Category: Book Review

March 2020: The Month The World Became A Dystopian Novel Prologue & I Read Some Books {Monthly Wrap Up}

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March wrap up

Hi everybody, and welcome to my March wrap up!

This feels like a weird wrap up to write, since it’s been such a weird time.  As you all are very well aware, the Corona Virus has become a full-blown pandemic that is taking over the world. Personally, I’ve been at home since mid March – I’ve been technically unemployed since my company organizes international courses and well it’s no surprise that there are no courses right now, so no work to be done from home either. But I’m home and doing my best to stay safe and healthy and follow the regulations, which are basically to stay at home, unless for crucial things like groceries. I hope every one of you is safe and healthy and so are your family and friends.

These are scary times, and hearing news reports is making me anxious as hell so I’m coping the best way I know how – by disappearing as much as possible into fictional worlds. Which is how I did get quite some reading done this month.

So without further ado, here’s what I’ve been up to this month:

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Everything I Wanted And More — Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped by Annette Marie {ARC Book Review}

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Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped by Annette MarieTitle: Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped (The Guild Codex: Demonized #3)
Author: Annette Marie
Publisher: Dark Owl Fantasy
Release Date: April 3rd, 2020
Standalone/Series: Series
Genre: New Adult – Urban Fantasy

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My rating in stars: 5 stars
My rating in words: NEW ALL-TIME FAVORITE

WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

I thought I understood power.

My parents taught me that magic attracts equal danger, and everything I’ve seen since becoming a demon contractor confirms it. I’ve witnessed how power twists and corrupts–and I’ve tasted power no human should wield.

I thought I knew greed.

Ambition and avarice drove my family into hiding. My parents died for someone else’s greed. I’ve never hunted anything in my life, but now I’m hunting their killer–with my demon’s help.

I thought I’d seen evil.

But with each step closer to my parents’ murderer, I’m uncovering a different sort of evil, piece by hidden piece. I’ve stumbled into an insidious web that silently, secretly ensnares everything it touches. My demon and I came as the hunters…

…but I think we might be the prey.

—
Author’s Note: The Guild Codex includes two series, Demonized and Spellbound, which can be read and enjoyed all on their own; however, this book contains spoilers for Demon Magic and a Martini (Spellbound #4). If you were thinking about giving Spellbound a try, I recommend reading it first.

—
THE GUILD CODEX

Demonized Series:
Taming Demons for Beginners (#1)
Slaying Monsters for the Feeble (#2)
Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped (#3)
Delivering Evil for Experts (#4)

Spellbound Series:
Three Mages and a Margarita (#1)
Dark Arts and a Daiquiri (#2)
Two Witches and a Whiskey (#3)
Demon Magic and a Martini (#4)
The Alchemist and an Amaretto (#5)
Druid Vices and a Vodka (#6)

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Edge-Of-Your-Seat, Scream-At-Your-Book, Nail-Biting Brilliance (& OMG THE FRIENDSHIP!) — House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas {Book Review}

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House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. MaasTitle: House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Release Date: March 3rd, 2020
Standalone/Series: Series
Genre: Adult – Fantasy

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My rating in stars: 5 stars
My rating in words: New all-time favorite

 

WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

Bound by blood.
Tempted by desire.
Unleashed by destiny.

Bryce Quinlan had the perfect life—working hard all day and partying all night—until a demon murdered her closest friends, leaving her bereft, wounded, and alone. When the accused is behind bars but the crimes start up again, Bryce finds herself at the heart of the investigation. She’ll do whatever it takes to avenge their deaths.

Hunt Athalar is a notorious Fallen angel, now enslaved to the Archangels he once attempted to overthrow. His brutal skills and incredible strength have been set to one purpose—to assassinate his boss’s enemies, no questions asked. But with a demon wreaking havoc in the city, he’s offered an irresistible deal: help Bryce find the murderer, and his freedom will be within reach.

As Bryce and Hunt dig deep into Crescent City’s underbelly, they discover a dark power that threatens everything and everyone they hold dear, and they find, in each other, a blazing passion—one that could set them both free, if they’d only let it.

With unforgettable characters, sizzling romance, and page-turning suspense, this richly inventive new fantasy series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sarah J. Maas delves into the heartache of loss, the price of freedom—and the power of love.

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Seven Reasons Why You Should Try The Guild Codex Series by Annette Marie

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7 reasons why you should try the guild codex

Look, I know you’ve all probably heard me rave about The Guild Codex series by Annette Marie at some point.  However, I’ve mostly been raving about each book individually and not yet about the series as a whole. So I fully understand it may still be a bit overwhelming for new readers to just pick up a series like this. You may be thinking, but what is this series even about? You may be thinking, but what if I’m not into urban fantasy? You may be thinking, but I have no idea where to even start with this?

Well, with the state of the world right now and all of us in dire need of some distraction AND with the next book in the series being released in April, I thought now would be a perfect time to put my raving to good use and tell you why you should pick up this series, right now!

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January 2020: The Month That Lasted A Year {Monthly Wrap Up}

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January wrap up

Hi everybody, and welcome to my January wrap up!

I don’t want to add to the thousands of people and memes saying that January took forever, but really though… January took FOREVER! I do think that the months of January and February usually are the worst months of the year – it’s dark, it’s cold, the excitement about the holidays is over. But that just means we have to focus on all the good things some more, don’t we? And the good thing is that I actually got quite some reading done in January, which I’m happy about. And I got back into blogging, after 1-2 months of semi-hiatus. (I realize I never did a post announcing my return but oh well… HERE I AM!) So pretty good right?

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been up to in January:

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Dark, Brutal, Vindictive & Gory… And Oh So Good – Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo {Book Review}

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Ninth House by Leigh BardugoTitle: Ninth House (Alex Stern #1)
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: October 8th, 2019
Standalone/Series: Series
Genre: Adult – Fantasy – Mystery

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My rating in stars: 5 stars
My rating in words: New all-time favorite

WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

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The One Where Everything Hurts — Druid Vices and a Vodka by Annette Marie {ARC Book Review}

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Druid Vices and a Vodka by Annette MarieTitle: Druid Vices and a Vodka (The Guild Codex: Spellbound #6)
Author: Annette Marie
Publisher: Dark Owl Fantasy
Release Date: January 3rd, 2020
Standalone/Series: Series
Genre: New Adult – Urban Fantasy

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My rating in stars: 5 stars
My rating in words: New all-time favorite

WHAT IT’S ABOUT:

I’ve said it before, but sometimes I’m a bad person. I cheated on my twelfth grade math final, I’ve run countless yellow lights, and I gossip about how hot my kickass best friends are. (Good thing my job as a guild bartender doesn’t require moral perfection.)

But there’s bad, and then there’s bad. And I’m not sure which applies to a certain dark druid/wanted criminal/reluctant friend of mine. His transgressions include black-magic dealings, kidnapping, and murder, and he’s about to add “revenge-fueled killing spree” to his resume—if I don’t stop him.

Should I stop him?

He and his nemesis are gearing up to tear each other apart, rogues and vultures are converging with their sights on the spoils, and the guilds that would normally stomp them into the ground are under attack. We’re on the brink of an all-out criminal turf war, and my time to decide is almost up.

Who’s the real bad guy … and do I dare stand in his way?

—

THE GUILD CODEX

Spellbound Series:
Three Mages and a Margarita (#1)
Dark Arts and a Daiquiri (#2)
Two Witches and a Whiskey (#3)
Demon Magic and a Martini (#4)
The Alchemist and an Amaretto (#5)
Druid Vices and a Vodka (#6)

Demonized Series:
Taming Demons for Beginners (#1)
Slaying Monsters for the Feeble (#2)

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December 2019: The Month of Christmas Fluff and Re-Reads {Monthly Wrap Up}

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December Wrap Up

Hi everybody, and welcome to my December wrap up!

Happy New Year! 2019’s been pretty weird reading and blogging wise for me. Readingwise because I made the switch to (mostly) audiobooks this year and bloggingwise because I felt like I was on hiatus most of the time… I’m trying to get back to normal in 2020, but first here’s what I’ve been up to in December.

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