tianabooks's reviews
179 reviews

this was pure entertainment and it has also somehow become my entire personality??
is this the best thing I’ve read? probably not, but I CAN’T stop thinking about it 😩 it has taken over my brain, what is this series laced with omg
anyway I love my two girlies ♡ there are some other characters I really enjoy too, like Sofia and Diego and Geraldine. I will not comment on The Heirs because we’re not besties currently 🥲 Orion is kiiiinda growing on me.
that ending had me seething :’)

“So, are you Order of pirate then? Do you transform into a one-legged man with an eyepatch, a hankering for rum and a pet parrot?”
LMAO icon 🙂‍↔️

Although, I will say you can’t get that classroom scene out of my head oooor the dance floor one 🫠

“But it meant more, Saeris. To me, it meant more.” 🤍

Don't you just LOVE it when a book becomes your entire personality??
It's been a couple of days since I finished this book but for some reason couldn't bring myself to post this review because I was still re-reading parts of it, refusing to let it go. I loved this story, I love these characters <3 Saeris, Fisher, Ren, Carrion, Lorreth, Layne, Onyx, Archer 🤍 -- all of them are so so precious and dear...and funny. Especially Carrion, this guy had me laughing out loud whenever he opened his mouth. Him and his emotional support plant 🥺

I love whenever alchemy is present as an element in a fantasy book, there's something about it that's always intrigued me. And here it's done really well, I think. I liked that it wasn't a straightforward situation and our characters had to spend significant time trying, trial and error over and over again.
The lore of this world was so fascinating, all this backstory and the importance of the quicksilver. And as we navigate the story alongside Saeris and the cast of characters, our worldview expands as well.

"My soul was on fire, and I didn't care if I burned for all eternity. So long as I was burning with him, then so be it." 🤍

don't get me started on Searis and Fisher because I WILL SCREAM. 😭 The chemistry was chemistry-ing in a way that was affecting my wellbeing AND my sanity. The banter?? Their moments after?? I love them, your honour. It's unhealthy how often I think of them.

This doesn't really end on a cliffhanger but definitely creates excitement for what's to come!

Of course I have preordered book 2 -- we have a title too 🫡💫

"He was the first thing I saw. Always. My heart and my soul knew exactly where to find him."
engraved in my soul too tbh 😩🖤

"My madness recognizes yours; just like my essence recognizes yours." 🤍

What a journey that was, friends. My mind was all over the place for a good part of this book and for the first 20% I had no idea what was even happening. I completely understand why some people might drop the book after that or around the 40% mark - it caaan be a lot. We have a story that is so interconnected, three timelines centuries apart, everything coming together throughout the book. And this book is... 700+ pages long. I get it.
HOWEVER, after 30-40% I was a goner, I simply HAD to know what was happening. The glimpses of the MMC?? Don't even get me started on that, I fear no other mmc will ever be able to reach that level of devotion. 😭

It's so difficult to talk about this without spoiling or giving away anything but at the core of this book is a love story which is tested and attacked, a painful and truly heartbreaking one. But one also full of love, devotion, and light even when there's darkness.

There are several characters, however not all of them were memorable tbh. Most of them were there to cause issues and annoy (me). The emphasis is on the main characters rather than an ensemble.

"Memory or no memory, it's your presence alone that completes me. Never doubt that." 🤍

I highlighted SO many quotes - usually, I don't highlight as much when I'm reading a kindle book but I was like a kid who discovered crayons for the first time while reading this.
In any case, I will now have to exist knowing I will never have a love like this, how wonderful 🥲

This is definitely not for everyone but I definitely enjoyed this one. 🖤
Special blend of romance, horror, fantasy, and paranormal! Aka all of my favourite genres together, just for me <3

💫 other special quotes:

"I would have waited an eternity for you."

"What's in a name love. You would be mine under any other name. Just like I would be yours."

"How could I want anyone else when I am only because you are? I exist for you just as I exist because of you."

"Before you I was chaos and ruin"

"Until you, I thought life and suffering were synonymous."

ANYWAY I LOVE THEM BYE 🥲🖤

rereading my comfort series — January 2025 🤍
I have so much love for this book series and these characters despite their flaws

A 5 star series in my heart

“are you two bonding over murder? aww cute.”

This was entertaining! To be honest, if you take this for what it is, then you have a fun little why-choose read in your hands. 🤭 I would definitely recommend looking up the trigger/content warnings though because this book has several of them. I don’t have any triggers so I didn’t mind personally but it’s right off the bat and starts in the prologue even. 😂

Do I have a favourite boy? Alistair probably 🤍🫣 our little artist was bringing in the emotional intelligence and he was sweeeet. 
My issue with this book was that it started to drag a little bit.. :/ I wasn’t expecting this book to have 500+ pages. Usually I don’t really pay attention to the page count but the story started to get repetitive tbh 🙃. I also read the extended epilogue which was fun but slightly confusing as I felt like we had established some of the things mentioned there? But it might just be me 😅. 

Overall though, a fun little dark read! Intrigued enough to continue with the remaining standalones in this series 🤭🤍

“Guilty for wanting the pain to end. For wanting to end the pain. For wanting the end. Of this.”

This is one of those life-changing, intense, honest reading experiences. A reading experience which has the ability to change your life — or to some extent, influence the way you view the world.

The bravery in the writing is not just about the context of the story and the ability to tell it. It’s also in the author’s decision to incorporate the unnamed POVs. Reading between the lines and context help you decipher who is who; however, each POV remains unnamed. Like a chorus, like a collection of scripts, an amalgamation of voices.

“But it also comes back in nightmares, in scratches on my body, even in the pain of other women’s stories that I hear and who share the same emptiness.”

I’m struggling to find the appropriate way to recommend this book — what do I compare it to? Nothing, it’s so entirely unique, so uniquely its own self, and yet it’s an echo of so many real - true - stories. Because it’s happened before, because it’s happening now, because it’s tragically going to happen. 
It’s a true story, a record. 

Read this book. It’ll stay with me for a long time ♡. 

“how lucky we are, then, to know what the dead say.”

A quick horror short story, perfect for a little thrill in between any larger books you might be reading 🖤 
This had its dark moments and it was overall quite a tense read; however, I couldn’t help but feel like something was missing when we reached the ending. 

Slowly making my way through the short stories — two tackled, more to go! 

“victory is sweet” 🏁

I’ve been meaning to read an F1-themed romance book for a while — obviously though I will not judge this in terms of accuracy. There were certain scenes which were so sweet to read, swoon-worthy at times too. The banter oftentimes worked, others didn’t for me. I just couldn’t shake that the pacing felt slight off 😬

I liked their little park scene; I think that’s when the connection between Riggs and Cami felt real for me 🤍 

I’m sad to say I didn’t vibe with this one as much as I wanted — I read it extremely fast but, after a certain point, it was just to get through it sadly 😩.

I love paranormal stories and I’m always down to read a good why-choose but this one I found was lacking feeling. The characters seemed like they would be likeable but fell flat and the pacing seemed uneven. 

The concept itself was intriguing and the FMC sounded like a great character to follow, which is why I wanted to read this in the first place. Also some scenes did stand out. Although, for a why-choose, mainly 2-3 of MMCs seemed of importance instead of all of them which was confusing :/ 
Unsure if I want to continue with this series 😭

this is getting slightly ridiculous now, friends ngl 😬

apart from 2-3 twists in here, nothing much was happening. We were moving from place to place and lots of things were happening at once 🙃. It did feel like all the characters were reduced to the same two personalities over and over again. 
I did like the emphasis on how important therapy is and how helpful it can be when someone is dealing with traumatising situations. 

I’ll admit the ending with — yet another — cliffhanger was good but come on, did this really need to be 4 books??
I’ll read the final one because I have no self-control of course but I still think book 1 was is best one out of all of them so far 😩