It’s been a bit since I’ve participated in this kind of post. But that’s just ’cause I haven’t been super excited about any books coming out recently. (Or I didn’t think to do a CWW post before a book I was looking forward to came out before it was released.)
Anyways, let’s get into the post! It’s been a while since I’ve participated in Can’t-Wait Wednesday, but there’s a book coming out in a couple weeks that I’m looking forward to, so of course I’m doing it this week.
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:
Otherwordly by F.T. Lukens!! 🩵🪄❄️🧡
I’ve enjoyed every book that I’ve read by F.T. Lukens, so I’m super excited about this one. Ever since I found out about it last year, I’ve been really interested in it.
A skeptic and a supernatural being make a crossroads deal to achieve their own ends only to get more than they bargained for in this lively young adult romantic adventure from the New York Times bestselling author of Spell Bound and So This Is Ever After.
Seventeen-year-old Ellery is a non-believer in a region where people swear the supernatural is real. Sure, they’ve been stuck in a five-year winter, but there’s got to be a scientific explanation. If goddesses were real, they wouldn’t abandon their charges like this, leaving farmers like Ellery’s family to scrape by.
Knox is a familiar from the Other World, a magical assistant sent to help humans who have made crossroads bargains. But it’s been years since he heard from his queen, and Knox is getting nervous about what he might find once he returns home. When the crossroads demons come to collect Knox, he panics and runs. A chance encounter down an alley finds Ellery coming to Knox’s rescue, successfully fending off his would-be abductors.
Ellery can’t quite believe what they’ve seen. And they definitely don’t believe the nonsense this unnervingly attractive guy spews about his paranormal origins. But Knox needs to make a deal with a human who can tether him to this realm, and Ellery needs to figure out how to stop this winter to help their family. Once their bargain is struck, there’s no backing out, and the growing connection between the two might just change everything.
Are you a fan of F.T. Lukens’ works? What have you read by them? What books are coming out that you’re looking forward to?
Thank you so much for reading and have an excellent day/night!
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve participated in this weekly post, but here I am with another First Line Friday! Also, I just wanted to let everyone who wasn’t aware that yesterday was Pi Day (3/14 = 3.14) and that I hope that you enjoyed whatever you were reading yesterday with a slice of pie. 🥧📖
Anyway.
First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.
What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?
If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:
📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page 📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first 📙 Finally… reveal the book!
Here’s the first lines:
There was a wolf at the gallery door.
I know, I know. That’s less than I usually give. But I feel like if I gave you guys more to work with, it would give the book away instantly. So here’s a couple more hints.
Still have no idea? I’ll give you a little more time to think about it, whilst admiring some photos of books…
Annnd the book is 🥁🥁… House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas!
The CRESCENT CITY series begins with House of Earth and Blood: the story of half-Fae and half-human Bryce Quinlan as she seeks revenge in a contemporary fantasy world of magic, danger, and searing romance. Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life-working hard all day and partying all night-until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.
Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose-to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.
As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion-one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.
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!
When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late, in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series.
Emily Wilde is a genius scholar of faerie folklore who just wrote the world’s first comprehensive encyclopaedia of faeries. She’s learned many of the secrets of the Hidden Ones on her adventures . . . and also from her infuriatingly charming fellow scholar Wendell Bambleby.
Because Bambleby is more than brilliant and unbearably handsome. He’s an exiled faerie king on the run from his murderous mother and in search of a door back to his realm. And despite Emily’s feelings for Bambleby, she’s not ready to accept his proposal of marriage: Loving one of the Fair Folk comes with secrets and dangers.
She also has a new project to focus on: a map of the realms of faerie. While she is preparing her research, Bambleby lands her in trouble yet again, when assassins sent by his mother invade Cambridge. Now Bambleby and Emily are on another adventure, this time to the picturesque Austrian Alps, where Emily believes they may find the door to Bambleby’s realm and the key to freeing him from his family’s dark plans.
But with new relationships for the prickly Emily to navigate and dangerous Folk lurking in every forest and hollow, Emily must unravel the mysterious workings of faerie doors and of her own heart.
My Review
Assassins are a monstrous breed. Either they attack when you are at your worst, or they are having a go at you on your birthday. I have never known a more dishonourable profession.
Sooo… This review has been a long time coming. I’ve still been in a terrible reading slump, though, and it’s been really sucky. Sorry. But you’re not here to read my excuses – you’re here to read my review for Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands.
This book was good, though I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first Emily Wilde book. I’m not really sure why. I think it’s because I wasn’t really into the secondary plot. This particular part of the story isn’t mentioned in the summary, but it’s a huge part of the novel: what happened to the dryadologist Danielle de Grey.
I just didn’t find de Grey interesting. Like, at all. I never really cared about her past exploits or what might have happened to her, but Emily talked about it nonstop for long sections of her narration. And I wasn’t really into it.
The thing I found myself more invested in was what the synopsis advertises: saving Brambleby and finding the door to his realm. And I also (wrongly) assumed from this that we’d spend most of the book in faerie, but that didn’t end up happening, so I was a bit disappointed about that. I’m hoping that’s book three, then.
I really liked the characters, however. Emily and Wendell’s continuing romance and banter was still absolutely stellar, and I really enjoyed the new main characters introduced. It was nice to see more of Emily’s family in her niece Ariadne, and more about how things are with the faerie department in Cambridge, which we didn’t see at all in the previous installment. Professor Rose was also an interesting addition, and I really enjoyed reading about the slowly developing friendship between him and Emily.
So yeah, all in all, I really liked this book though it wasn’t quite on par with Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries. I still highly recommend it to fans of the first book, though! And to fans of faerie stories similar to the works of Holly Black.
Favorite Quotes
“Can’t you sense what enchantments are stored in the stones?” I demanded.
“No!”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “Then why do you keep on breaking them?”
“Because you told me to, you lunatic!
Rose asked me why I was not more surprised by your feat. He does not understand you as I do, Em, but as you seem to consider him a friend now, I told him the truth: in order to be surprised, I could not have known already that you are capable of anything.
I leaned close, breathing in the smell of his hair— the salt of sweat; smoke from the fire; and the distant smell of green leaves that never left him.
“My answer is yes,” I whispered in his ear.
He winced. “Yes, this is an inconvenience—but I feel much better than I did. It’s clearly the sort of poison meant to confuse my magic, but these”—he glanced about the compartment—“effects should fade soon enough.”
“That’s remarkably unspecific.”
“I’m sorry. I have never been poisoned before, so I find the symptoms difficult to predict.
I read so many books in 2023 I almost can’t believe it. Like, I’ve never, ever read so many books in one year in my entire life. 65 books people! SIXTY. FIVE.
I honestly don’t have much to say, surprisingly. Except for how sorry I am that this post is over two weeks late. Yeah, as we all know, my posting hasn’t been all that great lately. (Read: terrible.)
Anyway, I’m trying to get back into it. I’ve started a new planner. Not only that, but it’s a daily planner with daily time slots in it, as opposed to the kind I’ve been using until now that didn’t have time slots. I’m really hoping it’ll increase my productivity and motivation this year. Fingers crossed it helps. 🤞🍀
Anyway, I’ve rambled on long enough. Let’s get into the post. Here’s all my reading statistics from The StoryGraph for 2023.
A Year in Review
I read 65 books and 23,833 pages
😐 MOODS 😐
It was a rollercoaster of reading for me last year, cuz I went through a bunch of kinds of moods. (Eleven to be exact.) Adventurous was uncontestedly the largest Mood on the pie chart, but Mysterious and Emotional weren’t ones to sneeze at either. Lighthearted, Funny and Dark make up about a quarter of the graph together, but then the Moods get much, much smaller.
👢 PACE 👢
For 2023, the majority of the books that I read were medium paced (50%!). Fast paced is right on mediums tail, however, with 42% of the graph to itself. Slow is lagging very far behind with 8%, which isn’t a surprise. Since I don’t like slower paced books and all that.
🔢 PAGE NUMBER 🔢
Most of the books I read last year were between 300 and 499 pages (49%). After that there’s 300 pages or less books with 31%. I didn’t read too many really long novels last year, so they’re at the end with 20%.
📖 FICTION/NONFICTION 📖
During 2023, nearly all of the novels that I read were fiction. I actually think that I only read one nonfiction book last year – I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy.
🎭 GENRES 🎭
I read from so many different Genres from last year that I don’t really want to talk about them. But I will. A little bit. Fantasy, to no one’s surprise, is the Genre that I read from the most. It looks like I read around 55 books or so that were Fantasy. YA is next with around 15 titles, and Romance and Science Fiction are right behind it, boasting about 10 books each. Annnd after that it just starts to get way too small.
📄 FORMAT 📄
Listen – I know this chart is wrong, you know this chart is wrong. Let’s just move on from this one, okay?
✍️ MOST READ AUTHORS ✍️
This is one that doesn’t normally appear on my monthly wrap-ups. Actually, I don’t think Most Read Authors has ever appeared on one at all. For whatever reason, in 2023 I chose not to add this particular stat to my wrap-ups. I think it was because I’d only ever read multiple books from one or two different authors a month and didn’t really find it necessary to post about it. But when you look at it from a year’s perspective, it’s an entirely different story. So I thought I’d post it in my yearly wrap-up. You can see which authors I read a lot of last year.
📈📉 NUMBER OF BOOKS AND PAGES 📈📉
This graph looks a little different than it usually does. That’s because, since this is over the entirety of 2023, it’s tracking the number of books read as well. So there are two different lines here. It’s interesting to see the correlation between the novels read compared to the pages read, as well as when they were read. My highest spike of reading activity was in the last quarter of the year, during October and November where I read 13 and 10 books, respectively. The lowest that wasn’t December was during June where I think I only read 2 books. The page count and the number of books also correlate the least during July.
⭐ STAR RATINGS ⭐
My median rating for the novels I read in 2023 is 3.9, which I’m mostly happy with. It’s almost 4 stars, which means I enjoyed more books overall than I hated. Actually, I think that’s why it’s so close – because I rated over a quarter of what I read 4 stars, and a decent chunk 4.5 and 5 stars.
Wrapping Up 2023
During 2023, I read the most books that I ever had in a year. I feel very proud of myself, and it really makes me feel positive about my reading speed and my desire to do… stuff. Like, guys, my reading goal last year was 20 books. I tripled it!
I’m also not sure if I’ll ever do it again, so I’m really happy that I managed to do it last year. It’s not that I think I couldn’t ever do it again either – I know that I could. It’s just that stuff is gonna change this year and I’m going to be busier. Not to mention that I’m pretty sure that I burned out with reading novels last year because I was reading so much – well that and combined with the insanity of the holidays. But still, I don’t really want to feel obligated to do something I love.
Which is why I’m going to take it easier this year, and I’m not planning to set a reading goal. I know that I’m going to read a lot of books, anyway. Plus, I’m still gonna try for a book review a week, which means I’ll be reading a book a week.
But yeah, I think that’s it for this wrap-up. How many books did you guys read in 2023? How many pages? What did you think about the books you read, overall?
As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you have an awesome day/night!
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.
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!
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 setting ▼
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 ▼
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.”
• The characters ▼
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 ▼
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 ▼
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!
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!
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.
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!
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…
New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer concludes her young adult retelling of Rumpelstiltskin in this sequel!
Serilda and Gild attempt to break the curses that tether their spirits to Adalheid’s haunted castle before the Endless Moon, when the Erlking means to capture one of the seven gods and make a wish to return his lover, Perchta, from the underworld. But as the story progresses, it becomes clear he doesn’t want just one god – he wants to capture all seven, and force them to bring down the veil that keeps the Dark Ones separate from the land of the mortals. Serilda and Gild must try to thwart his plans, all while solving the mystery of Gild’s forgotten name, freeing his younger sister who is trapped inside Gravenstone Castle, and trying to protect their unborn child.
Romance, adventure, and Serilda’s journey to finding her power as a woman, a mother, and a partner make this a retelling that Meyer fans – old and new – will treasure.
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!
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!
