Ok so I read 8 books this month, 5 novels and 3 graphic novels. I was in a bit of a reading slump for a bit but now I'm on a roll and can't get enough of all these good stories.
Broken Flames by M. K. Ahearn
The story has so much potential but unfortunately the writing kinda flopped. It's a romantasy based on Zutara, which is why it initially intrigued me. Kinda read like an unedited fanfic from Wattpad back in 2014. I'd give it a solid 3.5 stars out of 5 for the story.
The Ones We Burn by Rebecca Mix
There was a lot of controversy before this book was even out, I didn't know of it until after I read it.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's about 4 teenagers, one is a witch ( Ranka) that is being married off to the southern prince (Galen) in order to keep the peace between humans and witches. Of course this peace agreement isn't really all that great and so Ranka is initially sent by her coven to kill the prince, but soon starts to doubt that decision. There's also a sickness going around and suspicious deaths that they all get roped into. It's definitely an interesting take on witchcraft and magic within a human world. There's betrayal, sacrifice, teens coming of age, and an actually pretty decent portrayal of twins (as a twin myself It's definitely a pet peeve of mine how twins are portrayed in books, movies, etc.)
Now I do want to get into the controversy of it all. I'll preface by saying that I am a mixed, but I pass as white.
I've done a lot of research over the years on race for a variety of high school and college essays. Race is mostly made up of your genetics and geographical location. My Mom was born and raised in Canada with a European ancestry, she's was white, blonde and blue eyed, my dad was born in South America, h had brown skin with a mix of Indian and European ancestry (my grandpa was a bit of a mutt). I point this out because the main character Ranka is from the North, she's white, while the twins Galen and Aramis are from the south and so they are black and amongst their people are a variety of skin tones. So, geographically speaking, the races of each character make sense. I also found that if you switched the ethnicity of all the characters around, it wouldn't make much of a difference story wise. I mean it's a fantasy story about witches.
I found the writing really fun too. It grabbed my attention right away from the first page and kept me engaged. I read it in only a few days. Yes, there were some inconsistencies or plot holes but what book doesn't have a few blips here and there. I adored all the characters and their growth throughout the book, the world building, the grittiness, the love, the loss, it was enjoyable.
Overall a 4.75 out of 5 stars.
Smoke and Scar by Gretchen Powell Fox
Ok so this series is advertised as "she's the 261 year old fae and he's the 28 year old human" and "she's that shadow daddy and he's just Ken." (Checkout authors instagram for more!)
Anyway, the above statements had my VERY interested and thank the goddesses it was available through my library on Hoopla. I enjoyed the characters, the back stories, the world building and lore.
It follows Elyria (the fae) and Cedric (the human) through entering the Crucible, a series of trials (that no one has ever come out of alive) that promises land and power if one can get through it. The fae and humans fight against each other but within the walls of the Crucible they find themselves having to work together in order to survive. Alliances are formed and chaos ensues.
The series is made up of 3 books in total and I can't wait to get my hands on the next two. There are many questions I need the answers to and the author also promises some good ol' smut in the next one.
*it's not a slow burn if you read it fast enough*
The Stalking by Heather Graham
I originally found out about Heather Graham through one of her series (that ended up unintentionally reading out of order) and fell in love with her work. Every time I see her name, I just grab the book, and I don't even have to know what it's about.
The Stalking is a crime/mystery novel which is a part of her Krewe of Hunters collections that takes your usual FBI/police investigation and adds in a supernatural element. The Krewe are a special unit within the FBI that can see and talk to ghosts, and so they solve crimes with the help of the dead. All set within the US and, of course, has a romantic subplot this book takes you through myth and legend, past and present. Cheyenne the MC sees her dead cousin Janine during her funeral and when Janine points out her killer in attendance Cheyenne screams out that it was him. But now years later there are more killings happening in the same manner that Janine was killed, but the guy that killed her was just recently put to death so now they have to figure out if it's a copy cat or something else entirely.
Post-Mortem by Patricia Cornwell
I have a copy of book #26 in the Scarpetta series and had been meaning to read more of Patricia's work. Randomly found this copy of the first in the series at a bus stop that someone left behind and took it home with me. It follows a similar set up to The Stalking in the sense that it's a crime/mystery novel about the FBI/police working with a Medical Examiner (Dr. Kay Scarpetta) in order to solve crimes.
I'm going to leave it at that because I just started watching the tv show based on the book and I'm going to be doing a separate post all about it.
I'd say a 3.75 stars, maybe a 4.
Volumes 1, 2, and 3 of Heartstopper by Alice Oseman
So cute! Healing my little bisexual teen self.
I really like their (Charlie and Nick) dynamic and how communicative they are with each other. And all the side characters are so fun but Harry and Nick's brother can go away.
I really enjoy Charlie's friend group and how supportive they are of each other, and just ahhhh it's too adorable for words.
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