Nika

• 23 • always reading and always in a slump • book reviewer • book recs • #jlreadsrandeviews (for my book reviews)

[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 📖 𝟖𝟎: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 + 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 & 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐫𝐚𝐩-𝐔𝐩

Finally, on the last book I read last April. I read this for my Greco-Roman Book Club on booktwt. Also, my first Roman literature (I think). I've really ambitious last April and last month on my book club and tbr variety but failed with flying colors 🙈.

The Golden Ass is a satirical story about religion, class, society, etc. There's also Mythology on it and heavily if I'm being honest. Some moments or parts were funny, and some kinda slumped. If you're interested in my thoughts on this, my review is at the bottom, together with the wrap-up 🫶.

Anyway, back on my May reading, the good thing is that I managed to have a fun (I think) 3 day marathon on the last 3 days of May and read 6 books (so proud of me 😫🤌🏽).

P.S. My review posts are ready, so yay 🫶

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[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 📖 𝟕𝟖: 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭'𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 (𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 #𝟏) 𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐞𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

I don't know if you've heard of this series before, but I really want to share this one with you all about a classic fantasy series I started that I also discovered on booktwt last month.

This first book delivers this kind of dark, weird, and fairytale like world and formatted like an interconnected collection of mini/ short story within the same world lore or realm.

There's a whole rich and established world or lore here, like Gods and Goddesses, origins of the world that I believe would be expanded more in the next books.

It was a really intriguing read for me. I would say I would recommend this. If you're interested in my full thoughts of this first book, my review is at the end.

P.S. Read this last April for the classic fantasy book club on booktwt 💗

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[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 📖🎧 𝟕𝟕: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐨 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦 𝐉𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

First things first. I AM SORRY FOR GOING MIA. Horror podcasts have just been the obsession that really had me going crazy for more.

Anyway, I am back with another fave read I had last month 🫶. This has been on my tbr for a while, ever since this released, and it took me some time to finally read this. I also know some of you are waiting for this review, so here it is 💗.

I've read 2 previous short stories from the author which one of them I did enjoy so much, titled The Night Cyclist. It's a really intriguing read that I recommend.

I may have been really emotional and blabbering on my review of this book and gave some spoilers, so be aware when you read my review at the bottom🙈.

Reading this book really reminded me of some reading I did in university tbh.

Also, thank you, @lucilledraws, for letting me use your art for my review. I really love this art you did 💗.

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[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 🎧𝟕𝟒: 𝐓𝐮𝐬𝐤 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐚 𝐆𝐮𝐚𝐧𝐳𝐨𝐧, 𝐓𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐨𝐧 (𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫), 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐲 (𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫) 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

Pick this one up last month, and I remember this was the reason I added a few more monster romances on my April Tbr which was never read 🙈. I'll be getting those this month (hopefully).

Anyway, Tusk Love was a really fun read, especially since I got the audio for this, which was a SMART MOVE for me 👀. If you haven't read this or this is on your tbr, GET THE AUDIO 👌🏽.

I also wouldn't forget the pretty cover, which is really pretty in my eyes, especially the light colours 🫶.

♤ Check this book out if you enjoy these tropes

▪︎ Cute and Fun

▪︎ Grumpy X Sunshine

▪︎ One Bed

▪︎ Forced Proximity

▪︎ Adventure

▪︎ Dual Pov

▪︎ Historical Fantasy Setting

If you're interested in my full thoughts, see the next photos for my full review 📌

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[libraryofnika]

⋆✴︎ 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 ⋆✴︎

The last week of last month was such a busy week for me as I'm locking on the project I once again was invested on. That being said, my reading has been to a halt on that whole week, and you could say I'm quite had a rough time getting back into my Crs after a vacation.

I'm now back threading quite in a very slow paced in Empire of Silence compared to Dune and really well with Rejection. I really hope I enjoy them ✨️.

Anyway, these are the things I'm focusing on other than my project. I've been really obsessed with horror podcasts as usual and vampire like movies 😫. I'm also missing Bailey Sairan videos. There hasn't been a new one for a while now :((.

[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 📖🎧 𝟕𝟑: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐬 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐬 #𝟏) 𝐛𝐲 𝐉𝐨𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

It's been a while since I've read a dark fantasy, and my experience was so fun and an amazing one as I read this book. I would say this might be one of the best books I've read so far this year.

I can't honestly wait for the sequel of this, and I might have added this author's other series from my tbr 🙈.

