Saturday, April 29, 2023
Stacking the Shelves: The Bookless Jackets Edition
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Early ARC Review: Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My Review
Are you ready to dive into a new JLA adult romantasy series? Honestly, I don't think you're ready. I for sure wasn't. Fall of Ruin and Wrath has very steamy scenes, a powerful love interest, and a cast of characters who are all keeping a lot of secrets.
First off, I devoured this book in a single day, if that tells you anything. JLA's stories are like candy. You can just keep eating and eating until you realize the bag is empty and the overwhelming sadness hits when you realize you still want more. I'm super glad JLA is a writing fiend, because I couldn't wait 1.5-2 years for a sequel. Nope. Not after that crazy cliffhanger.
The main character of the story, Calista, a.k.a. Lis, is somewhat of a seer/mind reader, though she describes her powers as intuition. Lis used to be an orphan living on the street, but now she's the advisor to a local baron. Lis is also, seemingly, bi-sexual. There's no outright label put on sexuality in this book, but let's just say it's pretty obvious. Because boy oh boy, JLA! I did not think you'd go there. So much naughtiness all around. *Fans self.* The spice is real, y'all. Our other main character, and resident JLA sexy main squeeze, is Thorne. Lis meets Thorne in a situation that is the total opposite of meet cute. Let's call it a "meet ugly" for funsies. This meet ugly had me flipping pages so fast. It was a fantastic time. The meet ugly and the ending are the two sections I will definitely be rereading when it comes time for book two to release. I wholeheartedly give all the stars to those scenes!
Now, the worldbuilding in this series is different from anything JLA has done before. It's not a straight-up fantasy or a modern-day Earth with secret paranormal beings lurking around. It almost seems like a historical fantasy at first, but nope. That's not what it is. I won't spoil anything, but it'll be interesting to see how all of the Hyhborn (angel/incubus beings) plays out for the setup of this world. There's definitely no predicting where JLA will take things. While the setting of Fall of Ruin and Wrath is unique writing-wise, it does have similarities to JLA's Dark Elements/Harbinger world in terms of the angel/demons story arc. Though, like I mentioned, it's more of an incubus/angel combo than a prince-of-hell and archangel Michael thing; however, Thorne is technically royalty, so he does have that in common with a couple of JLA's leading men. A big plus for any JLA fan and/or romantasy reader.
My only nitpick with this book is that it's a very slow build. Similar to the first Blood and Ash book, but slower. You can tell that some major craziness is going to go down in book two, but in Fall of Ruin and Wrath, not a lot happens outside of the beginning, when our two main characters first meet, and the ending, when all sh*t hits the fan—a signature JLA move. There's just a lot of politicking, court conversations, and, yes, spicy scenes, that slow down some of the buildup throughout the middle. But like I said, I read the whole book in basically a single sitting, which means that the slow build didn't really slow me down very much at all.
Overall, this book does have some major From Blood and Ash vibes based on that insane cliffhanger ending, but it stands on its own with a totally different, less stabby protagonist and a main squeeze with a more stoic personality, in contrast to Hawke's roguish charm. I think, if you enjoy series like Laura Thalassa's The Bargainer, Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter, or even Sarah J. Maas's Crescent City, you'll want to pick this one up. It's got the alphahole guy, the bada$$ female MC (though it's more of a mental bada$$ery than a physical one), the immortal beings plotline, and the hidden powers trope to keep romantasy readers thoroughly entertained, especially since Lis and Thorne's story seems like the beginning to what is going to be a wild and steamy ride.
Saturday, April 22, 2023
Stacking the Shelves: The First Book Edition
Tuesday, April 18, 2023
Review: The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart
My Review
It's here. The final book in The Drowning Empire series. I'm super glad I was able to binge the entire trilogy because I don't know how I could have waited an entire 17 months. That's just crazy. I'd have gone through extreme Mephi withdrawals. I'm already going through them now that the series is over. It's terrible.
I do have to be honest, though, The Bone Shard War does something I do not like in fantasy books. It makes use of the dreaded time jump. Small time jumps of a month, two months, maybe even six months, are okay. But when you start getting into the two-year mark like this one, I get very sad. I really wanted to see the events Andrea Stewart described play out on-page. It was weird hearing how certain terrible things had happened to one of the major characters and never really getting enough emotion to feel for Jovis's predicament, especially as his events played out towards the end of the book. I had a hard time connecting to his actions.
Despite the time jump, I felt that the other four major characters, Lin, Phalue, Ranami, and Nisong stuck pretty true to their earlier characterizations. It was just Jovis that I had a hard time with, though his chapters were still my favorite. Him and Mephi are my favorite relationship of the whole series. I love that little creature, and I'm so jealous of Jovis for having an ossalen when I don't. I will say, however, that Lin's actions as emperor did get a bit repetitive. She seemed to be making the same mistakes and nothing would change. The ending kind of reflected this, but that's another issue I had. The ending flip-flopped some of our bad guys, and it felt a bit like a copout, sadly.
Now, I'm not saying I didn't enjoy this book. But I am saying it was one I think readers will have to sit with for a while. Things happen to the major characters that aren't your happily-ever-after story, so don't go expecting that. And there are innocent and lovable creatures that didn't deserve any of the abuse the characters put them through. I'm still very mad about some of the animal abuse in this book. It was terrible. I'm also just trying to wrap my head around what happened to some of those creatures at the very, very end. I cried. It was not pretty.
Honestly, I think this is a book that you just have to sit with. It reminded me a lot of Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen series' ender, War Storm. I very much did not like the unsatisfactory ending of that series, but as time went on and I had some distance to reflect on the storyline, I found myself appreciating it more. And now that I've given myself time to think about The Bone Shard War's events, I can appreciate the book a little more. I still think the action scenes went on a tad too long, but some of the smaller nitpicks I had about major characters being separated from each other and having fewer fun scenes with Mephi kind of faded so I could focus on the overall storyline. And I still really liked the series as a whole. Even with an ending that I just wasn't sure about at first.
All in all, I think fantasy readers who appreciate authors writing bittersweet, more realistic endings will be pleased with this one. It's definitely for fans of The Poppy War and The Daevabad series (as I've repeated quite a few times by now, sorry), but if you like sweeter finales, be prepared for some torment with this last installment. It'll get you right in the feels.
Saturday, April 15, 2023
Stacking the Shelves: The Still Moving Edition
Monday, April 10, 2023
March Wrap-Up & April TBR
I know, I know. This post is almost two weeks late. But, in all fairness, I've been busy the past two weeks. If you didn't see my previous post, I got my own place and moved in. Yay! Now, I can have my own library! Once I buy some good shelves, that is. Right now, all of my books are either in boxes or still waiting at my parents' house until I have the time to box them up and drive them 30 miles to my new place. Ugh. I love my books, but I also hate them at times like these. But anyway... let's get on with the post.
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 March
I read nine books in March, which is great considering how much I've had going on lately. Only one of the books I read was a physical copy, and it was actually the last book I read in the month, The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart, book two of The Drowning Empire series. The rest of the books were all from Kindle Unlimited and those included Untamed by Lilian T. James; Between Wrath & Mercy by Jess Wisecup; Follow the River, After Rain Falls, and Iced Out by C.E. Ricci; Hidden Scars by Andi Jaxon; A Cursed Kiss by Jenny Hickman; and Take Me Apart by Brea Alepou and Skyler Snow. None of these books were ones I owned prior to 2023, so I didn't cut down on my physical TBR backlog very much, I did read quite a few ApollyCon books, though, so woohoo!
Books Bought/Received in March
I didn't get a ton of books in March. Instead, I just preordered everything I could get my hands on, it seems like. In total, I bought 17 books and received 10 total books.
The books I bought in March include seven ApollyCon preorders that you'll see in next month's Wrap-Up post. The other physical books I bought and actually received in March include A Door in the Dark by Scott Reintgen from B&N and Heartsong by TJ Klune from eBay. The eight other non-ApollyCon preorders include March's adult FairyLoot book (which I received in April), a Bookish Box edition of Raven Kennedy's Cupidity, LitJoy Crate's Red Queen set, and the Italian edition of FBAA.
As for what I received in March, besides A Door in the Dark and Heartsong, I had one FairyLoot order show up, The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty, which was February's adult book. I also received an early copy of Fall of Ruin and Wrath from the publisher, Tor. I used to work there, so I begged an old co-worker for it. My Kickstarter preorder of Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson finally arrived as well, along with my order of the Russian edition of FBAA, which isn't pictured. Sorry! I also received a copy of Zodiac Academy #4, Shadow Princess from my dad. And I got three free ebooks. Two novellas were for signing up for the authors' newsletters: The Sword by J. Bree and Pearl and the Dread King by Jex Lane. Lastly, I downloaded You & I, Rewritten by Chip Pons for free on Kindle.
Currently Obsessed With
Just like last month, I'm still rewatching The Office when I eat or need something to play in the background. And March consisted mostly of The Office rewatch and ending a few shows I started earlier this year.
Sarah Michelle Gellar's, Wolf Pack, was a show I was watching with my mom, and the season ended in March. I'm interested in season two if it happens, but it's not a huge priority if it doesn't get a second season. I also watched the rest of the The Rings of Power LOTR show on Amazon Prime. The relationship between some characters at the end of season one made me ugly cry. I won't spoil anything, but ugh. The emotions. I also finished watching The Last of Us with my mom. It was decent. Kind of a predictable and rushed ending, though. And, I went to see Shazam! Fury of the Gods with my dad. It was decent because of the gods elements, but I don't like Zachary Levi's acting, I much prefer the child actor, who wasn't in the movie long enough, in my opinion The family dynamics is what makes the story better, and Zachary Levi is too joke-y to bring out those emotions. Oh, and I started and finished Daisy Jones and the Six with my mom as well. It was good. Not something I would normally watch, but still entertaining.
April TBR
In April, I'm reading some more ApollyCon books, like A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross, which I just finished and very much enjoyed. It's also my April book club pick. I just put the sequel on hold at my library too, so maybe I'll sneak that in before ApollyCon as well. I'm also currently reading Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout. I expect to be done with that one by the time this post goes live. And before those, I finished The Bone Shard War, the last book in The Drowning Empire series. Review to come. I'd like to read A Door in the Dark, since I got a NetGalley copy to review as well; What Lies Beyond the Veil by Harper L. Woods and River of Shadows by Karina Halle for ApollyCon; and The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O'Keefe for review via NetGalley.
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Okay, well, that's the month of March, plus some April sneak peeks, all wrapped up into one post. Do you have a wrap-up post for last month? If so, share in the comments!