Stacking the Shelves: The Thumb 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 think I've finally recovered from ApollyCon, though my wallet and the bruise on my leg from my book cart don't quite agree. I'm not lying when I say I spent way too much money on books this month. Well, way too much money in general. Other than that, I've been working, going to the gym, and reading. That's about it. Life is boring again, and that's okay.

For this week's haul, I have a book I didn't expect to get any time soon with a photo that has my thumb covering the important parts of the book. It's the deluxe, sprayed-edge version of God of Malice by Rina Kent. After my Walmart order of this book was canceled and I searched reseller sites for it to no avail, I thought I'd never get my hands on the first book in the series with the matching edges. But some kind soul on on a Facebook reseller group page found a couple of copies in her local store and offered to send them to people. I immediately commented SOLD, even though I, once again, have spent way too much money on books this month. But now, the set matches and I can do a full read of the series physically versus via ebook. I don't know why, but that's the way my brain wants to do it, even though the entire series is on Kindle Unlimited and that's how I read the fifth book originally. (It's a series of standalones, so I purposefully skipped to book five.)

 

 

Next up, I have a Kresley Cole No Rest for the Wicked print from Rosie Scribbles. I actually won this in a giveaway that I'd forgotten I'd entered on Instagram. Rosie gave me the option of this print or one from A Hunger Like No Other. I couldn't decide because A Hunger Like No Other is the first book in the series, and I love it so much, but I also really like this artwork too. So, I let Rosie decide for me, and she sent me this one. Yay for not making hard decisions! And thank you, Rosie! Also, my print did get wet because of the torrential downpours we've had over the past couple of weeks, so it's kind of misshapen now. Lol.

 

And lastly, I have the ebooks. Both are KU downloads. The first is Forged in Blood by Sadie Kincaid. The reason I downloaded this is because there's a LitHaven sale for a special edition happening right now, and it's very pretty. I'd like to see if I like the book before I buy, though. I also got A Love Most Fatal by Kath Richards. This was a random TikTok recommendation that I decided I should immediately download. We'll see how soon I get to it. Ha ha. 

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Post-ApollyCon 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, I'm back from ApollyCon, and I haven't recovered. I need like a week of sleep, and then another week to put all my new stuff and my suitcases away. But alas, I have to work. Ugh. But, I will say, it was fun. Hectic and tiring, as always, but fun. I'll have my full recap posts up within the next few weeks, but right now, I'm just trying to mentally get back to my regular schedule.

For this week's haul, I had some stuff arrive while I was gone. I had my sister pick it up from my doorstep, since it was going to rain. I guess I should invest in one of those package dropoff boxes or something. Lol. My Barnes & Noble preorders for Blood of Hercules (the white and gold hardcovers), Firebird by Juliette Cross, and The Never List by Jade Presley came in. From Orbit, I also received an ARC of The Two Lies of Faven Sythe by Megan E. O'Keefe.

 

 

My Arcane Blood and Ash set also arrived a few days ago. They're really pretty, but I can't decide which side of the dust jackets to display. The original sides are really unique, as they have scenery depictions versus characters, but the character art reverse dust jackets are pretty. Ugh. Dilemmas. The order also came with a few Poppy and Cas prints. The only bad thing about all these Blood and Ash sets is I have to now find places to put them. Oof.   

 

 

Next up, I have something else that arrived while I was away: my Blood and Ash character cards from Imagine Books. I actually picked up the Flesh and Fire cards at ApollyCon, so you'll see those later. I really like the artwork for Poppy and Kieran on these cards. I'm also excited to get the Books for Days Crate/Imagine Books Blood and Ash set soon too.

 

And right when I thought I had everything photographed and ready to go for this post, my dad shows up with a FairyLoot box. My preorder of Blood of Hercules arrived. Yes, that means I have three copies of this book in one haul post. Yikes. I really need to read it and decide if I want to keep all of these editions. I actually have the paperback already and a couple more editions on the way as well. Double yikes. I'm on page 50, since we're reading this for book club, so I'll soon know if it's worth me spending so much money. My gut feeling so far is maybe not... It's reading a bit like Susan Ee's Penryn & the End of Days series but the main character's narration style is odd, so we shall see.

 

 

 

I don't even know what to say. These are all the books I got at ApollyCon. Not the ones I brought. They're just the ones I got at the event. The preorders I picked up included the Titan series in hardcover, Stacia's Stark's Kingdom of Lies special editions 1-4, Curse of Shadows and Thorns by L.J. Andrews special edition, the Books for Days Crate editions of A Shadow in the Ember and Kingdom of Crowns and Daggers by K.A. Knight, Court of Nightmares and Racing Hearts by K.A. Knight, The Umbra King by Jamie Applegate-Hunter, The Curse of Ophelia by Nicole Platania, Lady of Darkness and Rain of Shadows and Endings by Melissa Roehrich, the Fae Isles series books 1-4 by Lisette Marshall, Till Death by Miranda Lyn, and The Wraith King by Juliette Cross. 

 

Now, for books I got for free at the event, those include two Kresley Cole books, an ARC of Stacia Stark's This Vicious Dream, the ApollyCon edition of A Shadow in the Ember, what came in my Primal bag (Arcane edition of Torn, Born of Blood and Ash, The Return, Revolt, Nightmare Before Kissmas, Heart of Defiance, and A Curse of Scales & Flame). I actually traded a cowboy romance for A Curse of Scales & Flame, and I left a Sarah MacLean title for whoever wanted a free book. Historical romance just isn't my thing. Now, for books I bought at the event. I'm pretty impressed with my self-control, as I only bought three books: the Arcane editions of Wicked and Brave and Invoking the Blood by Kalista Neith. The Kalista Neith book was by far the most expensive. I didn't know it was $75, or I probably would have passed, since I don't know if I like the book.

 

As for ebooks, I only have one. I downloaded Stacia Stark's A Kingdom This Cursed & Empty, book two in the Kingdom of Lies series, from Kindle Unlimited after I finished book one, A Court This Cruel and Lovely. I'm about halfway through it now. It's a pretty fun fae romantasy series, and, since I got the spinoff ARC at ApollyCon, I'll be able to read that right away. Woohoo!

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

Review: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

The Raven Scholar

Antonia Hodgson

(The Eternal Path #1)

Publication Date: April 15, 2025

Paperback, 672 pages, Orbit

Genres: Adult, Fantasy

Goodreads

From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth.

 

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

 

Then one of them is murdered.

 

 It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

 

 If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

 

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.

My Review

As someone whose favorite genre is romantasy, I'm always pleasantly surprised when an epic fantasy is able to suck me in. The Raven Scholar is one of those books. After about the 50-page mark, I would pick this giant tome up and just read and read until I had to go to bed. The murder-mystery and political intrigue were addicting.

I went into this story thinking we were going to follow the main character from the prologue, but, no, we actually follow the second character introduced in the prologue, Neema Kraa, who went from a lonely scholar to being an assistant to the emperor because of a pretty questionable deed. Neema isn't necessarily the most likeable character, nor is she terrible. She's human, and she makes mistakes while also being wicked intelligent. Her interactions with the characters around her are what make her story so interesting. For instance, Cain, the fox contender, has some hilarious moments. Her interactions with Ruko, Bersun, and Yasila also have you on edge, waiting for the next bad thing to happen.

What's also interesting is the narration for this story isn't told just from Neema's point of view. It's actually an omniscient narrator type of style. However, the narrator is a character (or characters, depending on how you look at it) in their own right. Which brings me to Sol. He's a raven "animal" companion that truly reminded me of Mephi from Andrea Stewart's Drowning Empire trilogy, and while originally I was a little hesitant about him, he grows on you very fast. His antics had me laughing out loud multiple times.

As for the plot, it's all one giant whodunnit. Kind of in the vein of Knives Out or Glass Onion, just set in the backdrop of a fantasy world with some dangerous trials thrown in. The world itself is based off of eight animal gods/spirits that kind of inhabit the characteristics of each sect. For instance, there are the raven, fox, tiger, and dragon sects. The foxes are my favorites. They're so random.

All in all, I am truly happy I read this book and branched out from my typical genres. The Raven Scholar has made me eager to get back into reading non-romance-focused fantasy. Though, there is a small romance element in this book that kept my heart-eyes alive, thankfully. But, if you're looking for a fantasy mystery book that has the same vibes as The Bone Shard Daughter or the start of The Poppy War, I'd say you definitely want to pick this one up.

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

Stacking the Shelves: The Special Edition 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, obviously this post has been written pre-ApollyCon travels because at the moment it goes live, I'm busy trying to get my feet to stop hurting. That's pretty much all ApollyCon is... pain. Back pain, leg pain, feet pain. Ha ha. But as for my week before ApollyCon, it's been good. My work deadline is approaching, but everything is pretty much done. Thankfully. I was able to pack for my trip over the weekend, which was easier than I thought it would be, so I should be all ready to go. I even made it to the gym over the past two days. Hurrah!

