Review: Okami & Yumi by Renee Ahdieh

This was such a very short story. Less than ten pages. Yet it was also such a stunning one. I loved being inside the head of Okami again. He had a few small point of views in Flame in the Mist, and I adore this boy more than I can say. Fingers crossed he will have a point of view in Smoke in the Sun. Want that so.

In this short story, Okami is being taken as a prisoner back to the castle. Where he is sure he will end up dead. These pages are about him thinking a little about his life, and him coming to terms with his upcoming death. Which breaks my heart. This boy does not deserve death. He deserves the very longest life.

This story is not very long, so I'm not writing a lot about it. Also because there truly was not much happening, haha. But it was still such good pages. Great writing. And I just love Okami so so very much. I so cannot wait to read Smoke in the Sun next, to know what happens to this precious person. And so so excited for more of him and Mariko together. Eee. Well, I hope there will be a lot of romance happening. Crossing all my fingers for that, as they were the cutest together. Okami was a stunning short story. Not much happening, mostly just the thoughts of Okami. And I did not mind that one bit. Because he is amazing and I loved learning a bit more about him. If you have read Flame in the Mist, then you must read this short story. Four stars for this one.

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Such a short story, but full of heart. It is less than ten pages long, and this story is from the point of view of Yumi. She is the sister of Okami, and we met her a little in Flame in the Mist. She is training to be a Geisha. And so she is living a pretty safe life right now. In this story we learn that she is tired of living it safe.

And gosh, I adored getting to know Yumi a little more. I hope there will be her point of view in Smoke in the Sun, as we did not get to read about her in the first book. Crossing my fingers. This was not a long story, so there was not that much to get to know about Yumi. But we get to see a little bit inside her head.

Yumi seems like such an incredible girl. She also knows a lot. And I think that she is going to end up being an important and awesome character in the second book. At least, I hope so. I would love to read more about her. She and her brother have mostly lived in hiding, after what happened to their father when they were young. And I am so curious to know what will happen next, if Yumi is going to leave her safe place. I do not want this girl hurt. But gosh, I want her to get to have some adventures too. And maybe a bit of romance. At least, with this short story, I'm assuming she will play a bit part in book two. Hope I am not wrong. If you have read Flame in the Mist, then you really need to read Yumi too. It is short, but it is so stunning. Four stars.

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Review: Flame in the Mist by Renee Ahdieh

I have been wanting to read this book for so long now. Yet I could not decide if I would enjoy it. But I had hoped to. And when I got the chance to get an ARC of book two, I knew I could not resist reading this stunning thing any longer. And I'm thrilled that I read it now. Ended up being a very strong four star for me. So happy.

Shall begin by saying that I found the writing in this book to be so good. Had no problem at all connecting to the characters and the story. Which I loved so much. It was also a pretty fast and easy read, as I did not want to stop reading it even once. I loved that very much. And I cannot wait to start my copy of book two. Eee.

I do not think I will manage to write all that much about this book, to be honest. My mind feels pretty blank. At the moment I'm just so happy that I liked this book so much. Even with that very rude ending. Hmph. It was pretty evil, yet not truly that bad, and I was left feeling very happy about all of this book. The romance was completely beautiful. Sigh. And no triangle or weird drama. I am so happy. And I very much loved the characters in this book too. Especially the girl and the boy. But the side characters were done so well too. Everything about this book was pretty amazing. And the only reason for why I'm giving it four stars is because I did not fully love the book with all my heart. But I had no faults with it. At all. Yesss. And I liked all of it so very much. So good.

This book tells the story of seventeen year old Mariko. She is the daughter of a samurai, and her purpose as a girl is to marry well. Which she is not pleased with. Mariko has always wanted to be more. But it is not possible for her as a girl in this world. I must admit to not knowing much about the culture this book is about. But I have seen Mulan, and read a few other books, and so understanding this book was no issue. And oh, how I loved the setting of this book. It was simply stunning. Written so well. Loved every part of it.

Anyway. Back to Mariko. The book begins with her traveling to meet her betrothed. On the way there, she is attacked. All her guards are killed, and she was supposed to die as well. But she did not. She survived. Barely. Those chapters were a bit scary to read through. I loved it. Mariko does not want to just go back home, she wants to find out who wanted her dead. As she knows it was the Black Clan that attacked her. This search of hers will not be easy. Or safe. But it is such an epic adventure. I loved every moment of it.

And so begins this story. With Mariko trying to figure out who hired the Black Clan to kill her. And for her to figure that out, she has to dress as a boy, and join them. It is not easy for her. And I loved that so very much. It was so awesome and fun to read about her dealing with pretending to be a boy. And her getting to know the Black Clan men. They were all amazing to read about. I loved the cook a whole bunch. He was so adorable. And the leader was pretty awesome too, I liked reading about him. About all of them.

Another character that I loved very much was Okami. He is the strongest fighter for the Black Clan. He is pretty brutal and ruthless and just all kinds of amazing. I loved every moment that he was in. Eee. And I loved how Mariko started out hating him. And then slowly started loving him too. All the while he thought she was a boy. But that secret comes out. And it was done in the best way. And I loved every moment of it. Gosh. Okami was truly incredible. Brave and strong and kind and just the very best. I loved this man.

There was a little romance in this book. Not that much, but also enough. It was gorgeous. And I loved every moment between these two characters. Sigh. This book was very much about revenge, though. And Mariko trying to find out what almost happened to her. Also about her starting to care for all of these men, even though she is trying not to. There is also a bit about her twin brother, whom is searching for her. At first I pretty much loved him. But now I am not so sure. Ack. He was written really well, though.

So much is going on in this book. And I am not going to say more about it. Just that I really loved all of these characters. And the story was pretty incredible too. That ending was so rude, and I cannot wait to know what happens next. I think will two is going to be so epic. Fingers crossed. Flame in the Fist ended up being everything I had hoped it would be. It was so so good. And I'm so thrilled that I finally read this book. So curious to know what all of you think of this book too. If you have not read it yet, then you must.

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Cover Reveal: Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers

Eee! I am SO excited about this book :D Gosh, Courting Darkness is going to be so amazing. I loved the Grave Mercy trilogy so so much and I cannot wait for more in this amazing world. Eee. I simply cannot wait to finally re-read Grave Mercy as well. Soon. It's going to be so awesome. I loved Sybella so much and I cannot wait to read about her again. And Genevieve sounds amazing too. Gosh. This book will be so good. And oh my gosh! THIS COVER! I cannot :D It is STUNNING. I love it so. So so much. And eee, there is a new Grave Mercy cover too :D And it is so so lovely. Is it February 5th 2019 yet? I simply can't wait to read this gorgeous thing. And own all the copies of it. Eee. What do you think of this cover? <3

Death wasn’t the end, it was only the beginning…

Sybella has always been the darkest of Death’s daughters, trained at the convent of Saint Mortain to serve as his justice. But she has a new mission now. In a desperate bid to keep her two youngest sisters safe from the family that nearly destroyed them all, she agrees to accompany the duchess to France, where they quickly find themselves surrounded by enemies. Their one ray of hope is Sybella’s fellow novitiates, disguised and hidden deep in the French court years ago by the convent—provided Sybella can find them.

Genevieve has been undercover for so many years, she struggles to remember who she is or what she’s supposed to be fighting for. Her only solace is a hidden prisoner who appears all but forgotten by his guards. When tragedy strikes, she has no choice but to take matters into her own hands—even if it means ignoring the long awaited orders from the convent.

As Sybella and Gen’s paths draw ever closer, the fate of everything they hold sacred rests on a knife’s edge. Will they find each other in time, or will their worlds collide, destroying everything they care about?

Courting Darkness. Robin LaFevers. Official Reveal Post. The Book Depository. Amazon.

In My Mailbox #340

How is it already Saturday again? Ahh. Time is moving so fast. Probably because of my two hour long spa bath pretty much every day, eee :D It is the best thing. <3 Though it does make me exhausted. And health is not better at all. But shrugs. I am dealing with it. Probably. Yesterday we also had such a hot summer day, which usually does not happen until July. I sat out in the sun for hours. It was so awesome. And did the same today. Eee. So anyway. I have only read one book this week, ack, and it wasn't good. Aw. But I'm starting Flame in the Mist today, and I'm hoping to love it so much. Fingers crossed. Since I have the ARC of book two as well, ack. I blogged a little this week. <3 I shared the cover reveal for King of Scars :D This week I'm waiting on Shadow of the Fox. <3 And I shared my review of Angel and Bavar :) This week I also got a little bit of stunning mail, eee. I love it all so so much :D Trying to deal with my health, but besides that I'm doing okay. Still spending tons of time with my baby niece too :D I love her.

Runaways. Ack. I have never read the Runaways. But I adore Rainbow. I had to get it. Reading one day.
5 Worlds. I liked the first graphic novel last year, so I wanted to know what happens next :D Gorgeous.
Sky in the Deep. AHH! Thank you so much Andye :D My collection is complete. Oh gosh. My precious.
The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik. Thank you PRH Global :D Cannot wait for the blog tour. <3
The Burning Maze. Ahh. I'm so behind on reading books by Rick. But I will read all of them, very soon :D
A Conjuring of Light. The third one is out, finally :D Could not resist these covers, eee. Just so stunning.
Pop Figures. Eee! Special Maui :D He is awesome. Expensive. But worth it. Love love my kitty too. Eee.

More Instagram photos here. <3

Review: Angel and Bavar by Amy Wilson

I wanted so badly to love this. Because that cover is completely stunning. And the summary was so good too. And so I could not resist getting this via Edelweiss. It is coming out this November, though it is already out in the UK, I found out. I could not resist reading this book so early. And it did not take me long to read it.

But oh, how I wish I could say that I loved this book. I wanted to, so badly. But I did not love it. Not even one bit. I'm even giving it two stars. Which is a bit heartbreaking for me. Was thinking three stars, but I did not like it that much, if I am going to be completely honest. This one was disappointing to me. For so many reasons.

I shall begin with the writing. It bothered me at all times. It simply was not very good. And I could not connect with the story or the characters at all. Everything just felt silly. It did not feel real, not one bit. I have a weird relationship with writing in books. And if I do not like a writing, it makes it pretty much impossible to like the rest of the book. Which was the case with this one. The writing was not good. But it wasn't completely terrible either. Sadly the rest of the book was not better. I did not really care for Angel and Bavar at all. I didn't love their new and growing friendship at all. It even annoyed me. Which I do not approve of it at all. Hmph. My review is not going to be very long, because this book was pretty short, and I do not have that much to say about it all.

This book tells the story of Angel and Bavar. She is twelve years old, and he is thirteen. She just moved to his town, as her parents were killed about a year back, in a pretty bad way. She now lives with foster parents. And reading about that was pretty interesting. I did like Angel. But was just a bit upset with her sometimes too. But learning about her past was interesting too. And I liked the foster parents that she was living with. They seemed pretty nice. My heart broke for her at times too, because of her parents.

Then there was Bavar. I somewhat loved this boy. He was pretty broken and sad. But also not enough broken. Ack. If only it had been written better. Sigh. But yeah. This boy had his parents leave him a year ago, and so now he lives with his aunt and uncle. In a big magical house. Where he must fight monsters. It's a little complicated. Yet not nearly enough so. Aw. But anyway. I liked reading about Bavar. He was interesting. But, uhm, he is described as being really, really tall, and that was a bit confusing, honestly.

This book is about Angel and Bavar meeting, and learning each others secrets. Her figuring out about his magic, and how she can learn the truth about how her parents died. And then it is about them trying to figure out how to get rid of all of the monsters. I wish I could say that it was exciting to read about. But it was not, sadly. I just wanted this book to end. Ack. I didn't love the characters. I did not care much for the story, because not that much happened. Honestly, I wanted this book to be so much bigger than it was.

I cannot help but share that I was completely disappointed by the friendship in this book. I was hoping it would be huge and sweet and just the very best. It was not. I never felt like Angel was spending time with Bavar because she liked him. It was more that she liked his magic, and wanted to learn more about how her parents had died. And she was even mean towards him at times, for nothing that he had done. I was not pleased. This friendship was not epic, like I wanted it to be. It was mostly good, but nothing special.

Which just disappointed me so much. Aw. Then there was the magic in this book. There was not a lot of it at all. There are some mentions of monsters, but only one kind, something with wings. And there are a few scenes with Bavar fighting them. And it just felt a bit weird, to be honest. And the ending felt pretty rushed, I think. This whole book could have been so much more. And I just feel sad because it was not. Maybe it is just me. Shrugs. I do not know. But I do know that I did not love this book. It was not for me.

Angel and Bavar was not the book I wanted it to be. I was expecting a much more stunning friendship. More magic. More story. More broken characters. I feel pretty let down about it, to be honest. But I will also say that the book was not all bad. I did like Bavar a bunch. I just did not love him. And I liked reading about Bavar and Angel spending time together, sometimes. I liked their small families. I enjoyed reading about this magic house and the talking portraits and all that. Just wish that there had been more of it all.

Huge thank you to the publisher, Katherine Tegen Books, for the auto approval on Edelweiss that made me able to read and review this book early. Despite my disappointed feelings for this book, I am glad that I gave it a try. Because otherwise I would have been curious about it all the time. I wish it had been better, though, so I'm a bit sad about that. Aw. I think there are people that will love Angel and Bavar. I was sadly just not one of those people. Still, though. This is one of the most gorgeous covers I have seen. I love it.

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