Weekly Wrap-Up: 2/2 – 2/8

Right on time this week! I know I’ve been saying this for the past few weeks, but man did last week fly by.

Last week wasn’t too bad, regarding my blog activity, though I didn’t do everything that I’d wanted to. I didn’t get to reading any books either. Oh well. I’ll aim to do better this week.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Tuesday 2/3: The Most Interesting Looking New Books of February 2026

Last Tuesday, I posted a list of the books that I’m looking forward to this month. Or, at least the ones that I think look the most interesting. It was the The Most Interesting Looking New Books of February 2026. As always, it’s basically only fantasy and science fiction, as those are the two genres I primarily read. This time there were six books on my list.

The Most Interesting Looking New Books of February 2026

Wednesday 2/4: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Strange Animals

Friday 2/6: Bewitching Book Covers

This past Friday, I posted a Bewitching Book Covers for the first time in over a month. Bewitching Book Covers (formerly known as Majestic Mondays and Tasteful Tuesdays), is when I gush over a book cover that I like as well as analyze it (sometimes). I also typically give the book covers funny rating systems – not the usual blank out of five stars kind of thing.

Bewitching Book Covers: Stolen Midnights

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, last week was okay. It wasn’t great, but it was fine enough. I’m hoping that this week I’ll be a little bit better with my blog stuff, and that I’ll at least read one book. We’ll see.

For my posts, I’m at the very least planning on (finally) posting my review for The Bones Beneath My Skin by TJ Klune, as well as my monthly reading wrap-up for January 2026. I’d also like to participate in at least a couple of the usual weekly posts that I try to join in during most weeks.

Regarding books and reading, I think I’m going to read a February new release. After that, it’s a little bit up in the air at the moment. I’ll see what I’m feeling after I finish the next book I decide to go for.

Concerning stuff outside of books and blogging, I did a little more than my usual last week. I mean, yeah, my spouse and I are still trying to be healthier, but I also finally got around to changing the decor. So the Christmas and Winter decorations have at last been taken down, and now the Valentine’s Day stuff is up. Yay! I’m very happy to finally be switched over. So is my spouse, haha.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Bewitching Book Covers: Stolen Midnights

Happy Friday everyone! It’s been almost two months since I’ve done this post, which disappoints me, but January was just so busy. But I’m here with another Bewitching Book Covers now!

For anyone who doesn’t know, Bewitching Book Covers (formerly Tasteful Tuesdays, and before that, Majestic Mondays), is a series where I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it. That’s it, that’s pretty much the point of this post.

This week, the book cover that I’m highlighting is Stolen Midnights by Katherine Quinn!

Stolen Midnights by Katherine Quinn

SERIES: Stolen Midnights #1

LENGTH: 464 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Delacorte Press

RELEASE DATE: 3 February 2026

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The first in a new magical young adult romantasy duology from the New York Times bestselling author of To Kill a Shadow. A palace darling and a thief join forces after he unwittingly steals a necklace with the power to change their world forever.

In the city of Andalay, the ruling Fates bestow gifts among society’s most favored. When Damien, a cold and hardened thief, is hired to steal one of those gifts – meant for the “princess” of Ward One, Wren Hayes – he finds himself entangled in a web of secrets.

The gift? A locket containing his own photograph.

Once the locket is opened, hidden truths unravel, shedding light on the ruthless ways of the upper class. Yearning for the three Fates and the magical gifts they bestow, the lords of Andalay will go to any length to keep their power – including murder.

Brought together by destiny, and fighting a dangerous temptation that’s becoming harder to resist, Wren and Damien navigate a seedy world where the truth can destroy not only their lives, but the city itself.

Book Cover Rating: 🌹🌹🌹🌹 • 4 lovely roses

I’ve decided that since Queen of Faces got the Can’t-Wait Wednesday post, I’m going to do a Bewitching Book Covers post for Stolen Midnights. (It also has a great cover, by the way.) And though the book cover for the novel that I’m focusing on today is more simple compared to others I’ve done posts about before, it’s still absolutely beautiful and I really love it.

First off, I really like the background. It’s deep blue with patches of tiny stars dotted around it in a lovely imitation of the night sky. And seeing as the book is called “Stolen Midnights” this is extremely fitting.

The next notable thing about the cover art – and the aspect that first caught my eye about it – is the roses. I love how big they are, and how they come in two shades of pink. It adds a little more color to the cover. Another thing I really like about them is how the colors of the roses naturally complement, but also stand out from the background. It’s also a nice touch that the entirety of the flowers themselves are on the cover, and not just the colorful part with petals. The stems also feature on here, with their thorns and leaves, and the green of them adds yet more color to the book’s cover.

The last thing I want to highlight is the typography. Most books I gush about here have pretty good composition styles on their covers, and this one is no exception. I like the typography itself, and how its paleness makes it stand out from everything else going on on the book cover. The words are also made up of two colors – white and a light gray or silver – and it makes it even prettier. I also love how the gray or silver parts of the words make those parts of the letters seem in shadow. It just makes the cover of Stolen Midnights pop even further. Such a gorgeous cover!

So yeah, here’s yet another beautiful book cover. What do you think about this cover art? Have you read Stolen Midnights? If you have, what did you think of it?

Anyway, as always, thank you for reading, and I hope that you have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 12/8 – 12/14

It’s a new week, and before we can move on to the next one, we gotta wrap up the last one! I’m a little later than I usually am, but… eh, it’s not that bad.

Last week wasn’t bad at all. My novel reading wasn’t the best, but my blogging was pretty good, even if it was constrained to a couple of days. I wish my posting could have been more spread out, but considering I did four posts and am nearly caught up to my book reviews, I can’t complain.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Tuesday 12/9: What Stalks the Deep Review / Top Ten Tuesday

Last Tuesday, I finally posted my review for What Stalks the Deep. It’s really been a long time coming, honestly. And with the posting of it, I’m officially caught up on my October book reviews! Yay!

Anyway, What Stalks the Deep is the third installment of T. Kingfisher’s Sworn Solider series of novellas. And I thought it was pretty good. I’m not sure if I liked What Stalks the Deep as much as the first book, but I definitely prefer it to book two. I gave it ★★★★☆.

What Stalks the Deep Review

I also did another post last Tuesday. It’s been quite a while since I double posted, but I also wanted to participate in Top Ten Tuesday this past week.

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. The prompt for last week was Books Set in Snowy Places.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Snowy Places

Sunday 12/14: Penric’s Demon & Penric and the Shaman Reviews / Bewitching Book Covers

On Sunday, I posted another book review. Well, I suppose I should say “reviews” instead as I actually evaluated two books. Or novellas, technically. Whatever, semantics.

So yeah, the two books I reviewed were the first two novellas in the Penric and Desdemona series by Lois McMaster Bujold: Penric’s Demon and Penric and the Shaman. I enjoyed both of them, though I preferred the first book over the second a little. I gave Penric’s Demon ★★★★☆ and Penric and the Shaman ★★★✯☆.

Penric’s Demon & Penric and the Shaman Reviews

I also double posted a second time last week on Sunday. It’s been a few since the last time I did a Bewitching Book Covers, so I thought another one was in order.

Bewitching Book Covers (formerly known as Majestic Mondays and Tasteful Tuesdays), is when I gush over a book cover that I like as well as analyze it (sometimes). I also typically give the book covers funny rating systems – not the usual blank out of five stars kind of thing.

Bewitching Book Covers: For Whom the Belle Tolls

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, that was this past week, at least in regards to books and blogging. I would’ve liked to have read more, but I’m mostly satisfied with how everything ended up going. I hope that this coming week is a little better, though.

Concerning posts for next week, I definitely want to get out my reading wrap-up for November 2025. It’s halfway through the month now, and getting increasingly more ridiculous the longer I go without posting it. (I just wanted to get out my reviews for the books I read first, though, okay?) I also want to participate in a couple of my usual weekly posts, as well as my favorite monthly post. And last, but certainly not least, I’d like to do another book review. I’ve got one last one in the tank and it needs to go out!

For books, I want to read at least one new book, and I’d also like it to be from my To Be Read Stuff, as that’s been languishing for a while. Right now I’m thinking Water Moon by Samantha Sotti Yambao, but that could absolutely change. Then… I’m not sure. I’d like to start up the Dresden Files again and do Dresden December like I talked about last month, but I’m not sure if I’m feeling it anymore. Maybe the time has already passed? I dunno – I sure hope not!

The problem is I also recently acquired A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik, and now I’m kind of really interested in that and possibly it’s sequels, depending on how I like it. It’s also a much shorter series, both in book and page length per book. So yeah, what I’m basically saying is: Who knows what’s next for my reading?

Regarding stuff outside of books and blogging, I’m just kind of hanging out – mostly with my spouse. We’ve mostly been watching YouTube in our spare time lately, though sometimes other stuff around the house as well. We’ve also been eating more at home, which I’m happy about. Things in our lives are finally starting to go back to as close as normal as they can get.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Bewitching Book Covers: For Whom the Belle Tolls

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone has had a good weekend. It’s only been three weeks this time since I’ve posted one of these! Yay!

This week, the book cover that I’m highlighting is For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn!

For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn

SERIES: Hells Belles #1

LENGTH: 628 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Saga Press

RELEASE DATE: 6 May 2025

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

They told her to go to Hell.

She’ll go on her own terms.

Lily is less than thrilled about her arrival to the Afterlife, but what awaits her is more fantastical than she ever could have imagined. Deities wait in line at the coffee shop. Fae flit between realms. Souls find ways to make death a beginning.

As Lily explores everything the Afterlife has to offer, she finds herself drawn to a place most people would rather avoid at all costs: Hell.

What she discovers there subverts everything she’s ever learned, and Lily realizes the demons working at the gate to guide souls need help—badly. Armed with years of customer service experience and pent-up sarcasm, Lily carves out a place for herself among the demons, confronting, sassing, and aiding the spectrum of humanity to redefine justice and redemption.

A chance meeting with Bel, a demon general with a distractingly sexy voice, sparks an immediate and deeply healing friendship. However, the undeniable heat between them simmers, and it’s only a matter of time before it combusts.

Meanwhile, something stirs beyond the boundaries of their world, threatening to destroy everything they’ve ever known and everything that could be… unless they fight like Hell to stop it.

Book Cover Rating: 🔔🔔🔔🔔🔔 • 5 ringing bells

For Whom the Belle Tolls has one of the most gorgeous book covers that I’ve seen in a while. So many things about it – the color, the font, the art itself – are just beautiful. So of course I have to gush about it.

First off, as I just mentioned, the colors are awesome. I am of the mind that you can make most color combinations work, but you can usually never go wrong with purple and orange and gold. And the cover doesn’t.

Secondly, I adore the title font. Many covers usually have typefaces that don’t look all that unique, but this book is one of those that does the opposite. Not only does it simultaneously stand out and match the rest of the cover art at the same time, but it looks like it has its own identity. The W, two Os, and S in Whom and Tolls are particularly prominent.

And last but not least, the artwork itself is fantastic. I’m a sucker for flowers, and the book cover art features gorgeous purple lilies on the top and bottom borders. I also love the golden gate that they’re twisted around, as well as the sparks and mist swirling around. What a great cover!

So yeah, here’s yet another beautiful book cover. What do you think about this cover art? Have you read For Whom the Belle Tolls? If you have, what did you think of it?

Anyway, as always, thank you for reading, and I hope that you have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 11/17 – 11/23

Hey there. I’m a little late with this, but it’s still really early in the week, so I’ll take it. Ugh. Still getting back into things.

Like the couple of weeks of the month, I still haven’t really read any books, unfortunately. I really, really want to, though! I don’t know why it’s so hard to get into the mindset of novel reading right now, but I’m very annoyed about it. As for my blogging last week… well, at least there was some of that, even if I only ended up posting twice. Erghhhh. (I’m kind of frustrated with myself about this, lol.)

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the Weekly Wrap-Up!

Friday 11/21: First Line Friday

Last Friday, I participated in First Line Fridays for the first time in a couple of months. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s where you guess what book the post is highlighting based on the book’s first words.

First Line Friday: 11/21

Sunday 11/23: Bewitching Book Covers

On Sunday, I finally got around to posting another Bewitching Book Covers. The gap wasn’t as long as last time, but it’s still been over a month since the last time I did one of these posts. So I thought it was more than time for another one.

Bewitching Book Covers: Seven Deadly Thorns

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, last week wasn’t what I was hoping it would be, but it definitely could’ve been – and absolutely has been – worse, so even though I’m annoyed about it, it’s not as much as I could be. I do want this coming week to be better, however. I really have to get back into gear.

I’m still debating about which book to read next, which has created the problem in which I don’t read anything at all. It’s very stupid, I know. I just gotta pick up a book and read, damnit! Ugh! My blog activity was okay, though. I would’ve liked it if it were better – and it should’ve been better – but it wasn’t, and I just gotta accept that. Hopefully I’ll be better with both reading and posting on the blog this coming week.

Regarding stuff outside of books and blogging, there wasn’t really anything big that went on last week, as usual. It was cleaning week, so we did that, but that was kind of it. I did do a couple of things to prepare for Thanksgiving as well, though. My spouse and I are also trying to watch what we eat more, and try to be healthier in general. We kind of fell off of that for a while, what with everything going on.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Bewitching Book Covers: Seven Deadly Thorns

Wow, it’s been a while since the last time I did this post! Let’s admire another Bewitching Book Cover!

(Erggghhh… This was supposed to come out this past Sunday, and I just noticed that it didn’t post and I accidentally had it scheduled for this coming Sunday. I fixed it though. Ughhhh…)

This week, the book cover that I’m highlighting is Seven Deadly Thorns by Amber Hamilton!

Seven Deadly Thorns by Amber Hamilton

LENGTH: 369 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Young Adult, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury YA

RELEASE DATE: 4 November 2025

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The Cruel Prince meets Powerless in this dark academia romantasy that will tattoo itself onto your heart

In the cursed Kingdom of Aragoa, the punishment for magic is death.

Even the students at Vandenberghe Academy aren’t spared. When Viola Sinclair’s deadly shadow magic is discovered, the queen gives her assassin a new assignment and a new cursed tattoo: seven-thorned rose on his arm for the seven days he has to hunt Viola down and kill her. If he doesn’t, he will be the one to die.

The assassin is Roze Roquelart–entitled prince, arrogant fellow student, and the one person Viola hates more than anyone. Roze should revel in the chance to end her life, but he desperately needs something from Viola and her magic. And he’s willing to spare her life–and fake their engagement–to get it.

Forced to work together, Viola and Roze must contend with deadly threats, dangerous secrets, and an impossible attraction. Will they give in to their deepest desires, even if it means destroying Aragoa–and risking both their lives?

HER WORST ENEMY. HIS ONLY CHANCE.

Be swept away by the sizzling, irresistible enemies-to-lovers romantasy with magic more destructive than your darkest nightmares.

Book Cover Rating: 🌹🌹🌹🌹 • 4 roses covered in thorns

Once again, here’s another gorgeous book cover. There’s just so many things to love about it – the colors, the contrast, the font. I just enjoy a lot of things about the art here.

The first thing that jumps out to me about the cover of Seven Deadly Thorns is probably the colors. I know, it’s so obvious, duh. But blue is one of my favorite colors, and gold always looks good when put up next to it intermingled with it. It’s just a fact.

Another thing that I really like is the font used for the title. It’s really pretty and I think it really fits the vibe that the cover art is going for. All of the words on the cover being in white is also great, because they really stand out against the bluish background, as well as the golden rose that’s the centerpiece of the whole thing.

Speaking of the rose, it’s absolutely my favorite thing about the book cover. Not only is it a lovely shade of gold, but I love how hand drawn it appears. Having a ring dangling from one of its long, sharp thorns is also a nice touch. But the thing that I adore the most about this part of the cover is definitely how the rose itself interacts with the rest of the cover. The thorns of the rise are actually interwoven with the text of the book’s title itself and I love it. I really enjoy it when parts of covers interact like this – it really makes the cohesiveness of the book cover art come together. And the book cover of Seven Deadly Thorns does it well.

So yeah, here’s yet another beautiful book cover. What do you think about this cover art? Have you read Seven Deadly Thorns? If you have, what did you think of it?

Anyway, as always, thank you for reading, and I hope that you have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Bewitching Book Covers: Hemlock & Silver

I can’t believe it’s been over two months since I last did this post. Oh well, it can’t be helped, I guess. Anyway, let’s talk about another Bewitching Book Cover.

This week, the book cover that I’m highlighting is Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher! It’s one of her new novels that was released this year! It also has a gorgeous cover! (Also, I can’t believe I forgot to put What Stalks the Deep on my list of interesting new books coming out September 2025. Like seriously, I really liked the other two Sworn Soldier novellas!)

Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher

LENGTH: 368 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor Books

RELEASE DATE: 19 August 2025

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Hemlock & Silver, a dark reimagining of “Snow White” steeped in poison, intrigue, and treason of the most magical kind

Healer Anja knows little of politics but much of poisons. When she is summoned to treat the mysterious illness afflicting the king’s daughter, she finds herself against the clock, desperate to track down the source of the poison killing Princess Snow. But the chance discovery of a strange alternate world inside a magic mirror leads Anja to darker discoveries, including what really happened to Snow’s dead sister, Rose, and why their mother seemingly went mad and cut out her heart.

Aided by a taciturn bodyguard, a narcissistic cat, and a late Renaissance understanding of the scientific method, Anja must navigate the mysteries of the mirror world before the dark queen that dwells within rises to threaten them all.

Book Cover Rating: 🍎🍎🍎🍎 • 4 definitely not poisoned apples

As I mentioned above, Hemlock & Silver has a beautiful cover. It’s a bit simple, but it definitely has a lot of charm – not to mention, it still stands out.

The background may be a matte black, but I see that as a strength for the book cover. It just makes everything else on it look more distinct. I love that there’s an apple front and center, as well, even if it is a bit on the nose. You can’t have a Snow White reimagining without an apple reference, after all! The apple being surrounded by (presumably) poisonous plants and flowers also further accentuates the reference of said apple. I also just love flowers – even if they’re both gorgeous and deadly at the same time!

The title’s font is simple, yet elegant. I love how it being ivory colored makes it really stand out against everything else on the book’s cover, as well as contrast starkly against the background. The font for the author’s name is also pretty eye-catching. It’s in all caps as well as in light gold. Not quite as prominently as the title, but then I wouldn’t want it to be. (I don’t really like it when the author’s name is significantly bigger than the title – I usually read a book based on its title, cover and description, after all. Not who wrote it. I’m usually more curious about the book itself.)

So yeah, here’s yet another beautiful book cover. What do you think about this cover art? Have you read Hemlock & Silver? If you have, what did you think of it?

Anyway, as always, thank you for reading, and I hope that you have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 7/21 – 8/3

So yeah. I skimped out last week with the weekly wrap-up. I honestly don’t know why really; I was feeling really burnt out on pretty much everything though, so that was probably it. But I’m doing it this week, and hopefully I’ll keep it up more consistently – as in every week like I should be.

My blog posting for the last two weeks was… okay. It could have been better, but I’m not gonna moan about it. It is what it is. I am rather disappointed with my reading however, and not just for the past two weeks either.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the weekly wrap-up!

Wednesday 7/23: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday July 23rd, I did another Can’t-Wait Wednesday again. It’s officially a streak!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Aurora (Volume #1)

Friday 7/25: First Line Friday

On Friday July 25th, I participated in First Line Fridays for the first time in a couple weeks. I’m glad I’m doing it a bit more often again – so far.

First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words. It’s where you guess what book the post is highlighting based on the book’s first words.

First Line Friday: 7/25

Saturday 8/2: Bewitching Book Covers

Last Saturday, I posted another Bewitching Book Covers for the first time in two months. Wow, and I thought last time’s gap with this post was big.

Anyway, Bewitching Book Covers (formerly known as Majestic Mondays and Tasteful Tuesdays), is when I gush over a book cover that I like as well as analyze it (sometimes). I also typically give the book covers funny rating systems – not the usual blank out of five stars kind of thing.

Bewitching Book Covers: A Mastery of Monsters

Sunday 8/3: Aurora (Volume #1) Review

This past Sunday, I finally did another book review. It was the first time in like a month. Ugh, what am I doing?!

Anyway, it was one of my most anticipated releases of 2025, the first volume of the fantasy webcomic Aurora by Red of Overly Sarcastic Productions. I’ve thought it was fantastic for awhile, and this physical release only made me continue to love it just as much, if not more. I gave it ★★★★★.

Aurora: Volume #1 Review

Books I Read in the Last Two Weeks

💖🎁 Wrapping It All Up 💖🎁

So yeah, the past two weeks have been a little meh in terms of everything for me. I kind of took a week off, so I’m hoping that will help with my productivity and motivation. We’ll see though.

I’m not completely decided on the posts I’m gonna do this week, except for my Most Interesting Looking New Books of August 2025. I also am not fully committed to a specific book (or books) that I’m gonna read this week, but I’m thinking it has a good chance of being the next arc of One Piece. I’m hoping to get in a couple of the novels that I’ve had for a few months but haven’t gotten around to reading yet this month as well, though, as well.

Nothing has really changed outside of the reading and blogging part of my life. We’re still trying to watch what we eat and trying to be more productive.

Anyway, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Bewitching Book Covers: A Mastery of Monsters

Geez, it’s been forever since I’ve done one of these. Over two months, huh? It’s also been a little bit since I’ve posted in general. I definitely didn’t intend for either of those things to happen, but, oh well. Anyway, let’s get into showing off a Bewitching Book Cover.

This week, the book cover that I’m highlighting is A Mastery of Monsters by Liselle Sambury. This is a pretty recent release that’s been on my radar for a couple of months.

A Mastery of Monsters by Liselle Sambury

SERIES: A Mastery of Monsters #1

LENGTH: 592 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Margaret K. McElderry

RELEASE DATE: 29 July 2025

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Ninth House meets Legendborn in this thrilling first book in a dark academia fantasy series about a teen who’s willing to do anything to find her brother – even infiltrate a secret society full of monsters.

When August’s brother disappears before his sophomore semester, everyone thinks the stress of college got to him. But August knows her brother would never have left her voluntarily, especially not after their mother so recently went missing.

The only clue he left behind was a note telling her to stay safe and protect their remaining family. And after August is attacked by a ten-foot-tall creature with fur and claws, she realizes that her brother might be in more danger than she could have imagined.

Unfortunately for her, the only person with a connection to the mysterious creature is the bookish Virgil Hawthorne… and he knows about them because he is one. If he doesn’t find a partner to help control his true nature, he’ll lose his humanity and become a mindless beast—exactly what the secret society he’s grown up in would love to put down.

Virgil makes a proposition: August will join his society and partner with him, and in return, he’ll help her find her brother. And so August is plunged into a deadly competition to win one of the few coveted candidate spots, all while trying to accept a frightening reality: that monsters are real, and she has to learn to master them if she’s to have any hope of saving her brother.

Book Cover Rating: 🪶🪶🪶🪶 • 4 feathers from a monstrous bird

A Mastery of Monsters has one of the simpler book covers of those that I’ve reviewed previously, but I still enjoy it. It isn’t as simple as other covers I’ve highlighted in this post, either. There’s a lot I like about it either way.

I really like how the background is primarily green. Green is one of my favorite colors, so I’m definitely biased on that front, but I also think it complements the rest of the book cover really well. The title font is also really cool looking, and I love the shade of gold chosen for it. Green and gold also normally go together really well too, and the same is true here.

The bird is centered really nicely, and it being pinned with a pair of knives is also interesting. My favorite thing about this part of the cover art, though, is probably the monstrous bird-like shadow behind the bird. I really like the stuff it’s implying, and it just makes the cover look more awesome.

So yeah, here’s yet another beautiful book cover. What do you think about this cover art? Have you read A Mastery of Monsters? If you have, what did you think of it?

Anyway, as always, thank you for reading, and I hope that you have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 5/26 – 6/8

Whew! It’s been a bit, hasn’t it? We were on vacation last week, though, so I decided to take a full break with the blog. And I think it was a good thing – I definitely feel refreshed!

Unfortunately, I didn’t get much reading done last week, though I did do a fair amount of it the week before last. Still, productivity-wise, I didn’t really get much of anything done last week.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get on with the weekly wrap-up!

Wednesday 5/28: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday May 28th, I did another Can’t-Wait Wednesday. Four weeks in a row! That’s like a straight month!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme currently hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings. It focuses on books you’re looking forward to reading, usually new releases.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: A Forgery of Fate

Saturday 5/31: Bewitching Book Covers

On Saturday May 31st, I posted another Bewitching Book Covers for the first time in a month and a half. Wow, that’s a while. I definitely didn’t intend to do that!

Bewitching Book Covers: The Stardust Thief

Sunday 6/1 to Sunday 6/8: Vacation!!

As I mentioned above, my spouse and I took a vacation last week. We’d been planning it for several weeks and had been looking forward to it. And yeah, it was originally planned to be a staycation. We just wanted to stay home and relax, as well as go to a few places around the city-county we live in there we hadn’t been to before. And it was all really nice.

We actually started off the vacation helping one of my close family members move into a new house though. It ended up being kind of fun actually, and we got a bunch of exercise! We didn’t have a lot of time to chat though, cuz of the whole moving stuff thing, but it was nice to see the other family members that helped out.

The places that we visited were an aquarium we hadn’t been to before, as well as a state park that we’d been meaning to visit for years, but hadn’t been able to get around to until now. The aquarium was cool, and walking around the state park was really fun.

My spouse and I also spent a great deal of time playing Clair Obscure: Expedition 33, a new RPG developed by Sandfall Interactive, a French indie developer. It’s absolutely fantastic in pretty much every way – it’s part of the reason we spent so much of our staycation playing it. We’re still enjoying it, in fact, as we didn’t actually finish the whole game last week, haha.

But yeah, the story is incredible; we actually experienced the story through watching another playthrough first, but the story was no less exceptional the second time, and the characters are also awesome. The game itself is also completely gorgeous, and the gameplay is fun and unique. My favorite thing about the game, however, is definitely Clair Obscur’s absolutely phenomenal soundtrack. The OST is some of the most incredible music I’ve ever heard, and it’s one of the best soundtracks ever created, period. If anything, I encourage everyone to find the OST and give it a listen. You won’t regret it.

Books I Read in the Last Two Weeks

💖🎁 Wrapping It All Up 💖🎁

So yeah, because of taking a vacation last week – or staycation as it were – I didn’t really get anything done at all. I didn’t get much done the week before, either, and I don’t have an excuse for that one, haha. I also got quite a late start this week, which I’m kind of annoyed at myself about, but it is what it is. I’m planning on getting at least a couple of other posts out this week besides this one, though.

Regarding specific blog stuff I want to do this week… Well, I definitely want to get my Most Interesting Looking New Books of June 2025 out, even though it’s already a decent way into the month. I also want to do an additional post or two aside from Most Interesting Looking Books, though I’m still debating over what one(s). I also definitely want to read a book this week, though again, I’m still deciding which one I wanna do.

Concerning other things, even though I didn’t get anything else done for the blog last week, I did redo a few thumbnails/featured images. It bothered me that January didn’t really match the rest of the year, so I decided to change up the featured images of my weekly wrap-ups for the first month of the year. I’m pretty happy with it, and am very glad I finally got around to it (I’ve been considering doing this for a while, actually).

Anyway, I’ve gone on for more than long enough here. This weekly wrap-up covered two weeks though – one of which was a vacation – so I guess it makes sense that I’d have a lot to say.

But yeah, as always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar