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?
My kiddo caught a cold, and I had to catch up on sleep because for 2 nights in a row I read past midnight lol. I don’t even know why, I just couldn’t sleep? 🤷🏻♀️. At least I got a lot of reading done – hopefully I don’t catch my daughter’s cold. She was home with me the past two days but she went to school today.
Alchemised by. SenLinYu – just got this on Libby and I’m a bit intimidated by the length of the book, not because I can’t read a long book. But there is a lot of hype with this book and I hope I like it.
Vesselless by. Cortney L. Winn – 2%, actually saw this book on Allurial (a book box subscription), and was curious about it. I didn’t buy it but it’s on Kindle Unlimited so I’m trying it out. – 2%
Disclaimer: **I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**
**He never wanted to be a secret, but in this town, secrets keep you alive**.
Jason has fantasized about being struck by lightning more than once. This time, after being outed by his now former best friend.
But betrayal yields refuge in a circle of misfits, just as the isolation becomes unbearable. Among them is Tameera with her fierce honesty, Abby who revels in her protective loyalty and the magnetic but reckless Danny whose eyes glint with the dangerous possibility of love. Laughter in smoky rooms, nights stitched together by music and magic, and the fleeting thrill of love makes Jason feel safe.
Yet secrets linger in every corner of this town threatening Jason’s newfound peace. When he discovers the truth his high school tormentor would kill to keep hidden, will his chosen family be enough to protect him—or will the truth cost him his life?
*With Thoughts of Jason* is a haunting portrait of youth and desire, of friendship and betrayal, and of the brutal silence that society demands of those who don’t fit the mold.
Content Warning: mention of suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, bullying, death, drug use (weed), mentions of other drugs, smoking, drinking, animal death
Jason is in high school and dealing with a few things. He’s gay, but in the closet. He is bullied at school, and raised in a Pentecostal home without a father. This story follows his life as someone who experiences his first encounters with a boy, making friends and learning who to trust, and trying to find love. I liked seeing him make friends and expanding his world, and eventually meeting other queer people. His growth was a journey I was invested in.
I felt like the start of this story is really eye-opening and makes a statement about who Jason is and how he has his first experience as a gay boy. I felt like the scenes of him hanging out with friends and partying was relatable and gave me a sense of nostalgia because you could tell this was before social media. And I’m glad Jason had his friends but it was sad that he had no support at home. He had no real bond with his brother, sister and mother. All Jason wanted was to be love and be loved in return.
There are a few topics and themes discussed in this story and some of them are dark. There is suicidal thoughts and attempts, there is bullying, and violence. And I had to remind myself that Jason was young, he was only in high school, trying to survive. There was a dangerous undercurrent to Jason’s life that I could feel throughout the story and I think it’s important that it’s there to give the reader a sense of what queer people may be feeling by being who they are. And it’s not okay that they cannot feel safe in society.
This was a quick read but there were a few times in the story where I felt like I missed something. I think because there is so much that happens to Jason in one year and sometimes the transition from one event to another wasn’t smooth.
Final Thoughts:
This is a heartbreaking, coming of age story about a boy named Jason who is trying to figure life out while being gay, and with no support from his family. There were so many times that his life took a turn for the worse, but through it all he did have some friends to help – and I loved that he at least had that. This story is eye opening, tragic and definitely an important one to tell.
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?
Fall break is over and now we are looking forward to all the holidays coming up in November and December!
I just looked at my NetGalley list and I finished my October arcs and I only have a few for November – almost done. And I only have 6 more December arcs to read. 😭 I feel like I can see the LIGHT again lol. 😂. I promise I am NOT doing this to myself next year…I will have an arc limit each month. 10 arcs are my limit….(hoping I can stick to that!)…
Saeris Fane doesn’t want power. The very last thing she needs is her name whispered on an entire court’s lips, but now that she’s been crowned queen of the Blood Court, she’s discovering that a queen’s life is not her own. A heavy weight rests upon her shoulders.
Her ward – and her brother – need her back in her homeland . . . but the changes that have strengthened Saeris have also made her weak. Born under blazing suns, Saeris will surely die if she makes her way home through the Quicksilver. Which means that, once again, she must send someone else in her stead . . .
‘Keep your mouth shut. Stick to the shadows. And for the love of all seven Gods, do NOT crack any jokes.’
Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate has defeated armies and survived all manner of horrors, but traveling back to Zilvaren with Carrion Swift might just be the death of him. The male just will not shut up. Hidden dangers await them down the narrow alleyways of the Silver City. Unfolding secrets pose impossible threats. Fisher must wrangle the smuggler and accomplish his goals quickly if he wants to see his mate again.
A darkness falls across Yvelia. The realm and their friends are in danger. Together, Saeris and Fisher will pass through fire and brimstone to save them.
The path of destiny burns with love, magic, and betrayal in this second book in the City of Fantome enemies-to-lovers romantasy series perfect for fans of Margaret Rogerson and Caraval.
From a remote hilltop haven, far from the city of Fantome, Seraphine Marchant and her Order of Flames plot to eradicate shade magic with lightfire. But as Sera struggles to control her blooming powers, destiny calls her back to Fantome—and to the assassin who haunts her dreams.
Ransom Hale can’t get Sera out of his head. As their rivalry grows and he grapples with the responsibility of leading the Order of Daggers, he feels himself slipping further from who he wants to be. Is he doomed to a life in the shadows? Or can he forge another path?
Meanwhile, rebellion is stirring in the kingdom, and a dangerous prince grows in power. Forced to work together by order of the king, Sera and Ransom’s conflicted hearts are tested to their limits. And all the while, an ancient prophecy is unfolding that will change the fate of Valterre forever…
In the cursed Kingdom of Aragoa, the punishment for magic is death.
Even the students at Vandenberghe Academy aren’t spared. When Viola Sinclair’s deadly shadow magic is discovered, the queen gives her assassin a new assignment and a new cursed seven-thorned rose on his arm for the seven days he has to hunt Viola down and kill her. If he doesn’t, he will be the one to die.
The assassin is Roze Roquelart–entitled prince, arrogant fellow student, and the one person Viola hates more than anyone. Roze should revel in the chance to end her life, but he desperately needs something from Viola and her magic. And he’s willing to spare her life–and fake their engagement–to get it.
Forced to work together, Viola and Roze must contend with deadly threats, dangerous secrets, and an impossible attraction. Will they give in to their deepest desires, even if it means destroying Aragoa–and risking both their lives?
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.
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 Casoeria 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.
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?
Last week was so busy but finally I got some down time during the weekend and managed to finish Eldritch by Keri Lake, which is 766 pages. 😅 I was reading it while sorta watching football (the sound was off).
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?
It was a busy weekend but I managed to get some reading done. I’m making a rule for myself that I am not reading more than 10 arcs a month in 2026! Hopefully I can stick that rule – I signed up for way too much this year. 😅
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?
Trying to lose myself in books this week because my head is tired – the real world is a hard place to be right now! These holiday romances are really appealing to me right now.
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?
Already the second week of September and I think it’s weird that I’m reading horror arcs and Christmas romance arcs! 😅. I wish holiday romances got published in November rather than in September/October. Anyway hope everyone is having a good week!
At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen’s last completed novel. Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, Persuasion is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, but, above all, it is a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.
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I don’t know why I never picked this up when the movies came out – I was obsessed with them! My hubby has the books but I just never picked them up.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
In ancient times the Rings of Power were crafted by the Elven-smiths, and Sauron, the Dark Lord, forged the One Ring, filling it with his own power so that he could rule all others. But the One Ring was taken from him, and though he sought it throughout Middle-earth, it remained lost to him. After many ages it fell by chance into the hands of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins.
From Sauron’s fastness in the Dark Tower of Mordor, his power spread far and wide. Sauron gathered all the Great Rings to him, but always he searched for the One Ring that would complete his dominion.
When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.
The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.
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Another Austen book I love because I’ve watched the movies and show adaptions but never read….and I should since it’s on my shelf.😅
‘The more I know of the world, the more am I convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!’
Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor’s warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her. Through their parallel experience of love—and its threatened loss—the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.
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Do you remember when there was a War and Peace show with Lily James (Cinderella – 2015)…by the way where is Lily James?! I loved her! Anyways, I watched the series War and Peace because she was in it and loved it. I attempted to read the book and maybe got 1/4th through and gave up 😅.
War and Peace broadly focuses on Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812 and follows three of the most well-known characters in literature: Pierre Bezukhov, the illegitimate son of a count who is fighting for his inheritance and yearning for spiritual fulfillment; Prince Andrei Bolkonsky, who leaves his family behind to fight in the war against Napoleon; and Natasha Rostov, the beautiful young daughter of a nobleman who intrigues both men.
As Napoleon’s army invades, Tolstoy brilliantly follows characters from diverse backgrounds—peasants and nobility, civilians and soldiers—as they struggle with the problems unique to their era, their history, and their culture. And as the novel progresses, these characters transcend their specificity, becoming some of the most moving—and human—figures in world literature.
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Of course another Jane Austen book! I loved the movie but never read the book.
Taken from the poverty of her parents’ home in Portsmouth, Fanny Price is brought up with her rich cousins at Mansfield Park, acutely aware of her humble rank and with her cousin Edmund as her sole ally. During her uncle’s absence in Antigua, the Crawford’s arrive in the neighbourhood bringing with them the glamour of London life and a reckless taste for flirtation. Mansfield Park is considered Jane Austen’s first mature work and, with its quiet heroine and subtle examination of social position and moral integrity, one of her most profound.
Past Midnight Book Reviews & More 