Tris <3

Good Morning Beautiful Friends! Hekate, by Nikita Gill a Greek retelling written in verse Thank you @jonathanballpublishers for sending me this copy and reminding me about my love for books, reading, and prose. Because I have not given a 5 star this easy, in months! I didn't expect to love this as much as I did. My introduction to Nikita Gill was through my sister who loves Gills poetry. And then I decided randomly to read Hekate, in a slump looking for something that would be light and quick. It may he a quick read (in the sense that its short) but it is not light! Also nor was it quick because I was hanging on the the beautiful lyricism rereading (and registering) to my favourite parts! This book is powerful and evocative. I highly reccomend the audiobook specifically, which Gill narrates herself. Which just adds more power to the story in my opinion. This book had me in a chokehold. It gave me goosebumps, it made me emotional, it filled me an exhilarating energy. But its multilayered, between the lines of this story about a Greek goddess is a parallel that explores womanhood, identify, and trauma. Absolutely stellar work! Read it. #poetry #hekate #nikitagill #literaryfiction #greekmythology

Hii Beautiful Friends! Catching up with my feed one post at a time! Book Review: Half His Age by Jeanette McCurdy I finished this one back in February! It was a birthday gift to myself, as I adore Jeanette McCurdy. I'm Glad My Mom Died remains one of my favourite non-fiction books! Half His Age, was not what I expected. It was an uncomfortable read, Waldo a young girl develops a "crush"/obsession on her much older school teacher. This book to me at least feels like a fresh take on a topic we're all quite familiar with. It isnt however the traditional "grooming" story and Waldo doesn't read like naiive girl who was manipulated (though she is rather naiive in many other aspects). Waldo is a character that I found myself immediately caring about. She was unreliable as a narrator, but also a young girl with a fractured identity, a little lost, wanting attention/love. She makes some very risky and questionable decisions, but seeing her character go through all these phases from start to finish was captivating. There were scenes that were so unbecoming, I couldn't look away as uncomfortable as it made me. I appreciate how the book explores the unraveling and impact of self- esteem, identity, and I use this word in "layman's" terms, trauma, and how it unravels through her journey and identity formation. The irreverent and direct writing style, just adds more to this theme and has become a distinct part of McCurdys voice that Ive come to love. I gave it 5 stars, I much prefer this to other books on the same topic. But I dont think everyone will resonate with this. There is a fine line between loving or hating this. Which is also why I think I love it so much, it has so much complexity and grey area. It challenges how we think about this topic, while not being very direct in its stance. Have you read this? What did you think? I can't wait for McCurdys next work! #jeanettemccurdy #halfhisage #literaryfiction #bookstagram #bookreview

Happy Sunday Beautiful Friends, Its been a while since Ive posted. I'm not the bookstagrammer I used to be, and Im finding it difficult to accept this transition. I also haven't read enough this year to do a Q1 wrapped, so yeah. What I can do is share the current book series I am readijg, and that is The Gamechangers Series (if @jonathanballpublishers wants to send me a new edition of book one to complete my set, then y'all know my email 😂) Anyway, I finally have completed my collection, and now can work my way through this spicy hockey romance series. Which I am enjoying quite a lot! I recently finished Tough Guy and next up is going to be Role Model. Have you read these? What's your favourite (you can't say Heated Rivalry) #heatedrivalry #gamechangers #ilyarozanov #romance #shanehollander

It's been while since Ive given my two cents on book drama. But recently, a very large bookstagram account, made a post about reading with "biblical conviction" that includes some pretty concerning discourse that is rooted in moral superiority and backhanded homophobia Now I made this post late at night, so forgive me if my thoughts seem repetitive. But I listed some books that I enjoyed that include rage towards religious institutions that use belief to gain power and harm, stories of those who were rejected by religious institutions, books that explore desire and emotional intensity, books that question system of powers, books about identity, curiosity, finding meaning, I mean I could probably reccomend a thousand others. Drop your reccomendations below! #bookstagram #bookish #readingispolitical #medialiteracy #books

