bookishdamzel's reviews
303 reviews

I'm still thinking about this book almost a week later!

Ace of Spades is multi-pov, bipoc, thriller with Gossip Girl & Pretty Little Liars vibes! Chiamaka & Devon (the MCs) both attend Niveus Private Academy, but they are from different social and economic backgrounds. They both have secrets and somebody keeps revealing them. Eventually, they have to team up to figure out who is actively trying to harm them and spilling their secrets.

Genuinely a great standalone thriller! <3 

Untethered Sky is a well written short story about Esther, who experienced the tragic loss of family members after an attack from a manticore happened. She is determined to hunt these manticore, so she trains to become a ruhker, those that control the roks that are able to hunt these manticore. The story follows Ester and her rok Zhara through hunts and growing together, as well as a side character named Darius. 

I wish I could say more, but that's about it. I enjoyed the book for what it was and i thought the ending was sweet. I would of loved to stay in this world with the character's longer but I think it ended where it needed to. 

The ending solidified the 5 stars for me.

The Sacrifice is a bit of mystery and a whole lot of thriller. It is set in modern Philippines on the fictional island of Kisapmata. The local, Alon, must be the tour guide of a bunch of Hollywood people there to film a ghost hunting show. The crew begins to see things and tragedies ensue. The island has a mystery surrounding it since Cortez's discovery.

There's a good bit of body horror and plant horror in this. I loved it and I'm glad I picked this up!! <3

 

I think this was a great wrap-up to the Shepherd King duology. I enjoyed seeing Nightmare, Ravyn, Elm and Ione's PoV in this; learning how the mist began; more backstory on characters I loved in One Dark Window; and how everything came together in the end.

I took my time reading this one and I really enjoyed the ride.

This is a slow paced, his-fic romance set in 1840s Mexico with a bit of the supernatural added in. I really enjoyed Nena and Nestor's moments together. The pining from Nestor omg, loved it so much. I think the double POV really helped me get through this one. 

Independence is a book set during the Partition in 1940s British India. There are multiple POVs and its really compelling.

There's a lot heartache and love in this. I loved seeing each individual sisters' pov and the love they share even as they go their own way, doing what they believe is right for them! Even through fights and things that don't go as plan, their bond continues.

I think this was a solid read and enjoyed my time with it! 

The Autobiography of an Ex-Coloured Man is well written literary fic book with the writing style of a memoir. 

The narrator's name is never revealed. You only learn that he has a biracial background and that he doesn't fit perfectly in either side of his heritage (being half black & half white). He grew up having the privilege of being light-skinned and white passing (unless somebody knew of his background - which he learned later on in life). As an adult, he tries to learn more about black culture in the south and finds that he loves jazz and church/choir music, the people, etc. He begins embracing this half of his heritage more, however still struggles with himself as he travels around the world.

Ultimately the man decides to choose the safety of his white passing appearance for his wife and children, who do not know he's biracial after seeing a public lynching. Instead of embracing his black heritage & himself as a biracial man. He effectively turned his head away from the horrors people, like himself, faced in the book that is rooted in real history.

 

There's plenty more to be said on this book and I do think it's worth the read! I enjoyed it for what it was and from my understanding this book inspired a lot of Harlem Renaissance authors of the time! 

This is an 18+ Dark F/F Romance!!!

I had a hard time getting into this one, although I liked all the characters. The book seemed to drag on a bit too far for me. Obviously, there's dark content since it is a dark romance & I'd recommend checking out Lianyu Tan's website for the full list of content warnings. 

I enjoyed the setting, the vampire/vampire coven element, dark atmosphere, and the fact you get to choose your own ending depending on who you wanted Gean Choo to be with in the end. There's also a bonus "Choose Yourself" ending too, although I haven't read it. 

Calling of Light was such a great ending to a series.

Lee mentions that her first drafts of Forest of Souls (Book 1 of the Shamanborn Series) started in 2014 in her afternotes and you can see the improvement in her craft in each book since. Personally, I think this is the best book out the series with how well done the book wraps up everything.

My favorite thing about the Shamanborn series, and especially in Calling of Light, is the friendship between Sircha and Saengo. They're tied together so well and I absolutely love their love for one another. Sircha struggles with the thought of losing Saengo and letting her be on her own a lot of the series, which is very understandable seeming as Saengo is infected with the rot that can be barely be contained. I'm glad this book challenged it more, as well as showing a bit of that risk. I enjoy their interactions together and the mountain scenes were probably some of my favorite of them together.

I also think Sircha's interactions with the Soulless were well done in this. Showing Sircha's similarities to ancient shamanborn of the Soulless' time, being one of only few of their kind as a Soulrender. It also shows Sircha dealing with the fact that she either could either use her craft like the Soulless or ultimately choose her craft for good and not be held down to stereotypes. I think this book shows the growth in Sircha's character well and I enjoyed that aspect too. Also, showing a glimmer of the Soulless as human in some instances had a lot of impact as well, with regards to what he and those close to him had been through in the conquests.

Although not seen as much, I do like Prince Meilek, Theyen, & Kendara as side characters as well. They aren't the main focus but they do contribute to Sircha's growth and the plot of the story while also being their own person. Each one of them has their own distinct objectives and motivations for doing things and how they act even being far removed from what Sircha is doing at any given point. I think their interactions with Sircha in this book are well done and add to the theme of friendship. Alsoooo, that Kendara scene man, if you know, you know.

I also want to mention how I felt like the series gradually grew in brightness with each book and by the ending/last chapter it felt the most hopeful and the brightest. It was probably intentional but it was a random thought that came to mind to describe how I pictured scenes/atmosphere.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book (and series) and would love to see more of Lee's work in the future!! I think this series has a great atmosphere, characters, magic system and world building/lore. I'd definitely recommend this for dark YA fantasy enjoyers!!

Disclaimer: I received Calling of Light as an ARC and I'm voluntarily leaving this review. Thank you to Hear Our Voices for giving me the opportunity to be on one of y'all's arc tours! 

Buddy Read w/ Sea <3

I absolutely loved this book!! This book is so gnarly, yet so good. 

First off, the character work on Vern is so well done and can have such a gnawing effect on you. Like the amount of things this character went through in this story is just absolutely wild and seeing her process it and act in some moments was just incredible. I love Vern with the whole of my heart man.

The atmosphere of this book is so gruesome and dark, very southern gothic coded. It's modern day, but has a cult and supernatural touch to it.  It's hard to describe to without spoiling a lot of aspects to it. 

The main theme of this book is survival and resilience through everything you're put through. Its so well done in this book. 

I don't know how to talk about this book without spoiling, I loved this so much and I'm still thinking about it a week and half later after finishing it. I want to read Solomon's other works, I have a feeling I will love them.

I recommend this to people who don't shy away from dark and gruesome plots and morally grey characters. If you want clean and wholesome, please look elsewhere, this is not for you.