In My Mailbox #769

Writing this post a day before, as when this post go live, I will be on a mini car vacation :D Just staying one night, but I am so very excited about it, eee. <3 Sharing more about it next week :) But yeah. This week have been meh. A bit warmer outside, but still no sun. Had one day where I got to sit a few hours outside, but it was not enough. Rude. And I am also way, way too exhausted. But doing my best :) And hoping for heat later in August. Fingers crossed. I got the very best mail this week, though, eee :D I am so so so excited. <3 And so thankful. Sigh. Loving the rest of my mail too, though, haha :) But that ARC. Gods. So happy :D Now need to go to bed; up waaay too early tomorrow morning, Saturday, to start the very long drive. This week I'm waiting on Monster, Monarch, Maiden. <3 Hope you are all doing well :D 

Fairyloot July Adult. The Winged Game. The character art in this one is pretty :) As the cover is not, oops.
Fairyloot July YA. The River She Became. This cover is so much more gorgeous, though :D I'm curious.
Wild Reverence. I learned there was a Waterstones exclusive of the paperback. Oops. Needed it, ha :)
The House Saphir. Eeee! I traded for this beautiful UK ARC proof with someone on facebook :D Love it.
Immortal Rose. OH MY GOD. EEEEEEEE. Thank you so so so much to Tempest for this most precious UK ARC proof :D Ahhh. I am actually dying. It is the most beautiful thing. Sobs. I am so so happy. And so thankful. Wanted this more than anything. I love it so much. Sent to my friend in the UK, then to me. <3
Nintendo Swag. Also got all of these from my friend, Megan, in the UK :D Thank you so much for helping me love. <3 You are the absolute best. Hugs. And got 200 more Funko pop wall stands, ack :D Excited.
Pop Mart. I tried one of each of the new Pixar Dimoo figures :) I do like the plush and the figure; not my favorites, but they are still gorgeous. I really wanted Lotso. Sigh. But love the quality of both of them. <3
Funko. Oops. I could not resist ordering a few more new pop figures, ha :D Loving the new Winnie the Pooh ones. Adorable. And new The Little Mermaid. Love them so much. And talking Sorting Hat is cool.

Pop Mart. And then a much bigger popmart haul, ahhh :D So much love. Sigh. I had to get the full set of the new Hacipupu puppies. And gods, I am so glad I did so. They are absolutely stunning. Eeee. So very soft. So precious. Love them to pieces. Got a small free gift, the star sign plush below :) No Taurus, but cute. Then I ordered three confirmed secrets from Whoopea. Ahhh. Expensive. But worth it :D And finally got my Coca Cola secret, eee. It is so very adorable. I love it. And the new hairy Labubu secret; cuuute :D And Dear Birds one; love it so much. I love that I can buy my secrets confirmed, haha. Much less work :D

 

More Instagram photos here. <3

Waiting on Wednesday #771

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

MONSTER, MONARCH, MAIDEN BY RAE CARSON 

Goodreads Description:

A sweeping stand-alone fantasy from award-winning and bestselling master of the genre, Rae Carson. After she loses everything, Bria will do whatever it takes to survive—even pledge herself to a secretive young man on a perilous quest. Breathtaking adventure and swoon-worthy romance for fans of Sarah J. Maas, Ava Reid, and Rebecca Ross.

Bria Angarsold isn’t supposed to be a hero. She’s just a mountain girl. A mountain girl with a near useless Gift, living an idyllic life with her sister and her parents, running the family’s thriving inn. But then the raiders come, and Bria’s family is destroyed.

One of the last survivors of the raid, Bria isn’t sure she’ll live to see where the captors are taking her. Until the caravan crosses paths with a mysterious traveler and Bria’s luck changes again.

With no family or home to return to, Bria swears her life to this moody, secretive young man. Titus has been chosen to complete a perilous quest—one that will make Bria question everything she’s ever believed, from the magic that weaves through their world to the very gods themselves. As the journey unfolds, Bria realizes she has something—someone—new to believe in. She’d follow Titus to the Edge of the World, sworn oath or not, even if neither of them stands a chance at returning from it.

But Bria Angarsold is a survivor. She isn’t useless, and neither is her Gift. And this is her story.

Shadow and Bone meets Divine Rivals for an exhilarating journey and a slow-burn romance from the author of the acclaimed The Girl of Fire and Thorns. 

