Stacking the Shelves: The May Adult 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 honestly didn't think I'd have that much to share this week, but then my parents visited and brought all of my deliveries with them. So the haul kind of exploded, but I'm not complaining. Everything is very pretty this week. I'm feeling wonderfully giddy right now thinking about all my new preciouses.      .

First up, I have something kind of ridiculous. I found out the From Blood and Ash virtual ApollyCon reprint edition is slightly different from the original 2022 ApollyCon edition. The original is a bright red, while the reprint is a darker red with blacker leaves. Well, I couldn't very well not have the new edition, even though I was super upset they were different in the first place. So, even though I went to the 2022 event, I had to purchase this new version secondhand. I think I paid like $70 for it on Mercari, which isn't too bad considering the price gouging some resellers are asking for. Also, funny story, I actually ordered a copy before this one, also from Mercari, that was shipped in an Owlcrate Jr. box. The Owlcrate Jr. box has blue ink on the inside that I guess leaked off because of the humidity or something, and it dusted the top of the book (the only part that wasn't covered in bubble wrap) with blue gunk. So, I returned it. My first ever Mercari return. But, I ended up getting a cheaper copy. The universe was looking out for me!

 

 

Next, I have the Chest of Fandoms German edition of The War of Two Queens. Now normally, I don't post photos of the insides of books, simply because I'm lazy. But I couldn't not post photos of these gorgeous French flap character artworks. I mean, look at Poppy, Cas, and Kieran! They're stunning! I also bought a double-sided print that features the art from The Crown of Gilded Bones's flaps, so I'm crossing my fingers they'll sell a print of The War of Two Queens's versions in the future.

And here is the May Adult FairyLoot book. It's gorgeous, which is super surprising to me, as the artist they chose for the cover artwork isn't normally one I gravitate towards. The only thing I don't like about this edition is the ombre edges. I truly do not understand why FairyLoot keeps doing ombre edges. They never work out right. But anyway, the book is beautiful, and I'm excited to read it.

The second part of the Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon Prettygal Pins tarot card deck arrived as well. They're nice, but I think I've just decided I don't like the non-book-character editions when compared to the other tarot decks I've bought from Prettygal. I think its just because the book ones are based on characters I haven't seen before, whereas these are based on a show with characters I see all the time. Essentially, I mean that none of the artwork surprised me because I already know what the characters look like.

And now for the ebooks. I have three library ebooks that all somehow managed to come in at pretty much the exact same time. Why does this always happen? The one that came in first was The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna. Then Lightlark by Alex Aster came in, and then Skyward by Brandon Sanderson. I'm guessing at least one of these won't be finished before I have to return it. Probably Lightlark, as I don't think Skyward has very many holds, so I can possibly renew it if I run out of time.

 

 Finally, I have a Kindle Unlimited copy of Bro and the Beast 3 by L.C. Davis, which I've already read. It was only like 130 pages. And one of the most important "books" I downloaded was the first three chapters of A Soul of Ash and Blood that JLA/Blue Box Press released in honor of Casteel's birthday. And yes, I've already read them, and I died. That first chapter is so freakin' amazing! I don't know how I'm going to wait until July 18 for the rest. I do know 100% I'll be taking off work that day to read this book. There's no other option at this point. It would be torture to go to work when I know the book is just sitting there on my Kindle app, taunting me.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Review: The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O'Keefe

The Blighted Stars

Megan E. O'Keefe

(The Devouring Worlds #1)

Publication Date: May 23, 2023

Hardcover, 544 pages, Orbit

Genres: Adult, Sci-Fi

Goodreads

When a spy is stranded on a dead planet with her mortal enemy, she must first figure out how to survive before she can uncover the conspiracy that landed them both there in the first place.

 

She’s a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they’re found and Naira Sharp knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity’s expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.

 

He’s the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study rocks and read books. But Tarquin’s father has tasked him with monitoring the mining of a new planet, and he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter.

 

Disguised as Tarquin’s new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy his ship before it lands. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she’s sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that’s bigger than both of them.

My Review

Do you like the worldbuilding of The Expanse series, or even The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes? Are you a fan of The Last of Us? Have you read YA sci-fi books like Illuminae or Aurora Rising and just want something a little more sophisticated? Then, The Blighted Stars is the perfect next read for you.

The Blighted Stars follows two primary POV characters, with a couple of other POVs thrown in every once in a while to shake things up. Tarquin Mercator is the geologist son of one of the ruling families in the whole space system, and he's out to prove his family isn't killing worlds. So he undertakes a mission on another mining planet to find answers. Naira Sharp, on the other hand, is the disgraced and imprisoned bodyguard of Tarquin's father, and Tarquin is the one who helped put her away. When she gets printed into a new body on the same ship as Tarquin, well, a lot of things go wrong. Especially when they're forced to crash-land on a dying planet. The Blighted Stars definitely has the suspense of a stranded-on-a-deserted-island story and add onto that some creepy creatures, mysterious infections, and people keeping big secrets, and you get a wild ride.

The worldbuilding in The Blighted Stars is heavy. Like the author really did her research, or at least, she made up some really cool, smart-sounding stuff. And while this is a science-heavy book, for those who are less scientifically-minded like me, it was still easy to drift over those explanatory sections and not miss out on the next plot development, except in a couple of cases. So don't worry about memorizing all the things. But, if you're a fan of geology, biology, or epidemiology, then this will be right up your alley.

The two main characters are also super fun. It's a bit of a gender flip. Instead of the rough-and-tough survivalist guy, we get Naira Sharp, the badass female bodyguard, while Tarquin is the more peaceable character with knowledge about rocks, not fighting or leading. He also has a cute (or so I imagine) robot companion. I genuinely liked Tarquin and Naira's dynamic. Their conversations and banter were great. I was pretty devastated whenever they were apart, as those chapters dragged a little bit. Time flew by so fast when the two of them were bickering at each other. But, that could just be the romance reader in me that loves the relationship tension. However, this 100% isn't a romance book. It's just the first book in a sci-fi series that has romantic elements.

All in all, I enjoyed this first book, and I want to read book two whenever it releases. It does take some time to get through this 500-page tome, but it's worth it. Just don't pick it up when you have lots of things going on. You'll want to dedicate some brain power to this one.

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

ApollyCon 2023 Recap: Days Three & Four

Day three of ApollyCon was a much nicer time than day two's packed schedule. It mostly consisted of getting some more author signatures in the first half of the day and then napping the rest of the day. Or at least, napping until the After Party later that night. Day four, the last day of ApollyCon, was stressful just because it was the final day, and we were worried about storing our luggage, possibly missing our flights, the rain, etc. Otherwise, it was chill.

I 100% think the authors in this list are out of order, so forgive me for not remembering who I saw first, second, third, etc. I wanted to write up this post last week, when my memory likely would've been a little better, but work was so chaotic that I couldn't make myself sit in front of a computer for another three to four hours to write this post. But anyway, the first photos I have saved in my files are with Harper L. Woods. I read What Lies Beyond the Veil right before ApollyCon via Kindle Unlimited, so I decided to purchase a copy of the exclusive cover to get signed, along with some art prints. This was another author I made a fool of myself talking to. It wasn't nearly as bad as the Jess Wisecup fiasco, but when I was trying to buy prints, I thought they were all sold out. Turns out, I was just looking at the display versions and they had them all stocked behind the table. Ugh. Silly, me.

After that, I think we went to see Jennifer Estep. She had a nice corner space with lots of air conditioning. It was pretty calm over there compared to the Katee Robert and Harper L. Woods chaos. I got my copy of Kill the Queen signed. Since I have like 20 of Jennifer's books, it's always difficult to pick which one to take with me. If I get tickets for next year, I may just do the sequel to this one. Or maybe I'll do the first Mythos Academy book. Hmm... Decisions, decisions.

 

Next up was Maria V. Snyder. I'd brought my UK copy of Touch of Power for her to sign, and she talked about the different covers with me for quite a bit. I also got to talk with her about the FairyLoot editions I ordered, which will hopefully ship soon (*fingers crossed*). I think I'd brought up how signing makes authors' hands hurt and then she said she only signed like 500 a day or so, so her wrists wouldn't be in any pain. I think she mentioned she'd signed like 10,000 tip-ins for the FairyLoot editions.

