Waiting on Wednesday #751

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

IMMORTAL CONSEQUENCES BY I.V. MARIE 

Goodreads Description:

Six students at Blackwood Academy, an enigmatic boarding school located at the edge of the afterlife, must compete for the once-in-eternity chance to change their fate—or risk remaining stuck in purgatory forever. An unputdownable debut full of hairpin twists, shock betrayals and world-defying love, for fans of The Atlas Six.

Welcome to Blackwood Academy: the legendary school located at the fringes of the afterlife, where students are fated to spend the rest of eternity shepherding lost souls. Once a pupil enters the school’s arched gates, there is no way out…except for the Decennial, a once-in-a-decade celebration that rewards nominees who pass its trials with a choice: formally graduate and join Blackwood’s magical elite, or venture into the unknown and cross over to the mysterious Other Side.

Wren Loughty is certain that this Decennial, she has what it takes to earn the nomination—unless, that is, her academic archrival Augustine Hughes steals her spot.

Irene Manette Bamford has never cared about playing by the rules. She’s willing to break whatever (and whoever) stands between her and getting the hell out of Blackwood, including her best and only friend, Masika Sallow.

Olivier Dupont gave up on securing the nomination ages ago. But after he meets Blackwood’s newest student, Emilio Córdova, he’ll do anything to keep Emilio from leaving him and crossing over to the Other Side—even if it means claiming the victory for himself.

All of them are determined to be Blackwood’s chosen candidate–and all of them would do anything to win. But none of them are prepared for what’s to come. Because this Decennial will be different. This time, the Decennial isn’t a celebration…it’s a competition. And there can only be one victor.

Six nominees. Four trials. Untold danger. Wren, August, Irene, Masika, Olivier and Emilio are about to learn: there are some fates worse than death.

Format: 445 pages, Hardcover
Expected Publication: July 31, 2025 by Electric Monkey
Pre-Order: Blackwells and Amazon US and Amazon UK

Another older Fairyloot book I had not shared about. <3 Hmm. I am very unsure about this book. I think the Fairyloot edition I got is gorgeous. And I think the book sounds exciting too. But oh so many different characters? I do not think that would be for me, ack. But I shall have to peek at it some, to be fully sure :)
What are you waiting for on this chosen Wednesday?

In My Mailbox #748

This have been the longest week. Hospital trip on Monday, to take part in a research. Which lasted for hours and hours. It was exhausting. But I survived it, haha. But have to have an activity sensor on my leg for over a week. Which have been such a pain, as I am allergic to tape, which is painful and itchy. But I'm trying my best to make it this week. But yeah. It was a long day and it made me exhausted for the rest of this week. But I managed to finish reading A Rose of Blood and Binding. <3 Which was perfect, eee. Will start a new book in the next few days :) I took more instagram photos this week too; happy with those :) This week I'm waiting on Bing's Cherries :) And I shared my review of A Rose of Blood and Binding. <3 Also got a bunch of mail, ack. <3 I'm also hoping to feel better next week. Hope you are all doing well :)

Fairyloot. February YA. The Sun and the Starmaker. This one is looking gorgeous. Love the artwork :D
Fairyloot. February Adult. Weavingshaw. This cover has too dark artwork for me, but it still look pretty.
The Forgotten Five: Forever Rogue. Final book in this series. Have yet to start it, but they all seem great.
Red Star Rebels. US hardcover and UK paperback editions :D So excited to read this book very soon. <3
The House Saphir. German edition; which a most gorgeous artcard, eee. I love it so much. Loved this :)
iPhone 17 Pro Max. Eeee. Finally a new gorgeous color for my iphone. Had dark purple for too long, ha.
Pokopia. Yesss. New Pokemon game for my Nintendo Switch 2. <3 I'm so excited to start this one soon.
Funko Pop. Finally got Pennywise, after my order never arrived. And he is awesome :) I love Iron Man.
Stranger Things. Tried again to get Max. I got my third Eddie and third Dustin. Siiigh. But Vecna is new.

Pop Mart. Only one popmart item this week, haha :) But a full set of the new Skullpanda My Little Pony plushes, eee. And they are just the cutest. I love the colors. I love their hair at the back. Just beautiful.

