Categories: Young Adult, Sci/Fi, Dystopian, Cyberpunk
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to Margaret K. McElderry Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
The future is loading…
To escape rising seas and rampant epidemics, most of society lives “upcountry” in glistening virtual reality, while those who can’t afford the subscription are forced to remain in crumbling “downcountry.”
But upcountry isn’t perfect. A cold war rages between two powerful nations, Medaluo and Atahua—and no one suffers for it more than the Medan orphans in Atahua. Their enrollment at Nile Military Academy is mandatory. Either serve as a soldier or risk being labelled a spy.
Eirale graduated the academy and joined NileCorp’s private forces downcountry, exactly as she was supposed to. Then Atahua’s most wanted anarchist frames her for assassinating a government official, and she’s given a choice: cooperate with him to search for a dangerous program in Medaluo or go down for treason.
Meanwhile, Lia is finishing her last year upcountry at Nile Military Academy. Paired with her academic nemesis for their final assignment, Lia is determined to beat him for valedictorian and prove her worth. But there may be far more at stake when their task to infiltrate Medaluo and track down an Atahuan traitor goes wrong…
Though Eirale and Lia tear through Medaluo on different planes of reality, the two start to suspect they are puzzle pieces in a larger conspiracy—and the closer they get to the truth, the closer their worlds come to a shattering collision.
Content Warning: violence
+ This is such a compelling, tense read, it was hard to put down! It starts off with some action, which I loved and it took off from there. I was sucked into a cyberpunk world and it didn’t let go of me.
+ In this story there are two POVs, Eirale and Lia. We follow their journeys until they meet. I did suspect in the middle of the book what was happening but I needed to read to the end to get the explanation because this is sci-fi so this story was definitely giving my brain a work out. I guessed correctly on what was going on but the realization with what was happening was still mind-blowing and devastating. I did find myself at first gravitating more towards Eirale’s story, but eventually I was invested in Lia’s also.
+ There is a lot of action, some fighting scenes, and our main characters are on two different missions. I couldn’t put this book down because I needed to see what brought these characters together and the pay-off is well worth the wait. There are twists, betrayals, company and government corruption and I feel like this story is timely with it’s talk about tech and AI. The world-building is very cyberpunk and dystopian. There is a lot of virtual life which was hard for me to wrap my head around, but I went with it.
+ There is a tiny bit of romance in this story which isn’t the main focus but I loved it! I also love the found family element for both Eirale and Lia.
~ I’ve read a few book from this author and I always kind of go in with caution now because her stories have heavy world-building and it definitely makes me use more brain power. But this is the type of story where I have to take time to settle in before I’m invested. I think Eirale’s storyline kept me in it until Lia’s story got more interesting. I actually loved how both characters’ stories come together.
~ I’m not a big sci-fi reader, and this one did confuse me many times because this is the type of book I need to see visually. I actually think this would make a great movie or show. So there were a few explanations I had to re-read to make my non-sci-fi mind understand what was going on. There is a lot of tech jargon. But I did eventually get it…at least the gist of it! Also the upcountry, downcountry and different places in the story at times confused me because I didn’t know if the characters were upcountry (virtual world) and what not.
Final Thoughts:
My brain put in a lot of work to follow this book but overall, I really enjoyed it. There were times I was confused but once I was hooked, I couldn’t put it down. I love the build-up to that ending and I’m hoping to see what happens next in the series!
+ What a week – daughter had a last minute costume change right before the day of her school Halloween parade. So I had to find stuff for that. We carved pumpkins and painted some. And we made some last minute Halloween decorations using my daughter’s artwork. She loves Dandy’s World on Roblox and constantly draws her own skins or versions of the characters on Procreate. I decided to print a few of them and stick them in the lawn.😅. It’s a mild kid horror game so I thought it was perfect for Halloween plus she was going as Dandy for trick or treating also.
