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Teatimereads January Pick: Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

Hello everyone! As 2021 comes to a close and the new year begins, we want to say a big thank you to everyone who has joined us on our journey thus far! We’re so excited to be going into our second year of teatimereads and we’re thrilled to announce that our first book of 2022 will be DAUGHTER OF THE MOON GODDESS by Sue Lynn Tan!

Here is the full summary for Daughter of the Moon Goddess:

A captivating debut fantasy inspired by the legend of Chang’e, the Chinese moon goddess, in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm.

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the feared Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.

Alone, powerless, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the emperor’s son, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the prince.

To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. But when treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

Daughter of the Moon Goddess begins an enchanting, romantic duology which weaves ancient Chinese mythology into a sweeping adventure of immortals and magic—where love vies with honor, dreams are fraught with betrayal, and hope emerges triumphant.

Links for Daughter of the Moon Goddess: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound

Content Warnings for Daughter of the Moon Goddess: Death, gore, violence, blood, fire, confinement, torture, kidnapping, grief, sexual harassment 

We’re wishing all of you a wonderful holiday season and we’re looking forward to continuing to connect with you all in the new year!

Announcement: Holiday Hiatus

Hi, hello friends! 

We hope you have all had a wonderful December so far, and that the holiday season has been a positive one. We wanted to do a quick announcement to say that teatimelit is going on a holiday hiatus!

Our hiatus will be from December 21 – January 4, after which we will continue posting as normal!

You can still contact us via our contact form, or our Twitter @teatimelits! 

Have a happy holiday season, and a wonderful new year! 

Book Recs: 2022 Releases, based off of your favorite Taylor Swift Album

I had such a blast putting together my 2021 Releases based off of your favorite Taylor Swift album last year that I knew I had to do it again this year! If you’re new here, I’m Cossette, and I’m a huge Taylor Swift fan, to the point where I roped Caitlyn into doing a book recommendation for every single Taylor Swift song. Just like last year, I wanted to combine two of my loves: Taylor Swift, and books to bring you thirty two of my most anticipated 2022 releases, while assigning them to different Taylor eras! I haven’t read most of these, so it’ll be fun to see how off I am at the end of 2022, once I’ve read these.

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Let’s Talk: Favorite Reads of 2021 Part 2

I feel like just yesterday it was January, and then I blinked and we’re at the end of the year. This year has flown by SO quickly! While this year has been…quite challenging, I will say that in general it’s been my best reading year. So far this year I’ve read 206 books, which was 56 books over my original goal of 150.

In June I made a post highlighting my favorite books from the first half of the year, which you can read here. Now that the year is over, I thought it only made sense to follow up with my favorite books from the second half of the year. I discovered a lot of new books that I loved, revisited some old favorites, and read a few that I probably would not read again. 

This post only lists books that I read for the first time this year – no rereads because if so, we all know what books would be listed…

As always, I have done my best to list trigger warnings based on my own personal notes, trigger warnings from other reviews and what is listed on websites like Book Trigger Warnings and Trigger Warning Database if needed. That being said, there may be things that I have forgotten and if so I apologize! If you’ve read any of these books and notice that I’m missing some triggers, please let me know so that I can update the trigger lists!

✩ indicates an ARC

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Review: Anne Boleyn: 500 Years of Lies by Hayley Nolan

A bold new analysis of one of history’s most misrepresented women.

History has lied.

Anne Boleyn has been sold to us as a dark figure, a scheming seductress who bewitched Henry VIII into divorcing his queen and his church in an unprecedented display of passion. Quite the tragic love story, right?

Wrong.

In this electrifying exposé Hayley Nolan explores for the first time the full, uncensored evidence of Anne Boleyn’s life and relationship with Henry VIII, revealing the shocking suppression of a powerful woman.

So leave all notions of outdated and romanticised folklore at the door and forget what you think you know about one of the Tudors’ most notorious queens. She may have been silenced for centuries, but this urgent book ensures Anne Boleyn’s voice is being heard now.

#TheTruthWillOut

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ARC Review: Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

A fantasy inspired by the legend of the Chinese moon goddess, Chang’e , in which a young woman’s quest to free her mother pits her against the most powerful immortal in the realm and sets her on a dangerous path—where choices come with deadly consequences, and she risks losing more than her heart.

Growing up on the moon, Xingyin is accustomed to solitude, unaware that she is being hidden from the powerful Celestial Emperor who exiled her mother for stealing his elixir of immortality. But when Xingyin’s magic flares and her existence is discovered, she is forced to flee her home, leaving her mother behind.

Alone, untrained, and afraid, she makes her way to the Celestial Kingdom, a land of wonder and secrets. Disguising her identity, she seizes an opportunity to learn alongside the Crown Prince, mastering archery and magic, even as passion flames between her and the emperor’s son.

To save her mother, Xingyin embarks on a perilous quest, confronting legendary creatures and vicious enemies across the earth and skies. When treachery looms and forbidden magic threatens the kingdom, however, she must challenge the ruthless Celestial Emperor for her dream—striking a dangerous bargain in which she is torn between losing all she loves or plunging the realm into chaos.

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Let’s Talk: 2022 Debuts I’m Looking Forward To

Can y’all believe it’s almost 2022? Absolutely wild! This is the time of year where I usually start making my preliminary list of reading goals for the next year, as well as a list of my most anticipated releases. As I started looking through my anticipated reads, I noticed a bunch of debuts on the list, and I thought it would be nice to give those authors and their books a little shoutout!

Narrowing it down is a bit difficult, but I decided to go with 6 books that I’m especially excited for. So, without further ado, here are 6 novels from debut authors that I’m looking forward to in 2022!

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Let’s Talk: Disappointing Books of 2021

Hi, hello friends! Since I recently did a post on my favourite reads of 2021, I thought it would be fun to do the opposite and talk about some disappointing reads of the year. If you loved any of these books, fear not, I don’t necessarily think they’re bad! I’m thrilled you loved them, they just weren’t for me – and that’s ok! I can’t like everything. Without further adieu, let’s get into the list.

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Let’s Talk: What I’m Hoping to Read Before 2021 Ends

I can’t believe 2021 is already almost over! Due to my November reading slump, I’ve accumulated many ARCs in the meantime, and am now paying the price for it. While I don’t think I’ll be able to read all of these books in December, I’m hoping to get through a large chunk of them — and I figured I’d share my TBR with you all. If you follow me on Twitter, you might’ve seen this Bingo Card I posted of my TBR too. Maybe all this accountability will help me get through my TBR! 

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ARC Review: No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado

You should know, right now, that I’m a liar.

They’re usually little lies. Tiny lies. Baby lies. Not so much lies as lie adjacent.

But they’re still lies.

Twenty one-year-old Max Monroe has it all: beauty, friends, and a glittering life filled with adventure. With tons of followers on Instagram, her picture-perfect existence seems eminently enviable.

Except it’s all fake.

Max is actually 16-year-old Kat Sanchez, a quiet and sarcastic teenager living in drab Bakersfield, California. Nothing glamorous in her existence–just sprawl, bad house parties, a crap school year, and the awkwardness of dealing with her best friend Hari’s unrequited love. But while Kat’s life is far from perfect, she thrives as Max: doling out advice, sharing beautiful photos, networking with famous influencers, even making a real friend in a follower named Elena. The closer Elena and “Max” get–texting, Snapping, and even calling–the more Kat feels she has to keep up the facade.

But when one of Max’s posts goes ultra-viral and gets back to the very person she’s been stealing photos from, her entire world – real and fake — comes crashing down around her. She has to figure out a way to get herself out of the huge web of lies she’s created without hurting the people she loves.

But it might already be too late.

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