Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Sixteen-year-old Ivy Archer is arguably the best warrior-in-training Gob Hollow has ever seen. Yet everyone—except her best friend she suddenly has other feelings for—looks down on her because she’s only half goblin, with no idea what the other half is. She’s always suspected it might be human.
But humans, she’s been told, aren’t real. They’re only creatures of myth.
When the prince of their kingdom is taken for ransom, it’s Ivy’s big chance to prove her worth. And when she learns his captors are human, the rescue mission becomes personal. The stories were clearly wrong, and now she has a chance to find the truth about her lineage, as well. If she survives…
With a small band of warriors at her command, including her best friend turned crush that’s getting harder to hide, Ivy sets out to find the prince and her human family. But the answers lie within secrets and conspiracies that run far deeper than she ever imagined.
Thank you to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.
My Reactions:
Had My Attention: for the most part
World Building: fairly solid on the goblin world, but some holes with the human being fairy tales bit 🤔
Writing Style: Easy to follow, quick read 🙂, more young teen than young adult
Bringing the Heat: a sweet kiss 🔥
Crazy in LOVE: 💚💚 (mild, best-friend crush)
Creativity: Goblins 👍🏼
Mood: adventurous
Triggers: mild violence
My Takeaway: half goblin girl shows her goblin family and friends that she’s better than the boys and worthy
Goblin stories always entertain me because not a lot of books are written about them. They are not as gorgeous as their fae or elf counterparts so I like how we have a handsome goblin prince with razor sharp teeth and green skin in this book.
Ivy can hold her own against the bullies and she trains with the guys so that’s always fun to see a girl who can fight.
I thought her crush on her best friend Pudge is cute and sweet. Their relationship is solid, not much challenges there except how they both don’t know how the other feels.
Love the book cover!
The twist with Ivy and Dorian (goblin prince) – ha! Didn’t see that coming and it was a bit awkward but it worked out in the end.
It’s a quick read and though Ivy encounters some challenges, she meets them pretty easily. Personally I wanted more, even the betrayal felt a bit weak, it felt like a light fantasy – which is fine for some. For me, I just wanted more.
I like stories about goblins because they have a rich culture even though they don’t seem the most glamorous of creatures. This story held my attention for the most part with a goblin kingdom, adventure, a girl trying to prove herself and a happy ending.
The thrilling conclusion to the series that began with the instant New York Times bestseller “made for fans of Victoria Aveyard and Sabaa Tahir” (Bustle), Ember Queen is an epic fantasy about a throne cruelly stolen and a girl who must fight to take it back for her people.
Princess Theodosia was a prisoner in her own country for a decade. Renamed the Ash Princess, she endured relentless abuse and ridicule from the Kaiser and his court. But though she wore a crown of ashes, there is fire in Theo’s blood. As the rightful heir to the Astrean crown, it runs in her veins. And if she learned nothing else from her mother, she learned that a Queen never cowers.
Now free, with a misfit army of rebels to back her, Theo must liberate her enslaved people and face a terrifying new enemy: the new Kaiserin. Imbued with a magic no one understands, the Kaiserin is determined to burn down anyone and everything in her way.
The Kaiserin’s strange power is growing stronger, and with Prinz Søren as her hostage, there is more at stake than ever. Theo must learn to embrace her own power if she has any hope of standing against the girl she once called her heart’s sister.
A princess becomes a Queen.
My Reactions:
My Attention: captured
World Building: detailed, layered, elemental gem magic, conquered kingdoms – all of it
Writing Style: fluid, so good
Bringing the Heat: 🔥 a few kisses and one night of something more not that detailed haha – Theo is busy saving Astrea!
Crazy in Love: not so crazy, but just right for a Princess fighting for her throne – she has priorities and needs balance 🤷🏻♀️
Creativity: same tropes as other “princess trying to win back her kingdom” kinda story BUT…the political chess in this story and writing is good
Mood: victorious 👊🏼
Triggers: death, violence
My Takeaway: Theo the princess grows up a lot and earns her real crown and throne. 👸🏻 She learns some hard lessons along the way. 😢
I didn’t think I’d finish this series out because Lady Smoke was an okay book mostly because of the love triangle which I felt became distracting to Theo’s goals. But in Ember Queen…she has grown, she listens to counsel from the people around her, she puts aside the romance because she is so close to freeing Astrea and their people. She endures hardship, challenges and painful loss. 🥺 But all of this has shaped who she is.
The chess match she has with Cress kept me invested. I wondered what Cress’ end game would be and it kept me on my toes.
Theo lucked out having Heron, Blaise and Artemesia by her side. Seriously, if I was someone trying to get my throne back, I want those people my side. ❤️ Talk about loyalty until the end.
This second half of this book was emotional and intense. Soren, Erik, Heron, Art and then Blaise…ugh…I was so damn worried about all of them. And I didn’t even think I cared about them but this book showed the bonds between them that wouldn’t break and I wanted a happy ending for them all.
Soren and Theo’s reunion was bittersweet but I liked that their relationship wasn’t the focus of this book. It was reiterated over and over in the book that Theo would put Astrea above anyone else and I thought that was a queen mentality. It may have seemed cold at times, but come one…she’s a Queen. She has to make the hard decisions and face the consequences no matter how painful.
This story shows how power can corrupt and how a leader has to face hard decisions especially in times of war. What are the right decisions to make? Which one will lower loss of life? What does it take to stop a war and have peace? An eye for an eye? Turn the other cheek? Theo has to face these issues and questions head on and in the end she makes the best possible choice.
Some parts were repetitive, like at times Theo’s plans (and there were many) were faulty and her counsel would try to find the holes in it, which I appreciated but there were so many plans in this mission to the throne that at times I wanted it to move faster.
You have to dig into the first part of the story because it is really setting up for a final battle which had me on edge. But many parts have to fall into place but Theo has some hiccups here and there which seems like the story is moving slowly – but she and her allies dig deep, and keep fighting.
This was a satisfying end to the series, especially with the epilogue. Most stories end with a happily ever after, the girl gets the guy, the kingdoms are saved. But has to be one of my favorite endings, Theo is alone and reflects on her journey as she approaches and sits on the throne she feared and hated for so long. She knows the loss that came with her victory, she knows the battle within herself that she’s had to fight and overcome. But now she’s made the throne her OWN. Ugh…I wanted to stand up and clap and cheer for her, that’s how awesome I felt at the end of this book. Bravo! I look forward to whatever Laura Sebastian writes next!
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
One malicious prince. Two rival kingdoms. And an innocent girl caught in the crossfire.
Raised in a war-ravaged continent, temptation comes to Calla Caldwell in the form of a charming and mysterious stranger. Giving in to his intimate seduction, her world is forever changed by a single bite.
Calla quickly learns the handsome stranger is vampire prince, Trystan Vladu. His bite was an attempt to claim and save her from a plot of vengeance generations in the making. However, the claws of that ancient vendetta are scraping ever closer. Thrust into a new nightmare by the Prince of the corrupt kingdom of Morbeth, Calla is captured, tortured, and starved in the dank confines of his dungeon. While in captivity, she takes part in a séance with a witch of light where she contacts a departed relative—a Princess of Incendia—who bequeaths a gift to Calla that will tip the scales of good and evil . . . if she can learn to harness it.
With a dark tapestry of secrets, lies, and murder unraveling around her, Calla must learn to embrace the power roiling through her veins, or be snuffed out by the strangling fist of a malevolent darkness.
Thank you to Victory Editing and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.
Vampires, damphyrs, witches and even a pirate! This book pretty much had it all. Calla is bitten by a vampire prince and that leads her on a journey filled with danger and discovery.
I like the people Calla meets along the way like Kylan, Melaina and Markus. I thought these side characters brought a lot to the storyline because we learn a lot about vampires and the world they live in through their explanations to Calla.
The world building is interesting and I was curious about these different kingdoms of Morbeth and Incendia. We have vampires, witches, elementals, and even aquarians. Calla spends most of her time though with evil Prince Roehl in Morbeth but she does have some adventures after escaping Morbeth.
The cover of the book was what made me request this book, I like it a lot!
I like fast paced books that hit you with action in the first few pages but this book did that way too fast for me. One moment Calla is at a party, then she’s bitten by a vampire prince, Trystan, who was drawn to her because he felt a connection to her name on paper. Not going to lie, that made me wary of the story. I just didn’t believe it! 🤦🏻♀️ It’s too much of a major insta-connection, I won’t say insta-love because she meets other guys along the way.
Calla is made a vampire super quick but Trystan is barely in the book and she’s yet to complete a blood bond with him. But evil Prince Roehl, also wants her to have a blood bond with him. YET…when she finally escapes Roehl and hops aboard a pirate ship -she falls in lust with Sebastian Calloway. Go Calla…but I wasn’t feeling any of it. Apparently every man wants her because she’s special – she’s an elemental vampire royal but I wasn’t connecting to her at all. 🤷🏻♀️
This reads like a story for teens but it does have heated moments between Calla and some of the men she meets along the way.
