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 fellow readers and bloggers and everyone out there! How are YOU? I hope everyone is having an awesome October so far.
Just when I think my kids are over the illnesses they came down with in September something else happens. I guess my daughter is allergic to her antibiotic but she had a late reaction because she was at the end of her treatment and flared up yesterday in hives! Poor kiddo, but she is in a much better mood than I ever was when I had hives for week when I was around 8 or 9 years old. My doctors never figured out what triggered it either! I remember the itching drove me mad and I would cry from the welts. She’s barely bothered by it, except for the ones on her knees and elbows. Anyway I hope it’s out of her system soon because…mommy needs a break! 😩 That’s how the start of my October has been! I hope yours has been way better!
I am very excited seeing all the houses decorate for Halloween though! My son is still afraid of some of the decorations but my daughter loves all of it. Such opposites, but I hope we just all get better so we can enjoy the festivities this month. 🎃
Let’s get to the lines!
“A lace-trimmed wedding invitation sits on my nightstand and I know, beyond the shadow of the doubt, that Mama is not coming back.”
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This cover is gorgeous! I got this book in my LitJoy Crate box so review will come soon to my blog.
If I thought August was busy well…September was mostly about me trying to get my household over sinus issues, colds, and ear infections. Yay…not really. 😫 I managed to read a few books while my kiddos were under the weather. And it’s been HUMID, ewww, yuck, I want cooler weather and look at that, today I get that wish and now I’m dealing with more sinus issues and even vertigo. Enough of that depressing stuff, what did I read this month?
And that’s all I got. I read some really good books in September, so I’m really happy about that. If you want to check out my reviews for these books just check out my archive. Hope you had a good reading month and let’s have a great October.🎃
‘In his pursuit of the occult, the Third Reich opened the Gate to a realm of magic and brought the world to ruin. The Gate was eventually closed, but They were already in our world and They were hungry.’
-The Lost History, Library of Avergard
Azure ‘Azzy’ Brimvine lives in a world decimated by magic, where humans have retreated underground from the overwhelming dangers of the surface. But Below is no safer than Above.
Magic borne plagues continue to eat away at the remaining human cities, a sickness that doesn’t merely kill, but creates aberrations from the stricken: people twisted by magic into something dark, dangerous, and powerful. It is an existence of fear and constant dread. When Azzy’s brother, Armin, is infected and cast out into the Above, she sets out after him, determined to be there for him no matter what he becomes.
The world Above is full of monsters, both wild and cunning, some more human than Azzy was led to believe. Armin is captured and bound for the Auction block of Avergard, a ruthless city of inhuman lords and twisted creatures. To reach him, Azzy must brave the perils of the Above and the chaotic life forms created by the Gate. To reach him, she must find allies and forge new bonds in this broken world.
And Azzy must reach him, before Armin’s new power is used to open the Gate once more.
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.
Book Titles with Numbers In Them
(You could really challenge yourself and do numbers 1-10 or just any numbers at all. Submitted by Emma @ Words and Peace)
There have been a few books lately with numbers in them like these books featuring crowns.
Sorry…I feel like I’m cheating LOL, this whole Three Dark Crowns series by Kendare Blake all have numbers in the titles!!
Just because I’m randomly looking for titles – this one popped up. I never read it before though.
And then there is always the classic Fahrenheit 451.
And of course from one of my favorite historical romance authors we have these titles below.
It’s a pretty easy topic today and that’s what I got. What do you have?
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
In an Eden-like future, a girl and her father live close to the land in the shadow of a lone mountain. They own a few remnants of civilization: some books, a pane of glass, a set of flint and steel, a comb. The father teaches his daughter how to fish and hunt and the secrets of the seasons and the stars. He is preparing her for an adulthood in harmony with nature, for they are the last of humankind. But when the girl finds herself alone in an unknown landscape, it is a bear that will lead her back home through a vast wilderness that offers the greatest lessons of all, if she can learn to listen. A cautionary tale of human fragility, of love and loss, The Bear is a stunning tribute to the beauty of nature’s dominion.
Thank you to Bellevue Literary Press and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.
I chose this book to read because it was out of my comfort zone and as I started reading I was like, wow, YES, this is definitely out of my comfort zone. I read romance and ya books, mostly fantasy these days but I like my contemporary stuff too. This story is written like a fable and I put it down so many times I didn’t realize I’ve had it on my NetGalley for more than three months now! Well it was time to finish it.
The writing is poetic and told like a fable but it is sparse and this book only clocks in at 224 pages! It took me three months to finish what I could usually finish in three hours. It was so hard for me to get into the story, I was so bored. There is no plot. There is no punctuation when the characters speak. The characters have no names, on purpose though, but still, it bugged me.
The father and daughter live in a post-apocalyptic world, surviving by living off the land, hunting for their food, preparing it and so forth, same for the next day. The father teaches her lessons, year after year of her life he gifts her something that will help her survive this life. It is a tale of survival, enduring and loss. But because I couldn’t quite get into reading the book, a lot of the message went over my head.
It was definitely different and I did get the message of the book. It’s a story that makes you think, at least to question what the book was trying to say. It wasn’t for me but I think if you like books that read like a fable and don’t get hung up on things like punctuation, you would enjoy this.
I received by second OwlCrate box and I love it! The theme for September is called Fear the Night which is perfect since Halloween is around the corner. So let’s look at what I got!
So many goodies!
An excerpt of The Beautiful and this card with beautiful artwork.
Coffee in the flavor of Scare-Amel Corn from Bones Coffee! It smells so good, but I may be gifting this to some coffee lovers I know. I love coffee too – but usually the icy blended kine. 😂
Fingerless gloves, SO freaking cute! A jewelry dish that says “Beware for I am Fearless & Therefore Powerful” – Mary Shelley. And a pin!
A close up of the pin and it’s amazing details. Beautiful!
I had two books in the box, yes TWO! This is a paperback of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and it already looks scary. I mean, look at that cover…👀
And last but not least, this GORGEOUS signed copy of The Bone Houses, with a note from the author and this bookmark! This white cover is lovely but I kind of want a black copy to compare haha. I love the design of that skull so much. I can’t wait to read this book.
I think this was a pretty good box and I can gift a few things away, which is always convenient – I already have some of my Xmas shopping done because of these boxes haha. I am skipping next month’s OwlCrate because I’m not a big sci-fi fan, but I will be trying a new box hopefully.
Categories: Witches, Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult/New Adult
Bound as one to love, honor, or burn.
Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.
Sworn to the Church as a Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou’s, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union—holy matrimony.
The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou’s most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.
And love makes fools of us all.
I heard great things about this book but wow when it actually meets expectations, it’s a glorious feeling.
I started this book at 8pm and finished right before midnight. 😱
Oh the feels! Oh my heart. It was everything I wanted in a book.
Louise le Blanc, or Lou, is a witch hiding from her coven, and now she is living as a thief in Cesarine. Not only does Lou need to hide from her coven, she needs to stay far away from witch hunters called Chasseurs. Chasseurs are devout men of the church, and their main goal is to eradicate witches from this world. Lou runs into Reid and the rest is history.
Lou is so funny, sassy, brave, charming and so full of life. I love her! She has a foul mouth, curses a lot, sings bawdy songs 🤣 but she’s also compassionate. Then there is Reid who is so devout and chivalrous, he doesn’t even swear, and he is the captain of the Chasseurs. It’s a fun enemies to lovers romance relationship. When these two are together it’s just so funny how they get under each other’s skin. I love seeing them drive one another crazy! But when they finally open themselves to one another…
And I categorized this book as new adult…because there is definitely a sex scene and it’s beautiful. 😍😅
But that’s not the only love that gave me the feels in this book, Lou and her best-friend Coco, was friendship goals. These two together are such badass females, but so full of heart! Coco is Lou’s ride or die, sister from another mister, partner in crime, best friend and I LOVE them together. There is a celebration of female, in this book and the Chasseurs are so hellbent on thinking women and witches are evil, or that women had to be chaste and pure.
And the rest of the cast, was amazing as well. There are villains, magic, secrets, betrayals, broken hearts and mended ones too. This story made me laugh, it made me feel giddy and I think I even teared up at some parts. This world of witches and chasseurs just sucked me in, it took me on such an enjoyable, exciting and emotional reading journey. My heart was full at the end!
