAA fan art, but that's a whole different issue. Eek.

So, counting the three books in the FBAA series from The Bookish Box (that won't even arrive until June) and the FairyLoot book, I bought seven books total. Cast in Firelight was an Amazon preorder, Find Me Their Bones was a ThriftBooks purchase, and The Invisible Life of Addie Larue I bought on my Kindle app.

I did receive four other books in January, too. Dark Age by Pierce Brown was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but the copy had something wrong with it, so my mom exchanged it for the one pictured. My mom also randomly bought me The Brightest Night by JLA and Crush by Tracy Wolff. And last, but not least, I received an ARC of The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes from Tor.

Currently Obsessed With

Late January didn't see a whole lot of obsession, but early January, I binge-watched a certain Netflix period drama. I'm sure you've heard of it by now.
 

Yeah, that's right. I watched Bridgerton. And I devoured it. I'm so excited we're getting a second season. I'm also super excited that season two will focus on Anthony. (Daphne got on my nerves a little bit towards the end of the first season.) Other than those, I'm still watching season five of The Expanse. I did start season four of Rick & Morty and the first seasons of WandaVision and CW's Walker. Walker isn't really my type of show, so I'm not sure if I'll keep up with it or just watch when the whole season comes out on Netflix. Oh, and I almost forgot! My mom is watching The Boys for the first time, so I'm watching with her.

Currently Reading/February TBR

Nothing really super necessary to get to in February. I'm twenty pages into The Gilded Ones, and it would be nice to finish that book in the first week of the month. I'd also like to read/finish ACOMAF so I can eventually read ACOWAR and then read ACOSF, but it's not crucial that I get to it. The others are simply books that would be fun to read. I'm trying not to read books that I need to purchase sequels for, as I spent a lot of money in January on fan art and such, and I'd like to reduce my spending. That's why Nevernight and The Poppy War aren't on this list. I thought I'd want to read the sequels immediately after, and I just don't want to buy more stuff right now.

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Okay, well, that’s the month of January, plus some February sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for last month? If so, share in the comments!