My First Audiobook Review

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Childish Spirits

Author: Rob Keeley

Link to Review: Starting Small Reads Blog

My actual review on this audiobook is posted on my children’s book review blog because it’s more for middle grade/young adult. But honestly, I think it would be good for adults who enjoy a mystery as well, hence why I’m cross-posting it.

The book itself is good, but I also wanted to talk about my experience with audiobooks.

Do you like to listen to them?

Before reviewing this audiobook, I tried two other ones. One of them was with my trial through Audible and I borrowed Sorcery of Thorns. I did not enjoy the ten minutes I listened to. Yes, only ten minutes! I couldn’t concentrate on the scene and the narrator’s voice was not getting me into the mood to listen. I felt so lost and I had heard so many good things about the book, I didn’t want to ruin my experience of it so I stopped.

But I didn’t want to give up on audiobooks. So many people I know enjoy them, I wanted to see if I would like them too. I thought it could help dwindle my TBR list if I could just listen to an audiobook while I drove or while I cleaned the house. I was wrong…

I borrowed another book, not with my Audible credit, since I only had one left. I used Overdrive (online library) and borrowed The Belles. It took a few days just to get to almost half way into the book. My son would listen in on the audiobook whenever he caught me, and he’d start asking question and then my daughter would join in with her babbling. I’d lose concentration and I’d end my session. 😞 Did I finish that book? No…but I remember the main character’s name was Camilla, I think…and there were lots of scenes with fashion and beauty elements. The narrator’s voice did a good job – but I seriously would have finished that book quicker by reading it.

The book above, Childish Spirits was short and the narrator was great. Ghost stories also have an oral history so that helped my frame of mind as well. It was perfect as an audiobook especially for someone like me who apparently has a short listening attention span! Seriously, audiobooks remind me of college lectures – and they put me to sleep. Oh the torture! So maybe I associate audiobooks with sleep and lectures? 😂

My verdict on audiobooks? I think they are great for children’s books or short stories. But for regular young adult and adult fiction, so far it’s not for me. I still won’t say I truly dislike them because someone suggested I listen to a memoir audiobook, like Michelle Obama’s bestseller. I will try it and see if it changes my mind. So far I’m not a big fan of them.

What do you think about audiobooks? Are you a fan? Or not? Any audiobooks you could recommend? Leave me a comment below, I’d love to read your thoughts!

Book Review: Finale (Caraval, #3)

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Author: Stephanie Garber

Format: Hardcover (borrowed)

Pages: 478

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy

A love worth fighting for. A dream worth dying for. An ending worth waiting for.

It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist.

With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change and define him.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun. There are no spectators this time—only those who will win, and those who will lose everything.

Welcome, welcome to Finale. All games must come to an end…

I just finished reading Finale and I’m still processing my thoughts as I write this review. I gave it 4 stars but it’s dropped to 3.5…? And maybe my expectations were a bit high after reading Legendary, but this one fell short for me. I’m bummed that I didn’t love it as much as the other two.

This book picks up right away after Legendary. It is told through Scarlett and Tella, the Dragna sisters. Legend is about to be crowned emperor except the Fates are waking up. And he needs his powers at full force to defeat them, or at least take down their leader, The Fallen Star. He is a new villain that rules and punishes the other Fates to keep them in line. Around this story of taking down The Fallen Star is another game our main characters are playing, but it’s not Caraval.

I don’t hate love triangles in stories. I mostly enjoy them because I like the angst and trying to decide who would be best for our main characters – but by book three, I wanted these Dragna sisters to make a decision on their men. Caraval was a mysterious high stakes game invented by Legend, but the other game being played in this series is the game of love. And they all keep playing it, to the point of distraction.

Scarlett tests Julian’s love by meeting the real Nicolas. Nicolas has a cameo in this book, I don’t even know if he was necessary to the story. Tella tests Legend by running away from him and going to Jacks. This happens, a lot. After awhile, I got weary and I wanted choices to be made.

I liked Tella in Legendary, but she is so indecisive and impulsive in Finale. And yes, she loves the bad boys. That’s fine, I like bad boys myself. She got herself into situations that tested my patience but after awhile I just figured she likes the drama, she likes the game. How else could I explain why Tella keeps going back to these guys who don’t treat her right? Okay so they are good looking and great kissers, but come on…this girl seems to pine for heartache. Also she’s always creeping around trying to find out what Legend is up to in the beginning of the book. 😅 I was like, girl…what are you doing? 🤦🏻‍♀️

Julian and Scarlett at least had a relationship that seemed steadier, maybe because he’s not immortal. But Legend and Tella? I guess Tella did have a valid dilemma, to choose between Jacks the jerk with a literally devastating kiss or Legend the player who could also act like a jerk. 🙄 I was thinking…run away…from both of them! Are there no other options out there for Tella? hahaha…not gonna lie, I was even rooting for Jacks at one point.

This story was also darker than Caraval and Legendary. There are blood vows, obsessions and deceptions. But at least the story tried to point out obsession is not love. I did find it interesting that love was what could kill an immortal. It made some of the characters in this book question what they valued more: love or immortality? We also learn more about Paradise (the Dragna sisters’ mother) and her role with The Fallen Star. As I said, it’s a game of love, a dangerous game at that.

The ending was slightly surprising and left a little open so I wonder if the world of Caraval isn’t over. There are some questions left unanswered.

There is no Caraval game in Finale. The game in Finale is love and I think it took the mystery away from what the Caraval series was all about. The grandeur, the element of surprise, the romance, the players, the locations and illusions of Caraval was missing in Finale. Maybe that was the point – Tella had to decide if Legend the person was what she loved, or Legend the illusion. As a series, it is fun, different and enjoyable. As for Finale, the book, it wasn’t my favorite in the series. But it did have a happy ending at least. 😊

Get it here: Amazon

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First Line Fridays

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!

It’s been a long week folks, with slower reading time for me. Trying to take my time and not feel the rush to finish up a book in one sitting. I tend to do that and forgo sleep but I needed to rest this week. It’s been hot in Hawaii – has summer weather hit wherever you are?

Okay let’s get there lines down…

Scarlett Dragna’s bedroom was a palace built of wonder and the magic of make-believe. But to a person who’d forgotten how to imagine, it might have just looked like a disaster of dresses.

Can you guess?

🔽

I’m 75% done so we shall see what happens in the end! 😱 After this book, I have to finish a few I started but have been taking awhile to finish. What are you reading this weekend?

Happy Reading Book Lovers! 😘

Book Review: The Rest of the Story

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Rest of the Story

Author: Sarah Dessen

Format: Hardcover (owned)

Pages: 440 (but Exclusive Version has a bonus 13 pages)

Categories: Family Dynamics, Slow Burn Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary

Emma Saylor doesn’t remember a lot about her mother, who died when she was ten. But she does remember the stories her mom told her about the big lake that went on forever, with cold, clear water and mossy trees at the edges.

Now it’s just Emma and her dad, and life is good, if a little predictable…until Emma is unexpectedly sent to spend the summer with her mother’s family—her grandmother and cousins she hasn’t seen since she was a little girl.

When Emma arrives at North Lake, she realizes there are actually two very different communities there. Her mother grew up in working class North Lake, while her dad spent summers in the wealthier Lake North resort. The more time Emma spends there, the more it starts to feel like she is divided into two people as well. To her father, she is Emma. But to her new family, she is Saylor, the name her mother always called her.

Then there’s Roo, the boy who was her very best friend when she was little. Roo holds the key to her family’s history, and slowly, he helps her put the pieces together about her past. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic of North Lake—and Saylor finds herself falling under Roo’s spell as well.

For Saylor, it’s like a whole new world is opening up to her. But when it’s time to go back home, which side of her will win out?

What is it about Sarah Dessen and summer time? The two go hand in hand! I first read her books in college back when they were first published and I haven’t stopped (23 years later).

It’s also fitting that I finished the book just before the fourth of July, since The Rest of the Story takes place during the height of summer. Emma Saylor, has lost her mom to drug addiction and her dad has remarried. An emergency leaves Emma with no place to stay for the summer, but she ends up heading over to North Lake, where her mom grew up. She meets a whole bunch of family she’s never really known and puts together the missing puzzle pieces of her life.

Sarah Dessen knows how to write about family dynamics in a way that is so relatable. I mean, this book is about summer on a lake – I’ve never done that, but I live on an island, and our economy is tourism. My mom and most of my aunts all worked as hotel housekeepers. I’ve heard complaints time and again, all my life, from my mom and aunts. It’s hard work! Also…try living with a mom who cleans rooms for a living. I’ve inherited cleaning anxiety, I always feel my house isn’t clean enough when my parents come over. 🤦🏻‍♀️😂 So once again, different location, different cultures but I could still relate to this book! That’s why Sarah Dessen books are amazing and special.

