Book reviews and more by Roxy – Book lover and bookstragamer. I like to write reviews on books I read and recommending manga and books that I love.

Shadow and Bone thoughts and Updates

Today I’m here to give my thoughts on Shadow and Bone but to also give some updates and share what I read in April.

Honestly, when was the last time I posted? I decided on a whim to post a review for Grown because it was a book that was definitely worth discussing. But other than that, I haven’t posted since I have moved. The beginning of this year has been rough and I went through a pretty bad mental health phase, but thankfully I am better and motivated to post again!

I had planned to make a Booktube channel this year but I’ve decided to wait till next year. In the meantime, I definitely plan to make a book tik tok account because it might be easier for me to make those for now. If you are interested in following, my booktok account is @roxysfictionalworld.

I think the main reason I’m making this post today is this…

Now I’m probably not the first person to write a blog post about Shadow and Bone. I’m certainly not the only one who can’t stop talking about this show. Shadow and Bone came out on my birthday and I was super excited to watch it. I think what I was most excited for was to see Ben Barnes play the Darkling!

First off, I didn’t have my hopes up going into Shadow and Bone. I’ve seen a lot of book to movie adaptions and a lot of them weren’t good. I mean, don’t get me started on Game of Thrones… Talking about that show still leaves a sour taste in my mouth, but we’re not here to talk about that. I was afraid of any unnecessary changes that the creators of Shadow and Bone might make in the show. Now it’s been a long time since I’ve read the Shadow and Bone trilogy but I can briefly remember what happens in the books. Personally, I loved Six of Crows more and it was such a stand out book to me, especially with it’s amazing cast of characters.

I finished Shadow and Bone in two days and I loved it! I have some critiques but I will talk about that later. I really loved the casting for the characters in the show and I think everyone of them really did great in their roles. I was so impressed by Ben Barnes as the Darkling and Freddy Carter is amazing as Kaz, Amita Suman of course, is the perfect Inej. She is exactly how I imagined Inej looks like and she really brought her character to life in the show.

I know a lot of people were confused about what was happening with the Crow’s storyline in Shadow and Bone. Six of Crows takes place after the events of Shadow and Bone, so what happened in the show was a prequel. So obviously, we didn’t get to see what happened in the book, rather we got to see Kaz, Inej and Jesper attempt to take Alina for a large amount of Kruge. I really love how these characters ended up meeting in the show, I think I would not have liked this but I thought that they wove the Crow’s story and Alina’s story together very well in the show.

Now, we didn’t get to see too much of Matthias and Nina. I’ll be honest, I don’t know how I felt about the casting of these characters but as soon as I saw them in the show, I loved them! Seeing these two characters really made me emotional, especially after reading Rule of Wolves. If you have read Rule of Wolves, you know what I’m talking about… But, I’ll go into Rule of Wolves in a seperate review soon.

Now, I’ve talked about how much I loved this show. It’s truly one of the best book to TV show adaptions I have ever seen and I finished this first season feeling fulfilled and satisfied with how the first season wrapped up. However, there are issues that I feel I should address that I feel should not have been brought into the show,

Jessie Mei Li was cast as Alina Starkov, who is an Asian actress. In the TV show, Alina is half Shu and I along with everyone else was happy to see an Asian actress take on this role. Originally in the books, Alina isn’t part Shu but I was happy to see that they made the change in the show to have more diversity. However, as I watched the show and saw a lot of commentary on Twitter… Something was very prominent in the show; the racism towards Alina and her Shu heritage. If you have also watched the show, you might know and remember the distinct words that are said to Alina. Someone called her a ‘Rice eater’ while another comment was made about her appearance, one of the tailor’s asked if they could make her eyes ‘less Shu’.

As a white woman, I won’t always understand the racism that BIPOC and AAPI are constantly faced with, but I make it a priority to research and to read what people from this community have to say. It’s so important to listen to their voices and their thoughts on this subject, especially since it was brought into this show. My big question for this is why make it a part of the show? Was it really necessary? Perhaps they really wanted to show Alina’s struggles in trying to be part of the Grisha, but was the racism really a necessary part of her story? I personally feel that this was very unnecessary to have in the show, I hope that they fix this in the later seasons and leave this out of the show all together in the future. That was really my biggest critique about the show in general and a lot of people felt the same way about it.

Apparently the show will have about 5 seasons, that’s what I have heard at least. Honestly, I might need to rewatch it because I loved it so much. When will we get season 2? I’m already highly anticipating the next season even though it will probably be a few years until we get the next season. In the meantime, I definitely plan to rewatch season 1 and perhaps at some point, I will have to reread the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows.

Review: Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

It’s been awhile everyone but I wanted to come back with a review of a book that I just finished reading.

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson released last year and I had it preordered. Considering I’ve been having my best reading month of the year, I decided to pick this book up and oh boy, was I in for a ride.

TW: This book contains themes such as sexual assault, child abuse and addiction.

Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson

Rating: 4/5 Stars ★★★★

Synopsis:

Korey Fields is dead.

When Enchanted Jones wakes with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night, no one—the police and Korey’s fans included—has more questions than she does. All she really knows is that this isn’t how things are supposed to be. Korey was Enchanted’s ticket to stardom.

Before there was a dead body, Enchanted was an aspiring singer, struggling with her tight knit family’s recent move to the suburbs while trying to find her place as the lone Black girl in high school. But then legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots her at an audition. And suddenly her dream of being a professional singer takes flight.

Enchanted is dazzled by Korey’s luxurious life but soon her dream turns into a nightmare. Behind Korey’s charm and star power hides a dark side, one that wants to control her every move, with rage and consequences. Except now he’s dead and the police are at the door. Who killed Korey Fields?

All signs point to Enchanted.

First off, I really appreciated that this book had Twigger Warnings at the beginning of the book. I don’t see this often in books and I was so glad to see it with this one!

It’s hard for me to rate this because on the one hand, I loved this book but on the other, I was feeling uncomfortable and almost triggered by what had happened to the main character in this book. Seeing her getting manipulated by an older man, abused, drugged and raped was really sick to read. But this stuff unfortunately happens in real life and while it was hard for me to read, it made me think about these topics. Especially in regards to what happens to Black Women.

The book greatly explained how if these things had happened to a White Girl, the police would have done something write away. But since these crimes were happing to Black girls, the police seemed to be doing the bare minimum to help them. This is heartbreaking but unfortunately we have seen these things happen in real life as well, considering the police brutality against Black people and and children.

But this was also a mystery as well and there were chapters that would take place in present time, while a majority of them took place in the past when Enchanted met Korey. While we get to see Enchanted’s story unfold, we also go to the present day where they are trying to find out who killed Korey. All the blame is put on Enchanted, who was found at the scene of the crime.

I could go on about everything that happened, but wow, this book was a wild ride. I really loved that it had short chapters and it made it a quick read, it was also so hard for me to put down. I finished this in two days, proof that I could barely stop reading it! It was so well written and the ending of the book had me mind blown.

This was my first book by Tiffany D. Jackson and it certainly won’t be my last. I definitely plan to read her other books and can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag!

Hey everyone! Oops, I know it’s been awhile since I have posted but I am back with a new blog post. This time I thought, it would be fun to do the mid year book freak out tag… Um, it’s not too late to do this right? Because I meant to finish writing this months ago, but life got in the way.

Let’s be real, I’m always freaking out about books… Whether it’s about books that I love or the amount of books I have on my TBR. (Yikes) So I wanted to give the Mid Year Book Freak out tag a shot. I know a lot of people with youtube channels do this tag but I thought it would be fun to make a blog post!

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2020

There were so many great books I’ve read this year so I narrowed it down to three… The first one is of course, House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas which I LOVED so much and was so worth the wait. The next book is Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson, which is the third book in the Stormlight Archive series. Also, this is the BIGGEST book I have read this year and it’s going to be a long series as well!

My last favourite is The Black Flamingo, I loved this book so much. I’m a little dead inside because I don’t have a physical copy of this book, but I adored the audiobook.

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2020.

Look, there’s a few contenders for this as well… But it has to go to Aurora Burning! Oh, this book… Absolutely amazing, but that ending almost made me SCREAM.

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.

There’s so many amazing new releases that came out this year that I have been wanting to read. Some I have gotten to, but there are still some that I haven’t read yet. One that I have been looking forward to reading is The Silence of Bones by June Hur, which is her debut novel. I’m thinking I might get to this book in September because this sounds like the perfect book to read as the weather becomes cooler!

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Haha… Okay, so I again I have a few for this one and of course one of them is The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. If you know how much I love Brandon Sanderson’s books, you won’t be surprised that Rhythm of War is my next anticipated release as well, probably my most anticipated release of the second part of the year! When Holly Black announced the next Cruel Prince novella would be coming out in November, I almost freaked out because I love this series a lot.

5. Biggest disappointment.

Oh… This is a sad one. I’m going to have to go with Unravel the Dusk by Elizabeth Lim, I absolutely loved Spin the Dawn and I was super excited for the sequel! However, I found this book just didn’t have the magic the first book had, but it was still a decent sequel. I actually struggled reading this book because I felt that some parts were just rushed.

6. Biggest surprise.

This book, I Hope You Get This Message is a seriously underrated book and a book I don’t see anyone else talking about! I didn’t expect much going into this book, in fact, I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. However, the writing in this book was good and I just loved the story.

7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)

Writer Shannon Chakraborty of Brooklyn Speculative Fiction Writers (BSFW) 02/13/2016

I recently read The City of Brass and I loved it a lot and I’m really looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I was seriously so impressed with how well written this book and it is S.A. Chakraborty’s debut novel! I know it’s the first book and only book I’ve read by her, but I’m expecting the next books in this series and other books she write will be just as great!

8. Newest fictional crush.

Kaladin Stormblessed from the Stormlight Archive… I love him and I just adore him so much. I fell in love with him reading Words of Radiance and Oathbringer, ugh, he’s perfect to me.

9. Newest favourite character.

My new favourite cast of characters is definitely these characters from the Shadow of The Fox trilogy by Julie Kagawa! Wow, I don’t think I can really describe my complete love for this series and the characters (I plan to post a review of the trilogy soon) but these are just some of my new favourite fictional characters!

10. Book that made you cry.

When I tell you The Stars and The Blackness Between Them made me cry… Well, that’s an understatement. I literally was sobbing after I finished this book, like SOBBING. To say the least, this book broke me but it was such a beautiful story!

11. Book that made you happy.

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman… The WHOLE series so far. Oh, how I adore this graphic novel series so much! Every time I read these, I always feel warm and fuzzy and so happy. This graphic novel is just so adorable and wholesome and makes me smile! Some other books that make me happy is The House in The Cerulean Sea and The Prince and The Dressmaker.

12. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)

I know I sound like a broken record when I say this, but I have SO MANY beautiful books I have bought this year… I mean, I have so many beautiful Waterstones and Illumicrate editions now so it’s hard to choose just one. But a book that I recently bought is Star Daughter and I am obsessed with this cover! It’s honestly even more stunning in person.

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

Wait, is this based off my Goodreads reading goal or my TBR in general? Because if we’re talking about my physical TBR, then there’s TOO MANY. But for my Goodreads reading goal, I only need to read 14 more books and then I’ll have 100 books this year! I mean, the amount of books I have read this year is ASTRONOMICAL.

That concludes this post. I’m sorry that I didn’t post for awhile, I was dealing with other things in life but I’m hopefully going to posting here more actively from now on! If you are a blogger as well, feel free to use this tag as well, I really had fun doing it.

Review: The House In The Cerulean Sea

Hello everyone… Yes, I’m posting again today because why not?

So, I’ve decided to post another review… This time for The House In The Cerulean Sea. I actually didn’t plan on posting a full review of this book, but I just feel the need to! This book released this year and I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about it, so obviously, I had to buy myself a copy and read it.

The House In The Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

Rating: 5/5 Stars ★★★★★

Synopsis:

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

I really didn’t know what to expect exactly going into this book, but I didn’t expect it to basically steal my heart and soul… You ever read a book that just warms your heart and soul and leaves you breathless? This is one of those books.

First off, the magic elements kind of reminded me of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. In this world, magical children are sent to special orphanages and are not accepted by society because of what they are capable of. The main character Linus Baker is a case worker who works for DICOMY (Department in Charge of Magical Youth) he is sent to Marsyas Island’s Orphanage to investigate it and to observe the children living there. Linus is a straightforward man, who is there to do his job but things change as he stays at the island.