Then the ending was like a mic drop which made me silently cackle in delight (because everyone was asleep in the house!). YES, please give me more COCO in book two. I can’t wait to meet her coven! I went to sleep SMILING. That’s how good this book made me feel. It was fun in an unexpected way.
It’s one of my favorite reads this year and I have a feeling it’s a book I’ll be rereading a bunch before the sequel comes out next year.
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!
Happy Autumn and Aloha Friday everyone! Wow…what a September so far. Was trying to get my son better because he had a cold, and we finally got a handle on it last week. He’s much better but his little sister got sick this past weekend. So off to the doctor we went yesterday and she has an ear infection. I feel like I’m coming down with whatever she has and trying desperately not to. It gives me an excuse to read though! I’m definitely more in the mood to read than review though. 📚
Here are my lines for today:
“The gravedigger’s children were troublemakers. They chased chickens through the neighbor’s yards, brandishing sticks like swords, claiming that the fowl were monsters in disguise.”
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I got this book in OwlCrate’s September box that graced my mailbox this past weekend! AND instead of the black cover I got a white cover. It’s gorgeous. I don’t have the black cover to compare but I think both covers look amazing and I’ve heard good things about this book. Can’t wait to dig in…but I will dig in AFTER I read Serpent & Dove, because I really need to read that book. HAHA…have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairy Tale, Romance
Selah has waited her whole life for a happily ever after. As the only daughter of the leader of Potomac, she knows her duty is to find the perfect match, a partner who will help secure the future of her people. Now that day has finally come.
But after an excruciatingly public rejection from her closest childhood friend, Selah’s stepmother suggests an unthinkable solution: Selah must set sail across the Atlantic, where a series of potential suitors awaits—and if she doesn’t come home engaged, she shouldn’t come home at all.
From English castle gardens to the fjords of Norge, and under the eye of the dreaded Imperiya Yotne, Selah’s quest will be the journey of a lifetime. But her stepmother’s schemes aren’t the only secrets hiding belowdecks…and the stakes of her voyage may be higher than any happy ending.
What did I just read? 🤔
I’m not quite sure but I did finish it. I felt like I spent most of my reading time trying to pinpoint what world this story is set in. I thought it was historical, but then I realized though East Asia, America, Europe, are mentioned in the story some of the countries’ names were different, so…an alternate Earth? But with the some of the characters traveling by ship I thought okay…the time period is when empires were colonizing other countries…but then it mentioned radio and a transmitter and I was like…huh? Also their clothing, men wore ties and suits? I was confused.
So Selah is the next leader of her little country called, Potomac (it’s a country in America, somewhere in the southeast), but she has a wicked stepmother who wants her gone…sound familiar? Instead of a Prince finding her…SHE gets to choose her husband. But said chosen husband declines her proposal so her stepmother sends her across the Atlantic to other countries to find a husband. Selah knows it’s her stepmother’s scheme to get rid of her for good, but Selah’s plan is to choose a husband fast and get back to her ailing father. She has a list of prospects and two weeks to spend with each to see who will be her potential husband.
The beginning is okay, I was getting into the world building, confused about it, but intrigued enough to keep reading. I wanted to figure it out! Selah is introduced and she seems like a sweet girl who cares for her dad and grandmother. She loves Potomac, but it’s a farming country so she isn’t a flashy girl and seems not to know much about courting Princes. Selah is a bit naive and just kind of bland, but her crew on The Beholder, seems interesting and mysterious, Captain Lang, especially.
We follow her on her journey to England, she falls for her suitor, Bear, but she finds out the truth about their courting and on to the next. They make it up north and she then falls for her next suitor…🤦🏻♀️ which is fine, I mean, I’d fall for Torden too, but come on girl, you can’t fall for every guy you meet after only two weeks of courting! Selah wants love, she wants someone to rule Potomac with and live a quiet life reading, planting and digging in the dirt. She wants to get back to Potomac to help her father.
And in the midst of it all is a mash of these fairy tales inspiring this story. Like at first it was Cinderella, and then you kind of get these Hansel and Gretel moments. The big villain in this book is some tsarystsa who’s taking over Europe. Selah is afraid of her and doesn’t want to end up near the Imperiya which the tsarystsa rules, so Selah is really trying to choose quickly from her top three suitors to avoid this villain.