For this short week's haul (honestly, it's just what I got Sunday and Monday), I have multiple special editions. My parents delivered two FairyLoot books to me, since I have all of my orders go to their house. The first was Firebird by Juliette Cross, the March Romantasy book. The other was my preorder of Cursebound by Saara El-Arifi, which I didn't even know had shipped. FairyLoot has been doing that lately, and I don't like it. It's been raining too much for them to not send proper shipping notifications. I also received my first luxe edition of The Awakening from the Zodiac Academy series. It came on the one day of the week it wasn't raining. Thank god. It's also very pretty.

 

 

Next up, I have my luxe editions of Obsidian and Onyx from the Bookish Box. I do not like the dust jacket art for this one. I'm definitely going to use the reverse art. I'm just waiting until I can do it calmly, so I don't mess it up. How could I possibly mess it up, you ask? I don't know. I just know I've been anxious prepping for my trip, so every non-prep task has my pulse skyrocketing lately. Everything that is not ApollyCon prep is an inconvenience I cannot stand for right now. All of the inconveniences will be completed post-ApollyCon. Lol.

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

March Wrap-Up & April TBR

Life is chaos right now. I'm trying to get myself ready for ApollyCon but I'm also dealing with a huge work deadline that's due the day before I leave. Ugh! Why can't things just be easy before I go on trips? It's rude. I'm getting things together this weekend, though. It just feels like I'm rushing. My trip last weekend kind of slowed me down a lot, so I'm back on track. I think. Sort of. But yeah, other than that, March was a pretty lame month since I was sick for two weeks and the tornado came through and turned my power off for a few days. Everything is good now, but that whole stretch of time was nuts.

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

Heavenly Bodies: 3.5 stars

Broken by Daylight: 4 stars

Kiss the Villain: 4 stars

Lore of the Wilds: 3 stars

Never Will I Ever: 4 stars

I read five books in March, which, is pretty decent for how crazy the month was. The first book I read, Heavenly Bodies by Imani Erriu was a FairyLoot edition, so I got that off my physical TBR, same for Lore of the Wilds by Analeigh Sbrana. Both authors are going to ApollyCon too. I also read three ebooks on Kindle Unlimited: Broken by Daylight by Elizabeth Helen, Kiss the Villain by Rina Kent, and Never Will I Ever by C.E. Ricci. None of which were by ApollyCon authors. Oops.

Books Bought/Received in March

Man, I know I have a problem, but March totally solidified that I need to go on a book-buying budget after ApollyCon. Because holy moly have I spent a lot of money! In total, I bought 41 books in March and received 12 that I didn't pay for in the month, which basically means they were preorders/books ordered in prior months or free ebooks.

The 12 books I received include three free ebooks, two late FairyLoot subs, one eARC, one replacement book, one book I ordered in February that came in March, and one special edition set of four books that arrived in March but I paid for in installments for the past few months. The free ebooks include Feathers from the Sky by Jess Wisecup, The Umbra King by Jamie Applegate Hunter, and Corrupt Shadows by Rebecca L. Garcia and C.M. Hutton. The FairyLoot subscription books were Iron & Embers by Helen Scheuerer and The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amalie Wen Zhao. And then, I got an eARC from NetGalley for Silvercloak by L.K. Steven. My Barnes & Noble replacement of The Reckoning arrived, and my order of the new Every Last Breath paperback came too. And the Cover to Cover set of the Flesh and Fire series is the special edition set that I paid for earlier in the year.

And here we go. I bought sooooo much. There's no excusing it. I'm just an addict at this point. I have got to get myself under control. Or at least sell some more of the ones I don't want/need anymore. Ugh. For the 41 books I bought and received in the month, I actually received 14 of them in the month. The rest will come in April or later. The books I bought and received in the month include The Shadow Bride and Oathbound (B&N); Legacy of Gods 3-6 and The Inadequate Heir (Target); A Cruel Thirst ebook (Kindle); A Dawn of Onyx, Bite of Loyalty, Bright Heart, and A Touch of Poison; Servant of Earth (Blackwells); and Speak of the Demon (Mercari).

