Weekly Wrap Up | 12/31/23

Aloha friends!

Happy New Year’s Eve! A few days ago was the one year anniversary of my father-in-law’s passing and at least this time, my hubby is home for it. I still cant’ believe he had to deal with his dad’s death alone because it happened right when he moved to Okinawa last year. We went to the synagogue for a service to honor his anniversary.

So NYE in Hawaii, especially on the island of Oahu, where I live, it is BONKERS. I mean I’ve been hearing fireworks since before Thanksgiving. It’s loud, it’s smoky but there’s is such an energy feeling the whole island rumble with fireworks being lit at midnight. I can just look out my window and see all the fireworks around me, we don’t actually need an official NYE show. But there is an event near our house at a new complex in the neighborhood – it’s a wave place (machine generated wave), there are restaurants, a water area and a lawn area (where we go for the Farmer’s market and food trucks some Thursdays). Anyway they just posted they will be having a fireworks show, music, food, etc. If only my kids were into New Year’s and waking up before midnight, then we’d definitely bring them. But I also I can’t leave our dog alone at home – he’s terrified of the loud booms already.

Anyway I hope ALL of you have a safe NYE and a very Happy New Year! I’m hoping 2024 is a good year!

I hope all of you had a good week!

Blog Posts:

Books I Read:

Gild by. Raven Kennedy

The Getaway List by. Emma Lord

Currently Reading:

The Endless War by. Danielle L. Jensen

A Place for Vanishing by. Ann Fraistat

Ruthless Vows by. Rebecca Ross

Shows/Movies/Music I Watched/Listened To:

Barbie – I thought this movie was so funny but with good themes about gender equality, etc… – my son and I got a kick out of Ken’s song. I can see why there was so much hype for this movie! 😍
Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse: my son asked if we wanted to watch this with him and I said okay. We had watched the first one together and I didn’t even know this sequel came out. We enjoyed it so much! Even my daughter who said she didn’t want to watch it, she enjoyed it a lot! 😍 Can’t wait for the next movie. I think I really love the artistic design of the movie – it’s like visual eye-candy. And I’m not someone who is into Marvel movies (only because I’m old and I was there for all the first ones 😆 and I got tired of them…). But the way they did this Spider-Man animation is so good.
NFL Football – so much football

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 | December 2023

Here is my last monthly wrap-up for 2023!

December was madness – there was so much going on and I lost my desire to read while all these things were going on. I’m happy to say we all got through it and had a successful Christmas. Now it’s on to the New Year which is already going to come with it’s new set of challenges that I can foresee but here’s hoping we all have a good 2024!

Let’s see how I did for December in terms of books:

What I Posted: 11 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 don’t know if it was my stressed out mood but a lot of books were just “okay” to me this month, one of them being one of my most anticipated reads for the year. But it is what it is, I probably just needed a good break from reading and come back fresh in January.

How was your month in review?

Gild by. Raven Kennedy | Mini Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️

Title: Gild (The Plated Prisoner, #1)

Author: Raven Kennedy

Format: ebook (kindle unlimited)

Pages: 402

Publication Date: 10/16/20

Categories: Fantasy, Greek Mythology, Fae, New Adult

The fae abandoned this world to us. And the ones with power rule.

Gold.

Gold floors, gold walls, gold furniture, gold clothes. In Highbell, in the castle built into the frozen mountains, everything is made of gold.

Even me.

King Midas rescued me. Dug me out of the slums and placed me on a pedestal. I’m called his precious. His favored. I’m the woman he Gold-Touched to show everyone that I belong to him. To show how powerful he is. He gave me protection, and I gave him my heart. And even though I don’t leave the confines of the palace, I’m safe.

Until war comes to the kingdom and a deal is struck.

Suddenly, my trust is broken. My love is challenged. And I realize that everything I thought I knew about Midas might be wrong.

Because these bars I’m kept in, no matter how gilded, are still just a cage. But the monsters on the other side might make me wish I’d never left.