So…is this book like The Bachelorette? She’ll find a husband and that’s it?
It’s not as simple as Selah thinks it will be with the state of the world politics and the Imperiya growing larger. I thought it was just a book about a girl choosing her future husband and that could have worked but there was the whole issue about the tsarystsa taking over Europe. Thing is we only find out more about this at the end, there are hints of it throughout the story but I think I needed more of it, less of the courting.
The ending is where Captain Lang fesses up to what is really happening. I kind of wish I had Captain Lang’s point of view in some parts of the book. Because most of the book is about Selah falling for her suitors!
I think if I understood the world building, the rest would have followed suit but I didn’t get a good grasp of this world. I did keep reading to see if she found a guy who she was compatible with her and she’s two for three right now and haven’t met the third one yet! 🤦🏻♀️ What will she do? Oh and I just had a light bulb moment about the world building as I type this out…LOL…sorry! The world is basically set in an alternate Earth where folklore, fairytales and mythology are real! Does that make sense?
Am I intrigued enough to read the next book? I think I am…🤷🏻♀️ and that confuses me as well. Usually I wouldn’t bother reading the sequel if the book was confusing. I’ll say I want to know how dismantling the Imperiya comes about. And let’s see suitor number three. I’m definitely here for The Bachelorette part of this story I think. 🤣 And I don’t even watch that show!
I was wavering on my rating for this…I was going for two stars because the world building confused me, but I read this kind of quick and it kept me reading so I bumped it up to three. If you are not a fan of insta-love, stay away from this book! 😅 Also if you have no patience for confusing world building, this one is not for you. And if you can’t stand bland, kind of whiny, lead characters…um…yeah…don’t pick this up. But if you love books where a girl gets to court different boys and they all seem like pretty good, swoon worthy prospects, haha, well here you go!
Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Grief, Death, Books, Contemporary
This is a love story. It’s the story of Howling Books, where readers write letters to strangers, to lovers, to poets. It’s the story of Henry Jones and Rachel Sweetie. They were best friends once, before Rachel moved to the sea. Now, she’s back, working at the bookstore, grieving for her brother Cal and looking for the future in the books people love, and the words they leave behind.
I picked this book up after reading a dystopian story that exhausted me (in a good way), not even thinking I’d really get into it right away. But I picked it up at dinner time and was done by like 10:30pm! And yes it’s a short book, but I read it so fast because it was beautiful.
It is a love story, but not only about romantic love. It’s the love between family, the love between Rachel Sweetie and her brother who died, Cal. Love lost between parents or friends, a secret love, a second chance love, or a not another chance kind of love. It broke my fricken heart because I am that person who’s trigger is basically stories about death and grief. 💔 But I don’t tend to shy away from books like these, I’m eager to devour them just to know I’m not alone in grieving.
This book, with the beautiful bookshop setting and its Letter Library – oh the Letter Library. ❤️ I want to encounter a letter library, what a beautiful concept to leave letters and notes in books. For me writing in a book is a no-no but I want to buy me a copy of Words in Deep Blue and write in it and underline everything that touched me in this book. That’s how much this book moved me.
The actual romance between Rachel and Henry seems like a typical teenage romance. It is a friends to lovers romance. But Henry is desperately in love with a girl named Amy, though his best friend Rachel is in love with him. Or was. There is a “letter” but it doesn’t get read at the right time due to certain circumstances, and then the moment seems lost as Rachel moves on. Her life takes a horrendous turn without Henry knowing any of it, in part because she did move on from him, but…still, it was sad and frustrating when they meet again. But I get it. I get where Rachel’s head space was at.
Now Henry….Henry. He seems like that lovable, nice guy who needs some direction, or a lot of it. 🤦🏻♀️ I’m glad he finds it in the end. I’m relieved they both do.
I love that this book was a love letter to “books” as well. Where would we be without the written word and how it binds us all together in ways unexpected. All of us view books differently and this one pierced my heart pretty deep. I cried. I loved it. And that’s it.
Past Midnight Book Reviews & More 