Bukowski. Eee. Look at that huge bear :D Ahhh! My biggest plush. <3 Bought it at the airport. I just had to have him, haha :) Love my Bukowski plushes the most. <3 Got a new owl too. And my orca keychain :) Then I got a cute little pink and white cow plush at my grocery store. It's small and heavy and adorable.

More Instagram photos here. <3

Review: A Rose of Blood and Binding by Claire Legrand

Such a thrilling end to an incredible trilogy. I loved this final book with all my heart. What is left of it, that is. As this one completely ruined me. At all times. It was much darker than the others. Yet so full of love as well. And I loved every moment of it. As always, the writing was fantastic. Five stars, of course. Loved it so much.

Finding the words for this book will not be easy. I have loved this trilogy so very much. I love that the books are from the point of view of a sister each. That the story of them all fits together so well. That we still see much of all three of them in all the books. The world created was full of magic and danger and creatures.

This third book tells the story of Mara. The middle child. And the one who had it the worst of the three sisters. I still love Gemma more than anything. She was the youngest and the more happy one, but fully broken inside even so. Farrin was the oldest sister, and the angry one. Yet so full of softness inside. And Mara, the middle one, is the one who is truly broken. And it hurt so much to read her story. Yet I loved it so much. She might be the one whose story I love the most. Though, to be honest, I love all three sisters the same, in a way. They are different and yet not really. And their stories have been truly amazing to read about. But yes. This third book hurt the most. It is also the book where the war is truly happening for real. Which was so exciting.

I'm going to try to stop myself from writing down all the plot that happens. Though, knowing myself, I am going to write way too much even so. I simply loved this trilogy so very much. The writing was so good. I truly loved reading about this magical world. And how it was falling apart. How dangerous creatures were coming out of the olden country. How Mara had to fight so many of them. One scene in the beginning hurt my heart a whole bunch. When the Warden pretty much tricked them all to kill so many. I did not approve.

There is so much going on in this book. We learn so much more about Mara and what it means to be a Rose of the order. What it means for her to protect the Middlemist and everything around it. We get to see how sad she is. How much she does not wish to be alive any longer because of the pain. Which was so very sad to read about. Yet I loved it so very much too. Mara was so real. So very broken. And I adored her to pieces. She deserved all the happiness. But oh, she went through so much pain in this book. Rude.

This third book is very much Mara's story. We get to know her so well. She is so broken. And I loved her so much. It was so exciting to read about her life as a Rose. I loved reading about when she transformed into a beast. It was so interesting. She was such a great fighter too, which was awesome. I loved being inside her head. Even though it was also so very painful. As she had so much heartbreak in her life. But I also loved it. Sigh. Mara tried her best. She just wanted to be able to go home. Which was not possible.

This book is about them all trying to fight Kilraith. To hunt for the final cursed objects, trying to weaken him. To also find the other gods that are waking up. That part I loved a whole lot. The place in the woods was so awful and sad and so good. There were so many moments that I loved in this book. Many dark ones. But many hopeful ones too. Mara and Gareth together gave me so much joy. But much sadness too. Getting to see Gemma and Talan and also Farrin and Ryder in the background made me so happy.

There is truly so much I want to say about this book. And I am writing too much, adding in a little more at different places. Oops. I simply cannot stop writing about this book. And so I am not going to. One of my favorite things was Gemma and Farrin and Mara together. Reading more about their magic powers. And how they got stronger after they learned the secret about their mother. Which was such a great plot twist. Fully exciting but also so sad. But yes. Them being together and fighting together were my favorite parts.

Much of this book is about Mara and Gareth together. When I first read book two, I did not see how they could end up together. But when I read it a second time, I saw it better. And I liked reading about them getting to know each other in this third one. As they did not know each other from before. And they had so much to learn. I loved getting to know more about Gareth. He was such a sweet person. Full of love. And full of hurt and so broken. We learn about what he went through as a captive. Fully heartbreaking.