My daughter didn’t draw the Gardenview sign but she drew the other characters. And that’s her in her Dandy mask that she made. 😅
+ Halloween day was so tiring! My daughter had a school parade which is always fun, but it gets hot in the sun. So for some reason that really made me tired, then I had to go to the store, then carve our extra pumpkin, then pick up the kids, feed them dinner and then get them ready for trick or treating. I stayed home this time to pass out candy and I really thought it would be packed because it was Friday but I think due to the high prices of everything and the government shutdown affecting people, my neighbors right next to me and across from me, who usually pass out candy each year…did not this time so I was like the lone house one a darkened section of the street – they also didn’t decorate. 😩 I still got a bunch of trick or treaters, mostly teens I’d say, so I was kind of sad knowing the little kids in the neighborhood have grown up – including mine! My son ran into friends and took off trick or treating with them for the first time. He had so much fun! My hubby took my daughter around the block. My son said some other blocks already had bowls without candy left and there I was with still a lot to give away. Sigh…I should have been giving kids handfuls but I didn’t in the beginning because I bought less candy this year due to it being expensive. And now I have a lot of candy in my house. 😅 I even gave a huge ziplock bag to my parents to take home to my nephews. Yesterday I was so tired and recovering from Halloween lol…but today I will be taking the decorations down.
+ It’s November and Tuesday is my birthday woohoo!
Baseball – World Series: that was a good competition between two good teams. Congrats Dodgers!
Stranger Things (Netflix) – trying to rewatch from Season 1 since the final season is coming soon.
Wednesday (Netflix)
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!
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to Saturday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
In the great walled city of Isara, political turmoil ignites a rebellion one hundred years in the making. But when a legionnaire falls in love with a Magistrate’s daughter, their love will threaten the fate of the city and the will of the gods.
Luca Matius has one purpose—to carry on the family name, maintaining its presence in the Forum once his powerful and cruel uncle dies. But his noviceship with the city’s Philosopher places him in the middle of a catastrophe that will alter the destiny of his people.
Maris Casperia was raised amidst the strategic maneuvers of the Citadel’s inner workings, and she knows what her future holds—a lifetime of service to a corrupt city. But her years of serving as a novice to the last Priestess who possesses the stolen magic of the Old War has made her envision a different kind of future for the city. When she meets Luca, a fated chain of events is set into motion that will divinely entangle their lives.
As a secret comes to light and throws the city into chaos, Luca and Maris hatch a plot to create a calculated alliance that could tip the scales of power. But when an execution forces Luca to become the symbol of rebellion, he and Maris are thrown onto opposite sides of a holy war. As their fates diverge, they learn they are at the center of a story the gods are writing. And even if they can find their way back to each other, there may be nothing left.
Content Warning: violence, death
+ This story is full of tension from the setting and atmosphere – power of the Magistrates, political moves, and a fight with a rebel group of Legionnaires. Plus tension between our main characters Luca and Maris who are caught in a forbidden romance that seems to only head towards tragedy.
+ Maris is a Casperia, daughter of a Magistrate and Luca is the son of a Legionnaire. When deadly politics come between their love, they have to make hard choices. My favorite part of this story is their love which doesn’t show much build up but, does show the struggles they have to endure with their city about to fall. There is so much heartbreak and longing. They are caught in a war and I just felt so bad for them. I did enjoy both characters, and their opposite paths in this story. There is barely any spice, but a closed door scene.
+ The world-building is interesting, it felt like ancient Rome. The city of Isara has a governing body, the Magistrates, who have a lot of power, but a lot of corruption and the people are fed up. They have a military called the Legionnaires, who have turned rebel and there is a lot of politics and betrayal going on. Maris is caught in it because she takes her mother’s seat as a Magistrate, but Luca is caught also because he is on the side of the rebellion. I did like Luca’s relationship with his best friend, Vale, and want to see more of them together – it seems like a deep brotherhood between them. I also loved Theo, who is Luca’s guard.
~ The story is told through two POVs and the timeline shows the past and present and goes back and forth a lot. It shows how Maris and Luca came to be in their present situation but I think the back and forth took away from the story a bit. It helped to understand the tension between them but it pulled me out of the story at times.
~ I felt like I was thrown into the story which made it difficult to settle into it at first. The romance between Maris and Luca is shown in flashbacks, as a whirlwind attraction and romance between them, but we barely get scenes of them. It just has a feel of innocence until everything goes wrong but I wanted more. Same with the politics – the Magistrates are plotting. I understood the Legionnaires stance because they are the rebel group, but the Magistrates had something else going on within their group that had to do with Gods and magic. I felt like I needed more explanation there.
Final Thoughts:
The thing that stood out to me in this story is the tension – there is a war coming, and you feel it from the fear and desperation of the Magistrates and the determination of the Legionnaires. I felt like there was a war drum beating as the city starts crumbling. Same with the romance, because Maris and Luca are not in a good place presently, and it seems like no matter how much they want to be together, sides have been drawn and it feels impossible to bridge. The beginning does start off slow but the story got it’s hooks in me by the second half. I do feel like the time jumping back and forth didn’t work for me and I felt like I needed more information about the Gods, but mostly I did enjoy this story and look forward to book two to see what happens next.
Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Mystery, Paranormal, Retelling of Bluebeard
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to Feiwel & Friends for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely as useful as one would think. She and her sister have maintained the family business, eking out a paltry living by selling bogus spells to gullible buyers and conducting tours of the infamous mansion where the first of the Saphir murders took place.
Mallory is a self-proclaimed expert on Count Bastien Saphir—otherwise known as Monsieur Le Bleu—who brutally killed three of his wives more than a century ago. But she never expected to meet Bastien’s great-great grandson and heir to the Saphir estate. Armand is handsome, wealthy, and convinced that the Fontaine Sisters are as talented as they claim. The perfect mark. When he offers Mallory a large sum of money to rid his ancestral home of Le Bleu’s ghost, she can’t resist. A paid vacation at Armand’s country manor? It’s practically a dream come true, never mind the ghosts of murdered wives and the monsters that are as common as household pests.
But when murder again comes to the House Saphir, Mallory finds herself at the center of the investigation—and she is almost certain the killer is mortal. If she has any hope of cashing in on the payment she was promised, she’ll have to solve the murder and banish the ghost, all while upholding the illusion of witchcraft.
But that all sounds relatively easy compared to her biggest learning to trust her heart. Especially when the person her heart wants the most might be a murderer himself.
Content Warning: violence, death, murder
+ I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book because I haven’t read a book from this author in awhile and I am not totally familiar with the Bluebeard story. So I can speak to how good of a retelling this is since I don’t know Bluebeard’s story too well. But what an enjoyable story this turned out to be.
+ Mallory and her sister are hacks – they claim to be witches and have powers, and maybe they are part of a bloodline of witches but something happened in the past that messed it up for them. Now someone from the Saphir bloodline has come asking for their help to rid his estate of dangerous ghosts. Mal and her sister agree because they need money but how are they going to get rid of ghosts if they don’t really know how to do that?
+ My favorite part of this book – it is funny! I was laughing out loud, literally! Mallory and her sister are such characters and the ghosts of the wives Monsieur Le Bleu had murdered were funny as well. I haven’t had this much fun reading a book in a long time! Also later on in the story Mal solicits helps from some other characters who have magical powers and hunt down monsters, and they were a fun duo as well.
+ Mallory is such a fun character because she loves everything spooky. She gives people tours of a haunted house (she’s basically trespassing and scamming people). Thing is though she can actually see ghosts, but I love that the more morbid something was, she wasn’t afraid, she was delightfully obsessed with it.
+ There is a little bit of romance in the story and I adored it. I also loved the twists and turns of the story. Monsieur Le Blue as a villainous ghost did a great job at being an awful person/spirit. I was hoping Mallory would end him. There is monster hunting, ghost hunting and the ending is chaotic but again, fun.
~ The only thing about the story that maybe I had a little issue with is – how was Mallory going to fake her way into getting rid of Monsieur Le Bleu’s ghost? She had no clue what she was doing at all (and her sister liked to point this out). I was hoping her being at the estate and meeting the ghost wives would teach her something about magic. Eventually she figures out she needs help but I did want more witchcraft in the story.
Final Thoughts:
I loved this book because I had such a fun time reading it and that’s kind of rare to find now especially in a romantasy type of of book. It’s actually perfect for a fall read because it has haunted houses, ghosts still in their murdered form, mythological monsters, possession, murder, magic and mystery! Even a little romance.
Let’s do book tag but this time for Spooky season! The All Hallows Book Tag was created by QuirinusReads (Twitter/Instagram).
So some choices has changed this year in comparison to last year’s post! This time I chose hot chocolate, haunted house and dark academia but some of these are hard because I love werewolves more this year and I read more dark academia this year but I love paranormal too. 😅 It’s hard to choose!
Here are the questions:
What are your favourite spooky season genres?
Horror, Thrillers, Mystery, and now I’m also adding Dark Romance and Dark Fantasy to the list!
Which titles do you recommend for Halloween reading?
I was so lucky to actually read a lot of my most anticipated November reads through Netgalley:
Fallen City by. Adrienne Young
Starchaser by. R.M. Gray
The House Saphir by. Marissa Meyer
Coldwire by. Chloe Gong
Have you had a paranormal experience or spooky coincidence?
I’d say yes, a few!
What are your spooky season film and TV favourites?
It’s cringey as hell but I love it, it’s so nostalgic and cracks me up! My friend and I send each other Teen Witch clips just to remind each other it’s Teen Witch season LOL.
This time around I watched the new season of Wednesday on Netflix and that definitely brings in the Halloween vibes!
How do you celebrate Halloween?
This year I am staying home to pass out the candy while my kids will go with their dad around the block since he missed 2 Halloweens when he was living in Okinawa the past few years.
Here is the clean copy of This or That:
Here are the questions from this book tag if you feel like doing it:
The Questions:
What are your favourite spooky season genres?
Which titles do you recommend for Halloween reading?
What are your most anticipated reads this month?
Have you had a paranormal experience or spooky coincidence?
What are your spooky season film and TV favourites?
How do you celebrate Halloween?
And I’m not tagging anyone, feel free to do the tag if you like! ☺️
Categories: Dark Romance, Mystery, Paranormal, Gothic Romance, Monster Romance
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
Thank you to Bramble for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!
ou never forget your first love. Especially when he’s also your worst nightmare.
Twelve years ago, Maven Blackthorn fled her small hometown, leaving behind the wreckage of her mother’s suspicious death. But now, drawn back for her grandmother’s funeral, Maven steps onto Blackthorn soil once more, only to find herself thrust into a fresh nightmare: her grandmother’s body has vanished.
The Blackthorns immediately suspect the Crofts—the ruthless titans of Croft Pharmaceuticals, whose bitter blood feud with the Blackthorns has spanned generations. But when Maven comes face-to-face with Ronan Croft, the son of her mother’s suspected killer and the only man she ever loved, she discovers the forbidden passion they once shared is as alive—and dangerous—as ever.
As long-buried family secrets claw their way to the surface, betrayal lurks behind every whisper, and old vendettas ignite anew. The deeper Maven digs for answers, the more treacherous the game becomes. And the one man she can never seem to escape is hiding a truth that could burn their whole world down.
In a town where the dead won’t stay buried, is love salvation…or the deadliest game of all?
Blackthorn is a page-turning gothic romance with darker themes and scenes that may not be suitable for everyone. Please see the author’s content note at the beginning of the book.
Content Warning: violence, death, occult
+ I felt like this started good – it definitely gave dark, mysterious vibes. Maven is back home in Solstice with her two aunts, it was giving me Practical Magic vibes at first. The wealthy family in town are the Crofts and Ronan Crofts knows Maven is back and he wants her again.
+~ The back and forth romance between Ronan and Maven is tense, and at first purely sexual until we find out more about their past. Clearly he is obsessed with her and stalks her but she can’t stop her feelings for him either. It’s a forbidden romance, because Ronan’s father has told him to stay away from her – he doesn’t know why. And it’s spicy with even a monster spice scene. But there was something about the romance for a moment that made me feel uncomfortable even though it’s resolved later.
+~ There is a mystery going on in this story in that Maven is back in town for her grandmother’s funeral but her body goes missing at the funeral home. Maven sets out to do an investigation and finds out things about some of her mom (who’s passed) and about the Croft family. I don’t know why but I wasn’t immersed into the mystery as much as I was into the romance.
~ I felt like the ending was rushed and the reveals of the mystery was just dropped upon me from nowhere. I was surprised. Is there a part two? I felt like there was no build-up to that ending.
Final Thoughts:
I think this started off well, and I was invested in the romance, but I needed more of the mystery and especially needed more of a build-up to that ending. I was confused about the way it ended, it felt rushed.
Publisher: Canary Street Press Trade Paperback Original
Categories: Contemporary, Romance
CEO seeks dating coach
Julia Song, CEO of Starlight Cosmetics, is at the height of her career. Then why does she feel like such a failure? Maybe because she’s thirty and single, with a terrible track record at dating. And in the eyes of her Korean family, that is just unacceptable. It never really bothered her—that is until her beloved grandmother drops the bomb that she is sick and her dying wish is for Julia to get married. Impossible. So in a moment of weakness, Julia asks her family for help. Set her up on three dates to help her find The One. But it will never work—Julia is undateable. If only there was a coach for that…
Tae Kim knows about the weight of familial expectation. He’s currently unemployed, living in his parents’ basement to care for his ill father. Sure, he’s become somewhat of a fix-it man for the Korean community around town, but that’s not a real job. And the pressure to get his life together is getting to be too much. So when the Julia Song—his childhood crush—asks for his help, it may be just the distraction he needs. He’ll do whatever it takes, even coach her for these three dates. Problem is, the more time they spend together and the closer they get, the more Tae wonders if anyone is good enough for Julia…including him.
“Introspective, funny, relatable, sexy—it’s an absolutely perfect romance.” —Christina Lauren, New York Times bestselling author of The Unhoneymooners
Book Excerpt:
BRIBE BAGS
JULIA SONG HATED being the center of attention.
So standing here at the head of the conference table, expect-ant eyes of Very Important People all on her, was pretty much torture.
But Julia was the CEO of Starlight Cosmetics, this company was her baby, these VIPs the executives she hired to help grow the business. And the news she had to share with them was monumental.
She scanned her memory for the advice from her executive coach for this kind of situation. The only thing she could remember was, contrary to everything she’d ever been told before in her life, never try to picture your audience naked. It would make the nerves even worse.
And, of course, now that’s all Julia could think of.
She closed her eyes for a moment to clear her mind of all the unfortunate images fighting to run through her head.
What was that one thing her coach told her?
Squeeze your butt cheeks to hold the plank. Wait, no, that was her abs coach.
If the recipe calls for garlic, double it. Wrong again. That was her cooking coach.
Oh, screw it. What was the use of having all these people to help Julia better herself when she couldn’t call upon the advice when needed?
She cleared her throat and decided to wing it.
“I know you’re all busy, so I’ll make this quick. Look, it’s not how I wanted to do this . . .”
Her dream, rather, was to one day point at each of them and tell them an exorbitant dollar amount for a bonus. Enough money for them to buy new homes in the hills or on the beach, whichever they preferred.
“Wait—are you firing us?” someone cried out from the other end of the table.
Julia’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “What? No, of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Always start with something personal and positive to get people excited about what you’re going to say. Oh yeah, that’s the brilliant advice her coach had mentioned.
“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so ominous.” Julia quickly backtracked. “It’s just that, well, at the risk of get-ting too squishy in a work meeting, I really wanted to thank you all for taking a chance on me way back when all of this was just an idea in my head.”
Julia swallowed the emotion building in her throat as she looked around at the team she’d put together to lead this company. They were the ones who took her idea to merge the best in the Korean skincare market with the high demands of the US consumer and built what was now one of the fastest- growing organic, clean K- beauty brands in America.
“I just want to tell you how much I appreciate your hard work and loyalty. I don’t know that any of us anticipated this kind of success. But honestly, none of it would have happened without each and every one of you and your contribution. And now, I have some really great news. As you know, Starlight’s Lotus Bamboo Essence was selected for Allure’s Best of Beauty awards. Which was a dream come true for us. But it doesn’t end there.”
Julia inserted the dramatic pause her public speaking coach had encouraged her to use. The looks of anticipation around the room fueled her excitement.
“I’m thrilled to share that the same Lotus Bamboo Essence has also been selected as one of this year’s Oprah’s Favorite Things!”
There was a silent pause of shock, followed by an eruption of applause and cheers, high fives, and hugs shared around the table.
“We’ll need to reforecast sales projections. We’re gonna blow up with the exposure . . .”
“We’re gonna have to update a comms plan . . .”
“We have to think of how we add this to the packaging design . . .”
“We need to make sure the supply chain can handle the increased distribution . . .”
“Oprah still has major influence on Gen X consumer spending. It’s a big win for a product . . .”
Yup, that was her team . . . no- nonsense, capable, loyal, honest . . . and the hardest- working, most talented people in the industry. And they were all business, just like her.
Her chest swelled as she watched them leave to get back to work, patting each other on the back as they walked out, taking the noise with them.
Julia started this company at only twenty- six years old. She’d disappointed her parents by changing her major from pre- med to business administration. She lived off ramen and PB&J sandwiches for a good year just to scrape by as she worked tirelessly to research the hadn’t exactly welcomed her with open arms. And she stomached the start- up community’s boys’ club as she tried to secure funding for the company.
