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Review: The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night

Thank you to NetGalley and StoriesUntold for this eARC! 

In Croswald, the only thing more powerful than dark magic is one secret… 

For sixteen years Ivy Lovely has been hidden behind an enchanted boundary that separates the mundane from the magical. When Ivy crosses the border, her powers awaken. Curiosity leads her crashing through a series of adventures at the Halls of Ivy, a school where students learn to master their magical blood and the power of Croswald’s mysterious gems. When Ivy’s magic—and her life—is threatened by the Dark Queen, she scrambles to unearth her history and save Croswald before the truth is swept away forever.*

*Summary from Goodreads! 

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Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

“I might be Cinderella today, but I dread who they’ll think I am tomorrow. I guess it depends on what I do next.”

American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame, and fortune. Yet it’s Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain’s future king. And when Bex can’t resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.

Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick’s sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he’s fated to become.

Which is how she gets into trouble.

Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she’s sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.*

*Summary from Goodreads

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Review: More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

Part Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, part Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, Adam Silvera’s extraordinary debut confronts race, class, and sexuality during one charged near-future summer in the Bronx.

Sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto is struggling to find happiness after a family tragedy leaves him reeling. He’s slowly remembering what happiness might feel like this summer with the support of his girlfriend Genevieve, but it’s his new best friend, Thomas, who really gets Aaron to open up about his past and confront his future.

As Thomas and Aaron get closer, Aaron discovers things about himself that threaten to shatter his newfound contentment. A revolutionary memory-alteration procedure, courtesy of the Leteo Institute, might be the way to straighten himself out. But what if it means forgetting who he truly is?

Summary taken from Goodreads
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Spotlight: The Girl from the Well

Hi, hello! It’s Mary here with my contribution to All Hallow’s Read! My pick for this showcase is The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco, a delightfully spooky and interesting read! 

You may think me biased, being murdered myself. But my state of being has nothing to do with the curiosity toward my own species, if we can be called such. We do not go gentle, as your poet encourages, into that good night. 

A dead girl walks the streets.

She hunts murderers. Child killers, much like the man who threw her body down a well three hundred years ago.

And when a strange boy bearing stranger tattoos moves into the neighborhood so, she discovers, does something else. And soon both will be drawn into the world of eerie doll rituals and dark Shinto exorcisms that will take them from American suburbia to the remote valleys and shrines of Aomori, Japan.

Because the boy has a terrifying secret – one that would just kill to get out. 

The Girl from the Well is A YA Horror novel pitched as “Dexter” meets “The Grudge”, based on a well-loved Japanese ghost story.*

*Summary taken from Goodreads!

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Spotlight: Where Dreams Descend

October is Filipino American History Month, so I thought that it would only be fitting to spotlight Where Dreams Descend by Filipino-American author Janella Angeles!

From the second I heard about Where Dreams Descend I knew that it was going to be a book that I would love. As a theatre teacher and lover, seeing a book described as Phantom of the Opera meets Moulin Rouge and The Night Circus (another one of my favorites!) made me immediately add it to my to be read list and eagerly await the days until its release. However, what made me more excited was seeing that the book was not only written by Filipino-American author, Janella Angeles but that the main character Kallia was also a woman of color. 

Title: Where Dreams Descend
Author: Janella Angeles
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Genre: YA, Fantasy
Age Range: Young Adult
Trigger Warnings: alcohol and drinking, mind manipulation, controlling/possessive behavior, misogyny, mentions of blood and injury, missing persons, grief/loss.

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Review: Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella

When Ava arrives at a writing retreat in Italy, she’s told that she can’t reveal any personal information, including her name. After all, the purpose of the writing retreat is to shut off all communication with the outside world, and for the participants to focus on their stories. It’s just a harmless idea, until Ava, as “Aria”, meets “Dutch”, a participant from a cancelled neighboring martial arts retreat. Sparks fly, and the two of them embark on a whirlwind “baggage-free” romance of their own. No personal  details can be shared: from their real names, their ages, their jobs, or even their dating history. Everything is perfect, until Aria and Dutch must return to their regular lives, as Ava and Matt. 

From the moment they arrive back in London, Ava and Matt are faced with a harsh reality: their picture perfect romance isn’t all it’s chalked up to be. It seems like they can’t get along in any shape, way, or form. Whether it’s a simple opinion on food, or artwork, or apartments, or dogs, or room temperature – the list simply never ends. Can Ava and Matt learn to compromise and to love each other’s lives, or will they go their separate ways? 

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Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

*PLEASE NOTE: This review does not adequately discuss the lack of representation and diversity within this novel, and for that I apologise. For a review that does acknowledge the lack of diversity and representation, I recommend THIS one, written by Aentee over at readatmidnight. Because I’m white, my review does not properly highlight the damaging amount of exclusion of BIPOC in this book. I acknowledge that I have a lot of privilege to be in a position where I do not think twice about being represented in media, so I deeply apologise for overlooking it. I will absolutely learn from this mistake, and do better to continue educating myself and continue to critically analyse mass media.

A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget.

France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name*

* Review from Goodreads

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Discussion: Leading an Antiracist Book Club

Real talk: race and discrimination is nothing new. What’s new is that people are having more open conversations about it than they have previously. This year especially there have been many posts with reference links to books, articles, films, documentaries and podcasts,all focused on the topic of race. A common phrase being thrown around is “to educate yourself” and we should, especially if it’s not something that we face daily. We should educate ourselves on things that others face, but sometimes doing so can be difficult especially when doing it alone. I personally am someone who likes to process out loud and likes to do so with others, which is why starting an Antiracist Book Club has been so beneficial for me.

While I am not an expert, nor do I have all the answers, there are many things that I have learned about running an Antiracist Book Club and I wanted to share those tips in the hopes that they encourage others to do the same!

In this post, I’ll discuss things that I have found successful as well as some book recommendations to help you start your own Antiracist Book Club.

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Spotlight: Cemetery Boys

Hi, hello! It’s Cossette here, with another round of All Hallow’s Reads, with Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. Cemetery Boys takes place in the days leading up to Dia de los Muertos, and follows Yadriel, a trans teen boy, desperate to prove himself as a brujo to himself, and to his family. When his cousin Miguel is murdered a couple days before Dia de los Muertos, Yadriel, and his best friend Maritza, set off to find his body, and his portaje, in the hopes of releasing Miguel’s spirit. However, Yadriel accidentally releases the spirit of Julian Diaz, one of the resident bad boys of his school. Julian refuses to go quietly, not until they find out what happened to him, and until he receives confirmation that his loved ones are alright. Together, with the help of Maritza, and a surprise appearance of “The Boys”, they set off to find out what happened to Julian. But the more time Julian and Yadriel spend together, the more Yadriel finds himself wanting Julian to stay. Will they be able to release Julian before it’s too late? And will they figure out what happened to Miguel? 

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ARC Review: Kingdom of the Wicked by Kerri Maniscalco

Thank you to Netgalley & James Patterson Books for providing me with this eARC! 

Two sisters.

One brutal murder.

A quest for vengeance that will unleash Hell itself…

And an intoxicating romance.

Emilia and her twin sister Vittoria are streghe – witches who live secretly among humans, avoiding notice and persecution. One night, Vittoria misses dinner service at the family’s renowned Sicilian restaurant. Emilia soon finds the body of her beloved twin…desecrated beyond belief. Devastated, Emilia sets out to find her sister’s killer and to seek vengeance at any cost – even if it means using dark magic that’s been long forbidden.

Then Emilia meets Wrath, one of the Wicked-princes of Hell she has been warned against in tales since she was a child. Wrath claims to be on Emilia’s side, tasked by his master with solving the series of women’s murders on the island. But when it comes to the Wicked, nothing is as it seems.

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