And I believe Wendy Higgins was after that, but I could be wrong. Wendy was nice, she had a bowl of candy at her table, and I think it was her husband who took the photo. (Technically, a lot of husbands were there to take photos and assist their wives that weekend.) I'd grabbed a piece of candy and put it in my pocket, but I think it fell out at some point. Boo.

  We went to Lana Pecherczyk next to get the fancy special edition book from the Titan bag signed. I haven't read The Longing of Lone Wolves, but offering a special edition of the first book in the series is a great way to get new readers hooked onto your books. We didn't get a photo with Lana, since we didn't really know her or her work, but we got our bookmarks signed. Oh, and before I forget to mention, all of these signings were on the upper level, the Independence room. On the second day of signings, you have to stay in one area for the four-hour signing a.m. session and then switch in the afternoon. Attendees are split up by group A or B too. Because we'd already done all of our Ballroom signings, we didn't need to do the afternoon signing. But I'll talk about that later.

We saw Amanda Bouchet again this year. She's always so sweet. We talked about how her books are part of our book club picks, and we asked her about the next release in her Kingmaker Chronicles series. She told us that the next one likely won't be out until next year, but that's okay. I don't need it anytime soon. I'm drowning in things to read right now. I took book two in the Kingmaker Chronicles. Breath of Fire, to get signed by her.

I guess after Amanda we went to Katee Robert's table. I feel like this one is out of order, but oh well. At some point, we did go to Katee's table, so it doesn't matter in the long run. Also, her table was hard to find because there weren't any posters or signage. However, she was very friendly. Also, she stamped her books instead of signing due to wrist mobility issues. I had her stamp the ARC of Wicked Beauty I received at last year's ApollyCon and The Dragon's Bride, which I got from this year's ApollyCon. And I've read neither of them.

 

Then, we saw Stacey Marie Brown. We actually saw her last year as well, so I didn't have a book for her to sign this time. I still haven't finished the second book in the Savage Lands series, and I don't want to collect the paperbacks for the rest of the series since the spines don't match. Boooo... Stacey is hilarious though. She signed our library card bookmarks and dated them PAST DUE. She also talked about the artwork of two of the secondary characters in the Savage Lands series that you can see pictured above. Totally not how I pictured them, but it was cute.

I haven't read any of K.F. Breene's books, but she was the author we went to next because my friend had a preorder from her. I also had the paperback of Magical Midlife Madness that came in the Titan bag, so I figured I'd get that signed while I was there. Funnily enough, K.F. Breene ended up being the author that took the longest to get to. I guess because we didn't get tickets until later on, maybe? But we had a bit of a 10-minute-ish wait since she was the second-to-last author we wanted to see. We couldn't see the last one because of reasons I'll talk about next.

Because C.N Crawford is a husband/wife writing duo, my friend didn't want to go to their table until after she'd seen K.F. Breene. The reason: she only had two spaces left on her library card and she didn't want the two authors to take up both spaces when K.F. Breene needed a space too. Turns out, that wasn't an issue. They just sign half of the C.N. Crawford signature each. Also, this photo was really awkward to pose for. I don't think they'd had photos taken with anyone before because they tried to stand behind us. It was odd. Anyway, I've only read Frost by them, and I might read Ambrosia one day, Frost's sequel, but it's not high up on my priority list at this moment. I didn't have any books for them to sign, since I'd read Frost on Kindle Unlimited. And with that, we finished the signing portion of ApollyCon! At least for us, that is. Other people stayed for the afternoon signing. We didn't.

 

Before we left the Hyatt for lunch, we did end up doing a couple of photoshoots with the displays they had around the hotel. The neon sign was on the same level as the Independence signing room, while the other two were on the bottom Ballroom floor. The Bloom Books sign was kind of fun. You could point to your reader description, basically. I pointed to Series Junkie and Book Juggler, since I love my series and tend to read four to five books at a time for some weird reason. Once that was complete, we dropped our new and old, but now signed, books at out hotel room, and then went to eat some Mexican food. And after eating, we did what any tired person would do, we took a nap.

The After Party was later that night, so we left a good couple of hours beforehand to get in line at a decent time. The event only had 400 goodie bags with 600 people who could possibly attend, so we had to get a decent spot in line to guarantee a bag. My bag came with some of the stuff you see pictured, like a spray tube of hand sanitizer and a print from Haunting Adeline, a book I will probably never read. It also came with two books. The one I kept was A Dash of Salt and Pepper by Kosoko Jackson. The one I left outside the event for anyone to grab to take with them was A Fate of Wrath and Flame by K.A. Tucker, since I already had a signed copy and couldn't fit a second one in my suitcase. I was actually kind of miffed we received it in the After Party bag after I purposefully preordered it for ApollyCon. It was kind of a waste of money.

 

I don't think this year's After Party was as fun as last year's. And that's saying something since this is pretty much my least favorite event. I'm just not a dancer, and we didn't dress up in costume because we didn't have the money to purchase clothes for both the Blood Forest event and the After Party. But it was cool to see a couple of different costumes in the crowd, like the couple who cosplayed as Sera and Nyktos, since the theme was Gods & Monsters. But unlike last year, they didn't have a giveaway. It was just dancing, drinks, and a 360-degree camera thing. Since I don't drink and I don't dance and I didn't dress up, it was kind of boring. My friend talked to someone sitting at our table, but the music was too loud for me to hear what they were saying. I pretty much just hung out on my phone and stuck around to wait until JLA showed up. But, even when she did, she didn't say much. Just gave a thank you, a warning about using the buddy system when walking back to hotels, and then she bounced. We stuck around until the end of the event, but I was glad to be out of there when it was over. Unfortunately, though, we had to pack after that and try to get all our new crap into our bags without being over the weight limit. We even borrowed a scale from a girl we met on the shuttle ride to the hotel who was also attending ApollyCon and was in a room a couple of doors down from us. Thankfully, I managed to get my suitcase under the 50-pound weight limit. My friend did not. She had to pay $75 for her checked bag.

So, the last event was the Brunch and Q&A with Jodi Picoult. My friend and I got up early, dropped our suitcases down at the hotel lobby for safekeeping, headed to the Hyatt, waited in line, sat near the back of the room once we got in so we could sneak out early, and then grabbed our food once our table was called. Unfortunately, by the time our table was called to go get food, a lot of it had been picked clean by then, despite the catering service replacing stuff every once in a while. I didn't get any potatoes with my eggs. Boo. But anyway, after the brunch, they gave us our bags. The bags had a special edition of Frost & Fire in it, a bind-up of Frigid and Scorched by JLA. It also had a plastic cup in it, a little pocket mirror, a nice pen and notebook, and a booksleeve, which the book was in. I let my friend have my cup, since it wouldn't fit in my backpack on the flight home, but everything else I was able to keep.

 

 

 

After that, JLA and Jodi came out for the Q&A. JLA basically interviewed Jodi about what she was working on, how she's co-authored a book with her daughter, and all the book-ban nonsense that's been happening around the U.S. It was actually pretty interesting, which I didn't expect considering I've never read a Jodi Picoult book. However, my friend and I had to duck out early to make it to our flight. Or, so we thought. We actually ended up picking up our bags and getting to the airport a little earlier than we anticipated, so we could've stayed at the Q&A a little bit longer, but oh well. Better to be safe than sorry. So yeah, I eventually got on my flight, met my parents at the airport to drive me home, and got Culvers for lunch on the way back.

 

Well, that was all for ApollyCon 2023. It was five days of craziness, but it was a controlled chaos, unlike last year's overwhelming madness. Tickets for 2024 go on sale soon, and I'm crossing my fingers I get one. It'll suck if I don't. With the new hotel location, though, I have a feeling 2024's event is going to be just as crazy as 2022's event was. But I still really want to go. Let's all pray to the book gods I get a ticket.

Stacking the Shelves: The Oops 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.

As I'm typing this post, I have one more day left in a giant work grant (due Friday at 10:59 p.m.), and then I'm free! I have three days off and no major deadlines for quite a while. This project has seriously been stressing me out, so I'm glad it's almost over. Plus, Memorial Day weekend is here and I'm excited to organize and clean my place. I may even do some spontaneous furniture shopping if I get in the mood, though I've spent way too much money to justify that plan.      .