For those 27 books were either preorders or ones that won't arrive until April or later, a majority of them were book box orders, including Aurora Crate's editions of Stacia Starks Speak of the Demon books 2-3; Illumicrate's April book; LitHaven's Blood of Hercules edition; LitJoy's Blood of Hercules edition; Owlcrate's Slaying the Vampire Conquerer; FairyLoot's editions of the Beasts and the Briars 2-4, The Ragpicker King, The Ashfire King, The Shadow Bride, the Fate and Flame series 1-4; and the Romantasy sub book Firebird, which technically was delivered but is at my parents' house right now. I also ordered J. Bree's PR edition so the Bonds That Tie 1-3, God of Pain by Rina Kent from Walmart, and the Chest of Fandoms edition of A Fire in the Flesh from Mercari. And I had two last-minute ApollyCon orders: Lisette Marshall's Fae Isles series 1-4 and L.J. Andrews's Curse of Shadow and Thorns.

Currently Obsessed With

As for TV/films, it seems like everything came out in March. I watched so much TV. Probably because I was sick and had nothing else to do. 

My parents have Amazon Prime, so I was able to watch the entire season three of Invincible. I really love this show. I wish season four wasn't so far away, though. Boo. I hope the next season comes out this year and not 2026. I also watched Daredevil: Born Again with my parents. Or at least, we watched the first couple of episodes together, since it's released on a weekly basis. And finally, I watched the first few episodes of Wheel of Time season three. I'll still be watching it in April as well since it releases weekly. I don't want this show to end either. Ugh. Oh, and I'm also watching The Pitt on HBO Max. It's another weekly release, but I believe there are only a couple of episodes left.

April TBR

It's a new month, but there's still overflow for books I still need to read, and I'm reusing last month's TBR photo. Sorry, but I was too lazy to add a new one. I'm prepping for ApollyCon and dealing with a big work deadline, so I have no energy to gather books right now for photos. The review books I need to read include Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu, The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson (I actually finished this one in April!), The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig, Silvercloak by Laura Steven, and Arcana Academy by Elise Kova. I also would like to read Blood of Hercules by Jasmine Mas for my book club and A Fate of Wrath and Flame by K.A. Tucker to decide if I want to keep my FairyLoot order.

***

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 Blood & Ash Insanity 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.

ApollyCon is in a few days, and I am freaking out. I'm just not ready. I need another week to mentally and physically prep myself. Sigh. But, I am looking forward to it. And, oddly enough, I'm really looking forward to when it's over, as then I can read whatever I want without feeling bad I'm not reading a book by an attending author. I can just flow wherever my desires take me.

For this week's haul, I have so much Blood and Ash stuff. Like an insane amount of it. I don't know why all these orders decided to come in at this time, but it makes me look insane. I had been contacted by someone wanting to trade my Prettygal Pin ACOTAR set for their Hungarian Blood and Ash books and Witch Crown Box dust jackets. I accepted. The only issue was it took a few months for everything to get done because the person was traveling all over Europe. But, I got my trades, and they're beautiful.

 

 

These are the Witch Crown Box dust jackets. The person I traded with just put them on the Hungarian editions, as they're about the same size as the German editions, which are what they're originally intended to go on. I think I'll try to locate some German paperbacks eventually. I can't afford to do it right now. Two book boxes dropped news about Flesh and Fire sets going on sale in April. That, plus ApollyCon, plus two FairyLoot sets for sale is going to really hurt me. I definitely need to sell some more books.

 

 

 

Next up, I have the Walmart/Target exclusive of A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire. It actually was at my Walmart on release day which I thought was amazing. Most of the time, my store doesn't get new books in until a week after. I also got lucky that, out of the two left, this one was in good condition, because the other had a printing error. It was misaligned. As for the other books, I bought them on Amazon as I was getting tired of my FBAA dust jackets being without books. There was also a sale going on for buy-two-get-one-half-off. So, I bought A Fire in the Flesh and two copies of A Light in the Flame. The FBAA paperback wasn't part of the deal, but I needed it for a dust jacket. Now, what's odd is both the ALITF copies came with textured/scaly naked hardcovers and gray paper, almost like recycled paper or newspaper. The publisher is looking into it. I'm thinking it's just an error the printer didn't tell them about, as it was sold by Amazon. (Me from the future: That's exactly what it was.)

 

 

 

Did you think I was done with the Blood and Ash stuff? Ha! My Iridescent Fairytales From Blood and Ash copy arrived on Wednesday. It's a very pretty dust jacket with gold, raised foiling on the front and  back. It has sprayed/stenciled edges as well. There's a reversible dust jacket with character art, which I like too. I may need to track down another copy so I can display it. (Again, I sound/look insane right now.) The box came with some goodies, including a metal bookmark, a replica of Poppy's dagger, a sticker, and two page overlays that together make one scene.

 

 

And next, I have an order I made after I'd already bought a ton of stuff last Friday. I had no idea this thing was going to be available, and I don't regret buying it, but it is like the second- or third-most expensive FBAA book I own, simply because the seller is having financial problems and no one knows what the heck that means for these editions. And I don't even know how I missed the original sale for these. I follow the shop on Instagram and I get their newsletter, so I have no clue what happened. But, I got lucky and noticed someone selling a few Chest of Fandoms editions on Mercari. I contacted the seller to ask if she had this one, and she did! So, I bought the rare Chest of Fandoms German A Fire in the Flesh edition. Once I heard that I'd missed the sale for this and the seller was in trouble, I honestly thought I'd never get my hands on a copy. But somehow, someway, with a lot of money, it happened.

And lastly, I have the only non-FBAA books of the bunch. The new foiled paperback edition of Shadow Princess by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti just came out. I'm going to have three sets of this series, and I don't know how to feel about that considering there are like nine books in the regular series with multiple novella collections too. I hate that the authors offer exclusive bonus content in these new editions. It's so annoying. If they ever release all extra scenes in a bind-up one day, I probably won't keep these foiled editions. Maybe... I'm not sure, as they also edited the first books a bit to give them a little more umph. But, hopefully, the editions the authors sold that I preordered last year also have the edits. That way I won't feel bad about getting rid of the foiled copies. Don't get me wrong, the foiled copies are pretty, but I have a sentimental connection to the original covers. I also decided to order the second book in Rina Kent's Legacy of Gods series, God of Pain, from Walmart online because I wanted the purple edges to match my other books in the series. I actually ordered the first book too, but my order was canceled since it was out of stock. Rude. I'll have to hunt it down resale. 

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

My First 2025 Unhaul

It's time for my first unhaul post of 2025, and this one was way larger than I expected it to be. I honestly forgot I sold some books earlier this year. When I looked at my most recent unhaul post, I remembered the others, and it's a long list.

 

First up, I sold some special editions that I didn't need/want anymore. Those include the FairyLoot editions of Book of Night by Holly Black, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy, and One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig. I also got rid of the Melissa Roehrich Lady of Darkness and Lady of Shadows Arcane editions. 

 

 

I sold my Cassandra Clare FairyLoot The Last Hours set. I'm just not in love with the other editions FairyLoot did for the other books in this world, so I decided it wasn't worth it to keep these. I also just don't really care about the Shadowhunter world much anymore, sadly. It was so hard to get into one of the more recent books, and I still haven't finished it, so I don't think I'll ever continue the series, unfortunately.

 

 

 

This is a list of books that just were on my shelves for too long, and I never really felt the need to read them. So, I sold The Sword and the Dagger, Heart of Thorns, To Kill a Kingdom, Revolt, Dragonslayer, Star Bringer, Spine of the Dragon, To Snap a Silver Stem, To Flame a Wild Flower, A Dash of Salt and Pepper, Beasts of the Briar, and The Wish (read this one as a kid and just don't feel the need to keep it like Gail Carson Levine's other books). I also threw in an ARC of Ink Blood Sister Scribe for free in this lot sale. I think I got like $20 for all of these, by the way. I don't sell books for a profit, usually, unless they're special editions. 

 

  

 

I also got rid of some other books, including On the Hunt, Ransom My Heart (replaced with a nicer copy), five books in the Shadowdance series, the Mistborn trilogy (I think I want the newer covers or I'll wait for better editions), Polaris (I need to replace this one), and the To All the Boys trilogy (cute trilogy, but I'm over YA contemporary, so I just didn't need to keep it). 

 

And next, I have a stack of books that I replaced/arrived in poor condition and didn't want to keep. They include the boxset of The Hunger Games trilogy (I preordered the boxset coming out this summer that includes the two newer books, so I'm selling my old copies), Alienated (replaced), the A Beautiful Dark trilogy (came gross from a seller), Snow Likes Ashes (replaced my copy), Murtagh and A Sky Beyond the Storm (came gross from Book Outlet), and A Light in the Flame (arrived gross from a seller).

***

Have you unhauled any books recently? Let me know in the comments below!