Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Brighter Than Nine

Hey all! It’s rather late, but Happy Wednesday nonetheless!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.

This week’s book is:

Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan! 🗡️✨

One of my most anticipated books of 2026, and one of my top two anticipated sequels of the first half of the year! (The other being the new Murderbot Diaries book.) I’m so excited for this book!

Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan

SERIES: Darker By Four #2

LENGTH: 400 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Storytide

RELEASE DATE: 10 March 2026

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets Chinese diaspora folklore in this sequel to the #1 Sunday Times bestseller Darker by Four! The Shadowhunter Chronicles meets the Chinese underworld, drawing inspiration from diaspora folklore, in this epic, sweeping contemporary fantasy duology from Jade Fire Gold author June CL Tan.

Rui has her life back together – or so it seems. Hailed as a hero, she’s finally on her way to becoming an important member of the Exorcist Guild. But she knows the Hybrid Revenants are still out there, and they’re planning something big. Something evil.

Zizi is trapped in the underworld. As his mortal body deteriorates, he realizes he can access the Fourth King’s memories, which may be the key to keeping the mortal realm safe. To save the girl he loves, he must defy fate – and escape Hell.

Yiran watches from the shadows, magicless once more. When he discovers a dark family secret that changes everything he thought he knew, his hunger for power tempts him toward a possible betrayal. And he must decide what he truly stands for – before it’s too late.

As the consequences of the past wreak havoc on the present, three lives bound by the threads of fate must weave a new destiny for themselves – and the realms.

Are you looking forward to Brighter Than Nine? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?

As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 2/23 – 3/1

Hey there, I hope you had a good week. It’s time for another Weekly Wrap-Up!

This past week was great! My blog activity was pretty high, and I read a book and a half! Woohoo! And I know the next couple of books that I want to read next, as well as have an idea of what I’ll probably read after them. (The latter could change of course – sometimes my reading whims are weird.)

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

Tuesday 2/24: Top Ten Tuesday

Last Tuesday, I participated in Top Ten Tuesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. 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 Quotes From/About Books.

Wednesday 2/25: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday again – for like the fifth time in a row. Wow! I’ve never been on a roll like that before – and I’m not planning on stopping now!

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.

Thursday 2/26: Strange Animals Review

Last Thursday, I posted my review for Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson. It was an interesting new fantasy novel, and it featured cryptids, which I loved.

Despite the excessive purple prose and my other couple of criticisms about it, I thought that it was a pretty decent book overall. There were even a couple of things that I really liked about it. I gave it ★★★✬☆.

Friday 2/27: First Line Friday

This past Friday, I participated in First Line Friday again. Two weeks in a row! Not quite the streak that I have on Wednesday, but not too shabby. 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.

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, I’m really happy with last week, and I hope I can keep it up this week. I’m also feeling ready to read the next books on my To Be Read List, so I’m hoping that the slump I was in last year is officially over. Already I’m doing better than the first couple of months of 2025, though – four books in January and February as opposed to three. Fingers crossed! 🍀🤞

Concerning my blogging this week, I want to definitely post my book review for Stolen Midnights by Katherine Quinn. I’m also going to do my interesting looking new books in March 2026 post, and I’m planning on doing that before today is out, actually. For other posts, I’m going to do my monthly reading wrap-up for February 2026, and hopefully a couple of the usual weekly posts I usually participate in. I’m also hoping to post more often on the weekends going forward – I just haven’t had the time the last couple of months.

Regarding my reading, Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews is next, and I’m definitely planning on reading it this week – probably even starting it tomorrow. After that, it’s most likely going to end up being Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan, which is releasing next week. Beyond that, I’m not super positive, but I have ideas. I’m thinking I might want to get back into catching up on the next arc of One Piece that my spouse and I left off at, sometime next week, as season two of the live action is coming out next week as well. Then, possibly the Dresden Files – I do want to get back into the series, I’m just not sure when I’ll get around to it.

Outside of books and blogging, the biggest thing my spouse and I did was watch a full playthrough of Resident Evil 9 officially known as Resident Evil Requiem, the latest main installment of the Resident Evil videogame series that came out last week. We just finished it and it was absolutely fantastic – we loved it. Other than that, we’ve done a few other things, but that was definitely the biggest highlight of the week by far.

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

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 2/27

Hey there!

First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page
📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
📙 Finally… reveal the book!

Here’s the first line:

It hadn’t hurt, the day he had cut out his own heart.

Know the novel? If not, here are a couple more hints…

Still don’t know? Here are some gorgeous photos of books to scroll past while you consider it a bit longer…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews!

(Didja guess it?)

Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews

LENGTH: 327 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Horror, LGBT+, Young Adult, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Feiwel & Friends

RELEASE DATE: 29 October 2024

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for him. Protect him. Lie for him.

Kill for him.

High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality – Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won’t say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork – whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew’s wicked stories.

Desperate to figure out what’s wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster – Thomas’s drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator…

What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson | Book Review

“It is not always in our power to decide what a thing is… But what a thing means? That power may often be claimed.”

Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson

LENGTH: 320 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Ballantine Books

RELEASE DATE: 10 February 2026

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of wondrous supernatural creatures – and an unexpected home – in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut.

Cryptonaturalist: one who studies cryptids; an expert in or student of supernatural history.

After a series of inexplicable encounters upends his life, Green finds himself alone and terrified in the Appalachian mountains, full of questions about the transformation he’s undergoing and the impossible creatures he’s starting to see.

When he meets a hermit named Valentina, he realizes that something more than chance has brought him to her door. For she has devoted centuries to researching the hidden world of cryptids that Green is only now beginning to perceive.

As Green begins his studies beneath her watchful eye, he comes face to face with time-stopping giant moths, cyclops squirrels, and doorways to elsewhere. Along the way come clues about his own nature and the powerful beings who led him here – and, most wondrous of all, a sense of fulfillment like nothing he’s felt before.

But Green’s new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he’s already come to love.

Featuring incredible creatures and an unforgettable cast of characters, Strange Animals is a charming, addictive fantasy about the magic all around us.

My Review

“Empathy and curiosity take more courage than blunt force, but it is the wiser long-term path.”

Strange Animals was a pretty interesting book. It’s was one of my anticipated reads for February 2026, and thought it didn’t hit quite the way I’d hoped, I still liked it.

This novel was notably the first time I got to use the green highlighter on my Kindle, the newest color you can now use. I was actually excited about it, which is one of the reasons I mention it. I chose it for what I think is probably an obvious reason (I usually pick my color of highlighter to match the book in some way), the setting and the name of one of the characters. The other reason I’m bringing this up is because, if Kindle had a purple highlighter available, I might have picked that, for something I’ll get into more extensively later.

Anyway, the book follows Green. And no, I’m not sure if it’s his first or last name. Anyway, Green starts off the novel with an intriguing experience – wherein he has a brush with death – key word here being death, of course. Because of this, and the magic acorn that had appeared in his pocket, he decides to go find himself in the Catskill Mountains.

The Characters

“I hear you. You’re trying to make this a lesson about becoming comfortable with the unknown?”

Valentina set aside her coffee cup. “That lesson arrives most days whether or not we invite it. But we are not in the business of passively noting our own ignorance. We are in the business of finding out.”

I had some trouble getting a feel for Green’s personality here for some reason, but I did catch a few things about him. His trauma and confusion from his experience in the prologue, and his curiosity and interet in the new world order he’s found himself tangled up in are what stood out to me the most, though. He’s also kind and brave, as well. Honestly, nothing about him stood out to me as much, unfortunately, as I like to love the protagonists I’m following.

The other characters I found far more interesting. Valentina Blackwood is a mysterious woman who has lived on the mountain for seemingly forever, and is Green’s new cryptonatural teacher. She’s directly direct and intelligent, as well as very nononsence when it comes to being a cryptonaturalist. I absolutely adored her – she was so cool. The mystery surrounding her circumstances and why she became interested in cryptids was just as interesting as the things that happen to Green throughout the story, and I loved discovering the answers to them.

The rest of the cast doesn’t get too much page-time, but I still really enjoyed them. Dancer was fun and weird and I loved her character immediately. Clara Rodriguez was also pretty awesome, and I loved meeting her. I even really liked Alf and his two friends, even though they had the least appearance out of everyone. They left a strong impression, though. I also really, really liked another character, but I won’t get into him because of massive spoilers surrounding him.

The Story

“Fear has two fangs. The first is a pervasive sense of helplessness. The second is the enormity of the unknown. Today, we aim to armor ourselves against both. We are not helpless. We are not hiding in our shelters. We are actively seeking information to improve our position. The unknown does not root us where we stand. We are rejecting both helplessness and the premise of unknowability.”

The plot of Strange Animals was also quite interesting, even if the characters stood out to me slightly more. Green’s journey and encounters were very compelling. Not to mention cryptids have always been something fascinating to me, and it feels like they don’t show up in fiction in this way too often. The last time I encountered a novel focusing on them, it was Cryptid Hunters by Roland Smith from forever ago – back when I was just about to start middle school. (It’s a great book though – I think I only read the first book, though I might have also read the second, I’m not sure though. It’s a four book series in any case.)

Speaking of books that I read in middle school, I loved seeing the shout-out to My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George – one of my favorite books I read when I was younger (the entire trilogy is goated, honestly). I can definitely see that the author was inspired for Strange Animals, too.

The Writing

There, just beyond his windshield, the woods drank in radiation from a nearby star and used that energy to create oxygen, to reproduce, to send chemical messages in a language older than humanity, older than the warm blood of mammals.

I think the things I had the most mixed feelings about were the writing and the ending. Anderson’s writing style is beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but it’s almost too beautiful. The purple prose here is honestly too much – it was just heaps of it everywhere, in every chapter. It was incredibly distracting, and made some of the book feel incredibly overwritten. The author dabbled in poetry before this, and you can really tell.

Occasionally it even got to the point where my brain started digging up whenever I’d approach one of the heavy purple prose sections. I’m not a fan of it in the first place, so to see it so much in the novel brought the whole thing down for me somewhat. Despite all this, I do think that some of the writing was still very well done, and pieces of it were quite effective.

The ending was also kind of weird. I didn’t hate it, but one of the characters goes through a metamorphosis mostly off-screen and acts very differently to how they had been for the entire book before. And I didn’t really like that – I like to see my character growth and development happen in real-time, thanks.

Final Thoughts

I write to you today in a language you didn’t know on a page you will never see.

I’d say that Strange Animals was an overall positive experience for me, and I’m glad I read it. The plot and characters were both entertaining, and I really flew through the book whenever I sat down to read it, even despite the purple prose. I think that it was a pretty strong debut novel, too. And the cover is also absolutely stunning – I love everything about it.

As always, thank you to everyone so much for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar


MY LINKS:


Can’t-Wait Wednesday: Green and Deadly Things

Happy Wednesday! It’s been over a month since I’ve had a break between these. There are just so many interesting looking books coming out lately, and they’re just not stopping!

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.

This week’s book is:

Green & Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons! 🌿🪾

Green & Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons

Green & Deadly Things by Jenn Lyons

LENGTH: 432 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor Books

RELEASE DATE: 3 March 2026

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Centuries ago, necromancy almost destroyed the world. That’s how history remembers it.

Mathaiik has studied all his life to join the sacred order of the Idallik Knights, charged with defending their world from the forces of necromancy and the grim witches who practice it. Only vestiges of that cursed magic remain–nothing like the fabled days of the Grim Lords, the undead wizards who once nearly destroyed the entire world.

Until monsters once more begin to wake. But something about them is even stranger: whole forests coming alive and devouring anyone so foolish as to trespass, formerly peaceful animals mutating into savage carnivores… as if the land itself has turned upon humanity, in a riot of chaotic magic the Knights quickly prove powerless to stop.

It’s a good thing, then, that the Grim Lords were never truly destroyed. One of their number sleeps below the Knights’ very fortress. And when an army of twisted tree monsters attacks the young initiates in his charge, Math decides to do the unthinkable: he wakes her up.

This is only the beginning of his problems. Because said necromancer, Kaiataris, knows something history has forgotten. The threat of this wild magic is part of a cycle that has repeated countless times: life after death, chaos after order. And if she and Math can’t find a new way to balance the scales, this won’t just be the end of the world as they know it, but the end of all life, everywhere.

Are you looking forward to Green & Deadly Things? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?

As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Top Ten Tuesday: Quotes That I Really Liked From Ten Books That I Love

Happy Tuesday everybody!

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly post currently hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It celebrates lovely lists, wonderful books and the bookish community. This week’s topic is Quotes From/About Books. So you can share book quotes that you love, quotes about books themselves, quotes about being a reader, etc. I decided to highlight Quotes That I Really Like From Ten Books That I Love. I went with the last ten books I gave five star for this one, because I’ve just read so many books.

Without further ado, let’s get into it! From most recently read and rated to least recently read and rated – to keep them straight in my head (but mostly because I’m having trouble choosing which books I like better than others).

#1

Perhaps that is what it is like with other people. Perhaps even people you like and admire immensely can make you see the World in ways you would rather not.

Susanna Clarke – Piranesi

#2

“You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.”

Becky Chambers – A Psalm for the Wild-Built

#3

One doesn’t need magic if one knows enough stories.

Heather Fawsett – Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

#4

Art doesn’t need to be good to be valuable. I’ve heard it said that art is the one truly useless creation-intended for no mechanical purpose. Valued only because of the perception of the people who view it. The thing is, everything is useless, intrinsically. Nothing has value unless we grant it that value. Any object can be worth whatever we decide it to be worth.

Brandon Sanderson – Yumi and the Nightmare Painter

#5

There is no such thing as a single truth. There are just the stories we tell others, and the ones we tell ourselves.

Chelsea Abdullah – The Stardust Thief

#6

Humanity is awful, angry, and violent. But we are also magical and musical. We dance. We sing. We create. We live and laugh and rage and cry and despair and hope. We are a bundle of contradictions without rhyme or reason. And there is no one like us in all the universe.

TJ Klune – In the Lives of Puppets

#7

Real hearts are nothing but trouble.
They break and bleed and bring their owners torment. But without them existence is hollow, only breath following breath.

Frances Hardinge – Unraveller

#8

You are the Ship of Theseus. We all are. There is not a single living cell in my body that was alive and a part of me ten years ago, and the same is true for you. We’re constantly being rebuilt, one board at a time.

Edward Ashton – Mickey7

#9

“Not every story is willing to reveal itself right away. Some of them are bashful.”

Marissa Meyer – Gilded

#10

“I’d rather die on an adventure than live standing still.”

V.E. Schwab – A Darker Shade of Magic

What are your favorite quotes? Are they from your favorite books? Do you have any quotes you really like that are just about books and reading in general?

As always, thanks so much for reading, and I hope that you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 2/16 – 2/22

Happy New Week! It’s slightly later than I usually aim for, but I’m here with last week’s Weekly Wrap-Up!

This past week was pretty prolific for me, particularly on the blog. My reading wasn’t too shabby either though – I started a new book! Either way, I’m pretty happy with last week’s stuff.

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

Tuesday 2/17: January Reading 2026 / Top Ten Tuesday

Last Tuesday, I posted my Monthly Reading Wrap-Up for January 2026. Unfortunately, I posted it rather late in the month again. Ugh – I gotta stop that. For those who don’t know, monthly wrap-ups are when I go over the books I read over the past month, as well as my stats over on The StoryGraph.

I also participated in Top Ten Tuesday for the first time in a couple of weeks. 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 for Armchair Travelers, but I wasn’t feeling it, so I went with one from a TTT a couple of weeks ago that I missed – Book Covers Featuring Cool/Pretty/Unique/etc. Typography.

Wednesday 2/18: Can’t-Wait Wednesday

On Wednesday, I participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday again – two weeks in a row. 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.

Friday 2/20: First Line Friday

This past Friday, I participated in First Line Friday for the first time in a few weeks. 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.

Sunday 2/22: Birthstone Book Covers

On Sunday, I participated in Birthstone Book Covers. Birthstone Book Covers is a fun little post created and hosted by Leslie @ Books Are the New Black.

Each month, for the post, you feature book covers that are either the same color of the month’s birthstone or include the color in the title. This month was February, and its birthstone is amethyst. So the colors to pick from are shades of purple.

Books I Read Last Week

Wrapping It All Up

So yeah, last week was much better the week before. And two weeks ago as well, honestly. I hope to not only keep up the pace with what I managed to do this past week, but to hopefully surpass it. Just a little. As always, however, we’ll find out what happens.

In regards to my blogging for this week, I’m planning on at least one book review, participating in at least a couple of the usual posts I engage in, and possibly doing a Bewitching Book Covers post. I’m wanting to do at least three or four additional posts this week, aside from this one.

Concerning books and reading, I actually just finished up Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson, so I’ll be starting another book soon. And I’ve already decided which one – Stolen Midnights by Katherine Quinn. I’m pretty excited about it. And I’m also pretty certain I know what book I’m going to read after that one – Don’t Let the Forest In by CG Drews. I’m also quite eager to read that one, too. After that, I’m not as sure, but I’m also reading Brighter Than Nine by June CL Tan (the sequel to Darker By Four) when it comes out. So that’s on the horizon.

Outside of books and blogging, not much else went on last week. Just my spouse and I trying to be healthier, but that’s pretty much it. As usual on weeks like that.

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

See ya ~Mar

Birthstone Book Covers: February 2026

It’s that time of the month again! Time for one of my favorite posts.

Leslie @ Books Are the New Black created a fun monthly post called Birthstone Book Covers. Each month, she features book covers that are either the same color of that month’s birthstone or include the color in the title.

February has one birthstone – Amethyst. Which means it’s time for purple book covers! I love purple!

Rules:
📚 Mention the creator (Leslie @ Books Are The New Black ) and link back to her so she can check out your post.
📚 Pick 5+ book covers that match the current month’s Birthstone.
📚 HAVE FUN!
📚 Nominate people if you want!

Darker By Four by June CL Tan
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
Hollow by Karina Halle
The Swan’s Daughter by Roshani Chokshi
The Captive Kingdom by Jennifer A. Nielsen
The Crown by Kiera Cass

What are your favorite books with purple book covers? If you participated in Birthstone Books, which books did you choose this February?

Thanks for reading, and I hope you have the most amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 2/20

Happy Friday everybody! It’s been a few weeks!

First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page
📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
📙 Finally… reveal the book!

Here are the first lines:

Green died and then he didn’t.

He twisted his ankle and toppled off the curb. Pain flashed as his cheekbone hit the blacktop. Twenty feet away, the crushing mass of a city bus rolled toward him.

Do you know what the book is? Here are another couple of hints if you don’t…

Still don’t know the book? Here are some lovely pictures of books to look at while you think about it…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson!

(Didja guess it?)

Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson

Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson

LENGTH: 320 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Ballantine Books

RELEASE DATE: 10 February 2026

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of wondrous supernatural creatures – and an unexpected home – in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut.

Cryptonaturalist: one who studies cryptids; an expert in or student of supernatural history.

After a series of inexplicable encounters upends his life, Green finds himself alone and terrified in the Appalachian mountains, full of questions about the transformation he’s undergoing and the impossible creatures he’s starting to see.

When he meets a hermit named Valentina, he realizes that something more than chance has brought him to her door. For she has devoted centuries to researching the hidden world of cryptids that Green is only now beginning to perceive.

As Green begins his studies beneath her watchful eye, he comes face to face with time-stopping giant moths, cyclops squirrels, and doorways to elsewhere. Along the way come clues about his own nature and the powerful beings who led him here – and, most wondrous of all, a sense of fulfillment like nothing he’s felt before.

But Green’s new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he’s already come to love.

Featuring incredible creatures and an unforgettable cast of characters, Strange Animals is a charming, addictive fantasy about the magic all around us.

What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox

Happy Wednesday! It’s been four of these in a row now! I’m on a roll! (Thanks to all the new interesting looking books coming out, of course.)

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.

This week’s book is:

The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox by Katrina Kwan! 🦊🔥

The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox by Katrina Kwan

The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox by Katrina Kwan

LENGTH: 320 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: S&S/Saga Press

RELEASE DATE: 24 February 2026

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

From the author of The Last Dragon of the East comes a sweeping fantasy adventure with a dash of romance between a nine-tailed fox and the demon-hunter who captures her, banished to the underworld together and forced to form a reluctant alliance in order to escape the circles of Hell.

Yue may be the last of her kind. At night, she stalks the streets of the capital city of Longhao, luring in unsuspecting victims with the mask of a beautiful woman, then consuming them in her true form of the nine-tailed fox.

When she is captured by a powerful demon hunter named Sonam and banished to Hell, she manages one final act of revenge: dragging him – and two of his subordinates – down with her.

Now trapped in an abyss with unimaginable terrors, they’ll need each other’s help to navigate Hell and bypass the gods who preside over each circle, each of whom presents the group with a unique and deadly challenge. Forced to depend on one another as they claw their way out of the underworld, both demon and demon hunter discover that there might be more to the other than meets the eye.

Are you looking forward to The Legend of the Nine-Tailed Fox? What other books are coming out in the next few weeks that you’re looking forward to?

As always, thank you all so much for reading and have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar