Tag: book series

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The Reading Rush Tag & TBR

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Many People are now familiar with the annual Reading Rush read-a-thon hosted by Ariel Bissett and Raeleen Lemay every year. It’s become one of the most popular read-a-thon’s out there and it’s a lot of fun! Inspired by our continued isolation, the creators of The Reading Rush have decided to host a mini Stay Home read-a-thon from 4/16-4/19. They’ve also created a tag! I’m going to answer the questions and then share my mini TBR with you all!

Q1 How is your reading going staying at home?

There hasn’t been much of a change in my reading since the quarantine started. I work in healthcare and am considered essential so my life really hasn’t changed all that much! I can say my reading has been a bit slower this year and that hasn’t changed, unfortunately.

Q2 What have you been reading at home?

I don’t think think my reading tastes have been affected much. My latest reads include: Docile by K.M. Szpara, Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren, Daytripper by Fabio Moon, and A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood. All of which I gave 4 or 5 stars. There’s been less fantasy lately but I plan to rectify that as soon as possible. ; P

Q3 What is the best book you’ve read during isolation?

I read and loved Us Against You by Fredrik Backman, the sequel to Beartown. Fredrik Backman can’t write a bad book. Or at least that’s been my experience and I’ve read many of his books now. I can’t recommend this author enough and I also think he writes extremely versatile books as well. Anyone can read them regardless of genre preference.

Q4 What is your favorite feel-good book?

I struggled a bit trying to think of an answer to this question. “feel-good” isn’t my go-to when looking for a book to pick up. I really prefer the dark and twisted stories, whether it be fantasy or contemporary. But a great book that I did read recently that definitely falls under the “feel-good” category is A Sky Painted Gold by Laura Wood. I never expected to love this book as thoroughly as I did. I do love how the 1920’s setting feels and it was because of the time period and the stunning cover that I picked this book up. It didn’t disappoint. It’s one of those books you enjoy like a dessert, savoring every page. I highly recommend it!

Q5 What book do you wish you could buy or borrow from the library if it’s not available?

Oh man, this I can answer very easily! Although, the reason I don’t have the book/s is not because I can’t buy them or because they’re not available. One of my favorite series of all time is the Nevernight series by Jay Kristoff. Unfortunately, by the time I discovered these books the UK hardbacks for both Nevernight and Godsgrave were long out of print. This broke my heart because I so badly wanted to own them in the UK editions. Needless to say, when Illumicrate announced that they would be working with the publisher to do a one-time-only reprint of the first two books I was literally hysterical. I vowed right then and there that I would get a set of those books even if I had to crawl to the UK to get them. I did end up getting a set and waited not-so-patiently for the shipping date in March to arrive. When the books showed up at Illumicrate’s warehouse, they noticed a finishing touch was missing from the books and they had to send them back. Am I grateful that their attention to detail means I will get the best possible quality book? Absolutely! Am I dying a little inside because I just want to have them in my hand? YEEEESSSS. As of right now we are still waiting for a new shipping date. Ho hum.

Q6 Who is an author that you want to shout out right now?

First I want to give a shout-out to all the authors out there offering up free e-copies of their books during this time of crisis, and also to companies like Scribd who are giving away free service so people with no access to books can still read while in isolation. I think it’s wonderful to see the community come together in this way to help each other!

As for an author I’d like to shout out… well I have several favorites that I could choose from, but the first author that came to mind when I read this question wasn’t one of my favorites, but a newly discovered author. Tessa Bailey. I want to shout her out for writing and releasing Reborn Yesterday because it’s literally been so much fun reading this book! I’m not quite done with it but I am loving it, and right now I’m very grateful for that! When I heard that a popular contemporary romance author was releasing a vampire love story, I was all-in! And let me tell you.. it’s been a fun ride!

And now for the long-awaited (probably not) TBR. There are four prompts to choose books for and they are:

  1. Read a book with a house on the cover.

2. Read a book in the same room the whole time.

3. Read a book set somewhere you wish you could go.

4. Read a book that will make you smile.

The books I chose:

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden (1 & 2)

Reborn Yesterday by Tessa Bailey (2 & 4)

Instatravel by Aggie Lal (2 & 3)

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this post and please stop in again (no, really, I’m begging you) for more bookish content soon!

book reviews

Book Review: Crown of Coral and Pearl by Mara Rutherford

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Crown of Coral and Pearl (Crown of Coral and Pearl, #1) by Mara Rutherford

Young Adult, Fantasy

★★

My people had a saying about home, as they did about so many of the important things in life: a Varenian can never be lost at sea, because he calls the entire ocean home.

In the ocean city of Varenia law dictates that whichever girl the council of elders decides is the most perfect, the most beautiful, will move to the city of Ilara and marry the prince. This has been the tradition of the Varenian people for as long as they can remember. It is considered an honor to be chosen, or at least that is how you are expected to feel. In exchange for the beautiful bride the Ilarans will continue to trade with Varenia, buy their pearls, and keep the drinking water available to the community. The Varenians survival hinges upon this arrangement. Never are the Verenians allowed to travel on land and so they are at the mercy of the Ilarans.

Zadie and Nor are beautiful twins and the most likely to be chosen to marry the prince. Until Nor sustains an injury that leaves a scar upon her cheek and leaves Zadie to be the chosen one. But then the unthinkable happens and Zadie is gravely injured and Nor must go to Ilara in her place. Nor has always dreamed of traveling to land and discovering the world so this seems like it could be a dream come true for her until she learns the price that must be paid to be chosen for royalty. Prince Ceren, her betrothed, ends up being a cruel man who lives in a castle carved into a mountain where there is no sunlight or warmth. As Nor becomes close to Prince Ceren’s brother, Prince Talin, she begins to learn unbearable truths about her people and the maidens that were chosen before her. She also realizes that her family and all the other Varenians could be in grave danger and she is the only one who can help them.

The premise of an ocean city is what originally drew my attention to this book. The city is not below the ocean, but above. Houses are built on stilts and traveling from place to place requires a boat or you must swim. This turned out to be the most interesting part of this story. The plot is heavily reliant on the beauty trope for the first half of the book. At least for girls who have a chance at being chosen to marry a prince. The family of that girl is in turn heavily rewarded and would not have to worry about starving or the fact that they are able to find less and less pearls to trade to Ilara or less fish to feed to their family. In this case Nor and Zadie’s mother is completely obsessed with keeping Zadie absolutely perfect. She must not sustain an injury or have a scar of any kind. She must be perfect. Which is why it made no sense to me that she was allowed to go diving in dangerous places and continuously put herself at risk.

Nor and Zadie are extremely close. Nor has accepted that she will never go to Ilara and instead dedicates her life to protecting her sister and diving for pearls to feed their family. Zadie is the more demure of the two as she has been constantly practicing to be a queen since she was old enough to talk. She seems very willing to do her duty and leave Varenia forever no matter how much she’ll miss her family. That’s why Nor is shocked when Zadie requests the impossible from her. But Nor cannot refuse her beloved sister anything and the events that follow leave Nor going to Ilara in Zadie’s place. I did enjoy the portrayal of sisterhood. The two sisters really loved and cared for one another and Nor grieved the loss of Zadie pretty hard. 

Unfortunately there are parts of this book I found lacking. Once in Ilara Nor uncovers many truths about both Ilara and Varenia. The conflicts during this second half of the book were simply not convincing. I felt the problems could have easily been fixed with much simpler solutions than putting an entire community of people at risk. There was one scene in particular where Nor could have made a very simple and easy decision that would have in turn saved both the Ilarans and Varenians in one fell swoop… and she just didn’t. It went against her morals. I found this to be extremely annoying. It just didn’t add up. 

As for the courtier life and relationships that Nor built once in Ilara, I found that part of the book to be very bland. Not much happens at all until the end of the book when a large plot twist is revealed. The plot twist was probably my favorite aspect of the book and the only part of the story that made me even slightly compelled to read the next book. The building romance left me feeling nothing at all. I didn’t care about it. I felt it had potential when we were first introduced to the character but then it just fell flat. I’d say that the book would do fine without it but so much of what happens next will be reliant on that relationship. I especially wish it had been a more interesting element since it’s so necessary to the story. 

The book was definitely written well and I liked the main character and her gumption but the other characters were not fleshed out well enough and in turn did not inspire me to care about them at all. The story didn’t have enough intrigue to make it shine among a million other books just like it in the YA fantasy genre, either. Even though some of the aspects were definitely unique and not something I had seen before, the bare bones of the story were just like so many others before it. I do think this book offers a sense of adventure for someone who’s looking for that in a book. It’s also pretty easy reading. Between these things and the strong main character I think this book could definitely appeal to some people, it’s just not the book for me.

book reviews

ARC Review: Gather the Fortunes by Bryan Camp

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Gather the Fortunes (Crescent City, #2) by Bryan Camp

Adult, Fantasy, Sequel

★★★★

↝ARC received by Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in exchange for an honest review.↜

“The only thing death has never been is lonely.” 

Renaissance Raines, newly resurrected, is now a psychopomp, a guide that leads the souls of the dead through the Seven Gates of the Underworld. Until she shows up at the supposed death of a boy name Ramses St. Cyr to find that he has managed to escape his moment of death. As she starts to investigate where her soul has gone she ends up in the thick of a plot created by the Gods. When she discovers who is responsible for the escape of Ramses there will be hell to pay.

Gather the Fortunes is the second installment in the Crescent City series by Bryan Camp. In this book we return to the world of New Orleans and gods and tricksters. The storyline is focused on the underworld, psychopomps, and loa which was only touched upon in the first installment. The atmosphere in this book is still just as palpable as it was in the first book, very creepy and dark and it was really good to visit this world again. Many of the characters that you meet in the first book, The City of Lost Fortunes, make an appearance in this one. The main character being Renai, who ends up being somewhere between the living and the dead, helping souls travel through the underworld. The plot is not as twisty in this second installment but in turn it is also much easier to follow. 

Many of the chapters follow the same vein as the first book where they begin with different beliefs and mythologies throughout many different cultures; each usually focusing on one theme that is relevant to the chapter. Knowledge of the greek gods and mythology would make this book more enjoyable, I suspect, but it certainly isn’t required. I have very basic knowledge myself and still enjoy this series immensely. 

“What’s a life-bringing rain god doing in the underworld?” “Same thing a god does anywhere else,” Sal said. “Whatever the F**k he wants.” 

throughout this book Camp has touched on some extremely important subjects such as destruction, injustice, slavery, racism, and many other issues prominent today and in the past. He laces these important issues seamlessly throughout the book and uses his MC Renai as a voice of justice. I love her as a character. She is angry at the world for all the ways people can hate each other and she uses that anger as a powerful gift to take down her enemies. I think it’s really well done. Bryan Camp is a phenomenal writer with such intelligence I couldn’t help getting lost in the language of the book. If you read this series you will immediately understand my meaning. His books are filled to the brim with diversity of character and culture. I think there is something in these books to make almost anyone feel seen no matter where they hail from or what type of environment they grew up in. I love how the foundation of this story is built with Hurricane Katrina at its core and it speaks of a community torn apart but who refuse to stay down and are determined to rebuild again and again. In the Crescent City books New Orleans is a living, breathing character. Her Voice, Magic, and Luck being bestowed on some of my favorite characters in the books. Simply put, I doubt you’ll ever read a book like this one. If you enjoy learning about mythology, culture, gods, race, history, or the city of New Orleans specifically you will love this. I also recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy and magic in their books. This one is chock full of it. If you’re looking for a book with a young black woman as a main character, look no further. You’d be hard pressed to find another like Renaissance Raines. 

Blog Posts

Books for Fans of Harry Potter

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Yer a wizard, Harry!– Rubeus Hagrid

No  matter your age or circumstances, chances are you have heard the name Harry Potter. And even if you’ve never read the books, chances are you’ve seen the films. Harry Potter isn’t just another middle grade or YA book series. When reading the books you feel a sense of nostalgia and find yourself immersed into a tale of love and friendship, wonder and magic. Of discovering what you believe in and finding the courage to stand up for those beliefs. Of believing in yourself and the people you care about. Harry Potter is special, and for many people, the foundation on which their love of reading was built.

It would be extremely hard to imbue a new story with the same vibes you get from Harry Potter, if not impossible all together. Nevertheless, we wait and we read, hoping for another magical book to enchant us and once again wrap us up in it’s warm glow. Most of us have devoured HP many times, but there’s nothing like experiencing it for the first time. That being said, I have–a few times in the past few years–read a book or heard of one that brings it’s own wonderful originality to the page, but also gives off the vibes we crave. And even though no one can ever duplicate The Boy who Lived, I recommend the following books to Harry Potter fans of all ages.

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