The children are different, unique and magical and seeing how they change Linus’ life is honestly so beautiful and heart warming. There is also Arthur, who runs the orphanage and cares for the children like his own. Unfortunately, because of the what the children can do and what they look like, they are faced with a lot of hate, especially when they go and visit the village. As this story progresses, Linus’s perspective is changed and he soon becomes attached to the children of the orphanage and to Arthur.

The plot of the story is so beautiful, but the writing makes it so wonderful as well. There were so many beautiful quotes that made my heart ache and just made me feel warm and fuzzy as well. Below are some of the beautiful qoutes from this book…

“Hate is loud, but I think you’ll learn it’s because it’s only a few people shouting, desperate to be heard. You might not ever be able to change their minds, but so long as your remember you’re not alone, you will overcome.”

“A home isn’t always the house we live in. It’s also the people we choose to surround ourselves with. You may not live on the island, but you can’t tell me it’s not your home. Your bubble, Mr. Baker. It’s been popped. Why would you allow it to grow around you again?”

“Sometimes our prejudices color our thoughts when we least expect them to. If we can recognize that, and learn from it, we can become better people.”

“We get trapped in our own little bubbles, and even though the world is a wide and mysterious place, our bubbles keep us safe from that. To our detriment.” She sighed. “But it’s so easy because there’s something soothing about routine. Day in and day out, it’s always the same. When we’re shaken from that, when that bubble bursts, it can be hard to understand all that we’ve missed.”

Those are just some of the amazing quotes from this novel. This book was so heartwarming and made me happy, it was definitely something I needed to read. I found no flaws within this book and I ended up giving it 5 stars because I loved it so much! I also should add that is also an LGBTQ+ book and I loved the relationship that develops in this book!

I hope you all enjoyed this review. I would definitely recommend reading The House In The Cerulean sea, It’s one of the best books I’ve read this year!

Books by Black Authors that I’ve recently bought and am Currently reading

Hello again everyone.

I I really wanted to post this on Juneteenth, but unfortunately, life got busy and I just didn’t have the energy to write and post this. However, I really wanted to write a post all about books by black authors specifically. I’ve recently taken a good look at my shelves and what I have read… Most of the books I read are by white authors. There is a lack of books by Black Authors on my bookshelves and through Instagram and BLM, I’ve been learning about some amazing books by Black Authors and have bought a few myself.

Recently, I bought a few books by Black Authors and have requested some from my local library. There are so many amazing books by Black Authors and I really encourage you all to look up and buy some books by them as well. It’s so important to support them and there really are a ton of great books to choose from! Honestly, there’s SO many more books by Black Authors that I desperately want but here are are some that I have bought recently or have read.

The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta

The Black Flamingo is a book that I recently discovered. I don’t own a physical copy of this book, but I borrowed the audiobook from my local library. After finishing this beautiful book, I think I can say that this is one of my favourite books ever. Really, I can’t begin to describe how much I adore this book! It’s written in verse and is also LGBTQ+, explores family, identity and sexuality. It’s a really beautiful book that I think everyone should read so I highly encourage you to pick it up! If you cannot get the physical copy, I would highly recommend the audiobook since the author narrates it and does a fabulous job!

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

This is a book that released this year and one that I was definitely excited about picking up! This is another LGBTQ+ following a transgender main character name Felix Love. This was another very beautiful and heartwarming story with so much queer representation and I adored it as well. I actually started this one for Queer Blackathon which started on Juneteenth and ended on the 20th.

The Stars and The Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus

This is another book that I also started for Queer Blackathon as well. I decided to get the Audiobook for this through Audible and I am currently listening to it. I really love the story so far and the narration is really great! This book follows two characters, Mabel and Audre. When Audre is caught with her girlfriend, her religious mother sends her away from Trinidad to America to live with her father. Mabel and Audre meet and she helps Audre navigate life in America and in high school as well.

Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett

Full Disclosure is a book that again, I recently discovered because I haven’t heard too much about it. But once I read the synopsis, I knew that this was one that I wanted to pick up. The book follow’s a main character who has HIV and I’ve never read any books about characters with HIV. I’m really intrigued by this book and cannot wait to read it!

Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams

Genesis Begins Again was definitely added to my cart as soon as I finished reading the synopsis. This sounds like a heartbreaking novel, but also very important. This book follows Genesis who is trying to learn to love herself despite dealing with internalized racism and verbal abuse. The synopsis itself had me feeling emotional, so I’m sure that this book is going to be a powerful read.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Okay… I have not read this book and I just recently bought it. Why did it take so long for me to even buy it? I am baffled that I waited so long to get this book. I know that so many people love this book and I have been meaning to pick this book up for awhile. Plus, there is also a movie adaption which I plan on watching once I read this book.

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas

Of course, I wanted to get Angie Thomas’ book, On The Come Up as well. I bought both of these off a certain site for a good price so I thought I should get this book as well. This book follows the daughter of an underground rap legend who wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. I’m really intrigued by the rap element and I think it will be another interesting and diverse book to read.

Slay by Brittney Morris

Slay is a book that I have been hearing A LOT of good things about recently, so I’m very glad I bought this one as well! Not only does it have a gorgeous cover, but the story itself sounds amazing. The book is described as Ready, Player One meets The Hate U Give, which sounds really interesting. The main character of the book is the developer of an online game, so needless to say, this is another one that I’m very excited about reading.

Clap When You Land By Elizabeth Acevedo

Believe it or not, I have not read an Elizabeth Acevedo book! This is my first book by her and I’m really excited to read this, because I’ve heard nothing but great things about it as well. Honestly, I really want to read all of Elizabeth’s books because they all sound so good. Like the Black Flamingo, this book is also written in verse so I’m expecting that the writing will be stunning!

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

I’ve been slowly listening to Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi. My copy unfortunately got returned but I plan to continue listening to it once I can borrow it again from my library. I really find the book informative and eye opening so I wanted to buy this book which is also written by Jason Reynolds. There’s a few books on Anti-Racism by Black Authors I want to read and this is one that I definitely want to read as soon as I can. I would also highly recommend Stamped from the Beginning as well, because it will surely make you think about America’s history as you read it.

Those are all the books by Black Authors that I have bought recently. I highly encourage you all to find books by Black Authors as well because there are so many amazing books out there! I’ll be making another post about books by Black Authors that are on my book wish list because oh boy, there’s so many more that I want to read!

May wrap-up, Medieval-a-thon reading challenge.

Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well!

Before I start with my post… I want to highlight something really important: Black Lives Matter. I don’t want to post something without highlighting the issues that our world is facing right now. Black Lives Matter and I really want to spread the awareness of the issues that black people are facing in America and around the world. As someone who constantly uses social media, I want to use my platform to spread awareness of these issues.

Here, you can find ways to donate and sign petitions. I highly encourage you sign, donate and research and spread the word! Please, please, please do whatever you can to support the movement.

May went by fast for me… Even though I haven’t been working. But I had a really good reading month, so I thought I would make my first post a wrap-up of everything I have read this month. I participated in the Medieval-a-thon reading challenge this month, which is hosted and created by Hollyheartsbooks. If you are not familiar with the challenge, I’ll leave photos from the challenge down below.

I was able to achieve the rank of Empress fro this reading challenge! I read two other books that weren’t part of this reading challenge, so overall I read 9 books in May. Below are the books that I read for the Medieval-a-thon challenge. I won’t be going into long reviews for these books, instead, I will write a short review on my thoughts for each book. Along with each review I will also put what outfit, pet companion or weapon I got by reading that book.

#1: A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer (Outfit: Green on the dust jacket)

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars ★★★★ .5

A Curse So Dark and Lonely took bookstagram by storm when the book first released. I definitely jumped on the hype train and pre-ordered this book and loved it. However, I was excited for the sequel but did hear some pretty mixed reviews about A Heart So Fierce and Broken. I actually really enjoyed A Heart So Fierce and Broken as much as the first book, A Curse So Dark and Lonely. The ending of this one was pretty intense and I really can’t wait for the next book!

#2: Crier’s War by Nina Varela (Outfit: A Pristine Book)

Rating: 4/5 Stars ★★★★

Crier’s War is a book with not only a stunning cover, but this book also has a F/F romance! I don’t have much to say about this book but I really enjoyed it. I must say that this book’s greatest strength was the beautiful writing, I mean the writing was REALLY good. This book also has a pretty unique premise and fantasy which I’m assuming will be expanded on in the second book, Iron Heart. I’m hoping that the next book will have romance, since the relationship in this book was definitely slow burn.

#3: The Slow Regard of Silent Things (The Name of the Wind #2.5) by Patrick Rothfuss (Outfit: a book under 300 pages)

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars ★★★.5

I love, love, love The Name of The Wind series by Patrick Rothfuss. I’m not going to get started on the release of the third book because, um… No one seems to know when that book will come out. However, I was still pretty excited to pick this novella which follows the character Auri.

While I love the writing and I found the story interesting, I wasn’t blown away by this book. It was strange and a tad bit confusing but I still liked what I read. Overall, I just couldn’t connect to the story and I wasn’t hooked as I was with The Name of The Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear.

#4: Vicious (Villains #1) by V.E. Schwab (Shield: a book you have HIGH expectations for)

Rating: 5/5 Stars ★★★★★

I loved V.E. Schwab’s Shades of Magic series so I was definitely super excited to FINALLY read Vicious. This book has been on my TBR for a bit and I’ve heard nothing but great things about it.

Unsurprisingly, the writing in this book was fantastic. The characters were fantastic… Flawed and fantastic. I just loved the overall concept of superpowers, Villains and revenge. This book had all of it and it was so entertaining and great.

#5: The Dragon Republic (The Poppy War #2) by R.F. Kuang (Axe: a Heavy Book)

Rating: 5/5 Stars ★★★★★

Are you wanting a fantasy series that will make you feel anxious and… Well, scared? If you want something dark, grim and fast-paced I would recommend the Poppy War series. While I loved the first book, there are a few trigger warnings for this series. Since it is dark and violent, the book contains rape, extreme violence and drug use. I definitely found the first book VERY dark so be wary if you want to read this.

The Dragon Republic takes place after the events of the Poppy War. In this book, there is a lot of war, military warfare and violence. There is also a lot at stake for our characters and by the end of this book, I definitely did feel emotionally exhausted. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the Dragon Republic, as much as the first book in this series. The ending of this book really has me wanting the last book, The Burning God, ASAP.

#6: Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) by Julie Kagawa (Sword: Something pointy on the cover)

Rating: 5/5 Stars ★★★★★

Oh, where do I start with this book? I absolutely adored Shadow of The Fox, I mean, I just absolutely love Japanese mythology SO MUCH. This series seriously satisfies my need for a good Japanese fantasy book. Reading Shadow of The Fox gave me Naruto and Demon Slayer vibes.

Soul of The Sword follows the events of Shadow of The Fox, this book was fast paced and intense. I loved this book as much as Shadow of The Fox and has a great cast of characters as well. Really, I want to say more about this but I’ll just keep screaming about how much I love it, to be honest. Needless to say, I think this might be my new favourite series!

#7: The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht (Chicken: a scary book)

Rating: 3/5 Stars ★★★

The Monster of Elendhaven is a book that I’ve had on my radar for a bit. I finally got a copy and new that I wanted to read this for the reading challenge, plus the book is quite short!

While the book was creepy and violent, I wouldn’t say that it is spooky or scary. Again, I wasn’t blown away by this book and was not connected to the story, though I did find it interesting. Some parts of this were kind of confusing and the plot fell flat for me though, I did like the relationship between the two main characters.

#8: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars ★★★.5

I’ve talked about this book a lot on my Instagram and have put a review up on my goodreads as well. If you are interested, I also have an IGTV video on Instagram where you can listen to my thoughts and feelings on this book.

I didn’t go into this book with high expectations but it did end up being different than what I expected. Of course, I’m not going to say too much because I don’t want to spoil the book

#9: Love Her or Lose Her (Hot & Hammered #2) by Tessa Bailey

Rating: 4/5 Stars ★★★★

This book is a sequel or companion novel to Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed that book and knew that I wanted to read this book! This book follows a different set of characters that were also in Fix Her Up, Dominic and Rosie. Dominic and Rosie have been married for years but they’re marriage is falling apart. Deciding to visit a Hippie marriage counselor, Dominic and Rosie’s marriage is tested as they both learn new things about each other and try fix their relationship.

I enjoyed this as much as Fix Her up, I even cried at one point in this book because I could relate to the Dominic and Rosie’s relationship struggles. Also, this book is STEAMY which I really didn’t mind because I wanted something steamy, fun and light to read. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and was the perfect romance novel to read, especially after reading so much fantasy and Sci-fi books.