The myth of King Midas reimagined. This compelling adult fantasy series is as addictive as it is unexpected. With romance, intrigue, and danger, the gilded world of Orea will grip you from the very first page.

Please Note: This book contains explicit content and darker elements, including mature language, violence, and rape. It is not intended for anyone under 18 years of age. This is book one in a series.

Content Warning: see above in synopsis

This is a very popular series on Kindle Unlimited and I wanted to see why. I had a copy of this book for almost half a year now and I could not get past the first few chapters – but I made a vow to finish it even if I had to skim it by the end of 2023 so I finally did it!

What an interesting world of “saddles” and King Midas. Auren lives in a cage and her owner/lover is King Midas. In this first book there seems to be nothing that appeals to me about Auren or King Midas. This is definitely a starter book that lays out the setting and characters and nothing much else. There isn’t even much romance in it because I don’t know what Auren and Midas have going on but I feel no connection. I think it got interesting when she left her cage and I’m sure her character growth gets better in the next few books but this one did nothing for me.

I don’t think I’ll be continuing on with the series unless I have nothing else to read or someone can tell me why I should continue with the series in the comments below!

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

First Lines Fridays | 12/29/23

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines?

Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page
Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
Finally… reveal the book!

“Once upon a time, I’d loved my husband.”

⬇️

⬇️

Can you guess what book it is?

Did you guess it? Have you read this one?

📖 ~ Yolanda

Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White by. Amélie Wen Zhao | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White (#2)

Author: Amélie Wen Zhao

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 464

Publication Date: 1/2/24

Publisher: Delacorte

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Series, Duology, Asian Fantasy, Mythology, Dragons, Magic

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

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

The epic sequel to the book Song of Silver, Flame Like Night, is a fast-paced, riveting YA fantasy inspired by the mythology and folklore of ancient China.

Years ago, the Elantian colonizers invaded Lan’s homeland and killed her mother in their search to uncover the Last Kingdom’s greatest the location of its legendary four Demon Gods. Lan’s mother devoted her life to destroying the Demon Gods, and Lan is determined to finish her mission. Yet, there are others searching for the gods, too.

Zen knew his soul was forfeit the moment he made a deal with the Demon God known as the Black Tortoise, but he’s willing to lose himself if it means saving the Kingdom–and the girl–he loves. But to crush the colonizers who have invaded his land he needs more power than even a single Demon God can provide. He needs an army. And he knows exactly where he can find it–in the undead army his great grandfather lead decades ago.

The Elantians may have stolen their throne, but the battle for the Last Kingdom has only begun.

Content Warning: violence, death

The first book in this series really surprised me and I loved it! Let’s see how it ends:

+ The story takes places immediately after all the chaotic events that happened at the ending of the first book. Zen is on a mission to defeat the Elantians by any means possible but Lan doesn’t believe that’s the right thing to do. Both have their own path and it keeps them apart, which is sad because I loved them together.

+ There is so much conflict in this story. The Elantians want to take over but Zen is fighting tooth and nail to stop that from happening – does this make him a villain when he uses his demon god to try and fight them? Zen’s storyline is heartbreaking and I didn’t expect that. Lan is trying to achieve peace but feels it’s wrong to use the demon gods they are bound to because the demons could overtake their souls and she doesn’t want that for Zen but he makes a choice and she makes hers. I liked all the questions about power and about choices, and doing the right thing.

+ The love story is tragic and made me want to cry! They love each other but with everything going on they know it’s not going to end well. I loved their moment together where they confess what they feel and what kind of future they could have but their love is heartbreaking. This is a bittersweet love story.

+ I love the battles between the demon gods – they are so epic! Also I love the secondary characters and wish we had more time with them. I love Dilaya, who’s a fierce warrior and a leader. She becomes Lan’s closest friend and their interactions were so good.

~ There are a few villains in this story because of the way they are bound to a demon and want more power and will do anything to achieve their goals but I felt like the Elantians weren’t as present in this story as they were in book one. I actually feel like this should have been a trilogy and not a duology because some parts felt rushed. It’s such an epic world – I think it definitely deserve another book to at least feature more conflict with the Elantians.

My Thoughts:

I wish this series was a trilogy because I felt like there could have been more tension to draw out with the enemies because there are multiple. But despite that I enjoyed this book a lot because of the questions it asks about power and choices. I love the characters and all their different journeys no matter how hard it got for them. The battles between the demon gods were full of action and epic. And even though this is a tragic romance story between Lan and Zen, I loved them so much together and their love story almost made me cry at the end. My heart broke. Although it’s a bittersweet ending, I think it ended perfectly.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Book Review | Blood Heir ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Red Tigress by. Amélie Wen Zhao | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by. Amélie Wen Zhao | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

WWW Wednesday | 12/27/23

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?

I am so glad Christmas is over. I feel like it’s been non-stop since the kids went on winter break – I looked at the calendar and realized they only went on break this past Friday lol. Why does it feel like it’s been a week or two already? 😅 And now everyone is gearing up for New Year’s Eve, but usually we stay in for that night because this whole island lights fireworks, it’s loud, my dog gets scared and my kids always sleep through midnight – no matter how many times I try to wake them up. I’m tired but there is no rest is there? 😩 Just hoping I can get some of these arcs read before they are published in January!

What are you currently reading?

ASAP by. Axie Oh – if you read XOXO, then this one is about Nathaniel and Sori! I’m 16% into this one.

A Place for Vanishing by. Ann Fraistat – I am about 11% into this one and it’s definitely intriguing!

If I Promise You Wings by. A. K. Small – haven’t started this one yet but I will since it’s publishing in a few weeks!

What have you just finished reading?

The Getaway List by. Emma Lord ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White by. Amelie Wen Zhao ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Study Drowning by. Ava Reid ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What are you going to read next?

These Deadly Prophecies by. Andrea Tang

The Endless War by. Danielle L. Jensen

Ruthless Vows by. Rebecca Ross

What are you reading right now?

The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf | TTT | 12/26/23

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:

The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf

I definitely broke my book buying ban this year, but there were some books I just was impatient to wait for at the library so I just bought it. These are my last book purchases of 2023! Wow…but I’m really excited for the books that are coming out in 2024, so I’m looking forward to the next few months!

The Brothers Hawthorne by. Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Have you read any of these books? Are any of these on your TBR? What’s on your TTT?

Happy Book Birthday | New Releases | 12/26/23

Happy book birthday to these new releases! Check out this list today:

This Cursed Light by. Emily Thiede

The highly-anticipated sequel to the epic romance hailed as one of the best fantasies of the year!

When the gods make the rules, the players must choose: Sacrifice their love to save the world, or choose love and let it burn?

Six months after saving their island from destruction and almost losing Dante, Alessa is ready to live happily ever after with her former bodyguard. But Dante can’t rest, haunted by a conviction that the gods aren’t finished with them yet. And without his powers, the next kiss from Alessa could kill him.

Desperate for answers, Dante enlists Alessa and their friends to find the exiled ghiotte in hopes of restoring his powers and combining forces with them to create the only army powerful enough to save them all. But Alessa is hiding a deadly consequence of their last fight–a growing darkness that’s consuming her mind–and their destination holds more dangers than anyone bargained for. In the mysterious city of the banished, Dante will uncover secrets, lies, and ghosts from his past that force him to ask himself: Which side is he on?

When the gods reveal their final test, Dante and Alessa will be the world’s last defense. But if they are the keys to saving the world, will their love be the price of victory?

In This Cursed Light, Dante and Alessa face their most daunting challenge yet when the Gods demand they prove their worth by choosing the ultimate sacrifice to save humanity, once and for all.

Goodreads | Amazon

Lucero by. Maya Motayne

The thrilling finale to the #1 Sunday Times and Los Angeles Times bestselling Nocturna trilogy—a sweeping and epic Dominican-inspired fantasy about a face-changing thief and a risk-taking prince who must save their kingdom in the final battle between good and evil magic. Perfect for fans of Tomi Adeyemi, Sabaa Tahir, and Roseanne A. Brown.

In the aftermath of Sombra’s return, the balance between light and dark magic has been destroyed and chaos has broken out in Castallan and around the world. Sombra’s shadows have taken over to create monstrous versions of everyone Finn and Alfie love, and with war between Castallan and Englass looming, the prince and the thief must band together one last time—to save their entire world.

To stop the magical imbalance, they must find the stone relics of Sombra’s body before the god can unite the pieces and regain his full strengthonce more.

But the laws of magic no longer apply, and with their own magic—and even the laws of time itself—drastically changing at every turn, Finn and Alfie are left on their own to stop Sombra and fulfill their prophecy before it is too late and the darkness reigns.

Will they restore balance to their world or will its light be gone forever?

Goodreads | Amazon

Are you getting any new books this week?

Happy Reading!

Naughty or Nice Book Tag – Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas all! I saw this tag on The Sassy Library Fox and thought it would be a fun tag for today. For the original tag you can find it here: **Naughty or Nice Tag @ Jenniely!**

Let’s see if I am naughty or nice!

1. Received an ARC and not reviewed it

Yes I did get an arc and not review and worse it was for a book tour! Instead I made a post with the book excerpt but I did not read or review it because it was the last book in a series I never read. 🤦🏻‍♀️ At least I made the blog tour post though… – NAUGHTY.

2. Have less than 60% feedback rating on Netgalley

No – I do have more than 60% on Netgalley so I’m proud to say I stayed on top of all my arcs this year! I’m at 93%! NICE.

3. Rated a book on Goodreads and promised a full review was to come on your blog (and never did).

Hmmm…I’m trying to remember if I did this? But I’m going to say…no? NICE.

4. Folded down the page of a book

I mostly read ebooks so this would be a no. NICE.

5. Accidentally spilled on a book

I’ve accidentally gotten a drop of water on a book yes, especially if I’m setting it down on the dining table. Or if there is a water ring my kids left on the table because they didn’t use a coaster. NAUGHTY.

6. DNF a book this year

YES. And I’m not ashamed of it lol…there have only a few books that just didn’t keep my attention so I gave up instead of wasted my time. NAUGHTY.

7. Bought a book purely because it was pretty with no intention of reading it

There is always the intention to read it, I think. Even if I never get to it. So no. NICE.

8. Read whilst you were meant to be doing something else (like homework)

Always lol…sometimes I read when I know I’m supposed to be doing blog posts! NAUGHTY.

9. Skim read a book

Yes I do if it’s a book I”m in the middle of and it’s losing my attention and I’ve given myself days to try and get back into the back. I skim so I can get to the end of it! NAUGHTY.

10. Completely missed your Goodreads goal

I haven’t missed my goal yet! More like I set my goal low so I can always meet it, so it’s not really a challenge but also I don’t want to set a high number and burn myself out from reading. NICE.

11. Borrowed a book and not returned it

Never! oh the horror! I don’t want to pay late fees to the library. And I don’t borrow books from friends and family because none of them read the books I like to read! NICE.

12. Broke a book buying ban

Yes, unfortunately I did break my book buying ban multiple times. It’s hard to keep it and I keep a book buying ban every year. NAUGHTY.

13. Started a review, left it for ages then forgot what the book was about

Yes I do this. I won’t leave it for ages, but if I don’t write the review within a week of reading the book and I’m already reading another book then I will forget details from the first book. So I try to write the review asap but sometimes I don’t get to it. NAUGHTY.

14. Wrote in a book you were reading

Nope, I can’t do it. NICE.

15. Finished a book and not added it to your Goodreads

All the time! It’s hard to remember to add it to Goodreads when I dont’ religiously use Goodreads. Sometimes at the end of the year I have to go through my blog and double check Goodreads to see if I added it on there. So at least having a blog helps with that! NAUGHTY.

So that’s 8 NAUGTHY and 7 NICE = wow I was naughty this year…