Well this is just the most abysmal thing ever. What am I doing posting a Weekly Wrap-Up on a Wednesday night?! Ugh! This week just started off a little rough, I guess…
Anyway – last week! I’m actually really happy with parts of last week. Not my blogging activity, really, but I read a lot compared to previous weeks. And I’m very happy about that. This year has just started with a really crappy reading slump.
Anyway, I’ll shut up now. Without further ado, let’s get on with the weekly wrap-up!
Tuesday 4/1: The Most Interesting Looking New Books of April 2025
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 Most Interesting Looking New Books of April 2025. As always, it’s basically only fantasy and science fiction, as those are the two genres I primarily read. This time I had four books on my list.
On Friday, I finally posted another book review. This time, I read and reviewed Dark Moon, Shallow Sea by David R. Slayton. It’s a novel that’s been on my TBR for a while that I finally got around to reading. It was pretty decent. I gave it ★★★✯☆.
So yeah. This past week wasn’t the best for the blog, activity-wise, but I did do more reading in a week than I have been doing for the past couple of months. So I’m counting that as a win. I’m hoping to do better with the blog this week however, even though I got a late start. 🤞🍀
Regarding this coming week, I’m definitely going to post my reading wrap-up for March 2025. It’s later than I wanted to, but oh well. I’m not totally sure what other posts I’ll do – probably just some of the normal weekly stuff. For reading; I’ll probably read the sequel to The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen, The Runaway King. Even though I don’t think I really liked the first one, I’m gonna give it one more shot, cuz it’s middle grade and I have to up my book count. My reading of books has been terrible so far this year.
Anyway, I’ve talked more than enough here. As always thank you for reading, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!
The first in a new epic fantasy series from David R. Slayton, Dark Moon, Shallow Sea is a powerful story of divine betrayal, ghosts, and self-discovery, perfect for fans of the Dark Souls series or Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.
When Phoebe, goddess of the moon, is killed by the knights of the sun god, Hyperion, all who follow her are branded heretics. With Phoebe gone, the souls of the dead are no longer ferried to the underworld, and instead linger on as shades who feast on the blood of the living.
Raef is a child of the night. He lives in the shadows, on scraps, eking out a meager existence as a thief. But when an ornate box is sequestered in the Temple of Hyperion, the chance of a big score proves too great to resist. What he finds within propels him on an odyssey across the sea and back again, altering the course of his life forever.
Seth is a knight of the sun. But unlike the others of his order, the fire of Hyperion only brings him pain. He believes he deserves this penance, exacted for his unknown origins. Tasked with recovering the contents of the box, Seth must also venture beyond the horizon if he’s to learn the truth about himself.
In a dying world divided by the greed of those in power, Raef and Seth find their destinies intertwined–and learn they might have more in common than they ever imagined.
My Review
Dark draws dark as light draws light, but only one may cast the other out.
So… Clearly Dragonfall didn’t work out for me. Haha. Moving on.
Dark Moon, Shallow Sea has been on my TBR for a while. Like, over a year type of a while. I gave rsr discovered it in November of 2023. I almost read it then too, but decided to read one of the author’s earlier works first, to try to get a feel for the writing style and see if I liked it. And… I did. White Trash Warlock was generally a pretty enjoyable reading experience for me. There were a couple of things that I was kind of “meh” on, but it was a positive experience for the most part.
So when my Kindle told me that Dark Moon, Shallow Sea was on sale about a month and a half ago, I finally grabbed it. And then near the end of last week, I finally got around to starting reading it. And it was perfectly… okay.
Let’s get into it.
Characters and Plot
They’d circled each other for so long. The gods had to have a hand in it, that the two of them, probably the last of their breed, should meet over and over. They’d danced like the moon and sun, like their gods, like night and day.
Our two mains are 🌙 Raef 🗡️ , a former future acolyte to the Moon Goddess Phoebe turned thief, and ☀️ Seth 🔥 , a warrior to the Sun God Hyperion with a lot of issues with his fire powers. They’re also the characters whose point of view we follow throughout the novel. I enjoyed their characters well enough – I really liked how kind Raef was despite all his circumstances and trauma, as well as how soft and awkward Seth was despite everything in his past.
The other major character here was Kinos, whom I hated since and was immediately suspicious of the second he started talking. So the thing later on with him didn’t surprise me too much – I actually figured it out a couple of chapters before it happened – nor did I feel upset whatsoever by what he did. I hated this guy – at the very least, he was annoying.
I also enjoyed Raef’s and Seth’s relationships with the parental figures in their lives. Raef’s relationship with the old lady he lived with – Eleni – was great. I love how they were both snartasses to each other. It felt really genuine. Raef’s past relationship with his teachers when he was still a ward of the tower he grew up in was also wonderful, as well as heart wrenching later on in the story. I loved Seth’s father-son relationship with Father Geldar as well – it was so sweet.
The 📖 plot 📖 itself was pretty engaging and interesting. I always enjoy a good light vs. dark / sun vs. moon motif in stuff; it’s the contrast, I think. Also, the last quarter of the book felt a little rushed with everything that was going on, but it still worked fine.
Romance and World Building
“I, uh-like your mask,” Seth said nervously. It disarmed Raef a little, despite his mounting panic. How could it not? Seth wasn’t trying to burn him. He was trying to what, flirt?
“Thank you,” Raef said. “I like your, uh, helmet.”
I didn’t like the 💘 romance 💘 here. Honestly, I think I just don’t like the way that Slayton writes his romantic relationships, because that was what I felt was one of the weakest aspects about White Trash Warlock as well. They always move way too fast for me.
In this book, I actually didn’t mind at first because I knew the first romance initially introduced wasn’t going to be the endgame relationship. But then the second relationship took forever to get going and then there wasn’t really any time spent on it besides the he fact that the two characters were drawn to each other, and then they pretty much felt like they got together offscreen at the end of the book. Ugh. It was very frustrating to read, especially because I thought that Raef and Seth were especially cute together and had a lot of potential as a couple.
The 🗺️ world building 🗺️ and ✨ magic system ✨ was interesting, but I was having a little trouble determining what the setting was supposed to be emulating. Like, there was clearly a lot of inspiration taken from Greek myths – particularly in some of the names – but the world itself didn’t feel like it was a fantasy land based on Greece itself. The relationships between some of the gods, as well as many of the names of the gods and what they were the god of, were also vague and generally undefined.
Final Thoughts
A lifetime ago, the Knights of Hyperion had been his cousins, worshippers of his goddess’s brother. No one would have batted an eye to see them friends or even more.
All in all, Dark Moon, Shallow Sea was a pretty decent book, even though I think it could have done with a bit more polish. I also didn’t think the book really felt like the games in the Dark Souls series either. Like, I guess because the dead couldn’t move on properly and some of the stuff surrounding that? It didn’t really have the same vibe though, if you get my meaning. Anyway, I guess readers who like high fantasy, really fast romance and LGBT+ rep might enjoy this novel.
As always, thank you so much for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!
So, I’m just gonna go right out and say it. I think last week was great. It could have been slightly better, but I ended up having some annoying stomach problems over the weekend. So I didn’t finish the book review I had planned (now coming: tomorrow).
Anyway, let’s wrap-up last week.
Tuesday 11/14: Tasteful Tuesday
Last Tuesday I finally did another Tasteful Tuesday. Tasteful Tuesday, if you aren’t aware, is when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.
On Wednesday, after many, many weeks, I actually participated in another Shelf Control. Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books that are just sitting on our bookshelves, created and hosted by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies.
On Friday, I participated in one of my favorite monthly posts, Birthstone Book Covers. Birthstone Book Covers is a fun post created and hosted by Leslie @ Books are the New Black. It’s November, which has two birthstones – topaz and citrine, so the covers were all gold-ish.
So yeah, I got quite a few posts published this past week. I had planned for one more, but sometimes life just doesn’t let you have nice things. Next week I might have less posts as usual, because of the holiday, but who knows. Maybe I’ll still somehow manage to get four posts in?
As for reading, I’m hoping to read the entirety of The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. I unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to start it this weekend, and I want to correct that ASAP. I’m also gonna continue with One Piece, of course, and I’m hoping to finish up the arc that I’m reading this week as well.
This week, I’m also going be doing a doing a bunch of stuff to get ready for Thanksgiving. It’s one of my favorite holidays, cuz to me it’s always been a celebration of food and family (which are two things that I adore). So even though I’ll be a little busier than usual, I don’t mind too much.
I think I mentioned that I had a book haul a week or two ago, but I don’t think I ever posted a picture of said haul. Well, here it is! From top to bottom: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett, The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, Complete Poems: 1914 – 1962 by E.E. Cummings, and The Princess Bride by William Goldman.
But yeah, that’s all for the wrap-up. Thank you so much for reading, and have an excellent day/night!
Warlock was an old word. Normal people cast it around without understanding the ancient slur, thinking it meant male witch, when it meant traitor. It was reserved for practitioners gone bad, those who betrayed magic’s first tenet: “do no harm.”
Adam Binder has the Sight. It’s a power that runs in his bloodline: the ability to see beyond this world and into another, a realm of magic populated by elves, gnomes, and spirits of every kind. But for much of Adam’s life, that power has been a curse, hindering friendships, worrying his backwoods family, and fueling his abusive father’s rage.
Years after his brother, Bobby, had him committed to a psych ward, Adam is ready to come to grips with who he is, to live his life on his terms, to find love, and maybe even use his magic to do some good. Hoping to track down his missing father, Adam follows a trail of cursed artifacts to Denver, only to discover that an ancient and horrifying spirit has taken possession of Bobby’s wife.
It isn’t long before Adam becomes the spirit’s next target. To survive the confrontation, save his sister-in-law, and learn the truth about his father, Adam will have to risk bargaining with very dangerous beings… including his first love
My Review
The Three of Swords.
The Lovers.
Death.
Adam blinked.
“It’s always swords with you, Adam Lee,” Sue said.
This book had me hooked from Chapter 2 or 3. I had the sample of my Kindle (along with Dark Moon, Shallow Sea – same author, new book), and I couldn’t resist reading it.
Then I went and read the rest of it. In like, two hours.
White Trash Warlock has an incredibly addictive narrative, and an easy to follow writing style. The novel is also quite fast-paced. Plus, it’s fantasy. All of this is a recipe for a book I can’t put down, so it’s understandable why I read and absorbed it so quickly.
Pros
• The prose ▼
As I mentioned above, the prose and general writing style is great and easy to follow. Don’t get me wrong, I have no trouble reading and absorbing information from a super in-depth high fantasy novel, but I do prefer simpler writing styles. Cuz they allow for me to read more/faster.
The nature of the prose also allows for a rather fast-paced adventure, and the plot usually gets to the point within a reasonable amount of time. Slayton doesn’t waste paper on meaningless filler.
“You’re a sword-wielding being of immense power, an immortal. And you’re teasing me.”
“Yes, I am,” she said. “What use would I have for a mortal soul?”
The characters in White Trash Warlock weren’t my favorite ones ever, but they were still pretty good. Adam Binder was our protagonist, and I liked him well enough. He went through a lot growing up, but he doesn’t let it define him, and he retains a kind heart and is willing to help out his brother’s fiance, despite a history of familial issues.
I actually found said brother, Bobby/Robert, to be a more interesting character. There’s quite an age gap between the brothers (around 10 years), so there’re a lot of communication issues and misunderstandings abound. Bobby also went through a lot growing up – dealing with the brunt of abuse from their father, and having to carry a lot of responsibility after the man disappeared. I’m looking forward to seeing where his character goes in the future.
Everyone else was pretty much a supporting character. They were all pretty interesting with their own quirks and secrets, but they didn’t feel nearly as important as the brothers. Well, except for Argent. She appeared quite often and was the book’s resident badass. I’d like to see more of her character in the future. I really liked her friendly banter with Adam – they seem like they might be solid bros in the future.
• The tarot card stuff ▼
I’ve always been intrigued by tarot cards and what they symbolize. I love seeing them used in fiction, and especially when they have bearing on the plot. I think that they can work as an excellent foreshadowing device if utilized properly (like they are here).
Cons
• The romance ▼
I felt that this was by far the weakest aspect of the novel. The love triangle (or technically, love “v”) was annoying just as it always is, and none of the love interests got much development. Annie and Vic were definitely done dirty here.
I also never felt particularly interested in any of the couples. Annie’s presence is basically non-existent, and Adam did all of his protagonist activities without Vic and then explained the plot to him after events (thank god it was off-page). Plus, Vic and Adam were far to insta-lovey for my liking, so it was hard for me to root for them.
The only relationship to really get any interesting pagetime of note was Adam and his ex-boyfriend. They were also the only relationship that I felt had any sort of chemistry, not to mention they spend the most time together out of all the couples. But I still found them to be formulaic and predictable, and it was kind of irritating.
Final Thoughts
Adam thought that maybe, just maybe, they would be all right. In time. When the grief lessened.
White Trash Warlock is a pretty good urban fantasy series, with a fast-paced narrative. The characters are also pretty multifaceted and development, and are compelling enough to follow.
I think that those who enjoy some of the magic and world building of the Dresden Files or Supernatural (or Supernatural fanfiction) might like it. People who like fantasy with LGBTQIA+ will probably enjoy it as well.
Thank you so much for reading and have a great day/night!
Anyway, I’m back to participating in this post… mostly weekly? Hopefully.
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:
The smell of wilting flowers and spent candles almost masked the odor of decay. Raef pressed against a statue and fought to keep from trem- bling as the knight with the flaming sword paced nearer.
Any ideas? Here’s another hint or two, just in case…
Still no ideas? Here’s some awesome book pics to look at whilst you consider…
Annnd the book is 🥁🥁… Dark Moon, Shallow Sea by David R. Slayton!!
The first in a new epic fantasy series from David R. Slayton—author of White Trash Warlock – Dark Moon, Shallow Sea is a powerful story of divine betrayal, ghosts, and self-discovery, perfect for fans of the Dark Souls series or Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.
When Phoebe, goddess of the moon, is killed by the knights of the sun god, Hyperion, all who follow her are branded heretics. With Phoebe gone, the souls of the dead are no longer ferried to the underworld, and instead linger on as shades who feast on the blood of the living.
Raef is a child of the night. He lives in the shadows, on scraps, eking out a meager existence as a thief. But when an ornate box is sequestered in the Temple of Hyperion, the chance of a big score proves too great to resist. What he finds within propels him on an odyssey across the sea and back again, altering the course of his life forever.
Seth is a knight of the sun. But unlike the others of his order, the fire of Hyperion only brings him pain. He believes he deserves this penance, exacted for his unknown origins. Tasked with recovering the contents of the box, Seth must also venture beyond the horizon if he’s to learn the truth about himself.
In a dying world divided by the greed of those in power, Raef and Seth find their destinies intertwined—and learn they might have more in common than they ever imagined.
What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re most excited about?
As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!