I love how Emma, who deals with anxiety on a daily basis learns to cope with the Calvanders (her mom’s side of the family). They are a large family – noisy, confrontational at times and basically…family. Emma is an only child and grew up with her dad and Nana so this was out of her comfort zone. I related to the Calvanders so much. They reminded me of my relatives – and I have a lot. Lots of aunts, uncles and cousins.

While Emma is in North Lake she learns about her mom and what she was like growing up. It’s not a pretty picture at times and that’s another reason why I love Sarah Dessen stories. She goes there, in the imperfect places of a character’s past and life but there is always a silver lining in the end.

And then there is the friendship to lovers romance in this book. It’s slow and sweet, and you hope they make it eventually! The romance is never the focus of the book, the family issues are, but it’s nice to see Emma try to find a summer romance, because didn’t we (or some of us) want one at that age? I totally did!

I don’t know if it’s because I’m older now and I just felt more at 18 years old reading her books and relating to her characters, but this time at 40-I can totally understand the parent in the book so much more than Emma. Due to the fact I am a parent myself and in a few years will be dealing with a teenager (I’m scared lol). 😅 But I still understood where Emma was coming from. I was, once upon a time, a teenager too.

I love that Emma gets a chance to figure things out and make mistakes along the way. And just because a story seems over…it isn’t. 😍 I also love that this book shows how families are complicated. This is a Sarah Dessen summer book for sure: light reading, a little romance, lots of family love, a happy ending…and “the rest of the story”. ☀️ 😉

Get it here: Amazon

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Top Ten Tuesday: Childhood Favorites

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl – definitely check out her awesome website to see more info. This week’s topic is…Childhood Favorites! Not gonna lie – this one is challenging for me.

I did not grow up in a reading household. My parents immigrated from the Philippines to the USA. Growing up as farmers, they didn’t have the luxury of leisure reading in their motherland. They worked hard as children and as adults had to work hard in Hawaii to give me and my sister a better life. So my joy of reading came first from my elementary school librarian. I loved her! She was this petite Japanese-American woman, named Mrs. Aoki, with a high pitched, sweet, soft voice. Story time at the library was always my favorite part of the day!

Madeline – I loved when our school librarian read Madeline books to us in the afternoons before school ended. I wanted to be Madeline in Paris with her uniform and chic hat.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses – I’m not even sure what version our school librarian read to us – all I remember is the story. I love how these sisters snuck out at night (element of danger) and danced the night away. I would wonder where they went and my imagination would take flight. I thought it was amazing to be able to dance all night that their shoes would get ruin. 😂

Cinderella – once again, this isn’t the exact book I read as a child, but I did read the Disney version of Cinderella and fell in love. I loved the animals more than anything. Her gown was pretty and it was nice she got a Prince in the end, but I loved the magical aspect of the book.

Tikki Tikki Tembo – I still remember my first grade teacher reading us this story. It was after a field trip and it was hot as heck, but there were like 15 minutes to the bell ringing to end the school day. She read this book, as we tried to cool off, sitting outside of the classroom praying for a breeze and I got lost in this story. I’ve now read it to my own son and we love saying Tikki Tikki Tembo’s name. 😂

Green Eggs and Ham – This book was my favorite by Dr. Seuss when I was a child because green eggs and ham do not sound appealing. But it’s so funny how Sam-I-Am insists it’s amazing throughout the whole book. I still enjoy this book and my kids love it too now.

Grimm’s Fairy Tales – because I was going to say Rumplestiltskin is a favorite of mine BUT…since I love a lot of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, why not list them as one? Rapunzel, even Cinderella was writing by them, and so many other fairy tales that are now re-imagined today in YA books.

Since I mentioned Brothers Grimm, then I have to add Hans Christian Andersen in here as well! My favorites from him are The Little Mermaid, The Little Match Girl and Thumbelina to name a few.

East O’ the Sun and West O’ the Moon – I remember we saw a play of this story for a field trip in the 5th or 6th grade and I was entranced by the story. Just the title itself sounded magical! Definitely a love of mine and I’m thinking I needed to buy myself a copy and re-read it.

Sweet Ferdinand! The Story of Ferdinand is short and sweet with a lovely message about a bull who wanted no part in the violent world of bull-fighting. How can you not love a bull who loves flowers? He is the sweetest! It’s a story that always made me feel happy at the end.

Last, but not least, the very awesome, The Giving Tree. It’s a beautiful, sweet simple story with a message that relates to children and adults alike. I could read this one over and over again.

There you have it! Ten amazing collections and stories that shaped my love of reading as a child. Today, some of these books are shaping my own children’s love of books and reading.

Did you enjoy any of these as a child as well? Let me know in the comments below. Happy Reading!

Monthly Wrap Up: June 2019

I was so busy this weekend, I almost forgot it is the last day of June! There has been so many things going on.

I went back to school shopping for my son, attended a library book sale this weekend and sometimes I feel I just can’t keep up. I hope July is less busy for me because August is going to be super crazy with back to school and my in-laws coming to visit.

So let’s see what I read this month:

I think I did pretty good! I feel like I need to read less in July just to give myself a break.

Sweetbitter by. Stephanie Danler – 4 stars

The Bone Witch by. Rin Chupeco – 4 stars

The Heart Forger by. Rin Chupeco – 4.5 stars

The Shadow Glass by. Rin Chupeco – 4.5 stars

Sky Without Stars by. Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell – 3.5 stars

Enchantee by. Grita Trelease – 4 stars

The Storm Crow by. Kalyn Josephson – 4.5 stars

The Lovely War by. Julie Berry – 4.5 stars

The Orphan’s Song by. Lauren Kate – 4 stars

The Culling Trials (Shadowspell Academy) by. K.F. Breene & Shannon Mayer – 4.5 stars

Heartwood Box by. Ann Aguirre – 3.5 stars

Testimony From The Perfect Girl by. Kaui Hart Hemmings – 4 stars

Legendary by. Stephanie Garber – 4.5 stars

On The Come Up by. Angie Thomas – 4.5 stars

Dream Keeper by. Amber R. Duell – 3 stars

Crown Of Feathers by. Nicki Pau Preto – 4 stars

Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things by. Jacqueline Firkins -4.5 stars

Spin The Dawn by. Elizabeth Lin – 4 stars

Crown of Coral and Pearl by. Mara Rutherford – 4 stars

Sorcery of Thorns by. Margaret Rogerson – 4.5 stars

Oh and we can’t forget the children’s books I read….

You can find these reviews at Starting Small Reads.

And to end this month I did something bookish! Yesterday and today I attended the Friends of the Library Annual book sale here in Hawaii. And yesterday everything was 50% off! Today, was the last day and everything was only 50 cents each! So I went both days and came away with these:

This is a two day total of……$14!!! Woohoo! Now…I wish I went on opening day, because the regular sale prices for these books were already like $1-5 each, which I would have paid. I used to attend this book fair when I was single and had lots of time on my hands. Now with my kids, I just wouldn’t take them – it’s held in a high school cafeteria, no A/C, some fans, some open doors, lots of time perusing and lots of sweating bodies. I live on an island so it’s been hot and humid.

One of my besties, J, came with me yesterday and we got a chance to peruse the tables for a good hour. I decided last minute to go again today but had no babysitter, so I took my 2 year old daughter with me, and my hubby took our son to swim class. She lasted about…15 minutes…I pushed it to 30 minutes, but by then she wouldn’t even enter the aisles with me. 😂 She wanted a lady bug book and there was none to be found! So I grabbed whatever covers appealed to me today. I’ve read a bunch of these already, but I wanted to re-read them. Next year I’ll plan for going on opening day, with no kids in tow and a ice cold bottle of water.

As for everything else, I’m trying to read, review, and enjoy summer with my family but I feel like everything is so rushed. School starts in 4 weeks! I have house guests in 6 weeks and soon it’ll be Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. 🎃🎄😂 You know how there is that Mid-Year Freakout Tag circling the book blogging world? I am freaking out…but not about books…or my TBR list…just about LIFE. 😂

How did you do in June? Read anything fabulous? Are you ready for the second half of the year? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you!

Happy Reading! 😘

First Line Fridays

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!

I saw this on Becky’s Book Blog and totally want to try it! It’s been such a crazy week and can you believe it? I went school supply shopping for my son today at Target. It sounds too early, but he starts school in 4 weeks! Where has the summer gone?

I’ve been trying to work on my blog sites this week so reading took a back seat the past few days. I have some giveaways happening on my instagram, so if you want to follow me there and enter – go for it. They end this weekend, but I’ll have more giveaways coming. I’m slightly obsessed with Book Outlet and their low prices. Why did I not know about them until now? So I’ve been shopping there like it’s Christmas (one for me, one for you). 😌

Anyway let’s do this fun feature since it is FRIDAY!!

Once, there were four Houses of France. Like all the other Houses within the Order of Babel, the French faction swore to safeguard the location of their Babel Fragment, the source of all Forging power.

Can you guess what it is?

🔽

It is….

I love the cover and I hope it’s good! I’ve heard pretty good things about it – so can’t wait to read it and review it.

What are you reading this weekend? Have you read this book? Let me know in the comments below. Happy Reading! 😘

Book Review: Sorcery of Thorns

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Author: Margaret Rogerson

Format: Hardcover (Owned)

Pages: 456

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery—magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather. She hopes to become a warden, charged with protecting the kingdom from their power.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught—about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

Welcome to the magical world of libraries and grimoires! The dedication in the book alone gave me feels. I am that girl who lost herself in books at a young age and it’s a love that has never disappointed me!

The beauty of Sorcery of Thorns is how it weaves this mystery story in one of the most loved places for a book lover, a library or libraries I should say. Libraries are places of magic for us who love books. It’s why I once upon a time debated on becoming a librarian. It was a librarian at my elementary school that made me fall in love with books. I’ve worked in only college libraries but just being around books academic or fiction, it feels like home to me. Just as Elisabeth feels at home in the Great Library at Summershall in the Sorcery of Thorns.

I was swept up in this story of libraries and the directors, wardens, apprentices and the grimoires. Oh those amazing grimoires which have such different personalities! Books speak to us, in this story and in real life. Come on, have you ever told a book it’s beautiful? 😅🥰 I do it all the time.

And what’s a library story without sorcerers, the users of dark magic and grimoires? Nathanial Thorn is a very mysterious young man and he has a demon by his side named Silas. Elisabeth is deathly afraid of them in the first half of the book because she has had no interaction with the outside world. She’s been in the library so long, she was taught to fear sorcerers. I find the relationship between Silas and Nathanial so interesting, especially since demons are…well demons. They don’t feel the way humans do.

We find out there is someone out there trying to sabotage the great libraries in Austermeer and Elisabeth needs to find out who it is and stop them. It is a murder mystery, wrapped in sorcery and demon lore.

It is rare these days to read a young adult fantasy novel that is a stand-alone. But I’ve read this author’s other book and I have to say she does so well in balancing a story and giving us everything in one book. Her stories feel light also, even dealing with topics like demons. This story reads like a fairy tale, so effortless. Sorcery of Thorns has everything: humor, action, romance, friendship, and mystery.

This book wove it’s spell on me for sure. I thought the sorcery and demons in the book added a lot of excitement and action. The characters stood out on their own, but my favorite might have been Katrien – our resident bookworm apprentice who is Elisabeth’s best friend. The romance between Nathanial and Elisabeth is a slow burn and doesn’t take precedence. Nathanial has reasons to keep Elisabeth at arms length but eventually they grow on each other. And of course, I was in love with all the library scenes as well.

This story is a well written, enjoyable, enchanting homage to the mystery and wonderment of libraries and a girl who will help defend it from evil. I’d love to see this as a movie or tv series – with more adventures in the world of libraries, grimoires, sorcerers and demons! As a library lover, this book was definitely for me!

Get it here: Amazon

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost for you. Thanks!

Arc Review: Crown of Coral and Pearl

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Mara Rutherford

Format: eBook

Pages: 384

Publication Date: August 27, 2019

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

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

For generations, the princes of Ilara have married the most beautiful maidens from the ocean village of Varenia. But though every girl longs to be chosen as the next princess, the cost of becoming royalty is higher than any of them could ever imagine…

Nor once dreamed of seeing the wondrous wealth and beauty of Ilara, the kingdom that’s ruled her village for as long as anyone can remember. But when a childhood accident left her with a permanent scar, it became clear that her identical twin sister, Zadie, would likely be chosen to marry the Crown Prince—while Nor remained behind, unable to ever set foot on land.

Then Zadie is gravely injured, and Nor is sent to Ilara in her place. To Nor’s dismay, her future husband, Prince Ceren, is as forbidding and cold as his home—a castle carved into a mountain and devoid of sunlight. And as she grows closer to Ceren’s brother, the charming Prince Talin, Nor uncovers startling truths about a failing royal bloodline, a murdered queen… and a plot to destroy the home she was once so eager to leave.

In order to save her people, Nor must learn to negotiate the treacherous protocols of a court where lies reign and obsession rules. But discovering her own formidable strength may be the one move that costs her everything: the crown, Varenia and Zadie.

Thank you to Harlequin TEEN and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this e-arc.

The beginning of this story is intriguing. We meet twin sisters, Nor and Zadie, and they live in Varenia, a place on the water where the most beautiful girls are from. They are so beautiful, the kingdom of Ilara always goes there to find their future queen. Requirements for being chosen as a queen? The potential queen has to be the most beautiful girl in Varenia. Appearance wise, you have to be flawless, meaning no scars among other things.

Zadie is perfect. Nor, on the other hand, has a scar on her face she acquired from saving her sister’s life. I love their sisterly bond and how they would do anything for each other. I also enjoyed this world of Varenia that the author created, it’s a poor place to grow up in, the people are struggling and the pearls they survive on is becoming more scarce. It’s a beautiful place with gorgeous girls, but the reality is that they will struggle without their pearls. Varenians are a part of the sea, their life is the ocean, but Nor dreams of exploring beyond Varenia.

I think the first part of the book was stronger than the second half only because Nor’s connection is strongest with her sister and her home. When she arrives in Ilara it cuts her off from the sunshine, ocean, fresh air and her relationships. In New Castle she is bereft of all the things she loves and lives with a villain, her future husband.

There is a romance in the story but it doesn’t take over the book, which was fine. I felt like even if it it didn’t have romance, the love between the sisters would have been enough for me. There is also some thrilling action which I enjoyed. But the ending was rushed which is so unfortunate because this book started off so well and I was really into it.

Overall, it is an enjoyable read about a loving sisterly bond and how the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

Get it here: Amazon

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost for you. Thanks!

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

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2

Author: Elizabeth Lim

Format: Ebook (NetGalley)

Pages: 400

Publication Date: July 9, 2019

Categories: Fantasy, Young Adult, Magic, Quest, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Maia Tamarin dreams of becoming the greatest tailor in the land, but as a girl, the best she can hope for is to marry well. When a royal messenger summons her ailing father, once a tailor of renown, to court, Maia poses as a boy and takes his place. She knows her life is forfeit if her secret is discovered, but she’ll take that risk to achieve her dream and save her family from ruin. There’s just one catch: Maia is one of twelve tailors vying for the job.

Backstabbing and lies run rampant as the tailors compete in challenges to prove their artistry and skill. Maia’s task is further complicated when she draws the attention of the court magician, Edan, whose piercing eyes seem to see straight through her disguise.

And nothing could have prepared her for the final challenge: to sew three magic gowns for the emperor’s reluctant bride-to-be, from the laughter of the sun, the tears of the moon, and the blood of stars. With this impossible task before her, she embarks on a journey to the far reaches of the kingdom, seeking the sun, the moon, and the stars, and finding more than she ever could have imagined.

Thank you to Random House Children’s and NetGalley for allowing me to read this eArc book for an honest review.

I loved it.

And I wasn’t quite sure, even with the synopsis, what I was getting myself into. But the first few sentences let me know right away I was going to be taken on a magical journey and the story held to it’s promise.

The writing reads like a dream. It’s very beautiful and reminds me of a fairy tale – but with a twist. Maia Tamarin’s idyllic life is torn at the seams due to unfortunate life events and to help her family she poses as a boy to compete for the chance to become the imperial tailor for the emperor. It sounds like Mulan, but with fashion involved.

Here’s where things take on a Project Runway spin and yes, I used to love that show! 😬 So did I enjoy that part of the book? Oh yes! The backstabbing, the challenges, the fashion, and wondering who will be eliminated, makes for great drama.

Then there is the impossible challenge which takes Maia and the imperial enchanter, Edan, on a quest. I love how Maia and Edan’s romance builds. She is not impressed by him and he helps her because he is intrigued by her but it stays that way for awhile. Edan is snarky and flirty but she doesn’t put up with it. The relationship grows deeper as they open up to one another during the quest. Yet, after the impossible becomes possible, Maia makes a choice that has consequences for both of them.

Maia is strong, brave, and willful for her age. She loves hard – it’s present in her love for her family and for Edan. I hope in the second book she gets to appreciate her feminine side since throughout Spin the Dawn, she is living in a male dominated world and has to pretend be a boy. Even in her family she was surrounded by men – so I think it would be nice for her to have a female friend who knows she’s female. The only other female in this story who has a big role is Lady Sarnia, who is the emperor’s future wife. She comes off as a villain, but she is someone trapped in a man’s world also, so I hope she gets more of a spotlight in book two because there is more to learn about her.

This story was filled with emotion, magic, love and epic adventure. It was more than I expected and I can’t wait for the next book.

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