bastieabooks

Stella 20-something devouring books on a daily basis

[ur-daily-inspiration]

[bastiea]

early morning commute, just missing the mariachi band and charlie lastra

[bastiea]

chatsworth house, 2019.

[bastiea]

𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆,⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ absolutely loved this book, so much so that once I finished it I immediately read it again. I usually don’t like contemporary romances but this office rom-com enemies to lovers story was so good. not quite slowburn but still lots of angst and I always love a book where the guy falls first. featured tropes I adored – (slight spoilers) - enemies to lovers, extra points for the mmc never actually hating her - grumpy x sunshine - taking care of sick mc - protective dark-haired mmc what a great debut novel, I truly understand now why everyone has been raving about it. The writing was so good and it had so many incredible quotes and lines that mirrored each other beautifully. while this genre isn’t always my fav I am super excited to read other books from this author and maybe trying more contemporary romances in the future.

[bastiea]

the metropolitan museum of art, 2022.

[bastiea]

𝑲𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅,⭐️⭐️⭐️

(Spoilers Ahead) full disclosure this book was sent to me so I might have been more slighted if I had actually bought it.

realistically 3.5 stars, it just felt very meh.

I love this author and was very surprised that I did not love it as much as I thought I would.

to start it felt like it was trying to be too many things. this could have been three different books with these various ideas:

- a vampire and reincarnated love interest

- an arranged marriage between enemies

- a dark king conquering the world

but all of it together was very confusing and I feel like none of the plot lines were properly fleshed out.

the beginning felt very much like a worse version of fbaa but then it did get very interesting with the introduction of possible her past life. perhaps the book on the whole should have been longer as the ending was the best part but it felt too rushed. i think it could have done without some of the middle or with more pages just to let it have some room to breathe.

reading red flags for me -

- mc shamed her handmaiden for wanting to get married

- blonde mmc

- obvious but convoluted plot

will I read the rest of the series? I honestly don’t know. I’m not really interested in how the story progresses, but I do love this author so I might have to give it another go.

[bastiea]

november wrap up

it was a busy month catching up on my tbr & library books. almost went the entire month without breaking my book ban until the romanov oracle dropped &  I proceeded to buy and read it within 48 hours (review coming soon)

my november read:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

the romanov oracle

kingdom of flesh and fire

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

serpent & dove

blood & honey

from blood & ash

neon gods

how the king of elfhame learned to hate stories

how many books did you read this month & what was your favorite? 

[bastiea]

national gallery, 2019.

[bastiea]

𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒔𝒉, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ usually I wait to review a series as a whole but I can’t wait till my libby hold is ready so here we go. (slight implied spoilers) only reason it isn’t 5 stars is bc it took me a while to actually get into, the beginning has a lot of dense world-building but once you get past that it’s so good, I couldn’t put it down after that red pearl scene. I liked this version of betrayal and enemies to lovers - which is honestly more friends to lovers to enemies to lovers enemies I guess. the characters and story are both really interesting and I love the theme of choice throughout. tropes galore that made this book great- vampires dagger to throat betrayal dark-haired morally grey love interest slight issues with the book- the grammar and chapter breaks were jarring at points. The betrayal was quite telegraphed but can’t be sure if that was bc of my own prior knowledge/spoilers of the book from my own research. I will say, however, while I expected the betrayal was not prepared for how bad and violent it was. was also not expecting that last line, like wow okay then - hence while I might have to break my nobuy november just to finish these books faster. also, a bit upsetting that this was originally a trilogy now turned into 6 books, not sure how the rest of the series will pan out bc of this change but interested to read it none the less. overall good book and i’m excited to see how this series continues.

[bastiea]

chatsworth house, 2019.

[bastiea]

plans for the night: rushing to try and finish my spooky reads before october is over. will I make it? who knows. what was your favorite book you read this month?

[bastiea]

st dunstan-in-the-east, 2019.

[bastiea]

rainy days call for a cozy night in watching jane austen movies.⁠ ⁠ 

what's your favorite book adaptation? I absolutely adore anything kiera knightly so I'm especially partial to pride and prejudice.⁠

[bastiea]

the victoria and albert museum, 2019.

[bastiea]

the age-old question - witches or vampires?⁠

personally, I love witches & reading about all things magic, especially this month. ⁠

which is your favorite? ⁠

[bastiea]

the metropolitan museum of art, 2018.

[bastiea]

tasks of the day: annotating acowar and the last olympian.⁠ ⁠ how do you like to annotate your books - pens, highlighters, or sticky tabs?⁠ ⁠