In My Mailbox #447

This past week have gone by so fast. Gah. Haven't read a book, but I started re-reading Aurora Rising, and have made it halfway. So yay for that. And fully behind on everything else, as always. Yeah. Health sucks. Still waiting on medicine. Have a hopeful date for getting more, but unsure. Hmm. My wrist is still hurting every time I use my laptop. So simply not getting anything done. So rude. So only one new blog post. This week I'm waiting on One True King. <3 Only one book made it to my mailbox this week. Ugh. Waiting on many, but seems to be taking about a whole month to make it here these days. Which sucks. But all my books should get here one day, I suppose :) Hope you are all staying safe and are doing well.

DEV1AT3. Pretty US paperback edition :D I.. have not read this second book just yet. Ahh. But very soon.

More Instagram photos here. <3

Waiting on Wednesday #450

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

ONE TRUE KING (The School for Good and Evil #6)
BY SOMAN CHAINANI

Goodreads Description:

Beyond Good and Evil. Beyond Ever Afters.

The fairy tale of Sophie and Agatha comes to a dramatic conclusion in this sixth and final book of Soman Chainani’s New York Times bestselling fantasy series.

Who will sit on Camelot’s throne and rule the Endless Woods? Who will be the One True King? Prepare yourself for the End of Ends . . .

Hardcover, 496 pages

Expected publication: June 2nd 2020 by HarperCollins

Pre-Order here and here

I feel like I have waited forever for the final book in this series. Gosh. It is going to be so very good, eee. I am so nervous, though, haha. But very hopeful for happy endings :) I just don't really want this series to actually end. Hmph. Love these books so very much. And oh gosh. It is out in less than a week! Ahh! And look at that gorgeous cover :D Love. So much. I will be re-reading the first books now in June. Can't wait.
What are you waiting for on this epic Wednesday?

In My Mailbox #446

How is it already Saturday again? Ahh. Time is moving way too fast :) And I haven't read anything since I finished the last book a week ago. Oops. But I know what I'm reading next, hoping to get to it this coming week :) Fingers crossed. This week have been busy for me. So much to do all day long. Ack. And health sucks. And everything seems to be going wrong. Uuugh. But I'm doing my best and staying positive :) A couple of new posts. I shared my review of Among the Beasts and Briars :) And this week I'm waiting on Igniting Darkness, eee. <3 And gosh. I actually got two books this week, haha :) Finally. Both gorgeous.

Aurora Burning. Sigh. So lovely. US hardcover has arrived. I may have peeked at final pages, haha :D
The Red Scrolls of Magic. New gorgeous US paperback :D With new cover design too. Eee. I love it so.
Pikachu. Eee. Isn't this Detective Pikachu plush all kinds of adorable? I love him so. I had to buy him :)

More Instagram photos here. <3

Waiting on Wednesday #449

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

IGNITING DARKNESS (Courting Darkness #2) 
BY ROBIN LAFEVERS

Goodreads Description:

When you count Death as a friend, who can stand as your enemy?

Sybella, novitiate of the convent of Saint Mortain and Death’s vengeance on earth, is still reeling from her God’s own passing, and along with him a guiding hand in her bloody work. But with her sisters on the run from their evil brother and under the watchful eye of her one true friend (and love) at court, the soldier known as Beast, Sybella stands alone as the Duchess of Brittany’s protector.

After months of seeking her out, Sybella has finally made contact with a fellow novitiate of the convent, Genevieve, a mole in the French court. But when Genevieve mistakenly draws the attention of the French king to the convent of Saint Mortain and its deadly arts, she may do her sisters (and herself) more harm than good. Sybella, having already drawn the ire of the French regent, may not be able to depend on her sister and ally as much as she hoped. Still, Death always finds a way, even if it’s not what one expects.

Hardcover, 560 pages

Expected publication: August 4th 2020 by HMH Books for Young Readers

Pre-Order here and here

Eeee. I had been meaning to post a cover reveal post for this gorgeous thing. But I never got the energy for it, oops, and it has now been many many months since this cover came out. Ack. But yesss. I am so DYING to read this book. I loved Courting Darkness so so so much. And the original trilogy is perfection too. I cannot wait to know how it all ends. Ack. So very nervous too, of course. But simply cannot wait :)
What are you waiting for on this dark Wednesday?

Review: Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston

I have wanted to read this ever since it was first announced. As I adore the author. Though I have only read one other book by her so far. Yet I still wanted to read this one so badly. It sounded and looked so very amazing. And so I could not resist getting it early from Edelweiss. And reading this months before it is officially out.

I wanted to read this book because it seemed like it would be an epic fantasy story with adorable characters and an epic quest to save everyone. I ended up being a little disappointed, sadly. And so I'm giving this book three stars. Which hurts my heart; I really wanted to love this book. But I had too many issues with it. Sigh.

I'm not sure where to begin. The writing was mostly good, but I still did not really care for any of the characters. I did not feel like things were scary or like they were all going to die. This book did not feel nearly as epic as it was trying to be. Which makes me so sad. Hmph. I was also a little annoyed with how many mistakes there were in the writing. I do know, and hope, these will be fixed before the final printing, but still. It made me fall out of the story every time I noticed this. I also felt like so much of the things happening did not make much sense. There were also way too many descriptions, and they all made me a little insane. I tried my very best to love this writing and this book. But I did not. I liked the story a lot, though. But no love. I did love the setting though.

This book is mostly told from the point of view of Cerys. She is best friends with the princess of the small town she lives in. She is the daughter of the village gardener. She and her dad grow flowers for the royals and everyone else. She has a good life. Yet it is mentioned a few times that she does not know anything else, that she doesn't know to want more for herself. This seemed silly, as we never got to see her life as a gardener. She seemed to love her life. Anyway. I liked Cerys. She was interesting. I just didn't love her.

The King has just died, and so her best friend is about to become Queen. I did like this friend, but we see so very little of their friendship in this book. And so I did not really ever get to understand why they were such good friends. It also drove me kind of crazy how when this friend was mentioned in the whole book her name and nickname were both used several times in a short amount of time. I wish it had been one of her names, not both all the time. Too confusing and weird. And wish we had gotten to see their friendship.

This book is about a cursed forest. For three hundred years Cerys's town have been protected from this cursed forest by a magical crown. But it is no longer so, after the king died. Evil creatures arrive from this forest, turning almost everyone at the coronation for the new Queen into evil creatures themselves. Only Cerys manages to escape, along with the crown. And her other best friend, a fox that have been with her for years. They escape into this cursed forest, searching for a rumored town that might save all of them.

It could have been such an epic tale of trying to save everyone from the cursed forest and evil creatures. But it was too silly for me at times, which just hurt. And yet I still liked this book. I still liked reading about the characters and wanted to know how it ended. But I wanted more. Much more. The plot was good, but could have been better. The ending was way too happy. Well, one happy thing I did want, but something else was too good to be true, and that bothered me. But still. I did really adore reading about this forest.

One thing that bothered me very much was this one sentence that was included from beginning to end. How the main girl was only a gardener's daughter. It drove me crazy. How she was only that, not meant for quests or important things. Yeah. It was not good. And another thing was how the boy was a coward at times, and how this was made to be a bad thing. Not once did anyone say it was okay for him to hide like he did. It was very much okay to do that. He was a goddamn child. So yeah. Made me angry. Ugh.

It also bothered me how the twists in this book were not really twists at all. Everything was obvious from the very beginning, which was disappointing. I wish it had all been more of a mystery. There was some romance, but I did not really care for it, because there was some silly drama I did not like. Hmph. I also very much disliked how convenient everything was. It was a bit too much at times. Also, when the fox turned into a boy, how this fox boy just knew everything about being a human, everything to say. Weird.

Although I did not love this book, Among the Beasts and Briars was still an interesting and quick book to read. I adored parts of it, but sadly did not love it. But still so glad that I read it. I only wish that it had been more magical. There were magic included, but too little and a bit too boring too. Oops. I so wanted more. I wanted more danger, more excitement. They were attacked many times, then always saved at the last moment. I just wanted more danger and hurt and more epic adventure. Still, was not all bad. Three stars.

Although this book is not out until October, I could not resist reading it already. And even though it was disappointing to me, I still liked it a lot. And I still think that all of you should read it too when it comes out. I cannot wait to see how very gorgeous the finished copy will look. Also curious if there will be companion books. The ending very much teased that. I would read more from this world. Thank you to Balzer + Bray for auto approval on Edelweiss that allowed me to read this book early. I'm glad that I gave this one a try.

Goodreads - The Book Depository - Amazon