teatimelit

Review: The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

*Please note, I have not yet read book 2 and would appreciate no spoilers for it please! 

I haven’t been captivated in a book just from the first page alone in a very long time. The Gilded Wolves broke this pattern, leaving me anxious to continue on in the story to see where the plot goes. To put this review simply, The Gilded Wolves is a masterpiece, carefully constructing a world that is both magical and realistic, with a band of characters that is simply a delight to read about. It’s honestly a very strong contender for my favourite book of the year. 

Set in a darkly glamorous world The Gilded Wolves is full of mystery, decadence and dangerous but thrilling adventure.

Paris, 1889: The world is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. In this city, no one keeps tabs on secrets better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier, Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. But when the all-powerful society, the Order of Babel, seeks him out for help, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance. To find the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin will need help from a band of experts:

An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian who can’t yet go home. A dancer with a sinister past. And a brother in all but blood, who might care too much.

Together, they’ll have to use their wits and knowledge to hunt the artifact through the dark and glittering heart of Paris. What they find might change the world, but only if they can stay alive*

*Summary from Roshani Chokshi’s website!

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Feature: Interview with Denise Williams

Many thanks to Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read an ARC of How To Fail at Flirting, and to feature an interview with Denise Williams!

One daring to-do list and a crash course in flirtation turn a Type A overachiever’s world upside down.

When her flailing department lands on the university’s chopping block, Professor Naya Turner’s friends convince her to shed her frumpy cardigan for an evening on the town. For one night her focus will stray from her demanding job and she’ll tackle a new kind of to-do list. When she meets a charming stranger in town on business, he presents the perfect opportunity to check off the items on her list. Let the guy buy her a drink. Check. Try something new. Check. A no-strings-attached hookup.  Check…almost.

Jake makes her laugh and challenges Naya to rebuild her confidence, which was left toppled by her abusive ex-boyfriend. Soon she’s flirting with the chance at a more serious romantic relationship—except nothing can be that easy. The complicated strings around her dating Jake might destroy her career.

Naya has two options. She can protect her professional reputation and return to her old life or she can flirt with the unknown and stay with the person who makes her feel like she’s finally living again.

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Wrap Up: November 2020

This month, Caitlyn read 19 books, Cossette read 20 books, and Mary read 5 books. Overall, it’s been a good reading month for us here at teatimelit. If we wrote about every book we read, this post would be far too long, so here are our highlights.

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Feature: These Violent Delights – A Playlist

One of my favorite coping mechanisms after getting my heart ripped out after reading a book is making a playlist, and I usually make my friends suffer through it with me. This time was no different — after I finished Chloe Gong’s These Violent Delights, I instantly thought of some Taylor Swift songs that fit Roma and Juliette, and started sending them to Caitlyn (check out Caitlyn’s review for it here). We figured we’d expand on the playlist to share the pain. As always, this post is spoiler free, so we won’t be elaborating on why we picked the songs we did, or why they’re in this order, but you can always ask us on Twitter! Without further ado, here’s some songs that remind us of Roma and Juliette — and you can listen to the entire playlist here.

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Recommendation: My Favourite Audiobooks

As someone who is pretty much always on the go, audiobooks have been a lifesaver. You just pop your earphones in and off you go transported into another world while your train to work chugs along slowly. At the beginning of the year, Caitlyn introduced me to scribd and oh boy did it change my reading life. For the fee of $10 a month ($15 AUD) you get unlimited books and audiobooks, allowing you to read to your heart’s content. In my opinion, it’s a completely superior deal than audible — but that’s another blog post in itself. (This post is in no way affiliated with scribd, I just think their service is super great! If you’re interested in joining scribd, feel free to use our referral code which will get you 2 months free!)

Anyway, without further ado, here are three of my favourite audiobooks that you should check out! 

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ARC Review: One Last Stop

Cynical twenty-three-year old August doesn’t believe in much. She doesn’t believe in psychics, or easily forged friendships, or finding the kind of love they make movies about. And she certainly doesn’t believe her ragtag band of new roommates, her night shifts at a 24-hour pancake diner, or her daily subway commute full of electrical outages are going to change that.

But then, there’s Jane. Beautiful, impossible Jane.

All hard edges with a soft smile and swoopy hair and saving August’s day when she needed it most. The person August looks forward to seeing on the train every day. The one who makes her forget about the cities she lived in that never seemed to fit, and her fear of what happens when she finally graduates, and even her cold-case obsessed mother who won’t quite let her go. And when August realizes her subway crush is impossible in more ways than one—namely, displaced in time from the 1970s—she thinks maybe it’s time to start believing.

Summary from Goodeads
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Let’s Talk: My favourite reads of 2020 (So far)

I don’t think I will ever stop commenting on how far into the year we are – how are we nearly at the end of November already? It has whizzed past, and I hope everyone is continuing to be safe, wearing their masks and socially distancing! I thought it might be nice to reflect on the year thus far and talk about a few of my favourite reads this year. Without further ado, let’s get into it! 

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Spotlight: In a Holidaze

Hi, hello! It’s Cossette here, with our first round of holiday showcases — this time, I’m recommending In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren. For as long as she can remember, twenty-six year old Maelyn “Mae” Jones and her family, along with some family friends, have spent the holidays at a cabin in Utah. While Christmas, and the cabin, have always been a special place for Maelyn, this year is a little different. Between being stuck working at a job where she’s under-appreciated and undervalued, finding out that the cabin is being sold, and accidentally making out with the wrong brother, this Christmas isn’t off to a great start so far. Tired and lost, Maelyn sends a wish to the universe to show her what will make her happy, not expecting to be thrown into a Groundhog Day-esque time-loop until she figures it out for herself. Will Maelyn figure out what will make her happy in time for Christmas? 

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Review: Ming’s Christmas Wishes

Major thank you to Shadow Mountain for the opportunity to review Ming’s Christmas Wishes! 

Ming has three wishes: To sing in the school Christmas choir, to have a Christmas tree like the one in the department store window, and to feel like she belongs somewhere. We first meet Ming, a daughter of immigrants who just really wants to sing in the Christmas choir with the rest of her classmates. After being told time and time again that she’s not allowed to be in the choir — because she’s Chinese — Ming is obviously frustrated. Still, she has to hurry home in time to prepare dinner for her mom “Mama”, father “Pop” and younger brother “Didi”. On her way home, her eye catches a Christmas tree — her second wish. When she brings it up to her parents, however, her mom scolds her for wanting to be American. After all, Chinese people don’t have Christmas trees. Pop decides to take Ming into the mountains to visit some family friends. There, he shows Ming something to remind her of their heritage, and to help her draw strength. 

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Let’s Talk: Reading Slumps

I am notorious for being in a reading slump. I’m not sure why, but every few months my brain decides it has had enough imagination for the time being, and puts me off reading for a long period of time. It’s the most annoying thing in the world, if I’m being honest, because I love books. Not only do I love reading books, but I love talking about books. Nothing makes me happier than finding a new book to be obsessed with, and then sharing it with my close group of friends, it just brings me joy – which is why reading slumps are the absolute worst. 

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