Can't-Wait Wednesday: A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

 "Can’t-Wait Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted over at Wishful Endings, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, what's really got my pages in a twist is...

A Deadly Education

Naomi Novik

(Scholomance #1)

Publication Date: September 29, 2020

Hardcover, 336 pages, Del Rey Books

Genres: Adult, Fantasy/Paranormal

Goodreads

Lesson One of the Scholomance

Learning has never been this deadly

A Deadly Education is set at Scholomance, a school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death (for real) — until one girl, El, begins to unlock its many secrets. There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships, save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won’t allow its students to leave until they graduate… or die! The rules are deceptively simple: Don’t walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere. El is uniquely prepared for the school’s dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students.

My Thoughts

I’ve never read a Naomi Novik book. I need to. Uprooted and Spinning Silver sound like they’d be my kind of thing, but I just haven’t picked them up yet. This one, though, it looks pretty good. Plus, Owlcrate is doing a special edition, and I want it. I really hope the story is awesome, because I’m going to be paying a lot of money for a copy of this book. Eek.

What book are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Review: Rage & Ruin by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Rage & Ruin

Jennifer L. Armentrout

(The Harbinger #2)

Publication Date: June 9, 2020

Hardcover, 576 pages, Inkyard Press

Genres: YA, Paranormal

Goodreads

A half human, half angel and her bonded gargoyle protector must work with demons to stop the apocalypse while avoiding falling in love. The Harbinger is coming…but who or what is it? All of humankind may fall if Trinity and Zayne can’t win the race against time as dark forces gather.

As tensions rise, they must stay close together and patrol the DC streets at night, seeking signs of the Harbinger, an entity that is killing Wardens and demons with no seeming rhyme or reason. Forbidden to be with each other, Zayne and Trinity fight their feelings and turn to unusual sources for help—the demon Roth and his cohorts. But as deaths pile up and they uncover a sinister plot involving the local high school and endangering someone dear to Zayne, Trin realizes she is being led…herded…played for some unknown end. As anger builds and feelings spiral out of control, it becomes clear that rage may be the ruin of them all.

My Review

I am in love with this world. The idea that gargoyles fight demons on the orders of angels is fascinating, and it hasn’t gotten boring yet, despite this being the fifth book in the overall series. Plus, these covers are sooo pretty, and I have a feeling I know the design for book three’s cover after that crazy ending. If I’m right, it’s going to be B-E-A-UTIFUL.

I’m going to step away from my adoration of both the physical beauty and the world-building of this story to talk about the characters. I really love Trinity. In Storm & Fury, I liked her, but in this book, I just found myself enjoying her growth more. She’s in the process of shaking off some major baggage, and it was fun to read about. I do wish her jokes weren’t so corny, though. As for Zayne, he’s a good love interest. He’s not my favorite JLA guy (those spots are reserved for Roth and Daemon Black), but I appreciate him so much more in this trilogy than in the Dark Elements.

A new bad guy was introduced in Rage & Ruin. While I thought his character was good for the plot of the story, I do kind of wish we’d gotten more character development for him. He had such potential in this book to be a really awesome contrast to Trinity and the gang.

Now, my major complaint was the lack of Roth. Yes, he makes appearances, but they didn’t really fix my withdrawal. Roth is such a cool character. He’s a freakin’ demon prince! But he never seems to be utilized well. What’s the point of his powers if he rarely utilizes them and can’t even use them against the baddies?! I truly hope JLA has some tricks up her sleeve when it comes to his character, ‘cause right now, he’s not doing a lot. I recognize that this spinoff isn’t about Layla and Roth, but, again, Roth is supposed to be powerful, and I’m just not seeing it in these books. It reminds me of how weak Daemon Black is starting to look in the Lux spinoff series now that Luc is the love interest. It disappoints me when the characters I fell in love with in the first books becomes a shell of what they were in the spinoffs. I’m still crossing my fingers JLA can mend this for me. (*Begs JLA in the language of an obsessed fangirl.*)

While this story overall was fast-paced and a fun, romantic, action-packed read, when I look back, it seems like not a lot actually happened. It’s 600 pages of a lot of romantic tension and little else. I’m not complaining. I like romance and long books, but I could see it being fifty or so pages shorter and the reader still wouldn’t miss much. Also, the final chapters were a tad rushed; though, I like where the plot of book three seems to be going.

All in all, this was a great JLA addition to my ever-growing collection, but I didn’t love it as much as Storm & Fury. I’m excited to see how everything wraps up. I’m desperately hoping for more Roth. And I’m ready to see what I think is going to be a GORGEOUS cover for book three.

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Indecisive Buyer 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 received a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card back in May, and I’ve just been sitting on it for the past few weeks, deciding what to purchase. I get indecisive when it comes to spending free money for some reason, so this is part one of the gift-card order that took me two months to commit to.

Empire of Sand & Realm of Ash by Tasha Suri

Soul of Stars by Ashley Poston

I read an ARC version of Empire of Sand earlier this year, and I decided to get a finished copy, as well as the sequel. I’m hoping the sequel is just as good or better than the first book, which I really enjoyed. I also read Heart of Iron earlier this year, and I knew I was going to need to purchase Soul of Stars. I was just waiting to decide on what other books I would include in my Barnes & Noble order.

I still have two other titles in this order that were both pre-orders, so stay tuned. Oh, and my June FairyLoot came this week, but I’m going to share the contents next week to attempt to avoid spoiling anyone who hasn’t received their box yet.

What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

The Star-Touched Queen

Roshani Chokshi

(The Star-Touched Queen #1)

Publication Date: April 16, 2016

Hardcover, 576 pages, St. Martin’s Griffin

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Goodreads

Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you’re only seventeen?

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar’s wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire…

But Akaran has its own secrets—thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most…including herself.

My Review

The beginning of The Star-Touched Queen makes it seem like this will be a tale similar to The Wrath and the Dawn or Tasha Suri’s Empire of Sand. But it very much isn’t. Honestly, this story has a Beauty and the Beast vibe to it, as well as the Hindu mythology aspects. There are also some Greek myth comparisons, if you’re into that kind of thing—though I don’t want to give too much away by explaining which myth.

Honestly, I was disappointed in this one. The story went in a weird direction around page 80. I thought about DNF-ing there, but I kept going. A fun twist managed to recapture my interest, only for the story to take another weird turn. The Star-Touched Queen basically flip-flops between being a grounded and sort-of-realistic-fantasy story, to being some sort of fever dream. There’s even a talking demon horse. (I really don’t like talking animals in books unless they’re done super well.) In my opinion, the good parts of the story were the Bharata scenes and the Akaran twist, while the bad was everything in between.

Unfortunately, none of the characters were interesting. The plot is what made Maya and Amar even remotely intriguing. They had almost no personality otherwise. At least Maya loves her little sister and has a bad horoscope; Amar just loves Maya. And that’s all we really know about him outside of his role. Around halfway through the book, I realized I simply didn’t care what happened to either of them. That’s rare for me. Even when I don’t like a book, I typically care about the characters a little bit.

I will say that Chokshi has an ability to write beautiful sentences. It was a very lyrical book. However, this writing style got annoying at times. It was almost too lyrical and metaphorical. To the point I wanted to shake the book and yell at it: “What does that even mean?!” Despite my frustrations, I did tab some lines. If you love romantic language, you might want to read this one for the quotes alone.

When I first finished this story, I thought I might pick up the sequel. Book two follows characters who actually seem interesting—they were all more grounded and realistic than Maya and Amar—but as time passes, I realize I’m just not invested in Chokshi’s world. It’s simply a story that wasn’t meant for me and my tastes.

*Note: I received a copy of this book as a gift. This in no way affected my opinion/review.

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Fence: Striking Distance

 "Can’t-Wait Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted over at Wishful Endings, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, what's really got my pages in a twist is...

Fence: Striking Distance

Sarah Rees Brennan

Publication Date: September 29, 2020

Hardcover, 368 pages, Little, Brown Books

Genres: YA, LGBTQ+, Contemporary

Goodreads

The boys of Kings Row bout with drama, rivalry, and romance in this original YA novel by The New York Times bestselling author Sarah Rees Brennan--inspired by the award-nominated comic series by C.S. Pacat and Johanna The Mad.

Sixteen-year-old Nicholas Cox is the illegitimate son of a retired fencing champion who dreams of getting the proper training he could never afford. After earning a place on the elite Kings Row fencing team, Nicholas must prove himself to his rival, Seiji Katayma, and navigate the clashes, friendships, and relationships between his teammates on the road to state championships--where Nicholas might finally have the chance to spar with his golden-boy half-brother.

Coach Williams decides to take advantage of the boys' morale after a recent victory and assigns them a course of team building exercises to further deepen their bonds. It takes a shoplifting scandal, a couple of moonlit forest strolls, several hilariously bad dates, and a whole lot of introspection for the team to realize they are stronger together than they could ever be apart.

The first installment of this enticing original YA novel series by Sarah Rees Brennan, rich with casual diversity and queer self-discovery, explores never-before-seen drama inspired by C.S. Pacat's critically acclaimed Fence comic series and boasts original cover and interior art by Johanna The Mad.

My Thoughts

I had no idea there was going to be a novelization of the Fence graphic novels by C.S. Pacat. I adored Pacat’s adult fantasy trilogy, so I was curious about her next works. Unfortunately, I don’t really like graphic novels, so I missed out on her new endeavors. I’m simply not a picture person; I like words better. Needless to say, I am uber excited I don’t have to miss out now. I am a little hesitant that it’s not Pacat who’s writing this. While I’ve enjoyed some works by Brennan, she’s not an author I’ve closely followed.

What book are you waiting for this Wednesday?

Review: Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Let’s Talk About Love

Claire Kann

Publication Date: January 23, 2018

Hardcover, 288 pages, Swoon Reads

Genres: YA/NA, Contemporary

Goodreads

Alice had her whole summer planned. Non-stop all-you-can-eat buffets while marathoning her favorite TV shows (best friends totally included) with the smallest dash of adulting--working at the library to pay her share of the rent. The only thing missing from her perfect plan? Her girlfriend (who ended things when Alice confessed she's asexual). Alice is done with dating--no thank you, do not pass go, stick a fork in her, done.

But then Alice meets Takumi and she can’t stop thinking about him or the rom com-grade romance feels she did not ask for (uncertainty, butterflies, and swoons, oh my!).

When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn, and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library employee badge (close enough), Alice has to decide if she’s willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated—or understood.

My Review

This book has been on my TBR for a while, and I didn’t pick it up because I’ve been on a fantasy/sci-fi roll for the past year or so. It’s truly hard for me to get into YA contemporary nowadays. But the asexual rep in this one had me curious, and since it was Pride Month, I wanted to go for it.

Thankfully, Let’s Talk About Love has college-age characters, so it’s more of a New Adult title than Young Adult, which means a more emotionally stable protagonist and some deeper relationship feelings. I love reading about a female main character who knows who she is inside but is just trying to figure out what she wants to do in the world. In college and even today, I had the same issues. Alice is fun, quirky, down-to-earth, and asexual. However, this story isn’t just about Alice’s sexuality. It’s about her relationship with her friends, parents, counselor, and her uncertainty in picking a major.

At first, Alice’s inner dialogue was a little difficult to sync with. She’s has a unique narration style, but after a few chapters, it gets easier and more fun to follow. She also drops a lot of fun pop culture references, including a Dean Winchester/Supernatural reference. That’s an automatic win in my book.

As for the side characters, that’s where I have a few issues. Feenie and Ryan are Alice’s best friends, and Alice decided to move in with them over the summer. When Alice and Feenie get into a fight over Feenie and Ryan ditching Alice, it’s kind of just let go by both characters. I did not like that. If you invite a friend to go to a party with you, and then you abandon her to hook up somewhere without even telling your friend where you’re going, you’re a jerk. You need to apologize. But Feenie never really did. And Ryan was pretty wishy-washy about the situation too. I just felt like both friends were trying to keep Alice from living her own romantic life and make new friends. Almost in the same manner Alice’s parents were trying to keep her from pursuing a different college major. While Feenie and Ryan had redeemable moments, I just couldn’t get over how $hitty they acted during all that drama. Maybe I could’ve accepted everything if the situation wasn’t glossed over and there’d actually been a true fight/conversation about what had happened. Things were simply resolved too easily. And perhaps that’s just how life works sometimes, but I personally was disappointed in how it all played out.

Now, Takumi, he’s quite the stud muffin. He can cook, he reads stories to small children, he babysits, and he’s just super sweet. I kind of wish he’d had a flaw or two, just to make him more realistic. (Stupid book boys giving readers everywhere unrealistic expectations about real-life men. Lol.) Regardless, he and Alice were both super adorable together.

All in all, this is an important book. Not just because of Alice’s asexuality, but because it deals with a character who doesn’t have her life together towards the end of her college career. It’s important for high school and college readers to see that kind of representation in their books. It’s also important they see characters like Alice take charge of their lives, even when others, including parents, put obstacles in their paths.

Stacking the Shelves: The Werewolf Addict 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 was feeling a reading slump coming on, so I made an impulse buy for some trashy werewolf romance. I ended up getting so much more than that.

Wolfsong, Ravensong, and Heartsong by TJ Klune (ebooks)

I devoured this trilogy. I read all three books in less than three days. I was a mess. I barely ate, I barely exercised, and I did very little work. (I’m totally paying for it now that I have deadlines coming up. Eek.) I read these on my phone’s Kindle app, so my eyes were killing me and my neck and hands hated me. (I had already been on my phone for an additional two days reading GoT and The 100 fanfiction, so my eyes were mad. And yes, I changed the settings. It didn’t fix it.) I went to the office for a few hours for a work meeting, but I had to go home after just because I was going to fall asleep after I’d stayed up too late reading. It was bad.

So yeah, this is a good M/M werewolf series, written by an actual gay man! It’s a shame that a lot of M/M romance books aren’t written by men. Oh, and this one has some great representation, especially Heartsong. I’ll have reviews up soon, but just know that it is ridiculously addicting. It takes a bit to get into the narration style, but once you do, there’s no stopping. Now though, I have to wait 3+ months for the sequel, and I just can’t! I want it now!!!

What books have you bought/received lately?

June Wrap-Up & July TBR

June 2020 was a good reading month. I was pleasantly surprised, both quantity- and quality-wise. I only read one disappointing book. But I also read another favorite; therefore, it evens out.

In the wrap-up portion, 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 June

House of Dragons: 3.5 stars (my review)

Rise of Fire: 3.5 stars (my review)

Sorcery of Thorns: 4.5 stars (my review)

Let’s Talk About Love: 3 stars (review to come)

Rage & Ruin: 4 stars (review to come)

The Star-Touched Queen: 2 stars (review to come)

The Forbidden Wish: 4 stars (review to come)

Shadow’s Seduction: 4 stars (ebook; re-read)

The Shadows Between Us: 3 stars (review to come)

Wolfsong: 4 stars (ebook; review to come)

Ravensong: 4 stars (ebook; review to come)

I read eleven books in June! Holy cow! I did not expect this at all. Three were ebooks, and one of those ebooks was a re-read (Shadow’s Seduction by Kresley Cole), but still… Eleven books! I was worried I was going into a reading slump towards the end of the month, but the last two books I read—Wolfsong and Ravensong by TJ Klune—seriously shut that down. I devoured the entire series in three days! Oh, and three of the physical books are ones I owned prior to 2020: Rise of Fire, The Star-Touched Queen, and Let's Talk About Love.

Books Bought/Received in June

I bought 13 books total this month, including my June FairyLoot which won’t be here until July. Five of the books I bought were ebooks and eight were physical books. The ebooks were White Fragility by Robin Diangelo; Bone Crier’s Moon by Kathryn Purdie; and Wolfsong, Ravensong, and Heartsong by TJ Klune. I also received two as gifts from my mother: Aurora Rising and The Shadows Between Us.

I purchased A Song of Wraiths and Ruin and The Rage of Dragons from Semicolon, a bookstore in Chicago. Rage & Ruin was an Amazon pre-order, and The Forbidden Wish was an Amazon impulse purchase. I also made a Barnes & Noble order for four more books that won’t arrive until next month, but one is a pre-order so I technically won’t purchase it until July.

My May Beacon Book Box (House of Dragons) and FairyLoot (Girl, Serpent, Thorn) also arrived in June, but I technically purchased them last month. Same for The Blood Spell, which was a May Book Outlet purchase.

Currently Obsessed With

Oh, man. I went a little crazy with this obsession. Finishing my re-watch almost put my in a reading slump, just because I knew no book on my TBR could give me the same feels a certain angsty prince does.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is pure gold. If you haven’t watched this show yet, what the heck are you doing with your life?! Yes, the first few episodes are a little kiddish, but the world expands so well, and the history behind that world is fascinating. I just love it so much. I’ve also been reading a lot of fanfiction for this show—mostly Zuko-related fics—as well as for The 100, Game of Thrones, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, since I’m re-watching the show with my mother who’s watching it for the first time.

Currently Reading/July TBR

I’m not super into TBRs right now. While April was a good month and I knocked off every title on my list, I’ve only read one or two that were on May and June’s TBR list. Thus, this is a pretty loose July TBR. I have to read Children of Blood and Bone for my book club, and I want to finish the Violet Eden series. I only have Endless and Empower left, so it shouldn’t be too hard. And Girl, Serpent, Thorn is one that intrigues me, but I’m still unsure if it’s a standalone or not.

***

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

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin

 "Can’t-Wait Wednesday" is a weekly event, hosted over at Wishful Endings, that spotlights upcoming releases we're eagerly anticipating.

This week, what's really got my pages in a twist is...

Blood & Honey

Shelby Mahurin

(Serpent & Dove #2)

Publication Date: September 1, 2020

Hardcover, 528 pages, HarperTeen

Genres: YA, Fantasy

Goodreads

The hotly anticipated sequel to the New York Times and IndieBound bestseller Serpent & Dove—packed with even steamier romance and darker magic—is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas.

After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Dames Blanches, Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and church—fugitives with nowhere to hide.

To elude the scores of witches and throngs of chasseurs at their heels, Lou and Reid need allies. Strong ones. But protection comes at a price, and the group is forced to embark on separate quests to build their forces. As Lou and Reid try to close the widening rift between them, the dastardly Morgane baits them in a lethal game of cat and mouse that threatens to destroy something worth more than any coven.

My Thoughts

I haven’t read Serpent & Dove yet, but I’ve heard great things. Plus, this sounds like my kind of series. Forced marriages and secret witches? Enemies to lovers? Sign me up! I plan on pre-ordering the FairyLoot box for this one, so we’ll see if I get it or not. *crosses fingers* If I do end up being lucky enough to get a box, I’m taking a financial risk if I end up not liking Serpent & Dove. Yikes.

What book are you waiting for this Wednesday?