Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Waiting on Wednesday #678

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

COVEN BY SOMAN CHAINANI

Goodreads Description:

Need your magical crime solved?

Call the Witch Coven.

Hester, Anadil, and Dot are legendary across the Endless Woods as vigilante detectives and protectors of the peace. The famed trio are not only talented witches but also ride-or-die friends who’ve never left a case unsolved.

That is, until the Coven answers a call for help from a mysterious new world—Red Isle, where the Light and Dark Lands are on the brink of all-out war, each blaming the other for a grim spree of deaths. Now the Coven must work together and unmask the killer before Red Isle tears itself apart. Little do they know: The real enemy might be hiding in plain sight . . .

From New York Times bestselling author Soman Chainani and artist Joel Gennari comes a bold graphic novel experience that explores how, even in our darkest moments, the truest of friends can bring us back into the light.

Format: 272 pages, Paperback
Expected Publication: April 1, 2025 by HarperAlley
Pre-Order: Blackwells and Amazon US and Amazon UK

EEE! I am so very excited for this :D And ahh! Graphic novel. It's going to be so gorgeous. Sigh. I'm such a huge fan of Soman and his The School for Good and Evil books. I very much loved Hester, Anadil and Dot. <3 And oh my gosh. I simply can't wait to read their new story :D And eee. The cover is awesome :)
What are you waiting for on this witchy Wednesday?

Saturday, October 12, 2024

In My Mailbox #675

Whoo! My blog turned 13 years old this week :D Can't believe how fast time is moving. How rude, haha. And I have many blog posts this week as well. What even :)  Finished two books. Both were three stars, though, so they were good, but also a little meh. Now need a reading break. Going to finally start playing the new Zelda game tomorrow, I think :) I also have no idea what to read next, ha. Got some books this week. <3 All of them lovely. No pop figures, for once, ha :) My health still sucks. But new medicine next week. I still have my spa bath up, and I'm loving my baths. <3 But gosh, it's gotten so cold now outside. Brrr. Taking it down this coming week, sobs. I'm so exhausted. Not sleeping so well either. But I'm doing my best :) Feels like I got a lot done this week, haha. Okay. All the new blog posts. I shared my review of Rise of the Vicious Princess :) This week I'm waiting on Long Live Evil :D I shared my Thirteen Years of Blogging post. <3 And my review of Return of the Vengeful Queen :) Hope that you are all doing well. <3


The Gods Below. Fairyloot Adult September book of the month :) Unsure if this would be a book for me.
The Dagger and the Flame. Fairyloot YA September book of the month :D Now curious about this one. <3
Howl's Moving Castle. I could not resist buying this gorgeous Fairyloot edition. But now unsure if I want it.
The Fate of Magic. Gorgeous hardcover edition has arrived :D I really must read this sequel pretty soon.
Slow Dance. Unsure if this book is actually for me, ha. But I couldn't help but buy another Rainbow book.
Beth Revis Swag. Eeee! Thank you so much Beth. <3 This newest swag package is all kinds of stunning.

More Instagram photos here. <3

Friday, October 11, 2024

Review: Return of the Vengeful Queen by C.J. Redwine

First I shall start by saying that I am so glad that I finally made myself read this duology. I have been a fan of C.J. for so many years now. And her books are always amazing. I had been so curious and excited about this series. I'm sad that I did not love these books. But I'm glad that I read them, as I did enjoy them.

I am giving this sequel three stars as well. There were several parts that I loved. But there was too little of it. And there were more parts that I found a bit boring and a bit weird. Yet I found this final book to be exciting at times and I found the ending to be great. I truly enjoyed reading the final moments of this story.

I shall try my best to write a shorter review of this second book. Although I may end up writing too much, as always. This book begins where the first one ended. Charis is on the run after the sea monsters, the Rakuuna, invaded her country and killed her mother and her father too. And so many others. It hurt my heart to read about, as her father was so sweet. Sigh. In this book it is mostly about Charis going to a different kingdom across the sea to find allies, trying to take her kingdom back. How she learns about a way to hurt the Rakuuna. How she ends up having to be captured by them, to have any kind of hope about saving her people. There is much going on in this book. I liked learning about the new places. I liked the basilisk cave. Wanted more of that.