And four short years later, they were on the verge of something huge. Hard work and dedication had brought them to this level of success. So yeah, she was proud of them, proud of herself. And at only thirty, she was finally in a position financially to take care of her family without worry.
When the last person left her office, Julia turned to look out the windows, the hustle and bustle of Santa Monica ten floors below. She took a deep breath.
“That’s right, motherfuckers,” she screamed, while pumping her fist. She shook her hips back and forth, adding in some aggressive hair throws and, why the heck not, followed it with a body roll. “Oh yeah, uh- huh . . .”
“Oh dear, that’s something I’m not likely going to forget seeing.”
Record scratch.
Julia halted her celebratory dance and quickly patted down her hair, trying to tuck her I- knew- I’d- regret-these bangs behind her ear as her assistant, Annette, entered the office.
“Unlike what your schedule says on paper, you’ve only actually attended that hot yoga class once. Should you really be try-ing to move your body like that?” Annette asked. “I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself.”
“You’re fired.”
Annette passed her the cup of black coffee in the Morning Person mug that she knew was a lie, along with a multivitamin and a probiotic. Breakfast of champions.
“Just remember that I know where the bodies are hidden. Oh, and I have those pictures of you from that one holiday party . . .”
“Okay, fine, you can stay,” Julia conceded.
“Is it a good time to ask for a raise?”
Julia tried to shoot Annette a glare but couldn’t keep back the smile. It was a secret to no one that Annette was invaluable to the Starlight team, and most days she was the one bossing Julia around. Julia shook her head and took a seat at her desk. “Can you forward the O magazine email to the team so they know all the details?”
“You betcha,” Annette said. “Have you told your folks yet?”
“No, not yet. I don’t think they’d even understand what a big deal this is.”
“Make sure to tell them.” Annette wasn’t only her assistant, she was also her work- mother as well. “Oh, and here is the updated short list of investors we might want to approach for global expansion. One bad meeting doesn’t have to halt progress.”
One bad meeting was an understatement. The last time Julia had met with an investment firm for an informational meeting, they kept asking about her significant other, driving home that they were a family- run business built on traditional values. They looked at her as young and inexperienced not because of her age— she knew plenty of male CEOs who were thirty— but because she wasn’t married with children. In their eyes, Julia wasn’t reliable because she wasn’t settled . . . settled down, that is.
Her accomplishments, alone, weren’t enough.
I’ll show them, she thought to herself as she gritted her teeth. Julia grabbed the list from Annette with a little bit more force than necessary and nodded. “Thanks.”
“Hey.” Annette softened her voice like she so rarely ever did. The one word in that tone made Julia surprisingly emotional. “It’s a good day, boss lady. You should be proud.” She patted Julia on the shoulder before walking back to her desk just outside Julia’s office.
Susan Lee is the author of the critically acclaimed and reader favorite young adult romantic comedies SEOULMATES and THE NAME DROP. Her work has been featured in national outlets such as Buzzfeed, NPR, and Pop Sugar. Kirkus Reviews calls Susan’s voice “honest, fresh and thoughtful”. A graduate of UC San Diego, Susan built a career as an HR executive at some of today’s hottest companies, until she realized that writing stories was a more impactful and powerful form of resistance and change.
Now she channels her energy into writing Happily Ever Afters for those historically underrepresented in Romance. When she is not writing (or painfully procrastinating from writing), Susan can be found down the rabbit holes of her many obsessions including listening to Kpop, binge watching K-dramas, collecting sneakers, building mechanical keyboards, and obsessing over her two adorable, but ill-behaved chihuahuas.
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 concentrated so hard on finishing Alchemised because I have arcs to read! So I kind of was recovering from that book. 😅 And now I can read other ones – yay!
In this riveting dark fantasy debut, a woman with missing memories fights to survive a war-torn world of necromancy and alchemy—and the man tasked with unearthing the deepest secrets of her past.
“What is it you think you’re protecting in that brain of yours? The war is over. Holdfast is dead. The Eternal Flame extinguished. There’s no one left for you to save.”
Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed.
In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive.
According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture, making her enemies wonder: Is she truly as insignificant as she appears, or are her lost memories hiding some vital piece of the Resistance’s final gambit?
To uncover the memories buried deep within her mind, Helena is sent to the High Reeve, one of the most powerful and ruthless necromancers in this new world. Trapped on his crumbling estate, Helena’s fight—to protect her lost history and to preserve the last remaining shreds of her former self—is just beginning. For her prison and captor have secrets of their own . . . secrets Helena must unearth, whatever the cost.