And so I very much loved the romance in this book. These two were a little more crazy in love than the other couples, in a way, haha. But I did not mind it. They were so sweet together. Although Mara kept trying to ruin it. Again and again. I didn't blame her, though. As she was so scared. And so broken. I just loved reading about her slowly changing her way of thinking. Slowly getting better. Well, except for that one scene at the very end of the book. That was not getting better at all. So very rude. But so well done.

We learn a little more about the villain of these books, Kilraith. Though he was not that much in this one. Yet he did a lot of damage. And I liked reading about him and Ankareth. Getting to know a little more of their story. We get to see if she comes back or not. And that was such an exciting moment to me. I loved it so much. We see more of Mara's familiar bird, Freyda. Which was all kinds of cute. I so loved Mara's friendship with Brigid. And how all the Roses cared for each other, how they were all close like a family.

One thing I must talk about is the Warden. The woman who controls all of the Roses. The woman who teaches them all to fight. Who takes care of them. Who is always there. Sort of like a mother to them all. Yet she was not a kind mother at all. Mara loves her. But to me, it is a twisted love. Because the Warden was truly the very worst person in these books and I just hated reading about her. Yet it was always very interesting too. But oh, this woman caused so much hurt. And it made me so angry. But mostly just sad.

There were some scenes that were so hard to read about. First a small moment with Nerys the harpy. That hurt. But then the scene with Posey came. And I am not sure I will be able to forget that moment. Shudders. It was truly the most heartbreaking. Yet fully exciting too, and written so well. Even though it was so cruel and so awful, I still loved it. Sigh. That poor girl did not deserve all of that. Oh, and the part with the fire nymphs in the beginning. That scene hurt. And something that was done to Mara at the end.

That was just so cruel and evil. Yet so very well done as well. Rude. I did not like the Warden at all. I kept wishing for her to die a gruesome death. Oops. I must confess that all the heartbreaking moments were some of my favorite parts. I love reading about sad things. But it hurt an awful lot. Some other characters that are in this book were their mother and father. And they are finding their way back together. And like the sisters, I did not like it one bit. I honestly felt like those two did not deserve happiness together. Hmph.

There is so much that I wish to write about this book. Yet so much that I am not going to mention. It is a long story. And so very much happens. I always write too much. Yet I just can't stop myself from sharing. One of my favorite moments of this book was a fae hunt they took part in. It was so awesome yet so rude. There was a part where Mara was running in the snow. So very sad and so very good. Then another part where she was running even more, and it was so heartbreaking yet so thrilling at the same time. Loved it.

The ending was so very bittersweet. I loved it so very much. Yet it was a little sad too, and broke my heart a little more. And even though the story of these three sisters is over, it does not feel over. There are still things that I want answers to. Still things that need doing in this world. But yes. I do think the ending was good. I just want more, haha. Always. As this world was so exciting to read about. Honestly, I just loved these books so much. They are so very long. Yet not long enough. I so loved all of the smaller moments.

A Rose of Blood and Binding was everything I had hoped it would be. I loved it with all my heart. Mara's story was just perfection. This third book was full of hurt and evil people. Yet it was full of love too. I loved reading about Gemma and Farrin and Mara being together the very most. They were just such excellent sisters. And it just made my heart happy to see them together. These books are also full of smut. Which I keep forgetting to write about, haha. But there is a lot of it in all three books. And it is all written very well.

The biggest thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, for sending me a free ARC of this book to read and review. It means everything to me. It is fully gorgeous and I love it the very most. A treasure for me. My Claire Legrand book collection is the biggest and I love it so much. Now to wait for Claire to write even more perfect books. She is truly the best. And such a kind person too. Which makes me the happiest. You need The Middlemist trilogy in your life. It is such a perfect and sad and oh so good story. 

 

Goodreads - Blackwells - Amazon US - Amazon UK

Waiting on Wednesday #750

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

BING'S CHERRIES 
BY LIVIA BLACKBURNE & JULIA KUO 

Goodreads Description:

A modern American tall tale woven by a girl and her father about Ah Bing, the Chinese immigrant behind the Pacific Northwest's most delicious cherries.

You've heard of a Bing cherry, but did you know the story of the Chinese American immigrant for whom the dark, luscious cherry is named?

Long ago, Ah Bing was a father who travelled across the sea from China looking for work. It was in Oregon where he met a man who hired him to work in his orchards, where eventually, Bing cultivated the delicious cherries we know of today.

But what was it that made this man and the cherries he made so special? a young girl wonders as she sits together with her father, enjoying cherries from their backyard. Weaving together cultural memory, historical fact, and her own imagination, the young girl imagines a narrative of Ah Bing that is as larger than life and as sweet as his namesake.

With touching text and lush illustrations, Livia Blackburne and Julia Kuo forge an unforgettable Chinese American folktale that has largely been untold. The backmatter includes a letter from the author and illustrator, as well as a recipe!

Format: 48 pages, Hardcover
Expected Publication: March 10, 2026 by Alfred a Knopf Inc
Pre-Order: Blackwells and Amazon US and Amazon UK

Another historical tale by Livia. <3 I think it's another picture book, and I am so excited for it. I so love reading books by Livia. And her illustrated history stories have been awesome :) This sounds so good.
What are you waiting for on this delicious Wednesday?

In My Mailbox #747

Meh. I'm not doing that much better this week. All of me hurts. But finished taking the pills, and I guess I got better with them. Not fully fine, but better. Hoping I don't get worse now that I am out of pills, though. Ack. But the rest of me is still exhausted. Ugh. But I'm trying my best :) Still walking daily on my treadmill. And doing my daily walks outside too. But nothing is working. Ruude. This week I took instagram photos outside twice. So 24 photos total. Happy with that. <3 And ahhh. I got all the best mail, eee :D Loving it all so so so much. <3 And started reading A Rose of Blood and Binding :) Which I am loving to pieces. Sigh. Finishing it early next week :) This week I'm waiting on A Dance of Lies :) Hope you are all doing well. <3

Empire of the Dawn + The Rose Field + The House Saphir + Better in Black + Unraveled + A Rose of Blood and Binding ARC + Claire Legrand Swag + Six of Crows Swag. Eeee! Big package arrived from America, from my lovely friend Theresa. <3 Thank you so, so much love for helping me get all of these goodies to Norway, eee :D You are the very best. All the hugs. <3 I am so happy and so thankful. Loving it all so much :) I bought all the books at the top from Barnes and Noble, all exclusive editions. I miss the days when they shipped to Norway. Sigh. Loving all these editions, though :D And ahhh! The ARC of A Rose of Blood and Binding I got from the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca. <3 Thank you so so much. I am so excited and so happy to complete my Claire collection, eee. I'm currently reading it and loving it so very much :) Then the gorgeous swag from the first two books. Sigh. From publisher, shipped to my US friend. <3 So precious. Same with the Leigh Bardugo swag, eee. Such great quality. I love it to so. <3
K-Pop Demon Hunters. Bought a full set of the pins to get all six; they are gorgeous :D So glad that I got them. Hope to sell my doubles, though, ack. And last week I bought the chase Jinu at a local store, for over twice the price.. and then this week my toy store suddenly got in tons of the pop figures. Several chases. And so cheap. Siiiigh. That hurt my heart, haha. And so I could not resist. Now own two, haha :)
Funko Europe. Oops. I could not stop myself from buying more pop figures, haha :D New The Lord of the Rings, eee. And I love them so. And Pikachu. And Olaf. And Harry Potter too. I just love all of them. <3
Super Mario. Almost forgot these. Was a sale at my toy store, and I love Mario, so I bought them. Oops :)

Pop Mart. Eeeee. I got too much goodies this week, ha :D I bought three more Disney cube figures. Got three new ones. So cute. Got one of my favorites, Tigger :D Love. I got the Skullpanda x My Melody from Whoopea, as aliexpress pop mart never shipped it to Norway. And she is beautiful. And a small pop bean figure. Not the one I wanted, but cute and tiny. Bought a third Pucky Tap Tap Babies, and got more lucky this time. No pink, but I got the cat one. It is gorgeous. And then.. new Zimomo :D AHHH! My baby. He is precious. I know, not the best colors. But I love him even so. He is so huge. And so perfect. Sigh. I love these large Labubus :D And got the medium sized Naughty Cashier; which is just so very cute. Love it all.

More Instagram photos here. <3