Nightbane by Alex Aster | Book Review

She was not to be trusted. She was reckless, dangerous, a monster. Enya was right. Oro deserved so much better.

Nightbane by Alex Aster

Nightbane by Alex Aster

SERIES: The Lightlark Saga (Book #2)

LENGTH: 416 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Amulet Books

RELEASE DATE: 7 November 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Isla Crown has secured the love of two powerful rulers and broken the curses that plagued the six realms for centuries.

But few know the true origins of her powers. Now, in the wake of a crushing betrayal, Isla finds herself hungry for distraction, preferring to frequent Lightlark’s seductive haunts instead of embracing her duties as the newly crowned leader of two separate realms. 

Worse, her fellow rulers haven’t ceded victory quietly, and there are others in Isla’s midst who don’t believe her ascent to power was earned. As certain death races toward Lightlark and secrets from the past begin to unravel, Isla must weigh her responsibility to her people against the whims of the most dangerous traitor of all: her heart.

Alex Aster’s intricate world expands after the riveting culmination of the Centennial games, delving more deeply into Isla’s memories of her past, as her future hurtles toward two possible fates.

My Review

“Nightbane,” someone whispered from a stall. She slowed in front of it, curious. There were small vials of something dark. The seller’s face lit up at her attention. “Takes away all troubles and pain…”

Goddamn this book. Lightlark was mediocre, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt, and bumped up the rating a bit because I thought that Alex Aster might be able to improve. There was just a little bit of promise – and I sometimes can’t help but give novels some slack.

I shouldn’t have.

Nightbane was a very, very bad book. It’s not my most hated read ever, and I’m sure I’ll read books I dislike even more in the future, but it’s not even close to remotely in the realm of good.

I could rant about how much this book just gets on my nerves for paragraphs, but I’m not gonna. Because that isn’t how I do things. Let’s start this review off proper with the only thing I can give Aster props for.

The prose has improved (…a little) ▼

The author has improved her writing. (Technically.) No more insert-adjective-here thing. But that’s really all that I can say. Aster could honestly do to improve more – a lot more. But I am surprised that she improved as a writer as much as she did – I really didn’t expect it, lol.

And that’s all for the pros. Nothing else about this book is good.

The writing still isn’t that good ▼

I know, I know. I just gave her some props for this. But the prose and dialogue still isn’t that great guys! Like, some of the descriptions are really weirdly worded, and the dialogue sounds somewhat unnatural some of the time.

Aster also makes some odd decisions when it comes to plot and pacing that I do not understand. I didn’t enjoy reading any of it. But the most annoying stuff was still her description choices. Here are some of my personal favorites…

Isla wondered if Grim was like that necklace- insistent and refusing to let her go. Would he kill people just to have her?

What does this mean? How is a necklace able to be insistent?

If the word debauchery had been a place, Isla was looking at it.

This one might be nitpicking, but don’t add “word” as a descriptor for “debauchery.” It messes the whole thing up.

He had relatively long black hair like spilled ink, falling across his forehead, curling around his ears.

This is not relatively long black hair. Relatively long black hair is black hair long enough to fall the down someone’s back. (Say long one more time, lol.)

And I can’t forget about…

The sound of his pants being discarded seemed to echo through the vast bathroom. Then, the sound of water parting, letting him in, settling around him.

WHAT?!? The sound of his pants?!?

The characters ▼

They aren’t any better here than in book one. Isla is still stupid and annoying, and still barely has a defined personality. The desire to root for her was even smaller than in Lightlark. She was also an absolutely horrible person to pretty much everyone around her.

Oro can hardly be called a character here. But at least he still has one. I was very worried about a Tamlin situation happening here, but was pleasantly surprised that Aster didn’t go that route. For now. (What she did do pissed me off though.) As of post Nightbane, Isla definitely does not deserve this man, cardboard cutout that he is.

Grim was still annoying. I can’t even think about him without being filled with rage. I hate Walmart Rhysand.

No one else matters. They just… they really don’t matter. As much as I wanted to like the new characters… they just don’t matter.

The romance ▼

Her nostrils flared. “You don’t respect me?”

“You don’t seem to respect your own life. Why should I?”

She scoffed. “Fine. Don’t respect me. I don’t care. You weren’t why I came here.”

“Clearly. Why are you here?” he demanded.

The romance here makes me gag. Like, thinking about it makes me have to swallow back bile. It’s disgusting. (Both the romance and the bile.)

Oro and Isla had the potential to build a sweet, healthy and wholesome relationship, but Alex Aster just went straight for the sex. Again. Just like with Isla and Grim.

Speaking of which, it was basically the same thing with those two in Nightbane. Except it started out a little less horny. Isla and Grim weren’t quite as ready to jump each other’s bones – they legitimately didn’t like each other to begin with. But like all good things, this quickly came to an end, and it was the first novel all over again. Except this time, it was in a flashback. That spanned half the book.

But yeah, Isla definitely doesn’t deserve Oro. Honestly, I don’t want her to end up with everyone. The only happily ever after I see possible is if Lightlark (the island) blew up. With Isla, Grim and everyone else on it.

Final Thoughts ▼

This book sucks. If/When a third one comes out, I’ll probably read it, because I enjoy my own suffering, apparently. I guess if you really, really, really enjoyed Lightlark then you might like its sequel. But that’s all I can say regarding recommendations.

Anyway, thanks to everyone so much for reading, and I hope that you have a much better day/night than I’ve had, lol.

See ya ~Mar


My Links:


Lightlark by Alex Aster | Book Review

On Lightlark and beyond, love had a price.

Lightlark by Alex Aster

Lightlark by Alex Aster

SERIES: The Lightlark Saga (Book #1)

LENGTH: 416 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Amulet Books

RELEASE DATE: 23 August 2022

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to the Centennial.

Every 100 years, the island of Lightlark appears to host the Centennial, a deadly game that only the rulers of six realms are invited to play. The invitation is a summons—a call to embrace victory and ruin, baubles and blood. 

The Centennial offers the six rulers one final chance to break the curses that have plagued their realms for centuries. Each ruler has something to hide. Each realm’s curse is uniquely wicked. To destroy the curses, one ruler must die. Isla Crown is the young ruler of Wildling—a realm of temptresses cursed to kill anyone they fall in love with.

They are feared and despised, and are counting on Isla to end their suffering by succeeding at the Centennial. To survive, Isla must lie, cheat, and betray . . . Even as love complicates everything. 

My Review

The Centennial was many things. A game. A chance at breaking the many curses that plagued the six realms. An opportunity to win unmatched power. A meeting of the six rulers. A hundred days on an island cursed to only appear once every hundred years.

So, I know that last year that there was quite a bit of drama around this book. And that it was cool to rag on Lightlark – a lot of BookTube was absolutely eviscerating it. But lemme tell you a little secret:

It’s not really all that horrible, guys.

Like, it’s not good. At all. But I’ve read far, far worse books, and I’ve hated novels more that I’ve disliked this one. So yeah, not too bad. It’s mediocre AF though. And it could have used another revision or two before publication.

I’m just gonna break it down now, if that’s okay with you…

[EDIT: The longer I’m away from this, the more I don’t care for it. Sorry that the rating changed again – I should have ruminated on this longer before posting. Plus, the sequel is making this retroactively worse.]

The rulers ▼

First off, before I get into these characters, I gotta let you all know how stupid it is that these people are referred to as simply “rulers.” Like, is it their title? Cuz Ruler Isla sounds kind of dumb, as does Ruler Cleo and all the other names. Plus, it’s not, like, a term of royalty or lordship or whatever. And it’s super vague.

But I digress. Let’s just move on to the “rulers.” AKA: The only relevant characters to the plot (and sometimes not even that).

Isla Crown often fell through puddles of stars and into faraway places. Always without permission—and seemingly on the worst occasions.

Isla Crown is a pretty dumb protagonist. She also kept changing her mind throughout the story waaayy too much – it was so annoying!! I really didn’t find her likeable, and I don’t understand why all the straight men were simping for her.

Oro was okay. He was just… okay. He didn’t feel as defined as he should’ve been – which is an ongoing problem for all of the characters in Lightlark, though some more than others. I kinda liked his and Isla’s relationship, though it needs a ton of development in the sequel(s). Cuz there was certainly not enough here. I’m not confident that he will, but I hope that he’s the guy that ends up with Isla. He’s the lesser of two underdeveloped evils.

Grimshaw is a ridiculous name. Like, I get it, he’s the bad boy with shadow powers, as well as Aster’s version of Rhysand. But really – Grimshaw? Ugh. He’s an annoying character too – and waaayy too horny. Like, dude – take a long cold shower please. And please, don’t ever come back.

Celeste was also irritating. Mostly because she has no purpose at first but to function as Isla’s best friend that she only occasionally talks to. And the so-called “twist” with her is so obvious, it’s as plain as the human heart on the cover.

Cleo was probably the most interesting character to me, if only because there’s so much character potential with her. Missed potential, of course, this is Lightlark, after all. She mostly kind of felt like a mean girl though, because of course she was.

Azul also had the potential to be interesting. Too bad he only has a few pages of pagetime.

The plot ▼

The plot was extremely underdeveloped and the pacing was terrible. There’d be pages where nothing really happens, and then suddenly there’s a hybrid scene of action and exposition. It was kinda ridiculous.

There were also some inconsistencies and plenty of plot contrivances. It was hell to read this book sometimes. And, of course, the biggest contrivance and ridiculous plot device is…

The curse ▼

This is one of the most specific and contrived thing I’ve ever read in a novel. Like, it’s really, really weirdly set up and executed. And incredibly specific in the strangest ways – if I didn’t mention that already.

Only joined can the curses be undone

Only after one of six has won,

when the original offense

Has been committed again

And a ruling line has come to an end

Only then can history amend.

Plus, as you can see, the way it’s written kind of (really) sucks too. It doesn’t flow at all. When prophecies (and curses too, I guess) are written in books, they have to have a poetic and/or lyrical quality to them. It’s not a rule, exactly, but it just reads so, so much better, and sounds better in your head.

The romance ▼

Alex Aster could do better. Chemistry is non-existent. I don’t want to talk about this aspect of the novel anymore.

The prose ▼

Lightlark was a shining, cliffy thing. Its bluffs were white as bone, and sunlight rained down in sheets of misted gold.

Singing was a Wildling thing, a temptress thing.

The sun had fallen. It was just a yolky thing, halfway consumed by the horizon, when Isla opened the double doors and stared up at the incoming moon.

This was one of the weaker things about Lightlark. (Did you see what I did there?) Aster needs to practice her synonyms, if I have to read something described as a _____ thing again, I’m gonna clae my eyes out.

The dialogue could also be improved some. I’ve read some that felt more unnatural, but she could still do to improve. Oh, and work on character chemistry, too.

Final Thoughts ▼

So yeah, Lightlark really wasn’t nearly as bad as some reviews made it out to be. (And yes, I’m aware that it’s actually rated relatively high – those aren’t the people talking about.) I found it to be pretty mediocre, personally, as well as slightly less than average.

I firmly believe that fans of Sarah J. Maas, Serpent & Dove, Twilight and other romantasy stuff will like it. It appeals to this specific group of people.

(Also, I should mention that this is nothing like The Hunger Games and isn’t even all too similar to A Court and Thorns and Roses like one of the blurbs claimed. So don’t go into it thinking that it is.)

Anyway, thanks so much for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar


My Links:


“A Curse for True Love” by Stephanie Garber | Book Review

Evangeline Fox always believed she’d find herself inside of a fairytale one day.

A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

SERIES: Once Upon a Broken Heart (Book #3)

LENGTH: 385 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Flatiron

RELEASE DATE: 24 October 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Two villains, one girl, and a deadly battle for happily ever after…

Evangeline Fox ventured to the Magnificent North in search of her happy ending, and it seems as if she has it. She’s married to a handsome prince and lives in a legendary castle. 

But Evangeline has no idea of the devastating price she’s paid for this fairytale. She doesn’t know what she has lost, and her husband is determined to make sure she never finds out.

But first he must kill Jacks, the Prince of Hearts. Blood will be shed, hearts will be stolen, and true love will be put to the test.

My Review

The air crackled with something that made Evangeline think of little sparks. Then she felt a tingling on her wrist in the shape of her broken heart scar.

Jacks had arrived.

A Curse for True Love was… okay. I don’t know, maybe I’ve just kind of gotten tired of this trilogy, but it didn’t do too much for me.

Then again, I’ve had a lot of time to ruminate on the first two books. And I gotta say – I think a few of my opinions have shifted a little. That, and I just can’t with the stuff about this series that has been annoying me, anymore.

I honestly don’t have a lot to say here. Let’s get on with this review.

Pros

“This is a very bad idea,” Jacks murmured.

“I would have thought you liked bad ideas.”

“Only when they’re mine.”

The thing that I’ve always enjoyed the most about OUABH and its sequels has definitely been the setting. I love the way that Garber describes the world that she’s created. It just sounds so beautiful and mystical. Like a fairytale (which is almost certainly what she was going for, judging by her main character).

I still love the Magnificent North. It’s still one of my favorite new worlds that I’ve read about in the last few years. I love how it just reeks of magic, and I feel like we’ve only scratched the surface with this mystical land in this trilogy.

The pacing of A Curse for True Love and its predecessors has always been nice and brisk, which has always been one of my favorite things about them. I love a good fast-paced book. It’s just so… fast. Which makes it a pretty quick read – I’ve never taken more than like three hours to read any of the OUABH novels.

Cons

She needed to back away, to call her for guards, to tell him to leave. Her heart pounded impossibly fast.

But she found herself saying, “You’re not here to hurt me.” “You don’t know that.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “This morning I nearly tossed you over the side of a bridge.”

“You also just killed someone to save my life.”

“Maybe I just enjoy killing people.”

Even though I enjoyed a few of the characters a lot in the first book, and even a little bit in the second, I’m kind of just done with them now. My irritation has reached a crescendo.

Evangeline Fox has always annoyed me somewhat, but I’m just tired of her. She was essentially reset at the end of the last book (spoilers?) and I hate that trope. Ironically enough though, she actually seemed to be more proactive than she’s ever been before, which is something that I found hilarious. But yeah, she’s probably in the bottom half of my protagonist rankings.

Jacks was interesting to me at first, and I still find him to be entertaining at times. But even his character has worn me down. I also don’t really understand why Evangeline is so into him – he’s such an ass. Like, he’s flirty and a douchy kind of charming to read about, but if he was a real life romantic prospect… ugh. No thank you.

Apollo also had a very interesting character assassination at the end of TBONA (book two). And now he was a total piece of work here – an even bigger a-hole than Jacks. But he was entirely devoid of personality, and frankly, a actual character the first two books, so it didn’t feel like I got ripped off or anything.

The plot has always been a little bit nonsensical and convoluted, but I found it to be the most noticable here. It also brought more attention to the storytelling flaws retroactively in the books one and two.

Even though the novels in this trilogy are very fast-paced, the plot ebbs and flows strangely. So there are parts where nothing happens, and then suddenly too many things are happening too fast. And nothing really has time to breathe.

Also, the OUABH books have a problem with major plot threads being ultimately pointless. For example, many of the events of book two. These problems continue in A Curse for True Love.

The romance in this trilogy has always been slightly ick to me. Jacks has never read like a healthy romantic partner, and there has never been any chemistry between Evangeline and Apollo.

And that has not changed in book three, believe me. If anything, the relationships are even more toxic. Jacks seems excessively unhealthy at a few points here, and Apollo is straight up Tamlin on steroids. Seriously, if you thought Tamlin from ACOTAR was bad and you hated him, you will absolutely despise Apollo here.

Final Thoughts

She remembered telling herself that night not to turn around. Not to look. And when she had looked at him, she’d tried to glance for only a second.

But it had been impossible. Jacks had been the moon and she’d been the tide, controlled by his impossible force. That much had not changed.

Even though the list of stuff I didn’t like is longer than the things I did like, I still found myself rating this kinda high. I think it’s because I loved the Stuff I Liked, combined with some nostalgia. All in all, A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber is an okay book.

If you liked the Caraval trilogy and the first two books in the Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy, you’ll probably enjoy this one. Also, if you like whimsical, mystical fairytale-like stories, you might like this too.

Have you read A Curse for True Love yet? What did you think of it? Have you read any of Stephanie Garber’s other novels? What did you think of them?

Thanks again for reading, and I hope you have a whimsical day/night!

See ya ~Mar


My Links:


My review for Once Upon a Broken Heart

My review for The Ballad of Never After

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: “A Curse for True Love”

Good morning/afternoon/any other time of day everyone! It’s been over a month – again – since the last time I made it for Can’t-Wait Wednesday. And there’s a few books coming out in the next several weeks, so I thought it was more than time to do it again.

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:

A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber.

I have a love-hate relationship with the Once Upon a Broken Heart trilogy. On the one hand, they’re very fast reads and have a very potentially interesting world and magic. On the other hand, many of the characters are annoying and just get pushed along by the plot, and a good chunk of the world building is wasted potential.

But yeah, despite the grievances I’ve been kinda venting about here, I really am looking forward to the final book in this trilogy. Next Tuesday can’t come soon enough!


A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber

A Curse for True Love by Stephanie Garber


Are you looking forward to A Curse for True Love? Have you read the other OUABH books, or the Caraval trilogy? What books are you excited for coming out in the near future?

As always, thank you all so much for reading, and I really hope that you have a awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 9/22

Okay, so explanation time. I got sick this week. It has majorly sucked. So that’s why I haven’t hardly posted this week at all. Now let’s move on to First Line Fridays.

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:

Be still now, and I will tell you a tale.

It begins deep within Verloren, the land of the lost.

Do you know what book it is? Here’s a little hint. Or two or three, you know the drill by now.

Do you know the book now? If you don’t, here are some gorgeous pictures of novels to scroll through while you consider it…

Annnd the book is 🥁🥁… Cursed by Marissa Meyer!!

(Did you guess it?)


Cursed by Marissa Meyer

Cursed by Marissa Meyer


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 excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Book Review: “My Happy Marriage” by Akumi Agitogi

“Don’t apologize. Do it too often, and it loses its meaning.”

My Happy Marriage (Volume #1) by Akumi Agitogi

My Happy Marriage: Volume #1 by Akumi Agitogi

LENGTH: 160 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Yen On

RELEASE DATE: 18 January 2022 (English Version)

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

IS THIS MARRIAGE A BLESSING? OR A CURSE?

Born talentless to a noble family famous for their supernatural abilities, Miyo Saimori is forced into an existence of servitude by her abusive stepmother. When Miyo finally comes of marriageable age, though, her hopes of being whisked away to a better life crumble after she discovers her fiancé’s identity: Kiyoka Kudou, a commander apparently so cold and cruel that his previous would-be brides all fled within three days of their engagements.

With no home to return to, Miyo resigns herself to her fate-and soon finds that her pale and beautiful husband-to-be is anything but the monster she expected. As they slowly open their hearts to each other, both realize the other may be their chance at finding true love and happiness.

My Review

He wanted someone who would genuinely enjoy living in his forest cottage as his wife, not simply relish his status or wealth. And Miyo would do that. He had no intention of letting go of her.

My Happy Marriage was a sweet little Cinderella-esque romance. I discovered it via the anime version that began airing this past summer. After it made me cry nearly once an episode, I decided that I had to read the original material.

This was the first time I was reviewing a book on my blog that was originally in another language as well, so I was pretty excited about that, too. (Though it’s not the first I’ve mentioned reading, as I read a few mangas a year, and I talked about Another on my list of books with spooky vibes from last fall.)

And… I didn’t like it nearly as much as I’d hoped to. The story is nearly the same, and the anime followed it almost to a T, but I didn’t like it nearly as much. I suspect it was the translation, but I’ll get into that in a bit. First, I’m gonna discuss some of the things I liked about it.

Pros

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Miyo Saimori.”

Miyo Saimori is our protagonist here, and she’s very unconventional when compared to many western female MCs. She’s quiet and nervous, and she keeps to herself, but this is all mostly a result of her abusive upbringing. We see small pieces of her true personality, but on very few occasions. Her true self is still reserved, but she’s also determined and stubborn and brave. (But she’s not a sassy teenager that’s inexplicably good at everything, and that everyone likes, so she’s still different.)

Kiyoka Kudou is Miyo’s new fiancee, as well as her love interest. He appears cold on the surface, but this is merely a facade that he puts up. He’s actually quite similar to Miyo in several ways, but he’s far more confident, as he had a completely different upbringing. He’s still shy when it comes to interacting with Miyo at several points in the first half, but after it’s revealed that she’s his first real romantic relationship, it all makes sense.

“I don’t think I deserve you… but I want to stay with you forever and help you somehow.”

“You can.”

“I need to… do better, so that I can support you for as long as possible.”

“I would appreciate anything you do.”

Their romance was also very sweet, and was one of my two favorite things about this book. They’re both very tentative and gentle with one another, and it’s extremely wholesome. They also have real, actual relationship goals, like communication and working in tandem as a team, and working to keep each other happy. It’s also a bit of a slow-burn, so fans of that will probably enjoy it.

The other thing I really liked was the supernatural stuff that was going on in the background. It was very interesting, and was what drew me into the anime to begin with. I wish the world building and supernatural aspects had been as prevalent as they were in said anime, but that’s just my preference.

Cons

The translation. As I’m not sure how good the original text is, as I cannot read Japanese, I have no choice but to blame my issues with the writing with the translation.

The prose just doesn’t flow naturally for the majority of the light novel. It’s kind of clunky and awkward at several points. The dialogue is also a little weird at times, and it doesn’t always come across as normal human interactions.

There also wasn’t a lot of plot going on. Most of it is just characters and description, until the last quarter of the novella. Which isn’t too bad, as it isn’t that long a book, but I have to say: the anime is definitely superior as an adaptation. For me, at least.

Final Thoughts

“Everything you did for me was necessary.”

“Miyo…”

“And I’m delighted you went to such lengths on my behalf.” Having someone who cared about her, who was willing to do something – anything – for her, was a blessing. She’d forgotten that joyous feeling until recently. It was Kiyoka, Yurie, and everything that happened since she’d met him that had allowed her to experience that feeling again.

All in all, I thought that My Happy Marriage was fine. I neither adored it nor did I hate it – I just found it to be okay. I really, really liked the anime adaptation for it, though.

Those who like shorter, bite-sized novels and novellas, as well as supernatural romances will probably find some enjoyment from it. People who like middle grade and YA will probably be okay with the slightly jenky writing, as well.

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

See ya ~Mar


My Links:

Majestic Monday #15

Ugh, it’s been waaayy too long since I’ve last done this post. I’m sorry – things have just been kind of nuts over the past few weeks.

Anyway, for anyone who is not aware, Majestic Mondays are a (supposedly) weekly meme I created, wherein I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it. And that’s pretty much it.

This week the novel art I’ll be gushing over is The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber. It’s the sequel to Once Upon a Broken Heart, another cover that I’ve admired in a prior Majestic Monday post.

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

LENGTH: 416 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, YA, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Flatiron Books

RELEASE DATE: 13 September 2022

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Now that she’s discovered her own magic, Evangeline believes she can use it to restore the chance at happily ever after that Jacks stole away.

But when a new terrifying curse is revealed, Evangeline finds herself entering into a tenuous partnership with the Prince of Hearts again. Only this time, the rules have changed. Jacks isn’t the only force Evangeline needs to be wary of. In fact, he might be the only one she can trust, despite her desire to despise him.

Instead of a love spell wreaking havoc on Evangeline’s life, a murderous spell has been cast. To break it, Evangeline and Jacks will have to do battle with old friends, new foes, and a magic that plays with heads and hearts. Evangeline has always trusted her heart, but this time she’s not sure she can…

Book Cover Rating: 💔💔💔💔 • 4 broken hearts

Much like the first book in this series, I really love the cover here. However, I honestly think I prefer the lavender to the rose gold used on OUABH’s. It’s for no reason in particular, though – I simply like purple covers, as people who’ve seen this post before may be aware.

I love how the black background appears to be a starry night sky. It makes me think of constellations – even more so with the beautiful purple arrow that takes center stage on the cover. It makes me think of Sagittarius a little, especially when a mythical figure known as the Archer exists in this series’ universe, and has a significant part to play in this book especially.

But yeah, Stephanie Garber’s publisher has a knack for choosing some very gorgeous cover art. And I mean all the cover art. The bindings are also lovely pastel colors, and the back covers are both pretty starry skies, similar to their fronts.


So yeah, sorry again for not doing this post for over a month. I promise that it’s never intended – stuff always seems to happen, and weekly wrap-ups were beginning to take a toll on me, so (double) posting on Mondays was hard. I’ve missed doing this post, though, so since Weekly Wrap-Ups are currently on a hiatus of sorts, you’ll probably see more of these.

And as always, thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you have a stupendous day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: “Masters of Death”

It’s been quite some time since I’ve done one of these, but there’s finally a bunch of books coming out in the near future that I’m excited for. So I thought I’d participate in another Can’t-Wait Wednesday.

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:

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake!

This one is technically a rerelease, but it’s the author’s preferred text, and I’ve never read it before, so I’m pretty excited. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Olivie Blake’s writing as well.

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

Thank you so much for reading, and have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 7/28

Yes! Two Fridays in a row of posting! Back on track!

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:

Halla of Rutger’s Howe had just inherited a great deal of money and was therefore spending her evening trying to figure out how to kill herself.

Annnd the book is 🥁🥁… Swordheart by T. Kingfisher!

(Didja get it right?)

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

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

See ya ~Mar

Majestic Monday #14

Look! It’s back!! It’s been well over a month – which is far too long. But I’m finally, finally back with yet another Majestic Monday!

For anyone unfamiliar, Majestic Mondays are when I highlight an awesome looking book cover and talk about what I like about it.

This week the book I’m admiring is A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand.

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand

SERIES: The Middlemist Trilogy (Book #1)

LENGTH: 560 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Romance, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Sourcebooks Casablanca

RELEASE DATE: 27 June 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Lady Gemma Ashbourne seemingly has it all. She’s young, gorgeous, and rich. Her family was Anointed by the gods, blessed with incredible abilities. But underneath her glittering façade, Gemma is deeply sad. Years ago, her sister Mara was taken to the Middlemist to guard against treacherous magic. Her mother abandoned the family. Her father and eldest sister, Farrin―embroiled in a deadly blood feud with the mysterious Bask family―often forget Gemma exists.

Worst of all, Gemma is the only Ashbourne to possess no magic. Instead, her body fights it like poison. Constantly ill, aching with loneliness, Gemma craves love and yearns to belong.

Then she meets the devastatingly handsome Talan d’Astier. His family destroyed themselves, seduced by a demon, and Talan, the only survivor, is determined to redeem their honor. Intrigued and enchanted, Gemma proposes a bargain: She’ll help Talan navigate high society if he helps her destroy the Basks. According to popular legend, a demon called The Man With the Three-Eyed Crown is behind the families’ blood feud―slay the demon, end the feud.

But attacks on the Middlemist are increasing. The plot against the Basks quickly spirals out of control. And something immense and terrifying is awakening in Gemma, drawing her inexorably toward Talan and an all-consuming passion that could destroy her―or show her the true strength of her power at last.

Book Cover Rating: 👑👑👑👑 • 4 / 5 crowns

Firstly, I adore the color. The background is cyan which is one of my absolute favorite colors ever. I also love the darker swirl designs in the background as well. The variegated sizes of words in the title are also also really nice, and it makes the words pop more.

I also really like the way the crown on the cover looks. It’s front and center, clearly meant to be the star of the book cover. Being covered in ivy makes it look really pretty, too. I also really like how the gems in the crown (or are they eyes?!?) look. But yeah, aside from the crown, the cover art on A Crown of Ivy and Glass isn’t too busy, and I can appreciate that.

So yeah, I know it’s been forever since I’ve done this post and I’m sorry about that. But thank you for reading, as always, and I really hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar