Popular Books That I’ve Read Never #5

Did you think I’d dropped this post? Because I did, haha. Especially when I saw that the last time I did this was like eight months ago. But I was feeling it, so here’s another one!

Anyway, welcome back to Popular Books That I’ve Read Never!

Now, as I’ve said before, it’s not that I only read unpopular books, it’s that I don’t only read the popular books. I also don’t read hardly any of the really popular books, because those are usually nonfiction or memoirs (which I don’t usually like), or they have a TON of romance (which I also don’t usually like).

This post is primarily going to focus on SFF novels, mostly because SFF is primarily what I read. It’s gonna be of five books, because I don’t want it to get too long. So, without further ado, let’s get into it!

(Also, I just noticed that I’ve done over 300 blog posts. Um wow, that’s a lot.)

ONE:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A STARZ ORIGINAL SERIES

Unrivaled storytelling. Unforgettable characters. Rich historical detail. These are the hallmarks of Diana Gabaldon’s work. Her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels have earned the praise of critics and captured the hearts of millions of fans. Here is the story that started it all, introducing two remarkable characters, Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser, in a spellbinding novel of passion and history that combines exhilarating adventure with a love story for the ages.

One of the top ten best-loved novels in America, as seen on PBS’s The Great American Read!

Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord… 1743.

Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, Claire learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.

Confession: I actually bought this a couple of years ago, intending to read it. I even started watching the Outlander TV series to get me hyped up about it.

But, I dunno, I guess it’s just not for me, ’cause I only made it through the first episode of the first season, and I never so much as cracked the spine on the novel. And then, later that year, I ended up donating it along with several other books I had bought but either didn’t care for or never ended up reading.

So yeah, at this point, I don’t think I’m gonna read it. Outlander and all of its sequels are very long. And, after looking into the series, I just don’t think it’s for me.

TWO:

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

An Instant #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Indie Bestseller

A Barnes & Noble Best Fantasy Book of 2023
An Amazon Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Book of 2023

When an injury throws a young, battle-hungry orc off her chosen path, she may find that what we need isn’t always what we seek.

Set in the world of New York Times bestselling Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree’s Bookshops & Bonedust takes us on a journey of high fantasy, first loves, and secondhand books.

Viv’s career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned.

Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it.

What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?

Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn’t possibly imagine.

Still, adventure isn’t all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.

Around the fall of 2022, after hearing about all the endless hype and love for Legends & Lattes, I decided to give it a go and downloaded it into my Kindle. Spoiler Alert: I thought it was suuuper boring and ended up DNF-ing it, I think at around 16%. And I never looked back.

So, as you can imagine, when I heard about a prequel / companion novel to it being released last year, you can guess that I wasn’t at all interested. And I’m still not. As of now, I have no plans to give Legends & Lattes another shot, not do I ever plan on trying our Bookshops & Bonedust. And that’s all there is to it.

THREE:

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard

The #1 New York Times bestselling series!

Red Queen, by #1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Aveyard, is a sweeping tale of power, intrigue, and betrayal, perfect for fans of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series.

Mare Barrow’s world is divided by blood—those with common, Red blood serve the Silver-blooded elite, who are gifted with superhuman abilities. Mare is a Red, scraping by as a thief in a poor, rural village, until a twist of fate throws her in front of the Silver court. Before the king, princes, and all the nobles, she discovers she has an ability of her own.

To cover up this impossibility, the king forces her to play the role of a lost Silver princess and betroths her to one of his own sons. As Mare is drawn further into the Silver world, she risks everything and uses her new position to help the Scarlet Guard—a growing Red rebellion—even as her heart tugs her in an impossible direction.

One wrong move can lead to her death, but in the dangerous game she plays, the only certainty is betrayal.

I’m going to keep this one short and sweet. The cover looked cool on this one, so I checked out the synopsis. But, it didn’t hook me, so I never picked it up. And I still don’t have plans to – I’m just not interested in the Red Queen series.

FOUR:

A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

THE BOOK BEHIND THE THIRD SEASON OF GAME OF THRONES, AN ORIGINAL SERIES NOW ON HBO.

Here is the third volume in George R. R. Martin’s magnificent cycle of novels that includes A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings. As a whole, this series comprises a genuine masterpiece of modern fantasy, bringing together the best the genre has to offer. Magic, mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure fill these pages and transport us to a world unlike any we have ever experienced. Already hailed as a classic, George R. R. Martin’s stunning series is destined to stand as one of the great achievements of imaginative fiction.