There was so much happening in this book. And I may have written way too much about it all below. And yet I'm not going to share much about the plot. I must say that it was all a bit too political for me. I wanted more fantasy. More romance. More action. This book was more quiet. More about planning than actually doing anything. Which was a little boring to me. Yet it was a little fascinating too, how they tried to figure everything out. Though they were a bit slow, ha. I wish there had been less time jumps and more scenes.

I do not know how to talk about the romance. It takes almost half the book before Charis begins to forgive Tal. And that bothered me a lot, how long she took. How she keeps being angry with him, when I felt like she shouldn't be. She is always thinking about how he lit up a light inside her, and how that is now gone. Found that whole thing to be a little bit silly. And how she always thinks about how he betrayed her. Sigh. And yet. I did want them together. But I found their romance a little silly and too little yet too much as well.

I wish I had loved the romance more. But I felt like it was a little badly described still. I wanted more from it all. I wanted more cute gestures. Not just him touching her at times and her getting all warm because of it. I wanted more of everything, I guess. I also felt like maybe he loved her a bit too much, ha. Just wanted to believe in their romance more. And yet. I loved them together. And I did want them together. But there was too little focus on the actual romance part of their romance. Hmph. How rude. I needed much more.

A little more about the friendships. At first we see more of Nalani. And I adorec her and thought she and Charis were great friends. Then she shows up again at the end of the book and she had changed much in about one week. It seemed a little overdone to me. But even so. I adored her. And her brother, Holland. He do have some funny moments. And was in this book a whole lot more. But I also felt like he was a bit too much at times, with the whole defending thing. To me it was a little bit weird and overdone, in a way.

We see a tiny bit more of the other nobles from Charis's court, when she returns home near the end of the book. I did not like them at all. There was her cousin, Ferris. He was still a jerk. And he was not any better in this second book. Her guard, Rueben, was more in this second book too. But I felt like he barely said anything. He was just there in the background. There was also a new betrayal in this one. And it was so very obvious. How Charis found out about it was just fully silly and she should have been discovered.

There was just a few things that bothered me about this book. It is often mentioned how her guards are hunting for threats with their eyes. It got a little comical for me, haha. Charis also very obviously have an eating disorder. And I felt like it was dealt with poorly. She almost never ate and it is mentioned often. She was skinny and sickly. She was better at times, but still. I wish more had been done about it. I also failed to see how she was actually vicious. She was just hurt and broken and soft, but never actually a badass.

And that is something I wish we had gotten to see more of. There was always mentions of her now dead mother, and how she was such a cold and deadly queen. And how Charis is just like her. But all she does is speak. Where she supposedly makes everyone believe her and be scared of her and does as she tells them. I wish we had gotten to see her actually be vicious and cold and do something. But no. Charis was more soft and careful. But then. I loved that about her. I really did. Charis was amazing just as she was.

What I found to be all kinds of interesting were the sea monsters, the Rakuuna. I so wish there had been more of them. More about where they lived and how they spent all their time. They have now taken over Calera, having killed the queen and so many others. We learn why they did so. They had a good reason, I think. I liked learning that they were sick and needed medicine. I hated how Charis and the others hurt them at times, with a poison. I felt like the sea monsters were just misunderstood, haha. And I liked them.

I have to be honest and say that the covers are a little misleading. It made me think the books would take place underwater. Or close to water at least. But being on the ocean is such a small part of these books. And nothing underwater at all. So I was a bit disappointed, haha. Should have just been a crown, I think, nothing about the water. More about Charis and her kingdom. And I very much do not like that font. Ack. And yet. The covers are stunning in a way. and the story was still awesome, even with the covers, haha.

