#ka linde

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

Just want to fill my days with cozy new reads and walks in the forest 🌲🤍

[wordsarelifereviews]

Check out these beautiful editions of The Wren in the Holly Library 😍

(Originally posted on my Instagram)

[wakingupnexttoyou]

Squeezing in a few minutes of reading before I have to go to work!!

[kastyn]

“Jack: "..You were the on­ly one I saw when I closed my eyes"

Lexi: "Then why wasn't I enough when they were open?”

― Avoiding Commitment

[bigdreamsandwildthings]

I never want the pretty sprayed edges trend to end 💙

[maepolzine]

I'm not fully back to blogging, as my finger is still out of commission, but I wanted to share my thoughts on The Robin on the Oak Throne, the second book in The Oak & Holly Cycle series by K.A. Linde.

My Thoughts on The Robin on the Oak Throne (The Oak & Holly Cycle, Book 2) by K.A. Linde

[libertyreads]

Book Review #24 of 2025--

The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde. Rating: 3.5 stars.

Read from April 5th to 7th.

I started this book with just the completely wrong mindset. I didn't know that it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling until I read the dedication and did some digging. I didn't realize this was going to land in the Romantasy side of Fantasy until I was about 20 pages in. And I was deceived by the beautiful book into thinking that it was going to have more depth than it really did. I don't know why the beautiful physical book lead me to think this was going to be a Serious Fantasy Novel, but for some reason it did. I ended up having to adjust my expectations as I read because we were not going to have a good time otherwise. And yet, somehow we still landed on a 3.5 star rating.

I really enjoyed the brownstone where our beast figure lived and I would give my first born to be able to use that Holly Library any time I wanted. (Though, to be fair I have no children and have no plans to have children so...take that with a grain of salt.) It really felt like the author spent a lot of time building up that setting in her mind and laying it out for the reader to enjoy. I also love this version of New York City following a monster/human war and how it all felt very post-apocalyptic. I could see so much of that in my mind. I love that there's a cat named Anne Boleyn who lives in the library as well. She wasn't my favorite character but...she comes close? I DID enjoy the main female character for her strength and willingness to do what is right for her, even if it's not right for anyone else. It felt like she spent a lot of the book learning and growing which we love to see.

I struggled with the world building. I think the author did a lot of research and had a lot of notes about all of these monsters and the politics of this world, but, somehow, forgot to share it all with the class. It felt like I hadn't done enough research going into it to understand what everyone was and what it meant for political alliances. I also struggled with the romance a bit. He ends up being over 500 years old (but he only looks like he's in his mid-twenties!) and she is a 25 year old woman. Consent and all of that, but still. It was weird. Especially since he's supposed to be teaching her all of these things and acting as her mentor. Plus he's way stronger than her. The power dynamics were just all off there. I think he is actually the best romantic partner for her out of all of the men in the novel, but that doesn't make it less weird.

Overall, I had an okay time what I really knew what I was getting into, but even when I'm trying to meet this book where it's at it just isn't a compulsive enough read to keep me going in the series. I think the ending is what keeps me from moving forward with the rest of the Oak & Holly Cycle. I could see this being loved in the Romantasy spaces especially given the beauty of the physical object itself.

[maepolzine]

My Thoughts on The Wren in the Holly Library (The Oak & Holly Cycle, Book 1) by K.A. Linde

Sharing my thoughts on The Wren in the Holly Library, the first book in the The Oak & Holly Cycle series by K.A. Linde

I went into The Wren in the Holly Library, the first book in The Oak & Holly Cycle, by K.A. Linde, with no information. I picked up this book purely because it looked gorgeous, with decorative sprayed edges and artwork on the inside cover. The dedication, “To the girls who fell for the library before the beast,” should have alerted me to the book’s inspiration from Beauty and the Beast. However,…

My Thoughts on The Wren in the Holly Library (The Oak & Holly Cycle, Book 1) by K.A. Linde