A STORM OF SWORDS

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken. Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister hostage at King’s Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world….

But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others–a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords….

This one’s another case of me attempting to read other novels in this series before ultimately deciding to drop them. I actually somehow made it through A Game of Thrones when I read it like ten or so years ago, but I only got about a third of the way through A Clash of Kings before DNF-ing it.

I really, really wanted to like this series. I’d been told over and over again that GRRM was the king of fantasy and that these books (and, at the time, the HBO TV series) was amazing. So I picked up the first two books (I always like to have another book queued up), and started reading. And, I thought they were waaayy too slow. And I was bored.

But I’d been told multiple times that you just have to keep reading and wait for it to get good, so I continued reading and ended up finishing the first one. But I could only make it through about a third of the second before I had to call it quits. I just couldn’t wait till two or three hundred pages into the third book for action to happen. Altogether, that’s over two thousand freaking pages I’d have to slog through in order for me to read the good stuff. And I was not going to wait that long, nor was I willing to waste any more time on the series.

FIVE:

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

#1 New York Times Bestseller

A sumptuous and epically told love story inspired by A Thousand and One Nights.

Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch… she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend.

She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

So, real talk, I’d actually never heard of this book until about two years ago, when I started more BookTube. And the stuff I heard about it didn’t make me interested in reading it. Still not interested, by the way. So yeah, that’s kind of all there is to it.

So yeah, that’s another post where I talk about books I’ll probably never read. And wow, they were all novels that were part of a series. Sorry it’s been so long, if anyone was actually waiting on another one of these posts. I’ll probably continue this series, though it’ll definitely be another few weeks.

What popular books have you never read? Why haven’t you read them?

Have a wonderful day/night, and happy reading!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 7/24 – 7/30

Welcome back to the thing where I talk about what I’ve done for the past week.

Ugh, so I wasn’t as productive as I’d hoped to be last week as I’d wanted to be on the blog. No book reviews. Again! Grrrr… I’m so mad about it! (I don’t know why I’m even talking about it like this – it was my own fault!)

This week, I want to be better. I will be better! I know I sound a little like a broken record at this point, but it’s true.

Anyway, enough of my blabbing. On with the wrap-up!

Wednesday 7/26: WWW Wednesday

Last Wednesday, I participated in yet another WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

WWW Wednesday 7/26

Thursday 7/27: Popular Books That I’ve Read Never

On Thursday, I finally posted another Popular Books That I’ve Read Never. This is a thing where I highlight popular books that I’ve never read, and talk about why I’ve never read them.

Friday 7/28: First Line Friday

Last Friday, I once again participated in First Line Fridays. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words.

First Line Friday 7/28

Books I Read Last Week

Yumi and the Nightmare Painter by Brandon Sanderson

Goals for 7/31 – 8/6

So yeah, last week was kind of disappointing for me, in terms of how much I posted and how much I read. I’m gonna do better this week.

This week, I’m doing at least one freaking review, and hopefully a second review. I’m also gonna be posting my monthly reading wrap-up for July 2023. And of course, I’ll be participating in my usual weekly posts. I’m not sure what else though.

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

See ya ~Mar

Popular Books That I’ve Read Never #4

So, it’s waaayy later than I wanted to post another one of these… and I once again don’t have an excuse. Anyway, welcome back to Popular Books That I’ve Read Never!

ONE:

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general―also known as her tough-as-talons mother―has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter―like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda―because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.

The reason I haven’t read – and so far have no interest in – this book is because… I don’t really know. I just read the plot summary, saw all the raving for, and for some reason thought “I don’t think this is for me.” I don’t know why I decided that – it’s just what my brain thought for whatever reason.

And since Fourth Wing has come out, more varied reviews have also started popping up. And I’m honestly not disappointed that I’m not really interested in it. The more I hear about it, the more it doesn’t seem like my type of novel.

TWO:

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

An Instant New York Times Bestseller!
A BuzzFeed Best Young Adult Book of 2020.

Perfect for fans of The Last Magician and Serpent & Dove, this heart-stopping debut is an imaginative Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, with rival gangs and a monster in the depths of the Huangpu River.

The year is 1926, and Shanghai hums to the tune of debauchery.

A blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red, leaving the city helpless in the grip of chaos. At the heart of it all is eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, a former flapper who has returned to assume her role as the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a network of criminals far above the law. Their only rivals in power are the White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations. And behind every move is their heir, Roma Montagov, Juliette’s first love…and first betrayal.

But when gangsters on both sides show signs of instability culminating in clawing their own throats out, the people start to whisper. Of a contagion, a madness. Of a monster in the shadows. As the deaths stack up, Juliette and Roma must set their guns—and grudges—aside and work together, for if they can’t stop this mayhem, then there will be no city left for either to rule.

Honestly, this book is on this list for some of the same reasons the number one is. Because I’m not at all interested in this book. Even more so than Fourth Wing.

I’ve never really cared for Romeo & Juliet. I didn’t like it when I had to read it for school, and I still don’t care for it. I’ve learned to appreciate the play slightly more since I’ve discovered the increasingly popular interpretation of Romeo & Juliet as a satire, but it’s still not my cup of tea. And I can just tell by the summary that the author is basing These Violent Delights off of the “romantic” and definitely-not-satirical take on the play it’s inspired by.

THREE:

Constance by Matthew FitzSimmons

A breakthrough in human cloning becomes one woman’s waking nightmare in a mind-bending thriller by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Gibson Vaughn series.

In the near future, advances in medicine and quantum computing make human cloning a reality. For the wealthy, cheating death is the ultimate luxury. To anticloning militants, it’s an abomination against nature. For young Constance “Con” D’Arcy, who was gifted her own clone by her late aunt, it’s terrifying.

After a routine monthly upload of her consciousness―stored for that inevitable transition―something goes wrong. When Con wakes up in the clinic, it’s eighteen months later. Her recent memories are missing. Her original, she’s told, is dead. If that’s true, what does that make her?

The secrets of Con’s disorienting new life are buried deep. So are those of how and why she died. To uncover the truth, Con is retracing the last days she can recall, crossing paths with a detective who’s just as curious. On the run, she needs someone she can trust. Because only one thing has become clear: Con is being marked for murder―all over again.

Constance is on this list for a much more succinct and straightforward reason than the other two: I read its companion novel/technically-a-sequel Chance and didn’t like it. That’s it, that’s the reason.

FOUR:

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the first book of the Scholomance trilogy, the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic.

I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life.

Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans.

I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts, I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, make myself the dark queen of the world.

At least, that’s what the world expects. Most of the other students in here would be delighted if Orion killed me like one more evil thing that’s crawled out of the drains. Sometimes I think they want me to turn into the evil witch they assume I am. The school certainly does.

But the Scholomance isn’t getting what it wants from me. And neither is Orion Lake. I may not be anyone’s idea of the shining hero, but I’m going to make it out of this place alive, and I’m not going to slaughter thousands to do it, either.

Although I’m giving serious consideration to just one.

Yeah, this is another book I’m not really interested in. But, unlike the others on this list, I might be willing to give A Deadly Education a go. Eventually.

See, I read one of Naomi Novik’s other books, Spinning Silver, and I quite liked it. I’m still not sure if I want to commit to the Scholomance trilogy yet, though. If anything, I’d read Uprooted first, to see how I like another of Novik’s standalones, first.

FIVE:

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

A brilliantly imaginative talent makes her exciting debut with this epic historical military fantasy, inspired by the bloody history of China’s twentieth century and filled with treachery and magic, in the tradition of Ken Liu’s Grace of Kings and N.K. Jemisin’s Inheritance Trilogy.

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away…

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

So, I was actually interested in reading this one, once upon a time. But then I heard that it was a very, very slow-burn of a novel and noped out completely. I hate slow books. The plot just never moves, and I find it super annoying. Nuh-uh. Nope. Not for me, so not gonna read it.

Again, sorry it’s been so long since the last time I’ve done this post. Anyway, as always, thank you so much for reading, and have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Weekly Wrap-Up: 6/19 – 6/25

Ugh, so last week I wasn’t as productive as I’d hoped. I’ve just been having the absolute worst reading slump for the last couple of weeks.

Honestly – and I feel a bit bad for saying this – I think Witch King triggered it. No it wasn’t a bad book, but it wasn’t really good (in my opinion) either. It was just… there. And “there” types of books are always the ones that kind of nudge me towards reading slumps, unfortunately.

This week, though, I’m definitely aiming to do better! But before I get into that, let’s wrap up last week first!

Wednesday 6/21: WWW Wednesday

Last Wednesday, I had planned on double posting, but I ended up not having time. So I just participated in WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly feature currently hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

WWW Wednesday 6/21

Thursday 6/22: Popular Books That I’ve Read Never

On Thursday, I did another Popular Books That I’ve Read Never post. It’d been about a month since I posted one, so I decided it was more than time for another.

Popular Books That I’ve Read Never is pretty much what it says on the tin: I highlight popular books that I’ve never read, and so far, don’t have any plans to read.

Sunday 6/25: Witch & Wizard Review

Yesterday, I did another Retrospective Book Review. Retrospective Book Reviews (previously Reading Retrospectives), for those who don’t know, are basically book reviews, but they’re on books that I read before I started this blog.

The book I did this time was Witch & Wizard by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonnet. Yesterday, I’d finished skimming through it and was ready to post my review. I gave it ★✫☆☆☆.

Witch & Wizard Review

Books I Read Last Week

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

Goals for 6/26 – 7/2

So yeah, I wasn’t nearly as proactive as I’d wanted to be last week, but sometimes that’s just how the cookie crumbles. But this week, as I mentioned at the top, I’m definitely aiming to be better.

All I’m planning for this week, is to do at least five posts, and to finish at least one book. I really don’t know why, but for whatever reason I feel like if I put specific goals here, I’m bound to screw up again. 🤷

Fingers crossed I meet my nonspecific goals! 🤞

And as always, thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Popular Books That I’ve Read Never #3

So, it’s a couple of weeks later than I wanted to post another one of these… and I have absolutely no excuse this time, haha. Nonetheless, welcome back to Popular Books That I’ve Read Never!

ONE:

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

A world divided.
A queendom without an heir.
An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction–but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained all her life to be a dragonrider, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep.

TWO:

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Roshar is a world of stone and storms. Uncanny tempests of incredible power sweep across the rocky terrain so frequently that they have shaped ecology and civilization alike. Animals hide in shells, trees pull in branches, and grass retracts into the soilless ground. Cities are built only where the topography offers shelter.

It has been centuries since the fall of the ten consecrated orders known as the Knights Radiant, but their Shardblades and Shardplate remain: mystical swords and suits of armor that transform ordinary men into near-invincible warriors. Men trade kingdoms for Shardblades. Wars were fought for them, and won by them.

One such war rages on a ruined landscape called the Shattered Plains. There, Kaladin, who traded his medical apprenticeship for a spear to protect his little brother, has been reduced to slavery. In a war that makes no sense, where ten armies fight separately against a single foe, he struggles to save his men and to fathom the leaders who consider them expendable.

Brightlord Dalinar Kholin commands one of those other armies. Like his brother, the late king, he is fascinated by an ancient text called The Way of Kings. Troubled by over-powering visions of ancient times and the Knights Radiant, he has begun to doubt his own sanity.

Across the ocean, an untried young woman named Shallan seeks to train under an eminent scholar and notorious heretic, Dalinar’s niece, Jasnah. Though she genuinely loves learning, Shallan’s motives are less than pure. As she plans a daring theft, her research for Jasnah hints at secrets of the Knights Radiant and the true cause of the war.

The result of over ten years of planning, writing, and world-building, The Way of Kings is but the opening movement of the Stormlight Archive, a bold masterpiece in the making.

Speak again the ancient oaths:

Life before death.
Strength before weakness.
Journey before Destination.

and return to men the Shards they once bore.

The Knights Radiant must stand again.

THREE:

Red Rising by Pierce Brown

“I live for the dream that my children will be born free,” she says. “That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them.”
“I live for you,” I say sadly.
Eo kisses my cheek. “Then you must live for more.”

Darrow is a Red, a member of the lowest caste in the color-coded society of the future. Like his fellow Reds, he works all day, believing that he and his people are making the surface of Mars livable for future generations. Yet he toils willingly, trusting that his blood and sweat will one day result in a better world for his children.

But Darrow and his kind have been betrayed. Soon he discovers that humanity reached the surface generations ago. Vast cities and lush wilds spread across the planet. Darrow–and Reds like him–are nothing more than slaves to a decadent ruling class.

