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Forest of a Thousand Lanterns Book Review
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao Goodreads synopsis: An East Asian fantasy reimagining of The Evil Queen legend about one peasant girl’s quest to become Empress–and the darkness she must unleash to achieve her destiny. Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be Empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village on the edge of the map, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng’s majestic future.…
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An Enchantment of Ravens Review
An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson Goodreads synopsis: Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread, weave cloth, or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel’s paintings are highly prized among them. But when she receives her first royal patron—Rook, the autumn prince—she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes – a weakness that could cost him his life. Furious and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s…
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August Book Box Club: Fearless Females
August’s Book Box Club arrived just in time for my holiday to the Lake District. The theme was ‘Fearless Females’ which sounded AMAZING, so I was super-excited to see what would come. I didn’t guess the book this month, although I was very happy to receive Things A Bright Girl Can Do by Sally Nicholls, since I had seen adverts for it at YALC in July and I liked the sound of it. There was the usual signed book plate, Q and A with the author, and an invite to the awesome book box club book club chat [wow, isn’t that a mouthful?]. Once again, this box contained an amazing candle by…
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July Book Box Club: Spells and Remedies
July’s Book Box Club theme was ‘Spells and Remedies.’ I furrowed my brow for quite a while trying to figure out what the book could be, and I didn’t actually guess it, but I thought the premise of The Disappearances by Emily Bain Murphy sounded quite nice, and I liked the idea that it included lots of book quotes in the plot. Alongside the book, I also got a signed bookplate, Q and A pages from the author, and an invite to the unashamedly bookish Book Box Club book group. This box had a lot of cute merch in it. The first thing I saw was the Exclusive Raven Boys soap by…
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June Fairyloot: ‘Elementalists’
This was my first Fairyloot box. I had been wanting to try one for a while, but alas, finances, so I decided to wait for a big occasion. In June I finally handed in my undergraduate dissertation, so I decided that I deserved some Fairyloot in my life. And oh my. What a beautiful box. I didn’t actually manage to take an unboxing picture, I was so immersed in tearing paper and cooing over items, so I’m afraid this will have to do, but eek. So many items. Such pretty. Again, I managed to predict a book [mostly with some snooping on goodreads lists] but I was correct, this box…
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June Book Box Club: Schoolroom Scandals
June’s Book Box Club box was the first one I was a little unsure of, since I’d only just started to get into contemporary YA fiction again. I’m definitely more of a fantasy and sci-fi gal, and I’m pretty picky when it comes to contemporary fiction. But, just before they hinted at the book for June, I started reading Geekerella, and I really got into it, so I decided I would trust in Book Box Club to pick an excellent book. I sort of figured it would be One of Us is Lying before the box was sent out; just as well, since I almost almost bought this when it…
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May Book Box Club: ‘Wizards at War’
May’s Book Box Club box was themed ‘Wizards at War.’ I didn’t manage to guess what the book would be, but I did low-key fall in love with it and I recently snagged a copy of the follow up, Shadowblack on Netgalley to review. So the main thing in the box was a gift-wrapped copy of the magical Spellslinger by Sebastien de Castell, along with a signed bookplate, Q and A with the author, and as always, an invite to the book box club book group chat. Alongside this was a Dumbledore pin, created by The Potter Emporium. I really liked this one, and my friends cooed over it A LOT when I wore…
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Renegades Book Review
Renegades by Marissa Meyer Secret Identities. Extraordinary Powers. She wants vengeance. He wants justice. The Renegades are a syndicate of prodigies—humans with extraordinary abilities—who emerged from the ruins of a crumbled society and established peace and order where chaos reigned. As champions of justice, they remain a symbol of hope and courage to everyone…except the villains they once overthrew. Nova has a reason to hate the Renegades, and she is on a mission for vengeance. As she gets closer to her target, she meets Adrian, a Renegade boy who believes in justice—and in Nova. But Nova’s allegiance is to a villain who has the power to end them both. Thank…
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Queens of Geek Book Review
So a quick confession to make: I’ve never been the biggest fan of contemporary YA. I think it’s because I tried to start with John Green, and while he’s incredibly popular, I found his books a little too heavy, too emotionally draining. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I’m in the mood for that, but my perfect YA contemporary is a fluffy light romance with some quirky characters and lots of laugh out loud lines. Recently, my poison of choice has been books based at comic-cons. I stumbled across Geekerella by Ashley Poston a while back, and it was perfect, pretty much exactly what I wanted from a book. From there, I moved…
