Happy spooky October! October is my birth month and also Halloween and the beginning of the holiday season (in my mind) so it’s one of my favorite months of the year. It’s currently 90 degrees in Baltimore so it’s not feeling super fall like, but I can’t wait to curl up in flannel with a cup of hot cider reading a book. All time favorite thing to do in the fall. So below are the books I will hopefully be doing that with this month! Still hardcore behind on Netgalley but it’s fine!!! I’m ok!!
PHYSICAL BOOKS
The Girl the Sea Gave Back – Adrienne Young
Stalking Jack the Ripper – Kerrie Maniscalco
NETGALLEY EARC’S
The Throne of the Five Winds – S. C. Emmett
A Midnight Clear – Sam Hooker, et al
Coral – Sara Ella
The Wickerlight – Mary Watson
A Violet Fire – Kelsey Quick
Safe Harbour – Christina Kilbourne
All That’s Bright and Gone – Eliza Nellums
Good Girls Lie – JT Ellison
Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things – Jacqueline Firkins
The Map From Here to There – Emery Lord
Don’t Read the Comments – Eric Smith
The Silvered Serpents – Roshani Chokshi
The Stars We Steal – Alexa Donne
A Love Hate Thing – Whitney D. Grandison
Ink in the Blood – Kim Smejkal
The Sounds of Stars – Alechia Dow
Any of these books grace your list as well? Let’s talk in the comments!
I definitely did not get to all the books I planned to this month, but I’m okay with that. I signed up for soooo many Netgalley ARC’s that I feel buried underneath them, so I took some time off reading and read some things that I’ve just been meaning to for awhile. I still have plenty of time to get my ARC’s read before they’re released, so it will all be okay 🙂
PHYSICAL BOOKS
Sorcery of Thorns – Margaret Rogerson – 5/5 stars
The Kingdom – Jess Rothenberg – 4/5 stars
The Crowns of Croswald – D. E. Night – 4/5 stars
Sky in the Deep – Adrienne Young – 5/5 stars
Five Dark Fates – Kendare Blake – 3/5 stars
Merged – Jim and Stephanie Kroepfl – 4/5 stars
Fix Her Up – Tessa Bailey – 5/5 stars (reread)
Demon in the Whitelands – Nikki Z. Richard – 3.5/5 stars
The World is Ours – Abby Elise (ARC) – 4/5 stars
The Right Swipe – Alisha Rai – 4/5 stars
Spin the Dawn – Elizabeth Lim – 4.5/5 stars
EBOOKS
The Stone Rainbow – Liane Shaw – 3.5/5 stars
Gravemaidens – Kelly Coon – 4/5 stars
These Wicked Waters – Emily Layne – 3.5/5 stars
We Met in December – Rosie Curtis – 3/5 stars
Michigan vs. The Boys – Carrie S. Allen
The Memory Thief – Lauren Mansy – 4/5 stars
Marrow Charm – Kristin Jacques – 4/5 stars
Did anyone read any of the same books? Let’s chat about them in the comments!
‘In his pursuit of the occult, the Third Reich opened the Gate to a realm of magic and brought the world to ruin. The Gate was eventually closed, but They were already in our world and They were hungry.’
-The Lost History, Library of Avergard
Azure ‘Azzy’ Brimvine lives in a world decimated by magic, where humans have retreated underground from the overwhelming dangers of the surface. But Below is no safer than Above.
Magic borne plagues continue to eat away at the remaining human cities, a sickness that doesn’t merely kill, but creates aberrations from the stricken: people twisted by magic into something dark, dangerous, and powerful. It is an existence of fear and constant dread. When Azzy’s brother, Armin, is infected and cast out into the Above, she sets out after him, determined to be there for him no matter what he becomes.
The world Above is full of monsters, both wild and cunning, some more human than Azzy was led to believe. Armin is captured and bound for the Auction block of Avergard, a ruthless city of inhuman lords and twisted creatures. To reach him, Azzy must brave the perils of the Above and the chaotic life forms created by the Gate. To reach him, she must find allies and forge new bonds in this broken world.
And Azzy must reach him, before Armin’s new power is used to open the Gate once more.
Review
**Thank you to The Parliament House, Netgalley, and Kristin Jacques for providing me a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review**
Marrow Charm is set in a world where magic is not a desired gift, but a feared and malicious curse. Magic entered the world and twisted humans and animals into beasts that forget who they are and who are very dangerous. The world has moved underground, as the “Above” world is too dangerous to live in. When a human is “tainted” with magic, they are banished to the “Above”, as there is no stopping magic’s hold that dooms the human to either death or life as a monster.
Azzy is the daughter of a witch, living in one of the last human settlements below the surface. She is spending her life trying to protect her brother from the magic in his blood threatening to overtake him. A string of unfortunate events finds her brother cast out to Above, with her chasing after him to try and save him from herself. Her adventures take her across many miles, working with an eel lady, witch, and man/wolf. She has her own brand of magic, which isn’t really clearly explained throughout the book, just hinted at.
Marrow Charm is the first book in The Gate Cycle, a new series by Kristin Jacques. A high fantasy novel with monsters, magic, apocalyptic plagues, some light romance, and some slight cannibalism – Marrow Charm is exciting and well written for those who really enjoy fantasy. It has an interesting take on magic that you don’t generally see. Magic in books is something normally considered a gift or talent, something people should want to have. Marrow Charm creates a magical world where humans are begging to remain unaffected by magic. It creates an interesting dynamic.
I was a bit confused from time to time during some of the action scenes, and when Azzy’s specific powers were being discussed. It wasn’t very clear throughout the book what her powers are, as they don’t adhere to the normal rules. I’m assuming this will be more fleshed out and explained in a sequel.
Overall, a very good book and I would definitely check out a sequel.
Ya’lllll, I still got way too many books this month, my TBR cart is practically bursting! I’ve had such a busy month and spent practically all of it on the go travel with my boyfriend/travel buddy. Some of these books were bought in Louisville during my first ever trip to a Half Price Books, which was an overwhelming yet still very awesome experience. This upcoming month, I PROMISE I will be better!! My bank account needs it!
HALF PRICE BOOKS
HPB had a Labor Day sale that I had to take part in, even if I was in a different state! SO lucky my boyfriend tolerates my obsession!
The Right Swipe (Modern Love #1) – Alisha Rai
Uprooted – Naomi Novik
Beyond a Darkened Shore – Jessica Leake
AMAZON
Preorders and general purchases!
Bid My Soul Farewell (Give The Dark My Love #2) – Beth Revis
Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle #1) – Jay Kristoff
Godsgrave (The Nevernight Chronicle #2) – Jay Kristoff
SUBSCRIPTION BOXES
My Shelflove Crate has yet to come yet because it is delayed (again, for like the 8th time this year) so that will have to be added to October’s post. This month I have my Owlcrate monthly box and a Fox & Wit Mini Box. Owlcrate included 2 books in this box in celebration of Halloween coming up.
The Bone Houses – Emily Lloyd-Jones (Owlcrate #1)
The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson (Owlcrate #2)
Darkdawn (The Nevernight Chronicle #3) – Jay Kristoff (Fox & Wit Special Edition with character art on the reverse of the dust jacket)
PUBLISHERS
I received one book this month from Month9 Books in exchange for an honest review!
Demon in the Whitelands – Nikki Z. Richard
Have you read any of these or purchased any this month as well? Tell me about how many books you acquired in the comments!
Welcome to the Kingdom… where ‘Happily Ever After’ isn’t just a promise, but a rule.
Glimmering like a jewel behind its gateway, The Kingdom is an immersive fantasy theme park where guests soar on virtual dragons, castles loom like giants, and bioengineered species–formerly extinct–roam free.
Ana is one of seven Fantasists, beautiful “princesses” engineered to make dreams come true. When she meets park employee Owen, Ana begins to experience emotions beyond her programming including, for the first time… love.
But the fairytale becomes a nightmare when Ana is accused of murdering Owen, igniting the trial of the century. Through courtroom testimony, interviews, and Ana’s memories of Owen, emerges a tale of love, lies, and cruelty–and what it truly means to be human.
Review
In the end, it does not matter what a story is about. It only matters who gets to tell it.
Jess rothenberg, the kingdom
The Kingdom is a futuristic Disney World concept where there are robotic “Princesses” that are programmed to be perfect customer service employees, basically. They are forced every day to provide cheer and perfect experiences for their guests in the park, because the outside world is so bleak and the people deserve to have a perfect time at The Kingdom. Ana is a Fantasist that comes to recognize the faults of her pretty, perfect life and starts to fight back slowly, as much as she is capable of.
Owen is a park employee that Ana meets one day. Ana falls in love with him after several interactions where Owen shows her kindness. As the reader you know there is more to his interaction with her than Ana sees in the moment, which lends a deeper level of intrigue to this already interesting human/robot relationship.
Y’all this book is DARK. I put off reading The Kingdom for awhile because the synopsis made it feel somewhat fluffy for my tastes but I was SO WRONG. Immediately you are presented with Ana in the present and the past. The chapters switch between before she is accused of Owen’s murder, and during her trial for Owen’s murder. This provides you with SOME context, but really it doesn’t give anything away as you read the book. It somewhat like the Illuminae Files in how half the chapters are structured.
Also, when I say this book is dark, I mean it is SUPER FREAKING DARK. There are themes of memory tampering, sexual harassment/assault, violence, animal torture, etc. It seems The Kingdom is meant to be a Black Mirror-esque take on Disney World and how far our society could go to create amusement parks. It also brings up an interesting discussion about what rights robots have in society and what their moral compass is.
If you are looking for a light, fun, easy read; The Kingdom may not be for you. If you want a dark, serious, thought provoking take on society and our pitfalls; definitely pick up The Kingdom. And seriously, if you watch Black Mirror, read this.
DEMON IN THE WHITELANDS is LET THE RIGHT ONE IN meets INTO THE FOREST, a debut YA novel from Nikki Richard.
Sometimes no matter how hard you try, some things cannot be explained.
Sixteen-year-old Samuel, son of devout cleric, has endured shame and prejudice his entire life. Although he is destined to become clergy too, he longs for an ordinary life in the whitelands away from demons and holy roots.
When the mayor claims to have captured a mute demon girl, Samuel is forced to become her caretaker. But as Samuel gets to know the prisoner, he finds her not to be very demonlike. Instead, she is intelligent, meek, and an exceptional artist. Despite her seeming goodness, some more concerning things cannot be explained. Samuel is hard-pressed to reconcile her uncanny strength and speed, missing arm, ambiguous gender, and the mysterious scars covering most of her body.
Samuel forms a deep attachment to the girl with predator eyes and violent outbursts, against his father’s advice. Their friendship could turn into something more. But when Samuel discovers the mayor’s dark intentions, he must decide whether to risk his own execution by setting her free or watch as the girl is used as a pawn in a dangerous game of oppression, fear, and murder.
Review
**Thank you to Month9 Books and Nikki Z. Richard for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**
Demon in the Whitelands takes place in a post apocalyptic world. Samuel is the 16 year bastard of a cleric (and clerics are not allowed to touch anyone physically let alone have a child). Samuel has been training to take after his father a cleric when the mayor of the town captures what he believes to be a demon. The girl doesn’t speak but has unexplainable powers and is very violent when provoked. Samuel is offered the opportunity to become a patrolman instead of be a cleric, which he gladly accepts. Demons in the Whitelands follows his story in watching over the girl and deciding what to do with his life.
I like this book because none of the characters are redeemable. They ALL have their issues and pretty much accept that. There is no perfect character. The religion aspect is interesting, and seems pretty reasonable for a post apocalyptic world. There is some minor political intrigue that drives the plot of the book, but is not the focus of the book.
Overall, I thought this was a decent read. I felt the ending could have done more but I also understand why the author chose to end the story that way. The writing is on the darker side and there is a decent level of violence in this book. There really isn’t much romance, it’s touched on briefly but is not the primary focus of the book.
Demon in the Whitelands is Nikki Z Richard’s debut novel for Month9 Books. Check it out!
Greetings, fellow readers! It’s the beginning of another new month of reading! I have a HUGE stack of books that I need to read, plus more on Netgalley! Once you get some reviews done a few more books get approved and the ratio starts to slide again! I do plan on reading more physical books this month, so I’m hoping for a better balance.
PHYSICAL BOOKS
Sorcery of Thorns – Margaret Rogerson
The Kingdom – Jess Rothenberg
The Crowns of Croswald – D. E. Night
Sky in the Deep – Adrienne Young
The Novice – Taran Matharu
Stalking Jack the Ripper – Kerrie Maniscalco
Five Dark Fates – Kendare Blake
Merged – Jim and Stephanie Kroepfl
NETGALLEY EARC’S
The Stone Rainbow – Liane Shaw
Gravemaidens – Kelly Coon
These Wicked Waters – Emily Layne
We Met in December – Rosie Curtis
Michigan vs. The Boys – Carrie S. Allen
The Memory Thief – Lauren Mansy
Ink in the Blood – Kim Smejkal
The Throne of Five Winds – S. C. Emmett
The Sound of Stars – Alechia Dow
A Love Hate Thing – Whitney D. Grandison
18 books is a very lofty goal…. so we’ll see if I can manage it! Any of the same books showing up on your TBR this month? Let’s chat about them 🙂
Happy last day of August! Where oh where did this month go? I feel like I was just typing July’s Wrap Up post yesterday! This month I got a good deal of reading done, including every single book that was on my TBR for August! I don’t think that has happened since I started keeping track, so I’m very impressed and happy with myself!
PHYSICAL BOOKS
So I definitely read a lot fewer physical books because I wanted to really crack down on my Netgalley TBR. I really missed reading physicals books though, so September will at least be more balanced between physical and ebooks, if not more.
Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) – Laini Taylor – 5/5 stars
A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers #1) – Brigid Kemmerer – 5/5 stars
Ignite the Stars (Ignite the Stars #1) – Maura Milan – 5/5 stars
Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered #1) – Tessa Bailey – 5/5 stars
EBOOKS
I managed to get my Netgalley ratio up to 50% this month by reading a bunch of the eARC’s! It would have been higher but I was also approved for more during the month 🙂
Eclipse the Skies (Ignite the Stars #2) – Maura Milan – 4/5 stars
Realm of Knights (Knights of the Realm #1) – Jennifer Anne Davis – 4/5 stars
The Weight of a Soul – Elizabeth Tammi – 4/5 stars
Crown of Coral and Pearl (Crown of Coral and Pearl #1) – Mara Rutherford – 5/5 stars
Tweet Cute – Emma Lord – 5/5 stars
The Lady Rogue – Jenn Bennett – 3/5 stars
As you can see I managed to get a lot of really good reading done, of which I am super happy for. I’m also looking forward to what the next month will bring!
The fact that it is already August is definitely blowing my mind. This month is the boyf’s and my third anniversary. We’re going to Lewes, DE to stay in the Dogfishhead Inn (we’re both really into craft beer) and we even splurged on the Romance package :). I’m excited to get some good reading done this month, though it is going to HEAVILY contain eARC’s from Netgalley! I’m very behind (my ratio is like 28%) and want to get caught up so I can be approved for more books. Outside of Netgalley, I’m going to try to fit in a few backlist physical books so I’m not just staring at my iPad all month (talk about killing your eyes). So see below for my reading plans!
Netgalley eARC’s
Swipe Right For Murder – Derek Milman
Midnight Beauties – Megan Shepherd
The Murder List – Hank Phillippi Ryan
Eclipse the Skies – Maura Milan
The Weight of a Soul – Elizabeth Tammi
Crown of Coral and Pearl – Mara Rutherford
Tweet Cute – Emma Lord
The Lady Rogue – Jenn Bennett
Physical books
A Curse So Dark And Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer
Strange the Dreamer – Laini Taylor
It’s a bit of an ambitious month because of the eARC’s, but I’ve found I read those faster than physical books? I’m not really sure how that works, but I’ll take it! Especially with trying to get through 8 in one month, while going away on vacation.
If you have any of these on your TBR, keep an eye out for my reviews as they come!
Good evening friends! I keep shrinking my book hauls because I am broke! Like actually – I lost my debit card and have no money while I wait for a replacement to come. And the worst part?? I found the card 2 days after I reported it lost! So now I get to just stare longingly at my debit card, unable to use it. Either way, I’m still on a general book buying ban as the boyf and I still have two big trips coming up, and it’s our anniversary next month!
BOOK BOXES
My June OwlCrate and FairyLoot arrived this month. This was my first FairyLoot box. I did not subscribe, just purchased the one box as I wanted to try the box and because I really wanted Wicked Fox. That cover just drew me in!
Spin the Dawn – Elizabeth Lim (exclusive cover)
Wicked Fox – Kat Cho (stained edges)
BARNES AND NOBLE
I was bad and ordered from B&N once. I mean, they gave me a coupon what’s a girl to do? It’s like a book lover’s requirement! Also, I just really wanted to purchase these two books (plus a preorder for Queen of Nothing, eep!)
DEV1AT3 – Jay Kristoff
The Beholder – Anna Bright
Did you also pick up these books? Or have you read any of them? I haven’t picked any of them up yet so please let me know 🙂
Baltimore Bibliophile 