Happy March Beautiful Friends! What was the most recent classic book you absolutely loved? In February, I read the Bell Jar. My reason for wanting to read this in February is rather macabre. But Sylvia Plath took her own life on the 11th of February, which also happens to be my birthday. So it seemed fitting to finally read this in February, Ive been putting off reading this book for years. And Im glad I finally did! This book captures the experience of dysthymia and clinical depression so well. Esther is a character that weirdly feels very contemporary. Her inner thoughts and experience of depression was very relatable to me personally. I dont think Ive read a book that illustrated that experience so well. I particularly found myself reflecting and coming back to the Fig Tree metaphor, that really resonated with me. This book is one of those Ill come back to time and time again, and will probably live in my brain forever. It's masterful, and poignant and even more so when you put into context how mental illness was viewed in this period. I honestly dont feel smart enough to reflect on this book in a valuable way. Have you read it? Note: please be aware that this novel makes use of a racist slur. My reccomendation of this book does not condone nor justify that. Please be mindful before picking this book up. 📸 @alex.takesphotos01 #classics #thebelljar #sylviaplath #bookstagram #februaryreads

Hi Beautiful Friends! February is over and while I still haven't found my rhythm with reading just yet, a book I was nursing for most of the month was the beautiful and enchanting Wild Reverence by Rebecca Ross (thank you @jonathanballpublishers for sending me a copy) This is a slow burn romance set it in a magical and mesmerizing world of gods and goddesses. We follow a young goddess Matilda, a Herald, as she falls deeply in love with a mortal man Vince. She soon finds herself caught between worlds. This book was such a great one to get lost in, the romance aside the world building and politics of this world is captivating. Leading me to now put Divine Rivalries much higher up on my tbr!! The reading experience of this book was reminiscent to me of when I got lost in Strange the Dreamer one of my favourite fantasy novels! This book is the kind of Fantasy/Romance I have been wanting. Slow burn, mesmerizing world building, lyrical and poetic. It ticked all the boxes for me! This is my first Rebecca Ross read but it won't be my last!! Do you have reccomendations of books similar to this one? Or if you haven't read this, do you plan to? #wildreverence #rebeccaross #fantasybooks #bookstagram #bookreview

Good Morning Beautiful Friends, Do you have a list of books you keep coming back? Books that shifted something in you, whether emotionally, or maybe changed the way you perceive something, or even taught you something? My list is very much emotional, as someone with a highly sensitive nervous system, and deep introspection traits this probably makes sense. Do you feel the same about any on my list? What are some of yours? 📷: @alex.takesphotos01 #bookstagram #literary #lifestyle #bookrecs #bookish

Hello Beautiful Friends! Happy Valentines Day, are you reading a cute romance this weekend? Here are a few of my favourite Romance Books, I recently have become quite into Rachel Reid (thanks to the recent Heated Rivalry craze) And absolutely loved The Shots You Take which is right up there with Work For It on my list of cozy small town spicy gay romances (apparently I like that), Late Bloomers also makes the list while not a small town it is set on a cozy flower farm! I do however want to explore some other types Romances this year! Whats your favourite Romance tropes? #bookstagram #bookish #romancebooks #valentinesday #spicybooks

Hi Beautiful Friends! Do you think reading is a useful tool to help you regulate? Mindfulness based activities are great to help regulate your nervous system from the bottom up, and as a reader naturally I had to incorporate reading into my mindfulness regulation! One of my goals this year is to focus a lot more on mental health, I have an anxiety disorder that can become very severe. My go to is to usually shut down and then I don't do anything. But reading is something I love doing, that can help me develop better habits and coping skills and this past weekend has been a great tool for my to focus on my mindfulness habits, like staying present, focusing on my breathing, and calming my nervous system. And my current read kindly sent to me by @jonathanballpublishers bas been the perfect read! It so easy to get lost in this gorgeous fantasy with a tender romance at its core! Do you have tips for mindfulness based reading? #bookstagram #reader #bookish #mentalhealth #mindfulness

Hii Beautiful Friends! Having a slow start to bookstagram reviews in 2026, I am getting there okay! Time for a short review of a book I read in January, the phenomenonal and poignant Beartown! Fredrik Backman officially has a new fan. I fully get the hype around this book, and have already started looking at where I can buy the sequel! Beartown is a small little town nestled between a Forrest, with lots of snow and icy lakes. Not much happens in Beartown, and the most important thing to most residents is the Ice Hockey Team! Until a scandal/tragedy strikes that divides the town and takes our characters on a tumultuous journey! This book is so beautiful, but also painful at times. Fredrik Backman knows how to write characters that feel like real people, and its easy to immerse yourself into Beartown, it feels like you are apart of this community. I absolutely adored so many of the characters in this and appreciated their complex stories/contexts/past so much, others I hated and wanted to punch through the pages. I experienced such a wide range of emotions reading this. This is a new favourite, and I highly reccomend it!! #bookstagram #bookworm #booknerd #beartown #literaryfiction

Hi Beautiful Friends! One week down of 2026, can you even believe it! So Im going to try and get back into bookstagram and review full swing this year! But that being said, Im also going to slow down my reading a little this year, focus on quality and mindfulness while reading as opposed to trying to read a lot, or keep up with trends or whatever. So here are the 7 books Id like to finish reading before end of March. I on average do about 3 books a month, so this should be achievable. But Im trying to not put pressure on myself. I an also going to continue my 2025 goal of reading one classic a month in 2026, and also want to this year try and read more translated fiction. And then a big one for 2026 for me is to read more books by Black Authors. Because Ive noticed my reading is not as diverse as it used to be. What are some of your 2026 reading goals? #bookstagram #bookworm #booknerd #booklove #instabook #booklover #bookaddict #bookaholic #igreads #tbr #booktag #bookblogger #readingtime #bookish #reader #2026 #2026reading

Good Morning Beautiful Friends, and thanks for sticking around on this ghost town of a bookstagram account! Happy New Years Eve, 2025 you have been A LOT. So as we go into 2026, it is only fitting that my last post be my top 10 of 2025! Let's go! 10. The Boyhood of Cain This is mostly bias, as I related a lot the protagonist inner monolgue and the aesthetics reminded me of Dead Poets Society a little. 9. Before We Forget Kindness These short stories are beautiful, but this volume in particular really pulled at my heartstrings and reminded me why I love literature so much! 8. Bellies Oh my god read this! Its like Normal People by queer! A love story with inevitable heartbreak. Bittersweet. Trans representation. Just go now. Read it. 7. The Brightness Between Us I still am who I am, I love science fiction I love speculative fiction. This wasn't to me as good as the first book, but still brilliant! The plot is so complex, and mysterious. I loved it. 6. Blue Sisters One of the first books to make me cry this year. I loved how they relationship between the siblings was explored and felt these stories were so real and emotional. Much better than Mellors previous book. 5. My Friends Wow! Inject this book into my veins. It was almost higher on this list. The meditation on art, and existence. This book is really really good, and quirky in the best ways possible. 4. In the Absence of Men Just crying emojis here. This book is about a queer relationship in the shadow of World War 1. It is tender, heart wrenching, and poetic. This had me in an emotional mess. 3. Open Heaven Again, this was almost number one! The yearning. Oh the yearning and poetry of this book. And so so so relatable. I want to read it again. WOW. 2. The Emperor of Gladness Are we even surprised. I love Ocean so much. I loved how this book centered unlikely relationships, how it explored masculinity, identity and purpose. I reccomend this over and over again. 1. Sunrise on the Reaping This is an unfair pick for number 1. Again its my own bias, but this book had me in a chokehold. This got very close to how I felt when I first read the Hunger Games. Timely, heartbreaking, and nostalgic.