Content Warning: violence, war, religious trauma, gore, rape, torture, drug use, death, suicidal ideation
This book has been everywhere on my socials, and let me just say I never read Manacled – the fanfic that was written before Alchemised and I’m not that knowledgable about the Dramione fanfic world that this is inspired by. That being said, I had a chance to borrow this one and wanted to see what they hype was all about.
+ I’ll get straight to what was my favorite part of this story – the love story. And when I say love, it’s not the pretty, sweet, happy, kind of love that people think about. Yes it’s a dark fantasy and dark romance story, it’s a captor/captive romance, and not for everyone. But these characters are stuck in a war that’s gone on too long, there is so much death, so much darkness, it’s all they know now: torture, blood, guts, gore, and zombies. Helena and Kaine, fall in love with one another during this very dark time. Kaine is a very red flag, but there is one thing he cares for in this hellhole of a world – Helena. His words to her are cruel, but he takes care of her. His actions spoke way louder than his words. As for Helena, she’s naturally caring because she’s a healer and she starts to see his actions beneath the mask of his words. And she’s lonely, they both are and that’s why they fall for one another. She saw him underneath all of the growling, cruelty and coldness. And no one has taken care of him like Helena has. Their love story is messy, scary, at times unforgivable, but the love or obsession between them really conquers all. Basically they are ride or die for one another and to hell with everyone else (even us reading the book! lol). Their story is emotional, heartbreaking, and I was hoping they were either going to get their happily ever after OR die together. 😅
+~ The world building is extensive and detailed. There was a lot to learn and a glossary would have helped because I felt like I was thrown into it and I was lost or my brain was not open to receiving this education in alchemy. I was like nope, I need it at beginner level please lol. But I definitely could envision this dark world embroiled in war. There is political intrigue, betrayals, and secrets. As far as the war, none of the sides sounded good to me. The Eternal Flame was so righteous in their cause and the Necromancers were so cruel and evil. The Eternal Flame seemed like the lesser of both evils. Also I think I was confused with the world-building of the Gods and such – maybe I would need to re-read it to understand it. The depiction of all the ugliness of war is done well in this story. It’s dark, it’s tragic, it’s like there is no way out of the constant killing and death. The story shows how high the cost of war is, and even I was tired of the war at the end of book.
~ I did have some issues with this book. First, the length. It is told in three parts and I actually had to push through Part One because it felt like it was moving too slow. There was a lot of info-dumping. I understand it’s setting the stage, but it was slow and I almost DNF’ed until a friend told me it gets better. The story did get better but then there would be other spots where again, too much info-dumping so I skimmed some of it. The pacing was not the best for me. I felt like there was a lot of repetition that could have been cut out. I think this would have been better for me as a series.
~ I had QUESTIONS: why was Helena so loyal to Luc and the Eternal Flame? I get that he befriended her in school and she was lonely, but that much loyalty to him? I needed to see how that friendship built. Also, how and when did Kaine get so obsessed with Helena? I wanted to see some moments in school where Kaine interacted with her or thought about her, because there’s a moment where Helena remembers how they were rivals in school but they never talked because he was a guild student and she was a scholarship student. So when did his obsession with her begin?
~ Helena and Kaine, kept going in a circle of don’t you dare die, no don’t YOU die and/or I’m going to save you, NO I’m going to save YOU. 😅. It was dramatic and I love angst, but I think it being so repetitive took out the emotional impact for me. Speaking of circle? This book is written in a way where you will want to go back to the beginning and see what you missed.
Final Thoughts:
I’d say my thoughts on this book are mixed, maybe because of the hype? But I did go into this without expectations. I think the love story between Helena and Kaine is what kept me in the story, I needed to see if they would make it out alive! The world building is dense, sometimes confusing, many things were repetitive and the pace was too slow for me. The story is long. The story is dark (check the triggers), but I like dark stories so I didn’t mind that. I liked that in the darkness of this story, came the tiniest spark of hope – and that hope was two people who did anything and everything to save one another. Two imperfect, misunderstood, broken, used, traumatized people found love, where love was hard to find and I thought that was pretty epic. I can see how people will either love this story and be devastated by it or dislike this book because it’s dark, and it’s triggering, but I’m glad I pushed through it and got to experience it.
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