For my book haul this week, I actually have two ARCs. I don't get physical ARCs very often, so it's always a treat. I won a copy of Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Torzs from the publisher, and I requested The Sun and the Void by Gabriela Romero-Lacruz from Orbit. Unfortunately, I requested The Sun and the Void by mistake. I mixed it up with another upcoming release that has a similar title and cover, Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mairely Lares. Oops. Sorry, Orbit! While I'll still give The Sun and the Void a chance, it may take me a bit longer to get through since it's not something I'm gravitating towards right now.

 

Next, I have some ebooks. I ordered the ebook of Kresley Cole's Wicked Abyss because I don't remember reading it. I honestly don't think I have. It's not marked as Read on Goodreads, which baffles me because I usually read the Immortals After Dark books right as they come out. I guess I'm going out of order with this one, since I've already read the book that comes after it. Good thing Kresley's timelines are so overlapping. I doubt I missed much by skipping this one. I also bought this because I had some Kindle credits that were going to expire at the end of the month. In addition to Wicked Abyss, I got Malum Discordiae by Ashlyn Drewek on Kindle Unlimited. I'm reading it now, and it's giving me major The Covenant vibes, if you've ever watched that amazing witchy movie with Steven Strait, Sebastian Stan, and Taylor Kitsch.

And here are some more Kindle Unlimited books. Or technically novellas. These things are freaking short, and I'm mad because the second one ended on a cliffhanger. Bro and the Beast is just a fun, dumb story (in a good way) about a dude who gets sucked into a werewolf-romance book and ends up being the mate of the book's hero. It's a wild ride, and book three comes out on Sunday, so I may sneak it in between the thicker fantasy titles I'm reading now.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?

Stacking the Shelves: The St@bby 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.

Well, things are chugging along. Work is heating up with a major deadline this coming Friday, and I'm at the point that whatever happens, happens. I tried my best. As for the rest of life, my older sister visited last weekend, though it wasn't for a great reason. A cousin of mine sadly passed away. We'd been estranged for a while, and she was older than me by a good twenty years, so I wasn't upset, but it's just weird to think your once young-adult relatives are now getting older too. But on to happier topics! Books!      .

First, I have my Barnes & Noble preorder of Cursed Crowns by Catherine Doyle and Katherine Webber. I still haven't read the first one, but I think it'll be cute. Therefore, I deemed it worthy enough to preorder book two. I actually have the first book as a LitJoy edition, but the only fancy thing about it is gold edges, so I'm not too worried about matching in that case. I never display my books with the edges out, with the exception of the Chest of Fandoms FBAA editions, but that's only because the covers are already so similar to the US editions.

Next, I have my FairyLoot Crescent City order. This, like Cursed Crowns, was sent to my parents' house because I'm too lazy to change the address. Plus, it's just safer to send them to my parents who live out in the middle of nowhere versus leaving them on my front porch where anyone could walk by. These Crescent City editions are nice. While I'm not super into the slipcases or the covers, the foiling on the naked hardcovers and the endpaper character art are lovely. However, the most recent CC book really irritated me, so if I don't like the next one, I may choose to get rid of these.

And here are my JLA Shop FBAA and ASITE daggers. These things weren't delivered until like 7 p.m. for some reason. I think I checked the mail three or four times that day. I don't even remember what day of the week it was. I think it was Monday. But, I do remember checking the mail before I left for the gym, when I got back from the gym, and then again when the box was finally there. I had to go outside and get it with a wet head after I took my shower! But anyway, these are super pretty. I do wish they were double-sided and that Poppy's dagger's handle was a bit more white, but they're super pretty nonetheless. I also wish I had my shelves ready to go so I could properly display everything.

And finally, I have my ebooks for the week. The first one is a Kindle Unlimited title, Alpha's Kiss by Shannon West. It was recommended in one of the Kindle rows, so I looked at the synopsis and decided to go for it. The other two ebooks are from Vela Roth's newsletter. She gave them away for free. I guess they're novellas in her Blood Grace series, which I haven't started yet but really want to. I couldn't find them on Goodreads, though, so that's kind of annoying. I had to use Google, and even then, I couldn't find a good image of Blood Legacy, the second novella I downloaded. How rude.

Well, that's all for me. What books have you bought/received lately?