Book Cover with the Sun | TTT | 8/15/23

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Please check out her website for more TTT topics!

This week’s topic is: ~~Characters from Different Books Who Should Team Up (or date, be friends with, etc.)~~

Book Cover with the Sun

I don’t have the mental capacity to do the actual TTT topic this week, so I’m going with something SUPER easy and still summer themed. Here are book covers with the sun in the title or on the cover. Enjoy your summer!

What’s on your TTT?

Goodreads Monday: Heart of Night and Fire

Happy Monday!

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme where you chose a random book from your Goodreads TBR and show it off. This meme is hosted by Budget Tales Book Blog.

Title: Heart of Night and Fire

Author: Nisha J. Tuli

Pages: 379

Links: Goodreads | Amazon

Publication Date: 9/15/23

Synopsis:

A city of magic. A passion born in dreams. A secret that will set their world aflame.

Packed with enemies-to-lovers tension, heart-pounding action and devastating twists, The Nightfire Quartet is an epic fantasy romance that begins with a slow burn and builds in intensity. Perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Jennifer L. Armentrout and Carissa Broadbent.

For years, Zarya has been trapped in a gilded prison. Her magic is forbidden, a dangerous secret—though nobody will explain why. Now she is ready to break free and find the truth.

Escaping to the dazzling city of Dharati, Zarya discovers a new world of enchantment and intrigue. With the help of seductive, blood-drinking rakshasa and magic-weaving Aazheri sorcerers, she searches for answers.

But the city is under siege. Every night, dark creatures attack. And since Zarya’s arrival they are growing stronger. To protect her new home, Zarya joins the fight.

As she battles on the walls and hunts through libraries for clues about her gifts, Zarya’s dreams are haunted by a mysterious stranger. Powerful, arrogant and handsome, Rabin sees through her secrets and ignites a desire she cannot resist. But can he be trusted?

When darkness threatens to overwhelm Dharati, Zarya is faced with a deadly choice. Will revealing her magic save the city? Or destroy everything she loves?

Enter a glittering new world inspired by Indian mythology and prepare to discover your new obsession.

Do you have plans to read this book? Let me know in the comments below!

Weekly Wrap Up | 8/13/23

Aloha friends!

What a week. So my kids went back to school and they had the first day jitters. My daughter had an incident the second day with the girl sitting next to her. I guess the girl grabbed her arm because she thought my daughter was hiding a toy in her palm, which she wasn’t and the girl wanted to see. My daughter wasn’t okay with the arm pulling so she cried – and now sits next to someone she had in Kindergarten. She was sad because her whole Kinder class was split up – she only has 2 kids from her kinder class in her 1st grade class. Her bestie is in another class which made her sad but the rest of the week was great and fun for her. As for my son, he was having 5th grade drama lol…his two besties got into a fight. So he was being mediator….and they are all friends again! Thank goodness – it’s only the first week of school.😅

Tuesday was a really messed up day. My parents were flying to Vegas and they got delayed because of a problem with the plane, but the wind. The wind was crazy from Monday and Tuesday. We had Hurricane Dora passing 100’s of miles SOUTH of us…it was not close to us at all, so we had no Hurricane warnings meaning we weren’t going to be hit by it, but we did have high wind alerts. I’m on the island of Oahu and it was so windy my dog was scared to go in the backyard because everything was blowing around. The wind kept me up at night, everything was banging around and I texted my friend who lives in the valley (I live on the drier west side) and she said it was super windy but hot too. I was even telling my kids wow, I can’t believe a hurricane so far away is generating high winds on our island. Sometimes we get these freak high wind days (without a hurricane around) and I stay wary because trees and branches will come down on the road. Anyway later in the day, there was news of a major wildfire destroying the town of Lahaina on the island of Maui.

I have cousins on Maui but they don’t live in Lahaina so they are safe. 🙏🏼 There were multiple fires burning on the island but the one near Lahaina really exploded with the high winds. Talking to so many friends and family, they know families and friends that lost homes, businesses, and we are still waiting on news of some missing people (my mom’s friend). It is devastating. Last time I went to Lahaina was 20 years ago and I was 25….anyway my kids and I donated clothes yesterday and I’ve been donating money online to different organizations. Living on an island is hard when a disaster hits because we are so isolated, we have to fly in help and resources so that takes time. The death toll is now at 89, and we are heartbroken, mourning and are praying for the families, people, rescue workers, volunteers and everyone affected by this major tragedy. Please keep them in your prayers!🙏🏼

Here are some ways to help:

https://www.civilbeat.org/2023/08/help-maui-fire-victims-heres-how-you-can-donate/

Blog Posts:

#5OnMyTBR: Woods
Goodreads Monday: Unholy Terrors
Happy Book Birthday | New Releases | 8/8/23
Books I’ve Read/Want to Read Because of Top Ten Tuesday | TTT | 8/8/23
WWW Wednesday | 8/9/23
Her Radiant Curse by. Elizabeth Lim | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Together We Rot by. Skyla Arndt | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Bookish Travels – July 2023 Destinations
Sign of the Slayer by. Sharina Harris | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Monthly Wrap Up | July 2023

Books I Read:

Currently Reading:

Shows/Movies I Watched:

The Summer I Turned Pretty – …Belly 🙄 leave those brothers alone ugh….I know she won’t since I read the books lol
Okay did anyway watch Taylor’s concerts on Tiktok? I was trying to catch them here and there to hear the surprise songs but I definitely stayed longer to watch on her last show because it was the last show. Thank YOU to all the people streaming the show on tiktok…I mean how awesome we get to watch for free lol. Also to hold your phone up for like 3 hours? I couldn’t do it!

How was your week? Did you get a lot done? Watch anything good? Read any amazing books or books you didn’t finish? What are you reading?…Leave me a comment below!

Monthly Wrap Up | July 2023

July was such an interesting reading month. I had some really good reads and 2 not so good ones (and usually I don’t have many of 2 1/2 stars so I felt like I had some ups and downs this month! More ups though which is great since outside of reading I felt like July was a bleh kind of month for me with my biopsy and healing from that. I also had best friends going through their own health problems of their own so we were bonding over that but it also sucks that we’ve been going through some physically painful things! I hope and pray next month is better on the health front for EVERYONE and we get some amazing, good books to read!

What I Posted: 16 Books

5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️:

4.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫:

4 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

3.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫:

3 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️⭐️:

2.5 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️💫

2 Star Reads – ⭐️⭐️

I read about 12 books this month, the other 4 I read months before, but I think 12 was a good, easy number. I didn’t push myself hard this month.

How was your month in review?

Sign of the Slayer by. Sharina Harris | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Sign of the Slayer

Author: Sharina Harris

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 464

Publication Date: 8/29/23

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Urban Fantasy, Vampires, Vampire Slayers

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Entangled Teen for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Full Metal Alchemist meets Vampire Diaries in this fun and clever dark academia series…

High school is supposed to be about studying, socializing, and marching-band practice. Not fighting vampires. Then one night flipped my world inside out―now, my life sucks. But it isn’t all bad. I’m at a slayer academy, learning things like the real origin of vamps and how to make serious weapons out of thin air.

Every last one of them will pay for what they did. I’m doing great.

Until I come face-to-face with the actual vampire prince…and I’m not sure of anything anymore. Vampires are supposed to be soul-sucking demons. But Khamari is…something else. He’s intelligent and reasonable―and he seems to know things about me that could change everything.

He’s also hiding something big, even from his own kind. And when a threat from an ancient evil is so extreme that a vampire will team up with a slayer to take it down, it isn’t just my need for revenge that’s at stake anymore.

It’s the whole damn world.

Content Warning: violence, blood

Raven is just a regular girl, riding a bus when all of a sudden she and her friends are attacked by vampires. From there Raven is thrusted into the world of vampires and vampire slayers. She’s a vampire slayer apparently and a powerful one at that.

I liked that the story is fast paced and filled with a lot of action and vampire slaying. I thought the cast was a nice diverse set of characters and the story about Alexander the Great being the King of Vampires is a fascinating take. But I think there were a few things that was rushed and there was definite insta-love or should I say insta-lust? But it’s a forbidden love between a vampire and a slayer, which is always a fun trope. I’d have liked a bit more world-building. I thought it was so quick how Raven went from being attacked on a bus and then boom, accepting her fate as a slayer and being a leader. I didn’t feel as connected to the story but I thought this first book has so much potential.

As for Raven she does kick ass and she has a strong personality but I want to see some growth. It would be interesting to see what happens to her in the next book.

Tropes: forbidden love, insta love

Why you should read it:

you like Buffy the Vampire Slayer
there’s a lot of action

Why you might not want to read it:

not into vampires

My Thoughts:

There is a lot to like about this one especially if you are into Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I think teens and young adults will enjoy this one a lot and it’s a great read for Fall!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Bookish Travels – July 2023 Destinations

The original creator of this bookish meme is Yvonne from It’s All About Books. I saw it first on the blog Read With Me. Please check out and follow both blogs for more awesome book content!

The goal of the meme is to showcase the places where the books you’ve read has taken you. Books are always an adventure and it’s honestly one of the reasons why I love reading. So here is where my June reading list have taken me:

Countries I Visited: United States, Germany, Norway, France

States I Visited: Colorado, Georgia, New York, California, Massachusetts, Michigan, Texas, Georgia

Georgia (?)

Hemlock Falls

Morning Realms, Zanhei City

Hagendorn; Dänwik; Kerzenthal

Switchback Ridge, Colorado; New York City, New York

Hrafnsvik, Ljosland – Norway

Trier, Germany; The Black Forest

Eana

Eana-Gevra-Sunkissed Kingdom

San Diego, California

Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts

Chicago, Illinois

North Bear Shores, Michigan

Below; Lakesedge

Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Paris, France

I definitely went around the world in July! I like the variety of place my books to me to. ✈️🌎

If you want to try out this meme just got to It’s All About Books to see what it’s all about!

Together We Rot by. Skyla Arndt | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Together We Rot

Author: Skyla Arndt

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 272

Publication Date: 8/29/23

Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers

Categories: Young Adult, Horror, Mystery, Fantasy, Romance, Suspense

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Viking Books for Young Readers for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A teen girl looking for the truth about her missing mother forms a reluctant alliance with her former best friend…in exchange for hiding him from his cult-leading family.

Wil Greene’s mom has been missing for over a year, and the police are ready to call the case closed–they claim she skipped town and you can’t find a woman who wants to disappear. But she knows her mom wouldn’t just leave…and she knows the family of her former best friend, Elwood Clarke, has something to do with it.

Elwood has been counting down the days until his 18th birthday–in dread. It marks leaving school and joining his pastor father in dedicating his life to their congregation, the Garden of Adam. But when he comes home after one night of after a final goodbye with his friends, already self-flagellating for the sins of drinking and disobeying his father, he discovers his path is not as virtuous as he thought. He’s not his father’s successor, but his sacrifice. For the woods he’s grown up with are thirsty, and must be paid in blood.

Now on the run from a family that wants him dead, he turns to the only one who will believe him: Wil. Together, they form a reluctant partnership; she’ll help him hide if he helps her find evidence that his family killed her mother. But in the end they dig up more secrets than they bargained for, unraveling decades of dark cult dealings in their town, led by the Clarke family.

And there’s a reason they need Elwood’s blood for their satanic rituals. Something inhuman is growing inside of him. Everywhere he goes, the plants come alive and the forest calls to him, and Wil isn’t sure if she can save the boy she can’t help but love.

Content Warning: violence, horror, parental abuse, grief, alcoholism, parent neglect

I love this book cover and I was intrigue by the title, Together We Rot. Right away you can tell there will be horror elements to it but I still wasn’t sure what to expect.

You are immediately thrown into this story where Wil, a teenage girl is angry because her mom has been missing but the town is about to close the case. She has a feeling her ex-best friend’s religious/cultish family is the reason for her going missing but she has no proof. Elwood, her ex-best friend is a boy who’s dad is the leader of the Garden of Adam, a religious cult, and he’s being abused by both his father and mother. Elwood is a timid and frightful boy but inside him is something dark.

In one night of desperation Elwood takes one night before he’s about to “leave” and parties with his friends like he never has. But things go haywire and he realizes something is wrong with him and maybe Wil’s suspicions about his family is correct. What happens next is quick and soon Elwood and Wil is on the run and hiding from his family and the sheriff and things take a turn for the worse.

The horror is when things about the church is revealed and mostly in the end when there is body horror when it comes to Elwood. I thought the ending was bittersweet though. Elwood had to accept some things about himself in order to make peace with what was happening.

It’s a quick read and I wasn’t sure how it would end but I did find it fairly entertaining! I also found the second-chance romance between Wil and Elwood kind of sweet. And I did enjoy the secondary characters, Wil and Elwood’s friends.

Tropes: best friends to enemies to lovers

Why you should read it:

it’s a quick read
fascinating story with two main characters with a history, a missing person mystery, a religious cult and something dark inside Elwood

Why you might not want to read it:

there are a few heavy topics with parental abuse and neglect
some pacing issues – slow start and then quickly picks up and rushes to the end

My Thoughts:

This one is a dark and unexpected story but with a sweet kind of second chance romance in the midst of it all. I love Wil and Elwood’s history and how they struggle through some truths to fall in love again. It’s their love that in a way saves Elwood. The horror mostly circles around the parental abuse and religious cult, and definitely around whatever darkness that lives in Elwood. So I found this book to be more of a mystery and suspense/thriller than horror (except the ending). I think if some things weren’t so rushed in the book my rating would be way higher. I look forward to reading more from this author!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Her Radiant Curse by. Elizabeth Lim | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Her Radiant Curse

Author: Elizabeth Lim

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 432

Publication Date: 8/29/23

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers

Categories: Prequel, Series, Fantasy, Family, Young Adult

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Knopf Books for Young Readers for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

One sister must fall for the other to rise.

Channi was not born a monster. But when her own father offers her in sacrifice to the Demon Witch, she is forever changed. Cursed with a serpent’s face, Channi is the exact opposite of her beautiful sister, Vanna—the only person in the village who looks at Channi and doesn’t see a monster. The only person she loves and trusts.

Now seventeen, Vanna is to be married off in a vulgar contest that will enrich the coffers of the village leaders. Only Channi, who’s had to rely on her strength and cunning all these years, can defend her sister against the cruelest of the suitors. But in doing so, she becomes the target of his wrath—launching a grisly battle royale, a quest over land and sea, a romance between sworn enemies, and a choice that will strain Channi’s heart to its breaking point.

Content Warning: violence

I don’t know what I was thinking when I started reading this book, or I wasn’t thinking and just wanted to read an Elizabeth Lim book because she is an amazing storyteller. But this is the prequel to Six Crimson Cranes and I didn’t realize it until halfway into the story! This is Raikama’s (Channi) story, Shiori’s step-mother who was such an intriguing character in Six Crimson Cranes. Now we get her backstory.

The story telling as always with this author is magical. It just seems so effortless! The story takes us on an adventure through what feels like South East Asia. The climate is tropical, with tigers and snakes and food ingredients that I recognized because they are used in Filipino cooking like, pandan! That was a nice surprise!

Channi is cursed with a snake face, whereas her sister, Vanna shines like a jewel. When the witch/demon who cursed Channi comes to claim her sister as promised, Channi fights like hell to save her with a few allies. This was such a beautiful story about sibling love, it broke my heart in the end.

And I love Ukar, Channi’s snake friend! He was such a loyal friend and I love Channi’s connection to him and the snakes. The message of the book was beautifully conveyed too. Channi was cursed with snake scales on her face and she lived a life of struggle because of it. And Vanna is born with beauty but she too endures a few personal struggles even though she’s given everything. So they both were unhappy, beautiful or not. Also, Angma’s story is heartbreaking, even though she is the villain. It goes to show be careful what you wish for because the consequences of it can be unknowingly devastating.

I wanted more romance between Channi and Hokzuh but that’s just because I love romance in my fantasies. Their story is a bit of a tragedy though, which was sad.

Why you should read it:

the sibling love between Channi and Vanna
beautiful storytelling

Why you might not want to read it:

you didn’t read or like Six Crimson Cranes

My Thoughts:

This is a wonderful prequel to Six Crimson Cranes! If you wanted to know more about Raikama, Shiori’s stepmother, then here is your chance because this is her story when she was just a girl named Channi who loved her sister Vanna so very much.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon

Arc Review: Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars #1) ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Unravel the Dusk (The Blood of Stars, #2) | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Six Crimson Cranes by. Elizabeth Lim | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Dragon’s Promise by. Elizabeth Lim | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

WWW Wednesday | 8/9/23

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam over on Taking on a World of Words.

The idea is pretty simple, every week you dedicate a post to the three W’s:

What are you currently reading?

What have you just finished reading?

What are you going to read next?

My kids started school this week and I had to comfort some nerves but first day went to well and I think it’s going to be a good year for both of them! What I love about them being back in school is now I can get some quiet time in the house before they came home. Of course I ended up just cleaning and running errands but I did get a little reading in here and there.

What are you currently reading?

**I am coming back to read A Venom Dark and Sweet, and Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute because my borrowed copies expired. For Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute, my copy got messed up and I had to re-download it but I couldn’t because it also expired so I have to wait for it again. **