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🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 Thanks to BookSirens for the ARC. This book was charming, quirky, and a lot of fun. The premise of besties in heaven being in their seventies because it represented the most joy-filled time of their lives was so sweet! I really liked the way the ghostly abilities were useful on earth, and indeed the adventure that they got into was a lot of fun too. Some of the writing felt a bit repetitive, but overall, it was a good cosy read. #bookstagram #books #bookreview

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 When I started this book, I told my partner it felt like a Fallout rip-off, and described the plot. Turns out he's watching the television adaptation, which means that at some point, I have watched a trailer or read a description for the show and decided it doesn't appeal to me. Nought for two, and yet - I really enjoyed the book once I got into it. It's not my usual type of book, and a large part of the reason I continued was because it was lent to me by the person who lent me Project Hail Mary, so I trust him wholeheartedly. Discussing the differences between the book and the television series has been a lot of fun, and I'm happy with my choice to read it rather than watch it. I'm also keen to read the rest of the trilogy! At the end of the book, the author says there are two more acts to come, and this makes a lot of sense: the end didn't feel like an end. It was a very good setup for the sequel, and I like that not everything has been explained already. I don't see the Hunger Games comparison other than that they're both dystopian, so don't let that put you off if, like me, you're not a HG fan. Overall, this is a good novel with some really great characters, unnerving societal norms, and something sinister in the background pulling all the strings. #bookstagram #books #bookreview

🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 Thanks to BookSirens for the ARC. I really enjoyed the premise of this book, as both an urban fantasy with magic being known but not always appreciated and respected, and as a novel with really solid queer representation. The thing I didn't love, however, was the main character. She was really unlikeable. I totally felt like I understood her at the beginning of the book when we saw some of the awful things she experienced, and the way she reacted, but she was unnecessarily cruel to people who were being nothing but nice, and she was quite aggressively bigoted. I would have enjoyed the book more if she'd kept her unkindness for people who merited it, and chilled out with the judgements. Aside from the main character, the plot was simple and fairly predictable, but I really liked the way it was dressed up. I have often said I don't need to read an entirely original plot if it's fleshed out well, and I thought this book was a great example of that. I have a huge soft spot for things in foreign languages that I understand, so the French throughout this was a lot of fun, and I thought the 'magic with a cost' system was really well devised and utilised. #bookstagram #books #bookreview

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 The long-awaited finale (?) of the Dove and Snake series - I was so excited to see this appear in my inbox as an ARC opportunity! Thank you to @zooloosbooktours and @kateristanleywrites #ad This book was such an enjoyable read. There's deeper (iykyk) theological exploration, bigger scenes for some of the side characters, and a pretty epic showdown. Despite it being ages since I read the last two books, I fell right back into this world very easily, which I think is testament to the author's strong characterisation and world-building. It was all immediately familiar and I was very happy to be back! I felt like the stakes were raised to the max in this novel, and there was a genuine sense of jeopardy when reading it - which was perfect. It kept up the tension and had me so gripped. There were also moments of pure comedy, and I commend the author for recognising that need for glimmers of joy when it looks like everything might fall apart. It was a truly brilliant balance. #bookstagram #books #bookreview

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 High fantasy isn't really my jam (obvious exception aside), but my partner has started getting back into reading this year, and all he's wanted to read is fantasy/romantasy. When he read this one, he was obsessed with it, desperate for me to read it too, and genuinely emotional, when he finished it, that it was over. I have dutifully read it - with commentary, as is the privilege earned by the first reader of the book - and he's right. It's really bloody good. His only criticism was that he felt the last two hundred or so pages were quite rushed, like the author got to six hundred pages and then crammed everything in to make sure it wasn't tooooo long. I disagree, and if the pace did pick up at this point, I think it matched the tension at the biggest moments of the book. There was a lot of build-up to a huge battle, which I think is absolutely right for a book in this genre, and I think the author did a fantastic job of tying all the knots together by the end. For the most part, I loved the characters. I read a review of the book when I was researching suitable purchases for my partner, and one said that they felt the author liked Niclays far too much. I totally see where this reviewer was coming from and I agree, but aside from him, there were so many to love and enjoy reading about. Kit, Aralaq, Meg - really great side characters who added so much to the story! I would have liked more about Tané, as the story focused a lot on Ead and the Inysh, but I haven't checked what the prequel is about... This is a fantasy with sapphic romance as a side plot, absolutely not the main point at all, and it's not explicit. Exactly how I like it! I would strongly recommend the book to anyone who likes fantasy or is hoping to like it: despite its size, this is not a daunting book. It's easy to follow, clearly written, and not overly flowery in its fantasy language. #bookstagram #books #bookreview

🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 Thanks to @zooloosbooktours and the author for this ARC. #ad This is a very short story, but what it lacks in time for world-building and character development, it brings in a burst of action with as much backstory as it's possible to fit into a novella. The author doesn't waste time explaining things that you can figure out if you keep reading, and for a book of this size, that is such a good move. It feels like a teaser for something much bigger - a short pilot episode to test the waters. It's got post-apocalyptic sci-fi vibes, and if that's your thing, this is probably an author to look out for! #bookstagram #books #bookreview

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 Thank you to BookSirens for the ARC. This book has all the hallmarks of a good mystery - a curious individual who has to help the cops, weird murder weapons, and desperate attempts to keep the party going even as chaos and carnage occur. There are red herrings, herrings that you think are red but are clearly actually orange, and things that you think are red herrings but aren't even fish. As with the first book in this series, I find the anti-French prejudice so hard to believe, and reminding myself that this is based on the author's genuine experience really throws me. It's absolutely wild that people behave like this! I enjoyed this book throughout, and I recommend it as a classic mystery novel. #bookstagram #books #bookreview

🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 Thank you so much to @zooloosbooktours for the ARC! #ad I love this kind of urban fantasy, and I think the author did a brilliant job writing some really great characters for this novella. If it hadn't been for the unnecessary (to me) romance and multiple sex scenes, I'd have rated this five stars, and I'm mentioning this because I know it will be a selling point for other readers! I really enjoyed that most of the characters were women, and very cool women at that. The ways Destiny's powers worked were a lot of fun, and I liked the lore around demons (and angels) very much. I also thought that Trinity was a brilliant client - her layers were so intriguing. The author did a really good job with this novella, and I definitely think they could do more in this world that would be just as enjoyable to read. #bookstagram #books #bookreview

Thank you to @palamedes.pr and the author for the ARC! #ad (Featuring the most beautiful handwritten message inside the book!) I was immediately sold on this book being one that is going to be sent into space - how insanely cool is that?! I love space so much, and it's very exciting to me that the whole world is getting really into it at the moment as well. This novel features some of my favourite sci-fi concepts: rebellious and unconventional AI sidekicks; powerful warrior women; and gamified battle scenarios that are just so much more fun than standard fights. It's also very cool that there are full page artworks dotted sporadically throughout the book. #bookstagram #books #bookreview

🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 Thank you very much to @mayagawoniiwrites and @onceuponabooktour for this ARC! #ad Conceptually, this book is like nothing I've ever read before, and I love that. The magic grows as the story progresses, and it's a really nice build-up as the main character accepts what's happening and begins to welcome it. The writing is absolutely gorgeous - honestly, sapphic novels with stunning writing is becoming my new favourite category of book - and even the mundane aspects of the narrative feel more magical due to the author's linguistic choices. This book reminded me of the first Life is Strange game, and that's the best comparison I can give. It's whimsical, charming, and very sweet. Available here: https://a.co/d/0aCOw439 #TheMarginsBetweenUs #MayaGawonii #TheMarginsBetweenUsOUABT #OnceUponaBookTour

🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑 I have seen so many posts about this book and I just had to request it on NetGalley too! Don't get me wrong, it's good. I did enjoy reading it. I just wish that the female revenge aspect were given as much attention as the creepy men part! The author did an excellent job of making me hate the male characters - especially when reading the way different generations of women are treated by the same person - and when the revenge storyline began, I was much more engaged. I loved the supernatural elements and they added so much more fun and flair to the narrative. There was also a line from a cop character which left me absolutely raging; horrifyingly realistic characterisation. Just... too much man. #bookstagram #books #bookreview

🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑 I did not love this book as much as I had hoped to love it. I've heard a fair bit about this author, and whilst this book wasn't the one that was on my tbr, it was available in the library so I gave it a go. The concept was fun - something has messed up the laws of probability, and things get weeeeeeiiird - but it wasn't actually that exciting as a story. The main character was insufferable, and despite a narrative that was meant to demonstrate significant character growth, I felt she was utterly stagnant and boring. I docked a star for a conversation where she asked the other main character if he'd heard of the butterfly effect and he said no. Everyone has heard of it. That is not some niche, exclusive, specialist theory. It's a film with freaking Ashton Kutcher. I was very irritated here. I also didn't love the overall atmosphere. I didn't find it funny enough to be comedy horror, and it also didn't feel like there was enough horror either. I'll probably still try Bury Your Gays, but I'm not running for it. #bookstagram #books #bookreview