This story wasn’t for me only because I felt no connection to Calla. I think the world building is great because it had a variety of supernaturals like witches, vampires, elementals and aquarians. I’m sure the love story will develop more in the next book and maybe Trystan will get more of a spotlight because I’m assuming she ends up bonding with him sometime down the series, at least he’d be my first choice for Calla. I’m not sure if I will continue with the series only but though it didn’t work out for me, I think this will book will appeal to many fantasy fans.
After the Prince of Penryth saved her from captivity, seventeen-year-old Haven Ashwood spends her days protecting the kind prince and her nights secretly fighting the monsters outside the castle walls.
When one of those monsters kidnaps Prince Bell, Haven must ally with Archeron Halfbane and his band of immortals to rescue her friend.
Her quest takes her deep into the domain of a warped and vicious queen where the rules are simple: break her curse or die.
Lost in a land of twisted magic and fabled creatures, Haven finds herself unprepared, not just for the feelings she develops for Archeron, but for the warring powers raging inside her.
Her rare and forbidden type of magic may be their only hope . . . but mixing light and dark comes with a steep price.
Haven’s soul.
Faced with impossible love, heartbreaking betrayals, and a queen intent on destroying the realm, only one thing remains certain.
Haven must shatter the curse or it will devour everything she loves.
Author: Audrey Grey
Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)
Pages: 317
Categories: Fantasy, New Adult, Romance
My Review:
I love Haven and Bell’s friendship. Haven is Prince Bellamy’s guard but she is also his best friend. She’s very protective of him her sole purpose in this series is to save him. I mean, that’s devotion!
Haven is a fighter but at some points she’s so cocky around more powerful beings than her. She’s rash at times with major tunnel vision (saving Bell) but Archeron, the Sun Lord is right to be aggravated with her at times. As for her feelings about him…warning, there IS a love triangle in this series.
The world building is detailed – we have mortal kingdoms, and immortal kingdoms. There is also the Netherworld which Stolas rules. The magic system is based on rune magic. There is a quest to save Prince Bell and to break a curse so the stories moves along quickly, plus at barely over 300 pages – it’s a quick read.
Triggers: violence and self-harm (because of how the rune magic is used)
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Title: Cursebreaker (Kingdom of Runes, #2)
All magic has a price.
Haven survived the Devourers, but she isn’t any closer to breaking the curse. Meanwhile, her forbidden magic rages brighter and more dangerous every day.
To control her powers and stand a chance against the Shade Queen, Haven made a bargain with two enemy immortals. Now her waking hours are spent fighting alongside the Sun Lord, but her dreams belong to the Shade Lord.
Only the closer she ventures into the wicked Shadow Kingdom the more her magic shows itself—and the more she struggles with whom to trust. The golden but wounded Sun Lord or the darkly charismatic Shade Lord.
Both are off-limits.
And both have the ability to save her . . . or destroy her.
With the Shade Queen closing in and Bell’s time nearly up, Haven will sacrifice everything to break the curse—but will it be enough to stop the mortal realm from falling into darkness forever?
Author: Audrey Grey
Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)
Pages: 380
Categories: Fantasy, New Adult, Romance
My Review:
Bell has always been in Haven’s protective shadow even though he is a Prince and will rule one day. He is not good at fighting and always had Haven do it for him – so in his captivity he struggles but learns he can be without Haven. Bell is learning to find his own strength which is wonderful. He also meets the person who created the curse on the land in the first place.
We learn more about how the curse was created and more about Ravenna and her evil mother.
Haven gets into more harrowing danger and her hurt people, which annoyed me at times. When will she learn?! Ugh, that was frustrating about her. Her focus is still saving Bell but Archeron and she have an attraction happening. And the others in the group are becoming her friend. She shows heart in trying to help them instead of trying to deceive them. We learn about her past with evil Daimus as her captor. And then there is Stolas…uh huh…I can kind of guess how this is going to end.
This book kept giving me ACOTAR vibes…like MAJOR ACOTAR vibes with the whole Archeron and Stolas thing (Tamlin vs Rhys) and the curse. Like I just knew, she would end up with Stolas (Rhys)…I mean, at this point it’s reading like a fan fiction ACOTAR book! It bugged me but I love ACOTAR so much that I kept reading haha.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Title: King Maker (Kingdom of Runes, #3)
They broke the curse, but at what cost?
Haven and her crew may be considered heroes, but they arrive back in Penryth harboring dangerous secrets. Plagued by nightmares, Haven struggles to control her newfound magic while Bell shrinks under the weight of their shared lie.
When an emissary from Solissia shows up in Penryth and drafts Bell in a magical tournament, Haven is once again forced to follow the prince to foreign lands, this time to the bloodthirsty court of Archeron’s mother.
Trapped in a shifting landscape of dark politics, duplicitous immortals, and cruel sovereigns, Haven fights to keep Bell alive all without revealing their secret. But a terrible evil brews on the horizon. One that threatens the very fabric of the realm.
Haven might be their only hope of stopping the impending darkness. But first she must learn to accept her own darkness and follow her heart—no matter where it leads.
Author: Audrey Grey
Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)
Pages: digital – ? /Amazon print version says 640
Categories: Fantasy, New Adult, Romance
My Review:
And yes…there goes the ACOTAR love triangle dilemma -Archeron becomes a villain, Stolas is now the hero. SIGH. I mean, I was loving Stolas anyway but it was just so similar. Did it really have to happen? Archeron was there for her in the beginning and he has to go out like this? Evil, broken hearted, and disfigured – damn.😔
Since the curse was broken in book two, we are now introduced to Archeron’s kingdom and his family. There is a trial, and the winner gets to rule over all nine kingdoms (and yes the Nine reminds me of LOTR! 🤦🏻♀️). This series actually reminds me a lot of other books out there.
I did love learning about Stolas’ sister who is as sassy as they come, but hey she is a Queen. Also Haven finally has more friends than just Bell now, yay – and her friendship with Bell gets tested but it needed to happen. Bell needed to come out through some struggles on his own and Haven needed to let him do it.
Despite the similarities to other books, it’s an entertaining series and I’m bummed the next book isn’t until November.
Overall, the three books in the series I read gives off major ACOTAR vibes with some differences, like this one has wyverns and rune magic. Haven does grow…slowly, she definitely learns the hard way which is so frustrating. She is not my favorite female lead, the battle in the end worked because she had help from her friends. I do enjoy the rune magic aspect of this world and how Haven has both dark and light magic. Will I read the next books, YES, I need to find out what happens with Archeron, how low will he go? There is also still a battle with Daimus coming, he definitely needs to be eliminated.
Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm. Check out her blog for more Top 5 Tuesday topics and other bookish content. Here is this week’s topic:
Top 5 Worst Rulers (Kings, Queens, etc..)
Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones Series
I’m starting the book series finally this week but at least in her television portrayal…she is one bad woman! Complicated, incestuous, power-hungry, messed up…but a loving mother who will kill for her children (literally). She was scary to watch on tv and I loved to hate her. She is one of the worst because of her killer instinct but honestly I did admire how she smart she was to stay ahead of everyone wanting the throne. 🤷🏻♀️
Maven Calore, Red Queen Series
Another person with a messed up childhood, because of his MOTHER. UGH…her mind control powers made Maven unstable, which is unfortunate. He had so many personal demons but he was also so manipulative. 😒
Keris Veturia, Ember of Ashes Series
Keris Veturia…the Commandant. She’s cruel to her own son, hated him from the moment she knew she was pregnant because she was raped by his father! 😞 She is a hard woman with a hard heart.
Rat King Silan Veliant, The Bridge Kingdom
What father trains his daughters, pits them against each other (even if they die) and sends the survivor to infiltrate his enemies’ kingdom? The Rat King, that’s who. 😳
Queen Amarantha, ACOTAR
The queen that put the high lords of Prythian under a curse! They all wore masks and did her bidding until Feyre came along and endured the trials that almost killed her. I was happy to see Queen Amarantha defeated.
Title: In Bed with the Earl (Lost Lords of London, #1)
Author: Christi Caldwell
Format: eBook (Kindle Unlimited)
Pages: 383
Categories: Historical Romance
To solve a mystery that’s become the talk of the ton, no clues run too deep for willful reporter Verity Lovelace. Not even in the sewers of London. That’s precisely where she finds happily self-sufficient scavenger Malcom North, lost heir to the Earl of Maxwell. Now that Verity’s made him front-page news, what will he make of her?
Kidnapped as a child, with no memories of his well-heeled past, Malcom prefers the grimy spoils of the culverts to the gilded riches of society. Damn the feisty beauty who exposed the contented tosher to a parade of fortune-hunting matchmakers. How to keep them at bay? Verity must pretend to be his wife. She owes him.
The intimacy of this necessary arrangement—Verity and Malcom thrust together in close quarters—soon sparks an irresistible heat. But when the charade ends, the danger begins. Will love be enough to protect them from a treacherous plot devised to ruin them?
In Bed with the Earl is the first book of a new historical romance series by Christi Caldwell called Lost Lords of London.
Verity and Malcom both have learned to struggle through life. Verity being the bastard daughter of an Earl and Malcom, being kidnapped from his family (his father was an Earl also). Malcom has been found and the title and all that come with it restored to him, but society doesn’t know much about this lost Earl. Verity is making ends meet by being a newspaper reporter except being a female reporter means no one takes her seriously. But she has her sister to care for so she will do anything to survive, even if it means hunting down the lost Earl to get his story.
I learned a lot in this story especially about toshers or sewer scavengers! It definitely opened my eyes to the way of life and how some people had to survive in London during those times. I found it interesting that Malcolm felt comfortable still doing that job even though he got his title and lands back. But his explanation to Verity made lots of sense, at least I do understand him wanting his sense of control.
On the other side of the spectrum was Verity, struggling to work an honest job as a female reporter. Her stories get stolen or they are not published at all or she gets to job of writing the gossip column. Yet Verity is a fighter. She definitely said what she wanted to say to her boss and that was entertaining.
Malcom story is sad! And when he remembers things about his past it’s heartbreaking but it also frees him.
I enjoyed that though Malcolm is an Earl, this story does not even venture into the usual ton life. There are no balls they attend, Malcolm is so reluctant to take this role as Earl, he wants to keep living the way he was living before he got the title. I felt like we had a glimpse of the commoner life in this story which was a nice change.
As far as chemistry goes, they do have it but I think I wanted more. Malcom is a hard character because of the trauma he experienced and it takes him awhile to open up but I felt like I needed a little more between the two to show the growing love especially when they have a fake-marriage situation.
Why do Christi Caldwell books seem so short when I read them?! Is it because I enjoy them so much I never want it to end? I always feel like by the time I read the last pages, it was rushed. HAHA…but thank goodness I have the next book in the series in my NetGalley shelf. 🤗
This is a great start to a new historical romance series! Malcolm’s story is heartbreaking and Verity’s tenacity and determination is something he could appreciate in the end. I also liked learning something new and can only imagine scavenging the sewers of London 😖. This story is about struggle and love and I’ll definitely be reading the next book asap.
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!
🌺ALOHA🌺
Hi everyone, I hope you had a nice week! It was a week full of ups and downs for me – I blame that on grief, hormones and the full moon. Let’s say it was a hard week for me to get motivated but I managed to get some things done. I read a lot of Kindle Unlimited books from indie authors – I like how quick they are to read at times. I just lose myself and that’s what I needed this week. I’ve also been working on crafting things for my Etsy shop. And then there is the homeschooling – which has been really lax of late because I was not meant to be a teacher. 😅 My son has 3 more weeks of “school” left. I will say my daughter loves having her brother home with her. 💕
So with that little update…let’s get to the lines!
“Later, he would be known as the First Protector, and under his vision the city would transform. Serfs would be freed, schools would be built, and dragons would, for the first time, be ridden by commoners,”
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I finally have this on my shelf! And I’m excited to read it – have you read this one?
Categories: Horror, Romance, Young Adult, Paranormal
Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep.
He’ll follow you home, and he won’t let you sleep.
Who are the Sawkill Girls?
Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.
Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.
Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.
Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires.
Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now.
I read this book last night and got halfway through before going to bed. I woke up with a nightmare because of a scene in the book that kinda grossed me out and took on an even more disgusting form in my dreams. 😫 I didn’t think this book would be creepy but the more I read I got sucked into this place called Sawkill Rock and the events happening there.
Girls have gone missing on Sawkill Rock and three girls share an interesting fate there. Marion is new to the island, she and her family are grieving the death of her father so this is a new start. Zoey moved there awhile ago to live with her father but things haven’t going so well there. And Val is queen bee of the island, gorgeous and popular with a hidden agenda.
Surrounding this place is an urban legend about the Collector. Is he real or just an urban legend with no substance to the stories? Will they figure out what is going before more girls disappear?
Creepy! The atmosphere of Sawkill was perfect for a chilling story. There things that definitely go bump in the night on Sawkill Rock, especially in the Mortimer household. There is a lot of mystery about Val and her family but we ultimately find out what their purpose is.
