book blog Archives - A Bookie's Books

What I Read This Week: Spring Break Edition

This week was such a good reading week for me because it was spring break! I did not have anything to do for school and did not have my night classes, so I was free to read whenever I wasn’t working. I read 5 physical books, 2 digital, and 4 audiobooks.

That is 11 books! I wish I had the time to read 11 books a week more often.

Ride On by Faith Erin Hicks

I loved this! This is a graphic novel and it has amazing pictures and is so fun. I need more horse stories. I want a huge stack of graphic novels that include horses. My horse era is beginning again. I used to own horses, but now that I moved away from home it is nice to be able to miss my horses again. But back to this story! It was so cute and touching. Little spoiler, but I love a good story that doesn’t necessarily end with everyone being best buds again. It’s good to show growth and change away from people.

3 Allison Montclair Books

Disclaimer: I work for Minotaur Books the publisher of this book. My opinions about this book are mine and have no representation of the company.

I love Allison Montclair’s stories. I was really impressed by The Haunting of the Desks. It is a short story. Most extra short stories I feel like do not add anything or just don’t have a good plot structure, but this one felt like all the other books and even though it was quick it was a full story. The Lady From Burma is one I listened to on audio, and they switched narrators for this book. I HATE that, and it made this book harder to get into since I couldn’t recognize the character’s voices anymore. But I am excited to see where we go in the next book.

Swimming Lessons by Lili Reinhart

I love poetry. I love celebrity drama. These two books combined were perfect! I have not read a poetry book in a few months and this was so refreshing. This is by an actress named Lili Reinhart. She plays in Riverdale. Her relationship (which may or may not be with Cole Sprouse) is examined in this book and it’s nice to kind of see behind the scenes how someone makes someone else feel. It always looks so perfect from the camera, but seeing behind a celebrity’s eyes is always fun.

Locked in Pursuit by Ashley Weaver

Disclaimer: I work for Minotaur Books the publisher of this book. My opinions about this book are mine and have no representation of the company.

I love this series! I will say, that this book is dragging out the lets-find-out-the-secrets-of-my-dad plot point a bit longer than needed. We should have solved that mystery in this book. I hope that there is a plan here, and hope we learn the secrets in the next book or it will just get too repetitive. Though I do love the will-they-wont-they tension in this romance and how it broke epically in this book.

I’ll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong

Disclaimer: I work for Minotaur Books (and SMP) the publisher of this book. My opinions about this book are mine and have no representation of the company.

AGH HORROR! Tell me why I had this huge discussion with my roommate about how I didn’t think I liked horror because all the horror books I have read (3 books) didn’t seem like horror books. Then I asked what makes a book horror, which she said she didn’t know. Then I proceeded to say, “Well these books I have read have me horrified and disturbed by the graphic images and all the freaky stuff I saw.” She then looked at me and rolled her eyes saying, I think you just described horror. So now I get it.

I will say though if that is the definition of horror this book is mild in that term. There is some great suspense involving the secrets the narrator is holding in, but once those are revealed it gets a little slower for me. BUT I still think the ending was heart-racing and I was entirely sucked into this novel. It is on the milder side of freaky, which is a great thing because who goes looking for that kind of pain?

Secrets Never Die by Vincent Ralph

Honestly, I have nothing to say about this book. I was neither impressed nor not impressed. The ending came out of nowhere, and not in a good way. It was solidly alright.

The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

I read this book a few years back and I am adding the link to that original review here. I do not want to re-review this book, but I will say I LOVE this book.

However, my reading experience was thwarted by people on the internet. I originally read this book a long time ago in its self-published form. When I bought the official book and its sequel, I was just going to start with the sequel. But, someone online told me that I needed to re-read the first book since the self-published version and the new version were completely different and I wouldn’t understand. Well, they were wrong. It was basically all the same. If it were one of those spot-the-difference photos, I could maybe only spot the difference. It was the same. I waited two years to read this book again because I was so nervous and the text is so daunting when I could have just started the second years ago.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

AGH YET ANOTHER GRAPHIC NOVEL!!!!!!!

I love a good graphic novel. I need to read them more often! This book was so fun. The illustrations were beautiful. I was drooling over how well done they were. It was such a complex and captivating story. I was sucked in. I had originally planned to read it over a few days and I devoured it in like two hours. This is a great book!

A Conjuring of Light by VE Schwab

I do not think I have had enough time to process the end of the series. Truly I do not have words. This book was a mammoth. I enjoyed it immensely and wish it would never end. (Please do not remind me that there is a spin-off series because I already have enough on my plate). I am just glad I got through the series and that it was not a disappointing conclusion. I quite literally cried and the ending. So good!!

Okay, let me know what I should read next!

What I Read This Week

I had another good reading week. I read five audiobooks and 1 physical book. Let’s talk about them…

Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice by Elle Cosimano

Disclaimer: I work for Minotaur Books the publisher of this book. My opinions about this book are mine and have no representation of the company.

This book rocked! I am excited that the story ARC of the last books has kind of finished up. This book had me giggling uncontrollably while I listened at work. It was so funny, just like her other books. I love this series and cannot wait to find out what happens next.

Add this to your Goodreads!

Tweet Cute by Emma Lord

I thought this book was really fun, and I liked the premise. I have not read a YA romance that I enjoyed as much as this in a little bit. It was fun because it takes place on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and I currently am living in the city. So I recognized some street names. I just think the whole situation was cute. I am hoping to get my hands on some more of her books shortly.

Add this to your Goodreads!

Witch King by Martha Wells

This book was a shocker to me. I really love fantasy, but only fantasy that is uncomplex. I know that makes me simple, but I simply want to read a lot of books, and anything I have to spend a long time disgusting and understanding, I just lose interest. This book would have shaped up to be that if I had not listened to the audiobook. I read the physical book mostly at the same time I read the audiobook. I finished this book in a week. I loved it a lot. It was one of those stories that I will think about for years to come. It was excellent writing and lyrical prose. I loved all of the characters. It had Martha’s signature humor that I enjoyed when I read a couple of the Murderbot series.

Add this to your Goodreads!

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

I read it. It was an experience. Here’s the backstory. I am working at a mystery imprint at Macmillan. I am hoping that I can hone my mystery skills to continue in this genre. Therefore I have to read the most prolific mystery writer. I love starting with a writer’s first book. So I read The Mysterious Affair at Styles. And it was good. But it was not my favorite. Reading this book on audiobook is what made this not the best. I missed clues and I kept forgetting who was who. I know what to do better next time I read one of her novels.

Add this to your Goodreads!

Bite by Bite by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book from an industry connection. I was so excited to read this since Aimee is one of my favorite authors. I once had to read her poetry for class back in college, and she spoke at a visiting writers series. The love grew from there This book was honestly the best thing ever! I loved getting to experience this book early. Her writing is superb. She had me crying on the subway with how her writing impacted me. She talks about her family, and it was cool to see the evolution of her stories since World of Wonders, her other book I loved.

Add this to your Goodreads!

A Rogue’s Company by Allison Montclair

Disclaimer: I work for Minotaur Books the publisher of this book. My opinions about this book are mine and have no representation of the company.

This is the third in the series and I am still happy to continue reading the series. It is witty and a fun romp through the wartime UK. This one was especially fun because we got to see a bit more personal sides of both the main characters, and one was put directly in danger. Still a fantastic series and am currently starting the next one.

Add this to your Goodreads!

Thanks for reading!

How Should You Read Throne of Glass Read?

With the release of House of Flame and Shadow coming in January 2024, readers who love Sarah J. Maas are re-reading all of her works. I personally am reading all of her books chronologically of when she published them, starting with the Throne of Glass series.

It is a huge debate in the SJM fandom about which read order is best for Throne of Glass.

This is what I see most people say on TikTok:

Assassin’s Blade
Throne of Glass
Crown of Midnight
Heir of Fire
Queen of Shadows
Tandem: Empire of Storms and Tower of Dawn
Kingdom of Ash

This is the way I read the stories originally, and another popular way to read the books:

Throne of Glass
Crown of Midnight
Heir of Fire
Assassin’s Blade (either before or after Heir of Fire)
Queen of Shadows
Empire of Storms
Tower of Dawn (Most people still opt for the tandem read)
Kingdom of Ash

Before starting this reading I was a die-hard you should not read Assassins Blade first. I have only read Assassin’s Blade once, as it broke my tiny 16-year-old heart. I read it after Heir of Fire because that is just when I so happened to acquire the novel.

Years later, the debate on TikTok arises where there is all this talk of where you should place Assassin’s Blade in the series. I thought back to my reading and I said if you read it before ToG, you would be spoiling the entire series for yourself. The series is called Throne of Glass, not Assassin’s Blade. I had all these little reasons.

So starting out my re-read I wanted to prove everyone wrong. I wanted to prove that Throne of Glass should be read first.

And I did just the opposite.

I began reading Throne of Glass and then read each short story as it was brought up. (Assassin’s Blade is made up of 5 novellas. 4 were published before Throne of Glass, and 1 was added when they published it as a book instead of just online.) The first and third stories were the only ones brought up as anecdotes. So I read the first three once the Skull’s Bay and Silent Assassins were mentioned.

I did not read the remaining two stories till the end of Throne of Glass, mostly because I was waiting for an overt allusion to the stories. I believe there was one that I missed, but it didn’t matter.

Once I finished Assassin’s Blade, I realized I was wrong. There actually were no spoilers, it just reads that way after you know the story and some of the endings of the first few books.

I officially converted.

I am a believer in reading Assasin’s Blade first. You don’t get any spoilers. You actually get to see Celeana’s badassery more in Assasin’s Blade than if you were to just read Throne of Glass. You get to understand some of the events in the first book more if you read the novellas first.

Officially I think Assassin’s Blade is the way to go.

Now, I do not believe in the tandem read of the 5th and 6th books and I probably will not budge on that. Maybe I will discuss that in another post.

Thank you for reading!

Click on the link below to get started on your Throne of Glass journey. If you do purchase anything through that link, I may earn a small commission.

My Most Anticipated New Releases

This year of new releases is going to be a doozy.

I have listed all of the new releases that I would pay A LOT of money or sell my soul to get a hand on them right now. I love all the fantasy books I have read this year. I already read Divine Rivals and Divine Rivals, but I desperately need their sequels. Their sequels are coming out in less than a year but I am so excited to read them.

Here is my list, in order of preorders I have already bought or anticipate buying.

First up we have A Curse For True Love, the thrilling conclusion to the Once Upon a Broken Heat series. It is out October 24, 2023.

The next is the sequel to Iron Flame I wish came out as soon as I finished the first book, but is instead coming out November 7, 2023.

With Heartstopper the Show coming out recently, I am so excited for this December 19 release to finalize the print Heartstopper series.

Divine Rivals was my favorite book this year so far. I cannot wait for Ruthless Vows on December 26.

Lastly, while not a 2023 release, I cannot stop talking about Ali Hazelwood’s turn into the omegaverse on February 6, 2024.

Are any of these new releases you are excited for?

If you follow any of the links below, I may receive a small commission when purchasing. This will help support my blog.

Thanks for reading!

Check and Mate by Ali Hazelwood Review

Thank you to Penguin Teen for the copy of Check and Mate by Ali Hazelwood ARC!

Check and mate by ali hazelwood cover pink background, black and white square checkboard on bottom, chess pieces flying, blonde white girl wearing blue shirt and white skirt and brown hair tan boy wearing blue shirt and red pants shaking hands,

This is one of my most anticipated reads of this year. Ali Hazelwood cannot miss.

I loved the Love Hypothesis. And I loved this!

This is Hazelwood’s debut YA novel which was a little nerve-wracking for me. I couldn’t see how Hazelwood could go from removing galaxy-tights-during-adult-times to anything without “adult” topics.

She does it though.

The book keeps her witty charm and does have some more “raunchy” scenes while also staying true to a YA plot.

The romance is sweet and empowering. It has that male character that Hazelwood is known for with rivals-to-lovers.

The plot revolves around chess, which I believe in the acknowledgments Hazelwood addresses that she took some creative liberties, (I am not sure about the game itself or rules or tournament lingo), so for the more chess-inclined, just relax and enjoy the book.

While it is a romance book, it addresses sexism in the chess world in true Hazelwood fashion. I always appreciate her books showing the sexism in the fields she covers. Also, I love her science-field-based books, but goodness I wanted her to write more chess books. This book was so cute, divine, adorable, and a million other synonyms.

One disclaimer, the book is riddled with “cringey” stuff like talking about TikTok and slang, and I am warning you now because when it comes out I don’t want to see anyone complaining about it. It’s normal to write like that so please just let people breathe.

As always I am giving her book a five out of five stars. I thoroughly enjoyed it. No, I DEVOURED this book.

This book will be out in November, so pick up your copy.

You can pre-order Check and Mate by Ali Hazelwood by clicking on this link for Amazon. I may receive a commission from this link which would help support this blog.

Thanks for reading!!

Star Rating: 5

Happy Release Day Stephanie Garber

Happy release day to the Ballad of Never After.

This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission. Thank you!

I am so lucky and was able to get an ARC from Flatiron books. I wrote a review about it last week and you should check it out here.

The book is being sent in the mail. I got the Barnes and Noble exclusive edition. It is so pretty and beautiful. I mean it is so pretty!!!

The ballad of never after book cover barnes and nobles exlcusive edition

I am excited to see what everyone thinks about it when it comes in the mail.

Let me know what you think when you get to reading it!

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Books I Loved So Much I Had To Buy A Copy

It is time for another Top Ten Tuesday. I love doing this book tag.

“Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring book friends together.” -That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s theme:

Books I Loved So Much I Had To Buy A Copy

This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something I may earn a commission. Thank you!

I haven’t bought most of these but they are on my to-buy list. These books are really good so I need them in my personal collection.

Lore Olympus

The Love Hypothesis

Gail Carriger Books

Stalking Jack the Ripper

Heart Bones

Sorcery of Thorns

Reminders of Him

The Ballad of Never After

The Plated Prisoner Series

All My Rage

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Read This Book Series: The Plated Prisoner

I didn’t have high hopes for this book series. Boy oh boy was I surprised.

The Book(s):

Title(s): Gild, Glint, Gleam

Author: Raven Kennedy

Series: Plated Prisoner Series 1-3

Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Fae, New Adult

Pages: 402, 441, 613

Gild Synopsis-“

The fae abandoned this world to us. And the ones with power rule.

Gold.

Gold floors, gold walls, gold furniture, gold clothes. In Highbell, in the castle built into the frozen mountains, everything is made of gold.

Even me.

King Midas rescued me. Dug me out of the slums and placed me on a pedestal. I’m called his precious. His favored. I’m the woman he Gold-Touched to show everyone that I belong to him. To show how powerful he is. He gave me protection, and I gave him my heart. And even though I don’t leave the confines of the palace, I’m safe.

Until war comes to the kingdom and a deal is struck.

Suddenly, my trust is broken. My love is challenged. And I realize that everything I thought I knew about Midas might be wrong.

Because these bars I’m kept in, no matter how gilded, are still just a cage. But the monsters on the other side might make me wish I’d never left.”-Goodreads

My Review:

Why was this series so good?

I got this recommendation from a friend in my summer program. They begged me to read this series, so I gave it a shot.

And OMG I loved this series.

I am combining these three books into one review because, honestly, I cannot differentiate them because I read these three a month before writing this.

Book Plot:

The plot is sometimes iffy, but also sometimes epic. There are crazy cool things that happen.

We go from trapped prisoners in a gilded cage to– Oh well I probably cannot say much because you should learn for yourself.

Characters:

Auren is splendid. She is literally gold. She has crazy character development throughout the series. Learning more and more about her character and seeing her growth is beautiful.

The main love interest (which I won’t spoil who it is) is startling. The love interest honestly has to be in one of my top ten fantasy men. He wows me.

Book Setting:

This new world that Kennedy built impresses. The names like “Sixth Kingdom” aren’t super impressive. But the magic system, cities, and territories that Kennedy describes are pretty awesome.

Romance:

AGHHHH

Sadly, That is all I have to say without spoiling anything!

Quality of Writing:

I have a major complaint with a lot of writing in fantasy books. Most of the time their writing is lackluster. It doesn’t have a poetic quality to it. It is purely to entertain. But this book had a really good writing style.

What I Liked:

ROMANCE
Writing style
Completely engulfed me in the story
Characters that kept giving
Fae
New stuff around every turn

What I Didn’t:

Slow start
First book was not as good as the others

Read This If You Love:

Fantasy
Fae
Magic
Spicy books

Star: 4.8

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Put We Deserve Monuments On Your TBR Now: ARC Review

I received an ARC of We Deserve Monuments from sweepstakes on Net Galley. I want to thank Net Galley and the publisher.

The Book:

We Deserve Monuments cover, A girl looks at the camera wiht her curly hair covering her face, sunflowers in fronts of her — We Deserve Monuments cover pulled from Goodreads

Title: We Deserve Monuments

Author: Jas Hammonds

Expected publication: November 29th, 2022 by Roaring Brook Press

Genre: YA, LGBTQIA+, Romance

Pages: 257

“What’s more important? Knowing the truth or keeping the peace?

Seventeen-year-old Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she’s uprooted from her life in DC and forced into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery’s mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Every time Avery tries to look deeper, she’s turned away, leaving her desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two.

While tempers flare in her avoidant family, Avery finds friendship in unexpected places: in Simone Cole, her captivating next-door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, daughter of the town’s most prominent family—whose mother’s murder remains unsolved.

As the three girls grow closer—Avery and Simone’s friendship blossoming into romance—the sharp-edged opinions of their small southern town begin to hint at something insidious underneath. The racist history of Bardell, Georgia is rooted in Avery’s family in ways she can’t even imagine. With Mama Letty’s health dwindling every day, Avery must decide if digging for the truth is worth toppling the delicate relationships she’s built in Bardell—or if some things are better left buried.” –Goodreads

My Review:

We Deserve Monuments is an epic book. It was fun, emotional, and very complex. I had my e-reader on me at all moments of the day trying to devour this book.

Plot:

This was a more character-driven story, but the plot was not horrible. We got to see some different conflicts take place. The character development was actually very good in this story.

This story is very sad though. I mean I was tearing up in front of my roommates as I read this book. So many happy and sad tears. This book had me so emotional.

Characters:

Avery encapsulates the meaning of awesome. She is temperamental but has a real love for the people around her. She is not afraid to stand up to the people around her who are trying to belittle her. I envy her and her lip ring she has, but I could never get one because I am too chicken.

Simone, the love interest, creates a safe place for Avery. There is not toxicity in their relationship that I noticed which is such a nice thing I have been trending more towards reading. Simone is the sunflower girl and now whenever I see a sunflower I think of this amazing book!

Jade was a little annoying. I understand some of her hurt, but her response shouldn’t have been so dramatic.

Mama Letty was the real star of the entire novel. I loved hearing her slowly start to love her granddaughter and slowly open up to her family.

Setting:

This book takes place in some boondock Georgia called Bardell. It was a little confusing how a small town could have an extraordinarily fancy hotel when there didn’t seem to be any tourist attractions nearby. I don’t think Avery did a lot of looking around the town though, so I could be wrong.

There is also a restaurant in the middle of nowhere that I wish was real. It is a safe haven from the world outside for multiple characters in this book. I want to be able to visit this place and dance the night away.

Romance:

There is quite a cute little romance between Simone and Avery. They were too cute to handle at times. There was some tension about Simone’s sexuality in the first half. It is so interesting to read about these things that happen to everyday people.

Quality of Writing:

As this was an ARC, this was not the final draft. It will need some last-minute edits on commas and some spelling. But other than the writing was so good. I loved the symbolism that persisted. This author really can suck you in and make you feel so connected to the events and characters in the book.

What I Liked:

LGBTQIA+ representation
Happy couple stuff
Focus on the familial relationships and less on romance
The COVER

What I Didn’t:

Some questions weren’t answered at the end, but I won’t fault it for that too much

Read This If You Love:

LGBTQIA+
Black perspectives
Beautiful writing
Non-toxic relationships
YA Books
White Jeeps

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie

Star: 4.5

Books that Have Been on my TBR Since 2016

This week’s theme:

Books that You Still Haven’t Got to that Have Been on Past TBR Lists

Rebel of the Sand by Alwyn Hamilton
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
Ever the Hunted by Erin Summerill
Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige
Cinder by Marissa Meyers
Zenith by Sasha Alsberg & Lindsey Cummings
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
Fated by Alyson Noel

I had to go way way back for these, but I still havent read any of these. I have most of them on my shelf.

As always, thanks for reading,

A Bookie