Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror Delight edited by Shelly Page + Alex Brown | ARC Review

April 22, 2023April 21, 2023 meltotheanyAsideLeave a comment

Goodreads | Amazon US | B&N | Blackwell’s | Bookshop

ARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss

there is something just extra cool and extra harrowing about all these stories taking place under the same moon on the same halloween night. very galaxy brain of these editors. Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane was my very personal favorite – it really meant the entire world to me. and Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle is one i feel so thankful to have been able to read, and i know it will sit inside my heart forever. but here are my thoughts on all the stories in this collection, and i think so many people are gonna have a good time with this one, especially if you read this during spooky season.

━━♡ Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia by Vanessa Montalban ★★

“If you would’ve just waited for me to tell you I felt the same, if you would’ve never come here, I’d be yours. We’d be ours.”

i was obsessed with this sinking abandoned hotel setting, but sadly that was one of the few things i did like about this short story. i kept waiting for a different kind of revenge story to start because of the set up, but, sadly again, i was let down.

tw/cw: drinking, drugs, mention of bullying in past, brief mention of seizure in past (insinuating bc of overdose or excessive drug use), death

━━♡ The Visitor by Kalynn Bayron ★★★

“They were like beacons in an endless abyss of grief.”

this story has a few lines that made me tear up. this is a very sweet and spooky tale about a girl and her father celebrating halloween and honoring someone they lost. i feel like the author did such a good job conveying so many different emotions and feelings in the different scenes in this short work, i was really impressed.

tw/cw: loss of a parent in the past, grief

━━♡ A Brief Intermission by Sara Farizan ★★★

“Whenever someone talks about the “good old days,” they forget to mention who it was “good” for.”

okay truly, drive in movies are just the perfect creepy setting, especially ones that are closed for halloween because of a generational secret being kept. i really liked both of our main characters in this one, and i liked seeing this secret unravel alongside them.

tw/cw: blood, gore, brief hospital setting, mention of fatal car crash in past, microaggressions, vomiting, animal death (rats)

━━♡ Guested by Rebecca Kim Wells ★★★

“Mrs. Choi thought Guested parties were white people nonsense or the work of the devil. Sometimes both.”

you all know a story about sibling love is always going to get me, and this being told in second person really amplified all the feelings. i will say, i just didn’t enjoy the ending of this one, but the concept was really unique and smart, and the writing was very captivating – i would love to read more from this author.

tw/cw: very brief mention of parents divorcing + death of a parent, possession, depression depiction

━━♡ Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle by Kosoko Jackson ★★★★★

“There is no God here tonight. Only me, and I am vengeful.”

this short story is worth reading the entire anthology for alone. this was truly everything for me and, even though it pulled on everything inside my heart, the very vulnerable, real, + raw feelings were just so powerful to me. this is exactly what i want in horror, because, at the end of the day, humans are more horrifying than any paranormal creature could ever dream of being.

tw/cw: needle imagery, toxic friendship, codependency depiction, chronic pain mention, homophobia, homophobic slurs, blood, abuse, ouija board, very brief mention of domestic abuse + parental abuse + loss of a parent + murder in past with a side character. this story has a central focus on a gay hate crime / gay bashing – please use caution while reading and make sure you’re in the right headspace

━━♡ The Three Phases of Ghost Hunting by Alex Brown ★★★

“Terrifying Bob won’t even mess with the Jollibee, which makes me sad on his behalf.”

my favorite part of this was just how filipinos really do normalize ghosts + spirits hahaha. but i really loved the set up of this one, and i felt like it’s really different than anything else in this collection. i loved these characters instantly too, and the sibling relationship made my heart so happy in so few pages. i just really didn’t love the end of this one and it left me more confused than anything else. but i would happily read a full-length story with this crew + their new friend!

tw/cw: talk of death + possession

━━♡ Nine Stops by Trang Thanh Tran ★★

“You can love something so hard that you hate it at the same time. Each shortcoming hurts more because you care. The city and my body are like that.”

ahhh, this one is going to be a bit hard to write feelings for just because this story is centered around one of those “if you dont do BLANK, then BLANK will happen” on the internet things – and i just loath those so much. but then it just got more and more gross and confusing, and added so much that just didn’t need to be there, but felt like they were added because it was a halloween anthology. we got to see some heartfelt themes of grief and the helplessness you feel when you lose someone you love – and i loved that – but sadly everything else just overshadowed it for me.

tw/cw: asian hate crime, racism, loss of a loved one, grief depiction, graphic animal cruelty + death for a ritual, insect mention, blood

━━♡ Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane by Maya Gittleman ★★★★★

“The smell of sampaguita fills the air. It’s coming from you, the magic that’s always been you, that you’ve finally given yourself the ability to unlock.”

not only my favorite of the collection, but a brand new all time favorite short story. this was everything and so very powerful. i might be a little biased because i am fillipino (and i have a matching sampaguita tattoo with my cousin haha), but i think this story is truly just perfection, while being so deep in culture and so deep in heart. and i was weeping through the ending with a smile on my face. the author was so galaxy brain for this entire story, but the amount of hope it was able to evoke from me too. i really am speechless.

whatever this author does next, i will be in the publisher’s emails begging for an arc, because these few pages truly made me feel not only seen, but like i am finding a brand new all time favorite author.

tw/cw: talk of loss of a parent in the past, mention of deaths, one sentence mention of whitening cream/treatment

━━♡ In You to Burn by Em X. Liu ★★

“Magic wasn’t real, after all. There were better, more mundane ways to explain things.”

ah, i wish i would have loved this one more. i am not really sure what to say other than maybe the writing just wasn’t for me. but the plot just seemed a little all over and i wasn’t really sure where the story was going most of the time. it also felt very long to me.

tw/cw: fires, drinking, blood, death

━━♡ Anna by Shelly Page ★★★★

“I know that bone-deep loneliness that comes with being abandoned and the fear that it’ll keep happening no matter what you do.”

okay i think this story was like exactly what i was expecting from this collection, and it just was really good and really halloween spooky. it was the paranormal scariest of them all for me, and i was really feeling the eeriness while reading (and while finishing). a good reminder why i love short story collections so much, because i am now very excited to read more from this author.

tw/cw: abandonment, child abuse in past, starvation, ouija board

━━♡ Hey There, Demons by Tara Sim ★★★★

“Halloween. One way or another, he was going to get rid of this poltergeist for good.”

oh this was just a good read all around, and so different in tone from the rest of the collection. and it just really made my heart overflow with happiness, while still being spooky. i know these are fictional characters, but i really wish them the best because they were able to get into my heart in so few pages!

tw/cw: ghost leaving scratches on children, blood, implied loss of a parent in past

━━♡ Save Me from Myself by Ayida Shonibar ★★★★

“Today, my outside resembles the way I feel within.”

this really is the short story from this collection that is going to be the hardest (and most all over the place) to talk about. i loved this story, i loved what it was doing, i loved that i very easily could see how much this will mean to so many teens, especially queer bipoc teens, who i know are feeling these things, thinking these things, and seeing themselves like this main character. this is an important and powerful read, and was able to evoke so much emotion from me. but i just absolutely hated the end of this. i felt like it was for shock value and just felt terrible when the rest of this story was everything i could have hoped for for this collection. again, i feel like this is just a hard one to talk about, but it still is a bright, but heartbreaking, shining light in this collection for me.

tw/cw from author at start of this story: suicidal ideation, death
tw/cw that i found additionally: mention of parent abandonment, loss of a friend, loss of a parent, and… so many intrusive thoughts

━━♡ Knickknack by Ryan Douglass ★★★

“And…how do we find a sacrifice worthy of his Clownliness?”

truly, very few things in this life are scarier than clowns. and a clown who is a ghost and kidnaps and kills children? like, i was unsettled from start to end! i also really enjoyed the queer rep in this because i think its a very relatable “is this person maybe queer too” highschool experience, and i know a lot of people will be able to relate. this was spooky and sweet and i had a good time with it.

tw/cw: murder in past, death in past, kidnapping, brief one sentence mention of parent alcohol addiction and cheating of a parent, just not the best parents in general, brief mention on bullying in past, mention of 4chan, ouija board.

The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

♡ buddy read with evie

march reading wrap up | 2023

April 4, 2023April 3, 2023 meltotheanyAside13 Comments

oh hello, friends! it is time for the ten books i read in march (funny how i’ve read ten things each month, right? subconsciously making it easy on myself to make some graphics hehe!) so the next blog post will be all about my actual reading statistics for these last three months and i can’t wait!

basically, i am posting my january, february, and march wrap ups – and then i will be doing my first quarter of 2023 statistics! i am still slowly getting back into reviews + blogging, but my hunger for reading is still very much here – and i am so very happy about it! but maybe for this year, i will focus more on doing quarterly things like this while trying to get back into the swing of more things bookish content! i hope you enjoy + thank you always for spending some of your time with me. 🤍

✨ Legendborn (Legendborn, #1) by Tracy Deonn
♡ evie’s amazing spotify playlist

“They are past-tensing my heart—my whole beating, bleeding, torn heart—right in front of me.”

I really enjoyed this one so much, much like most of my friends on goodreads. I also adore an arthurian legend reimagining, and this one is for sure my new favorite – so smartly done and so galaxy brain, truly. The grief depiction in this is going to mean a lot to so many, and it was also very empathetically and powerfully done, in my opinion. I really love Bree, and she really captured my heart in this book.

trigger + content warnings: loss of a loved one/parent, hospital settings, talk of car accidents, grief, anxiety, harry potter character mention, racism, a lot of microaggression, talk of police brutality, blood depictions, harm to get blood, death, gore, violence, vomiting, animal death (boar), talk of rape in the past, child abuse in the past, slavery, generational trauma, panic attacks, ptsd, torture, magical compulsion, child birth

✨ Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk
♡ the group book for Bethany’s TorDotComAthon

“I would do anything for you, and I did.”

This is a gorgeous and heartfelt story, set in historical chicago, where we follow a warlock detective trying to capture a serial killer. This book also just had a lot of things that really worked for me, as a reader. It focuses on a sapphic romance throughout, we get to see the main character’s unconditional love for her little brother constantly, and we get to try to solve a mystery with the ritual killer’s name being white city vampire but it involving angels and demons. All really cool and beloved things in my heart and personal taste buzzword wheelhouse! But this is also a book about sacrifice and love and hope and how those three things can take so many different shapes, yet sometimes they look the very same. I highly recommend this one and pray it will be the first book in a series.

trigger + content warnings: a lot of mentions of homophobia, mention of conversion therapy, institutionalization, talk of loss of a loved one, mention of a car accident involving death, abduction, murder, gore, ritual killings, human sacrifice, a lot of blood depictions, self harm for blood for magic, possession, misogyny, brief mention of throwing up, gun violence involving cops, a lot of smoking + alcohol consumption.

✨ Once Upon a Broken Heart (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #1) by Stephanie Garber

“I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. Every story has the potential for infinite endings.”

I didn’t know how i’d feel about this one, because even though i loved jacks in the caraval series, he didn’t wrap up that trilogy on the best note for me. But I think i just really like stephanie garber’s writing, and she crafts a type of fairytale whimsy feeling that i just really vibe with as a reader. Yes, give me all the descriptions of clothes and food and gardens and magical doors, i want it all. And then throw in a magical prophecy, some twists and turns with deadly kisses, and some mysterious princes, and i am going to flip those pages with lightning speed. I had so much fun with this, truly. And dare i say, i even liked evangeline more than scarlett and donatella, pink hair and all.

trigger + content warnings: blood depictions, self harm to get blood for magic, loss of loved ones (parents), death, violence, a little gore, a lot of magical compulsion, + a mean step parent / parental verbal abuse.

✨ The Ballad of Never After (Once Upon a Broken Heart, #2) by Stephanie Garber

“In the morning, you can forget it. You can go back to pretending you don’t like me, and I can pretend that I don’t care. But for tonight, let me pretend you’re mine.”

The inn setting/scene in this book deserves six stars. This is just such a fun series, that is filled with so much angst, and it truly feels impossible for me to stop turning the pages once i get sucked into stephanie garber’s worlds. I enjoyed this one even more than the first, and i will be begging flatiron for an arc of book three come this autumn – because that end? Sick and twisted in the best way imaginable.

trigger + content warnings: self harm for blood/magic, blood depictions, violence, death, murder, captivity, extreme nightmares, spider mentions

✨ The Mythic Dream edited by Dominik Parisien + Navah Wolfe

“I don’t bite holes in the world because I dislike the world, I bite holes in it because I have these teeth.”

this is an anthology that so many of my friends were absolutely loving, but sadly i just did not feel the same upon finishing. but there were some really amazing stories among the mostly mediocre (god, i sound so mean, but it really is true). He Fell Howling by Stephen Graham Jones + Bridge of Crows by Neon Yang were my two favorites! ¡Cuidado! ¡Que Viene el Coco! by Carlos Hernandez + Live Stream by Alyssa Wong were also five stars and amazing for me!

✨ That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon (Mead Mishaps, #1) by Kimberly Lemming

“Maybe I wasn’t traveling with a straight villain. Perhaps he was just villain-adjacent. I could work with that.”

this is such a delightful cozy fantasy, but it also does have some higher stakes at play, while also talking about some, and having some, heavier themes and topics. (please look at some content warnings down below!) but i really enjoyed this one, especially the first half and set up. this also is a four part quest storyline, and you all know how much i love watching characters travel to their adventures! i was so impressed with this, and i promise it is a very high three star, but i just didn’t love how… intense.. the love interest was towards the last half of this book. but i very much do not think that will be an issue for many readers, especially romance readers! plus cinnamon is just the absolutely best main character, and she is so effortlessly funny! i am so excited to continue on in this world!

author’s cw/tw: light bdsm, dubcon, violence, sexually explicit content

other cw/tw that i wrote down while reading: drinking, loss of a loved one in past, grief depiction, threat of sexual violence, violence, abuse, slavery, blood, torture, vomit, animal death (alligator haha), mention of kidnapping, fatphobic comments that are in a negative light + immediately challenged/shut down

✨That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf (Mead Mishaps, #2) by Kimberly Lemming

“The stoic barmaid and flirtatious orc. I’d read that romance novel any day.”

okay, i just love this world a whole lot. this book was even better for me, because we mostly got to stay in this little village that has completely stolen my heart. this second installment follows cin’s best friend, brie, who is also a big lover of paranormal romance, get to live her best romantic main character life. but much like the first book, these also deal with some heavy themes. but there is also so much light, happiness, and laughter within these pages. oh and a lot of steam (view spoiler)!

i extra think this one would be perfect for the autumn season. and… i just cannot wait for more books in this series, but i truly never want to leave this world!

iauthor’s cw/tw: light bdsm, dubcon, violence, sexually explicit content

other cw/tw that i wrote down while reading: drinking, harassment, attempted drugging, mention of vomit, kidnapping, human trafficking, threat of heart attack/fear of heart attack, talk of abandonment in past, self harm to get blood for magic, cults, mention of plague + sickness, insufferable incels lol

✨ A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness, #1) by Joe Abercrombie

“Why folk insisted on singing about great warriors all the time, Rikke couldn’t have said. Why not sing about really good fishermen, or bakers, or roofers, or some other folk who actually left the world a better place, rather than heaping up corpses and setting fire to things?”

i will forever be a character driven reader, and oh my god did joe abercrombie make me fall in love with every character he created in this book – from heroes, to villains, to… mostly all the characters are that grey area in-between. i really loved this set up, and the ending left me requesting book two from my library upon reading the last page. also, i know this will make a few of you sad at me – but this is my first abercrombie (i know, i know)! i will most likely go back and read the previous series connecting to this world’s past, but i just wanted to finally read a abercrombie and i thought picking up his most recent work was the safest bet. but this book has so many moments where you just know it would be more impactful if you knew this person (or this person’s parents)! so i do also completely acknowledge that if i were familiar with all his work, i probably would have given this five stars! but also – if you pick it up on its own, and are a lover of character driven, multiple povs, adult fantasy – i think you will also really enjoy this one!

trigger + content warnings: war, uprisings, battles, violence, gore, blood, murder, death, loss of loved one, death of child, child labor, talk of child abuse, labor camps, animal death, ptsd depiction, a lot of drug use (cocaine like), threat of rape, threat of torture, torture, suicide, captivity, abduction, colorism, racism, homophobia, fatphobic comments, ableist language, dubious consent a little bit imo, incest, seizures, menstruation, vomiting, mention of cannibalism.

✨ She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran

“I’m lost for words over the million little ways we can hurt for family we hardly know.”

I really did love so much about this book, story, the characters. An eldest daughter, seeing all the sacrifices that her family who immigrated to the us are still making for her, while she feels not enough in all the different ways. Seeing colonization seep into everything, from generation after generation, and being unable to look away once you have opened your eyes to it. Feeling different enough in both words already, and being queer on top of it all. This is a very powerful read, with themes that really meant a lot to me. I loved the writing too. I just didn’t love this story, even if i still recommend completely because of the themes. And i will for sure pick up everything else this author does in the future.

author’s cw/tw: internalized biphobia, body horror, bugs, systemic/interpersonal racism, colonialism, death of a parent, blood, bones, depiction of a hanging, murder, mention of domestic abuse. (Food is a significant, thematic thread throughout She Is a Haunting. While the book doesn’t discuss eating disorders, some of the conversations and depiction of food may be difficult for some readers.)

✨ Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 1 by Mizuho Kusanagi

“The years we spent together… The princess who adored you… You destroyed them all.”

You all have wanted me to read this for so long, and i am so thankful i finally picked it up. I mean, you all had me at bodyguard romance regardless, but i was always apprehensive because my brother told me she had a crush on her cousin >.< !! But i promise, that gets “fixed” very quickly in this first installment, but i fear i cant say anything else without giving too much away! but not knowing anything else really had me turning these pages so quickly I cannot wait to get my hands on vol two soon soon soon.

trigger + content warnings: loss of a loved one, loss of a parent, murder, death, violence, unwanted touching, grief depiction, snakes + leeches

whewwww! okay, friends! three months, and thirty books worth of reading and minis reviews, complete! i hope you enjoyed, truly. it was a lot of fun making these, and maybe i will be a little quicker doing them in the coming months! again, i am really trying to not put any pressure on myself with bookish content, but my heart truly overflows that i am having such a good time consistently reading every day again! i am sending you all so much love and i hope reading (and life) has been extra kind to you lately, too!

february reading wrap up | 2023

March 31, 2023March 31, 2023 meltotheanyAside10 Comments

hi hi, again! i am so excited to talk about the ten things i read in the month of february!

✨ Finale (Caraval, #3) by Stephanie Garber
➽ 1.) Caraval ★★★★
➽ 2.) Legendary ★★★★

“I used to love the idea of something being so tremendous that it was worth dying for. But I was wrong. I think the most magnificent things are worth living for.”

I read book one in 2016 and book two in 2017, so it has been a while since i have been immersed into this world! But i very much wanted to finish out this series (in 2023) so i could pick up once upon a broken heart! Sadly, I didn’t love this one. I still saw that magical shine of the world in glimpses throughout this book (like the midnight market!), but I just found most of the characters so insufferable. Like, Julian was the only character I cared about and was empathetic towards. The rest? Questionable choice after questionable choice. And the alternating perspectives of the sisters making those questionable choices did not do this story any favors, sadly. I also just really hate the trope at the end with how things got mended! (view spoiler) But i can’t wait to see how i will feel with the new series and i hope it brings back the magic of caraval for me!

trigger + content warnings: blood depiction, getting blood for magic, loss of a loved one/loss of a parent, grief depiction, abusive parent, kidnapping, captivity, murder, possession, heart attacks, torture, gore, and spiders!

✨ Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin

“Not kings. Just selfish men.”

nk jemisin is so brilliant and such a gift to our world. i really recommend going into this one without reading reviews, just enjoy this wonderfully crafted story that is very clever and… ahhh, i just love jemisin so much. also, personal to me, i love an unexpected colorado river mention 🙂

tw/cw: racism, colorism, misogyny, misgendering, slavery, mention of cancer, ageism, ableism, fatphobia

✨ Bloody Summer by Carmen Maria Machado

“Even if it meant being wild on soil never meant to bear me.”

This was harrowingly heartbreaking and carmen is really such a gifted author and can evoke so much pain and so much healing, even with so few pages. This short story is told under the guise of a research paper from the future, and moves forward with a new article or new interview, researching children’s hand clapping games that gives clues about how a small Pennsylvania town, named Never-Again, was massacred by tigers in 1999, where only one child did not disappear. With the last interview in this research project being from that sole survivor, now very much an adult. And this reading like a real piece of nonfiction really just added a whole other layer. But carmen always weaves this unexplainable magic of breaking my heart and simultaneously healing it with each piece they craft, and this short story was no different. To find freedom and power from your trauma(s) is something i deeply wish for everyone.

trigger + content warnings: a lot of off page violence to children, off page rape and sexual assault, off page pedophilia, mention of suicide, mentions of colonization, death, blood depictions, drawing blood, animal death. (i know these are some heavy tws but truly all were done in a very nongraphic way for me, personally. But still use caution for your own self and mindset.)

✨ Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Finlay Donovan, #1) by Elle Cosimano

“My relationship with Panera was complicated.”

okay i am so not the target audience for this, and i still really loved it. and i was constantly surprised, which is something i didnt expect going in! but it did touch on some dark things, so i will post some tw/cw down below, but highly recommend this to anyone, even if you think it’s not for you! (maybe especially if you think it’s not for you!)

trigger + content warnings: mention of cheating in past, blood, abusive relationships, drugging attempt, mention of stalking, mention of sexual assault + rape, mention of taking photos without consent, mention of blackmail, very brief mention of trafficking, maybe a very brief mention of cancer (“the big c”), hurt/abandoned dog.

✨ The Disordered Cosmos: A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

“Access to a dark night sky—to see and be inspired by the universe as it really is—should be a human right, not a luxury for the chosen few.”

highly recommend this to everyone, but especially people studying and working in stem spaces! i still feel a little uncomfy reviewing nonfiction (hopefully i can get better at it, but if not… that’s okay too) but this one just really meant a lot to me on a lot of different levels. i am so happy it is now part of my universe.

✨ A Dowry of Blood (A Dowry of Blood, #1) by S.T. Gibson

“I made you into my private Christ, supplicated with my own dark devotions.”

I love epistolary novels, but this one could very well be my favorite. This is a reimagining of dracula, but told from the pov of his first bride who is writing a letter to him about their story, and we learn from the very first letter that she became his downfall. But this is also a story about abusive relationships and how power dynamics, manipulation, gaslighting, are sometimes very difficult to see. We get to see their story unfold from the very first day he made her a vampire under the promise of saving her to the very end where promises of love could no longer be masked as unconditional.

This book also very much discusses consent and how power dynamics and manipulation also can play a part in an individual saying yes when they may not under other healthier and safer circumstances. And also just… how hard it can be to leave an abusive relationship… especially when he is a powerful immortal vampire.

There is a lot of overall morally grey things happening too, and something in part 3 I just personally didn’t love – so that is why this sadly did not receive a full five stars from me. But everything else was actual perfection, the writing felt like eating honey in reading form (truly some of the best prose I’ve read in years), and overall this was such a powerful read that i know i will keep with me forever.

trigger + content warnings: blood, war, death, murder, abuse, gaslighting, ptsd, trauma, grief, depression, self harm for blood, self harm (with needle), anxiety, plague, medical experimentation, brief mention of human trafficking, loss of a loved one

✨ Mysteries of Thorn Manor (Sorcery of Thorns, #1.5) by Margaret Rogerson
➽ Sorcery of Thorns ★★★★

“When she opened it, she discovered a handwritten dedication on the patterned endpapers: To my beloved—may you always believe in fairy tales. Smiling, she traced her fingers over the letters, feeling the indentations they had left on the paper. This was one of the things she loved best about books. She might never know who had written the dedication, or how long ago, or to whom, but she could briefly clasp hands with them across eternity, a chance meeting of souls made possible by their shared love of a story.”

this was a super cozy and fun novella that i really recommend if you’re missing the amazing characters from sorcery of thorns. and you all know that i adore a magical house setting and exploring all the magical rooms, with some very alive grimoires! but to see it with my favorite sorcerer, apprentice librarian, demon (and a new character)… who are stuck inside this labyrinth during the snowy season? i really was living my best reader life. but sadly, i just didn’t love the last half nearly as much as the set up and first half. this is a very quick, cozy, happy read. and the food descriptions were perfection as well. Elisabeth is just a really good character and i really hope we continue to see more adventures with her and this crew (and demonslayer)! but also, this (in my praying opinion) is a very nice set up for my favorite morally grey demon companion. i still highly recommend this one, especially on a cozy wintery night!

cw/tw: blood depiction, harm to get blood for magic, grief + trauma depictions, extreme nightmares, loss of a loved on in the past, talk of murders/death. (this is a very light book, and all of these things are very briefly mentioned or shown)

✨ Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1) by Heather Fawcett

“If anyone were to claim greater happiness in their careers than I do in poking about sunlit wildwoods for faerie footprints, I should not believe it.”

A woman who has been in love with the fae all her life and is taking us along on her academic research with the encyclopedia she is currently writing about them and her experiences with them? Oh, what more could I possibly ask for friends? Actually the life i wish i could have if i was around in 1909. This is also told epistolary style, with a lot of field notes, but a lot of stories, and some unexpected entries as well. But this was just a book that really worked for me and my reading wheelhouse (and heart).There is a little romance too that is also very sweet and again… the field notes are just so good. We also get to travel to some fae realms to solve a mystery that did get a little dark – so please use caution. Like, there are a lot of cozy vibes and moments and settings (omg did i love the market too) in this, but, again, there are a lot of darker themes and the story takes showing the dark faery side of things! But i am really and truly begging for a book two.

trigger + content warnings: mention of loss of a loved one in past, mention of suicide very briefly twice, talk of kidnapping + actual kidnapping, violence, blood, gore, vomit, animal violence + death, child abandonment, spider mentions

✨ Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola

“The world is doable when she is near me.”

oh i was invested in so much… this was the best romance ive read in years! highly highly highly recommend! but as much as i loved the romance, the friendships were really the star of this for me. healing, and hope, and building new friendships, and rebuilding old friendships. and seeing platonic breakups be even harder than romantic breaks ups so much of the time, and the trauma that can come from that… very beautiful and powerful to me. i loved this completely.

trigger + content warnings: racism, colorism, harassment, unwanted touching, police brutality, cancer, sick parent, hospital/medical talk, talk of cheating, anxiety, trauma, mention of throwing up, blackmail, unwanted photos being taken, parent cheating,

✨ The Moth Keeper by Kay O’Neill

“How would life feel if I didn’t have to always hold on tight against the darkness? Who would I be if I could live in the light?”

i just am always completely in love with k o’neil’s characters, worlds, and themes. they create stories that are such a gift to our world, and this newest graphic novel will probably resonate with so many people who are reading this review, because the central theme is all about burn out and not realizing when you need a break and when you need some help, too. we are all so small in the grand scheme of things, and it’s so easy for things to feel overwhelming, especially these last few years, and especially in a pandemic that is still going on. but our value as creators and, more importantly, humans, will never ever be dependent on how much we produce.

this is also a very heartfelt tale about community, and the things we can achieve when we are kind and offer help to people – and how that kindness and help can go such a long way and have the most beautiful healing rippling effect to so many. but this also touches on how hard it can be to ask for help, when you have been turned away from it by people who are supposed to be there for you. but also, in turn, how unconditional love + friendship can be the most powerful force in all the world.

ah, this is just perfection. i wish i could put this story in the hands of everyone, but especially every child. i immediately finished the arc, and purchased a physical for my own personal library (which surprisingly had the most beautiful art under the dustjacket). i think this will for sure make my best of 2023 come december. truly, a gift to this universe in all ways.

trigger + content warnings: mention of loss of a loved one, parental neglect + abandonment

okay friends, that’s the ten things that i was able to read in the month of february! it is not lost on me that i keep reading ten books a month… but you also won’t hear me complaining! i hope march is wrapping up nicely for you, and i hope you have a good april filled with some magical reads! stay safe + i am sending you so much love!

january reading wrap up | 2023

March 30, 2023March 30, 2023 meltotheanyAside10 Comments

hi friends! i hope you’re doing well. i know this post might seem late… might seem three months late.. but basically, i am posting my january, february, and march wrap ups – and then i will be doing my first quarter of 2023 statistics! i am still slowly getting back into reviews + blogging, but my hunger for reading is still very much here – and i am so very happy about it! but maybe for this year, i will focus more on doing quarterly things like this while trying to get back into the swing of more things bookish content! i hope you enjoy + thank you always for spending some of your time with me. 🤍

✨ Chain of Thorns (The Last Hours, #3) by Cassandra Clare

“I am saying that with you, I have no armor. I feel everything. For better or worse.”

what a freaking way to start the new year, with a surprise arc of this final installment in cassie clare’s newest series. sadly, i feel like i was the first person to not really love this one, and now… whew… i am praying for her. but, i have the highest of hopes for sword catcher that also comes out this year! also, i love these characters and it was very nice to be back in this world. i am giggling forever at this being the first book i read this year though. but maybe it really set the bar to keep me in my reading era.

trigger + content warnings: loss of a loved one, trauma, alcoholism, extreme alcohol withdrawals, vomiting, seizures, grief depictions, anxiety, abusive parents/bad parents, grey area cheating, blood depictions, violence, gore, homophobia, misogyny, self harm, mention of loss of a child in the past, possession (against one’s will), enchantment (against one’s will), insect horror, kidnapping, harming of a baby

✨ The Stolen Heir (The Stolen Heir Duology, #1) by Holly Black

“Your sister may have inherited your father’s gift for strategy, but you’re the one who got his bloodlust.”

i mean, you guys already know… i loved this, it was perfect /for me/, but i still enjoyed the cruel prince a lot more (and jude + cardan a lot more). i also feel like some readers might not love that this is a quest storyline so they are constantly traveling throughout this, but that is also something i really enjoy in stories – so i feel extra biased. holly was really giving the creepy and dark fae side with this one and now i am forever screaming at the last scene…. well, until i get book two!

tw/cw: kidnapping, parental abuse, physical abuse, torture, abandonment, gore, violence, drugging, vomiting, captivity, murder, blood depictions, self harm to get blood for magic, mention of animal death, suicide mention in past, mention of death in childbirth, ptsd depictions, and a few scenes with bugs/insects/spiders.

✨ Tress of the Emerald Sea (The Cosmere) by Brandon Sanderson

“Our words, like our hearts, are weapons still hot from the forging, beating themselves into new shapes each time we swing them.”

The first of brandon sanderson’s secret cosmere projects was everything for me. This story is truly unlike any other that brandon has created before, for so many reasons, but mostly because it reads like a fairytale! this is a story about a girl who leaves the only home she has ever known to brave a very strange ocean, in a very different cosmere world, with a very sweet pirate crew (for the most part), for love. Because at the end of all my favorite types of stories, it’s always for love and it’s always worth it. I so quickly fell in love with Tress and her teacups and her story. Also, if you’ve been following my reviews for a while, you will know how much I adore a questing storyline and this book delivered that and more so! I also feel like every cosmere series has such a perfect and different found family, yet you always feel like you are a part of that family as well, and it’s so beautiful each time, but this one was extra close to my heart.

tw/cw: mentions of war, poison/drugging, vomit, captivity, murder, talk of cancer/tumors very briefly, brief weight loss comment, mention of slavery, and… lots of mentions of spores (i only say this because i think a lot of people are watching last of us right now and it might make you think about things lol)

✨ What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

“If we ran then we would have to admit there was something to run from.”

this year, i really want to read so much from t kingfisher! year after year, so many people recommend them and their stories to me so i knew i wanted to pick something up by them this first month of 2023. i really enjoyed this, the atmosphere, and the writing… whew… the writing was 11/10! but i think i would have enjoyed more if i would have reread the fall of the house of usher. not that you need to, this story completely stands on it’s own! but this was still a powerful novella that i thoroughly enjoyed! and i can’t wait to pick up something else by this author extra now! (also, the way i have read so many stories this month about spooky houses after finishing this one… completely unintentionally)

tw/cw: mention of tumors for descriptions, talk of war, talk of surgery, insect depictions, death, animal death, talk of dead bodies, mention of suicide, loss of a loved one, brief mentions of transphobia

✨ The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi

“Who were we when not cleaved to each other?”

this is a beautiful and lush atmospheric story, with a gothic spooky house setting, all centered around the mystery that is the fae and three people who have been searching their whole lives for them. but the heart of this story is about grief, abuse, neglect, and how the world can be so extra unfair to children that they are forced to find and create their own places in magical worlds to feel safe, loved, and be able to escape. This book was very hard to read at times, and roshani is an expert at blending dark whimsy and dark reality together flawlessly. i could not put this book down, because i needed to know more and more answers each time one was unlocked! but also while i was having that intense feeling of seeing scenes play out while you are watching with your hands kind of covering your eyes. you don’t want to know, but you need to know. plus roshani’s writing is such a tier above everything, this story is filled with very intense and juxtaposing feelings. ahhh, i feel like i have already said too much – but i love all roshani’s stories and i am always so proud of her and her voice – i hope the world loves this story and all the well crafted and very important layers.

tw/cw: loss of a loved one, extreme nightmares, a lot of blood depiction + drawing blood, gore, abuse, domestic abuse, child abuse, child neglect, child abandonment, gaslighting, animal deaths, human deaths, murder, mention of child death, kind of brief mentions of dieting/eating a very specific way, bullying, cheating, codependency, suicidal ideation and thoughts, drugging, pedophilia (very weird things being said, the child being scared/constant state of fear at home, creepy and unsettling vibes every scene with intention for more, and then at 17 years old unwanted touching/brushing past + maybe more/set up to be more… this is a hard trigger warning, but it is a constant thing in the book that is very hard to read so please use caution)

✨ The Six Deaths of the Saint (Into Shadow, #3) by Alix E. Harrow

“I wonder what the songs will say about the Devil now that she is covered in the blood of her own God.”

this is a very beautiful and emotion evoking story about a girl trying to feel needed, to feel seen, to feel love, to feel like she is not nothing, to feel anything that is real. but love can be exceptionally hard, especially when you enter into this world not knowing what love is. while also slowly figuring out what you will do in the name of it, mixed with the overwhelming feelings we all have of wanting to leave something behind, but to also belong so desperately in the time we are presently here. the writing is perfect, and these thirty pages of heartfelt pain and love will truly leave you feeling dizzy in the best way possible. this is a perfect example of why i love short fiction and how it can be so very powerful and inspiring.

tw/cw: war, battle, violence, a lot of blood depiction, gore, nightmares, codependency depiction, exploitation depiction, sickness/child sickness, medical things, death, child death, drowning, + suicide.

✨ What the Dead Know (Into Shadow, #4) by Nghi Vo

“…Maryse had finally learned, after five years as a medium, what the dead spoke of.”

nghi vo is one of my favorite authors, so i knew i would enjoy this short story from this collection. it was spooky, unsettling, and truly all the vibes were exactly what i look for in horror. we follow two people posing as mediums traveling in historical illinois, where they find themselves stranded at a very isolated school for young girls, in a really creepy and unsettling town, with a river that is holding dark secrets. again, vo is such a talented writer that i felt like i was barely breathing while reading this and watching everything happen. This a very high three star from me, but upon finishing it just really left me wanting more in a good way, but also in a way that really makes me think this story would be better in a longer and more expandable format.

tw/cw: racism, blood depictions, murder, death, gore, + maybe choking (the writing is so good and descriptive, it made me feel it a little hehe)

✨ Lost in the Moment and Found (Wayward Children, #8) by Seanan McGuire

“Travel can be hard. It wears on the heart, even when it’s done on purpose, and there’s always a cost and a consequence.”

for sure my favorite or 2nd favorite wayward children tale yet. i really loved this even though i felt like i was constantly crying or experiencing the feeling of being on the verge of crying from the author note to the very last page. all these novellas focus on a very important, but newly introduced theme, while also maintaining the overarching message of finding the place(s) you belong – on your terms, with your health and safety as the number one priority. but the theme of this short story is losing your childhood – in all the ways imaginable. from loss and grief, to feeling unseen and unheard, to being manipulated by people you trust… and they are all very heartbreaking but so very real. besides this book being very important and feeling very thankful it is in the world, antsy + seanan do an amazing job letting people know they aren’t alone and they were never at fault… for anything ❤

authors note warnings: grooming, gaslighting, reassurance nothing physical happens (very important and very much impacted my reading experience in a very positive way because of the reassurance)

additional trigger + content warnings that i wrote down while reading: loss of a parent, heart-attack, pedophilia, panic attack, mention of making a small cut to see magic, grief, loss of a sibling, child abuse

✨ Hell Bent (Alex Stern, #2) by Leigh Bardugo
➽ Ninth House ★★★

“Welcome home. Welcome back. We missed you. I missed you more than I should have, more than I wanted to. I went to hell for you. I’d do it again.”

i enjoyed this, i just didn’t love it the way i wish i did… but that’s okay because i still had a really good time turning these pages! this is still such a powerful series, and i can’t wait for whatever book three has in store!

tw/cw: loss of a loved one, blood depictions, abuse, mentions of rape in past, murder, death, gore, panic attacks, fire, talk of attempted suicide, talk of suicide, self harm for blood for magic, possession and compulsion, bullying, brief mentions of overdosing, drugs, drugs use, police brutality, cancer mention, vomiting, heart attack mention, animal death, talk of electric shock therapy, mentions of bugs/maggots/spiders, and very bad and abusive relationships with people and with parents in the past. this book can get very dark at times and has constant themes of abuse – please use caution while reading and make sure you’re in a good space for it in your life.

✨ Twisted Love (Twisted, #1) by Ana Huang

“Your enemies are my enemies, your friends are my friends, and if you wanted, I would burn down the world for you.”

i really did enjoy reading this and i could not put it down, but this was just not what I was expecting. Which is completely on me, but you’re going to see the trigger warning below and… I truly thought this was going to be a light little romance with a girl and her brother’s bestie and, again, there is no one to blame but myself for not looking at any reviews first, but whew this book got pretty heavy so many times. I still enjoyed it, I can’t wait to read more from this author, but I just don’t know if I loved reading this first installment. But I also could not stop reading this and read it pretty much in two sittings, back to back, so I feel happy giving this a good three star rating. But this book heavily puts the childhood trauma for both of our main characters at the forefront of this story, so please use caution and make sure you’re in a good head space.

tw/cw: severe aquaphobia (fear of water), blood depictions, abuse/parental abuse, gaslighting, attempted murder, attempted harm to a child, death, murder, grief depiction, depression depiction, ptsd depiction, mention of ex cheating in the past, mention of marital infidelity, divorce, brief mention of sexual assault (not main character), harry potter reference, stalking, assault, unwanted touching, panic attacks, kidnapping, torture, suicide mention/overdose mention, bad nightmares, and loss of loved ones/family members.

okay, friends! those are the ten books i read during the very first month of the year! with some trigger and content warnings, too! my favorite read from this month for sure was Tress of the Emerald Sea (The Cosmere) by Brandon Sanderson! i am still thinking about this book, three months later! ahhh, i can’t wait to finally get my physical hopefully soon (i think 50% have been mailed so far?) and i can’t wait to read his next secret project! but thank you all again for reading this post, and i’ll see you tomorrow! 💛

Most Anticipated Releases | 2023

January 4, 2023January 4, 2023 meltotheanyAside17 Comments

look at me, trying to be a good book blogger again, wow! hi hi, friends! i hope you’re all well! today i am going to show you my top ten most anticipated reads as of today (jan 3rd), but also this is kind of my tbr for the whole entire year. I would love to be able to read all of these, and then maybe do an updated post about how the reading went! I feel like each year, i try to do different kinds of tbr for the whole year, and i always have fun doing them, but i just want to make this year a little more relaxed and a lot more just about me reading things i know i will love! and i truly do believe i will love all of these.

➽ The Stolen Heir by Holly Black
January 3, 2023 – Little, Brown Young Readers
i feel like i dont really need to say much about this one! but i am so excited to be back into holly’s world of faerie and i promise to read this one this month!

➽ The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi
February 14, 2023 – William Morrow & Company
i love roshani and her writting so much, but especially when it is about fairytales. i saw somewhere her say that this is like a mix between a fairytale and a thriller and i am so very excited to hopefully fall in love with this.

➽ She Is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran
February 28, 2023 – Bloomsbury
this is my only debut on the list, but this sounds so amazing. a haunted house, discussions on colonialism, sibling relationships, and gaysian ghosts maybe!! i am so very sold. i cant wait for this one.

➽ A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
March 28, 2023 – Tor ✩ arc received
t. kingfisher is the author that constantly gets recommended to me and so many of my best friends promise me that i will love. i even asked for some of their books for christmas, in hopes of falling in love this year with many of their backlist! but i just got the earc for this one, so maybe this will be my first and i am so so so excited! and i think this also have a spooky house.. but maybe… with evil birds?

➽ Happy Place by Emily Henry
April 25, 2023 – Berkley
i have only read one emily henry book (beach read), but i really enjoyed it! but they have blown up in the book community and romance world and all the best selling lists, so i am excited to try their other books as well – starting with this newest release of 2023!

➽ Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
May 16, 2023 – William Marrow ✩ arc received
i will read everything rebecca writes, but i believe this one – where we get to be in the head of a white woman stealing the work of an asian woman – is going to be very heartbreakingly powerful on many levels, but especially thinking about bookish and publishing circles.

➽ Witch King by Martha Wells
May 30, 2023 – Tordotcom ✩ arc received
i am so excited to read a full novel about a demon from the underworld, after falling so in love with the murderbot novellas back in the day. i also think this could be a stand alone, or at least the story can stand alone, and that also makes me very excited!

➽ Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
July 18, 2023 – Del Rey
i’ve loved everything i’ve read by silvia moreno-garcia, and i have a good feeling that this is going to be no different. it has to do with the occult and reshooting a cursed scene from a movie… i dont want to know too much. but i bet it will be very spooky and very powerful and i love that combination quite a lot, but especially from this author!

➽ He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan
August 22, 2023 – Tor
she who became the sun was my favorite book of 2021 and there is nothing – and i mean nothing – i wouldn’t do for an arc of this.

➽ Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
October 10, 2023 – Del Rey
cassie clare writing an adult non-shadowhunter story.. pubbed by del rey? oh i am intrigued! i honestly have a lot of faith in her and this and i can’t wait to get my hands on it.

BONUS:
➽ all of the new cosmere books by brandon sanderson
i am going to be reading the first, tress of the emerald sea, very soon, too! but i did throw so much money at this man and his universe last year, and i am so excited for all the new stories to come in 2023!

okay, friends! those are my 10 (+ one… cosmere bonus) most anticipated releases for this new year! please let me know what yours are! i hope to be better about reading 2023 publications this year, and i am always looking to add more to my tbr! i hope you’re all staying safe and i am sending you a lot of love.

3 Mini Reviews | Nocturna, Rise to the Sun, The Love Hypothesis

January 17, 2022January 14, 2022 meltotheanyAside5 Comments

hi hi hi, friends! it has been a while since i’ve done a 3 mini review post, but this one has been sitting in my drafts for so long – i knew i wanted to quickly add a third review once 2022 came around! i hope you enjoy, and i hope you’re being gentle with yourselves! (and i hope to have another one of these posts up sooner than the last, muhahaha!) happy reading! 💗

✨ Nocturna (A Forgery of Magic #1) by Maya Motayne

💛 A review to check out: Johely’s!

“Magic could not speak, yet interacting with it felt like a conversation, a dance, a story shared with a friend with the ending left up to interpretation.”

This was our September 2020 pick for the Dragons & Tea Book Club, and I loved it so much. This is a story about identity, classism, privilege, freedom, honoring your culture and the past regardless of who tries to erase it, and respecting boundaries unapologetically.

This is a story about a boy named Elfie, who is the crown prince and can wield water magic in this world. He has been away for three months, grieving a brother who everyone thinks is dead. But now that he is back in his city, he meets Fin who can change appearances and maybe help him become someone else, too. It turns into a spy mission, involving stolen books, black magic, and erasing a language that still belongs to them. And Finn and Alfie realize they are both harboring an immense grief and trying to heal from abuse and their past.

This is such a beautiful book that I feel like is so underrated, which is an actual crime because the layers of this story render me speechless alone. Everything is also a love letter to Latine / South American culture and a mirror to the erasure still from colonization today. My heart was extra full at the way Spanish is also woven into this story constantly. I truly recommend this fantasy to everyone, and I am so honored that we picked it for a book club pick! Also, that ending? I need book two immediately!

Trigger & Content Warnings: anxiety, loss of a loved one, grief deception, talk of slavery, blood depiction, drinking, vomiting, gore, murder, torture, slavery, controlling, and abuse.

✨ Rise to the Sun by Leah Johnson

“That big love you give everyone else-you deserve to save some for yourself. You’re worth that much. You’re worth every good thing.”

This is a story told over the course of three days at a music festival, with alternating povs!

Olivia is there with her best friend in the whole world, and the one person who always has her back in every situation. Olivia has had a lot of not so great romantic relationships, but this last one ended with a massively evil invasion of privacy that has also caused her a lot of harassment before her junior year of high school ended.

Toni has grown up with music and the Farmland Music Festival for her whole life. It brings on so many happy memories of nostalgia, but also a lot of uneasy feelings about her future before her freshman year of college begins. But she hopes she will find some answers this weekend at the festival with her best friend.

And when a hidden apple(s) quest and a musical performance mission to win gets sprung on both of these girls and their friends the first day, we get to see everything playout the whole weekend. Sadly, I think this being told over three days was what didn’t work for me. I loved so many parts of this story, and I really enjoyed the first day and seeing the story being set up, but days two and three weren’t able to make me connect as much, even though my heart broke for all the characters very differently. I really think having a glimpse into the future past the three days would have really helped and really helped the insta-love too (and i’m not saying insta-love is bad or not real, it’s just not my favorite type of romance)!

You Should See Me in a Crown is one of my favorite YA contemporaries of all time (you still me holding it in my pfp, hehe) and I still am in complete awe of Leah Johnson and what they are doing for queer poc teens is truly life changing. Their stories are making so many people feel seen, making so many people cry real tears wishing they had books like this when they were younger (me), making publishing and the world such a more hopeful place. I will support and boost their voice always, and even though this book wasn’t the perfect book for me, I know it’s going to mean the whole world to so many!

Content and Trigger Warnings: loss of a parent, panic attacks, gun violence, and nonconsensual image sharing (provided by the author at the start of the book <3)! I also would like to add talk of mass shootings, anxiety depiction, asthma attacks, online bullying and harassment, ptsd depiction, many feelings of abandonment.

Buddy read with May! ❤

✨ The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

“I’ve never been surer of anything. Except maybe cell theory.”

the love hypothesis is the best romance i’ve read in years. it’s smart, funny, and oh so swoon worthy! and it was truly one of those books that reminded me why i love reading. i fell in love with both olive and adam so quickly, but i also found this to be one of the most believable fake dating romances, too. from the very first page, i was absolutely hooked and only felt more and more endeared throughout! (and even more late into the night when i desperately was signing up for the author’s newsletter so i could unhingedly get an adam pov bonus chapter!)

this book deals with some heavy themes at times, so please use caution and i’ll list some warnings below. i personally felt like the author does a thoughtful and important job at highlight what women of stem can face in many lab settings, while also always shining light on how much more noninclusive (and scary) that it can be for bipoc women and nonbinary people of stem. (the author note at the end with some resources was really amazing, too)

i just appreciated so much of this book and this author’s words. this story was a little niche to me and my personal life, so i think that also helped me fall in love! (i’m not sure if i can blame it on why i was giggling a sickening amount into my pillow – but i will pretend!) and i also want to note, that the word is never on page, but there was some demi rep in this story that i found very relatable and it meant a whole lot to me too.

i am so very excited to see what this author does next. this was nothing short of a treat to read. the friendships were everything, the banter was perfect, and the sex was 11/10.

(if you’d like to learn more about pancreatic cancer research here are some that are near to my heart!)

trigger and content warnings: talk of cancer, loss of a parent in the past, talk of fear of needles, and sexual harassment, abuse of power, + bullying in work/college settings.

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson | Blog Tour

September 27, 2021September 26, 2021 meltotheanyAside4 Comments

ARC Provided by Simon & Schuster
Publication: October 5, 2021

➽ An Enchantment of Ravens
➽ Sorcery of Thorns

“If I could read humans’ minds, I wouldn’t have ended up trapped inside a little girl’s finger bone.”

I have enjoyed everything that Margaret Rogerson has written thus far, but I do think Vespertine may possibly be my favorite of them all.

Artemisia is a Grey Sister, working alongside nuns at the convent, preparing dead bodies for their final rest. Before the convent, and when she was only a child, she was forced to use the most extreme measures to purge a revenant who was possessing her, and now has disabled hands. But because of her past, she likes to keep to herself and live a quiet life with very few friends. But when an army of possessed soldiers come to destroy the only place that has ever made her feel like home, she is forced to use a saint’s relic that allows a very powerful revenant to share a body with her once again, while also protecting the monastery. But Artemisia quickly realizes these soldiers are not the only ones being possessed by so many different spirits of different powers, and the only hope for this world could be her and the spirit that is currently inhabiting her own body.

Word quickly sweeps across all the lands of a Vespertine who has the power to cleanse and save them all, but there are many who will stop at nothing to ensure she does not come into her full power with her revenant who remembers the past these people are trying to hide very well. But Artemisia must learn if she can even trust this spirit, especially because she has his relic which she must protect because if it is destroyed, the revenant will be destroyed with it.

“On this day, we honor her by denouncing the Raven King, bringer of the Sorrow, ruin of the Age of Kings. May his face remain forgotten. May history scorn his name.”

I know the premise of possession can be a little questionable, but Artemisia and her revenant (and their banter) was truly my favorite part of their book. And their friendship, and their trust in one another, while also learning boundaries, was really enjoyable to read. Also, her having that relic and power over the revenant was very important for me, as a reader! And I think the author does a really beautiful job also always remembering and discussing Artemisia’s trauma from her past, while allowing her room to grow but to also decided for herself how she wants to heal and grow, regardless of how linearly the healing is throughout the story and throughout Artemisia’s life.

Artemisia is also very inspired from Joan of Arc, who was also believed to be a saint under divine guidance from a higher power to save her people, even though she was “just” a young and poor girl. Since this is the first book of this duology, I do hope Artemisia does not meet the same end, but the parallels were very subtle and loud at the same time, but always very beautiful.

“I wondered if I should pray. But the stars were gone, the Lady’s gaze obscured. I had no sign save the hundreds of voices chanting my name outside.”

I also really loved this whole entire world and magic system. The different castes and hierarchy of spirits and discovering all their different levels and powers was so absolutely fascinating. Even how the cause of death would impact what kind of spirit manifested! I also loved every stop Artemisia and her revenant would make on this journey, and all the new things about these spirits we, as the reader, would learn alongside Artemisia. If you’ve read the author’s previous works, you know that they just really excel at world building and crafting the most beautiful settings, and Vespertine was no different. And I was happily exploring cities and inns, and cathedrals and crypts, with Artemisia.

Overall, I just really loved this and it was a true joy to pick up each time. The side characters were also very amazing, and each friendship that Artemisia chose to start really was beautiful. And I loved seeing Artemisia realize that she is deserving of safety and happiness, regardless of what happened to her in the past. And also seeing her realize that the family you choose will always be more important than the family you were born into. I really recommend this one for so many reasons, but I also think most of you know I just have a really big soft spot for magical fighting nuns always, too. Happy reading!

The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

Buddy read with Maëlys & Evie! ❤

Content and Trigger Warnings: abandonment, child neglect + abuse in past, possession (the mc uses self-harm in the past + threats of suicide to get spirits to leave her body – both very brief mentions), brief mention of animal abuse, mention of animal deaths, blood depictions, vomiting, drugging, anxiety depictions, talk of plagues, loss of a loved one in the past, mention of spiders, talk of suicide, death, and please note this is a book about sharing a body with an ancient spirit, so i can see that making some people uncomfortable, please use caution!

When not writing I can be found drawing, reading, gaming, making pudding, or creeping through the woods in search of toads and mushrooms. I enjoy coMargaret Rogerson is the author of theNew York TimesbestsellersAn Enchantment of RavensandSorcery of Thorns. She has a bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from Miami University. When not reading or writing she enjoys sketching, gaming, making pudding, and watching more documentaries than is socially acceptable (according to some). She lives near Cincinnati, Ohio, beside a garden full of hummingbirds and roses. Visit her at MargaretRogerson.com.