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News

This was a bit of a slower month reading-wise for me. I have recovered almost completely from my hospitalisation in August, so I haven’t had to rest as much, which has impacted my reading time.

I’ve also unfortunately been spending way too much time on social media. I’m aware of this, and during November I intend to consciously spend less time on social media, even if it’s book groups, in favour of reading more.

But also, it was Love Your Bookshop Day on 8 October 2022!

I like to try my luck with Blind Date With A Book, and this year I blindly dated a book with the following sales pitch:

• Two best friends
• Magical curse that binds them
• Superstitions and small-town rumours

The book in question? Revealed directly below under Stacking the Shelves!

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Stacking The Shelves is a weekly meme created by Tynga’s Reviews and hosted by Reading Reality.
It’s all about sharing the books we’ve picked up for the week, whether they are bought, borrowed, gifted, galleys, physical or virtual.
Share your shelves and remember to visit Reading Reality to find more great books!

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Purchased

A story of best friends, bad luck and the consequences of breaking the rules in a town built on secrets and superstitions.

I am girl of Ember Grove, and these are my woods…

Growing up in Ember Grove, Bitsy Clark knows better than to mess with the long-held traditions of her hometown. Until her best friend, Amy, persuades her to sneak into the Revelry – the end of school party in the woods, to which only those leaving are invited.

When she wakes the next day, Bitsy can’t remember anything from the night before. Weirder still, whenever she tries to speak about the Revelry, Bitsy chokes on the words. But this is just the beginning, and what starts out as a run of bad luck starts to feel like a curse. As Bitsy’s life goes from bad to worse, things only get better and better for her best friend. It’s as if there’s only so much luck to go round and Amy’s getting all of it…

This is my Blind Date with a Book for 2022!

I actually had this on my library wishlist so I was pretty excited to receive it! It’s an ARC and I had to pay a donation to receive it, so I still count it as purchasing.

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After being randomly selected as a human sacrifice, instead of death, Dawsyn finds herself on a quest to save her people from their icy prison…
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In a place known as the Ledge, a civilization is trapped by a vast chasm and sheer mountain face. There is no way for anyone to escape the frozen wasteland without befalling a deathly drop. They know nothing of the outside world except that it is where the Glacians reside – mystical and vicious winged creatures who bring meagre rations in exchange for a periodic human sacrifice.

Dawsyn, ax wielder and only remaining member of her family, has so far avoided the annual culling, but her luck has run out. She is chosen and ripped from her icy home, the only world she knows. No one knows what will happen to her on the other side, least of all Dawsyn. Murdered? Enslaved? Worse?

Fortunately, a half-Glacian called Ryon offers to help them both escape, but how can she trust one of the very creatures that plagued her life? Dawsyn is a survivor, and she is not afraid to cut anyone down to live.

With a slow-burning romance, high stakes and even higher rewards, this richly created new fantasy series by popular TikToker Stacey McEwan will keep you gripped to the very end.

*Content warnings* gratuitous violence & death; death of a minor; suicide; attempted sexual assault

I just… I saw this being pushed by so many Bookfluencers and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about! I think the author is famous on Tiktok?

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Graceling the graphic novel by Kristen Cashore and Gareth Hinds.

The beloved New York Times best-selling YA fantasy by Kristin Cashore is now available as a graphic novel, with stunning illustrations by award-winning artist Gareth Hinds.

Katsa is a Graceling, one of the rare people born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she lived a life of privilege until the day her ability to kill a man with her bare hands revealed itself during a royal banquet. Now she acts as her uncle’s enforcer, traveling the kingdom and threatening those who dare oppose him.

But everything changes when she meets Po, a foreign prince Graced with combat skills who is searching for the truth about his grandfather’s disappearance. When Katsa agrees to help him, she never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that could destroy them all.

I have been wanting to re-read Graceling for a while now and this is a great opportunity to do so in a different medium.

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Master of Iron (Bladesmith #2) by Tricia Levenseller

Eighteen-year-old Ziva may have defeated a deadly warlord, but the price was almost too much. Ziva is forced into a breakneck race to a nearby city with the handsome mercenary, Kellyn, and the young scholar, Petrik, to find a powerful magical healer who can save her sister’s life.

When the events that follow lead to Ziva and Kellyn’s capture by an ambitious prince, Ziva is forced into the very situation she’s been dreading: magicking dangerous weapons meant for world domination.

The forge has always been Ziva’s safe space, a place to avoid society and the anxiety it causes her, but now it is her prison, and she’s not sure just how much of herself she’ll have to sacrifice to save Kellyn and take center stage in the very war she’s been trying to stop.

In Master of Iron, the conclusion to Tricia Levenseller’s exciting Bladesmith YA fantasy duology, a magically gifted blacksmith with social anxiety must race against the clock to save her beloved sister and stop a devastating war.

I wanted to make sure I got a hardcover of this to match my Blade of Secrets hardcover. I also adore Tricia Levenseller as an author. She writes amazing female characters and fun romances.

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Deina is trapped. As one of the Soul Severers serving the god Hades on earth, her future is tied to the task of shepherding the dying on from the mortal world – unless she can earn or steal enough to buy her way out.

Then the tyrant ruler Orpheus offers both fortune and freedom to whoever can retrieve his dead wife, Eurydice, from the Underworld. Deina jumps at the chance. But to win, she must enter an uneasy alliance with a group of fellow Severers she neither likes nor trusts.

So begins their perilous journey into the realm of Hades… The prize of freedom is before her – but what will it take to reach it?

Enter the Underworld in an epic new fantasy, where the Gods of ancient Greece rule everything but fate.

I was draw in by this beautiful cover – the gold bits are foiled! Then I saw it was a(n) Eurydice kind of retelling kind of inspired by thing, and I thought, well that sounds pretty cool!

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For Review

Thanks to HarperCollins Australia.

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami Ren Scarborough is no longer the girl who was chased out of England—she is the Goddess of Death ruling Japan’s underworld. But her problems have never been greater. Her Shinigami see her as a foreigner on the throne. Her brother, Neven, is gone, lost in the deep darkness. And her fiancé, Hiro, has been killed by her own hand.

Then Ren receives the most troubling news yet—Reapers have been spotted in Japan, and it’s only a matter of time before Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, comes to claim her revenge.

Ren’s last hope is to appeal to the god of storms and seas, who can turn the tides to send Ivy’s ship away from Japan’s shores. But he’ll help Ren only if she finds a sword lost thousands of years ago—an impossible demand.

Together with the moon god Tsukuyomi, who shares an uncanny resemblance to his brother Hiro, Ren ventures across the country in a race against time. As her journey thrusts her into the middle of scheming gods and dangerous Yokai demons, Ren will have to learn who she can truly trust—and the fate of Japan hangs in the balance.

This unexpectedly showed up on my doorstep. I have to say, I am very surprised, since I last requested a physical ARC over a year ago! It was for this sequel’s first book though, so I think the publisher has remembered me. I’m so pleasantly surprised and pleased. I’ve stepped back a bit from reviewing this year, and this goes to show I’m still part of the community.

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Monthly Wrap Up

Book Stuff

• Number of books read: 5
• Finished a series: Pack Darling by Lola Rock and Three Player Co-op by Allyson Lindt (no reviews as these books are strictly adults only!)
• Started a series: Cruel Selection by Atlas Rose but I will not be continuing since the first book was so bad.
• New to me authors: Atlas Rose – Chosen by the Vampire (Cruel Selection #1) will not be reviewed as is adults only!
• Favourite book: The Counsellors by Jessica Goodman

Book Reviews:

• [7 Oct] The Dog Runner by Bren MacDibble ★★★★★
• [14 Oct] The Counselors by Jessica Goodman ★★★★

Game Reviews

• [28 Oct] Endling: Extinction is Forever Game Review

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