My first ever book haul is covering three months of book purchases! To ensure the post doesn’t go on forever I’m going to split my hard copy and kindle purchases between this post and my August monthly wrap. In this haul, I am featuring all of the books I’ve purchased in hard copy!
(more…)Brilliant and Kickass: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
Series: Dread Nation
Release Date: April 3, 2018
Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville—derailing the War Between the States and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native and Negro Reeducation Act require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life for Negro girls like Jane. After all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white Southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.
But that’s not a life Jane wants. Almost finished with her education at Miss Preston’s School of Combat in Baltimore, Jane is set on returning to her Kentucky home and doesn’t pay much mind to the politics of the eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of its days before the dead rose. But when families around Baltimore County begin to go missing, Jane is caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies. And the restless dead, it would seem, are the least of her problems.
• Plot – Cliffhanger
• Character – HFN
• Black biracial (white passing) supporting character
• Black side characters
• Bisexual main character
• Asexual supporting character
• Lenape side character
• Torture (whipping)
• Corporal punishment (of children)
• Allusion to sexual violence and assault
• Racial slurs
• Unwanted experimentation (“vaccination”)
• Allusions to drug use
• Discussion of prostitution
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
(more…)The Weekly Wrap: July 27th to August 2nd
A detailed look at last week’s reading habits: four new books read, all with a rating above 4-stars, three new books I want to read that all centre resilient Black women; I also introduce my Up Next shelf and details the books I’m going to read this week as well as the highly anticipated release of Midnight Sun.
(more…)Enchanting and Atmospheric: The Beholder by Anna Bright
Series: The Beholder
Release Date: June 4, 2019
But after an excruciatingly public rejection from her closest childhood friend, Selah’s stepmother suggests an unthinkable solution: Selah must set sail across the Atlantic, where a series of potential suitors awaits—and if she doesn’t come home engaged, she shouldn’t come home at all.
From English castle gardens to the fjords of Norge, and under the eye of the dreaded Imperiya Yotne, Selah’s quest will be the journey of a lifetime. But her stepmother’s schemes aren’t the only secrets hiding belowdecks…and the stakes of her voyage may be higher than any happy ending.
• Heroine suffers emotional abuse from her step-mother
• Heroine’s mother died (off-page)
• The Heroine’s father is ill
• Heroine is 18 and looking for a husband
• Romantic relationship between adoptive siblings
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
(more…)The Falconer (The Falconer, #1) by Elizabeth May
Series: The Falconer
Release Date: May 6th, 2014
Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844
Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined for a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s social events – right up until a faery killed her mother.
Now it’s the 1844 winter season and Aileana slaughters faeries in secret, in between the endless round of parties, tea and balls. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, she sheds her aristocratic facade every night to go hunting. She’s determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city’s many dark alleyways.
But the balance between high society and her pirate war is a delicate one, and as the fae infiltrate the ballroom, and Aileana’s father returns home, she has decisions to make. How much is she willing to lose – and just how far will Aileana go for revenge?
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• PTSD
• Violence
• Allusions to sex
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4/5 stars
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