The Gist: Explore my End of Year Book Tag, diving into unread gems on my shelves, and my 2024 TBR priorities!
(more…)My September TBR: Embracing an Ambitious Reading Challenge to Meet My 2024 Reading Goals
The Gist: Join me this September as I dive into an ambitious reading challenge to hit my 2024 goals. From backlist treasures to new releases, discover how I’m combining my fall reads with my reading goals!
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(more…)Book Review: Weyward by Emilia Hart
The Gist: A whimsical historical fiction that explores feminist resistance to patriarchy over five centuries through magic and reclaiming autonomy.
Series: Standalone
Release Date: February 2, 2023
2019: Under cover of darkness, Kate flees London for ramshackle Weyward Cottage, inherited from a great aunt she barely remembers. With its tumbling ivy and overgrown garden, the cottage is worlds away from the abusive partner who tormented Kate. But she begins to suspect that her great aunt had a secret. One that lurks in the bones of the cottage, hidden ever since the witch-hunts of the 17th century.
1619: Altha is awaiting trial for the murder of a local farmer who was stampeded to death by his herd. As a girl, Altha’s mother taught her their magic, a kind not rooted in spell casting but in a deep knowledge of the natural world. But unusual women have always been deemed dangerous, and as the evidence for witchcraft is set out against Altha, she knows it will take all of her powers to maintain her freedom.
1942: As World War II rages, Violet is trapped in her family’s grand, crumbling estate. Straitjacketed by societal convention, she longs for the robust education her brother receives––and for her mother, long deceased, who was rumored to have gone mad before her death. The only traces Violet has of her are a locket bearing the initial W and the word weyward scratched into the baseboard of her bedroom.
Weaving together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.
• R@pe
• Sexism
• Attempted murder
• Murder
• Abortion
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Hardcover
Rating: 5-stars
(more…)14 New Books: My Hiemal Book Haul
14 new books make up my Hiemal Book Haul and includes books I’ve purchased from August to November. The most prevalent themes are fantasy and (as always) romance.
(more…)27 ebooks: My September Book Haul
My original plan was to add my Kindle book haul to my August Wrap but it just made the post way too long and convoluted. So, I’ve decided to post a separate book haul dedicated to all the books I’ve purchased as ebooks, which, for me, are Kindle books.
(more…)Bound Spirit by H.A. Wills
Series: The Bound Spirit
Release Date: July 27, 2018
In this captivating and vivid, paranormal reverse harem, join Callie on her journey of healing from the horrors of her past, while discovering that the world is far weirder than she could’ve possibly imagined.
Warning:
This book contains graphic violence, adult language, underage drinking, mild sexual content, and deals in sensitive issues such as abuse, suicide, and PTSD. Reader discretion is advised.
• Hispanic main character
• Bisexual main characters
• Murder of whole family (and one of the heroes)
• Violence
• Significant PTSD
• Suicide ideation
• Does have OW: most of the heroes, except for the ghost, have an OW. Also, the series will eventually have M/M relationships in the harem.
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have the Hero and Heroine pushing away
• Does Not have a separation between the Hero and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars
(more…)Magical Intentions by Jaliza A. Burwell
Series: Biomystic Security
Release Date: August 7, 2018
After a small incident involving one of her prototypes, Laila is offered a job she can’t turn down: boost the company’s defenses in preparation for a visit by an important client everyone wants dead. Eager to put her skills to the test, she accepts. But once she begins, she realizes she needs to brush up her skills in one critical area: teamwork.
Teamwork has always been a foreign word to Laila. As a magical genius with a rocky childhood, she’s learned the only person she can rely on is herself. But that isn’t how Biomystic Security operates. In order for her to be successful, she needs to learn to trust those around her.
Their client, Cyril Shanton, is relying on that teamwork. If everyone in the company isn’t able to work together flawlessly, Biomystic Security will be remembered as the company that got one of the last remaining dragons killed.
**This is a slow burn Urban Fantasy Reverse Harem**
• Violence
• No OTT sad parts (but, there are discussions of murdered family members)
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have the Heroine pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Heroine and some of her love interests
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Kindle
Rating: 3.25/5 stars
(more…)Black Spells and Twisted Souls by Cece Rose
Series: Grey Witch
Release Date: July 16, 2018
A dead boss, a demonic kitty in her bathtub, and a smoking hot detective… If only he wasn’t trying to pin her for the murder.
Between a mysterious fae prince with no sense of modesty or boundaries showing up, having to call a vengeance spirit, and more demons than she ever expected or wanted to meet appearing in her living room, an iced latte spilled all over her new dress is suddenly the least of her worries.
When white magic won’t save her, and black magic will taint her soul, what’s a witch to do?
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Murder
• No OTT sad parts.
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
– One of the Heroine’s ex lovers has many OW, though. He might be part of the harem.
• Does have the Heroes and Heroine pushing away
• Does not have a separation between the Heroes and Heroine
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Format: Kindle
Rating: 1/5 stars
(more…)The Dark World (Dark World, #1) by Cara Lynn Shultz
Series: Dark World
Release Date: May 27th, 2014
But when a fire demon attacks Paige in detention, she has to admit that things have gotten out of her league. Luckily, the cute new boy in school, Logan Bradley, is a practiced demon slayer-and he isn’t fazed by Paige’s propensity to chat with the dead.
Suddenly, Paige is smack in the middle of a centuries-old battle between warlocks and demons, learning to fight with a magic sword so that she can defend herself. And if she makes one wrong move, she’ll be pulled into the Dark World, an alternate version of our world that’s overrun by demons-and she might never make it home.
• BIPOC characters
• LGBTQIA+ characters
• characters with a disability
And doesn’t address fatphobia
• Killing/murder
• Death
• Bullying
• Girl-hating
• Sex-shaming
• Training to kill
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.25/5 stars
(more…)Half Bad (Half Bad, #1) by Sally Green
Series: Half Bad Trilogy
Release Date: March 4th, 2014
WANTED BY NO ONE. HUNTED BY EVERYONE.
Sixteen-year-old Nathan lives in a cage: beaten, shackled, trained to kill. In a modern-day England where two warring factions of witches live amongst humans, Nathan is an abomination, the illegitimate son of the world’s most terrifying and violent witch, Marcus. Nathan’s only hope for survival is to escape his captors, track down Marcus, and receive the three gifts that will bring him into his own magical powers—before it’s too late. But how can Nathan find his father when there is no one safe to trust, not even family, not even the girl he loves?
Half Bad is an international sensation and the start of a brilliant trilogy: a gripping tale of alienation and the indomitable will to survive
• Captivity
• Violence (Blood and gore)
• Physical abuse
• Emotional abuse
• Bullying
• Discussion of suicide
• Sexual fantasies
• Mild language
• Underage drinking
• Drug use in relation to poisoning and drugging of prisoners
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
(more…)