So much LGBTQIA+ representation! The asexual relationship between Zoey and Grayson was really well done for someone like me who is trying to learn more about people who identify as asexual. I don’t find a lot of books with asexual relationships.
This is a superhero story – that was surprising! There was woman power all over this book, mostly at the end. At first the girls are struggling, Val is abused/controlled, Zoey is bullied – Val does the bullying, Marion comes off as strange but they have powers within them and that was cool to see them work together.
The Collector was creepy as hell and disgusting. He is a killer, manipulator, abuser, he’s gross and at times I felt uncomfortable about the things he did. Like am I the only who thought it was sketchy that at times he was in the form of a “boy child” and then meet he was a doctor seducing Val…like…what was I reading?! Eww, I mean he was straight evil.
It’s quite atmospheric so if you don’t like that type of story, this one might not be for you. I mean at times moths would speak to the girls and I couldn’t tell if that was a good or bad thing haha. The beginning was a bit slow going as we try to figure out what in hell is happening on this crazy island with Marion hearing things, Zoey seeing things and Val…doing things. 😒
Though the story starts off like a mysterious paranormal story, the second half is like a superhero movie, maybe more like X-Men. It was an interesting turn and direction that worked for the most part – but it also threw me off at times. I just went with the flow. 🤷🏻♀️
There is insta-love. More like…insta-lust?
Triggers: abuse, murder
This story was atmospheric, creepy and at times strange – the Collector is a vile villain. The message of women empowerment came through hard and the LGBTQIA+ reps were awesome. Overall, this one definitely caught my curiosity, I could’ve done without some of the horror aspects but that’s just me, since I don’t read much horror.
Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah at Bionic Book Worm. Check out her blog for more Top 5 Tuesday topics and other bookish content. Here is this week’s topic:
Top 5 Cute Romances
I mean – can you blame me? The books were SO cute that even the movies turned out cute. 💕 Jenny Han’s does cute so well!
Another author who does cute well? Kasie West. Whenever I need to read a light hearted young adult romance, I can always pick a book from this author and it satisfies my cute romance cravings.
These days I try to stay away from romances where someone is clearly going to die. I sobbed my eyes out in this one. UGH. But Hazel and Augustus were just the cutest couple. 😭💔
It’s not a cute romance, but Sydney and Adrian are so cute together! I had to throw this one because I love how they get together.
It’s Jenn Bennett, her characters always always have engaging dialogue. Love her books!
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I read more cute romances when I was younger, now I read so many fantasy novels there is always some kind of heavy drama going on haha. But it’s nice to pick up a cute romance to escape once in awhile. What’s on your list as a cute romance book?
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story.
As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.
Soraya thought she knew her place in the world, but when her choices lead to consequences she never imagined, she begins to question who she is and who she is becoming…human or demon. Princess or monster.
Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.
This story is fascinating with it having Persian mythology elements. It reads like a fairy tale and has a queer love story.
Soraya is cursed, she kills with a touch. All she wants is to get rid of the curse and live a normal life. She gets a chance to make that dream come true but there are major consequences. This story is filled with hard choices, action and love as well.
I am not familiar with many Persian mythologies so this caught my attention right away. Soraya is cursed and she wants to be free from this curse but it isn’t so easy to lift the curse. She has to make some hard decisions and at some point you wonder if she has become a villain too.
The world building is wonderful. We are introduced to this world of divs – who are creatures with powers. A div was who cursed Soraya in the first place.
There are some surprises in the story and mostly because I was thinking of a fairy tale when a girl meets a boy (which she does)…but it doesn’t turn out the way you expect. I like that it took different turns and dark ones at that. This is a dark fairy tale, like I said Soraya makes some hard choices when it comes to her curse or her family.
I love the cover of this book – it’s gorgeous.
One of the surprises came with the romance part of the story and I liked that it didn’t turn out as I expected but I also felt like Soraya’s romantic interest in Parvaneh was quick. Soraya is attracted to Azad as first but that got nixed when he reveals himself!
As far as connecting with the characters, I didn’t feel a strong one to anyone in the story. I sympathized with Soraya and at times wanted to shake her – she is a complicated character and I liked that she owned up to her anger and jealousy.
Soraya walks a fine line between good vs evil and which way is right for her. She has been someone cursed, shunned for life to live alone, knowing she can kill with a touch and wondering why…why her? Why was she cursed? There are secrets to be revealed and the lives of her family are at stake. Soraya’s journey is filled with mistakes, and consequences but she learns to gain her power back too and right her wrongs. If you like your fairy tales a little dark with some twists and turns, you will love this story.
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