Format: 480 pages, Hardcover
Expected Publication: August 25, 2026 by Greenwillow Books
Pre-Order: Blackwells and Amazon US and Amazon UK

Eee, I am excited about this one :D Loved Rae and her books for so many years now. I am so excited for her to finally have a new one out. I think it looks gorgeous. And it sounds all kinds of exciting. Just like my kind of story. Excited about the romance. Excited about the magic. I'm hoping to love this one a bunch. <3
What are you waiting for on this monstrous Wednesday?

In My Mailbox #768

Eeek, this week I got way too many books in the mail. Ahh. And next week I will get the most epic mail and I just cannot wait, eee. <3 So excited :D Anyway. I finally finished reading my current book this week, only took me two weeks. Sigh. Next I will be reading two picture books, haha :) Then a middle grade book after. Will try to read faster this time. Hmph. But yeah, this book was a two star, and this made it harder to actually want to read it. Oops. I'm still all kinds of exhausted and just behind on every single thing. Sigh. Hope to have more energy soon and feel better. Oh, and I got a cold this past week. And an eye infection. Haaaa. Yeah. This week sucked. But I'm doing better today. Somewhat. Not sleeping enough. Rude. But okay. But we have still not had summer. Sobs. It's just cold and rainy and I am hating it. Just sun would help. Doesn't need to be warm, just sunny. Though I want both. Sigh. This summer actually really sucks. Makes me so sad. Ahh. Please let us get summer in the autumn. Pretty please. Anyway. Watched some movies this week. Saw Obsession, since my nephew had rented it. And gods, it was fucked up. And so disgusting. Boring at first. But it grew exciting and I did like it. Then I finally saw Speak No Evil from 2024, which was also good and too stressful. Though boring for ages. Hope to watch more movies. This week I'm waiting on Our Strange Duet. <3 Shared my review of Most Likely to Murder :) Hope you are well. <3 

A Darker Shore: Letters from Ketterdam. Yeah, UK edition of Six of Crows stories. <3 Looking gorgeous.
City of Lost Souls. Another UK collector edition. <3 I have to have them all, of course, haha :) Love it. <3
Wild Reverence. New UK paperback copy :) Have yet to read this book, though. Ack. But it so gorgeous. 
Better in Black. New UK paperback of this one too :D Also have yet to read it; so behind. But so pretty :)
Armor for Liars. I'm a little nervous about this one, but loved other books by this author :D Excited to try.
Monster and Apprentice. I am so very excited to read this one soon :D I love Jessica and her books. <3
The Luckiest Lady in London. New edition :D I adore Sherry. <3 Not read this book of hers yet, though :)
Splatoon Raiders. I'm excited to try this new Switch 2 game soon. <3 Not played any Splatoon yet, ack.
Funko Pop. Had to buy Steve and Dustin from Stranger Things from EMP. <3 They are awesome. Love.
The Nevernight Chronicle. Got my second set, after damage on first. One of them still has damage. Sigh.

Pop Mart. Whoops. More popmart gorgeousness, haha. <3 I got a new Pucky plush :D It is so stunning. I love it. It also makes a sound. Cute. Then I could not resist; I got the full set of the new Teletubbies, ha :D I had to have them. They are just so very cute. <3 Just fully adorable. Glad I got them :) More next week.

More Instagram photos here. <3 

Review: Most Likely to Murder by Lish McBride

Even though this book was very much not a genre that I prefer to read, I knew I was going to read it when it was announced. As I adore Lish and have loved several books by her. So I had to give this one a try. As I do love murder mysteries. And teen romance. Sigh. But oh, a high school setting is simply just not for me at all.

I'm not sure how to put my thoughts down for this review. I really wanted to love this book. But I really did not. I'm going with a two star, sadly. It was almost a three. But never any higher than that. There were some things I really liked. But I did not love any of it. Mostly it was just a little too boring and a little too tame, honestly.

But I shall start by sharing a little bit about the characters. As I really liked reading about Rick and Martina. As they were pretty great. Did not love them as much as I wanted to, but I liked them a whole bunch. It is told from the point of view of Rick. He is best friends with Martina. They are very close and it was the sweetest to read about. I loved how close he was with her family too. They had some cute banter as well. Although the banter grew to be a bit too much for me in this book, as there was so much. Oops. It was possibly very much a teen book. I wish it had been a little more murder, and less focus on school, ha. But I did like the growing friendships. I did not like the typical bullying that was included, of course. I also kind of wish this group of teens were smaller. Might have connected to them more, if the group was small.

But I liked getting to know Rick. He lives with him mom and little sister. And his dad left them and took all their money and most of their things as well. Which was the rudest. Rick is still mad about it. His mother is trying her best to support them, but it is not easy. I loved that he had such a great uncle, though. As he was pretty sweet too. And his mom was adorable. His sister too. Rick tried a little too hard as well. But he was such a kind and sweet boy. Though his crush on Nika was a bit too much and silly. But I liked it too.

Martina had a more rich family, and they also tried their best to help Rick as they could. I just loved how close they were in this book. I just did not feel too much about any of them. Which sucked. I really wanted to love this story more. But I just had issues connecting, sadly. The writing was good, but I also had some problems with it. Still. I did like this book. I simply did not love it. Some parts were exciting. Well, mostly. The murders were good, but also boring, and I wish there had been many more details, to be fully honest.

This book tells the story of Rick and Martina. Although it starts with the murder of a teacher. Then it goes to Rick, and the day they are being giving their yearbooks. But this doesn't go as it normally do. Someone have messed with the books. Instead of people being most likely to succeed and such stuff, they are now being pictured as most likely to die in different ways. And everyone thinks Rick and Martina did it. As they are known to do pranks. Though this one is a little more evil, which is something they would just not do.

I must honestly say that I found the whole school thing to be boring. It is just not for me. And there was a lot of it. Sigh. I liked the story more when they found the teacher dead. Just like the yearbook had written. Rick and Martina was also pictured in it. Though someone still thinks they did it. I liked reading about the murders, as more people end up dead. Though next time it would be a teen from their school. I liked the way the murders were written, as we somewhat got to see them. Wish there were more details, honestly.

But this book was not just about the murders and these teens just trying to stay alive. They spend time together, with Rick trying his best to finally talk to his crush, Nika. But he very much failed at it again and again. It was kind of cute, but mostly just awkward. What helped was that she was just as weird as him. So they were pretty cute together. I just didn't care much for the romance, sadly. Martina had a crush on Camryn, which was sweet, but we saw even less of that. So yeah. Too little romance, too little murders.

I do have to mention the ending of this book. There was the typical final showdown with the murderer. Which I was excited about. But it also made zero sense. First of all, they all had their phones on them. There was no signal issue. Yet none of them called the police or any of the families. Took them way too long. That made zero sense to me. They had so much time to make a call. Sigh. Then the murderer is revealed. And it honestly made no sense that either. I wish it had been someone else, haha. It felt weird.

I'm not going to say much more about this book. As it was short, and honestly not that much happened. Ack. But I am still glad that I gave Most Likely to Murder a try. And I will still read anything by this author. But yeah. This contemporary genre and high school is just not something that I like reading. I sometimes do, but it was not the case this time. The characters were nice, though. Which is honestly pretty much all that I enjoyed. Rick and Martina had such a nice friendship. I do think you should give this a try, though.

Goodreads - Blackwells - Amazon US - Amazon UK

Waiting on Wednesday #770

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

OUR STRANGE DUET BY ERIN A. CRAIG 

Goodreads Description:

A reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, spotlighting Christine Daaé as she rises to fame while torn between love, ambition, and the haunting secrets of the opera house from #1 New York Times bestselling author Erin A. Craig.

Inspired by Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, Le Fantôme de L’Opéra, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of a mysterious masked figure who lurks beneath the Paris Opera House, exercising a reign of terror over all who inhabit it.

He falls madly in love with a young soprano, Christine Daaé, and devotes himself to nurturing her extraordinary talents, employing all of the devious methods at his command.

Our Strange Duet centres Christine’s emotional journey and her agency within this sweeping, atmospheric opera.

Format: 400 pages, Hardcover
Expected Publication: September 1, 2026 by Delacorte Press
Pre-Order: Blackwells and Amazon US and Amazon UK

Ohhh. I am nervous about this book. I adore Erin. I love her YA books. I was a little disappointed with her latest Adult, because of the love triangle. When I heard of this book, I was so excited. Then I learned it is another love triangle? Ahhhh. I'm way too nervous right now, haha :) I don't know enough about Phantom of the Opera at all. Oops. But I will be reading this book no matter what; I am hoping to love this lots. <3
What are you waiting for on this strange Wednesday?