♤ If you like these things, you need to check this book 📌

▪︎ Medieval Dark Fantasy

▪︎ Group of misfits band together

▪︎ Incredible character chemistry

▪︎ Intriguing lore world

▪︎ World history adjacent

▪︎ Adventure (think of quest like)

▪︎ Unseriously funny dialogues

If you're interested in my full thoughts, see photos below for my full review 📌

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[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 + 𝐒𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫

I've been really busy because of a project right now, but here I am again for a new set of reviews.

Botanical horror might be a fave category of horror of mine alongside worm/ insect horror & of course haunted house + descent to madness concept.

I've read 3 as of now, and these 2 might have been a really good read of this category/ subgenre that I AM WANTING TO READ MORE 😫.

69. 📖🎧 Eat the Ones You Love by Sarah Maria Griffin ■ CRAZY plant going on here. If that's your type, read this. ALSO, GET THE AUDIO for maximum experience 📌

75. 📖🎧 Bloom by Delilah S. Dawson ■ OBSESSIVE & CRAZY Sapphic? Read this 📌

Reviews of these books are below if you're really interested in my thoughts of them ✨️. I REALLY REALLY HOPE you check them out.

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[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 📖 𝟔𝟕: 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 (𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐃𝐮𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 #𝟏) 𝐇.𝐌. 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠

A very belated release day to this book 🙈. Entwined was released last March 10, 2026. The most recent Fantasy series from author H.M. Long. If you didn't know, I love the author's The Winter Sea series. It is an adventure like magic fantasy, and think of Pirates of the Caribbean atmosphere. Amazing set of characters as well 🤌🏽.

Entwined, on the other hand, is a Gilded Historical Fantasy Duology that offers a very unique magic system and lore so fascinating and quite dark. It is very political as well and oppressing in nature of its merging concepts so far in this book.

I highly recommend both of these series ✨️. For my full review on Entwined, see below for the review 📌. Thank you, @titanbooks, for the arc 🫶.

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[libraryofnika]

:･ﾟ✧ 📖 𝟔𝟔: 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥 (𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐫𝐨𝐧 #𝟏) 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐑𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

Another rec worthy read of mine from March ✨️. I have been meaning to read this the moment this released but again never really got to as always.

If you know me, I used and will probably always eat up any transmigration or time travel comic, manga, fanfic, novel, so it's a given that this was going to be a good read. Not to mention a VILLAINESS ✋🏽.

♤ What to expect when reading this 📌

▪︎ Historical Fantasy

▪︎ Royalty

▪︎ Villainess x Knight, Emperor, Mercenary, Assassin, Villain (?)

▪︎ Chaotic Gang

▪︎ Think of Villainess x Transmigration & Time Travel Comics

▪︎ Hidden Identity

▪︎ Cliffhanger

▪︎ MLM (?) & WLW

▪︎ Health Conflicts

▪︎ Court Intrigued

Full review at the bottom if you're interested in my thoughts of this read ✨️

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[libraryofnika]

˚₊• 📖 𝟔𝟓: 𝐑𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 •₊

I've been in a hunt of a good asian read last month and read a few of them, and some I did enjoy and not. I would say I'm quite very picky when it comes to literary fiction that I myself don't know what type of lit fic I enjoy 💀.

Anyway, Rental House is one of those I would say I did had a good time, especially when it comes to the 'relatable things that I find unironically comforting in both not and good sense.

If this is on your tbr, I hope you enjoy this ✨️

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[libraryofnika]

࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 🎧𝟔𝟐: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐥𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 + 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐖𝐫𝐚𝐩-𝐮𝐩

I've been eyeing this one ever since I saw this here for the first time, and not to mention how the cover is so captivating, I just had to.

Long story short, I was served a magnificent amount of pathetic, gay, yearning that had me screaming, especially after the first half. You could say, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS ✋🏽.

♤ For those who have yet to read this, these are the things you might want to know before getting into this. Full review on the next slide (I also noticed I repeated a few words on my review 🙈) 📌

▪︎ Medieval inspired

▪︎ Shifter

▪︎ King x Knight

▪︎ Pathetic Yearning

▪︎ Unique point of view writing

▪︎ ANGST and more YEARNING

▪︎ Side characters that need more screen time

My March Wrap-up is after the book review, so check it out if you're interested 🫶. Also, as of now, I'm missing 10 review posts for my March Reads 🙈.

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[libraryofnika]

⋆✴︎ 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚, 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜, & 𝐈𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬 ⋆✴︎

It's time for some manga & graphic novels I've read these past few days ✨️. I have a few other unread ones on my tbr that I've been wanting to read, so I'm hoping to read next month.

I'm also hoping to start 2 more books before the end of the month and finish all my CRS as well, but I'm feeling under the weather, and I've not desired to read so 💀.

Quick reviews for these books are at the bottom 📌.

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[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 🎧 𝟓𝟗: 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞 (𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐞 #𝟏) 𝐛𝐲 𝐂. 𝐒. 𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐚𝐭, 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐨𝐧 (𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫) 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

Another book read from my ancient tbr ✨️. I'm quite pleased that I WAITED for this book to be GOOD and it delivered. Imagine my shock when I was about to start the 2nd book only to find out that the 3rd book IS STILL NOT OUT.

Long story short, I am not reading the 2nd book because, apparently, it is going to be a cliffhanger. I will wait patiently for the 3rd book. Thank you very much.

If this is on your tbr, I hope you enjoy it. If you have read this, let's scream together on the comment section 😆. My full review is at the bottom.

♤ For those who have yet to read this, these are the things you might want to know before getting into this📌

▪︎ Arthurian fantasy inspired

▪︎ Dark Vs. Light

▪︎ Chosen One ( 💀 )

▪︎ Queer (MLM), Bisexuality

▪︎ Master & Servant (?)

▪︎ PLOT TWIST

▪︎ Off charts chemistry

▪︎ Ride or Die gang (I'm hoping for this in the 2nd book)

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[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐤𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 + 𝐖𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐝, 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

If you hadn't noticed, the reader is in her horror era and will be here for some time. Perhaps she never wants to leave ✋🏽.

Anyway, these 2 titles have been on my radar, and I've jumped into them one after another. An experience that is a 10/10, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone 🙈.

🎧📖 𝟓𝟕: 𝐈𝐭𝐜𝐡! 𝐛𝐲 𝐆𝐞𝐦𝐦𝐚 𝐀𝐦𝐨𝐫

♤ For ▪︎ worm, ants, insects, and the combination of folkore and murder mystery horror ▪︎ read Itch! by Gemma Amor, most especially if you did enjoy You Weren't Meant to be Human.

📖🎧 𝟓𝟖: 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐚, 𝐆𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢 (𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫)

♤ For ▪︎ weird, descent to madness, lovers of The Vegetarian ▪︎ read Earthlings by Sayaka Murata.

As usual, both of these novels offer commentary as well that are very highlighted. Please see Trigger Warnings of these books as well if you decide to start them 📌. Reviews at the bottom.

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[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 📖 𝟓𝟔: 𝐋𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭'𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 (𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥) 𝐕𝐨𝐥. 𝟏 𝐛𝐲 𝐘𝐮 𝐑𝐲𝐞𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

I can not voice enough how much I love the MC of this novel and the characters ✋🏽. Everything here is just perfect 🤌🏽. ▪︎ Found family, character dynamics, enigmatic MC, adventure, magic & magical creatures, etc. Only a few I could mention.

I would say I definitely want an adaptation of this novel 😫. Anyway, a full review of this novel is at the bottom 📌. I'm really hoping I could read the 2nd vol before the month ends.

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[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟔 - 𝟏𝟐 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬

I'm so far behind my review post here in booksta, so here I am posting 4 reviews in this post. Books in here are romance, fantasy romance, and erotic horror in genre ✨️.

As of today, I'm reading 3 books 😬. I've been quite moody these past few days. The last 2 books I read were horrendous, in my opinion 😭.

♧ Titles on this post 📌

📖 50: Say You'll Be Mine by Naina Kumar

📖 51: The Scorpion and the Night Blossom by Amélie Wen Zhao

🎧 54: Spread Me by Sarah Gailey, Xe Sands (Narrator)

🎧 55: Dark Alpha's Night (Reaper #5) by Donna Grant, Victoria McGloven (Narrator)

Full review the next photos ✨️.

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[libraryofnika]

˖ ࣪⭑ :･ﾟ✧ 📖 𝟒𝟗: 𝐂𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐇𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐮𝐞𝐲𝐨 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰

Happy Release Day to this compellingly crafted horror thriller novella ✨️. I would say I wanted to read more of this and hope that the author might want to expand the universe of this story in the future especially with the rest of the characters 😫.

For my horror thriller lover moots, especially those who did watch and enjoyed Tokyo Ghoul mamga and anime, this is definitely for us peeps ✋🏽.

In celebration for the release day of this last March 10, go ahead at the bottom for my full review taken from my Goodreads and Storygraph. Be warned, there might be spoilers 📌.

♧ If you love this in a horror thriller, you definitely need to pick this up 📌

▪︎ Page turner storytelling

▪︎ Enigmatic characters

▪︎ Chemistry and connections

▪︎ Complexity in characters

▪︎ Political intrigued

▪︎ Tokyo Ghoul, Vampires

▪︎ Found Family

▪︎ Gore

▪︎ Novella

▪︎ Queer, Diverse characters

Thank you so much, @titanbooks, for the e-arc copy via Netgalley 🫶

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