Return of the Vengeful Queen was an exciting final book in a great duology. I did not fully love them. But I liked them well enough and I'm so glad that I finally read them both. The writing was pretty much perfect. I liked the setting as well, though, well. I wish the books had been more fantasy. Less politics, ha. I would have loved them more if they had been a little more magical. Sigh. Still. The plot was interesting and I did like how it all ended. I cannot wait to read even more books by C.J. And I think you should read these too.

Goodreads - Blackwells - Amazon US - Amazon UK

Thirteen Years of Blogging

My blog is thirteen years today :D Ahh! Where has the time gone? Gosh. Can't believe it's been another year already. Time is moving so fast these days. I have been reading more this year, though I don't think I will read that much beyond the same thirty as last year. But still. I am so happy with this amount of books read and so many of them were amazing. Which I am thrilled about. I have also gotten way too much mail this year, haha. So many amazing books. So many gorgeous pop figures. A health update. My health still sucks. Ha. I had a surgery earlier this year to test it. It will never happen again. It took months to heal and it was the actual worst thing. But at least I tried. I'm now waiting on a new medicine to start shortly that I'm hoping will work better on all of me. Fingers crossed, please. It has truly been an exhausting year with my bad health. But I'm doing my best :) Staying positive despite all the pain that I'm constantly in these days.

Plus side, gotten many spa baths done this season. Though it's now another six months until I get to take it back up again. How rude. We also had such a wonderful summer. So many warm days and just sun all the time almost. It was so nice. I also went to London in August with my mom and my sister. I finally got to see Taylor Swift in person, eee. Went to the Eras tour and oh, it was so special. Had my sister with me for that and we had such a great time. I loved seeing her live. It was a nightmare to get back to the hotel, and I got too little sleep before the flight home the next morning. But it was all worth it. My grandpa finally got his awaited surgery this spring. But it ruined the rest of him. And he's not doing well. Please do keep your fingers crossed for him. We just want him to be healthy. My sister got a puppy this summer, a chihuahua boy named Gizmo. We love him. And my cat fully hates him. Any tips on getting them to get along? Haha.

I do not have that much else to share about this year. I'm still doing my regular things. Still daily playing pokemon go and animal crossing new horizons and animal crossing pocket camp. <3 Although the final one is mostly getting shut down this month, so I might stop playing it then. Aw. But I love my daily games. I badly need to start playing all my other ones, though, haha. Hopefully soon. If this new medicine works well, I hope to get lots more energy. Fingers crossed. I'm still blogging several times a week and sharing all that I get in the mail weekly. I still write the longest reviews :) I still share a photo daily on instagram. Would love it if you would follow me there too. Thank you all so much for following me and caring about what I share :) Details about all the photos below. A lovely sunset photo. My cat and the puppy. She still does not like him, a few months after. New book photo as my blog header. Taylor Swift at the Eras Tour in London in August. <3 A breakfast we had while there, family time. My favorite books of the year, Silver in the Bone and The Mirror of Beasts :D A stunning northern lights photo from earlier this year in the winter. Current giveaway that I'm having open worldwide on my instagram. Hope that you are all doing great. <3

giveaway on instagram here

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Waiting on Wednesday #677

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

LONG LIVE EVIL BY SARAH REES BRENNAN

Goodreads Description:

A TALE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S EVER FALLEN FOR THE VILLAIN…

When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favourite fantasy series.

She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she's not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor's tale.

So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they're doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor's fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.

This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain's shoes, for an adventure that is both 'brilliant' (Holly Black) and 'supremely satisfying' (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue's gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.

Format: 435 pages, Paperback
Expected Publication: August 27, 2024 by Orbit
Pre-Order: Blackwells and Amazon US and Amazon UK

This book is already out, but I just got it a few weeks ago as a Fairyloot book :) And it is looking gorgeous. Eee. I think this book sounds different from what I usually read. And yet it sounds all kinds of awesome too. So I'm willing to give it a try. I'm hoping to read it someday soonish :) It looks great. I hope to love it.
What are you waiting for on this evil Wednesday?