Inspired by a longing for justice, and driven by the memory of lost love, Darrow sacrifices everything to infiltrate the legendary Institute, a proving ground for the dominant Gold caste, where the next generation of humanity’s overlords struggle for power. He will be forced to compete for his life and the very future of civilization against the best and most brutal of Society’s ruling class. There, he will stop at nothing to bring down his enemies… even if it means he has to become one of them to do so.

FOUR:

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

All sorcerers are evil. Elisabeth has known that as long as she has known anything. Raised as a foundling in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries, Elisabeth has grown up among the tools of sorcery–magical grimoires that whisper on shelves and rattle beneath iron chains. If provoked, they transform into grotesque monsters of ink and leather.

Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire, and Elisabeth is implicated in the crime. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

As her alliance with Nathaniel grows stronger, Elisabeth starts to question everything she’s been taught–about sorcerers, about the libraries she loves, even about herself. For Elisabeth has a power she has never guessed, and a future she could never have imagined.

FIVE:

Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe

Persephone, young goddess of spring, is new to Olympus. Her mother, Demeter, has raised her in the mortal realm, but after Persephone promises to train as a sacred virgin, she’s allowed to live in the fast-moving, glamorous world of the gods. When her roommate, Artemis, takes her to a party, her entire life changes: she ends up meeting Hades and feels an immediate spark with the charming yet misunderstood ruler of the Underworld. Now Persephone must navigate the confusing politics and relationships that rule Olympus, while also figuring out her own place—and her own power.

This full-color edition of Smythe’s original Eisner-nominated webcomic Lore Olympus features a brand-new, exclusive short story, and brings Greek mythology into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.

Thank you so much for reading, and have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Popular Books That I’ve Read Never #2

So, it’s a week or so later than I wanted to post another one of these, but life has just been nuts for the past two weeks or so. But welcome back to Popular Books That I’ve Read Never!

(And yeah, I know I worded it a bit odd, but you can probably still figure out what this post is about, lol.)

ONE:

Crave by Tracy Wolff

SERIES: Crave (Book #1)

LENGTH: 571 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Entangled Teen

RELEASE DATE: 7 April 2020

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

My whole world changed when I stepped inside the academy. Nothing is right about this place or the other students in it. Here I am, a mere mortal among gods…or monsters. I still can’t decide which of these warring factions I belong to, if I belong at all. I only know the one thing that unites them is their hatred of me.

Then there’s Jaxon Vega. A vampire with deadly secrets who hasn’t felt anything for a hundred years. But there’s something about him that calls to me, something broken in him that somehow fits with what’s broken in me.
Which could spell death for us all.

Because Jaxon walled himself off for a reason. And now someone wants to wake a sleeping monster, and I’m wondering if I was brought here intentionally–as the bait.

TWO:

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

SERIES: Iron Widow (Book #1)

LENGTH: 394 pages

GENRES: Science Fiction, Fantasy, LGBTQIA+, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Penguin Teen

RELEASE DATE: 21 September 2021

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale in this blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction for YA readers.

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.

To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed.

THREE:

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

SERIES: Legacy of Orisha (Book #1)

LENGTH: 531 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Henry Holt & Company

RELEASE DATE: 6 March 2018

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

They killed my mother.
They took our magic.
They tried to bury us.
Now we rise.

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.

But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.

Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.

Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.

FOUR:

From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

SERIES: From Blood and Ash (Book #1)

LENGTH: 613 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Blue Box Press

RELEASE DATE: 30 March 2020

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A Maiden…

Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be looked upon. Never to be spoken to. Never to experience pleasure. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers.

A Duty…

The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders, something she’s not even quite sure she wants for herself. Because a Maiden has a heart. And a soul. And longing. And when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need. He incites her anger, makes her question everything she believes in, and tempts her with the forbidden.

A Kingdom…

Forsaken by the gods and feared by mortals, a fallen kingdom is rising once more, determined to take back what they believe is theirs through violence and vengeance. And as the shadow of those cursed draws closer, the line between what is forbidden and what is right becomes blurred. Poppy is not only on the verge of losing her heart and being found unworthy by the gods, but also her life when every blood-soaked thread that holds her world together begins to unravel.

FIVE:

The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle Jensen

SERIES: The Bridge Kingdom (Book #1)

LENGTH: 354 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: CLA

RELEASE DATE: 13 August 2019

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

What if you fell in love with the one person you’d sworn to destroy?

Lara has only one thought for her husband on their wedding day: I will bring your kingdom to its knees. A princess trained from childhood to be a lethal spy, Lara knows that the Bridge Kingdom represents both legendary evil – and legendary promise. The only route through a storm-ravaged world, the Bridge Kingdom controls all trade and travel between lands, allowing its ruler to enrich himself and deprive his enemies, including Lara’s homeland. So when she is sent as a bride under the guise of fulfilling a treaty of peace, Lara is prepared to do whatever it takes to fracture the defenses of the impenetrable Bridge Kingdom.

But as she infiltrates her new home – a lush paradise surrounded by tempest seas – and comes to know her new husband, Aren, Lara begins to question where the true evil resides. Around her, she sees a kingdom fighting for survival, and in Aren, a man fiercely protective of his people. As her mission drives her to deeper understanding of the fight to possess the bridge, Lara finds the simmering attraction between her and Aren impossible to ignore. Her goal nearly within reach, Lara will have to decide her own fate: Will she be the destroyer of a king or the savior of her people?

So that’s it for Popular Books That I’ve Read Never. For now at least. You can bet that it’ll return again, though. I haven’t read nearly enough popular books for that to be the case.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Popular Books That I’ve Read Never #1

Happy Sunday everyone! This is a new post that I’ve decided to do, most likely bimonthly. It’s called Popular Books That I’ve Read Never!

(And I know I worded it a bit odd, but you can probably still figure out what this post is about, lol.)

Now, it’s not that I only read unpopular books, it’s that I don’t only read the popular books. I also don’t read hardly any of the really popular books, because those are usually nonfiction or memoirs (which I don’t usually like), or they have a TON of romance (which I also don’t usually like).

#1

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

SERIES: Throne of Glass (Book #1)

LENGTH: 432 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury Publishing

RELEASE DATE: 2 August 2012

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Lethal. Loyal. Legendary.

In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not come to kill him. She has come to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three murderers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she will be released from prison to serve as the King’s Champion.

Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. And a princess from a faraway country will befriend her. But something rotten dwells in the castle, and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying mysteriously, one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival-and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

#2

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

LENGTH: 438 pages

GENRES: Urban Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor Books

RELEASE DATE: 6 October 2020

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.

#3

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

SERIES: Alex Stern (Book #1)

LENGTH: 496 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Flatiron Books

RELEASE DATE: 20 October 2020

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most prestigious universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. Their eight windowless “tombs” are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street’s biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.

#4

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

LENGTH: 369 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Folklore, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Ecco

RELEASE DATE: 6 March 2012

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Achilles, “the best of all the Greeks,” son of the cruel sea goddess Thetis and the legendary king Peleus, is strong, swift, and beautiful, irresistible to all who meet him. Patroclus is an awkward young prince, exiled from his homeland after an act of shocking violence. Brought together by chance, they forge an inseparable bond, despite risking the gods’ wrath.

They are trained by the centaur Chiron in the arts of war and medicine, but when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to lay siege to Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins their cause, and torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus follows. Little do they know that the cruel Fates will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.

#5

A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova

SERIES: Married to Magic (Book #1)

LENGTH: 338 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Silver Wing Press

RELEASE DATE: 6 November 2020

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The elves come for two things: war and wives. In both cases, they come for death.

Three-thousand years ago, humans were hunted by powerful races with wild magic until the treaty was formed. Now, for centuries, the elves have taken a young woman from Luella’s village to be their Human Queen.

To be chosen is seen as a mark of death by the townsfolk. A mark nineteen-year-old Luella is grateful to have escaped as a girl. Instead, she’s dedicated her life to studying herbology and becoming the town’s only healer.

That is, until the Elf King unexpectedly arrives… for her.

Everything Luella had thought she’d known about her life, and herself, was a lie. Taken to a land filled with wild magic, Luella is forced to be the new queen to a cold yet blisteringly handsome Elf King. Once there, she learns about a dying world that only she can save.

The magical land of Midscape pulls on one corner of her heart, her home and people tug on another… but what will truly break her is a passion she never wanted.

So that’s it for Popular Books That I’ve Read Never. For now at least. You can get that it’ll return, though. I haven’t read nearly enough popular novels for that to be the case.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar