May Wrap-Up & June TBR

Bye bye, May! It's sad to see you go, but summer is on its way! Honestly though, I'm not looking forward to the heat. While the rain here in Missouri has been tiresome, heat is icky too. But anyway, back to the bookish-related content. I'm still in the process of getting used to my new job in my new-ish city, so I didn't read a whole lot this month. I'm hoping June will change that, but I'm moving again to my permanent location towards the end of the month, so we shall see how much reading I do....

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 May

All Systems Red: 4 stars
Flash Fire: 3.5 stars (review to come)
Bone Crier's Moon: 4 stars

Like I mentioned, I only read three books in May, and two were ebooks. Artificial Condition was one I've owned since my days working at Tor, and I've only just now picked it up, simply because it's a short novella. I'm still trying to read 15 physical books I owned prior to April of 2020 before I buy non-special edition books or books that aren't on my most-anticipated list. When I made this goal, I didn't expect it to be so hard. This is taking me forever! I want to buy all of the new books, but I have to be strong and hold out! I'm currently on book #8, so only seven more to go.

The two ebooks I read were Flash Fire, a NetGalley review book, which I've already read and my review is scheduled to go up on its release day, and Bone Crier's Moon, an ebook I bought in fall of 2020. And yes, Bone Crier's Moon does count towards my 15-book goal, since I bought it last year. Thank god. Flash Fire didn't count, though. *sigh*

Books Bought/Received in May

 

This is kind of a spoiler for my upcoming Stacking the Shelves post, but oh well. In the month of May, I didn't buy any non-FairyLoot books. In total, I bought three FL special editions: the May subscriber box, which won't arrive until mid-June (ick); Realm Breaker; and Blood & Honey, courtesy of the Fairy Trove Restock. Other than those, I received 10 books in May, four were ebooks and six were physical copies. The ebooks were all NetGalley ARCs, and I got Flash Fire by TJ Klune, Endless Skies by Shannon Price, Oaths of Legacy by Emily Skrutskie, and Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. I totally didn't expect to get approved for some of these, but I did. And I've already read and reviewed one of them! Yay! As for the physical books, I received my April FairyLoot book, Prison Healer, and my FairyLoot Iron Fey editions came in along with my Bookish Box order that came with These Feathered Flames. All of these were paid for in the months before May.

Currently Obsessed With

Well, there's no major obsessing this month. I've mostly been playing card games on my computer and reading fanfiction. It's been a pretty chill/boring month.

I'm watching reruns of The Office on Comedy Central, when they're on and I'm home from work. It was a nice surprise to see marathons of The Office on almost every day of the week. I hardly ever watched cable before, but my new temporary apartment has free cable and I haven't signed into any TV subscription apps since it's the apartment complex's TV and I'm leaving soon. I was worried with The Office being off Netflix, though, that I wouldn't be able to watch it for a while, so I'm glad I had this show to comfort me through another big life change. Haha.

Currently Reading/June TBR

I have a lot I want to get to this month, but I'm sure I'll only get to four or five. I need to read King of Scars for my book club, I'm still reading A Clash of Kings over the course of 2021, and The Covenant graphic novel is short, therefore it'll help me reach my 15-book goal. I also want to re-read the Dark Elements and Harbinger series by Jennifer L. Armentrout since the final book comes out June 1st and I feel like I've forgotten a lot of details since last summer.

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Where Have I Been 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.

Once again, I have been gone for a very long time. Not the longest time I've ever been away from the blog, but still... It's been a while since I've shown off some books. That's partly because I'm not buying a lot right now. I'm not impulse-buying until I read 15 books I owned before this resolution. Right now, I have eight to go. I also moved and got a new job recently, so I'm a tad busy figuring out my new life.

While I was figuring out my new life, I ended up straying to NetGalley. And, oddly enough, I was approved for three titles: Flash Fire by TJ Klune, The Endless Skies by Shannon Price, and Oaths of Legacy by Emily Skrutskie. I've read one of the three so far, and I hope to have my review written up for next week.

Unfortunately, e-ARCs are all I have to show off this week. I'm having most of my FairyLoot and other special editions and fan art mailed to my parents' house right now until I get settled. It'll be like Christmas when I go visit next weekend. I'll have my April FairyLoot box, my April Bookish Box, possibly my special edition Iron Fey books, and a lot of FBAA fan art. It's an exciting time!

What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: The Crown of Gilded Bones by Jennifer L. Armentrout

The Crown of Gilded Bones

Jennifer L. Armentrout

(Blood and Ash #3)

Publication Date: April 20, 2021

Paperback, 659 pages, Blue Box Press

Genres: New Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Goodreads

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jennifer L. Armentrout comes book three in her Blood and Ash series…

She's been the victim and the survivor…

Poppy never dreamed she would find the love she’s found with Prince Casteel. She wants to revel in her happiness but first they must free his brother and find hers. It’s a dangerous mission and one with far-reaching consequences neither dreamed of. Because Poppy is the Chosen, the Blessed. The true ruler of Atlantia. She carries the blood of the King of Gods within her. By right the crown and the kingdom are hers.

The enemy and the warrior…

Poppy has only ever wanted to control her own life, not the lives of others, but now she must choose to either forsake her birthright or seize the gilded crown and become the Queen of Flesh and Fire. But as the kingdoms’ dark sins and blood-drenched secrets finally unravel, a long-forgotten power rises to pose a genuine threat. And they will stop at nothing to ensure that the crown never sits upon Poppy’s head.

A lover and heartmate…

But the greatest threat to them and to Atlantia is what awaits in the far west, where the Queen of Blood and Ash has her own plans, ones she has waited hundreds of years to carry out. Poppy and Casteel must consider the impossible—travel to the Lands of the Gods and wake the King himself. And as shocking secrets and the harshest betrayals come to light, and enemies emerge to threaten everything Poppy and Casteel have fought for, they will discover just how far they are willing to go for their people—and each other.

And now she will become Queen…

My Review

Okay, so I've been sitting on my review of this book for a while, because, when I initially read TCOGB, I had mixed feelings. Now, as time has gone by, I'm starting to feel a lot like I did when I read the first book, From Blood and Ash. So, all that being said, please note that there will be spoilers in this review for the first two books in the series.

Like with FBAA, I wasn't super happy with the first 65% of TCOGB. In fact, the reason FBAA engrossed me so much was the last 30% when $hit started to hit the fan and major cliffhangers were introduced. However, the first half of FBAA is slow-paced and a little info-dumpy and not a whole lot happens that hasn't been done before. TCOGB followed that same pattern only with a lot more info-dumping and a lot of repetitive jokes. I was initially scared that my love for the series was fading (which would suck considering I have multiple special editions of the series on the way and a ton of fan art). But that last 30% reminded me why I love this series so much. And like with FBAA's ending, I just can't stop thinking about what comes next for Poppy, Cas, and Kieran.

Alright, now that I"ve gotten my overall feelings summed up, let's get to the nitty-gritty of this review/rant. And to start with, I'm going to talk about the characters, because there was one who got on my nerves. Casteel. While I loved him in A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire (my favorite book in the series so far), he seriously irked me in this book. The major reason involved his need to threaten anyone who so much as questioned Poppy, including his own freakin' parents! Which, honestly, I think I'd question Poppy too! None of these people truly know her! Every single time Cas bulled up to go after his parents, I wanted to smack him. I understand being protective of your significant other, but he just couldn't stop and be a rational person. He kept being an aggressive jerk, so throughout 80% of TCOGB I hated him. Towards the very end, I was feeling a little more "Oh, my poor baby" towards him, but he still has a ways to go before I feel as attached to him as I did in book two. And another thing, he was inappropriately horny. He literally wanted to have sex after he just saw something very traumatic happen to a child. It was weird. Plus, in my opinion, none of the sex scenes in this book were that great. While I like a good sex scene, it felt like we'd seen these ones all before EXCEPT for one that happened towards the beginning of the book that involved a certain character I won't spoil details for, but that JLA didn't go through with! Grr... Tired of the baiting involved with that particular relationship. Either make it happen or quit dropping hints about it, JLA! It's driving me bananas! I want the joining so bad!

Now, for the exact reasons I couldn't stand Cas throughout this book, are the reasons I absolutely loved the plot developments that happened towards the end of TCOGB. I was so ready for Poppy to step out of Cas's shadow and become whatever the heck she is. (It's not super clear because of the info-dumping. I'll reread everything later to understand it all better.) Also towards the end, we get more of the gang back together going on adventures. That's what I wanted. Not the boring and repetitive court conversations about how Poppy is so special and so amazing and all the wolven adore her. NO! I wanted Poppy, Casteel, Kieran, etc., making sarcastic comments and fighting monsters. And when it happened, it was glorious!

Like I mentioned though, some of the jokes did get repetitive, even the ones that came from my favorite character, Kieran. The "I have a question" and Casteel's stabby jokes were overdone after AKOFAF. One or two, fine. Ten or more, not fine. Those  jokes, plus the first 10% to 65% of the book being info-dumpy and full of long, boring-a$$ history-lesson conversations made this a difficult book to get through until that wonderful ending came along. Though I will say Kieran was the redeeming quality of the first half of the book. He made every scene 10x better just by being there. EXCEPT when he made the dumb "I have a question" jokes. I will say that I think the pacing issue with the first chunk of the book had a lot to do with the major events that happened at the very beginning. In my opinion, if some of the HUGE plot developments that happened in the first few chapters happened, say, 30% into TCOGB instead of within that initial 10%, some of that boring, history-lesson-esque pacing would have been broken up with action and intrigue.

Despite how much I did enjoy the ending, there were some things I didn't like about it. The major one was the retconning. A certain character's name was retconned in a way that just didn't feel natural, as well as her relationship to another character was tweaked. It was odd. I don't know if JLA originally planned events to come to light that way, but I honestly doubt it. It totally read like she was simply trying to fix a mistake she made when she wrote book two. Yikes.

All in all, I just can't gush about this book like I could about AKOFAF. While I am dying to know what happens to Poppy and her team, I wasn't as thrilled while I was in the process of reading it. I do plan on re-reading the series again before book four releases, so maybe that will help me appreciate TCOGB more than I did during my first read-through. That's exactly what happened when I re-read FBAA earlier this year. I will warn you, that there is no way a person can read each book as they release without re-reading the preceding installments, unless you want to have no idea what's happening. It's just a lot of info to try and remember over months and months of time.

So unfortunately, yes, this book is not my favorite in the series by a long shot, but oh boy, did that ending give me major Game of Thrones vibes. I am totally ready to see events play out in the next installment. And I'm ready to see the fictional love of my life, Mr. Kieran Contou, be the sarcastic, mama's boy, wolven bada$$ I know he can be.

*Note: I purchased a copy of this book for myself. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

April Wrap-Up & May TBR

April is over. Wow! This month has gone by super fast. I'm both excited about that and a little sad. I'm officially starting a new job in May, and I'm moving back to my college town in the same apartment complex I used to live in during my graduate year of school. I am beyond ecstatic to have my own place, but I really don't want to pay rent again. It was nice mooching off the parents for a while. Now, it's back to monthly rent payments and utility fees. *Sigh* But, needless to say, I don't think May will be a big reading month. I've got a lot going on. At least April was a decent reading month.

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 April

Shadow & Bone: re-read
Siege & Storm: re-read
Ruin & Rising: re-read
The Crown of Gilded Bones: 4 stars (review to come, not pictured)

The Bright and the Pale: 3 stars
The Girl the Sea Gave Back: 2-3 stars

I read six books in April. Five were physical books, and one was an ebook. The ebook was The Crown of Gilded Bones, my most anticipated book of 2021, and boy, do I desperately want the sequel ASAP. It's going to be a long year of waiting. I also reread the original Grisha trilogy in order to watch the Netflix show and discuss both the books and show with my book club. And after those major accomplishments, I read two other books, both of which were just okay: The Bright and the Pale and The Girl the Sea Gave Back.

Books Bought/Received in April

 

I only received one physical book in the mail, and that was the March FairyLoot book. I also got one ebook, The Crown of Gilded Bones. I did pay for three other book boxes, including April's FairyLoot, but none of them have arrived yet, unfortunately.

Currently Obsessed With

Unlike last month, I have quite a few things I'm obsessing over in April. Thank goodness. I got tired of not having anything to watch. Haha.

Shadow & Bone is this month's major obsession. I actually didn't expect the Netflix adaptation to be so fantastic. But I loved it. Jesper and Mal were my favorite characters, and that's surprising for Jesper since he wasn't one of my favorite Crows. I'm also watching Invincible on Amazon Prime. It's a really dark superhero cartoon that has a giant mystery surrounding it.

Currently Reading/May TBR

I don't have anything major to read this month, as I'm super busy and don't want to pressure myself. Mostly, I'm continuing to read A Clash of Kings. I also just started All Systems Red since I needed a short book to read and finish before my move, and King of Scars is the June/July book club pick, along with the sequel, Rule of Wolves. We're continuing our Grisha theme for book club.

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

Review: The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes

The Last Watch

J. S. Dewes

(The Divide #1)

Publication Date: April 20, 2021

Paperback, 480 pages, Tor

Genres: Adult, Sci-Fi

Goodreads

The Expanse meets Game of Thrones in J. S. Dewes' fast-paced, sf adventure The Last Watch, where a handful of soldiers stand between humanity and annihilation.

The Divide.

It’s the edge of the universe. Now it’s collapsing—and taking everyone and everything with it.

The only ones who can stop it are the Sentinels—the recruits, exiles, and court-martialed dregs of the military.

At the Divide, Adequin Rake, commanding the Argus, has no resources, no comms—nothing, except for the soldiers that no one wanted.

They're humanity's only chance.

My Review

Sometimes a book doesn't hook you in for a few chapters, or even for the first hundred pages. J.S. Dewes's The Last Watch hooked me in from the opening line! To be completely honest, that's a rare feat for me. I'm the type who doesn't get fully captured until I've gotten to know the characters a little more. So thank you, Dewes, for giving me a laugh with that LOL-worthy beginning!

The Last Watch is told from two different characters' points of view. The first is Cavalon, a trouble-making royal prince who's just trying to do his cinnamon-roll best in a space (pun-intended) that's trying to kill him. His banter and wit are absolutely hilarious, and his antics made me both feel sorry for him and roll my eyes at the same time. I felt like he needed a hug or two.

The other point-of-view character is Adequin Rake. Unlike Cavalon, she didn't immediately suck me in. She seemed a bit of a stickler for the rules and too hesitant to make snap decisions for a spaceship captain. Though, in her own words, she's not exactly a captain. Adequin quickly became a badass boss however, and I loved every second of it. Her protectiveness of her crew is just perfection. No exaggeration when I say her and Cavalon's dynamic had me smiling constantly. She tries to protect the poor fool from his own faults, and he just wants to prove himself useful to her.

Oh, and I can't forget to mention the other crew members. Everyone played a part in getting the job done, and I believe every side character had me feeling some emotion at one point or another.

As for the plot of The Last Watch, it was a little slow after the first couple of chapters, but then $hit hit the fan. So much happened so quickly, and I didn't know how anyone was going to make it out of any of the situations in one piece. I mean, I love me some spaceship explosions, but these were so crazy and my poor little heart just couldn't take it! I didn't want any character hurt.

While overall the action was great, there were some instances, like with any good sci-fi book where scientific (or made-up scientific) terms are used to explain events and actions taken by the characters, that could be a bit disorienting for non-sciency minds like mine. Especially when spaceships are the setting. But again, I'd expect nothing less than some crazy technical jargon in a well-written sci-fi. I just wish my brain was smart enough to actually comprehend what everything means. 😫

I now know that this space-romp adventure has a sequel coming soon, and I've already requested it on NetGalley. I am 100% in for future installments in this series! Consider me a non-official member of Adequin Rake's crew. There's no way I could miss out on any quests undertaken by this particular team. They already made me tear up at the end, and I'm totally ready to rally behind them when things undoubtedly continue to go sideways.

All in all, the comparison of this book to The Expanse and Game of Thrones is correct, especially for fans who love the "stranded and underfunded warriors at the edge of the universe" storyline like with GoT's Night's Watch. I'd also say that The Last Watch has a lot of crossover appeal to young adult readers of series like The Illuminae Files or The Aurora Cycle, maybe even Red Rising. Honestly, The Last Watch is simply pure fun with some space fighting and time hiccups to keep readers on their toes.

*Note: I received an ARC of this book to review from the publisher. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Stacking the Shelves: The March 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 have been gone for so very long. It wasn't intentional. Blogging just got a little overwhelming with everything else going on in my life. I'm starting a new job in May, and trying to find a new place is proving to be more difficult than I thought. I have a temporary apartment lined up, but I need to get a more permanent one basically as soon as I get into the temporary one. It's a mess. As for books, I haven't bought a lot. I've been on a ban, of sorts.

Because I've bought so many books over the past year and I'm still adding to a giant TBR pile I've had since high school, I decided to go on a buying ban. Kind of. I'm just basically only buying books that are on my most anticipated lists. I'm also allowing myself to keep my book box subscriptions (canceling for months I'm not excited for) and ordering any special editions that pop up of books I'm interested in. Therefore, I've only pre-ordered one special edition this month that I won't get until July. But, I'm still buying fan art, as you can see above. I received the FBAA Enchanted Fandom mug that I ordered in March, which I'm honestly disappointed about. It's very plain and boring. Additionally, I bought the Eiffel Tower dagger/letter opener. FBAA fans will know why. Haha. Oh, and I also received my A Trial of Sorcerers pre-order swag. Yay!

FairyLoot time! March's FairyLoot box is my favorite of 2021! And it's definitely top three of all of the boxes I've received since I subscribed in May 2020. Which is kind of odd, considering I have read zero of the fandoms included. The color scheme and artwork on everything is beautiful, though. The notebook has gold foiling; the socks are a pretty blue, black, and white (who doesn't love socks in boxes?); and the mug is super pretty. Now, my favorite items are the tarot cards. I desperately want to read The Bear and the Nightingale now. Those things are gorgeous! That headband is useless though. Definitely my least favorite item. And finally, the book! I hadn't heard of The Bright and the Pale before FairyLoot's theme reveal, but I am totally ready to read this book as soon as possible. I'm actually hoping to start it this weekend, but we'll see...

What books have you bought/received lately?

Mach Wrap-Up & April TBR

March is over. Wow, that month went by crazy fast. I also wasn't able to read as much because 1) I had a bookish slump/hangover from my re-read of the Blood & Ash series, and 2) I was waiting for some work projects to finally get underway and the stress was making it hard to concentrate on reading anything. April isn't looking too good for reading time, either, but we shall see...

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

A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire: 4.5 stars (re-read)
A Dark and Hollow Star: 4 stars
Winterspell: 3 stars
The Last Watch: 4.5 stars (review to come)

Serpent & Dove: 4 stars

I only read five books in March. All were physical books, but one was an advance reader copy. I received an ARC of The Last Watch from Tor, and I loved it! I'm excited to read the sequel, which I've already requested on NetGalley. None of the other books I read were bad, but Winterspell by Claire Legrand is one I've had on my shelves for years. It wasn't great, but it had its moments of entertainment. A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth and Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin were two more recent purchases that I read and liked. Other than those, I did my re-read of A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by JLA in preparation for book three's release.

Books Bought/Received in March

 

I bought seven books this month. Sadly, I only received one of my purchases, A Trial of Sorcerers by Elise Kova. The second book in the picture is This Golden Flame, which I technically bought in February with the February FairyLoot box. It just didn't arrive until March. And my March box won't arrive until April. (FairyLoot late on subscriptions again? I'm shocked. Not!)

Other than those two, I pre-ordered the FairyLoot set for From Blood & Ash and its sequels as well as the Illumicrate box for just From Blood & Ash. And I cannot handle how excited I am to have all of these special editions in my hands! I may make a special post dedicated to showing off each of them once they arrive in June/July. The sneak peeks are so freakin' gorgeous! I also ordered the Bookish Box YA subscription because the April box will have a FBAA item. I may or may not keep the subscription. It just depends on what books they do. I know I'm not overly excited about the April one.

I'm currently not buying a lot of books, for no other reason than I just have too many on my physical TBR. I want to narrow down my number of unread books, especially the ones that I bought pre-2020. So, I made a deal with myself. I can't buy new books that aren't either 1) on my most-anticipated list, 2) hosting some sort of preorder incentive giveaway, 3) a special edition that might sell out, or 4) part of my FairyLoot or Owlcrate monthly subscription. However, I have skipped every Owlcrate box so far this year because they are either doing the same book as FairyLoot, or the book just wasn't something I'd buy for myself. But anyway, the deal is basically that I can't impulse-buy books until I've read 15 of the ones I already own. So far, I've read three since I made the deal. I figure it'll be June before I can purchase a new book for myself. Lol..

Currently Obsessed With

Well, I didn't get obsessed over anything this month. I just continued re-watching Sister, Sister on Netflix. It's been a pretty boring month. Though I did start The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+. It started out good, but the most recent episode was kind of meh.

I guess I also watched the Snyder Cut of Justice League. It was fun. There's no way I could've watch it all in one sitting, but I did like the expanded roles some of the team members had in this edit. Though I still wish there had been one more female superhero involved. It was a love of dudes.

Currently Reading/April TBR

I'm re-reading the Grisha trilogy for my book club this month, and in preparation for the Netflix show. I just started the re-read, and I can kind of tell that I'm not going to enjoy these as much as I did when I first read them. That's why I'm not super enthusiastic about the show adaptation, in addition to some other reasons. But other than these three, I'm still slowly making my way through A Clash of Kings, one chapter at a time. I'm 85% sure I'll be able to finish it by December, as planned. Oh! And most importantly, A Crown of Gilded Bones by JLA comes out in April! I pre-ordered the ebook version so I could devour it ASAP.

***

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!

Stacking the Shelves: The February 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 preordered two very expensive things this week. One was the Illumicrate edition and box for From Blood and Ash, and the other was the FairyLoot special edition set of the Blood and Ash series books 1-3. My wallet is hurting. And unfortunately, these won't ship until June/July. BUT, a couple of other goodies arrived this week that I'm pretty excited about.

My alternate StarsThatDream dustjacket for ACOSF came in the mail, and I immediately put it on my book. I'm so excited to have a matching cover. However, I will say that the spine for this one isn't quite as good as I wanted it to be. I'm thinking about printing another matching edition I've seen that's available for free and seeing if I like that spine more. But this cover is simply amazing. Oh, and my pre-order of A Trial of Sorcerers also arrived. It has such a beautiful cover. I hope the inside is just as pretty.



FairyLoot time! February's FairyLoot is unique in that this is the first time I've actually really enjoyed the items and not cared very much (if at all) about the book. I think I enjoyed every single item, even the pin. Although the pin isn't of a fandom I love and pins in general aren't my thing, the quote is fantastic. Same idea for the tarot cards that are gorgeous! And those moon fairy lights are AMAZING! I wish I had more/longer sets for my shelves.

The Red Rising pillowcase kind of matches the last pillowcase we got for Crescent City, so I'm excited to have my own place at some point to use both of them. And I can always use the silverware and silverware case for lunches when I get a job where I don't work from home 95% of the time. The candle smells good as well, but I still have two others I haven't used yet. One day I'll actually burn them... However, as I said, the book, This Golden Flame, isn't something I would pick up for myself, so it may just sit on my shelf for a while, as I don't know how desirable it is in sell groups.

What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: Find Me Their Bones by Sara Wolf

Find Me Their Bones

Sara Wolf

Publication Date: November 5, 2019

Hardcover, 400 pages, Entangled Teen

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Goodreads

No one can save her. In order to protect Prince Lucien d’Malvane’s heart, Zera had to betray him. Now, he hates the sight of her. Trapped in Cavanos as a prisoner of the king, she awaits the inevitable moment her witch severs their magical connection and finally ends her life. 

 

But fate isn't ready to give her up just yet. 

 

With freedom coming from the most unlikely of sources, Zera is given a second chance at life as a Heartless. But it comes with a terrible price. As the king mobilizes his army to march against the witches, Zera must tame an elusive and deadly valkerax trapped in the tunnels underneath the city if she wants to regain her humanity. 

 

Winning over a bloodthirsty valkerax? Hard. Winning back her friends before war breaks out? A little harder. 

 

But a Heartless winning back Prince Lucien’s heart? 

 

The hardest thing she’s ever done.

My Review

I picked up book two in this series expecting to have a fun time, and fun is totally what I got. More witches, cat creatures, and heartless. Oh my.

Though this second installment was a little slow to start, with no action scenes for awhile, there was a twist that I was very much hoping would come to fruition towards the end that makes me very excited to finally get my hands on the sequel. I also still love the witch spin, though I wish there were more witches throughout the book, just so I could see their powers. (But that's just the witch-lover in me.)

As for the characters, Zera is a little more reserved in Find Me Their Bones, which makes sense after the events that happened in book one. She's hesitant to make waves. I also appreciated how much she wanted to protect her friends from herself. Lucien, the love interest, is still trying to save everyone and doing some not-so-good things to make that happen. And thankfully, the bad guy from book one turned into a more complex and less-stereotypical bad guy in book two that made you wonder what decisions were right and which were wrong.

While I wish this book had a little bit more action, the plot was still interesting. However, a good chunk is just Zera trying to teach something to a mysterious creature. And, though the creature played a part in the ultimate events of this sequel, I feel like the conversations between the two got a little repetitive. Everything else was fairly fast-paced and easy-to-read, and all in all, Find Me Their Bones is a good sequel to a good YA fantasy series. It's simply a lighter fantasy book to devour between larger tomes.

Stacking the Shelves: The Pin Pusher 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 didn't receive any books this week; however, I did buy a couple that just haven't arrived yet. One should be here soon, while the other won't get here until April/May. Also as no one (a.k.a. everyone) predicted, I bought more From Blood and Ash fan art. The obsession is too real.

I got another set of FBAA character portraits. Plus, my first venture into character pins! I don't really like pins in general, but Sallteas are amazing! She has more for Serpent & Dove, which I might buy once I read the book. And, I think I'll end up getting almost every set she creates. The price may destroy my wallet, but they're so pretty and a collection would look amazing!

What books have you bought/received lately?

February Wrap-Up & March TBR

February is complete. Wow. Three months into 2021, and things are still iffy and icky. But at least I'm reading still. No more slumps for me. Woot! Woot!

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 February

The Gilded Ones: 3.5 stars
A Court of Mist and Fury: 3 stars
Find Me Their Bones: 4 stars
A Court of Wings and Ruin: 4 stars
A Court of Frost and Starlight: 4 stars
A Court of Silver Flames: 4 stars
From Blood & Ash: re-read (not pictured)

I read seven books in February. One was an ebook and a re-read, while the others were all physical copies. In preparation for the release of ACOSF, I read the ACOTAR series books 2-3.5 for the first time. And as I suspected based on Sarah's live interviews, fan art, etc., I loved the side characters and found the main characters to be so very meh. And Nessian is my OTP, though I did find myself slightly disappointed in ACOSF. I don't think I'll do full reviews for the series, because my views are fairly controversial and I'm already backed up on reviews. I'll just write mini Goodreads reviews, if you're interested. Other than those, I read The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna, Find Me Their Bones by Sara Wolf, and did my re-read of From Blood And Ash by JLA in preparation for book three's release and my book club meeting in early March.

Books Bought/Received in February

I bought nine books this month and received one I bought last month, which was the January FairyLoot book. The January FairyLoot book is Lore, the book with the snake on the spine pictured above. My February FairyLoot book hasn't arrived yet, but it is technically one of the nine I purchased this month. In addition to FairyLoot books, I bought Wings of Ebony and A Dark and Hollow Star online via Semicolon. I bought ACOWAR via Mercari because I wanted the old cover, and I purchased ACOSF via Amazon and got it for like $13! I also bought Rogue and Alpha by Rachel Vincent and Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning at a used bookstore. Oh, and the ninth book I purchased was a preorder of the UK edition of Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff.

Currently Obsessed With

Well, there were zero obsessions this month outside of reading. I'm not even watching anything major right now. Yikes. Does re-watching Sister, Sister on Netflix count?
 

So I'm kind of keeping up with CW's Walker, as my mom wants to buddy watch. However, it's mostly background noise for me. I also finished rewatching The Boys with my mom, and I'm watching WandaVision with my dad. However, I think WandaVision would've been better off dropping all of its episodes at once versus the weekly drop format. The mystery is getting old now. Welp, that's it. February 2021 was not a good month for movies/TV.

Currently Reading/March TBR

The only books I have to read this month are The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes and my re-read of AKOFAF for my March book club meeting. Otherwise, I just have some books I really want to get to, like A Dark and Hollow Star and Master of One. Oh, and I forgot to put Winterspell in the photo, but I'm currently reading it, and I'd like to finish it before winter is officially over.

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